Chapter 2: The Youngest Major General
Jin Feng hadn’t slept so well in a long time.
He was the youngest major general in the Federation. Over seven years, he had commanded countless wars of all sizes. But since returning from the gland injury in the Western battle area, he often felt like there was a red-hot iron block on his back of neck, and scenes from the battlefield kept appearing in his dreams.
The silhouettes of fallen comrades, piles of corpses, gunfire, shouting, and radio calls kept刺激ting his nerves.
The air was filled with the familiar smoke of gunpowder, mixed with a faint, unrecognizable cold scent that calmed every restless cell in his body.
Beside the bed lay a sleeping Omega, half of his face buried under the blanket.
It was a very small face. Jin Feng roughly estimated that even if it appeared fully, it wouldn’t be larger than his palm. His eyelashes were light and quiet like butterflies, gently moving with each breath.
Suddenly, the butterfly’s wings fluttered lightly, and a pair of apricot eyes stared straight into Jin Feng’s heart, filled with confusion and unawareness… A word popped into Jin Feng’s mind, but he quickly suppressed it—it was impolite to describe an Omega he had just met in such terms.
His breathing paused, and a strange warmth rushed from his neck to his face.
The Omega glanced at him timidly, cleared her throat, “You’re awake. Are you not feeling well? Your face is so red.”
Ji Ningyu raised his hand to pour water, while Jin Feng looked away shyly.
“I am Ji Ningyu. I came to help you with your treatment. Dr. Qiao Mo said that my pheromone can alleviate your illness.”
Ji Ningyu and Jin Feng repeated the name in their minds: “What are those characters?”
“Ah?” Ji Ningyu felt like the Alpha before him had misunderstood, but she patiently explained again.
“The season’s ‘season’, the solidified ‘凝’, and the rainwater’s ‘雨’.”
From last night’s experiment, Qiao Mo concluded that Ji Ningyu’s pheromone indeed helps relieve Jin Feng’s condition. Although Ji Ningyu failed to release her pheromone last night, pheromones are commonly found in Omega saliva, such as tears.
Soon, he drafted a treatment contract.
In short, Ji Ningyu needs to cooperate with Qiao Mo to treat Jin Feng’s post-war trauma stress syndrome. The methods include regular pheromone extraction and releasing it to calm the uncontrolled Alpha, until he recovers. The reward is a significant amount of treatment fees—similar to the compensation given to his brother.
Thinking of his brother made Ji Ningyu’s heart heavy as if it could squeeze out water.
Ji Ningyu’s parents died when he was very young. It was his Alpha brother, Ji, who raised him. Later, his brother joined the army and never returned from the battlefield. Though he lost both parents from a young age, his brother took good care of him—not overly indulgent, but never mistreated either.
It was precisely because he was well-protected that the federal compensation given after his brother’s death was taken by his uncle’s family. He was forced to drop out of school.
As an Omega like him—with no education, no background, and even without pheromones—he has no market value even in Block 9. Fortunately, his neighbor Yu Rong runs a small restaurant and offered him a job.
Now that he suddenly gets this opportunity, he has no reason to refuse. Moreover, on a larger scale, this matters to the safety of the entire federation. Does his pheromone really have such a big effect? Ji Ningyu feels like he’s dreaming.
Since Alpha pheromones usually go out of control at night, he needs to move into this villa.
Today is a work day, so it’s a good time for him to return home and clean up before his uncle is home. Meanwhile, Jin Feng will go to the lab for treatment. After signing the contract, the group leaves the villa.
Ji Ningyu gets off the car at a crossroads in Block 7, then skillfully turns left and right in the alley, entering a dilapidated residential building. He goes down the stairs and pulls out the keys.
“Creak—”
The wooden door in the basement opens. There are no windows inside, and it’s completely dark. Ji Ningyu gropes around the wall a few times before turning on the light.
The whole room isn’t small, but two-thirds of the space is filled with clutter, leaving only a small bed. A persistent damp smell fills the air.
Ji Ningyu quickly packs some seasonal clothes and toiletries, then moves a potted plant to the first-floor yard and carefully puts it in a cardboard box.
This Blue Snowflower was planted with his brother before he left. Since there’s no sunlight inside, it has to stay outside.
After putting everything in order, Ji Ningyu stood at the door and looked around the room, briefly wondering if anything was missing.
“Ji Ningyu? What are you doing back here in the middle of the day?”
He turned around—it was his uncle’s son, his Alpha cousin Ji Cheng, who spoke.
“You’ve skipped class again?”
“Don’t bother me,” Ji Cheng said angrily, glancing at the bag he was packing: “Are you moving out?”
The treatment agreement required confidentiality; besides, he didn’t want to talk much with Ji Cheng: “Yeah, it’s the house Yu Rong sister found for me.”
Ji Cheng kicked the bag slightly: “I need to check—who knows if you stole something from our house.”
Ji Ningyu squatted down to pick up what was kicked away, then grabbed the bag and stood up to leave: “I’m at the restaurant every day. If something is missing, you can come find me.”
“No, let me see.” Ji Cheng grabbed a corner of the bag, and both of them stood in a stalemate. But since Ji Cheng was an Alpha, Ji Ningyu knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to leave right now.
A few barking sounds came from the alley, and Ji Ningyu tilted his head.
“Hah, you’re an Omega with no pheromone—who expects anyone to save you? Get lost.”
Ji Ningyu was pushed away by force; the potted plant fell to the ground, breaking ceramic pieces. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting pain from behind, but nothing happened. Instead, he collided with a broad chest.
“Are you okay?” A deep voice came from above. Ji Ningyu raised his head—from this angle, he could only see the rigid jawline of the person behind him. Before he could speak, Ji Cheng spoke first.
“You… Jin Feng?”
Ji Ningyu had heard that his cousin liked military news and aspired to join a federal military academy. Since Jin Feng was the youngest major in the federal forces, it wasn’t surprising for Ji Cheng to know him.
“Mm.” Jin Feng helped Ji Ningyu stand steady, his eagle-like eyes fixed on Ji Cheng as he stepped closer. “Can you give it back to us?”
…“
They placed the luggage in the trunk, and the two got into the car, one on the left and the other on the right.
“ weren’t you going to the lab?”
“Yes, I remembered you mentioned moving. I passed by on my way to see if there’s anything I can help with.”
The person driving wasn’t a military vehicle, and they didn’t bring a driver. Although Ji Ningyu hadn’t been in Block 7 for five years before today, he knew that the lab in the military building wouldn’t pass through here to reach the villa area.
“ How did you know I live here?”
“You wrote it yourself in the contract.”
“Oh.” Ji Ningyu thought for a moment. It seemed he had indeed written the specific house number in the permanent address section. “Then I’ll appreciate your help.”
“ Can’t you put this back later?” Jin Feng pointed at the cardboard box in Ji Ningyu’s arms with his chin.
The cardboard box had been dropped before, and the flower pot inside was probably broken. Now, soil was slowly coming out through a crack at the bottom.
“No problem. I’ll carry it. Just don’t dirty your car.”
Ji Ningyu rolled up the hem of his T-shirt to cover the leaking box and prevent dirt from getting onto the car.
“……”
Jin Feng hesitated, turned his head away, and drove without saying a word.