Chapter Text
Sheng Shaoyou doesn’t look up when there is a knock on his office door. He only calls out, “Come in,” impatiently.
“Mr. Sheng, I wondered if you could take a look at this?” Chen Pin Ming asks as he lays a folder on Shaoyou’s desk. “I was going through the budget like you asked me to and I found something. It looks like a research project but I searched through all the files and I can’t find anything about it.”
Shaoyou frowns and opens the file. It’s probably just a mistake, every research project should have extensive paper work otherwise how could they justify the budget for it.
The header simply says, “Project E.” It looks like his father had personally signed off on billions of Yuan to fund the project but Chen Pin Ming is right, there is nothing on what the project is or where the funding is going.
If there had been anyone else’s signature on the paper work he might have believed that someone was skimming money from the company, but his father put his life’s blood into this company. He had loved it more than even his numerous children and would never do anything that could ruin it.
“There has to be something,” Shaoyou tells Chen Pin Ming. “My father wouldn’t channel this much money into a project unless he was sure it would benefit the company. Start asking around with some of the older employees to see if anyone has ever heard of Project E.”
“Yes sir.” Chen Pin Ming answers.
Chen Pin Ming is nothing if not good at finding out information and it’s not long before he returns. “Sir, there is a rumor that there is a lab in Yi. One of the accountants also confirmed that he wrote several checks to a construction company around 18 months ago. Sheng Fang demanded all the paper work be turned over to him.”
“Yi?” Sheng Shaoyou asks even more confused. He pulls up a listing of the company properties, and there is one for a large area of land outside of Yi, but according to the paperwork there is nothing there.
“Should I send someone?” Chen Pin Ming asks.
Shaoyou shakes his head. “It’s late, I’ll go myself tomorrow. You can keep researching to see if you can find out anything about this mysterious project. Let’s call it a night for now. I am supposed to meet Li Bao Qiao at the Royal Society.”
Shaoyou wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he arrived at the site. However the glass and metal high tech facility surrounded by fencing and guards was not it. The driver pulls up to the gate and several guards file out of a nearby building to surround the car. One of them taps on the window and Shaoyou pushes the button to roll it down.
The guard seems to recognize him, “Mr. Sheng?”
“What’s going on here?” Shaoyou asks the man.
“I’m sorry sir, we have instructions not to let anyone in without prior notifications.” The guard says nervously.
“Are you aware of who signs your paychecks?” Shaoyou huffs. “Get me the one in charge here, now.”
“Ye…yes sir.” The guard stammers and almost runs back to the guard house. Shaoyou sees him on the phone frantically speaking to someone. He then comes back and instructs the other guards to allow them in. “Doctor Qin, the head of the faculty will meet you inside.” He tells Shaoyou before waving the driver through the gate.
Shaoyou dislikes this doctor Qin from the moment he meets him. He is an officious alpha who is the type to use false flattery to try to advance his own career. Shaoyou has met hundreds like him in his line of work.
“Mr. Sheng, it’s a pleasure to have you here,” the doctor tells him. “I was so sorry to hear about your father. His sudden death was a shock to us all. He was like part of our family.”
Shaoyou almost laughs at this, wondering if this man even knows what it was like to have a father like Sheng Fang. If he did he wouldn’t be talking about family.
“Doctor Qin, please explain to me the purpose of this facility. What research do you do here? I couldn’t find any paperwork on it among my father’s things. I have been attending board meetings at Sheng Fang Biotech for years and I am sure that this project was never mentioned.” Shaoyou looks around the lobby as he follows the doctor in. There are guards here as well and they stand to attention when they see the two of them enter.
As Shaoyou gets close he notices the guards are betas. They are all wearing isolation masks and each has what looks like the type of tranquilizer guns used to sedate large animals from a distance. Shaoyou raises his eyebrows at this wondering exactly what is being kept at this facility that requires so much security.
“Mr. Sheng, if you will follow me, I’ll show you to the lab. I think I can better explain once you see the test subject.” Doctor Qin sounds as excited as a kid showing off his toys on Christmas morning.
The front part of the lab is full of high tech equipment with several technicians working at individual stations and feeding results into a computer.
“What are they doing?” Shaoyou demands to know.
“They are working to separate pheromones from blood samples,” Doctor Qin explains. “Your father had a theory that concentrated pheromones could be used in battle.”
Shaoyou feels a wave of shock go through him. Everything about Shengfang biotech has always been about improving lives. It was a pharmaceutical company focused on using gene scissoring technology to make life saving drugs. Yet this lab’s main focus seems to be on making biological weapons? What had his father been thinking?
“The test subject is kept in the next room,” Doctor Qin hands him an industrial grade isolation mask. “You need to put this on before we go back.”
Shaoyou starts to protest that he is an S rank alpha, he doesn’t need it. Then he just shrugs and slips it on. He needs to get to the bottom of what is going on here and following the doctor’s lead seems to be the easiest way to do this for now.
Whatever Shaoyou had expected to find, the polycarbonate cell in the next room was not it. There is another small guard area outside the cell which seems to suggest that the occupant is watched constantly. Shaoyou turns his attention to the man inside the cell and his breath catches.
The man staring back at him is beautiful, and he looks delicate as if he could be an omega.
“What is this?” Shaoyou growls out rounding on his guide.
The doctor seems a little surprised by Shaoyou’s tone. “This is test subject E.”
“E?” Shaoyou asks.
“E for enigma.” The doctor tells him. “This is one of the few identified enigmas in the entire world.”
Shaoyou blinks at this, trying to take in the word. A real enigma? He had only thought they were urban legends, something to scare little S rank alphas into behaving.
Even if it’s true, that doesn’t explain why he is being held prisoner in a lab.
“How did he come to be here?” Shaoyou wonders.
“Your father made a deal with one of the test subject’s half siblings. They needed him out of the way to take over the family business. It was a windfall for us, there is nothing more powerful than an enigma’s blood.” Doctor Qin says as if it’s normal for legitimate companies to participate in human trafficking for profit. Shaoyou’s respect for his deceased father drops even lower, he can’t believe the man had been involved in this.
“Stop calling him the test subject he must have a name.” Shaoyou snaps.
“Hua Yong,” the answer comes not from the doctor but the man in the cell.
Shaoyou turns back to him and sees that he has come to stand just on the other side of the glass and is staring at him in interest. He even cocks his head slightly as if trying to figure Shaoyou out.
“You talk?” Doctor Qin says in surprise. Then explains to Shaoyou, “In the ten months he has been here, he has never said a word.”
Shaoyou thinks that he wouldn’t bother talking to this inferior alpha if he had been the one being held hostage either.
“Open the cell,” Shaoyou orders.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, he’s heavily sedated but could still be dangerous.” The doctor answers.
Shaoyou looks into the clear and alert eyes of Hua Yong and thinks that the doctor is not only cruel but an absolute idiot if he thinks this man is sedated. Either the drugs they are using don’t work on the enigma or he has found a way to avoid taking them.
“I said to open the damn cell.” Shaoyou barks. “Forget being fired, I haven't decided if I want to send everyone involved in this project to jail for kidnapping and human trafficking. I am pretty sure there is enough evidence here to do just that.”
The guards look at the doctor questioningly. “Open the cell.” He orders.
“I won’t hurt you,” Shaoyou assures the enigma. For just a second amusement flashes in the man’s eyes then is gone. “I don’t know why my father would have done this, but I promise you that I wasn’t involved and didn’t know until today.”
Hua Yong steps back giving Shaoyou room to enter the cell. Shaoyou looks him over but he doesn’t seem to be injured in any way. That is a small comfort at least. Shaoyou lifts his hand as if intending to touch the enigma’s cheek. He has a sudden need to make sure Hua Yong is real, but realizes that it would be inappropriate to touch him without permission. He hesitates with his hand still outstretched towards the enigma.
Hua Yong moves forward and presses his cheek into Shaoyou’s hand like a cat seeking affection. Even his skin feels soft and delicate.
“I’m shutting down this operation effective immediately,” Shaoyou tells the doctor and his guards. “I will call in a team of investigators and lawyers to decide how to best handle this mess of a situation.”
He turns back to Hua Yong and says in a gentler tone, “Are you hurt anywhere, do you need to go to the hospital?”
Hua Yong shakes his head at this.
“If you want to press charges against Shengfang biotech I will call in the authorities right now. I know your experience here hasn’t been pleasant but Jianghu is a country ruled by laws.” Shaoyou tells him.
“I don’t want to involve anyone else,” Hua Yong says softly. “My brother is an influential man and I’m afraid he will find me if I go to the police.” Hua Yong looks terrified by this possibility. Shaoyou feels his heart break seeing what this man must have gone through at the hands of his own family and Shaoyou’s.
“Okay, it’s up to you. Do you have somewhere you can stay or is there someone I can call?” Shaoyou wonders.
Another distressed look from Hua Yong. “Can’t I stay with Mr. Sheng?”
Shaoyou is surprised by this request, but then considers it. If Hua Yong’s own family is against him perhaps he really doesn’t have anywhere safe to go. Shaoyou can let him stay at one of his apartments for now and decide what to do later. It’s the least he could do to help right the pain and suffering his family has caused Hua Yong.
Hua Yong sits on the edge of the bed and studies the sleeping alpha. He had brought Hua Yong to his apartment and given him the guest room to sleep in, but Hua Yong had snuck in here once the alpha was asleep to confirm what he had felt earlier.
There was no doubt that he was fascinated by Sheng Shaoyou. Hua Yong had never been interested in anyone, omega, beta, or alpha in this way. Hua Yong remembers how fierce he had been with Doctor Qin but how sweetly he had looked at Hua Yong as if he was a fragile thing.
Hua Yong had been kept at that facility for months, not by the doctor and his pathetic beta guards, but because he wanted to find out who in his organization had betrayed him. It was only today when the doctor had been talking with Shaoyou that it had been confirmed to be one of his siblings. Hua Yong doesn’t know which one but his main suspect is Hua Muzi. It’s this fourth child of his father that has been vying for power ever since they were young.
However as soon as Mr. Sheng had walked into the room, Hua Yong’s goals had changed. Now he only wants to figure out how to obtain this alpha and make him his very own. There is one thing just about everyone in Country P knows, and that’s whatever Hua Yong wants Hua Yong gets.
Hua Yong slips from the room and goes out on the balcony before taking out the phone that Shaoyou had his assistant Chen Pin Ming buy him along with some clothes and other things. Hua Yong had played up the poor pitiful captive that didn’t have anything to his name a little bit to win over Shaoyou. He failed to mention that his penthouse at the Biechao hotel was full of his things already kept ready for use whenever he had visited Jianghu or that he could walk into any bank in Jianghu and immediately withdraw millions of Yuan no questions asked.
He dials Shen Wenlang’s number. When the alpha doesn’t pick up immediately, Hua Yong sends him a text, “Answer your phone, it’s me.”
This time when he dials the number, the phone is answered on the first ring. “Where the hell have you been?” Wenlang yells before Hua Yong can speak.
“Lower your voice,” Hua Yong hisses, looking back towards the apartment and Shaoyou’s bedroom. Although not as good as his, S rank alphas do have exceptional hearing. “I am in Jianghu.”
“We have been searching for you for months. Why haven’t you called during all that time?” Wenlang growls, only slightly quieter.
“Aww, were you worried about me? I have been held prisoner in a lab,” Hua Yong answers happily, as if he has had a great adventure.
“Prisoner? Who can hold an enigma prisoner for ten months?” Wenlang sounds stunned at the prospect.
“It doesn’t matter, I need you and Chang Yu to find out everything you can about Sheng Shaoyou. He is the current chairman of Shengfang Biotech.” Hua Yong tells him.
“Is he the one that was holding you prisoner?” Wenlang asks.
“Not at all, he is the alpha I am trying to seduce.” Hua Yong’s voice takes on a dreamy tone. “I want to know his likes and dislikes, all about any of his past partners, everything.”
“Trying to seduce…” Wenlang sounds like he has lost the thread of this conversation. “You were held prisoner but you are worried about seducing some alpha.”
“Sheng Shaoyou is special.” Hua Yong sighs. Then his voice becomes hard and he says, “I think it could have been Hua Muzi that was behind my kidnapping. I only know it was one of the siblings but he seems the most likely. Look into it for me.”
“Where are you anyway?” Wenlang asks. “Not in your penthouse or the building manager would have called me to let me know you had turned up.”
“I am in Mr. Sheng’s apartment,” Hua Yong informs him. “Come to Jianghu, I need you, Chang Yu and Gao Tu to help me. Let Long Zuo look into Hua Muzi.”
“Help you do what?” Wenlang says suspiciously.
“I told you, I need to seduce my alpha, and I need your help.” Hua Yong practically hums at the thought.