Chapter 12 - Affinity [OW]
Please don’t retranslate from my English version and don’t repost in Wattpad for your ‘offline’ reading pleasure.
"Sorry, Qi Qi is just speaking nonsense, he doesn’t mean it." Zhao Qing felt that Su Ling’s relationship with Gu Liheng is not simple just by looking at the sachet in his hand and hurriedly apologized on his brother’s behalf.
Su Ling pursed his lips and said, "Tell this to the police."
Zhao Qi immediately panicked, "You called the police?"
The driver was stunned and poked his head out of the driver's seat, "When did you call the police, no, I mean, why did you call the police?"
Su Ling glanced at him and said, "Everyone with a brain knows that when affected by pheromones, removing the isolator will only make the situation worse."
The one-sided reaction will affect both sides and intensify the effect. Not to mention, the route the driver used does not go to the fragrance bar at all. It was just a coincidence that he called the police, he did not expect this matter to be related to Zhao Qi. After he said that, the sound of a police car’s siren could be heard approaching them.
Zhao Qi nervously grabbed Zhao Qing's arm, "Brother, what should I do?" He glared at Su Ling, "Call them and say you are fine."
Su Ling found that to be a little funny, and asked, "Why do you think it is possible? You have troubled me again and again, so why do you think I should submit meekly and not get back to you?" His expression was slightly cold as he reminded, "I already said it in the classroom last time, I will call the police if the situation gets worse."
The police car arrived soon. Various Alpha scents still remained in the air. A police officer asked, "Who called the police?"
Su Ling responded and told them his story. He, the driver and the Zhao brothers were all taken to the police station to record their statement. It didn't take long for a police officer to walk in from outside and report about his investigation.
"According to a traffic monitoring system, the taxi stayed at an intersection in front of the school for half an hour. When student Su called for a taxi, the driver received a signal to start the car and let student Su take his car."
Then, the police found contact records on the driver and Zhao Qi's bracelet. It was obvious who is the perpetrator behind this.
Zhao Qi's voice trembled as he confessed, "I didn't want to harm him. I just wanted the driver to stimulate him to release his pheromones so that my brother could smell his pheromones."
Su Ling: "There were not only the driver but also several other Alphas in the scene, just at the place where the taxi stopped."
Officer frowned and scolded Zhao Qi, "As an Omega, don't you know how dangerous is an Alpha’s pheromone to an Omega? Especially at your current age, your estrus may be induced."
"And you, as a driver, don't you have any professional ethics?! At such an old age, can't you tell the seriousness of the matter?"
The driver gave his excuse, "I have advised the second younger master against this action, but he does not listen. I am only a servant, so I have no other way. As for this car, I borrowed it from other people."
Not long after, Zhao Qi's lawyer came.
The police officer looked at Su Ling with pitiful eyes, "Are you going to press charge?"
Su Ling shook his head, "No need."
Things have not progressed to the worst outcome. Zhao Qi's behaviour also showed that his purpose is really just to make him take down his isolator, pressing charge will not have any result.
Zhao Qi humphed beside him. His expression became calmer when he heard his lawyer said that there would be no problem.
Su Ling looked at the police officer and said, "Just leave a criminal record under his name. He has money at home, so he likes to do whatever he wants, and always troubles me. If I get into an accident one day, it may be related to him."
Zhao Qi glared at him, "Nonsense, there are people other than me who hated you!"
Su Ling: "Really? But no one bothered me except you."
The police officer turned to ask Zhao Qi, "Why are you bothering him? If there is anything, make it clear now and settle it. Don't make trouble later."
Zhao Qi blurted out, "He's so stinky, looking at him just annoyed me."
The officer frowned, and Zhao Qing quickly patted Zhao Qi on the shoulder, and warned in a displeased tone, "Qi Qi."
Su Ling makes a face, but his expression was calm as he opened up, "I was under a lot of pressure before, and he keeps making fun of me. I couldn't think straight and attempted suicide some time ago. Before that, he kept looking for trouble with me, but I kept silent and didn’t resist. After my attempted suicide, I thought everything over and stopped letting him bully me." A sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, "For daring to rebel against him makes him think that I have slapped him and made him lose face."
Then Su Ling turned to look at Zhao Qi, "Your usual punching bag is gone, so how can you tolerate it, right?"
After that, he shifted his focus to Zhao Qing, "If he is the executioner, then you are the one who handed him the knife. He grew up doing whatever he wants, according to his mood. He is a high school student now, so what he can do is limited. Just wait until he graduates, I bet your life will be more exciting."
Zhao Qi's character is completely spoiled. Although Su Ling does not know whether his words are useful, he still tries his best to remind Zhao Qing. If Zhao Qi can be corrected in time, it would mean lesser trouble for him(SL) as well.
Zhao Qing was slightly stunned, then his expression gradually becoming more serious. Zhao Qi wanted to say something, but Zhao Qing pinched him at the shoulder.
Su Ling withdrew his gaze and asked the police officer, "Can I leave now?"
The police officer nodded and replied, "Already recorded the statements, remember to call the police if there is danger."
Su Ling said with a smile, "Thank you, uncle."
He did not look at the Zhao brothers and left the police station. He called a taxi to the fragrance bar. On the way, he thought about it and sent a text message to Gu Liheng, telling him that he is not returning for dinner tonight. Gu Liheng has asked him about the dinner time before, it wouldn’t be nice if he said nothing to inform him that he’s not going back.
The fragrance bar has not opened yet, and the staffs were in the middle of preparing. Nalu sat at the deck, frowning at the holographic screen in front of him, and his finger sliding the pages. Su Ling walked over and took a glance at Nalu’s screen, found out that it was about recruiting material harvester.
Nalu noticed someone behind him and looked up before closing the screen from his bracelet, "Why are you late?"
Su Ling didn't want him to worry, so he only gave a vague answer, "Something happened and delayed my time. So, are you hiring someone for the store?"
Nalu rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Just a material harvester, but it's too hard to find."
In Planet Belle, the spiritual plant specialist actually has two identities, a harvester and a fragrance maker. The former mainly collect raw materials, and the latter uses the raw materials to make finished products. Spiritual plant specialist can be both, but the harvester or fragrance maker will only focus on one specification. Only Omega can be a harvester, while a fragrance maker is not restricted by gender.
Su Ling recalled the definition in the textbook and asked, "Are there too little Omega available for work?"
Nalu got up and said, "Come with me, the spiritual plants are at the backyard." As he walked to the backyard, he explained, "Not only there is lesser Omega available, the main problem is there are lesser temporary workers available to harvest raw material."
"Omega is physically weaker and will choose a stable workplace, which is safer. Temporary workers will always need to change locations, and there is a lot of Alpha in the fragrance bar. Unmarried ones are easily affected, while the partner of married Omegas will not agree for them to take the job. The salary of a full-time material harvester is too high, even Grade E starts at least 20,000, and that hasn’t count staff remuneration yet. Our shop’s business is not good, so it’s not worthwhile to hire full-time material harvester. A temporary worker every week is enough, but it is not easy to find one."
Su Ling thought about it and asked, "How much can I sell daily for the nectar and stem?"
Nalu: "The first three days we sold a total of 60,000, with an average price of 10,000 per piece. Can’t help it, the black market will suppress the prices."
Su Ling was surprised, "So expensive?"
Nalu: "Not really. The 3 spiritual plants are at their most active period of life so they can produce a lot of nectar and stem every day. The top fragrance product in the market is Grade A, and you must use Grade A raw materials to make the products. Have you heard of Cold Moon Sachet before? Golden baby's breath is one of its essential raw material."
Su Ling nodded, the refreshing scent in Cold Moon Sachet was indeed Golden Baby's breath.
Su Ling: "This is a lot of income, how about we hire a full-time material harvester?"
Nalu shook his head, "Spending 5,000 a month for a part-timer is good enough. Hiring a full-time staff is a waste of money, and you still have to go to university! Plus your marriage and dowry in the future, all those need to use money."
Su Ling: "..."
Nalu: "The spiritual plants were left by your mother. This money must be used on you. The store doesn’t have to pay the insurance fee anymore, so we are slowly saving up money. The money can be used to renovate the shop in a year or two."
Su Ling couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Nalu, why are you willing to keep this shop running for so many years?"
Nalu rubbed his hair with a smile, "I like this job, and I have to repay your mother."
The two of them came to the spiritual plant shed in the backyard. The shed area is not large, and there weren’t many spiritual plants in there, just occupying half of the area. Su Ling caught a whiff of a light scent as soon as he entered. He could easily recognize the aroma of roses, which is the most commonly used spiritual plant in the store. All of the spiritual plants were placed on the right side of the shed, the entire view was full of red flowers, with a few orange or yellow flowers mixed in the middle.
Nalu: "You can take a look around. The remaining raw materials are enough for two days. I will try to find a harvester again."
After Nalu left, Su Ling walked into the shed. When he reached the rose bush, he squatted down and examined carefully. The flower clusters were too dense. He reached over wanting to touch the petals and leaves, but before he could touch them, Su Ling noticed that the flowers were shaking slightly. He stared at a red flower and thought for a moment, then moved his finger a little, stopping at a knuckle distance from the flower. At the next moment, the branches were slightly bent, and the flowers touched his fingers while trembling slightly as if it was rubbing against his finger.
Su Ling's eyes became bright, and he touched the petals with his hands. It seems that his affinity with the spiritual plants is really high. He gently opened the petals, wanted to see the internal structure. The flowers bloomed brilliantly under his hands, and the stamens were unobstructed.
Su Ling smiled and said, "Thank you."
He looked at it while compared with modern roses in his mind. The two were quite similar, except that the rose stamen in his hand has a touch of gold, and the surrounding area seems to be glowing. After that, his fingers lightly touched inwardly on the periphery of the flower, and the inner core of the flower gathered up to wrap the stamen. Su Ling found it very interesting. He took a step back and wanted to look at the branches, but doesn’t know since when several clusters of leaves were built behind his feet. When his feet started moving, the leaves swept back by itself. Turning back to the roses in front of him, Su Ling touched the leaves, and the leaves opened towards the sides. He could easily see the appearance of the branches, smooth green skin without thorns.
As stated in the Illustrated Book of Spiritual Plants, the spiritual plant's level and attack power increase accordingly. Grade E spiritual plant has almost no attack power; hence Grade E rose has no thorns. After observing the roses, he continued to observe the rest of the flowers. Every flower liked him very much, so the process of his observation was very smooth. He compared the spiritual plants with what he read from the biology textbook, giving him deep impressions.
When he was about to leave, a cluster of leaves closest to him touched his feet, as if they were reluctant to see him leaving. Su Ling thought for a while and closed the door of the shed before removed the isolator. If he can't communicate with Grade A spiritual plant, maybe Grade E can! They like him very much.
When his pheromone drifted towards the spiritual plants, Su Ling instantly sensed countless panic emotions, which agitated his head and made him dizzy. He pressed between his eyebrow, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the brilliant flowers that were initially blooming closed their petals tightly, and their branches were bent in the opposite direction.
Su Ling: "..." This response is too similar to Redthorn Ball and the other two!
The only difference is probably a greater sense of panic. Sighing, Su Ling reattached the isolator. It didn't take long for the flowers to bloom at the same time. If he ignored the previous event, this scene of many flowers blooming together is breathtaking. Su Ling regretted it a bit and felt that it should be recorded. He hesitated for a while but didn't do it again. That kind of panic was quite uncomfortable. He left the fragrance bar and had his dinner in a restaurant before returning to the villa.
Gu Liheng was sitting on the sofa watching economic news. When he heard footsteps, he looked up and gave Su Ling a once-over, asking, "Are you all right?"
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