Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome chapter 17

He Wanted to See You

Qu Xi was Gu Jinyi’s best friend at Lande College, second only to Chu Miyun. She was two years younger than her classmates when she enrolled and often spoke too bluntly, often resulting in being alienated by others.

Later, when she met Gu Jinyi, who was handsome and gentle to her, she followed him like a little tail, and thus got to know Chu Miyun.

At that time, the three of them lived in the same dormitory building.

Gu Jinyi was in the omega area upstairs, Qu Xi and Chu Mi Yun were in the beta area downstairs. They could shout and chat from the balcony, and they could quickly meet up if they wanted to climb over the school gate.

Later, Chu Miyun “fake married” Gu Jinyi, and she was aware of it, specially acting as a bridesmaid and even pressing Gu Jinyi about why he didn’t choose her.

Now, several years had passed, and the girl who used to be punished by the dormitory manager every day had become a teacher at the school, which was quite miraculous.

Qu Xi was also sizing up Gu Jinyi.

The last time she met Gu Jinyi was at Chu Miyun’s funeral. She had a task at hand and only had time to give Chu Miyun flowers before leaving.

At that time, she told Gu Jinyi that if he couldn’t stand staying on G6 Star, he should come find her. Although the Qu family was not a noble family, they could still compete with the Chu family.

But Gu Jinyi didn’t come to her, he turned around and married Xie Huaizhou instead.

This always bothered Qu Xi.

She didn’t know that Xie Huaizhou suffered from “pheromone deficiency syndrome”.

Gu Jinyi was very principled and never revealed Xie Huaizhou’s condition to anyone.

So Qu Xi always thought that Xie Huaizhou was greedy for Gu Jinyi’s beauty and took advantage of the situation.

She scrutinized him with the strict eyes she used to examine experimental data, trying to see if Xie Huaizhou had mistreated him.

But no matter how she looked, she only saw that he looked healthier.

She could only reluctantly praise, “Looks like the climate on Baidi Star is good for you.”

Gu Jinyi could hear her dissatisfaction and casually rubbed her head, “I’ve told you before that I’m doing well.”

In fact, he had always kept in touch with Qu Xi, but he was too busy, so they didn’t chat often.

Qu Xi had always been worried about him moving to Baidi Star, fearing that he would be troubled by the Xie family. If she hadn’t seen him safe and sound in the video, she might have rushed over.

Now that he was standing in front of her in person, it was a bit more convincing.

Qu Xi looked at him for a while and asked, “Where’s Xie Huaizhou?”

“He went to handle business. But he just dropped me off.” Gu Jinyi remembered the kiss in the car just now, and his ears turned a little red.

Qu Xi noticed it, and a series of R-rated images flashed through her mind, cursing Xie Huaizhou as a beast in her heart.

But no matter how much of a beast he was, he was still a legal partner, and unlike the fake wife like Chu Miyun, Xie Huaizhou didn’t seem like someone who would be easy to deal with.

Qu Xi pressed on her chest and didn’t want to think too deeply. She pulled Gu Jinyi to go have ice cream together.

It was already summer, and there was a long line in front of the ice cream stall.

The owner was a robot, very lifelike, a blond-haired, blue-eyed little boy. He had been here for over fifty years, and although he only knew a few fixed flavors, he never made a mistake in taste because of the precision calculation of the robot.

There was also a small sign next to him introducing his life story, saying that he was made by the former principal and was named “Tao Tao” because he was so cute.

Now that the former principal was gone, “Tao Tao” was already a hundred years old and had become an outdated model. But because of the former principal’s reputation, this little robot not only didn’t end up in the scrap heap but also became the famous mascot of Lande Academy.

Gu Jinyi also liked Tao Tao very much. He and Qu Xi waited for a while and finally reached the front of the line.

“One serving of milk ice cream with chocolate sauce and popping pearls, and one serving of strawberry ice cream with whipped cream sauce,” he said.

Tao Tao looked at Gu Jinyi for a while, then suddenly tilted his head and said, “I remember you.”

Gu Jinyi was stunned.

Tao Tao added, “Someone bought me a limited edition of machine oil, and I sat with him for a long time. He wanted to see you.”

Tao Tao’s words were all over the place and lacked human logic.

He was too old, and his language function was prone to malfunctions.

Gu Jinyi didn’t take it to heart. He paid the money and gave Tao Tao a colorful card, which all students of Lande Academy knew Tao Tao liked.

Tao Tao was indeed happy and said in a robotic voice, “Thank you.”

After buying shaved ice, they didn’t bother to find a place to sit down; they just walked around the school holding their shaved ice like that.

That’s how it is when old friends meet. There’s nothing particularly special, and the conversation won’t be earth-shattering, but it can make people relax.

Qu Xi originally thought that when she saw Gu Jinyi, there would be many questions she wanted to ask, but when she actually saw him, these questions suddenly became less important.

She could tell that he was indeed doing well now, and that was enough.

But as the evening approached, when she heard Gu Jinyi contacting Xie Huaizhou with his communicator, she suddenly spoke up, “Let’s invite Xie Huaizhou to join us for dinner.”

Gu Jinyi looked at her somewhat hesitantly, unsure of her intentions. Just yesterday evening, she had been so sure that no alpha was good, and Xie Huaizhou was no exception.

Qu Xi curled her lips. “Are you afraid I’ll poison him? I just want to meet him.”

Gu Jinyi thought for a moment and asked Xie Huaizhou for his opinion.

Xie Huaizhou was very willing.

“I’ll be right there.”

So half an hour later, the three of them sat together on the top floor of the Fifth Cafeteria, which was usually reserved for entertaining students and teachers. The environment and dishes were both decent.

The atmosphere at the table was more harmonious than Gu Jinyi had expected.

Qu Xi and Xie Huaizhou were both not particularly warm people, but they maintained basic courtesy. Although the conversation lacked substance, it wasn’t awkward, whether they were talking about scenery or work.

Xie Huaizhou noticed the familiarity between Gu Jinyi and Qu Xi, a kind of tacit understanding that could only be formed through long-term interaction.

Gu Jinyi seemed to indulge her, remembering all her preferences and even helping her sort out the crab before passing it to her.

Xie Huaizhou quietly took a sip of wine.

He actually knew Qu Xi, not only because she was Chu Miyun’s bridesmaid, but also because he had investigated everyone around Gu Jinyi.

But perhaps the information was not complete enough, he had always thought that Gu Jinyi was only close to Chu Mi Yun, never expecting that Qu Xi also held a special position in his life.

But before he could finish his thoughts, Gu Jinyi had already cracked open a crab and put it on his plate.

With red fingertips, Gu Jinyi looked at him and smiled. “The crabs from the school are quite good. You should try it.”

Xie Huaizhou paused for two seconds before eating the crab.

Qu Xi observed him quietly and could tell that Xie Huaizhou’s mood had improved slightly.

She sneered inwardly.

But neither of them showed their thoughts on the surface, and the meal ended calmly.

After eating, Qu Xi said she wanted a drink and asked Gu Jinyi to go buy it.

Gu Jinyi stood up and walked over, only to find that the line was quite long.

At the table, there were only Xie Huaizhou and Qu Xi left.

Qu Xi looked up at Xie Huaizhou. If it were her younger self, since she disliked Xie Huaizhou so much, she would have said something to show her dominance, preferably making Xie Huaizhou’s face contort with anger to make her happy.

But she was no longer eighteen, not so immature anymore.

She knew that whether she liked him or not was actually irrelevant.

She preferred Chu Miyun and Gu Jinyi to be together, but so what? These two people could never become lovers.

Playing with the ice cubes in her glass, she casually asked Xie Huaizhou, “Did you marry Gu Jinyi because you like him?”

Xie Huaizhou replied with a simple “Hmm.”

Qu Xi wasn’t surprised; she wasn’t blind and could see it.

But as she watched the ice water melt in her glass, she wondered, how long could this liking last?

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly said to Xie Huaizhou, “Do you know what Gu Jinyi is allergic to?”

“Cherries.”

Xie Huaizhou thought for a moment, then added, “He also doesn’t like blueberries and anything too sour, but he disguises it well, so it’s hard for most people to notice.”

Qu Xi didn’t ask anything else.

Before Gu Jinyi came back, she and Xie Huaizhou were very calm, without any sense of tension.

She even talked to Xie Huaizhou about why she liked Gu Jinyi so much—because he reminded her of her brother.

“I once had an older brother who was an omega, but he passed away at the age of fourteen,” she could now talk about this calmly, “I know I’m projecting my regrets onto Jinyi, but I’m willing to do anything for him. If someone hurts him, I’ll protect him like I would protect my brother.”

She looked meaningfully at Xie Huaizhou.

Xie Huaizhou didn’t get angry, just calmly said, “You won’t have that chance.”

When Gu Jinyi came back, he was shocked to find that these two people had actually exchanged contact information. Qu Xi had sent Xie Huaizhou nearly a hundred photos of Gu Jinyi from when he was in school.

“What are you two doing?” Gu Jinyi asked, puzzled.

Qu Xi calmly took back her communicator. “Just exchanging resources.”

Just now, Xie Huaizhou had also sent her work photos of Gu Jinyi.

Qu Xi left after finishing her meal, saying she had something to do.

Gu Jinyi and Xie Huaizhou accompanied her to the front of the teaching building before parting ways.

After waving goodbye to Qu Xi, instead of taking the school’s public boat, Gu Jinyi and Xie Huaizhou walked leisurely along the path.

The moon was particularly beautiful that night, perfect for a stroll.

As they walked, they passed by the dormitory building where Gu Jinyi used to live.

Pointing to a window on the seventh floor, he said to Xie Huaizhou, “That’s the dormitory I used to live in. I was lucky; it was a single dormitory.”

Xie Huaizhou also looked up. The window was lit, but it was unknown who lived there now.

Gu Jinyi then pointed downstairs. “Chu Miyun and Qu Xi lived on the third floor.”

The three of them had often sneaked in through the window into his room, narrowly avoiding being caught by the teachers.

He smiled, stood at the doorway for a moment, then said to Xie Huaizhou, “Let’s go.”

As they were about to leave the school gate, the ice cream-selling robot, Tao Tao, happened to be closing up shop and heading home—he now lived in the former principal’s office, a special apartment allocated to him.

Gu Jinyi was about to introduce Tao Tao to Xie Huaizhou when he noticed Tao Tao stopping in front of them.

“Hello,” Tao Tao said to Xie Huaizhou, “The moon is beautiful, and so are you.”

Xie Huaizhou looked at the small robot, only up to his chest, for a moment, nodded, and said, “Hello.”

Tao Tao seemed satisfied and then trotted away with his belongings.

Gu Jinyi asked in surprise, “Do you know Tao Tao?”

Xie Huaizhou remained unchanged and casually said, “I know him. He’s quite famous, with many photos online.”

Gu Jinyi thought about it and realized that many tourists came specifically to see Tao Tao and would post pictures afterwards.

But then he couldn’t help but remember what Tao Tao had said when they bought the shaved ice today.

“Someone bought me a limited edition of machine oil. I sat with him for a long time. 

“He wanted to see you.”

Author’s Note:

Tao Tao: My language system is not malfunctioning!