Chapter 11.4 – Meet me at the old place for the first 5,000 words, there is a missing plot. 

Title : Pheromone Scam

Translator : System Yaoi

Kindly read this novel at https://secondlifetranslations.com/novel/pheromone-scam/

Chapter 11 Meet me at the old place for the first 5,000 words, there is a missing plot.

Pwease Note: Due to the heavy restriction policies, JJWXC’s screening did not let the first half of this chapter (the 5k words mentioned in the chapter title) pass. However System has included the missing text. They can be read in normal flow.

Helpless, Fu Sheng decided to let the service soldier deliver ready-made meals.

So the service soldier came from the entrance to the foyer, and now entered the living room, knocking on He Yuan’s door and cautiously calling him out to eat.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Tl Zwyd alxykdle xsvksdzlpp. Mbl plahknl pszekla pyke okvb y ckvvla qynl, “Rq usw esd’v nsxl swv, Qldlayz Ww okzz nsxl shla rlapsdyzzu.”

Jlqsal, Tl Zwyd ralvldele dsv vs blya yde bke kd bkp assx. Tyzq yd bswa zyvla, Ww Fbldt nyxl cynj yde pwrralpple bkx okvb yd kdewnla, prldekdt vbl yqvladssd kd cle. Mbl dlmv eyu, Tl Zwyd eked’v eyal vs ralvlde dsv vs blya ytykd.

Mbyv oyp obld bl alyzkple vbyv Ww Fbldt bye kdpvyzzle xydu pwahlkzzydnl nyxlayp kd vbl assx.

Ww Fbldt oyp ycpldv, cwv bl pvkzz nsdvaszzle Tl Zwyd’p ynvksdp yv yzz vkxlp.

Tl Zwyd pnayvnble bkp ryzx. Gp vbl plahknl pszekla oyp ycswv vs vyjl vbl kdkvkyvkhl vs srld vbl essa, vbl essa srldle qasx vbl kdpkel.

Mbl plahknl pszekla qasgl, bkv cu yd kdnalekczu pvasdt yvvynj sq F-nzypp yzrby rblasxsdlp. Tl nswzed’v blzr cwv pbkhla, zssjkdt yv Tl Zwyd kd pwarakpl yde pwprknksd. Eypd’v Qldlayz Ww’p ryavdla y clvy? Ohld kq bl bye clld nsxrzlvlzu xyajle, kv oswzed’v zlyhl pwnb pvasdt rblasxsdlp qsa ps zsdt.

Tso zsdt eke kv vyjl vs zlyhl pwnb kdvldpl rblasxsdlp? Qldlayz Ww zlqv qsa y cwpkdlpp vakr swvpkel vbl rashkdnl ulpvlaeyu xsadkdt!

Tl Zwyd rypple cu vbl plahknl pszekla yde obkprlale, “Mbydj usw.”

The service soldier reflexively replied, “You’re welcome.”

He Yuan had already reached the living room. “Thank you for your trouble these days,” he said to the service soldier.

The service soldier lowered his head. “No, it’s not trouble.”

He Yuan opened the takeout, and it was all specially customised dishes that suited his taste. He picked and chose but didn’t have much appetite. He asked the service soldier, “Is Fu Sheng in another province?”

“Yes,” replied the service soldier.

“When will he be back?”

“I don’t have the authority to know,” the service soldier said apologetically.

He Yuan nodded and put down his chopsticks. He asked, “Did you bring the communicator?”

“I did,” the service soldier nodded but then hesitated, “The General said I can’t lend it to you.”

He Yuan looked at him steadily and suddenly smiled. “I didn’t say I wanted to borrow it. How long have you been in the military?”

“Five years. I was just transferred to General Fu’s side this year.”

“Still young and promising.”

The service soldier felt a bit embarrassed and then urged He Yuan, “Please eat quickly. Not eating is not good for your health. You’re too thin.”

“I am a teacher,” He Yuan replied.

The service soldier acknowledged with an “oh” but didn’t know how to continue the conversation. He was also wary of the overwhelming alpha pheromones emanating from He Yuan.

He Yuan didn’t mind and continued talking, “I’m a geology professor at the Capital University, and I’ve taught several generations of students. Do you know what a geology professor teaches?” 

He chuckled at the service soldier’s lack of response and continued, “It’s roughly that we survey geological formations and water sources. Sometimes we travel all over the country to pick up stones and play with them. Have you heard of Yunnan jade in the south? There’s a thriving jade gambling culture there, and of course, there’s deep water too. But in the end, gambling on jade also has something to do with surveying geological formations. Occasionally, I take my students there to play jade gambling.”

He spoke to himself, and the young service soldier, still in his twenties, was gradually drawn in. He couldn’t help but respond and talk about the big smuggling scandal involving jade raw materials that had caused a big stir two to three months ago. It was rumoured that someone from the military district compound had died, and various conspiracy theories, such as murder to silence witnesses, were circulating online. But strangely, not long after that, the case disappeared without a trace.

He Yuan pondered as he extracted several key pieces of information from the service soldier’s words. First, the jade raw materials case had gone silent.

The Fang family used some of their resources to exchange for Fang Gaomin and the smuggling of Yunnan jade raw materials. After Fang Gaomin’s death, the smuggling line from Mao Xiong had been exposed, which meant that the Fang family had to come up with something else for exchange.

The disappearance of the case indicated that the Fang family had completed two exchanges, likely suffering heavy losses. However, for the second exchange, the Fang family couldn’t come up with enough chips, so it was probably when Fang Ji returned and used something else to exchange, resolving the crisis.

Secondly, the successive losses in his hand showed that Fang Ji had probably found backing, but there weren’t many people who could compete with the prominent figure he was challenging. The only one participating in the election during this transition period happened to be the right choice in He Yuan’s mind.

He Yuan had someone in mind.

When Fang Ji returned to the capital, after stabilising the Fang family and finding a suitable backer, he would undoubtedly investigate Fang Gaomin’s death, and it was only a matter of time before he traced it back to He Yuan. While He Yuan’s method of killing Fang Gaomin was quite clever, he left too many clues, and Fang Ji wasn’t a fool; he might already have suspicions.

He Yuan picked up his chopsticks and said, “Tell Fu Sheng that I want to buy some raw jade materials. Whether domestic or foreign, whether from Mao Xiong or Yunnan, it doesn’t matter.”

The service soldier was stunned. He had been providing He Yuan food service many times or at least a dozen times, but it was the first time he heard He Yuan make such a request. He thought He Yuan was a stay-at-home husband or a full-time housewife, as he had never seen him go out to work. He didn’t expect that he was a geology professor at the Capital University.

After hesitating for a moment, he replied, “Please wait a moment.”

He left to consult Fu Sheng. He Yuan didn’t even bother to lift his head and continued eating his meal.

After a while, the service soldier placed a communicator in front of He Yuan, instructing him not to touch it, and activated the video function. On the other side was Fu Sheng in the waiting lounge. Fu Sheng stared at He Yuan for a few seconds before he softened his tone and asked if the food suited his taste, how much he wanted to eat today, and informed him when he would return. Finally, he asked why he wanted raw jade materials.

He Yuan couldn’t be bothered to answer.

Fu Sheng wasn’t annoyed either and focused on his work in the lounge. He had plenty of time and patience to deal with He Yuan, and he was the one seeking help, so the one in a hurry to compromise would be him.

As expected, He Yuan spoke first, “I want to go back to the school.”

Fu Sheng replied, “You voluntarily resigned, and your position has been filled by someone else. It’s highly unlikely you can go back now.”

“Any school will do, whether it’s a geology professor or an information security professor, as long as I can interact with the outside world,” He Yuan said.

“Not possible right now,” Fu Sheng responded.

He Yuan remained silent for a long time before saying, “Besides books and computer tools, there’s nothing particularly special in the study. I’m used to buying some stones and studying geology every once in a while.”

That was true. Even when He Yuan didn’t go on business trips, he would bring back some special stones to the study, research them, and then take them to the school to let the students learn. Since they didn’t stay in the apartment for long, Fu Sheng didn’t put any raw jade materials in the room when he replicated the Huashang apartment.

Fu Sheng scrutinised He Yuan intently, but He Yuan kept his eyes down, remaining silent. After being confined to the room for several months without exposure to sunlight or seeing strangers, his face showed a sense of detachment, pale and fragile.

System: If chu would like to support System, chu can consider leaving your System kofi at https://ko-fi.com/systemyaoi

Please note: System kindly requests you to read all of her translations exclusively on Second Life Translations. Posting her works on any other website is not authorised by System.