PM Chapter 19

最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶

Chapter 19

　　This alpha was named Zheng Feiyi, Zheng Feiluan’s biological older brother.

The two brothers looked strikingly alike, and their heights were nearly identical. By all logic, they should have shared a cordial, brotherly relationship—but from Jiusheng’s boardroom down to the office pantry, everyone knew they were at odds.

Because Jiusheng could have only one heir. And unfortunately, they were both alphas.

Before Zheng Feiluan was born, Zheng Feiyi had once been the family’s favored only child: an alpha boy with pheromone level 7, not top-tier, but among the heirs of the major families, none could rival him. Everyone in his family secretly expected him to inherit Jiusheng, and his father showered him with excessive attention.

Then, just as he was growing up surrounded by admiration and indulgence, his omega father became pregnant again.

Zheng Feiyi had hoped for a sweet, soft omega little sister, or at least a well-behaved beta one. What he got instead was another alpha brother—just like himself. Excitement and panic surged through him at the same time.

What would his brother’s pheromone level be? Would it surpass level 7?

No. That would be too much of a coincidence.

He believed this firmly—until the day after Zheng Feiluan was born.

That day, a pheromone assessment report was delivered to Old Man Zheng. Zheng Feiyi still remembered his father’s unrestrained ecstasy. That naked joy felt like a savage fist, smashing straight into his young heart.

Terrified, sensing that the world was about to change, he secretly opened the report while his father was away.

Pheromone Type: Alpha 482
Concentration: L9

He rubbed his eyes uselessly, staring again and again at that horrifying number—9.

Overnight, the late-born alpha brother, carrying a rare, top-tier pheromone concentration, seized everything Zheng Feiyi already had—and everything he was supposed to have in the future.

In a world governed by survival of the fittest, pheromones were an alpha’s most lethal weapon. For heirs of powerful families, their importance was unquestionable. When two alphas with equal authority and decision-making power sat across a negotiation table, the one with lower concentration would always be suppressed by the stronger one.

Level 9 pheromones were prominent enough for an alpha to dominate for life.

At Zheng Feiluan’s one-month celebration, Old Man Zheng publicly announced the good news. Once the news spread, no one doubted Jiusheng’s future anymore—and naturally, no one continued to regard the eldest son as the heir.

Zheng Feiyi plummeted from the clouds into the mud.

He lost most of the attention and affection he once had. Only his omega father continued to love him like before.

After he came of age, Old Man Zheng still reserved him a position at Jiusheng, allowing him to gain experience. But in comparison to an alpha’s ambition, those resources were pitiful—more like charity given out of fatherly affection.

One arrow can’t make you a great archer, and ten troops can’t make you a great general. His father’s intent was crystal clear to Zheng Feiyi. If he ever decided to leave on his own, his father wouldn’t stop him. He would just give Zheng Feiyi’s share to Zheng Feiluan.

But Zheng Feiyi didn’t want to exit the stage like that.

He had tried everything to safeguard himself, including leaning on his omega father for comfort, secretly strengthening his own power, and—most importantly—

The power behind the jade pendant.

⋮

“Why do you have the birthday gift I gave Qin Xuan?” Zheng Feiluan stood up and hit his hands on the desk, his voice cold.

“Why?”

Zheng Feiyi scoffed. When he flicked his wrist, the broken pendant made a sharp clink sound as it flew through the air and hit the table hard. It almost slid off the edge from the impact.

“She’s barely in her twenties. She chose to confess to you on her birthday. And you—what kind of bullshit did you say to her? Don’t tell me you don’t remember!”

“Confess?” Zheng Feiluan asked in a stunned voice.

Qin Xuan… confessed to him?

The Zheng and Qin families had been friends for a long time. In this generation, the Zhengs had only Feiyi and Feiluan—two alpha boys and no omegas. On the other hand, Qin Xuan, the only omega daughter in the Qin family, was nurtured like a pearl hidden in a shell. She was a private person who made rare public appearances and who only paid the Zhengs an occasional visit with her parents.

Qin Xuan turned twenty-two years old last weekend. She asked Zheng Feiluan to dinner by themselves. Out of courtesy, he gave her a jade pendant as a birthday present.

Not only did that pendant change hands inexplicably today, but it had also been broken to bits.

It was even stranger that he had no memory of the so-called confession at all.

Zheng Feiyi stood at the doorway and studied him intently, trying to pick up any clues from his confused look. His lips slowly curled into a smile after a long time.

“You really don’t remember?” he asked gently. “What about the rest, then? Like, did you forget that you told her to stop having stupid fantasies because you were married and had a daughter who was almost a year old?”

A daughter who’s almost a year old?!

It was as if lightning had struck Zheng Feiluan. His pupils contracted violently, and he had to will himself to keep a straight face.

“…Or how she broke the pendant right in front of you.” Zheng Feiyi went on, speaking slowly and carefully, “And you didn’t say anything to make her feel better. You turned around and left her alone in the restaurant—no bill paid, no ride booked. In the end, the Qin family had to send someone to take her home.”

He spoke steadily and carefully, observing Zheng Feiluan’s expressions the whole while.

Zheng Feiluan looked back at him in silence. His dark eyes were like a well without light, hiding many violent feelings underneath.

He couldn’t argue against it.

He didn’t remember what his brother talked about, but he knew it was probably true.

After driving He An out of Yuanjiang, his mate-seeking disorder wasn’t getting better like he thought it would. It had only kept getting worse. At least he could check in with Cheng Xiu about his whereabouts before. Now Cheng Xiu was fired, and he refused to disclose his true mental state to the new assistant.

Even to himself, he often couldn’t explain where his nights had disappeared, leaving him totally distraught.

He was hoping that pheromone suppressants would work.

They didn’t work much.

Zheng Feiluan drooped his head, secretly reliving his memories for a few seconds—and instantly realized that a significant portion of Saturday night was actually missing.

He didn’t remember Qin Xuan confessing.
He didn’t remember what they discussed after dinner.
He didn’t even remember when he paid the bill or when he left.

The memory abruptly ended at a vaguely intimate scene—chilling in retrospect.

They had just brought out the dessert. Sitting across from him, Qin Xuan appeared to be gathering her confidence to say something important; her cheeks were flushed, her posture was shy, and her fingers nervously touched the silver chain of the necklace.

After that…

Nothing.

A big, empty space.

⋮

“As far as I know, you’ve always been calm in public. You’re still polite, even when you’re upset. When Qin Xuan came crying and accusing you of being rude and inconsiderate, I honestly didn’t believe her.”

Zheng Feiyi paused.

“But there’s something else I’m more concerned about. You claimed to be married. You mentioned having a daughter. What exactly did that mean?”

Zheng Feiluan’s breath stopped. A knot tightened inside him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hm?”

“I’m not married. And I don’t have a daughter who’s almost a year old. That night, I had something important to do, so I had to go right away. You know how Qin Xuan is. I was afraid that a few words wouldn’t be enough to calm her down. Uncle Qin spoiled her a lot. She won’t let go unless you give her a good reason.”

He stopped, then went on calmly, “I was wrong in this case. I’ll personally visit Uncle Qin to apologize. Thank you for your concern, Gege.¹Term for older brother.”

He sounded sincere and direct, and his simple answer made perfect sense.

But Zheng Feiyi was naturally meticulous and noticed a hole in the logic right away. Just as he was ready to dig deeper, an immense alpha pheromone erupted, breaking his concentration.

In conflicts between the brothers, he was always at a disadvantage.

The situation hit a dead end, forcing Zheng Feiyi to stop talking about Qin Xuan.

“I have something else to tell you,” he said. “Bad news. Your performance lately has been really disappointing, and it’s already sparked a lot of outrage. The Board of Directors all agrees that your management skills need to be assessed again so that Jiusheng doesn’t get hurt any more.”

He added, “There will be an emergency shareholders’ meeting on Friday. Father will be there. I’ve heard that he might not be able to protect you, even if he wants to.”

A glare formed in his eye.

“When you sit in a position of authority, you accept its duties. You don’t get to be careless with the power you hold. You’d better look after yourself.”

“I get it.” Zheng Feiluan spoke with a furrowed brow, “Anything else?”

“Nope. Have a great Monday.”

Zheng Feiyi smirked at him, then turned around and left the office, shutting the door behind him.

⋮

Only after a long time did Zheng Feiluan’s shoulders loosen up.

He reached for the jade pendant. The silver plating felt dreadfully cold, like a slab of ice radiating chill, making it practically hard to hold. He forcefully pulled out a drawer and tossed it inside.

The fifty-fifth floor was full of light. A ray of gentle, warm sunlight filtered across the porcelain vase. Over a dozen lily of the valley blossoms had emerged among broad leaves, their white petals slightly transparent with moisture.

He went to touch them, but he pulled out one by mistake.

Small. Thin.

It lay against the dark wood grain, like a lonely child.

That child, whom he’d never met…

Is she really almost a year old?

When was she born?

Was it one of those snowy days late last year?

On that day—the windshield was hit by erratic white flakes. The wipers moved at top speed, pushing the collected frozen snow to the sides but never clearing it all away.

Dusk.
Dim light.
A cramped, closed room.
Sheets stained with blood.

That was everything he remembered.

⋮

His phone buzzed.

Zheng Feiluan took it out. The screen was successively bombarded with three new messages:

Current residence: Olive Inn, No. 26 Luotan Town, Luotan Mountain
Business license representative: Dai Xiao, 28 years old, Alpha
Recent photo: [Image]

His face turned pale as his body stiffened up. He wanted to delete it right from the home screen, but his fingers shook and opened the message instead.

And saw the photo.

An early morning scene in a small, old town. Dawn light scattered, forming hazy hexagonal flares. On a stone bridge, a slim young man stood with his back turned, carrying a baby with a small ponytail springing straight up. A chubby white arm was sticking out—plump and pale, like egg tofu.

Is this… my daughter?

What’s her name? Who does she look like?

Does she know how to say “Dad” yet?

When she calls out “Dad”—does it sound nice?

⋮

As these thoughts emerged, Zheng Feiluan’s expression became motionless.

Softly, he closed his eyes and let out a long breath. By the time he opened them again, his eyes had lost every trace of the warmth.

He would have a daughter one day.

But not this one.

This one was born secretly by her twisted biological father in violation of their agreement, motivated by a malicious desire. Unwanted. Unacknowledged.

She shouldn’t even be alive.

Zheng Feiluan deleted the photo without showing any emotion. He couldn’t help but stare at a familiar number at the top of the screen.

He had no idea who owned it. He only knew that the person was a private investigator and that he had been in touch with them for almost a week, at least when he was having episodes of his mate-seeking disorder.

He consistently received an investigation report every morning.

He would block the phone number.

And the next day, it would be back on his whitelist, like an inoperable tumor.

He continued scrolling down. There were five complete pages’ worth of chat history from last night. He had pushed the investigator to work faster in a way that sounded like a threat, even offering to pay a lot more.

Once he was sober, he couldn’t remember any of it.

There was nothing he could do but delete and block the number again.

⋮

Slowly but surely, things were getting out of hand.

He was already being watched closely by the Board of Directors. The chair he sat in became increasingly unsteady by the day. Someone else might really own this office by Friday if he couldn’t fix the issue immediately.

After exhausting all other options, Zheng Feiluan looked through his contacts, selected a number named “Jiang Qi,” and sent a single message:

Tonight at 9 o’clock. Wait for me in the clinic.

✕✕✕

Translated and edited by janemoyu (12/23/25)

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  Term for older brother.