If you take wedding leave, you’re supposed to go on your honeymoon.
Yingshiyu had gone through the three travel plans Zhang Jingrui sent him. He didn’t tell Lixi which one he chose—just the departure date and the days Lixi needed to keep free.
The day before the trip, Yingshiyu went home.
This time, he didn’t bring Lixi along. He stayed the night, then returned to Lixi’s penthouse downtown with a small suitcase in tow.
Because Ying Zhiyu refused to tell Li Xi in advance where they were going, all of Li Xi’s luggage ended up being packed by the housekeepers Zhou Shen arranged.
Li Xi stood by and watched for a bit, and he more or less guessed that wherever Ying Zhiyu picked must require some kind of local clothing…
Or maybe the shopping there was great?
Otherwise, why would the housekeepers pack his suitcase without a single piece of his own clothing?
When Ying Zhiyu finally returned dragging his own suitcase, he opened it, pulled out half a case of clothes, and stuffed them into Li Xi’s arms for him to try on.
Li Xi: “…”
Ying Zhiyu: “I’ve worn all of these before. I asked the stylist—you don’t like ‘new’ clothes, so try these and see if they feel comfortable.”
Li Xi was pushed into the walk-in closet.
When he came out wearing Ying Zhiyu’s old clothes, Ying Zhiyu—still packing—looked up and laughed.
“Even three-for-a-hundred-yuan clothes look like they’re worth a fortune once the great Director Li puts them on.”
Because he was wearing Ying Zhiyu’s clothes, Li Xi felt a little awkward.
He lowered his head, looked at the outfit on himself, and asked, “Why do I have to wear your clothes?”
As soon as he asked, he bit his lip—worried the Alpha might tease him again about that day he wore his shirt.
But Ying Zhiyu didn’t. Instead, he stood and walked up to Li Xi, circling him as if admiring artwork.
“Your wardrobe is too high-end. It won’t fit in with where we’re going.”
After they finished packing, Ying Zhiyu loaded the suitcases into the car.
He didn’t call for a driver today. He got into the driver’s seat himself.
Li Xi took the passenger seat.
After they’d driven twenty or thirty minutes out of the city center, Li Xi turned his head. “This isn’t the way to the airport.”
Eyes on the road, Ying Zhiyu hummed in acknowledgment. “Afternoon flight. We’re stopping somewhere first.”
Another ten or twenty minutes later, Li Xi had already guessed where the Alpha was headed.
He stopped asking and sat quietly.
Once they arrived, Ying Zhiyu parked. Panda and the security team waited in their car near the parking-lot exit, but no one got out.
First, Ying Zhiyu took Li Xi to buy a bouquet of lilies. On the way back, he asked if Li Xi wanted to hold them himself.
Li Xi shook his head. “You bought them. You hold them.”
So Ying Zhiyu held the bouquet in one arm, and with the other, he held out his hand.
Li Xi looked at it for two seconds, then placed his hand in his.
Hand in hand, Ying Zhiyu led him to a solitary grave halfway up the hill. On the headstone, carved with exquisite shadow-engraving skill, was the black-and-white portrait of a beautiful woman—
Li Xi’s Omega mother, Gan Ruyuan.
The Li family had a massive private burial plot in the capital’s Anxi Cemetery; generations of Lis were buried there.
But Gan Ruyuan’s grave was not within that family plot.
“Li Songqian probably knows too—she wouldn’t want to be buried with them.”
Standing before the headstone, Li Xi no longer called Li Songqian “Dad.”
Ying Zhiyu didn’t judge the previous generation. He wasn’t there; the tangled love and resentment weren’t his place to comment on.
He simply bent down, placed the white lilies before the grave, then crouched, picked up a fallen leaf, lit incense, closed his eyes, and paid his respects.
Li Xi lowered his gaze, watching the Alpha’s steady movements.
No wonder Ying Zhiyu had told him to change into black before going out.
No wonder he’d brought fruit.
No wonder they had an afternoon flight but needed to leave in the morning.
“Mom, don’t worry. Your son’s doing great now—rich, powerful, thriving in his career, and he even found a young, handsome Alpha.”
The Alpha’s smooth, natural “Mom” cut straight into Li Xi’s thoughts.
Hands clasped, Ying Zhiyu continued, “I don’t make as much as he does; he gives me pocket money. The kids will take his last name. If he gets tired of me, he’ll be the one kicking me out.”
Li Xi: “…”
Ying Zhiyu opened his eyes and held out his hand.
Li Xi hesitated, then stepped forward.
Ying Zhiyu pulled him close so they could kneel together.
“Look at your son—broad shoulders, narrow waist, eight-pack abs. No one can bully him. I’m not even a match for—”
His palm suddenly stung—Li Xi had twisted hard.
Ying Zhiyu cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Li Yue is healthy and beautiful too. Your kids are both doing great. Rest easy.”
On the drive back, Li Xi kept glancing at him.
Still driving, Ying Zhiyu asked, “What is it?”
Li Xi stared at the Alpha’s sharp, impossibly handsome profile. “You’re the only Alpha son in your family. And the kids are taking my last name?”
Ying Zhiyu raised a brow. “Didn’t the prenup specify that?”
Not only the surname—it also stated that if they divorced, full custody of all children would automatically go to the Omega.
“Then you…” Li Xi pressed his lips together, about to ask something, but turned to look out the window. “Never mind.”
He caught himself before asking what the Alpha truly thought. It was pointless—Li family descendants would always be Lis.
But it seemed Ying Zhiyu knew what he wanted to ask.
Still focused on the road, his tone was light and effortless.
“Of course they’ll be Lis. We’re talking billions in assets—if they don’t take your name, how are they supposed to fight for their inheritance?”
Li Xi: “…”
—
Because someone talked nonsense all the way down the mountain, Li Xi didn’t even get the chance to feel sad.
They didn’t return home. Instead, they headed straight to the airport.
When they picked up their tickets, Ying Zhiyu explained, “A private jet is too flashy. I’ll have to trouble Director Li to fly first class this time.”
Li Xi shot him a look.
The longer they spent together, the more he realized the Alpha wasn’t nearly as cold and serious as he appeared.
His mouth could be downright snarky.
On the plane, Li Xi took a nap.
He could’ve slept in the VIP lounge, but the Alpha—determined to keep their destination secret—had shoved noise-canceling headphones onto him, blasting death metal at full volume.
When Li Xi regained awareness, he felt fingers brushing his eyelashes.
“We landed?” he asked, eyes opening.
Ying Zhiyu rubbed his thumb and asked curiously, “Director Li doesn’t have morning temper, huh?”
Same as that time he’d pushed him awake in the middle of the night…
Whenever Li Xi woke up, he always asked a question first, never snapped.
Li Xi paused.
He honestly didn’t know if he had morning temper.
No one had ever woken him up so closely before.
After getting off the plane, there was no point in hiding the destination.
Li Xi saw the name of the airport and froze.
An hour and a half taxi ride later—after he paid the driver double for the round trip—they arrived.
Li Xi stepped out of the cab and stood still for a long moment.
“Why would you pick this place?”
Yaocheng.
Called a “city,” but it was really a county town.
His mother Gan Ruyuan’s hometown.
Dragging their suitcases, Ying Zhiyu explained while walking, “All those private-island, private-beach, private-hotel packages—we’ll have plenty of time to do all that later. For now, we should visit Auntie’s hometown first.”
He led Li Xi into an old residential courtyard.
Up a set of stairs to the second floor, he pulled out a key and unlocked the door.
Before entering, Ying Zhiyu looked back. “Have you ever been here?”
Li Xi studied the surroundings and shook his head carefully.
Ying Zhiyu sighed. “…You’re really not afraid I might sell you off somewhere?”
Li Xi: “Isn’t Panda following us?”
He didn’t know where this was, but his counter-surveillance instincts were sharp. Panda and the guards had tailed their taxi the whole way; it wasn’t like he didn’t notice.
Ying Zhiyu: “…”
Right. Hard to “sell” the Li family’s third young master.
Inside, the place was clearly long vacant—no signs of daily life.
But judging from how neat it was, someone had just cleaned it thoroughly.
“This place is…” Li Xi looked around, his chest tightening. “How do you have the key?”
Ying Zhiyu knew Li Xi had guessed.
He lifted a brow. “If I remember right, your properties are all under joint residential rights during our marriage.”
This was Gan Ruyuan’s family home.
He had seen it listed in the prenup’s asset inventory.
Pushing the suitcase inside, Ying Zhiyu added, “I asked Steward Zhou for the key. Also had him send someone to clean ahead of time.”
After showing Li Xi around every room, Ying Zhiyu asked, “Is it okay if we stay here a few days? Or do you want a five-star hotel?”
Li Xi glanced at him again—this man was clearly asking just for show.
He didn’t answer, just squeezed Ying Zhiyu’s hand tightly.
Li Xi’s maternal grandparents were still alive. He sent money to them every month, though they’d never met.
Gan Ruyuan’s death had devastated them. They knew their daughter’s marriage had been miserable, but they had been powerless to help.
So after her passing, they refused Li Songqian’s support and stayed in Yaocheng, though they moved to a different home.
“We’ll rest here tonight,” Ying Zhiyu said. “Tomorrow, we’ll visit your grandparents.”
Alpha was just like that—whether it was calling Li Songqian “Dad” on the second day of the wedding, naturally saying “Mom” in front of a tombstone, or using “Grandpa” and “Grandma,” titles even Li Xi had never said before.
Ying Zhiyu was always calm, never humble or arrogant, completely at ease—as if those elders truly were his own parents and grandparents.
That night, after they finished unpacking, Alpha picked a decent-looking chain-style dine-in restaurant and ordered takeout.
After dinner, he asked Li Xi if he wanted to go out for a walk to digest.
Li Xi’s answer was to drag Alpha straight into the room.
The old wooden bed squeaked under the strain, over and over, all the way into the second half of the night.