He suddenly froze, standing dazed in front of the mirror with the syringe in hand.
In the past three years, the times he had been with Yan Yi were few and far between. His mating cycles… had all been barely endured with the help of suppressants?
He had never realized.
In an instant, he recalled the needle marks on Yan Yi’s forearm—old and new overlapping. From long-term injections, the skin underneath had swollen into pale bluish lumps.
Lu Shangjin clenched the syringe in his hand, gathered all the carrot-labeled suppressants together, and tucked them back into the bedroom drawer.
He sat on the bed, back curled like a shrimp, hugging his head and scratching his scalp vigorously.
Had his attitude toward Yan Yi just now been too harsh again?
Yes. It must have been because of the mating urge—he couldn’t resolve the irritability of estrus, yet couldn’t control it either.
——
Meanwhile, Yan Yi waited until he hung up. Returning to the bar’s main hall, he perched on a high stool, rubbing his temples. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
Xia Jingtian held the mint tea, warmed by his palm. “Do you know rabbits can have false pregnancies?”
“False pregnancy?” Yan Yi froze.
He hadn’t expected the boy to bring it up so suddenly.
“It’s when a rabbit omega, after being touched unconsciously on the back, can show signs of a false pregnancy. Within three days, the lower abdomen swells. If you count back three days from the day you told me you were pregnant… that was when I went to the hospital to see you,” Xia Jingtian explained, forcing himself to keep calm. “I really didn’t mean it. I just saw you uncomfortable—I didn’t know rabbits could get false pregnancies.”
Yan Yi’s eyes widened. The phone slipped from his hand, hitting the floor with a sharp thud.
“But… the baby is moving…” He cupped his slightly rounded belly, fear and worry twisting his expression, then lifted his eyes, staring blankly at Xia Jingtian.
Xia Jingtian was at a loss under Yan Yi’s near-frantic gaze.
“…“
Yan Yi jumped off the stool and turned upstairs.
“Go to the hospital tomorrow. False pregnancies in rabbits can cause extremely serious physical harm. If you don’t believe me, just go get checked—treat it like a routine exam,” Xia Jingtian called after him, but Yan Yi’s distant look stopped him in his tracks.
“You’ve been driving so long. Rest early. Don’t worry about me. I’ll go to the hospital myself if needed.”
Yan Yi gently closed the bedroom door, leaning against it for a moment.
His body suddenly went limp. Sliding down the door slowly, he sat on the floor, burying his head in his arms.
“It was… with Jin-ge that day…” Yan Yi’s gray eyes gradually lost their light, yet he clung to a thread of hope, carefully recalling.
Recalling that rough night in the restaurant, the memory blurred more and more.
He bit his lip hard, leaving a ring of blood, hands gently touching his slightly swollen belly.
“False pregnancy?” Yan Yi buried his head in his arms, staring blankly.
——
At the same time, atop the crumbling bar’s brick roof, a tall spider alpha lay on his back, legs crossed. He scrolled through an encrypted file on his phone, a blurred photo of Yan Yi pinned in the top corner.
Shao Wenjing rested his head on his hand, leisurely watching the screen, fingers gliding downward. Below the file was a description of the lop-eared rabbit’s A3 glands and a black-market valuation.
“Look at what I accidentally stumbled upon.” Shao Wenjing curled the corners of his lips, a mischievous glint in his almond-shaped eyes.
“A false pregnancy, of all things… poor little rabbit, tsk.”