What Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi didn’t know was that less than three minutes after they left the Peninsula Hotel,
the front desk girl, cheeks flushed, crouched in the restroom, excitedly sharing gossip with her boyfriend on her phone:
[Xi-dian forever:] “Oh my god! Just now Li Xi was having a candlelit dinner here with a ridiculously tall and handsome Alpha!”
[A-world celebrity:] “So your godly filter broke, huh?”
[Xi-dian forever:] “My Xi-dian’s taste is impeccable! That Alpha was so hot my legs went weak!”
[A-world celebrity:] “Pfft, pretty boy.”
[Xi-dian forever:] “That Alpha paid the bill!!!”
…
The next day, the marriage registration went smoothly.
Li Xi led Ying Zhiyu through a private passage, and in under ten minutes, all procedures at the civil affairs office were completed.
Each held a marriage certificate stamped in red. Next came the wedding preparations.
Ying Zhiyu didn’t need to worry about any of it; everything was handled by the Li family’s top-tier wedding planning team.
After rounds of meticulous measurements, fittings for wedding attire, trying on rings, brooches, cufflinks, watches, and other accessories,
on September 2—the day after Ying Zhiyu officially began his doctoral studies—their wedding arrived.
Two months was a short preparation period, especially for a global top-tier super-rich family like the Lis.
Two months ago, Li Xi had taken Ying Zhiyu from a private room in the Peninsula Hotel. Several executives from Qianqiu Shengshi Biopharma had witnessed it.
Later, Xu Suxiao even inquired through Li Yue whether Li Xi needed strict secrecy.
Li Xi, having just registered the marriage, replied simply: “I don’t want anyone curious about the name ‘Ying Zhiyu.’”
That was his way of saying: keep it confidential.
Yet, in less than two months, the Li family’s wedding invitation reached Xu Suxiao.
Only then did he realize: Li Xi wasn’t keeping the relationship with that young Alpha secret.
He was simply protecting the Alpha from unwanted attention.
At the same time, as encrypted invitations reached society’s elite, rumors began circulating in the capital’s high society: the Li family’s Omega third heir might have married because of a pregnancy!
Of course, these rumors had nothing to do with Ying Zhiyu or Li Xi.
Due to security concerns abroad, the wedding was held at the Li family’s mountainside estate in the capital.
Li Xi had full authority over the guest list, coordinated through the Li family’s PR committee.
During preparations, Li Xi asked Ying Zhiyu about his parents and sister—how they should be handled.
Such a wedding wasn’t so much a celebration of the couple as it was a PR showcase for the top-tier Li family.
It was a public announcement: finally, the Li family’s sole Omega heir was marrying. Any worries, flattery, seduction, or schemes regarding his gender ended here.
Ying Zhiyu didn’t hesitate. “No need to invite them.”
Li Xi had asked him over the phone and said nothing.
Ying Zhiyu explained: “They wouldn’t handle this kind of occasion well. I don’t want to scare them.”
And he didn’t want them to worry.
He didn’t say the last part aloud: besides pheromone compatibility, marriage also required social parity.
The social gap between Li Xi and Ying Zhiyu was enormous. The one perched above was the Omega; the one below, the Alpha.
Such a union almost went against the natural tendencies of AO genders.
Li Xi remained silent on the phone.
Ying Zhiyu paused, then said, “Let’s wait until after we’ve been married a little longer, once things are stable, then we’ll tell them.”
Li Xi finally conceded to Ying Zhiyu’s reasoning.
The night before the wedding, Ying Zhiyu went home briefly.
He had spent most of the summer at school, so returning home right at the start of the term wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
At 4:50 a.m. on the day of the wedding, Li Xi’s driver picked up Ying Zhiyu from his family’s little bun shop.
Ying Zhiyu paused as he got in. “Li… you came?”
After registering their marriage, Ying Zhiyu had started addressing Li Xi as “Mr. Li.”
Li Xi sat expressionless in the backseat. “Thought you were running away from the wedding.”
Ying Zhiyu: “…”
Li Xi could even be darkly humorous?
It was too early, and Ying Zhiyu carried two buns his mother had packed for him. He handed one to Li Xi.
The bun was huge, almost the size of Ying Zhiyu’s entire hand. “We’ll be busy all day—eat this first.”
Li Xi, handed this oversized bun, paused.
Under Ying Zhiyu’s sparkling, expectant gaze, he could do nothing but lower his head and take a bite.
“How is it?” Ying Zhiyu asked.
Li Xi: “…Generous filling.”
Ying Zhiyu explained that his mother had made it especially early that morning, knowing he would leave for the day.
“Custom-made. I’m a pure meat eater, so the skin’s thin—mostly filling.”
The bun was just a juicy meat bun, delicious but not particularly exotic for Li Xi, who had grown up rarely tasting delicacies.
Yet Ying Zhiyu didn’t even eat buns himself, just watched him with bright, eager eyes.
Under the Alpha’s intense gaze, Li Xi bit again, chewing somewhat awkwardly.
In a flash, a thought crossed the smart mind of the Third Prince:
The Li family’s mountainside estate and Ying Zhiyu’s bun shop were at opposite ends of the capital.
He wasn’t supposed to tell his parents about the marriage, yet he returned home the night before, mysteriously handing over a bun and watching expectantly.
Li Xi discreetly glanced at the unusually large bun. Was something hidden inside…?
He paused mid-bite, then carefully finished the “giant” custom bun, one bite at a time.
Li Xi: “…”
Inside, it was just meat—nothing else.
Though he didn’t look disappointed, the brief freeze in his eyes while holding the empty bun bag said it all.
Ying Zhiyu understood and smiled. “Even if I spent all my savings on a single ring, you still couldn’t take it out.”
Their wedding rings had long been chosen: a pair for daily wear and another for the reception.
Li Xi’s reception ring alone featured a single blue diamond worth over 100 million yuan.
Even the daily rings were simple single-crystal osmium, costing millions just for materials and craftsmanship.
Far beyond the means of the now-student Ying Zhiyu.
The Alpha remained calm, stating facts, while Li Xi stiffly replied, “Oh.”
Ying Zhiyu found it amusing.
Since the last phone call, when Ying Zhiyu said not to tell his family about the marriage yet, Li Xi had been quietly holding back his feelings.
In the previous lifetime, Li Xi never even asked about Ying Zhiyu’s family at their wedding.
Somehow, in this life, things seemed to have subtly changed.
“But I do have something for you.”
Ying Zhiyu produced a small crystal bottle containing golden liquid.
He gestured for Li Xi to take it.
Li Xi looked at him, opened his palm, and the bottle was placed in his hand.
A tiny bottle, no bigger than his palm, with a peculiar wooden stopper. On it was engraved:
20XX/07/08
He looked at Ying Zhiyu.
Ying Zhiyu raised an eyebrow. “Open it and smell.”
Li Xi followed instructions, uncorked the stopper, and brought it close.
Was it the same botrytized sweet white from the Peninsula Hotel?
No—it wasn’t wine.
“I begged my sister for half a month, rushing to replicate the scent. Does it smell right?”
That night, the 2001 Dripping Gold Winery botrytized sweet white wasn’t finished, but Ying Zhiyu had taken it with him.
“My sister is a perfumer. You’ve probably checked. Consider this a memento of our first date. Are you satisfied?”
The stopper was clearly from that same bottle of botrytized wine.
Li Xi replaced it in the perfume bottle silently.
His lips curved slightly, then he pressed them flat again.
Ying Zhiyu said, “The buns were steamed by my parents, the perfume made by my sister. Consider it their blessing for our marriage.”