After breakfast came the tea ceremony.
On the second day of marriage, the newlyweds had to offer tea to their elders.
The Li family tree was huge and sprawling—not only Li Songqian counted as Li Xi’s elder.
But the direct line of inheritance going back centuries consisted only of Li Songqian’s branch. Even if other distant relatives in the ancestor generation were still alive, none had the standing to receive Li Xi’s kneeling bow.
With the autumn weather cooling, the butler Zhou Shen had prepared top-grade Jin Junmei black tea—perfect for the festive mood and symbolizing good fortune.
Ying Zhiyu knelt with the teacup and crisply greeted, “Dad.”
Li Xi turned and looked at him when he heard the new form of address.
Ying Zhiyu switched to calling him “Dad” without the slightest hesitation—after all, he’d called him that for eleven years in their previous life.
Li Songqian accepted the tea, took a sip, and with a grand gesture rewarded them with three luxury penthouses in the heart of the capital—each worth over a hundred million.
The units were directly beneath the one Li Xi had lived in before the marriage—three consecutive floors. Meaning, from now on, the four stories above Li Xi’s place would belong solely to them; no outsiders could access that area.
After finishing the tea ceremony, Li Songqian simply left for work, heading straight to the helipad to take the helicopter out.
At exactly nine in the morning, butler Zhou Shen led a stern-faced Alpha into the estate.
Li Xi brought Ying Zhiyu to the study to meet him.
Li Xi began the introduction: “This is Pan Muqiao, the CSO of our family office’s Security Division. Uncle Pan.”
Using “Uncle Pan” wasn’t accidental—it set the tone immediately.
Ying Zhiyu was just a married-in son-in-law; there was no need to introduce him to core members of the family office, much less someone in such a critical role.
But by having him call Pan Muqiao “uncle,” Li Xi was deliberately shortening the distance between them.
It was also a signal to Pan Muqiao to treat Ying Zhiyu as a true member of the Li family.
Ying Zhiyu followed his lead politely. “Hello, Uncle Pan. I’m Ying Zhiyu.”
Pan Muqiao nodded, concise as ever. “Pan Muqiao.”
He had once been commander of the capital’s Special Operations Unit, now the chief security officer of the Li family office.
Whether due to his military background or sheer discipline, even past sixty, he looked nothing like an old man—the sharp features and upright posture radiated a natural, intimidating presence.
He was also the father of Pan Da, Li Xi’s personal bodyguard.
Pan Da had been a late-life child—born when Pan Muqiao was already in his forties.
The CSO position carried immense authority within the Li family office, and with Pan Da later serving as Li Xi’s personal bodyguard, many took it as a sign of Li Songqian favoring his Omega third son.
For example, during the earlier incident when Li Xi investigated Ying Zhiyu—even Li Songqian didn’t know about it beforehand.
Pan Da had used his father’s connections to bypass the family office and contact a private investigator they often worked with.
Though the final investigation results seemed incomplete, it was also possible the subject simply hid his tracks extremely well.
Well… his IQ was 140, after all.
Li Xi had brought Pan Muqiao today partly to have him familiarize himself with Ying Zhiyu and arrange specialized training for him—counter-surveillance, anti-tracking, electronic bug sweeps, all the basics he would need to protect himself.
The second purpose was to brief them on the traffic-attack incident near Capital University two months ago.
Because at the time of the attack, Ying Zhiyu had been with Li Xi.
Li Xi had specifically chosen this timing so the report would be delivered in Ying Zhiyu’s presence.
As it turned out, one of the Alphas on Li Xi’s security team had leaked his movements.
And that Alpha just happened to be the driver of the Mercedes S-class that day.
Li Xi had immediately narrowed down the suspects when the attack happened.
His trip to the biomedical university that afternoon had been completely private and decided last minute—no one knew in advance.
But an ambush required preparation time, and the sniper had clearly set up beforehand on a tall building along their route.
The lead car and the rear escort only received the order to head for the registry office after Li Xi left the university—barely enough time to react. Their suspicion level was low.
That left only Ying Zhiyu, Pan Da, and the Alpha driving the Mercedes.
There was no way Ying Zhiyu, however smart, could predict when Li Xi would suddenly show up to find him.
So eliminating him as the leak, and knowing Li Xi trusted Pan Da completely, the driver was the most suspicious—especially since he failed to notice the abnormal movements of the car behind them.
That was why, during that split second of decision, Li Xi assigned Pan Da to protect Ying Zhiyu and kept the risk on his own side.
And Pan Da’s first instinctive reaction—to speak up—had been because he, too, distrusted the driver.
After hearing the full report, Ying Zhiyu fell into thought.
That Li Xi would bear the danger himself and prioritize his safety—that didn’t surprise him at all.
That was who Li Xi was.
Responsible, decisive, and sure of his own abilities.
But that also made Ying Zhiyu recall another detail from his previous life.
Back then, when Chairman Li Songqian fell gravely ill, Li Xi had increased Ying Zhiyu’s security significantly.
Someone like Li Xi—so meticulous and thorough—how could he fail to anticipate danger during such a turbulent period? And yet Ying Zhiyu still ended up kidnapped.
A sudden thought surfaced—
What if someone in the security team had betrayed him back then too?
At noon, Pan Muqiao didn’t stay for lunch.
Li Xi gave Pan Da half a day off to accompany his Alpha father home.
Once the wedding festivities ended, the Alphas of the family returned to work, and the younger generation who flew in from abroad rushed back to their universities.
After all the commotion, there were barely any family members left in the estate.
Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi didn’t bother going to the dining room either; they had the servants bring lunch to their room.
As they ate in the little dining area of the bedroom suite, Ying Zhiyu suddenly asked, “Are you feeling better?”
Omega heat cycles typically happened four times a year, each lasting seven to ten days.
Considering how intense things had gotten last night, the episode was probably suppressed for a while—but that wasn’t guaranteed.
If needed, he could always give Li Xi another temporary mark now.
“I’m fine,” Li Xi answered, then paused before clarifying, “…Last night was because I drank.”
He wasn’t usually that out of control.
Or that… starved.
Ying Zhiyu blinked and replied sweetly, “Mm. Since you drank for my sake, it’s only right I take responsibility for your health.”
“So… do we still need a temporary mark right now?”
Li Xi never tried to take credit, nor did he ever emphasize anything on purpose.
But when his eyes met the Alpha’s smiling gaze, for some reason his Adam’s apple bobbed. He dropped his eyes and changed his answer. “We can… do it tonight.”
Except—tonight didn’t go as planned.
After lunch, once Ying Zhiyu washed up and climbed into bed to catch a nap…
Two people with highly compatible pheromones lay together, and in the quiet bedroom their scents intertwined, silent and seamless.
No one could tell who touched whom first. The thin blanket slid off the bed and fell to the floor.
The white cashmere rug beneath them once again grew damp, just like the night before…