The moment the Alpha spoke, Li Xi’s fingers tightened around Ying Zhiyu’s.
His eyes dark, unreadable, he looked at Ying Zhiyu, waiting for an explanation.
“Not yet,” Ying Zhiyu said directly.
In the past life, Ying Zhiyu had discovered that an Omega’s reproductive cavity was actually an emotional organ.
It constantly absorbed the host’s emotions, nourished by them, yet vulnerable to their harm.
After Li Xi had completed the lifelong mark with Ying Zhiyu, their lukewarm relationship meant that even after misunderstandings were cleared, Li Xi’s emotions had remained suppressed.
So all those years, they had no children.
Or perhaps… Ying Zhiyu’s eyes flickered downward.
They might have, but a pregnancy had naturally ended in miscarriage.
At the time, Ying Zhiyu had mistakenly believed Li Xi had terminated it himself… so he said nothing, pretending he hadn’t noticed.
This life, however, Ying Zhiyu knew Li Xi liked him.
Their relationship wasn’t distant or cold anymore.
Ying Zhiyu forced himself to stop thinking about the past life, patiently explaining:
“You just joined the board. You’ll have plans, and I haven’t even graduated yet. If a child were born now, neither of us would have time to take care of it.”
He regretted the night before, when he hadn’t held himself back.
Ying Zhiyu continued: “It’s my fault for not explaining earlier, for letting you complete the lifelong mark in this situation. Later, we’ll take precautions. In two years, when conditions are right, a child will be good for both us and them.”
Li Xi simply watched the young Alpha.
Whenever Ying Zhiyu had a goal, he could find all sorts of noble-sounding reasons.
He believed the Alpha when he said no family was behind him, that he wasn’t sent by anyone.
Yet Ying Zhiyu did have secrets.
Such a clever person, seeing a room full of young Alphas registering at the LI Pheromone Lab, could deduce the potential hidden factors behind that “win.”
He would likely also guess that Ying Zhiyu couldn’t escape it.
There’s no truly handsome Alpha who’s unaware, no truly intelligent Alpha who’s oblivious.
Only those who pretend not to know.
That’s why, the first time they met at the Biomedical University library, Ying Zhiyu had analyzed his suitability so thoroughly in the elevator.
Better to be proactive than passive…
Li Xi stared at the Alpha beside him, weighing and scrutinizing him.
Ying Zhiyu seemed to understand the meaning in Li Xi’s gaze. Skilled at reading people, he accepted the scrutiny calmly.
“We’re still young. You weren’t planning to get pregnant yet, right?”
Li Xi had initially married to advance his position in the LI Group board.
Marriage was a career tool, not a burden.
No need to rush the lifelong mark, no need to rush pregnancy—focus on your work, and don’t let me disrupt your pace.
Ying Zhiyu was gentle, calm, and reassuring, his gaze carrying the perfect touch of comfort.
After a moment, Li Xi finally looked away first.
“…The birth control pills are in the suitcase compartment.”
Ying Zhiyu smiled.
He had known it all along.
LI never publicly sold contraceptives, since the government wanted to maintain birth rates, and such pills were always said to be harmful to Omegas’ health.
But Ying Zhiyu knew very well that LI had been secretly developing these drugs in their labs.
Their technology had reduced side effects to a minimum.
He got up to retrieve the pills and came back with a cup of warm water ready.
Li Xi took them smoothly and swallowed.
Ying Zhiyu praised him: “Good boy, Xi Xi.”
“You better not be lying to me.”
Li Xi turned his head, avoiding the Alpha’s smiling face.
Rationally, he knew the timing wasn’t ideal.
If Ying Zhiyu hadn’t brought it up, he himself would have considered postponing pregnancy.
Even his own circle had advised that now wasn’t the right time.
Online, Omegas had mixed reactions to his marriage news. If a pregnancy happened now, extreme factions could react emotionally.
Li Xi didn’t care about the opinions of any extremists.
This was a necessary step; he wasn’t living to please anyone else’s idea of him.
He did need a child—he had just never been in a rush.
Ying Zhiyu smoothed Li Xi’s tense back. “Don’t doubt it. You’re right—this life, there won’t be anyone else. Only you.”
Seeing the Third Young Master unmoved, the Alpha tilted his head and kissed the tense side of Li Xi’s face.
Still enthusiastically praising him, he continued: “Xi Xi, you’re the smartest, most understanding, and most reasonable Omega in the world!”
Li Xi had just met his grandparents, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching.
Ying Zhiyu suggested they make handmade mooncakes as gifts for them.
He had pre-ordered all the ingredients and molds online.
“I bought ingredients for both snow skin and Cantonese mooncakes. One’s a safe bet, the other’s a challenge. Which do you want to try first, Mr. Li?”
Ying Zhiyu could make mooncakes himself, but since the gift was for Li Xi’s grandparents, it should come from Li Xi.
So he first suggested the simpler snow skin mooncakes.
For the Cantonese ones, he thought the elders might prefer traditional flavors and styles.
Li Xi, never one to back down from a challenge, would naturally choose the more difficult option if told which was harder.
Unsurprisingly, he answered: “The hard one.”
The Third Young Master couldn’t even distinguish which style was simpler—he just knew to take on the challenge.
Cantonese mooncakes required flour and later baking in an oven, which they had to buy quickly from a local appliance store thanks to Panda.
Ying Zhiyu handed Li Xi an apron and wore one himself.
When Li Xi still held his apron without putting it on, Ying Zhiyu asked, “Want me to help you?”
Li Xi wasn’t the type to wait for the Alpha to act first; he just frowned at the gray apron Ying Zhiyu was wearing. “Why is yours normal and mine like this?”
The white apron in Li Xi’s hands looked ordinary at first glance, but on closer inspection, its edges were trimmed with delicate lace.
Ying Zhiyu blinked. “Not pretty?”
It was a matching set from an online store, probably imagining a domestic Alpha–Omega cooking scenario, hence the lace on the white apron.
“Here, I’ll wear this one.”
Straightforward Ying Zhiyu actually thought the lace-trimmed apron was pretty.
He quickly removed his gray apron, tied the lace one on Li Xi, and put on the gray himself.
After changing, he even went to the old wardrobe mirror and spun around, seemingly admiring himself in the “lace princess-style” apron.
Li Xi: “…”
Watching the Alpha happily stride back into the living room, Li Xi felt a pang of self-consciousness—his earlier resistance to the lace apron now seemed overly fussy.
Ying Zhiyu’s hands were what first caught Li Xi’s attention.
The first time he saw the Alpha through a one-way glass wall, Li Xi had noticed Ying Zhiyu’s eyes immediately.
The second thing he noticed was his hands.
Height, body, and build could be enhanced with clothing, shoes, or gym work—but hands didn’t lie.
Ying Zhiyu’s fingers were long and slender, the flesh and bone perfectly proportioned, each little knuckle seeming just right.
Cool.
Sensual.
Whenever Ying Zhiyu used these hands to touch Li Xi—
Even in ways, positions, and motions Li Xi would have never agreed to before—he simply couldn’t refuse this pair of hands.
Now, the Alpha was using them to knead and press the soft dough mixed with syrup, lye water, and peanut oil…
When Ying Zhiyu noticed Li Xi staring without moving, he thought he was working too fast and Li Xi hadn’t kept up.
“Want me to show you again?” he asked.
Li Xi suddenly snapped back, his gaze flickering suspiciously before he turned away.
Ying Zhiyu: ?
Before he could react, Li Xi circled around the living room table that was temporarily serving as a workstation and walked straight up to him.
He stopped, raised his hands to hold both sides of the Alpha’s handsome face, tilted his head, and kissed him.
Ying Zhiyu instinctively wrapped his arms around Li Xi’s waist.
A long, lingering kiss ended.
Ying Zhiyu squinted, savoring it, but the next second, he caught a glimpse of himself reflected in Li Xi’s dark eyes.
Ying Zhiyu: “…”
The Third Young Master had flour all over his hands and was smearing it on his face—was this really accidental?
Li Xi belatedly realized what he had done.
He tried to wipe the flour off Ying Zhiyu’s face, but the more he wiped, the messier it became; in the end, Ying Zhiyu looked like a spotted cat.
Pretending to be serious, Ying Zhiyu said, “Xi Xi did that on purpose!”
Li Xi had a faint smile in his eyes, but hearing the Alpha’s accusation, the corners of his lips immediately tightened.
“Don’t call me Xi Xi,” he said softly. “I’m older than you.”
Li Xi was nearly seven years older. Being called by a nickname by a much younger Alpha carried a strange… mortifying feeling.
It made him feel like he was deliberately trying to look young in front of his Alpha.
Ying Zhiyu didn’t care. “It’s just a doubled nickname. If you like it, go ahead and call me that.”
“Then you should call me that too.”
Ying Zhiyu thought for a moment and suggested, “You call me Xi Xi, I call you Zhizhi? Yuyuyu? Hey, our names together would be Yuyuyu Xi Xi—like a priceless jade seal…”
The young Alpha was still letting his thoughts wander when a very soft voice said, “Zaizai.”
“Ah?” Ying Zhiyu blinked.
“Zhizhi Zaizai,” Li Xi continued softly.
Ying Zhiyu paused. “This is…?”
Li Xi lowered his eyes. “During Li Yue’s full-month celebration, before she had met Dad’s friend, there was a video being taken. Back then, Li Yue and I were still in our cribs—just drinking milk, pooping, crying, or sleeping.”
Gan Ruyuan had gently played with them, calling them “Zaizai” with her delicate fingers, as if she loved them dearly.
Ying Zhiyu understood immediately.
Li Xi wanted to tell him that he treasured and cherished him.
Ying Zhiyu’s throat tightened, and for a moment, his highly analytical brain went blank.
“Okay, then call me ‘Zaizai,’” he said softly, pulling Li Xi close. “I’m your Zhizhi Zaizai, Xi Xi’s Zhizhi Zaizai.”
Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi didn’t get to stay for their planned honeymoon in Yao City.
On the fifth evening after they arrived, Li Family’s head butler, Zhou Shen, called.
He told them that Li Qin’s Omega, Han Qiyu, had given birth.
On such an important day, the Li Family would certainly arrange press coverage and official announcements.
Li Xi, as a key member of the family’s middle generation, would draw attention if absent from photos.
The five-day honeymoon wasn’t long, but it seemed Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi had already more than fulfilled their private honeymoon duties.
It was time to return and face what awaited them.
Heading south through the capital’s Nancheng District, the Li Family’s semi-mountain villa sat at the foot of the hill, right next to the family’s large private hospital.
During her pregnancy, Han Qiyu had mostly rested in the villa. When labor started, she was quickly transferred to the family hospital.
Her ward was on a separate floor with tight security.
Even Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi had to pass multiple checks to visit.
But a recently delivered Omega shouldn’t meet outsiders, especially Alpha strangers, whose pheromones could disrupt the postpartum mother.
So while Li Xi went into the ward to see his brother-in-law Han Qiyu, Ying Zhiyu stayed in the living room and went to the nursery to see the newborn.
Looking through the glass at the tiny baby, Ying Zhiyu remembered the previous life.
Alpha and Omega differentiation usually occurs between 12–16 years old.
In his last life, Ying Zhiyu had seen this fourth child of Li Qin and Han Qiyu, but the child had died at age eleven, so he didn’t know whether the high-risk birth in this life would result in differentiation.
After seeing the newborn, Ying Zhiyu ran into Li Qin and Han Qiyu’s third daughter, Li Zhiyin, and gave her a small gift.
When Li Xi left the ward, he saw Ying Zhiyu handing the gift to Li Zhiyin.
On the way down from the obstetrics floor, Ying Zhiyu didn’t press the button for the underground parking but for the seventh floor instead.
Li Xi raised an eyebrow.
Ying Zhiyu said naturally, “Since we’re here, might as well check your health.”
The seventh floor was where Li Xi’s private doctor, Qin Baoyan, had his clinic.
Li Xi was no longer surprised that the Alpha had immediately found the right floor on his first visit.
Li Xi didn’t refuse either; he silently consented to the Alpha’s arrangements.
He entered the examination room, and Qin Baoyan only stayed inside briefly before stepping out.
When Li Xi came out of the room, Ying Zhiyu didn’t follow in, since privacy might be involved; instead, he went to wait in the corridor.
Qin Baoyan leaned against the examination table, reviewing the reports, when her eyes suddenly lit up and she leaned closer to Li Xi.
Li Xi met her gaze calmly. “Something wrong?”
Raising an eyebrow, Qin Baoyan said, “Why didn’t you tell me your little Alpha is this handsome?”
Li Xi didn’t react much, replying evenly, “The Alpha I chose couldn’t possibly be ugly.”
Qin Baoyan blinked. “Well, that’s true.”
After all, how could the heir of a super-wealthy family have an Alpha who looked unpresentable?
Her eyes darted around, then she asked, “You really don’t have feelings for him? I see him caring a lot about you!”
Li Xi paused.
“What did you two talk about?”
“What could I say to him?” Qin Baoyan leaned back against the table. “It’s him who tells me things, right?”
Earlier, when Li Xi had entered the exam room, Ying Zhiyu, knowing Qin Baoyan from his previous life, also knew that she wasn’t just Li Xi’s private doctor—she was a longtime friend as well.
So he carefully asked her about Li Xi’s situation and about things he wasn’t familiar with.
“She said you two had taken contraceptives after your lifelong bonding and asked whether the medication would affect your hormones, or if there were any precautions to take.”
“She also asked in detail about sexual activity during the Omega’s dependency period—how often it should happen, what’s appropriate.”
“Oh, and she asked—if the Omega isn’t in heat but the Alpha is in a sensitive period, could frequent bonding harm the Omega?”
Qin Baoyan counted off a few more points on her fingers, then concluded seriously:
“No wonder you said during her heat period, he held back from bonding. Your little Alpha is really something!”
Li Xi listened and felt both surprised and unsurprised.
It wasn’t just during her heat period; Ying Zhiyu had restrained himself even during other sensitive times when most Alphas would have lost control.
He went against every instinct, always putting the Omega’s wishes first.
Because Ying Zhiyu was simply that kind of person.
An Alpha like him had respect and gentleness engraved in his very bones.
Even if he were paired with another Omega, Li Xi was certain Ying Zhiyu would still ask those deeply considerate, “heart-of-the-sea” questions.