With three or four days left in the New Year holiday, Ying Zhiyu suggested a vacation.
Due to ongoing research projects at the school lab, he still couldn’t leave the country. But winter in the capital was too cold—choosing a warmer domestic island or city for a vacation was better than being cooped up indoors.
Li Xi looked surprised. “You’re really not afraid?”
After the fake attack, the culprits remained unknown, and yet the Alpha wanted to travel freely?
Ying Zhiyu replied calmly, “If danger is meant to happen, hiding at home won’t prevent it. Danger could still come.”
Perhaps because he had died once, Ying Zhiyu didn’t fear death deeply.
Living was good, and dying wasn’t so terrible.
The worst that could happen was… death.
So if he wasn’t afraid of death, what was there to worry about in advance?
Besides, in his previous life, he hadn’t exactly been “murdered.” Even the kidnappers who had taken him probably never imagined he would die so strangely from a single finger.
Life is unpredictable. Live in the moment.
Ultimately, Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi reactivated a “tropical island travel” plan from a previous honeymoon package, choosing a warm domestic island to enjoy their last days of private time together.
Before their arrival, the island’s butler had already been arranged by Zhou Shen from Li Xi’s estate staff, and all security personnel were coordinated by Panda’s father, Pan Muqiao.
On the first day after landing, they casually explored the island.
Li Xi was a strong swimmer, but now in early pregnancy, water activities carried risk. They opted for an indoor pool instead.
The next morning, Ying Zhiyu shaved in the bedroom bathroom.
Possibly due to pregnancy hormone changes, Li Xi’s beard growth had slowed, and he no longer needed to shave daily.
While applying shaving cream in the mirror, Ying Zhiyu noticed Li Xi standing at the doorway, watching him.
Ying Zhiyu paused. “Something wrong?”
Li Xi asked, “Using a blade—is it hard to control?”
“No,” Ying Zhiyu replied.
After a pause, seeing Li Xi still staring at his jaw, he hesitated. “…Want to try?”
Ying Zhiyu was sure he saw the eagerness in Li Xi’s eyes, but in the end, Li Xi shook his head. “You do it yourself.”
Ying Zhiyu said, “Oh,” and turned back to continue.
Yet Li Xi didn’t leave; he watched intently until the shave was finished.
Ying Zhiyu turned, hugged his husband, and teased, “Afraid you’ll hurt me if you try?”
Other than that reason, Ying Zhiyu couldn’t think why the young master would look so eager yet refuse.
Li Xi didn’t answer.
But after nearly twelve years across past and present lives, Ying Zhiyu already understood: his Omega didn’t easily express soft feelings verbally, but beneath that icy exterior was a purely delicate heart.
He thought for a moment and asked proactively, “Want me to apply aftershave?”
Hearing this, the normally silent Omega’s eyes lit up. After two seconds, he nodded shyly.
Ying Zhiyu laughed. “Then it’s on you, Director Li.”
While applying the aftershave, somehow they ended up kissing.
Ying Zhiyu remembered the golden rule: never provoke the pregnant husband. He wanted to pull back before Li Xi got too worked up, since intense activity would be painful during pregnancy.
But Li Xi held onto the back of Ying Zhiyu’s head, refusing to let go.
This had become a new habit for him recently.
After the incident in the underground parking lot before the New Year, when Ying Zhiyu had been knocked down by the bodyguards while protecting him and hit his head on the ground, Li Xi had applied warm compresses for a few days. Ever since then, the Third Young Master had taken to casually rubbing and pressing Ying Zhiyu’s head whenever he had the chance.
Or rather, it seemed Li Xi had always been interested in Ying Zhiyu’s “one hundred and four” head.
Finally, their kiss ended.
The two were panting, separated. Ying Zhiyu raised both hands innocently: “This time I didn’t do anything.”
Li Xi, still catching his breath, squinted at the Alpha’s freshly shaved, clean, and handsome face.
Without hesitation, he kissed him again.
The refreshed Alpha, whose head had been firmly held by the pregnant Omega a second time, froze: “…”
Ying Zhiyu’s constitution was really strange.
The new Omega husband was fully healthy, eating and sleeping well. Meanwhile, Ying Zhiyu, the Alpha accompanying his pregnant husband from a cold region to a warm island for winter, caught a cold on the third day after arrival.
All their planned activities were instantly ruined.
Since pregnancy made it unsafe to take medicine, Ying Zhiyu immediately separated himself from Li Xi upon noticing the first signs of a cold.
With a stuffy nose, the Alpha, still in pajamas, grabbed his phone from the bedside and efficiently moved to another spot.
Li Xi sat on the bed watching Ying Zhiyu leave the room.
Five minutes later, the phone rang.
Li Xi answered.
The Alpha’s voice came through thick and slightly hoarse: “If you need anything, call me. I’ll have the butler bring all meals to my room. You just enjoy yourself and have Panda show you around.”
Li Xi wasn’t sure if the young Alpha was genuinely considerate or just foggy from being sick.
Even though Panda was a Beta, Li Xi was still a different sex from him—was Panda supposed to be accompanying him on their island honeymoon?
Was he here on a honeymoon with his Alpha, or just being trailed around by a personal bodyguard?
Li Xi’s mood was low. “Mm,” he muttered.
As Ying Zhiyu was about to hang up, Li Xi finally asked, “Are your symptoms severe? Should we have the butler arrange for a doctor to come by?”
Ying Zhiyu knew the course of his own cold well; it usually cleared in a few days without much concern. But now, with Li Xi pregnant, the top priority was keeping him separated from the source of the infection.
Ying Zhiyu said, “No need,” and added, “But you can have the butler arrange to clear out my personal belongings from the room, especially the bathroom stuff. Don’t touch my cups—just let housekeeping disinfect everything.”
Li Xi didn’t respond immediately. After a few seconds, Ying Zhiyu prompted again: “Hello?”
Li Xi finally replied, “Got it.”
Concerned about becoming a walking vector of the cold at home, Ying Zhiyu didn’t leave his room all day.
Except for having the butler deliver meals to the door, he simply worked from the room.
Time passed quickly, and evening fell. Outside, night had descended.
When Ying Zhiyu finally looked up from a pile of documents, he heard a knock at the door.
He assumed it was someone delivering dinner and walked over to open it.
But when the door swung open, he froze: “…”
With a loud “bang,” the door was immediately shut again.
Half a minute later, the Alpha, wearing a mask, opened the door once more.
Meeting a pair of dark eyes, Ying Zhiyu asked with concern, “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
He had deliberately chosen the upstairs room when they changed rooms in the morning, precisely to avoid spreading the virus to Li Xi.
Li Xi lifted his gaze, looking at Ying Zhiyu silently.
The two stared at each other for a long moment.
At the door, Li Xi moved first. He reached out the back of his hand, checking Ying Zhiyu’s forehead temperature.
Ying Zhiyu smiled, his voice a little hoarse from the cold: “Are you here just to check on me?”
He didn’t let Li Xi into the room, still feeling that everywhere he had been all day was full of germs.
After shutting the door behind him, Ying Zhiyu looked down at his own hand, then at Li Xi’s expressionless, slightly displeased face. Still, he reached out and held Li Xi’s hand.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
Li Xi looked at him but didn’t answer that question, only saying, “Ying Zhiyu, I rarely catch a cold.”
Ying Zhiyu paused, then explained patiently, “But during pregnancy, an Omega’s immune system changes.”
To better accept the fetus, the mother’s immune system usually undergoes a subtle adaptive suppression during pregnancy.
As an Omega, and a biology graduate at that, Li Xi knew this reproductive immunology theory well.
Still, Li Xi didn’t care. He emphasized again, “Even when I have a cold, I never take medicine.”
No medicine meant no pregnancy-related complications from drugs.
Ying Zhiyu was silent for a second. Then he understood.
A pregnant husband needed his Alpha by his side.
They had deliberately come here, escaping the undercurrents and endless work of the capital, and now he couldn’t neglect his husband just because of a cold.
Understanding this, the Alpha couldn’t help but lower his head slightly with a small smile.
With his mask on, though, the smile wasn’t obvious.
Li Xi stared at the Alpha, unable to tell what motivated the gesture.
When Ying Zhiyu finally lifted his head, he saw the gentle, warm smile framed by the Alpha’s handsome features.
Li Xi paused, pressing his lips together.
Before he could speak, the young Alpha, carrying the most reassuring scent of all, actively hugged him.
The next second, the Alpha buried his head in the warm crook of Li Xi’s shoulder, nuzzling softly. Through the mask, his hoarse, congested voice murmured low and fuzzy:
“Yushu wants to sleep with Xixu tonight~”