Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The unfortunate tragedy had already occurred; it was irreversible, and when the time came, it had to be faced.

After talking with Bai Wu, An Nuo felt a sense of relief and finally managed to get out of bed.

Changing into more casual clothes, An Nuo left his room and first went to his study to retrieve a gift box.

Then, gathering his courage, he headed to the living room to face Shi Yu and Lu Xu.

So what if it was embarrassing?

The embarrassment was already out there; it couldn't be retrieved, so what else could he do?

He believed Shi Yu was gentle and generous and wouldn't mind such an unexpected incident—the key was Lu Xu.

But he didn’t need Lu Xu to like him much; as long as Lu Xu didn’t dislike him and treated him as an ordinary junior, even knowing he was Lu Yunyan’s "therapy package" without wanting to remove his glands, that would be enough.

Taking a deep breath, An Nuo tightened his grip on the gift box, firmed his resolve, and walked toward them.

Shi Yu was still the first to greet An Nuo: "An Nuo, join us for dinner tonight."

An Nuo found it hard to refuse any request from Shi Yu. Even with Lu Xu nearby, he couldn’t help but agree: "...Okay, alright."

As he approached them, An Nuo still sat down next to Lu Yunyan.

He’d set aside his anger and resentment for now.

There was no other way—at times like this, sitting next to Lu Yunyan felt safest.

Lu Yunyan noticed the gift box in his hand—not too big, but just noticeable enough—and asked, "What’s that in your hand?"

An Nuo had been worrying about how to bring it up. Speaking unprompted felt a bit awkward, but with Lu Yunyan’s question, he could explain naturally.

"...It’s just a little thing I made myself, a clay figurine, you could say."

As he spoke, he opened the gift box and took out its contents.

They were two very intricate cartoon figures.

Both were dressed in formal white attire, holding bouquets, smiling affectionately at each other.

Beneath their feet was a flower-strewn meadow, with several small animals gathered around them.

It was clearly a heartwarming wedding scene.

"...I’ve been feeling bad about offending Uncle Lu last time."

After choosing his words carefully, An Nuo spoke apologetically: "I didn’t know how else to express my apology to Uncle Lu, so I made this little figurine. I hope Uncle Lu won’t find it lacking..."

Looking more closely, everyone realized the two figurines were of Lu Xu and Shi Yu, depicting a scene from their wedding.

Shi Yu studied them again and sincerely praised, "You made this yourself? It’s so detailed."

An Nuo rubbed his fingers together sheepishly.

He didn’t have many special skills. The things his father had him learn were mostly for social climbing, and he hardly liked any of them.

What he truly enjoyed, his father didn’t care to nurture.

The only hobby An Nuo had persisted with since childhood, and could afford on his own, was making these little clay figurines.

"My coloring isn’t that great yet..."

An Nuo stole a glance at Lu Xu: "...I’d be happy if Uncle Lu doesn’t mind it."

Shi Yu glanced at Lu Xu, hinting for him to respond quickly.

But Lu Xu was just taken aback.

He’d long since stopped caring about that minor incident from before.

What kind of adult would have nothing better to do than hold a grudge over such a trivial matter with a child? Were there no more important things to do?

Even if An Nuo had been somewhat impolite at the time, Lu Xu blamed himself more.

If his son’s partner was so afraid of him, that was already his own fault.

He never expected An Nuo to take it so seriously, even going so far as to painstakingly craft a figurine to apologize.

How should he put it?

Lu Xu was genuinely touched.

This little gift wasn’t particularly valuable, but it was clearly something An Nuo had thought hard about, with the added personal touch of being handmade.

The scene and characters were so detailed, even the folds in the clothing were molded.

It must have taken a lot of effort.

For a moment, he was truly moved.

When had his wife or son ever gone to such lengths to please him?

Never.

"Did you specifically look for our old wedding photos? That’s very thoughtful," Lu Xu said. "It means a lot, thank you."

Seeing that Lu Xu’s tone seemed sincere, An Nuo could relax.

His mood lightened considerably: "I’m glad Uncle Lu doesn’t mind it."

Looking at An Nuo again, Lu Xu suddenly found him a lot cuter.

Recalling the past, he and Shi Yu had once considered having another omega child.

But Shi Yu had had a very difficult time during his pregnancy with Lu Yunyan. Coming from a prestigious family, Shi Yu had never been through anything so hard before, and Lu Xu couldn’t bear to put him through it again, so they let the idea go.

Lu Xu also rarely interacted with omega children, especially those around An Nuo’s age.

Today, being unexpectedly won over by An Nuo, he couldn’t help but drift into thought and imagine—if they had had another omega child back then, perhaps they would have been as sincere and dedicated as An Nuo—most importantly, considerate, and occasionally even sweet to him.

Lu Xu took the figurine and examined it again and again, growing more moved with each look. In middle age, having been through so much, he valued emotional comfort more than ever.

Lu Xu said, "I can put this on my office desk. It’ll fit right in."

Lu Yunyan leaned close to An Nuo’s ear and whispered, "When will you make me one?"

He wanted to put one on his own office desk too.

An Nuo still hadn't forgiven him and said softly, "I already have you, right next to Uncle Shi Yu."

Lu Yunyan narrowed his eyes and saw a dog beside Shi Yu.

He raised an eyebrow, looking at An Nuo with a puzzled expression, his eyes forming a question mark: ?

An Nuo responded with a smiling look: Yeah, creating a dog counts as including you.

Lu Yunyan: ...

……

They ate dinner out.

A very discreet restaurant, not marked on maps. They entered through the main door and walked through an exclusive passage. Though the space was spacious, they saw no other guests.

But the dishes were surprisingly delicious.

Every dish matched An Nuo’s preferences, and he ate the most during the meal.

Listening to the conversation of the family of three at the table, An Nuo also learned what Lu Yunyan had been busy with these past few days.

It turned out that the progress of this acquisition deal wasn’t going smoothly.

As the leader in the gaming pod industry, Qingli Group was the biggest obstacle in this acquisition, vowing to block Starryism’s acquisition of Star Trail Studio at any cost.

Apart from being backed by the Lu family and being wealthy, Starryism didn’t have many other particular advantages.

After the acquisition news was officially announced, the market gave it less than a 50% chance of success.

Moreover, the next day, the planetary regulatory committee issued a statement indicating that Starryism’s acquisition of Star Trail Studio could potentially hinder market competition.

This was a bad sign.

Keep in mind that if the acquisition fails, Starryism would have to pay Star Trail Studio billions in compensation.

Anyone would be frustrated.

Yet, without a moment to breathe, the planet’s first hearing was set to take place at the end of this month.

This hearing was crucial, as it would directly impact the rulings in other regions afterward.

So these past few days, Lu Yunyan had been flying around, leveraging the Lu family’s political connections to smooth various relationships.

An Nuo couldn’t understand everything, but from what he understood, he could sense how hard Lu Yunyan was working and how much pressure he was under.

And this was only a part of Lu Yunyan’s daily affairs.

Aside from major and minor work matters, Lu Yunyan still had to make time to get revenge for him and endure his petty tantrums over unanswered messages…

A hint of guilt surfaced in An Nuo’s heart.

If it were him, he definitely couldn’t be as resilient as Lu Yunyan.

He’d probably already need to run around yelling, questioning the heavens, and acting crazy everywhere to vent his frustration.

But this family of three remained very emotionally stable; none of them relied on emotional outbursts to solve problems.

An Nuo was stressed just listening, yet they could still laugh and occasionally find time to ask An Nuo how the food was and if he liked it.

……

After returning home from dinner, An Nuo was no longer angry.

Though if Lu Yunyan treated him like that again next time, he would still feel upset, but given time to cool off, he would get over it.

Recalling the scene of himself yelling at Lu Yunyan and even trying to punch him…

Lu Yunyan never showed impatience throughout, facing him with a smile and never bringing work-related emotions home.

An Nuo was starting to admire him.

Until Lu Yunyan took out that one-strap silk nightgown from the video right in front of him.

"……"

An Nuo slowly closed his eyes.

All the negative emotions he had just suppressed exploded, doubling in strength.

Hah.

This was Lu Yunyan.

On the surface, he was a top alpha, with a good family and good looks, proper and respectable.

In reality, he was like a boiled egg—peel off the seemingly pure white shell, and inside it’s all yellow, nothing but yellow.

His mind was full of filthy thoughts.

But this time, An Nuo didn’t yell or shout, because he was so mad he laughed: "Didn’t you say you had a lot of work? How do you still have the energy for this?"

Lu Yunyan said: "It’s precisely because there’s so much work that I’m feeling a bit anxious."

"When I get anxious, I want to make love."

"……"

"But you still won’t let me."

"………………"

"So wear it for me."

I can't believe it.

Really haven’t seen anyone else who could make such an unreasonable demand so matter-of-factly.

If it were the old An Nuo, he might have been truly at a loss, possibly even flying into a rage—which, actually, would have just added to Lu Yunyan’s amusement.

But tonight’s An Nuo was different.

Because he had received exclusive guidance from Bai Wu, and now was the perfect time to practice with Lu Yunyan.

"You want me to wear it for you?"

Lu Yunyan held up the nightgown, swaying it, showcasing the soft, lightweight silk material.

"Yeah, I really want you to."

An Nuo scoffed, enough was enough—he had truly leveled up this time and wouldn't be easily manipulated by Lu Yunyan again.

"But according to our agreement, sexy sleepwear isn't a necessary condition for treatment; it's just your kinky personal quirk. I can flat-out refuse, right?"

Lu Yunyan was taken aback.

He really hadn't expected An Nuo to invoke the agreement to reject him, so blunt and cutting. Did he really hate this nightgown that much?

Crap.

Somehow, that made him want to see it even more.

Lu Yunyan had no comeback: "Well, according to our agreement, you can refuse this request of mine."

An Nuo had come to understand Lu Yunyan a bit by now.

He pushed further: "Even so, do you still want to see me wear it?"

As expected, Lu Yunyan replied: "Yes, of course I do."

An Nuo exhaled slowly: "Then for the next while, you'd better be on your best behavior... If you satisfy me, maybe I'll really consider it."

In truth, he was so nervous his fingertips were trembling.

An Nuo quickly crossed his arms over his chest, striking a haughty pose, chin slightly raised, looking like a feisty little parrot.

Thanks to Bai Wu's exclusive guidance, An Nuo said it: "Be good, and I might just reward you."