Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ying Zhiyu thought Li Xi should wear a hat too.

Someone like Li Xi—possessing such temperament, bearing, and presence—stood out far too conspicuously on a university campus.

A person who seemed born to occupy the apex of the food chain always felt strangely out of place in ordinary settings.

Yet, after glancing briefly at the entire entourage of Alpha bodyguards trailing Li Xi, it became clear that wearing a hat would only make him even more conspicuous.

“If we’re going to get our marriage license, I need to head back to my dorm first to retrieve my ID card.”

Ying Zhiyu paused for a moment before saying this to Li Xi.

Li Xi was stunned.

Ying Zhiyu had already started walking toward the bike-share rack.

“Ying Zhiyu.” Li Xi called out.

Ying Zhiyu turned back and glanced at his watch. “The city clerk’s office closes in just an hour. Can we discuss whatever it is when I get back?”

His tone was casual—though phrased as a question, it wasn’t really one.

It was as if he already knew Li Xi’s answer.

“There are too many students around here; driving will be difficult. Let’s meet at the intersection of Biology Building Boulevard up ahead?”

Without waiting for Li Xi’s reply, he simply unlocked a shared bike and rode off.

Li Xi: “…”

Pan Da, standing slightly behind and to the side of Li Xi, watched the direction in which the Alpha had disappeared.

Originally, today had been scheduled solely for Li Xi to attend a seminar on “Scent Suppressants” at Biomedical University.

When Assistant Zhang entered to report, the Third Young Master was at the shooting range.

He glanced at Zhang Jingrui through his safety goggles—his expression silently conveying that such a matter wasn’t worth his attention.

But Zhang Jingrui reminded him, “Ying Zhiyu is at this school.”

Upon hearing that, the Third Young Master’s hand froze mid-shot. After a pause, he merely grunted in acknowledgment and continued firing the remaining rounds.

Shortly after Assistant Zhang departed, the Third Young Master—who had originally planned to practice boxing in the afternoon—instructed Pan Da to prepare the car for an outing…

“Pan Da.”

Li Xi’s voice snapped Pan Da out of his reverie.

“Head to Biology Building Boulevard.” It was the meeting point Ying Zhiyu had mentioned earlier.

Pan Da bowed his head respectfully and replied, “Yes.”

By the time the car arrived at the intersection of Biology Building Boulevard, Ying Zhiyu still hadn’t appeared. Pan Da, seated in the front passenger seat, hesitated—then finally turned around and asked, “Third Young Master, are you truly going through with marrying that Alpha?”

Li Xi looked at Pan Da but didn’t respond immediately.

After a while, he unexpectedly countered with a question of his own: “Do you think he’s suitable?”

Over the past three months, they had thoroughly investigated Ying Zhiyu.

High intelligence. Ivy League education. Harmonious family background. No hidden scandals.

Even the suspected Omega girlfriend turned out to be his biological sister—and the siblings shared a warm, affectionate relationship. The Alpha returned home punctually every week, always bringing gifts for the Omegas in his family.

Yet Pan Da still answered, “He’s dangerous.”

His instincts as a bodyguard told him this Alpha was no ordinary man.

Though he couldn’t detect any pressure from his pheromones, something about him felt unsettling—unnerving.

Because the unknown is dangerous.

Li Xi fell silent for a moment.

Ying Zhiyu was indeed unexpected.

Undoubtedly, he was the most suitable candidate for marriage. Even if this Alpha already had a girlfriend, given Ying Zhiyu’s qualifications, Li Xi could still compel him to end that relationship and choose him instead.

After all, with a compatibility rate exceeding 90%, Ying Zhiyu’s genetic profile alone surpassed everyone else’s.

Li Xi had imagined the hot-headed young Alpha would react with anger.

But he’d expected a restrained, simmering fury—consistent with Ying Zhiyu’s past responses to authority, suggesting that despite his youth, he understood how to adapt to circumstances.

The higher the academic institution, the more entrenched academic politics became.

To willingly relinquish a patent that should have fallen under his own leadership—to remain patient, play the long game, and stay low-profile—was extraordinary for a prodigy barely twenty-one years old.

Li Xi had also considered the possibility that Ying Zhiyu might attempt to negotiate.

Clever people always find ways to maximize their gains within limited options.

Given Li Xi’s status, he could promise Ying Zhiyu countless things.

Yet Li Xi had never, in a million years, anticipated that the other party would be the one to propose obtaining the marriage certificate first.

Conversely, Ying Zhiyu’s reasoning was straightforward.

Li Xi was extremely busy—and Ying Zhiyu didn’t believe he’d come to the university without purpose.

Compared to his previous life, things were far better now: no gun pointed at his head, and Li Xi hadn’t shown up only at the last minute to sign documents at the city clerk’s office.

Ying Zhiyu believed his subtle hint about *wangfu*—“bringing prosperity to the husband”—had played a role.

After retrieving his ID card, Xu Kuo—who’d been gaming in the dorm—pulled off his headphones.

“Let’s have dinner together tonight. Tell Ni Lu to bring a few friends along.”

Xu Kuo’s current girlfriend, Ni Lu, was an undergraduate in the Foreign Languages Department at Biomedical University. Given the department’s reputation for attracting many attractive Omegas, was Xu Kuo trying to help Ying Zhiyu “find someone”?

Ying Zhiyu opened the dorm door and, over his shoulder, said, “I’m seeing someone.”

Biology Building Boulevard wasn’t far from Ying Zhiyu’s dorm.

-

After leaving the graduate student dorms, Ying Zhiyu scanned the intersection and quickly spotted Li Xi’s car. He walked over and knocked on the window.

After getting into the car, an alpha driver was in the driver’s seat, while Pan Da was in the passenger seat.

Li Xi watched as Ying Zhiyu closed the car door.

He asked casually, "How did you find this car?"

Li Xi was certain that when he separated from Ying Zhiyu at the library entrance, this car hadn’t been visible to him.

Ying Zhiyu buckled his seatbelt calmly and replied naturally, "There are security cars both in front and behind. The one with the more low-key license plate is probably it."

After spending enough time in high society, one would realize that those who love to flaunt their wealth and focus on useless symbols are mostly new money who lack old-money pedigree and rely on outward displays to maintain appearances.

In contrast, the truly ultra-wealthy tend to be very low-key in their daily travels.

For top-tier wealthy families like the Li family, who alone have the power to influence the core of the national economy, the more inconspicuous, the better.

The car Li Xi was using today was a Mercedes-Benz S-Class that looked very ordinary from the outside.

However, if anyone were to get close to the car, they would notice that the entire body had been modified to be bulletproof, with excellent privacy and anti-spy features.

After hearing Ying Zhiyu's answer, Li Xi didn’t press further.

Instead, Pan Da in the passenger seat took a few more looks at Ying Zhiyu through the rearview mirror.

Although the situation unfolded differently from what he had anticipated, after investigating Ying Zhiyu, registering their marriage was already part of Li Xi's plan.

Li Xi pressed a button on the center armrest console in the back seat, and a display screen appeared in front of Ying Zhiyu's seat.

In the time it took Ying Zhiyu to return to his dorm to grab his ID, Li Xi had his assistant Zhang Jingrui send over the prenuptial agreement.

"A copy has also been sent to your email. The lawyer is already waiting at the civil registry office. If you have any questions, you can jot them down first and discuss revisions together when we arrive."

Ying Zhiyu was very familiar with this process.

In his past life, before registering the marriage, Ying Zhiyu had also signed a prenuptial agreement, though back then, it was Pan Da sitting beside him holding a gun to his head.

Ying Zhiyu has minor astigmatism, making it hard for him to make out the display screen in the front seat, so he simply opened his email on his phone.

The agreement was identical to the one in his past life.

It was broken into a few parts. Apart from the protection of pre-marital assets and the protection of post-marital assets, the rest consisted of supplementary clauses on loyalty, illness, and punitive measures. In his past life, Ying Zhiyu had never violated any terms anyway.

After skimming through it from beginning to end, Ying Zhiyu locked his phone.

Li Xi had been observing Ying Zhiyu the entire time.

Seeing that Ying Zhiyu had put away his phone, Li Xi spoke up, "If you have any questions or conditions, you can raise them with me now."

In Li Xi's view, since Ying Zhiyu had initiated the idea of getting the marriage certificate, he likely had a plan.

However, the young Alpha simply shook his head and said, "No."

Li Xi frowned. "The isolation of pre-marital assets means that all my existing assets, as well as any future appreciation, will not count as marital assets."

He highlighted a certain clause on the tablet display in front of Ying Zhiyu: "Party B agrees to relinquish all claims to equity and dividends in 'LI' and its subsidiaries."

"This means that after marriage, you will be barred from any involvement in LI’s business, and in the event of a divorce, you will not receive any equity or dividends."

Li Xi paused, then stated bluntly, "The implication of these clauses is that you could walk away with nothing if we divorce."

Hearing this, Ying Zhiyu glanced at Li Xi.

He actually wanted to say that if he didn’t die this time around, they probably wouldn’t get divorced.

Ying Zhiyu understood Li Xi's character well—what Li Xi wanted was a stable family to further bolster his career behind the scenes.

And since Li Xi wouldn’t file for divorce, neither would Ying Zhiyu.

"A fixed monthly living expense of 10 million, increasing yearly. If the marriage lasts more than ten years, I’ll receive 100 million per month in pocket money."

A set monthly allowance of 10 million, with an additional 10 million added per month for each year the marriage continues, maxing out at 100 million.

In his past life, Ying Zhiyu had already reached that cap.

His gaze was steady as he met Li Xi’s gaze. "Plus the annual luxury goods quota, access to properties under your name worldwide during the marriage, etc."

"If I were to sell the luxury goods and rent out the properties, the monthly income would conservatively exceed 250 million. This doesn’t even include the rental value of private islands, estates, art collections, planes, yachts, and so on."

"I’m very satisfied with this amount," Ying Zhiyu said.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually rent them all out.

Li Xi: "..."

The list of global assets under Li Xi's name alone in the agreement spanned over seventy pages, yet Ying Zhiyu had managed to calculate their final estimated value and rental income just by quickly scrolling through them.

Li Xi was silent for a long moment.

Ying Zhiyu knew his behavior might seem a bit strange.

But after eleven years of marriage in his past life, Ying Zhiyu was well aware of how intelligent Li Xi was.

When dealing with smart people, pretending is useless—the more you disguise, the more suspicious you become.

So, Ying Zhiyu politely smiled at Li Xi.

"What I can gain from this marriage is spelled out clearly in the agreement. I have no objections to these terms. As for what Mr. Li needs from his Alpha in this marital relationship, I will fully cooperate."

"Let’s strive for a fair exchange, mutually beneficial and win-win," he said honestly, looking at Li Xi.

The car entered an intersection. As evening rush hour was starting, it seemed there was some traffic congestion.

Li Xi looked at Ying Zhiyu for a moment, and as he withdrew his gaze, his eyes suddenly sharpened.

Before Ying Zhiyu could react, Li Xi had already quickly pulled a gun from the hidden compartment under the seat.

"The car on the right rear doesn’t look right. Call the escort vehicle back."

This was directed at the two in the front seats.

The Alpha driving their car was also a core member of Li Xi’s security team. Without needing further instruction, he swiftly turned the steering wheel.

But just as they began to turn, there was a loud bang—a car from the side collided with them.

The traffic froze instantly.

After the first collision, Li Xi reminded Ying Zhiyu not to unbuckle his seatbelt.

The moment he finished speaking, they were hit again.

This time, it was a motorcycle.

The motorcycle was riderless. Upon crashing into Li Xi's vehicle, it immediately erupted in flames.

In fact, aside from this motorcycle, there were likely several similar ones. However, most of them had been intercepted by the security vehicles following them before they could approach Li Xi's car—this was the only one that slipped through the net.

At the same time, Ying Zhiyu heard an impact on the rear window.

A bullet.

Li Xi immediately scanned the rear windshield.

The road was surrounded by skyscrapers, many of which offered excellent concealed sniper positions, making it difficult to locate the shooter in a short time.

Li Xi narrowed his eyes, not forgetting to calm the young Alpha beside him, who was clearly unfamiliar with such situations: "The car is bulletproof. Stay calm."

Ying Zhiyu responded with an "Mhm," sounding relatively steady.

This was actually not Ying Zhiyu’s first encounter with an attack. In his past life, he had also experienced an attack alongside Li Xi.

However, that happened in the fourth year of their marriage.

Back then, they were in the same seating arrangement. Li Xi, holding a gun in one hand and unbuttoning his shirt collar with the other to expose his slender neck, commanded calmly Ying Zhiyu, who was sitting in the right rear seat, to bite him.

The memory cut off abruptly.

Pan Da briefly consulted with the driver in the front seat, confirming that their vehicle was disabled after the collision.

Pan Da was also holding a gun, cocked and ready: "Third Young Master, we need to move to the escort vehicle up front."

Li Xi nodded.

Although the car was bulletproof, they were exposed while the enemy remained hidden. Without knowing the opponent’s firearms and equipment, staying in the immobilized vehicle would be akin to sitting ducks.

Li Xi then turned to look at Ying Zhiyu, as if considering how to get him to safety.

After a moment, he said, "Follow Pan Da. Head straight forward later—don’t look anywhere else, just run. Pan Da will ensure your safety."

Pan Da, in the passenger seat, seemed to frown and opened his mouth as if to say something: "Third Young Master..."

Li Xi glanced at Pan Da out of the corner of his eye.

Pan Da immediately clamped shut.

The Alpha driver promptly said, "I’ll stay with Third Young Master."

The first person to exit the vehicle would be in the most danger. If a sniper was lying in wait, the first one out would likely become a primary target.

Li Xi ordered Pan Da to exit first, followed by the Alpha driver, then himself, and finally Ying Zhiyu.

Pan Da acknowledged the order. As he prepared to open the car door, Li Xi suddenly asked Ying Zhiyu, "Do you know how to use a gun?"

The capital strictly prohibited firearms, but "LI" represented a special exemption.

Every member of the Li family knew how to use a gun. From the time they were toddlers learning to crawl, they were already familiarizing themselves with firearms and ammunition.

Ying Zhiyu learned later—his marksmanship was average—but he did know how to handle a gun, having been personally taught by Li Xi in his past life.

Ying Zhiyu nodded. "Yes."

There was no time to delve into why there was no mention of gun experience in the Alpha’s file, yet Ying Zhiyu claimed he could use a gun.

Li Xi directly instructed Pan Da to give a gun to Ying Zhiyu.

Pan Da, who was already carrying two guns, immediately handed one to the back seat upon receiving the order.

Ying Zhiyu took it. Li Xi glanced at Ying Zhiyu once more but said nothing further this time.

He only called out, "Pan Da."

It was time to proceed with the original plan—Pan Da would exit the vehicle first.