Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Li Xi froze, looking up.

With a matching rate of over 90%, pheromone shifts between an Alpha and Omega could hardly go unnoticed at such close proximity.

Ying Zhiyu reasoned logically, "You shouldn’t use inhibitors after drinking."

In their previous life, their first temporary marking occurred on a highway ablaze.

Just like the last time, on their way from Biomedical University to the civil affairs bureau, they had encountered a terrorist attack in the car.

While checking his firearm and ammunition, Li Xi had tonelessly ordered Ying Zhiyu to bite him.

After an inhibitor injection, there was a period of drowsiness as a side effect, and conditions at the time didn’t permit Li Xi any lapse in focus.

That was their fourth year of marriage.

For the first three years of their marriage, they had lived like strangers under the same roof.

Ying Zhiyu knew Li Xi had married only to quell rumors and smooth his entry into the group’s board—his clean background and educational history were what Li Xi valued.

But in this life…

The trust modification clause in the prenuptial agreement, the meteorite watch appearing a decade earlier at the wedding ceremony—

Ying Zhiyu thought that perhaps some things didn’t require another seventy, eighty, or ninety years of mutual probing.

Li Xi looked at the Alpha before him, who was "politely" asking if he needed to be marked, and for a moment wondered if he’d heard right.

He had always prided himself on reading people, yet the person in front of him kept surprising him again and again.

Ying Zhiyu didn’t care how Li Xi viewed him.

He began spouting nonsense brazenly again: "After all, I’ve time-traveled from the future. We have a good relationship after marriage, with two kids—"

Before he could finish, a burning-hot arm pulled him toward the bed.

...

Li Xi felt as though his body and mind were out of sync.

The more his body indulged in pleasure, the clearer his mind became.

Li Xi wasn’t unaware that his heat was approaching.

He had taken a cold shower in the bathroom, but even as the icy water poured over him, the image that lingered in his mind was still the moment before the bathroom door closed—the Alpha standing in the closet, taking off his ring.

Li Xi had noticed Ying Zhiyu’s hands long ago.

Slender fingers, well-defined knuckles.

They were hands that perfectly suited the image and temperament of an Alpha.

Before taking off the wedding ring, Ying Zhiyu had first removed the watch from his left wrist. The Alpha’s wrist bones were prominent, the back of his hand sinewy, with prominent veins...

Li Xi’s breathing grew heavier.

Those hands, which had been lingering in his mind, were now dancing before his eyes again.

Feeling the sharp teeth retreat from his neck, Li Xi lifted his head, and the handsome face of the Alpha, slightly damp with sweat, came into his view.

Staring fixedly at that handsome face for a few seconds, Li Xi flipped over and pinned down the man beneath him.

In that instant, the Alpha’s body went rigid for a moment.

Li Xi didn’t speak, but gripped the damp strands of the Alpha’s hair tightly, pressing closer on his own initiative.

Later, their passion spilled over—from the head of the bed to the foot, then to the sofa, the carpet…

When they moved to the carpet, Li Xi knelt on the soft wool rug and couldn’t help but glance up toward the walk-in closet.

On the jewelry stand inside, Ying Zhiyu’s watch and wedding ring lay quietly beside his own, paired together, nestled close.

Li Xi didn’t like being in the bottom position and preferred to look at Ying Zhiyu’s face.

His fingertips brushed against the Alpha’s well-defined cheek, and Li Xi thought indifferently: An Alpha who’s too clever is nothing but trouble.

Things would be easier if Ying Zhiyu were a little less sharp.

After all, if he couldn’t make a living with his brains, he could still be a hand model.

Then again, maybe instead of hand modeling—

The Alpha’s face should be more valuable.

His physique wasn’t bad either.

He could be a male model.

-

At 5:40 in the morning, Ying Zhiyu opened his eyes.

In fact, it was only near 5 a.m. that Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi had cleaned up again and returned to bed. Yet, yielding to the power of his biological clock, Ying Zhiyu lay there stiffly, eyes shut, for over half an hour before finally resigning himself and sitting up.

In late summer and early autumn, daybreak still came relatively early.

The Li family’s hillside manor had the most beautiful sunsets, as well as sunrises just as glorious and golden.

Ying Zhiyu walked out to the balcony. The morning light had just begun to paint the edge of the sky. The early mornings of this season were already starting to carry a chill, but Ying Zhiyu didn’t mind, standing quietly in the slow, cool mountain breeze.

He actually felt the urge to smoke.

In his past life, well aware that Li Xi disliked the smell of smoke, Ying Zhiyu had spitefully and deliberately gone against him.

He hadn’t originally been a smoker, but just because Li Xi hated it, Ying Zhiyu had insisted on doing it.

Such petty, passive-aggressive behavior—Ying Zhiyu had engaged in it frequently during the first three years of their marriage in his past life.

However, in this life, for the sake of his own health, he wouldn’t smoke again.

Ying Zhiyu’s thoughts turned to last night.

This marital suite was the same as the one in their previous life.

But in their past life, they had never shared the bed through the night. Even during the eight years of mutual respect that followed, Li Xi would only seek him out during his heat cycle. Ying Zhiyu had always believed that not sharing a bed through the night was a way of respecting each other.

But last night, he realized he might have been mistaken.

Even though his heat was approaching, Ying Zhiyu had offered to look out for him, and Li Xi, despite being in heat, had still stepped in to drink in his place.

Although clearly not believing his "time travel" story, Li Xi pulled him into bed anyway after he used that excuse.

Li Xi didn’t even make a prior request to forbid a complete marking.

Ying Zhiyu would never consider an ice cream he only took one bite of in this lifetime, a bottle of wine, perfume, or two steamed buns as significant gestures.

In fact, in their past life, Li Xi never asked him to leave in the middle of the night.

It turns out that many things were simply things Li Xi never voiced, leading Ying Zhiyu to misunderstand.

He wouldn’t say, “You don’t have to go.”

Nor would he say, “I’m in heat, so I can’t cover for you.”

Just like in this lifetime, where getting married, filing the paperwork, and marking each other all happened naturally.

And it turns out that for many things, as long as Ying Zhiyu asked, Li Xi would give them—

trust agreements, meteorite watches, taking drinks for him…

Well, for the first two, Ying Zhiyu didn’t actually ask either.

It turns out… they'd never had smooth communication.

The sliding door to the balcony behind them made a noise as it moved.

“Up already?” Li Xi’s voice carried a slight morning raspiness, or perhaps for some other reason.

“Trouble sleeping?” he asked.

Ying Zhiyu didn’t turn around, gazing at the morning light on the horizon, inexplicably changing the subject: “Actually, the result on my IQ test report was wrong.”

Li Xi walked to Ying Zhiyu’s side, his tone slightly lifted as he murmured in response.

He sounded drowsy.

He wasn't particularly concerned about where Ying Zhiyu’s IQ test result went wrong.

Ying Zhiyu said, “I intentionally answered some questions incorrectly during the test. The recorded result was 120, but I committed all the questions to memory, recreated the test at home, and the result showed my IQ should be 140+.”

“Did I ever mention it?” Ying Zhiyu turned his head. “I never forget what I see.”

His tone was very plain, even though the content should have come off as quite boastful. But when spoken by Ying Zhiyu, it didn’t come across as boastful at all.

Li Xi didn’t ask why Ying Zhiyu intentionally answered questions wrong during the IQ test. After a pause, he said, “No, I know now.”

Ying Zhiyu gave a slight smile and turned back.

Daylight had fully arrived.

Golden sunlight spilled over his face as he explained, “Because my brain never stops running, constantly thinking, analyzing, and exploring different angles, it’s hard for me to fall into deep sleep. Any slight change in noise or light can wake me up.”

So, it wasn’t because he couldn’t sleep comfortably.

“Then if someone’s sleeping beside you…” Li Xi suddenly asked, “would it affect your sleep?”

Ying Zhiyu was startled by the question.

At that moment, he suddenly thought of another possibility—that Li Xi never asked him to leave but also never actually invited him to stay.

In their past life, Li Xi knew about Ying Zhiyu’s sleep disorder.