Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ying Zhiyu was at a loss for words.

"...I was just curious about his stomach."

Li Xi frowned, "What?"

Ying Zhiyu's face was still cupped in Li Xi's hand. He lowered his gaze slightly, glancing down at Li Xi, who instinctively followed suit.

Ying Zhiyu said, "I've never seen a pregnant male Omega before."

Male Omegas and female Alphas are both minority groups within the broader gender categories, accounting for only about one percent of the AO population, making them rare.

Just like Ying Zhiyu's parents and Li Xi's parents, male Alpha-female Omega pairings are the mainstream in ABO society.

"..."

Li Xi reluctantly accepted the Alpha's explanation.

He released Ying Zhiyu.

The Alpha rubbed his face and repeatedly articulated "a-e-i-o-u" several times.

Suddenly, he leaned in with a knowing smirk.

Seeing the magnified handsome face before him, Li Xi maintained a stern expression: "What?"

*Trying to get back at me?*

Ying Zhiyu certainly wasn't trying to save face for any Alpha, nor could he ever hope to defeat Li Xi, who had aced combat training since childhood.

He simply narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "Was there not a single Alpha at the main table last night who caught President Li's eye?"

Li Xi paused, looking up at the person in front of him with confusion.

Ying Zhiyu said sourly, "I noticed a few quite steady ones in the VIP section that day."

The capital is full of old money families—while there are some worthless scions, most are actually refined gentlemen.

Ying Zhiyu remembered that in his previous life, many of those seated at the main VIP table that night were very successful, and some even became his friends later.

After all, even if he was just a live-in son-in-law, as long as he was connected to the Li family, the perks would follow.

Li Xi certainly didn’t think the Alpha brought this up now to genuinely ask why, or out of jealousy.

The first time they met in the elevator at the Biomedical University library, the Alpha had laid out convincing reasons why he was a suitable marriage candidate.

Looking at the Alpha’s teasing eyes and slightly curved lips.

He suddenly realized that Ying Zhiyu was such a clever person—even as a child, he knew how to lay low and survive against all odds.

Li Xi was more inclined to believe that Ying Zhiyu’s sudden "bringing up old history" in this context, feigning jealousy, was a strategic play to deliberately win his favor.

But…

Li Xi found that he actually seemed to be falling for it.

-

On the third day of their marriage, the poor PhD student returned to school to continue doing his advisor's grunt work.

For the next week, Ying Zhiyu stayed in the campus housing.

Although it was strange to separate so soon after marriage, Li Xi’s large apartment in the bustling downtown area of the capital was too far from the university town in the eastern district, and traffic during rush hour was a nightmare.

Li Xi even suggested applying for a new helicopter service to Biomedical University.

But having over a decade of experience as a live-in son-in-law in his previous life, Ying Zhiyu wasn’t about to let "newfound wealth" go to his head.

If he really flaunted it by being transported by helicopter every day, he might as well forget about succeeding academically at Biomedical University.

Recently, whenever Xu Kuo returned to the dorm and saw Ying Zhiyu, he always looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Since that day when Ying Zhiyu left the Peninsula Hotel banquet room with Li Xi, Xu Kuo had only called him once that night.

But at that time, Ying Zhiyu was having dinner with Li Xi and didn’t answer his phone.

Afterward, Xu Kuo never contacted him again.

Ying Zhiyu later replied on WeChat saying he had gone to eat, and Xu Kuo responded with "Got it," and that was the end of it.

Ying Zhiyu grasped Xu Kuo’s feelings to some extent.

The Li family were household names in the capital, and Li Xi’s fame and reputation online eclipsed even A-listers.

When did Ying Zhiyu get involved with Li Xi?

Li Xi’s dismissive look outside the private room.

All of this made Young Master Xu, who had been pampered since childhood, uncomfortable.

However, Ying Zhiyu and Xu Kuo weren’t even friends in the past—at most, Ying Zhiyu was Xu Kuo’s "ghostwriter" or "sidekick."

They weren't that close, let alone discuss private matters involving love, marriage, or family.

Ying Zhiyu guessed that Xu Suxiao had already filled in Xu Kuo, so when he saw Xu Kuo in the dorm again, he didn’t specifically try to explain anything.

A few days after the semester started, Xu Kuo moved out of their graduate student double dorm.

Before leaving, he turned back at the door and glanced at Ying Zhiyu.

Ying Zhiyu politely asked, "Need help with your things?"

The young master had plenty of people to help him move, and besides, Xu Kuo hardly ever stayed in the dorm, so there wasn’t much to take.

Xu Kuo shook his head, paused for a long time, and then said, "Happy marriage. And... sorry for everything."

Ying Zhiyu didn’t say "it’s okay." Xu Kuo had claimed credit for his papers, research results, and patent projects—these things from the past couldn’t be undone.

So he simply nodded to show he heard.

They parted ways after that.

When the weekend came, Ying Zhiyu had to head home first.

He told Li Xi on the phone that he would go home on Friday night and then meet him at LI Group on Saturday afternoon.

Li Xi hummed in response over the phone.

After finishing the discussion, Ying Zhiyu waited for Li Xi to hang up, but there was no sound from Li Xi for what felt like ages.

Ying Zhiyu called, "Li Xi?"

After the intense "afternoon bout" ended that day, Li Xi had told Ying Zhiyu to just call him by his name from then on.

Ying Zhiyu thought it was fine—since the Third Prince Li enjoyed "acting the older brother" so much, then "brother" should be reserved for more crucial moments.

Li Xi made another "Hmm" sound on the other end of the line before replying, "Do you want me to go with you for the home visit?"

Ying Zhiyu was stunned: "What?"

Li Xi said calmly, "Zhang Jingrui prepared a gift list, saying that if the husband’s family values the marriage, the bride should return home the next day. We’ve been married for a week now."

Ying Zhiyu fell silent at that.

"Returning home," more commonly called "huí niáng jiā," refers to the bride’s first visit back to her parental home after the wedding.

As the final part of traditional wedding customs, in ancient times, a newlywed bride would return to her family for a visit.

The more favored the bride was in her husband’s family, the more lavish and valuable the gifts her husband would bring when accompanying her back home.

Well.

Wait, so did he really "marry into" Li Xi's family...?