Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Even with a temporary marking, an Omega’s pheromones are bound to change.

In a corporation centered around pheromones, ninety percent of the employees, especially upper management, are almost exclusively Alphas and Omegas.

Li Xi was about to attend a board meeting, and even if Ying Zhiyu lacked discretion, he wouldn’t approach him at such a critical moment.

He simply leaned gently into the crook of Li Xi’s neck, burying his head and nuzzling lightly a couple of times, holding back.

Ying Zhiyu’s styled hair, with its slightly coarse texture, brushed against Li Xi’s neck, causing Li Xi’s eyelashes to flutter involuntarily.

He closed his eyes.

However, Ying Zhiyu remained perfectly still in the same position, pressed against Li Xi, for two full minutes.

Two minutes later, Ying Zhiyu lifted his head, his expression composed, and smiled at Li Xi: "I’m fine now, let’s go."

Li Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He watched as the Alpha, clearly still in his rut, turned smoothly and opened the VIP restroom door, gesturing for him to exit first.

Ying Zhiyu’s consideration was not lost on Li Xi.

Now was indeed not the right time.

Li Xi took a deep breath and strode out purposefully.

But as he passed the Alpha, he coldly uttered three words: "Two minutes."

Ying Zhiyu was momentarily taken aback, puzzled for a moment before realizing Li Xi was responding to his earlier remark, "I’m not that fast"?

Ying Zhiyu: "..."

By then, Li Xi had nearly reached the conference room door.

Ying Zhiyu smiled helplessly, caught up with two quick steps, and slipped an arm lightly around Li Xi’s waist in plain sight of the open doorway.

He maintained just the right distance, whispering in his ear: "I’ll prove it when you get out."

Li Xi hesitated.

Ying Zhiyu added softly, "Focus on the meeting."

After publicly displaying their "affection," he released Li Xi and tactfully stepped away to avoid suspicion.

Before Ying Zhiyu could return to Li Xi’s office floor, the elevator doors opened, and he unexpectedly bumped into Li Xi’s assistant, Zhang Jingrui.

Zhang Jingrui was holding a small bag and, upon seeing Ying Zhiyu, immediately said, "Mr. Ying, here are the things Mr. Li asked me to get for you. If you’d like to go home now, I can arrange a Beta driver for you right away."

Ying Zhiyu took the bag and thanked him: "Thank you, I’ll wait for him in Mr. Li’s office."

When Ying Zhiyu returned to Li Xi’s office, soon after, Zhang Jingrui knocked on the door again.

Ying Zhiyu opened the door.

Zhang Jingrui was holding a large 5.5-liter bottle of mineral water and said, "Mr. Li mentioned you have a cold and should avoid cold drinks. Would room-temperature water be okay?"

An Alpha’s water consumption during rut is several times higher than usual, so Ying Zhiyu quickly replied, "Yes, thank you."

He reached for the water bottle, but Zhang Jingrui didn’t let go.

"Let me bring it into the rest area for you."

After placing the 5.5L water bottle in the rest area of Li Xi’s office, Zhang Jingrui added before leaving, "If you need anything else, just let me know anytime."

Ying Zhiyu nodded: "Alright, thank you for your trouble."

After Zhang Jingrui left, Ying Zhiyu took off his jacket and sat on the edge of the bed in Li Xi’s rest area, looking down to peek into the small bag Zhang Jingrui had given him in the elevator.

Inside were Alpha-specific suppressants, cooling patches, energy-boosting chocolate bars, and surprisingly, even a box of new calming agents...

Ahem, Ying Zhiyu casually set the bag aside.

-

When he opened his eyes again, Ying Zhiyu sensed someone beside him.

Ying Zhiyu turned his head and saw Li Xi lying close to him, curled on his side at the edge of the rest area bed.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that he had once permanently marked Li Xi in his previous life?

Even during the rut, when an Alpha’s territorial instincts peak, Ying Zhiyu had slept so soundly that he hadn’t noticed someone lying beside him until now?

Having enjoyed a rare deep sleep, Ying Zhiyu didn’t rush to move.

Based on past experiences, every time he woke up, Li Xi would typically wake up soon after.

So, Ying Zhiyu simply quietly observed the person sleeping beside him.

Since the office rest area bed wasn’t as large as the one at home, for Li Xi to lie beside him without disturbing him, he had to curl up slightly—no wonder he was in an unusual side-lying position.

Ying Zhiyu guessed that Li Xi had been busy preparing for this board meeting.

He could clearly see the dark circles visible beneath Li Xi’s closed eyes.

Perhaps due to the heightened pheromone sensitivity during an Alpha’s rut, even though Ying Zhiyu made no sound after waking, it wasn’t long before Li Xi’s eyes beneath his eyelids slowly began to move.

A sign he was waking up.

Before Li Xi could fully open his eyes, a warm hand covered them.

Li Xi: "..."

He didn’t struggle. There was only one person who could be doing this.

"...What’s wrong?"

Ying Zhiyu felt Li Xi’s eyelashes brush lightly against his palm twice as he asked hesitantly.

Ying Zhiyu smiled knowingly. He noticed that Li Xi, just after waking, was strikingly different from his usual self.

The sharp aura, the cold, expressionless demeanor—none of it had fully returned yet, giving the Omega who didn’t resist his hand the illusion of being docile and easy to bully.

However, Ying Zhiyu knew it was just an illusion.

"Lie down a little longer, don’t open your eyes."

Though he allowed the Alpha to cover his eyes, Li Xi didn’t respond.

Feeling the delicate eyelashes brush slowly against his palm again, Ying Zhiyu asked, "How did the meeting go?"

He knew that some time ago, Li Xi had already received a nomination from the board and was in the qualification review period.

Judging by the scene in the LI conference room this afternoon, Ying Zhiyu guessed that although Li Xi didn’t explicitly say so, today was most likely the formal shareholders' meeting.

According to the company charter, as long as more than half of the shareholders at the meeting agreed to Li Xi joining the board of directors, the resolution would pass smoothly.

Sure enough, Li Xi spoke up, his tone indifferent, as if it were no big deal.

“There will be a one-week public notice period next. If there are no issues, the business registration changes will be completed within a month.”

“So impressive! I guess we’ll have to call you Director Li from now on~”

The Alpha enthusiastically flattered him.

The eyelashes beneath his palm fluttered again. Ying Zhiyu estimated that if not for the obstruction, Third Prince Li would undoubtedly cast him an indifferent glance at this moment.

Li Xi said, “In matters settled by shareholding, even if I were incompetent, they’d have no choice but to agree.”

Hearing this, Ying Zhiyu grew curious: “How many shares of LI do you own now?”

It's impossible to join the board without owning shares, but judging by Li Xi’s tone, he already owned a considerable amount. Ying Zhiyu suddenly wondered how many shares Li Songqian had given his most favored Third Young Master.

Li Xi didn’t hide it either; he didn't suspect the Alpha had an ulterior motive in asking this.

After all, regardless of how many shares he held in LI Group, the prenup had clearly stated those shares had nothing to do with Ying Zhiyu.

Li Xi replied, “When Grandpa passed away, I, Li Qin, Li Lv, and Li Yue each received 5%.”

For a world-class conglomerate like LI, 5% of the shares already represented an unbelievable amount of wealth.

Still, Ying Zhiyu asked, “And how much did Dad give?”

Hearing this, Li Xi smirked, pulling Ying Zhiyu’s hand away while placing his other hand on Ying Zhiyu’s forehead to check his temperature.

He said with a cold sneer, “Of course, he keeps his shares firmly in his own hands. In a family like ours, no one willingly hands over their shares to others until they’re on their deathbeds.”

Perhaps thinking Ying Zhiyu was asking because he thought 5% wasn't enough, Li Xi, after feeling Ying Zhiyu's forehead and then pressing his hand to his own cheek to compare, frowned and added by way of explanation.

“Li Yue signed a proxy agreement three years ago. Her 5% is currently under my decision-making authority.”

Thus, even before joining the board, Li Xi already had the voting power of 10% of the shares.

Moreover, since LI Group was essentially a family-controlled conglomerate, with Chairman Li Songqian’s support, Li Xi’s entry into the board was only a matter of time.

Ying Zhiyu let Li Xi check his temperature. His mind, however, drifted back to his past life.

Back then, when Li Songqian was critically ill, LI faced a fierce succession battle.

Li Yue, as Li Xi’s staunch supporter, this matched the current situation perfectly.

In the later stages of his past life, the battle for succession essentially boiled down to a contest between the Li family’s Alpha eldest daughter, Li Qin, and the Omega Third Young Master, Li Xi.

Meanwhile, Li Lv and Li Yue each sided with their respective siblings.

Around the time Ying Zhiyu was kidnapped, Li Qin was undoubtedly the top suspect.

However, when Ying Zhiyu was rescued and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, though barely conscious, he vaguely remembered Li Qin also being present.

From what Ying Zhiyu knew of Li Xi, even if he had no feelings for him, if Li Qin had truly been behind the incident, Li Xi would never have allowed her to appear at the hospital.

Moreover, in his past life, Ying Zhiyu had no interest in the Li family, paying little attention to Li Xi’s siblings or their inheritance disputes.

He only cooperated with Li Xi as needed, without involving himself in unnecessary matters or wasting mental energy on them.

But in this life, after interacting with the Li family again—

Though he'd only met them two or three times at most, Ying Zhiyu had almost ruled out Li Qin as a suspect.

An Alpha as shrewd as Li Qin wouldn’t be foolish enough to do something so against her own interests at such a critical moment.

At that time, LI Group's pheromone business empire's inheritance battle had implications for the entire ABO society and attracted immense public attention.

Alphas and Omegas were divided into two major factions, supporting Li Qin and Li Xi respectively, while Betas mostly watched from the sidelines.

At such a critical juncture, if anything happened to Ying Zhiyu—as Li Xi's spouse—Li Qin would become the prime suspect, and the neutral Beta faction would likely swing heavily in Li Xi's favor.

This would bring Li Qin no benefit.

However, aside from Li Qin, there was also Li Lv in the Li family.

Ying Zhiyu admitted he still couldn’t quite figure out this Second Young Master Li Lv.

Based on their two brief encounters, Li Lv came across as very outgoing, but that might not have been his real personality.

If Ying Zhiyu could deliberately “hide his sharpness and feign incompetence,” there was no reason others couldn’t conceal their true selves as well.

There were no fools in the Li family.

Intuition told Ying Zhiyu that Li Lv was far more complex than he appeared on the surface.

And what about Li Songqian?

After eleven years of marriage, Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi still had no children, yet they never divorced.

Li Songqian, a capitalist who had schemed his entire life—

In his final moments, could he have used his eldest daughter, Li Qin, as a “scapegoat” to kill two birds with one stone?

Clearing the path for his most favored Omega third son to rise to power while eliminating the “unproductive” Alpha who occupied a position without producing an heir.