Chapter 27

Chapter 27

After the temporary mark, both were left panting.

The villa's basement wasn't well-ventilated. The moment Ying Zhiyu pulled away from Li Xi's neck, he woke the esports room's smart butler to turn on all the ventilation systems.

He held Li Xi by the waist, pressing his forehead into the crook of Li Xi's shoulder as he caught his breath.

Between highly compatible Alphas and Omegas, there was always an invisible, intangible thread that connected them at all times.

During marking, this thread would turn into steel chains, securely binding them together until they merged into one.

Both of their bodies had undergone some changes, but the Alpha had done nothing beyond the temporary mark.

Once he had mostly caught his breath, Ying Zhiyu lifted his head from Li Xi’s shoulder.

When Li Xi had torn open his own collar earlier, it had been a bit rough. Fortunately, Li Xi’s shirt was of high quality, and aside from the collar being slightly askew, there was no damage. Ying Zhiyu reached up and fastened his collar button back for him, making it seem as if the earlier chaos and intensity had never happened.

Once both of them had straightened their clothes and returned to a normal state, Ying Zhiyu stood up and went to open the door of the esports room, casually asking, "Did you come downstairs with your sister and the others?"

Earlier, when Li Qin’s Omega, Han Qiyu, had suddenly spoken up, Ying Zhiyu, dizzy from his sensitive period, hadn’t noticed until then that three more people had appeared at the door.

Li Xi shook his head. "I came down alone. Dad kept my sister back for a moment."

Ying Zhiyu gave an "oh" and didn’t ask further.

Any further questions would inevitably lead to the topic of why Li Songqian had called them into the study. Ying Zhiyu knew his boundaries and wouldn’t pry into the Li family’s internal affairs or matters related to the management of the LI Group.

But though the Alpha didn’t ask further, Li Xi brought it up himself. "Dad asked us in the study where we plan to go for our honeymoon."

Having just resolved an urgent matter, Ying Zhiyu’s mind, freed from the heavy pressure, felt somewhat light and floaty. He instinctively repeated, "Honeymoon?"

Thinking the Alpha hadn’t considered a honeymoon, Li Xi shifted his tone. "If you don’t have time—"

Ying Zhiyu cut him off directly. "I do."

If someone as busy as Li Xi, the trillion-dollar family heir, had time for a honeymoon, how could a mere doctoral student like him not have the time?

Ying Zhiyu’s instinctive repetition was actually because in his previous life, he and Li Xi had never had a honeymoon.

Suddenly hearing "honeymoon" caught him off guard.

Ying Zhiyu simply asked, "Where do you want to go? If it’s abroad, I might not be able to go right now. Would somewhere domestic be okay?"

Their lab’s current gene project involved core national biotechnology research. To prevent leaks of cutting-edge technical information, everyone in their lab and related personnel were temporarily restricted from leaving the country.

Li Xi had majored in bio-pheromone science as an undergraduate, and in his first three years back in the country, he had been deeply involved in the LI Group’s core R&D department. He had no trouble understanding the need for technical confidentiality.

"Alright, we’ll keep it domestic. Once the secretary prepares the plans, you can choose a time that works for you," Li Xi said.

Ying Zhiyu nodded. "Any time is fine for me."

Once the tense atmosphere had mostly dissipated, Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi left the esports room and simultaneously bid farewell to Li Songqian.

Without taking a helicopter via air routes, central Capital City was essentially a congested red zone before midnight, especially since it was a Friday night.

With the busy week of study and work over and the weekend ahead, many students and working professionals chose to go out to relax and have fun that evening.

While their car was stuck in traffic, Li Xi raised the partition between the front and back seats.

He spoke as if casually, "I had Zhang Jingrui find a few properties. See if any of them appeal to you."

Ying Zhiyu made a questioning sound.

On the rear seat screen in front of him, a detailed PowerPoint titled "New Home Purchase and Moving Plan" appeared.

New home? Moving?

Was Li Xi moving? Li Songqian had just gifted his son three properties in downtown Capital City, and with approved air routes, Li Xi could commute directly by helicopter to the LI Group headquarters, which was very convenient.

"Why move?"

Ying Zhiyu didn’t scroll through the plan but instead turned to look at Li Xi in the adjacent seat.

Li Xi, however, was looking out the window at the traffic, the car lights and neon signs illuminating half of his face.

Li Xi didn’t respond and avoided meeting Ying Zhiyu’s gaze.

Ying Zhiyu paused, then turned back to look at the "moving" PowerPoint.

In the plan, all the alternative properties coincidentally were located near the university town in the eastern district of the capital.

Instead of living in the luxurious aerial mansions in the busiest part of the capital, he insisted on moving to the university town outside the Fourth Ring Road. The reason was self-evident.

It could only be to make it more convenient for Ying Zhiyu to commute to school.

"...Alright, I’ll look at the properties."

That weekend, because he had been attending seminars with his mentor during the week, Ying Zhiyu still had to return to the school lab.

He got up early and left. The moment the front door made a soft sound, Li Xi, lying in bed, opened his eyes.

Last night, Ying Zhiyu still hadn’t performed a full marking.

-

Li Xi could feel the intense pheromones of the Alpha’s sensitive period washing over him, could feel the tension in the Alpha’s muscles, the throbbing veins under the palm of his hand on the Alpha’s arm.

But each time, at the critical moment, the Alpha held back.

Li Xi recalled what Qin Baoyan had said: "Then there must be something wrong with him—either psychologically or physically!"

Physically, there was certainly nothing wrong with Ying Zhiyu.

Though not an exceptionally brawny Alpha, both Ying Zhiyu’s pre-marital medical report and Li Xi’s own feelings clearly told him that the young Alpha was very healthy.

So, was it psychological?

Did he not want to mark him? Or did the Alpha secretly want to mark someone else?

When interacting with him, Ying Zhiyu always maintained perfect boundaries, every reaction and attitude as if rehearsed against a standard answer.

Ying Zhiyu—had he really never had another Omega before?

Li Xi was off on the weekend, and Li Yue had invited him to dinner.

Yesterday evening, apart from Second Young Master Li Lv, Li Yue also didn't come back to the Li mansion for dinner.

But, unlike Li Lv, who was making his position clear to his Alpha father and protesting to the end, Li Yue simply did not want to face those scheming, two-faced old foxes on the LI Group board of directors.

At the reserved restaurant.

Li Xi had been waiting in the VIP private room for over twenty minutes before Li Yue finally arrived.

Li Xi disliked it when others were late, but his twin sister was the only exception.

Once Li Yue took her seat, Li Xi, as usual, called for the server to bring out the food.

The first thing Li Yue did after sitting down was ask, "Where's your little alpha?"

Although she and Li Xi referred to each other as sister and brother, there was barely any age difference between them, and they usually spoke quite casually.

Li Xi replied, "Their lab has a dinner gathering."

When Li Yue called to invite Li Xi for dinner in the afternoon, before Li Xi could even mention it to Ying Zhiyu, Alpha had called him first.

Ying Zhiyu told Li Xi over the phone that their lab’s advisor was treating them to a group dinner that evening.

So, Li Xi, who hadn’t had the chance to bring up Li Yue’s invitation, didn’t mention it.

Fortunately, Li Yue wasn't too bothered. She actually preferred dining with just her brother—it was more comfortable anyway.

While waiting for the food to be served, Li Yue complained, "I just don’t like dealing with those people and their fake pleasantries. Alphas are always fighting over this and that, backstabbing and competing—isn’t it exhausting?"

Over eighty percent of the members on the LI Group board of directors are Alphas.

And in Li Yue’s stereotypical view, Alphas are all self-righteous, competitive, and cunning wolves.

After venting about the board members, Li Yue added, "And Big Sister too—look how thin brother-in-law has gotten during his pregnancy!"

"People outside still praise them as some kind of storybook romance from a wealthy family. They’ve been in love since they were kids, for over a decade, and brother-in-law’s family isn’t lacking either. But in the end, after marrying the Alpha he truly loved, he still ended up being turned into a baby-making machine."

Just then, a server knocked and entered to serve the dishes, and Li Yue fell silent.

After the server finished setting the dishes and left with the delivery robot, Li Yue continued, "Betas are so much better—not caught up in all the competition, with money, power, and leisure to do whatever they want. After all, if the sky falls, you Alphas and Omegas will be the ones holding it up."

Li Xi listened quietly to Li Yue’s words without responding throughout.

It was true that Li Yue was a Beta, but she enjoyed being one—with the precondition that she was a Beta born into a wealthy and powerful family.

Her feelings only represented her personal perspective.

Just as there are people who feel happy and unhappy in all groups, this mostly has little to do with gender, but rather with their individual backgrounds, experiences, temperaments, or mindsets.

Still, it was good that Li Yue was like this.

His sister, Li Xi’s sister, could live her whole life freely, boldly, and happily just as she was.

Li Yue also knew her brother was the quiet type and had long grown accustomed to his silence.

But just as she finished expressing her views on the three secondary genders, picked up her chopsticks, and was about to take some food, she suddenly noticed with shock that more than half of the dishes on the table were cooked with "scallions, ginger, and garlic"!

"What’s going on? Who ordered today? What's with all the scallions, ginger, and garlic? Weren't they told to leave it out?"

Li Yue wondered if the manager had changed or if the server had served the wrong dishes.

Before she could press the button to call the server, Li Xi took a piece of the steamed red grouper with his chopsticks—the fish was covered with shredded scallions and ginger.

"No mistake here, I ordered these dishes."

He said composedly.

Li Yue was stunned.

Her brother had ordered this himself??

Oh my god! This one has scallions, that one has garlic, and that other one is full of ginger!

Watching Li Xi eat the fish, still topped with scallions, without changing expression, Li Yue suspected her brother had been possessed!

Of course, Li Xi had not been possessed.

It was just that ever since he’d eaten at the Ying family’s home—hearty helpings of onion-beef buns, Typhoon Shelter-style fried prawns, and ginger-scallion chicken—he’d suddenly found those strong-smelling ingredients not so hard to swallow.

That dinner hadn’t been entirely forced on him.

Maybe the first bite was forced—after all, Alpha’s parents had always treated him with deference and respect, and there was a strong sense of distance at the table. Li Xi just didn’t want Ying Zhiyu’s parents to misunderstand and think he disliked their cooking.

But after the first bite, perhaps because Ying’s parents really came from culinary backgrounds and were skilled cooks, the flavors he had never been willing to try before turned out to be not as unacceptable as he’d imagined.

In fact, they even enhanced the appetite and were perfect with rice.

So now, sitting calmly in the VIP room, Li Xi simply said, "I just thought it might be nice to try something different occasionally."

In the past, no matter how much Li Yue tried to persuade her brother to give these seasonings a try, claiming that avoiding them meant missing out on 99% of the world’s delicious food, Li Xi remained completely unmoved.

And now her brother was saying it’s nice to change things up?!

In her shock, Li Yue's mind raced, and suddenly a possibility occurred to her—

She shot to her feet: "Wait, brother, have you been to the doctor lately? You’re not expecting, are you?!"

She’d heard that during pregnancy, an Omega’s taste preferences can change!

Li Xi paused with his chopsticks: "..."

Some time ago, when the news broke that the Li family’s Omega Third Young Master was getting married, outsiders speculated whether Li Xi was rushing the wedding because he was pregnant, worried it would be harder to arrange once showing.

Others could speculate all they wanted, but why was Li Yue jumping on the bandwagon?

Li Yue, being a Beta, couldn’t smell pheromones, but unfortunately, yesterday Alpha was in his rut cycle. Even though Ying Zhiyu tried his best to restrain himself, during the temporary marking, he was more lost control and fierce than usual.

After the last marking last night, even the area connecting Li Xi’s nape to the base of his ear was left with distinct bite marks.

The weather was still warm, and it was the weekend, so Li Xi hadn’t made any special effort to cover the marks.

After standing up, Li Yue stared in shock at the side of her brother’s neck and the base of his ear.

She wasn’t some inexperienced young girl; on the contrary, 28-year-old Li Yue knew her way around pleasure. One look at the marks, and she understood exactly what had transpired.

Li Xi turned his head slightly, avoiding his sister's direct stare.

He poured a glass of wine, took a sip, and said only, "Not pregnant. Don't imagine things."

Li Yue was half-believing, half-skeptical. With such high compatibility and that kind of intense activity, wasn't pregnancy inevitable sooner or later?

Still, she knew her brother might feel embarrassed. Just as she was about to sit back down, her eyes casually swept over him, and she suddenly noticed something suspicious.

"Bro, this outfit you’re wearing—it’s not yours, is it?"