Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Upon returning to the capital from Yaocheng, Ying Zhiyu still had two days remaining of his honeymoon leave.

He dedicated nearly all of this time to accompanying Li Xi through the "dependency phase" that followed their lifelong mating bond.

By the time their honeymoon ended, the plan to purchase a new home near Biomedical University, discussed earlier, had not yet been finalized.

For the first three days of the new week, Ying Zhiyu braved rush-hour traffic to return to Li Xi's city-center home each evening.

It wasn't until the fourth day that Li Xi informed Ying Zhiyu the "dependency period" had passed, telling him to remain at the university and return only for the weekend.

However, on Friday morning,

Ying Zhiyu received an urgent, last-minute assignment: he was to accompany his mentor on a business trip the following day.

He was tasked with accompanying Xia Xianru on a short-term visit to a biological laboratory in the south.

This was, in essence, an opportunity for Xia Xianru to broaden Ying Zhiyu's learning and provide him a platform to showcase his abilities.

So, when Ying Zhiyu called Li Xi to explain the situation,

Li Xi simply replied over the phone, "Seize the opportunity, and mind the weather."

Both understood this as Xia Xianru’s gesture of goodwill towards Li Xi, or perhaps towards the LI Pheromone Group behind him.

Opportunities like this would never have been available to Ying Zhiyu before.

In the past, no matter how much his mentor Xia Xianru admired his star student, Ying Zhiyu’s humble origins remained an undeniable obstacle.

He was a "test-taker" from a small town—devoid of power, influence, or connections.

The fact that Xia Xianru allowed Ying Zhiyu to be credited, even as second or third author, on every patent during his undergraduate studies was already an extraordinary display of favoritism.

Furthermore, showing excessive partiality towards Ying Zhiyu would only create adversaries for his beloved protégé.

Xia Xianru had navigated the capital's academic circles for many years. He himself had arrived in the capital as a "small-town test-taker." Had he not, in his youth, married into a family that was essentially the "academic gatekeeper" of Biomedical University,

no matter his talent or capability, he would never have ascended to his current academic standing.

This was the stark reality of entrenched class divisions in academia—a system no individual could easily alter or disrupt.

However, everything was different now.

From the moment Ying Zhiyu entered that restaurant with his newlywed Omega, Li Xi,

it signaled that Ying Zhiyu now had powerful backing.

And the person backing him was the heir of the Li family, someone whose mere presence could send ripples through the nation’s medical and economic sectors.

Even the annual funding for their biomedical research laboratory at Biomedical University included substantial donations from the Li family, often rivaling government allocations!

Thus, after Ying Zhiyu publicly announced his marriage and made an appearance with Li Xi,

it became inevitable that countless future opportunities would naturally gravitate towards him.

Of course, having chosen to become a live-in groom for the Li family after his rebirth, Ying Zhiyu had long prepared himself mentally to enjoy the benefits that came with it.

He knew that, regardless of public perception, behind his back, people would inevitably call him a "soft Alpha."

But Ying Zhiyu didn't care.

Essentially, as long as it didn't affect him, what others said behind his back was, fundamentally, irrelevant to Ying Zhiyu.

This was a wisdom Ying Zhiyu had gleaned from his eleven years in his previous life as the "sole blemish on the Omega deity’s reputation."

Public opinion could not harm Ying Zhiyu.

Because he had already endured far greater storms of negative public opinion in his previous life.

Among the countless online attacks Ying Zhiyu suffered in his previous life, the most intense hatred likely came from extreme Omega factions.

Before Ying Zhiyu appeared—or, to put it another way, before Li Xi married—

Li Xi was the revered deity of the extreme Omega factions!

But the emergence of Ying Zhiyu, an Alpha, had "tainted" their deity, an affront that extreme Omega rights activists absolutely could not tolerate.

Thus, when Ying Zhiyu was kidnapped in his previous life, his primary suspect was Li Qin.

Second on his list were extremists within the Omega camp.

Of course, beyond these top two, and temporarily setting aside the possibility of Li Songqian and Li Lv's involvement, Ying Zhiyu's analysis at the time suggested that those who targeted him could also very likely be extremist Alpha rights activists.

After all, the more extreme Alpha rights activists hated Li Xi, the more they doubly despised Ying Zhiyu, whom they saw as a "traitor to the Alpha cause."

Almost all of the online attacks Ying Zhiyu experienced involved extreme Alpha rights activists.

Their "participation rate" even far exceeded that of extreme Omega rights activists.

Because, as the Alpha of "Omega deity" Xi Dian, Ying Zhiyu had accompanied Li Xi to numerous public events during the intense, white-hot phase of the LI Pheromone Group succession battle.

During these events, Ying Zhiyu had also made several public statements.

The most famous among them, and the one most heavily criticized and attacked by extreme Alpha rights activists, was—

the "Natural World Male Display Theory."

Even those not specialized in biology know that in most species in the natural world, males are typically larger and stronger.

Thus, Ying Zhiyu drew an analogy between "males in the natural world" and "Alphas."

Extreme Alpha rights activists constantly lament the declining Alpha-Omega birth rate, attributing it to the large number of Omegas choosing to marry Betas or opting for lifelong singleness by utilizing medical advancements like "inhibitors" and "soothers," leading to severe negative societal consequences.

They advocate for laws mandating that Omegas can only bond with Alphas.

They also clamor for the reinstatement of the "pheromone-enforced marriage matching mechanism" from centuries ago to boost the Alpha-Omega birth rate.

However, Ying Zhiyu stated in a public speech that the true solution to the Alpha-Omega birth rate issue should originate from Alphas themselves.

The "Natural World Male Display Theory" emphasizes that males should actively strive to stand out, improving their own quality and value to attract Omega partners.

At the same time, Ying Zhiyu publicly responded to the insults from extreme Alpha rights activists, who called him a "soft Alpha," "selling out Alphas for glory," and "kowtowing to Omega rights."

In front of the camera, he shrugged and spread his hands.

"That’s right, I realized that blindly relying on pheromone compatibility would never help me marry the Omega I love. So I worked hard and eventually became a successful case of eating the most expensive soft rice."

"My Omega, Mr. Li Xi, and I are both very satisfied with our current married life, and we welcome all Alphas to learn from me, emulate me, and measure up to my standard."

Ying Zhiyu casually retorted, "Instead of questioning my status as a 'soft-rice Alpha,' why not consider that there are Omegas willing to marry me even if I 'eat soft rice'?"

"And as for some individual Alphas—" Ying Zhiyu paused for effect before continuing, "why is it that the Omega you want to marry would rather marry a Beta who can’t even offer pheromones than choose you?"

"Isn’t that worth some reflection?"

Back then, during the most impactful and terrifying war of public opinion, Ying Zhiyu’s final nine-word retort was seen by extreme Alpha rights activists as the ultimate provocation.

The internet erupted with condemnation, attacks, and insults directed at Ying Zhiyu, denounced as a "disgrace" and "traitor" among Alphas.

But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

This temporarily led extreme Omega rights activists to set aside their disdain for Ying Zhiyu as a "stain,"

briefly serving as his frontline defenders, clashing head-on with the attacks of extreme Alpha rights activists.

-

In the evening, Ying Zhiyu left the lab building, had dinner at the school cafeteria, and returned to his dorm room.

Just as he unlocked his dorm room door with his key, his phone rang.

Ying Zhiyu glanced at the caller ID, answered, and naturally asked, "Have you eaten?"

The call was from Li Xi. Ying Zhiyu assumed that at this hour, Li Xi was calling because he had just finished dinner or returned home.

But it was quiet on the other end. After a moment of silence, Li Xi simply said, "Ying Zhiyu, I can’t get inside."

Ying Zhiyu was taken aback: "What?"

After another two seconds of silence, Li Xi said, "I’m outside your dorm building."

Ying Zhiyu paused: "...I’ll come down right away to get you."

He brought Li Xi to register at the dorm management office.

Ying Zhiyu directly filled in "spouse" for Li Xi in the relationship field.

The dorm manager seemed very familiar with Ying Zhiyu, repeatedly praising them as "well-matched" and wishing them "a lifelong happy union."

On their way upstairs, Li Xi looked at Ying Zhiyu: "I thought you would say I’m your cousin."

"Cousin?" Ying Zhiyu couldn’t help but repeat with amusement.

Li Xi pressed his lips together: "Isn’t that how it usually goes in stories? For convenience, people use cousin, brother, sister as a cover."

Ying Zhiyu shook his head, explaining with a smile: "After our honeymoon, I gave the manager wedding sweets. He knows I’m married."

They reached the floor where Ying Zhiyu’s dorm was located.

After Ying Zhiyu’s master's roommate Xu Kuo moved out, Ying Zhiyu was the only one left in the dorm. He took it easy and didn’t move to the PhD dorm building, opting to stay in this master's dorm instead.

PhD dorms are slightly better than master's dorms, offering studio apartments.

The single bed is also larger than those in master's dorms, but since Ying Zhiyu sleeps alone, the bed size doesn’t matter to him.

Ying Zhiyu led Li Xi into the dorm and turned to say, "Why not stay here tonight and experience the dorm living environment in China?"

Li Xi had never attended school in China.

When he was young, he was always taught one-on-one at home by well-known tutors. Later, as he grew older, he went abroad to continue his studies.

Li Xi nodded slightly.

He had come to find Ying Zhiyu at this time with no intention of going back.

Ying Zhiyu found Li Xi some clothes to sleep in. Their clothing sizes were almost identical, with the pants just half a size larger—but they still fit fine.

By the time Li Xi finished showering in Ying Zhiyu’s dorm, Ying Zhiyu had already prepared the hairdryer and placed it on the desk under the bed.

Ying Zhiyu was currently putting fresh sheets on Xu Kuo’s empty bed.

Li Xi looked up at Ying Zhiyu on the top bunk.

As he tidied up, Ying Zhiyu said, "Tonight, I’ll sleep on Xu Kuo’s bed, and you can take mine? I’ll put fresh sheets on my bed too in a moment."

Li Xi, standing below the bed, replied, "Don’t bother."

Ying Zhiyu continued putting on the pillowcase and responded, "Hmm? No need to change? Then—"

Halfway through his sentence, he noticed something and turned his head to look downward.

Below, Li Xi, his hair still damp, was staring up at him.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Ying Zhiyu asked hesitantly, "...Should we sleep together tonight?"

He realized that he had to leave the capital on a business trip again the next day. The Omega had traveled all this way to find him, and insisting on separate beds didn’t feel right.

After a pause, Ying Zhiyu said, "I wasn’t thinking straight. How about… we get a hotel room nearby?"

The graduate dorm bed was way too small. Li Xi had never even slept alone in anything this small—how’s it gonna fit both of us?

Li Xi lowered his head, grabbed the hairdryer off the desk under the bed, and without looking at Ying Zhiyu, calmly said, "Let’s just sleep here."

Author's Note:

Note: The analogy in the text about Xiao Ying’s "natural world male display theory" was inspired by the author’s earlier viewing of an African lion documentary. The thought was that male lions are so majestic and beautiful, while female lions, by comparison, can be easily mistaken for leopards (though this is just the author’s personal confusion). It made the peacock’s display seem very logical—males must compete flamboyantly for mating rights to deserve reproducing.

However, this viewpoint is very much in line with current trends. I’m not sure if someone has already publicly expressed it or if any comedians have discussed it (I seem to recall some talks about men wearing makeup), but a Baidu search didn’t yield any results—only topics like Jing Ning supporting men’s makeup. So overall, it’s still uncertain whether this idea has been voiced by others.

To avoid disputes, I’ll note here: if identical statements have indeed been used by others to draw the same analogy and conclusion, the author will consider revising this part of the plot or adding additional attribution. Thank you, everyone.