Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The next evening, at the Li family's hillside estate in the capital.

Since Han Qiyu gave birth, he and the child had been recuperating at the hillside estate, and Li Qin had been staying with them for the past few months.

"I heard that last night, Third Younger Brother took his Alpha to race on the winding mountain road?" Han Qiyu sat on the sofa in the study, a book open on his lap, as if casually bringing it up. "It seems like he hasn’t done that kind of thing in a long time."

Li Qin replied, "Yes, it’s probably just the young man wanting to have fun."

Li Xi’s Alpha was only 22 years old, just the age to crave novelty and excitement.

Han Qiyu smiled. "Third Younger Brother seems to be quite fond of his new brother-in-law."

It was clear from just a few shared meals that Li Xi genuinely cared for his newlywed Alpha.

Affection can be faked, but not the small details or genuine emotion.

Those instinctive gestures—taking the drink for him, showing concern, or frowning unconsciously when someone gave his Alpha a hard time—couldn’t be fake.

Li Qin recalled the information from her investigation and said, "That Alpha is indeed outstanding."

However, she only offered this brief evaluation, and didn’t seem particularly interested in discussing Ying Zhiyu further.

When it came to private matters unrelated to work, Li Qin had always been indifferent and uninterested.

As a child, she never paid attention to her parents' relationship; as an adult, she never showed concern for her siblings' choices in partners or family lives.

Lì Qìn had always been this kind of person—

calm and focused, yet also detached.

Hán Xīyú didn’t initiate further conversation. After working for a while, Lì Qìn suddenly remembered to ask, “Have you taken your medicine today?”

Hearing this, Hán Xīyú looked up. He paused for a moment, then shook his head. “The child is already here. What’s the point of taking medicine now?”

Lì Qìn frowned—clearly not satisfied with his answer.

At that moment, Hán Xīyú thought to himself, *So it was for these small emotions and details that I held on until now.*

He gave a faint smile. “We'll take it slow. I promised this would be the last one, so no more after this. We'll just focus on recovering.”

The Lì family’s pheromone-based business empire needed an Alpha or Omega heir. If Lì Qìn had an Alpha or Omega descendant, it would significantly improve her chances of inheriting LI.

Even when Hán Xīyú was very young, he had always admired Lì Qìn.

At that time, no one knew Lì Qìn would present as an Alpha. Everyone simply assumed she would be an Omega, so young Hán Xīyú both admired her inwardly and held a protective feeling for her.

But by the age of twelve, Lì Qìn had presented as an Alpha.

Hán Xīyú was only a little disappointed at the time, but soon decided it was for the best.

He thought, *Someone like Lì Qìn really is more suited to be an Alpha.*

Yet two years later, no one could have predicted that Hán Xīyú himself would unexpectedly present as an Omega.

Han Qiyu's family was shocked.

They had raised Han Qiyu as an heir, but he ended up presenting as an Omega?

Han Qiyu's family was not as open-minded as Li Qin's; they would never let an Omega take charge. Once Han Qiyu presented as an Omega, he was inevitably distanced from inheriting the family business.

If it weren't for Li Qin's proactive advances later on, which led to them dating—and Han Qiyu's family recognizing Li Qin's status and her position as an heir—Han Qiyu might have been even further marginalized within his own family.

So, Han Qiyu often thought that how wonderful it would be if he and Li Qin had a child who could present as an Alpha or Omega, at least to help Li Qin secure her inheritance.

To that end, he didn't hesitate to deceive Li Qin, resorting to some means to get pregnant with this last child.

He just wanted to take one final gamble.

As December came around, two major events occurred in the Li Qin family.

-

First, December 24th was Li Xi's birthday. Ying Zhiyu's birthday was on September 9th, and since Li Xi had prepared so many gifts and surprises for him, Ying Zhiyu couldn't be too far behind for Li Xi's first birthday after their marriage.

The second event was that Li Yue had set her sights on a highly educated Beta.

Xu Suxiao had been pursuing Li Yue for several years. Although Li Yue had never explicitly acknowledged their relationship, in the upper-class circles of the capital, it was almost universally assumed that Xu Suxiao was the future son-in-law of the Li Qin family.

However, at this very moment, Li Yue suddenly announced that she was going to have a flash marriage.

And the person she was marrying was not Xu Suxiao.

It was a knowledgeable and talented Beta.

Those were Li Yue's exact words.

Li Yue introduced him as very intelligent, just a man in his early thirties who was already an Associate Professor in the Chinese Department at Capital University.

Li Xi didn't react upon hearing this.

But when he learned that Li Yue intended to take the man directly to get their marriage certificate, Li Xi frowned and said, "No."

Li Yue's eyes widened. "Why?"

Li Xi could get married with a talented young man with just a certificate—was it a case of "rules for thee but not for me"?

Li Xi shook his head. "You said he rejected your invitation for a date, and now you want to go get their marriage certificate directly? What kind of logic is that?"

Li Yue replied matter-of-factly, "If I like him, why not get married? Didn’t you plan to do the same back then?"

This was the first time Li Yue learned that her brother and his Alpha had never even met before that first introduction—the day he brought him home was their very first encounter!

Li Yue took inspiration in this.

As long as you check someone’s background and are satisfied with them, what does it matter if they agree or not?

Li Yue believed that this was far better than finding some Alpha from their social circle who was merely a suitable match.

How many Alphas in their circle didn’t have some skeletons in their closet?

And besides, the one her brother had found was truly exceptional.

Handsome, outstanding, sharp, and knows when to push forward and when to hold back.

A truly highly educated individual should be like my brother's alpha, not like some alphas who, relying on their rut, act like they're having a roid rage episode.

The reason Li Yue suddenly rejected Xu Suxiao was because of one of Xu Suxiao's ruts.

Alphas are different from Omegas; sometimes, their rut can become an excuse for them to "act out," similar to using alcohol as a cover.

Li Yue hadn't actually rejected Xu Suxiao's pursuit—they even went on a few dates. But that didn't mean Xu Suxiao could force a kiss on her without her consent.

Did he think that made him domineering and cool?

Fortunately, Li Yue is a Beta, so the most Xu Suxiao could do was force a kiss. If she were an Omega, he might have forced a mating mark on her and then casually said afterward, "Sorry, I was in rut"?

If Li Yue hadn't seen Ying Zhiyu's behavior during rut, she wouldn't have known that an alpha's rut could be so "normal."

She eventually figured it out: all that talk about not being able to control themselves is just an excuse. Using the rut as an excuse to vent pent-up emotions they usually suppress and do things they normally wouldn’t dare—that’s the truth.

It’s about a person’s true nature.

They’re just usually hiding it, and the alpha rut is what accidentally exposes their true nature!

Li Xi didn’t know what happened between Li Yue and Xu Suxiao or why they broke up.

Li Yue has her own life and the ability to handle things around her, so the siblings rarely interfere in each other's affairs.

But in this case, after some thought, Li Xi still shook his head.

"If you’ve really looked into him and think he’s good, then find another opportunity to find an opening."

Li Yue is beautiful, independent, and wealthy—these are all her strengths. The other party is just a university professor, and as a male Beta, he doesn't have many options for partners; most mostly end up with female Betas. Their genders are compatible.

"Appeal to his interests, offer incentives, show your interest—any method will do."

Li Xi said, "But at the very least, you need to get him to accept you willingly first."

Li Yue didn’t understand: "Why go through all this trouble?"

Once they’re married, like her brother and his partner, wouldn’t living together naturally allow feelings to develop?

Why make it so complicated?

Li Xi was silent for a long time.

"You said he didn’t even accept the pursuit of his department head’s daughter, which shows he has strong integrity."

Li Xi analyzed objectively: "Being an associate professor at the country's top university in his early thirties is indeed impressive. But if he’s still single, there are only two possibilities."

"First, he isn't ready to commit, or he prefers being single. Second, he has very particular standards for marriage and isn’t willing to settle."

Li Xi warned his sister: "If you start off on the wrong foot, you’ll basically ruin any chance of developing a relationship with him."

A bully has no right to demand love from the victim.

Someone in power can force obedience from their subordinates, but they forever lose the right to hope for their love.

Since Li Yue thinks so highly of him, this first step is critical.

Author's Note:

By now, everyone should have guessed the real reason for the bad ending in the previous life.

It was actually foreshadowed early on, at the beginning of Chapter 3.

It wasn’t about not speaking up—one couldn’t, and the other didn’t dare.

P.S. If any readers go back to check earlier chapters, please don’t leave spoilers in the comments [hug].