Chapter 49

Chapter 49

With only three or four days left of the New Year holiday, Ying Zhiyu suggested a vacation getaway.

Due to his involvement in a school lab research project, Ying Zhiyu still couldn't travel abroad for the time being. However, given the biting cold of the capital's winter, choosing a warmer city or a domestic island for a retreat was far better than being cooped up indoors all the time.

Li Xi found it odd: "You're not actually scared?"

Having just experienced a disguised attack, with the masterminds still at large, how could the Alpha dare to travel around and even plan a trip?

Ying Zhiyu was quite nonchalant: "What's meant to happen will happen. If there's danger, it could still find me even if I hid at home every day."

Perhaps it was because he had died once before.

Ying Zhiyu wasn't deeply afraid of death.

Living was good, but dying wasn't particularly terrifying either.

The worst that could happen was death, right?

So, if he wasn't even afraid of death, then other so-called "dangers" didn't seem worth worrying about in advance.

Besides, technically speaking, he hadn’t even been "murdered" in his previous life.

After all, even the gang that kidnapped him back then probably never imagined he would die so inexplicably from just a single finger.

Life is unpredictable; live in the present.

In the end, Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi revisited the honeymoon options previously provided by their wedding travel customization company and chose an "island vacation" plan.

They booked a small, warm-climate island domestically, eager to savor their last days alone together.

Before Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi arrived on the island, a steward had already been seconded by Zhou Shen from a nearby Li family estate to manage the lodging arrangements. All other security personnel had been deployed by Pan Da’s father, Pan Muqiao.

On their first day after landing, they took a casual stroll around the island.

Li Xi was an excellent swimmer, but as a man in early pregnancy, most water activities carried significant risks. So, if they wanted to swim, they opted for the indoor pool.

The next day, Ying Zhiyu was shaving early in the morning in the bedroom bathroom.

Perhaps due to hormonal changes from pregnancy, Li Xi’s beard had been growing very slowly lately, no longer requiring daily shaving.

As Ying Zhiyu applied shaving cream in front of the mirror, Li Xi entered from the doorway.

Ying Zhiyu usually preferred a blade razor for shaving. As he began, he noticed in the mirror that Li Xi was watching him intently.

Ying Zhiyu paused and turned to ask, "What is it?"

Li Xi said, "Is it difficult to use a razor blade?"

Ying Zhiyu replied, "Not at all."

After a pause, noticing Li Xi still watching his chin, he hesitated, "...Want to try it?"

Ying Zhiyu could see the eagerness in Li Xi’s eyes, but in the end, Li Xi shook his head: "Just shave yourself."

Ying Zhiyu murmured, "Oh."

He turned back to continue, but Li Xi still didn’t leave, watching him shave carefully until he finished.

Ying Zhiyu turned around, pulled the person next to him close, and asked with a smile, "Afraid you might not get the pressure right and hurt me?"

Aside from this, Ying Zhiyu couldn’t think of any other reason why their young master, who practically had "want to try" written all over his face, would still refuse.

Li Xi didn’t answer.

But between his previous life and this one, they had been together for nearly twelve years—almost a full cycle.

Even if Li Xi didn’t say it, Ying Zhiyu knew his Omega was someone who struggled to articulate tender feelings directly, concealing a pure and sensitive heart beneath a layer of ice.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, "Want to help me put on the aftershave?"

Hearing this, the silent Omega’s eyes lit up. After two seconds, he nodded reservedly.

Ying Zhiyu chuckled: "Then I’ll trouble Director Li."

Later, while applying the aftershave, the two somehow ended up kissing.

Ying Zhiyu firmly remembered the golden rule about not provoking a pregnant man and tried to pull away in time to avoid truly igniting passion, which would only make the sensitive Omega, who couldn't engage in strenuous activity, more uncomfortable.

But Li Xi kept his hand on the back of Ying Zhiyu’s head and didn’t let go.

This was a new habit Li Xi had developed recently.

After the incident in the underground garage before the New Year, when Ying Zhiyu was tackled and protected by a bodyguard, he hit his head on the garage floor. Li Xi applied warm towels for him for a few days, and since then, Third Prince Li had started casually rubbing and pressing his head.

Or perhaps Li Xi had always been quite interested in his "140-intelligence brain."

Finally, the kiss ended.

The two separated, breathing heavily. Ying Zhiyu raised his hands innocently: "This time, I really didn’t do anything."

Li Xi’s breathing hadn’t fully settled yet. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the Alpha’s freshly aftershaved, clean, handsome face.

Seeing no reason to hold back, he kissed him again.

The freshly-scented Alpha, whose head was once again firmly held by the domineering Omega: "..."

-

Ying Zhiyu’s constitution was truly peculiar.

The newly pregnant Omega remained healthy throughout, eating and sleeping well, while he, an Alpha who had accompanied the pregnant man from a cold place to a warm island to escape the chill, ended up catching a cold on the third day on the island.

All their travel plans were ruined.

Because medication wasn’t advisable during pregnancy, the moment Ying Zhiyu woke up and noticed signs of his cold, he immediately distanced himself from Li Xi.

His nose still stuffy, the Alpha, still in pajamas, grabbed his phone from the bedside and swiftly moved to another room early in the morning.

Li Xi sat on the bed, watching Ying Zhiyu leave the bedroom.

Five minutes later, the phone rang.

Li Xi answered the call.

The Alpha’s voice came through, nasally instructing: "Contact me via phone if anything comes up. I’ll have the butler bring three meals to my room. You go ahead and enjoy yourself—have Pan Da accompany you around."

Who knew if the young Alpha was genuinely carefree or just dumb from the cold.

Although Pan Da was a Beta, Li Xi and he were still of the opposite sex. Having Pan Da accompany him?

Was he here to make up for a tropical island honeymoon with his Alpha, or with his personal bodyguard?

Li Xi wasn't very enthusiastic, giving a noncommittal "Mm."

It wasn't until Ying Zhiyu was getting ready to hang up that Li Xi finally spoke, asking, "Are the symptoms severe? Want me to have the housekeeper send a doctor over?"

Ying Zhiyu knew his cold patterns pretty well—they usually cleared up in just a few days, something he'd usually brush off.

But now, with Li Xi in his pregnancy, the most important thing was to isolate himself as the source of the cold.

Ying Zhiyu said, "No need for that," and added, "But you can have the housekeeper send someone to gather up my personal items from the room, especially the things in the bathroom. Don't use my cups—have housekeeping take them out to disinfect."

Li Xi was quiet for a long moment. After a few seconds, Ying Zhiyu said "Hello?" before Li Xi finally replied, "Got it."

Worried he might be a walking germ factory at home, Ying Zhiyu stayed in his room all day.

Apart from having the housekeeper bring three meals to his door, he simply went back to working in his room.

Before he knew it, evening had fallen outside his window.

Just as Ying Zhiyu came up for air from his documents, he heard a knock at the door.

Thinking it was his dinner delivery, he walked over and opened the door.

But upon opening it, Ying Zhiyu just stared for a second: "..."

Then, with a bang, he immediately slammed the door shut again.

Half a minute later, the Alpha, now masked up, reopened the door.

Looking into those dark eyes, Ying Zhiyu asked, concerned, "Is something wrong? Why are you here?"

When he had switched rooms that morning, he had deliberately chosen one upstairs to avoid spreading germs where Li Xi might be.

Li Xi just looked at Ying Zhiyu without speaking.

They stood there looking at each other for what felt like ages.

Finally, Li Xi moved.

He reached out with the back of his hand to check Ying Zhiyu's forehead for fever.

Ying Zhiyu gave a hoarse chuckle, "Did you come specifically to check on me?"

He didn’t let Li Xi into the room, sure the room was swimming with germs after he'd been in there all day.

He closed the door behind himself, Ying Zhiyu glanced down at his own hand, then at Li Xi's blank, clearly unhappy expression, and still reached out to take Li Xi's hand.

"Have you had dinner yet?"

Li Xi ignored the question, saying instead, "Ying Zhiyu, I rarely catch colds."

Ying Zhiyu paused, explained patiently, "But after pregnancy, an Omega’s immune system undergoes changes."

To better accommodate the fetus, the maternal body typically experiences a slight, adaptive decrease in immunity during pregnancy.

As an Omega and a graduate in a biology-related field, Li Xi was well aware of this reproductive immunity theory.

Sure enough, Li Xi wasn't bothered and said again, "I never take medication when I have a cold."

No medicine meant no worries about pregnancy drug complications.

Ying Zhiyu fell silent for a second.

Suddenly, he understood.

A pregnant man needed his Alpha’s companionship during pregnancy.

And here they were, having deliberately escaped the undercurrents of the capital and their overwhelming workloads to come here, yet he was now neglecting the pregnant man under the pretext of a cold—it really wasn’t right.

Once this dawned on him, the Alpha couldn’t help but lower his head and smile.

However, with Ying Zhiyu wearing a mask, the smile wasn’t obvious.

Li Xi stared at the suddenly bowing Alpha, unsure of the motive behind the gesture.

When the Alpha raised his head again, Li Xi finally saw the gentle smile in his handsome features.

Li Xi paused, pursing his lips slightly.

Before he could say anything else, the young Alpha, enveloped in the scent of pheromones that made him feel most at ease, actively embraced him.

The next moment, the Alpha buried his face into Li Xi’s warm shoulder, nuzzling against it, his muffled, nasal-toned voice indistinct and low through the mask.

"Yunyun wants to sleep with Xixi gege again tonight~"