Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Outside, wind and rain lashed down. Ying Zhiyu reached the porch, took Li Xi’s hand, and led him directly indoors.

The rain was heavy, dampening Ying Zhiyu’s fingertips, but Li Xi didn’t mind in the slightest, gripping his hand tightly.

As soon as they returned to the room, Li Xi’s kisses were already upon him.

The 30-week pregnant man’s rounded belly pressed against Ying Zhiyu, as if the child could sense the Omega father’s emotional fluctuations, growing a little restless.

Ying Zhiyu gently soothed him: “Your clothes are wet. You know nothing would happen; there’s no need to wait outside next time.”

Li Xi didn’t speak, only continued kissing Ying Zhiyu.

Ying Zhiyu could consider safety, and so could Li Xi.

Wen Xinrui was unlikely to do anything openly to Ying Zhiyu, but knowing was one thing, worrying was another.

Unless his Alpha was within his line of sight, Li Xi could never feel completely at ease.

Ying Zhiyu loosely wrapped his arms around Li Xi’s waist, steadily embracing the Omega’s restless emotions.

After pregnancy, hormonal changes inevitably affected the pregnant person’s body.

He couldn’t forbid the pregnant man from having emotional fluctuations; what he needed to do was to embrace and support those emotions.

So Ying Zhiyu let Li Xi touch and kiss him, simply holding the other with relaxed acceptance, waiting for him to reassure himself of Ying Zhiyu's safety and presence.

Li Xi loved Ying Zhiyu’s face and enjoyed touching it.

He loved stroking his chin, his eyes, his eyebrows.

Ying Zhiyu gradually felt the Omega’s gaze seemed as if he wanted to devour him.

Well, it certainly looked that way.

As Li Xi kissed him again, Ying Zhiyu made an effort to stay rational, holding the late-term Omega’s round, yet unexpectedly comfortable waist.

“Let me take a shower first? I’m all wet.”

The heavy rain hadn’t let up throughout the journey back to LI headquarters. Ying Zhiyu had gotten drenched switching from the Maybach to the G-Wagon and walking from the villa entrance to the house.

And in this unpleasant natural environment, the rainwater wasn’t exactly clean.

After showering in the room’s bathroom, as expected, the passionately in love young couple engaged in some intimate moments.

The Omega controlling depth, intensity, and angle was the most convenient and ideal method during pregnancy.

Coincidentally, their Third Prince Li was exceptionally strong, giving him a particular advantage in mastering this position.

Early the next morning, Ying Zhiyu had a morning meeting at the lab, so he needed to leave earlier than usual.

But when he arrived at the dining room at 6 a.m., besides the butler Zhou Shen, Li Qin was also there.

Ying Zhiyu nodded slightly at Zhou Shen as a greeting.

Zhou Shen politely responded: “Master Ying, good morning.”

Ying Zhiyu: “Morning.”

He took his usual seat at the dining table, and a servant quickly served him breakfast.

Li Qin’s seat was opposite Ying Zhiyu. Most of the Li family preferred Western-style breakfasts, and the food on Li Qin’s plate was completely different from Ying Zhiyu’s.

Ying Zhiyu leisurely ate a spicy soup dumpling specially made for him by the chef, swallowed, then spoke up suddenly.

“If it’s convenient, I’d like to invite Ms. Wen to dinner.”

Li Qin’s fork paused mid-air. She looked up: “What?”

Ying Zhiyu repeated with a smile: “To thank your mother for giving me a ride last night, I’d like to treat Ms. Wen to dinner.”

Li Qin looked at Ying Zhiyu. Even though the Alpha always appeared harmless and gentle in front of others, she knew very well that her third brother’s Alpha was no pushover.

Li Qin replied coolly: “It was just on her way, no need.”

Ying Zhiyu, as if he had expected this response, continued calmly: “Actually, there’s another matter too.”

Li Qin kept her gaze fixed on the young Alpha across the table and said bluntly: “If Third Brother suspects my mother of doing something, tell him to investigate elsewhere. My mother didn’t do it.”

Li Qin had gone to her mother the previous day to ask if the Wen family had leaked the news about Li Xi’s pregnancy online, and Wen Xinrui had denied it.

Li Qin knew her mother—she owned up to her actions. If Wen Xinrui said it wasn’t the Wen family, it definitely wasn’t.

Ying Zhiyu feigned surprise and shook his head: “Of course not, why would Third Young Master suspect Ms. Wen?

“Actually, I have a research project and would like to invite Ms. Wen to participate in a questionnaire.”

Li Qin: “Questionnaire survey?”

Ying Zhiyu nodded: “It’s a study on AO differentiation. Eldest Sister must have heard Second Brother mention it?”

This was also Ying Zhiyu’s way of implying that he knew Li Lu had investigated their lab, so he straightforwardly brought up the research topic.

Hearing this, Li Qin studied Ying Zhiyu, who met her gaze openly.

After a long moment, Li Qin said: “I’ll ask my mother and get back to you.”

With that, she stood up and left the dining room first.

Ying Zhiyu still smiled politely behind her: “Thank you, Eldest Sister.”

That evening, Ying Zhiyu worked overtime in the study, reviewing materials and adjusting the research questionnaire.

When Ying Zhiyu had previously asked about Wen Xinrui, Li Xi had also told him how she had revealed to Li Xi’s mother the truth about Li Songqian using inducers to fake high compatibility in pheromones.

From a genetic superiority perspective, the upper class has always believed in the theory of pheromone superiority.

If business succession wasn’t a concern, Omega offspring were actually highly valued by wealthy families.

For upper-class families that highly valued lineage and descendants, the role and status of Omegas in arranged marriages and bearing AO offspring were unshakable.

Thus, most wealthy families also preferred Alpha and Omega offspring.

In contrast, Beta offspring often held a more ambiguous status in wealthy families.

Ying Zhiyu had long suspected that the upper-class elite had their own reproductive medical system, summarizing ways to increase the birth rates of Alpha and Omega offspring.

Even the Li family’s medical team, though not explicitly stating it, had emphasized to Ying Zhiyu the importance of Alpha companionship since Li Xi’s pregnancy, whether it was his private doctor Qin Baoyan or the maternal health specialists, and they also placed great emphasis on maintaining the pregnant man’s emotional well-being.

Most importantly, they would also mandate the minimum frequency of required sexual activity during pregnancy.

They even conducted regular follow-ups to keep records.

This largely overlaps with Ying Zhiyu's inferred theory of 'security' for the pregnant mother, as well as the idea that AO pheromone interactions can create a 'secure' environment for the reproductive cavity.

Ying Zhiyu speculated that within wealthy families' fertility medical systems, there indeed exists a relatively mature theory of "AO pregnancy."

However, this theory lacks concrete research data to support it and is largely based on past experiences and case summaries.

If such a theory truly exists, then over twenty years ago, when Gan Ruyuan was pregnant with twins and suddenly learned the harsh truth, she was devastated by the news.

In this context, was the timing chosen by the person who revealed the information to her suspiciously coincidental?

Wen Xinrui might not care about her ex-husband she has no feelings for remarrying, but would she also not care about her two children’s inheritance rights?

Li Xi knew what Ying Zhiyu had been busy with lately.

But he didn’t want the young Alpha to wade into these troubled waters.

Regardless of whether Wen Xinrui had other motives when she told Li Xi’s mother the truth all those years ago, it was Li Songqian who carried out the actions himself. Wen Xinrui was within her rights to choose when to reveal the truth.

Ying Zhiyu, of course, understood this.

In fact, by using the "AO differentiation" research project as a way to approach Wen Xinrui, he did have the intention of sounding her out.

But his focus wasn’t on the grievances and entanglements of the older generation; those complex entanglements were not something a younger outsider like Ying Zhiyu could judge or adjudicate.

Ying Zhiyu’s real reason for wanting to make contact with Wen Xinrui was to determine whether his death in his past life had any connection to the Wen family.

At the same time, Ying Zhiyu had always had a question.

Back then, Li Xi had assigned so many additional security personnel around him. Even if some extremist group or another major family wanted to target Ying Zhiyu for harm due to conflicting interests—

How did they actually succeed?

The night before, Ying Zhiyu couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he thought and couldn’t help but ask Li Xi for his opinion on the matter—

If there were enough bodyguards, how likely was it that he would be quietly kidnapped?

Li Xi’s first reaction was that the Alpha might be under some security threat.

However, Ying Zhiyu had been very relaxed these past few days, not as though anything had happened, and the bodyguards also reported no anomalies or suspicious activities around him.

Yet, Li Xi felt that Ying Zhiyu wasn’t the type to ask random, irrelevant questions out of the blue. He still wanted to discuss the matter further with the Alpha.

Li Xi opened the study door.

Ying Zhiyu, seated at the study desk, looked up.

The Alpha occasionally wore glasses when studying or working at night.

At that moment, a pair of metal-rimmed glasses with thin frames rested on Ying Zhiyu’s nose.

When he looked at someone through such glasses, his youthful student aura faded completely, replaced by an air of ascetic restraint and an unspoken sensuality.

Li Xi walked over, gazed at the Alpha—who was wearing glasses and looking up at him—for a moment, then reached out and removed the glasses from the other’s nose.

Ying Zhiyu allowed Li Xi to take off his glasses, only squinting slightly when the temple of the glasses accidentally brushed against the corner of his eye.

After removing the glasses, Li Xi tenderly rubbed the red marks left by the nose pads on either side of the Alpha’s nose bridge.

Ying Zhiyu was silent a moment, then took Li Xi’s hand and spoke hesitantly.

“If it’s too frequent… wouldn’t that be not good?”

Although engaging in that activity in moderation during pregnancy helps pheromones fully nourish the fetus and supports the pregnant man’s physical and mental health, Li Xi had exerted himself so much just last night, and now again today…

Li Xi paused. “…I wasn’t thinking about that.”

He just felt that being stared at so intently by the Alpha wearing glasses could easily interfere with discussing serious matters!

However, Ying Zhiyu clearly didn’t quite believe him and still looked hesitant.

Li Xi: “…”

In the young Alpha’s eyes, was he just an Omega who constantly craved his body without any restraint?

Seeing that Ying Zhiyu still seemed to be carefully considering the matter, even appearing somewhat hesitant—as if he wanted to consult the private doctor about feasibility before making a decision—Li Xi felt he didn’t need to worry excessively about whether the Alpha had encountered any dangers recently.

If something were really wrong, the Alpha would definitely not behave this way.

Ying Zhiyu had no idea what Li Xi was thinking.

He seriously pondered and weighed the situation, still believing that since Li Xi had been so passionate just last night—he could even feel the baby moving in his belly—it was improper. It shouldn’t happen.

Gently stroking the pregnant man’s round belly, Ying Zhiyu finally declared firmly and righteously, “We should wait until tomorrow. Let the baby rest today.”

Li Xi: “………………”