Thanks to the driver, Lin Zhu wasn’t late for school this morning.

But because he had expended too much energy over the past three days, he uncharacteristically started dozing off in class. His eyelids felt as if they were weighed down by invisible stones, constantly dropping down.

In the morning, he had the homeroom teacher’s class.

Unsurprisingly, the other party had noticed his sleepy state but considerately let him off the hook, not calling him out publicly.

This made Lin Zhu feel grateful, yet he also couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.

He originally planned to take a quick nap at noon before going to eat. However, as soon as the bell rang for the end of the last period, he saw a four-eyed head sneakily peeking out from the back door of the classroom.

It was Huang Canran.

Since getting to know each other, Lin Zhu often went to the cafeteria to eat with him. Even after Huang Canran switched to the ordinary class next door, they still paired up quite frequently.

Always two or three times a week.

Thus, he shoved his muted phone into his pocket and instinctively walked toward the other party.

It was right after school, so the hallway was crowded.

Huang Canran specifically walked to a less crowded area before grabbing Lin Zhu’s shoulders and shaking him vigorously—though he didn’t actually manage to move him—his tone filled with the shock and astonishment he had been holding in for days.

“Ahhh…!! Desk-mate, your partner is actually…?!”

He habitually called Lin Zhu “desk-mate,” and automatically muted himself at the end of the sentence, not shouting out that person’s name. “No wonder you wanted to save his photo back then, so it was…!”

Lin Zhu hadn’t expected Huang Canran to still be in shock several days later. He silently stood firm, his mind preoccupied with another matter.

“Thank you for the wine you gifted,” Lin Zhu said. “He said that one is quite expensive… We’re still students, there’s no need to give such an expensive gift. Let me invite you for a meal another day to return the favor.”

Lin Zhu should have said this earlier.

Unfortunately, during those few days of the holiday, Yan Ruojun had been in an exceptionally hyper state and was particularly averse to Lin Zhu being distracted. He barely left Lin Zhu any free time to touch his phone. He even actively sat on him, refusing to let his little husband look away for even a moment.

Swaying, bumping, splashing.

Tiny beads of sweat continuously flew from the tips of the man’s hair.

At the entrance to the cafeteria, Lin Zhu involuntarily touched his nose, his gaze shifting away for a second, and continued: “The gift you gave was great, he said he really likes it.”

Huang Canran looked gratified: “You guys drank it? Desk-mate, did you drink any? I heard that one is a limited production, it’s quite famous.”

Lin Zhu paused strangely. “…I drank it.”

“Was it good? Tsk, my dad won’t let me drink.”

Lin Zhu couldn’t help but raise his hand to cover his mouth, coughing unnaturally twice. It felt as if the texture of soft granules still lingered in his mouth.

Moderate firmness.

And extremely elastic.

Lin Zhu never knew he had that kind of preference. Later, after being teased by Yan Ruojun a few times, he quietly searched online using his phone—it seemed his condition was called the “adult oral stage,” likely caused by a lack of satisfaction during infancy, leading to renewed dependency in adulthood.

This search result made him feel extremely awkward.

Because Lin Zhu found that it was genuinely very difficult for him to break this habit. When being intimate with Yan Ruojun, his eyes would always unconsciously land on that place; appetite and lust intertwined, making it hard to quit.

Lin Zhu fell silent for a moment, then answered: “It was good.”

So good that for the following two days, Yan Ruojun refused to lie on his stomach, terrified that even a careless brush against the bedsheets would hurt, not even daring to touch it.

“…”

The aristocratic high school’s cafeteria was built to be extremely spacious.

Without needing to queue much, Lin Zhu carried his hot food and found a secluded spot near a corner with Huang Canran, sitting down to eat.

Unexpectedly, the only person who sat down was Lin Zhu.

Huang Canran placed his tray opposite Lin Zhu and stood there scarfing down his food in a very bizarre posture, his legs completely unbending.

Lin Zhu: “?”

Was this some kind of performance art?

Facing Lin Zhu’s confusion, Huang Canran waved his chopsticks freely and said nonchalantly: “My butt just got swollen from my dad whipping me, no big deal. I’ll just stand for another two days and it’ll be fine.”

Lin Zhu: “…Let me explain to Uncle.”

He thought for a moment and added: “I might not be very persuasive… I’ll have him come when the time is right. Give me Uncle’s phone number first so I can save it.”

This “him” referred to Yan Ruojun.

Huang Canran mumbled in agreement, stared at his phone screen, and suddenly asked: “Ahem, is your lock screen… sister-in— cough cough cough, is it him?”

Hearing this, Lin Zhu unconsciously rubbed his thumb over the screen and softly replied: “Mm.”

After a brief chat, Huang Canran’s curiosity grew even stronger. He couldn’t help but lean in and ask in a low voice: “Desk-mate, you guys already got your marriage certificate. Do you have plans for when you’ll have kids?”

“I heard that young Alphas who have just completed their secondary differentiation have the strongest… you know what activity. It’s easiest to hit the mark, and the genetic chain is also healthier.”

Catching a certain word.

Lin Zhu pursed his lips.

All the way until his walk home after school, he was still pondering it…

According to the timeline in the original novel, there was nearly a year left. When they divorce, the pregnancy is expected to be no more than three months.

Calculated this way.

Yan Ruojun’s child.

—A child, huh.

He closed his eyes, even…

Arriving home.

The bedroom door was still tightly closed.

Lin Zhu first put down his backpack and pushed the door open quietly.

He noticed the curtains in the room were drawn tight. In the dimness, the man was still fast asleep hugging his pillow. The blanket over him only covered half his body, revealing large patches of bruises.

On the nightstand, more than half of the water in the glass was still left.

Looking at Yan Ruojun’s state, Lin Zhu guessed he hadn’t woken up at all in the middle. Rough calculation, he had slept for nearly fifteen or sixteen hours.

Thinking of this, he immediately leaned forward and gently but firmly scooped the man up from the pillows and blankets, calling out,

“Ge, time to get up.”

“Have you not eaten all day?”

“Get up, wake up…”

The man’s eyelids were shut tight, showing no signs of opening whatsoever. He wasn’t ticklish, so Lin Zhu trying to tickle him was also in vain.

A good while passed.

Left with no other choice, Lin Zhu went straight to the bathroom, wet the man’s face towel, wrung it out, and, supporting the towel with his large hand, wiped Yan Ruojun’s face a few times until he scrubbed the person awake.

Yan Ruojun frowned and opened his slightly swollen peach-blossom eyes.

Probably half of the swelling was from crying.

Ever since they began the process of establishing a permanent mark, Yan Ruojun had become increasingly prone to crying. And his crying patterns were vastly different—during the process, his cries were devastating and tragic, but while waiting for Lin Zhu’s knot to subside, he would let out small, animal-like sniffles.

He sounded very pitiful.

Because Lin Zhu’s physical constitution truly wasn’t something an ordinary person could handle. Especially after forming a knot, for the narrow and tender cavity, it was nothing short of the cruelest punishment.

In the past, Lin Zhu had always made preparations every time, making the subsequent clean-up quick and convenient. But over the past three days, the situation had been completely different.

Cleaning up had become an extremely difficult task.

It was hard for Lin Zhu, and hard for Yan Ruojun too.

One time, Yan Ruojun was probably truly too uncomfortable. He hugged Lin Zhu’s arm, his voice trembling like a sob, “…Don’t press my stomach anymore, there really isn’t any left.”

Feeling helpless, Lin Zhu suggested using barrier products again.

The result was obvious.

Yan Ruojun flatly refused.

He seemed to have suddenly become obsessed with that barrier-free sensation, even willing to ignore and endure a series of hassles for it.

And the biggest hassle among them was that it was highly likely he could get pregnant.

Of course, that would be in the scenario where he didn’t take the morning-after pill—Lin Zhu was already anxious about this point, and after being asked about it by Huang Canran at school at noon, he couldn’t help but feel even more nervous. Seeing the man finally open his eyes, he hurriedly confirmed.

Hearing Lin Zhu’s cliché question again, Yan Ruojun blinked, his eyes transitioning from sleepy to awake. Yawning, he slowly walked into the bathroom.

“I took it,” he said.

Lin Zhu followed behind Yan Ruojun, terrified he might fall, but unable to see his expression. He only felt that the other party’s tone didn’t sound too good, seemingly hiding a sliver of anger.

Later, holding his electric toothbrush, Yan Ruojun raised his leg, stepped lightly on the top of his foot, and asked: “Puppy Lin, what if I gave birth to a tiny dog for you?”

Lin Zhu froze for two seconds, then shook his head rapidly.

Yan Ruojun pressed the issue:

“Why? Do you not like kids?”

What could Lin Zhu say?

He merely shook his head again and silently tidied up the messy pillows and blankets on the bed.

During this time, Yan Ruojun leaned against the bathroom doorframe. As if speaking casually, his tone carried an uncaring leisureliness,

“Hmph, if I accidentally get pregnant, then I’m going to have it. Getting an abortion does a lot of damage to an Omega’s body, don’t you know? If you don’t like kids… I’ll just have the pup take my last name. It’ll be perfect to immerse them from a young age and train the pup to be my successor.”

Lin Zhu fell silent, pursed his lips, and said:

“Ge, you took the medicine, you won’t get pregnant.”

Yan Ruojun instantly went quiet.

At the time, Lin Zhu hadn’t detected anything unusual. He simply thought that after being permanently marked, the man had developed an uncontrollable dependency on his Alpha, as well as a changed perspective on reproduction, which was why he said those things.

This was exactly the common psychological change in an Omega after being permanently marked, as popularized in biology textbooks.

The strangest thing was—
Yan Ruojun’s germaphobia seemed to have cured itself without medication.

According to his past habits, Yan Ruojun would basically go take a shower immediately… But recently, not only was Yan Ruojun not in a hurry to shower, he could even ignore the feeling of a swollen stomach and leisurely lie on the bed playing on his phone.

Even citing the beautiful excuse:
I’m tired and don’t want to move.
Anyway, I took the medicine, there won’t be any consequences.

All the way until Lin Zhu’s final exams for the first semester ended, the winter break ended, and he was even taken by Yan Ruojun to the Mountain Ring Estate to celebrate a bustling New Year with the whole family…

The second semester of his senior year, the eve before school started.

The two moved bags large and small from the Mountain Ring Estate back to their small two-bedroom home.

Because the auntie came back regularly to clean, the house remained in a bright and clean state.

It was just that Lin Zhu had celebrated the New Year thoroughly and joyfully, gaining a few pounds. With nothing else to do, he simply grabbed the cleaning tools and started tidying up from the bedroom, meticulously clearing out the dust to prevent his loved one, who had sensitive skin, from experiencing any discomfort.

That relaxed and happy mood came to an abrupt halt at a certain moment.

Lin Zhu stared at the capsule he had swept out from under the bed, remaining silent for a long time. Then, he walked up to the man who was currently packing luggage, placed the capsule in his palm right before his eyes, and asked:

“…Ge, what is this?”

Yan Ruojun only glanced at it, speaking casually and calmly:

“Oh, it seems like one time I was going to take it, but it fell under the bed so I didn’t… It’s all dirty now, just throw it away.”

Lin Zhu clamped down on his arm and asked again:

“I just checked the drawer. The number of capsules inside doesn’t match up. Exactly how many times have you skipped taking it?”

Lin Zhu didn’t personally watch Yan Ruojun take the contraceptive every single time. He didn’t know exactly how many times the other party had missed it… He only knew that his heart was pounding like a drum right now, exceptionally resistant to a certain possibility.

Yan Ruojun stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly said:

“Why does your face look so awful? Do you really not want me to give birth?”

“…”

That day.

Lin Zhu and Yan Ruojun erupted into an unprecedented argument.