Chapter 28: First Signs

After a dreamless night, Zhu Zhixi slept very soundly. In the morning, he vaguely heard some noises, woke up, left his room, and came into the living room, just in time to see Fu Rangyi about to leave for work.

He was adjusting the collar of his overcoat and putting on his bite guard in front of the full-length mirror in the entryway. At just the right moment, he also raised his eyes and glanced towards Zhu Zhixi.

The moment their eyes met, Zhu Zhixi inexplicably felt a little guilty. Last night, he had intended to feign drunkenness to get information and play pranks, but instead, he was outmaneuvered by Fu Rangyi’s excessive honesty, ending up playing himself and actually blacking out from drinking.

He couldn’t remember what he had said after getting drunk, but he felt a faint sense of unease. His intuition was usually very accurate.

“You…” Zhu Zhixi walked towards the entryway. “You’re going to work today? Not resting a few more days?”

Fu Rangyi shook his head. “I’ve already rested for three days. It’s almost the end of the semester, and there are many things to handle.”

“Oh,” Zhu Zhixi replied in a low voice.

Why is it so awkward?

It seemed that a subtle change had occurred in their relationship.

Zhu Zhixi leaned against the side of the entryway mirror, his hand stroking the frame back and forth. “Um, I got drunk last night. Did I say anything… inappropriate?”

Fu Rangyi looked at him, his expression shifting several times before finally saying, “Have you ever said anything very appropriate?”

Zhu Zhixi immediately glared at him. “How can you be like this?”

Where did the gentle husband who proposed to me yesterday go? Was I dreaming because I drank too much? How did he change back into a sharp-tongued pretty widower?

Can’t he just be in his rut every day?

At this thought, Zhu Zhixi mentally slapped himself a couple of times.

Forget it, the rut is too painful for Fu Rangyi.

He sighed. “Sure enough, without the compensation, you’ve changed back. If I had known, I wouldn’t have limited it to yesterday, but to a full 24 hours. I fell asleep so early yesterday, I couldn’t even issue commands for the last two hours. What a waste!”

Fu Rangyi glanced at the wedding ring on his hand, then at his own.

“What else do you want to command me to do? I’ve already proposed. Is that still not enough?”

That was true.

Zhu Zhixi blinked. He wasn’t fully awake yet and hadn’t sorted out his feelings. Not wanting to delay Fu Rangyi from work, he waved his hand and said, “Forget it, you should go to work first.”

Who knew that Fu Rangyi wouldn’t just open the door and leave, but instead took a step closer to him.

Zhu Zhixi looked up, puzzled.

He has such a great figure. Even such a plain overcoat looks like something a male model would wear on a runway.

“Before you fell asleep last night, you gave me another command.”

“Ah? Really?”

Fu Rangyi nodded. “Yes. But you blacked out, so you probably forgot.”

He has some professional ethics after all, actively bringing it up when I don’t even remember. Zhu Zhixi asked with a grin, “What command was it?”

Fu Rangyi’s expression didn’t change as he said in a deep voice, “You mentioned your… countdown again, and told me to believe you.”

It seemed like there was something like that. Zhu Zhixi frowned, trying hard to recall.

“Then you said that if I don’t help you, you’ll be doomed. You want to live a little longer, so you commanded me that from now on, I am not allowed to refuse your physical contact, and I must cooperate with you to help extend your life.”

Zhu Zhixi’s eyes went wide and round, a picture of pure innocence, but in his heart, he was thinking, How am I such a genius!

How is this any different from using your last wish to Aladdin to wish for infinite wishes!

“So you agreed??” Zhu Zhixi asked with an expectant look.

Fu Rangyi looked away, but secretly watched him in the mirror, looking at the beaded bracelet on his wrist.

“Yesterday was the compensation day. Did I have the right to refuse your command?”

Zhu Zhixi jumped up and down in delight. “I’m so smart!”

He quickly remembered something else and asked, “Then… do you believe my words now?”

Fu Rangyi didn’t answer directly. He thought for a moment and said, “I still quite want to take you to see a doctor, after Li Qiao gets out of jail.”

Zhu Zhixi’s face immediately fell. “I knew it.”

Fu Rangyi stared at the little expressions on his face and suddenly had the urge to pinch his cheeks, but he held back. He turned around and changed his shoes. “I have to go to work. I’ll be late if I delay any longer.”

“Oh.” Zhu Zhixi glanced at the entryway cabinet and noticed the inhibitor bracelet was still there. He quickly picked it up and subconsciously grabbed Fu Rangyi’s wrist. “You didn’t even put on your bracelet. Isn’t your rut not over yet?”

“From now on, don’t wear it when you’re at home. Only put it on when you go out. You can’t keep suppressing your pheromones, or it will erupt and rebound later, and you’ll feel very uncomfortable…” As he spoke, he naturally helped him put on the bracelet. His gaze finally landed on the wedding ring on Fu Rangyi’s ring finger, the small ruby sparkling brightly.

“Thank you,” Fu Rangyi said in a low voice. He glanced at the still-off bracelet and asked nonchalantly, “Are you going to the museum today?”

“Yeah, I was supposed to go last time, if it weren’t for…” Zhu Zhixi trailed off, then pursed his lips. After a moment, he abruptly continued, “…I’m going this morning.”

So Fu Rangyi nonchalantly released his pheromones again, controlling them perfectly within a range that wouldn’t feel oppressive to a Beta.

“Okay, be safe on the road. I’m going to work now.”

“Wait,” Zhu Zhixi suddenly called out to him.

Fu Rangyi froze, feeling a little guilty.

Did I… not control it well?

Releasing pheromones was second nature to other Alphas, but for someone like him who had been restraining himself since childhood, it was a completely new skill.

Zhu Zhixi raised his hand, scratched his cheek, and said in a low voice, “Fu Rangyi.”

“I… want to extend it a bit right now.”

“Hm?” Fu Rangyi was a little surprised. As he turned his head, the warm hand holding his wrist slid down, their fingertips touching.

Finally, he gently took his hand.

He could read the indecision from those fingers. They moved, then stopped. Was it because Zhu Zhixi only needed that little bit of time? Was he going to let go after just a touch?

His heart fluttered up and down, swaying from side to side, inexplicably pushed and driven by an indescribable emotion. Fu Rangyi’s fingers bent slightly, instinctively wanting to clasp the hand that was about to “withdraw.”

However, the next second, he froze on the spot.

The soft fingers did not leave. On the contrary, they awkwardly squeezed into the gaps between his.

Fingers interlaced. A very tight grip, so tight that neither of them could ignore the presence of the two wedding rings.

“…Okay.” Zhu Zhixi slowly released his hand. “Thank you. You can go to work now.”

Fu Rangyi stood still for a moment, then withdrew his hand, clenched it, and asked softly, “Is it paused?”

Paused? Only then did Zhu Zhixi remember. He looked down.
[48 days 00 hours 23 minutes 31 seconds]

“Yeah, it’s stopped.”

Fu Rangyi didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow, with an expression that looked like he didn’t wholeheartedly believe it, as if the person who had said “Pause quickly” to someone’s palm last night was someone else entirely.

He turned and prepared to leave.

When opening the door, the handle seemed a bit slippery, and it took Fu Rangyi some effort.

Before leaving, he said, “I made breakfast. It’s on the dining table. Remember to eat it.”

The door closed. Zhu Zhixi stood in the entryway for a good while. When he came to his senses, he squatted down, hugged his knees, buried his head, and rocked back and forth for a long time. His legs were almost numb before he got up. He walked to the dining room, supporting himself on the wall, glanced at the covered breakfast, and then went back to wash up, elated.

While brushing his teeth, he stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror. Belatedly, his gaze shifted to his moving arm.

“Eh?”

He looked down, frowned, and muttered to himself, “How did the bracelet come back…”

Didn’t it break?

With immense confusion, Zhu Zhixi quickly walked to the master bedroom. He had been in and out so many times these past few days that he instinctively wanted to just walk in, but then he remembered something and, following the rules, knocked on the door and said softly to the empty room, “I’m coming in for a bit.”

The room had been restored to its usual tidiness. There wasn’t even a tiny wrinkle on the bed. The tips of Zhu Zhixi’s ears inexplicably grew hot as he entered the bathroom with his head half-lowered.

It was spotless inside. There wasn’t a single hair on the floor, let alone the small beads from his bracelet.

“Strange.” Zhu Zhixi subconsciously touched his lower lip.

It clearly… got ripped off during the kiss.

Could Fu Rangyi have seen it? And then collected the beads, re-strung them, and put it back on for me?

No matter how he thought about it, that was the only possibility. Zhu Zhixi touched the bracelet, and his heartbeat belatedly quickened. He left Fu Rangyi’s room and obediently went to the table, ready to enjoy breakfast.

While eating the fried egg, he suddenly zoned out.

Seeing my husband off to work, eating breakfast, then going to work myself. It really feels like married life.

He stared at the ring on his hand, his mind uncontrollably starting to replay the proposal scene from last night. Every word Fu Rangyi said echoed repeatedly in his heart. Every word seemed to be dismantled by his brain, then reassembled, turned over and over, and finally buried in his heart.

Friend? Family? The most special existence in my life.

Such an ambiguous way of putting it.

What about me? Zhu Zhixi leaned back in his chair and spaced out. Was I deceived by the heart-pounding of the suspension bridge effect, or…

He was a little confused and couldn’t distinguish for the time being. He always acted on impulse, making all sorts of decisions carelessly. This was the first time in his life he was being so cautious, as if afraid of hurting someone.

If he could go back to a dozen days ago, he would definitely have been very satisfied, because Fu Rangyi was willing to cooperate and help him. This damn countdown could be paused, even reversed. Wasn’t this what he wanted most? Wasn’t this the purpose of his marriage?

Why was it that the closer he got to his goal, the more confused he became?

He suddenly didn’t know what he really wanted anymore, and he was also a little unsure of how to define this relationship. As business partners, there was too much emotion involved, it wasn’t pure enough. As partners, it lacked some genuine feeling. As friends, it wasn’t quite innocent either.

A few vibrations startled him from his troubled thoughts. It was a work message.

Zhu Zhixi slapped his face, trying to wake himself up quickly, then replied to Vice-Director Zhou’s message, arranging to meet at the museum in an hour.

After replying to the message, he saw the missed calls from Zhu Zeran.

Five calls? Are you crazy, Da Zhu?

He called back, but no one answered, so he called his assistant instead.

The assistant said, “President Zhu is in a meeting right now, he’s very busy. He probably can’t take your call.”

“A meeting at this time?” Zhu Zhixi glanced at the time. “It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”

“There’s a bit of an emergency. President Zhu previously acquired several real estate companies due to some business interests. One of them has several abandoned projects under its name. Something happened with the people seeking to protect their rights, and President Zhu is dealing with it now.”

“Abandoned buildings…” Zhu Zhixi sighed. “Alright, then Xiao Lin, please tell my brother I called back, so he doesn’t say I’m ignoring him again.”

“Okay, okay, don’t worry.”

“Alright, I’m heading to work then.”

On the way to work, Fu Rangyi still couldn’t completely calm his racing heart. The hand that had been held with fingers interlaced was still slightly sweaty, making him feel a bit slippery when holding the steering wheel, like a novice.

After parking in the underground garage, Fu Rangyi was walking towards the elevator when his phone suddenly vibrated. He opened it and saw a message from Zhu Zhixi.

[Bad Rabbit: Share Picture]

The photo showed his clean plate, and one of his hands giving a thumbs-up in front of the empty dishes.

[Bad Rabbit: Thank you, it was so delicious. I haven’t had breakfast in a long time.]

The message was followed by a crying face and a heart emoji.

Fu Rangyi stood still and typed.

[No wonder you have stomach problems. You cherish your life on one hand but don’t eat breakfast on the other. Don’t you find that contradictory?]

Too harsh. Delete.

[If you like it, I’ll make an extra portion for you from now on. Get up early to eat.]

Too cheesy. Delete, delete.

…

After a moment of thought, he finally edited his message and sent it.

[Pretty Widower: Starting tomorrow, you must eat every day. This is part of the life-extending plan.]