Chapter 96: An Unexpected Joy

This was the third day Zhu Zhixi was nursing his body in Fu Rangyi’s dormitory. Left all alone in the “bridal chamber,” he felt extremely depressed—even more so than the day before.

This was completely different from the business-trip-turned-honeymoon plan he had envisioned.

After finishing his volunteer work in South America, Zhu Zhixi had returned to China, hoping to spend some quality quality time as a couple. Who could have known that a T-Country archaeological team would discover a new historical site locally? One of the team’s leaders happened to be Fu Rangyi’s doctoral advisor. The old professor was short on hands, so his star student naturally had to head down into the field immediately.

Bringing family along was officially out of the question, but Zhu Zhixi’s greatest strength was always having a trick up his sleeve.

He immediately applied to be a local volunteer, with the task of teaching children Chinese and English. Smooth as silk, the husbands arrived together in this foreign country to work.

Compared to archaeology, volunteer work was relatively relaxed. Whenever Zhu Zhixi had free time, he would run over to the excavation site to find Fu Rangyi. After work, they would return together to the single dormitory assigned to Fu Rangyi by the archaeological team, looking exactly like two students who had attended different summer camps.

Over time, he became a familiar face to everyone on the site—whether domestic or foreign, Alpha, Beta, or Omega—and could strike up a conversation with anyone.

This clearly caused Fu Rangyi a great deal of trouble. As a Beta, Zhu Zhixi couldn’t sense it, but every time he appeared, he acted like a massive pheromone collector with an incredibly high sense of entitlement, swaggering over to cling, rub, and hug all over him.

Despite being married for so long, the only tactic Fu Rangyi could summon was marking him—marking him repeatedly. Yet, it was completely futile, and his face only grew darker and darker.

Regarding this, the other party wasn’t entirely without complaints either. The openness of foreigners would occasionally embarrass Zhu Zhixi. Once, the cousin of the site supervisor met him, suddenly grabbed his hand, and confessed his love. Even after Zhu Zhixi emphasized that he was married, the man stated he could accept an open relationship. This frightened him out of his wits, making him immediately look back at Fu Rangyi’s expression.

Zhu Zhixi couldn’t remember a single word Fu Rangyi had said in that particular field of drama, because his own personal “battlefield” awaited him afterward.

He only remembered being dragged back into the tiny single room. Immediately following that was a pheromone suppression so intense that he hadn’t felt anything like it in a very, very long time.

Only then did he realize that Fu Rangyi’s rut had actually arrived. He had forced himself to endure it for an entire day for the sake of work, but in the end, fueled by jealousy, it culminated in a massive explosion.

It was completely retaliatory. Looking back on it now, the images flashing in Zhu Zhixi’s mind were all shaking—shaking violently.

The creaking little bed, the beads of sweat gathering on his lover’s sharp chin, his waist being bent and arched, the double vision of the ceiling lights, the faint evening sunlight filtering through the tightly drawn curtains, and the voices of Fu Rangyi’s colleagues chatting outside the thin door. Inside the room, he was held tightly face-to-face by Fu Rangyi, his spine pressed against the door, half-suspended in the air. Even the teeth biting into his shoulder were trembling.

The archaeological team thoughtfully gave the Alpha three days off, but the Alpha’s spouse ended up working overtime for those three days. Later on, his memories became increasingly blurry. The only clear thing amidst the chaos was the deep midnight of the final night; Fu Rangyi had kissed him awake while he was semi-conscious. Zhu Zhixi instinctively spread his legs, trying to wrap them around Fu Rangyi’s waist, but was instead dressed in pajamas, sweatpants, and socks, and wrapped up in a small blanket.

Fu Rangyi carried him out and opened the door. The cold wind blew, snapping him awake instantly.

“Xiao Fu, are you trying to do some outdoor play?! No, we’ve been married for so long, how did I never realize you were this kind of…”

“Hmm?” Fu Rangyi blinked slowly, looking dazed for two seconds, his eyes soft and bright. He kissed the tip of Zhu Zhixi’s nose and said softly, “There’s a meteor shower tonight.” Then, he carried him up to the rooftop. In the deserted midnight, Zhu Zhixi huddled in his arms and watched the most beautiful stars of his life.

But overall, this romantic night encounter felt more like a commercial break inserted into an adult movie.

The Alpha successfully navigated his rut, but Zhu Zhixi found it difficult even to get out of bed and could only nurse himself inside the dorm.

“I didn’t use to feel this tired before,” Zhu Zhixi said over the phone while munching on an apple. “And it’s been so long, why does my lower stomach still feel so bloated? Xiao En, do you think I should go get a checkup?”

“Professor Fu didn’t take you to the hospital?”

“I didn’t tell him. He’s busy right now, and I’m afraid he’ll get anxious the moment I mention it.” Zhu Zhixi bit the apple into a perfect hourglass-shaped core, placed it on the nightstand, and groaned aloud just as he turned over.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhu Zhixi frowned. “Dizzy.” He groaned twice. “I need to take a moment.”

The phone vibrated. Zhu Zhixi pulled it away to glance at WeChat.

[The Piling Machine Borrowed to Dig Dirt]: Baby, was lunch not very good? I was thinking today, maybe I should just buy some cookware and cook for you. What do you think?

Liang Yi’en was still talking on the other end, and since Zhu Zhixi found it hard to multitask, he first replied to the doting Xiao Fu with an emoji.

[Hibernating Bunny]: 3

[The Piling Machine Borrowed to Dig Dirt]: What does ‘3’ mean? Cook three meals a day? I can do that.

[Hibernating Bunny]: Cook your head! It means a kissy face.

Hearing Zhu Zhixi laugh, Liang Yi’en felt a bit more at ease and asked again, “Anywhere else uncomfortable?”

“Huh? Anywhere else… just…” Zhu Zhixi, for once, hesitated.

How rare. The guy who usually had no filter on his mouth actually found something hard to say. Liang Yi’en remained worried: “Hurry up and go to the hospital. I don’t know what the medical conditions are like over there. If it’s no good, come back quickly, and I’ll accompany you.”

“Got it, got it.” Before he could even hang up, a knock sounded at the door. “Gotta go, get back to your work.”

Zhu Zhixi got out of bed, slipped into his slippers, and cracked the door open just a sliver as Professor Fu had instructed. Peeking outside, he relaxed, opened the door fully, and smiled, “Selma, how are you today? Busy?”

This was a local friend he had met while volunteering—a warm-hearted female Omega. Hearing that he was off sick, she had brought over food and herbal tea for two consecutive days.

“I brought you Baklava today!” she said, her face beaming with a warm smile as she opened the packaging box in her hand, revealing the local specialty dessert. This used to be Zhu Zhixi’s absolute favorite; he had eaten it almost every day when he first arrived in T-Country.

But this time, the moment he took a bite, his brows furrowed. Acid churned in his stomach, and he almost threw up.

“What’s wrong?” Selma noticed his abnormality. “Is the taste off?”

“No.” Zhu Zhixi forced down the discomfort and shook his head, drinking some hot tea to suppress it. “Maybe I just ate that apple too fast earlier.”

Selma was sharp. She reached out to touch his forehead, examined his complexion, glanced around the room, and noticed he hadn’t eaten much of his lunch. After a moment of thought, she began questioning him: “Do you feel nauseous and want to vomit? Can’t eat well and can’t sleep well? Is your lower abdomen uncomfortable too?”

“Yes! How did you know?” Zhu Zhixi nodded vigorously. But nodding too much made him dizzy again, and he slumped back against the headboard listlessly.

“Your chest feels tight too, right?”

“Yeah.” And swollen. Zhu Zhixi continued to nod vigorously in his mind.

Selma leaned close to his ear and whispered a sentence that almost made Zhu Zhixi jump out of bed. His already large eyes widened even further.

“A pregnancy test?”

The pharmacy employee was somewhat up in years, wearing reading glasses. She caught a quick glimpse of Zhu Zhixi’s face, sniffed the air slightly, and directly handed him a box.

Zhu Zhixi was just about to pay when he took a closer look at the packaging, and his world went dark. “Ma’am, this is for Omegas. I’m a Beta…”

“Ah?” The woman gave a few awkward laughs, turned into the warehouse, and took quite a while before bringing out a box. She taught him how to use it, and before he left, she advised him with genuine care, “It’s not easy for a Beta to carry a baby. You must be careful.”

Those words kept echoing in Zhu Zhixi’s mind until he returned to the dorm and slipped into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he stood in front of the mirror, staring blankly at the little white stick until two distinct lines materialized on it.

Two lines.

What did two lines mean? Zhu Zhixi opened his phone to search.

“Positive…”

Positive. Beta. Baby.

“Your last time was how many days ago, right when you first got here? Then you might be pregnant. Why don’t you buy a pregnancy test to check?”

Zhu Zhixi stood frozen in place for a long time. He hid the pregnancy test and paced back and forth in the cramped bathroom, his emotions incredibly complex.

In just a few short minutes, his memories felt like a shifting kaleidoscope. He thought of his childhood, his mother, his mother’s Beta friends, Zhu Zeran’s furrowed brows—and soon, all of these blurred, leaving only Fu Rangyi’s tender, young face from old photographs.

This was something Zhu Zhixi had never anticipated.

He took a photo of the pregnancy test and opened Fu Rangyi’s WeChat, only then noticing his reply from half an hour ago.

[The Piling Machine Borrowed to Dig Dirt]: 333

His finger paused. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to send that photo.

The scene of a weak, sickly Xiao Fu fainting in the bathroom suddenly replayed in his mind.

Better… keep it from him for a few days first, so as not to affect his work.

Though work was busy, Fu Rangyi faintly sensed that something was off. While Zhu Zhixi didn’t let anything slip verbally, his behavior was highly unusual.

When sleeping at night, he would tightly hug Zhu Zhixi from behind, burying his head in the crook of his shoulder. This was their sleeping routine, unchanged for years.

But for the past two nights, his wife—who usually passed out the moment his head hit the pillow—started faking sleep. Only when he thought Fu Rangyi was asleep would he slowly break free from his arms, gently moving the hand that clamped around his waist to another spot. This happened several times.

Fu Rangyi pretended he hadn’t been woken up, smoothly moving his hand to Zhu Zhixi’s chest. He thought that would be fine, but to his surprise, he was avoided again.

Zhu Zhixi mumbled to himself, finally turning over to lie flat on his back. Like a primary school student taking a midday nap, he pulled Fu Rangyi’s hand and placed it by his side. “Let’s just keep it like this.”

Fu Rangyi nearly suffered from insomnia.

During the day, Zhu Zhixi’s appetite grew worse and worse. Even when Fu Rangyi personally cooked his favorite braised pork, he would only eat two pieces, turning around to munch on green vegetables like a real rabbit.

And that wasn’t all.

When he came out after showering at night, he saw Zhu Zhixi lying flat on his back on the bed, holding a small fan to blow at his own face, his bangs flying up from the breeze as he stared blankly into space.

So cute. Fu Rangyi walked over, moved his hand away, knelt between his legs, pressed his forehead against his, and instinctively leaned down to kiss him. But Zhu Zhixi actually reached out to push his chest, slipping out from underneath him like an eel.

“You’re pressing on me…” Because it was already past ten, he spoke very softly.

Fu Rangyi felt a bit hurt and froze for quite a while. Unable to sleep at midnight, he turned away and opened his phone.

“How to maintain martial affection”

“How to win back a wife’s heart”

“Married for only a year and seven months and my wife is already resisting intimate contact, what should I do?”

……

Before going to work, he deleted these search records because when they parted, Zhu Zhixi seemed very reluctant to let go. He held his hand just like usual and gave him even more goodbye kisses than the day before.

But the search results would occasionally flash back into his mind.

“…Perhaps you should unearth some novelty within your familiar routine…”

One afternoon it rained. Fu Rangyi returned from the archaeological site carrying a strawberry tart. He didn’t give any prior notice, wanting to create a surprise, so he even unlocked the door very carefully.

The tiny room could be seen in its entirety at a single glance. He scanned the area but didn’t find his target. Searching around, he finally spotted a lone slipper outside the wardrobe.

The wardrobe door was catching a corner of a piece of clothing.

He gently pulled open the wardrobe door, and his gaze fell inside, a bit astonished. The clothes that were originally hanging were all piled up at the bottom like a messy little mountain. Zhu Zhixi was curled up right inside that pile of clothes, covered with the pajamas Fu Rangyi had worn the previous night.

How could a Beta nest?

Fu Rangyi was puzzled. He squatted down, staring at Zhu Zhixi’s sleeping face for a while. Finally, he couldn’t resist extending a finger, touching the slightly upturned lips, and cautiously moving upward to stroke the bridge of his nose, his eye sockets…

As if sensing the touch, Zhu Zhixi nuzzled his palm with his cheek.

“Good boy.” Fu Rangyi lifted him up horizontally, gently laying him back onto the bed. He tried to make himself as light as those clothes, only holding him loosely, his palm resting on his back, stroking down from the spine to the tailbone, stroke by stroke.

This was the comforting motion Zhu Zhixi used on him every time, and also his habit to coax Zhu Zhixi to sleep. But this time, it had the opposite effect; instead of soothing him to sleep, it woke Zhu Zhixi up.

However, he didn’t open his eyes. Groggy all over, he panted slightly, his waist twisting in small motions, rubbing against the sheets to press closer. “Hubby…”

His lips instinctively found the side of Fu Rangyi’s neck, planting a few kisses.

Intimate actions were completely ordinary for a married couple. Fu Rangyi lowered his head, easily kissing his brow and the bridge of his nose. The moment Zhu Zhixi lifted his head, he perfectly caught his lips in a kiss.

For some reason, Zhu Zhixi’s breathing turned chaotic much faster than usual. He cupped Fu Rangyi’s face with both hands, kissing him deeply.

Fu Rangyi’s hand still hadn’t left his lower back. He found that the more he caressed, the more aroused Zhu Zhixi became. Just from kissing alone, he was panting heavily.

Yet, he never opened his eyes, seemingly caught in a half-awake, half-dreaming state. At the height of the kiss, he reached out to search for Fu Rangyi’s other hand, guiding it and bringing it to his own chest. His smaller palm pressed over the larger hand, guiding it to press down and massage.

Did this count as novelty? He rarely did this; usually, it was the other way around.

Fu Rangyi found it intriguing. His hand slid beneath the hem of the shirt, pressing against bare skin—still following Zhu Zhixi’s guiding touch, only this time without any barriers, and with more force. The person in his arms trembled, his side-lying body arching slightly, leaning against his shoulder while letting out very faint, pleasant sounds.

The texture… seemed a bit different from before, softer. Fu Rangyi wasn’t sure if his head was just getting muddled, affecting his judgment. His other hand crossed the boundary as well, moving downward, mischievously squeezing the vestigial rabbit tail.

But the dazed rabbit suddenly cried out.

Since moving into this tiny room, Zhu Zhixi almost always buried his face in the pillow during such times. Suddenly hearing this sound, even Fu Rangyi wasn’t quite used to it. He smiled and said, “Shh…” before lowering his head to cover his mouth with a kiss.

But Zhu Zhixi could barely control himself. His voice was broken up by the deep kisses until he let out a short, sharp gasp—like a little rabbit being stepped on. His entire body lost all strength, his soft limbs still trembling with lingering waves.

This caught Fu Rangyi completely off guard. Even after confirming it, he was still very surprised. He wiped his fingers on his lower abdomen, his voice dropping very low: “I haven’t even touched you yet…”

Groggy and disoriented, Zhu Zhixi started chasing him for more kisses again.

As things progressed naturally, his hand instinctively moved downward, aligning his index and middle fingers to habitually probe inside. Right at that moment, however, Zhu Zhixi suddenly snapped awake. He forced his eyes open, looked down, pushed Fu Rangyi’s hand away, and hurriedly brought back the leg that was already draped over his waist.

“Awake?” Fu Rangyi didn’t think much of it, continuing to kiss him with a hint of dominance. “Do I need to report which step we’ve reached?”

“Don’t…” Zhu Zhixi pushed gently. “We can’t…”

Playing hard to get counts as foreplay too, right? Fu Rangyi didn’t take it seriously, grabbing his resisting hand and placing it on his own chest. He rarely took the initiative like this, working hard like a salesman using every trick in the book.

Yet, far from making an impulse purchase, Zhu Zhixi avoided him entirely, got out of bed, rushed into the bathroom, and locked himself inside.

Fu Rangyi was left dazed on the bed. Amidst his confusion, he actually began to ponder how to throw a tantrum naturally when signing the divorce papers so it wouldn’t look too forced.

Or should he be like that damn local guy and tell him, “I can accept an open relationship too”?

……

No. Absolutely not. Locking him up would be a better option.

Five minutes later, Zhu Zhixi came out. For some reason, he looked rather vexed, his eyes downcast, scratching his short hair with an expression of hesitation. He looked like a completely different person.

His terrible forebodings perfectly aligned with the deleted history in the search bar.

The silence between the two was rare and agonizing.

“Do you… have something you want to say?”

Zhu Zhixi looked up, nodding honestly.

“I…” He stood by the bed hesitating, his left hand shoved into his pajama pocket, his right hand scratching his cheek. He took a deep breath, let it out, and managed to open his mouth with great difficulty.

But arriving a step ahead of his confession was the loud rumbling sound from his stomach. This was too embarrassing. Zhu Zhixi felt a bit upset, lowering his head as his hand once again covered his lower belly.

Despite the tense atmosphere, Fu Rangyi still let out a laugh, looking completely helpless.

He sat up, opened the strawberry tart he had placed on the nightstand upon returning, and gently patted the edge of the bed, signaling him to sit. His voice was soft: “Let’s talk after you eat.”

Zhu Zhixi gave a obedient murmur, sat down beside him on the edge of the bed, and took the pastry. Fu Rangyi reached out to smooth his messy hair, picked up the fork, and selected a beautiful strawberry—one grand enough to win a crown in a strawberry beauty pageant hosted by Zhu Zhixi—and fed it to his lips.

“They all said this one is delicious. I stood in line to buy it.”

Zhu Zhixi opened his mouth, his two snow-white front teeth showing first. Before he could even chew a few times, he nodded repeatedly, wanting to praise it, but the moment he lifted his head, he nearly threw up.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Rangyi instinctively reached out to catch it. “Is it spoiled?”

But Zhu Zhixi covered his mouth, trotted off again, entered the bathroom, and dry-heaved for a good while.

Thinking about his recent poor appetite, Fu Rangyi didn’t linger. He stood up, quickly threw on a jacket, grabbed another one, strode into the bathroom, and draped it over Zhu Zhixi’s shoulders. “It’s probably gastroenteritis. We’re going to the hospital right now.”

Zhu Zhixi kept his head buried, still dry-heaving. Unable to speak, he extended the hand that had been stuffed in his pocket all along, waving it repeatedly in refusal.

Clat. Something dropped onto the floor, drawing Fu Rangyi’s gaze. He tilted his head, picked it up, held it in his hand, and turned it over and over to inspect it.

Zhu Zhixi turned his head, his expression instantly becoming apprehensive.

Yet Fu Rangyi asked, “What is this?”

His face instantly fell, and suddenly he didn’t even feel like throwing up anymore. “A pregnancy test.”

Fu Rangyi froze for a second. “Whose?”

“…Yours.”

He said solemnly, “I haven’t tested myself.”

Zhu Zhixi was about to lose his mind. “I mean the baby I’m carrying is yours! The child is yours!”

The air solidified.

What was meant to come would always come. Zhu Zhixi had envisioned many kinds of reactions from Fu Rangyi, but reality turned out quite different.

Fu Rangyi fell silent for a long time. Quietly, he helped him put on his jacket, buttoning it up button by button, pulled him into his embrace, kissed his forehead, and then efficiently made phone calls—taking leave, booking flight tickets, finding their IDs. He then called Li Qiao before taking Zhu Zhixi to board the earliest flight back home.

Li Qiao still possessed that same old miserable yet flippant attitude. The moment they met, he punched Fu Rangyi’s shoulder. “You’re something else, buddy. You’re gonna be a dad.”

Seeing Fu Rangyi remain silent, he added, “Why so serious? Don’t be nervous, everyone should be happy. Just thinking about how your kid came to be makes me so ha—”

With people passing back and forth, Zhu Zhixi immediately shut him down: “Mu Zi Shan Qiao!”

“Present!” Li Qiao gave a salute, grinning at them. A nurse called out to him from behind. He turned around to answer, then jerked his chin at the two of them. “Let’s go, time for the checkup.”

Zhu Zhixi took a deep, long breath. He spaced out several times during the examination, frequently remembering how Fu Rangyi looked on the plane—staring quietly ahead, not sleeping for a single second, yet his hand holding theirs the entire time. The moment he moved even slightly, Fu Rangyi would turn his head to ask if he felt uncomfortable anywhere.

He must be really scared. Zhu Zhixi felt worried.

I really don’t want him to be scared.

When he came out, just as he walked to the entrance of the hallway, he saw Fu Rangyi. He was sitting in the very first row of the waiting area, staring at the corridor leading to the examination rooms, catching sight of him at the exact same instant.

A female Omega walked past, leading a little boy. The boy, whose arm was in a sling, was clamoring to eat ice cream, specifically matcha-flavored, and began to wail loudly when denied.

Zhu Zhixi found him a bit noisy, but a bizarre thought cropped up in his heart: if this child looked exactly like Fu Rangyi did when he was little, perhaps he really would squat down to coax him, hold him, and kiss him.

Just like… how his mother had been patient with him.

If it really was his and Fu Rangyi’s child, he truly hoped it would be the happiest baby in the whole world.

“How was it?” Fu Rangyi walked over, took his hand, and naturally took the cotton swab to press down on the needle puncture for him.

“The doctor said we have to wait an hour. Why don’t we go eat first?” Zhu Zhixi sat on a chair. “I want to eat ice cream.”

Ice-mountain Xiao Fu’s expression finally lost some of its severity, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly as he looked up at him. “Eating ice cream makes you not want to vomit anymore?”

“Yeah.” Zhu Zhixi nodded with absolute certainty.

Fu Rangyi smiled, bumping his forehead against Zhu Zhixi’s. “Forget about it.”

“Why?”

“You can’t eat that right now.”

“Who says you can’t eat ice cream while pregnant?” Zhu Zhixi argued, completely unconvinced.

Fu Rangyi hesitated, lowering his eyes to continue helping him press the wound to stop the bleeding, speaking in a low voice: “Even if it’s gastroenteritis, you still can’t eat it.”

He really is avoiding that word. Zhu Zhixi hunched over to peek at Fu Rangyi’s face. The more Fu Rangyi avoided his gaze, the lower he bent his waist, until his face almost touched his knees, still laughing.

Fu Rangyi reached out to hoist him back up. “Sit up straight, don’t press down.”

The hospital’s floor-to-ceiling glass was bright, the soft light falling across Fu Rangyi’s body, casting his handsome, silent face in a somewhat translucent glow. Zhu Zhixi saw a very soft, yet very timid heart.

He moved Fu Rangyi’s hand away, tucked himself into his embrace, wrapped his arms around his back, and used long strokes to comfort him.

“Don’t worry. Lord Xiao Zhu is a very robust Beta.”

Fu Rangyi’s lips moved slightly, wanting to say something, but he lapsed into silence again, the gaze directed at him looking somewhat bewildered.

“…Is that so?”