“Yes.” Zhu Zhixi was completely certain.

“Niannian, none of the things you’re worried about will happen.” He stood up, taking Fu Rangyi’s hand. “Right now, what you need to do is: first, believe in me. Second, take your wife out for something delicious. I’m so sick of the food over there, all I want right now is Chinese food.”

After walking a few steps, he turned around, stood on his tiptoes, and whispered in Fu Rangyi’s ear: “Third, find a place where there’s no one around and kiss me. We haven’t kissed in over a dozen hours.”

Fu Rangyi smiled, pulled him into his arms, and lowered his head to kiss the crown of his hair.

During lunch, Zhu Zhixi suddenly found his appetite and ate quite a bit. For some reason, his previous hesitation and anxiety had been completely swept away; he suddenly felt fully prepared psychologically.

This was an impossible possibility. It was equivalent to a miracle. If a miracle really descended upon him, then it had to be the luckiest possible outcome.

Evidently, this positive mindset hadn’t managed to spread through kissing yet; Fu Rangyi remained deeply preoccupied. But whenever Zhu Zhixi called out to him, he would look up and smile.

Zhu Zhixi was all too familiar with this state—the last time he had seen it was when the countdown was nearing its end.

After finishing their meal, they went straight to see Professor Wang, just as Li Qiao had told them to. Standing outside the familiar consultation room, Zhu Zhixi felt a bit nervous. He turned his head to look at Fu Rangyi, only to find that the man was even more nervous than he was—his fingers clenched tightly, his lips pressed into a hard line.

He leaned in, initially wanting to say something, but in the end, he just gently pecked Fu Rangyi’s cheek and raised his hand to knock.

Knock, knock—

At that moment, his heart was beating rapidly.

He was completely ready to welcome the arrival of a new life. Especially upon seeing Director Wang’s face, which was practically beaming with smiles. This was the exact expression one would only show when facing a paper accepted into a top-tier journal.

“Congratulations to you both.”

As expected.

Director Wang smiled warmly and waved the sheet in his hand. “The result is negative. You two can finally set your minds at ease now.”

Fu Rangyi murmured, “Negative…”

“Huh?!” Zhu Zhixi’s face was filled with shock. He stepped forward in a few strides and snatched the sheet from his hand. “Impossible, I—I tested it… Aren’t two lines positive?”

“Xiao Fu brought that pregnancy test of yours over. I checked it, and it expired three years ago.”

“Expired?!” Zhu Zhixi’s inner world collapsed, and he nearly collapsed right onto the floor. Fortunately, Fu Rangyi caught him.

“Yes. Testing for pregnancy in Betas is quite complex to begin with. I say, Xiao Zhu, you should have at least gone to a hospital.”

If I went to a hospital, a certain someone would definitely follow me. Zhu Zhixi was still unwilling to give up: “But my stomach has been feeling really uncomfortable, and my chest feels swollen. I feel like throwing up no matter what I eat, and, and…”

“Nesting,” Fu Rangyi added for him.

“Right! I constantly want to take his clothes to make myself a nest to lie in. None of this is normal, right?”

Director Wang took his time, unscrewing his thermos. “It’s normal. A typical case of pseudopregnancy.”

Fu Rangyi frowned. “Pseudopregnancy?” Hearing this term, his eyes flicked upward slightly.

This tiny action was keenly caught by Zhu Zhixi. He nudged Fu Rangyi’s waist with his elbow. “What did you just think of?”

“Nothing.”

“This actually isn’t a rare condition. Let alone humans, it’s very common in the animal kingdom—for example, with puppies, kittens…”

Fu Rangyi quickly interjected: “Rabbits.”

“Right, right, rabbits too. A physiological phenomenon like pseudopregnancy is actually caused by a significant shift in their internal hormones, which tricks the body into believing it’s pregnant. As a result, it directly triggers the gestation mode. All those changes you mentioned earlier are just a performance put on by the body to cooperate with the hormones. Our department sees Omegas coming in with phantom pregnancies for checkups every single day. Let alone vomiting, some pseudopregnancy cases even stimulate mammary gland development and secrete milk…”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi immediately crossed his arms over his chest and declared righteously, “I am a Beta!”

“Do you think I don’t know that? I even know your reproductive cavity is underdeveloped.” Professor Wang let out a long sigh, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them. “Unbelievable. You managed to pull off a pseudopregnancy despite being infertile. You two should look into your own reasons.”

“I!” Zhu Zhixi wilted, kicking Fu Rangyi’s foot and muttering under his breath, “It’s all your fault.”

“Yeah.” Fu Rangyi was still uneasy and asked several more questions. “Does this cause any harm to his body?”

“It’s fine. I’ll prescribe some medicine in a bit to regulate his hormones. Reduce pheromone marking for the time being, and the symptoms will ease within a week or so before fully recovering. It won’t affect the reproductive cavity, so you can rest assured about that. However, psychologically… many pseudopregnancy patients harbor great expectations because they mistakenly believe they’ve conceived. When those expectations fall through, it will definitely affect their mood. Give him more care and guidance.”

Having said that, he looked up to caution them: “You two should take it easy in the future. I know you share a wonderful relationship, but with this kind of thing, where there’s a first time, there might be a second. Take that Omega patient I just mentioned as an example—he had three pseudopregnancies, and by the third time, he actually developed mastitis. You tell me…”

Zhu Zhixi let out a soft wow. “His Alpha is really something.”

Fu Rangyi turned his head.

Zhu Zhixi immediately patted his arm. “You’re very impressive too. Doing it once is already amazing.”

It feels like being encouraged, but not in a particularly happy way. Fu Rangyi twitched the corners of his mouth.

It was another false alarm.

Clutching the sheet diagnosing his pseudopregnancy, Zhu Zhixi let out a sigh of relief, followed by another sigh. Every time he came here, his emotions underwent a massive roller-coaster ride. Before leaving, he hesitated repeatedly but still spoke up: “Director Wang, then can I…”

As if he had long since seen right through him, Director Wang waved his hand directly. “You aren’t suited for it. If you really turned out to be pregnant today, it would have been trouble.”

Zhu Zhixi muttered softly, “Is that so? And here I thought you’d be thrilled to publish another paper…”

Professor Wang’s hearing wasn’t the best, so he didn’t catch it. He said happily to himself, “How great things are now. Even though you’ll feel a bit of a sense of loss due to the influence of the hormones, it saves you from suffering, doesn’t it?”

While that’s true…

After coming out, Zhu Zhixi sat on the chair by the window once again. Fu Rangyi told him to wait while he went to pick up the medicine.

It was so boring. So boring that he actually found himself reminiscing about the dream he had after being deceived by the expired pregnancy test.

Before he could dwell on it for too long, Fu Rangyi returned carrying a bag of medicine. He also had a small tub of ice cream in his hand—matcha flavored.

Zhu Zhixi’s eyes lit up. He reverently accepted it with both hands, opening it to eat immediately, though his mouth remained unyielding: “So I’m allowed to eat this now that there’s no baby?”

To his surprise, Fu Rangyi squatted down, tilting his head up slightly, and said with absolute sincerity, “No, it’s because your body is healthy, so we can eat ice cream to celebrate.”

Zhu Zhixi’s heart suddenly softened a bit. He scooped a spoonful and fed it to Fu Rangyi’s lips. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer.

“Were you… disappointed when you heard Professor Wang say it was fake?” After Zhu Zhixi finished speaking, he pursed his lips. “You must have been, right? Even I am a little bit.”

Fu Rangyi raised his hand to touch his forehead. “Do you want to hear the truth?”

“Of course, you aren’t allowed to lie to me.”

“I was terrified that it was real.”

Zhu Zhixi knit his brows slightly, grabbing his hand. “You don’t want your own child? One who looks exactly like you, very smart, very good-looking…”

The corners of Fu Rangyi’s mouth tilted up slightly, yet he gently shook his head, focusing solely on his eyes. “I only want you.”

His tone was casual, yet there was a certain extremely soft light flowing within his eyes. “I have never looked forward to becoming a father. It was like that before marrying you, and even more so after. Nothing is more important than you. If it really turned out that we had one today, I… I don’t know…”

He hadn’t tasted a single shred of the joy of becoming a first-time father; all he felt was the agony of potentially losing his lover. Experiencing that kind of extreme torment just once was more than enough.

Fu Rangyi lowered his eyes and turned his face away. Zhu Zhixi felt a pang of heartache. He reached out to cup his cheeks, only for his fingertips to feel wet. He instantly panicked: “Why are you crying?”

He tried to lift Fu Rangyi’s face to check, but failed. Fu Rangyi simply held him tightly in that position—like a man kneeling on one knee to propose—burying his face against his stomach, his arms wrapping around him incredibly tightly.

“Don’t cry.” Zhu Zhixi bent down, undoing the hair tie at the back of Fu Rangyi’s head, using his fingers to gently comb through his hair. “I know, I know. Xiao Fu only wants me, right?”

He even told Fu Rangyi to hold him tighter, whispering: “There’s nothing inside my stomach right now, don’t be afraid.”

“There’s the yellow croaker rice cakes, the plum pork ribs, the matsutake chicken soup rice noodles, and the green vegetables you ate at noon, plus the matcha ice cream from just now…”

“How can you be like this?” Zhu Zhixi felt a bit exasperated and slapped his back with some force.

Fu Rangyi didn’t continue joking. Buried against his wife’s body, he took a deep breath and lifted his face. His eyes were still slightly rimmed with red, and his voice was very soft: “Seriously, if I lost you because of the birth of a strange child, I’m afraid it would be very difficult for me to face him with the mindset of a normal father. I wouldn’t be able to do it. Maybe… I would really hate him.”

He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Xixi, I know this is very selfish, but there’s really no helping it.”

Zhu Zhixi stroked his brow bone. “I know. Actually, maybe just like Director Wang said, because of the influence of the hormones, I did have a tiny bit of expectation.” He pinched his fingers together to show a small gap, then honestly widened it a bit.

“The day it tested with two lines, I had a dream. I dreamt of a little snowman just like you—not fond of talking, quiet, and not smiling. In the dream, I kept holding him, singing to coax him, and only then would he smile at me. But it wouldn’t work if you came over; he insisted on me holding him…”

Fu Rangyi: “Even more detestable.”

“Are you hating on the big boss?” Zhu Zhixi glared at him, then continued: “But later, I thought back to what Director Wang said before about how I can’t bear children. If something really happened on the day I gave birth to him, and with a snap I d— lived a long life!”

He made a sudden U-turn, clearing his throat to pretend nothing happened, and continued: “…then what would we do? If I just left you to him and left him to you like that—the moment I imagine you having to hold a tiny baby and cry in front of my urn, my head starts hurting.”

Fu Rangyi didn’t speak, his expression turning increasingly grim.

“You’re crying even when it’s fake.” Zhu Zhixi said playfully. Before Fu Rangyi could turn his head away, he cupped his face and planted a loud, smacking kiss on it. “Thank goodness it’s fake.”

“Yeah.” Fu Rangyi nodded. Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate. As he pulled it out, Zhu Zhixi caught a glimpse of it, noticing that the caller ID was saved as [Family Planning Committee Member].

“Who is it?”

Fu Rangyi cut it off immediately. “No one.”

Thank goodness he didn’t say it directly.

On the other end, the Family Planning Committee Member was deeply perplexed. He couldn’t understand what kind of fit his brother-in-law was throwing out of the blue, suddenly sending a message saying [Are you busy? I have something very important to tell you], only to vanish into thin air.

He was very worried it was something regarding that little brat, so he called several times in succession, only to finally receive a single reply.

[Sickly Brother-in-law]: It’s fine now, you can go back to being busy.

Zhu Zeran felt a sudden urge to block this young couple entirely.

“Then if it really turned out to be real today, would you have teamed up with Director Wang to make me abort the child?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Fu Rangyi pinched his lips shut.

After a long while, he added softly, “Abortions hurt a lot too…” His voice was so low it sounded like he was talking to himself.

Despite being diagnosed with a pseudopregnancy, the physiological phenomena were hard to eliminate overnight. Zhu Zhixi had to keep it a secret from him before, so he had endured it for a long time. Now that he knew it was fake, he simply stopped pretending. Every day, he treated himself like a real rabbit and ordered Fu Rangyi around like a little cotton swab.

The moment his husband got off work, he would flop down inside the little nest he had built, starting to make him stroke his back and massage his chest. When he got excited, he would start seducing him. But with the medical advice standing like a massive mountain, they couldn’t really do anything in order to avoid pheromone influences.

Midway through, Fu Rangyi went to the hospital to get a checkup by himself, refusing to let him tag along on the grounds that he was afraid it would trigger painful memories. When he came back, he brought back quite a bit of medicine too, saying it was prescribed by the doctor for him to take.

That night, he didn’t even let Zhu Zhixi touch him. This made Zhu Zhixi so angry that he kicked Fu Rangyi out to the secondary bedroom—and to his surprise, the man actually went.

And he even slept all by himself inside a small tent.

Being suspended in limbo like this was the hardest to bear, so Zhu Zhixi could only count down the days. With great difficulty, he finally endured until the day the medication stopped. He directly changed into the rabbit maid outfit that Fu Rangyi liked best, preparing to take him down in one fell swoop.

Yet, he suffered a polite refusal. His world shattered.

Is this trying to make me live like a widow?

He couldn’t help but pray to the heavens. This pseudopregnancy was simply too awful; it better never happen again.

Three more days of living like an ascetic passed, and Zhu Zhixi was already completely filled with despair. Returning from the newly partnered museum, as he changed his shoes at the entryway, his nose twitched. He suddenly discovered that the house was filled with the scent of fresh-cut roses. Walking in to take a closer look, it actually turned out to be a meticulously arranged candlelit dinner.

Hearing the commotion, a certain someone walked out from behind the kitchen island, still wearing an apron.

His first reaction was ‘I’m doomed,’ followed by frantically racking his brain to remember exactly what anniversary today was. But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t recall a single thing. He could only guiltily cooperate with the routine, attempting to jog his memory along the way.

Looking at the candles on the dining table, he thought to himself: this must be a massive anniversary.

Later, when he stepped into the bedroom, he was given an even greater fright—there were actually rose petals on the bed!

That can’t be right, Xiao Fu, we didn’t get married today.

When he saw Fu Rangyi actively shedding his clothes to change into the “apron” outfit that Zhu Zhixi had pestered him about for ages—but which the grand Professor Fu had never agreed to—switching directly into vixen mode, Zhu Zhixi panicked entirely. He believed that he had lost an extremely important chunk of his memory.

While kissing, Zhu Zhixi felt incredibly comfortable on one hand, yet utterly lacking in confidence on the other. He asked indistinctly, “You… why are you being so proactive? Didn’t you refuse to let me before…”

“It’s fine today.” The vixen stopped kissing him, his tone sounding perfectly righteous.

Zhu Zhixi was puzzled. “What do you mean ‘it’s fine today’? Since when did I not know that you need to consult an almanac to do this kind of thing?”

Fu Rangyi remained silent. The two of them stayed quiet for a long while. Zhu Zhixi finally couldn’t resist asking the very question that would likely result in him receiving a heavy punishment in bed.

“What special day is today, anyway?”

Fu Rangyi blinked his eyes.

“The day my vasectomy surgery has fully recovered.”

“Huh???”

Zhu Zhixi suspected something was wrong with his ears. “What surgery?”

Fu Rangyi performed a pantomime with no props, tying a bow toward Zhu Zhixi.

“When did you run off to get a vasectomy?! Did you go alone?”

“Yeah. I asked Director Wang, and this is the best and most effective method. He said that even though you have a unique constitution and you’re a Beta, nothing is absolute. It’s best to avoid it if we can.”

Saying that, Fu Rangyi paused for a moment, reaching out to stroke Zhu Zhixi’s lower belly. “That day, you asked me if you really turned out to be pregnant, would I make you get an abortion. The thought of you having to get on an operating table for this kind of thing makes me feel awful. But childbearing would cause even greater damage to your body. I don’t want that.”

How could he secretly make such a massive decision all by himself?

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s a very minor surgery, recovery is quick.” It just requires a few days of abstinence.

Zhu Zhixi felt a bit of heartache, but in the next second, he reached out directly to lift the apron. “Let me see.”

Fu Rangyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Can you stop treating me like a puppy that just got neutered?”

“You won’t even let me look? This is martial property.”

Fu Rangyi: “……”

Zhu Zhixi’s eyes were clear, filled with curiosity, gesturing with his hands. “Then after you tied the knot, those… those little fish, they’re all gone?”

Here it came again—Zhu Zhixi’s bizarre metaphors. Fu Rangyi explained: “It’s not real sterilization. The little fish are still there, they just can’t swim across anymore.”

Saying that, he poked Zhu Zhixi’s small belly. “It’s closed for business here.”

“No way, it’s wide open. It’s your issue.”

Fu Rangyi nodded.

“The functionality… should be fine, right?” Zhu Zhixi pretended not to care.

Fu Rangyi shook his head, emphasizing once more: “Only the little fish can’t swim across.”

“Aiyah…” Zhu Zhixi narrowed his eyes. “Why do I feel like it’s a bit of a pity? It’s like I ate something, but didn’t completely get to eat it.”

Fu Rangyi smiled, pulling the wicked rabbit into his arms to nuzzle the tip of his nose, his voice dropping very low: “Let me eat first. I’ve waited for a long time.”

The fasting period indeed shouldn’t be too long; once it drags out, it becomes easy to eat too hastily.

Thus, Zhu Zhixi tumbled into a recurring rabbit hole, beginning his first day of nursing his body all over again.