Chapter 49
Lu Fengge twitched the corner of his mouth. Could they stop bringing up company bankruptcy every other sentence? His son being useless wasn’t a big deal—he himself could still come back out of retirement.
The three brothers tried hard to put on bright, positive expressions, but didn’t succeed very well.
Shen Ning looked kindly at his youngest son. “Where’s your wife?”
The third son, tightly controlled by divorce: “……”
Shen Ning then asked Lu Lou and Lu Yushu, “What about your secretaries? I didn’t see them when you came up.”
The two eldest sons, tightly controlled by unemployment: “……”
Shen Ning considerately stopped asking.
Naturally, Shen Ning had already received a tip-off from the hospital. He was worried Lu Xiao might do something irrational.
When these three children were born, Shen Ning hadn’t sensed any inherited spiritual bloodline in them, so in accordance with ancestral rules, he hadn’t told them the family’s old secrets.
He didn’t want his children to feel different from ordinary people. As long as they grew up healthy and normal, that was enough.
But what happened between Lu Xiao and Meng Xueyuan made Shen Ning start to suspect that Lu Xiao actually had a hidden bloodline—and that he had encountered another spiritual bloodline, very possibly the bee clan.
The amplification from two kinds of spiritual bloodline explained why Meng Xueyuan’s false pregnancy symptoms were different from usual, and why the due date couldn’t be accurately calculated. Just like Shen Ning and Lu Fengge: one carried the Flower God’s spiritual qi, the other vine spiritual qi. Their union had greatly increased the chance of pregnancy.
Lu Fengge pulled out a chair and Shen Ning sat down, interlacing his fingers on the table. “Since everyone’s here, let’s have a family meeting. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Lu Xiao straightened up. His wife had used this exact tone, this exact phrasing—then run back to his parents’ home.
Could it be that the two dads had fought too?
Should he go burn incense for his great-grandmother?
Shen Ning briefly explained the past. He didn’t mention that Meng Xueyuan might carry spiritual bloodline; instead, he told his sons, “Spiritual bloodline gives us our looks, but it also brings some small troubles. Because our constitutions are different, your wives might be affected and become unusual. If they show signs of false pregnancy or pregnancy that differs from normal, look for the cause in yourselves. Don’t fight with your wives. Understand?”
Lu Lou and Lu Yushu were simply stunned—after all, they didn’t even have wives.
No wonder the Lu family ancestral graves were located on such a tall, steep mountain. Vine spirits naturally liked climbing and favored high places with sunlight and rain.
Suddenly, they also understood something else: why their fathers had entered into a marriage alliance. Besides sexual orientation and matching family status, there had been another layer of reason.
Back when the Shen family fled overseas, many other clans had risked their lives to protect them. The Shen and Lu families had originally been neighbors, and the Lu family had made especially great sacrifices—an entire large clan reduced in the end to only Grandpa Lu’s line.
When Grandpa Shen returned to China as an overseas Chinese investor and met Grandpa Lu, who had rebuilt his fortunes, the two recognized each other as childhood companions and decided on a marriage alliance.
Grandpa Shen had brothers, a son and a daughter. Grandpa Lu had only one son, Lu Fengge. Thus Shen Ning followed Lu Fengge in life—first, to return to the beloved homeland, and second, to repay kindness with kindness.
Lu Xiao suddenly thought of the calligraphy hanging in the Lu family study, written personally by Shen Ning after shedding his classical-Chinese illiteracy, quoting Guofeng · Weifeng · Mugua:
You give me a quince;
I repay you with jade pendants.
Not merely repayment—
but friendship everlasting.
It was said to be Shen Ning’s most appropriate quotation ever—no wrong characters, no misinterpretation.
After hearing everything Shen Ning said, Lu Xiao felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
So it was he who had been completely wrong.
His wife had been an innocent victim; he had falsely accused him.
Lu Xiao immediately called Meng Xueyuan. He didn’t answer, saying he was busy.
So he sent a message instead, “I’m sorry, wife. My dad told me—it’s my constitution, my fault.”
—
On the other side.
Lin Xilan unfolded one paper ball after another, tallying the votes. “Agree, agree…”
“Passed unanimously.”
Meng Xueyuan bowed deeply in thanks. “Thank you all for your trust. Lu Xiao will definitely live up to it.”
The worker bees, rarely back home, excitedly ran off to look at their new houses. Meng Xueyuan said generously, “Keeping the exterior uniform is everyone’s shared wish, but the interior decor can follow your own preferences. If you have time today, decide now—the first phase of renovations is starting.”
Bees loved flowers. Bai He hired a designer skilled in floral elements and produced several design drafts for everyone’s reference.
As the number of people in the hall dwindled, Meng Xueyuan patted the ballot box, about to send a photo to Lu Xiao, when suddenly there was a commotion outside—listening closely, it sounded like trucks.
Meng Xueyuan frowned. “Wasn’t the construction site paused today?”
Bai He shook his head. “Let’s go take a look.”
The hall was right next to the village square. A long convoy of vehicles came rolling in, even the lead truck tied with red silk.
Drivers and loaders jumped out, opened the rear doors, and started carrying appliances out.
Air conditioners. Refrigerators. Dishwashers…
Meng Xueyuan: “Xilan, did you buy appliances?”
Lin Xilan: “No. I haven’t even negotiated with suppliers yet.” Outfitting the whole village with the same appliances was basically wholesale; they couldn’t buy at retail prices.
“Big star, these are appliances ordered by Mr. Lu. He said even if the person can’t come, the gifts must arrive—everyone who sees them gets a share.” The driver came over with a receipt. “Please take a look.”
Meng Xueyuan: “……”
He looked at the list. “Why isn’t there a quantity?”
The driver said, “Mr. Lu said everyone must get one. If there’s not enough, he’ll send more.”
What “everyone gets one”—Lu Xiao just wanted everyone to praise him.
A clan member asked, “Xueyuan, is Lu Xiao here to formally propose? Why didn’t he come in person?”
Meng Xueyuan: “……He’s busy. Take whatever you like.”
The clan crowded around curiously, chattering.
“A dishwasher? It’s just washing dishes—Lu Xiao’s too polite.”
“I’ve never used a dryer or a robot vacuum.”
“A smart toilet? One that washes your butt?”
“There’s even a cooking robot? Perfect for Xiang Jin and Lian Qiao, those two lazybones—go call them over!”
After the celebrity red-carpet festival, Baihua Village now had a brand-new home appliance exhibition.
In the end, everyone agreed: they were too new to use right away. They’d move them into the hall for now, then install them once the new houses were finished.
Everyone heaved together to move the appliances inside, filling the hall to the brim. It looked like there’d be no large meetings for a while.
Meng Xueyuan stepped aside and checked her phone. There was a new message.
—Lu Xiao: I’m sorry, wife. My dad told me—it’s my constitution, my fault.
At first glance, Lu Xiao had found himself another self-deceiving explanation for his “green hat.”
At second glance—Dad? Shen Ning? Constitution?
What could Shen Ning have told Lu Xiao? A spark flashed in Meng Xueyuan’s mind. His brain, just reviewed with the history of spirit creatures and bloodline, suddenly came up with a bold guess.
Shen Ning had returned from overseas. Shen Ning and Uncle Lu had three children, all strikingly good-looking—deeply attractive to bees.
Under modern medical testing, what constitution issues couldn’t be openly discussed? Unless it was a spiritual meridian.
The next second, another message came in, “Wife, I’ll go pick you up and explain everything to you, okay?”
Meng Xueyuan replied, “No need. I’m flying back this afternoon.”
Her confidence in her guess rose from thirty percent to seventy. She sent Lu Xiao a photo of the voting results. “Earlier I told you I had something to tell you. Because it involves the entire clan’s secret, I came back to have them vote on whether to tell you.”
Lu Xiao called immediately, sounding anxious. “Did you finish voting? So hasty—no speeches, no canvassing? I could’ve bribed—”
He hadn’t even had the chance to show his sincerity, reliability, and money power. The vote must’ve been low.
Meng Xueyuan said dryly, “You’re not running for U.S. president.”
Lu Xiao realized something. “I passed?”
Meng Xueyuan: “Mm. I can tell you now.”
Lu Xiao was surprised. “My reputation in your clan is okay?”
Meng Xueyuan: “…Mm.” Your deeds circulate widely among the worker bees—who’d want you as an enemy?
Pursuing perfection, Lu Xiao said, “Wife, next time there’s a vote, let me canvass first. I want unanimous approval.”
Meng Xueyuan replied, “It already was. Didn’t you send several truckloads of appliances to my hometown?”
Anyone who didn’t know better would think the ‘home appliances to the countryside’ campaign had gone all out.
Lu Xiao felt smug. He’d been agonizing over what gift would be appropriate. He could send luxury goods, but for ordinary people that wasn’t as good as cash—and cash was vulgar. Finally he thought of appliances: big, eye-catching, very much his style.
Not wanting to say more over the phone, Meng Xueyuan said, “My secret is similar to yours. When you have time, start learning about bees’ habits.”
Like a model student, Lu Xiao replied, “Okay, wife. Can I go pick you up at the airport?” He sounded gentle—was he no longer angry?
Meng Xueyuan said, “Let’s meet at home.”
Concerned, Lu Xiao asked, “Did you vomit today?”
“No.” Meng Xueyuan seized the chance to reason with him. “I’m sharing my secret with you because I’m bearing my family’s responsibility and trusting you. Can you give me the same trust in return?”
Lu Xiao blurted out, “Yes.”
Meng Xueyuan continued, “If something similar happened—if the evidence was ironclad that it was my fault, and asking me about it could destroy the marriage—would you ask me?”
He deliberately used an extreme example. To treat Lu Xiao, he needed strong medicine—tear the roof off first.
Lu Xiao hesitated. Lu Xiao fell silent.
He tried to patch it up. “How could my wife ever be wrong? Even if you were, I’d help you cover it up.”
Even if the sky fell, he wouldn’t divorce his wife. Anything could be discussed—except divorce.
Meng Xueyuan hung up mercilessly. “Keep reflecting. Don’t call me ‘wife.’ When I get back, I’ll throw your marriage certificate into the water.”
“Wife—hello—” Lu Xiao wished he could slam his head into the ground. Why be so honest at a critical moment? He might as well throw this useless mouth away!
He looked at the bright red marriage certificate on the table, remembered Meng Xueyuan’s words, and hurriedly took out his phone to photograph it from every angle. He censored everything except the faces and posted a nine-photo grid to his Moments.
He waited—and no one liked it.
??
Looking closer, he realized his fingers had developed muscle memory: anything related to his wife was automatically restricted to a specific group.
Lu Xiao stared at his fingers. Useless. Too useless.
A useless mouth, useless fingers—no wonder his wife was angry.
With not a single like, his feelings were unseen.
Determined to redeem himself, Lu Xiao logged into his Weibo account, dormant for three months, and posted the nine-photo grid again.
Likes instantly shot past a thousand. Lu Xiao was satisfied.
His tens of millions of followers rushed in. Seeing a screen full of blazing red certificates, they froze.
[Same certificate, different angles. Verified.]
[First time seeing someone flex a marriage certificate like this—front cover and back cover included.]
[Bro, if you didn’t explain, people would think you married nine times. Stronger than the eight-divorce family next door.]
[Even stamp collectors don’t flex like this. We get it—you treasure it.]
[Congrats! Where’s the red envelope?]
[Didn’t the variety show say you’d make up for the proposal ring? Don’t just show the certificate—show the diamond ring for your poor fans to admire.]
[Brother Lu, aren’t you a rich third young master? Have some restraint.]
[Look at how cheap you look. At least get your wife to post together.]
Lu Xiao thought: no way. Meng Xueyuan had threatened to tear it up.
Once CP fans arrived, the comment section turned into a sea of pink hearts.
Their marriage topic shot up the trending list. Everyone was anticipating a century-defining wedding.
[Mom! The CP I ship got married! Basically I’m the matchmaker!]
[Lu Xiao, when you throw the banquet, don’t forget to invite a table of CP fans.]
[Xueyuan! Mommy’s precious baby—be happy with Lu Xiao!]
[According to my Snowflake observations, our Xueyuan’s a bit of a face-lover. Lu Xiao’s handsome and rich—I approve of this marriage. Better than him marrying some poor pretty boy and having to do poverty alleviation.]
Lu Xiao experienced the joy of being bold.
Hah—no one could threaten him with divorce. If they did, he’d just show the marriage certificate.
He messaged Meng Xueyuan on WeChat:
“Every time you mention divorce, I’ll post it once.”
Shameless people get wives.
Far away in the southwest, the very prideful Meng Xueyuan: “……”
Fine. He’d been reverse-manipulated.
Wasn’t Lu Xiao at the company? How could he post the marriage certificate anytime, anywhere? Did he carry it in his pocket?
…
After steadying his emotions, Lu Xiao followed Meng Xueyuan’s instructions and began researching bee habits online.
Queen bees. Worker bees. Drones.
Shared resources, precise division of labor, mutual checks and balances.
A very good social structure.
As he read on, Lu Xiao suddenly felt these habits were familiar.
Bees fear smoke; Meng Xueyuan disliked it too. That day, Lu Xiao smoked in the study—Meng Xueyuan stopped outside.
Bees love flowers and honey; Meng Xueyuan’s room always had fresh-cut flowers and honey. When others gave him flowers, he’d be happy—openly happy, right in front of Lu Xiao.
Bees leave early and return late; Meng Xueyuan came straight home as soon as filming ended.
On variety shows, Meng Xueyuan skillfully cut honeycomb. When Meng Dad’s hive had trouble, his first reaction was to call Meng Xueyuan home.
When Lu Xiao kissed Meng Xueyuan, it always felt sweet—there was always a fragrance…
Meng Xueyuan had said their constitutions were similar.
Enlightenment struck Lu Xiao. Could his wife also have spirit-creature bloodline? Was he… a little bee spirit?!
In his mind appeared a yellow, round-bellied bee, diligently collecting nectar among flowers, unable to move when seeing blooming peonies.
And Lu Xiao was the peony! No—more precisely, a Flower God who favored peonies.
It was like a gorgeous fantasy: Bee God and Flower God, a match made in heaven.
He’d never dared imagine he and his wife were so perfectly matched. He was born to wait for bees to gather pollen and brew sweet honey. No one in the world was more worthy of Meng Xueyuan than him—his useless brothers excluded.
Then what kind of bee was Meng Xueyuan?
So beloved—he had to be the queen.
Lu Xiao immediately dove deeper into researching queen bees.
A virgin queen emerges from the queen cell and goes on a nuptial flight, seeking drones. One mating, fertilized for life. After mating, the drone’s reproductive organ remains inside the queen…
Lu Xiao never knew reading science could make his spine tingle. The queen’s habits—shockingly—matched his experiences in bed.
“Spermatheca…” When he saw those three words, his dark pupils trembled.
Shen Ning had said the habits only roughly corresponded; after spiritual bloodline dissipated, they were no different from normal people.
But at this moment, Lu Xiao was certain—Meng Xueyuan did have it. He did have a spermatheca.
Because he had touched it.
He’d smugly teased his wife, treated it as a huge surprise, wanting to see Meng Xueyuan’s shy reaction. What if he’d just talked to him about it?
Two fingers—he’d arrogantly explored his wife. Afterward, he’d turned cold, leaving him with two rounds of miserable false pregnancy reactions, and even accused him of giving him a green hat.
When his wife had clearly said the child was his.
He refused to believe it. Refused to ask.
Lu Xiao turned off the screen and slapped himself.
The white bandage wrapped around the back of his hand looked painfully conspicuous, reminding him of his many misdeeds.
The pain in his hand was less than one percent of Meng Xueyuan’s nausea.
Hadn’t he wanted to find a mistress?
Hadn’t he sworn to make the mistress suffer worse than death?
He should cut off those two fingers and offer them as apology.
But Meng Xueyuan would vomit at the smell of blood. That would just add another offense.
Lu Xiao had achieved many successes in life, but when it came to Meng Xueyuan, he’d been a coward again and again.
A queen bee might have a duty to go on nuptial flights. He occupied the legal spouse’s position, yet failed to shoulder the responsibility. Instead, Meng Xueyuan had to push things forward step by step. It would’ve been fine if he’d just followed her like a fool—but instead he’d veered off midway, walked into a dead end of his own making.
Lu Xiao wanted to apologize again, but Meng Xueyuan clearly didn’t want to discuss it over the phone. Face-to-face would be safer.
He rarely returned home. He shouldn’t keep calling and disturbing his family time—that would be immature.
As Lu Xiao restrained himself, a thought struck him: if Meng Xueyuan was the queen bee, then his fellow villagers… worker bees?
From 001 to 0177—there were no mahjong buddies. That was just a cover story. They were the most numerous worker bees in a single clan.
He’d been jealous for nothing and treated the worker bees coldly. Cold sweat broke out on Lu Xiao’s back. That so-called vote—each worker bee had cast one. He’d almost blocked his own path completely.
Lu Xiao rubbed his face. He hadn’t done a single smart thing.
The bandage on his hand began seeping blood—his emotional turmoil seemed to have tugged at the wound.
Staring at it, Lu Xiao, on impulse, contacted the Lu family’s private doctor to ask about wound care and scar-removal ointment.
After all, his wife loved him; bees loved flowers; they surely favored beautiful faces and beautiful flowers.
No blemishes allowed!
Originally just casually bandaged, Lu Xiao immediately decided to redo the dressing.
“Third.”
Shen Ning, having accompanied Lu Fengge to finish business at the company, returned to call him. “You’re really still here. Come eat lunch.”
Lu Xiao answered with a “Mm” and followed his dad. If only it had been his dad, not Chu Hao, who discovered that green-hat-conditioning herbal medicine…
When you’re flustered and lost in the moment, you really do need to ask smart people for help. Chu Hao—well, that idiot—had also said before that the killer was the protagonist himself.
Lu Xiao pressed his lips together. So the only one who hadn’t listened… was him.
Shen Ning booked a private room in the company cafeteria. The family of five ate lunch there.
Those who’d attended the morning meeting saw it and suspected a sibling feud had alarmed the heavens, with Shen Ning and Lu Fengge descending to mediate. Everyone perked up their gossip ears.
Lu Xiao closed the private room door.
Thinking of his wife still suffering from false pregnancy, Lu Xiao had no appetite. He ate a few mouthfuls of rice and put down his chopsticks. If he hadn’t foolishly poked the spermatheca a second time, Meng Xueyuan would be enjoying his food right now.
Shen Ning started, “The hospital said Xueyuan has false pregnancy. How is he? Severe reactions?”
Lu Xiao replied, “He’s vomiting pretty badly.”
Pain showed in Shen Ning’s eyes. “Reduce your workload and stay with him more. With you around, it’ll be much better.”
Lu Fengge snorted. “Now you’re willing to admit false pregnancy needs someone around.”
“…Shut up.” Shen Ning turned to Lu Xiao. “No matter what, you shouldn’t have argued with him during the checkup.”
Regretful and seeking guidance, Lu Xiao asked, “Dad, how did you feel back then?”
Shen Ning replied, “I thought Lu Fengge was a dumbass and wanted a divorce.”
Lu Fengge’s face darkened. “Don’t listen to your dad’s nonsense. I only said that false pregnancy should always be treated as real pregnancy. You were the one who argued with me, saying false pregnancy didn’t matter and you wanted barefoot freedom.”
Lu Xiao looked at Shen Ning. Dad… you’re kind of twisting the truth here.
Shen Ning said, “The focus now is Xueyuan. Lu Fengge, are you really going to dig up old accounts with me?”
Lu Fengge shut up.
Lu Lou and Lu Yushu watched like spectators—every meal came with a free comedy show.
For some reason, Lu Xiao suddenly felt he had more in common with Lu Fengge. Father Lu was more reliable.
Especially that line—false pregnancy must always be treated as real pregnancy. Absolute truth.
This time, his wife’s reaction—he still didn’t know whether it was real or fake.
Right now, he could only be sure the first time was fake. The second time had to be treated carefully.
The first time… wait. Not only had he wronged Meng Xueyuan, he’d also wronged his nonexistent son.
He’d taken being a father lightly, because the child didn’t exist, and had never truly thought about fatherhood.
He had to do something for his spiritual son—like securing the rightful status of eldest grandson.
Lu Xiao said to Lu Fengge, “Your virtual eldest grandson has appeared. Dad, you’re good at naming—give him a name.”
Their brothers’ names were decent, with literary origins.
Lu Yushu gently reminded him, “Third, who are you being sarcastic to?”
Don’t forget—their names came from typos in Shen Ning’s love letters. Was it mocking Shen Ning’s illiteracy, or Lu Fengge’s pettiness?
Shen Ning: “……”
Lu Fengge also felt Lu Xiao was being sarcastic—not for the first time. “Is that necessary?”
After all, it was just stimulation from sperm; there hadn’t even been a second of fertilization.
Lu Xiao stared in disbelief. “This is your eldest grandson! How can you say one thing and do another? Didn’t you say false pregnancy should always be treated as—”
Lu Fengge’s temple twitched. “You name the grandson yourself. But I can help change your name.”
Lu Xiao: ?
Lu Fengge said calmly, “A-Ning had false pregnancy three times. Judging by your level of importance, you should rank sixth. From now on, you’re Old Six.”
Lu Old Six: “……”
