Chapter 15: Sleeping Together for the First Time
With a crunch, while he was still dazed, Zhu Zhixi accidentally bit the candy apart. The grape-flavored filling flowed out, a little sour.
Hearing the answer, he felt somewhat awkward, yet also a little like laughing.
“Our wedding candy is this good? Where did you buy it? I’ll buy some more to give my brother and the others.”
“No need. There’s still a box at home.” Fu Rangyi took a deep breath and turned around.
He suddenly realized that the word “home” carried a certain ambiguity, so he added, “I mean at the apartment.”
“Oh.” Zhu Zhixi raised his hand again and wiped his hair. He wandered around behind Fu Rangyi’s chair for a while before sitting back down on the sofa.
He stayed quiet for a moment, then sniffed and asked tentatively, “It’s so late. Aren’t you going to rest?”
Fu Rangyi answered coldly, “If you have an opinion about my working hours, you can write an email to the university president.”
“Forget writing an email.” Zhu Zhixi laughed twice, stretched out both legs, swung them, then reached out and plucked a little fuzzball from the carpet. “I was just thinking, if… if I get into bed and sleep first, would you think I’m very rude?”
Actually, this sounded strange too.
What did politeness have to do with anything? It made it sound as if he were going to lift the quilt, pat the bed, and invite Fu Rangyi to sleep with him.
Sure enough, Fu Rangyi did not answer.
“Then I’ll sleep first?” Zhu Zhixi got up, straightened the overly large pajamas on himself, lifted the quilt, and crawled inside.
The bed was very comfortable and had a very clean scent, but it was not quite the same as the scent on Fu Rangyi.
He probably had not come back to stay here in a long time.
Zhu Zhixi lay on his side, pulling the quilt up to his face, covering his chin and nose, leaving only a pair of round eyes exposed. He did not move at all, his gaze stuck to Fu Rangyi’s working back.
Actually, when Fu Rangyi did not speak, he really was extremely handsome. Admittedly, part of that handsomeness had to come from the genes of a top-tier Alpha. But he was different from any Alpha Zhu Zhixi had ever met.
Even among those who had received higher education and came from elite families, Alphas still more or less could not rid themselves of the beastly instinct in their bones: forceful, arbitrary, heavy with desire, their eyes naturally carrying a wolfhound-like hunger. The higher the rank, the stronger that hunting instinct became.
But Fu Rangyi had none of that.
This person seemed insulated from desire. Taciturn, cold, solitary, detached from everything. Aside from those mountains of documents and the porcelain shards, rubble, and bones buried deep underground, nothing else seemed capable of moving him.
Even in his own home, at his family’s dining table, he carried a natural transparent barrier around himself, separating him from everyone else.
He was like an extremely thick book, forgotten and left aside for far too long. Its obscurity was obvious at a glance, so intimidating that it was difficult for anyone to muster the courage to open and read it.
Zhu Zhixi’s gaze moved from his back to the bracelet on the desk, and he became a little distracted.
He wondered what Fu Rangyi would be like during his susceptible period.
Surely there would not be no change at all, right?
He had seen Alphas who turned into stupid dogs during their susceptible periods, and he had seen those who completely lost their humanity. Of course, there were also sentimental types, like Liang Yi’en—usually very cool, but once his susceptible period arrived, he would cry.
What about Fu Rangyi?
How did he get through his susceptible periods?
Naturally, he thought of the photo Liang Yi’en had sent him, the one that had circulated widely on S University’s forum. In the photo, the Alpha was frowning, wearing a bite guard, calmly giving a report.
He could still attend such an important academic conference during his susceptible period. Could this person simply not be affected by pheromones at all?
As his thoughts wandered wildly, the desk lamp went out with a click. For some reason, Zhu Zhixi also instinctively closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
Footsteps moved far and near, lingering around him, carrying a very faint sandalwood scent, very close to the aromatherapy in their apartment. He suspected Fu Rangyi had been marinated through with this incense.
The bathroom door closed, and the sound of running water rang out. Zhu Zhixi opened his eyes. Only the bedside reading lamp remained in the room. He suddenly felt a little sleepless, so he rolled over, lay on his stomach, and looked around with shifting eyes. His gaze paused, stopping on the bedside table.
He discovered a photo frame that had been laid face down, so he reached out and stood it upright.
In the photograph, a teenage Fu Rangyi was holding a young Ruby, sitting on the garden bench where Zhu Zhixi had sat tonight.
His face and Ruby’s coat pattern were both too easy to recognize.
Compared with back then, Fu Rangyi’s face had barely changed. It was just that his figure had become much taller and his shoulders much broader. His expression was still the same, cold as ice.
Although it was only a photograph, it was already the most human thing in this bedroom. Aside from it, the room was so neat it had no life in it at all. He could only identify the owner of the room from the various trophies, certificates, and badges in the display cabinet.
He stared at the photo in a daze.
Suddenly, the sound of the bathroom door opening came from behind him. Zhu Zhixi immediately burrowed back under the quilt, leaving only half of his furry head exposed.
Outside the quilt, the gloomy homeowner walked out with heavy steps. The wardrobe was opened. He seemed to take out another quilt and blanket from inside, carried them over, then heavily threw them onto the floor.
As if deliberately venting.
Zhu Zhixi pretended not to hear.
This was completely unnecessary.
The bed was this big. If Fu Rangyi had suggested sleeping on the other side with separate quilts, he would not have refused. He was not that heartless.
But since the homeowner had decided to make a floor bed and had already lain down, Zhu Zhixi planned to keep pretending to sleep.
Until half a minute later, the homeowner suddenly spoke coldly. “Turn off the bedside lamp.”
“Ah?” Zhu Zhixi stuck his head out, then gave an “oh” and reached around blindly. “Where is it?”
He finally found the switch panel, but there were four switches on it. He pressed the first one, and the whole room lit up, almost blinding him. He immediately switched to the second one, but it still was not right.
On. Off. On, off. Click, click, click, click.
“Which one is it?”
Zhu Zhixi’s head was about to explode.
As if finally unable to endure it anymore, Fu Rangyi sat up from his neatly made floor bed, stretched out his arm, reached past Zhu Zhixi’s shoulder line, and pressed the separate hidden switch beside the bedside table.
Zhu Zhixi muttered softly, “You should’ve said it was this one.”
With a snap, Zhu Zhixi realized that in the darkness, when Fu Rangyi withdrew his arm, he had also flipped the photo frame on the bedside table face down again.
Just like how it had been when he first saw it.
So it had not fallen over by accident.
In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Zhu Zhixi’s mind. Since stepping into this family, everything he had faintly sensed as wrong or uncomfortable surged up at once, like scraps of paper, rushing over and drowning him until he could not ignore them.
This has nothing to do with me.
I’m only a fake partner.
Between us, there is only a false contractual marriage. The contract clearly states that asking about and interfering in each other’s private lives is forbidden.
Besides, the person struggling to cross the river right now is someone else. Fu Rangyi’s tolerance for me is just like my current lifespan: extremely limited.
The best method is to play dumb.
When Fu Rangyi is in a good mood, take the chance to get a little more physical interaction and accumulate a little more time on the countdown. This was what he had been doing all along, and it had been working quite well. Up until now, the countdown had stopped and started, and he still had over forty days left.
[47 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes, 03 seconds]
Don’t meddle.
Go to sleep.
He knew it all. He understood it all.
And yet.
“Fu Rangyi.”
The instant he called his name, the other little person inside Zhu Zhixi’s mind angrily punched himself.
He had long expected that he would not be able to stay out of it.
Ever since coming back from the lawn, he had known. He was very angry, but after returning to the room and seeing Fu Rangyi still so calm, he also felt powerless.
He did not want Fu Rangyi to stay alone, like someone pushed to the margins, so he had kept finding things to say and bothered him all night.
If he did not say it, he would not be able to sleep all night.
However, the homeowner lying on the floor bed and in a bad mood did not respond to him.
Since things had already reached this point, Zhu Zhixi decided to go all the way.
“Are you asleep?”
“What instructions do you have now?”
“I’m a little sleepless.”
“Sleep on the floor and you won’t be.”
“No. Don’t even think about it.” Zhu Zhixi swore to defend the bed he had seized.
The room became quiet again, and it was very dark.
The only light source was the palm of Zhu Zhixi’s hand, and only he could see it. It flickered, speck by speck, its rhythm coincidentally pressing against his heartbeat.
“I don’t really like this place.” Zhu Zhixi spoke again, his voice very soft.
“Oh. Sharing a room with me has wronged you.” Although Fu Rangyi was being sarcastic, his tone was very flat.
“No.” Zhu Zhixi frowned, rolled closer to the edge of the bed, and propped up a small half of his body. After being misunderstood, his tone became a little urgent. “Don’t interpret it randomly. I mean, compared to here, I still like our own home better.”
That sounded even stranger.
What “our”? What “own home”?
“No, how should I put it?” He scratched his hair in some distress. “Just… the apartment.”
Fu Rangyi had his back completely turned to him, the quilt covering his shoulders. He seemed to give an “mm,” but his voice was very low, and Zhu Zhixi was not sure.
“Your family… is so strange.” Zhu Zhixi lowered his head. His hand also reached out from under the quilt, drooping over the edge of the bed, his fingers almost touching the gathered-up quilt on the floor.
“Don’t worry. No one will sell you off.”
Zhu Zhixi had already grown used to his cold words and was even a little amused by them. He laughed once, then lowered his fingers and gently tapped.
Your dad doesn’t care about your work at all.
Your mother doesn’t know you can’t eat even the tiniest bit of fatty meat. Throughout the whole meal, she only picked food for you once, and it just happened to be the thing you liked least.
And that younger brother of yours—I don’t even want to talk about him.
They named you Fu Rangyi, but they gave him a name like Liaoxing, blending both parents’ surnames into it, with a completely different meaning too.
Rare as the stars.
Even rarer than stars.
And Ruby, is she really your younger brother’s dog?
The more Zhu Zhixi thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.
He knew Fu Rangyi disliked his lack of boundaries, disliked him not knowing limits, but in the end, he still could not hold back.
“No, I’m still really angry. They’re clearly your family, so why do they treat you like…”
But Fu Rangyi suddenly spoke, cutting him off.
“Don’t say it.”
Zhu Zhixi froze and fell silent.
Fu Rangyi’s voice was very light, a trace of fatigue within the clarity.
“I know what you want to say, but don’t say anything right now, okay?”
From this moment on, Zhu Zhixi’s mood rapidly slid downward, becoming dejected and sad.
In the darkness, he stared at Fu Rangyi’s back for a while. In a daze, he felt that those shoulders had become smaller, weaker. As if what he saw was not the present Fu Rangyi, but the teenage version of him. Just like in the photograph.
He understood that Fu Rangyi would not say anything.
[When another person fully understands you, it also means they know how to hurt you.]
That sentence carried a sharp, cold gleam, like a blade slicing open memory, flashing back in his mind.
“Zhu Zhixi.”
He came back to himself, somewhat dazed.
This seemed to be the first time Fu Rangyi had called him in this tone, so solemnly.
“Mm?” Zhu Zhixi answered with a sticky, soft nasal sound.
“Thank you.”
After hearing that, his heart felt even more sour.
A child who had grown up spoiled and loved, on this day, briefly experienced another kind of life, understood what favoritism was, and what natural unfairness meant.
And this was actually only the tip of the iceberg.
What he thought of as “experiencing” it was nothing compared to everything Fu Rangyi had gone through from childhood to adulthood.
He suddenly thought of a kitten he had once rescued. It had been abandoned many times, passed through several adoptive families, and finally was still thrown to the roadside.
When it was rescued, it was extremely resistant to human contact and being held. The more gently people called to it and guided it, the more it avoided them.
No one was born living in alienation.
“Teacher Fu, I still kind of want to talk.”
To be honest, when Fu Rangyi heard this sentence, he was not surprised at all.
This was someone who would not stop until he achieved his goal.
But he truly did not want to mention it, and he did not want to respond anymore. The many years of the past had already been painstakingly compressed and thinned by him, then hidden away. The moment someone cared, he would have to take it out and put it on display.
A hard, thin sheet, pulled from the bottom of his heart like drawing out a blade. Before any comfort could arrive, it had already cut him until he was bloody and torn.
He also did not want to ask for any sympathy, especially not from Zhu Zhixi.
His own vulnerability and unease—he could touch all of it, but he did not care.
Before the arrival of a susceptible period, most Alphas would become sensitive and emotional. Their brains would be filled with all kinds of desires: wanting to be satisfied, cared for, loved. These were all physiological reactions dominated by pheromones. They were not the real him.
But in the next second, the words Zhu Zhixi said were unexpectedly different.
“Do you still remember the countdown I told you about?”
Here it came again.
The voice behind him was very small, and it had moved a little closer, making Fu Rangyi worry slightly that Zhu Zhixi might suddenly lose his balance and fall off the edge of the bed.
“You remember, right? I said the first time it paused was because your hand touched mine.”
Fu Rangyi still ignored him.
He did not know whether this person had fallen asleep, or simply did not want to respond.
Zhu Zhixi was a little nervous, because right now, he was indeed lying.
“Now… it’s ticking so fast. I’m really panicking.”
Actually, the best way to comfort someone was a hug.
But Fu Rangyi had said before that he hated being hugged very much.
This had even been recorded on the questionnaire, though Zhu Zhixi did not know the reason.
He took a deep breath.
“Can you… stretch your hand over and let me hold it for a bit? Once it stops, I’ll let go.”
A long silence.
After waiting too long, Zhu Zhixi suddenly felt his face grow faintly warm. A sense of shame surged up.
Talking to himself like this was really asking to be ignored.
How could Fu Rangyi need his comfort?
Forget it.
He rolled over, looked at the ceiling, and prepared to close his eyes and sleep.
But just then, a hand reached over, gently resting on the edge of the bed and touching his arm.
The countdown in his palm gave off a faint glow, and his eyes brightened a little too. He pressed down his smile, rolled onto his side, and quickly grabbed Fu Rangyi’s hand, holding it tightly.
“Your hand is so cold,” he said very softly. “Are you cold?”
Fu Rangyi did not answer.
“I’ll warm it for you. My hands are really warm.” Not wanting Fu Rangyi to feel like he was being pitied, Zhu Zhixi deliberately acted a little fawning, as if he only wanted to save up a bit more countdown time.
But he did not look at the jumping numbers even once. He wrapped both hands around Fu Rangyi’s hand and rubbed it gently.
Body heat slowly transferred through their pressed-together fingers.
When vision was covered by darkness, the sense of touch became especially sensitive.
It was only his hand being held, yet Fu Rangyi could even sense the size of Zhu Zhixi’s hand, the length of his fingers, the thin calluses on his fingertips and palm, and his empty ring finger.
His thoughts suddenly jumped to the garden at dusk. Fu Rangyi remembered the scene of Zhu Zhixi sitting on the bench with his younger brother, and also remembered fragments of their conversation.
“Is it enough?”
After a while, he heard Zhu Zhixi give an “mm.”
The hand let go.
“Sleep. There are still things to do tomorrow.”
“What things?”
“You’ll know tomorrow.” Fu Rangyi withdrew his hand back under the quilt. This hand was so warm it did not feel like his own. It was strange. He even had the feeling that he did not know where to put it.
“All right. Thank you for letting me hold your hand. The countdown stopped. It was very useful.”
He heard the rustling sound of the quilt, followed by Zhu Zhixi’s long breath, as if he had let out a sigh of relief.
“Good night, Fu Rangyi.”
He did not sleep well that night.
It was not because he was unused to the bed. Fu Rangyi’s bed was very comfortable. Perhaps he was too worried about his fake husband’s terrible childhood experiences, so he had a strange dream. In the dream, he met the teenage Fu Rangyi and ran over carelessly, saying he wanted to be friends with him.
Fu Rangyi had looked dead-faced since childhood and ignored him. At that age, he was going through his differentiation period, so he still wore a bite guard and suppressor collar, looking even harder to provoke than he did now.
Zhu Zhixi refused to give up and kept pestering him, determined to heal and warm this gloomy Alpha. As a result, the other party could no longer endure it and repaid kindness with enmity. The moment he took off the bite guard, he fiercely bit the back of Zhu Zhixi’s neck.
Are you insane? I’m not an Omega. What use is there in biting me?
Zhu Zhixi shuddered in fear and woke up.
Coincidentally, the moment he opened his eyes, he discovered that Fu Rangyi was opening the door and coming in.
He had already changed out of his pajamas and was wearing a beige knit sweater and dark brown trousers. The suppressor bracelet had returned to his wrist. Last night’s vulnerability seemed to have been nothing more than a fleeting bloom.
“Have you slept enough?” His tone was exactly the same as that child in the dream.
Still shaken, Zhu Zhixi touched the back of his neck and wrinkled his face in grievance. “I just woke up.”
“Mm, but it’s almost twelve now.” Fu Rangyi glanced at his watch. “My mom asked me to come up and call you down for lunch.”
“Oh…” Zhu Zhixi yawned. “Got it.”
“She also said that if you’re really tired, I should bring it up for you to eat.”
He got out of bed and slowly shuffled into the bathroom in his slippers to brush his teeth.
“That won’t be necessary. Why would I be tired? I didn’t even do anything…”
If that alone could make him tired, then he probably really would not live many more days.
“She may not think you did nothing.” Fu Rangyi leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “I said you slept very late last night. They seem to have misunderstood.”
“Ah?” Zhu Zhixi was not fully awake yet, his brain like paste. “Misunderstood…”
Suddenly, he jolted awake and rinsed his mouth. “No way, right? She doesn’t think we were doing something very lewd last night, does she? We didn’t even make any noise. That’s pure slander!”
Fu Rangyi was so angry he almost laughed.
“Is there a possibility that, in normal people’s eyes, marital relations between legal spouses cannot be described as lewd?”
Zhu Zhixi washed his face carelessly, patted it, then came out wet and righteous. “I’m a virgin. I think it’s pretty lewd.”
He had not even closed the door.
Fu Rangyi covered his mouth, walked into the room, closed the door, and lowered his voice.
“Got it. Please wipe your pure virgin face.”
His hand was covered in water. Fu Rangyi lowered his head and stared at it. This instead produced some thoughts in him that could indeed be called obscene.
“If they didn’t think that, it would be strange.” He added another unnecessary sentence. “It means your previous performance was a complete failure.”
“That’s true. You’re right.” Zhu Zhixi wiped his face in distress, then pulled up his collar, his nose twitching. He lifted his head and stared at Fu Rangyi with a pair of pure virgin eyes.
“What now?” Fu Rangyi asked.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhixi suddenly moved closer, breaking through the safe distance and almost pressing against his chest.
“Smell me. Do I have your pheromones on me?”
Fu Rangyi did not need to smell, nor did he want to answer.
The whole room was almost marinated in him.
Fortunately, Zhu Zhixi backed away on his own.
“No, right? I knew it. After a whole night, having no pheromones on me at all is too fake.” He blurted out, “How about you hug…”
Fu Rangyi hated being hugged.
No, no.
After rejecting this option, inspiration suddenly flashed through Zhu Zhixi’s mind.
“No need. I know what to do.”
Let me see what exactly you want to do.
Fu Rangyi crossed his arms and calmly watched. He saw Zhu Zhixi suddenly turn his back, then openly and casually, right in front of a top-tier Alpha, take off the pajamas on his body.
Crackling sounds filled the air as static electricity sparked from friction. A fair, lean back abruptly appeared before his eyes.
His whole body stiffened. Instinctively, he long-pressed the button on his bracelet—that was the shortcut for setting suppression to the highest level.
But very quickly, he realized he was once again doing something stupid and unnecessary.
“Lend me your pajamas!”
Aren’t you wearing them right now…
In the next second, Fu Rangyi saw Zhu Zhixi toss aside the pajamas he had taken off and instead pick up the navy-blue set draped over the sofa, quickly pulling it onto himself.
That was the set Fu Rangyi had worn last night.
Turning around, Zhu Zhixi adjusted the top, then ran his fingers through his hair, messed up by static electricity, and smiled at him. His eyes were clear like glass beads, and when he smiled, there was a wickedness in them.
“See? Aren’t I smart?”
Fu Rangyi did not answer. He was not even listening. He was distracted.
It had been covered again.
That mole.
Very quickly, Zhu Zhixi’s voice awakened him from the brief control of reproductive desire.
“This way, not only will I smell like I have pheromones, I’ll also look more like…”
Fu Rangyi frowned. “Like what?”
Author’s Note:
The hand felt empty when held. It’s time to buy wedding rings. Don’t be too in love, From1.
The two of them are currently in a state of being a little moved without realizing it. The comfort that wasn’t said clearly last night, as well as the conversation on the lawn, will be talked about openly again later by Xiao Zhu and Teacher Fu. It will be quite dramatic too.
Tomorrow’s ten-thousand-character VIP chapter will be split into two chapters. One update at 12:30 noon and one at 9:30 p.m.! After that, updates will return to 9 p.m. every night. Thank you all for supporting Little Snowman. Love you~
—Mini Theater: The Overtime Supervisor—
Last night’s student group chat:
[Teacher Fu really is a Bodhisattva. He still replied instantly at this hour. I feel like the pile of academic garbage I wrote doesn’t deserve the time he spent working overtime for me…]
[Teacher Fu still has no nightlife this late? It’s the weekend, and isn’t he already married?]
[He isn’t really doing a Platonic thing with his wife, is he? Don’t say it, it does suit Teacher Fu’s style. A pure-hearted, ascetic top-tier Alpha.]
[He’s already a top-tier Alpha. I don’t think that’s very likely…]
[Ah, why do I kind of not understand Teacher Fu’s reply? [Forwarded chat record]]
[Hahahaha why does it look a little like AI? There are even typos!]
[Teacher! Did someone play blindfold play with you!!!]
[Blindfold play and he’s still replying to my message… I’m so touched. Wait, why do I feel like I became part of the play?]
[It really is strange. Every time Teacher replies to a student’s question or leaves comments, his wording is especially precise. The more I think about it, the more…]
[Holy crap, Teacher replied to me. [Forwarded chat record]]
[The little dog at home was making trouble?? I remember before, in his office, Teacher Zhang asked him about pets. He said he had a dog when he was little, but didn’t keep one later.]
[So is it a real dog or…]
[Help, the more I think about this sentence, the more… Teacher Fu, what did you add into this reply!]
[If it were anyone else, I’d think it was nothing. Why does it become so suggestive when it’s Teacher Fu? SOS.]
[Maybe because Teacher Xiao Fu is usually truly too abstinent. The bigger the contrast, the more thought-provoking it becomes.]
[No, I really want to see what his wife looks like. I’m dying of curiosity. What kind of person could make our academic demon so enchanted he turns into a machine!]
[Teacher Fu, listen to a student’s advice. Don’t let yourself get played into becoming a dog, okay? Good.]
