Chapter 28: First Signs
After a dreamless night, Zhu Zhixi slept very peacefully. In the morning, he vaguely heard some noises and woke up. Leaving his room and coming to the living room, he happened to see Fu Rangyi preparing to go to work.
Fu Rangyi was standing in front of the full-length mirror by the entrance, adjusting the collar of his coat and putting on his bite guard. At just the right moment, he also raised his eyes toward Zhu Zhixi and looked over.
The instant their gazes met, Zhu Zhixi inexplicably felt a little guilty. Last night, he had originally wanted to pretend to be drunk, fish for information, and prank him. In the end, he had been beaten at his own game by Fu Rangyi’s excessive honesty, played himself into the trap, and had really drunk himself into a blackout.
He did not remember what he had said after getting drunk, only faintly felt uneasy.
His intuition had always been accurate.
“You…” Zhu Zhixi walked toward the entrance. “You’re going to work today already? Not resting for a few more days?”
Fu Rangyi shook his head. “I’ve already rested for three days. It’s almost the end of the semester. There are many things to deal with.”
“Oh.” Zhu Zhixi answered softly.
Why was it so awkward?
Something subtle seemed to have changed between them too.
Leaning against the mirror frame by the entrance, Zhu Zhixi rubbed the edge of the mirror back and forth with his hand. “Um, I got drunk last night. Did I say anything not very proper?”
Fu Rangyi looked at him. His gaze changed again and again before he finally said, “Have you ever said anything very proper?”
Zhu Zhixi immediately glared at him. “Why are you like this?”
Where did the gentle husband who proposed to me yesterday go? Was it just a dream because I drank too much? Why has he turned back into the sharp-tongued Pretty Widower again?
Can’t you be in your susceptible period every day?
Thinking this, Zhu Zhixi spat inwardly twice.
Forget it. The susceptible period was too painful for Fu Rangyi.
He sighed. “Sure enough, without compensation, you’ve changed back again. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have limited it to yesterday. I would’ve made it twenty-four hours. I slept so early yesterday, and couldn’t give orders for the last two hours. Such a waste!”
Fu Rangyi glanced at the wedding ring on his hand, then looked at his own.
“How else do you want to order me around? I even proposed. That still isn’t enough?”
True.
Zhu Zhixi blinked. He was not fully awake yet, nor had he sorted out his feelings. Not wanting to delay Fu Rangyi’s work, he waved his hand and said, “Forget it. Go to work first.”
Unexpectedly, Fu Rangyi did not open the door and leave right away. Instead, he took a step closer to him.
Zhu Zhixi raised his head and looked at him in confusion.
His figure really is good. Such an ordinary coat looks like a runway model’s outfit on him.
“Before you fell asleep last night, you gave me one more order.”
“Huh? Really?”
Fu Rangyi nodded. “Mm. But you blacked out, so you probably forgot.”
Quite professional of him. I don’t even remember, but he still brought it up himself. Zhu Zhixi smiled and asked, “What order?”
Fu Rangyi remained expressionless and said in a low voice, “You told me again about that… countdown of yours and asked me to believe you.”
It seemed there really was something like that. Zhu Zhixi frowned, trying hard to recall.
“Then you said that if I didn’t help you, you’d be dead for sure. You said you still wanted to live a little longer, so you ordered me that from now on, I’m not allowed to refuse physical contact from you. I have to cooperate with you and help you extend your life.”
Zhu Zhixi’s eyes opened round and wide, his face pure and innocent, while inwardly he thought, How am I such a genius!
How is this any different from using the last wish from Aladdin’s magic lamp to wish for countless more wishes?
“Then you agreed??” Zhu Zhixi’s face was full of expectation.
Fu Rangyi turned his gaze away, but secretly looked at him through the mirror, looking at the beaded bracelet on his wrist.
“Yesterday was compensation day. Did I have the right to refuse your order?”
Zhu Zhixi happily bounced in place. “I’m way too smart!”
Very soon, he remembered something and asked, “Then… do you believe what I said now?”
Fu Rangyi did not answer directly. After thinking about it, he said, “I still very much want to take you to see a doctor, after Li Qiao finishes serving his sentence.”
Zhu Zhixi’s face immediately fell. “I knew it.”
Fu Rangyi stared at the little expression on his face and suddenly wanted to pinch his cheek. But he held back and turned to change his shoes. “I’m going to work. If I’m any later, I’ll be late.”
“Oh.” Zhu Zhixi glanced at the entrance cabinet and discovered that the bracelet had actually been left behind. He hurriedly picked it up and instinctively grabbed Fu Rangyi’s wrist. “You didn’t even put on your bracelet. Hasn’t your susceptible period not passed yet?”
“From now on, don’t wear it when you’re at home. Put it on again when you go out. You can’t keep suppressing your pheromones all the time. Otherwise, when the time comes, they’ll erupt and rebound again, and you’ll feel awful…”
As he spoke, he naturally helped Fu Rangyi put the bracelet on properly. In the end, his gaze landed on the wedding ring on Fu Rangyi’s ring finger. That tiny ruby was sparkling.
“Thank you,” Fu Rangyi said softly. He glanced at the bracelet that had not yet been turned on and asked without any change in expression, “Are you going to the museum today?”
“Yeah. I should’ve gone last time. If it hadn’t been for…” As Zhu Zhixi spoke, he suddenly pressed his lips together. After a pause, he abruptly continued, “…I’m going in the morning.”
So Fu Rangyi quietly released pheromones again, controlling them just right within a range where a Beta would not feel pressured.
“Mm. Be careful on the way. I’m going to work first.”
“Wait.” Zhu Zhixi suddenly stopped him.
Fu Rangyi froze, feeling rather guilty.
Was it… not controlled properly?
For other Alphas, releasing pheromones was practically an everyday thing. But for someone like him, who had restrained himself since childhood, it was a completely new skill.
Zhu Zhixi raised his hand, scratched his cheek, and spoke in a low voice.
“Fu Rangyi.”
“I… want to extend it a little now.”
“Mm?” Fu Rangyi was somewhat surprised. The moment he turned his head, that warm hand holding his wrist slid down and their fingertips touched.
Finally, it gently held his hand.
He could read hesitation from those fingers. They moved, then stopped. Was it because Zhu Zhixi only needed this little bit of time? Was he planning to let go after touching him briefly?
His heart rose and fell, swayed left and right, then was inexplicably pushed and driven by an indescribable emotion. Fu Rangyi’s fingers bent slightly, instinctively wanting to clasp that hand that intended to “pull away.”
Yet in the next second, he froze in place.
Those soft fingers did not leave. On the contrary, they clumsily slipped between his fingers.
Their fingers intertwined. They held tightly, so tightly that neither of them could ignore the existence of the two wedding rings.
“…Okay.” Zhu Zhixi slowly let go. “Thank you. Go to work.”
Fu Rangyi stood quietly in place for a moment, withdrew his hand, clenched it, and asked softly, “Did it pause?”
Pause? Only then did Zhu Zhixi remember and look down.
48 days, 00 hours, 23 minutes, 31 seconds.
“Mm. It stopped.”
Fu Rangyi said nothing and raised his brows. His expression did not look like one of utter devotion and belief, as if the person who had said “pause quickly” to someone’s palm last night had been someone else entirely.
He turned and prepared to leave.
When he opened the door, the doorknob seemed a little slippery, and Fu Rangyi had to use some effort.
Before leaving, he said, “I made breakfast. It’s on the dining table. Remember to eat.”
The door closed.
Zhu Zhixi stood at the entrance for a long while. After coming back to himself, he crouched down again, hugged his knees, buried his head, and rocked back and forth for ages until his legs were almost numb. Only then did he stand up, support himself along the wall all the way to the dining room, glance at the covered breakfast, and happily go back to wash up.
While brushing his teeth, he stared blankly at himself in the mirror. Belatedly, his gaze moved to his waving arm.
“Eh?”
He lowered his head, frowned, and muttered softly, “How did the bracelet come back…”
Wasn’t it broken?
Carrying a huge question, Zhu Zhixi quickly walked to the master bedroom. He had entered and exited this room too many times these past few days, so he instinctively wanted to go straight in. Suddenly remembering something, he still followed the rules and knocked on the door, softly saying to the empty room, “I’m coming in for a moment.”
The room had already been restored to its usual neatness. There was not even the slightest wrinkle on the bed. Zhu Zhixi’s ears inexplicably grew hot, and he half-lowered his head as he entered the bathroom.
It was spotless inside. There was not even a strand of hair on the floor, let alone the little beads from his bracelet.
“Strange.” Zhu Zhixi subconsciously touched his lower lip.
It clearly… had been torn apart when they were kissing.
Did Fu Rangyi see it? Then collect the beads and restring them for him to wear?
No matter how he thought about it, this seemed to be the only possibility. Zhu Zhixi touched the bracelet, his heartbeat belatedly speeding up. He left Fu Rangyi’s room and obediently came to the table, ready to enjoy breakfast.
While eating the fried egg, he suddenly felt a little dazed.
Seeing his husband off, eating breakfast, then going to work himself. It really did feel like married life.
He stared at the ring on his hand, and his brain uncontrollably began replaying the proposal from last night. Every word Fu Rangyi had said echoed repeatedly in his heart. Each word seemed to be broken apart and reassembled by his mind, turned over and over, before finally being buried in his heart.
Friend? Family? The most special existence in his life.
Such an ambiguous way to put it.
Then what about me? Zhu Zhixi leaned back in his chair and spaced out. Am I being deceived by the accelerated heartbeat brought on by the suspension bridge effect, or…
He was somewhat confused and could not distinguish it for the time being. He had always acted on sudden impulses, making all sorts of decisions carelessly. This was the first time in his life that he was this cautious, as if afraid of hurting someone.
If they went back to more than ten days ago, he would definitely be very satisfied, because Fu Rangyi was willing to cooperate with him and help him. This damned countdown could pause, and even reverse. Wasn’t this exactly what he had wanted most? Wasn’t this the purpose of his marriage?
Why was it that the closer he got to achieving his goal, the more lost he became?
Suddenly, he did not know what he truly wanted anymore, nor did he know how to define this relationship. Calling them partners involved too much emotion and was not pure enough. Calling them spouses lacked some sincerity. Calling them friends did not seem entirely innocent either.
A few vibrations startled him awake from his tangled thoughts. It was a work message.
Zhu Zhixi patted his face, trying to make himself sober up quickly. Then he replied to Deputy Director Zhou’s message and arranged to meet at the museum in an hour.
After replying, he saw Zhu Zeran’s missed calls.
He actually called five times? Are you crazy, Big Zhu?
He called back, but no one answered, so he called Zhu Zeran’s assistant instead.
The assistant said, “President Zhu is in a meeting right now. He’s very busy, so he may not be able to answer the phone.”
“A meeting at this hour?” Zhu Zhixi glanced at the time. “It’s not even eight yet.”
“There’s a bit of an emergency. Previously, President Zhu acquired several real estate companies because of some business interests. One of them has several unfinished projects under its name. Something happened to the people defending their rights, and President Zhu is handling it now.”
“Unfinished buildings…” Zhu Zhixi sighed. “All right. Then, Little Lin, help me tell my brother that I called back, so he doesn’t say I’m ignoring him again.”
“Of course, of course. Don’t worry.”
“Mm. Then I’m going to work first.”
On his way to work, Fu Rangyi still had not completely eased his racing heart. The hand that had been held with fingers intertwined was still sweating slightly, making even the steering wheel feel a bit slippery in his grip, like he was a novice driver.
After parking in the underground lot, Fu Rangyi walked toward the elevator. His phone suddenly vibrated. He opened it and saw a message from Zhu Zhixi.
Bad Bunny: shared an image.
In the photo were the bowls he had eaten completely clean, along with one of his hands giving a thumbs-up in front of the empty dishes.
Bad Bunny: Thank you. It was seriously so delicious. I haven’t eaten breakfast in ages.
After this sentence, there was a crying-face emoji and a heart emoji.
Fu Rangyi stopped and began typing.
Pretty Widower: No wonder you have stomach problems. You cherish your life while skipping breakfast. Don’t you find that contradictory?
Too harsh.
Delete.
Pretty Widower: If you like it, I’ll make an extra portion for you from now on. Wake up earlier and eat.
Too mushy.
Delete, delete.
…
After thinking for a moment, he finally edited the message and sent it.
Pretty Widower: Starting tomorrow, you have to eat breakfast every day. It’s part of the life-extension plan.
After sending it, Fu Rangyi exited the chat box, then tapped back in.
Suddenly, he faintly had a bad intuition, like the protagonist in a movie being followed. He sharply turned back and looked around. The parking garage was empty. There was no one else.
Had he been infected by Zhu Zhixi? Had he become a little jumpy too?
He took the elevator straight up to his office.
He had no classes for the first two periods. Fu Rangyi finished handling the work that had piled up and followed up on several students’ thesis progress. Wanting to confirm whether there was any new work, he opened his email and once again saw Yu Heng’s message.
In the past, he had not wanted to open it at all and only wanted to avoid it. But today, seeing this name, the image of Zhu Zhixi slapping the table and shouting “This is harassment!” surfaced in his mind, and he accidentally laughed.
The colleague beside him turned to look at him in surprise. But Fu Rangyi did not notice.
He clicked open the email and skimmed it. The content was no longer the fiery confession from before, but a long-winded apology.
These words held no value for Fu Rangyi. He scrolled the mouse and saw the final line.
Professor Fu, S University’s New Year Cultural Festival is coming up soon. A friend gave me a few tickets to the drama club’s performance. I heard you occasionally go to see plays, so I’d like to give you one.
Sure enough.
Fu Rangyi knew it. The apology was merely a cover. This person had not given up at all.
He deleted the email and blocked Yu Heng while he was at it.
His phone vibrated again. It was a message from his pinned contact. Zhu Zhixi had replied by quoting the previous message.
Bad Bunny: Life-extension plan? What an awful name…
Then what should it be called?
Fu Rangyi did not send this sentence. Instead, he quietly thought for a moment.
Another new message arrived.
Bad Bunny: shared an image.
The photo showed a fair, luminous wrist wearing an ice-blue beaded bracelet.
Bad Bunny: Did you restring it for me? How did you string it so well? You’re really good with your hands.
Bad Bunny: Suddenly remembered you’re the one who broke it. Hmph. Retracting one compliment.
Fu Rangyi typed a line, deleted it, and finally sent only one message.
Pretty Widower: Received. Retraction invalid.
“Ah, we’ve finally survived until the end of the semester.” The teacher at the desk opposite stretched lazily and said with a smile, “Little Professor Fu, after the students finish the New Year Cultural Festival, our teaching and research group should go out and get together too.”
Fu Rangyi raised his head and smiled. “Sure.”
“Bring your family member along? Let everyone get to know them?”
“He…” Fu Rangyi lowered his eyes slightly, and the image of a certain lively flower butterfly automatically appeared in his mind.
His canines once again faintly ached.
“He’s a little busy with work lately. I’ll ask him later.”
“Great. Everyone’s really curious what kind of person managed to recruit our Little Professor Fu.”
Recruit?
Thinking of the way Zhu Zhixi had given him orders yesterday, Fu Rangyi thought that “tamed” was more accurate.
He opened the chat box again, reading the messages Zhu Zhixi had sent one by one and opening every picture. Finally, he looked once more at Zhu Zhixi’s reply.
Life-extension plan did indeed sound rather unpleasant.
Fu Rangyi opened the notes app on his phone and tapped the top note. There were only three lines written inside for now.
- Try to believe in the existence of the countdown. Satisfy Zhu Zhixi’s requests as much as possible, but active excessive physical contact is forbidden.
- He said, “I really am about to die,” and has also mentioned being sick. When his nose bled last time, he said “again.” Find a way to take him to see a doctor. Ask Li Qiao to help find a reliable doctor.
- Urge him to sleep and wake early, and eat meals on time.
Rename.
He tapped Life-Extension Plan and deleted it.
After thinking, he lowered his head and edited it.
Little Rabbit Rearing Manual.
Save.
The alarm rang. Glancing at the time, Fu Rangyi left the office and headed to the stepped classroom in North Building Three. He walked onto the platform, opened the courseware, and began teaching.
“In archaeological fieldwork, aside from some production tools and daily-use objects, we also excavate many animal bones and remains. Through the analysis of animal remains, we can infer the species of these animals and the era in which they lived.”
Fu Rangyi pushed up his glasses and pressed the laser pointer button. The next image appeared.
“Modern people all like keeping cats. The behavior of keeping cats can be traced back to the late Neolithic period over five thousand years ago. At the Quanhucun site, archaeologists discovered some cat bones. After analysis, they found that these cats’ diet structure was very similar to that of the humans at the same site. From this, it was inferred that they were domestic cats—pets that had been raised.”
“Is this a kitten’s lower leg bone?”
Standing in front of the museum’s glass display case, Zhu Zhixi stared at that thin, long little bone, his heart turning soft. “This little cat must have been very skinny.”
Zhou Ming smiled. “Really? I’ve talked with some archaeology experts before, and the results of their research were actually the opposite. Ancient cats were usually larger than modern ones, because they were kept as tools for catching mice.”
That did make sense.
Zhu Zhixi muttered softly, “I’ll go back and ask the expert at home.”
Having come early in the morning, Zhu Zhixi first apologized to Zhou Ming and bought him coffee. Perhaps because Zhou Ming had met Fu Rangyi last time, he was much more measured this time. He only talked about work and not personal matters, and maintained distance the whole time, which made Zhu Zhixi feel quite comfortable.
He took out his venue design draft and the first version of the exhibition proposal. After discussing them, Zhou Ming was very satisfied and said he would submit them to the museum for review and wait for feedback. Since he had come all the way here, Zhu Zhixi also walked around to see whether there were any collections he had missed. When he came to the second underground floor, he discovered many more exhibits related to small animals.
“You really like animals?” Zhou Ming asked.
“Yeah. I even have a stray animal shelter!” Speaking of this, he wanted to share it with Zhou Ming and also see what the cats and dogs were doing, so he directly opened the surveillance app on his phone.
“My junior and I rented a small courtyard specifically to raise them, and we installed cameras too… Huh? Why is it offline?”
Zhu Zhixi frowned. Aside from the cameras in the courtyard, the cameras inside the rooms were all offline too.
Had they been turned off? But only Liang Yi’en would go stay in the room.
He suddenly remembered Liang Yi’en’s hesitant manner from a while ago.
Xiao’En, I’ve run into something strange recently…
Me too.
Me too??
Too what? When Zhu Zhixi had asked him back then, he had not answered directly and had only said they would talk next time.
That kid couldn’t have fallen in love, could he?
Once humans started gossiping, they would use every method available. Zhu Zhixi urgently wanted to know whether this iron tree had really bloomed, so he logged into the surveillance system with administrator permissions and checked the cloud backups.
Strangely, the cloud backups had all been deleted, leaving only some motion-detection records from the courtyard.
There was absolutely something fishy going on!
He clicked into those motion-detection clips. They were nothing more than records of Liang Yi’en leaving and coming back. At first glance, there was no problem.
“This is your junior?” Zhou Ming glanced over and smiled. “He keeps birds? I do too. What a coincidence.”
Bird?
Impossible. Liang Yi’en was most afraid of snakes, and second most afraid of sharp-beaked animals.
But when Zhu Zhixi enlarged the surveillance footage, there was indeed a super tiny yellow bird standing on the shoulder strap of Liang Yi’en’s backpack when he left. Its tail feathers held a tuft of white plumage.
“That shouldn’t be right.”
Zhu Zhixi clicked open the video from the second day, wanting to see if it was the same. There was no bird on the second day, but he unexpectedly discovered that the zipper of Liang Yi’en’s backpack had been opened by a small crack, and a tiny, fluffy kitten tail was sticking out, swaying back and forth. The tip of the tail had a tuft of white fur.
On the third day, there was still a crack. But what stuck out was a fluffy puppy ear. The tip of the ear was also white.
On the fourth day, when he went out to class, he had finally zipped his backpack tightly. But Zhu Zhixi repeatedly rewound and replayed the footage, using methods worthy of a criminal investigator, and finally discovered the clue.
He found that Liang Yi’en was wearing a jade-white bracelet on his wrist. Zhu Zhixi had originally thought it was a newly changed inhibitor bracelet, but in the last few frames, the “bracelet” moved.
“Holy shit, it’s a tiny white snake!”
Author’s Note:
The plot development later on will become more and more “fairytale-like,” or rather, carry a tiny bit of fantasy color. Well, the countdown itself is already pretty fantasy, hahaha.
Mini-Theater: Professor Fu’s Student Group Chat
[Have you guys noticed that after Professor Fu came back from leave this time, he feels kind of different?]
[Explain in detail?]
[Suddenly remembered this is Little Professor Fu’s first susceptible period after marriage! Oh my god, I don’t dare think too deeply.]
[It just feels like Professor has become a lot gentler.]
[Professor has always been pretty gentle, except when grading papers, when a venomous-tongued second personality occasionally appears. Understandable. If it were me, I also wouldn’t want to be written into the acknowledgments of such garbage papers.]
[No, it’s more like he has this strong… married-man vibe?]
[Ah, is it because Professor is wearing a wedding ring? The ring is really beautiful and expensive-looking.]
[Do you guys feel like Professor is deliberately showing off his wedding ring?]
[Little Professor Fu is not that kind of person!]
[A little. When Professor had his hands behind his back today, he was secretly turning his wedding ring.]
[Maybe he’s turning it because he isn’t used to it.]
[But he usually doesn’t use a laser pointer in class. Today, he used the pointer for every slide, waving it around. The ruby on his ring was even shinier than the laser…]
[Now that you say it, maybe…]
[Or maybe his wife required it.]
[What did I say last time? Look how well our Little Professor Fu has been trained. Look what he’s been trained into.]
