Chapter 42: Checking Pheromones
When Dr. Liu saw Jiang Rong again, she noticed that his complexion was even more ruddy and healthy than before.
As a special case of male pregnancy, she naturally paid him extra attention.
After completing today’s examination, all indicators were perfectly normal.
Dr. Liu said, “He’s growing much faster than I expected. If I hadn’t known that he was only four weeks along when he came last time, I’d have suspected he was already ten weeks now. Look—his body has begun to take human shape. You can already distinguish the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The heart has formed and is already beating.”
Following Dr. Liu’s directions, He Siming and Jiang Rong leaned closer, carefully trying to make out the fetal features she mentioned.
However, He Siming was more concerned about what Dr. Liu had said earlier and couldn’t help worrying. “Is it normal for a baby to grow faster than others at the same stage?”
Dr. Liu pushed up her glasses. “Judging from the test results, everything is normal. Based on my experience, he’s very healthy. That said, I’ll discuss it with some specialists. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”
Jiang Rong squeezed He Siming’s hand. He wasn’t nervous at all. He knew this was perfectly normal—if an Alpha provided sufficient pheromones, it was within reason for the baby to grow faster.
Even though he didn’t understand the technical details, as the one carrying the child, he knew very clearly that the baby was developing smoothly. He Siming’s pheromones were working exactly as they should.
Jiang Rong was even calmer than He Siming and Dr. Liu. “I also think it’s normal. I don’t feel any discomfort physically.”
Dr. Liu found the contrast between the two first-time fathers—one calm, one anxious—quite amusing and smiled. “That’s good. You don’t need to worry too much. Growing fast is also normal. Even ten-week fetuses can vary in size.”
After leaving the examination room, He Siming was still looking down at the ultrasound image in his hand, with several lines of test results printed below.
He Siming had always been serious about academic research. Ever since he learned that Jiang Rong was pregnant, he had searched up countless papers on fetal development—at least twenty. Who would’ve thought that papers were only a reference? His kid was really something, already competing for first place in the embryonic stage. It seemed very possible that once he grew up, he’d be just like him—someone who liked taking first place.
He leaned over with Jiang Rong to look at the image. “Last time it was just a tiny seed. This time it’s already a formed fetus—four centimeters long. It’s kind of unbelievable.”
Jiang Rong nodded. “My constitution is different from people here. It’s normal for the baby to grow fast.”
He Siming asked, “But why is it this fast?”
Jiang Rong glanced at him, his face heating up. He leaned closer and whispered, “Because the pheromones you provide are relatively sufficient.”
He Siming clenched the examination sheet, slipped an arm around Jiang Rong’s neck, gently brushed his cheek, and whispered into his ear, “Then should I keep working harder?”
Jiang Rong nodded seriously. “You should.”
He Siming’s breathing hitched slightly. “…How can someone answer so earnestly? You’re trying to kill me.” He lowered his voice. “I’ll give you more when we get back this afternoon.”
Jiang Rong blinked. His eyes looked normal, but just thinking about the physical contact later made his body warm up. He lowered his gaze shyly. “Mm.”
He Siming grabbed Jiang Rong’s hand, pulled him into a sparsely populated stairwell, pinned him against the wall, and kissed him hard.
Jiang Rong obediently let him kiss him, letting out a soft hum when it became too intense.
It was only when He Siming’s phone started buzzing nonstop that he finally let the sweet peach go.
Jiang Rong leaned against He Siming’s chest, his eyes a little dazed from the kiss. The lime-scented pheromones made him feel deeply satisfied.
He Siming wiped the peach juice from the corner of Jiang Rong’s mouth. “Come on—my uncle is waiting for us at the café across the street.”
Jiang Rong nodded. “Okay.”
They had agreed to meet his uncle today.
After hearing He Siming talk for hours about his childhood stories with his uncle, Jiang Rong no longer felt strongly resistant to meeting him.
They would have to meet the family sooner or later. It might as well start with one person and test his own tolerance.
He Siming didn’t choose to meet his uncle at the hospital, but at a café across the street.
After crossing the road from the hospital, they arrived. The entire way, He Siming held Jiang Rong’s hand, shielding him from passersby.
Once inside the café, Jiang Rong immediately recognized which man was He Siming’s uncle. He was over forty, wearing rimmed glasses, with a refined, scholarly demeanor. He Siming did resemble him somewhat.
Maybe that saying—“a nephew takes after his uncle”—was true.
The uncle didn’t immediately ask about their relationship. Instead, he used the medical checkup as a conversation starter, which helped Jiang Rong relax a lot.
Xu Mingzhuo smiled and asked, “Finished with all the exams?”
He Siming gave a simple introduction. “Yes. Jiang Rong, this is my uncle. Uncle, this is Jiang Rong.”
Jiang Rong followed and greeted him, “Hello, Uncle.”
Xu Mingzhuo smiled. “You two seem to be doing well. Let me see the exam report.”
He Siming handed over the reports sealed in a document folder.
Xu Mingzhuo glanced at him. “You kept it well?”
He Siming pointed at the blurry shadow on the image. “That’s your future grand-nephew.”
Xu Mingzhuo: “…” He understood immediately—this child was He Siming’s.
The young man sitting beside him looked quiet and delicate, sitting upright. He seemed a bit reserved, probably nervous about meeting family. He looked like a well-raised child.
His nephew had spent half his childhood living at his house—how could he not know what kind of person He Siming was?
Xu Mingzhuo was well-informed and quick-witted. After just a few breaths, he reacted. “Does my sister know she has a grandchild?”
He Siming nodded. “They know. They even gave us money for nutrition.”
Xu Mingzhuo wasn’t surprised at all. “That’s exactly their style.” If it were other elders, they might’ve already investigated Jiang Rong’s entire family background. But his sister and brother-in-law never cared about that.
Xu Mingzhuo had already suspected something. He Siming wouldn’t mention a pregnant boy without reason. Once the guess was confirmed—and knowing He Siming planned to bring him to meet him—it all made sense.
He took out a bank card from his pocket and pushed it toward Jiang Rong. “This is the card He Siming left at my place before. The password is six zeros. Don’t try to save money for our family. Buy whatever you like. He doesn’t know how to take care of people—take good care of yourself.”
Jiang Rong thanked him politely. “Thank you, Uncle.”
He Siming quickly stuffed the card into Jiang Rong’s hand and defended himself. “How do I not know how to take care of people? Look at my kid—eight weeks and already bigger than other people’s ten-week babies.”
Jiang Rong: “…” This was the first time he’d witnessed He Siming being competitive like this. Was this really something to compare? After all, his kid had half ‘foreign’ blood.
“That’s because Xiao Rong raised the baby well. You just contributed a sperm,” Xu Mingzhuo said coolly, speaking as a doctor.
“You wouldn’t understand,” He Siming said. He had no intention of arguing with his uncle. He was more willing to believe Jiang Rong—that thanks to his pheromones, this little one had grown to four centimeters already.
Xu Mingzhuo asked Jiang Rong, “The second prenatal checkup should be done on an empty stomach, right? Want to eat something?”
“I’ll take a look,” He Siming said, already picking up the menu. “He has strong reactions—there are lots of things he can’t eat.” He asked Jiang Rong what he liked while ordering; anything Jiang Rong couldn’t eat didn’t need asking.
Xu Mingzhuo sipped his tea while watching them lean together to order. Seeing his nephew—whom he’d watched grow up—suddenly about to become a father overnight felt strange, but also interesting.
A boy giving birth—what a miracle.
It fulfilled both love and worldly expectations. Such good fortune.
After finishing their meal with Xu Mingzhuo, Jiang Rong and He Siming prepared to go home.
Before leaving, however, He Siming handed the car keys to Jiang Rong and told him to wait in the car—he had something to discuss with his uncle.
Jiang Rong didn’t ask further and went to the car to stay warm. It was still quite cold outside.
Xu Mingzhuo stood speechless in the wind and sucked in a breath of cold air. “What could you possibly say that you can’t say in front of your boyfriend?”
He Siming no longer looked carefree. His expression was serious. “Uncle, I want to ask you to help me with something.”
Xu Mingzhuo also got serious. “What is it? Is it serious?”
“It could be serious, or not,” He Siming said. “I want to check the pheromones in my body.”
“Check your pheromones?” Xu Mingzhuo laughed. “If I remember right, you’re in computer science, not biology. Has the genius switched fields?”
He Siming didn’t tell him that Jiang Rong constantly talked about pheromones. He wanted to understand first what kind of pheromones Jiang Rong meant. Scientifically speaking, pheromones came in many types. While it was proven that humans had pheromones, that usually only meant they could subconsciously identify sex through smell—not that they required large amounts of pheromones like Jiang Rong did.
He had looked up plenty of information, but so far there was no strong evidence proving that humans produced pheromones in the way Jiang Rong described.
He Siming tentatively attributed it to himself. “You saw Jiang Rong’s exam report just now. Two weeks ago, it was really tiny. Now it’s almost like a ten-week fetus. I think it might be related to pheromones.”
Xu Mingzhuo said, “I’ve never heard of pheromones being related to fetal development. You’re the first person I know to have this hypothesis. But if you want to check, that’s not impossible. I’m curious too.”
He Siming said awkwardly, “What I want to test… is sexual pheromones.”
Sex pheromones clearly existed in animals, creating sexual attraction—female and male insects recognizing each other through pheromone release, for instance. Animal sex pheromones were well-documented. But in humans, there was no evidence that males or females secreted pheromones to find mates.
Xu Mingzhuo didn’t beat around the bush. He Siming wouldn’t joke about something like this—it had to be serious. Still, he felt like laughing.
He said, “Your idea is interesting, but I don’t think we’ll necessarily find anything. If you really have animal-like sexual pheromones that attract another person, the other party would also need to have equally strong pheromones.”
“You think it’s impossible?” He Siming asked.
“Come see me tomorrow for tests. It’s freezing—why insist on talking outside?” Xu Mingzhuo replied.
He didn’t understand why He Siming had such a strange idea. But the fact that an eight-week fetus had grown to the size of a ten-week one was real data—it couldn’t be faked.
“I have to accompany Jiang Rong tomorrow. I’ll come the day after,” He Siming said. “You’re getting old—you can’t handle the cold.”
Xu Mingzhuo snorted. “Didn’t expect you to be such a hopeless romantic. One day you’ll be powerless—don’t come crying to me then.”
He Siming: “…”
That day would never come. Absolutely never.
When He Siming returned to the car, Jiang Rong was holding his phone, listening to an online lecture, though his eyelids were already drooping.
He Siming wanted to flick his cheek, but his hand was cold, so he lifted it and put it back down. “Sleepy?”
Jiang Rong rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. Probably because I just ate—listening to lectures makes me sleepy.”
“You’re still watching videos at a time like this?” He Siming laughed.
“If I don’t, finals are coming. I don’t want to retake exams,” Jiang Rong said.
The once fiercely competitive Beta could accept not getting a scholarship—but never a retake.
With He Siming beside him, Jiang Rong wasn’t that sleepy. But once they got home, the warmth made his drowsiness worse. To prevent dryness, He Siming had placed humidifiers everywhere and added several potted plants. The previously cold, minimalist apartment had turned cozy—its warmth level up by at least fifty percent.
Seeing Jiang Rong so sleepy that even walking slowed down, He Siming watched him the whole time as he changed into pajamas and went to bed.
Only after Jiang Rong fell asleep did He Siming attend to his own work.
Jiang Rong slept deeply. He woke up overheated, his throat extremely uncomfortable—dry and craving water.
He got up and immediately opened the thermos He Siming had prepared, drinking warm water.
The water eased his throat, but the dryness in his body remained—something that only pheromones could relieve.
He had only felt like this during his first heat, when his need for pheromones was intense. Now the same symptoms had returned. Was there not enough pheromone in his body?
He and He Siming did it about once a week. Jiang Rong didn’t mind more, but He Siming always considered his classes during the day and studying at night, never letting him get too exhausted.
Was it because blood had been drawn today, leaving the baby short on pheromones? Was its demand increasing?
So Omega pregnancy really did increase this kind of need. But it was only eight weeks—would it keep increasing?
Just thinking about it made Jiang Rong’s face burn. Did that mean he’d have to constantly ask He Siming for pheromones? Could he still attend school normally?
After just a few seconds of thinking, his throat felt even drier.
Now he finally understood why Omegas often complained that they couldn’t work after getting pregnant—they really couldn’t be away from their Alpha. He regretted not listening more before. He’d been too young and naïve.
It was a little past five in the afternoon. Jiang Rong didn’t find He Siming in the kitchen—he was sitting at the computer.
The apartment layout was very square. The living room doubled as a workspace, with a huge floor-to-ceiling window. The open kitchen and dining area were connected by the window, where they usually ate while basking in the sun.
He Siming was wearing a T-shirt at home from the heat, one hand on the keyboard. “You’re awake? Why do you look so pale?”
He noticed something was wrong immediately.
He pressed his forehead against Jiang Rong’s. “Your temperature seems a little high. Did you catch a cold?”
Jiang Rong straddled his lap, pressed his face into his neck, wrapped his arms around his waist, and spoke with a hint of a sob. “I’m not sick, He Siming. What should I do? My pheromone demand has increased.”
He Siming supported his lower back. The last time he’d heard Jiang Rong cry was during their first time together. Looking down now, Jiang Rong wasn’t really crying—probably just groggy from sleep and emotionally low, acting spoiled.
At the same time, He Siming marveled at how straightforward Jiang Rong was. He never beat around the bush, never made He Siming guess. “Your demand increased?”
“Yes. What do we do in the future?” Jiang Rong looked up at him, eyes wet, tears about to fall.
“What else can we do?” He Siming said with a smile, easing his mood. “I told you—if you need it, I’ll give it to you. Don’t worry. When the time comes, the one saying ‘no’ definitely won’t be me.”
Hearing that, Jiang Rong felt relieved. He knew that through some coincidence, He Siming had pheromones that matched his perfectly.
He looked up seriously and asked, “Then… can you give it to me now?”
He Siming’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He glanced at the time on the desk. “Not eating dinner?”
Jiang Rong shook his head. His warm lips brushed against He Siming’s neck as he whispered, “Can you eat me first?”
Every time Jiang Rong asked “okay?” like that, He Siming was powerless to refuse.
“Okay. I’m pretty hungry anyway.”
Jiang Rong followed his instincts, kissing He Siming and drawing in his pheromones.
He Siming lifted him onto the desk, let him wrap around him, and bent down to kiss him deeply.
Jiang Rong was aroused by the kiss. His sensitive tear ducts overflowed, peach juice spilling as his body yearned for He Siming.
He clung to him, pressed close, and whispered pleadingly into his ear, “He Siming… can we…” He was getting more and more uncomfortable, wanting it faster.
He Siming’s body tensed. He tenderly kissed away the tears at the corner of Jiang Rong’s eyes. “Will that hurt?”
Jiang Rong shook his head, whimpering, “Mm… it won’t.”
He Siming’s heart ached with mixed emotions. “Don’t cry. The pheromones will be there soon.”
