Chapter 46: Atavism
Although Tang Yucheng had just been subjected to He Siming’s blatant, in-your-face display of affection, as a friend he still treated them to dinner. The location was chosen by He Siming.
They went to a 200-meter-high revolving restaurant that combined Chinese and Western cuisine. It was a place more suitable for young people dining together—not the most expensive, but relaxing.
From there, Jiang Rong could overlook several famous landmarks of the capital, all places he hadn’t yet had time to check off his list.
Although the technology of this world wasn’t as advanced as that of their own, it possessed a much richer historical and cultural heritage. Compared to the cuisine of their world, the food here was even more unforgettable.
Everything Jiang Rong saw felt novel to him. While he sat by the window enjoying the view, Tang Yucheng observed him as well. He couldn’t tell what kind of background this beautiful boy came from. Jiang Rong was curious about everything, yet showed no trace of inferiority.
Tang Yucheng knew that many people, when standing next to He Siming with his looks and family background, would unconsciously behave in a somewhat ingratiating manner. But Jiang Rong didn’t. When he looked at He Siming, his eyes were full of trust—he was truly just looking at his lover, without any other impurities mixed in.
Perhaps that was why He Siming was with him. This classmate was quite pure-hearted. Tang Yucheng wondered what kind of family environment could cultivate such a personality. Tempered steel turned into something soft enough to wrap around a finger—he really did complement He Siming.
Of course, Tang Yucheng hadn’t expected that once his childhood friend fell in love, he’d turn out like this—guarding his partner like a priceless treasure, blocking even passersby if they got too close, and being so gentle in front of Jiang Rong that it was unbelievable, as if someone had swapped out his soul.
Complaints aside, Tang Yucheng was genuinely happy for He Siming. At least he was finally in a relationship.
He Siming said, “Good thing you’re not afraid of heights. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to come.”
“I’m not afraid of heights,” Jiang Rong replied.
He Siming began ordering, asking Jiang Rong for his preferences. When it was Tang Yucheng’s turn, he simply said, “You eat pretty much everything.”
Tang Yucheng: “…” Who exactly is the one treating tonight?
Tang Yucheng wasn’t someone who let conversations go cold. While chatting with He Siming, he deliberately chose lighthearted topics.
He Siming spoke more than usual, intentionally or unintentionally letting Jiang Rong learn more about his family background.
After the three of them finished dinner, they parted ways.
It was too cold, so He Siming and Jiang Rong didn’t linger outside any longer.
The pleasant mood of the day made their spirits inexplicably buoyant.
On the way back, Jiang Rong grew curious about why He Siming’s childhood friend and Ding Yan were so different from each other.
Given He Siming’s usual aloofness, Ding Yan didn’t seem like someone who would become his friend. Compared to Tang Yucheng, Ding Yan seemed extremely immature.
He Siming smiled and said, “Everyone has different sides. Tang Yucheng is a friend I’ve played with since childhood. Ding Yan is a friend from my junior and senior high school days. He’s dumb, but very loyal. Back in high school, there was a girl at school who wanted to break up with her boyfriend outside the school, and she used ‘liking me’ as an excuse. The guy thought I’d stolen his girlfriend and brought a group of people to beat me up—he even had a knife. Ding Yan didn’t say a word and stepped in to block it for me. If it weren’t for him, I might’ve lost an eye. He was actually on track to become an athlete, but the knife cut his arm. The doctor said he’d never be able to become a professional athlete again.”
Only then did Jiang Rong understand why He Siming never made a fuss over some of the things Ding Yan did. Compared to almost losing an eye and losing the chance to become a professional athlete, those things were insignificant—no more than trivial details.
“So that’s how it was,” Jiang Rong said.
He Siming continued, “But maybe it’s also because I wasn’t a good enough friend. I didn’t restrain his bad behavior, and he ended up hurting you with his words.”
In a small voice, Jiang Rong said, “He didn’t hurt me before.”
“No matter what,” He Siming said, “I’ll make him straighten out in the future and stop doing stupid things.”
“Okay,” Jiang Rong replied.
As soon as they got home, He Siming received a WeChat message from his uncle. The results of the pheromone test report were out, and he was told to go to the hospital the next day.
He Siming: Can’t you just tell me directly?
Xu Mingzhuo: Wait until you come, then we’ll talk.
He Siming vaguely had a guess.
He lifted his head from his phone screen and saw Jiang Rong pouring water. During pregnancy, he needed to supplement trace elements to ensure the baby’s normal development.
After Jiang Rong put the empty cup in the sink, he asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
He Siming walked over, wrapped his arms around him from behind, and kissed his cheek. “Nothing.”
Because they’d done it during the day, Jiang Rong’s energy was still pretty good all day. He didn’t need to replenish pheromones every day.
Sometimes it was He Siming who wanted it. For Jiang Rong, that was a good thing—he never refused.
Jiang Rong turned to face him. “Do you want it?”
He Siming chuckled softly. “I won’t toss you around today.”
Jiang Rong shook his head, as honest and sincere as always. “You didn’t toss me around.”
He Siming told him about his plans for the next day. “Tomorrow morning I need to go see my uncle.”
“Okay,” Jiang Rong said.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. Can you stay home by yourself?” He Siming asked.
Jiang Rong was puzzled by the question. “Why wouldn’t I be able to?”
He Siming hugged him, breathing in the faint peach scent on his body.
He wondered how someone who didn’t use peach-scented essential oils, perfume, or even peach-scented home fragrances could constantly emit a peach aroma.
He Siming asked, “Other people can’t smell your pheromones, right?”
“At first, Yao Shule could,” Jiang Rong replied.
“He could smell them?” He Siming nearly jumped up. He’d always thought he was special—who would’ve thought Yao Shule could smell them too?!
Before he could sink into gloom, Jiang Rong quickly soothed him.
“But now he can’t,” Jiang Rong said, looping his arms around He Siming’s waist and leaning against him. The lime scent smelled so good. Recently, he really liked clinging to him.
He Siming’s suspended heart fell back into place. “Why?” he asked, pressing on. That meant he was still special.
“Because you marked me.” Whenever the topic involved heat cycles, Jiang Rong would blush; even the corners of his eyes were tinged with peach pink.
He Siming learned a new term from him.
“I marked you?” He laughed. “That’s a novel way of putting it. Why call sleeping together ‘marking’? Are you shy?”
But when the terms heat cycle, pheromones, and marking were put together, it sounded like animal mating behavior.
Animals marked territory during heat, then sought mates. Once the heat ended, other animals couldn’t smell it anymore.
The smile at the corner of He Siming’s mouth gradually faded.
That wasn’t right—they weren’t animals.
Jiang Rong was indeed a little shy, but he still explained seriously, “Sleeping… sleeping together is just one kind of marking.”
He Siming asked, “Then how many kinds of marking are there?”
Jiang Rong answered honestly, “Um, there are three kinds: temporary marking, incomplete marking, and complete marking.”
Seeing the tips of Jiang Rong’s ears slowly turn pink, He Siming knew he was shy again. He lowered his head and licked his ear lightly to tease him. Of course, he himself was extremely curious too.
In the past, he knew he had a strong libido. But now, Jiang Rong was his desire.
“So which ones have we done?” He Siming asked. “And how does each one work?”
Jiang Rong’s ears were especially sensitive. With pregnancy making his body even more sensitive, he felt weak all over. His fingers unconsciously gripped the sweater on He Siming’s back.
“We’ve… we’ve only done two kinds,” he said. “Temporary marking and incomplete marking.”
“Temporary marking?” He Siming asked.
Jiang Rong pointed to the back of his neck. “Here. There’s a gland here. Your pheromones can enter through here—that’s temporary marking. At first it was enough, but now that there’s a baby, temporary marking isn’t enough anymore. It only works a little during heat.”
He Siming’s gaze darkened slightly. “And incomplete marking?”
Jiang Rong buried his face in He Siming’s chest. “It’s… it’s sleeping with you.”
“So that means we haven’t done complete marking yet?” He Siming asked. “How do you do it?”
Hearing the eagerness in his tone, Jiang Rong said quickly, “N-no, you can’t. With a baby, you can’t do complete marking, and complete marking…”
“So complete marking is difficult?” He Siming said. He loved challenging high difficulty levels.
“Mm, it’s more complicated. After complete marking, I…” He wouldn’t be able to wash off the pheromones. For the rest of his life, there would only be He Siming as his Alpha. He felt too embarrassed to say it. “…I’m going to sleep.”
He let go of He Siming and ran toward the bedroom. He Siming reminded him to be careful and not walk so fast, then stood at the kitchen counter, lost in thought.
So they couldn’t do complete marking now because of the pregnancy? Then how exactly did complete marking work?
He really thought the little brat was in the way.
After showering and blow-drying his hair, Jiang Rong climbed into bed and waited for He Siming to rest with him.
He Siming soon joined him. Seeing how sleepy Jiang Rong was—so sleepy that tears of drowsiness pooled at the corners of his eyes from waiting—he wiped them away with his fingertip.
“So sleepy?” He Siming asked.
Jiang Rong burrowed into his arms, his voice much softer. “Mm. You didn’t let me nap at noon.”
He Siming lowered his head and kissed him. “Okay. My fault.”
The wicked part of him stirred. He always liked kissing Jiang Rong when he was drowsy. Kissing turned into a deep kiss, prying open his pearly teeth as their lips and tongues entwined. He’d used mint toothpaste today, mixed with a hint of peach fragrance. The peach sweetness on Jiang Rong’s tongue was faint, but He Siming almost wanted to swallow him whole.
Jiang Rong was led by the kiss, his nose filled with He Siming’s passionate lime scent. He couldn’t refuse at all—especially since he’d never intended to refuse He Siming. Instead, he opened himself up, indulging him, letting him take whatever he wanted. Of course, there was also the fact that he really, really wanted it himself.
Only when Jiang Rong’s tongue went numb from kissing and he could barely take it anymore did he pat He Siming’s chest, and only then did He Siming let him go.
In a soft, weak voice, Jiang Rong said, “He Siming, I don’t want any more. I’m so sleepy.”
Holding him, He Siming said hoarsely, “Mm. Can you sleep facing away from me first tonight? I’ll turn over after I calm down.”
“Mm.” Jiang Rong obediently turned around, his back pressed against He Siming’s chest. If not for the energetic little He Siming pressing against him, he might have fallen asleep instantly. But he was used to it—He Siming was a man with vigor no less than the Alphas of their world.
He Siming pressed close behind his ear and asked, “So how exactly do you do complete marking?”
After he asked, Jiang Rong buried half his face into the pillow and played dead for the first time in front of He Siming. He absolutely wasn’t going to tell him now—this was the last line he was keeping for himself between him and He Siming.
What if one day He Siming didn’t like him anymore?
Just thinking about that possibility made him scared.
With that faint, not-yet-real possibility, Jiang Rong slept straight through until 9:30 the next morning. He Siming’s side of the bed was already cold.
He didn’t know when He Siming had gotten up and gone out.
He remembered He Siming saying last night that his uncle had something to discuss with him.
Jiang Rong got up, ate the breakfast He Siming had warmed for him, took the folic acid he needed during pregnancy, and then started his online class.
Close to noon, he received a message from He Siming saying that he still couldn’t come back for the time being and telling him to arrange his own schedule for the day.
Being alone didn’t really bother Jiang Rong.
But just as he was about to take his noon nap, a phone call shattered the quiet in the room.
He Siming and his other two roommates usually contacted him through WeChat. The last time he’d received a phone call was from the counselor.
Not knowing who it was, he answered.
On the other end was the voice of a slightly unfamiliar young boy. “Brother Rong, are you coming back for the New Year this year?”
At the same time, in the hospital—
He Siming was curled up on the sofa in his uncle’s office, looking at the newly retested reports. One was his own, one was his uncle’s, and another was from his uncle’s colleague.
He had been staring at the report for half an hour. “Why are my values so many times higher than yours?”
Xu Mingzhuo said, “Now you know why I didn’t call you over right away? When I first saw your test report, I couldn’t believe it either. Then I took it to my friend’s hospital and had it retested twice. Your blood really does contain pheromone components.”
“Of course, to make the data more rigorous, I also drew my own blood for testing. After all, we’re related by blood. But mine is the same as an ordinary person’s. Later, I had my colleague take the test too—his results were the same as mine. All the data fell within the normal range.”
He Siming had only done the test to better understand Jiang Rong. “So that means I’m the only one who’s different?”
Didn’t these reports further prove that he was right?
Xu Mingzhuo looked at his eldest nephew the way one would look at an experimental lab mouse. “For now, yes. We call this phenomenon atavism.”
He Siming was shocked. “Atavism? Wait—did humans have heat cycles in the past?”
Xu Mingzhuo replied, “Humans evolved from primates. Think about it—monkeys have heat cycles. So wouldn’t primates have them too?”
“But I don’t have a heat cycle,” He Siming said.
“Yet your pheromone levels are high enough to make me suspect that you might,” Xu Mingzhuo said.
He Siming thought of the three days in the hotel with Jiang Rong—how Jiang Rong always said he was in heat back then. Later, he stopped mentioning heat cycles but often talked about pheromones being insufficient, including yesterday’s ‘marking mini-lesson.’ It all sounded absurd, yet it fit perfectly with the logic of atavism.
“Even if I don’t have a heat cycle,” He Siming said, “is it possible that someone who does have one could induce an increase in my pheromone levels? If I have frequent sexual activity with him.”
Xu Mingzhuo immediately thought of He Siming’s pregnant boyfriend. “That possibility can’t be ruled out. You’re talking about Jiang Rong, right?” He reacted instantly, then suddenly froze. “Wait! You’re not still having sex during the pregnancy, are you?! He Siming, are you even human?”
Faced with his uncle’s sudden outburst, He Siming realized the seriousness of the issue. His voice weakened. “But—”
Xu Mingzhuo’s face darkened immediately. “Bring him here for a checkup right away. You don’t restrain yourself even when he’s pregnant—if there’s a miscarriage, you’ll be the one crying!”
“But Jiang Rong said it’s fine,” He Siming said. “The baby needs my pheromones to grow well. Didn’t the last check show that the baby was developing just fine?”
Xu Mingzhuo pointed at him. He regretted trusting He Siming too much. Usually he was mature and steady, someone who thought things through—but who would’ve thought that in matters of love he’d turn out to be such a hopeless romantic? Now Xu Mingzhuo even regretted that He Siming hadn’t fully inherited his parents’ ruthless focus on their careers.
“No matter what,” Xu Mingzhuo snapped, “bring him over tomorrow for a comprehensive physical exam. You’re really making people worry.”
“All right,” He Siming said. “Then I’ll head back first.”
“And one more thing,” Xu Mingzhuo added. “Since Jiang Rong’s body is so special, have him do this pheromone test too. I know you wouldn’t have done a sexual pheromone test for no reason.”
“Okay,” He Siming replied. “I’ll talk to him tonight. But, Uncle—let me ask one more thing. My pheromone levels are several times higher than normal. Does that mean I have a strong libido?”
In the past, he might have avoided medical issues, but now it concerned three people. He’d rather say everything.
“There’s that possibility,” Xu Mingzhuo said. “During pheromone surges, your libido could be stronger. Has this been troubling you all along?”
“A little,” He Siming admitted.
“Then say everything at once,” Xu Mingzhuo said. “Don’t avoid treatment. If something goes wrong, it’ll be too late to regret it.”
“There’s nothing else,” He Siming said. “I’ve done all the tests. You have the data.”
Xu Mingzhuo emphasized once more, “Jiang Rong is pregnant. Watch yourself. Don’t be reckless. You could restrain yourself before—now you can’t?” His parents were obsessively career-driven and wouldn’t bother with He Siming, but Xu Mingzhuo had watched him grow up. For the sake of his future happiness, he couldn’t ignore this.
“I understand,” He Siming said.
On his way home, he stopped by a fruit shop and bought Jiang Rong a bouquet made of fruit. He thought Jiang Rong would definitely like it—flowers and fruit, pretty to look at and edible too, not a bit wasted.
Jiang Rong was actually a bit of a foodie. If not for pregnancy-related nausea, he’d eat whatever you fed him. Sometimes he was so easy to take care of that it made He Siming’s heart ache. Every day, he wanted to spoil him even more, to place the best food and the best things in the world right in front of him.
He’d planned to surprise Jiang Rong, but when he got home, Jiang Rong gave him a scare instead.
The Jiang Rong who should’ve been home napping at this hour was nowhere to be found.
For no reason at all, panic rose in He Siming’s chest. He called out through every corner of the house.
“Jiang Rong?”
“Rongrong?”
“Baby?”
Where had he gone?
