Chapter 62
A familiar sedan approached Bai Yan from a distance. Seeing the license plate, a brilliant smile immediately appeared on the young man’s face, and like a little white dove, he flew quickly toward his home.
Sitting in the comfortable leather seat, Bai Yan fastened his seatbelt, the smile in his eyes impossible to hide. He couldn’t wait to share today’s good news with his husband.
The Omega’s eyes sparkled with a beautiful light as he chattered on, speaking about his major with great familiarity.
Even though the man didn’t understand, he was infected by the young man’s happiness, his gaze on the passenger seat incredibly gentle.
Passing a certain corner, Pei Tingyu suddenly stopped the car and mysteriously said he had to get out for a moment.
When he opened the car door again, he had a bouquet of fresh orange roses in his hand, which he handed to the surprised young man.
A curve appeared on the man’s lips. “Consider it an early celebration for Yanyan.”
He added lightly, “It’s too late today. I’ll order a bigger bouquet for my precious next time.”
“It smells so good!” Bai Yan carefully hugged the bouquet, burying his face in the rose branches with cherish, and took a light sniff.
He looked up with a smile, his soft voice filled with an irrepressible happiness. “What should I do? I really like it… I like you so much, xian sheng!”
That evening, the vast main house of the villa was empty. The servants had been given the night off, and even Oz had been taken away by Chen Shulan.
Pei Tingyu personally cooked, preparing a sumptuous dinner for his botanist.
Bai Yan was well aware of his own cooking skills and only undertook simple tasks like handing plates and washing ingredients beside his husband.
The imported, air-freighted steak was slowly pan-fried until both sides were browned. Fearing his precious’s stomach couldn’t handle raw food, Pei Tingyu mentally counted, precisely controlling the texture of the steak.
The man held the pan handle with one hand, added oil, and flipped the steak with a fluid motion. He even took the time to show off his advanced skill of cracking an egg with one hand.
A look of amazement flashed in Bai Yan’s eyes. His husband was truly outstanding, even when cooking, he was so at ease and composed.
He stood obediently by the side, and as he watched, his mind began to wander, his gaze shifting from the man’s fingertips to other places.
For convenience, the Alpha had rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. The lines of his forearms were smooth and beautiful, clearly the result of frequent exercise.
Beneath his pale, cool skin, the bulging green veins were clearly visible, and near his wrist, there were a few fresh, shallow scratches.
Bai Yan was speechless.
Realizing what kind of scene had produced them, the young man blinked and stiffly averted his gaze, burying his head in the sink and washing all the blackberries and raspberries on the plate.
But the skin on the back of his neck quietly turned a shade of pink.
Pei Tingyu had noticed his precious’s blatant peeking early on. He lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling on the young man’s flushed skin, and a faint smile touched his lips.
The crystal chandelier in the dining room, which should have been sparkling, was extinguished, leaving only a few candles flickering in the candelabra in the center of the room.
Today, the vase was not filled with a carefully arranged, color-coordinated, high-end bouquet, but with just a dozen or so orange-red roses.
The petals, feeling the lovers’ affection, unfurled gracefully, like an eternal sun.
Pei Tingyu placed the cut steak in front of Bai Yan, then put on gloves and peeled a large lobster for him.
The great CEO Pei, who was usually decisive in the business world, was now a little apprehensive. He pretended to be nonchalant and asked, “How is it? Is it okay?”
“It’s delicious!” Bai Yan swallowed the steak, his eyes immediately sparkling with stars, full of sincere admiration. “Xian sheng, how are you so good at everything you do!”
A curve appeared on the man’s lips. He pushed the peeled lobster meat toward the young man, took a couple of sips of his wine, and said with a light and breezy humility, “It’s alright.”
Bai Yan was happy and requested a small taste of his husband’s wine.
Pei Tingyu was silent for two seconds, then quickly remembered the young man’s physical report, which indeed showed no data on alcohol allergies.
But the last time he had been drunk, Bai Yan’s reaction had clearly not matched the report.
But under Bai Yan’s pleading gaze, the Alpha helplessly discovered that he was a complete doting Daddy who would spoil his child rotten, and he couldn’t bring himself to say no.
The man smiled and said softly, “You can only have a little.”
Unfortunately, that little bit was enough to get Bai Yan drunk.
The young man’s face was beet red, and he smiled like the foolish son of a landlord. He excitedly took the Alpha’s hand and walked toward the small garden outside the villa.
Pei Tingyu was startled, thinking he had a fever again. He carefully checked his forehead temperature and the gland on the back of his neck, only relaxing after confirming that there was no problem.
The man let his precious lead him to the small garden, silently deciding to quit drinking starting tomorrow and to put away all the wine in the wine cabinet.
Lest his precious have a sudden whim to request a taste of every bottle.
Tonight was a good night. The sky was cloudless, and the moonlight was like silver frost, falling lightly on the garden path.
A fresh jasmine pheromone scent, tinged with a faint aroma of wine, lingered at the tip of his nose, with a strangely intoxicating quality.
Bai Yan swung his and Pei Tingyu’s intertwined hands, swaying as he walked aimlessly toward him.
Until he was tired, he kicked off his cotton slippers and, without a word, stepped directly onto the man’s.
The young man wrapped his arms around the Alpha’s neck, his eyes curving into a smile, giggling foolishly. His pale gold hair was as pure as moonlight, and his cherry-pink pupils were filled with the silvery moonlight.
Pei Tingyu watched, feeling both helpless and soft. He wrapped his hands around his precious’s slender waist, afraid that he would fall again with a single misstep.
But Bai Yan suddenly looked up and gave the man’s lips a mwah.
A very big mwah.
The young man’s hazy, moist eyes were wide as he innocently licked his upper lip, completely unaware of how provocative his action was.
He even gave a serious critique. “So sweet. Sweeter than tonight’s blueberry souffle.”
Then he quickly frowned and scolded unreasonably, “Xian sheng, did you secretly eat another souffle in the kitchen behind my back?”
“You can’t have any more sweets, you know? Twenty-eight is not eighteen. Eating too much sugar is bad for your health.”
Pei Tingyu was speechless.
Bai Yan thought for a few seconds with a serious expression, his hand moving down to poke the man’s hard chest, and added in a small, mumbling voice, “It’s also bad for your chest muscles.”
Pei Tingyu laughed so hard he couldn’t stand up straight, his chest trembling. He was both amused and helpless, but mostly, he thought, his drunk precious was very different from usual.
So cute, it made you want to eat him up in one bite.
Bai Yan was very dissatisfied with his husband’s laughter. He looked up and pressed against him again, giving him several more mwahs.
As if he had found a fun toy, he stuck out his tongue and licked along the seam of the man’s lips, his mouth sticky. “Don’t move, let me check.”
“Alright,” the man chuckled deeply. He bent down, scooped up the Omega’s bottom with one hand, and lifted him into his arms. With his other hand, he didn’t forget to pick up the two cotton slippers the young man had kicked to the side.
He stood up holding Bai Yan and walked toward the main house. Leaning close to the young man’s ear, he blew a light breath inside. “Let’s go back to our room and let my precious check carefully.”
“From the inside out, okay?”
“Mm.” Bai Yan wrapped his arms around the man’s shoulder and finally nodded in satisfaction.
On the third floor, in the master bedroom, the heavy blackout curtains slowly slid shut from both sides, blocking out the wonderful spring light inside.
In the sparse moonlight, it seemed as if a slender, white hand suddenly grabbed the tassel of the curtain, swayed it tremblingly, and the lotus bodhi seed bracelet on his wrist was round and crystal clear.
In the blink of an eye, it was gone.
The hanging silk flowers outside the Yǎyuán window bloomed and fell again. In a flash, the days grew longer.
Having confirmed that he would participate in the LIO international competition in early May, Bai Yan’s schedule suddenly became busy. Every day was spent either squatting by the experimental data or discussing the freshly baked data with Professor Lin.
With his busy schedule, he no longer had time for his weekend part-time job and had to submit his resignation to the manager.
The manager hugged the obedient Omega reluctantly and secretly stuffed several gift cards into his pocket, tearfully reminding him to come back and visit often when he had time.
The young man nodded obediently and returned to Yǎyuán with two large bags of cakes and bread, representing the manager’s sentiments.
He then presented them all to the sweet-toothed Pei Tingyu like a treasure, completely unaware of the smiling yet hesitant look in his husband’s eyes.
There were still three weeks until the competition, but it happened to coincide with Haicheng University’s special feature—the midterm exams.
Haicheng University’s midterm exams had long been criticized by students because they were directly linked to their GPA.
If you didn’t get the score required by the teacher, it was a direct fail. You didn’t have to study the rest of the course and could just wait to pay and retake it next year.
Seven professional courses and three public courses in one week. Bai Yan was dizzy from studying, his spirits low, and he had no extra energy for his experiments.
A few days ago, the young man could still, under Pei Tingyu’s supervision, go to bed on time.
He would fall into his husband’s embrace, take a few deep breaths of the bitter orange blossom scent, tinged with the smell of shower gel, and fall asleep while nuzzling the man’s soft, strong chest.
Seeing that the midterm exams were finally over, but his experimental progress was still lagging, Bai Yan had to think of another way.
At dinner, the young man’s eyes flickered, and he stammered, slowly saying that he wanted to sleep alone tonight.
Pei Tingyu smiled and said okay, reminding him in a warm voice, “My precious, take care of your body. Cover yourself well even if you sleep alone.”
The young man buried his head, stirred his soup with a silver spoon a few times, and said sullenly that he knew.
The clock at Yǎyuán pointed to eleven o’clock. The Omega, who was supposed to be in his room, was, contrary to his usual behavior, in the brightly lit corridor.
Even though his cotton slippers made no sound on the thick wool carpet, the guilty young man still tiptoed, his fingers on the wall as he looked left and right.
Only after confirming that the servants had all left and his husband was asleep did he, like a thief, quietly push open the study door, slip inside, and then gently close the door.
The light was too conspicuous late at night. Bai Yan only turned on a few overhead lights in the laboratory area and worked hard.
After pushing the petri dish back into the incubator, Bai Yan secretly let out a sigh of relief and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.
He took off his mask to catch his breath and, looking up nonchalantly, saw the small study opposite. The dim environment was partially illuminated by the laboratory lights.
The man was leaning against a desk, his arms crossed, a helpless look in his eyes. His entire body was hidden in the shadows, and who knew how long he had been watching from the side.
Bai Yan exclaimed, “Xian sheng!”
The bitter orange blossom pheromones were so well-contained that he hadn’t noticed them at all!
The nerves in the young man’s back instantly tensed. Like a little cat caught doing something wrong, his fingers dug into his palm.
His raised voice suddenly dropped. He stammered, his eyes darting around, not knowing where to look, and asked guiltily, “What are you… doing here?”
