Chapter 35

Of course he knew.
Back when Zuo Nian had been fussing about losing weight, he’d talked in his sleep every night: “Can’t a strawberry cake just fall out of the sky for me?”
Duan Baisui had heard—and remembered.
He smiled as he typed: *That’s how I knew. You have to eat dinner before you get cake, understand?*
*Okay~* came the reply.
*I’ll try to come back early,* he added.
*It’s fine,* Zuo Nian answered. *No matter how late it is, Nian‑nian will wait for Gege.*
Warmth spread through Duan Baisui’s chest.
So all those nights Zuo Nian had fallen asleep on the sofa, it hadn’t been because he liked it there.
He’d been waiting for him.
No matter how late Duan Baisui came home, the living room lights had always been on. He’d always seen Zuo Nian first thing, always had a bowl of hangover soup placed in his hands.
This little fool had hidden his love in every tiniest detail. How blind had Duan Baisui been, to stay cold to him for so long?
That evening’s dinner was with a few executives from Guangying TV.
After enough rounds of wine, tongues loosened. The conversation drifted to the fall of a former top leader at the station.
Duan Baisui had heard some of it already—about the police and the AO Administration working together to destroy a place called “Freedom Island.”
The “island” had been full of underage Omegas and little girls. When the police arrived, they hadn’t even had clothes. They’d been huddled naked in corners, bodies covered in wounds, eyes empty.
The story hadn’t hit the news yet. The implications were too big, the web too tangled. People from the entertainment world, from politics, from business—all had been involved. The authorities were carefully following every thread, trying to rip the whole thing up by the roots.
From the way the TV executives talked, that former bureau chief had been one of Freedom Island’s frequent visitors. Just the day before, he’d been taken in for questioning.
“You’d never have guessed,” someone sighed. “He always seemed so upright. Looked like a devoted husband and father.”
“Exactly. His daughter’s still in high school. How can a man with a child that age do those things to kids even younger than her?” another said in disgust.
“You really can’t judge a heart from a face.”
The table buzzed with anger and pity. Duan Baisui drank in silence.
“And that Yue Chengqi is a monster too,” someone else said. “He adopted a bunch of kids years ago—remember? The reports called him a great philanthropist. God knows what he was already doing back then.”
Yue Chengqi.
The name made something click.
He remembered what Zuo Jun had told him: that Director Xia had once mentioned a powerful “Boss Yue” who’d come to the orphanage over and over asking for Zuo Nian.
But she’d known, from her husband, what that man really was. So she’d shielded Zuo Nian.
In the end, Yue Chengqi hadn’t gotten a single child out of Qingshan Orphanage. Furious, he’d joined forces with a certain official to suppress them—choking off their media coverage, cutting their funding from above. For years, Director Xia had kept the place going almost by herself.
Even so, she’d never given in.
Zuo Nian was unlucky in many ways—but he was lucky too.
If he hadn’t met that stubborn, responsible “Director Mama” at the orphanage, if she hadn’t blocked Yue Chengqi with her own body, Duan Baisui didn’t dare imagine what would have happened to a child as pure as Zuo Nian.
By the time the banquet broke up, it was already late.
When he stepped into the house, he wasn’t surprised to find Zuo Nian asleep on the sofa again. Wrapped in a thin fuzzy blanket, the Omega’s face was peaceful and soft.
He really had been protected well.
Duan Baisui shrugged out of his jacket and bent over to pick him up. The moment he got close, Zuo Nian’s eyes fluttered open.
“Gege,” he murmured, breath warm and thread‑soft.
“Mm.” Duan Baisui brushed a hand over his cheek. “Why are you sleeping on the sofa again?”
“Waiting for you~” Zuo Nian said, dragging out the last syllable in that sweet, sticky way of his.
“Didn’t you say you weren’t sleeping with me tonight?” Duan Baisui lifted his hand and kissed his fingertips. “And you still waited up?”
Smiling, lips slightly parted to show the tip of his pink tongue, Zuo Nian said, “That’s right. I’m not sleeping with Gege. But I still have to watch you drink your hangover soup and rub your tummy for you before we go sleep in our own beds.”
Pinching his cheek, Duan Baisui cupped the back of his head and kissed him, unable to hold back any longer.
The Omega who’d just eaten strawberry cake tasted sweet all over. With his tongue caught, he could only let out a low, breathy hum.
When his air ran out, he pushed at Duan Baisui’s shoulder. Duan Baisui teased him, “What? I’m not even allowed to kiss you now?”
Zuo Nian glanced nervously around the living room. “Aunt Liu’s home. What if she comes out and sees?”
“So what?” Duan Baisui said, fingers tracing his jaw. “She’ll understand. You’re so cute—of course I can’t help myself.”
“When you drink, you… you get shameless,” Zuo Nian muttered.
One brow arched. “Oh? And who was just now making those little noises?”
Dodging away, Zuo Nian slipped on his slippers and scurried toward the kitchen, mumbling, “I’m not talking to Gege.”
Moments later, he reappeared with a steaming bowl of soup and held it out. “You have to drink it while it’s hot.”
“You say you’re not talking to me,” Duan Baisui said, deliberately difficult, “but then you bring me soup. Maybe I don’t want it.”
Zuo Nian tipped his head. “How can you act like a child?”
“That’s right,” Duan Baisui said, sprawling back on the sofa and looking up at him. “So what are you going to do about me?”
“You’re really drunk,” Zuo Nian sighed.
He sat down beside him and held the bowl up. “You’ll feel awful if you don’t drink. Be good, Gege. Nian‑nian likes you best.”
Duan Baisui didn’t open his mouth. He only stared at him, eyes dark and intent, like he was stripping him layer by layer.
Zuo Nian understood that look.
During his heat, Duan Baisui had watched him like this every time—right before things got rougher and messier.
“We can’t… not again,” he stammered. “Nian‑nian’s butt really hurts… It’s going to break…”
Duan Baisui burst out laughing.
Leaning over, Zuo Nian brushed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Is that enough? Will Gege drink his soup nicely now?” he coaxed.
He really was treating him like a drunk baby.
Not wanting to push him too far, Duan Baisui lowered his head and drained the bowl. He’d gotten his little advantage; it was time to be satisfied.
It was already half past eleven. They headed upstairs to sleep. In the bedroom, Zuo Nian helped him change and dabbed at his face with a warm cloth.
The sheets were freshly changed, scented with a light fragrance. It wasn’t to Duan Baisui’s taste. He missed the room when it had been full of their pheromones instead—full of Zuo Nian’s smell, and the faint trace of his love.
“Gege, you should sleep early. Nian‑nian will be right next door,” Zuo Nian said quietly.
So he really *was* serious about sleeping apart?
Duan Baisui didn’t argue at once. Pressing his fingers to his temple, he frowned slightly. “I’ve got a bit of a headache. Can you grab some medicine for me downstairs?”
“Does it hurt a lot?” Zuo Nian asked in alarm.
“Mm.”
“Wait for me, then.”
The Omega trotted downstairs. The moment he was gone, Duan Baisui threw back the covers, wide awake, and slipped into the guest room.
Two dolls had been arranged neatly on the pillow, tucked carefully under the quilt like two tiny children.
He picked them up, carried them back into the master bedroom, and after a moment’s thought, stuffed them into the wardrobe, covering them with clothes.
He had barely finished when Zuo Nian came back with water and pills in hand. Seeing the empty bed, he peeked into the walk‑in closet. “Gege, why are you up?” he asked.
“I wanted to shower,” Duan Baisui said shortly, already unbuckling his belt.
Color flooded Zuo Nian’s face and he spun around. “Th‑then your medicine…”
“Leave it on the nightstand. I’ll take it later,” Duan Baisui said.
“But you drank a lot. Is it really okay to shower now? What if you slip?”
Unbothered, Duan Baisui stripped and shrugged into a bathrobe. “I’m sober now. Go to bed,” he said. “Don’t you have to open the shop tomorrow?”
“Mm‑hm.” Zuo Nian nodded. “Then…”
The Alpha emerged from the closet, the robe hanging open to reveal his pale chest. A few faint kiss marks still lingered there from the past few days. Heat flared in Zuo Nian’s cheeks. “Goodnight, Gege,” he mumbled.
“Goodnight.”
The hot water washed away the smell of smoke and alcohol. Duan Baisui felt his whole body relax.
He knew that when he walked back out, he would find exactly what he expected.
Tossing the robe aside, he wrapped a towel low around his hips. Droplets of water slid down from his hair, along the strong line of his neck, over his chest and along his abs. He knew very well how to catch Zuo Nian’s eye.
Sure enough, when he opened the bathroom door, Zuo Nian was standing by the bed, bent over and rummaging around. At the sound, he looked up. Their gazes met. He swallowed hard, suddenly not sure where to look. “Gege, have you seen my A‑Beibei?” he asked.
Duan Baisui’s expression was innocent. “No. What’s wrong?”
“My A‑Beibei is gone. And Little Sui too. They’re both gone,” Zuo Nian said, on the verge of tears.
“Did you misplace them when you moved to the guest room? Or maybe Aunt Liu took them with the sheets to wash,” Duan Baisui suggested mildly.
“No… I remember putting them on the bed. Now they’re just… gone…”
He stepped closer and patted Zuo Nian’s hair. “Don’t panic. It’s late. We’ll look tomorrow. They’re definitely in the house somewhere. They won’t just disappear.”
Thinking it over, Zuo Nian had to admit it made sense. He nodded obediently. “Okay~”
Without A‑Beibei, there was no way he dared sleep alone.
Glancing up at him, he said eagerly, “Gege, let me blow‑dry your hair.”
“You’re not going back to your room?” Duan Baisui asked, pretending surprise.
“No rush, no rush, hehe.”
He fetched the blow‑dryer. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Duan Baisui let him run gentle fingers through his hair. Maybe because he remembered the “headache,” Zuo Nian even massaged his scalp with his fingertips, careful and light.
See? Hiding his A‑Beibei had been the right move. What newlyweds separated beds right after consummating their marriage? He wasn’t that noble.
With an Omega this tempting and a long night ahead, how was he supposed to sleep without kissing him a few more times?
The hum of the dryer slowed and stopped. As Zuo Nian moved to put it away, Duan Baisui hooked an arm around his waist and pulled him into his lap, kissing him through the thin fabric at his side. “Are you going back to the guest room?” he murmured.
Zuo Nian’s whole body shivered. The ticklish press of lips at his waist almost made his knees buckle. “N‑no… Tonight… tonight I still want to sleep with Gege,” he admitted.
“That’s not what you said this afternoon,” Duan Baisui said, pushing up his shirt to trail kisses higher. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll ‘hit’ your butt again?”
Arms draped loosely around his neck, Zuo Nian’s voice went soft. “I am… Can you not?”
The curve of Duan Baisui’s mouth turned wicked. Zuo Nian had never seen this look on him before—lazy and a little dangerous.
He patted his thigh. “Sit,” he said.
Zuo Nian climbed astride him at once, as obedient as ever.
Running a hand slowly up his back, Duan Baisui said, “Be good, and I won’t hit you.”
“Mm.”
“What did you do at home today?” he asked in a mock‑serious tone. His hands, however, wandered freely.
“Ate. Slept…” Zuo Nian answered drowsily.
“And?”
“Missed Gege.”
His hand slid up to the back of Zuo Nian’s neck, fingers lingering over the marked gland before he guided his head down into another kiss.
This time, there were no punishing bites. Every touch was feather‑light, patient. Somehow, even without heat, even without any teasing pheromones in the air, Zuo Nian felt himself going hot and restless all over again.