DREB CHAPTER 65

Li Yan didn’t resist as Lu Lianning held him. His eyes were half-lidded, and he looked weak. It took him a long time to recover before he finally said, on the verge of breaking down, “I really can’t stand you anymore. No one could put up with someone like you.”

Lu Lianning’s grip tightened at those words. Li Yan flinched violently, a muffled groan slipping from his throat, likely because the pressure had touched the wound on his neck.

Lu Lianning’s expression shifted several times. Sharp words hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back. He looked down at Li Yan, who wouldn’t meet his gaze, his face filled with confusion. Was his brain still not functioning right? How else could he have misheard “Did I bite you too hard?” as “I want to bite you again”?

That must be why Li Yan said something so hurtful.

Since that day, Li Yan had been in a foul mood, staying at home for several days, which was quite unusual for him.

With Lu Lianning’s approval, the butler suggested that Li Yan watch some TV.

Li Yan lay half-reclined on the sofa, watching TV. Now and then, he popped a fruit or snack into his mouth, courtesy of the butler.

As soon as the butler stepped outside into the yard, Li Yan snatched the remote and started flipping through channels, hoping to catch some news about Lu Lianning and Song Ruan’s engagement on the finance channel, such as when they would be having the wedding.

But after scanning several channels, he found nothing. He finally switched back to the entertainment channel, where a headline in exaggerated letters flashed across the screen: “Lu Group’s Lu Lianning and Song Family’s Song Ruan rumored to have broken up!?”

The accompanying photo was taken on the night of the engagement party, showing a dimly lit street where Lu Lianning stood beside a young man, shorter by a head. The man’s face was obscured, but their bodies were pressed close, and their hands seemed to be clasped.

Even though the image was blurry, it was obvious the person wasn’t Song Ruan.

–

Lu Lianning’s mood worsened. He couldn’t fathom why Li Yan had become so captivated by that damn Lin Sheng.

Li Yan had even said he couldn’t stand him anymore.

And yet, Li Yan had approached him, taken his hand, swayed a little, and apologized in a pleading voice—asking him to let Lin Sheng off the hook.

Honestly, Lu Lianning would have preferred kicking Lin Sheng’s face over just kicking his car.

But lately, he and Li Yan had been fighting too much, and Lu Lianning didn’t want things to spiral back to how they’d been before.

As the driver stopped at a red light, Lu Lianning’s gaze landed on a large screen on one of the tall buildings outside.

It showed a couple in the middle of a heated argument. The large Alpha and petite Omega were both flushed with anger. The seemingly gentle and obedient Omega was silently shedding tears. The scene then shifted to the couple holding a small baby. The baby’s soft hand was cradled in theirs as they exchanged warm smiles. What had once been a home torn apart by quarrels was now bathed in a warm glow.

The light turned green, and as the car moved forward, Lu Lianning glanced back through the window. Bold letters appeared in the advertisement: “Children make families more harmonious.”

It was an ad for a hospital that treated Omega infertility.

–

When Song Ruan arrived at Lu Lianning’s house, Li Yan was still sitting on the sofa, cradling Chonk in his arms.

No one had expected Song Ruan to show up. With a tense expression, he informed the butler, who tried to stop him, that he was Lu Lianning’s fiance.

In the end, the butler let him in.

Li Yan quickly stood up from the sofa, but he was barefoot and couldn’t find his shoes. The cat jumped off his lap as he circled the sofa looking for them. Finally, the butler fetched him a new pair of slippers.

Feeling awkward, Li Yan curled his toes. Though the butler was known for tattling, he was an older man, and it made Li Yan uncomfortable to see someone of his age bending down to hand him shoes.

When Song Ruan entered and saw Li Yan, he scanned him briefly, biting his lip. “Who are you?”

Startled, Li Yan stood up straight and stammered before replying with firm conviction, “I’m… I’m the cook here.”

Song Ruan murmured a soft “Oh,” before looking up through his lashes and asking, “When will Mr. Lu be back?”

“I’m not sure, but he usually doesn’t come back at noon.” Li Yan felt utterly unprepared to deal with Lu Lianning’s well-behaved and beautiful Omega fiance.

He winked several times at the butler, who remained impassive, pretending not to notice.

“That’s fine. I’ll wait for him until the evening.” Song Ruan pursed his lips, a hint of stubbornness in his tone.

He glanced at the unremarkable Li Yan, who stood there dazed, and commanded, “Aren’t you the cook? I’m having lunch here. Why aren’t you preparing it yet?”

Li Yan froze for a moment before hastily nodding. “Yes… yes… I’ll get right to it. Please wait, Mr. Song.”

Song Ruan tilted his chin up, already acting as though he were half the master of the house.

Li Yan hadn’t cooked in a long time. Ever since Lu Lianning brought him to this house, he hadn’t stepped into the kitchen once.

Luckily, someone came to assist him. After all, he had cooked for many years before, so getting back into it wasn’t too difficult.

He made three dishes and a sweet soup for Song Ruan, but Song Ruan didn’t want the sweet soup, so Li Yan quickly went back to make a savory one instead.

Sweating from all the effort, Li Yan watched as Song Ruan blew on the soup and drank a few sips, leaving most of the bowl untouched.

Song Ruan’s appetite was small. He only took a little from each dish before setting down his chopsticks, then remarked with a displeased expression, “It’s just average.”

Li Yan nodded in agreement after hearing this. “Yes, yes, I’m actually about to be fired…”

Song Ruan let out a faint snort, a sound that reminded Li Yan of Chonk’s antics. Li Yan found it rather cute and didn’t feel threatened at all.

Song Ruan said he would wait until the afternoon, and so he did. In the afternoon, he asked Li Yan to show him around the house and pick a few flowers that Li Yan had grown in the greenhouse. He commented, “I never would’ve guessed Mr. Lu had an interest in such leisurely activities.”

Hearing this, Li Yan remembered that in recent years, Lu Lianning had stopped smoking, rarely drank, and had no particular hobbies. It seemed the only thing that amused him was tormenting Li Yan.

But even then, it didn’t seem like he was truly enjoying it. His tone was always harsh, and his face was always dark whenever he looked at Li Yan.

As night fell, Lu Lianning still hadn’t returned. Li Yan had dinner with Song Ruan, trying to make awkward small talk.

Song Ruan eventually fell asleep on the sofa while waiting, but Lu Lianning never came home.

When Song Ruan woke up, it was already the early hours of the morning, but no one in the house had invited him to stay the night.

The butler remained silent, and Li Yan didn’t dare take it upon himself to offer.

Luckily, Song Ruan decided to leave, groggily rubbing his eyes as he swayed while walking out. The November weather was already quite cold, and seeing how thin Song Ruan looked, Li Yan hurried after him with a jacket.

At the iron gate, Song Ruan suddenly burst into tears and slapped the jacket out of Li Yan’s hands. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you? No butler would bend down to put shoes on a chef.”

Li Yan was flustered and tried to explain, “No, you’ve got it wrong. He was just handing them to me—I put them on myself. He’s just very kind.”

Song Ruan was crying so hard that he could barely catch his breath, feeling deeply aggrieved, with tear stains all over his fair, delicate face. “Why are you trying to coax me… I know the truth. I’ve seen him before—that’s the butler from Uncle Lu’s house. He only serves Uncle Lu and Mr. Lu…”

Li Yan bent down, picked up the jacket, and gently draped it over Song Ruan’s shoulders.

“My father said Mr. Lu wants to break off the engagement… Is it because of you!?” Song Ruan sobbed, his red eyes brimming with tears that dripped down his chin and splattered onto the ground.

Li Yan could handle Omegas like Chen Yu or Ye He, but when he encountered someone as soft and innocent as Song Ruan—an Omega who had been so carefully protected—he was completely out of his depth.

He clumsily tried to comfort him, “To be honest, there’s not much good in marrying Lu Lianning…” His voice lowered, speaking with genuine sincerity. “His temper isn’t great…”

“Liar!” Song Ruan suddenly yelled, though it seemed to be the harshest insult in his vocabulary. Crying with his face tilted upward, he said, “Mr. Lu is the gentlest. He’s never lost his temper with me or raised his voice.”

Li Yan fell silent. Perhaps Lu Lianning truly was the most impatient with him, always hurting him out of habit.