Back home, after closing the door, Lin Yu’s first words were, “Thank you.”
Lu Ziqing changed his shoes at the entrance, his expression indifferent: “Just don’t cause me such messy troubles again, and that will be thanks enough.”
He went to the kitchen, took a bottle of lemon tea from the fridge, threw in five or six ice cubes, and gulped down half the bottle. But the irritation in his heart remained.
He couldn’t pinpoint why.
The trouble was resolved. Dr. Xie, frightened by a few of his words, had hurriedly hung up the phone and likely wouldn’t dare to harass them again. Everything seemed fine.
Yet, it felt as if a tangled mess of dark green seaweed was gently wrapping around his heart, with no traceable source.
A nameless irritation.
Perhaps it was due to releasing his pheromones at the hospital earlier, he thought.
Lu Ziqing took a deep breath, calming himself down. When he turned around, he saw Lin Yu picking up the keys, seemingly ready to go out.
Lu Ziqing: “You just got home, and you’re going out again?”
Lin Yu earnestly replied: “I’m going out to buy some groceries. I want to cook something nice tonight to thank you for helping me today.”
Lu Ziqing: “There’s no need.”
Lin Yu: “What do you like to eat?”
Lu Ziqing didn’t hesitate: “Lobster, bird’s nest soup, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, bear paw.”
Lin Yu: “I might manage the first three, but for the last one, if you insist, I might need to put in some effort.”
Lu Ziqing chuckled: “Just kidding. Simple home-cooked food is fine. I’m not picky.”
Lin Yu went out, while Lu Ziqing was still mulling over what exactly was bothering him.
If he counted the days, his susceptible period hadn’t arrived yet.
So why, exactly, did he feel so inexplicably irritated, as if something heavy was weighing on his heart, leaving him unable to vent?
……
During dinner, Lu Ziqing was still deep in thought.
Lin Yu’s cooking skills were excellent, as Lu Ziqing had experienced during previous breakfasts.
He had put in extra effort. Although the dishes were just simple home-cooked food, the vegetables were fresh and tender, the beef was stewed to a soft, savory perfection, and the soup was so flavorful it could make one’s eyebrows dance.
Unfortunately, Lu Ziqing’s mind was still preoccupied with his inexplicable mood.
Seeing him eat absentmindedly, Lin Yu thought perhaps his cooking wasn’t to his taste, but he didn’t say anything. After the meal, he quietly threw away the leftovers.
…..
The next day was Sunday. Lu Ziqing went to play tennis with Xu Yunyi.
Xu Yunyi asked him why he had bailed on him the previous day.
Lu Ziqing didn’t bother to explain much: “Something came up at home.”
“What could possibly come up at home?” Xu Yunyi grinned mischievously. “Were you with your omega?”
Lu Ziqing frowned slightly. “Why are you so talkative?”
Well, to be fair, what Xu Yunyi said wasn’t entirely wrong.
He did accompany Lin Yu to the hospital and even released his pheromones to stand up for him.
Thinking of this, Lu Ziqing suddenly realized what had been bothering him since yesterday.
He wasn’t in the mood for tennis anymore. Lazily sitting on the sidelines, he recounted the events to Xu Yunyi.
Xu Yunyi listened, then fell silent, blinking as he stole glances at him.
Lu Ziqing: “If you have something to say, spit it out.”
Xu Yunyi cleared his throat: “I’ll be honest. Don’t get mad. Do you think… maybe you overstepped a bit?”
Lu Ziqing was stunned: “Overstepped?”
Xu Yunyi: “You two are only in a fake marriage. Whether he has an ex or someone he likes has nothing to do with you. But you got angry and even released your pheromones. Don’t you think that was a bit much?”
Lu Ziqing retorted, “I’m just worried he’ll keep tangled up with that person, and if someone finds out, they’ll think I got cuckolded.”
Xu Yunyi replied, “Even if that’s the case, was it really so serious that you had to release your pheromones?”
Lu Ziqing fell silent.
When he released his pheromones yesterday, he hadn’t thought much about it. It was purely an alpha’s instinctive emotional reaction. Looking back now, it did seem a bit excessive.
He wasn’t the type to show off or act aggressively. Throughout his life, he could count on one hand the times he had deliberately released pheromones to provoke others.
Lu Ziqing asked, “Then what do you think is the reason?”
Xu Yunyi took a sip of mineral water. “I’ll be honest—don’t get mad. I think you’re just used to being domineering. When you see something that belongs to you being coveted by someone else, you get annoyed, and that sparks your possessiveness.”
Lu Ziqing found it amusing. “Possessiveness? Over that little stiff?”
In the office, colleagues privately nicknamed Lin Yu “the little stiff.” There was no malice—just a feeling that Lin Yu, despite being quite young, was overly serious and rigid at work.
Xu Yunyi countered, “If it’s not possessiveness, then why do you care if he dates someone else? You didn’t even want to live with him, right? If his affair were discovered by your dad, it might actually be a perfect excuse to get him to move out. Isn’t that exactly what you want?”
Lu Ziqing found this absurd—so absurd that he wanted to laugh.
“So you’re saying I like Lin Yu?”
Xu Yunyi shook his head. “Possessiveness doesn’t necessarily mean liking. Wanting to possess something only means you think it should belong to you.”
Lu Ziqing neither agreed nor disagreed. He lifted his gaze to the tennis court, still finding the whole notion ridiculous.
Images of Lin Yu surfaced in his mind.
Always serious and efficient, with a no-nonsense attitude. His focused demeanor at work was far from likable from any angle.
If he had to say anything…
Lu Ziqing recalled the night Lin Yu got drunk at the bar. Standing unsteadily, his cheeks flushed, looking like a cherry soaked in wine—there was an unexpected cuteness to his helplessness.
Lu Ziqing took a big gulp of ice water and said calmly, “I’m not that domineering. I don’t need to have everything.”
There was a hint of deliberate disdain in his tone.
Xu Yunyi sighed, “Ziqing, you know what? Being tsundere is so outdated.”
Lu Ziqing showed him the middle finger. “Get lost.”
…..
Whether it was because of Xu Yunyi’s words or not, on Monday, Lu Ziqing felt strangely uneasy when he saw Lin Yu at work.
Lin Yu was as busy and stern as ever, overseeing everything at the company and barely stopping to catch his breath.
Last night, Lin Yu had worked overtime at home and skipped dinner. Watching him, Lu Ziqing figured he might forget to eat lunch as well, so around ten o’clock, he ordered food for him from a restaurant.
Unexpectedly, the delivery arrived early. Worried the food would get cold, Lu Ziqing quietly went down to pick it up, thinking he’d let Lin Yu eat it sooner.
On his way back, he ran into Lin Yu leading a large group of department heads out of the meeting room.
Standing in the middle of the hallway with the takeout bag, Lu Ziqing felt the atmosphere grow increasingly awkward.
Just a few days ago, Lin Yu had emphasized in a morning meeting that lunch and break times were from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and no one was allowed to leave their posts without permission.
In front of all his subordinates, Lin Yu stopped, his expression turning cold. “Lu Ziqing, what did I say during last week’s morning meeting?”
Lu Ziqing held the takeout box, stayed silent for a moment, and finally said, “Sorry.”
Lin Yu continued, “Leaving early without permission—two thousand words of self-reflection, on my desk before the end of the day.”
Lu Ziqing: “…Understood.”
Lin Yu turned to Zhou Youyu. “Mr. Zhou, he’s from your department.”
Zhou Youyu nodded and bowed, “I’ll make sure to reinforce discipline, absolutely eliminate any slack behavior, and enhance organizational standards.”
Lin Yu didn’t look at Lu Ziqing again and went back to his office.
Zhou Youyu glanced at Lu Ziqing’s expression, gave him a token scolding, and then let him return to his workstation.
Lu Ziqing looked down at the takeout box in his hand and suddenly felt incredibly foolish.
……
Just a minute left before the end of the workday, Lu Ziqing finally finished writing his self reflection. After tossing the pen aside, he grabbed his bag and stood up.
Outside, it had started to drizzle, the pavement wet and slippery.
Before leaving, he knocked on the director’s office door. Hearing a “come in,” he entered and placed the reflection paper on Lin Yu’s desk.
Before Lin Yu could say anything, he turned and left.
He didn’t look at Lin Yu’s expression—he couldn’t be bothered.
That evening, Xu Yunyi invited him to a murder mystery game again. Lu Ziqing wasn’t interested.
He really couldn’t understand what was so fun about role-playing with a bunch of strangers—it was ridiculous, like kids playing house.
So he stayed home to play video games instead. When he got tired and hungry, he picked up his phone to order food, only to remember the takeout from lunchtime.
He had ordered light congee and side dishes, considering Lin Yu’s recent health issues. The soft and sweet pumpkin congee—he had noticed Lin Yu liked eating this when he had no appetite at home, so he specifically ordered it.
That takeout had ultimately been eaten by Mi Lan and Liang Zhi, and Lu Ziqing hadn’t had a bite. For lunch, he only drank half a bottle of herbal tea.
He drank while stewing in his frustration. By the end, he hadn’t finished the tea, but he was already full of anger.
What was that saying again? “Kindness mistaken for donkey’s liver and lungs.”
If he had known it would end like this, he wouldn’t have bothered caring about Lin Yu’s well-being.
Eat or don’t eat—who cares.
He opened the curtains and saw the rain hadn’t stopped. In fact, it seemed to be getting heavier.
Checking the weather app on his phone, the forecast showed rain would continue for five to six hours, and would gradually stop in the early morning..
Lu Ziqing read it with a cold expression, then shut his phone, ready to shower and sleep.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
When Lu Ziqing opened it, a delivery guy handed him a package.
Lu Ziqing looked down at the familiar takeout bag, frowning. “I didn’t order takeout.”
The delivery guy scratched his head. “But the address is correct. Maybe your family ordered it?”
Lu Ziqing closed the door. Staring at the takeout bag with its congee and side dishes printed on it, he remained silent for a moment before dialing Lin Yu’s number.
He didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, “Did you order the takeout for me?”
After a few seconds of silence, a voice came through.
“You hardly ever eat congee, so I guessed that the takeout you ordered at noon was probably not for yourself,” Lin Yu’s voice was a bit hoarse, likely from exhaustion. “Can you stop being angry now, considering I’m still working for your family so late at night?”
