AHDIBCB Chapter 16

Yuan Yi hesitated only for a moment before leaving with He Yanwu. He had come early in the morning just to sit in on a lecture and had no time to waste here. As for the murmuring from others, he hadn’t done anything wrong, so he didn’t care. However, Bai Wanzhe’s behavior just now had indeed caught him off guard. Fortunately, He Yanwu had arrived in time.

Yuan Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“What, did it scare you?”

“A little. Thank you, He Xuezhang¹T/N: Xuezhang refers to Senior or upperclassman.” He just hadn’t expected Bai Wanzhe to act like a mad dog. The Bai Wanzhe he remembered had always cared about his image—he never thought he’d do something like that.

“You really dislike Bai Wanzhe and Zhou Xingran.”

“Saying I like them would be a bit of a stretch.”

“That’s true. But in that case, don’t you owe me two meals now?” He Yanwu pointed at the bag in Yuan Yi’s hand. “What are you carrying? Looks pretty heavy.”

“Braised beef for Principal Li. I made extra,” Yuan Yi said. “I don’t know if it’s convenient for you to store it. If it is, I’ll leave it with you. I brought three portions—you, Yue Xuezhang, and Pan Xuezhang all live on campus, so it can be an extra dish for you guys. If it’s inconvenient, I’ll just take it to the classroom—it shouldn’t be a problem either way.”

When He Yanwu heard the words “braised beef,” he was already a little intrigued. After hearing the full explanation, he was even more interested and said without hesitation, “I’ll carry it. My place is a bit far, and I’d have to go back and forth. But did you make this yourself, or was it done by a smart chef?”

Yuan Yi said, “If I used a smart chef, wouldn’t that be the same as just buying it ready-made?”

He Yanwu was surprised. “You know how to cook?”

Yuan Yi had already seen Principal Li and Professor Jian’s reactions when they found out he could cook, so he didn’t think He Yanwu’s surprise was exaggerated. He casually responded, “Just some simple dishes.”

With work keeping him busy, he often missed meals, and over time, his stomach suffered for it. Eventually, his colleagues in the gastroenterology department kept warning him, and an old Chinese medicine doctor he knew also told him to stop eating takeout and switch to a lighter diet. That’s when he started putting more effort into cooking.

He wouldn’t call himself particularly skilled, but he could make a decent variety of home-cooked meals and even some desserts.

He Yanwu took the bag—it had quite a bit of weight to it. Then he glanced at his junior.

There was no particular expression on Yuan Yi’s face—no shyness, as if he were an omega giving food to an alpha, nor any nervousness about whether the other person would like it. He was relaxed, casual.

So, he really wasn’t shaken by what had happened earlier. For someone so young to have this level of composure was rare. But something too rare inevitably made people curious.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“What?”

“You’ve never even met Li Heng, yet you married him. Doesn’t that feel strange to you? If you’ve never met someone, you can’t possibly say you like them, right?”

“So what? There are plenty of couples who meet, like each other, and still break up halfway. Nothing is absolute. Besides, I respect him, so I think… if he were still alive, we probably could have been good friends. Of course, that might just be my own wishful thinking. But it doesn’t really matter—he can’t object anyway.”

“You won’t regret it?”

“I take responsibility for the choices I make. There’s nothing to regret. Looks like my class is here.” Yuan Yi pointed at a teaching building inside the school. “Thanks for bringing me, Senior He. Now that I know the way, I can come by myself next time. Goodbye.”

He Yanwu acted as if he hadn’t heard. When Yuan Yi walked into the building, He Yanwu followed him in. Yuan Yi looked at him in confusion. “Don’t you have things to do?”

He Yanwu said, “Sorry to disappoint you, but the lecturer for the class you’re planning to audit today just happens to be me. Professor Gao is getting older, and he’s been feeling unwell lately. I happened to have some free time, so I agreed to cover a few of his lectures.”

Yuan Yi: “……”

At first, he thought He Yanwu was joking, but it turned out to be true. And there were a lot of people attending this class—some of them didn’t even look like medical students because their school badges weren’t from the medical faculty. Just by listening to their hushed discussions, it was obvious who they had come for.

He’s handsome. And single.

Yuan Yi made a rough estimate—there were about 150 people present, with a considerable number of Omegas and Betas from other faculties. Probably because there weren’t many Omegas studying clinical medicine.

Yuan Yi found a seat and sat down, while He Yanwu stood on the podium.

Today’s lecture was on the pelvis, which included the reproductive system—the very part Yuan Yi wanted to study carefully. He had to admit, some people had the confidence to be arrogant for a reason. After spending years doing environmental research, He Yanwu could come back and lecture on medical knowledge without any preparation. And not only did he not stumble, but his logic was also remarkably clear. Yuan Yi couldn’t help but see him in a new light.

Just then, He Yanwu said, “Some of you have drawn the pelvic structure of male Omegas mostly correctly, but the space occupied by the Omega’s reproductive cavity is likely larger than you imagine. So, the sacrum needs to protrude outward a bit more.”

Yuan Yi: “……”

He flipped through his own drawing—sure enough, he had made that mistake. Why didn’t he mention it earlier?

The other students were still glancing at each other, curious about who Professor He was referring to. Only Yuan Yi kept his head down, flipping through his notes, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.

Fixing it now? Not a chance.

However, as Yuan Yi briefly flipped through his notes, an Omega behind him caught sight of his pelvic diagram. Just as He Yanwu had pointed out, the sacrum wasn’t protruding enough. In truth, it wasn’t that far off. If the criteria weren’t too strict, Yuan Yi’s drawing could still be considered correct. But he was certain—He Yanwu had been referring to him.

After class, He Yanwu seemed to have a phone call to attend to and left first. As Yuan Yi was packing up his things, someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

“Yuan Yi, are you really planning to transfer into our medical school?”

It was a male Omega, but Yuan Yi didn’t recognize him. After a brief hesitation, he nodded.

The other person then extended a hand. “Hi, I’m Cao Yuran. I study clinical medicine as well—I’m in the experimental class.”

There were six clinical medicine classes in total, but only one was an experimental class, while the other five were parallel classes. Yuan Yi had heard about this before and naturally wanted to get into the experimental class. However, he wasn’t sure what the other person’s intentions were, so he simply shook hands briefly. “Nice to meet you.”

Cao Yuran said, “I saw on the forum that people are saying you’re taking the transfer exam. Are you planning to take it this semester?”

Yuan Yi replied, “Depends on the situation. If I can take it this semester, that would be ideal.”

Cao Yuran pointed at Yuan Yi’s stomach. “But by next semester, your body will probably be heavier, right? If you transfer to the medical school this semester, will you still be able to keep up next semester? Sorry, I don’t mean anything by it. It’s just that I might be in the same situation, so I wanted to hear your thoughts. Do you have any better plans to avoid delaying your studies?”

It was true that, occasionally, students got married or had children while attending university. But this was the first time Yuan Yi had encountered someone else on campus who was pregnant like him. He replied, “I don’t have a very detailed plan since I can’t be sure when I’ll pass the transfer exam. But no matter what, the child will always come first. You can study anytime, but a child’s health isn’t something you can afford to neglect.”

He wasn’t just saying this to sound good—he genuinely believed it. If there ever came a day when he had to put his studies on hold for the sake of his child, he would make sure everything was properly arranged before finding time to continue learning. Right now, he was in a hurry to transfer majors simply because his body wasn’t too heavy yet. If he could get something done, he wanted to do it now—because sooner or later, he was going to study medicine anyway.

Cao Yuran gave a faint smile. “Want to grab a meal together?”

Yuan Yi had another class to sit in on that afternoon and was planning to eat at the school cafeteria anyway, so he nodded. “Sure.”

Apart from a few senior students, he didn’t really know anyone at the medical school. But being too solitary wasn’t a good thing either. The two of them left the classroom and walked toward the cafeteria together.

Cao Yuran said, “You seem to love your child very much.”

What kind of question was that?

Yuan Yi turned to look at him. “It’s my own child—why wouldn’t I love them?”

Even though he had been abandoned by his parents as a child because of his hearing impairment, he could never understand their actions. At the very least, he knew he could never do such a thing himself.

Cao Yuran said, “Maybe it’s because I don’t really like my husband. This might be a bit presumptuous of me to ask, but I’m curious—General Li Heng isn’t someone you knew before, right? Doesn’t it bother you to be having his child just like that?”

Yuan Yi: “…Since you already think it’s presumptuous, maybe you just shouldn’t ask.”

Cao Yuran let out a chuckle. “Sorry, that was indeed a bit rude. How about this—just to be fair, why don’t you ask me a few questions too?”

Yuan Yi thought about it. Truthfully, there wasn’t much he was particularly curious about. He wasn’t the type to pry into things unnecessarily. But if he had to ask something, there was actually one thing on his mind.

“You… you said you’re pregnant too. Can I ask—after you got pregnant, did you ever feel like everything around you was irritating for no reason?”

Cao Yuran replied, “Not yet. But what you’re describing is something that can happen to Omegas during pregnancy. Though usually, it doesn’t start until at least two months in. Are you already feeling that way?”

Yuan Yi said, “Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive.”

In truth, this only started happening last night. He hadn’t felt anything like it before. But for some reason, he’d suddenly found himself feeling incredibly annoyed. And from everything he had read in medical literature, this kind of reaction usually didn’t occur until after two months.

Thinking about it now just made him even more frustrated. That was why he had gotten up in the middle of the night to make braised beef—otherwise, he had planned to cook it today instead. Principal Li was likely coming home today.

Cao Yuran asked, “Are you taking prenatal supplements? If not, I’d recommend adding them to your routine—they can help alleviate these symptoms to some extent.”

Yuan Yi said, “I’ve been taking them consistently.” Which only made it feel even stranger.

Cao Yuran considered the possibility that Yuan Yi was feeling this way because Li Heng wasn’t around. But he figured saying that wouldn’t help—if anything, it might just make things worse—so he swallowed the thought.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, Cao Yuran offered to treat Yuan Yi to a meal. Yuan Yi figured he could just return the favor another time, so he didn’t refuse.

But as soon as they got their food and sat down, someone nearby suddenly exclaimed, “Damn, what’s that smell? That’s way too good!”

For a moment, the entire area was filled with people sniffing the air.

Eventually, all eyes landed on He Yanwu’s table. “Yanwu, that’s braised beef—where’d you get it?”

Pan Yuechen had already walked over, carrying his tray. “Yanwu, you wouldn’t mind sharing, would you?”

He Yanwu said, “It was always meant to include you. Where’s Yue Zhen?”

Pan Yuechen replied, “He’s stuck in the lab—he can’t leave right now. I’ll bring some back for him later.”

He Yanwu said, “Then set some aside for him first. You two are lucky. I do the teaching, and you just reap the benefits.”

Pan Yuechen froze for a moment, then suddenly had a realization and whispered, “Did Junior Yuan bring this?”

He Yanwu replied, “Yeah. He said the three of us should eat together as a thank-you for helping him.”

Yuan Yi: “…”

That wasn’t wrong. But looking closer… this guy had only opened one container. Yet he had packed three identical portions.

So where were the other two? Did they just grow wings and fly away?