AHDIBCB Chapter 36

Yuan Yi called over Li Mian. “While I wasn’t here, who came into this room?”

If Li Mian’s expression could be seen, it would definitely look extremely shocked at this moment.

Where did Yuan Yi get such a suspicion from? He’s just too sharp!

Li Mian said, “No one, Brother Yi. Only the family members are allowed into the master’s study. You were in the hospital before, and Principal Li and Professor Jian only came back to get blankets and toiletries—they didn’t enter the study. What’s wrong?”

Yuan Yi said, “It seems like there’s the scent of Li Heng’s pheromones in this study.”

He sniffed again, feeling that the scent was especially faint—so faint that even he doubted whether he was being overly sensitive. But thinking carefully, it still didn’t feel right. “I just used Li Heng’s pheromones last night, and today there’s not a trace of scent in the bedroom. Yet here in the study, there is? Don’t you think that’s a bit strange?”

Li Mian suddenly understood. “Ah, so that’s what you were talking about, Brother Yi. I’m sorry, Brother Yi—I turned on the ventilation system once before you woke up. Because in the past we did this at fixed times, I forgot that given your special situation now, it’s best not to ventilate the room. Did I waste a lot of the master’s pheromones? I’m sorry.”

It had been thinking about completely removing all traces of the master having been here—but thinking carefully, the master had only told it to remind Yuan Yi to rest more and pay attention to safety, not to do anything else!

The master mentioned wiping the floor and turning on the bathroom’s auto-cleaning once, but didn’t say to ventilate!

Even if it did ventilate—of all places, it ventilated the bedroom, but not the study.

The master went into the study to look at Yuan Yi’s paintings, so of course there would be some pheromone traces left behind. But at that time, the master hadn’t deliberately released any pheromones, so there would only be a tiny bit, right? Wasn’t it only during the time in the bedroom, when comforting Yuan Yi, that a lot was used?

What kind of nose does Yuan Yi have!?

These two are too sneaky, dear heavens!

Li Mian hung his head, looking at his pinky finger, looking like he’d done something wrong.

Yuan Yi looked at him and laughed, saying, “It’s okay, just don’t let it happen again. Now I have less and less to use. This primary pheromone is very precious.”

Li Mian nodded. “Got it, Brother Yi. I won’t ventilate this place anymore. We can just do internal air circulation and cleaning. That won’t affect the pheromones.”

Yuan Yi also felt that this was a good idea. “No problem. In a bit my friend is coming over—if it’s inconvenient for you, then just play in the study first. I won’t bring him into the study.”

This study was Li Heng’s study, and usually Yuan Yi only used the desk and chair—he hadn’t really touched the rest.

Li Mian said, “Okay. Aren’t you going to take a look at the things Professor Jian gave you?”

Yuan Yi said, “Looking later is the same—those things don’t have legs. I’ll first get the food ready, then sew your little clothes.”

He had an appointment with Ji Lan at 10:30. There were still two hours to go. He had gone to bed early last night and gotten up early today. Though he’d been busy for a bit, there was still plenty of time. While the smart chef was making noodles, he could sew the little clothes.

He planned to give himself a day off—to take advantage of the most relaxing effect after using the primary pheromone and completely empty his mind for a day. Though he hadn’t taken any professional courses while in the hospital, he had been thinking every day to deal with that damn Aminanka, and he really was a bit tired.

Yuan Yi put the flour into the smart chef’s operation box—he didn’t even need to add water. The smart chef would calculate how much water to add based on the weight of the flour. After adding the water, it would start kneading the dough, and in about an hour, noodles like hand-pulled ones would appear. The time was this long because it was meant to make the noodles chewier—otherwise, it could be done faster.

As for the hand-shredded chicken, he put three whole chickens in with the spices to smoke-roast them. After taking them out, he just needed to shred the meat and mix it with seasonings.

Listening to the sound of the smart chef at work, Yuan Yi sat in the kitchen sewing the little clothes.

There weren’t many pieces of fabric, and they were all super tiny. Before long, they were sewn up. Once finished, he put them on Li Mian—the wintertime little robot had turned into a summertime one, very fitting for the season.

Yuan Yi tidied up the leftover things, and just then, Li Mian said to him, “Brother Yi, how about we lay anti-slip mats all over the kitchen floor? Since you often come into the kitchen, wouldn’t laying down mats make things safer?”

Yuan Yi said, “It’s not like I’m made of porcelain, I’m not that afraid of falling. But you—how waterproof are you?”

Li Mian said, “Very waterproof. Why?”

Yuan Yi said, “I’m going to wash your hair.”

That head of tea-colored curly hair did look very cute, but it was time to wash it. Yuan Yi brought Li Mian into the bathroom, and directly held him under the faucet to wet his hair, getting ready to apply some shampoo. He placed his hand over the sensor to dispense a small amount of shampoo—but suddenly realized something wasn’t quite right.

Li Heng probably had a particular fondness for a minimalist and elegant style, so everything in the place he lived was put away wherever possible, not left out in the open. The bathroom was the same. All those shampoos, facial cleansers and the like were stored in hidden compartments—when using them, you just put your hand over the corresponding sensor area, and the liquid outlet would slide out, dispensing a single-use amount.

He himself also liked this kind of clean and tidy feel very much. But he had already showered at the hospital before coming back yesterday, so he didn’t shower again after getting home. He hadn’t used the shampoo at all—so why was the shampoo that was dispensed so smooth and moist, without even a bit of dryness?

The outlet of the dispenser here had been upgraded with new technology, and could almost ensure zero residue after each squeeze. But “almost” didn’t mean absolutely none. Logically, since it hadn’t been used for so long, the first portion squeezed out should’ve had some dry bits.

Li Mian waited a while, but didn’t get a follow-up action. “What’s wrong, Brother Yi?”

Yuan Yi thought for a moment and said, “Nothing.”

He finished washing Li Mian’s hair, blow-dried it, and let it go play, then activated the bathroom’s self-cleaning system.

This was one function he particularly liked after coming to this era: every time after washing up or bathing, once the self-cleaning system was activated, all hair, dust, and various dirty things in the bathroom would be sucked away and, in the final step, dried out. So the bathroom was always very clean, and the only thing the owner needed to remember was to empty the trash storage box regularly.

He usually wasn’t the one responsible for cleaning out the trash box. But this time, as if driven by some strange impulse, he went and checked it.

He found there wasn’t anything unusual in the box—just one black hair, clearly his own.

Li Mian asked, “Brother Yi, what are you looking at?”

Yuan Yi said, “I’m checking if you shed hair.”

Li Mian immediately covered its head. But its little arms were short and couldn’t reach the top of its head—its small hands could only cover its ears. It said, “Of course I don’t shed! I don’t even grow hair—if I did shed, wouldn’t I go bald really fast?”

Yuan Yi smiled without saying anything, thinking maybe he was just being overly suspicious.

He let Li Mian go off to play on its own, then went to the kitchen to finish the remaining tasks. Ji Lan was probably almost there, too. Originally, even before Professor Jian had made the suggestion, he had already been considering whether to go find Ji Lan. Now that Ji Lan was coming to his place, it saved him a trip.

When Ji Lan arrived, he came alone, carrying a very natural-style little woven basket. The basket’s design was extremely delicate—it looked like a little duck, complete with a bow, and didn’t look like something you’d buy. Ji Lan had placed some little snacks inside, along with a small bag of tomatoes and two bunches of grapes.

“You need to be especially careful no matter what you do lately, so I didn’t dare buy things outside either—I just picked some tomatoes and grapes from my yard. The cookies were freshly baked by my dad this morning,” Ji Lan said as he took them out. “At first I thought eating alone would be boring, but luckily you called me. How are you feeling today? Is your body better?”

“Much better, so I’m planning to give myself a day off to rest,” Yuan Yi washed the grapes and little tomatoes and brought them to the table. “Are you hungry? If you are, I’ll cook the noodles now. If not, we can chat for a while and eat later.”

“I’m good either way. Let’s see if my little nephews are hungry.”

“Then I’ll cook now. It’ll take about fifteen minutes to finish. I get hungry a bit faster these days.”

“No problem.” Ji Lan followed Yuan Yi into the kitchen. “Someday when you’re not busy, I need to come over and learn from you. These days, being able to cook earns you extra points.”

“Extra points? Points for what? Does the art academy have this kind of policy?”

“Pfft, are you so obsessed with studying that you’ve gone crazy? I meant omega being able to cook earns a lot of points—when looking for an alpha, that’s a big advantage, right?”

“Why should there be such an ‘advantage’? Learning to cook good food is, first and foremost, to eat well yourself. Then you share it with your close friends and family. As for finding an alpha—if someone doesn’t like an omega just because they can’t cook, why don’t they just marry a chef? Besides, omegas are so few—it’s not even hard to pick an alpha. Don’t go brainwashing yourself like that.”

“Well, that’s true, but among the high-quality ones there are still the very best. Don’t just talk about me—even that Cao Yuran from the medical school, he’s already married. He told me himself that if he had the chance, he’d like to learn cooking from you too. From the way he said it, he also wants to make his alpha love him more.”

“You know him too?”

“Yeah. Don’t you remember back when you made zongzi and we ‘picnicked’ at school? He was there too. I ran into him a few more times after that. Every time he greeted me, and it’d be rude not to respond, so we’re kinda familiar now. Why, is there a problem?”

“If I’m not mistaken, the one who was originally supposed to marry Li Heng was him.”

Ji Lan’s face showed shock. “Really?”

Yuan Yi said, “It’s about 80 to 90 percent likely. If Li Heng were still alive, I definitely wouldn’t have anything to do with it. It’s only because he’s gone that the Cao family chose someone else. I think that family’s surname is Luo?”

Ji Lan replied, “Yes, her husband is Luo Qizheng. So, you’re telling me that he even told me he wants to learn cooking from you—what does he actually think?”

Yuan Yi couldn’t understand Cao Yuran’s thoughts either. If Li Heng were still alive, he could somewhat understand, but with Li Heng gone, why would Cao Yuran still be trying to get close to him?

He didn’t think Cao Yuran was just trying to be friends. Cao Yuran most likely liked Li Heng, so why would he still want to be friends with him? Didn’t that feel strange?

Yuan Yi said as he worked, “I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

Ji Lan said, “I heard from my father that Luo Qizheng also had a chance to become the captain of the Sirius fleet, but Fei Qian got the position. My father’s in the prosecution, but before he transferred there, he had also led troops. I was wondering if Cao Yuran is trying to use you to get close to Marshal Jian’s connections.”

Yuan Yi hadn’t actually considered that possibility. Mainly because he wasn’t familiar with Luo Qizheng. Besides, did he really have that much power? And for this matter, the old man definitely wouldn’t help them.

Yuan Yi said, “Then he’s really overthinking it. Captain Fei should be able to hold his position just fine. Can you help me tear this chicken apart?”

Ji Lan put on gloves and said, “It’s a pity for General Li. If he were alive, none of these people would have anything to do with it. But thinking about it, this way, you’ve saved some trouble. Otherwise, you’d have to deal with several princes. When General Li was alive, they all wanted his support. If that had happened, your doorstep would’ve been trampled long ago. Those princesses would definitely have come to butter you up.”

Yuan Yi really didn’t like socializing with people who weren’t sincere. Upon hearing this, he said, “Sounds like it would have been a hassle; it’s better to keep things simple.”

“I think so too. But Xiao Yi, there’s something I’m really curious about. If you don’t want to answer, just pretend I didn’t ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Would you want General Li to come back? If that was possible.”

“……”

Yuan Yi thoughtfully scooped some noodles and pondered for a moment, “I would want him to. Life is precious, what’s more important than being alive? Plus, he’s the child’s father and could provide me with the original pheromones. But if he really came back, there’s a high chance we’d have to divorce.”

Ji Lan, who had been touched by what he said, suddenly froze, “Why?”

Yuan Yi said, “He probably had someone he liked when he was alive.”

Ji Lan: “……”

Yuan Yi smiled and said, “Forget about them, I made extra shredded chicken today, I’ll pack a box for you to take in the afternoon. If you want something else, and if there’s time, I can make it for you.”

As soon as Ji Lan heard there was food, he got excited. But considering that Yuan Yi rarely got a break, he didn’t want to make him too tired. So, while watching Yuan Yi mix the noodles and sauce, he said, “You don’t need to make anything else. Just teach me how to make those rice dumplings whenever you’re free. By the way, I designed a few outfits for you. Pick whichever you like, and if you want any, I’ll get them made quickly so you can wear them when you’re further along.”

Ji Lan took out the design sketches and showed them to Yuan Yi.

The two omegas brought the food to the gazebo, enjoying the cool breeze and the fragrance of flowers, eating and chatting. The atmosphere was very harmonious.

This was in stark contrast to the certain people they had just mentioned.

In the dark, damp sewer, Winter Wolf was almost suffocated by the stench. He was holding a box of things. At top speed, he rushed to the corner at the end and into a rest cabin. After closing the door, he took a deep breath and exhaled, “General! This trip has nearly been the death of me!”

Li Heng was sitting with his legs crossed, holding an ice cream stick in his mouth, “The key point.”

Winter Wolf immediately set down his things and stood up straight, “The problem with Fei Qian has been temporarily resolved. But now he’s worried about the position he’s taken. When you return, what happens if they don’t allow you to restore your original post? That would be troublesome.”

Li Heng: “Has my reputation really fallen so low?”

Winter Wolf: “Of course not. But the brothers are still quite worried.”

Li Heng said, “There’s nothing to worry about. Have Fei Qian holds steady. Also, keep an eye on Aina. I’ll be able to go back soon.”

Winter Wolf took the order, “By the way, everything you asked to be brought is in this box. Do you need anything else?”

Li Heng said no, and Winter Wolf continued to report other matters.

During this, Li Heng mostly listened, rarely speaking.

It wasn’t until Winter Wolf finished that Li Heng finally gave another instruction: “Recently, have Fei Qian not accept anything from anyone. Also, while I’m not out during the day, keep an extra eye on the people who come into contact with Yuan Yi.”

Winter Wolf acknowledged, took a deep breath, and rushed out of the resting cabin door.

Li Heng activated the air filtration system and rested with his eyes closed for a while. Not long after waking up, he left with the things Winter Wolf had brought.

That night, he sneaked back into his bedroom again. This time, it was easier than the last because Li Mian had informed him through the ventilation system.

This time, he brought his own toiletries. He first went to the closet to comfort Yuan Yi, making sure he entered a deep sleep, and only then did he go take a shower.

When he finished, Yuan Yi was still sound asleep, and Li Mian floated over, showing off its new clothes.

Li Heng directly swatted it aside, “A Good dog doesn’t block the road. Why is it so late today? Did he not use his pheromones?”

Li Mian said, “I’m not a dog! Also, Brother Yi said if he used his pheromones every day, it would be a waste, and they’d run out quickly, so he had to try falling asleep on his own, which is why he went to bed late.”

It was almost two in the morning. For someone who was pregnant, it wasn’t just late; it was too late.

Li Heng used his mental power to soothe Yuan Yi while releasing pheromones to help his body relax even further.

Li Mian continued talking about the visit from Ji Lan during the day, and their conversation.

Although Li Mian couldn’t appear in front of guests, it was essentially a mass of code and could sneak into Yuan Yi’s communicator to listen to their conversations.

“Ji Lan asked Brother Yi if he hoped you would come back, and Brother Yi said he did. He said life is precious, and nothing is more important than being alive. He also said you’re the child’s father and can provide him with original pheromones. But he also said that if you came back, a divorce would likely happen.”

“Divorce? Why?”

“Because you have someone you like!”

“When did I?! Who the hell said that?!”

“Wasn’t it you who said it? You said it before going to the Nine-Color Star Bridge! I asked you if you had found your soulmate, and you said you had!”

“I was talking about the galaxy! Li Mian, you really know how to stir things up!”

Li Heng was so angry that his mental power wavered for a moment, but it was just a brief lapse. However, Yuan Yi let out a soft hum, his brows furrowing as if something was causing him discomfort.

Li Heng sighed, quickly stabilizing himself before soothing the person on the bed again.

Li Mian, feeling guilty, scampered over to a corner to face the wall.

Li Heng stayed for a full two hours before leaving.

Once he left, Li Mian immediately got to work—mopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, changing the air, and switching the windows.

Yuan Yi successfully slept until he woke up naturally.

He had planned to resume his usual routine after taking the day off—reading books, studying—but when he opened his eyes, it was already 8:30 AM!

When had he ever slept so deeply before?

Moreover, the air still carried a faint, particularly enticing cedar fragrance!

This was definitely suspicious. Yuan Yi got out of bed. “Li Mian, did anyone come over to the house?”

Li Mian widened its eyes and lied, “No one!”

Yuan Yi looked at it suspiciously. “Really no one?”

Li Mian said, “Really, no one!”

Not true, bro! Did you grow a dog’s nose?!

The air had already been changed!

Yuan Yi thought to himself that it was a pity Li Mian was a robot—its eyes had no spark or emotion, so he couldn’t read anything from it.

No, he felt like he needed to double-check.

In case someone really controlled Li Mian, and Li Mian himself didn’t know about it, that would be very dangerous. The key is where the cedar scent came from!

If the other party really used this to control him, his physiological needs and instincts might make it very difficult for him to resist.

So, before going to sleep that night, Yuan Yi took off the communicator and placed it in the bathroom, then had Li Mian go into the bathroom as well. After that, he closed the door properly, took a packet of flour, and carefully sprinkled a layer on the windowsill and the doorway.

Thinking that the bathroom also had a window, he even sprinkled some at the bathroom door.