The temperature in the room seemed to be rising.
Two distinct streams of pheromones intertwined, their mingling scents filling the air with warmth.
Gu Yan arched his body, biting down hard on his lower lip as though struggling to endure something.
But when Yi Heng adjusted his movements and found the spot that made Gu Yan particularly sensitive, Gu Yan suddenly threw his head back, his eyes widening.
“Hah… Ah…”
His toes curled involuntarily.
Before he could catch his breath, Yi Heng drew him into another kiss.
Yi Heng watched Gu Yan’s flushed, overwhelmed expression intently and took a deep breath.
Gu Yan’s heat was practically a punishment for him.
He had to restrain himself completely, unable to find any relief from the feelings stirring within him.
Yi Heng softly called Gu Yan’s name, gently kissing away the involuntary tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
Perhaps because he’d been holding himself back for so long, his movements became slightly more forceful.
The overwhelming sensations finally broke through Gu Yan’s attempts to remain quiet, drawing a brief, breathless sound from his lips.
And once that first sound escaped, he could no longer suppress the others.
At last, Yi Heng brushed the sweat-dampened hair away from his forehead.
He gazed down at Gu Yan, who had fallen into an exhausted sleep, before quietly rising and heading into the bathroom.
The sound of running water continued for much of the night before finally falling silent.
As expected, heat cycles during pregnancy were remarkably short.
Gu Yan’s symptoms settled after just one night.
At that frequency, he wouldn’t experience another heat before giving birth.
But unexpected events had a way of arriving when no one was prepared for them.
Gu Yan went into premature labor.
Fortunately, Yi Heng had been staying home with him almost constantly lately, rarely going anywhere.
The moment he realized something was wrong, he rushed Gu Yan to the hospital.
By the time Gu Yan was wheeled into the delivery room, his face had turned deathly pale from the pain.
Yi Heng waited outside, so anxious that he could neither sit still nor remain standing for long.
This little troublemaker…
Just how eager are you to come into this world?!
Although the baby arrived prematurely, she showed none of the frailty one might expect from a premature newborn.
A loud, vigorous cry rang out from the delivery room.
And just like that, the lively little girl made her entrance into the world.
The initial examination confirmed that Gu Zhaoyi was a healthy baby girl.
Her secondary gender was Alpha.
Both families hurried to the hospital, finally able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Like most newborns, the baby was red all over, her tiny skin wrinkled from head to toe.
Gu Yan turned his head and took one look at his daughter.
Just before losing consciousness, he experienced the absurd urge to stuff the little troublemaker right back where she’d come from.
Was this really his and Yi Heng’s child?
Why did it feel like opening a mystery box?
Yi Heng sat beside Gu Yan’s hospital bed, refusing to leave his side.
He carefully wiped the sweat from Gu Yan’s forehead with a towel before glancing toward the newborn’s cradle nearby.
Gu Zhaoyi was lying quietly inside.
She was so incredibly tiny.
It took her entire little hand just to wrap around two of Yi Heng’s fingers.
Yet her grip was surprisingly strong.
Once she caught hold of him, she refused to let go.
The instant those tiny fingers closed around his own, a strange, almost electric sensation shot through Yi Heng.
A genuine smile appeared on his lips.
He gently moved Gu Zhaoyi’s little hand and murmured,
“It’s all because you were in such a hurry.”
“You made Daddy suffer so much because you couldn’t wait, you know that?”
Naturally, Gu Zhaoyi couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
But that didn’t stop her from puckering her tiny mouth and bursting into loud, indignant cries.
Yi Heng: “…”
And so, for reasons neither of them could explain, the father and daughter somehow began their very first little feud.
After spending a week in the hospital, Gu Yan was finally allowed to return home.
Newborn babies truly changed from one day to the next.
When Gu Yan woke up the following morning, he almost didn’t recognize his own daughter.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered whether someone had accidentally switched the babies!
Wait a minute…
Where had his wrinkly little red sweet potato gone?
How had she suddenly turned into such a fair, clean-looking baby?
Later, when Gu Zhaoyi opened her eyes, she astonished everyone all over again.
She had inherited Gu Yan’s eye shape almost perfectly.
Her eyes were clear and luminous, shimmering like sunlight dancing across water.
Who knew how many little Omegas would lose their hearts to her when she grew up?
Wang Zhiliang also came to visit the newborn.
He stared at Gu Zhaoyi for quite some time.
Gu Zhaoyi stared right back.
The two of them simply sat there, exchanging an unblinking stare.
After a while, Wang Zhiliang leaned toward Gu Yan and whispered,
“Why does she already like glaring at people when she’s this tiny?”
“Aside from her eyes and nose, which look like yours, everything else is practically a carbon copy of Yi Heng.”
That look in her eyes was enough to give him goosebumps.
Gu Yan was happily enjoying hot pot, a meal he’d been unable to eat for a very long time.
Hearing Wang Zhiliang’s complaint, he teased,
“Really? She never glares at anyone else.”
“Maybe it just depends on who’s looking at her.”
Gu Zhaoyi’s arrival brought endless joy to the entire family.
On weekends and holidays, Gu Yan and Yi Heng would take their daughter to visit either the Yi family or Gu Yan’s maternal grandparents.
Both sides of the family eagerly looked forward to seeing her.
If the little family failed to visit on any given weekend, someone would inevitably call that very day to urge them to come over.
Gu Yan also recovered remarkably well.
Yi Heng happily indulged him, letting him make up for all the foods and drinks he’d had to avoid throughout his pregnancy.
After thoroughly enjoying himself, Gu Yan actually ended up weighing one kilogram more than he had before becoming pregnant.
Gu Yan successfully completed his studies and gradually began taking over the management of his maternal grandparents’ company.
Although his academic major wasn’t directly related to the business, everything progressed remarkably smoothly under Yi Heng’s guidance.
Gu Yan learned a great deal from him.
Before long, he was preparing for the very first business negotiation of his life.
Since it was his first time personally discussing a potential partnership, he couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.
That morning, he woke up shortly after six to wash up and get dressed.
He had just finished neatly tucking his shirt into his trousers when the ever-energetic Gu Zhaoyi suddenly launched herself at him.
With one enthusiastic grab, she completely wrinkled the shirt he’d carefully ironed the night before.
Seeing this, Yi Heng set down the cup in his hand and went over to pick up his daughter.
He gently admonished her,
“Be good. Don’t bother Daddy.”
Unfortunately, Gu Zhaoyi was far too attached to Gu Yan.
Even after Yi Heng picked her up, she remained dissatisfied, twisting and wriggling in his arms as she tried desperately to crawl back toward Gu Yan.
Yi Heng found himself with quite a headache.
But there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
President Yi, whose word was law in the business world, had no choice but to admit defeat before his own daughter.
The moment Gu Yan saw Gu Zhaoyi, all the nervousness he’d been feeling about his upcoming negotiation vanished.
He gently pinched her chubby little cheeks and affectionately rubbed his face against hers.
“You’re awake this early too? Are you hungry, sweetheart?”
Gu Zhaoyi burst into delighted giggles as Gu Yan nuzzled her.
Tiny bubbles of saliva escaped from her mouth.
It took Gu Yan quite a while to coax the little girl into settling down again.
Yi Heng raised the collar of Gu Yan’s shirt and carefully began tying his necktie.
Gu Zhaoyi lay on her stomach on the bed, with the little Golden Retriever beside her.
Both the baby and the puppy lifted their heads, curiously watching the two fathers.
“Good luck with work today.”
Yi Heng finished straightening Gu Yan’s clothes, his fingertips brushing lightly past the edge of his ear.
At some point, Gu Yan had gradually shed the youthful air that once surrounded him.
In its place was a quiet maturity.
Dressed in formal business attire, he looked exceptionally handsome, with a refined and gentle elegance that suited him beautifully.
The black stud in his ear was even more striking than a diamond.
Just as Yi Heng spoke, Gu Yan finished playing with Gu Zhaoyi and lifted his head.
Their noses brushed against each other.
Their breaths mingled unexpectedly in the tiny space between them.
A faint blush spread across Gu Yan’s cheeks.
His gaze inevitably drifted toward Yi Heng’s thin lips.
“…”
Yi Heng simply couldn’t endure being looked at like that.
He leaned closer, tilted his head slightly, and casually covered Gu Zhaoyi’s wide eyes with one hand.
Their soft lips met.
It wasn’t one of those deep, breath-stealing kisses.
Instead, their lips lingered together, pressing firmly and tenderly against each other’s lower lip.
By the time Gu Zhaoyi impatiently managed to pry Yi Heng’s hand away from her eyes, the two men had already separated.
Only their slightly uneven breathing betrayed what had just happened.
When Gu Yan left the house, his lips were a little darker than usual.
His cheeks were also as rosy as the morning sunrise.
On the way to his meeting, Gu Yan received a call from Yi Feng.
Now that Gu Yan was officially part of the family, Yi Feng had become rather shameless about taking advantage of his easygoing nature.
Whether he had something important to say or not, he always seemed to find an excuse to call and bother him.
“Hello? Are you home today?” Yi Feng asked.
Gu Yan was reviewing the documents concerning the other party in today’s business negotiation, spread across his lap.
He wasn’t particularly in the mood to chat.
“No, I’ve got something to do today. What’s wrong?”
There was a pause of several seconds on the other end of the line.
Then Yi Feng asked,
“What about Zhaoyi? Is Zhaoyi at home?”
So that was it.
He wanted to visit his little niece.
Gu Yan turned to the next page of his documents.
“She’s home.”
“By the way, why haven’t you been hanging out with Wang Zhiliang lately?”
After graduation, Wang Zhiliang had become the most carefree member of their entire group.
Gu Yan was gradually taking over his maternal grandparents’ company, working hard to grow into someone capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Yi Heng.
Yi Feng, meanwhile, continued his internship at the Yi Group.
The Yi family didn’t expect him to accomplish anything particularly remarkable.
As long as he managed to get through each day without causing trouble outside, they were perfectly satisfied.
As for Wang Zhiliang, his father had an extraordinarily accurate understanding of his son’s abilities.
He knew perfectly well that Wang Zhiliang possessed absolutely no business sense.
So he’d told his son quite plainly not to bother thinking about making money.
As long as he didn’t throw the family’s fortune straight into the ocean, they had enough money to support him for three lifetimes.
Wang Zhiliang wisely decided to take his father’s advice.
After all, listening to sensible people was the surest way to live comfortably.
And so he proudly displayed his university diploma at home as though it were some sacred treasure.
Meanwhile, his own life continued exactly as before.
He ate whenever he wanted, drank whatever he pleased, and enjoyed himself without a single worry in the world.
The mere mention of Wang Zhiliang was enough to irritate Yi Feng.
“Don’t you know? That bastard’s got himself a girlfriend recently! Where would he find the time to hang out with me anymore?”
If it hadn’t been for Wang Zhiliang, Yi Feng wouldn’t have been driven to such desperate measures.
He would rather spend time playing with his little niece, who couldn’t even talk yet, than go home and face his parents.
One after another, Yi Feng’s friends had found themselves romantic partners.
Everyone around him seemed to be falling in love.
Everyone except him.
He was still hopelessly single.
At first, he’d firmly believed that Wang Zhiliang would stand beside him, defending the last remaining stronghold of bachelorhood to the bitter end.
But who would have thought that not long after graduation, that traitor would abandon him too, happily joining the ranks of those who had escaped singlehood?
Now, whenever Mrs. Yi found an opportunity, she would seize it to lecture her younger son about dating and marriage.
At long last, Yi Feng understood exactly how his older brother had felt all those years ago.
He finally understood why Yi Heng had been so reluctant to come home whenever their mother started pressuring him to get married.
Gu Yan: “…”
Well, Gu Zhaoyi happened to enjoy lively company anyway.
If Yi Feng wanted to come over and play with her, then so be it.
As long as he didn’t turn his precious little daughter into an uncontrollable monkey, Gu Yan had no objections.
He still remembered the last time they’d visited the Yi family residence.
Somehow, Yi Feng and Gu Zhaoyi had gotten their hands on a piece of floral-patterned fabric and cut it into a hopelessly shredded mess.
That evening, Mrs. Yi searched everywhere for the new dress she’d recently bought, but couldn’t find it no matter how hard she looked.
Yi Feng was so terrified that he didn’t dare utter a single word.
He simply tucked Gu Zhaoyi under his arm and fled with the little girl!
There was a very famous sushi restaurant downstairs from the company building.
Gu Yan had heard that the food there was excellent.
Since he still had plenty of time before his meeting, he asked someone to queue up and buy some sushi for him to take home.
While waiting, he stood beside the car to get some fresh air.
At the same time, he repeatedly rehearsed the negotiation techniques and carefully chosen phrases Yi Heng had taught him.
The sun hung high in the sky.
It was a busy time of day, with office workers constantly passing by on their way to work.
People streamed past Gu Yan without pause.
After a while, the driver returned with the sushi.
But just then, something unexpected happened.
An elderly man who had also been waiting in line suddenly had the bag in his hand snatched away by a man approaching from behind.
Everything happened so quickly that by the time the old man realized what had happened, the thief had already sprinted several meters away.
“Thief! Somebody catch that thief!”
The elderly man stamped his feet anxiously, shouting for help.
In the blink of an eye, the man wearing a face mask and a cap came running toward Gu Yan.
He kept glancing over his shoulder as he fled, stumbling along like a headless chicken.
Gu Yan didn’t stop to think.
He quickly judged the distance, waited for the right moment, and stuck out his foot.
The thief immediately lost his balance and crashed to the ground.
He cursed viciously, struggling to get back onto his feet so he could escape.
Seeing this, Gu Yan swiftly grabbed his arm.
With just a few practiced movements, he subdued the man and pinned him firmly to the ground.
The driver, worried that something might go wrong, hurriedly placed the bag of sushi inside the car.
Then he rushed over to help Gu Yan restrain the thief, making sure the man couldn’t break free.
The elderly man finally caught up with them, panting heavily as he hurried over.
“Thank you so much, young man! I had some very valuable things in that bag today.”
Gu Yan brushed the dust from his trousers and smiled politely.
“You’re welcome.”
But as he began walking, a sudden sting shot through his knee.
Perhaps he’d been in such a hurry to restrain the thief that he’d accidentally scraped his knee against the ground, breaking the skin.
“Please check whether anything is missing from your bag. I have something to attend to, so I’ll have to leave now.”
Gu Yan glanced at his watch.
It was almost time for his scheduled meeting.
He politely declined the elderly man’s offer of compensation and hurried into the company building.
The old man remained where he was, looking up at the office building before turning to watch Gu Yan’s retreating figure.
“Huh? Young man…”
Inside the elevator, Gu Yan caught sight of his reflection in the polished metal doors.
He looked somewhat disheveled.
With a troubled sigh, he reached up to straighten his hair.
What an unlucky start to the day.
Of all the things that could happen before his very first business negotiation, he’d somehow ended up dealing with a thief.
During the struggle, a thin layer of sweat had formed across his back.
Only now was his racing heartbeat finally beginning to settle.
Hopefully, my first business negotiation will go a little more smoothly…
Gu Yan silently hoped.
He waited in the meeting room for a while.
At last, the representative from the other company arrived.
But the moment Gu Yan saw who had walked through the door, he froze in surprise.
Wasn’t that the same elderly person he’d encountered downstairs just a short while ago?
The bag he’d recovered from the thief was still hanging from the crook of the visitor’s arm.
“Hello again, young man! What a coincidence to see you here.”
The elderly visitor smiled warmly and extended a hand toward Gu Yan.
“You…”
For a moment, Gu Yan had no idea how to respond.
He was certain he hadn’t misunderstood the arrangements.
According to the information he’d received, the representative attending today’s meeting was supposed to be a man in his thirties.
As though sensing his confusion, the elderly visitor calmly took a business card out of the bag.
“I’m the mother of the chairman of Wangsheng Group. I live nearby.”
“We discussed it at the last minute and decided that I’d be the one meeting with you today.”
Gu Yan accepted the business card.
Only then did he finally recover from his astonishment.
Sometimes, what first seems like misfortune turns out to be a blessing in disguise.
Just a few minutes earlier, he’d been worrying that his slightly disheveled appearance might make him seem unprofessional.
Yet only minutes later, he was already chatting and laughing comfortably with the very person he’d been so nervous about meeting.
The elderly woman had taken quite a liking to Gu Yan.
When she learned that he was an Omega, her admiration for him only deepened.
For an Omega to remain so composed during a business negotiation, presenting his arguments clearly and logically without arrogance or insecurity, required remarkable confidence and ability.
He was no less capable than those Alphas who seemed to believe they were inherently superior simply because of their secondary gender.
His poise and determination genuinely impressed her.
“Is this the valuable item you mentioned earlier?”
Gu Yan asked curiously when he saw her take a pure white fountain pen out of her bag.
At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary fountain pen sold in any stationery shop.
The elderly woman smiled meaningfully.
“Of course. This pen is going to be used to sign a contract worth several hundred million yuan.”
“Wouldn’t you say that makes it rather precious?”
The meaning behind her words couldn’t have been clearer.
Their business negotiation had been a success.
After the elderly woman left, Gu Yan could barely contain his excitement.
He wanted nothing more than to share the wonderful news with Yi Heng immediately.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to take the sushi he’d bought earlier and head straight to the Yi Group.
“…So I stuck out my foot, and the thief went flying straight onto the ground!”
“Then I grabbed him and pinned him down so tightly that he couldn’t break free. And after that, I—Ow!”
Gu Yan was sitting on the edge of Yi Heng’s office desk, enthusiastically recounting everything that had happened that morning.
He was still delighted to discover that even after giving birth, his reflexes and physical agility remained as sharp as ever.
So absorbed was he in his story that he failed to notice Yi Heng applying slightly more pressure with the cotton swab as he treated the scrape on his knee.
Yi Heng caught the slight tightening of Gu Yan’s mouth from the corner of his eye.
In the end, his heart softened.
No matter how much he wanted to scold Gu Yan for being reckless, he simply couldn’t bring himself to speak harshly to him.
“Now you know it hurts?”
Only then did Gu Yan realize that something about the atmosphere wasn’t quite right.
Ever since he’d entered Yi Heng’s office, he’d been talking nonstop.
Yet Yi Heng had barely responded.
He’d simply asked his secretary to bring some medical supplies, then crouched in front of Gu Yan, rolled up his trouser leg, and silently begun cleaning the wound.
He hadn’t said a word throughout the process.
Gu Yan lightly licked his lips, suddenly feeling a little dry in the throat.
“Mm…”
Yi Heng screwed the cap back onto the bottle of antiseptic, carefully covered the scrape on Gu Yan’s knee with gauze, and discarded the used cotton swab.
Only then did he notice that Gu Yan had fallen silent.
Instead of continuing his excited story, Gu Yan was now studying Yi Heng’s expression with a cautious, searching gaze.
At that moment, Yi Heng suddenly felt that his Yanyan was still the same young man he’d always been.
The young man who never hesitated to help someone in need.
The boy who had once jumped into the sea without a second thought, risking everything to save another person’s life.
The realization struck something deep within Yi Heng’s heart.
All the sternness he’d been holding onto dissolved, leaving his heart impossibly soft.
He gently cupped Gu Yan’s face in both hands and let out a quiet sigh.
“The person I love is an incredibly good person.”
“I know you have a kind heart, and I know you always want to help others.”
“But I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Because it hurts me to see you in pain.”
“I know…”
Gu Yan answered softly.
Warmth crept up his neck.
But just then, he noticed that Yi Heng had somehow lifted the hem of his shirt.
They were at the office!
Gu Yan immediately grew tense.
And when his gaze met the dark, intense look in Yi Heng’s eyes, his pupils contracted sharply.
Ever since Gu Yan had given birth, Yi Heng had been holding himself back.
Even when Gu Yan entered his heat, Yi Heng couldn’t bear to put him through anything too demanding.
By the time Gu Yan had fully recovered, their mischievous little troublemaker, Gu Zhaoyi, had already claimed most of his attention.
Perhaps because she was an Alpha, Gu Zhaoyi had possessed an unusually strong sense of territory from a very young age.
She wasn’t particularly affectionate toward Yi Heng, who was also an Alpha.
Sometimes, she wouldn’t even allow him to sleep in the same bed as her and Gu Yan.
Only when she’d done something wrong and needed someone to defend her would she obediently hide behind Yi Heng.
Gu Yan knew just how much Yi Heng had sacrificed for him.
He also understood how difficult it must have been for Yi Heng to restrain himself for so long.
But…
Footsteps could frequently be heard passing outside the office.
And the secretary might walk in at any moment.
Gu Yan immediately caught Yi Heng’s hand, a hint of panic flashing across his face.
“At least… n-not here…”
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