1122 - Chapter 30.3

Qiao Qiao, nestled in Yan Nanchen’s arms, beamed like a flower and clapped her hands joyfully: “If you’re happy, then Qiao Qiao is even happier~”

Residential underground parking lot.

“I can take these back myself. There’s an elevator anyway, you can go back.”

Yan Nanchen placed all of Qiao Qiao’s gifts into the elevator. He had originally planned to escort the father-daughter pair upstairs, but hearing Jiang Yi’s words, he asked again: “Isn’t it too heavy?”

Jiang Yi pressed the elevator button, looking helplessly at Yan Nanchen: “Although I’m an Omega now, I was raised as an Alpha before. It’s not like I can’t carry this much.”

Yan Nanchen thought to himself that while his height hadn’t changed, he’d lost more than a few pounds compared to before. He didn’t press further: “Alright, then I’ll head back. You two be careful at home. Call me if you need anything.”

Qiao Qiao’s eyes lit up at the word “call”: “Chenchen, do you want to play the on-call game?!”

Jiang Yi quickly bent down to cover Qiao Qiao’s mouth, apologetically looking at Yan Nanchen: “Don’t listen to her. Go back and rest, goodbye.” He finished with a professional fake smile before closing the elevator doors.

The elevator finally reached the twelfth floor.

Jiang Yi picked up the pile of gift bags covering the elevator floor no joke, twenty or thirty of them. He was truly exasperated, do all the Luo family men shop like this? It’s like wholesale shopping.

He carried them all in one go to their doorstep.

“Daddy, you can do it!”

“Daddy’s about to run out of steam.”

“No way~ Daddy’s awesome!”

Jiang Yi had initially thought about scolding his daughter a little, but under her praise, he reconsidered. He hadn’t had much of a childhood himself, but for his daughter to have so many people who loved and cherished her, what a fortunate thing that was.

Unlocking the digital lock, he finally pushed open the front door.

He set down all the gift bags in the entryway in one go packed full, leaving barely any room to stand. Just as he straightened up after bending down to place them, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. He quickly steadied himself against the shoe cabinet.

At that moment, his hand accidentally knocked something over, a metallic clatter sounded against the shoe cabinet.

“Daddy!!”

Seeing her father sway, Qiao Qiao anxiously hugged his leg, looking up at him: “Daddy, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

Jiang Yi struggled to recover from the dizziness, but his hand tremors and heart palpitations flared up again. His hands shook as he tightly gripped the shoe cabinet, his lips gradually paling, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, his breathing becoming increasingly labored. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the metal key on the shoe cabinet.

“It’s nothing. Maybe the stuff was too heavy. Daddy’s just tired from carrying it all back. Wants to sleep.”

The cold sweat on his back seemed to have soaked through his shirt.

Qiao Qiao immediately grabbed her dad’s hand: “Then let me take you to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”

In the bedroom, Jiang Yi forced himself to lie down despite the discomfort, but the moment he touched the bed, a sudden wave of pain shot through his body, nearly robbing him of his voice as his pupils contracted sharply.

Seeing her dad’s pale face, Qiao Qiao panicked and burst into tears: “Daddy, Daddy, where does it hurt? Why is your face so white?”

Her daughter’s cries seemed to come from a distant place, sending chills down his spine. The overwhelming pain and cold sensations forced him to curl up into a ball.

Summoning his last shred of consciousness, his body trembling violently from the pain, he forced a weak smile to reassure his daughter: “Qiao Qiao, go play the ‘come whenever called’ game with Yan Nanchen, okay!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a pained moan escaped his lips, his teeth biting down hard on his lower lip until it nearly bled.

Qiao Qiao immediately ran out. She picked up the landline phone at home and dialed the number she had memorized by heart since she was three her First Dad’s number, taught to her by her uncle. She knew it by memory and could even write it down.

The moment the call connected and she heard the familiar “Hello,” Qiao Qiao broke into loud sobs: “Waaahhh, First Dad, Daddy seems to be in so much pain! I don’t know what’s wrong with him, waaahhh!”

Yan Nanchen, still in the residential parking lot, answered the landline call from Jiang Yi’s home. The instant he heard Qiao Qiao’s tearful voice on the other end that desperate cry of “First Dad” it shattered every barrier between them.

His eyes darkened abruptly as he flung open the car door and sprinted toward the elevator: “What’s wrong, Qiao Qiao? I’m coming up now, don’t be scared.”

“Waaahhh, I don’t know! Daddy said he wasn’t feeling well as soon as he got home, and then I took him to his room, but when he lay down. waaahhh, he started hurting so much.”

The elevator climbed floor by floor to the 12th level.

Yan Nanchen practically flew out of the elevator and dashed to unit 1208. The front door was open, the entryway littered with fallen gift bags. Without pausing, he rushed inside, his gaze inadvertently catching the keys on the shoe rack, the keys he had given Jiang Yi.

The very same keys to the apartment at 1208, the place that held their most cherished memories.

He quickly averted his eyes and ran into the master bedroom.

Inside, he found Qiao Qiao weeping uncontrollably by the bed, while Jiang Yi lay curled up, his face deathly pale and drenched in sweat. The omega pheromones filling the room were faint yet intensely concentrated.

This was a clear case of pheromone concentration imbalance.

Qiao Qiao’s face was streaked with tears like a little tear-stained kitten. When she saw Yan Nanchen, she stretched out her arms toward him and started crying again: “First Dad, Qiao Qiao is scared. Daddy is in so much pain.”

That single cry of “First Dad” shattered his heart even though he had already firmly believed Jiang Nianqiao was his daughter, hearing it aloud was devastating.

He stepped forward and gathered the little girl into his arms, soothing her: “Don’t be scared, Qiao Qiao. Sit here by the bed for now, and let First Dad hold Daddy first, okay?”

“If First Dad holds Daddy, will he stop hurting?” Qiao Qiao asked between hiccuping sobs, her big eyes brimming with tears.

Yan Nanchen nodded, using the back of his hand to wipe her tear-streaked cheeks. “Yes, if First Dad holds Daddy, he won’t hurt as much. Can you wait here for me?”

“Okay,” Qiao Qiao sniffled, nodding obediently.

Yan Nanchen placed their daughter by the bedside and immediately moved to the other side to check on Jiang Yi. By then, Jiang Yi’s consciousness was already somewhat unclear, his face pale, his entire body burning hot yet trembling and covered in cold sweat.

He quickly lay down beside Jiang Yi, pulling him into an embrace from behind before lowering his head to kiss Jiang Yi’s Omega gland.

After five years, the alpha pheromones once attached to this gland with violet musk had faded significantly, but traces of the past could still be detected.

Frequent occurrences of pheromone concentration imbalance signaled the approach of either an Alpha’s rut or an Omega’s heat. Physical contact or fluid exchange could help alleviate the symptoms.

He gently bit into the Omega’s gland, infusing Jiang Yi’s body once more with his own alpha pheromones.

“Mmm.”

This was a new pheromone mark.

The moment his gland was bitten, Jiang Yi trembled involuntarily in his dazed state both from sensitivity and the long-lost comfort of an Alpha’s presence. Overwhelming and enveloping, the highly compatible alpha pheromones soothed every inch of his nearly hollow Omega body.

After about ten minutes, the marking was complete.

Jiang Yi’s feverish condition began to ease. His face, no longer deathly pale, gradually flushed with color, and the tension between his brows relaxed as he nestled quietly into Yan Nanchen’s arms, falling into a peaceful slumber.

Only then did Yan Nanchen release him, carefully sitting up. He glanced at Qiao Qiao, who had been watching them intently, and smiled. “It’s alright now. Can you go get Daddy’s pajamas for me?”

He needed to change Jiang Yi’s clothes they were drenched in sweat.

Seeing the color return to her father’s face, Qiao Qiao exhaled in relief, then gave Yan Nanchen a thumbs-up. “Chenchen is amazing! I’ll go get the clothes right away!” With that, she dashed off to the walk-in closet.

As his daughter ran off, Yan Nanchen braced one hand beside Jiang Yi while using the other to brush the damp strands of hair from his forehead. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to his brow. “It’s okay now. Don’t be afraid.”

When Qiao Qiao returned with the pajamas, he first asked her to step out before changing Jiang Yi’s clothes entirely. While removing his shirt, his gaze lingered on the pale skin of Jiang Yi’s waist where the faint scar from a cesarean section was still visible. His eyes glimmered with heartache as he lowered his head to kiss the mark.

“Yiyi, you’ve suffered so much.”

After ensuring Jiang Yi was sound asleep, Yan Nanchen finally left the bedroom.

Just then, Qiao Qiao came running up to him, clutching something in her hands.

“Yan Nanchen, look! This is my ID!” She held up her identification card eagerly, looking up at him. “I, I lied to you last time. I’m not three years old. I’m almost five. I, I’m your daughter.”

Tears welled instantly in Yan Nanchen’s eyes. He tilted his head back, fighting them, then bent down to scoop Qiao Qiao into his arms. “I know. You’re my daughter. You’re my treasure.” He pressed his forehead to hers, holding her tightly.

“Look, here’s my birthday,” Qiao Qiao murmured, pointing at the date on the card. “July 28, 2360. That’s my birthday.”

Yan Nanchen realized her birthday was just ten days away. Cradling her like the most precious gift, he whispered, “Qiao Qiao, thank you for calling First Dad. From now on, always call me first if anything happens, okay?”

“You’ll protect me and Daddy, right?” Qiao Qiao asked softly, her arms wrapped around his neck.

“Of course, First Dad will protect you and Daddy without hesitation.” Yan Nanchen held his daughter as he walked to the entrance to pick up the scattered gifts. As he passed by the crystal cabinet, his gaze lingered on a small box placed inside.

Beside the small box was a tiny memorial tablet.

Engraved on it were the words:

Beloved Son Jiang Nian

(July 28, 2360 – July 28, 2360)

His body froze instantly, his eyes flickering. July 28, 2360?

He reached out to touch it.

“Ah! You can’t touch that!” Qiao Qiao urgently grabbed Yan Nanchen’s hand.

“Who is this?” Yan Nanchen heard the tremor in his own voice, a tremor laced with near-terror. Beloved son. What did this mean?

“This is big brother,” Qiao Qiao whispered, lowering her head.

Yan Nanchen’s pupils contracted violently, as if a heavy hammer had smashed into his skull, shattering his rationality. His eyes reddened instantly: “What?”

“Daddy said big brother turned into a Little Elf and is sleeping inside the box. We can’t open it, or big brother will fly away.” Tears fell from Qiao Qiao’s eyes as she clung to Yan Nanchen’s hand. “You can’t open it either. If Daddy finds out, he’ll be so sad.”

In that moment, Yan Nanchen felt as though his heart had been brutally ripped out. His mind went numb, his breath trapped in his throat as if someone were choking him, denying him air.

Suddenly, he realized something.

Jiang Yi had been carrying twins.

Their eldest son was gone.

Jiang Yi had endured the pain of losing a child at his weakest, right after giving birth and Yan Nanchen hadn’t been there. Postpartum hemorrhage, cardiac arrest.

Yan Nanchen clenched his jaw, holding Qiao Qiao as he broke down in tears.

His heart ached so terribly.

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