After Getting Pregnant, I’m Divorcing My Alpha - Chapter 26

Before the incident, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now, reflecting on it, things like trending searches and popularity seemed trivial. What An Xiangdi feared and dreaded the most was how to face his parents.

His mother, Ding Mei, was easier to handle a few sweet words or a bit of coaxing, and the matter would be settled.

But his father, An Hongxian, was a different story. He would undoubtedly pull out all the stops, crying and wailing, demanding to know why such a significant matter had been kept from the family. Despite being a researcher in classical music, he was an absolute doting father.

“I’ll deal with it when the time comes,” An Xiangdi rubbed his temples, hastily devising a few strategies. He could already picture his father’s tearful, snot-filled face.

“Alright, do you need me to come over and stay with you now?” Shen Xiao had initially planned to say that because of the trending search, he intended to move all his work to Zongming City for handling. But occasionally, he also wanted to hear An Xiangdi act a little spoiled.

“No need,” An Xiangdi refused outright. Relying on an Alpha for everything would make him seem utterly useless.

Shen Xiao sighed helplessly, “Alright, I understand.”

Even if An Xiangdi said no, whether Shen Xiao returned or not was still his own decision.

After hanging up, An Xiangdi tidied up a bit and opened the door, only to find Yao Honglang standing outside with his arms crossed. Beside him stood Wei Yi, who had been stopped, while the other staff members had likely been “escorted” away by Yao Honglang.

Wei Yi’s gaze toward An Xiangdi was entirely different from the day before not the possessive look of an Alpha toward an Omega, but one of… heartbroken despair?

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have a crush on me?” The mere thought sent a shiver down An Xiangdi’s spine.

Wei Yi raised his voice, “An Xiangdi! I thought we were close friends who’d been through life and death together! But what happened? Instead…”

“Instead, you not only lied to him about being an Alpha but also made him think you just didn’t want to eat or drink with him,” Yao Honglang finished Wei Yi’s sentence.

“Wait, how do you know exactly what I was going to say?” Wei Yi pointed at Yao Honglang, his face full of shock.

“You’ve been muttering that in my ear for five minutes. Do you think I’m deaf?” Yao Honglang was annoyed by artists like Wei Yi, who talked too much nonsense. Ever since Wei Yi had shown up and refused to leave, Yao Honglang hadn’t given him a single friendly look.

“When did I ever claim to be an Alpha? You couldn’t even tell by scent, and now you’re blaming me?” With that one sentence, An Xiangdi instantly threw the easily fooled Wei Yi into a state of self-doubt.

Later, Wei Yi hitched a ride in An Xiangdi’s van to the set, spending the entire journey sniffing around An Xiangdi but detecting nothing.

To maintain secrecy during filming, the crew of The Yellowed Season had set up barriers around the set, preventing reporters from entering the interior.

However, a crowd of reporters still camped out at the entrance. The moment the van arrived, they swarmed around it.

“An Xiangdi, could you please explain the trending search on Weibo?”

“Are you really pregnant?”

“As an Alpha, how did you manage to get pregnant? Could it be that you’re actually an Omega?”

Most of the time, entertainment reporters were an unpleasant bunch, and as the person involved, the unpleasantness multiplied.

Yao Honglang honked the horn a few times as a warning. Security from inside the set quickly rushed over to surround the reporters. He stepped on the gas and swiftly drove into the set.

The sudden acceleration threw An Xiangdi backward, and a wave of nausea quickly washed over him.

“Honestly, these reporters”

“Ugh…” An Xiangdi covered his mouth, tears welling in the corners of his eyes from the discomfort.

Wei Yi was cut off mid-sentence and frantically reached out, only to realize belatedly that it wasn’t the right move. He fumbled through the storage pouch in the front seat and pulled out a plastic bag.

“Enough.” An Xiangdi pushed away the offered bag. He wasn’t actually about to vomit just feeling queasy.

“So… morning sickness?” Wei Yi had been skeptical when he saw the trending topic earlier that morning. Even after An Xiangdi admitted it outright, it hadn’t felt entirely real to him.

But now, the man had genuinely dry-heaved right in front of him.

Wei Yi couldn’t help but let his gaze drift toward An Xiangdi’s stomach. “How many months along? It doesn’t show at all…”

“About two months.” An Xiangdi answered faintly after catching his breath.

“Oh… yeah, that makes sense it’s not showing yet.” Wei Yi nodded with an air of expertise.

An Xiangdi couldn’t be bothered to call him out on it. Leaning back against the seat, he rummaged through the side storage compartment and pulled out some sour jujubes to chew on.

After Yao Honglang parked the car, he accompanied An Xiangdi into the studio.

The crew members, who had been quietly chatting while preparing, fell silent the moment An Xiangdi entered. Their eyes unanimously drifted toward his seemingly flat stomach.

“An Xiangdi, come with me for a moment.” Director Wang Xingxiu set down what he was holding and walked over to An Xiangdi.

An Xiangdi gave a quiet “Mm” and followed Wang Xingxiu to the back lounge.

“I only have one question for you,” Wang Xingxiu said, his expression serious.

“Go ahead.” Wang Xingxiu had approached him earlier that morning, merely confirming the truth behind the trending topic. An Xiangdi had been surprised he didn’t press for more details then.

“Will this affect the filming? Specifically, your scenes.” Wang Xingxiu hadn’t paid much attention to the trending topic.

“No. According to the normal production schedule, we should wrap up by early July, right?” An Xiangdi hadn’t misremembered his schedule.

“Good, then go change.” Wang Xingxiu gave An Xiangdi’s shoulder a light pat.

“Director Wang,” An Xiangdi spoke up voluntarily, “if you’re considering recasting my role, I ”

“Why would I recast?” Wang Xingxiu looked at him, puzzled.

An Xiangdi had assumed the day’s trending topic would be bad news for the production.

“You don’t want to act anymore?”

“Of course not.” Though he hadn’t filmed much yet, he genuinely loved this series and had no intention of dropping out midway.

“If there were a fundamental issue that could ruin the show, I’d have no choice. But this is just about your gender is that really such a big deal? In the entertainment industry, people lie about their gender, age, family background, and personal history all the time. Should I investigate every single one?” Wang Xingxiu waved a hand dismissively. “We’re here to make a show. As long as it’s a good script and the actors are competent in both skill and character, that’s what matters.”

“Right.”

“Besides, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. If your agent thought it was, would he even let you come out today? From what I know, Yao Honglang doesn’t operate that way.” Wang Xingxiu had worked with artists managed by Yao Honglang before. If any of them had real issues, they would have been blacklisted long ago.

For the first time, An Xiangdi felt a little embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his head. “I’ll go change then.”

“Well, if the clothes feel too tight, it’s not impossible to have the costume teacher make some adjustments for you.” Wang Xingxiu was a Beta who had been single for most of his life and wasn’t very familiar with which stage of pregnancy An Xiangdi was currently in.

“No, I doubt my belly will even show before my scenes wrap up.” An Xiangdi awkwardly explained before hurrying off to change.

After changing and sitting down to wait for the makeup artist, An Xiangdi received greetings from several actors in the crew. An Xiao even gave him a lot of advice for Omegas during pregnancy, while Ying Chong, who usually seemed uninterested in gossip, came over to ask him questions.

“What does your pheromone smell like? Why can’t I detect it?” Ying Chong was puzzled. Ever since he joined the crew and found out An Xiangdi was an Alpha, he had been curious about the so-called “mysterious pheromone” An Xiangdi claimed to have, because he truly couldn’t smell it. Now that An Xiangdi had turned out to be an Omega, he was even more curious.

“I can’t break character.” An Xiangdi brushed him off with the excuse Royal Pictures had given him.

Ying Chong, not getting the answer he wanted, looked visibly disappointed.

Yao Honglang, who usually had no sense of humor, actually laughed at Ying Chong. “Why are you so nosy?”

“Well, no one’s stopping me, right?” Ying Chong replied candidly.

The two exchanged a smile and started chatting like old friends.

This scene was quite unusual. An Xiangdi observed them openly through the mirror. Noticing his curiosity, An Xiao explained, “Brother Yao mentored both me and Teacher Ying before.”

“Huh?” An Xiangdi found it hard to believe, as Yao Honglang looked much younger than Ying Chong.

“To be precise, he gave us guidance. Brother Yao is in his thirties, but he’s been in the entertainment industry longer than we’ve been eating rice.” An Xiao noticed An Xiangdi’s scrutinizing gaze and thought he was still worried about the trending topic. “Don’t worry, with Brother Yao around, the trending topic won’t be a problem.”

“Mm.” Now that the secret was out, An Xiangdi wasn’t too concerned anymore. The situation was far better than he had imagined.

“Ah! Teacher An, I’m so sorry, so sorry!” The makeup artist’s hand slipped, and the eyebrow pencil drew a long line past the end of An Xiangdi’s eyebrow. She quickly apologized, grabbing a makeup remover wipe to frantically clean it up.

An Xiangdi glanced at his reflection in the mirror. The left side of his makeup would probably have to be redone. “It’s fine.”

Yao Honglang shifted his gaze over. “Be more careful.”

The scolded makeup artist hung her head dejectedly and apologized again.

As her hand passed in front of his eyes, An Xiangdi noticed a ring on the makeup artist’s finger. For some reason, it looked familiar.

Maybe it was just his imagination.

Once all the preparations were done, the crew’s filming progressed smoothly. Even Wei Yi, who had the weakest acting skills, barely held anyone back after receiving guidance from Shen Xiao the day before.

During the lunch break, An Xiangdi only took a few bites of his meal before sitting aside to reply to messages.

Xiao Xiao: Have you eaten?

Di Zi: Yeah.

Xiao Xiao: What did you eat?

Di Zi: Rice.

Xiao Xiao: Just rice?

Di Zi: And some dishes.

Xiao Xiao: What dishes?

An Xiangdi couldn’t keep making things up. To ensure everyone had enough energy, the crew’s boxed meals were often quite greasy, with plenty of meat and fish. Unfortunately, these were the things An Xiangdi least wanted to eat right now some he couldn’t even have. So, he had only taken a small bite of meat before setting it aside.

When Xiao Gu was around, he would help carry a large bag of nutritional supplements. By now, Xiao Gu must have already taken the bus back to university.

Yao Honglang was quite skilled in the entertainment industry, but in other areas, he was practically a clueless straight guy. An Xiangdi never expected him to show any care for a pregnant man.

An Xiao had noticed earlier and specifically asked if he wanted to go out to buy something else to eat. Not wanting to trouble anyone, An Xiangdi lied and said he was already full.

Having been treated like a rare specimen all morning, if he were to make special requests for lunch, he might just be demoted from a rare species to a zoo monkey.

His phone rang, and An Xiangdi guessed that Shen Xiao was calling because he hadn’t received a reply.

“Come out.”

“Huh?” An Xiangdi glanced toward the studio entrance.

“Your fully automated meal delivery guy is waiting for you outside.” Shen Xiao leaned against the car, holding a thermal lunchbox in one hand and his phone in the other.

With nothing but suspicion and the baby in his belly, An Xiangdi walked outside, his face full of confusion.

“Come here, let’s eat.” Shen Xiao hung up the phone and reached out toward An Xiangdi.