This Alpha Is So Devoted to His Wife - Chapter 30

The summer manor was in full bloom with Carola red roses. Their petals, plump and full in the sunlight, were misted by the automatic sprinklers. The fine water droplets refracted the light, creating a rainbow, and a glimmer of liquid beads was left on the petals, slowly dripping into the soil below.

Next to the flower bed was a transparent glass house. Its glass roof had been covered with a sunshade, blocking some of the sunlight, but even with the shade, you could turn your head and see the roses in the flower bed outside the window.

Inside, the air conditioning was on, and a few teenagers were discussing their upcoming CTB competition.

“I have to say, the roses at home are so pretty this summer.” Jiang Nian Qiao’s eyes were tired from reading documents. She looked up from her tablet, a pen between her fingers, and rested her head in her hand as she gazed out at the rose bushes. “Lu Xing He, why don’t you take a break? Look at the beautiful roses outside.”

Lu Xing He was leaning back in his chair, his expression serious. He was typing on his keyboard, translating the entire English project report for their four-person competition. He was in no mood to appreciate flowers. “You guys can look.”

Just then, the glass door of the flower house opened from the outside. The wind chimes on the door made a crisp, pleasant sound. A wave of hot air entered through the crack in the door, carrying a faint scent of roses, one that was slightly different from the Carola roses outside.

“Does anyone want some iced rose tea?”

In contrast to the summer heat outside, the young man’s voice was clear and cool, like fizzy water with ice cubes. With a soft “psst” sound, it added a chilled touch to the strong sunlight, as if the heat had been paused.

Lu Xing He’s hands, which were typing on the keyboard, paused. His academic focus, which had been unwavering a second ago, shifted. His gaze fell uncontrollably on Duan Yu Luo, who was walking in.

He was completely unaware that the space bar he was pressing was typing a bunch of gibberish symbols into his document.

Duan Yu Luo, wearing a white t-shirt and moon-blue jeans, looked fresh and clean. He was holding a tray of iced rose tea that the family’s housekeeper had just prepared. His fingertips were still damp from the melted ice on the glass bottles.

Duan Yu Luo placed the iced rose tea in the middle of the table. “Here, have some. I just had some, and it’s very refreshing.”

After saying that, he walked over to the glass cabinet where the cups were kept. As he passed behind Lu Xing He, he deliberately wiped his ice-cold hand on his neck, as if playing a prank, thinking Lu Xing He hadn’t seen him.

But the moment his hand landed, it was caught.

“Are you bothering me?”

Duan Yu Luo looked down at Lu Xing He, who was holding his hand. He smiled with an innocent expression. “It was an accident.”

Lu Xing He’s lips had already curled into a smile. The unwavering focus he had while typing on the keyboard was gone. He pulled down the hand that was bothering him, feeling that his hand was very cold. “Aren’t your hands cold holding this?”

“How could they be cold on a hot day like this? It’s so refreshing.” Duan Yu Luo pulled his hand back and walked over to get the cups.

“Tsk.”

“Tsk tsk.”

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

Duan Yi Fan and Jiang Nian Qiao acted like a comedy duo. One leaned back with his feet up and arms crossed, while the other rested her head in her hands. They clicked their tongues in perfect unison.

Lu Xing He gave them a look.

Duan Yi Fan was getting a kick out of that look. “Oh, I wonder who it was just now who wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the flowers, but now he is?”

Jiang Nian Qiao propped her hands on the table and rested her chin in them, looking on with interest. “That’s for sure. This flower is not that flower; you have to look at the flower to know.”

Ever since Duan Yu Luo’s differentiation, they all knew his pheromone was rum-rose.

It went without saying which “flower” they were talking about.

Duan Yu Luo took the sanitized cups out of the glass cabinet and placed them on the table. He poured a cup of iced rose tea for each of them. “What’s this about ‘this flower is not that flower’?”

Lu Xing He saw Duan Yu Luo pour the first cup and, thinking it was for him, he eagerly extended his hand. When he saw that the first cup was handed to Jiang Nian Qiao, his expression immediately soured. His hand hung in mid-air, and he stared at him resentfully.

As soon as Duan Yu Luo handed the rose tea to his sister, he met Lu Xing He’s gaze and saw his extended hand. He raised an eyebrow slightly and could only pour another cup for him.

Jiang Nian Qiao held the rose tea her brother had poured for her, feeling very satisfied. She leaned back in her chair and enjoyed it, drinking and appreciating how Lu Xing He was jealous over everything. “Mmm, my second brother’s first cup of tea is the best.”

“It’s okay, Xing Xing, your cup is the second one,” Duan Yi Fan said, moving his chair on its wheels and sitting next to Lu Xing He. He put an arm around his shoulder and patted him, comforting him not to be disappointed. He also took the iced tea from Duan Yu Luo and put it in his hand. “Though belated affection is useless.”

Jiang Nian Qiao continued along. “But it’s better than none.”

They looked at each other with perfect timing and, with a loud thwack, high-fived each other.

Lu Xing He: “…” He raised his hand and slapped away the arm of that annoying Duan Yi Fan. “Go drink your tea.” He then sat back down in front of his computer and started typing his project report again.

“Why are you hitting the delete key so much?” Duan Yi Fan, who had always been fearless, squinted and leaned in to look. He saw that Lu Xing He was deleting gibberish. “Tsk tsk tsk, you typed a bunch of gibberish. That’s not just gibberish; someone must be in a bad mood.”

He then poked Lu Xing He’s chest, smiling brightly and maliciously.

Lu Xing He’s temples throbbed.

Just as he was about to get up and fight with Duan Yi Fan, a pair of hands landed on his shoulders. He then felt a thin and warm chest get closer to him. He then saw a slender, jade-like finger pointing at the section of gibberish on the screen.

“Xing Xing, is the citation for this part wrong?”

The voice next to his ear was soft, and the body pressed against his was warm, which somewhat lowered the jealous fire he had from not getting the first cup of tea. This was because the scent of his temporary mark was subtly lingering around him, more concentrated than the vast red rose garden outside.

“Where is it wrong?”

“Right here.” Duan Yu Luo rested his hand on Lu Xing He’s arm and touched the trackpad, highlighting the section in red. “The one I gave you this morning wasn’t this section.”

Lu Xing He stared at the hand under his eyes. It seemed to smell so nice, with a rose scent. He resisted the urge to lean in and sniff and instead focused on the screen. “It must have been my mistake. I’ll change it later.”

“Mmm, don’t get it wrong. You can do it.” Duan Yu Luo rubbed Lu Xing He’s head with his hand and straightened up to leave.

After getting his head rubbed like that, Lu Xing He’s lips began to curl into a smile that he couldn’t control. There was no way he could still be jealous over the first cup of tea. He was now overwhelmed with a good mood.

Seeing Duan Yu Luo sit down next to him, he quickly pulled his chair over to sit close to him.

“Can you help me look at it again? I’m afraid I’ll make another mistake.”

Duan Yu Luo felt Lu Xing He’s body heat get closer. He took a sip of iced rose tea to calm down and said, “Mmm, okay.”

Duan Yi Fan leaned over to Jiang Nian Qiao and whispered, “When we were kids, they said our little one was gullible and easy to fool, but now that Lu Xing He is so easy to fool, he looks even more foolish.”

Jiang Nian Qiao tapped the computer in front of him. “Just write your part, you chatterbox.”

Duan Yi Fan: “.” I thought we were going to be chatterboxes together.

Soon, all four of them entered study mode.

For this CTB competition, they were working on a tech innovation, adding an AI voice system to an over-memory chip for people with special needs, to maximize its utility. Their first step was to write a preliminary framework for their challenge, and then they would enter the lab to conduct experiments based on the framework they had outlined.

“After we finish writing, we’ll ask our families to apply for lab access. But we need to be clear about how many experiments we need and that we’ll also need to recruit volunteers,” Duan Yu Luo said, leaning back in his chair. He tapped the back of his hand with his pen as he watched Lu Xing He type.

“As for a volunteer, do you think Mu Mu would be willing?”

Duan Yu Luo met Lu Xing He’s eyes as he looked up. He thought for a moment. “Mmm… I don’t know. I’ll have to ask him. He’s still young, after all.” As he finished, he saw Lu Xing He take the pen out of his hand and looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t poke the back of your hand. It’s leaving a mark.” Lu Xing He held the back of his hand, which was now red. He looked at Duan Yu Luo. “Why do you always poke your hand when you’re thinking? What a weird habit.”

Duan Yu Luo felt Lu Xing He’s palm was a little hot. He pulled his hand back. “…Oh.”

Duan Yi Fan and Jiang Nian Qiao, who were sitting opposite them, looked at each other, knowing what was going on. “Ohhh~”

Lu Xing He looked at the two of them, who were acting like a comedy duo, expressionlessly. He tapped the table with his fingers. “What do you mean ‘oh’? You two haven’t given me the parts you were supposed to write yet.”

Hearing this, Duan Yi Fan slid his chair over to Lu Xing He again and pretended to lean on his shoulder, putting on a high-pitched voice. “Big Brother Xing Xing, don’t be so mean! Can you wait for me? I’m so dumb~”

Jiang Nian Qiao was not to be outdone. She took down her high ponytail, shook her head, and gracefully moved her hair to her shoulder. She then propped her chin up with her hands and blinked at Lu Xing He.

“Big Brother Xing Xing, can you write my part for me too~”

Lu Xing He got goosebumps all over. He unceremoniously pushed the head off his shoulder. “Why are you calling me ‘Big Brother Xing Xing’? Go back to your seat!” He subconsciously glanced at Duan Yu Luo.

He saw that Duan Yu Luo was looking down at his keyboard, and his lips were smiling.

“You’re biased!” Duan Yi Fan, whose head was pushed away, pretended to be angry and crossed his arms. “Why can he call you ‘Big Brother Xing Xing’ but we can’t? Right, Qiao Qiao!”

Jiang Nian Qiao was so thrown off by Duan Yi Fan’s burly man acting coquettishly that she almost couldn’t keep up with their routine. She wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to. She pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

Lu Xing He was speechless by these two annoying guys. At that moment, he realized that his double standard was too obvious. He glanced at the young man who was focused on writing his paper. His Adam’s apple bobbed. After a moment, he said.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. You can call me whatever you want.”

“Big Brother Xing Xing, can you please translate this part for me~~” Duan Yi Fan went all out with his burly man acting coquettishly. The six-foot-tall boy put an arm around Lu Xing He’s shoulder. “Hah~ Okay~”

Jiang Nian Qiao couldn’t hold it in anymore. She took a sip of iced rose tea to prevent herself from laughing out loud.

Lu Xing He’s temples throbbed. He held back his anger, gave Duan Yi Fan a glare, and gritted his teeth. He couldn’t take it anymore and punched his arm. “Duan Yi Fan, you’re getting on my nerves.”

“Ooh, you’re so mean to me~” Duan Yi Fan had always been thick-skinned. He pretended to be sad and slid his chair over to his little nephew, Duan Yu Luo. “Little one, he’s being mean to me. He won’t let me call him ‘Big Brother Xing Xing’ and won’t help me. My English is really bad, and I can’t translate the paper~”

Duan Yu Luo, whose shoulder was being leaned on by his little uncle, was already used to this. “Who told you to talk to him like that? You know he doesn’t like it. He’s going to beat you up if you keep talking like that.”

Lu Xing He heard Duan Yu Luo sticking up for him and felt a little better. But when he saw Duan Yi Fan resting his head on Duan Yu Luo’s shoulder, he raised his eyebrows. His mood soured again.

What if this big head hurts my little one’s thin shoulder?

Duan Yi Fan sighed and leaned heavily against the back of the chair. “I finished my part, but my translation is garbage.”

Duan Yu Luo knew that Duan Yi Fan’s English wasn’t very good, but he was the best at the theory part of the project. Their team worked together by using everyone’s strengths to help one another.

So he looked at Lu Xing He and smiled. “Help him translate it.”

Lu Xing He stared at his lips as they opened and closed, and his eyes, which were filled with a smile. His heart, as if it had a premonition, skipped a beat.

“Big Brother Xing Xing.”

Clink. An ice cube slid down the side of the glass. Lu Xing He’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He took a big gulp of the cold, concentrated rose tea. The condensation on the outside of the glass merged with the ice and slid down.

Even though the rose tea with ice was so cold, he felt hot again. Not only hot, but his mind also answered without thinking.

“Okay.”