To Marry My Little Chestnut - Chapter 8

The clock hand gradually swept toward the number seven.

Ding!

Yu Yan leaned against the kitchen counter, holding his phone expectantly like a kitten waiting by an automatic feeder, watching for a reply.

When he had spoken to Xiang Qian on the phone earlier that afternoon, it was the first time he had ever discussed his married life with another person. Xiang Qian had been utterly shocked by their domestic arrangement. He was particularly stunned to learn that even after being married for so long, Zheng Tingyang still slept in a separate room and that there was no hand-holding or kissing. He had let out a string of expletives in disbelief.

Xiang Qian could not believe Zheng Tingyang could exercise such self-control, praising him as the only true man in the entire universe.

Yu Yan’s father had once hired teachers to instruct him on how to please a future husband. For an Alpha, nothing was more intoxicating than a sweet-scented gland. A fair body and a sensitive gland; his fragrance was enough to make any Alpha fall for him.

Alas, his husband was a Beta.

None of those tactics worked, and Yu Yan had no idea how to interact with a partner. He wanted to start with dinner tonight to do what a wife ought to do. After dutifully staying in front of the television to watch the report on the Changxing Group, he entered the kitchen to show off his skills. His cooking was quite good, especially when it came to desserts.

However, he hit a snag at the very first step. There were no knives in the kitchen. He searched several cabinets to no avail; the only things he found were his and Zheng Tingyang’s bowls and chopsticks placed side by side, looking sweet and harmonious.

Yu Yan felt that they had only married for the sake of the child.

Xiang Qian had asked, “Are you really going to stay strangers like this for the rest of your lives? Strangers cannot be good parents! You will not be able to pull off the happy family of three act!”

His friend’s words made sense and served as a wake-up call. He wanted to try breaking the ice; perhaps it would actually work. Coincidentally, the doctor had sent him a message confirming tomorrow’s prenatal check-up. After some thought, he decided to send an inquiry first.

Little Prophet: Are you busy? (Cat peeking emoji)

He held his phone and waited anxiously for a moment. The reply was unexpectedly fast.

Zheng Tingyang: I am not busy. Go ahead.

At that moment, the board meeting at the Changxing Group was only halfway through. The massive fluctuations in the Guangmao Group’s stock meant they had lost their land reclamation qualifications, and the contract was up for re-bidding. The press conference earlier had been an announcement of Changxing’s intent to bid.

There were six project teams in the conference room, and the bidding proposal had been divided into meticulous sections. Liu Zhixin, as the presenting member for his group, was full of confidence as he explained the PowerPoint with grand gestures. The teams were competing with each other; whichever group secured the bid would see a year-end bonus equivalent to the price of a house.

As a leader, Zheng Tingyang was generous but strict. The first two presenting teams had already been rejected, and on-site revisions had done nothing to save them. One project manager had even been demoted on the spot. The atmosphere in the room was stiflingly tense; one could hear a pin drop.

As Liu Zhixin spoke, he suddenly felt a cold sweat break out on his back because Director Zheng had actually picked up his phone to play with it while listening to the report! In that instant, everyone present held their breath for him, thinking he would likely be packing his bags soon.

Zheng Tingyang’s fingers typed rapidly across the screen. Without looking up, he said, “Keep talking.”

Liu Zhixin stammered, “Oh, oh, okay. Currently, the reclaimed area is closer to the Jinnan District, where there are many densely populated commercial buildings. Therefore, we have the following three proposals.”

Zheng Tingyang looked at the message on his phone.

Little Prophet: Where are the knives kept at home? I looked for a long time but could not find them.

Zheng Tingyang: What do you need a knife for?

After the message was sent, two minutes and thirteen seconds passed like a stone sinking into the ocean; there was no reply. He opened the living room surveillance feed: empty. The bedroom: empty. His brow furrowed in obvious unease until he checked every camera and finally found a small figure in the kitchen.

It was inconvenient with a pregnant belly; Yu Yan was clutching his waist and crouching in the kitchen corner, holding his phone and lost in thought. Zheng Tingyang dialed the number directly. “What are you doing?”

Yu Yan’s voice over the phone carried a strained peacefulness. “I am watching television. I just wanted to ask if you were busy.”

Zheng Tingyang looked at the monitor again in disbelief. The tiny person was huddled on the floor like a little ball, holding the phone on speaker to talk to him.

Zheng Tingyang’s first reaction was that something had happened to Yu Yan; his second was that his wife was lying to him. He stood up abruptly and walked straight out of the conference room, giving Secretary Lin a gesture to adjourn the meeting.

“I will be home immediately. Wait for me, and do not hang up the phone.”

The man left in a hurry, leaving the people in the room staring at each other. Secretary Lin spoke in a professional tone, “The teams that have not yet reported should send their files directly to Director Zheng’s email. We will temporarily schedule a video conference for 9:00 AM tomorrow. Does any team need to reschedule?”

Wen Qiao, in the corner, raised a hand. “Secretary Lin, I am taking leave tomorrow. I will hand the report over to someone else in the group.”

Secretary Lin replied, “Okay.”

“Wen Qiao, you have been taking leave quite frequently these past few months, have you not?” someone asked.

Wen Qiao said, “I have no choice. My wife is pregnant. Check-ups, shopping, heat cycles; she needs someone with her all the time. There is another check-up tomorrow. She told me long ago that if I do not go, she will throw a fit and cry. There is no helping it.”

“Hey, Secretary Lin, since it is an online meeting tomorrow, is Director Zheng not coming to the office?” someone else asked. “This seems to be the first time he has taken leave.”

“Director Zheng is amazing. He was transferred from the capital as a Vice President and became the CEO in just a few months. He is incredible. I thought he was a work machine who never took time off.”

Secretary Lin nodded. “Director Zheng’s schedule will have these days blocked off every month from now on. Work matters are not to disturb him.”

“Did something happen?”

Secretary Lin, of course, would not disclose Director Zheng’s private affairs. He simply shook his head, thinking to himself that Director Zheng also needed to accompany his wife for a prenatal check-up.

The drive from the company to the house took only five minutes. He took the elevator straight up and burst through the door, heading directly for the kitchen.

He knew all too well the danger of knives. In his youth, because he could not grow a gland, he had been almost frantic enough to want to carve organs into his own body. Hormones during pregnancy were inherently unstable, and he did not yet have the ability to soothe Yu Yan with pheromones. To prevent Yu Yan from doing something reckless or getting hurt, all the knives in the house were kept in the topmost cabinets.

“Where? Where does it feel uncomfortable?” When he entered, Yu Yan was still sitting on the kitchen floor tiles, clutching his phone. The ongoing call overlapped with his voice as Yu Yan was carried over to the sofa. Zheng Tingyang checked him over repeatedly, only breathing a sigh of relief once he was certain there were no external injuries.

“Are you hungry?”

Yu Yan shook his head, obediently reaching out to tug at the man’s hem. “You came back so fast. It is only seven o’clock.”

Zheng Tingyang was puzzled. “What about seven o’clock?”

“Are you not busy at this time? Usually, you do not come back until eight or nine.”

During the first two months of their marriage, Zheng Tingyang was still a Vice President. He had to socialize and handle office work, staying in a near-constant state of work. Sometimes he had to attend social functions and would return even later. Why was he less busy now that he had been promoted?

Zheng Tingyang did not take the bait. “Why were you crouching in the kitchen? Why were you looking for a knife? Your ankles are so cold. Tell me what is wrong.”

He knew Yu Yan’s habits too well; the kitchen was not a place he frequented. He sat Yu Yan on the sofa and almost knelt on the floor, looking up at him with eyes full of tension. Frightened by his serious expression, Yu Yan said guiltily, “I wanted to cook.”

“Cook? Was the porridge I left not to your taste? I will hire a maid and have her stay on the floor above. If you need anything, you can call her to come down and cook for you.”

Yu Yan blinked, thinking it was a bit much. He lowered his eyes and said in a very soft voice, “That is not necessary. I was just a little bored at home and wanted to make some dinner to wait for you. I am actually quite good at cooking, but I could not find a knife. I wanted to see if there was one in the lower cabinets, but I did not expect…”

He had suffered another bout of low blood sugar and everything had gone dark. Afraid of fainting and hitting his belly, he had moved in a hurry and bumped his head against the cabinet, seeing stars. He was afraid he would faint if he rushed, so he had simply crouched on the floor to wait until he felt better before standing up. He had not expected his legs to go numb; his legs felt like they had become strangers to him.

Zheng Tingyang reached out and felt the back of Yu Yan’s head; sure enough, there was a small bump.

Yu Yan had never felt so foolish. In the past, he could have easily handled a small matter like this himself. He took a deep breath, his small face nearly buried in his plush pajamas out of shame. The lamb hood on his head had slipped down like a scarf, piling softly at his nape. He looked like a pitiful, ruffled chestnut; prickly to the eye but soft to the touch.

Zheng Tingyang leaned in slightly, bringing the boy into his arms to rub the back of his head. He caught the faint scent of shampoo. “Does it still hurt?”

Yu Yan shook his head in his arms. “It does not hurt.”

“No matter what time it is, if something happens, do not just send a message. Call me immediately. You are currently carrying…” His words trailed off, and he suddenly froze.

This was because Yu Yan had reached out his arms to carefully embrace him, burying his blushing face into the crook of the man’s neck. Yu Yan wanted to be closer to his husband; he did not want to be strangers like the ones Xiang Qian described. He summoned his courage while the man was rubbing his head and reached out his slender arms to circle him with extreme care. He rubbed his nose against the man’s shoulder as if acting spoiled, and his pregnant belly pressed against the man’s lower abdomen.

His voice was as soft as cotton candy. “Tingyang, I used to be very smart. I only became silly because of the baby. Do not dislike me.”

His cheeks were alarmingly red and his voice trembled with nerves. Although releasing pheromones was useless for his Tingyang, he was still as warm as a freshly baked chestnut. He buried his face in the man’s chest and rubbed. He rubbed his belly against him again, apologizing with a little whimper, “If you dislike me for being silly, I am apologizing to you now.”

There was a buzzing sound in Zheng Tingyang’s head, and his throat tightened.

“Xiao Yu.” His voice was husky and nearly trembling.

Xiao Yu, meaning Little Fish. No one had called him by that nickname for a long time besides Xiang Qian.

“The doctor said that being closer is good for the baby, so I wanted to cook for you. If you do not like it, I will not do it again.”

He thought his lie was too childish and clumsy, and he hurriedly let go, not daring to hug him anymore. But Zheng Tingyang held his arms in place. He intentionally kept his waist and hips at a distance, saying in an almost threatening tone, “Do not move.”

Afraid that the pregnant belly would move again, he even added, “And do not rub against me.”

A familiar sense of discomfort and tension surged from his lower abdomen to his mind. How could his Little Fish be this cute?

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