Chapter 53: Gu Xiujue
The opening dance was on a timer, so everyone who wanted to dance with the Omega had to come forward and compete for the opportunity.
But this was not the only moment to perform in front of an Omega.
Next came Q&A sessions, game sessions, etc. No need to list them all.
Anyway, everything was arranged to accommodate the Omega’s stamina, so all sessions were very short.
Ever since Li Dong arrived in this world, he followed its rules without showing a hint of impatience on his face.
If an Alpha was too much, he would smile and say, “Next, thank you.”
In a blink, Gu Xiujue stepped up to Li Dong. “I am sorry about the dance,” he said uneasily. He had not actually wanted to hand Li Dong off to other Alphas, but for an unspeakable reason he had done it.
“It is fine, you do not have to apologize,” Li Dong said. “Those are the rules of a coming-of-age.” He looked him over at ease. “So can you answer the question I asked you while we danced?”
“Mm…” Gu Xiujue started to feel hot again. Luckily he had not set down his glass. He took a sip. “You make me…” His body was reacting.
Because the reason was hard to voice, the major general sighed with a red face. “You make me long for you to enter my world.”
“Is it entering your world… or your body?” Li Dong asked.
People were standing far enough away. Gu Xiujue trembled where he stood and kept his legs pressed together. “My body as well.”
“Major General Gu, I am very satisfied with your answer,” Li Dong said.
“Thank you…” Every time they met, he got teased until his face flushed and rippled. These embarrassing days were really enough, along with this constant loss of dignity.
Yet he still could not help talking to the other man more.
“Then please call the next one. Wait for me at the table,” Li Dong said, lowering his eyes. He glanced at the next card and blinked. “Qin Xiao?”
So the captain had come too. They just had not danced earlier.
Li Dong and Qin Xiao had a very pleasant conversation. The two of them looked like a pair of familiar old friends.
The Omega was smiling that brightly, and Gu Xiujue felt his mood tilt.
No. He dropped his head and drank in silence. This is not right, Xiujue…
He wished time would speed up and hurry to the final segment when the announcement would be made.
After a full thirty minutes of torment, he finally saw Li Dong send off the last Alpha. The Omega looked a little tired, yet his brows still flew high.
What a special Omega, one who radiated an Alpha’s aura.
And yet he had a “slender and delicate” body that made you want to grant his every request.
Li Dong: “??” A 180 guy, delicate?
After the second-to-last segment, Father Chu and Madam Chu came over. “Huanyan, have you thought it through?”
“Let us announce it. Major General Gu,” Li Dong said.
“Are you sure you will not regret it?” Father Chu asked. There were many outstanding Alphas today, so he offered Li Dong one last chance to choose.
“Dad, we already settled it with Xiujue. We are not the kind of people who go back on our word,” Li Dong said, then jerked his chin toward Gu Xiujue. “Look, he is watching us with nerves written all over him.”
Following Li Dong’s line of sight, Father Chu quickly caught the focused look in Gu Xiujue’s eyes. The young Beta major general seemed very eager to know the outcome.
A young Beta who could not bear children looked rather pitiful.
“Alright then. Let him join the Chu family,” Father Chu said with a nod. He took Gu Xiujue’s card, went up on stage, and made the announcement.
The move drew every gaze in the room. The hall quieted as all eyes turned to Father Chu.
“After several hours of conversation, we have our answer.”
The floor rustled in whispers. So it was going to be a direct announcement, selecting the candidates who could go deeper with the Omega.
“I will now announce…” Father Chu looked down at the card. There was only one name on it. “Major General Gu Xiujue.”
The hall erupted. The first name was a Beta?
“Tsk tsk, congratulations, Xiujue,” Huo Leishao said, eyes complicated, and mood very sour.
F*ck?! His ex and his ex’s ex got together. had gotten together. F*ck!
Sour, sour, sour, sour.
Still, he held out hope that the next name would be his.
“All done. The only choice is Major General Gu Xiujue,” Father Chu said.
“??” What?
Question marks popped over every Alpha’s head. With so many excellent Alphas present, they chose a single Beta?
That Omega had a screw loose.
“Thank you,” Gu Xiujue said. He swept a glance over the crowd, then stepped forward and bowed to Father Chu. “I am very grateful. It is an honor.”
The Alphas raised their brows. That was a little too cool and detached.
“In that case, I will make my own announcement,” Gu Xiujue said. He lifted his head and drew a breath. “I will choose a date to marry Chu Huanyan and join the Chu family.”
“!!!” The one marrying in was the Beta. That was unexpected.
How despicable, some thought. To get an Omega, he would stoop to anything.
Several Alphas looked at him with open disdain. Despicable!
“Major General Gu!” an Alpha called, stepping out. “Are you insane?” Did it have to be that Omega? The Omega could have kept seeing Alphas. Then he would accept it.
“I am sorry,” Gu Xiujue said to the Alpha he did not know. “This is my private affair. Please do not interfere.”
“But this is beneath you,” the Alpha said. No one in the interstellar world had ever married into an Omega’s family. Even if the major general could not bear children, there was no need to trample his dignity for an Omega.
“Major General Gu already said to stop interfering. Why are you still running your mouth?” Li Dong stood, walked to Gu Xiujue’s side, and said, “That is enough. The ceremony is over. Thank you all for coming.”
“I always knew you were not a good Omega,” the Alpha B spat. He loathed this overbearing Omega who threw his weight around on the strength of his status. “Major General Gu, with all due respect, you will not be happy with him. He will abandon you sooner or later.”
Roughly half the room felt the same. An Omega would not like a Beta.
Li Dong frowned. “We are done. See the guests out.”
The male lead of this world was sensitive and suspicious. If he took that to heart, things could go bad.
Li Dong quickly had the family send guests off one by one, clearing out all those Alphas with their own agendas.
“Chu…” Gu Xiujue stayed just behind Li Dong, looking cool on the surface. “I am mentally prepared,” he said. “If one day you stop liking me, just tell me.”
“Mental preparation?” Li Dong arched a brow and pushed him up against a table. “So are you ready for this kind of preparation too?”
Gu Xiujue’s eyes flew wide. Heaven help him, he nearly cried out. Being kissed was one thing, but that knee rubbing at his… rubbing…
“Please…” Stop. He was like a fish out of water, dying on land.
Li Dong teased him twice and let up. He was not planning to embarrass him here. “Request accepted,” he said, pecked the male lead’s lips, and released him. “You are very sensitive, Xiujue.”
Gu Xiujue propped himself off the table, grateful to be back on his feet. His face was flushed scarlet.
“Tired? Hungry?” Li Dong asked. “Did you eat enough during the banquet?”
“Thank you for your concern…” he said. He was not tired and not hungry. His entire body was simply wrong again, the kind of wrong that could kill a man.
“Mm?” Li Dong felt helpless. He pressed a hand to Gu Xiujue’s shoulder. “Did you seriously just thank me?” Was this man asking for it?
“It is not that…” Gu Xiujue said. “You know my condition right now.” He lowered his eyes and added, “May I rest in your room? I had a little wine.”
“You can,” Li Dong said. He lifted his hand from the man’s shoulder and headed upstairs.
Gu Xiujue followed right away, mortified. Even the stairs made his face burn, because climbing them made everything worse.
“This is my room. Make yourself at home,” Li Dong said. “The bathroom is there. Do you want a shower?” He pointed to the en suite.
Getting through the door was already his limit. He shut it behind him and a voice, off by a note, slipped out. “Chu, help me.” Long fingers trembled at his collar.
Poor Beta, he always flooded with desire when meeting the right person.
Li Dong doubted he could even make it to the side of the bed. He sighed, went over, got him where he needed to be, and settled the matter directly.
This time he did not go easy. It was not a simple bit of comfort anymore.
The stormy content was omitted for harmony, thirty thousand words skipped.
Now that the process was omitted, let’s look at the calm aftermath.
Li Dong kissed Gu Xiujue on the forehead and lay on his side, mouth itching for a cigarette.
Too bad this world had no such harmful thing as cigarettes.
Gu Xiujue lay limp beside him, face dazed and drowning, not yet out of that other world.
“Hey?” Li Dong nudged him with a toe. “You good?”
Old driver that he was, this stuff was routine for Li Dong. Even at his most excited he had limits.
“Yes… I am alright…” Gu Xiujue said, then jumped at the sound of his own voice. Was that really him?
“Then stay here tonight. Tomorrow morning we go to the notary’s office and register our marriage,” Li Dong said. In this world they registered first. If the three months of married life went fine, they held the wedding.
If there were problems within three months, either side could seek a divorce.
If there were no problems after three months, divorce would be harder. That clause applied to Alphas and Betas.
Omegas were not in that category. If an Omega wanted to leave, it was easy since the court would definitely rule in their favor.
No wonder so many busybodies were convinced that Major General Gu would be dumped by an Omega. It was only a matter of time.
Truth be told, Gu Xiujue had thought so too. He got up with a troubled face. “My behavior is very rude,” he said. The ceremony had just ended. He should have given the Omega’s family a better impression.
“Are you dumb? You want to go meet my parents like this?” Li Dong said. There was still satisfaction written on the man’s face, never mind that voice. “Stay put. I will go talk to them.”
He got dressed. He could feel a scorching gaze on his back.
At this point, Li Dong was calm. He had gotten his man, so he was not that worried about what came next.
“Alright,” Gu Xiujue said from his fiancé’s bed, nerves tight. “When will you be back?” He knew he should not show control or clinginess, but he could not help it.
“I will be right back once I am done,” Li Dong said, checked the time, and added, “In a bit, take a shower and clean yourself up.”
Going out to see people with a post-coital face wasn’t very good.
“Okay,” Gu Xiujue said obediently, moving to get up.
“You good?” Li Dong said. “If you are fine, strip the sheets and wash them.” With that he headed out.
“!!” Only then did Gu Xiujue remember the bleeding. He tore off the bedding in a rush and carried it to the laundry room.
At the moment, the only person bustling about on the Chu family’s third floor was Major General Gu.
He was used to doing housework, yet he got the washer settings wrong several times, or kept hitting the same button again and again. It was like he was broken.
“Xiujue?” Li Dong came back up to look for him.
Clatter. The box of detergent fell from Gu Xiujue’s hand. Heaven help him. He felt like he had been dropped into a sacred after-marriage life and he was not used to it at all.
“So careless?” Li Dong crouched to help him scoop the detergent back in. “Did you add it?” He saw water inside but no detergent yet. Was this man a housework idiot?
He was not.
He had just forgotten.
“Sorry…” Gu Xiujue exhaled in panic. He felt like he had gotten dumber. Ahhhhh.
“No worries, silly. It is nothing,” Li Dong said. He measured the detergent, added it, and finished the rest.
“If we live together after we marry, I will do these things,” Gu Xiujue said in a small voice beside him.
Li Dong blinked. “Alright.” Such simple chores, who could not do them.
“Then, after we marry, will we live together?” Gu Xiujue asked. In his impression Omegas were very attached to home. Moving out seemed unlikely. He now wondered if the other man would let him move in.
“Blockhead. Of course we live together after marriage,” Li Dong drawled. “Come on. Come eat. They are waiting for you.”
“!!” That was a nerve-racking scene.
On the surface, Gu Xiujue was calm. “Mm.” He nodded and walked with his fiancé.
So aloof, this male lead. No wonder he had the cool and noble persona, Li Dong thought.
He had decided to spend a lifetime with such a person. He did not know if he would regret it later.
The three Chu family sat in the living room waiting, just as nervous as Gu Xiujue.
After all, the other party was a young imperial major general with an unlimited future.
And such a person was about to become their daughter-in-law, what a thrill.
“Apologies for the wait,” Gu Xiujue said, bowing to them once he arrived.
“It is nothing, Major General Gu,” Father Chu, Mother Chu, and Big Brother Chu said in unison. “Please, sit.”
Both sides were being absurdly polite.
“Sit,” Li Dong said, pulling out a chair for him. “We are only one form short. We are family now. No need to be so formal.”
There was no subtext, but Major General Gu overthought things and blushed at once.
“Thank you.” It felt like the entire world knew they had just rolled in the sheets, and even who had done what to whom.
“This will not do,” Mother Chu said. “We will be seeing each other often. You cannot be this stiff.”
“That is not it, Mom. After we marry, Xiujue and I will live together,” Li Dong said. Under the male lead’s surprised gaze, he added, “I will move to Xiujue’s place.”
“That is fine,” Father Chu said. The custom here was for the couple to set up their own household after marriage.
Sitting beside Li Dong, Gu Xiujue was dumbstruck. After marriage, the other man would move into his home and live together with him? Could things be this good?
Li Dong had indeed planned it. He was not used to living with his parents.
Gu Xiujue ate the whole meal in a daze and finished it without realizing.
Back in the room he floated. “Chu, you will move into my house? Really?” When he was assigned that big house, no one knew how he had felt.
At the time he had already broken his engagement with Huo Leishao, and he thought he would live alone for the rest of his life.
He had not expected someone out of nowhere to appear, in the identity of Huo Leishao’s fiancé.
“Really,” Li Dong said. After eating he felt drowsy, so he sat in a chair and put on a movie. “If you are tired, go lie down.”
“What about you?” Gu Xiujue asked.
“I am comfortable like this,” Li Dong said.
The room went quiet for a while. On the bed, Major General Gu said, “Come keep me company.” He watched Li Dong’s back with total focus.
Li Dong stalled a few seconds, then shut the screen, stood up, and went over. “Alright, I will keep you company.” He pounced onto the bed, pinned the male lead, kissed him silly, and then stayed to sleep with him.
In the quiet of his heart, a thin voice said to Gu Xiujue, This is so good.
Pillowed on his fiancé’s arm, clinging close, he had finally thrown off those endless lonely nights.
The next morning, Gu Xiujue woke with Li Dong beside him. He opened his eyes to find a warm bundle in his arms and lost any hope of more sleep.
He had never woken up in the same bed with anyone, so of course he was shocked.
It took a long moment to remember he was about to get married. This was… really wonderful?
Yes. From here on, a new era.
“Morning,” Li Dong said, hugging him and kissing him once. He climbed up, eyes sleepy. “Bathroom for me. Breakfast together after. Mm, did you sleep well?”
Getting the word “yes,” he continued toward the bathroom.
Gu Xiujue’s heart was about to explode. He felt he really liked this kind of morning, really liked this mode of interaction, really liked… the gentleness of his own Omega.
“Morning,” dear Chu.
When Li Dong came out, he saw the male lead still cool and composed. Yet as soon as the man saw him, his eyes bent in a smile.
Tsk tsk, a bit cute.
“Stop being shy. Go brush your teeth and wash your face,” Li Dong said, giving him a small kick as he passed.
“Alright,” Gu Xiujue said, obediently going to wash up. It took him ten minutes to get ready.
Everything according to military action and speed… no wait, because his mind kept wandering, his speed was half of normal.
Their first stop that day was the notary’s office to register their marriage.
First they had to swing by Gu Xiujue’s place to grab his household registration and documents.
The procedure for marrying an imperial servicemember differed from that for ordinary citizens.
At the notary, Gu Xiujue filled out the forms, then had to submit them to the military. Only after approval could he and Li Dong complete registration.
“So much hassle?” Li Dong sat in the waiting area, got impatient, and opened StarNet to browse.
One glance and yikes, it was all news about himself and Gu Xiujue.
“Imperial major general marries into Omega’s family,” which took a swipe at Li Dong. “Disabled Beta stoops to marry an Omega,” which took a swipe at Gu. “Is this marriage moral decay or human depravity,” which sounded like a melodrama editor had jumped ship to StarNet.
“What are you looking at?” Gu Xiujue saw Li Dong’s mouth tilt and leaned over, curious to share. Then, “…” What the hell. “These people are very bored.”
Li Dong shut his device at once. “Yes, they’re not only bored but also ignorant.” A major general who had fought for the Empire and lost his fertility to duty was not thanked by citizens, only shamed relentlessly. Simply ignorant, foolish, and ungrateful.
Gu Xiujue checked his own terminal and saw a reply from his superior. “Xiujue, registering your marriage today? That is sudden. I am sincerely happy for you.”
Soon, a Beta girl came out to the desk. “You two, the military approval has gone through. We are printing your certificates now. Please wait a moment.”
“Thank you,” Li Dong said, genuinely impressed. High-tech times were convenient. Everything was electronic.
“Let us stop by the military,” Gu Xiujue said, eyes shining over the fresh certificates. “Once we register, I can apply for marriage leave.”
“How many days?” Li Dong asked. Marriage leave sounded great. He was already planning a trip with the male lead as a honeymoon.
“Not sure,” Gu said. “Maybe a week, or half a month.”
“Oh.” Li Dong said, “Schedule the surgery for tomorrow morning then. Is that okay?”
“Alright,” Gu Xiujue said. He smiled at the window, feeling everything was wonderful. Not that kind of obvious joy, but careful, secretive happiness.
Author’s Note:
I am Shuaibi Yao, the handsome AF Yao who was suddenly struck by the urge to finish this story. Hugging your thighs so you will not smack me, aiya~ There is still a bit of follow-up to explain.
No more chatter, babies, please come read the next story. I promise to write it well (for real).
【Big-tailed wolf-yao, wicked, rich shou-uncle × naturally flirty student gong. Uncle is 35, the little gong is 20. The uncle secretly loves the little gong’s dad and ends up with the son of his longtime crush, becoming a legend in the circle.】
Scummy gong: Jiang Liannan, you dare lay a hand on my son!
Uncle: Old Chen, a father’s debts are paid by the son. How many years did you cost me?
Dong-ge: What does that have to do with me, I am just a student. You coming after me, does your conscience not hurt?
Uncle: It does not hurt, love you, mwah~
【The Zerg arc will be saved for later when inspiration hits. First a little sweet bun to soothe our nerves. Love you all.】
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