Chapter 54: Gu Xiujue
Since Omegas are not allowed to enter the military complex, Li Dong could only wait in the car.
“Go on, I will wait here,” he said. Seeing the troubled look on Gu Xiujue’s face, his heart softened a little, so he leaned over and kissed him.
Gu Xiujue’s eyes narrowed. “…” He kept that kiss-inviting posture.
Li Dong’s heart went soft all at once. He cupped the male lead’s face and deepened the kiss. “Happy marriage,” he murmured, then planted several light kisses on his cheeks, his eyes, and his forehead.
Come to think of it, neither of his last two partners had ever officially registered for marriage.
In this world where male-male marriage was legal, openly obtaining a marriage certificate with a partner made Li Dong quite emotional.
“Happy marriage,” Gu Xiujue said in a low voice. He pressed his forehead to Li Dong’s, his heart feeling like it might explode.
“Work hard and see if you can get us some marriage leave, okay?” Li Dong stroked the major general’s cheek. “We will go on a honeymoon and see more of the world.”
From now on, they would have more time together, time to truly get to know each other and slowly build their feelings.
“Okay…” Gu Xiujue slowly put some distance between them, then picked up the documents and got out of the car.
Leaving the warm, sweet space behind, Major General Gu stood straight with a stern expression. His stride crisp with that signature military decisiveness.
He turned into the building where he worked every day. Along the way, whenever he met a colleague, he did something unprecedented, he smiled and greeted them. “Good afternoon.”
The colleagues, flattered and flustered, said, “M… Major General Gu, good afternoon.”
“Ellie, good afternoon.”
“Good afternoon! Um… Major General Gu…”
Two people stood behind him, staring with wide eyes. “He looks like he is in a very good mood today.”
A well-informed colleague came over to gossip. “You didn’t hear? Yesterday, at the Omega’s coming-of-age ceremony, he was chosen.”
The bystanders were shocked. “…” Did Major General Gu’s infertility get cured? How is that possible?
Apparently, no one yet knew that Gu Xiujue was here to request marriage leave.
When he came out holding a half-month leave approval, the smile on his face was impossible to contain.
A familiar comrade-in-arms saw him and looked surprised. “Xiu, what great thing happened today?” This guy clearly did not follow the news.
“I got married.” Gu Xiujue waved the slip in his hand. “Just applied for marriage leave. See you in half a month.”
The comrade: “!!!” Everyone around him is pairing off. So f***ing annoying!
Huo Leishao walked up from the other side. “Xiu, you remember that group of rookie recruits?” He frowned. “I have been covering for you for two days already.” Finally the man showed up to work, good, he had not been completely overwhelmed by an Omega.
“Sorry,” Gu Xiujue lifted the meaningful slip. “I got married, so that batch of rookies will still have to trouble you a bit longer.” And, “Chu is waiting outside for me. If anything comes up, we can talk online.”
Huo Leishao: “…” He shrugged, putting on a saintly smile. What is the big deal, heh.
Tough luck, rookies.
Li Dong waited in the car for about thirty minutes. He saw Gu Xiujue striding over, those long legs moving so fast they were nearly a jog.
Viewed head-on like this, the majesty of Major General Gu was even more thrilling than watching top models on a runway.
Because models cannot walk with this kind of lightning-strike decisiveness, and the aura is worlds apart.
As soon as their eyes met, Gu Xiujue smiled slightly. He got in the car and, like offering up a prize, handed the slip to Li Dong.
“What is it?” Li Dong took a look and smiled as well. Good heavens! “Half a month, you’re really something.”
“There are new recruits this season,” Gu Xiujue said. “Otherwise I could have asked for more.” Being praised made him happy. “So, shall we go back?”
They had just registered. Should they rush home to tell the parents?
“No rush.” While he was bored earlier, Li Dong had already looked up the best food and fun spots in District One. “Xiu, let’s go on a date.”
Goodness…
For Gu Xiujue, this already counted as very romantic.
“Okay.” He held the steering wheel, very composed. “Where do you want to go? Do you need me to arrange it?”
“Of course not, I already made a plan.” Li Dong cast his terminal screen to share it. “If you think it is fine, we can follow this.”
“...!!” The other party had carefully made a plan and even written it out. This feeling of being cherished was wonderful.
He did not even look closely at the contents and nodded immediately. “Okay, no problem.”
“It’s settled then.” Li Dong had no idea that these small gestures would move the male lead so much. He was simply used to taking the lead when dating.
The plan was just a few simple, small things.
“But…” After the happiness passed, Gu Xiujue frowned slightly. “We should still head back.”
This person had been so happy a moment ago, and now he had changed his mind and wanted to return. Li Dong raised a brow. “What is wrong? Are you feeling unwell or is there something you need to do?”
“No.” On this important day, work would not be allowed to intrude. He was worried about something else. “You should not stay out too long.”
They had not had the surgery yet, and as an Omega, Li Dong could enter heat at any time.
If he truly went into heat, Gu Xiujue did not dare imagine the consequences. For his partner’s safety, he would have no choice but to find an Alpha to carry Li Dong through it.
Just imagining it made him feel suffocated.
He absolutely could not accept his partner combining with someone else. That would be worse than death.
“So that is what you meant.” Li Dong nodded. “Then we will have the surgery tomorrow and make up the date after. How about that?” He understood the male lead’s worry. If, at the last minute, he ended up with some Alpha, the male lead would cry himself dry.
“Okay,” Gu Xiujue agreed on the spot.
“Then drive. There is a flower shop at the next intersection, I think. Stop there when you get to it,” Li Dong said.
“Hmm?” Flowers did not fit the major general’s image, and he looked puzzled.
“It is our wedding day. How can there be no flowers?”
“…,” Only now did Gu Xiujue realize that living with an Omega would feel like this. You really have to be gentle and a little romantic.
At the flower shop, Li Dong picked out a beautiful single red rose and a large bouquet of tender pink roses.
He got back into the car with the flowers. “This one is for you,” he said, handing over the red rose. “And this bouquet is for us. A wedding gift.”
Carefully, Gu Xiujue accepted it. He lifted the rose to his nose and breathed in. The scent was richly happy.
“Thank you.” His heart shouted, I love this so much.
When Li Dong came home with the bouquet, Mother Chu blinked in surprise and then her nose stung. The child she had protected with such care had finally made his own family.
“What a beautiful bouquet. Did Xiu give it to you?” What a thoughtful child, she thought, moved.
Standing behind Li Dong, Gu Xiujue felt a tug at his heart. This… His Omega liked flowers and plants and he had forgotten to bring his partner any.
“Yes,” Li Dong said. “Xiu paid for it.” He freed a hand and led the male lead inside, fingers lacing.
At that moment, the pounding in Gu Xiujue’s chest calmed. “Auntie, we are back a bit late, sorry,” he said, head lowered, polite to a fault.
“Xiu, call her Mom with me,” Li Dong reminded him. “Starting today, you cannot keep apologizing all the time. We are family.”
“That is right, Xiu,” said Mother Chu.
“Okay…” The way his partner had been raised was so good, a sense of pride rose in Gu Xiujue’s heart.
“Come on, let us go put the flowers in water.” Li Dong tugged him upstairs, then stuffed the bouquet into his arms. “You do it. My flower-arranging skills are not great.”
He was very self-aware. He turned to find the tools and handed them over one by one.
Major General Gu suddenly remembered that midday in the military building when he had gotten that picture while showering.
“…,” That sudden sweet smile nearly blinded Li Dong. He stared, dazed. When the male lead smiled, it was dangerously handsome, enough to make his knees weak.
“I do not really know how either,” Gu Xiujue said softly. He held the scissors and clumsily trimmed the delicate blooms. “But I will do my best…”
Li Dong stayed nearby, nodding without interrupting.
However long the male lead took to trim, he would keep him company.
Out of nowhere he asked, “Are you happy?”
“…,” Eyebrows eased, eyes lowered, Gu Xiujue nodded while he cut. “What about you, Chu?”
“I am not called Chu,” Li Dong said. He dipped a finger in water and wrote a square character on the table. “This character is ‘Dong.’ You can call me that.”
“Dong?”
“A season. Winter.”
“Okay,” said Gu Xiujue. Winter. He would write it in his diary and treasure it.
A few final slices of daily life. One, the day of the surgery.
When Li Dong felt the signs of heat, he was already lying on the operating table. The doctors were quietly debating whether to implant the Beta’s pheromone now or wait until the onset of heat for a better result.
They agreed that given Li Dong’s strong, healthy constitution, it would be more effective to implant at the height of heat, so that the Beta’s pheromone could soothe him to the greatest extent.
Once effective, from then on this Omega would only go into heat in response to his Beta partner, no longer affected by other Alphas.
By Li Dong’s side, the doctors’ question put Gu Xiujue in a bind. Of course he wanted his pheromone to be as effective as possible.
But he worried his partner would not be able to endure it and would suffer too much.
“Do it at the last moment, doctors,” Li Dong said. When he heard there would be no anesthesia for the pheromone implant, his neck went cold, but for the sake of future safety he chose to endure the momentary pain.
Going into heat on an operating table with doctors all around was unbearable to even picture.
Counting on his thick skin, Li Dong decided not to care about anything else.
“No, that will hurt too much,” Gu Xiujue objected immediately. “I recommend implanting right now.”
The doctors looked at one another. Who should they listen to?
By rights, they should listen to the Beta, but the chart said the Beta was the one marrying in, which would mean listening to the Omega?
“Listen to me. Do it at the last moment,” Li Dong said. “Otherwise, if I keep going into heat for other people in the future, not only will you be in agony, I will be too.” Nobody wants to see that.
That convinced Gu Xiujue immediately.
The doctors watched the data. The patient’s hormone levels were swinging more and more, and his physical symptoms were sweat, flushed skin, and a dazed, intoxicated expression.
“Dong?” Gu Xiujue had held his hand the whole time and quickly felt the sweat pooling in his palm.
Hearing the male lead anxiously call his Chinese name, Li Dong’s heart trembled. God, this feeling was unbearable, like thousands of ants crawling in his bones.
His fingers dug hard into Gu Xiujue’s palm. With inhuman self-control, he forced down the sounds he could not let out.
His grip had broken the skin, yet Gu Xiujue did not even frown. He only asked the doctors, “Has it peaked? How much longer?”
“Please hold on a bit more,” the doctors said. “It is almost there.” They stared at the vitals, just as tense as he was.
“Ah…” Li Dong’s face twisted. He suddenly grabbed for Gu Xiujue’s wrist as if to bring it to his mouth, then held back at the last second.
“It is fine,” Gu Xiujue said immediately. He moved his wrist to Li Dong’s mouth. “If it hurts, bite me. Do not hold back, okay?”
At first, Li Dong refused, but going into Omega heat was too f***ing awful, too deranged!
Unable to endure, he bit down on Gu Xiujue’s arm through the sleeve.
The pain was nothing like before. Gu Xiujue’s brows drew tight. “It is fine. You can bite harder. I do not mind…” He would gladly take the pain if it meant his partner could be free of this torment sooner.
Ten minutes later, Li Dong was drenched, like a salted fish pulled from the sea.
“All right, we are starting the pheromone implant,” a doctor said. “It will hurt. Please be ready.” He doubted the Omega drowning in desire could still hear him.
Li Dong’s mind was fogged. Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced from his neck and spread through his whole body.
From Li Dong’s expression, Gu Xiujue could tell how much it hurt. There was nothing he could do but hold his partner’s hand tighter, heart in knots.
A measured dose of pheromones entered the Omega’s gland, then fused, generating a new pheromone signature.
The pain of this process was something most Omegas could not endure.
Which was why, for centuries, very few Omegas chose this path. They preferred Alphas and felt safe and happy with them, with no pain.
“Sorry.” Gu Xiujue swallowed. “I know you told me not to apologize, but I truly am sorry…” He squeezed Li Dong’s hand, head lowered, helpless and guilty.
Another ten minutes passed. “It will take time for the pheromones to fully integrate,” the doctors said. The signs of heat were receding, but the Omega still needed soothing. “We can remove the instruments now. Ahem, Major General Gu, if you would like to soothe your partner, you may do so here.”
Releasing was a good thing. It would speed the fusion.
“Thank you, doctors,” said Gu Xiujue. He looked up briefly to speak, but his mind and eyes were full of his partner.
When they left, he finally understood what they meant. His face went hot all at once.
After an hour of torment, Li Dong felt like dying and coming back to life. “Xiu… is it over?”
“Mm. The pheromones are still integrating.” Gu Xiujue took a fresh tissue and carefully wiped the sweat from Li Dong’s face.
“Then why do I still feel so awful?” Li Dong’s voice was rough. He wanted nothing more than a bucket of cold water to put out the iron-brand heat of his body.
“Because the fusion is still in progress,” said Gu Xiujue. “But I… should be able to help.” He made up his mind, face burning to the tips of his ears. He got to his feet, took a deep breath, and began to act.
Li Dong’s eyes went from confused to shocked. “…” He had thought the male lead would help like last time, he had not expected him to just… come up and…
You silly man, do you remember you are a tough-as-nails major general?
Such a modest, conservative man.
As the awful feeling slowly receded, Li Dong’s emotions became very complicated.
There had been a time when he thought he was over everything and would no longer be moved by the common tangles of the human world.
Including what happens in bed. Born from love, ending in desire.
Desire without love is tasteless. Li Dong’s heart had been as still as water, yet here on this operating table, he found the truth of love and desire again.
“Sorry. I might not have done well,” said Gu Xiujue, eyelids trembling under Li Dong’s gaze. “But I will do my best…”
“You already did very well, Xiu,” Li Dong said. He struggled up and brushed a kiss on Gu Xiujue’s face.
The true epilogue.
Three days later they returned for a follow-up. The doctor said the Omega’s pheromone integration was excellent, perfectly blocking the influence of others.
Major General Gu’s little heart secretly rejoiced. He was delighted that no Alpha would dare covet his partner again.
Epilogue Two.
They went on their honeymoon as soon as the surgery was confirmed a success.
They toured several famous R Star attractions for ten days. Major General Gu’s takeaway was: happy happy happy.
No fights on the road, decisions made together the whole time, and his Omega gave way to him a lot.
Epilogue Three.
Back at the military after the honeymoon, it took a while to readjust.
In meetings he wanted to go home, in training he wanted to go home, writing reports he wanted to go home. No matter what he was doing, he wanted to go home.
Before marriage, Major General Gu had no concept of vacation. After marriage, all he wanted was time off.
He also broadened his social circle and liked hanging out with married couples, sharing tips on relationships and ways to cook delicious food.
Epilogue Four.
Major General Huo Leishao also married an Omega at the end of the year, which was not the point, just mentioning it in passing.
The point was that their three-month trial marriage went well and they held a ceremony after.
Grandfather Gu attended the wedding. Major General Gu felt very satisfied. It was the best result he could have imagined.
Then the two of them submitted an application together to visit that heavily guarded sanatorium and see their elder.
Epilogue Five.
This is the last one. Major General Gu’s little diary.
“Star Year 2890, November 7th. Our first wedding anniversary. My dear took me to Ma Yinghua Restaurant to celebrate. After a year of hard work, he is a little rich man now, because he wants to support me.”
“Xiu, I am back.” Li Dong came in with a faint smell of alcohol. “What are you doing?”
“Mm, you are back?” Gu Xiujue put away his diary and came over to help Li Dong with his coat. “You drank again?” His keen nose caught the scent.
“Sorry.” Li Dong leaned in and pecked the corner of his mouth. “Once this boss signs the contract with us, I will try not to drink anymore.”
“All right.” Gu Xiujue was not upset at all. He felt that whatever his partner wanted to do should be respected. “I will go run your bath. Love you.” He confessed with perfect seriousness and turned to go, so adorable it made one want to…
Li Dong reeled him back by the waist and chuckled. “Gu Xiujue, I love you too.”
The Monitor pressed a button and the picture froze on Test Subject No. 1’s handsome face.
“…,” He frowned. A surge of unprecedented pressure rose in his heart. He wanted to smash the remote.
Since the third world started, No. 1 had been very restrained. It even made people think he would not continue his usual style and build a relationship with the male lead.
At first, when the Monitor could not observe the details he wanted, he would fast-forward.
The result? Still no sweet, sweet sweetness!
(Our Monitor loves sweet romances, extremely glass-hearted, cannot accept angst.)
The test subject who had been so expressive in the first two worlds suddenly withdrew into himself in this one. He flirted without committing to love, which was just scummy.
“Sir, your emotional state is dangerous, please take your medication,” said the smart butler. The data showed his body was not doing great. It sent a robot over with the medicine. “What did No. 1 do to make you this angry?”
As a machine that monitored the virtual world around the clock, the data it gathered showed everything was normal. No. 1’s life was, as always, happy and his mindset steady.
“No, he did very well.” Tsk. If you had no plans to invest your feelings, why meddle in the male lead’s life at all?
“Really?” The electronic brain could not process matters of the heart. “Sir, how many more worlds do you think he can persist through?”
“I do not know.” The Monitor puffed out his cheeks a little.
“No. 1 is a very special person…” the smart butler murmured. “He has no desire for money or power, he is extremely responsible, and he shows kindness to fictional characters.” In some ways he resembled a fabricated person. “His convictions are firm and hard to shake.”
He treated the worlds like a series of stages to clear, yet could still find a balance to live well himself and help those around him live well. That was a great trait.
“Stubbornly believes he is a small-town ordinary,” the Monitor mused. Sometimes he felt that was the cutest part about No. 1, that he never wavered from his own self-positioning and way of life.
“Yes. Give him a prince’s title and he could still live with the ease of a small-town ordinary,” even the electronic brain found that amusing.
“So, will he eventually fall in love with the ABO world’s male lead?” asked the Monitor.
“??” The smart butler blinked. That is not our research focus. Please wake up, sir.
“All right, I will keep watching,” the Monitor said, calming himself and insisting on finishing the ABO world.
“…” The machine was desperate. How do I handle a boss who treats the experiment like binge-watching a drama?
At night, after switching the butler off, the Monitor stayed up to finish the ABO arc. He finally decoded Li Dong’s behavior in this world: married-man syndrome.
Because the male lead in the ABO world was different from past male leads. They could marry and implant pheromones to create an unbreakable bond.
After marriage there would be no more glittering distractions, only the ironclad life of two.
The Monitor could be unhappy that Li Dong was not a perfect romance-novel male lead, but he had to admit that No. 1 gave his truest self to the ABO world’s male lead, Gu Xiujue.
No. 1 could be impatient, could close himself off sometimes, could occasionally not want to deal with the male lead and run off to fish by himself.
Because No. 1 was a living human too.
He loved the male lead, just in a more down-to-earth way.
After finishing the ABO world, the Monitor had the intense urge for it never to end and even felt a little lonely that it had.
“Sir, we need to submit this month’s summary report,” said the smart butler. “And the new batch of test subjects is in place and ready to enter the worlds.”
“Mm…” The Monitor frowned slightly and a flicker of resistance crossed his face.
Author’s Note:
【After three worlds, let us hold a little meeting: self-evaluation report】
Li Dong: I will go last. You all first.
Xi Xingling: If it is self-evaluation, I will say I am Dong-ge’s most beloved little baby. Anyone disagree?
Guan Yaoming: The big baby raises his hand.
Gu Xiujue: I am a baby too.
Li Dong: Yes, yes… you are all…
【Hugs and pats for the little shous. Dong-ge truly loves them. Flesh may fade, but spirit never will. He will guard them to the end.】
Single Yao: Who will guard me? I am 1v1, do not smoke, do not drink, sweet and handsome.
A-Luan cameo: I love Yao-yao.
JK cameo: Queue up!
Jingzi appears: Queue again!
BanYuan Xiudao: Braised pork chop!
Pengzhang Yao: Thank you!
IsitRo: Tbh, I was still hoping for Li dong to be topped here by our shou. That would have been a great twist. :c I hope the next the arc will be fun though! Lessgoo~
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