Silence settled for a while.
The only question left unanswered that night was what Su Yuan was supposed to do if, when the time came to inject artificial pheromones to soothe Lu Sili, he could not get hard.
In the end, the issue was resolved when Lu Sili snapped at Li Ya, “Are you insane?” and Li Ya burst out laughing.
Li Ya had gotten enough entertainment for one night. After eating his fill, he made a show of offering to help clean up and wash dishes, was refused by Su Yuan, and cheerfully headed home.
On the way, he even messaged Lu Sili: [Your husband is really interesting. Good cook too. I’m coming back next time.]
Seeing that Su Yuan had worked all evening, Lu Sili felt embarrassed simply eating and doing nothing. He decided to go into the kitchen, find a cloth, and wipe down the dining table.
But when he walked into the kitchen, he suddenly found the place unfamiliar.
When had an oven appeared? Did they really need three clay pots? Where had all these refrigerator magnets come from? Wasn’t that cup rack already overloaded? Was that a coffee machine? And where the hell was the cleaning cloth?
“What’s wrong?” Su Yuan asked.
Lu Sili came back to himself and hovered awkwardly in the kitchen doorway. “Um… where’s the cleaning cloth?”
Su Yuan looked surprised. “Huh?”
Lu Sili said, “I’ll wipe down the dining table.”
“No need. Go rest.” Su Yuan smiled, then asked, “Do you want some fruit? I bought some. See what you feel like eating.”
He opened the refrigerator.
Fruit, juice, milk, and all kinds of vegetables were arranged neatly inside, fresh and clean.
Lu Sili said, “There’s so much.”
Su Yuan could not hide the pride in his smile. “This way, whatever you feel like eating will be here.”
When had the refrigerator become so full again?
They were supposedly just two people living together to appease their families, but Su Yuan was doing a far better job of actually living together than Lu Sili was.
That only made Lu Sili feel even more embarrassed.
“I’ll still wipe down the table!” Lu Sili said with a smile.
Su Yuan did not understand why Lu Sili was so determined to wipe the table tonight, but he found it difficult to refuse Lu Sili anything. He took a clean cloth from the rack behind the sink and handed it over.
Su Yuan said, “Call me if you don’t know how.”
“…” Lu Sili tightened his grip on the cloth. “I’m lazy, not stupid.”
Su Yuan burst out laughing, then seemed afraid of laughing too much. He lightly pushed up his sleeve and said, “Okay. I’ll cut some fruit for you.”
Lu Sili said, “No need. I can do it myself.”
The moment he said it, Lu Sili noticed that Su Yuan had stopped smiling. His expression even looked a little disappointed. After forcing a faint smile, Su Yuan silently began loading the dishes into the dishwasher one by one.
Did he misunderstand something?
Feeling awkward, Lu Sili wiped the doorframe with the cloth and tried to explain. “I just think you’ve been working too hard. I should share some of the housework too.”
Su Yuan looked up. He was a little taller than Lu Sili, and the gaze behind his lenses was unexpectedly shy.
“You don’t need to share it. I genuinely like doing these things. I like cooking and housework. Before I moved in, you didn’t do any of this anyway. It wouldn’t make sense for you to suddenly start because I’m here, right?”
Lu Sili stared at him, somewhat bewildered. How had not doing housework just been defended with such righteous confidence?
“That actually makes a certain amount of sense,” Lu Sili said, immediately taking the offered escape route.
He really had never liked doing any of this.
They looked at each other and silently reached an agreement. Lu Sili smiled, leaned lightly against the doorframe, thought for a moment, and said, “Then I should do something else. How about I get you a new car?”
The last time Su Yuan said he needed one of Lu Sili’s cars for commuting, he had actually chosen the most ordinary Passat. Lu Sili had bought it just after returning to China because he often had to travel between the city and suburban film sets.
He analyzed the problem seriously. “Parking at the hospital isn’t very convenient, so a smaller model would be better. Nothing too flashy either, or people might suspect you of taking red envelopes from patients. I remember Mercedes has one…”
“I’m fine driving the one I have now,” Su Yuan said softly.
Lu Sili looked up at him and thought that made sense too. Su Yuan was not someone accustomed to an extravagant lifestyle.
“Then should I increase the monthly household allowance?”
“No. It’s already enough.” Su Yuan closed the dishwasher and met Lu Sili’s eyes. His eyes curved gently, making him look like the warm senior from some idol drama. Leaning slightly against the kitchen counter, he told Lu Sili, “You don’t have to feel uncomfortable.”
But the guilt in Lu Sili’s heart still had nowhere to hide.
He looked around the kitchen. It was large. To the old Lu Sili, it had been so large that much of it went unused.
But now Su Yuan had moved in, and because he loved cooking, he was gradually filling the space.
Something occurred to Lu Sili. He tilted his head and noticed the cup rack on the counter behind Su Yuan, packed full of cups. Su Yuan liked tableware, but there was no display cabinet in the house for showing off the nicer pieces.
“Ah. I’ve got it.”
Su Yuan smiled. “Got what?”
Embarrassed by his own slightly slow reaction, Lu Sili reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “How about this? I’ll buy you a really big cabinet for the living room, specifically for your cups and tableware and things. What do you think?”
For a moment, Su Yuan looked dazed.
It feels like… he’s finally starting to see me, Su Yuan thought.
Lu Sili could not tell from Su Yuan’s expression whether he liked the idea or not, but he decided to go with it. He genuinely wanted to give Su Yuan something, something to balance out all the good Su Yuan kept giving him.
Lu Sili finished wiping the table and returned the cloth to the kitchen. Su Yuan shooed him off to wash up and rest, saying he would handle everything else.
After the gala, work became much lighter. The only major task left before the Lunar New Year was the Spring Festival release season, and Lu Sili knew that work inside out. His team was capable too, so things were not especially busy.
Lu Sili gave Fiona and Xiaxia time off. The office had been quiet these past two days. He tried several times to catch Production Director Wei Yuan next door for a chat, but never managed to find him. Even his assistant said he had not been visiting film sets lately.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, Lu Sili caught Wei Yuan outside the elevator.
Wei Yuan was an Alpha, but Lu Sili never had to be guarded around him. First, Wei Yuan had been married for years. Second, the two had unexpectedly discovered that they were completely unaffected by each other’s pheromones. During a company medical exam, Wei Yuan had jokingly checked their compatibility. It was zero, with no attraction and no rejection whatsoever. Even if Wei Yuan were in rut while Lu Sili was in heat, they could coexist peacefully.
Parker had once joked that the two of them were the ultimate work-compatible pair.
“Yo.” Wei Yuan had a large cardboard box balanced on one shoulder. When he saw Lu Sili, he grinned. “Director Lu, you’re looking pretty good lately.”
Lu Sili walked toward the office with him. “You don’t look bad yourself. I heard your wife came back to China.”
Wei Yuan’s happiness was impossible to hide. He chuckled. “Yeah. She even got an offer from Licheng University.”
“As a teacher?” Lu Sili asked.
Wei Yuan had trouble turning through the doorway with the large box, so Lu Sili helped lift it.
“Thanks.” Wei Yuan set the box beside the office sofa, planted his hands on his hips, and caught his breath. “Yeah. Finally, no more long-distance marriage.”
Lu Sili smiled.
Wei Yuan’s wife was also an Omega. They had known each other as students and liked each other back then but had never gotten together. Years later, they reunited while working on the same film, he as a producer and she as a designer. They fell in love and married. Both were already thirty now. Contrary to what people imagined an Alpha-Omega marriage should look like, his wife had not stayed home to get pregnant, have children, and care for the family. Instead, she had gone abroad to study for three years.
They made black tea and talked about the possibility of an Asia regional office being established the following year. After analyzing the circumstances of each Asian branch, their greatest concern remained the same: F&A China had not produced anything in the past two years that had attracted attention from the major international film festivals.
Lu Sili had never forgotten what Su Yuan said that day.
“Brother Wei, what do you think about not fighting for the Big Three and instead focusing on young filmmakers and avant-garde film festivals? We could play the enthusiastic big-brother role,” Lu Sili suggested.
They worked for the same company, and Wei Yuan had more industry experience than Lu Sili, so he immediately understood what Lu Sili meant.
They analyzed the advantages and disadvantages, available resources, headquarters’ preferences, and more. Before they knew it, they had been talking for two hours and it was already time to leave work.
The New Year was approaching and most people were not too busy. Apart from the poor souls in Finance and Planning, nearly everyone could leave on time.
Wei Yuan hoisted the big box onto his shoulder again.
Lu Sili finally could not resist asking, “What did you buy? You’ve been hauling it around like it’s urgent.”
“Two boards. My wife and I are going skiing on vacation in a couple of days.”
“Nice.” Lu Sili smiled and remembered that he still had not bought Su Yuan the large cabinet for his cups.
After saying goodbye to Wei Yuan, Lu Sili returned to his own office and opened a shopping site to search for large cabinets. There were so many styles that his eyes went blurry. In the end, he closed the page, packed his laptop, put on his coat, and left work.
He decided to go look at moonlight. Su Yuan wore the apron Lu Sili had casually bought there almost every day, so he seemed to like it.
Lu Sili remembered seeing a furniture section there too.
The mall was a little far from the office. By the time he arrived, it was already dark.
As he entered, Lu Sili received a WeChat message from Su Yuan showing him the groceries he had bought that day and telling him to come home for dinner once he finished work.
Lu Sili replied while walking toward moonlight. When he finished and looked up, he found himself directly in front of a classical dressing mirror.
The face reflected in it, smiling at the corners of the mouth and practically glowing with happiness, looked unfamiliar to Lu Sili.
“…” Lu Sili coughed dryly and fled the mirror.
Lu Sili had never managed the decorating or furniture at home. Grandma and Fiona had decided everything, so he had absolutely no furniture-buying knowledge.
“What are the length and width of the space you reserved at home?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What style is the interior? Any color preferences? This model comes in dark walnut, light walnut, black, and white.”
“Style… Never mind. I’ll come back another day.”
At the salesperson’s suggestion, they added each other on WeChat. Lu Sili picked several models he liked, and they could discuss the measurements there later.
“Thank you.” Lu Sili thought this arrangement was excellent. It saved time.
Leaving the large-furniture section, he passed the small-appliance area and spotted several desk lamps.
“Hm?” Lu Sili stopped and bent down to inspect one.
“Isn’t this the model in Su Yuan’s bedroom? Does he know moonlight?”
Then he actually knew the apron had not come free with the clothes?
On the drive home, Lu Sili came up with two possibilities. One, Su Yuan had bought the lamp casually too, knew nothing about the brand, and had never seen the apron. Two, he knew, but had chosen not to say anything.
As for why Su Yuan might know and still not say it, Lu Sili could not figure that out and decided to pretend the matter did not exist.
He got home at seven. The moment he opened the door, he smelled dinner.
Music was playing in the kitchen, and Su Yuan came out holding a spatula.
Su Yuan said, “You’re back. Tired today? Wash your hands and get ready to eat.”
Lu Sili smiled. “Okay. Thanks for the hard work.”
Lu Sili seemed to be gradually getting used to this. Su Yuan in an apron and casual black-framed glasses, domestic and harmless, made him feel very relaxed.
Dinner that evening was seafood hot pot, pan-seared steak, and stir-fried water spinach.
“I already found a private chef to handle your weekday lunches. She has experience making nutritionally balanced meals. She’ll start delivering tomorrow. See how the food suits your taste,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili especially liked the squid rings that night, simply blanched and dipped in the Thai-style sauce Lu Sili had made, fresh and springy.
He nodded. “Will she make yours too? Then you won’t have to eat at the cafeteria or bring your own lunch.”
Su Yuan smiled. “Sure. Then I’ll eat the same thing as you.”
Half an hour later, both had finished eating. Su Yuan suddenly remembered something, stood, and brought over a foam shipping box from the entryway.
“Your delivery. I signed for it,” Su Yuan said.
Lu Sili asked, “Hm? Delivery?”
Su Yuan said, “Yeah. What did you buy?”
Lu Sili had not ordered anything online lately. Curious, he picked up a small knife and opened the box. Inside was a sealed refrigerated container. He lifted it and read the tiny lettering on the seal. “Pari Specialized Hospital for Secondary Sex Characteristics… artificial pheromones.”
Once Lu Sili realized what it was, he looked up at Su Yuan.
Su Yuan straightened his back and raised a hand to cough lightly into his fist. He started to reach for the dishes, stopped, then lowered his eyes and said quietly, “When the time comes… I’ll definitely do my best.”
Lu Sili: “Huh?”
Su Yuan looked up at him with determination. “I can do it. Don’t worry.”