TAHDO Chapter 79

“Your due date?” Liang Yan was puzzled as to why Yin Tongguang was suddenly asking about this. “I’m only just starting to show a little. If everything goes normally, it should be around [month]. Why?”

Yin Tongguang couldn’t exactly tell him that there were always idle people out there who spent all day hoping things would go badly for the two of them. So he could only stammer his way through an explanation.

“No, nothing! I was just checking in to see how you’ve been feeling lately! Has anything happened?”

“No, everything’s fine.” Liang Yan thought about the emotional ups and downs he’d experienced earlier. Looking back, they didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore, so he answered in a fairly relaxed tone.

“That’s good, that’s good! Yan Yan, make sure you take good care of yourself!”

Yin Tongguang couldn’t resist nagging him a little longer before finally hanging up.

Hah. What a bunch of losers.

He put away his phone and sneered inwardly at the original poster of that forum thread.

Yin Tongguang had even begun imagining the looks on everyone’s faces when they discovered the truth. It would undoubtedly be a spectacular sight.

Their hearts would ache! Their tears would flow!

They’d be left standing there, questioning their entire existence!

They’d cry themselves into oblivion!

Bet you never saw this coming! The Xiao Qiu you were all swooning over is actually an Alpha!

And he’s married to the very Liang Yan none of you could ever win over!

Just imagining the scene filled him with excitement and happiness, along with the delightful anticipation of watching everyone get proven wrong.

Yin Tongguang felt that this was exactly the kind of moment that would give him the strength to keep guarding their secret to the very end.

Still, it wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought about the potential problems.

Although Yan Yan and Xiao Qiu had both said they didn’t mind, Liang Yan’s belly would eventually become impossible to conceal. He wondered what those people who spent all day lurking on the forum instead of studying their textbooks would say then.

Whatever. Who cares?

He encouraged himself silently.

When it comes to winning arguments online, Dad has never lost!

After hanging up with Yin Tongguang, Liang Yan continued sipping his porridge in small mouthfuls.

In order to keep up with the latest developments, Ji Qiu had just finished a class with a senior student one year above him and immediately rushed over to Yu Zhenghao’s place. Now, after finally catching his breath, he had hurried home to check on Liang Yan. He gave his Omega a hug before heading out again.

He had been incredibly busy lately. It seemed as though everything had piled up at once, and yet, even with so much on his plate, he still managed to find time to come home and keep Liang Yan company.

Liang Yan wanted to tell him that he was managing perfectly well on his own and that Ji Qiu didn’t need to worry so much. He could focus on his own affairs first.

But several times, the words reached the tip of his tongue, only for him to swallow them back down before they could come out.

Because, truthfully, he was also rather addicted to Ji Qiu’s company.

Liang Yan thought there was something strange about himself.

He knew perfectly well that Ji Qiu was already extremely busy. Rationally speaking, he should be making things easier for him. Yet whenever Ji Qiu called to check on him and ask how he was doing, Liang Yan couldn’t help making unreasonable requests.

Sometimes, he wanted a signature dish from a certain restaurant more than ten subway stops away. Other times, he wanted Ji Qiu to come home early just to keep him company.

He was being utterly spoiled and unreasonable.

A year ago, he would never have imagined himself acting like this.

He felt as though being pregnant had turned him into a child who hadn’t quite grown up mentally. He couldn’t bear to be away from Ji Qiu, yet he would deliberately act up to get his attention, constantly seeking more and more reassurance from him, as though only then could he feel completely secure.

Liang Yan swallowed the last mouthful of porridge, cleaned everything up, and planned to read for a while.

But after only a few pages, his mind began to wander again.

If Ji Qiu were beside him, perhaps he’d be able to concentrate better. His efficiency would improve, and he could ask Ji Qiu whenever he came across something he didn’t understand.

Liang Yan stared at his book, thinking lazily, and felt another little wave of irritation rise within him.

Why isn’t Ji Qiu home yet?

He held his phone, hesitated for a moment, and finally dialed the number.

Meanwhile, Chang Mingyuan finally ran into Ji Qiu when the latter came to deliver the previous semester’s data to Liang Chen.

It was still afternoon. Chang Mingyuan had just completed the experiment Liang Chen had assigned him and was preparing to take a breather when he saw Ji Qiu hurrying toward Liang Chen’s temporary office in the laboratory.

His spirits immediately lifted.

He had no idea why Ji Qiu was there. He only noticed that the other man looked extremely busy and wasn’t even wearing a lab coat.

Chang Mingyuan’s already mediocre gossip instincts led him spectacularly astray.

Could it be that my poor Xiao Qiu is going to try persuading his partner’s family to accept their relationship again?

He watched Ji Qiu enter Liang Chen’s office, his heart tightening.

Xiao Qiu is about to face another battlefield! Good heavens!

In reality, Ji Qiu was genuinely there just to hand over some materials. Although, as usual, he couldn’t resist being cheeky and nearly made Liang Chen flip his desk, he was clever enough to change the subject at the last moment.

He mentioned that he needed to go home and keep Yan Yan company, successfully leaving Liang Chen seething with frustration as the older man ordered him to get lost.

Having endured another round of his father-in-law’s icy glares and somehow survived, Ji Qiu finally walked out of Liang Chen’s office.

“Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu!”

The moment Ji Qiu emerged, Chang Mingyuan hurriedly called out to him.

Normally, he wouldn’t have dared to approach Ji Qiu on his own. But things were different now. He had joined the same research project Ji Qiu had worked on previously, giving them something to talk about. Besides, he was technically Ji Qiu’s senior.

There was nothing wrong with exchanging a few words, right?

It wasn’t as though he had any improper intentions. He simply felt that Xiao Qiu was rather pitiful.

Hearing someone call his name, Ji Qiu stopped and turned around to see who it was.

“…And you are?”

Chang Mingyuan briefly introduced himself, explaining that he was Ji Qiu’s senior and telling him about the research project he was currently working on.

Just then, Ji Qiu’s phone rang in his pocket.

Chang Mingyuan was startled.

He hadn’t intended to snoop, but the caller ID was so easy to see that he couldn’t help noticing it.

“Wifey.”

Holy crap. These two Omegas really go this far with their relationship?

You Omegas have husbands and wives among yourselves, too?

Before he could think it through, however, Ji Qiu answered the call.

“Yan Yan? What’s wrong?”

Liang Yan actually knew he shouldn’t be disturbing Ji Qiu. Even if he couldn’t ask him to come home right away, he at least wanted to hear his voice.

“Nothing. I just wanted to ask if you’re busy right now,” he said over the phone.

“Oh, I just came out of the laboratory building,” Ji Qiu replied, listening to Liang Yan’s voice.

Liang Yan gave a quiet “Mm.”

Ji Qiu could more or less guess what Liang Yan was feeling at the moment. His Omega probably just needed some reassurance.

So Ji Qiu was about to tell him about his own recent triumph—how he’d just managed to survive another encounter with his father-in-law.

“It’s fine! I just got a whole load of prai—”

He glanced at the person standing beside him, who was staring at him with undisguised curiosity.

He had originally intended to say that he’d just received a whole load of praise from Dad. But the moment the word “Dad” was halfway out of his mouth, he hurriedly swallowed it back.

“I just ate a lollipop! It was really delicious, hahaha—”

Liang Yan, on the other end of the phone: ?

Chang Mingyuan, who had been listening in: ?

Liang Yan couldn’t make sense of what he’d just heard.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing! Yan Yan, wait for me at home! I’ll be back really soon!” Ji Qiu hurriedly said.

Those words seemed to reassure Liang Yan considerably. Alone in the house, he no longer had anything else to say and simply replied, “Okay.”

Ji Qiu had just hung up when he noticed the peculiar look in his senior’s eyes.

“…What’s wrong, Senior?”

Chang Mingyuan thought Ji Qiu was truly, terribly pitiful.

He’d gone into the office to plead with Liang Yan’s father, hoping the man would accept their relationship—a love that society couldn’t approve of. But he’d apparently hit a wall. He’d then planned to comfort himself with a lollipop, only to be ordered home by Liang Yan the moment he mentioned it.

How tragic.

This relationship really is doomed to be a twisted, unhealthy one.

Busy thinking about getting home to his wife, Ji Qiu failed to notice that Chang Mingyuan’s expression had become one of sorrowful pity.

He simply nodded casually and said, “If there’s nothing else, Senior, I’ll get going first. We can talk another time.”

Chang Mingyuan let out a mournful sigh and said, “Qiuqiu, your senior has some advice for you.”

“?”

“Some things really don’t have to be shouldered alone. You’re exhausted. It’s time for you to take a break.”

Ji Qiu: ???

Take a break, my ass! My Yan Yan is waiting for me at home!

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