The wedding was arranged with staggering speed. The following day was a Saturday, and taking advantage of the fact that the Civil Affairs Bureau was open for regular weekend hours, the two headed over early in the morning and quickly completed the entire registration process.
By a little past ten, they already held their little red marriage certificates in their hands.
Ever since they had stepped out of the building, the younger boy had been staring at his little red booklet with a look of pure novelty, cradling it in his hands.
He lightly traced the red cover, then flipped it open to look at the inner page, staring at their photograph set against the stark red background.
Xiao Shuqing suppressed a smile in his heart. If anyone else saw them right now, they’d probably mistake them for a deeply devoted, madly-in-love couple.
“Professor Xiao, what should we do next?”
Having finally stared his fill at the certificate, the young boy turned his head to look at him.
The two of them were roughly the same height, yet Xiao Shuqing somehow still felt that this Alpha looked tiny and delicate. Moreover, it was only when they were posing for the photo earlier that Xiao Shuqing realized the boy possessed a pair of beautiful dimples.
When he pursed his lips into a smile, it was incredibly striking.
At the time, the photographer had laughed and barked directions at them: “Hey, Alpha, don’t be so shy! Your wife is this breathtaking, shouldn’t you be holding onto him tightly? If you keep grinning like a fool out there by yourself, someone’s going to steal him away.”
The already timid Alpha’s face had instantly flushed a brilliant, burning crimson.
In the end, Xiao Shuqing had been the one to take his hand, guide it to his own waist, and lean in slightly toward him before the camera could finally capture the shot.
In the photo, the young boy’s face carried a soft, stunning blush.
“It’s still early. Shall we find a café to sit down and discuss the matters we need to iron out?”
Xiao Shuqing pulled his thoughts back to the present, took a step forward, and lightly patted Yu Siyuan’s head.
The young boy nodded obediently. “Mm, okay.”
He was remarkably docile.
They chose a café in the city center and sat down.
The establishment featured massive floor-to-ceiling windows, outside of which several cherry blossom trees had been planted. It was peak blooming season, and the branches were heavy with blossoms.
The two selected a table by the window, and a server immediately brought over ice water infused with fresh calamansi lime along with the menus.
The menu was a thick booklet; the first few pages listed beverages, while the subsequent ten or so pages were entirely dedicated to desserts and pastries.
The Alpha leafed through the choices meticulously, asking, “Professor Xiao, what would you like to drink? Do you want to try some cake?”
It felt exactly as though they were on an actual date.
Xiao Shuqing propped his chin up with one hand and casually flipped through a few pages. “A dark roast latte, please—make it half-strength. I drank a bit too much last night and didn’t sleep well. Thank you.”
The Alpha looked up, his lips wrinkling slightly. “No need to thank me.”
He then signaled the server over and placed their orders precisely, one item at a time: “A dark roast latte, half-strength, please. Also, a cranberry latte, and a slice of strawberry mousse cake. Thank you.”
Outside the window, cherry blossom petals drifted down, carving elegant, soft arcs through the air.
Passersby pulled out their phones to capture the picturesque scene.
Xiao Shuqing rested his chin on his hand, staring out through the glass pane.
Time seemed to stand still in peaceful serenity.
If he hadn’t had that explosive row with his mother yesterday, if he hadn’t downed two bottles of cocktails in the middle of the night causing his adrenaline to spike, and if he hadn’t rushed into a shotgun marriage with this boy first thing in the morning.
The man straightened his posture, took a slow sip of his coffee, and looked at the Alpha across from him, who was currently biting down on a straw to fish out a tiny raspberry.
He spoke up: “Siyuan, is it alright if I call you that? Let’s discuss a few boundaries regarding our life after marriage.”
Hearing his voice, the boy looked up.
He sat perfectly upright, clutching his coffee cup tightly. “Okay.”
“First of all, as I mentioned to you before, I am not interested in Alphas, and you’ve stated that you have no interest in Omegas either. Therefore, my understanding is that our arrangement is strictly a marriage of convenience, correct?”
Xiao Shuqing paused, waiting for the boy to nod in agreement before continuing: “Because of that, there are certain boundaries and agreements we need to establish ahead of time.”
“Ah, okay.”
Hearing his response, Xiao Shuqing patted the seat beside him, gesturing for the boy to slide over.
“First, regarding our post-marital expenses. My idea is for each of us to contribute 50 yuan a day into a shared savings account. Any household items we use together will be paid for out of this fund. If 50 yuan proves to be insufficient later on, we can adjust it accordingly.”
“Second, since we’ve registered our marriage, we will inevitably have to cohabitate. I am an Omega, and by biological design, I am inherently vulnerable to an Alpha’s suppression. Therefore, once we move in together, I would like to lay down a few ground rules regarding pheromones. You are strictly forbidden from intentionally releasing your Alpha suppression pheromones or courtship pheromones while I am home. If you violate this rule even once, we will terminate this marriage immediately.”
“Furthermore, as an Alpha and an Omega, we must maintain proper boundaries. In shared spaces like the kitchen, living room, and balcony, both of us must be fully clothed. It doesn’t mean you have to dress up formally like you’re heading out, loungewear or pajamas are perfectly fine, but you cannot expose your chest or back. Can you accept that?”
The man listed his points one by one, drafting them smoothly into the journal he had brought along.
Every item addressed potential hurdles they might encounter after moving in together—ranging from daily interactions to personal boundaries, meticulous down to the last detail.
Sitting half a meter away, the boy listened in complete silence, nodding his head every now and then in response.
“There’s one more thing. Since this is a marriage of convenience, neither of us has the right to interfere in the other’s romantic life. However, now that we’ve legalized this, both sets of parents will inevitably find out about our relationship very soon. Therefore, I hope that if either of us develops a romantic relationship outside, it will not disrupt our marriage. This might sound a bit controlling, but you wouldn’t want the elders to find out the truth and be heartbroken, right?”
Xiao Shuqing pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, weighing his words with deliberate care.
After all, this was a highly sensitive topic, and Yu Siyuan had seemingly been on a date with a boy he fancied just yesterday.
But when he looked up, he discovered the young Alpha staring off into space, his mind clearly drifting.
The ambient light fell over his form, making his pale skin look translucent. The beauty mark centered on his forehead appeared exceptionally vivid and red.
“Yu Siyuan,” he called out to snap him out of it.
The young boy jolted back to reality. He bit his lower lip, straightened his posture, and lowered his gaze in apology. “I’m sorry, Professor Xiao.”
Xiao Shuqing observed him in silence for a few moments, letting out a soft sigh. “Did getting married to me today cause a rift with your boyfriend? You really—”
He wanted to say: You really didn’t have to rush into marriage like this even if it was what your father wanted. Your father’s health has already stabilized; there was no harm in waiting a bit longer for something like this.
But before the second half of his thought could leave his mouth, he was cut off.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” the boy said.
His fingertips gripped the cup so hard they had turned completely white.
“I am not interested in Omegas. Therefore, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Xiao Shuqing fell silent for a brief second, then crossed out the lines he had just drafted in his notebook.
“It’s fine.”
If Yu Siyuan didn’t even want to confide in his “fake marriage partner” about his preference for Alphas, then he certainly wouldn’t expose it to their parents. As for their respective romantic lives.
A marriage of convenience was always meant to function this way, after all.
With the basic guidelines settled, the two lapsed into silence.
They had sat on the same side of the booth during their discussion, and even after it concluded, Yu Siyuan didn’t slide back to his original seat.
And so, they simply sat together in quiet companionship.
The young boy ate his cake in slow, deliberate bites, taking intermittent sips of his beverage. He didn’t make much noise, but the café was exceptionally quiet on a Saturday morning with barely a soul inside, so the soft, rhythmic sounds of his chewing were still distinctly audible.
He was like a little rabbit.
A well-behaved, lop-eared little rabbit, quietly munching on alfalfa grass. Xiao Shuqing thought to himself.
After finishing their coffee, the two took a stroll through the shopping mall.
They selected a modest, understated pair of diamond bands, slid them onto their respective fingers, grabbed a quick lunch, and then headed into a large supermarket.
Because Yu Siyuan lived with his father and didn’t possess an apartment of his own for the time being, they decided to move into Xiao Shuqing’s place first. Furthermore, Xiao Shuqing’s apartment was located barely 700 meters away from a subway line that ran directly to Yu Siyuan’s company; ironical enough, it was actually a more convenient commute than traveling from his own family home.
“Bedding, toiletries. Let’s pick up new towels and pajamas as well.”
Inside the hypermarket, the man kept one hand tucked in his pocket, issuing directions as the Alpha pushed the shopping cart along, picking items off the shelves.
Yu Siyuan compared the options earnestly, placing them into the cart one by one.
Just as he reached for a single mouthwash cup, a slender arm cut across his field of vision. With a gentle hook of his elegant, long fingers, Xiao Shuqing pulled down a matching pair of mugs.
His long hair shifted with the movement, the tips brushing softly against the boy’s cheek—incredibly silky and gentle.
The Alpha’s face flushed crimson in an instant.
Yet the Omega—whose refined features looked as though they had been drawn straight out of a manga—remained entirely oblivious, continuing casually, “Let’s buy a few matching items. It’ll make us look more like a couple.”
As he spoke, he held them side-by-side to compare.
“Ah?”
“It’ll be easier to explain when the elders come over to visit.”
“Oh, okay.”
Thus, the set of matching black-and-white couple’s mugs was dropped into the cart by Xiao Shuqing.
Once they had gathered everything they needed, they ambled at a leisurely pace toward the checkout counters.
Before long, Xiao Shuqing noticed that the boy seemed somewhat distracted.
The young Alpha was constantly glancing down at his phone, his stride turning incredibly sluggish.
Xiao Shuqing himself was already walking quite slowly because he was scanning their surroundings to ensure they hadn’t missed anything, but when he turned around, he realized the boy had been left quite a distance behind.
The younger boy stood with his head bowed, tapping frantically on his phone screen with his lips pressed into a tight line, as though he were locked in an incredibly grave discussion with someone.
He was using his stomach to prop up the shopping cart, which was on the verge of colliding directly with a display shelf.
Left with no choice, Xiao Shuqing walked straight back over to take over the cart.
The moment his fingers gripped the handle, his arm brushed against Yu Siyuan’s. The boy’s entire posture went rigid instantly, and he frantically shoved his phone into his pocket in a guilty, secretive rush.
His gaze darted away evasively. “Um.”
“Watch where you’re walking.”
“Okay, Professor Xiao.”
As they walked toward the checkout counters, Xiao Shuqing could feel a constant, burning gaze locked onto his back. The little creature behind him seemed to be brewing something, desperately wanting to speak but constantly holding himself back.
Finally, the tall, long-legged man brought the shopping cart to a halt and turned around to look at the boy.
Lifting an eyebrow slightly, he asked, “You’re about to burn a hole through my back. Is there anything else you need? I’ll walk with you to go get it.”
Suddenly exposed, every single pore on the young boy’s body seemed to stiffen with awkwardness.
He nervously fiddled with his fingers and mumbled in a tiny voice, “Um, for the other things, could we buy them as matching couples’ sets too? Just in case our dads come over to visit. If only the mugs match, it might be a little unconvincing.”
Xiao Shuqing fell silent.
Pfft.
So, he went through all that inner turmoil just because he wanted to buy a few more matching household items?
How could someone be this timid?
It really made a person want to tease him.
Of course, given their current relationship dynamic, that wouldn’t be appropriate.
So, Xiao Shuqing simply gave him a calm glance and agreed, “Sure. I’ll go with you to pick them out.”
Thus, the toothbrushes, mouthwash cups, towels, pajamas, and slippers were all systematically swapped out for matching couples’ sets.
Once the young Alpha had gathered all the items, he buried his head over the shopping cart, meticulously checking them off one by one.
He seemed to have a highly sensitive physical constitution; just because he had moved a little too frantically while grabbing the items, the very tips of his ears had already flushed a beautiful, delicate pink.
“Are we all set?” Xiao Shuqing asked softly, averting his gaze.
“Yes, we’re all set, Professor Xiao.”
“Let’s go check out then.”
“Okay.”
The two strolled leisurely through the supermarket, neither of them noticing that inside Yu Siyuan’s coat pocket, his phone screen had quietly lit up.
A green notification bar popped into view, displaying a message: “You got this, baby! Fighting!”