Chapter 47 The heat period is approaching; time to prepare.
Yin Lu ordered a bunch of snacks. However, just as he settled down, he was interrupted by a phone call.
"I finally get some time with my adorable brother, and this is when they decide to call."
"Feng Feng, I have to go."
Yin Lu affectionately ruffled Yin Feng's hair, who looked back with a face full of distaste.
"Mr. Nan, see you next time." Yin Lu winked at Nan Yi with his charming almond-shaped eyes.
Yin Lu always carried the demeanor of a playboy, whether in speech or action.
Nan Yi was curious about why Yin Feng always looked so disdainful of Yin Lu. However, knowing his boundaries, he didn't press the matter.
After Yin Lu's departure, Nan Yi didn't chat with Yin Feng for long. As soon as Yin Feng saw a photo of an omega next to Bai Shan Yao in his social feed, he hurriedly excused himself.
His anxious demeanor was reminiscent of a scorned partner catching a lover's indiscretion.
Upon returning to the villa, Nan Yi immediately dived into his writing.
It wasn't until it neared the time for He Yu Shen to get off work that he emerged from his room to wait in the living room.
Waiting was dull, and much like Yin Feng, Nan Yi decided to check out He Yu Shen's social feed.
As he opened the chat interface, he noticed a message from Nan Xin, who had long deleted him.
[Give me Yin Shao's contact]
Nan Yi glanced at the message, deleted the chat history, removed Nan Xin from his contacts, and adjusted his settings to require verification for friend requests.
He Yu Shen's social feed was empty. Nan Yi surmised that he had probably been blocked.
The barren social feed brought a twinge of melancholy.
Today, He Yu Shen didn't work overtime and arrived home around seven. The meal prepared by the housekeeper was ready, and they dined together.
He Yu Shen noticed that a certain omega wasn't eating much that evening. A small piece of chicken had been prodded several times but never made its way into his mouth.
"Not fond of tonight's dishes?" He Yu Shen offered a piece of fish to Nan Yi's bowl.
The chopsticks that had been restlessly poking at the food paused, picking up the fish instead.
Nan Yi shook his head.
"You should eat properly. Look how thin you've become. Your constitution is weak; every time you have a heat cycle, you faint multiple times."
"Is it that all subpar omegas are this fragile? Later, I'll ask the housekeeper to prepare some nourishing dishes for you."
Although He Yu Shen's tone was slightly disdainful, Nan Yi was genuinely pleased.
He knew that beneath He Yu Shen's brusque exterior lay a tender heart.
In fact, he had grown much gentler compared to when Nan Yi first arrived at the villa.
Gazing at the alpha before him, Nan Yi's heart fluttered cautiously.
"My heat cycle will be in a few days. Prepare yourself, and try to nourish yourself in the meantime."
His food-serving motion halted, and Nan Yi's face grew warm.
He Yu Shen glanced at the omega, who now seemed as bashful as a snail, suppressing a chuckle.
Anticipating He Yu Shen's upcoming heat cycle left Nan Yi often distracted. The mingled emotions of anticipation and reticence felt like a mix of ice and fire.
For two or three days straight, even when Yin Feng invited him out, he didn't dare leave.
He feared that should He Yu Shen's heat cycle start unexpectedly, he might not be around.
Nan Yi had accumulated two more chapters, and this week's chapter was already published, yet he remained diligent.
Considering the days He Yu Shen might be incapacitated during his heat and the unknown recovery period post throat surgery, Nan Yi planned to write more in advance.
Just as he settled to work, a barrage of notifications echoed from his phone.
Reluctantly, he checked the messages. It was from Nan Xin again.
[Nan Yi! How dare you remove me from your contacts?!]
[I asked you for Yin Shao's contact information.]
"Add me back right now, or I'll tell Dad."
After receiving three consecutive friend requests, Nan Yi deleted the notifications and continued to ignore them.
Even after deleting them, the notification dot remained. Although Nan Yi didn't have OCD, the itch of not checking was bothersome.
At a glance, Nan Yi thought the message was from Yin Feng. But upon opening it, he realized it was from Yin Lu.
"Mr. Nan, could you please speak to Feng for me? Ask him not to block me."
"Mr. Nan, do you have some time to hang out? I saw this place and thought of you. A gentle and tranquil omega like you would surely love it."
Nan Yi frowned as he clicked on the short video sent by Yin Lu.
"Mr. Nan, isn't it beautiful? If you like it, I'll bring you here next time."
It was a vast grassland far from the city, with green slopes, white alpacas, and a strong wind that carried the alpha's voice with a whistling sound.
Nan Yi replied with a simple 'okay' to Yin Lu and then forwarded his message to Yin Feng before getting back to work.
After sitting for the entire afternoon, once he left the room, Nan Yi felt a soreness in his back and waist.
It was almost time for He Yushen to return. Meanwhile, Nan Yi was crouching in the corner of the sofa, reading his fans' comments.
They were mostly requests for updates.
"Mr. Nan!"
"Mr. Nan!"
He had only checked his phone for five minutes when he heard someone urgently calling him from outside the door.
"Hello, is Mr. Nan in?"
The voice sounded familiar. Curious, Nan Yi put on his rabbit slippers and walked to the living room door.
"What do you need with our madam?"
Standing outside was the butler and He Yushen's assistant whom Nan Yi had met once.
"Our boss, he..."
"You're Mr. Nan, right? The boss is at Yuxu Hotel. He wants to see you."
Before the beta assistant and the butler could finish speaking, they spotted Nan Yi.
Without hesitation, the beta assistant rushed forward, grabbing Nan Yi's arm and pulling him out.
"I apologize, Mr. Nan."
Nan Yi was being dragged outside by the beta. His rabbit slippers nearly fell off several times, so he curled his toes tightly, gripping the sole of the shoes.
He was swiftly pushed into the back seat, and the car zoomed off. Despite the beta's delicate appearance, he drove with the aggression of a race car driver.
Nan Yi gripped the seatbelt tightly, feeling like he was about to lose his soul.
By the time they parked in front of the Yuxu Hotel, which the young beta assistant had mentioned, Nan Yi's face had turned a shade paler than it was at the villa.
His legs trembled as he got out of the car.
This was the fastest ride he'd ever experienced.
"Mr. Nan, hurry!"
Pulled into another dash, Nan Yi deduced that it was probably He Yushen's heat cycle.
Fighting off the dizziness, he followed the assistant into the elevator, only then bending over to catch his breath.
"I apologize, Mr. Nan. The boss gave me just an hour. The heat cycles of top-tier alphas can be quite intense. I didn't know how far along the boss was and needed to get you there as quickly as possible."
Using the elevator's ascent, the beta assistant took the opportunity to explain the situation to Nan Yi.
After all, being close to the boss, he had been rather rough earlier, leaving some red marks on the omega's wrist.
Nan Yi just shook his head while catching his breath.
Merely running a few hundred meters had left him winded. Clearly, his physical fitness was lacking.
Meanwhile, the young assistant didn't seem winded at all.
There truly was a difference between betas and omegas.
"Ding."
The elevator stopped on the topmost floor.
Nan Yi followed the assistant to a door.
"This is the place, Mr. Nan. Please go in, and I'll take my leave."
The beta assistant thoughtfully pressed the doorbell and handed a black card to Nan Yi.
"Room key."
"If the boss doesn't answer, you can use it to let yourself in."