Chapter 9

The two looked at each other; Chu Yue remained silent, while Ji Mingfei choked with emotion.

"I accidentally pressed the phone button." Chu Yue tapped the phone screen a few times before hanging up. "You changed your number? What's your new number? Let me write it down."

"..."

With acting skills like that, it's hard to believe she didn't do it on purpose.

Seeing that Ji Mingfei remained silent, Chu Yue raised an arm and rested it on the steering wheel, asking in a seemingly casual yet authoritative manner, "You, you didn't block me, did you?"

"..." Ji Mingfei's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly explained, "How could that be! I must have accidentally lost your phone while cleaning up my phone numbers. I... let me check!"

Ji Mingfei shakily pulled out his phone, opened the blacklist, and precisely found Chu Yue's number from a row of telemarketing calls, then added it to the blacklist.

"Please don't take offense, Mr. Chu! Hahaha... I guess I'm just experiencing pregnancy-induced brain fog for the first three years..."

When Chu Yue saw that her number had returned to the top of Ji Mingfei's phone book, she smiled generously and said, "It's okay, it's good that it's back."

Afterwards, the two got out of the car together in an awkward atmosphere and took the elevator upstairs. Only after Ji Mingfei stepped out of the elevator did he finally escape the dual pressure from being both an alpha and his boss.

Ji Mingfei arrived early today, and the office was empty. He sat at his desk playing on his phone. Around nine o'clock, Sun Xiaomei walked into the office right on time.

She stepped one foot inside the door, the other still outside, sniffed, and asked, "Sis, did you forget your suppressant patch?"

Ji Mingfei was taken aback and sniffed as well; it seemed to be her pheromones. She subconsciously touched her neck; she had just changed into a new one before leaving the house, so why was it still leaking?

"I'm sorry! I'll get a new one right away."

Sun Xiaomei tossed her bag onto the chair, quickly walked to the window to open it for ventilation, and said with a smile, "I'm always groggy when I first wake up in the morning, and I've forgotten to bring it a few times. I only remembered when someone reminded me. Before the company didn't have omega hormones, no one really cared. The office was always filled with all sorts of alph hormones fighting each other."

As soon as Ji Mingfei peeled off a small piece of the suppressant patch on her neck, her pheromones immediately surged out of her glands, startling her so much that she quickly applied a new suppressant patch. This abnormal pheromone overflow was almost comparable to a heat cycle, so Ji Mingfei picked up her phone and searched it on Baidu.

[What could be causing a sudden increase in pheromones before four months of pregnancy?]

The first few entries are answers from various doctors to other inquiries.

[During pregnancy, hormonal changes in omegas can lead to unstable estrus cycles, which is normal.]

[As long as the omega is healthy, normal AO sexual activity is possible, avoiding the first and third trimesters. Alphas can also soothe pregnant omegas by releasing pheromones or using marking techniques.]

[During pregnancy, the alpha should spend more time with their omega. If the omega doesn't receive effective comfort from the alpha during heat, they may experience persistent fever, which can have some impact on the fetus.]

[According to the latest research, alpha parents can allow their children to experience their pheromones in advance by marking their partner. Marking is being seen as a new form of parent-child interaction.]

Ji Mingfei, whose understanding was beyond comprehension: "..."

Ji Mingfei placed her hands on her belly, silently talking to her three-month-old baby: "Sweet baby, how about we don't need an alpha mom's pheromones? An omega mom's pheromones are just as wonderful! You can have as many as you want. Love you, mwah!"

But no matter how much Ji Mingfei tried to hypnotize herself, she was still affected by her pregnancy and experienced what gestational estrus was like for the first time just before she was about to leave work.

Ji Mingfei sat on the toilet in the bathroom and put two more suppressor patches on her neck, finally able to stop smelling pheromones. She felt her face getting hot, similar to how she felt during her heat cycle, the only difference being that the suppressor patches didn't seem to be as effective.

"I should have bought a few injections of inhibitors..."

Ji Mingfei came out of the restroom and stood in front of the sink, looking at herself in the mirror. She could hear her colleagues chatting and laughing outside; they were discussing whether to have hot pot or spicy hot pot after work.

Ji Mingfei glanced at her watch; it was already past her workday. She shouldn't be in this state to run into an alpha; she'd better wait until everyone else had left before going home.

Once everything was quiet outside, Ji Mingfei walked quickly back to her office. Sun Xiaomei and Wang Chao were just about to leave when they greeted her, saying, "Sis, we're going to have a buffet, do you want to come along?"

"I'm not going. I want to go home and rest as soon as possible." Although Ji Mingfei had tried his best, his voice was still somewhat weak.

"Are you feeling unwell? You didn't look well this afternoon, are you sick?" Sun Xiaomei was a thoughtful girl.

"I think I've caught a cold. I'll go buy some medicine in a bit, take it, and get some sleep; I'll feel better tomorrow."

"Oh, then drink more hot water. Call us if you can't take it anymore," Sun Xiaomei said before leaving.

As soon as they left, Ji Mingfei was clearly a little weak. She leaned against the wall to walk to her workstation, picked up the cup on the table, drank a few sips of warm water, closed her eyes, and leaned back in her chair to rest.

…

She didn't know how long she had slept, but Ji Mingfei vaguely smelled a familiar scent. She tried hard to recall where the scent came from, but she couldn't remember it at all, yet it was strangely comforting.

"Ji Mingfei".

Who's calling me?

Ji Mingfei forced her eyes open, and the pale light shone on a dark figure. She desperately wanted to see the person's face clearly, but her eyelids grew heavy.

A gentle hand stroked her neck, and Ji Mingfei leaned in to let the other person touch her, because her hand could make her burning body feel a cool sensation, which was very comfortable.

It hurts... What's biting her arm? Ji Mingfei tried to pull her hand back, but someone grabbed it and held it down.

You have accomplices? Help! What are you going to do to me? This child is mine alone, and no one can take her away from me!

…

Looking at Ji Mingfei, who was constantly muttering in her sleep on the hospital bed, Chu Yue asked the doctor with some concern, "When will she wake up?"

“The patient is currently pregnant, so we cannot give her antipyretics, and we are also cautious about using inhibitors. Her condition is due to hormonal fluctuations caused by pregnancy, leading to irregular estrus cycles. Generally, she needs pheromones from the alpha to soothe her, and marking is usually the safest method.”

The doctor glanced at the alpha who brought the patient over with a complicated expression, unsure of their relationship. Generally, pregnant omegas have stable partners, so it's unlikely they hadn't been marked.

"Are you a family member of the patient?" the doctor asked tentatively.

Chu Yue looked at Ji Mingfei, who was still unconscious on the hospital bed, and generously admitted, "I am the child's other mother."

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief, and his attitude became gentler than before. He said, "The patient's test results should be in. Let's go to the consultation room to talk."

Upon arriving at the consultation room, the doctor first confirmed that the patient's test results showed no major problems before turning the computer to the family to explain the situation.

"The fetus is 15 weeks old. All indicators for both the pregnant woman and the fetus are normal. The fetal heartbeat is normal, and the limbs are developing well. Here is the fetus's head, and here are its feet. You can already see the fingers and toes clearly."

This was the first time Chu Yue had ever witnessed such a scene, and it involved a life related to her by blood, quietly growing up. She had never thought about when an alpha should establish a connection with a child, but at this moment she was already experiencing a strange and indescribable feeling.

Thinking that the child's mother didn't want her to join their family, Chu Yue felt inexplicably regretful.

Seeing the smile on Chu Yue's face, the doctor finally got to the crucial point, "They say you shouldn't shy away from seeking medical help when you're sick, so I'll just ask you directly. Since you already have a child, why hasn't the patient been marked?"

"..."

As the alpha mother of her child, Chu Yue's dignity did not allow her to say that she had not yet gained the omega's approval.

"She didn't want her colleagues to know she was pregnant so soon, so I only put a temporary marker on her. I guess the marker expired... um, that's it," Chu Yue replied, trying to cover up her pregnancy.

The doctor smiled and said, "Temporary marking is fine, but you need to keep a close eye on the pregnant woman's health and make sure the marking doesn't expire for too long."

"Thank you, doctor. I will be careful."

When Chu Yue came out of the consultation room and returned to the ward, she heard the nurse talking to Ji Mingfei, who had just woken up.

"Your alpha has gone to the doctor's office and will be back soon. You can go home after the IV is finished." The nurse looked up and saw Chu Yue standing at the door. She smiled and said to Ji Mingfei, "Your family member is back."

Chu Yue walked to Ji Mingfei's bedside and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

Ji Mingfei, who had just woken up, was a little confused when she saw that the family member the nurse mentioned was Chu Yue. She huddled under the covers and nodded pitifully.

An omega in heat and a gentle alpha appear in the same space. The nurse doesn't want to be a third wheel, so before leaving, she tells them, "Just press the nurse call button when the IV is almost finished."

"Wait a minute..." Ji Mingfei called out to the nurse. She hadn't had a chance to ask the last question that Chu Yue had interrupted her with when she came in. "Um... after I'm discharged from the hospital, what kind of inhibitor is better to use? The inhibitor patches I used before don't seem to be working very well anymore."

"Suppressants may have adverse effects on the fetus, so we do not recommend pregnant women to receive them. Your fever is caused by unstable hormone levels during pregnancy, so having your alpha mark you and soothe you with pheromones is sufficient. Permanent marking is best, but temporary is also acceptable. You are now past the first trimester, and if you have a particularly strong urge, you can have normal intercourse as long as you take precautions and use the correct and safe positions. Don't worry!"

Ji Mingfei, who was instantly speechless: "..."

I shouldn't have spoken.