Chasing Husband
Si Qi stood in the center of the family ancestral hall, surrounded by the elders of the Si family. Sandalwood lingered in the air, but it couldn't dispel the invisible sense of oppression. His father, Si Zhenye, the current head of the Si family, was tapping the ground with his cane, each thump a blow that felt like a knock on Si Qi's heart.
"It's been three years, and we don't even have a descendant!" Si Zhenye's voice echoed in the ancestral hall. "Do you know what people outside are saying? They say our Si family will be extinct!"
Si Qi stood straight, his face expressionless as he endured the accusation. His gaze swept across the elders present, finally landing on his mother. Madam Lin gave him a look, signaling him not to contradict her.
"Father, Shao Wei and I are both Alphas," Si Qi replied calmly, "Giving birth is not easy."
"Bullshit!" Si Zhenye slammed his hand on the table. "Modern medicine is so advanced, how come Alphas can't have children? It's not like that kid from the Shao family doesn't have that ability!"
Si Qi's fingers tightened slightly. He knew what his father was referring to—Alphas, while primarily male, did retain the possibility of conception within their ABO structure. It was just extremely difficult and extremely harmful to the recipient's body.
"Commissioner Shao won't agree." Si Qi said.
"He has no choice but to agree!" Si Zhenye sneered, "Wasn't the original marriage between the two families for profit? Now it's his turn to fulfill his obligations."
Mrs. Lin interjected at the right moment, "Xiaoqi, your mother is also an Alpha. Didn't I give birth to you?" Her voice was gentle but tolerant of rebuttal. "For the sake of our family, what is this little sacrifice?"
Siqi recalled the scar on his mother's waist he had seen by chance when he was a child. Alpha reproduction required surgery, and the wound stretched from her abdomen to her back. His stomach twisted.
It was already dark when we left the ancestral hall. Si Qi stood in the courtyard, lighting a cigarette. He rarely smoked, unless he was particularly upset. His phone vibrated. It was a message from Shao Wei:
"Will you be back for dinner tonight?"
It was a simple sentence, yet it made Si Qi's chest tighten. Ever since that tagging incident, their relationship had subtly changed. Shao Wei had started sending messages proactively, even occasionally cooking for him. This kind of ordinary, married-like interaction was unimaginable to them once.
Si Qi put out his cigarette and replied, "Yes."
When I opened the door, the aroma of food hit me. Shao Wei was standing in the kitchen, serving soup. He was wearing loose home clothes, with a faint mark on the back of his neck. Hearing the sound, he turned his head and smiled at Si Qi.
"Just in time, the soup is ready."
Si Qi walked over, put his arms around Shao Wei's waist from behind, and rested his chin on his shoulder. This intimate gesture made Shao Wei stiffen for a moment, but he quickly relaxed.
"Things at the ancestral hall aren't going well?" Shao Wei keenly sensed his emotions.
Si Qi didn't answer, but simply tightened his arms, buried his face in the crook of Shao Wei's neck, and took a deep breath. The pheromones of citrus mixed with cedar calmed him.
At the dinner table, Si Qi looked at Shao Wei drinking his soup with his head down and suddenly said, "The family wants an heir."
Shao Wei's spoon stopped in mid-air. He slowly lowered it, and when he looked up, his expression had returned to calm. "Hmm."
"They...suggested that we consider having children." Si Qi chose his words carefully.
Shao Wei's knuckles turned slightly white. He stood up and cleared the dishes a little faster than usual. "I'll go wash the dishes."
Si Qi grabbed his wrist, "Shao Wei."
"I don't want to talk about this." Shao Wei's voice was soft but extremely firm.
"At least tell me why?" Si Qi didn't let go. "If you're just worried about your health, modern medicine—"
"I don't like children." Shao Wei interrupted him, his eyes flickering. "I never did."
Si Qi frowned. "That's unlike you. You're always very patient with the housekeeper's children."
"That's different!" Shao Wei suddenly raised his voice, then seemed to be frightened by himself and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm a little tired. I'm going to bed first."
Si Qi watched Committee Member Shao's back as he hurried up the stairs, his brow furrowed. This wasn't the reaction he'd expected. He'd expected Committee Member Shao to calmly analyze the pros and cons, or simply refuse, not this... almost emotionally evasive response.
Late at night, Si Qi returned to his bedroom after finishing work and found Shao Wei not in bed. He searched the entire house and finally found him in the small attic study. Shao Wei was curled up on the single sofa by the window, asleep, a photo album in his hand.
Si Qi tiptoed over, wanting to carry him back to bed, but paused when he saw the open photo album. It was a photo of Shao Wei as a child, about five or six years old, standing among a group of children, looking out of place. "Spare parts" had been written in red pen on the edge of the photo.
A terrifying guess formed in Si Qi's mind. He carefully pulled out the album and flipped to the front. A copy of his birth certificate was taped to the title page, and next to it was the Shao family tree. Next to Shao Wei's name was the inscription "Alpha, second in line to the throne, successful experiment."
"Have you seen enough?"
Shao Wei's voice suddenly rang out. Si Qi looked up and met a pair of clear and cold eyes.
"Shao Wei, this is..."
"I'm a test-tube baby," Shao Wei said calmly, as if discussing someone else's affairs. "The Shao family only had Omega descendants in their previous generation. To continue the Alpha bloodline, they conducted genetic experiments. I'm the third successful experiment."
Si Qi's heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand. He recalled the rumors in the business community—the Shao family's previous generation had indeed had a fertility scandal and was said to have attempted illegal gene editing.
"My mother was a surrogate Alpha. She disappeared after giving birth to me," Shao Wei continued, his voice eerily flat. "I didn't realize until I was five that I existed only as a 'just in case'—in case something happened to my first cousin, I'd be of use."
Si Qi wanted to say something, but all the words seemed pale. He reached out to touch Shao Wei, but was gently avoided.
"That's why I hate children." Shao Wei stood up and put the photo album back on the bookshelf, "especially those born as reproductive tools."
He walked towards the door, and as they passed each other, Si Qi grabbed his hand.
"I don't know..." Si Qi's voice was hoarse.
Shao Wei didn't look back, "Now you know."
The next morning, Si Qi woke up to find Shao Wei no longer home. There was a note on the dining table: "Going back to the Shao family to take care of some things. I'll be back tonight."
Si Qi frowned, his intuition telling him it wasn't that simple. He sent a message to Shao Wei, but there was no reply. That afternoon, his mother suddenly called.
"Did you have a fight with Mr. Shao?" Mrs. Lin went straight to the point.
Si Qi became alert and asked, "Why do you ask?"
"Because he just came to see me." Mrs. Lin's voice was filled with displeasure. "He was very tough and said he would never have children. Xiaoqi, did you say anything to him?"
Si Qi held the phone tightly, "Have you looked for him?"
"I'm just fulfilling my responsibilities as a mother," Mrs. Lin said confidently. "Since he doesn't want to have a baby naturally, we can find a surrogate. The technology is very mature now. We can take his eggs and your sperm..."
"Mom!" Si Qi interrupted harshly, "Stop interfering in our affairs."
After hanging up, Si Qi immediately called Shao Wei, but his phone was turned off. He contacted the Shao family and learned that Shao Wei had not returned. A sense of foreboding gripped him.
As the sky darkened, Si Qi searched for every possible place Shao Wei might have been, finally stopping in front of an old apartment building. This was a property owned by Shao Wei, a place he had occasionally visited before his marriage. Si Qi had only been there once, three years ago.
The elevator was broken, so Siqi climbed eight flights of stairs and stood breathlessly in front of door 802. He hesitated for a moment, entered the wedding date, and the door unlocked.
The apartment was pitch black, with only a hint of moonlight filtering through from the balcony. Shao Wei sat by the French window, his back thin and lonely. Hearing the voice, he said without turning back, "How did you find this place?"
Si Qi walked over and sat down next to him. "I guessed it."
The two of them stared at the city lights outside the window in silence. After a long moment, Shao Wei finally spoke: "Your mother is looking for me."
"I know." Si Qi whispered, "I'm sorry."
"She showed me the surrogacy contract." Shao Wei's voice was soft, but with a tremor that Si Qi had never heard before. "My name is already signed on it. The handwriting is so similar."
Si Qi turned his head suddenly, "What?"
"Just like before I was born, they had already decided everything for me." Shao Wei smiled bitterly, "Now they have to make decisions for another life."
Si Qi's heart was beating wildly. He reached out and grasped Shao Wei's cold fingers. "I won't let this happen."
Shao Wei finally looked at him, a fragile light flickering in his eyes, "Don't you want to continue the Si family bloodline?"
"I've thought about it." Si Qi said honestly, "But I care more about your feelings than my offspring."
This sentence was like a floodgate that had been opened. Shao Wei's expression instantly collapsed. He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly. Si Qi pulled him into his arms, feeling the warm liquid soaking his shirt.
"I'm afraid..." Shao Wei's voice was muffled in Si Qi's chest, "I'm afraid that the child will be just like me, just a tool... I'm afraid that you will be like the Shao family, only caring about blood..."
Si Qi tightened his arms and kissed the top of his head, "No. I swear."
Moonlight fell on the two people hugging, casting long shadows on the floor. Si Qi was reminded of a fairy tale he had read as a child—two wounded beasts licked each other's wounds and eventually recovered.
"Let's go home." Si Qi said softly.
Shao Wei nodded in his embrace. The simple word "home" suddenly took on a whole new meaning. Not back to the mansion filled with family pressure, but back to a place that belonged to them both.
The next morning, Si Qi appeared at the Si family's old house with Shao Wei. Facing the elders in the room, he clasped Shao Wei's hand with his ten fingers and said in a clear and firm voice:
"As for the matter of offspring, we decided to let nature take its course. If one day Shao Wei is willing to try, we will consider it; if not, we can adopt or foster. In any case, this is a decision between the two of us, not the family's."
Si Zhenye slammed the table and stood up, "Ridiculous! How can the bloodline of the Si family——"
"Father." Si Qi interrupted him, his eyes sharp. "Do you remember what you said when I had a high fever when I was ten years old?"
Si Zhenye was stunned.
"You said, 'Fortunately, there's a backup heir.'" Si Qi sneered, "I don't want my children to hear anything like that."
Mrs. Lin tried to ease the atmosphere, "Xiaoqi, we are all doing this for your own good..."
"If it's truly for my own good, please respect my choice." Si Qi looked at his mother, "Just like I respect the sacrifices you made for our family."
As we left the old house, the sun was shining brightly. Shao Wei, standing by the car, suddenly asked, "Do you really not mind not having any biological offspring?"
Si Qi pulled him over and kissed his forehead in the sunshine, "Having you is enough for me."
Shao Wei smiled, a truly relaxed smile. He took Si Qi's hand and said, "Let's go home."
In the sunshine, the backs of the two Alphas walking side by side appear particularly determined. They know that the road ahead may still have challenges, but as long as they are by each other's side, nothing is insurmountable.
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