I'll take responsibility for you

Pei Jinghe abruptly looked at Wu Jiangyuan, his dark eyes betraying no emotion.

Wu Jiangyuan had no idea whether he was angry now, but he himself was in an excellent mood.

He deliberately waved his phone and sent another message right in front of him.

3Q: [Did you see that? If not, I'll send it again for you.]

Pei Jinghe looked down at it.

But he didn't reply. He simply stared at Wu Jiangyuan, his lips curling into a mocking smile.

Then he stood, walked over to Jia Xin'an, and bent down to whisper something in her ear.

Wu Jiangyuan suddenly had a bad feeling.

When Jia Xin'an's gaze turned his way, he knew he was done for.

"Yuanyuan."

She smiled warmly, her voice drawing the attention of every elder present.

Jia Xin'an beckoned. "Come here. Mom wants to ask you something."

The corner of Wu Jiangyuan's mouth twitched. Why did he feel like that smile was coming for his life?

With everyone watching, he could only stand and walk over.

He stopped in front of Jia Xin'an and flashed a sweet smile. "What is it, my dearest mom~?"

Jia Xin'an smiled gently. "I heard you skipped Grandpa Pei's birthday banquet last night because you went on a date with an Omega?"

The smile on Wu Jiangyuan's face abruptly froze.

He shot a murderous glare at Pei Jinghe. Wait, what? How did this guy know about that?

Pei Jinghe read entertainment news too?

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

The danger in Jia Xin'an's smile grew stronger. "Yuanyuan, you're already engaged, yet you're still out there flirting around. That's. Not. Very. Nice, is it?"

She ground out those last words through clenched teeth.

Though she was smiling, Wu Jiangyuan knew that if there hadn't been other people around, his mother would definitely have come at him with a feather duster.

Jia Xin'an might usually be gentle and soft-spoken, but when she got angry, she was even more intimidating than the Buddha.

Wu Qi had reluctantly revealed something to him.

Back in her school days, Jia Xin'an had been a formidable queen bee who could hold her own.

When Wu Jiangyuan heard that, his mouth had opened wide enough to swallow a goose egg whole.

His Omega mother, who looked as gentle as water, had actually been that fierce when she was young?

Every beating Wu Jiangyuan had received growing up had come from Jia Xin'an.

Wu Qi had firsthand experience of this too. Ignoring his son's pleading look for help, he quietly began sipping his tea.

Not bad. Truly excellent tea~

"A misunderstanding," Wu Jiangyuan hurriedly explained. "This has to be a misunderstanding!"

He suddenly raised a hand and pointed at Pei Jinghe. "I was with Pei Jinghe last night. How could I have gone on a date with another Omega?"

At those words, the room fell silent.

Grandpa Pei, however, was positively beaming.

"Little Yuan... tell Grandpa again. Who were you with last night?"

"I was with Pei Jinghe last night."

Wu Jiangyuan had already thrown caution to the wind. Since he'd said it, he might as well let the storm hit even harder.

He even emphasized, "We were together all night."

Jia Xin'an looked skeptical. "Yuanyuan, I'll beat you if you lie."

Wu Jiangyuan gave Pei Jinghe a teasing look. "I'm telling the truth. Ask Pei Jinghe if you don't believe me."

Jia Xin'an turned toward Pei Jinghe, her voice gentle. "Jinghe, is what Yuanyuan said true? Were you together last night?"

Pei Jinghe's expression remained unchanged. He was utterly unruffled.

"Auntie, I actually got drunk last night. When I woke up, my driver had already taken me back to Hao Garden. I may need to think carefully to remember what Wu Jiangyuan is talking about."

In other words, he had no memories of Wu Jiangyuan from last night. Who knew whether Wu Jiangyuan was telling the truth?

Wu Jiangyuan wished he could flay a layer of flesh off Pei Jinghe with his eyes and chew it up.

He was so angry he laughed, secretly grinding his teeth. So that's how you want to play?

"You don't remember?" He tugged down his collar, exposing the marks on his neck, his face full of hurt.

"Have you forgotten these too?"

His cool, pale skin was covered in scarlet spots, along with a faint set of teeth marks. Anyone with eyes could tell what they were.

Yao An immediately voiced her concern, her voice rising several pitches. "Yuanyuan, what happened to your neck?"

Afraid she couldn't see clearly, Wu Jiangyuan even stepped closer. "You'll have to ask Pei Jinghe about that."

Yao An immediately turned to Pei Jinghe, her eyes demanding an answer.

Pei Jinghe's pitch-black eyes remained fixed on Wu Jiangyuan, his expression somewhat dark. He said nothing, which amounted to a tacit admission.

Yao An said, "So the two of you..."

She didn't finish, feeling a little too embarrassed to go on.

"Yes, Auntie Yao." Wu Jiangyuan smiled faintly.

"Pei Jinghe slept with me."

Everyone: "..."

The room fell silent.

A moment later, Grandpa Pei was more excited than anyone. "Does that mean I'll be holding a great-grandchild soon?!"

Wu Jiangyuan: "?"

What was wrong with the old man's eyes? He was an Alpha. What was he supposed to give birth to, an egg?

He drew a soft breath and began delivering the performance of his life.

"I wasn't going to say anything today. We were together all last night. It was bad enough that he wasn't gentle with me, but he even mistook me for someone else. He kept calling out that person's nickname, then forgot everything when he woke up."

"I put up with all of that."

Wu Jiangyuan's eyes instantly reddened, his voice growing more aggrieved. "But he actually accused me of sneaking around with another Omega."

"He's saddled me with a completely baseless accusation."

"Auntie Yao, Uncle Pei, you have to stand up for me."

His eyes were resentful and aggrieved, like a handsome widower abandoned after a one-night stand. With just a few sentences, he had turned the whole situation upside down with outrageous audacity.

Yao An was the first to get up and hug him, comforting him with aching concern. "Don't cry, Yuanyuan. I'll stand up for you."

Wu Jiangyuan spoke in a muffled voice. "Please don't blame Pei Jinghe either, Auntie. After all, no one wants to marry someone they don't love."

From an angle no one else could see, he glanced up at the still-silent Pei Jinghe and gave him a sly wink.

Pei Jinghe narrowed his eyes slightly and finally moved.

He walked up to Wu Jiangyuan and raised a hand. In full view of everyone, he lifted a stray lock of hair from Wu Jiangyuan's forehead, lowered his gaze to those puzzled, alluring eyes, and suddenly smiled.

"If that's the case, I'll take responsibility for you."

Wu Jiangyuan: "..."

What was this guy saying?

He'd already taken things this far. With a little more hinting, he might have gotten Uncle and Auntie to call off the engagement.

What was this guy trying to do by suddenly saying that?

"No..."

He straightened out of Yao An's arms, his expression serious. "That wouldn't be fair to the person you like."

Pei Jinghe smiled silently. To Wu Jiangyuan, that smile was horrifying. Then he heard him ask slowly,

"You said I kept calling someone's name last night. Whose?"

The corner of Wu Jiangyuan's eye twitched. He answered stiffly, "Who the hell knows whose name you were calling? It wasn't mine, anyway."

"I've actually been trying to remember this whole time. Now I've finally recalled a little."

Pei Jinghe's eyes suddenly darkened. "I had a dream last night. In it, I was eating ginger candy."

"Could the name you heard have been Tangtang?"

He deliberately spoke the name Tangtang softly, his voice low and slow, sounding like tender endearments whispered to a lover.

Wu Jiangyuan's eyes widened slightly, astonishment mingling with his stunned disbelief.

Then he recovered and glared coldly at him.

How dare this bastard?!

Damn him! Tangtang was his childhood nickname!

Even ginger candy was something he'd loved eating as a child. Though he had no interest in it now, back then, he would fight Pei Jinghe over a single piece.

Once Wu Jiangyuan grew a little older, he stopped liking the nickname Tangtang. It didn't sound imposing at all. Everyone around him knew it was a forbidden word and had stopped calling him that.

Yet now this bastard was tossing it out just like that.

I've seen some of you sweeties complaining that Tangtang's family is full of schemes (blah blah blah).

All I want to say about that is, ummm... go ahead and criticize.

Everyone understands things differently, so let's respect each other •ᴗ•

(Muttering quietly: how can such cold words come out of your warm, 36-degree mouths? ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°))