T/N: Thank you Aer for sponsoring another release of SMM! 

-komorebi

Xu Xinghe watched helplessly as Marshal Ling stepped into his bedroom and walked to his bed, studying the surrounding environment with a critical look, before turning to ask him, “Sleeping here tonight?”

Xu Xinghe thought to himself, “What does it have to do with you old man where I sleep? Did you come to my room to inspect the work??”

But in front of Marshal Ling, he still nodded obediently: “Yeah.”

Marshal Ling stood in front of the bed, looked at the bed, looked at Xu Xinghe, but still didn’t leave.

Xu Xinghe stared at him anxiously, and subconsciously wrapped the bathrobe a little tighter.

With this action, he realized that he was still wearing a baggy bathrobe, and the ends of his hair were dripping with water…

Appearing in front of an outsider in such a disheveled manner, and being stared at, no wonder he was uncomfortable.

Xu Xinghe silently closed the neckline of the bathrobe and raised his head. “Would you like to go back to rest earlier?”

Ling Changfeng: “…”

Marshal Ling was stunned for two seconds before he realized that his little spouse was actually pushing him away on their wedding night.

Why?

Is he still angry?

But didn’t he smile just now…?

Ling Changfeng pursed his lips and said nothing. He, who was calm and composed in the face of a mighty army, felt he faced a long-lost dilemma at this moment.

He pondered for a moment, raised his head and asked quite seriously, “Are you sure you don’t need me to stay with you?”

“Ah??” This time it was Xu Xinghe’s turn to be shocked.

Where did such a terrible idea come from?!

Ling Changfeng could see the shock and panic in the eyes of the little deer.

It seems like his little partner really doesn’t need him to accompany him.

However…

“Didn’t you read the relevant regulations of the Matching Marriage Law before marrying?” Ling Changfeng asked.

Xu Xinghe blinked. “I’ve read it, what’s wrong?”

When he married Mu Qingyun a year ago, he really carefully turned over the relevant documents.

However, he didn’t review it before this second marriage, and some details were almost forgotten.

He didn’t violate the rules unknowingly, did he??

Ling Changfeng was silent for a while.

Just when he raised his hand and was about to send Xu Xinghe an electronic copy of the “Matching Marriage Law”, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the other party’s body.

The young and handsome face turned from pink to red, then from red to blue…

It seemed that he remembered it.

Xu Xinghe’s heart collapsed at this moment.

After a year, with his current husband’s reminder, he finally recalled a certain rule that was ignored by both Mu Qingyun and himself-

“In the first month after the wedding (apart from during statutory holidays), unless there are special circumstances, matched couples must share the same room every night.”

Go to hell you damn rules!!

No wonder Marshal Ling stayed and didn’t leave. Did he really plan to stay in the same room??

Xu Xinghe’s brain stopped for a moment, and he stuttered: “Although that’s in the rules and regulations, but I…I haven’t entered estrus! You can’t…that, that…”

Ling Changfeng was startled, not quite understanding the logic of this statement.

Can husband and wife not be in the same bed if they are not in heat?

This is not at all what a married person should say.

Or is the other party just rejecting him with such a clumsy reason?

Thinking of some online remarks he read, Ling Changfeng’s eyes sank, and he asked in a light tone, “Why?”

If Xu Xinghe did not forget his old feelings as rumored, he would not force him either.

But in any case, he still wanted to get an answer from the other side.

When Xu Xinghe heard he wanted to get to the bottom of it, he became even more nervous: “Because, because if I’m not in estrus, even if we do it, we won’t be able to conceive a new life!”

F*ck!!! What the hell is he saying?!

When it comes to such sensitive and private topics, Xu Xinghe is usually a very nervous person. His cheeks couldn’t help heating up after speaking.

A touch of pink slowly climbed up to his earlobes.

Suddenly, Marshal Ling’s nose twitched.

He smelled a familiar, incomparably sweet aroma.

Just like that night.

There was originally just a faint sweetness in the air, which spread with the man’s shyness.

Like flowers blooming one after another, the small world was full of flowers in a few breaths.

The strange fragrance surrounded him, entangling him in flower branches…

In the overwhelming sweet smell, Ling Changfeng suddenly took a step forward, walking towards the source of the fragrance.

He knew that it was a sweetness belonging to this person alone.

Seeing the other party walking towards him, Xu Xinghe suddenly froze and retreated several steps like a frightened rabbit until he was forced to the corner, and his back was stuck against a cold white wall.

“You, you…what are you doing?!”

Ling Changfeng suddenly returned to his senses and stopped.

At this moment, he was only one step away from Xu Xinghe.

The pheromones seemed to have an indescribable magic power.

Drawing him closer.

Ling Changfeng calmed down and looked up at Xu Xinghe.

From such a close distance, he could clearly see the young man’s pale face, and trembling fingers tugging at the neck of the bathrobe.

Ling Changfeng blurted out, “Don’t be afraid.”

His tone held some gentleness, unlike his usual self.

Then he fell silent.

Although Xu Xinghe had already shrunk to the corner, when he heard those words, he still clenched his neck and said, “I’m not afraid.”

Ling Changfeng was almost amused by his dead duck’s mouth.1dead duck’s mouth= denial in the face of the obvious

Looking at Xu Xinghe blankly, he thought with great interest that if the omega in front of him was really a little hedgehog, he must have instinctively shrunk himself into a ball at this moment.

Marshal Ling turned around, took a step back, and walked towards the big bed in the center of the bedroom: “Come and rest.”

Seeing his back, Xu Xinghe asked, “Sleeping where?”

Ling Changfeng replied without turning back: “If you don’t want to sleep here, you can sleep in my room.” After a while, he said lightly: “But my bed is very hard, you may not be used to it.”

Who cares if your bed is hard or not!

Xu Xinghe huddled in the corner and refused to come out. “That… I sleep very badly! I like to kick and snore in the middle of the night! You are an old man who has a lot to deal with, won’t it be bad if your rest was affected by me?”

Ling Changfeng turned around and glanced at him. “You will be fined for breaking the rules. You are still a staff member of Ark—”

Thin lips parted, and spit out four words: “Each violation is heavier.”2as in each time he violates the law, he’ll be penalized worse than a normal person because he works at the Ark2

Xu Xinghe: “…”

“The reason why the mastermind asks two parties to share the same room is to stimulate the secretion of each other’s pheromones, so that omegas will enter estrus faster.” Ling Changfeng said without any fluctuation in his tone. It was so calm as if the matter had nothing to do with him. “As someone who’s married again, don’t you understand this truth?”

Xu Xinghe thought to himself: “Are you questioning my professionalism?? Insufferable!”

So he began to present the facts and reason: “Of course I understand what you said. According to the mastermind’s analysis, the probability of being matched with an omega who did not get pregnant in the first year is less than 12.8%, which means that even if we do something, chances are that we’re doing something useless. And your so-called stimulation is also limited to…”

Marshal Ling didn’t seem to want to hear his pop science, and interrupted him, “Have you decided to pay the fine?”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

Xu Xinghe’s eyes lit up. “That is to say?”

Ling Changfeng: “That is to say, we do not need to do much – the mastermind can’t monitor it.” After a pause, he added: “Just sleep on one bed.”

Xu Xinghe: “Huh?”

Why does he still want to sleep on the same bed if he can’t be monitored??

Although the logic of this statement was strange, seeing Marshal Ling’s impatient expression, Xu Xinghe was afraid he would add an additional sentence, “Then you should pay the fine”, so he compromised.

“Okay.”

So, in the end, the two slept in the same bed.

The literal meaning.

Two people, two pillows, two quilts.

Well water didn’t intrude river water4idiom for they didn’t interfere with each other, they just slept on the same bed.

Xu Xinghe lay stiffly on the bed, wrapping himself tightly with the quilt, not even showing his fingers.

Recently, he had mild insomnia, but after being tossed like this, it directly became severe.

In the darkness, he stared at the ceiling in a daze with his big dark eyes.

After an unknown period of time, a low and magnetic male voice suddenly came from his ear: “Can’t sleep?”

Xu Xinghe immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Ling Changfeng: “You’re breathing heavily.”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

Team Leader Xu turned over, turned his back to his titular husband, and made a soft hum. “I can’t sleep, I’m not used to sleeping with others.”

Ling Changfeng: “I’m not used to it either.”

Xu Xinghe: “…” Then why did you ask for this??

Silence spread between them.

After a long time, Xu Xinghe suddenly said, “Are you afraid of the light? Can I turn on a small light? I’m used to sleeping with the light on.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt his brain twitch.

Why did he tell Marshal Ling about this? There’s an 80% chance he’ll feel he’s complaining too much…

As expected, the person behind him did not make a sound.

Xu Xinghe didn’t know if he was still awake. After waiting for a while, he finally laughed internally at himself, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

He always had to slowly adapt to the darkness.

The night grew darker, and sleepiness and exhaustion came in waves.

However, even though Xu Xinghe’s two eyelids were already fighting to close, he still couldn’t fall asleep.

In the quiet late night, some bad memories came up again.

After an unknown period of time, Xu Xinghe wondered if he would toss and turn like this until dawn, when Ling Changfeng suddenly sat up beside him.

Xu Xinghe froze.

Fortunately, the person behind him did not approach him, but sat up leaning against the headboard.

The next moment, a warm orange light came from behind.

Xu Xinghe was stunned, then turned to look at his new husband.

Ling Changfeng was wearing a single shirt, leaning on the head of the bed and flipping through the electronic files in his hands. Feeling Xu Xinghe’s gaze, he didn’t raise his eyes, just whispered: “I suddenly remembered that I still have something to deal with. You go to bed first.”

Xu Xinghe raised his hand and looked at the time on the electronic clock- it was 3:27 in the morning.

This work attitude really puts him to shame.

Maybe it’s because he was really tired, or maybe it’s because there is finally a light… Xu Xinghe actually gradually fell asleep under the faint warm light.

Hearing his breathing grow longer, Ling Changfeng put down the irrelevant documents in his hand and looked at Xu Xinghe’s back.

His little spouse wrapped himself in the quilt, huddled into a small ball motionless.

How is his sleep posture bad?

He was much more well-behaved than when he was awake, and was as quiet as a porcelain doll.

“Little liar.”

A murmur sounded in the silent night.

Ling Changfeng’s eyes began to look at Xu Xinghe without abandon in the weak light.

Suddenly, his eyes stopped.

There was a finger-length dark red scar on the back of Xu Xinghe’s neck.

As rumored, a scar runs across his glands.

Strangely, he didn’t find the scar as ugly as it was rumored.

There was a strange and charming association in his mind as he looked at the scar –

If he touched such a sensitive place with his slightly calloused fingers, his little spouse would definitely tremble all over.

Then, pink clouds would climb up his ears and smudge his cheeks.

And then, that sweet scent will spread in the air…

Ling Changfeng thought so, and subconsciously stretched out his hand…

Fortunately, reason pulled him back in time.

Looking at Xu Xinghe, who was sleeping ignorantly, Marshal Ling sighed silently.

Does this guy know how dangerous is it for an omega to turn his back to an alpha at such a close distance, exposing the sensitive and fragile glands on the back of his neck to the other party’s eyes?

Ling Changfeng forced himself to look away and looked down at the document again.

The pages didn’t turn for a long time.

To all readers – LCF may have low EQ, but he’s not blind or deaf! He’s just a marshal who wants to get close to the hdgehog.

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