ACBAM 23: Married

“My newlywed partner’s… Moments?” Su Shijin looked at Gu Weiyang, pronouncing each word slowly as he stared at the phone.

Gu Weiyang gave a light cough and silently slipped the phone back into his pocket.

The voice of the grandfather on the phone dripped with sarcasm, “What else? If it’s not your newlywed partner, is it mine?”

Su Shijin: …

“That’s not what I meant, I was just confirming with the person next to me.”

Grandfather gave a cold snort. “Who? Your newlywed partner?”

Just hearing the words “newlywed partner” now gave Su Shijin a headache. “I’ll talk to you about that when I come home this weekend, okay?”

Grandfather let out a cold laugh. “Oh, so you’re just going to ignore it for a week and then try to deal with it, is that it?”

That might be true, but Su Shijin obviously couldn’t admit it.

“It’s just that work’s been busy, and on top of that, I injured my ankle. Lately, being in a wheelchair makes it inconvenient to drive home,” Su Shijin said lightly, playing the sympathy card.

Sure enough, Grandpa took the bait and his voice immediately rose. “In a wheelchair? Broke your leg? How did that happen?!”

“…It’s not that serious, don’t worry,” Su Shijin said helplessly while rubbing his temples. “It’s just a minor injury.”

“A minor injury and you’re in a wheelchair?? What kind of care is that from your newlywed partner? How did you get hurt?!” Grandpa was instantly dissatisfied with Gu Weiyang. “You’re in a wheelchair and still rushed to get the marriage certificate? You didn’t even think to tell your grandpa? What, am I that unimportant now?”

Grandpa was heartbroken. Grandpa was shattered.

Su Shijin gently tried to soothe him. “Grandpa, we went to get the certificate today because we happened to have time in the morning. I was already planning to come home this weekend and tell you in person.”

Grandpa refused to listen. “I don’t care! This weekend, bring that newlywed partner of yours home with you!”

“At first, I thought that kid seemed decent, but going off to get married without saying a word to me? Not even a heads-up!”

“Both of you—come home!!”

The last sentence was shouted so loudly that Su Shijin had to pull the phone slightly away from his ear, and standing nearby, Gu Weiyang accidentally heard it loud and clear.

Seeing the helpless look on Su Shijin’s face, Gu Weiyang hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and spoke into the phone, “Got it, Grandpa. I’ll go back with Shijin this weekend.”

When it came to registering the marriage, it wasn’t unusual that Gu Weiyang hadn’t informed his own parents. His relationship with his biological parents was average at best, and ever since quietly distancing himself from the Gu family, he had interacted with them even less.

They wanted Gu Weiyang to marry an omega—so long as he did that, whether he told them in advance or not didn’t matter.

But Su Shijin’s grandfather was a different story.

He had married someone’s grandson and he was Su Shijin’s only living relative. Gu Weiyang should’ve formally paid a visit to propose, or at the very least, given a heads-up in advance.

Now the person had already been “snatched,” the marriage certificate was in hand, and Grandpa had only found out through a post on Moments.

Of course Grandpa wouldn’t be happy and anyone could see that coming.

To salvage his image in Grandpa’s eyes, Gu Weiyang had no choice but to go back with Su Shijin this weekend. He had to phrase things nicely too, “Grandpa, I’ll bring a few bottles of good wine to apologize. It really was my oversight this time—I should’ve informed you first.”

To that, Grandpa replied, “Who’s your grandpa?”

And with that, click, the call was hung up.

Gu Weiyang: …

Su Shijin: …

The two of them stared at the end call, momentarily speechless.

Su Shijin let out a helpless sigh and asked, “Mr. Gu, did you post on Moments?”

“Ah, uh… I guess… sort of,” Gu Weiyang stumbled over his words for once, pulling out his phone and tapping a few times. “Sorry, I just wanted to use this chance to make some of those families hoping to arrange a marriage with me give up. If you don’t like it, I’ll delete it right now.”

“No need.” Su Shijin tapped his fingers lightly on the wheelchair, thinking that Gu Weiyang’s approach was actually quite clever.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to post something on Moments too,” Su Shijin said.

Of course Gu Weiyang didn’t mind. He was practically over the moon.

What did Su Shijin just say?

He said he wanted to post a Moments about their marriage!!

Had he saved the galaxy in a past life or something? How else could something this amazing happen to him?!

Gu Weiyang struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth from lifting into a grin as he sent the photo he had just taken to Su Shijin. In a low voice, he said, “This is the photo I used for my post just now.”

Su Shijin glanced at the photo. It was two hands, one large and one smaller, holding overlapping marriage certificates. The registration photo inside was visible, showing the AO pair leaning close together, ears slightly red, with smiles on their faces. They looked very much like a perfect, loving newlywed couple.

…Wait, what was he just thinking?

Su Shijin felt like the clingy and sweet atmosphere in the photo had clouded his brain. He nearly thought that he and Gu Weiyang actually looked like a good match in it.

He shook his head, pushing away the strange thought, and started editing his Moments post.

The photo was quite misleading that even he thought they looked like a real couple. Other people probably wouldn’t suspect the marriage was fake either.

At least the marriage certificate was real.

Su Shijin figured he could use this opportunity to get rid of a lot of unwanted “admirers.” From now on, he would have a much stronger reason to turn down anyone who tried to pursue him.

Just say, married.

With a faint smile on his lips, Su Shijin selected the photo and posted it to Moments, adding a simple caption: ^_^

The second it was successfully posted, his phone buzzed once.

Then, it started vibrating like crazy.

Su Shijin had a lot of people in his Moments. His work and personal accounts were combined, so aside from family and friends, there were also various doctors and pet owners who had come to him for treatment before.

When they saw the post, most people instinctively liked it and sent their congratulations.

Jian Lexin’s comment shot to the top: ?!!?@#?%?!?

A mess of random symbols spammed across three lines, fully expressing his shock.

Although others were surprised too, most of them simply left polite and courteous comments: Congratulations on your marriage, wishing you a lifetime of happiness~

Only Jian Lexin, after commenting on the post, went further and opened Su Shijin’s chat window, spamming two full pages of question marks.

Oh, and then there was Su Shijin’s grandfather, who sent a message dripping with sarcasm: Heh.

Su Shijin quietly put away his phone, deciding to pretend he hadn’t seen anything for now and will reply later in the evening when he had time.

Otherwise, he would be stuck dealing with the overly excitable Jian Lexin for at least half an hour.

As for his sarcastic grandfather, Su Shijin sighed helplessly. He would deal with that on Sunday.

Su Shijin didn’t see himself as someone who liked to run away from things, but he had to admit that sometimes, avoidance really did work.

—

At noon, Su Shijin and Gu Weiyang ate at a nearby restaurant. Since Su Shijin had work in the afternoon and it was already getting late, he didn’t want to trouble Gu Weiyang to cook lunch.

Although Gu Weiyang was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t show off his skills by making a few dishes, the moment he thought of the post Su Shijin had just secretly shared on his Moments, his mood lifted. He quietly gave it a like.

After lunch, Gu Weiyang drove Su Shijin to the animal hospital. He parked the car right at the entrance for convenience.

The receptionist, Ran Tian, looked up and saw a car blocking the entrance. Thinking someone was about to carry out a pet, she hurried out from behind the front desk.

Then she saw a tall and handsome man step out of the driver’s seat. Ran Tian was sure she had never seen him before, but for some reason, he looked strangely familiar.

She watched as the man opened the trunk, thinking to herself, What kind of pet would be kept in the trunk…?

Then she saw him take out a wheelchair.

Ran Tian: ?

Ran Tian’s mind raced, trying to figure out what kind of pet would need to be brought down in a wheelchair. The next second, the tall and handsome man opened the front passenger door—revealing none other than the unmistakably familiar face of Dr. Su.

Ran Tian: …

She remembered now. This tall and handsome man looked familiar because he was the other half on the marriage certificate in Dr. Su’s Moments post she had just seen earlier!!

Ran Tian covered her mouth, watching as the man from the photo stood right in front of her, reaching out to Dr. Su in the passenger seat with gentle care and saying, “Slowly now, watch your foot.”

Ran Tian: Oh oh oh oh oh, I’m shipping this, I’m shipping this hard.

When she first saw the post on Moments, she and her fellow receptionist, Tian Yaping, had already happily started shipping this stunningly good-looking real-life CP.

People at the hospital had gossiped before, wondering when someone with Dr. Su’s personality would ever find a partner. Who would’ve thought he would suddenly go and register for marriage just like that? It was like a bomb dropped, instantly shattering the calm atmosphere of the hospital.

During lunch break just now, a bunch of assistants and interns were all talking about it, all curious about what kind of alpha Dr. Su had married.

After all, with Dr. Su’s personality, it was really hard to imagine him being with any alpha—let alone suddenly getting married.

Now Ran Tian understood that the so cold and aloof little beauty was meant to be paired with a gentle, caring, and tall hottie!!!

Ran Tian happily shipped the CP up close, watching as Dr. Su’s hand rested in the man’s palm.

Oh oh oh oh it’s the size difference! Dr. Su’s hand looked so small in his!!

He even helped him out of the car—wow, their relationship was way too sweet.

Then Ruan Tian saw that Dr. Su was wearing a fluffy slipper on his left foot, and the man gently held his hand as he helped him into a wheelchair.

Ruan Tian: ?

“Dr. Su, what happened to your foot!?” Ruan Tian snapped out of her CP-shipping bliss, shocked, and looked at his leg.

Wasn’t he perfectly fine when he came in for overtime on Saturday? How did he… end up limping?

“I just got hurt by accident, it’s nothing serious.” Dr. Su gave a polite nod in greeting when he saw Ruan Tian.

Ruan Tian looked at the electric wheelchair beneath him and hesitated. “This is… nothing serious?”

“I just need to rest for a while and I can’t put any weight on it,” Dr. Su said calmly.

There’s no way he was going to admit that he was just afraid of the pain and didn’t want to tough it out by walking.

Ruan Tian responded with a couple of quick “oh, oh”s, then hurried to push both glass doors open to make it easier for Dr. Su to enter.

There were no steps at the hospital entrance, so maneuvering the wheelchair through the doors was easy.

After entering, Su Shijin paused for a moment while steering the wheelchair and looked back at Gu Weiyang.

Gu Weiyang smiled and waved, signaling that he was about to head back, then made a phone-call gesture, telling him to call if anything came up.

Su Shijin nodded to show he got the message, then steered his wheelchair toward the locker room.

Of course Ruan Tian didn’t follow Dr. Su inside. She ran back to the front desk and jabbed Tian Yaping wildly with her elbow. “Did you see that? Did you see!?”

Tian Yaping, who’s already curious, asked, “What happened to Dr. Su’s foot? Why’s he in a wheelchair?”

“Not that! I’m talking about the guy at the door just now—the man on Dr. Su’s marriage certificate! Didn’t you see him?? He brought Dr. Su to work!!”

Tian Yaping shot to her feet. “Seriously? I didn’t see anything at all!”

To make it convenient for clients standing at the front desk, the reception counter was built quite high. When they sat inside, they couldn’t see what was happening outside unless they sat up straight.

Tian Yaping had been busy double-checking the afternoon appointments just now and hadn’t noticed anyone arriving outside.

When she saw Ruan Tian step out, she didn’t think much of it. Because it was either she was going to the restroom or helping a client with their pet.

Who would’ve thought it was Dr. Su’s newlywed partner personally bringing him to work!!

“He has never shown up before, and now he suddenly drops him off. Maybe he’s here to stake his claim?” Tian Yaping felt her theory about the man’s sudden appearance made perfect sense.

Ruan Tian thought she had a point and instantly went into fangirl mode again. “Staking his claim—ahhhhhh!!”

Someone who looked that gentle and thoughtful, coming to stake his claim.

Oh my god, Ruan Tian was about to pass out from shipping overload.

Two people with looks better than celebrities, the appearance-obsessed Ruan Tian sincerely wished them a long and happy life together forever!!

—

Su Shijin had absolutely no idea that outside, people were shipping his and Gu Weiyang’s CP. They were even starting to get completely carried away with it.

He was currently torn over whether or not to change into his uniform pants.

He was currently torn over whether or not to change into his uniform pants.

Su Shijin had an injured ankle, and changing pants was actually a huge hassle. Any touch to his left ankle would send a sharp and piercing pain through the swollen area.

It had already taken him quite a while just to get dressed this morning, and truth be told, he wasn’t great at handling pain.

Especially the uniform pants, the fabric had no stretch at all. Even though they were fairly loose, they were still a pain to put on.

Forget it. He wasn’t scheduled for any surgeries this week, just clinic work. If he didn’t wear them, he didn’t wear them.

For once, Su Shijin broke the rules and left the green uniform pants behind, only putting on the uniform top.

As he left the locker room, he happened to run into a few other doctors in the hospital.

When they saw Su Shijin, they smiled and were just about to congratulate him on his marriage until they noticed he was sitting in a wheelchair.

Doctors: ?

“Dr. Su, what happened to your foot?”

“It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious,” Su Shijin replied with a faint smile.

“Oh, oh—Dr. Su, we saw your post on Moments. Congratulations on your wedding~”

“Wishing you a lifetime of happiness, and may you soon…” The person paused mid-sentence, got elbowed by someone next to them, and quickly corrected themselves, “…grow old together.”

Su Shijin smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

But if he wasn’t mistaken, what that person originally meant to say was “may you have children soon.”

In today’s society, omegas were considered the most suitable group for pregnancy and childbirth because their reproductive systems were well-developed and naturally geared for conception.

Whether a female omega or a male omega, once permanently marked by an alpha, if no precautions were taken, pregnancy was almost guaranteed.

So that person’s blessing to Su Shijin wasn’t exactly wrong.

It’s just that Su Shijin didn’t seem like someone who would even have a partner. So even now that he was married, no one could really picture him with kids. Naturally, “may you have children soon” felt awkward to say out loud, so they went with a different blessing instead.

Su Shijin didn’t mind any of that. Setting aside the fact that his marriage to Mr. Gu was fake—even if it were real, with Mr. Gu’s damaged glands, there was no way Su Shijin could ever be permanently marked or get pregnant.

So he was perfectly at ease.

Once he got to his office, Su Shijin arranged for an assistant to help him out and began coordinating with other doctors to reassign all his surgeries for the upcoming week.

Whether it was a major or minor procedure, surgery required precision and there was no room for error.

Su Shijin didn’t want to risk affecting surgical precision by stubbornly insisting on standing at the operating table with an injured ankle.

Every animal coming in for surgery was their owner’s precious baby so there was no way Su Shijin would let any of them suffer because of him.

A few spay/neuter procedures and a tibial replacement surgery for a little corgi were reassigned to other equally experienced doctors after discussing with the clients by phone.

Only one surgery, a golden retriever’s, had to stay. The owner insisted that Su Shijin be the lead surgeon, and since the retriever only needed surgery on its hind leg and the treatment wasn’t urgent, Su Shijin rescheduled it for next week.

Once everything was arranged, Su Shijin turned to the reassigned assistant and said, “Assistant Jiao, if there are any walk-in cases waiting outside, feel free to send them my way.”

Assistant Jiao was new and not very familiar with Su Shijin yet, but immediately followed instructions and went out to call the next patient.

Anshi Animal Hospital wasn’t a large facility, and didn’t have many specialized departments. Unless it was a particularly complex or difficult case, patients were generally seen by whichever doctor was available.

Su Shijin’s consultation room had barely been quiet for a minute before Assistant Jiao came back in, bringing with him a woman who was holding the leash of a large German Shepherd.

“Xiangxiang has been vomiting a lot these past few days. Once in the morning before last, once yesterday, and this morning again. But I haven’t fed her anything she’s not supposed to eat.” The woman sat down and immediately began describing her dog’s symptoms.

Su Shijin pulled up the file for a German Shepherd named Xiangxiang on his computer and confirmed, “Xiangxiang, right? Three-year-old German Shepherd, owner’s phone number ending in 1569?”

The woman nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s her.”

“How’s her appetite been these past couple of days? Does she still eat when you feed her?” Su Shijin bent down and extended his hand toward Xiangxiang, letting her get used to his scent.

The owner thought for a moment. “Her appetite seems okay. She’s been eating her kibble.”

“Has she had any other tests done before this?”

“No, this is her first visit today.”

Su Shijin nodded and asked, “What did the vomit look like? Did you take any pictures?”

The owner let out an “oh no” and said, “I meant to take a photo, but I forgot.”

“That’s fine. Can you give me a rough idea? Was it yellow liquid, white foam, or undigested food?”

“She mostly throws up undigested food at first, then dry-heaves some liquid afterward. It was kind of yellowish, I guess.”

“Any diarrhea?”

“No.”

Su Shijin nodded, having gotten a general sense of the situation.

He looked at Xiangxiang, who was sitting on the floor panting excitedly with her tongue out, then curled his fingers and called her over with a couple of soft “tch tch” sounds.

No dog could resist the tch tch sound and not even this German Shepherd.

She had just gotten used to the scent on Su Shijin’s hand and, deciding he was a good person, immediately leapt excitedly into his arms, her tail wagging like a propeller.

At three years old, she was quite large. Su Shijin shifted his body to the side to avoid her hitting his injured foot, caught her gently, and reached out to rub her head reassuringly. Then he looked up at the owner. “She seems to be in good spirits. Just a couple of simple tests should be enough to be safe.”

The owner, clearly well-off and doting on Xiangxiang, quickly said, “Sure, let’s run any tests we can. I looked it up online and it might be parvovirus or something like that.”

Su Shijin glanced at the lively, energetic Xiangxiang and figured there was no way a dog with parvovirus could still be this spirited.

“Just the basic tests will do,” he said, writing up a form and handing it off to Assistant Jiao to take the client to the front desk for payment.

After the payment was done, Su Shijin called a few more people over to help keep the dog steady, in case she started squirming.

Then he put on gloves, picked up a cotton swab, and unceremoniously swabbed Xiangxiang’s rear.

Xiangxiang let out a miserable howl: “Awoo—”

Rectal swabs weren’t something most dogs were used to, but there was no helping it because the test had to be done.

Then he had the assistants hold the big dog steady while he drew blood from her front leg.

Seated in his wheelchair, Su Shijin moved busily through the procedures. Since the owner was worried the dog might have eaten something and hadn’t thrown it up, they also added a gastroscopy, which required the dog to be anesthetized.

The owner had previously brought Xiangxiang in for spaying and was well aware that anesthesia required eight hours of fasting. She reassured him, “She threw everything up before we came, so anesthesia is fine, no problem.”

Su Shijin had the owner sign the anesthesia consent form as well as the endoscopy consent, then maneuvered his wheelchair while an assistant led the dog next door for the procedure.

While Su Shijin was working, his phone sat on the consultation room desk.

Just as he was leaving the consultation room with the dog, his phone began to vibrate on the desk. The screen lit up, displaying the caller: Gu Weiyang.

But with no one in the room, the phone vibrated for a while before the call disconnected on its own.

Gu Weiyang called two more times, both going unanswered.

They had only been apart for an hour and there was no way anything serious had happened. Gu Weiyang figured Su Shijin was probably just busy and hadn’t noticed the calls. After a moment’s hesitation, he left him a message.

[Gu Weiyang: Dr. Su, you forgot to take your medication.]

Su Shijin was supposed to take his oral anti-inflammatory medication three times a day. He had already prepared the doses that morning and left them in Gu Weiyang’s car but it wasn’t until Gu Weiyang was almost at his company that he realized Su Shijin had forgotten to take the medicine.

Missing one dose wasn’t a big deal, but every time Gu Weiyang thought about Su Shijin’s injured ankle, the sight of that medicine made him more and more restless.

Taking it on time was the only way to recover quickly.

After a moment of hesitation, Gu Weiyang sent another message.

[Gu Weiyang: I’ll bring the medicine over.]

Fooling himself, as if leaving a message meant the other person had agreed, Gu Weiyang slipped the medicine into his pocket, turned on his left blinker, merged into traffic, made a U-turn up ahead, and headed back toward Su Shijin’s hospital.

This time, Gu Weiyang parked in a nearby lot and walked to the entrance of Su Shijin’s hospital.

Su Shijin still hadn’t replied, maybe he hadn’t seen the message.

Gu Weiyang wasn’t sure if showing up uninvited to deliver the medicine would annoy him, but having just gotten their marriage certificate, he couldn’t quite contain his mood. Even earlier, when he dropped Su Shijin off, he had felt a strange reluctance to let him out of his sight.

Standing at the door and torn with hesitation, Gu Weiyang finally sighed and lowered his head.

He didn’t want to upset Su Shijin. So in the end, he decided not to go inside and find him.

Gu Weiyang stepped into the hospital and left the medicine at the front desk.

Ruan Tian and Tian Yaping instinctively looked up. “Hello.”

But the moment they saw Gu Weiyang’s face, both of them froze mid-sentence.

Gu Weiyang gave them a polite smile. “This is Dr. Su’s medicine, could you help me pass it to him?”

Ruan Tian quickly stood up and took it. “Ah, sure. Aren’t… aren’t you going to give it to him yourself?”

Gu Weiyang shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ll disturb his work, so I’d better not—”

Before he could finish his sentence, a familiar voice echoed from the inner hallway, “The tests didn’t show anything serious, it’s just a common case of gastroenteritis. Just give her some medicine at home, and keep up with the probiotics for a few days to help digestion.”

“Oh, got it, thank you, Dr. Su. Sorry for the trouble.”

“You’re welcome, take care.”

Gu Weiyang’s fingers, hanging at his side, twitched slightly. In the end, he couldn’t resist the urge to take a look and stepped over to the hallway entrance.

Su Shijin was still smiling politely while watching the client walk away with the German Shepherd. In the blink of an eye, he spotted Gu Weiyang standing at the entrance of the corridor. He blinked instinctively, thinking for a moment that he was seeing things.

He looked a little surprised. “Mr. Gu?”

Why had he come back?

Gu Weiyang quickly took the medicine back from the front desk and walked over to Su Shijin in just a few steps. He lowered his head and said, “You forgot your medicine.”

Afraid Su Shijin might be upset that he came without asking, he quietly explained, “I was actually going to just leave it at the front desk but then I happened to hear your voice…”

Su Shijin had no idea what kind of mental gymnastics Gu Weiyang had gone through. He took the medicine from him, and just thinking about how he had made a special trip to bring it over made his heart soften. Smiling, he looked up and said, “Thanks, I completely forgot about it.”

Gu Weiyang stumbled over his words and nearly bit his tongue. “N-no need to thank me.”

He pretended to check the time and said, “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get going.”

Su Shijin nodded. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Oh, okay.” Gu Weiyang had been about to say it wasn’t necessary, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn down the chance to spend a few more minutes with Su Shijin.

As they walked to the entrance, they drew quite a few stares along the way, and Gu Weiyang’s steps started to feel a little light and floaty.

Su Shijin walked him to the door. Noticing the alpha looking a little spaced out, he tilted his head slightly. “Mr. Gu.”

“Mm?” Gu Weiyang snapped back to attention and looked at him.

Su Shijin gave a faint smile. “See you tonight.”

Gu Weiyang: “Mm, see you tonight.”

Three minutes later, sitting in his car, Gu Weiyang was silently pounding his thigh like mad.

He said ‘see you tonight’!!!