After Getting Pregnant, I Fought for a Divorce from My Alpha - Chapter 13
“Do you want fish?” Shen Xiao flipped through the menu. They hadn’t been to this restaurant before, and its signature dish was pickled fish.
“Sure,” An Xiangdi replied casually, one hand on the back of his neck near his gland while the other swiped to switch to a piano game on his screen.
“What are you playing?” Shen Xiao asked, staring intently at him after placing their order.
“Piano game,” An Xiangdi replied without looking up, fingers still resting lightly against the gland.
For some reason, his gland had been swelling and aching ever since he got out of the car.
“I heard from Xiao Gu that you accepted Stage?” Shen Xiao asked as he ladled soup for An Xiangdi once the food arrived.
“Yeah, I’m going over to record during Labor Day. Two episodes.”
“Perfect timing. I’ll be in Wucheng around then to meet an old friend. If you’re free, I’ll take you with me to meet them,” Shen Xiao said, handing him the bowl.
“An old friend?” An Xiangdi raised his voice. “I’ve known you for twenty-nine years and never heard of this old friend of yours.”
“My social circle isn’t that small,” Shen Xiao teased.
“Hmm.” An Xiangdi sipped his soup unhurriedly.
Shen Xiao didn’t bother correcting him. Rather than poor social skills, it was more accurate to say he wasn’t easy to get close to. So far, the only person who had ever moved him was An Xiangdi.
“We’ve known each other for a few years,” Shen Xiao said vaguely.
An Xiangdi couldn’t help but grow a little curious about this “old friend.”
“I’m telling you, it was definitely Shen Xiao who got me into that!”
“Don’t bother. I’m going to his house in a few days to settle this!”
“What do you mean ‘forget it’? This isn’t something you just forget!”
An Xiangdi gently set his spoon down, turned his head, and through a crack in the door caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Raising an eyebrow, he walked over.
“Wei Yi.”
Wearing oversized black sunglasses and a mask, only Wei Yi’s forehead was visible. Upon hearing An Xiangdi’s voice, he thought he was imagining things from having cursed Shen Xiao too much and didn’t stop walking.
Seeing this, An Xiangdi called again, “Wei the Fearless.”
This time, Wei Yi froze in place. He glared at An Xiangdi from behind his sunglasses. “Dizi? What are you doing here?”
“Having dinner. Want to join?” An Xiangdi offered.
Hearing there was food, Wei Yi quickly walked over. “Hey, you really are the best. How’d you know I came here for dinner?”
“What else? Here to yell at Shen Xiao?” An Xiangdi said, closing the door.
Wei Yi tried to laugh it off but suddenly caught a faint whiff of Shen Xiao’s scent and immediately lost his composure.
“Sit.” An Xiangdi gestured toward the empty seat.
Wei Yi chose the one farthest from Shen Xiao and sat down like he was on pins and needles. “Well, it’s not just to yell at him…”
“Mm, I heard everything.” An Xiangdi resumed eating his fish, holding back laughter.
This time, Wei Yi gave up. He silently removed his sunglasses and mask. Since he’d been heard, trying to explain now would only make him look like a coward. And he was an Alpha—he had to keep up his image!
“So? What did Shen Xiao do?” An Xiangdi looked up after finishing his fish, studying Wei Yi’s face, which was a whole shade darker like he’d applied the wrong foundation color.
Wei Yi swallowed nervously, feeling like he was being interrogated. “Why don’t you ask him what he did!”
“Getting smart now?” An Xiangdi nudged Shen Xiao with his elbow. “What’d you do to him? He’s been thinking about you nonstop. Day and night. Don’t know about the dreaming part though…”
Wei Yi thought: Of course I dreamed of him. Dreamed of being crushed and humiliated. So embarrassing. Not saying that.
“Didn’t do anything,” Shen Xiao replied coolly.
“Bullshit!” Wei Yi slammed the table and jumped up. “Shen Xiao, be honest! Are you the one who got me into Survival?”
“Wasn’t it your agent who signed you up?” Shen Xiao said innocently. “How would I even have access to your work offers? You’re overthinking.”
“But… but the production team said you recommended me…”
“I recommended you because I thought you’d be a good fit. But you’re the one who signed the contract, right?” Shen Xiao passed An Xiangdi a piece of pork rib, his tone calm.
Wei Yi was momentarily speechless. When he thought about it, Shen Xiao really couldn’t have forced him to sign the contract. But still, how did a show he initially turned down suddenly become locked in?
“Did anyone from the team say I arranged it?” Shen Xiao kept pressing.
Wei Yi couldn’t say a thing. No one from the show said that—it was just a casual comment from a director that Shen Xiao had recommended him.
An Xiangdi finally understood why Wei Yi looked so tan—he’d gone on Survival.
“And didn’t you gain a bunch of popularity from that show?” Shen Xiao added.
Wei Yi went silent. He really had gotten a boost in popularity—not just seen as a comedy relief anymore but also earned a “tough guy” image.
“So, how were the bugs? Cute?” An Xiangdi poked at his trauma on purpose.
Wei Yi shuddered at the thought of crawling bugs. Goosebumps all over. “An Xiangdi! I’m telling you! Out of friendship, I’ll let this slide, but—”
“But you cursed out Shen Xiao for no reason. So this meal… you’re paying.” An Xiangdi shoved the chopsticks into his hand. “Eat up, Wei the Fearless.”
Hearing this, Wei Yi’s “tough guy” image collapsed. An Alpha bullied by this couple till his eyes were about to water. “Fine! You’re both traitors! Choosing love over friendship!”
Shen Xiao smiled, took An Xiangdi’s hand, and gently traced his palm in front of Wei Yi. “Of course my Dizi is on my side.”
Hearing Shen Xiao stress the word Dizi, An Xiangdi covered his mouth to hide his grin. He wanted to laugh but didn’t want Wei Yi to storm out in anger, so he held it in.
After dinner, Wei Yi dejectedly paid the bill, apologized to Shen Xiao for his outburst, and left with his agent.
Back in the car, An Xiangdi stared at Shen Xiao and finally said, “Shen Xiao, Wei Yi may be blunt, but he’s not a bad guy.”
Shen Xiao didn’t even turn his head. “Not only did he freeload our dinner, he also said your cooking was terrible.”
“You liked it?”
“If it’s made for me.” Implying—maybe not great for others, but to me, it’s special.
An Xiangdi’s heart skipped a beat. Shen Xiao always had a way of flirting without warning. Definitely on purpose.
His gland swelled again, and An Xiangdi instinctively pressed on it.
“So… it was you who arranged it?”
The answer was obvious, so Shen Xiao didn’t respond.
An Xiangdi curved his lips into a smile and dropped the subject.
…
On May 1st afternoon, An Xiangdi arrived at Stage’s filming location in Wucheng by van.
The show’s team held a short meeting with the cast and crew, then moved into rehearsal.
Stage was a special kind of performance show—featuring original and rearranged songs, aimed at giving true musicians a space to shine. Songs were judged via a mix of online voting and professional reviews. Every two episodes, one winner would get promotional resources from the show.
An Xiangdi was in great shape that day—nailed his rehearsal in one go. While resting backstage, he received a message from Shen Xiao.
Xiao Xiao: Just landed. See you later.
Dizi: Weren’t we meeting tomorrow?
He waited a bit but didn’t get a reply, so he checked Shen Xiao’s fan forum. Sure enough, preview pics of him at the airport were already out. Seemed like he was swamped by fans and couldn’t reply.
By 5 PM, rehearsals ended. After dinner, the official recording of Stage Season 4, Episode 1 began.
Though it was the first time these singers worked together, everyone performed smoothly. Only the waiting room conversation was awkward. After several failed attempts by the director to get them talking, he gave up and just let them mingle freely for 30 minutes.
So the six singers sat in a row. Aside from An Xiangdi, there were two female Alphas and three male Betas.
Naturally, the two female Alphas quickly hit it off, and the Betas also grouped up. Only An Xiangdi stayed apart.
He wore all white that day, like a noble prince. Especially that pure white turtleneck with silver thread accents—it made his already fair skin look so delicate, like you could squeeze water from it. He didn’t look thirty at all.
“How do you usually write your songs, Xiangdi?” someone finally braved the tension to ask, despite his reputation for being hard to approach and temperamental.
“I write down ideas as they come.” An Xiangdi wasn’t stingy with his reply, though when it came to music, he always carried a certain pride.
“Could you hum a bit for us?” the same person asked hopefully.
Without hesitation, An Xiangdi hummed the chorus of a new song he’d just recorded a few days ago. “This one will be released soon.”
“That was beautiful!”
“I’m definitely listening to it the moment it drops!”
“Hahaha did we forget Shen Xiao’s listening too?”
“Right! He probably got to hear it first.”
An Xiangdi didn’t mind them mentioning Shen Xiao. In fact, that seemed to bring him closer to the others. The next take in the waiting room came off much more naturally.
By the time the show wrapped, it was past midnight.
“See you in two days, Xiangdi!”
“Goodnight, Teacher An!”
The other singers were now bold enough to greet him. An Xiangdi nodded and walked past them toward the backstage exit.
A faint, sweet scent passed through the air, making the two Alpha girls blink in confusion.
“Hey… did you smell something kind of sweet just now?”
“Maybe… just our imagination?”