A White Cloud (GL ABO) - Chapter 66

Terrified, Xu Yiyi sought safety in panic.

Tomb Cheng held her as she fainted, trying to lay her on the bed, only to find she’d torn a corner of her shirt.

Shen Zhiqing sat at the computer, reviewing the café’s surveillance.

The footage showed Tomb Cheng and Xiaomi chatting happily, their ease belying Xiaomi’s illness.

Mu Mu and she looked so well-matched.

How long since she saw Mu Mu smile so freely? Too long—she’d forgotten.

“Doctor Shen, find anything?” Tomb Cheng asked softly, keeping her voice low.

Xu Yiyi’s door stayed open, as she worried about her condition and called Shen Zhiqing over.

Xiaomi looked at her with concern and confusion.

She’d obtained the footage, but neither she nor Tomb Cheng could explain Xu Yiyi’s sudden breakdown.

The silent video captured their ten-plus minutes in the café.

Shen Zhiqing grew quieter as she watched.

The entryway footage was clear.

When Qin Yishui appeared, Shen Zhiqing’s face darkened; the others noticed too.

“Who is she?” Tomb Cheng said, certain she didn’t know the woman.

Xiaomi studied the screen.

“Qin Yishui?” she asked.

Her notoriety preceded her.

Xiaomi had heard of her, often compared among their generation, with elders mentioning her with disdain.

Shen Zhiqing hesitated, unsure where to begin.

Xiaomi sensed her reluctance and chose to step back.

She grabbed her purse to leave.

“You two talk. I’ll go,” she said.

“Tomb Cheng, call if you need me,” she added.

Unsure if Tomb Cheng had shared Xu Yiyi’s background with Xiaomi, Shen Zhiqing appreciated her tact regarding the medical issue, giving her a grateful look.

Alone, Shen Zhiqing rubbed her fingers, stammering, “Mu Mu…”

“Yiyi knows her, doesn’t she?”

The sharp Alpha sensed something, her gaze burning into the screen figure. Her confusion clarified with a realization.

Shen Zhiqing’s silence confirmed it.

Tomb Cheng understood—this was the “helpless” person Xu Zhu mentioned in her letter.

Xu Zhu’s letter arrived at the military base before her suicide.

Tomb Cheng thought it was a prank until the police called, and she met Xu Yiyi, realizing it wasn’t.

Shen Zhiqing never dared tell her she investigated Xu Yiyi’s background without consent.

She grabbed Tomb Cheng’s pinky, apologizing.

“Mu Mu, I’m sorry,” she said.

Twenty-four years ago, the Qin family adopted a girl as Qin Yishui’s child bride.

Xu Zhu was locked in their attic, hidden until adulthood.

Expected to differentiate as an Omega, Xu Zhu became an Alpha, fueling Qin Yishui’s twisted desires.

Qin Yishui forcibly opened Xu Zhu’s undeveloped reproductive cavity, forcing her to bear her child, compelling a healthy Alpha to birth a child for a disabled her.

She made toddler Xu Yiyi witness her mother’s rape, beaten bloody with a bamboo whip, dragged by her hair, and caged like a dog.

Unable to endure, Xu Zhu escaped when Qin Yishui’s guard slipped.

She secretly sent Tomb Cheng a letter, wrote her will, and killed herself.

Xu Yiyi, under three, developed a defensive reaction from prolonged oppression and violence.

“Her mother likely told her about you before dying, maybe showed your photo,” Shen Zhiqing said, hugging her knees and leaning on Tomb Cheng’s shoulder.

Similar experiences let her empathize, her pity for Xu Yiyi tinged with her own childhood sorrow.

Tomb Cheng recalled Xu Zhu’s plea in the letter.

[ Please, for her mother’s sake? I beg you. ]

The letter’s ink had smudged with water.

Holding it, Tomb Cheng thought of Tomb Hua’s dying wish.

She couldn’t refuse Xu Zhu’s request—for Tomb Hua, for gratitude.

Xu Yiyi, her foster mother’s granddaughter, was her daughter.

Sharing this, Shen Zhiqing stared at her in disbelief.

“So you…” she began.

“Yes,” Tomb Cheng said, lowering her gaze.

Her eyes behind glasses shifted, meeting hers candidly. “I’m an orphan,” she said.

She never dared tell Shen Zhiqing before.

Their social gap was vast, and she didn’t want to add another mark to her inferiority.

A toad lusting for a swan—wasn’t that her?

“The person in your dreams, remember her?” Shen Zhiqing asked, kneeling beside her with bent legs.

The woman calling her Mu Mu—Shen Zhiqing remembered Tomb Cheng mentioning a faceless figure in her dreams.

“Can’t recall,” Tomb Cheng said.

Her mind couldn’t piece together the woman’s face, only her outstretched hand amid a lively crowd.

Shen Zhiqing climbed onto her lap.

Her long skirt draped over Tomb Cheng’s thighs, her soft skin pressing through thin fabric.

Thin straps hung on her arms under the light, her light brown curls resting on her rounded shoulders, her demeanor soft and elegant.

Her eyes reflected another’s shadow. Shen Zhiqing slipped a finger into her hair.

“Mu Mu, I’m not as noble as you think. I’m just ordinary,” she said.

“I flee from weakness, shrink from fear, and grieve from loss,” she continued.

Her fingertips massaged Tomb Cheng’s scalp through soft hair, baring her heart again.

“Compared to you, those things mean nothing,” she said.

“Mu Mu, more than those empty things, I want to ask you,” she said.

She pressed her face to Tomb Cheng’s shoulder, half-grieved, half-anxious, gazing at her pleadingly.

“Can’t you give me one more chance to fix my mistakes?” she asked.

This woman was too captivating, Tomb Cheng thought.

If she truly resisted her, could they sit here so calmly now?

She knew the answer.

Tomb Cheng grumbled inwardly, avoiding her gaze. How could she resist Shen Zhiqing’s blatant, flawed ploys?

Before, a single beckon had her trailing eagerly.

Shen Zhiqing’s burning stare overwhelmed her.

Tomb Cheng’s heart raced.

“W-what chance?” she stammered.

Her stuttering mirrored her youth. Shen Zhiqing feigned hurt, burrowing into her arms.

“Mu Mu~” she whined.

Did she have to spell it out? Who was this torturing?

“Ah… hm,” Tomb Cheng coughed, her eyes darting anywhere but Shen Zhiqing.

Shen Zhiqing’s face shifted in her neck.

She kissed under her earlobe, breathing behind her ear, her voice coy and seductive.

“A chance to like you, to pursue you~” she teased.

Her rising tone held a hint of slyness and lovers’ cunning.

Shen Zhiqing twisted against her, shaking her arm, pressing her soft chest against her.

Not satisfied, she grabbed Tomb Cheng’s hand, placing it on her waist.

“Mu Mu, okay?” she asked.

Doctor Shen used every trick to burrow into her arms.

Tomb Cheng stifled a laugh, their playful tussle escalating.

She thought Shen Zhiqing was like a slippery eel, holding her to prevent a fall.

She opened her mouth to tease, but a click sounded.

“Mommy?” Xu Yiyi called.