After the Top Idol Omega and I Started Living Together - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

If someone had asked this question at the beginning, Sheng Jingyu indeed nodded.

But this time, she did not answer.

The sunlight fiercely scorched the earth, and cicadas chirped one after another, filling the quiet clinic.

Cheng Xin tried to gain Sheng Jingyu’s affirmative consensus again but failed, her gaze darkened, somewhat unwilling to face it, yet she spoke naturally: “Ah Yu, why aren’t you talking?”

“I’m just thinking…” Sheng Jingyu gestured slowly, as if delaying time.

After a slight pause, she finally seemed to find a reasonable topic and continued: “The issue of the inhibitor failing.”

Sheng Jingyu spoke naturally enough, but Cheng Xin still noticed her intention to change the subject.

Yet she had to follow the topic and assured Sheng Jingyu: “This issue isn’t that hard to handle. I will make an inhibitor suited to your current condition before your next heat cycle.”

At this point, Cheng Xin paused slightly.

She wondered if this sudden change affected Sheng Jingyu’s judgment at this stage, and she only wanted to believe this reason, so she spoke to ease her mind: “Actually, you don’t need to take the marking matter to heart.”

Cheng Xin looked at Sheng Jingyu, her words full of suggestive meaning: “We’re all adults. It’s just a matter of mutual needs between Alpha and Omega. You can lower your morals a bit and accept the marking to stay alive, nothing more, right?”

As her words fell, Sheng Jingyu silently lowered her eyes.

It seemed like agreement, yet also like silence.

Only oneself truly understands oneself, and Sheng Jingyu knew she never had such a strong desire to survive in the past.

She knew from childhood that her lifeline would suddenly break one day. She created many hopeful, uplifting songs, but that didn’t stop her from sinking into the stagnant waters of death.

Why did she now want to live?

She even accepted an Alpha’s marking who wasn’t her partner.

Unsure which keyword triggered it, Sheng Jingyu’s gaze shifted slightly.

She felt displeased, even irritated.

Cheng Xin, somehow, despite Sheng Jingyu’s nodding agreement, still felt a faint unease in her heart.

She truly worried and didn’t want their plan to change because of that Alpha, so she said: “Ah Yu, there’s one thing I want to remind you. Summer is restless, so control your emotions. Your heat cycle yesterday came less than a month after the last one, which is obviously abnormal and burdens your glands.”

Her tone was serious and sincere, entirely a doctor’s advice to her patient, yet it seemed more than that: “Promise me you won’t have too many thoughts, okay?”

Sheng Jingyu raised her gaze upon hearing this, her eyes calm, and nodded lightly: “Okay.”

She also hoped she could manage it.

She increasingly felt she couldn’t understand herself.

The sun rose higher, and the noon world was quiet and slow.

Sunlight brightly spilled into Cheng Xin’s clinic and also splashed generously into Lu Zhao’s old mansion.

The audition officially ended the day Sheng Jingyu took Lu Zhao to the island. In the morning, Zhou Huanyin found time to hold a team meeting. Since she was attending an event abroad, the meeting used online video.

The competition rules stated each mentor selected eight trainees to form a team during the audition. Those with insufficient numbers picked from the standby trainees.

Zhou Huanyin acted steadily and accurately, hitting every mark, the only mentor among the four who formed her team without needing to reselect.

The team’s atmosphere was currently good. Lu Zhao exchanged contact information with the other seven trainees but didn’t have high hopes for interpersonal relationships.

She didn’t know whether to call herself mature or once bitten, twice shy. She was no longer as naive as she was two years ago during the audition.

Zhou Huanyin seemed eager to interact with everyone. Though it wasn’t her first time as a mentor, she remained enthusiastic on the screen.

She said she would guide everyone based on the preliminary songs in the coming time and showed a memo full of detailed plans.

Lu Zhao, somehow, found the detailed plan oddly familiar.

But the excited discussion drowned her thoughts completely.

The preliminary round was pre-recorded. Mentors drew eight songs in a small dark room arranged by the program team, then assigned each song to suitable trainees after consideration to achieve the best effect.

However, it wasn’t a random song selection performance but a head-to-head battle between mentors.

The Hear Your Voice competition was fast-paced and notoriously brutal. The four mentors were automatically grouped when drawing songs, and the preliminary round eliminated half the trainees from the losing mentor’s team.

Lu Zhao didn’t know which mentor Zhou Huanyin would face.

Nor did she know who she would compete against in singing.

After the meeting, Lu Zhao’s mind held only nervous confusion.

But a burst of aroma from downstairs dispelled it.

Chenchen, as usual, brought delicious food for lunch—roast duck with pancakes, incredibly tasty.

With food in front, how could she not feel spirited?

Chenchen and Lu Zhao shared the sizzling duck, rolling pancakes, when Chenchen remembered something: “Hey, I noticed something.”

Lu Zhao bit into crispy duck skin, mumbling unclearly: “What?”

“Ah Zhao, you didn’t get allergic at the beach this time!” Chenchen looked at Lu Zhao’s face, free of red rashes, and exclaimed.

Without the reminder, Lu Zhao forgot herself.

In the past, she almost always got allergic every time she went to the beach.

At the beach, food and drinks often contained fish or seafood, and people relaxed their guard when happy.

So, despite past precautions, Lu Zhao never escaped. Red dots, like a curse, always appeared suddenly.

But this time, two days after returning, she still had no allergic reaction.

It was an unprecedented miracle.

“Yeah,” Lu Zhao felt incredulous, “how could this be?”

Chenchen wasn’t as shocked as when she first noticed, instead saying confidently: “It’s definitely because Miss Sheng instructed them. Didn’t you say the island is hers? The people there must be hers too.”

Lu Zhao hesitated, doubting: “But can it really be that thorough?”

Chenchen was certain: “Miss Sheng can.”

Her eyes sparkled brightly, like a clear-headed outsider: “Miss Sheng cares about you.”

Lu Zhao looked at Chenchen, stunned for a moment.

The words sounded too ambiguous, especially after what happened yesterday.

Lu Zhao didn’t know what she was avoiding. Her eyes flickered as she reminded Chenchen: “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Chenchen saw Lu Zhao’s reaction, pursed her lips: “Ah Zhao, you’re acting weird.”

Lu Zhao immediately looked up: “No, I’m not!”

Chenchen let out a small hum from her nose, subtly prodding Lu Zhao: “You know if you are.”

Perhaps because they spent so much time together, Lu Zhao and Chenchen became close friends who understood each other deeply.

Lu Zhao quickly stood, pretending to punish Chenchen, but Chenchen dodged, holding the pancake she just rolled.

As the two played, someone pushed open the front door.

The noon heat surged in from outside, and Sheng Jingyu walked in with a faint glow.

Chenchen immediately invited: “Miss Sheng, you’re back! Have you eaten lunch? Want to join us?”

Sheng Jingyu slowly changed her shoes and declined: “No, I’ve eaten.”

But she looked up and noticed Lu Zhao standing from the dining table and Chenchen, who ran to the living room biting a pancake, finding their behavior odd: “What are you talking about, so excited?”

In a room with three people, two felt guilty.

Chenchen started learning sign language when Sheng Jingyu arrived and could now understand a lot.

Her mind raced, quickly bringing up a new topic: “It’s about Wu Nianchen, Miss Wu. She’s developing a new show and asked yesterday if Ah Zhao has time to join, either as a guest or regular, to be discussed later.”

“I think it’s fine since it’s exposure. Plus, Miss Wu is one of us, so it feels like she won’t edit maliciously and might even give Ah Zhao more highlight moments.”

In the past, no matter what Lu Zhao and Chenchen talked about during meals, Lu Zhao never got this excited.

Was she that happy?

Sheng Jingyu looked at Lu Zhao, who slowly sat back down, frowning slightly with displeasure: “Don’t join such shows.”

“Lu Zhao’s audition performance was great. It’ll surely gain some popularity when aired. There’s no need to lower yourself to join obscure shows, especially newly developed ones.”

“Even if it’s someone familiar, without strength, you’re at their mercy. As long as your ability is seen and you gain popularity, even rival show teams won’t dare edit maliciously.”

Sheng Jingyu’s hands gestured quickly, explaining her disagreement from two perspectives.

Chenchen didn’t expect Sheng Jingyu, who usually disliked talking, to say so much this time and found her reasoning sound: “Indeed, Miss Sheng thinks thoroughly. I’m still lacking.”

Sheng Jingyu’s expression remained calm, without blame: “You’ll consider these things slowly.”

Then her gaze shifted to the person who just sat back down, giving her no time to react, and said: “Come with me.”

Lu Zhao had just rolled a small pancake, about to sneak a bite, when Sheng Jingyu called her.

With no choice, she followed Chenchen’s example, stuffing the pancake in her mouth while catching up with Sheng Jingyu’s steps upstairs.

Lu Zhao still thought about Sheng Jingyu’s checkup this morning, feeling a bit uneasy.

Sheng Jingyu didn’t speak to her the whole way, which deepened her unease.

Finally, they entered Sheng Jingyu’s room.

Lu Zhao closed the door and asked in a volume only they could hear: “Teacher, is the checkup result not good…?”

But before Lu Zhao finished, Sheng Jingyu raised her hand to interrupt.

Sheng Jingyu turned to look at Lu Zhao, her gray-silver eyes tinged with light gold, and asked deliberately: “You said you’d take responsibility to the end. Does that still count?”

Cheng Xin’s words still echoed in her ears, but she refused.

She wanted to keep this person by her side, not tolerating any Omega’s interference.