Clingy! The Sickly but Beautiful and Strong Alpha Is a Loyal Puppy Who Needs Pampering - Chapter 12

The fridge was nearly empty. Originally, Bei Yin planned to go grocery shopping with Ruan Fei at noon, but plans couldn’t keep up with changes.

At ten o’clock, Ruan Fei sent a message: Sis, something urgent came up. I’ll pick you up tonight for the ball.

During the two-hour lunch break, Bei Yin dragged Lin Jiaojiao out shopping.

At first, Lin Jiaojiao thought Bei Yin was buying things for herself. After browsing several stores without finding anything, she finally learned from Bei Yin that she was actually looking for a gift to return the favor.

The jewelry store they were currently in didn’t have holographic product displays, maintaining a simple style with glass display cases.

Watching Bei Yin bend over to examine the items, Lin Jiaojiao hesitated before saying, “Is it really necessary to return the favor?”

Apart from noble Omegas, most Omegas saw themselves as accessories to Alphas, accepting gifts from Alphas as a given. Over time, this inflated Alphas’ vanity, gradually creating a toxic norm where an Omega giving a gift to an Alpha would be seen as looking down on them.

The Alpha who had recently appeared by her best friend’s side—Lin Jiaojiao had secretly observed from afar. She couldn’t detect pheromones, so she could only judge by demeanor and appearance. The woman was a high-quality Alpha.

In her eyes, the higher the quality, the more domineering and proud the personality. Such Alphas would never accept gifts from Omegas.

Bei Yin understood what she meant but kept scanning the rows of items. “Just because most Alphas behave that way doesn’t mean all of them do. At the very least, Ruanruan isn’t like that.”

Of course, she also didn’t have the financial means to compete with her. So within her own budget, she’d pick something decent to give her—to honor and acknowledge her thoughtfulness.

Lin Jiaojiao leaned in and asked first, “Are you planning to pursue something long-term with her?”

“That’s the idea. Why?”

“I’m not badmouthing her, just stating facts—I always get a weird vibe from her. Despite her soft and cute personality, there’s no light in her eyes. She feels… heavy. You should really get to know her better, be extra careful.”

“Got it. I’ll conduct a full investigation on her soon,” Bei Yin said, then tapped the glass with her finger. “What do you think of this one?”

Lin Jiaojiao looked. It was a pair of sapphire earrings. The shape was hard to identify, but the color was exquisite and beautiful, with a tiny swirling vortex inside the gemstone.

“Pretty nice, but the shape’s a bit odd.”

“Look closely. Doesn’t it resemble a panther’s head with its mouth open?”

Lin Jiaojiao squinted. “Where?!”

Nowadays, most aquatic and land animals had gone extinct, leaving very few behind. Almost all animals seen outside were robotic simulations.

“I think it looks like one,” Bei Yin said, calling over the sales assistant. “Hello, please wrap up this pair of earrings for me.”

The sales assistant explained, “Apologies, ma’am. These earrings are our store’s treasure. The owner has a rule—customers must give him a message. Only if he’s satisfied will he sell them to you.”

Lin Jiaojiao remarked, “Your boss has a strange personality.”

The sales assistant could only smile awkwardly.

Bei Yin thought for a moment before saying slowly, “Please relay this to him—’In an endless, frigid snowfield scented with rum, only a single blue rose blooms.'”

“Understood. Please wait a moment while I consult him.”

Lin Jiaojiao added, “That’s even weirder.”

Bei Yin laughed. “What’s with you and the word ‘weird’ today?”

Soon, the sales assistant came trotting over: “The boss says the earrings are yours, and you get a 20% discount.”

Though this shop didn’t get many customers, its merchandise was quite good.

Besides the earrings, Bei Yin bought several other items.

When Lin Jiaojiao asked why she was buying so much—each piece being outrageously expensive—she replied: “The brooch is for next time’s return gift, the bracelet for the time after that, and this one for the time after that…”

Lin Jiaojiao was utterly speechless: “…Are you shopping for a lifetime supply?”

“A lifetime is very long, these few items are just the beginning. I’m afraid I won’t have time to shop later, so I’m preparing in advance.”

Not just gifts for Ruan Fei, Bei Yin also bought two forehead ornaments her mother liked.

Even Lin Jiaojiao received a necklace, happily hugging Bei Yin’s arm: “Ah! Rich bestie cuddles!”

…

After delivering Bei Lin’s gift, the two returned to base and went their separate ways.

Opening her dorm door, Bei Yin was startled to see Xiao Ai crouched on the floor looking aggrieved, crying streams of mechanical oil tears.

She quickly knelt down: “Uh… what’s wrong?”

Xiao Ai wiped her tears with tiny metal fists, sobbing out her grievances.

“It’s that woman with pitch-black eyes—she not only fought me over washing dishes but also over pillowcases and bedsheets.”

“I said it should be my job to wash them, but she fiercely told me to shut up and threatened to dismantle me, wuwuwu…”

Bei Yin went to check the bedroom.

The pillowcases and sheets previously stained by combat uniforms had been replaced with new moon-white ones, arranged without a single wrinkle.

Bei Yin shook her head with a laugh before returning to the doorway to comfort Xiao Ai with the little dress she’d specially bought for her.

Hugging the dress, Xiao Ai dripped mechanical oil tears: “Master, am I going to lose my job?”

Chief Bei had her own way with comforting both people and robots.

“No, Ruanruan is here to join us, not take your job. Think about it—wouldn’t it be nice to have someone share the housework?”

“Huh? That’s true!”

Bei Yin rubbed the metal head, momentarily thinking that head pats might be addictive.

…

At 6 PM when work ended, Bei Yin returned to her dorm and changed into the backless, waist-hugging evening gown she’d chosen last night.

In Klein blue with a sleeveless V-neck design, it accentuated her delicate collarbones and swan-like neck.

The most striking feature was the voluminous skirt below the slender waist, sprinkled with alien gemstones resembling diamonds that pulsed with life-like radiance.

It looked like a segment of starry night sky had been cut out and sewn onto the gown.

Dazzling and dreamily luxurious.

Of the 28 dresses, this was the one Bei Yin had decided on at first glance last night.

When she took it down to try on, something amusing happened.

A small card fell from the dress, bearing tiny handwriting: “Hehe~ knew you’d pick this one, sister. This is what they call being on the same wavelength, right?”

Not believing it, Bei Yin checked the other dresses.

Unsurprisingly, she found 27 more “same wavelength” cards.

The gown was already extravagant—too much jewelry would overwhelm it—so Bei Yin only wore a pair of earrings and pinned a small tiara into her updo.

Feeling her hands looked bare, she picked up a lace fan to carry.

Then, holding the gift box containing the earrings, she headed for the base gate.

Before she could get close, she spotted a hovering sports car parked in the distance.

The agreed time was seven o’clock, and it was only 6:55 now. Bei Yin asked the guards when the car had arrived.

Several betas struggled to control their gazes, keeping their eyes fixed straight ahead as they replied, “It arrived at 6:30.”

Bei Yin didn’t delay any longer, lifting the hem of her dress as she hurried over.

Hearing the movement, Chen Chen, who was in the driver’s seat, quickly put down his gaming console.

After getting out of the car, afraid he wouldn’t be able to control his instincts, he didn’t dare look directly at Bei Yin, instead tilting his eyes upward.

“Hello, I’m Chen Chen, a friend of Ruan Fei. I’m here to take you to the ball.”

Bei Yin had left the lab at three in the afternoon and saw the message Ruan Fei had sent her.

It turned out that today was her younger brother’s eighteenth birthday—his coming-of-age ceremony. Knowing that Ruan Fei was reluctant to return home, her mother had lied about being sick to drag her back.

Ruan Fei had complained endlessly to Bei Yin about how her mother had kept pulling her around, introducing her to one person after another, driving her crazy.

Bei Yin had asked if she needed to prepare a gift for the ceremony.

The reply she got was three words: “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Ruan Fei is on her way and should arrive around eight,” Chen Chen said, still averting his gaze as he opened the car door.

“Alright, thank you,” Bei Yin replied. As she approached, she suddenly burst into laughter.

There, in the back seat, was a life-sized, hyper-realistic replica of Ruan Fei, modeled exactly after her height and appearance.

The expression, the hair, even the tiny black mole on her neck—everything was identical.

The only thing was that it hadn’t been activated yet, leaving its eyes empty and vacant.

Bei Yin smiled to herself. Ruan Fei had promised to pick her up, and technically, she hadn’t broken that promise.

Sitting beside the motionless replica, she poked its artificial cheek with her finger. “Where’s the activation button?”