Has The Live-in Alpha Stepped Up - Chapter 20
20: Marked Relationship
When An Yizhu addressed her as “Old Mom An,” Director An finally calmed down.
An Yizhu earnestly spun her well-intentioned lie: “After I differentiated into an Alpha, I lost my memory. All my past memories are gone—I barely even knew who I was. But I thought I should still face life positively. Now it seems differentiation has given me a healthier body.”
Director An, being just a Beta, didn’t know much about Alphas and Omegas. But to her, An Yizhu’s words were convincing enough.
After listening, she finally walked back to An Yizhu’s side. She wanted to pat her head as usual but realized she had grown much taller and could only reach her shoulder instead. “I’m sorry, Xiao An. I overreacted just now. I must’ve startled you both. It’s fine—it’s okay if you don’t remember the past. What matters is that you’re safe.”
Director An resumed her interrupted hosting duties, gesturing for them to sit. “Look at me, really—how could I let you stand for so long? Sit, sit!”
Despite Yu Guqiu’s expensive haute couture outfit and meticulously maintained hair—both completely out of place in the welfare center’s environment—she showed no trace of disdain. Gracefully, she took a seat on the bright red plastic stool.
Director An looked at Yu Guqiu, growing fonder the more she observed.
How could anyone not like such a poised, down-to-earth beauty?
“President Yu, you really are as stunning as the photos in the news—no, even more so.” Director An praised sincerely.
Yu Guqiu, faced with such genuine admiration from an elder, could only respond with a polite smile.
She even shot An Yizhu a look, urging her to say something quickly.
An Yizhu nearly laughed. This woman, her contractual marriage partner who had been setting traps for her earlier, was now flustered?
Director An didn’t let An Yizhu off either. Grabbing her hand, she asked, “Xiao An, tell me how you two met and fell in love. You hid it from me so well! You didn’t come back for so long, only calling once a week to say you were safe. I had no idea what you were up to.”
But then she remembered An Yizhu’s “amnesia” and turned to Yu Guqiu instead. “Oh right, Xiao An lost her memory. President Yu, why don’t you tell me instead?”
Tell her what?
That they had just met two days ago, had never been in love, but were already in a marked relationship?
A marked relationship—that much was true.
It was the most real “relationship” between them, aside from the prenuptial agreement.
An Yizhu licked her dry lips and unconsciously glanced at the back of Yu Guqiu’s neck, only to find Yu Guqiu staring right back at her.
Flustered, An Yizhu quickly looked away and changed the subject. “Old Mom An, I think I smell something delicious!”
Director An shot up in alarm, slapping her thigh. “Oh no! I left soup simmering inside! My meat stew!”
An Yizhu hurried after her, though she wasn’t much help—just bustling around aimlessly.
Yu Guqiu stood up gracefully.
She watched as the children, who had been hiding behind various “barricades,” now sprang into action.
Like a well-rehearsed play, the cheerful little helpers set up chairs and brought out bowls and chopsticks.
Yu Guqiu simply observed quietly.
The children’s clothes were worn and patched, but clean. Each one looked healthy, their faces glowing with vitality.
Her sudden visit with An Yizhu today had primarily been to uncover flaws in An Yizhu’s identity.
But there were no flaws here—only poverty.
Renovating buildings and buying nice clothes required a lot of money.
But keeping children clean and healthy in such an environment required a lot of love.
Watching the lively scene before her, Yu Guqiu became even more convinced of one fact: This crumbling little welfare center had built towering walls of love to shelter its children from the storm.
Soon, the rich aroma of meat wafted from inside.
The children obediently sat on small stools outside, each with a bowl of rice.
An Yizhu came out carrying two bowls, handing one to Yu Guqiu. “Want to try? If you’re not hungry, I’ll eat yours too.”
The welfare center didn’t have enough chopsticks to go around.
But Yu Guqiu took the bowl—and the last pair of chopsticks.
“You’re actually going to eat it?” An Yizhu, the glutton, was completely caught off guard that Yu Guqiu would willingly eat a bowl of rice flavored only with minced meat in such a setting.
Director An rapped An Yizhu’s head with the handle of her ladle.
“Ow!” An Yizhu shrank her neck in pain, rubbing her head while pouting with the spoon in her mouth.
Director An scolded, “If you didn’t want to share, why even ask?”
“Who said I didn’t want to share? I just meant this minced meat rice is super fragrant, right? And there’s crispy rice at the bottom! It must be delicious—have more. If it’s not enough, you can have some of mine.” Even as she said “you can have some of mine,” An Yizhu was already shoveling rice into her mouth.
Yu Guqiu picked up a small bite and tasted it.
It was greasy.
But incredibly flavorful.
“I didn’t expect to end up making you stay for a meal. Luckily, today’s food is pretty good. Tasty, right?” Director An smiled warmly at Yu Guqiu, her eyes full of kindness.
It had nothing to do with Yu Guqiu’s wealth—she was simply happy seeing her eat so earnestly.
Yu Guqiu nodded deeply. “Delicious.”
Feeling it wasn’t enough, she added, “Really delicious.”
Director An beamed even brighter. “Good, good! Today was just lucky—the boss gave me extra ingredients as a reward for working hard. Fresh, high-quality meat!”
Yu Guqiu pressed her lips together, lost in thought, but continued eating meticulously.
Meanwhile, An Yizhu had already polished off her entire bowl before looking up contentedly.
Glancing at Yu Guqiu’s bowl, she was surprised to see nearly half of it gone.
It seemed even this ice-cold beauty, accustomed to gourmet delicacies, couldn’t resist the allure of hot, meaty rice.
An Yizhu smiled, then turned her gaze to the children sitting in neat rows, eating quietly.
There were over fifteen kids in the welfare center, big and small. Suddenly recalling the novel’s setting, she felt puzzled.
Shifting her stool closer to Director An, she whispered, “Old Mom An, why are there still kids being abandoned at welfare centers when the birth rate is so low? And they all look healthy.”
Director An set down her bowl, glanced at An Yizhu’s neck, then at the children. “There are always reasons. Some Betas, even if they haven’t differentiated, have strong fertility. They keep having children, hoping for an Alpha or Omega to elevate their status. Of course, some Alphas and Omegas think the same—they only want to continue their bloodline, so they abandon Betas…”
Just like how An Yizhu, as an Alpha, agreeing to marry into Yu Guqiu’s family had shocked those relatives.
Alphas and Omegas held higher social status—that was undeniable. But they were also treated like scarce resources.
Director An continued, “Back when genetic testing wasn’t advanced, parents had to wait until adulthood to confirm differentiation. Now, black-market testing is rampant. For a small fee, parents can test their one-year-olds with 90% accuracy. Because of these reports, many can heartlessly abandon their children.”
“Even tigers don’t eat their own cubs… How could these people…” An Yizhu sighed.
Yu Guqiu spoke up then. “The saying ‘tigers don’t eat their cubs’ holds true for tigers—but not necessarily for humans.”
The dark side of humanity that Director An described upset An Yizhu, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. She had seen and heard plenty during her time at the hospital, going from disbelief to numb resignation.
But Yu Guqiu’s words shocked her.
What had Yu Guqiu experienced to say something like that?
Did her relatives include such people?
An Yizhu could only assume so.