Has The Live-in Alpha Stepped Up - Chapter 45
45: Warmth in the Heart
An Yizhu was stunned as she was tightly embraced.
Her mind was in turmoil, afraid she might be misreading the situation.
[So, Yu Guqiu was worried about me?]
[Were those red-rimmed eyes because of me?]
She couldn’t help but place her hands on Yu Guqiu’s back.
Only when the woman in her arms gradually steadied her breathing did An Yizhu relax.
Xie Fang, standing nearby, also let out a sigh of relief. “That was terrifying. I never expected something like this to happen. Thankfully, Xiao Zhu, you’re alright. Xiao Qiu and I rushed over in a panic, really worried. Who in the world would do such a heartless thing—what’s it called? Doxxing? That’s illegal!”
Hearing Xie Fang speak, Yu Guqiu finally calmed down.
She had lost her composure.
Was this what it felt like to like someone, to care about someone?
Pressing her lips together, she lightly patted An Yizhu’s back, signaling that she was fine now.
After taking two steps back, she spoke again, her voice steady. “As a public figure, some information about my spouse is semi-public by default. The person behind this probably didn’t expect things to escalate this far, but we must find out who it was.”
Yu Guqiu’s eyes were icy, masking the redness at the corners.
But this decisive, authoritative aura only lasted a few seconds before fading.
Because she noticed An Yizhu still standing there, dazed.
She didn’t want An Yizhu, who had just experienced a stampede, to continue worrying about these matters.
“But for this incident, I’m sorry.” Yu Guqiu said.
An Yizhu looked at Yu Guqiu’s apologetic expression and thought she must be apologizing for the “breach of contract.”
“They’re the ones with no bottom line. It’s not your fault. I just don’t understand why they needed to expose my identity—it doesn’t benefit them at all.”
Yu Guqiu shook her head. “I underestimated them. After they posted those smear threads last time, I should’ve realized they’d target you again. Now that you’ve made achievements at Guangying, this is indeed a good opportunity for them.”
“Achievements? Me?” An Yizhu didn’t think she had accomplished much.
Yu Guqiu studied An Yizhu seriously and realized this person was quite humble.
But she didn’t dwell on it.
“Didn’t you say Jing Zuo was injured? Take me to see her.”
“Ah, right! I still need to deliver her medicine. When we arrived, the nurses sent us to the VIP ward. She’s over there.” An Yizhu led the way.
“If she’s in the VIP ward, why did you have to get the medicine yourself?” Xie Fang couldn’t help but ask.
Whether it was Yu Guqiu or herself, whenever they came to the hospital, they were always assigned to the VIP ward and never had to fetch medicine themselves.
But Yu Guqiu already had an answer in her heart.
Because An Yizhu was a good person. When the nurse mentioned getting medicine, she volunteered to do it herself.
In Yu Guqiu’s mind, the vivid image of An Yizhu even appeared in a clear scene.
An Yizhu confirmed Yu Guqiu’s guess. “There are so many injured patients downstairs, and the ICU is full of more critical cases. I thought fetching medicine was a small task I could handle myself. Jing Zuo’s injury isn’t serious.”
“Aiya—are you trying to kill me with pain?!” Jing Zuo’s exaggerated wail chose that moment to echo from the ward, completely ruining the atmosphere.
Yu Guqiu glanced at An Yizhu.
It was hard to believe “Jing Zuo’s injury isn’t serious.”
An Yizhu laughed awkwardly.
What was Jing Zuo acting for? It was just a sprain—why scream so dramatically?
Lin Da happened to be standing at the door.
Because she had just opened it, the sound of Jing Zuo’s wailing was clearly audible outside.
The moment Lin Da stepped out, she saw An Yizhu and sighed in relief. “Senior, you were gone so long I thought you got cornered by some unscrupulous reporters… Huh? Senior’s wife—ah, no, I mean, CEO Yu! Why are you here?”
“To visit you all.” Yu Guqiu replied, ignoring Lin Da’s slip of the tongue.
After today’s news broke, those who had just learned about it had probably teased An Yizhu endlessly. A verbal slip now was completely normal.
Lin Da was tactful enough not to press further.
She even realized she shouldn’t have asked the question in the first place.
Yu Guqiu and An Yizhu were married.
With such a huge uproar at Jiangcheng University because of it, it was only natural for Yu Guqiu to worry about An Yizhu and come to the hospital to find her wife.
Or rather, the mastermind behind this should be grateful it wasn’t An Yizhu who got hurt. Otherwise, Jiangcheng might have trembled three times over.
“Hehe.” Lin Da couldn’t help but chuckle—she loved this development too much.
But before An Yizhu’s puzzled gaze could land on her, she quickly schooled her expression.
Yu Guqiu entered the ward and saw Xu Qingyi pinning Jing Zuo down, massaging her ankle.
“Senior~ Why can’t you endure it at all? The doctor said you need to relax! Let me help you~” Xu Qingyi’s sweet voice remained unchanged, though it sounded oddly out of place in this context.
Jing Zuo insisted, “I’ll wait for my roommate to bring the medicine back. Stop it!”
As if saying: Until my lawyer arrives, no amount of coercion will make me talk.
An Yizhu couldn’t help but shake her head. Why was she the one feeling embarrassed when Jing Zuo was the one suffering?
She hoped Yu Guqiu wouldn’t overthink it or worry about the future of screenwriting training at Guangying because of this.
Lin Da coughed loudly twice.
The two on the hospital bed finally noticed.
Xu Qingyi immediately jumped off the bed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Yu Guqiu. “Wow!!! CEO Yu!!! I knew it! That day, I could tell right away how perfectly matched CEO Yu and Senior Yizhu were—one an ice-cold beauty, the other an enthusiastic puppy. I’m totally obsessed!”
Yu Guqiu listened calmly, but her impression of Xu Qingyi improved significantly.
An Yizhu pointed at herself. “Me? A puppy?”
Yu Guqiu ignored An Yizhu’s confusion and nodded at Xu Qingyi before addressing Jing Zuo. “You’ve worked hard with the recruitment today. I didn’t expect such an incident. I’ll compensate you.”
Jing Zuo waved her hands hastily. “No need, CEO Yu. It’s really our lack of experience. When we saw the crowd surging toward us, we thought they were here for recruitment. We didn’t even notice some seniors rushing over. If we had run away immediately, this might not have happened.”
Yu Guqiu shook her head. “Regardless, you can rest peacefully in the VIP ward. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Hehe, then can I make a request?” Xu Qingyi raised her hand.
“What request?” Jing Zuo was instantly wary, afraid she’d say something like “Let me take care of you.” Jing Zuo didn’t think she could handle that kind of “care.”
To her surprise, Xu Qingyi had zero interest in her at the moment. Excitedly, she asked, “I want to hear the love story between CEO Yu and Senior Yizhu! I’m so curious. And why keep Senior hidden? I don’t think CEO Yu cares about Senior’s background—otherwise, you wouldn’t have married her in the first place!”
Xu Qingyi’s analysis was logical.
Jing Zuo tugged at her sleeve, signaling her not to embarrass the two parties.
Besides, Yu Guqiu wasn’t exactly hiding An Yizhu—it was more like protection.
An Yizhu averted her gaze.
Her focus remained: What love story?
Just like when they first got married, the story hadn’t even begun.
Yu Guqiu, however, seemed reminded of something. She pulled out the ring hanging from her necklace and slipped it onto her finger.
“Ahhh!” Xu Qingyi screamed excitedly—who knew why—before covering her mouth, realizing she’d overreacted.
Yu Guqiu responded, “The story can wait, but I’ve never avoided publicly acknowledging Xiao Zhu. I just hoped her life wouldn’t be disturbed. Though that’s just a lofty excuse. The moment I married Xiao Zhu, it was inevitable she’d be under countless watchful eyes.”
These words made An Yizhu look at Yu Guqiu.
She knew Yu Guqiu wasn’t putting on an act for others—at least regarding protecting her identity, Yu Guqiu was sincere.
When the news suddenly exploded, spreading rapidly across Jiangcheng through smartphones, even elderly mobile users had probably heard about it.
The moment An Yizhu’s identity was exposed, Ciai Welfare Home was decoded.
She was extremely worried about An Lan’s situation and had called her immediately.
But An Lan acted as if nothing had happened, only describing the swarm of reporters outside. However, they were quickly blocked by a team of security guards.
The children were temporarily called back from school to the dormitory, waiting for the commotion to die down before resuming classes.
This arrangement must have been prepared by Yu Guqiu long ago.
Though Yu Guqiu was seen as an ice queen by the public, the warmth in her heart could only be felt by those who broke through the ice to get close to her.
An Yizhu couldn’t help but think:
The person I like really is a good person.
[She only has one flaw—she doesn’t like me.]
An Yizhu watched Yu Guqiu’s back, admiring the disheveled strands of hair from her worry.
Jing Zuo, however, couldn’t take the pain anymore. “Roommate, stop being a ‘wife-gazing maniac’ and care about my survival, will you? You’ve been holding that medicine forever.”
“Here.” An Yizhu walked over, trying to hide the fact that she’d been exposed as a “wife-gazing maniac.”
But before she could reach Jing Zuo, Xu Qingyi snatched the medicine from her hands. “Hehe, Senior, you can’t escape now!”
“Nooo!!” Jing Zuo struggled.
But no one came to her rescue.
The nurses were busy, and the VIP ward’s care had to be left to those willing to help.
Lin Da, however, looked at An Yizhu and Yu Guqiu. “Senior, CEO Yu, we can take care of each other here. You two must have other matters to attend to.”
Lin Da was the youngest in the writing club but the most mature.
While the other two seniors were fooling around, she had already considered that this married couple likely had many things to handle.
Yu Guqiu nodded. As she turned to leave, she glanced back at An Yizhu.
An Yizhu understood—she was to follow—and did so.
Xie Fang was still waiting outside the door.
Yu Guqiu gave her the next destination. “First, back to Si Ruxin’s place.”
An Yizhu was puzzled. Had Yu Guqiu been at Si Ruxin’s earlier? Why?
“She has a strong information network. I’ve already asked her to investigate who’s behind this.” Yu Guqiu explained voluntarily.
An Yizhu guessed, “It’s probably Director Zhang and the others again, right? Seeing how smoothly things have been going for us lately, they’re causing trouble.”
She didn’t explicitly mention Meng Jiagao, but Yu Guqiu would understand.
Yu Guqiu didn’t deny it but still planned to hear Si Ruxin’s findings.
The car soon arrived at Si Ruxin’s studio.
Seeing the married couple return together, Si Ruxin wasn’t surprised at all.
“Here together? Did you realize keeping your little Alpha by your side is safer?”
“Yes.” Yu Guqiu answered truthfully.
Si Ruxin looked at Yu Guqiu’s unguarded expression—so unlike her usual self—and found it fascinating.
She had never seen Yu Guqiu so devoid of pretense!
With a smile, she patted An Yizhu’s shoulder. “So impressive, little Alpha.”
Yu Guqiu, however, grabbed Si Ruxin’s hand. “Stop touching my Alpha. Time to get to work.”
“Tsk tsk.” Si Ruxin side-eyed her.
She could hardly believe what she was hearing, but she quickly laughed.
This was getting even more interesting!
Only An Yizhu frowned as she looked at Yu Guqiu. Hearing Yu Guqiu refer to her as “my Alpha” made her heart race uncontrollably.
The situation was worsening because she kept misinterpreting Yu Guqiu’s actions.
It only proved she was falling deeper in love.
Why did Yu Guqiu keep doing things that could be so easily misunderstood? It felt like she was giving her a chance to confess.
Yu Guqiu didn’t notice An Yizhu’s inner turmoil and walked up to Si Ruxin. “Did you find out who started this farce?”
“No. This incident didn’t blow up like last time—there was no definitive post or specific influencer leading the charge. It felt more like a natural explosion.”
Yu Guqiu was clearly dissatisfied with this answer.
Si Ruxin continued carefully, “The previous smear threads increased your popularity, so many people were already curious about you and your little Alpha’s identities. Then, all the information came together, leading to today’s situation.”
Yu Guqiu stared at Si Ruxin. “No. If that were all, you wouldn’t have waited until now to say it.”
Si Ruxin smirked. “You caught me. It’s true I couldn’t track down solid evidence, but I was curious, so I asked Huanyu—a very skilled hacker—to investigate. She traced the initial source and found the same IP appearing multiple times during the post’s spread.”
“Whose was it?” An Yizhu was curious. Who would go to such lengths to expose her identity?
Si Ruxin turned her laptop screen toward them.
“No idea. The IP is even overseas. But Huanyu’s skill lies in tracking the recent transactions linked to that IP and tracing the account. It belongs to—the Tao family.”
“Tao Qian?” Yu Guqiu uttered the name in disbelief.
An Yizhu, unfamiliar with the name, asked, “Who?”
“Tao Xingbang’s idiot son.” Yu Guqiu succinctly explained.
“Him? Why? Hasn’t he given up on you yet?” An Yizhu immediately jumped to the most likely conclusion, her heart burning with anger.
This fire was called rejection.
The Alpha she had met once before was truly detestable.
A thousand times worse than Ji Lu.
Ji Lu’s dislike stemmed from her talent, making one resent their own inadequacy.
Tao Qian’s detestability was on another level—just sharing the same air as him was nauseating. That’s how much of a fool he was.
“Seems you both know who he is.” Si Ruxin deduced from their reactions but felt compelled to add, “This information was obtained through hacking, so it can’t be used openly. If you want evidence, you’ll have to find it yourselves.”
Yu Guqiu knew it would be hard to make Tao Qian pay directly.
He had paid someone else to do his dirty work, and that person had hidden themselves among the crowd. Yu Guqiu couldn’t just punish a random bystander to vent her anger.
Even if she did, it would only bring more negative attention.
What troubled Yu Guqiu more was: “Tao Qian probably wasn’t the mastermind either.”
“I hired the best hacker.” Si Ruxin said, not even mentioning how much she had spent out of pocket.
Yu Guqiu insisted, “It’s not that I doubt the data you found. It’s just that he doesn’t have the brains for this. If he did, he would’ve acted when I announced my marriage to Xiao Zhu.”
Yu Guqiu even made a new decision, asking An Yizhu, “Do you want to visit An Lan at the welfare home?”
An Yizhu nodded repeatedly. “Yes. Even though An Lan said everything’s fine, with so many reporters outside, they won’t leave unless we show up.”
Yu Guqiu hadn’t expected An Yizhu to already have this awareness.
An Yizhu took out her phone. “I’ll call An Lan first. If we go now, the crowd outside will definitely cause chaos.”
Once An Yizhu stepped out, Si Ruxin smiled. “I think I understand why you like her. Though she’s not the most capable, she’s responsible enough.”
“She’s not incapable.” Yu Guqiu retorted.
Si Ruxin raised her hands. “Fine, pretend I didn’t say it. I don’t want to hear you praise An Yizhu again.”
“You’ve also misunderstood why I like her.” Yu Guqiu said.
Si Ruxin stared at her in surprise—had she just admitted it?
Not only did Yu Guqiu admit it, but she also recalled the moment she first noticed An Yizhu.
“Her eyes were clear, and she was like a ray of sunshine.”
“High praise. But ‘clear’? Her eyes are practically glued to you. The word ‘infatuation’ might as well be written on her face.” Si Ruxin said, pointing outside.
An Yizhu, on the phone, kept glancing inside, as if checking on Yu Guqiu.
Yu Guqiu decided to clarify. “What I mean is, she’s different. She never treated me like a princess in need of saving or a trophy to be won.”
Si Ruxin understood.
An Yizhu’s attitude was indeed subtly different from everyone else who had approached Yu Guqiu.
But Si Ruxin chose to tease, “Yeah, yeah, that’s because you’re already her wife! Whatever. I never expected you to be a doting wife either.”
“You talk too much.” Yu Guqiu said with a smile, motioning for Si Ruxin to shut up before walking away.
Si Ruxin grumbled, “Ugh, so annoying. Can’t even let me speak the truth.”
But after Yu Guqiu and An Yizhu left, she sighed.
An Yizhu had changed Yu Guqiu so much—was that a good thing? She hoped this couple would be alright.
Sitting back at her desk, Si Ruxin looked at the screen and groaned. “Got so caught up in their drama, I forgot the main thing. I found some leads on the painter ‘Qiu Zhu’ but forgot to mention it.”
After organizing the information, she muttered, “Whatever. It’s just a few clues. I’ll text her.”
Si Ruxin began typing.
Out of respect for the painter, she hadn’t used any underhanded methods.
Based on public information and contacts, she only knew the painter lived in Jiangcheng’s affluent district, and the competition organizers were already negotiating with galleries for exhibitions. The most favorable gallery owner also lived in the same district.
This so-called affluent district was where Yu Guqiu lived.
After compiling all the information, Si Ruxin could only say, “This girl’s luck is insane. Hope it stays that way.”
Ding—
Yu Guqiu’s phone vibrated in the car, but she didn’t check it immediately.
Because An Yizhu’s unstable pheromones had caught her attention.
“What’s wrong?”
An Yizhu quickly put her phone away. “Nothing.”
She had resolved not to overthink and just stick to the contract.
But when she saw online discussions about Ji Lu joining Guangying Xinghui Media, public opinion began shifting.
Many netizens thought Ji Lu, as Yu Guqiu’s former neighbor, was a better match for her.
It was hard not to care.
Yu Guqiu, now experienced, effortlessly took An Yizhu’s phone.
Though the comments were scrolling rapidly, the topic was obvious.
With a cold expression, Yu Guqiu deleted the search history and returned the phone.
“Online opinions change with the wind. The slightest stir can spawn hundreds of speculations. If someone guides the narrative, those thoughts will converge. No matter how ridiculous they seem in hindsight.”
An Yizhu hadn’t expected Yu Guqiu to explain so earnestly.
Her feelings toward Yu Guqiu were complicated, but to return to her original resolve, she focused on one thing: fulfilling the contract.
An Yizhu nodded seriously. “We won’t let schemers drive a wedge between us. We’ll always stand united.”
Presenting a united front was key.
Yu Guqiu nodded in satisfaction.
Xie Fang drove as steadily and swiftly as ever, weaving through traffic to Ciai Welfare Home.
An Yizhu anxiously looked toward the entrance.
As expected, a crowd of reporters was gathered outside, held back only by the closed gates and security guards.
Thankfully, these media personnel, reliant on traffic, hadn’t caused another incident.
But before the car could park, a sharp-eyed reporter familiar with Yu Guqiu’s license plate rushed over.
Others soon noticed and swarmed the vehicle.
The scene startled An Yizhu.
The crowd surrounded the car like zombies drawn to flesh.
Yu Guqiu knew this must be An Yizhu’s first time experiencing such a frenzy.
Fear was natural.
When she was fifteen and first mobbed like this, the media had seemed as terrifying as kidnappers.
An Yizhu hesitated, unsure whether to open the door, when she felt a cool touch on her hand.
She looked down to see Yu Guqiu’s hand covering hers.
“Don’t be afraid. We’ll go out together.” Yu Guqiu said, motioning for An Yizhu to follow her out the left door.
Yu Guqiu would shield An Yizhu from the first wave of reporters.
Though An Yizhu’s hand felt cool, her heart was warm.