I Am Her Secret Beauty and Strong Alpha (GL) - Chapter 17

Mu Xi didn’t sleep well all night.
Nan Xi’s words like “hate to the bone,” “why did you leave,” and “offering incense” must have caused her significant psychological distress, so much so that Mu Xi tossed and turned in bed and couldn’t forget them in her dreams.
As expected, Mu Xi had a headache when she woke up in the morning.
It felt like fine cracks covered her skull, a subtle but torturous pain. Cold sweat quickly seeped through Mu Xi’s shirt, hidden by her black suit jacket.
Just as she was about to leave the room, Mu Xi turned back and glanced in the mirror. Sure enough, her lips had lost most of their color.
She had no choice but to take out a rarely used lipstick from the drawer and apply it to make herself look normal.
Nan Xi quickly noticed this small detail.
Nan Xi glanced at her once, then again, while chewing on bread. “Housekeeper Mu is wearing lipstick? That’s rare.”
Mu Xi’s head still ached, but she still smiled at her. “It’s the first time taking Little Miss to work today.”
“Oh? Is it for me?” Nan Xi put down her bread with interest and poked Nan Nan, who was also having breakfast beside her. “Did you hear that? Housekeeper Mu values me so much.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Nan Nan was looking at the morning news on her phone and casually replied to her sister.
Nan Xi didn’t mind and continued to enjoy her breakfast. After eating, she picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth, stood up, and beckoned Mu Xi to go outside with her, standing again in front of the car they had returned in the night before.
Mu Xi hesitated.
Driving in her less-than-ideal physical condition would be disrespectful to Little Miss’s life and health.
But on the other hand, Nan Zhiyai really disliked her subordinates taking sick leave. She even disliked her subordinates being sick because the loss caused by their absence far outweighed the sick leave pay she could deduct.
Although she had never said so, Mu Xi could see this.
Her hesitation did not escape Nan Xi’s notice.
“What’s wrong?”
No.
No matter what, Nan Xi’s life and health must come first.
Mu Xi had no choice but to tell her, “I’m sorry, Little Miss, I didn’t sleep well last night, and I have a bit of a headache now. To avoid driving while tired, I’ll go…”
“It’s okay.” Nan Xi’s tone was light but firm as she walked past Mu Xi towards the driver’s side. “Then I’ll drive.”
“Little Miss…”
Mu Xi felt extremely ashamed. She was supposed to take Nan Xi to work, but instead, Nan Xi was driving herself. This was definitely a dereliction of her duty and needed to be reported truthfully to Nan Zhiyai.
Nan Xi got into the driver’s seat. Mu Xi couldn’t just leave, so she stood there, ready to watch Nan Xi drive away.
But after waiting for a while, the car didn’t start. Instead, Nan Xi leaned her head out of the car window. “Get in.”
She looked at Mu Xi strangely, as if slightly blaming Mu Xi for still standing there.
Is that what she meant?
Mu Xi absolutely didn’t dare to sit in the back seat. That would look like Nan Xi was her driver.
So she opened the front passenger door and got in, placing her hands neatly on her closed knees since there was no steering wheel to hold, her attitude extremely respectful.
“Humph.”
Nan Xi chuckled at the sight, started the car, and slowly drove towards the gate. “Didn’t you say you had a headache? Lean back and rest for a while in the car.”
“…Thank you, Little Miss.”
Mu Xi hesitantly lowered the passenger seat and leaned back comfortably.
She kept her head straight, not daring to look at Nan Xi’s expression.
But then she heard Nan Xi say beside her:
“This way, it still counts as you taking me, neither neglecting your duty nor being lazy, because I do need someone to keep me company while driving.”
“Once we arrive, you can sleep in the car for a while. This is your task, and all other work comes after this. Let others do it.”
“If you still don’t feel well in the afternoon, send me a message.”
…
Mu Xi slowly closed her eyes.
Her heart felt hot, and an unknown warmth spread from there to her limbs. Mu Xi felt as if she were soaking in comfortable warm water, exceptionally peaceful.
Nan Xi’s tone was very calm when she said these things, yet it was so touching.
After a long silence without Mu Xi’s response, Nan Xi tentatively asked, “Do you have any work to do today, right now?”
“I need to coordinate and manage all household tasks, and check on the work progress. I need to go to the properties under the Nan family name, including the construction site of your research institute, for inspection. In the afternoon, I will accompany the eldest Miss to receive Madam Lin at home. Then I will pick you up and prepare dinner.”
Nan Xi held the steering wheel with one hand and began to take out her phone from her pocket with the other, her brow furrowed. “I’ll call my sister.”
“Little Miss. Thank you.” Mu Xi stopped her, but a smile remained on her lips. “But there’s no need. I can just doze off in the car for a while. If I sleep too much in the afternoon, I won’t be able to sleep well at night.”
Nan Xi thought what she said made sense and put her phone back.
She then urged, “Okay, then I won’t talk to you now. You should sleep immediately.”
Her words seemed to have some kind of magic.
Mu Xi knew she shouldn’t indulge in sleep so carelessly. She tried hard to think. If she wasn’t there, wouldn’t today be the first time Nan Xi went out alone since returning to the country? But it seemed she could only accompany her to the school gate anyway. For the rest of the time, Nan Xi would still have to walk into the school and go to the lab by herself…
A heavy drowsiness gradually eroded Mu Xi’s consciousness. Before she could even think about where Nan Xi would go next, Mu Xi couldn’t help but fall asleep.
Nan Xi stopped the car. Her hand had just touched the car keys when she slightly turned her head and saw Mu Xi’s sleeping face.
It wasn’t the first time she had seen it.
Mu Xi, usually so sharp, always looked so well-behaved when her eyes were closed. At this moment, her head was tilted to one side, coincidentally towards Nan Xi. Her black hair slid gently down as her head tilted, covering half of her cheek, while the other half looked adorably peaceful.
Nan Xi quietly gazed at her for a while.
If she remembered correctly, Mu Xi was a heavy sleeper.
Her memory was a bit hazy, so she wasn’t entirely sure.
However, she still reached out and gently tucked the hair on Mu Xi’s cheek behind her ear, her movements extremely soft.
Mu Xi didn’t react, she was indeed sleeping soundly.
Just like that, exactly as she remembered.
Then why did she say she wasn’t her? She clearly was her.
Tears welled up in Nan Xi’s eyes. Taking advantage of Mu Xi’s unconsciousness, she leaned down little by little and touched her lips.
Originally, she really just intended a fleeting touch, but Nan Xi had overestimated her own aching heart.
When the soft sensation of Mu Xi’s lips reached her, it felt as if a dam somewhere in her mind had collapsed. Nan Xi could no longer control herself. She opened her mouth fiercely and bit down on Mu Xi’s lips as if venting her anger.
Nan Xi rose, her chest heaving, and looked at Mu Xi. Mu Xi’s lips had been bitten red by her, just barely avoiding breaking the skin.
Looking at Mu Xi, not only did she not show any sign of pain, but she even smiled foolishly, not knowing if she was dreaming of something wonderful or if she was enjoying her cruel act.
…
Nan Xi couldn’t stay here any longer.
She didn’t take out the car keys, left a crack in the car window, then picked up her bag, got out of the driver’s seat quietly, carefully closed the car door, and left.
The person she longed for day and night was in the car, but they couldn’t be together yet.
Nan Xi carried her bag and walked expressionlessly from the A University parking lot towards the laboratory building. The distance wasn’t far, but there was still some way to go. People glanced at her on the way, but she ignored them.
The lab was the same one as before, but before going in, Nan Xi first went into the restroom at the end of the corridor and splashed cold water on her face several times before looking up at the madwoman in the mirror.
Her eyes were slightly red, and there were a few red bl00d vessels on her eyeballs, which she could explain away by saying she hadn’t slept well the night before, just as Mu Xi had taught her.
With three minutes left before her work hours, Nan Xi put on her white lab coat and walked into the lab.
This was her first day back in the A University lab. Yu Yacheng hadn’t assigned her too many tasks, focusing mainly on familiarization and understanding.
Even though it was all work she was already very familiar with, Nan Xi did it with utmost seriousness.
One thing she had in common with Mu Xi was that Nan Xi was also extremely professional and dedicated when working. Unlike Mu Xi, however, Nan Xi seemed unapproachable.
She usually didn’t like interacting with people much, and she became even colder when working.
Yu Yacheng’s lab was top-notch in the field of organic chemistry in the country, which closely aligned with her research direction.
Working with Yu Yacheng for a year before establishing her own team would be of great help to Nan Xi.
Nan Zhiyai had built a world-class research environment for her, Nan Lian had recruited a group of the best scientific researchers in the world for her, and she herself had to demonstrate the most cutting-edge abilities.
Nan Xi didn’t say a word even when the goggles left red marks on her delicate skin. That day, she only had some discussions with Yu Yacheng and said a few words to Tong An’an, whom she already knew. Apart from that, she didn’t interact with anyone else.
Except at noon, when a shy younger girl came to ask her to have lunch together. Nan Xi gave her her meal card and immediately declined, walking out of the lab building alone to buy bread at the convenience store.
While nibbling on the dry bread, Nan Xi opened her phone and glanced at it. Mu Xi hadn’t sent a message.
…Still not awake?
It didn’t matter, then she would send a message to Mu Xi.
Nan Xi typed in their bare chat box:
“Have you had lunch?”
This way, even if Mu Xi wasn’t awake yet, she would definitely have to report her lunch situation to her after waking up.
After thinking for a moment, Nan Xi took a picture of her half-eaten bread and sent it over:
“My lunch.”
After doing this, Nan Xi’s mood immediately brightened.
She finished the bread, drank some milk, and stood up from the window seat in the convenience store, slowly strolling towards the lab building.
When would Mu Xi reply?
If she was doing experiments, she wouldn’t look at her phone. So if she sent a message to herself and she didn’t reply, would she be worried?
…
The sun was still quite strong. It would be best for Mu Xi to bring an umbrella when going out tomorrow.
No, she should bring it herself.
Mu Xi (after waking up) (seeing Nan Xi’s message): Oh my god, did I let Little Miss eat this for lunch? Madam would kill me if she knew…