My Virtual Wife Stepped Out of My Phone to Find Me - Chapter 34

Xing Xiaochu lifted her beautiful eyes and gave Qi Ying a confused glance before hesitantly answering, “It should still be a while before it arrives. Why do you ask, sis?”

An Omega’s heat cycle was fixed, occurring roughly once a month. Xing Xiaochu would take suppressants beforehand and wear scent patches, so during her stay at Qi Ying’s place, she had managed to conceal the fact that she’d already gone through several cycles without the alpha noticing.

After all, it wasn’t something one could casually discuss with an alpha.

“Nothing,” Qi Ying smiled at Xing Xiaochu. “Must be my nose acting up.”

Xing Xiaochu gave Qi Ying a strange look.

In the following days, Qi Ying became increasingly convinced her nose was malfunctioning. She kept catching whiffs of osmanthus fragrance in the most unexpected places—sometimes while gaming, other times in real life.

The strangest incident occurred when Qi Ying was sketching designs and suddenly looked up at Xia Ruoxin working nearby, frowning as she asked, “Do you smell osmanthus?”

Xia Ruoxin sniffed left and right, up and down, before puzzlingly replying, “No? It’s not even autumn yet—where would osmanthus come from?”

Just as Qi Ying found this baffling, the doorbell rang. Shi Yu entered carrying a box of pastries, announcing, “New seasonal osmanthus cakes just released. Bought some for you to try.”

Xia Ruoxin shot Qi Ying an odd glance and made a surprised “Huh?” sound.

Moreover, Qi Ying felt her body growing increasingly feverish each day, especially at night when she’d have vividly colored dreams.

In these dreams, Qi Ying would passionately kiss a slender girl while breathing in that strangely sweet osmanthus scent. She’d always wake with a start just as things were getting intense, then lie staring blankly at the ceiling.

Qi Ying felt utterly helpless and confused.

Was she sick?

Aside from her heightened sensitivity to osmanthus scents and these nightly spring dreams, her body showed no significant changes—just occasional irritability, mood swings, and finding everyone annoying.

Xia Ruoxin diagnosed it as hormonal imbalance, leaving Qi Ying equally perplexed.

That day, after a customer nitpicked her clothing designs, Qi Ying lost her temper and got into a heated argument—something Xia Ruoxin quickly intervened in, dragging her to the back alley while massaging her temples.

“A-Ying, what’s wrong?” Xia Ruoxin studied Qi Ying with concern. “You’ve never fought with clients before. Why the sudden outburst today?”

Qi Ying’s bl00d boiled as she pointed toward the shop. “First she said no bows, now she claims bows look better! Earlier she wanted loose comfort fits, now suddenly she prefers form-fitting! And those buttons—don’t even get me started! She specifically requested coffee-brown ones, but after I finished, she says milk-gold would’ve looked nicer!”

Frustration overwhelmed Qi Ying: “How is this any different from making me redo everything from scratch?!”

Xia Ruoxin’s hair was tousled by her outburst. Smoothing her temples, she soothed her: “Alright, alright, don’t be angry. I’ll handle this client. Isn’t it normal in our line of work for clients to keep changing their demands? You’ve dealt with unreasonable clients before and always handled them calmly. Why lose your temper so badly today?”

Qi Ying shot her a glare, but before she could speak, Xia Ruoxin swiftly apologized with a metaphorical slide tackle.

“I’m not blaming you!” Xia Ruoxin quickly added. “The client is definitely in the wrong here. After all these changes, they’ll probably end up going with your original design anyway. Honestly, we should refuse such demanding clients next time. But then again, the pay is really good for this one.”

Leaning closer, Xia Ruoxin whispered, “We’ll make forty or fifty thousand from this outfit. Aren’t you short on cash lately? When the final payment comes in, it’s all yours—I won’t take a cent. Don’t be angry, think of the money.”

Qi Ying found Xia Ruoxin’s reasoning sound, and her anger subsided somewhat.

She did need the money—after all, she had to find a record label for Xiao Chu in the game.

After calming Qi Ying down, Xia Ruoxin left her alone for a while and went to discuss with the client.

Watching her leave, Qi Ying irritably brushed the stray hairs from her forehead. She realized her mood had been off lately, and perhaps, as Xia Ruoxin suggested, it was just hormonal.

Xing Xiao Chu was diligently taking notes. Their teacher was absent, leaving the class to self-study, with the class monitor doing homework at the front while others whispered among themselves.

With a soft ‘plop,’ a crumpled paper ball landed on Xing Xiao Chu’s notebook.

Puzzled, she looked up and saw a boy diagonally in front of her turning around, smiling at her and gesturing toward the paper ball with his finger.

Xing Xiao Chu set down her pen and slowly unfolded the crumpled note.

The paper was torn from a notebook, and scrawled on it was a line: Do you like boys or girls?

Blinking, Xing Xiao Chu was momentarily confused.

Nearly half a month into the semester, she had shed her initial nervousness and could occasionally chat with a few classmates. The students here were straightforward, and many—both boys and girls—had shown interest in the fair, pretty girl, happy to talk to her.

But receiving a note like this was a first for Xing Xiao Chu.

Did she like boys or girls?

She wasn’t sure.

Yet, inexplicably, Qi Ying’s image flashed through her mind, making the tips of her ears burn.

Before Xing Xiao Chu could figure out how to politely decline the boy, a slender hand reached over. The fingers were long and elegant, the knuckles well-defined. The owner picked up the note, propped her head up with one hand, skimmed the message, and raised an eyebrow.

Startled, Xing Xiao Chu turned to her deskmate.

Streaks of green in her hair fluttered in the breeze from the window. Su Yun glanced at the boy’s question, then sidelong at her little deskmate, asking curiously, “Xing Xiao Chu, do you like boys or girls?”

Su Yun’s voice wasn’t loud, but the classroom was so quiet that nearly everyone heard her words, stopping what they were doing to look up.

“What’s going on?” someone shouted, eager for drama. “Is Su Yun bullying someone again?”

“Bullying? Looks more like a confession to me!”

“Really? School just started and she’s already fallen for Xing Xiaochu?”

“Come on, haven’t you seen how many people wait outside our classroom after school? They’re all here to see Xing Xiaochu!”

“Wow, Su Yun’s got guts!”

Xing Xiaochu’s face paled at their words. Naturally timid, she usually hugged the walls when walking through school. Now, with the entire class staring at her, she was terrified.

She glanced back at the gossiping classmates, gripping her pen tightly in confusion.

“What are you all staring at?!”

Su Yun suddenly slammed her desk and snapped, “All you do is gawk at others! Who said anything about confessing? Lu Xuan, was it you who threw this note? Why stay silent after tossing it?”

The boy named Lu Xuan shrank in his seat, not even daring to turn around.

Su Yun scoffed and called him a “coward” before crumpling the note and throwing it back, hitting him square on the back of the head.

“Listen up—if you’ve got something to say, say it out loud. No sneaking around behind people’s backs,” Su Yun declared. “And don’t disturb my nap during class.”

Without waiting for Xing Xiaochu’s reaction, she pulled her uniform over her head and went back to sleep.

Xing Xiaochu stared at her in shock. The rest of the class, intimidated by Su Yun, quickly lowered their heads and returned to their work. Even Xing Xiaochu hesitated before quietly continuing her notes, careful not to press her pen too hard, afraid Su Yun might suddenly jump up and hit her.

School delinquents really were terrifying.

After a full day of classes, the dismissal bell rang. Su Yun, who had been sleeping at her desk, woke up as if on cue. She yawned, checked the time, ruffled her messy hair, grabbed her uniform, and headed for the door.

Xing Xiaochu hurriedly moved aside.

The class monitor called out, “Su Yun, you’re the only one who hasn’t handed in yesterday’s Chinese test. Are you turning it in or not?”

Su Yun ignored her and walked straight out the back door.

Fuming, the monitor muttered a curse under her breath and stormed off with the stack of papers, likely giving up on collecting Su Yun’s test.

Xing Xiaochu blinked, glanced at Su Yun’s empty desk, then sat down to pack her things for home.

Perhaps because of Su Yun’s outburst earlier, the boys who usually hovered around Xing Xiaochu had vanished after school. Instead, a few kind-hearted beta girls noticed her standing alone and came over to walk with her to the school gates.

The two girls had been playmates since kindergarten and were very close. They casually chatted while walking on either side of Xing Xiaochu. As they passed the shaded alley near the school gate, the slightly taller girl named Chen Dongdong suddenly exclaimed, “Huh?” and pointed ahead, asking, “Is that Su Yun?”

Xing Xiaochu looked up and followed Chen Dongdong’s gaze, immediately recognizing the familiar figure as Su Yun.

At that moment, Su Yun was wearing her school uniform and smoking a cigarette. With her back turned, she didn’t notice them.

The other girl, Xin Ya, quickly pulled Chen Dongdong’s hand back and whispered, “How dare you point at her? Let’s go quickly before she sees us.”

Chen Dongdong nodded in agreement and hurried forward with Xin Ya. Noticing that Xing Xiaochu was still staring, they grabbed her arms and pulled her away before she could react.

Xin Ya glanced at Xing Xiaochu and said, “Since you’re new here, you might not know. Su Yun is a troublemaker who loves bullying others. You’d better stay away from her.”

Xing Xiaochu nodded.

She had no intention of getting involved with someone like that anyway.

The three girls continued chatting and laughing as they walked home. Xing Xiaochu learned that Chen Dongdong and Xin Ya lived in the neighborhood diagonally across from hers—quite close by. They even made plans to go shopping and hang out together over the weekend.

Xing Xiaochu agreed with a bright smile.

Just then, Xin Ya nudged Xing Xiaochu with her elbow as she spotted someone approaching from the opposite direction. “Hey, Xiaochu, isn’t that your sister?” she asked.

Xing Xiaochu looked up and sure enough, Qi Ying had come to pick her up again.