Stepmom Alpha’s Guide to Raising Kids - Chapter 19

Qi Zi looked at Lu Luozhu seriously. “Do you know what manipulation means?”

The little one craned its neck, trying to butt into the adults’ conversation, only to be grabbed by the collar and handed over to the nanny by Qi Zi.

Lu Luozhu smiled sincerely. “I just want to make you happier.”

Qi Zi’s inscrutable gaze met Lu Luozhu’s clear, transparent eyes, and suddenly, the sharp words she had intended to say stuck in her throat.

The memory of the little cake sat beside her, its aroma impossible to ignore.

The alpha leaned in like an eager puppy, completely unaware of how much her pheromones could affect an omega.

The scent of bergamot grew increasingly potent in the air, making Qi Zi’s breathing quicken. She abruptly stood up, clutching the pastries Lu Luozhu had given her, and hurried away.

“You’re my wife in name. It’s only right that I take care of you when you’re sick.”

Qi Zi tossed out the words hastily before rushing upstairs, her retreating figure frantic, as if fleeing some monstrous beast.

Lu Luozhu: ?

Had she upset her sugar mommy again?

Upstairs, the bedroom door slammed shut—only to crack open again two seconds later.

Qi Zi peeked out halfway, glancing down at Lu Luozhu to confirm the alpha wasn’t angry before quietly sighing in relief.

Suppressing the inexplicable fluttering in her chest, Qi Zi cleared her throat lightly and said, “I’ll take the endorsement for Li Ji Pastries, and I’ll attend the new store opening.”

The alpha must have remembered the past—that’s why she arranged the endorsement with Li Ji Pastries.

The two little girls who once relied on each other in the orphanage had grown up. They no longer needed to fight tooth and nail over a single pastry.

Lu Luozhu looked up and caught sight of Qi Zi’s fluffy head poking out.

Lu Luozhu: “Great. Thank you for the honor, Teacher Qi.”

“Hmph.”

Upstairs, the door slammed shut again.

Lu Luozhu: “.”

Was it just her imagination?

Qi Zi was like a timid little fox, poking her head out of her den at the slightest sound, only to immediately duck back inside.

Lu Luozhu lounged on the sofa, scrolling through emails. The girl group’s new single had just been released and quickly climbed to the bottom of the music app’s trending chart. A quick refresh later, it had jumped from the 50s to the 20s. Within half an hour, it had broken into the top three.

Lu Luozhu watched the MV for a while. The production was decent, but the corners cut here and there betrayed the company’s financial struggles.

The boss messaged her in the background: “Boss, we’ve made it! We’ve really made it!”

Lu Luozhu sent back a congratulatory note: “The girls have strong commercial appeal. Get them more suitable endorsements.”

Lu Luozhu had been among the earliest investors. Though she hadn’t put in much money, her stake was sizable.

The good news was that she’d get a cut from future endorsements. The bad news? The money wouldn’t hit her account anytime soon.

The canary sighed helplessly.

The canary’s bank balance: twenty bucks.

Her phone buzzed with another message from the boss. Seeing no reply, he assumed the investor was annoyed. “You rake in fortunes daily, juggling countless responsibilities. You’ve seen the world—our little venture might not mean much to you, but for me and the girls, it’s already a miracle.”

Lu Luozhu replied: “I really am busy.”

Busy selling myself.

The boss looked at the message on his phone screen and said to Xun Xun, who was sewing performance costumes in front of him, “The investor is really such a good person!”

Xun Xun: “She didn’t want to meet us?”

Boss: “The investor didn’t mention it. She’s truly a noble and virtuous person.”

Xun Xun silently continued sewing the pale purple performance costume in her hands. All members of their girl group had to sew their own clothes—store-bought outfits never fit right, so they all needed adjustments and additional decorations.

Since their debut, their girl group had remained obscure. While some sponsors had approached them, their intentions—whether overt or covert—were always to take advantage of them, regardless of gender.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Xun Xun vaguely understood what the mysterious investor likely wanted. She had already prepared herself to meet this person, willing to sacrifice something for her sisters’ dreams.

Yet… even after their latest MV went viral, trending on Weibo’s entertainment charts and gaining a massive surge in followers, the mysterious investor still hadn’t sent any invitation.

What Xun Xun didn’t know was… the so-called mysterious investor was currently knocking on her sugar mommy’s door while hugging a small pillow.

Lu Luozhu peeked into the room. “You’re not happy today.”

Qi Zi sat cross-legged on the bed, wrapped in a small blanket while reading a script. She’d read two lines, yawn, and could barely keep her eyes open.

Lu Luozhu: “No wonder Teacher Qi is so successful. Even when you can barely stay awake at night, you still study scripts. If I were a director seeing such dedication, I’d probably skip the traditional incense ceremony and just bow to you instead.”

Qi Zi, inexplicably subjected to this sarcasm, glanced up at Lu Luozhu.

“.”

Lu Luozhu placed her pillow next to Qi Zi’s. “Teacher Qi…”

Before she could finish, Qi Zi pushed her onto the bed with a pillow, leaving her in an utterly undignified position. The omega’s slender arms were surprisingly strong.

“I want to ask you something, and I want the truth.”

“?”

Pinned to the bed with half her face pressed against Qi Zi’s fragrant pillow—its smooth, cool silk carrying the sweet scent of pear blossoms, perhaps intensified from frequent contact with Qi Zi’s scent gland—Lu Luozhu couldn’t resist taking a few extra deep breaths.

“Go ahead.”

“Is there something wrong with your heart?”

Lu Luozhu fell silent. She didn’t know how to answer. While her heart condition wasn’t great, it wasn’t serious enough to warrant discussion. Before transmigrating, she’d undergone multiple heart surgeries, but since arriving here, her heart had been beating steadily. Aside from the traditional medicine prescribed by an old doctor, no one else should know about this.

Silence filled the bedroom.

Lu Luozhu laughed: “Since when does Teacher Qi care about me? Did the sun rise from the west today?”

Qi Zi narrowed her eyes, studying Lu Luozhu’s expression for signs of deception but found none.

Qi Zi growled, “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll—”

The pressure on Lu Luozhu’s shoulders increased until her entire face was buried in Qi Zi’s pillow—it was unclear who was actually violating whom in this position.

Qi Zi: “If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t give you any more money.”

Lu Luozhu: “…”

Lu Luozhu wanted to speak, but her entire face was buried in the pillow. She waved her fingers helplessly a couple of times before Qi Zi realized the issue and freed the nearly suffocated alpha.

The alpha before her had slightly tousled hair and wore a lace nightgown. The snow-white lace traced along her chest and back, as if she had deliberately dressed up before coming to her room.

Like a peacock that had fanned its feathers only to be drenched by rain.

Lu Luozhu couldn’t do anything about her. “I used to have heart problems, but I’m fine now.”

The omega was skeptical. “Really?”

The alpha’s chest was smooth and fair, her demeanor calm and composed—not at all like someone lying or putting on a pitiful act, as Qi Zi had assumed.

Qi Zi let out a soft hum and tossed the script onto her. “There’s a card in my pocket. The password is Zaizai’s birthday. Take it and use it.”

“You… don’t have anything else to say?”

Like, for example, about how your adoptive parents’ family wanted me to perform for free at their mall’s opening.

Lu Luozhu smiled flawlessly. “No. But if I must say something, I’ve been thinking of starting a food blogger account recently. Mind lending me your photography team?”

Qi Zi: “You’re dreaming with your eyes wide open. Didn’t you say you’d let me have my way? Sit right here, watch me sleep, and don’t you dare go anywhere—consider it repayment for me taking care of you all night.”

With that, Qi Zi pulled the blanket over her head. Lu Luozhu obediently turned off the light and sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

She watched as the usually untouchable actress, now deep in sleep, turned over and pressed her forehead against her thigh, unconsciously nuzzling closer.

A long while later, the lofty star of the silver screen murmured in her sleep, her voice soft and clingy:

“Little Bamboo…”