The Black Lotus Wife Forces Me to Pretend to Be an Omega. - Chapter 34

Luo Xiaoxiao sent Li Fanshuang a message as a farewell and didn’t wait for her, returning to Jincheng alone.

Upon arriving at the airport, she took a taxi straight to the hospital.

But when she got there, the scene before her was completely different from what she had imagined.

“Mom… you’re fine?” Luo Xiaoxiao walked in to find Ms. Luo Jing sitting perfectly healthy on the hospital bed, a cigarette box in her hand.

This was nothing like the critical condition described over the phone.

Just then, a doctor walked in, looking apologetic. “I’m so sorry, we made a mistake. The patient in critical condition is named Luo Jing—a different person.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Luo Xiaoxiao let out a bitter laugh. She had left Li Fanshuang behind in Nansheng and rushed back overnight, only to be told this?

The doctor’s face was full of remorse as he kept apologizing. “I’m truly sorry, Ms. Luo. This was our mistake. But when we realized the error, we tried contacting you immediately—your phone was turned off the whole time.”

Luo Xiaoxiao paused and checked her phone.

She had turned on airplane mode during the flight and hadn’t switched it back, missing a long list of missed calls.

“What’s wrong?” Ms. Luo Jing’s voice came through.

She set down her cigarette and grasped Luo Xiaoxiao’s shoulders with concern.

“What happened? Why are you so upset?”

Luo Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and shook her head, her voice muffled. “It’s nothing.”

“You can go,” Ms. Luo Jing said to the doctor.

The doctor nodded, apologized once more, and left.

Now, only Luo Xiaoxiao and Luo Jing remained in the hospital room.

“Come, sit down. Tell me, did something happen outside? Was it your wife?” Luo Jing pulled Luo Xiaoxiao to sit beside her on the bed.

“It has nothing to do with her.” The moment Luo Xiaoxiao heard her mother speak ill of Li Fanshuang, she stood up and retorted.

Seeing her reaction, Luo Jing’s expression turned serious. “Child, do you love her?”

Luo Xiaoxiao lowered her head and stayed silent, stubbornly turning her face away.

Luo Jing looked at her worriedly. “Say something. Do you know that you two—”

She didn’t finish her sentence. What if there were paparazzi nearby? It could cause trouble for Li Fanshuang.

“Mom, I don’t know what to do.”

Luo Xiaoxiao exhaled, trying to steady her emotions.

“Mom, I want to break up with Li Fanshuang.”

Luo Jing froze. Seeing the redness in Luo Xiaoxiao’s eyes, she understood—her daughter had truly fallen for Li Fanshuang.

“Then what does your heart tell you?” Luo Jing asked.

Luo Xiaoxiao’s shoulders slumped instantly. Her eyes brimmed with grievance, and when she looked at Luo Jing, she resembled a wounded little rabbit. “Mom, my heart doesn’t want to let go… but she—”

Her destined one isn’t me.

Luo Jing’s furrowed brows relaxed as she patted Luo Xiaoxiao’s head. “If this secret is too difficult for you to speak about, you don’t have to tell me. Everyone has their own secrets—I have mine too.”

“Mmm.” Luo Xiaoxiao held back the tears welling up in her eyes, trying to steady her emotions.

“You actually have secrets you haven’t told me?” Luo Xiaoxiao sniffled hard, suddenly sitting up and wiping away her tears. A hint of indignation curled at the corners of her lips. “With how close we are, you actually kept something from me?”

“How close?” Luo Jing was both amused and exasperated—her daughter was so full of life now.

Luo Xiaoxiao thumped her chest. “We’ve known each other for 19 years! That’s how close!”

After hearing this, Luo Jing nodded. “You make a fair point. How about this—I’ll tell you my secret, and after hearing it, you can decide whether to share yours with me?”

“Deal!” A glimmer of excited curiosity flashed in Luo Xiaoxiao’s eyes.

Luo Jing cleared her throat, meeting Luo Xiaoxiao’s eager gaze with a touch of resignation.

This child was truly different from before.

“Do you know why I have such a foolish name that’s basically just two strokes?”

Luo Xiaoxiao: Do I dare say your name is literally just two strokes?

“See, you don’t know!”

Luo Jing huffed, her gaze drifting as she dredged up a rather embarrassing memory from the past.

“Truth is, I suffered from my own lack of education. When I went to register my household registration, the clerk asked me what my name was.”

“Hmm?” Luo Xiaoxiao perked up at this—so Luo Jing hadn’t originally been named Luo Jing?

“Your original name wasn’t ‘two strokes’?”

As soon as the words left Luo Xiaoxiao’s mouth, Luo Jing’s pupils constricted slightly before she broke into a bright smile. “That’s right. My original name was Luo Jing, but I didn’t know how to write that character. When registering, I said my name was Luo Jing—you can probably tell, my accent was really thick back then.”

Luo Xiaoxiao nodded enthusiastically. “I can see that. So the clerk got it wrong?”

“Exactly!” Luo Jing’s tone turned resentful. “The clerk asked me, ‘Is that the one that’s just two strokes?’ I didn’t really understand, but they were rushing me, so I just went with it. Your name was the same.”

“Mine?” Luo Xiaoxiao blinked. Could her name be wrong too? But in her past life, she had been called Luo Xiaoxiao—the novel had used the exact same name.

Luo Jing laughed heartily. “Back then, you were called Xiao Xiao (Little Laugh). But when I went to register, I made the same mistake, so it ended up as the name you have now.”

“So that’s how it was.” A smile bloomed on Luo Xiaoxiao’s face. It seemed Luo Jing had wanted her child to laugh often when naming her.

“Hahaha.”

The two of them laughed joyfully together.

Until tears welled up in Luo Jing’s eyes. She looked at Luo Xiaoxiao seriously. “So… can you tell me now? Where did my disappointing daughter go?”

Luo Xiaoxiao’s smile vanished instantly as she stared at Luo Jing in shock.

In an instant, the hospital room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“Mom…”

Luo Xiaoxiao couldn’t utter a single word as she looked at Luo Jing’s expression.

“My daughter wasn’t like you. She was always complaining, unlike you—always smiling, always trying to cheer me up. I told her that story about the registration mistake so many times, but she got tired of hearing it. Every time, she was impatient. She wasn’t like you.”

As she spoke, tears rolled down Luo Jing’s cheeks, splashing onto the floor and spreading into dark stains.

“Will you tell me?” Luo Jing’s voice was almost pleading.

Luo Xiaoxiao couldn’t bring herself to meet those eyes—eyes that looked just like her own mother’s. She didn’t know how to answer. If she was here now, where had the original Luo Xiaoxiao gone?

Seeing her hesitation, Luo Jing seemed to give up. Her shoulders slumped as she turned away.

The silence in the air was suffocating, as if it could drown them both in that hospital room.

“Then… can you tell me about your past? Maybe if you’re here, my daughter went to your world instead.”

Luo Xiaoxiao turned back, meeting Luo Jing’s gaze. Her own eyes were brimming with tears as she stared at this woman who called herself “Mom.”

“Okay.”

For some reason, Luo Xiaoxiao felt an overwhelming sense of relief. All the grievances she had carried since transmigrating into this book could finally be spoken aloud.

This woman knew her true identity—not just as an Alpha, but as someone from another world, someone entirely different from the original Luo Xiaoxiao.

Compared to the original, the real Luo Xiaoxiao’s past was far more tragic.

She didn’t know where her birth parents were. From the moment she could remember, her older sister had raised her as a boy.

Her sister told her that if she wasn’t seen as a son, she would end up like those poor girls—abandoned beneath the infant abandonment towers.

Luo Xiaoxiao was only three then. Her parents were already gone.

Later, a group of tattooed men came to Dalong Mountain, finding their crumbling thatched hut.

They demanded money, claiming their parents had fled, leaving behind debts.

By then, her sister was bedridden, paralyzed and unable to walk.

Luo Xiaoxiao remembered how, every time those men came, her sister would lift the blanket and tell her to run outside.

So, she joined the local street kids, digging up roads for survival.

The roads on Dalong Mountain were notoriously difficult to repair.

To scrape by, Luo Xiaoxiao and the other children would sabotage the newly paved roads. When fancy cars passed by, they’d rush over with wooden planks, shouting, “Boss, need a plank? Fifty bucks each!”

That was how she scraped together enough to buy medicine for her sister.

But one day, Luo Xiaoxiao returned home to find her sister lying motionless in bed, naked and lifeless.

From then on, Luo Xiaoxiao became a stray child with no home.

She ran with the delinquents, scamming meals wherever she could.

But the adults soon took over their racket, and Luo Xiaoxiao was beaten more times than she could count.

Then, she met someone—someone who changed her life.

“Who?” Luo Jing listened to every word, her heart trembling with each one.

She couldn’t fathom how a child so young had survived in such a cruel world.

Luo Xiaoxiao stared fixedly at Luo Jing, her eyes brimming with complex emotions.

It was longing, guilt, and love.

“It’s you… Mom.”

A deafening roar echoed in Luo Jing’s mind as foreign memories flooded her consciousness.

She felt like she’d become someone else.

As if she’d personally been to those mountains—but why?

To save someone.

A little girl.

“What’s wrong with you?” Luo Xiaoxiao noticed her strange expression.

Luo Jing clutched her head, the buzzing noise overwhelming. She pointed at her mouth—she’d suddenly lost the ability to speak.

Damn girl, call a doctor!

Seeing this, Luo Xiaoxiao immediately threw open the door and shouted, “Doctor! Someone help!”

Thud—

Luo Jing collapsed onto the hospital bed.

In her semi-conscious state, fragments of the past surfaced.

A tall female Alpha stood before her, eyes stern. “My daughter is missing. Find her, and I’ll give you five million.”

Then herself driving, encountering a group of mud-covered children.

She seemed to have caught one.

Lying on the bed, Luo Jing stiffly turned her head toward Luo Xiaoxiao.

“Xiao…x?”

Xiaoxiao responded with a hum, “Oh my god, Mom, stop talking.”

The medical team had already begun emergency procedures.

Yet Luo Jing kept gripping Xiaoxiao’s arm relentlessly.

“Behave!” Xiaoxiao was nearly in tears—first her mother collapsing, now refusing to let go even during resuscitation.

Don’t you know you need emergency care?

After prolonged incoherent sounds,

Finally, someone pried her hand loose.

Medical staff swiftly wheeled her into the emergency room.

Xiaoxiao sniffled, “Mom, you have to pull through!”

–

Night in Jincheng.

Li Fanshuang tossed restlessly on her villa’s luxurious bed.

“Who are you?!”

She demanded of the child in her dream.

Her fists clenched the sheets, knuckles whitening as sweat soaked her pajamas.

Again, she was trapped in this nightmare about her white moonlight.

If this world were a book, what would its title be?

“My dead white moonlight has returned.” The sleeping Fanshuang furrowed her brows, murmuring the phrase.

Dead white moonlight?

Who could that be?

Absurd—a nearly thirty-year-old woman would know if she had some white moonlight.

Who?

Her mind conjured mountains, a little girl in Jincheng elementary uniform, and a grimy child.

Who are you?

Who the hell are you?!

“Go home—you don’t belong here.”

“Leave.”

“Wait here quietly for me.”

Who are you?

Those bright eyes beneath the dirt.

Fanshuang couldn’t see clearly.

Yet those eyes felt hauntingly familiar.

“Ah!” The nightmare ended.

Fanshuang sat up abruptly, surveying her familiar surroundings with post-trauma relief.

The dream had felt so real—as if she’d actually run through those mountain paths twice.

Staring at the ceiling, the adrenaline faded, leaving only sticky discomfort.

Frowning, she got up to shower.

Opening the door, the expansive villa stood eerily silent.

Xiaoxiao still wasn’t back?

Her brows knitted tighter.

Somehow, Li Fanshuang felt a pang of irritation. She picked up her phone and called Luo Xiaoxiao.

Beep—beep—

After two rings, the call was disconnected.

Damn!

Li Fanshuang nearly cursed out loud. Had Luo Xiaoxiao forgotten she was her benefactor?

Tick-tock—tick-tock—

The sound of the clock seemed to amplify endlessly at this moment, tightening around her chest along with her anxiety.

“Haa…” She exhaled deeply.

Just as she was about to call Luo Xiaoxiao again, a notification from WeChat chimed.

Ding-dong—

Luo Xiaoxiao: Sorry, my phone died earlier. I just found a doctor’s charger.

Li Fanshuang frowned at the message. She was still at the hospital this late?

Without hesitation, Li Fanshuang called her again.

“How’s your mom doing now?”

Was she lying to her?

After returning, Li Fanshuang had asked someone to check at the hospital—Luo Jing was no longer in critical condition.

It had been a case of mistaken identity earlier.

If Luo Jing was fine, why was Luo Xiaoxiao still at the hospital? Had her charm faded so quickly that she couldn’t even bring her home? Was she already tired of her right after getting married?

The soft scoff that escaped Li Fanshuang’s lips reached Luo Xiaoxiao’s ears.

Her heart skipped a beat. Was Li Fanshuang angry?

“Mom’s fine now,” Luo Xiaoxiao replied, inexplicably feeling guilty as she hurried to explain.

Li Fanshuang remained silent, and Luo Xiaoxiao guessed she was still sulking.

After a long pause, Luo Xiaoxiao spoke again, “I probably won’t be back tonight. When are you leaving for the set?”

Li Fanshuang let out a cold laugh. So, she still remembered she had work.

“I thought you’d completely forgotten your wife was heading to the set. What, Professor Luo? Now that your status has changed, nothing else matters?”

Luo Xiaoxiao was speechless. Since when had Li Fanshuang become so sharp-tongued?

“What time did you arrive in Jincheng?”

“Around nine in the evening,” Li Fanshuang said, her voice tinged with grievance.

For some reason, after eating Luo Xiaoxiao’s cooking on the show, she couldn’t stomach other food anymore.

She’d had some airplane meal on the flight, and her stomach had ached until midnight.

If she hadn’t been feeling unwell, she probably wouldn’t have had such an absurd dream.

“I’m leaving early tomorrow—or rather, in just a few hours. Aren’t you going to see me off, Professor Luo?”

Luo Xiaoxiao sighed. She wanted to ask why Li Fanshuang was suddenly so upset. Their relationship was just contractual, after all.

Had she, too, developed feelings in this sham marriage?

But Li Fanshuang, receiving no response, gradually lost patience.

“Luo Xiaoxiao, if you don’t want to talk, forget it.”

With that, she hung up.

Luo Xiaoxiao rubbed her temples and glanced at the surgery light nearby.

She didn’t have the energy to dwell on it, but Li Fanshuang’s tone left her unsettled.

A growing unease spread through her. After spending so much time together on the show, she had come to understand Li Fanshuang’s habits.

Arriving so late likely meant she hadn’t eaten properly.

And she hadn’t even asked where Li Fanshuang had gone for filming.

Luo Xiaoxiao leaned weakly against the cold hospital corridor wall outside the operating room. She smiled self-deprecatingly—after all, Li Fanshuang had no obligation to inform her of her whereabouts.

The operating room lights dimmed as the doctor emerged, removing his mask to reveal a deeply puzzled expression.

“Your mother…” The doctor frowned, hesitating mid-sentence.

His hesitation frayed Luo Xiaoxiao’s patience. “Just say it! Is something wrong with my mother?”

The doctor shook his head, then abruptly nodded.

“What does that mean?” Luo Xiaoxiao’s heart pounded erratically—was this doctor playing mind games with her?

“Here’s the situation. Your mother suddenly lost the ability to speak. After examination, we discovered…”

His voice trailed off again into that same maddening hesitation.

Luo Xiaoxiao snapped, grabbing his collar. “Out with it!”

The doctor raised his hands defensively. “We found your mother is perfectly healthy—yet she can’t speak.”

BANG—

The operating room doors burst open.

Madam Luo Jing marched out with surprising vigor, gesticulating wildly at her throat while making incoherent sounds at Luo Xiaoxiao.

Frowning at her mother’s charades, Luo Xiaoxiao guessed, “You’re hungry? Want food?”

Luo Jing rolled her eyes heavenward in frustration. How could this clueless child not understand? At her wit’s end, she snatched Luo Xiaoxiao’s phone and began typing furiously.

After frantic tapping, she thrust the screen forward. Luo Xiaoxiao squinted at the display showing complete gibberish: “xxxkdhgo” and random characters.

“What is this?”

Luo Jing wailed in frustration—wasn’t it obvious? You idiot! No wonder you can’t get a girlfriend!!!!

Suddenly, without warning, Luo Jing began pummeling Luo Xiaoxiao with surprising force. Bewildered by the outburst, Luo Xiaoxiao barely processed what was happening before medical staff intervened.

“Your mother is experiencing extreme emotional agitation. She requires complete rest,” explained a nurse as they restrained the thrashing woman.

Luo Xiaoxiao stared in shock. How had her perfectly normal mother become like this?

“Leave now!” the doctor shouted, struggling to contain the raging Luo Jing. The staff understood her presence only exacerbated the situation.

Finally comprehending, Luo Xiaoxiao gave quick instructions before practically fleeing the hospital.

Wandering aimlessly through Jin City’s glittering streets, she gazed blankly at the neon-lit twin towers. The vibrant metropolis felt alien—as if neither she nor the city truly belonged to each other.

Once, she’d believed Madam Luo Jing might rewrite her life’s trajectory. But now…

“How infuriating!” A bitter smile twisted her lips.

Stretching her arms skyward, she acknowledged life’s relentless forward march. Hauling her meager belongings, she headed toward the villa.

The mansion’s heavy door creaked open to reveal tomb-like silence. Luo Xiaoxiao sighed. “Such an enormous house… I wonder if Li Fanshuang gets scared living here alone?”

After all, that guy was practically scared to death in the haunted house.

Thinking about Li Fanshuang’s embarrassing moment, Luo Xiaoxiao unconsciously curled her lips into a smile.

Gurgle gurgle—

Her stomach growled in protest.

Luo Xiaoxiao patted her belly gently. “Hold on,” she murmured.

Taking out the instant noodles she’d just bought from the 24-hour convenience store, she walked to the fridge. There were no vegetables, but fortunately, she found some eggs inside.

Putting on her headphones, Luo Xiaoxiao made herself some fried instant noodles, just like she used to in her past life.

Yet she didn’t even notice that she’d started humming softly while cooking.

The aroma of fried instant noodles wafted up to the second floor.

Li Fanshuang was a light sleeper, and having skipped dinner the night before, the smell of noodles woke her up.

Was the housekeeper still here?

Glancing at the time—it was already past two in the morning—who could it be?

Li Fanshuang gathered herself and got up, opening the door to the rich scent of fried noodles hitting her nose.

She was instantly alert, but her stomach growled in protest.

Clutching her stomach in pain, she made her way downstairs with difficulty.

Just as she reached the landing, Luo Xiaoxiao—who had just finished cooking—turned around and saw Li Fanshuang crouched over, clutching her stomach in agony.

“Careful!”

Quickly setting down what she was holding, Luo Xiaoxiao rushed over in a few strides.

She steadied Li Fanshuang. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not.” Li Fanshuang gritted her teeth, her voice faint from the stomach pain.

Luo Xiaoxiao watched her lips move but couldn’t make out the words.

Only then did she realize she was still wearing her headphones. “Sorry.”

She immediately took them off.

“Didn’t you say you ate on the plane?” Luo Xiaoxiao could tell just by looking that she hadn’t had a proper dinner.

Li Fanshuang gave a weak hum—she didn’t have the strength to speak now.

Luo Xiaoxiao glanced at the fried noodles. That definitely wasn’t suitable for Li Fanshuang in this state.

She scooped Li Fanshuang up in her arms.

“You—!” Li Fanshuang gasped, losing her balance and instinctively wrapping her arms around Luo Xiaoxiao’s neck.

Ignoring her protests, Luo Xiaoxiao set her down on the sofa. “Wait here for a sec.”

She headed to the kitchen.

“You’re not lactose intolerant, right?”

“Right.” Li Fanshuang nodded weakly, her face pale.

Luo Xiaoxiao pulled out the discounted groceries she’d bought earlier, which included some pumpkin.

After peeling and chopping it, she blended it into a pumpkin paste.

“This’ll take about twenty minutes. Do you have any stomach medicine at home?”

Li Fanshuang nodded. “There’s a medicine cabinet under the TV stand.”

“Got it.” Luo Xiaoxiao found it following her directions.

After checking the instructions, she said, “This has to be taken after eating. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”

With that, she sat down at the table, ready to enjoy her fried noodles.

“No!” Li Fanshuang’s voice rang out.

Luo Xiaoxiao paused, the noodles halfway to her mouth, and turned to see Li Fanshuang walking toward her step by step.

Li Fanshuang’s eyes were full of resentment—directed either at her or at the noodles in her hand.

“I want to eat that!”

Luo Xiaoxiao turned away, hiding the plate behind her back. “No way! This is mine!”