The True Record of a Flirty Omega's Failed Balancing Act - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

◎Palpitation◎

Twelve o’clock in the morning.

You Zhuoqing sat in the large and empty living room. Not a single light was on in the house. Only six candles were placed in front of You Zhuoqing, their bodies trembling and swaying, barely adding a few weak streaks of red to the dark room.

Under the candles was a six-inch heart-shaped cake. On top of the candles was You Zhuoqing’s somber face.

After a while, You Zhuoqing blew out the candles but didn’t cut the cake underneath. She just leaned back, rested against the sofa cushion, and picked up the TV remote on the sofa.

After she clicked the remote twice, a video of a gala from a few years ago popped up on the TV screen a few meters away. But she still wasn’t satisfied. She skillfully dragged the progress bar to about forty-five minutes and then pressed play.

The dead silence in the room finally had a sound.

“Next, let’s welcome the loving couple, You Zhuoqing and Ning Chanyue!”

Hearing the sound, You Zhuoqing sat up again. She cut the cake into two pieces, one in front of her and one on the opposite side. But there was no one else in the house besides her. She didn’t know who she was putting the cake there for.

On the TV, after the host’s words fell, Ning Chanyue, wearing a long dress You Zhuoqing had carefully chosen, appeared on the red carpet with her, arm in arm. The two of them waved to the crowd around them, then turned their heads and smiled at each other.

In front of the screen, You Zhuoqing, who had been expressionless, finally curled her lips slightly.

How wonderful.

It would be even better if Ning Chanyue could always be by her side like this.

She remembered the first time she had this thought. It was a long, long time ago.

At that time, Ning Chanyue was just an insignificant female number two in the cast, and she was a rare A-list alpha actress.

Her acquaintance with Ning Chanyue originated from a fight scene, which was also the only fighting scene she had with Ning Chanyue in the show.

Under the green screen, she and Ning Chanyue were hanging from wires, soaring into the air. The hands they held their swords with kept swinging, creating one after another afterimage.

The two of them cooperated very well. Based on her experience of filming since she was a child, this shot should have been done in one take. But even after they had finished all their lines, there was still no sound of “cut” from the surroundings.

So she turned her head to look at the crowd of black-clad crew members below her, only to see them looking at each other in dismay.

“What’s wrong?” You Zhuoqing pulled on the wire. “Did that take pass?”

“Ms. You, you…”

A small assistant spoke timidly. As she spoke, her gaze fell to the ground below You Zhuoqing.

There was nothing on the ground, except…

You Zhuoqing’s gaze also followed downward, and then she held her breath.

Except for a scent blocker that had fallen off during the fight.

Logically, if an alpha’s gland was exposed, it would emit some gentle and non-aggressive pheromones, and the alpha themselves would also be keenly aware of the scent blocker falling off. But she had neither pheromones nor seemed to be aware of it herself.

No wonder the people on set looked like this.

You Zhuoqing had no choice but to take a deep breath and say to the people on set, “My scent blocker…”

But a voice next to her spoke at the same time, as if trying to explain for her. “Ms. You knows I’m an omega and has been trying her best to hold back from releasing pheromones. She still completed her scenes well. Can’t you see her face is pale? Hurry and take Ms. You back to rest.”

After saying that, the girl next to her looked at her. Maybe it was her cunning eyes, or maybe it was the smile she gave before leaving, that made her feel that this girl was so lively.

It also made her start to have an inappropriate greed.

You Zhuoqing’s eyes were fixed on Ning Chanyue, who was always next to her on the TV, until their figures gradually disappeared from the screen. Only then did she lower her eyes, pick up her phone, and dial a number.

The other side answered quickly, but before You Zhuoqing could speak, the other side started the topic first. “Ms. You, why are you calling so late? Do you want to remove that trending search…”

You Zhuoqing interrupted the other side’s unfinished words and said, “Xiao Zhou, are Ning Chanyue’s parents gamblers?”

The other side paused. “Yes. Ms. Ning’s adoptive parents have that habit. Her biological parents are more down-to-earth.”

You Zhuoqing hummed in response. Then she walked to the wall, took a leather bag from the cabinet, wiped off the dust that had settled on it over the years with a wet wipe, pulled down the zipper, and found a bank card inside.

Then, she said, “Send me the address of Ning Chanyue’s adoptive parents. I’ll go visit the two old people in a few days.”

…

The hospital had a rare return to the tranquility unique to the night. The hallway was sparsely populated, with only a few scattered night shift nurses still chatting with each other. The further you walked into the hallway, the only sounds you could hear were the ticking of instruments or the occasional snoring from a ward. It was so quiet that it felt as if time had stopped.

Xu Guiyi’s ward was no exception. Although the cold white light from the ceiling was directly above Xu Guiyi’s head, she seemed to be exhausted. Even with such a glaring light, she had fallen asleep against the bed at some point, with her phone still in her hand.

It wasn’t until a slow footsteps passed by and carefully pushed open the ward door.

But Xu Guiyi, who was always a light sleeper, suddenly opened her eyes.

“Sorry, I’m here to check the room,” the nurse who pushed the door open said in a low voice.

Xu Guiyi nodded, but the next second, her gaze fell on the phone on her chest. She frowned and no longer paid attention to the nurse who was standing by Xu Pei’an’s bedside. She pressed the power button.

“Sorry, miss, I’ve already found a suitable candidate.”

The first thing that popped up on her screen was this message from the parent she had been talking to before she went to sleep.

A few hours ago, Xu Guiyi wanted to find another tutoring job to make more money. After considering a few existing job listings in the tutoring group, she added this parent. They were having a pleasant conversation, but maybe because she hadn’t replied for too long, after she had been asleep for more than half an hour, the parent tactfully rejected her.

…

Xu Guiyi scrolled up on the long chat history where she had analyzed the child’s learning situation with the parent. She sighed and still sent a polite message: “Okay, then you can contact me again if you have the chance [rose].”

Then she pressed the exit button in the top right corner, preparing to check if there were any other suitable job listings in the tutoring group.

But before she could click into the group chat, she caught a glimpse of the WeChat icon in the message bar at the top of the screen.

It was a message from Ning Chanyue from over an hour ago.

It was just a single, non-sequitur “Are you there?”

Xu Guiyi raised an eyebrow. What was she doing, not sleeping at night?

So she changed her course and clicked into the chatbox named “lemoon.” But just as she typed a few words, and before she could press send, her fingertips paused.

She stared at Ning Chanyue’s jasmine flower profile picture, her mind replaying the interaction they had in the bathroom just now.

Was she and Ning Chanyue being… too intimate?

But as soon as this thought flashed through her mind, the jasmine scent still lingering on her clothes seemed to have already given her the answer.

Yes, she had been deliberately distancing herself from Ning Chanyue all day, but it seemed that as soon as Ning Chanyue acted spoiled, or even just frowned, she still couldn’t help herself…

Was it because of the mark?

Or was it because of the pheromones?

Xu Guiyi pursed her lips. One wisp after another of the jasmine scent still faintly drifted into her nostrils. The nurse had quietly left at some point. She sat quietly on the bed. The lingering jasmine scent was all around her, making her feel as if she couldn’t escape it. It also reminded her of the promise she had made to Ning Chanyue years ago, holding a bouquet of jasmine flowers.

She had naively promised Ning Chanyue in a roundabout way that she would always be by her side.

At that time, they were still in high school, an age when they were innocent and didn’t know the depths of their feelings. Ning Chanyue was performing on stage for the first time at a school event. After the performance, Xu Guiyi left early and stood under the streetlamp outside the venue, holding flowers, waiting for Ning Chanyue to come out after the show.

But when Ning Chanyue slowly came around the corner, she didn’t see Xu Guiyi immediately. She just lowered her head, looking at her ten fingers floating in the air. Her fingertips were dancing like fairies, moving up and down in the air, as if she was replaying the piece she had just played on stage over and over again.

“Ning Chanyue.”

Xu Guiyi called out from a distance.

Hearing the familiar voice, Ning Chanyue finally looked up. After confirming who it was, she lifted her floor-length evening gown and ran toward her.

“What is this?” Ning Chanyue ran up to Xu Guiyi and leaned over to look at the bouquet in her arms. When she looked at Xu Guiyi again, her almond-shaped eyes blinked, shining and bright like stars. She pointed to herself and said, “For me?”

Xu Guiyi nodded and handed the bouquet to Ning Chanyue. “Yes. You said that you wanted to be a big star in the future. Today is your good start, so I brought you a bouquet of jasmine. Jasmine means ‘don’t leave.’ I’ll be with you for every performance you have in the future and celebrate with you.”

“Really? You’re not allowed to go back on your word,” Ning Chanyue’s voice was filled with unconcealed excitement. Before Xu Guiyi could even nod again, she extended her pinky to Xu Guiyi and said, “Let’s pinky swear.”

Ning Chanyue’s happy expression made Xu Guiyi involuntarily smile. She also extended her hand and said, “Okay.”

The two of them touched their fingers like that. Ning Chanyue shook her fingers back and forth, whispering, “Pinky swear, hang in the air for a hundred years, never change.”

After they made their vow, Ning Chanyue still held her hand and didn’t let go. She formed a circle, enclosing Xu Guiyi’s fingers. She took the bouquet and slowly lowered the hand that was holding Xu Guiyi’s. She said softly to her, “Let’s go home together. The gala ended too late tonight. There are no buses… Can I stay at your place? Will your aunt agree?”

Xu Guiyi tucked the stray hair that had been blown by the wind behind Ning Chanyue’s ear. She took the opportunity to rub Ning Chanyue’s slightly red earlobe and nodded. “Of course. And… since you left last time, my mom has been talking about you. She’s really looking forward to you coming.”

The smile on Ning Chanyue’s face widened even more.

That’s right. Ever since Ning Chanyue saw her, the smile on her face had never faded. There seemed to be a wave of affection flowing in her eyes when she looked at Xu Guiyi, which made Xu Guiyi’s heart flutter no matter how many times she saw it.

Xu Guiyi also curled her fingers tightly around Ning Chanyue’s, mimicking her. A gust of wind blew by. Xu Guiyi pressed the hand holding a few textbooks against her chest, not knowing if it was to block the sudden wind or to hide the still-immature palpitation under her school uniform.

So the two of them walked forward like that. Under the warm yellow light of the streetlamps, their shadows were stretched infinitely, as if they had no end, just like their relationship at that moment, which seemed to have no end.

Unfortunately… nothing lasts forever.

Xu Guiyi lowered her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Ning Chanyue’s chat interface for a while. In the end, she deleted the words she had just typed and pressed the screen lock button.

But before she could put down her phone, the lock screen lit up again.

It was Ning Chanyue again.

She saw that she had sent: “Guiyi, did you see that trending search?”