The True Record of a Flirty Omega's Failed Balancing Act - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

◎Phone call◎

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

Xu Guiyi walked to the door, with Ning Chanyue following her. She asked Xu Guiyi again. She was wearing the jacket Xu Guiyi had just put on her, and the corners of her eyes were still a little red, she didn’t know why.

But Xu Guiyi still shook her head. She took the congee off the rack, handed it to Ning Chanyue, and said sideways, “No need. There’s only one bed in the hospital.”

Ning Chanyue pouted. She took the congee, her fingers brushing against Xu Guiyi’s fingers. Her eyes were full of reluctance. She paused and then said, “Then… bye.”

Xu Guiyi touched her head and comforted her, “I’m not leaving forever. I’ll be back tomorrow. You might see me again after you wake up from a nap.”

Then, Xu Guiyi seemed to notice the stray hairs on Ning Chanyue’s forehead. Her fingers moved down, tucking them behind Ning Chanyue’s ear. But the stray hairs were very disobedient, brushing against her earlobe intentionally or unintentionally, bringing a slight and annoying itch. A hint of a smile instantly appeared in Ning Chanyue’s eyes. She pushed Xu Guiyi and snorted, “Are you getting revenge on me for blowing in your ear just now?”

Seeing that she finally smiled, Xu Guiyi continued, “This expression is much better… I’m leaving.”

After saying that, Xu Guiyi waved to Ning Chanyue. She opened the door and then closed it again.

Ning Chanyue was left alone in the room again.

Ning Chanyue stared at the old, paint-chipped door for a while, her hands still clutching the jacket Xu Guiyi had given her. It wasn’t until the footsteps in the hallway gradually faded that she took two deep breaths of the sandalwood scent that enveloped her. Then she turned around, walked to the dining table, and put the congee she was holding in a bowl.

Ning Chanyue spooned it up, one spoonful at a time. She ate very slowly, holding each mouthful of congee in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing it. She was clearly distracted.

That’s right, Ning Chanyue’s expression at this moment was especially vacant. Her eyes weren’t even focused. Her thoughts had already drifted away from her actions, out of the dining room, and out of the window.

They landed on Xu Guiyi’s upcoming birthday.

She wanted to make it unforgettable, so that the first thing Xu Guiyi thought of when she thought of her birthday was her.

Ning Chanyue thought greedily.

Even though she didn’t have any ideas yet, just thinking about it made the corners of Ning Chanyue’s lips curl up again. Even the congee in the bowl seemed to have become a little sweeter.

It wasn’t until a sudden ringing broke Ning Chanyue’s train of thought.

Seeing the name that popped up on her phone, the spoon Ning Chanyue was about to bring to her mouth paused. She frowned as if she was extremely unwilling. After a few seconds, she reluctantly swallowed the congee and answered the call.

It was a video call from her adoptive mother.

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

They hadn’t been in contact for a few months, and the voice on the other end seemed to have become a little hoarser. As soon as she answered the call, she didn’t waste any time with pleasantries and went straight to the point, yelling at Ning Chanyue, “That Youyou came to see me this afternoon and paid off all the debts I owed.”

As her adoptive mother spoke, she held the phone closer to herself, as if afraid that Ning Chanyue couldn’t hear her clearly. The light reflected from the phone just happened to fall on her adoptive mother’s dazzling necklace. This was another necklace Ning Chanyue had never seen before. A few emerald-colored pearls were loosely hanging on her wrinkled neck. It was beautiful, but it was also a little out of place.

But Ning Chanyue wasn’t in the mood to observe these details. After hearing her adoptive mother’s words, she completely put down the spoon in her hand. The smile that had just been on her face faded, replaced by a tense and serious expression. She sat upright in the chair and confirmed again, “You Zhuoqing? Came to see you?”

She knew that ever since she and You Zhuoqing went “public,” You Zhuoqing had never looked for her, except for a few times when her adoptive mother came uninvited to visit.

As if she was dissatisfied with Ning Chanyue’s surprised reaction, her adoptive mother clicked her tongue and squinted at Ning Chanyue, saying, “Didn’t she tell you? Did you and Youyou have a fight? If you ask me, Youyou is such a great kid. Her family is rich, she’s filial, and she treats you well. Our family is so poor, and you’ve become rich by being with her. She doesn’t even despise you. What’s there to be dissatisfied with? Besides, how long has it been since you’ve come to see us? Youyou even knows to come.”

Perhaps because she had benefited from You Zhuoqing, her adoptive mother praised her to the heavens, spouting her opinions in a continuous stream, without even taking a breath.

It wasn’t until she heard the last sentence that Ning Chanyue’s finger, which had been hovering over the hang-up button, suddenly pulled back. She opened her mouth and said, “It’s enough for your own daughters to see you. Do you still need me?”

“Whether we’re your biological parents or not, you should still be filial to us. We didn’t despise you for being a delicate omega and adopted you, saving your life. You should remember our kindness!”

The already high-pitched voice on the other end suddenly became a little sharper, shaking Ning Chanyue and making her quickly move the phone away, lowering the volume.

Ning Chanyue also tactfully shut up.

It wasn’t because she agreed with her adoptive mother’s words. It was just based on her past experience, she knew that no matter what she said, her adoptive mother would always have a twisted logic to explain her actions and behavior.

But seeing her like this, her adoptive mother thought she had given in. Her face relaxed a little. She squinted and sized up the necklace and dress Ning Chanyue was wearing, saying, “Your spending has gone down recently. Fine, you don’t have to come back. Your second sister is getting married. Send us some money, and we’ll consider it your filial piety.”

Asking for money again.

Ning Chanyue sighed. “Didn’t You Zhuoqing just give you money? I send you so much money every month. Did you spend it all?”

Her adoptive mother snorted. She crossed her legs and said as if it was a matter of course, “That’s a different story. It’s like when I gave you living expenses when you were a child. Did I not give you tuition?”

This shameless and twisted logic from her adoptive mother made Ning Chanyue put down her phone and rub her throbbing temples.

It was better not to mention it. As soon as she mentioned living expenses and tuition, Ning Chanyue remembered her difficult and impoverished high school life.

At that time, her adoptive mother only gave her three hundred yuan a month for living expenses, including food money. Before she met Xu Guiyi, she could only scrimp and save to have one meal a day. Not only was she malnourished, but she also developed a stomach illness from being hungry for a long time, and even now, her stomach occasionally hurts.

Oh, that’s right. There was also the eight hundred yuan a year tuition fee in high school. This amount of money wasn’t a lot for an ordinary family. But she had asked her adoptive mother for tuition several times, and her adoptive mother refused to give it to her, only crying about how poor they were. It wasn’t until her homeroom teacher personally came to their house that she reluctantly gave her three hundred yuan, saying that she should get the rest of the money herself as a high school student. In the end, she couldn’t raise the money and was publicly ridiculed by her homeroom teacher, who already disliked her, in front of the class, which also led to her being ostracized by others in the class.

She was clearly not a resentful person, but this experience was still fresh in her memory.

After a while, she seemed to have recovered from that memory. She took a deep breath, held up her phone, and said word for word, “I’m not giving you any.”

Besides, she wasn’t close to her adoptive mother’s biological children anyway.

But after hearing that, her adoptive mother’s already wrinkled face instantly twisted into a ball. She slammed her hand on the coffee table in front of her. The force seemed to be so great that Ning Chanyue subconsciously leaned back.

She said, “I don’t care. You have to…”

But before her adoptive mother could finish, a sudden crying sound came from behind her. She turned around, and the camera also shifted a little. On the phone screen, her second youngest sister was sitting on the floor, wailing. Next to her was an overturned walker and a nanny who was rushing over.

In short, it was another chaotic scene, just like what she used to experience every day when she lived at her adoptive mother’s house.

She heard her adoptive mother curse at the nanny. She turned back and also glared at Ning Chanyue, who wouldn’t give her money, and said, “We’ll talk later. Remember to send me money!”

As soon as the words fell, her adoptive mother hung up the phone.

Ning Chanyue sighed. She put her phone face down on the table and stirred the congee, which had gradually turned cold during her adoptive mother’s lecture, with a spoon. She was no longer in the mood to swallow it.

But when it rains, it pours. Before Ning Chanyue could recover from the call that had upset her, her phone started vibrating again.

Ning Chanyue glanced at the screen, but as if she didn’t want to see those words, she instinctively frowned and turned her head away.

Why was You Zhuoqing always calling her every day?

After a while, Ning Chanyue took a deep breath, brought her phone back in front of her, and answered the call.

“What do you want…”

But before Ning Chanyue could finish, she was interrupted by You Zhuoqing on the other end. Her voice was extremely low, and she said, “I’m downstairs at your place.”

In an instant, Ning Chanyue’s hand holding the phone tightened. She quickly grabbed a tissue, wiped her mouth, and walked quickly to the balcony outside the living room. Through the clear blue window, she looked down—

And then, her hanging heart finally dropped.

She saw You Zhuoqing standing downstairs, her narrowed eyes directed at the floor she was on.

You Zhuoqing seemed to have sensed that Ning Chanyue was there. She raised her chin at her.

This sent a shiver down Ning Chanyue’s spine.

She clearly hadn’t turned on the living room light. It was pitch black inside. How did You Zhuoqing see her?

That’s right, she also clearly hadn’t told You Zhuoqing that she was at Xu Guiyi’s place, so why was she able to find her again and again?

The knuckles of Ning Chanyue’s hand, which was holding the phone, gradually turned white. Her voice was tight. “I’m not going back with you. Unless you find someone to break the lock. Of course, if you do that, I’ll call the police.”

Perhaps it was because Ning Chanyue had found Xu Guiyi once or twice, which made her realize that even being aggressive wouldn’t have much of an effect. Or perhaps it was because she was confident at the moment. You Zhuoqing stared at the indistinct shadow behind the window and said, “What if I told you that your adoptive parents are going to sue you, and your reputation in the entertainment industry might be at risk?”