Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 9
As Cui Cui’s vicious slap came swinging down, Ye Shuyi raised her hand and caught the other woman’s wrist.
Cui Cui widened her eyes in shock. “You!”
“What?” Ye Shuyi narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze icy and sharp. “Did you think I’d just let you bully me like before?”
With a forceful flick of her wrist, Ye Shuyi threw Cui Cui’s hand aside and, without missing a beat, raised her other palm and slapped the woman across the face without hesitation.
Smack!
The sharp sound of the slap echoed loudly through the empty hallway. Cui Cui’s head snapped to the side from the impact, and a red handprint gradually bloomed on her otherwise fair cheek.
She seemed utterly unprepared for this turn of events, frozen in place with an expression of disbelief.
Ye Shuyi reached out, gripping Cui Cui’s chin and forcing her to face her directly. With a cold smile, she said, “That first slap was payment for all the homework I did for you.”
She raised her hand again, but before the next strike could land, someone grabbed her wrist from behind.
“Enough.”
Yi Qian’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it reverberated clearly in the silent corridor.
Ye Shuyi turned to look at the woman restraining her, a flicker of surprise flashing in her eyes, though her composure remained unshaken. “So, you’re taking her side now?”
Seeing that Yi Qian didn’t deny it, Cui Cui quickly wrenched herself free from Ye Shuyi’s grip and ducked behind Yi Qian, trembling like a frightened rabbit as she clung to the other woman’s arm.
Ye Shuyi lowered her head, her entire body radiating a chilling aura. “Let go of me.”
Yi Qian frowned slightly but released her hand as instructed.
Once Ye Shuyi had walked away, Cui Cui immediately wrapped her arms around Yi Qian’s waist, sniffling pitifully. “Yi Qian, thank goodness you came in time. Who knows what that crazy woman would have done to me?”
Yi Qian glanced down at the woman in her arms, her gaze icy and ruthless as if she could snap the other’s neck in an instant. But the moment Cui Cui looked up at her, the corners of Yi Qian’s lips curled into a tender smile, her deep, affectionate eyes softening like a gentle crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
Cui Cui beamed at her moon, wiping away a tear she had squeezed out for effect. “Thank you, Yi Qian,” she murmured shyly.
Yi Qian reached out, lightly brushing her fingers over Cui Cui’s swollen cheek, her expression full of concern. “Does it hurt?”
Cui Cui nodded coyly, her voice sweet and pleading. “She hits so hard. Does my face look awful now?”
“How could it?” Yi Qian tucked a loose strand of hair behind Cui Cui’s ear, deliberately grazing her earlobe as she withdrew her hand. “How about I help you apply some medicine when we get home?”
Cui Cui’s earlobes flushed pink. She swallowed, her voice soft and coquettish. “Your place or mine?”
“What do you think?” Yi Qian leaned in, her breath warm against Cui Cui’s ear. “Yours is closer, isn’t it? Let’s keep it convenient.”
Cui Cui rested her head against Yi Qian’s shoulder, nodding bashfully.
The two made their way to the underground parking garage. When they were still some distance from Cui Cui’s car, Yi Qian suddenly pulled her close, pressing her against a pillar. She tucked Cui Cui’s hair behind her ear again, her voice low and seductive. “From what you said earlier, you’ve had feelings for me since high school, haven’t you?”
Cui Cui draped her arms around Yi Qian’s neck, her tone flirtatious. “So you heard everything?”
Yi Qian toyed with her hair without denying it: “Hmm, hearing that you helped uncover the truth from back then. If you didn’t genuinely like me, I’d be really hurt.”
Cui Cui’s eyes instantly flashed with panic, terrified Yi Qian might misunderstand her. She hurriedly professed her sincerity: “I’ve always liked you! Back then in the bathroom when I wanted to teach Ye Shuyi a lesson, it was because she dared speak to you in class. I was so jealous, I never got to talk to you, so what right did she have? Especially after you helped her that year. Did you hear what she said today?”
After spitting out these words with visible disgust, her expression softened again into one of pitiful vulnerability as she bared her heart: “Actually, I liked you from the first moment I saw you. But you always kept such an unapproachable distance that I didn’t dare get close.”
Yi Qian recalled that after helping Ye Shuyi at the noodle shop that snowy night, Ye Shuyi had indeed spoken to her when collecting homework.
“Handing in math homework.” “Wait a moment, let me find it.” “This is chemistry homework.” “Then wait, I’ll look again.”
In her memory, their entire conversation had been limited to this. She never imagined even this could deepen Cui Cui’s hatred for Ye Shuyi. Yi Qian’s brows furrowed tightly had she not been in the bathroom that day, she couldn’t imagine what might have happened to Ye Shuyi.
She suddenly felt intensely grateful that Ye Shuyi, out of gratitude, had stubbornly clung to her under the pretense of tutoring, becoming her shelter. Otherwise, given people like Cui Cui’s nature, she couldn’t fathom what Ye Shuyi’s school life would have been like.
Yi Qian gazed coldly at the woman still nestled in her arms professing devotion, feeling not an ounce of tenderness only irritation, even revulsion.
“I went through so much trouble getting this project knowing you were the lead actress,” Cui Cui cooed. “You’d better compensate me properly.”
“You’re this film’s producer. I’m its lead actress.” Yi Qian played with the other’s earlobe, her voice bewitching yet trembling with feigned helplessness. “Do you know what this kind of relationship is called in our industry?”
“What if it is?” Cui Cui breathed against Yi Qian’s tempting lips. “Are you unwilling?”
Yi Qian answered not with words but action, slowly leaning toward Cui Cui’s mouth. When mere millimeters separated them, she glanced at the now closed-eyed Cui Cui before raising her gaze to meet Ye Shuyi’s stare from across the garage.
The current Ye Shuyi clearly needed no sheltering. But Yi Qian wanted to see her reaction to witnessing this intimacy.
Yet Ye Shuyi showed no reaction. After a frozen moment, she simply drove away.
Seeing Ye Shuyi leave, Yi Qian released Cui Cui. After studying her briefly, she abruptly delivered a slap landing almost exactly where Ye Shuyi’s palm print had been.
Perhaps now experienced with being struck, Cui Cui reacted faster this time. Clutching her cheek, she turned terrified eyes toward the woman who’d been so gentle moments ago.
“This is for using my manager’s white scarf to wipe your shoes.”
Slap!
Another sharp crack echoed through the underground garage.
Cui Cui immediately reacted, raising her hand to cover the other side of her face that had been struck. She cupped both cheeks in her hands, her eyes wide with shock and fear, looking somewhat comical.
Yi Qian flexed her fingers, her gaze icy as she stared at the woman before her. “That’s payback for the slap you tried to give my manager back then.” She patted the other woman’s shoulder, then leaned in close to her ear, her voice a devilish whisper, “You should be grateful I didn’t let you land that slap back then. Otherwise, today’s hit wouldn’t have been this light.”
“And did you really think I was helping you just now?” Yi Qian straightened up, cracking her knuckles loudly in front of Cui Cui, her lips curling into a bewitching smile like an angelic devil descended from the heavens. “Hitting someone hurts your hand too, you know.”
With that, Yi Qian turned and walked away without a second glance at the still-stunned woman behind her.
As Yi Qian headed toward her parking spot, a team of security guards suddenly rushed toward her, swiftly forming an orderly perimeter around her. She raised an amused eyebrow.
The lead guard stepped forward, his voice firm and resolute. “Miss Yi, are you alright?”
“Who told you I wasn’t?” Yi Qian asked coolly, though she already had a guess.
“Miss Ye… mentioned it when she left. She told me to bring backup immediately to protect you, saying you were handling something very important and couldn’t be photographed!” the lead guard explained.
Yi Qian glanced at the circle of tall, burly men surrounding her and smirked. “So you’re here to be human shields?”
For some reason, the lead guard snapped into a textbook-perfect military stance and declared, “Yes, ma’am!”
Yi Qian crossed her arms, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Tell me, how did the person who sent you here seem when she gave the order?”
The lead guard blinked in confusion before answering, “I’d say Miss Ye seemed in a good mood.”
Yi Qian frowned slightly, as if dissatisfied with the answer. “How could you tell?”
“Well!” The guard hesitated. “Her expression was calm, her tone steady.”
“Hmm!” Yi Qian mused. “So that’s what you call a good mood?”
The guard remained ramrod straight. “At least she didn’t seem upset.”
Yi Qian: “Right. You can all go now. I’m fine.”
The lead guard scanned the garage suspiciously. “Are you sure?”
Yi Qian chuckled. “I’ve been standing here chatting with you for this long. Do I look like I’m in trouble?”
The guard shook his head dumbly. “No, ma’am.”
“Then are you all just bored?” Yi Qian teased, locking eyes with him.
The guard snapped to attention, blowing a sharp whistle into his chest mic. “Mission accomplished target secure. Fall back!”
“So, do you think she was jealous or not?”
The moment she got home, Yi Qian called Fang Xin, hoping her friend could help analyze what Ye Shuyi’s true mood had been when she saw her.
Fang Xin fell silent for a moment before flopping back onto her bed, covering her forehead with a thoroughly defeated expression. She complained gloomily, “You called me this late just to tell me this? Do you know interrupting someone’s beauty sleep is practically a sin?”
“I’ll cover your next beauty treatment,” Yi Qian tossed out the temptation lightly.
Fang Xin immediately sat up straight. “Honestly, I don’t know if Ye Shuyi would get jealous. All I know is these questionable tactics of yours will only push her further away.” She sighed before continuing, “Why is it that every time your relationship shows slight improvement, you have to pull some bizarre, easily misunderstood stunt to get her attention?”
After hearing this, Yi Qian remained silent for a long while. She glanced at the snowflakes that had begun falling outside the window again, then turned her gaze to her own reflection in the glass. She knew exactly why she did this, why she kept repeating this pattern. “Because I still love her,” she said slowly, “but I don’t know if she still loves me. I just want to confirm it.”
Fang Xin was momentarily speechless before finally asking, “Does it have to be this way?”
“For her,” Yi Qian sighed, sounding utterly helpless, “this is the only method I can think of.”
During all their years together, apart from obvious moments of jealousy, she could hardly sense any affection from the other woman. When they broke up, Ye Shuyi had left without giving any reason, vanishing completely for these three years. Now she’d returned with an alpha by her side, and when directly questioned that day, had avoided giving any answer.
With all these circumstances, Yi Qian didn’t know what to think or how to act. She wanted to remain calm, but she wasn’t Ye Shuyi, she couldn’t maintain composure at all times.
Every action she took was an attempt to confirm something, yet each time left her more uncertain.
No, perhaps there was one thing she could confirm, one answer that was becoming increasingly clear.