Watching her alpha daughter’s emotions fluctuate wildly, Qin Wan was instantly reminded of her own youthful days. Although she had married early, she and Yun Cheng had also shared a period of romance.
In that moment, she seemed to understand something.
So she asked, “Are you chatting with that omega surnamed Tang?”
Yun Chuji was painstakingly handwriting her reply to Tang Jianxi—even with the original owner’s memories, she was still not familiar with the structure of a keyboard. Hearing her mother’s question, she nodded excitedly. “Mother, Miss Tang thinks the same way I do!”
“Marriage really should begin with mutual affection!”
Wait, aren’t you two in a perpetrator-victim relationship?
What is going on?
Stockholm syndrome?
Qin Wan was deeply shaken. She cautiously probed, “Are you and this… Miss Tang on good terms?”
As in, good enough to discuss views on marriage with an omega?
Yun Chuji paused, thought carefully, and the hand that had been waving in the air stilled. She answered honestly, “Miss Tang is the person I am closest to.”
She was not good at lying, but the truth she spoke made Qin Wan, her mother in name, a little embarrassed.
Although Qin Wan knew this child wasn’t close to them, to this extent, it truly made her want to spank her.
She closed the half-open refrigerator door.
Hmph, a bratty child doesn’t deserve her mother warming milk for her in the middle of the night.
But a child was still a child. “Then what are you in Miss Tang’s heart?”
Yun Chuji recalled for a moment and said with a smile, “A patient. She’s always saying I’m sick.”
Qin Wan was dumbfounded, and for a moment, she shared the same thought as the Miss Tang she had never met: Is this child sick in the head?
Is that a compliment? Why are you smiling so happily!
Qin Wan closed her eyes. She roughly understood her daughter’s humble and guilt-ridden position as a sycophant. Still, she took the milk out of the refrigerator, warmed a cup, and handed it to her.
The child was chatting again. Was typing not fast enough? Why was she gesturing wildly with her hands, a smile on her face? It was a much sweeter smile than when she called her for dinner every day.
Qin Wan couldn’t bear to watch and quickly returned to her room.
Just before closing the door, she couldn’t help but add a heartfelt piece of advice, “Alphas need to have self-respect too.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” Yun Chuji replied, her usual politeness all but gone, making her seem more like her old self.
Qin Wan immediately shut the door.
For her new plan, Tang Jianxi had been busy discussing collaborations with major research institutes, shuttling between various dinners and banquets. In between, she also had to attend a particularly important meeting, truly splitting her time in two.
When Yun Chuji sent the message, she was still in the meeting and only gave it a cursory glance.
It wasn’t until she returned to her villa in A-District that she had time to reply. However, after so long, many more thoughts than just the answer had popped into her head.
The foremost among them was: Why is she asking me this?!
This was a little antique, constantly harping on about chastity, acting as if being asked to wear a shirt that revealed her collarbones was a death sentence.
How did she suddenly find the courage to ask about love and marriage?
Tang Jianxi’s thoughts diverged from “Could she be interested in me?” all the way to “Could she have found someone interesting?”
So she sent a few sentences in reply. After sending them, she began to regret it. The first two sentences were just correct nonsense, but that last one… why did she have to drag herself into it? It felt like she had some ulterior motive.
Tang Jianxi lay sprawled on the sofa, still in the uniform she had worn to the meeting, and couldn’t help but roll around a few times.
It was the sound of Yun Chuji’s reply that startled her back to her senses—
“Miss Tang, I think so too!”
“If Miss Tang thinks so too, then I feel I must be right.”
Tang Jianxi covered her eyes with her hand. She felt there was a wall between her and Yun Chuji. This person would often make a huge fuss over trivial matters, yet when it came to genuinely sensitive topics like this, she was surprisingly bold.
Did she even realize she was an omega?!
Her hand covered her eyes, but her mouth could still speak. Tang Jianxi said weakly to her optical computer, “Reply to Yun Chuji: You really should learn more about the culture of this era.”
“Ah? Does Miss Tang have any books to recommend?”
“In our era, watching movies and TV shows is faster than reading books.”
Yun Chuji knew what movies and TV shows were. In her memory, the original owner had been quite obsessed with them. Ah, and games too.
“Then does Miss Tang have any movies or TV shows to recommend?”
“You’ll watch whatever I recommend?”
“Yes, anything Miss Tang recommends must be very good.”
Behind her hand, Tang Jianxi’s eyes squeezed shut. What was with this person? Did acknowledging her parents also train a sweet-talking function?
Tang Jianxi quickly sent a long list of titles.
Yun Chuji replied very obediently, “I will watch them all carefully.”
Tang Jianxi hissed softly. The movies a person loved to watch and the music they loved to listen to were, in essence, deeply private things. In most cases, people used these two things to identify soulmates—ah, and games too.
Thus, the act of sharing became like entrusting one’s beloved kitten to someone else for a while—reluctant yet expectant.
Will she like my kitten?
Will she treat her well?
Will she praise her for being cute and beautiful?
It was a gamble that wasn’t dangerous but was just as nerve-wracking. And this little antique, Yun Chuji, had at least performed excellently in the initial stages.
“Mm,” Tang Jianxi’s voice was muffled.
“Miss Tang, when are you coming back?” Yun Chuji asked.
Perhaps because Yun Chuji had just performed so excellently, Tang Jianxi replied on a whim, “Want to video call?”
“Yes!!!”
Along with the three glaring exclamation marks came a video invitation. Tang Jianxi almost impulsively accepted it, but when she stood up and saw her clothes, she hurriedly hung up.
“I’m going to change my clothes.”
On the other end, Yun Chuji was a little confused. Did a video call require such formality?
She looked down at her own clothes. They were modest, but not formal.
Yun Chuji pursed her lips, went back to her room, and chose a white shirt to change into.
When Tang Jianxi, dressed in casual clothes, appeared on the screen, Yun Chuji had a sudden realization. Oh, so it’s supposed to be more relaxed!
She couldn’t help but tug at her shirt collar, slightly embarrassed. However, Tang Jianxi on the other side was a little stunned.
Only Tang Jianxi herself knew that she had a thing for uniforms and loved seeing people dressed neatly and properly.
Yun Chuji had never dressed like this before. She always wore loose, modest clothing, hiding everything securely under fabric that obscured her figure.
It was very uninteresting.
But now, she was wearing a white shirt. The aura of the white shirt matched her old-fashioned temperament perfectly, not to mention the way it outlined the curves of her body. It made Tang Jianxi instantly agree with Yun Chuji’s previous boast about having a good figure.
“What’s this?”
Yun Chuji looked quite annoyed. “I thought one needed to dress formally for a video call.”
She glanced at Tang Jianxi’s cardigan and continued her lament, “I really shouldn’t have tried to be clever.”
“Ahem, formal business meetings require formality, but for a private video call with a friend, you can relax,” Tang Jianxi said, not knowing what else to say and resorting to common sense.
Yun Chuji’s eyes lit up. “Does Miss Tang mean that you and I are friends now!”
“Just now, when Mother asked me what I was to you, I told her I was a patient.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll tell Mother that Miss Tang already considers me a friend!”
These words were like a volley of arrows piercing Tang Jianxi’s heart. What was worse was that the owner of the arrows was smiling foolishly.
“Why would you think I see you as a patient?”
“Because Miss Tang often says I’m sick,” Yun Chuji said concisely.
Especially when she spoke of chastity.
For a moment, Tang Jianxi was speechless. After a while, she said in a rather complicated tone, “And you’re not angry?”
“Mm, not angry.” Yun Chuji broke into another smile, her bright white teeth revealing a clear, honest simplicity. “I can feel that Miss Tang means well for me.”
After all, although Miss Tang said such things, she never made things difficult for her. Instead, she helped her every time.
She could naturally see who was right and who was wrong.
As for their disputes over chastity, Yun Chuji attributed it to the moral decay of this era.
To be honest, she even felt a little sorry for Miss Tang! To be unable to appreciate the beauty of the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. At the same time, she secretly resolved that once she learned enough, she would definitely teach Miss Tang properly.
“You… it’s good that you know,” Tang Jianxi replied in a fluster, a faint blush inexplicably creeping onto her face, which was as beautiful as a fairy from the moon palace.
How could an alpha like this exist!
Even omegas aren’t this well-behaved!
Realizing this, Tang Jianxi immediately put on a serious expression and said, “A harsh word is a harsh word. It doesn’t become a good word just because there’s no ill intent. I’ll reason with you properly in the future. And, if anyone else says such things to you, no matter their intentions, you must fight back.”
To Tang Jianxi’s earnest lecture, Yun Chuji gave a completely unrelated reply, “Miss Tang really does mean well for me.”
Miss Tang was choked up, becoming angry from embarrassment. “What have you been studying lately!”
It sounded as if she cared so much about her.
Yun Chuji didn’t notice Tang Jianxi’s complex thoughts and replied matter-of-factly, “Hmm… I’ve finished the Four Books and Five Classics, and now I’m reading some history books. After I finish those, I’ll read that book, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State.”
The smiling look on her face was clearly one of waiting for praise.
Tang Jianxi didn’t want to indulge her and abruptly changed the subject. “I’ll be back in three days.”
“Ah, that’s so long.”
Miss Tang had already been gone for three days.
But it would still be another three days.
The atmosphere suddenly became strange.
Fortunately, Yun Chuji added, “Then is there any problem with Miss Tang’s condition?”
That barely managed to dispel some of the inappropriate ambiguity.
“No problem.” Tang Jianxi lowered the hand that was propping up her chin and placed it on the armrest of her chair. “The temporary mark is very effective.”
“Then why don’t we use that in the future?”
Before Tang Jianxi could explain that a temporary mark was also quite a serious matter, Yun Chuji thoughtfully realized the problem. “No, Miss Tang would get hurt.”
Tang Jianxi also felt this wouldn’t work, mainly because her mood seemed to be completely at the mercy of a little antique.
So she lifted her chin and abruptly changed the subject again. “Do you want me to bring you a gift? I remember the mechanical dolls in A-District are very beautiful.”
Yun Chuji shook her head. She wasn’t interested in such clever contraptions.
But seeing Tang Jianxi frown, she added with a smile, “If Miss Tang wants to bring me a gift, could you bring me a packet of flower seeds? Just bring whatever you like.”
“There isn’t a single flower in the house. It’s really not pretty at all.”
Tang Jianxi’s hand, resting flat on the wooden armrest, tightened. You can’t do this, she thought.
She hadn’t even finished watching those movies, so how did she already know what style of conversation she liked?
And to say it while wearing a white shirt, it was really too much.
“I will bring you the seeds of the most beautiful flowers.”
But that was how Tang Jianxi ultimately replied.
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