To help more people understand the true meaning of A-Virtue, Sara became the first journalist to interview Yun Chuji.
To Yun Chuji’s surprise, rather than asking about theory and practice, Sara seemed to prefer asking more personal questions.
However, Sara had her own explanation for this. “Compared to grand, righteous words, a relatable public figure is usually more worthy of people’s support, don’t you think?”
“Besides,” the young journalist with a limp said with a smile, “isn’t the reason you stepped out of the livestream studio to show everyone a more multi-faceted A-Virtue?”
Yun Chuji gave her a surprised look, then smiled gently. “Yes, I’ll leave it up to you then.”
And so, the interview was filled with all sorts of strange questions, like Yun Chuji’s favorite food, her favorite color, and what she liked most about Tang Jianxi.
The people of the Empire thus learned that the recently famous A-Virtue master’s favorite food was barbecue and her favorite color was ice blue. But when it came to the question of what she liked most about Tang Jianxi, the alpha thought for a long time before finally shaking her head and answering apologetically, “I can’t choose. Everything about Jianxi is wonderful.”
Because her own attitude was serious, proper, and sincere, Yun Chuji didn’t think of her words as a flippant declaration of love. When Tang Jianxi clipped that part of the video and watched it repeatedly, she was quite puzzled. As far as she knew, she had dressed simply because she was visiting a patient, not in the ancient noblewoman’s long dress that Tang Jianxi preferred (that’s right, Tang Jianxi privately liked to see Yun Chuji dressed that way). So, it couldn’t be because of her attire.
Then what was it?
Yun Chuji asked Tang Jianxi this question while they were on their way to John’s parents’ house.
Thanks to the video of their visit to Sara and the subsequent interview, Yun Chuji’s reputation among alphas had improved somewhat, while her popularity among omegas had skyrocketed. The flood of private messages expressing admiration and affection had even started to annoy Tang Jianxi.
However, their subsequent visits became much easier, to the point that even John’s family was willing to see them.
The only problem was that the swarming media had also increased. Even though Yun Chuji refused all interviews, these news-hungry hunters still followed them closely.
As Yun Chuji asked her question, Tang Jianxi was instructing her bodyguards to get rid of the media tailing their car. Hearing the question, she raised an eyebrow. In the back seat, Gu Yun clicked her tongue impatiently.
Here we go again.
What sin had she committed to deserve this? Not only was she separated from her dear Mengmeng, but she also had to sit here and watch these young people be in love.
Tang Jianxi habitually ignored her grandmother’s resentment. She smiled, took Yun Chuji’s hand, and pressed a button in front of her. Two black partitions slowly rose, separating the two of them from Gu Yun and the bodyguards. Gu Yun sighed wearily. Her seemingly ageless face suddenly showed a hint of fatigue appropriate for her years.
…Here we go again, and again, and again.
At home, the young couple would at least make an effort to be affectionate away from her. But lately, they were always on the move, spending most of their days in the car. At the hotel, they were often busy contacting victims and involved parties, arranging security, and handling company business. In comparison, the time in the car had become their easiest chance to relax.
And it was quite obvious what a young couple in the honeymoon phase would do when they relaxed.
With Tang Jianxi’s encouragement, Yun Chuji had reluctantly lowered her threshold for embarrassment. Especially after Tang Jianxi had the car modified to include these two soundproof partitions, she became even more audacious.
Yun Chuji… well, Yun Chuji continued to be half-reluctant, half-willing.
The moment the partitions rose, Yun Chuji knew what Tang Jianxi wanted. A blush crept up her face, and she protested softly, “Isn’t this… a bit too improper?”
Tang Jianxi silently rolled her eyes. You’re the one who gets shy every time, but you’re also the one who won’t let go once we start kissing.
But despite her thoughts, Tang Jianxi actually quite enjoyed this cute, contradictory side of Yun Chuji.
It could probably be classified as a kind of foreplay.
Tang Jianxi ignored Yun Chuji’s routine struggle and said bluntly, “I like you.”
Yun Chuji shivered slightly, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and shyness.
But Tang Jianxi continued, “I like your eyes.”
She touched her eyes.
“I like your lips.”
She kissed her.
“I like your eyebrows.”
She kissed her again.
“I like everything about you… It’s a shame it’s not convenient to kiss the other places right now.”
After saying this, Tang Jianxi quietly watched Yun Chuji blush, then leisurely gave her answer, “That’s why I like that video clip.”
Flustered and annoyed, Yun Chuji kissed her.
In any case, I have to shut that mouth of hers, Yun Chuji convinced herself.
In the back seat, Ms. Gu Yun sighed, ignoring the inexplicably shaking partitions and gazing lonesomely at the scenery outside the window.
This is the price of being an adult, Gu Yun consoled herself.
By the time they arrived at John’s house, the two had already regained their elegant and dignified composure. No one could find the slightest trace of their passionate kisses on their proper, serious faces.
Except, of course, for Gu Yun.
She clicked her tongue.
Yun Chuji’s ears turned a little red. Tang Jianxi’s expression remained unchanged.
Besides John, there were two other children in the family, but neither of them appeared this time. Only John’s parents were present. Yun Chuji and Tang Jianxi didn’t find this regrettable. After all, in this incident, both during the event itself and in the turmoil that followed, the ones who had suffered the greatest impact were this middle-aged AO couple before them. It was enough to offer some comfort to those who had been hurt. They weren’t here for a social call, anyway.
Over the past few days, they had been traveling all over C-District, visiting many people. During this time, quite a few extremist alphas had tried to attack them, but with no larger organization behind them, they were easily defeated by Tang Jianxi’s bodyguards. All in all, Ms. Gu Yun’s role as a good-luck charm was being fulfilled perfectly.
Yun Chuji handed over a gift. John’s omega mother accepted it and said, “Thank you.”
Yun Chuji returned a gentle smile and shook her head, indicating it was the least she could do.
Tang Jianxi’s bodyguards stood guard at the door. The three of them sat with John’s parents in the living room. It was silent at first, until Yun Chuji broke the silence and the two sides began to exchange pleasantries. However, they didn’t bring up that name, as if they really were just relatives paying a visit.
Some pain, perhaps, can only be buried for one to live on in peace.
John’s father was a man with a stern expression. He didn’t say much, but it was easy to see that this was due to his taciturn nature rather than his personal feelings.
Just now, as he watched the others chat about Prince Emile’s engagement ceremony, he didn’t participate, merely observing quietly and peacefully. At the same time, he reached for the fruit bowl, seemingly to take a banana.
C-District was located in the subtropics, its land fertile. Before the Federation, it was famous for its plantations. But in the Imperial era, crop cultivation had completely transcended environmental influences. However, that didn’t mean you could grow a gun from this land.
The gun emerged from the pile of fruit. It was now in the hands of John’s father, who was an alpha.
He aimed the gun at Yun Chuji.
Because he was also a retired alpha, he fired the gun quickly.
But he was, after all, an alpha who had been retired for many years. He wasn’t faster than the release of a young alpha’s pheromones.
A gunshot rang out. The bullet went wide, hitting Yun Chuji’s shoulder. Then, the father collapsed to the ground under the assault of S-rank pheromones.
Yun Chuji’s shoulder was bleeding. John’s mother was screaming.
The bodyguards rushed in. Gu Yun watched everything unfold with a complicated expression.
Tang Jianxi was crying.
It all happened within three seconds—not even enough time to finish a sneeze—and a life was almost lost.
Yun Chuji clutched her wound, stunned, as if she couldn’t process what had just happened.
In the end, this was the first time she had been truly harmed in this world. She took a shallow breath and turned to look at Tang Jianxi, who wanted to hold her but didn’t dare. She forced a pained smile, and in the noisy room, her voice was barely audible. “I’ll be fine soon. Don’t cry.”
Tang Jianxi couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she cried even harder.
She operated her optical computer to contact the hospital, crying all the while.
The bodyguards surrounded them. Gu Yun carried Yun Chuji to the car. Before they left, they closed the door. Inside the house, the omega was still screaming.
She remembered: it was her husband who had told the children not to come over today.
This could be a political conspiracy, or it could be a simple domestic tragedy.
The attacker had sufficient motive and capability. No one would dare to declare it a conspiracy—except for the conspirator himself.
But even the conspirator himself had used an extremely roundabout method. He didn’t want that omega surnamed Chu to notice anything, since they would become partners before long.
In the end, it was best for omega matters to be handled by omegas themselves.
Clarence stared fixedly in the direction of C-District. The air was so still it was as if everything in the room had long been dead.
Knock, knock—
A knock sounded at the door.
Clarence turned around, his gaze lowered. “Come in.”
When his secretary entered, she didn’t speak immediately. Clarence instantly understood the result.
He raised his eyes and said coolly, “Tell me what happened.”
“Yun Chuji released her pheromones in time. The bullet went wide and didn’t hit any vital organs. She’s in the hospital now, and her life shouldn’t be in danger.”
See, this was the disadvantage of a roundabout approach: you could never control the outcome. You could only stake everything on an old, frail, retired alpha veteran.
“Send a gift to Yun Chuji in my name to express my sympathies. And while you’re at it, go to C-District and clean up any loose ends.”
With that, Clarence waved his hand wearily and turned back to the window.
This time, he looked in the direction of Golden Phoenix Star.
But now that this shot had been fired, the rift between alphas could never be mended. That ridiculous A-Virtue would ultimately become nothing more than a laughable lie led by opportunists like Lucia and her ilk.
Of course, the best outcome would be for this naive little alpha, Yun Chuji, to understand how cruel the world is and abandon her childish idealism as soon as possible.
Even if she remained naive and sweet, now that this shot had successfully hit her, the next one wouldn’t be far behind—unless she was smart enough to hide behind the Tang family.
Golden Phoenix Star.
Yun Xuan’s belly was beginning to show. He had reached an agreement with the Third Princess—ah, or perhaps, was it a wager?
In any case, the result was that he would be able to bear her first child, and because of this, she would very likely have to break off her extremely valuable marriage engagement.
Yun Xuan looked at a piece of news that had just appeared on the star-net, a smile quickly spreading across his face.
He had won.
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