After Agreeing to Go on a Parenting Show With My Omega Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 77

Drinking White.

Having received the answer she wanted in an unexpected way, Yu Luo buried her face in Qi Song’s neck and let out a soft laugh.

Qi Song, having just finished her “woof,” couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. However, the improvement in Yu Luo’s mood occupied a more prominent place in her mind, so the corners of her lips curled up as well.

The hug continued, along with Qi Song’s gentle pats on Yu Luo’s back.

The person in her arms gradually fell still. Perhaps the body, already tormented by sickness and her heat period, had completely shut down after the immense emotional fluctuation.

Qi Song held her tenderly for a while longer, intending to move her back to the bedroom to sleep.

However, the moment her hand stopped patting Yu Luo’s back, the person in her arms shifted restlessly and slowly woke up.

“Keep patting me…”

Her usually clear and cool voice now revealed a hint of grievance and vulnerability. Qi Song’s heart trembled slightly, and she noticed that the thin fabric on her shoulder seemed to be damp.

Her breath caught, blocked by that dampness, and she quickly resumed the gentle patting motion.

This seemed to easily please the other person. Yu Luo hummed softly like a cat being petted, nuzzling her head against Qi Song’s neck before falling silent again.

With a clingy warmth in her arms, Qi Song’s gaze lost focus for a few seconds before she stiffly lowered her eyes to look at the black whorl of Yu Luo’s hair.

In the six months they had been living together, Yu Luo, as the Jiejie who was four years her senior and had already started her studies and work, had voluntarily shouldered the responsibility of “adopting her.”

She worried about her walking that short stretch of road alone at night, so she picked her up from evening self-study every day. She worried she would be hurt by her classmates’ words, so she would always knock on the side and strike from the flank¹ to offer guidance and encouragement. She took care of her and guided her in every way she could, appearing so gentle, considerate, mature, and reliable.

But tonight, the moment she knocked on Yu Luo’s door with the fever medicine, it seemed she had also knocked open a door to her heart.

Inside that room, Yu Luo was a child tossing and turning in her own private pain, a child who could worry, feel terrified, be fragile, have unspeakable desires, and break down in agony when her wounds were touched.

In reality, Yu Luo was only nineteen years old, an age when healthy and fortunate people are at their most carefree and full of youthful vigor.

Yet, she could only, under the combined influence of illness and her special physiological period, when she was too drowsy and exhausted to be fully lucid, curl up in the embrace she never received when she appeared before her mother, scarred in body and soul after being forcibly injected with that drug, and use a simple “keep patting me” to beg for a little bit of care from someone four years her junior with whom she shared no blood ties.

When Qi Song came back to her senses, she realized she was clenching her jaw tightly, her chest constricted, crying with a restrained yet surging sorrow.

The person in her arms was already asleep, her breathing steady, but Qi Song could still feel the biting wind that constantly howled through the holes in the other’s heart from their close embrace.

“I am yours,” Qi Song murmured, lowering her head to gently press her cheek against the top of Yu Luo’s hair.

Even if it was insignificant, she hoped she could use herself to fill even a tiny fraction of those holes in Yu Luo’s heart.

---

When Yu Luo woke up, bright sunlight leaped from the floor-to-ceiling windows to the tips of her eyelashes.

She slowly sat up, enveloped by a sense of relief that came from long-suppressed release, and a dizziness as if she were recovering from a major illness.

It took her a moment to compose herself.

A slight sound came from beside her, followed by a young woman’s slightly hoarse voice:

“Jiejie?”

Yu Luo turned her head and saw a head of black hair pop up from the side of the bed.

Qi Song looked up, revealing a fair face and a pair of drowsy eyes.

Yu Luo’s thoughts were sluggish. It dawned on her a moment later. “Why were you sleeping on the floor?”

Qi Song was silent for two seconds.

Last night, after carrying Yu Luo back to the bedroom, feeding her medicine, wiping her face, and taking her temperature, she had just been about to leave after a round of careful tending when Yu Luo suddenly woke up, crying pitifully in a daze and begging her not to go.

“None of you are willing to hug me…” she had said through sobs.

Although she hadn’t differentiated, Qi Song had taken health classes. People have different physiological or psychological reactions during their special periods, and deeply suppressed, hidden emotions become harder to control.

So, Qi Song’s heart ached for her. She carefully held Yu Luo, wanting to watch over her as she slept.

But whether it was a heat period or a susceptible period, both were a kind of savage, primitive physiological instinct that arose after human genders evolved into the ABO model², unavoidably carrying a certain feverish connotation.

Therefore, when Yu Luo’s body was in discomfort, her crimson lips slightly parted, her breath a fragrant, hot, and lingering vapor, and she began to pant lightly in her delirium, Qi Song released her embrace and tumbled off the bed.

She was terrified that staying a second longer would be a violation.

She rubbed her bruised lower back, her heart pounding against her chest, and in that unspeakable flutter, she felt a new kind of sorrow in being an ordinary person—

This sorrow was more humiliating than being discarded like a worn-out shoe by her family, more piercing than hearing the casual, matter-of-fact disdain and discrimination in the conversations of those around her.

She did not possess a secondary gender, and thus seemed to be naturally stripped of the right to have love, because that involved moist desires and fatal sexual attraction.

She was incomplete. She couldn’t use a marking to soothe her lover when they were in distress, nor could she fulfill the other’s potential desire to have children.

Moreover, how could she repay Yu Luo’s sincere support and warmth with vulgar affection?

Qi Song shamefully gazed at the desire and longing for Yu Luo that had surfaced in her heart for the first time, and then forced them back down into its depths.

Later, her thoughts muddled, she fell asleep on the floor. Now, she woke up with an aching back.

“Don’t you guys have class today?” Yu Luo asked as she reached out a hand to help Qi Song up.

“I messaged the teacher last night to ask for leave,” Qi Song said, glancing at the woman’s fair, jade-like hand. She didn’t take it, instead pushing herself up on her own.

Yu Luo didn’t mind, simply raising an eyebrow with a smile. “Good students are just different. It’s fine even if you take leave every other day.”

Speaking of which, she seemed a bit regretful. “Why don’t your teachers ever communicate with parents?”

Back when she was in middle and high school, her teachers would sometimes want to speak with her parents. At those times, she would often fantasize about a gentle and reliable adult answering the phone, telling the teacher with a smile, “We love Yu Luo very much. Thank you for your concern for her.”

By the end of her fantasy, she would sometimes be so happy she couldn’t help but smile, only for the curve of her lips to be struck down by reality.

“Speak-speaking of which…” Noticing the faint longing on Yu Luo’s face, Qi Song said with some hesitation, “We’re having a parent-teacher conference³ soon.”

Actually, they had already had one. But Yu Luo’s studies were demanding, and she had also been taken on by a professor at the country’s best drama academy, often going there for classes, on top of her work… she was simply too tired.

Picking her up from the school gate at ten-thirty every night was already a form of care that Qi Song had once wanted to decline out of concern for her. How could she trouble her with a parent-teacher conference?

But she saw the young woman on the bed, pale and languid from her illness, suddenly widen her eyes. The fine sunlight from the window, carried by the spring breeze, adorned her ink-black pupils, making them sparkle like stars.

“Really?!” Yu Luo had already taken out her phone to check her schedule. “When is it?”

“This Friday at seven in the evening,” Qi Song replied, bewildered.

Watching Yu Luo make a call to apologize for canceling a dinner party on Friday, Qi Song’s heart began to pound with a certain speculation. Thump, thump, it beat against her chest, and a tiny expectation rippled out from the impact, spreading like a tide.

Yu Luo put away her phone and turned her head to look at her.

“Do you think…” Yu Luo raised a hand to pinch the end of her hair. Framed by her smooth, raven-black, straight hair, her cool and ethereal young face and overly delicate fair skin made her look like a beautiful university student in every respect.

“Would I look more like a mature parent if I got big waves⁴?” Her voice lilted with a smile, revealing a rare, age-appropriate excitement.

---

Friday, six in the afternoon.

It was just at sunset. Qi Song stood under the wutong tree at the school gate, looking up at the orange hues staining the clouds in the sky.

The sound of high heels gradually approached, the rhythm of the steps familiar to her very core.

Qi Song’s heart trembled. She brought her gaze back down and saw that the young woman’s lips were a more brilliant color than the sunset glow.

Yu Luo once had straight, flowing black hair, but now the ends were styled into rich curls.

The long, wavy hair seemed to suit her exceptionally well. The passion and charm blended with her aloof and cool temperament, creating a stunning and compelling beauty.

Paired with the misty blue long dress under her open black coat, it outlined her figure with exceptional grace.

At a glance, she didn’t look like a university student, but rather a woman with an initial air of mature charm—dignified and graceful, exuding a noble quality that made her seem unapproachable.

Qi Song was so captivated she lost her senses for a moment.

By the time she came to, Yu Luo was already holding her by the sleeve, strolling through the campus.

The setting sun draped their cheeks, the young woman’s swaying skirt, and the girl’s clean school uniform trousers.

“Where’s the school store?” Yu Luo asked. “I want to buy a bottle of water. I’m so thirsty.”

Qi Song led her toward the store.

Before they even entered, they saw four of her classmates greeting them from a short distance away. “Qi Song!”

Seeing the bright gazes of the students, Yu Luo leaned in by Qi Song’s ear and chuckled. “You’re quite popular.”

The classmates had already walked over, their eyes unable to stop focusing on Yu Luo. When they met Yu Luo’s gentle returning gaze, they shyly looked away.

“Qi Song, is this your Jiejie?”

Yu Luo greeted them generously, the curve of her lips almost too beautiful.

Qi Song watched, inexplicably feeling a faint sourness welling up in her heart. It was the feeling of a privately treasured jewel, one she had carefully guarded with every hidden yet fervent sentiment, now being gazed upon by others.

The next second, Yu Luo affectionately ruffled her hair and said to the classmates:

“Let’s go to the store together. I’ll treat you all to something to eat, to thank you for taking care of my Xiao Song all this time.”

The sourness in Qi Song’s heart instantly vanished.

At seven in the evening, the first-year high school building was brightly lit.

The few students who had come lingered outside the classroom windows, pretending to pass by casually as they peeked inside, before gathering to chat in a dim corner of the hallway.

“Qi Song’s sister is so beautiful, way prettier than the celebrities on TV…”

“Both the older and younger sister are so good-looking. Is this the power of genetics? But you two don’t really look alike.”

“Qi-jiejie is not only pretty, she’s also very generous.” A classmate said while munching on the snacks Yu Luo had just bought. “Qi Song is so lucky! I wish I had a sister like that too.”

The usually cold and aloof Classmate Qi, who always kept to herself, rare for her, joined the chat this time.

Her thick, long lashes concealed the sparkle in her eyes. She thought she was being restrained as she let out a soft “Mm,” and said, “My sister is wonderful.”

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen you smile…”

Meanwhile, inside the brightly lit classroom of Class One, the head teacher was on the podium discussing the results of the monthly exam.

“Classmate Qi Song is first in the grade again this time. For the past six months, she has brought a lot of glory to our Class One.” As the head teacher spoke, she looked toward Qi Song’s seat.

Many parents seated nearby followed the teacher’s gaze.

Under the multiple stares, Yu Luo gave a polite, faint smile.

“In a child’s academic life, parents also play a crucial role. Could Qi Song’s parent please share some of her experience and insights, and perhaps offer some advice?”

“…” Caught off guard by the request to speak, Yu Luo’s eyelashes fluttered.

She ultimately began to Versailles⁵ with composure, speaking unhurriedly:

“Our Qi Song has had clear goals since she was little and loves to study and delve into her schoolwork. She relies entirely on her own efforts in her studies, so I don’t really have any experience to share.”

“As for advice, I feel that parents need to pay more attention to their child’s inner world, to pour out and express their love for her without reservation, and to support her and share the pressures she may be facing.”

That was what she never had, and what she now wanted to give to Qi Song.

As she sat down again amidst the parents’ applause, the high school classroom’s chairs, the neat script on the blackboard, the bright lights on the ceiling, and the buzzing from the head teacher’s “little bee”⁶ all poured into Yu Luo’s heart.

For a moment, the tip of her nose tingled, and she was filled with a profound sense of joy.

At this very moment, she was truly happy.

Because no one had ever attended a parent-teacher conference for her like this.

---

After the parent-teacher conference, Yu Luo, who was usually strict with her diet, was in a rare mood to pull Qi Song along to buy a late-night snack from a stall on the food street by the school gate.

She held a bowl of malatang⁷ and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Qi Song under the wutong tree where they always met. A leaf happened to fall just then, brushing past the ends of her hair.

Wearing high heels, Yu Luo was a head taller than Qi Song.

Watching the girl’s earnest effort as she stood on her toes to remove the leaf from her hair, Yu Luo’s lips curled up slightly. She raised her hand and easily ruffled the top of her head.

Qi Song blushed slightly and declared with conviction, “I’ll keep growing taller.”

“Alright, grow quickly then,” Yu Luo said with a smile, feeding a piece of tofu into Qi Song’s mouth.

“When is your next parent-teacher conference?” she asked, as if by chance.

Qi Song subconsciously thought she was worried the conferences would be too frequent for her to attend and explained, “Probably once or twice a semester. There are no more this semester.”

She then saw Yu Luo’s gaze instantly droop. “Oh.”

“Hm?” Qi Song blinked, not understanding.

“It’s nothing,” Yu Luo said, her lashes lowered slightly, looking a bit disappointed.

“Just that my parent-teacher conference addiction is acting up.”

---

Another year passed, autumn giving way to winter.

Yu Luo was once again sick in bed.

The wind was howling outside, making the windows whimper. Qi Song tucked Yu Luo in, unable to ignore the paleness of the woman’s face and lips.

She said worriedly, “Jiejie, you’re getting sick too often. Should we go to the hospital for a check-up?”

Yu Luo covered her lips and let out a few muffled coughs, a hazy mist forming in her eyes. She refused, “I’m always like this in autumn and winter, don’t worry.”

Qi Song said, “But even though you were sick last autumn and winter, it wasn’t this serious. Let’s go to the hospital to get it checked out, okay…”

“I go every year,” Yu Luo said, unable to bear the melancholy in her eyes. She explained, “They never find anything major, just that my constitution is poor.”

Under the devastation of long-term excessive inhibitor use, the foundation of her health was already fragile, yet it was difficult to treat the root cause. The only way was to stop the injections and recuperate slowly. But she could never give up the excessive injections.

Yu Luo sometimes felt she would surely die young. But whenever she thought of this, she never felt sad.

It wasn’t like there was much worth clinging to anyway. To act in films she liked and see the sights she wanted to see when she was young, and then die an early death, seemed like a fulfilling ending in its own right.

But at this moment, looking at the girl’s face, filled to the brim with care and worry, she was suddenly reminded of a movie she had once seen—the story of Hachiko.

It seemed she was a little reluctant to let Qi Song one day wait for her in vain.

So, she finally said to Qi Song, “Then, after I get better, I’ll go running with you to exercise?”

Qi Song quite liked to exercise. She would go for a morning run in the residential complex every day and bring back breakfast for Yu Luo. On weekends, she would also attend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, saying she wanted to protect her.

Yu Luo spoke with great conviction at the time, but a week later, when Qi Song called her to get up in the morning, she was unwilling to cooperate again.

The bed was warm, and she was like a little animal curled up in its burrow. One look at the lazy morning light outside the window made her want to hibernate.

Seeing Yu Luo turn over to face away from her, Qi Song relentlessly circled to the other side of the bed.

“Jiejie, you need to exercise,” she said, both exasperated and amused, shaking the lump on the bed. “You already broke your promise yesterday.”

After a long moment, strands of long, wavy black hair unwillingly emerged from the lump, followed by the young woman’s sleepy face. There was a red mark on her cheek from sleeping, which was rather cute.

Those eyes blinked blankly.

Qi Song’s heart stirred, thinking there was a chance, only to see the head retract back into the covers.

“…”

Yu Luo was unwilling to recall how she was later pulled out of bed and carried out by Qi Song; it was too embarrassing. So much so that she overlooked the faint aftertaste of that assertiveness.

At this moment, she was leaning against a tree in the residential complex, almost unable to breathe.

Beside her, the young woman stood tall, her breathing steady, her cheeks flushed with a healthy and vibrant pink from the exercise.

Nearby, an elderly woman was pushing a wheelchair by herself. A wheel accidentally got stuck in a crack.

Seeing this, Qi Song ran over in a few steps, helped the woman lift the wheel, and pushed her past the uneven stretch of road before turning back.

The winter sun favored her, outlining the refined facial features that had shed their immaturity with a faint halo, as if a goddess had descended.

She lowered her gaze to look at Yu Luo, extended a slender, fair hand, and said with a light laugh as she patted her back, “Jiejie, do you need to lean on me?”

Yu Luo met her gaze unintentionally and was suddenly lost in a daze.

There was nothing particularly special about this moment, yet it seemed to be the very instant she abruptly realized that Qi Song had grown up.

A little over 16 years old, halfway through her second year of high school.

She was already half a head taller than her and usually had to lower her gaze to look down at her.

She was no longer the little kid who climbed over the wall to bring her peach juice and ended up rubbing her bruised bottom, no longer the pathetic figure who cried while burying her head to eat beside the withered grass, and certainly no longer the awkward person who forgot to take pictures for others on the sports field because she was chasing after her figure.

She had become confident and composed, her actions steady and always at ease.

But perhaps nothing had changed either. This person spent her hard-earned entire Sunday busy in the kitchen, just to learn how to make her favorite braised fish in soy sauce⁸. After evening self-study, she still ran towards her with starlight in her eyes, riding the wind. She would secretly cry with worry, her back turned, because she got sick too often.

In that instant, Yu Luo inexplicably felt a sense of gratification, like watching a kite in her hand about to fly far away, and… a sense of panic.

She raised the hand that wasn’t leaning on the tree, her movement slightly hesitant.

But the girl had already obediently lowered her head, nuzzling the top of her hair into her palm.

The soft strands of hair created a lingering tickle as they moved. Yu Luo’s breath hitched, and the indescribable thoughts in her mind from a moment ago drifted away.

She lazily rested her chin on Qi Song’s shoulder, her hand habitually settling on the girl’s slender and flexible waist. “Mm, let jiejie lean on you for a bit.”

The weather was slightly cold, and the warm breath from her words turned into swirling white mist. Paired with her light pants from her unsteady breathing, it easily made the girl’s ears turn completely red.

Yu Luo wouldn’t have cared before.

But at this moment, perhaps due to the recent realization that “Qi Song has grown up,” her gaze fell upon the earlobe before her, flushed with a vibrant pink, and her heart suddenly thumped against her chest.

Was it… time to start maintaining a respectful distance⁹?

The question dawned on Yu Luo belatedly.

In these years of mutual reliance and finding warmth in each other, the two had always been very close. Although they didn’t have a lot of physical contact on a daily basis, they weren’t particularly mindful of boundaries either.

For instance, just a minute ago, she still felt it was perfectly natural to lean in Qi Song’s arms, and even really liked the feeling—the girl’s body was warm and soft, and her hair had a rich fragrance.

With that thought, Yu Luo slowly stood up straight.

She looked up at Qi Song’s increasingly beautiful face and remembered the huge stack of love letters she had accidentally discovered in Qi Song’s drawer when she went to the parent-teacher conference a few days ago.

Her thoughts drifted further and further away. By the time Yu Luo started wondering, “Could this kid be in a puppy love phase?” Qi Song spoke with concern:

“Is Jiejie not feeling well? If you don’t want to exercise, let’s go home. I’ll give you a massage.”

Yu Luo belatedly realized her lips were pursed.

Following the habit of frank communication she had developed with Qi Song over the years, she finally asked, “Speaking of which, you’re almost seventeen. Are you in a relationship?”

The woman’s tone was light, brushing past Qi Song’s hair like the early winter morning breeze, so gentle.

But when it entered her chest, it felt somewhat biting.

Qi Song felt her heart ache from that biting cold. Her lips moved slightly, and she finally said, as if it were a matter of course, “How could I be in a relationship?”

A serene light flowed through Yu Luo’s pupils as she asked curiously, “Why do you say that? Worried the dean of students will catch you?”

Qi Song was taken aback.

How did Yu Luo’s focus land there?

She said, “I’m an ordinary person, Jiejie. Things like love probably aren’t meant for me…”

Yu Luo’s brows knitted together.

Qi Song knew this meant she was a little down.

Her heart felt a slight bitterness, and she wanted to correct what she had just said.

But then Yu Luo spoke, her tone deliberately gentle, “I’m sorry, that was my mistake. Every time we talk about this, I’ve focused on telling you not to punish yourself for others’ narrow-mindedness, but I failed to consider the more distant aspects you would gradually encounter as you grow up, like love.”

“I don’t think you lose the right to have love because of this…”

“On the contrary, you can touch love more profoundly and truly than others.”

Qi Song was slightly stunned. Yu Luo’s last sentence struck her heart heavily, as if it had stirred up waves in the depths of the sea.

The corners of Yu Luo’s lips curled up, her gentle smile like a spring breeze in winter, patiently guiding her. “Think about it—”

“It is an absolute turmoil not caused by a heat period or a susceptible period, a pleasure achieved without relying on a marking, a pure emotional tide unaffected by pheromone compatibility, a powerful attraction born without using pheromones to stimulate, entice, or conquer the other person.”

“This means there is no help from physiological instinct…”

“How much you love each other is how much you will receive.”

“So, Qi Song, you are naturally able to have the purest kind of love.”

Clear tears streamed down Qi Song’s cheeks. Watching the light in the girl’s eyes ripple with the tears, gradually becoming dazzlingly bright, Yu Luo felt an unexpected, bitter pain in her heart.

The epiphany on Qi Song’s face made her feel as though she had personally taught the other person how to leave her.

---

Yu Luo didn’t like sports like running.

Because she needed to for a role, she happened to try surfing and suddenly fell in love with the exhilarating feeling of conquering the waves.

To train her core strength, she spread out a yoga mat at home and exercised actively.

The effects of the exercise were obvious. Not only did her body become stronger, but she also became more and more proficient at surfing. By the time she officially started filming that movie, she had even obtained two surfing certificates.

During the busy period of her third year of high school, Qi Song could only hear Yu Luo talk about these things during the short time they had together on the way home after evening self-study.

She imagined the woman’s dashing figure on the surging waves, her hair flying in the salty sea breeze.

“Jiejie, when you have time in the future, can you teach me how to surf?” Qi Song suddenly said that day. “I want to learn from you.”

Perhaps she felt that Yu Luo’s world was vast, while she was trapped in the small corner of her high school, feeling flustered.

So much so that when she spoke, her tone even carried a hint of pleading.

Yu Luo was slightly taken aback, then said, “Alright. Then I’ll book you as my first student?”

Qi Song nodded and even raised her hand to make a pinky promise with her.

Yu Luo readily complied, hooking her pinky with hers. With her other hand, she tapped the tip of her nose and said with a light laugh:

“So formal? Don’t tell me I’ll be waiting to teach you, and you’ll turn around and accidentally find someone else to learn from.”

Her tone was casual, full of teasing.

Because she knew Qi Song would definitely not go back on her word to her.

“Mm, Jiejie, wait for me.” Qi Song rubbed her cheek against the back of Yu Luo’s hand, her tone light yet profound. “You have to wait for me.”

The delicate and soft touch on the back of her hand made Yu Luo lose herself in the girl’s deep gaze.

---

Yu Luo didn’t remember when she had her awakening.

Her first movie was released, she won the newcomer award and a golden award, and she shot to fame. All of this impacted her life.

So much so that she could no longer stand under the wutong tree every day to wait for Qi Song after her evening self-study.

But whenever she had free time, she would drive to the open space by the wutong tree to pick her up, and Qi Song’s routine changed from running towards her under the tree to running towards her car.

She was always unwilling to get in the car first.

She had to first knock twice on the driver’s side window and wait for Yu Luo to roll it down and reach out to pat her head.

So, when did she start to feel something? For the little puppy she had adopted and watched grow up with her own eyes.

Was it the last time, when Qi Song’s lips accidentally brushed against her ear, and she silently blushed for a long time? Or the time before that, when she had clearly taken her inhibitors but used her heat period as an excuse to covet Qi Song’s embrace? Or the time before that, when Qi Song asked her to pat her head as usual, and under the girl’s unwavering, bright, and focused gaze, she unconsciously stroked all the way down to the girl’s chin…

Yu Luo raised her hand to rub her throbbing forehead, simultaneously realizing with a shock that she was a bad woman, and yet also feeling a little wronged.

Qi Song felt sorry for her for being busy with work, so she would give her head and back massages during every break. They were gentle yet firm, and very comfortable. Oh, and she would also make her braised fish in soy sauce and osmanthus cake to eat.

But now she was ignoring her, going out to have fun with someone else.

The National Day holiday finally arrived. She had managed to get five days off for herself and had returned home full of anticipation, only to find that the person, for once, wasn’t clinging to her and had chosen to go out with someone else instead.

Was that person very important?

Yu Luo was flustered. She rolled over on the sofa, remembering the scene from this morning.

For the past three days, Qi Song had been leaving early and returning late. When she came back at night, she always carried a different scent. It was very faint, but Yu Luo’s sense of smell was unfortunately sharp.

Could it be that the pressure of her third year of high school was too much, so she was going out with different girls to de-stress through socializing? But Qi Song said she was always with the same Beta classmate named Shen Han¹⁰.

Yu Luo felt that Qi Song wouldn’t lie to her, but she couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she tried, unable to think of an innocent explanation.

It couldn’t be that she was studying in the library while spraying perfume, right?

So this morning, the emotions and speculations in her heart had piled up to the point of overflowing, and she finally couldn’t help but ask tactfully, “You go out with that classmate named Shen Han every day. What do you guys do?”

The fleeting panic in Qi Song’s eyes at that moment let Yu Luo know—she had a secret she couldn’t tell.

And so, Yu Luo began a full day of wild speculation while lying on the sofa, even forgetting to eat.

The bright, rising moon of the film industry, in the eyes of the public, had just touched a corner of love and had already fallen into an abyss of tangled thoughts.

She couldn’t figure it out. She had only been away on a business trip for a while, and when she came home, her little puppy was no longer wagging its tail at her.

Yu Luo raised her hands to cover her face, determined that she couldn’t let this continue.

She was just Qi Song’s Jiejie. She was the one who had developed unspeakable thoughts; Qi Song didn’t need to be responsible for them, and she certainly had no obligation to reciprocate.

Besides, her little puppy was clearly about to fall into her own adolescent romance.

This sentence echoed in her mind, and Yu Luo felt her entire heart being gripped by an invisible hand, squeezed so tightly that a bit of flesh and blood was forced out between the fingers.

The pain was dull and suffocating.

She raised her hand, her fingertips digging into the leather of the sofa. She unintentionally scraped it with such force that her whole being trembled, and she murmured pitifully, “But… I’m the one who raised her…”

A slight noise suddenly came from the doorway.

Yu Luo’s eyelashes fluttered, and she pulled her hand back. Staring at the scratch marks on the sofa, her pupils contracted, and she was so guilt-ridden she nearly rolled off the sofa.

Qi Song came over in a few steps and caught her.

Yu Luo’s nostrils flared, and she smelled a new, mixed fragrance again.

The rationality that had just been trying to restrain and suppress herself was instantly thrown into chaos by this unfamiliar scent. An unfounded sense of grievance and annoyance surged into her heart, quickly enveloping her entire body.

She had been waiting here eagerly, like a love-brained person waiting for their cheating girlfriend to come home. What’s more, Qi Song was still a minor. How could she dare to have improper thoughts about a child? She was 17, in the prime of her pure youth; it was natural for her to have her own romance and turmoil with her peers.

You’re not allowed to enjoy romance now; wait until you’re an adult to be with me—that sounded like something a villain would say.

As her thoughts fluctuated, Yu Luo failed to notice the gift box Qi Song was hiding behind her back. She reached out and gently pushed the person away, along with that unfamiliar scent.

As if nothing was out of the ordinary, she said unhurriedly, “Jiejie is going out for a drink, no need to wait up.”

Qi Song’s hand holding the gift box tightened slightly. She replied with a delayed “Oh,” a hint of disappointment appearing in her eyes.

She was a little concerned. “Who are you drinking with? Where are you drinking? I can come pick you up later?”

Yu Luo left her with a cool and aloof back. “No need to pick me up. I might not come back tonight.”

In October in B City, the nights were already a bit cold.

“I’m warning you, you’re not allowed to drink,” her manager said earnestly. “You already get sick easily in autumn and winter. Don’t mess with your body.”

“Who said I was going to drink?” Yu Luo put on her mask and baseball cap, adjusted her long hair, and got out of the passenger seat. “I’ll be back soon.”

The manager frowned. There was only one bar open on this street. Who was she trying to fool?

Sure enough, the woman, with her graceful figure, walked straight into the bar with composed steps.

But she came out very quickly, holding two cans of something.

The manager shook her head and sighed, hating the iron for not becoming steel¹¹.

Covering one’s ears while stealing a bell¹²—did she think that not drinking inside the bar meant it didn’t count as drinking? And she even bought two cans at once.

The car door opened, and Yu Luo got in, stuffing one of the cans into the manager’s hands.

“I’m not drinking with you!” the manager said quickly.

Yu Luo paid her no mind, took off her mask, and deftly popped the tab on the other can.

She tilted her head back, took a large gulp with a dashing and romantic air, and then languidly used her fingertip to wipe away a drop of liquid from the corner of her lips.

The manager frowned, and in the next second, realizing something, she belatedly exclaimed:

“Holy crap, you went to a bar to buy two cans of Wang Zai Milk¹³? What kind of bar is this, selling such improper things!”

Yu Luo swirled the red can of Wang Zai Milk with such an elegant and charming posture, as if she were swirling a glass of red wine.

She let out a soft laugh. “You wouldn’t understand.”

The manager still didn’t realize what there was to understand.

Until half an hour later, when Yu Luo’s phone rang.

A clear and youthful voice came from the phone, tinged with nervousness and worry. “Jiejie? Are you drinking?”

Yu Luo gave a faint, low hum of assent, as if she were slightly tipsy.

Qi Song paused, then asked carefully, “What kind of alcohol are you drinking? Are you drunk? The doctor said you can’t drink too much…”

Yu Luo lowered her eyes to look at the sweet milk in the can, her voice low and pleasant:

“Drinking white¹⁴. What’s wrong?”

White liquor?

Qi Song’s heart trembled.

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The author has something to say:

It’s a festive season, so let’s have a glass of “white” with everyone! (Tilts head back and angrily chugs coconut milk)

I originally thought this flashback would be just a few quick strokes, but the lightly mature jiejie x high school student puppy¹⁵ pairing seems to have accidentally hit my xp¹⁶ just right, ahem, so I couldn’t stop myself once I started writing. I’m already trying my best to restrain the urge to expand on this flashback in detail. The parts I’ve written so far are all necessary fragments. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll write a full novel with this pairing in the future (starry eyes)(xp stirring).

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