Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 176
by Little PandaHongdu Lovers
How Does a Puppy Bark?
Nan Huaixu was browsing the new trinkets in the vending shop. There were all kinds of little snacks, plushies, and blind boxes.
Rows of vending machines stood in neat formation, colorful and bright, like a dreamlike maze.
Nan Huaixu wandered deeper into the shop. Liu Yinxi followed a couple of steps, then stopped to check the system’s message.
「Settling quest rewards below…」
「Reward this time: 2 points, main quest completion +2%」
「Favorability reminder: Nan Huaixu’s favorability toward you +3%!」
「Current favorability from Nan Huaixu: 78%. Next stage: 81%–90%, thick as thieves.」
「Your current main quest completion: 92%」
「User liuyinxi, wishing you success in restarting your wonderful life.」
92%. She was close to completing the main quest.
“Liu Yinxi, you’ve been standing here a while. Which one do you want?” Nan Huaixu walked over, having bought a pack of jelly beans and a blind box.
Liu Yinxi exited the system and spotted the headbands in the vending machine in front of her. She quickly waved her hands. “I don’t want any. Didn’t you say you wanted to look at projectors? Electronics are on the third floor. Let’s go up.”
Nan Huaixu seemed to see right through her. A sly smile curved her lips as she grabbed Liu Yinxi’s wrist, refusing to let her leave, and raised her phone to scan the code. “You have to pick one. Puppy ears, fox ears, cat ears, bunny ears, giraffe horns, little devil horns.”
Liu Yinxi scrunched her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to face it. She didn’t want a single one—they’d look so weird on her head.
Nan Huaixu leaned in and whispered by her ear: “Why be shy? Before the competition, when I brought you medicine, weren’t you wearing cat ears? You even asked me if I was thirsty.”
Liu Yinxi was sweating bullets. Heavens, that was an entirely different situation—nothing alike.
When she first transmigrated into the book, she’d mimicked the original host’s style, wearing whatever was in the closet. She’d been afraid of slipping up in front of Luo Ling, never expecting to run into Nan Huaixu instead.
And she’d been remembered.
And fixated on.
It would be one thing to goof around like this with a casual friend. But sharing a room with Nan Huaixu as her lover… Just imagining herself kneeling on the bed wearing animal ears made Liu Yinxi’s face burn.
She tried to escape the animal ears, solemnly reminding Nan Huaixu: “It’s past eight already. If we don’t go look at projectors soon, the stores will close.”
Nan Huaixu held on, her gaze wandering among the assorted animal-ear headbands. “The mall doesn’t close until eleven. Buying this takes two minutes. No rush.”
“But—”
“If you’re embarrassed, I’ll pick for you. You’ve already worn cat ears. How about puppy ears this time?”
Liu Yinxi buried her face behind Nan Huaixu’s back. Since she couldn’t dodge it anyway, fine—she’d buy one. She mumbled, “Fine, but I get to buy one for you too.”
Nan Huaixu selected a puppy-ear headband and turned her head. “Which one are you buying me?”
Liu Yinxi looked past her shoulder into the vending machine and tapped the glass with her fingertip.
Nan Huaixu’s eyes curved into crescents. “Little devil horns?”
“Mm.”
“You’re buying them for me?”
“Mm.”
After Nan Huaixu paid and retrieved the puppy-ear headband from the dispensing slot, Liu Yinxi opened her phone to scan the code. Only then did she notice the tiny price on the screen and gasp: “A headband is 528?”
Nan Huaixu laughed and brushed her hand aside, raising her own phone to scan again. “It’s cute.”
Before Liu Yinxi could puzzle over how adding vicuña wool1 made a headband so exalted, she rushed to pay first, beating Nan Huaixu to it. She could afford this price—she’d said she’d buy it, so she would.
A transaction notification immediately popped up in WeChat.
One was the payment to the vending machine.
The other was…
—Teacher Manman has transferred you ￥5,200
Liu Yinxi stared. Huh?
No, that was unnecessary.
“Manman…”
Due to per-transfer limits, Nan Huaixu sent it in several installments. Liu Yinxi watched a string of 5,200s2 roll in, as if she could hear coins clattering endlessly into a money pouch.
Liu Yinxi asked Nan Huaixu uneasily: “Manman, a headband is 528. That could buy how many of them?”
Nan Huaixu took a gift bag off a nearby hook and placed both headbands inside. “One headband doesn’t cost that much, but the projector and other things will.”
Liu Yinxi didn’t quite follow. “We haven’t even looked yet.”
“You’ll pay once we pick one out. Liu Yinxi, you need to understand—there’s nothing here you can’t buy. As long as you want it, you can have it. Otherwise, what did I work so hard all these years earning money for?”
Liu Yinxi’s heart surged. Her brain misfired and she blurted out: “For what?”
Nan Huaixu linked arms with her and tilted her head against Liu Yinxi’s shoulder. “So the Alpha I like can feel my power, fall at my pomegranate skirt3, and not be able to leave me for a single second.”
Awe and gratitude welled up in Liu Yinxi. She bent her knees, lowering herself, and looked up with shining eyes: “Is that so?”
Nan Huaixu glanced around and quickly pulled her back up. “Save it for when we get home.”
They browsed the mall until nearly ten. Nan Huaixu picked out a projector setup, along with some tableware and decorative pieces.
What surprised Liu Yinxi the most was that Nan Huaixu bought an arcade game console for the house.
They took a stroll through the estate’s grand garden, then headed home.
By the time they arrived, all their purchases had been delivered to the storage room. Nan Huaixu had the villa steward set everything up, then eagerly challenged Liu Yinxi to a game.
Two-player Bubble Bobble.
Liu Yinxi played the entire match laughing.
Nan Huaixu had boldly declared in the mall that she’d show off her skills. Liu Yinxi had thought she meant a fighting-game showdown. She hadn’t expected bubbles.
Nan Huaixu looked at her score on the screen—higher than Liu Yinxi’s—and marveled: “Am I that good?”
Liu Yinxi’s eyes sparkled with stars: “You are.”
Nan Huaixu turned to face her, picking up a throw pillow from the floor. “Liu Yinxi, did you throw the game?”
Liu Yinxi shook her head like a pellet drum4: “I didn’t.”
Nan Huaixu’s lips curved up. She leaned in closer, inch by inch, her eyes bright and crystalline: “Then dare you swear on tonight’s bed privileges?”
Liu Yinxi’s spine went rigid. “B-bed privileges? What kind of privileges?”
Nan Huaixu caught her hand, raised it, and wrapped her fingers around a few of Liu Yinxi’s, fingertips pointing up. “You swear: if you didn’t deceive me, you sleep in the master bedroom with me tonight. If you lied, you sleep in the guest bedroom for a week.”
As if she’d let that happen!
Liu Yinxi: “I threw the game.”
Nan Huaixu was surprised: “You confessed that fast?”
“I can’t joke about bed privileges.” Liu Yinxi’s tone carried a hint of grievance. “Honestly, I’ve gotten used to sleeping next to you these past few months. You have no idea how I survived those past few days alone—the small bed was freezing cold.”
“Freezing cold? That little rental of yours has no AC, and that old fan blew hot air. What was freezing cold?”
“I—I… my heart was cold not seeing you.”
Nan Huaixu raised a hand to cover her face, unable to hide the laughter in her eyes. “Alright, I know. Honestly.”
Liu Yinxi lifted her face, gazing up at the recessed ceiling lights: “Home is so nice. Central AC blowing, nice and cool.”
Nan Huaixu poked her arm: “Two more rounds. Best of three.”
Liu Yinxi placed her hands on the arcade buttons, ready for battle: “Fine. What’s the reward for winning?”
“Let me think… loser makes breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“Deal.”
Nan Huaixu won all three rounds.
Nan Huaixu dragged Liu Yinxi over: “Didn’t I tell you no throwing games?”
Liu Yinxi hung her head honestly: “That wasn’t throwing.”
“You deliberately lost all three rounds. What do you call that?”
“I read online that this is called spoiling your girlfriend.”
Nan Huaixu: “…”
She blinked a few times, pressed her lips together, and turned away.
“Manman?”
“Manman…”
Liu Yinxi didn’t know what was wrong. She tiptoed around to the front and cupped Nan Huaixu’s cheeks.
Nan Huaixu’s thick lashes were half-lowered, her skin smooth as jade, faint rosy clouds drifting across both cheeks like ripe honey peaches.
Liu Yinxi’s heart pounded like a startled fawn. She quickly pulled her hands away and sat up straight, asking: “Still playing?”
Nan Huaixu slowly wrapped her arms around Liu Yinxi’s waist, her whole body relaxing against her: “No more. Tomorrow.”
“Should I turn it off then?”
Nan Huaixu nodded, her chin nuzzling against Liu Yinxi’s chest.
The summer silk comforters were thin. The master bedroom had two.
Nan Huaixu liked to soak in the bath. She used the master bathroom, while Liu Yinxi showered in the guest bathroom.
By the time she finished washing and blow-drying her hair and returned to the master bedroom, Nan Huaixu was standing with damp hair in the dressing area of the partitioned bathroom. She wore a backless slip dress, water droplets still clinging to the skin of her shoulders and neck, her whole body wreathed in vapor, carrying a faint floral scent.
Liu Yinxi smiled, closed the bedroom door, walked over, and picked up the hair dryer to help dry her hair.
“It’s only been a week back and it’s already this smooth. Manman, your hair feels so nice.” Liu Yinxi carefully separated the tangled strands and worked serum evenly through her ends.
“Because I do beauty treatments every day.” Nan Huaixu sat at the vanity mirror, leaning back against Liu Yinxi’s chest. “It’s not just my hair that’s nice, you know.”
Liu Yinxi’s eyes held a smile as she quietly continued combing through her hair.
On the surface she said nothing, but inside, Liu Yinxi was extremely excited.
Ahhhh—did “not just hair” mean other places were accessible too?
Was she allowed to say that?
Wasn’t this moving too fast…
The hair was dry.
Fluffy.
Fragrant.
Nan Huaixu sat on the bed and called out to her: “Xixi, I’m thirsty. Can you pour me a glass of ice water? I want rose soda.”
Liu Yinxi walked toward the door: “Okay, coming right up.”
The second-floor living room had a mini-bar, making drinks easy to prepare.
Liu Yinxi quickly prepared the soda water and returned to the bedroom. The moment she pushed the door open, she saw a little devil wearing red horns standing by the bed, her bare back facing her, the two thin straps draped over her shoulders making her skin look soft and delicate.
Liu Yinxi stared, transfixed. Then she noticed the little devil climb onto the bed, come toward her, and place a headband on top of her head.
Nan Huaixu curved her red lips and wrapped her arms around Liu Yinxi’s shoulders, guiding her to the mirror: “Look who this is.”
Liu Yinxi saw the puppy ears on her own head and pinched them back and forth: “Reporting! I’m Teacher Manman’s little fan.”
Nan Huaixu pressed her cheek against Liu Yinxi’s neck: “Now I’m Little Devil Manman. Do you know how a devil calls?”
“How?”
Nan Huaixu lowered her gaze and gently nuzzled Liu Yinxi’s earlobe: “I love you.”
Liu Yinxi smiled, her eyes darkening as she whispered: “Do you know how a puppy barks?”
Nan Huaixu looked into her eyes and tilted her ear.
“Listen.” Liu Yinxi’s fingers traced past Nan Huaixu’s ear, cupped her chin, and she kissed her.
Her tongue was nice, too.
Footnotes
- 骆马绒 | luomarong | Wool from the vicuña, a South American camelid and one of the most expensive luxury animal fibers in the world, prized for extreme softness and scarcity.
- 5200 | wu'erlingling | Echoes 五二零 (520), a homophone for 我爱你 ('I love you') in Chinese internet culture; couples send this amount in transfers as a romantic declaration.
- 拜倒在石榴裙下 | baidao zai shiliuqun xia | A classical Chinese idiom meaning to be utterly captivated, literally 'to fall at the foot of someone's pomegranate skirt,' originating from Tang dynasty court culture.
- 拨浪鼓 | bolanggu | A traditional Chinese two-sided pellet drum with beads on swinging cords that strike the drumheads when the handle is twisted back and forth.
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