Tang Jianxi had come to Yun Chuji’s home after work, at around ten in the evening.
After all the commotion, the clock was now pointing to the dead of night.
It was the time of night when, by all logic, a lone alpha and a lone omega, finding themselves alone together, would stay that way.
So when Yun Chuji suddenly told her to leave, Tang Jianxi was stunned. That was a line she should have been the one to say. And besides, why were you changing the subject!
So she changed the subject as well. “Why can’t I stay at your place?”
Yun Chuji stared at the metal wardrobe in the room and said softly, “I only have one bed.”
Of course, there were actually two. The original owner’s parents had come to stay for a while when she first moved in.
She told a clumsy lie that could be exposed at any moment, because she was very angry.
Yun Chuji could clearly feel the disdain for her era in Tang Jianxi’s casual words. The disdain was so natural that it was all the more humiliating. Tang Jianxi doesn’t understand at all, she thought. She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know that quote from Confucius and Mencius, the one that goes… what was it again?
Yun “Only Read Admonitions for Women and Mastered Feminine Virtue” Chuji was vexed to find she couldn’t offer a powerful rebuttal. She had read too few books and couldn’t win an argument of reason against the other woman.
Yun Chuji resolved that tomorrow, she would go out and read the Four Books and Five Classics. If her Elder Brother were here, he would never have been so embarrassed. It wasn’t just because he was intelligent, but because he had read the Four Books and Five Classics!
But Tang Jianxi didn’t try to verify Yun Chuji’s words. She was even relieved that Yun Chuji hadn’t taken her question seriously. It had been an incredibly stupid thing to say, making it sound as if she were looking forward to spending the night at Yun Chuji’s place.
No, absolutely not!
To prove her point, Tang Jianxi shot up from the bed, put on her shoes, and hurried out the door.
Even late at night, S-District, the economic jewel in the Empire’s crown, was still aglow with the lively bustle of countless signs and advertisements. Tang Jianxi had always hated this almost cacophonous prosperity. She frowned, put on the sunglasses from her coat pocket, and walked even faster.
She didn’t notice the person behind her deliberately controlling her pace, staying neither too close nor too far away.
It wasn’t until she was seated in the car as it sped through the night sky that she realized something was wrong.
Yun Chuji neither spoke nor looked at her.
Tang Jianxi wasn’t so narcissistic as to believe her beauty made everyone’s eyes gravitate toward her—though she certainly had the looks for it. But surely the other woman wouldn’t deliberately avert her gaze when she was supposed to be looking at her.
For instance, when they were talking.
“From now on, if anyone asks, you’ll say you’re my lover.”
“Mm.”
“You’ll have to put on a bit of an act at my house, too. They all work for me, but they’re also on good terms with my mother.”
“Mm.”
“When we get back, you’ll stay with me on the second floor. People don’t usually come up there, so you won’t have to pretend.”
“Mm.”
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Mm.”
“Ah, no, I am listening, Miss Tang.”
A scoff escaped Tang Jianxi’s delicate nose. “I had no idea Miss Yun had such a temper.”
Before, she was all talk about doing anything to atone for her sins, but now she was putting on a sour face. Tang Jianxi despised people who said one thing and did another.
Sensing Tang Jianxi’s anger, the chord of “harmony at home brings prosperity to all things” immediately vibrated in Yun Chuji’s mind. In her upbringing, not letting one’s emotions show was basic etiquette. Her mother often said that she was a woman who would one day marry into another family to become its main wife; if she bickered and held grudges every day, she would surely become a laughingstock to outsiders. Thus, Yun Chuji had always restrained her feelings. Even when coveted by a bandit chief, she had never cried or screamed and lost the dignity of a well-bred lady.
But now… she had never in her life encountered such a cultural insult. She instinctively felt that this kind of insult required a counterattack, but her upbringing limited her to a counterattack of reason. So, she could only sulk. And now, her sulking had been discovered.
And the other party was angry, too.
She truly didn’t know what to do.
Fortunately, she had always been good at yielding. When unsure of the situation, it was best to admit fault first. Harmony at home, after all.
“I’m sorry, Miss Tang.”
“Sorry for what?” Tang Jianxi pressed, refusing to let it go.
Yun Chuji’s lips moved, but no words came out. In truth, she didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.
“I…”
Tang Jianxi sneered again. “Are you regretting it? Do you feel that signing that contract is an insult to your alpha dignity?”
That was completely wrong. Yun Chuji immediately denied it. “No, I think the contract is very good.”
“I just feel that Miss Tang shouldn’t say that omegas of this era have it better than the women of my era,” Yun Chuji said, biting her lip and trying to make her words sound reasonable. “When a woman lost her purity and chose death, it was for the sake of her own virtue. It wasn’t forced.”
“Oh?” Tang Jianxi raised her eyebrows high.
So that’s what she’s angry about?
To be honest, ever since coming out of the aftereffects of her information overload, Tang Jianxi found it incredible that she had actually believed the other woman was from ancient times.
That script had gone out of style centuries ago.
Besides, hadn’t modern physicists already proven it? Time travel was theoretically impossible. Otherwise, with today’s technology, who knows how many omegas would travel back in time to strangle that madman William James in his cradle.
So, after calming down, Tang Jianxi preferred to believe that Yun Chuji had a second personality.
A second personality that believed it was born in ancient times.
But now it seemed this second personality was extremely attached to and revered its own background.
Tsk, this was tricky.
However, the fact that Tang Jianxi could stand up and be a pioneer for omega rights in an era where they were gradually declining at least proved she wasn’t the type to be easily swayed just because someone spoke with emotion.
“How could a person die for the sake of purity? Losing one’s purity isn’t like catching a fatal disease. Unless, in people’s eyes, losing one’s purity is a disease, and only death can make you clean.”
Faced with Tang Jianxi’s rebuttal, Yun Chuji was speechless.
She felt the other woman was wrong, but she didn’t know where, specifically.
So she angrily turned her head away again, her resolve to read the Four Books and Five Classics growing even stronger.
This time, Tang Jianxi understood why Yun Chuji was angry.
She sighed helplessly, a trace of pity on her exquisite, flawless face. Honestly, this second personality was much more likable than the first one. It would be even better if her ideas weren’t so messed up.
But if it was a second personality, then strictly speaking, she was still just a child—even if she had done some not-so-childlike things right after emerging.
Tang Jianxi decided to coax her.
“Do you want a car?”
“?”
“What do you want to eat?”
“?”
“How about I get you front-row seats to Ye Lingyu’s concert?”
She was the goddess of all alphas. This one before her might be a bit strange, but her taste in aesthetics couldn’t be that warped, right?
Yun Chuji finally turned her head back, her voice soft yet firm. “Miss Tang, I don’t want any of those things. If you truly wish to give me something, could I trouble you to find me some books, like the Four Books and Five Classics, Records of the Grand Historian, or the Gongyang Zhuan?”
“Huh? Books like that exist?”
Upon hearing this, Yun Chuji immediately whipped her head away again.
“I’ll find them for you, I’ll find them, alright?”
Tang Jianxi was starting to think this habit of hers of picking fights was really a problem sometimes.
“Never mind, Miss Tang. I can go to a place called a library to read them myself.”
Speaking of libraries, Tang Jianxi remembered. “Aren’t you an ancient literature major? Those books sound very ancient. You mean you haven’t read them?”
This time, Tang Jianxi had stomped squarely on Yun Chuji’s sore spot.
Her eyes reddened slightly, and she had to fight to keep the tears from falling.
“I’m not the original person! When have I ever studied ancient literature!”
“Besides, as a woman, it is proper for me to be uneducated. My Elder Brother said that if a woman reads too many books, her future husband will be displeased.”
“Oh,” Tang Jianxi replied. Then, forgetting the lesson she’d just learned, she subconsciously retorted, “Then why do you want to read now?”
Instantly, Yun Chuji’s eyes, as if stained with red ink, glared fiercely at Tang Jianxi.
She had never, ever met such a sharp-tongued woman!
Seeing that she was really about to cry, Tang Jianxi panicked. “I was joking! I forgot just now, you’re not who you used to be. If you want to read, then read. I have a study at home full of books. It might have those Four Books and Five Classics and whatever Zhuan you mentioned. You can read whatever you want, okay?”
The saying “the crying child gets the candy” is actually more logical in reverse: a child who is coaxed with candy will cry often.
Now that Yun Chuji was being coaxed with candy, tears finally fell from her eyes.
“You can’t say I don’t read anymore.”
“Okay, okay, I won’t.”
“I wanted to read, but women who read turn bad, so I didn’t.”
“Mhm, mhm, you’re right.”
“Now that the era has changed, my engagement is gone, and I probably won’t be able to marry in the future. That’s why I want to read. If I could get married, I definitely wouldn’t read!”
“Yes, yes, I know you don’t mean it that way.”
Well now, this second personality has a rather complete backstory. Engaged, even? To whom, a third personality?
Tang Jianxi thought nothing of it, ignoring the faint, secret discomfort in her heart. It was just her omega instincts acting up!
Being coaxed made Yun Chuji a little embarrassed. Children who have been sensible for a long time have this problem—they often wonder if they’ve gone too far.
So she mumbled softly, “I shouldn’t have cried.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Tang Jianxi raised a handkerchief to her face, her voice gentle. “I was the one who went too far just now.”
As she drew near, the alpha’s pheromones curled around her nose, and only then did Tang Jianxi realize what she was doing. Her hand froze, hesitating for a moment. She met those eyes, washed crystal clear by tears, still holding a lingering sense of grievance. Tang Jianxi’s heart skipped a beat, and she steeled herself to wipe the other woman’s face.
The bodyguard in the front seat was completely dumbfounded.
What was she seeing? The Ice Queen of S-District, an omega, was actually coaxing an alpha!
She recalled Assistant He’s instructions before they left: “You all need to be careful. This alpha is unusually cunning.”
The beta bodyguard now felt a grievance she couldn’t voice. Assistant He, what’s the use of telling us to be careful? Miss Tang is the one who needs to be careful! Right now, it looks like she’s already falling for it!
Through the rearview mirror, she could clearly see that Tang Jianxi’s ears had turned red.
The bodyguard was so anxious she gripped her pants, but there was nothing she could do. After all, the bodyguard’s code stated that one must not interfere in a client’s romantic life.
Assistant He, how can you still be working overtime at the office at a time like this?
Your boss is about to be conquered! And by a shameless, worthless alpha who pretends to cry to win pity!
What a disgrace to our Tang Group!
