For the next few days, Yun Chuji spent her time reading in her room. Her daily task was to put on a show of affection with Tang Jianxi in front of Auntie Chen and the other servants when Tang Jianxi came home from work. Tang Jianxi left early and returned late every day, never telling Yun Chuji what she was busy with. But since Yun Chuji stayed up late reading, she was often able to join her for a late-night snack. The accumulation of these moments eventually convinced Auntie Chen that her young mistress, a tree that rarely bloomed, had finally found her own gnarled branch to cling to.
This life was so peaceful it reminded Yun Chuji of the wonderful time before her arranged marriage. If she could, she would have gladly spent the next year this way.
Evidently, Yun Chuji had forgotten her initial purpose.
But that was fine. On another late night, Tang Jianxi, reeking of pheromones, reminded her.
Yun Chuji had been reading in the living room. The housekeeping robot brought her a cup of Longjing tea at the perfect temperature. Based on past experience, Tang Jianxi should be back around this time. She thought for a moment, then turned off the book projection from her comm, intending to wait for Tang Jianxi outside.
By now, she had learned some of the more basic applications of this era’s technology. After instructing the housekeeping robot to clear the table, Yun Chuji stood up and walked outside, only to find a car parked there—the very same one Tang Jianxi had driven out in that morning.
Puzzled, Yun Chuji approached. Why wasn’t she going inside when she was already at the door?
Through the car window, Tang Jianxi’s beautiful silhouette was faintly visible. She was curled up in the back seat, looking as if she were in great pain. Alarmed, Yun Chuji knocked urgently on the window. She suspected Tang Jianxi had been struck by a sudden illness. After knocking for a full minute with no response from inside, Yun Chuji decided to call a doctor. Just as she raised her hand to activate her comm, the car door opened. A snow-white hand reached out, soft and weak, but she found herself instinctively following its pull into the car.
Then the door closed, trapping the astonishingly dense omega pheromones inside.
Yun Chuji had experience this time. From the very beginning, she obediently exposed the back of her neck and, following the method she had learned on the Starnet, tried her best to release her pheromones.
However, the three-meter agreement was always destined to be broken by its creator.
Just like now. Tang Jianxi was not content to simply absorb her pheromones as Yun Chuji had expected. In such a confined space, it was already difficult for the two to avoid contact. Tang Jianxi used this environmental advantage to wrap her body tightly around Yun Chuji’s. This was far more intimate than their hug before work that morning; Yun Chuji could clearly feel every curve and the softness of the body pressed against her back.
Their bodies were built so similarly, yet why did it make her ears burn and her heart race at a time like this?
Of course, her own body’s reaction was a contributing factor.
Yun Chuji was grateful that their position hid all of her own unseemly responses, saving her from offending Miss Tang and from feeling even more ashamed of this body in the future.
Just as Yun Chuji was blushing and waiting for Tang Jianxi to regain her senses after absorbing the pheromones, just like last time, her body suddenly trembled.
Her gland… Tang Jianxi had kissed her gland.
She was still licking it.
It was common knowledge—even for an outsider like Yun Chuji—that in the ABO era, the gland was an extremely private and sensitive part of the body. Though it looked like nothing more than a slightly raised patch of skin, and on the harmless neck no less, it was fatally potent.
Tang Jianxi’s actions made Yun Chuji feel as if she had stuffed half a pound of popping candy into her mouth. The corners of her eyes turned red, and she couldn’t help but let out a few gasps.
“Miss Tang, the contract.”
Yun Chuji endured the shame and pleaded, trying to remind her of their three-meter agreement. However, whether Tang Jianxi was lucid or not was anyone’s guess, because upon hearing her words, she licked even more fervently!
Yun Chuji buried her head in the crook of her arm and bit down hard on the fleshy part of her hand, suppressing the alpha impulse surging within her.
She couldn’t let this happen. Last time she hadn’t been in her right mind and had already made a grave mistake. How could she repeat it? Dark red blood trickled from her clenched palm onto the deep black seat. An alpha’s specialized fangs were extremely sharp. They grew on the inner side of the canines and, stimulated by omega pheromones, were gradually emerging from their cover. She could only imagine that sinking such sharp points into Miss Tang’s gland would be nothing short of a crime.
Yun Chuji was paralyzed by the conflict between her instinct and her reason, which only made things more convenient for Tang Jianxi. No longer satisfied with tormenting the alpha’s gland, she began to seek other methods.
Hiss—
Yun Chuji bit down on her own hand again, even harder this time. To make matters worse, her mouth was now occupied, leaving her unable to voice her distress.
This couldn’t go on. Yun Chuji’s eyes flew open. Releasing her teeth, she first captured the two wandering hands, then flipped over and pinned Tang Jianxi beneath her. The dim light in the car prevented Yun Chuji from seeing Tang Jianxi’s expression clearly; she could only make out a pair of moist eyes and a flushed face. Tang Jianxi was panting softly, and the pheromones she continuously released conveyed a message that made Yun Chuji’s face burn.
She… couldn’t resist at all.
Yun Chuji sat up, firmly restraining the person who kept trying to squirm. Thanks to an alpha’s natural strength, this step was relatively easy. Then, she leaned close to the nape of Tang Jianxi’s neck and, intending to be gentle, bit down hard on her gland.
As pheromones were injected into the gland, Tang Jianxi’s body trembled subtly. This wasn’t the first marking, yet each time, this mysterious and tenacious instinct took complete control of her, like a small animal caught in a candy trap.
It was a trap, wasn’t it? Her neck had been pierced, and her body was immobilized.
But why, at the same time, did it bring such inappropriate pleasure?
As for Yun Chuji, she was more lucid than the previous two times, and thus felt the satisfaction of her alpha instinct being fulfilled with even greater clarity.
She had lived for sixteen years, and this body had lived for twenty-one. Between her own memories and the body’s, she had bitten plenty of things. But an omega’s gland was different. It was like a food on another level entirely—more satisfying than eating a watermelon pulled fresh from a well in summer, more comforting than sitting by a fire watching the snow in winter. It was addictive.
The temporary marking lasted for a long time.
By the time she finally released her bite, that small patch of tender omega skin on the back of the neck was too red to look at.
However, Yun Chuji had no capacity to show the omega before her much pity. She had brought this fire upon herself.
Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. The fire had already grown to an unbearable intensity. Slowly, slowly, she placed her hand on the zipper of the dress on Tang Jianxi’s back and gently, gently, pulled it down. The snow-white expanse of her back began to be revealed, bit by bit.
I’ll just do what she just did, she thought.
Absolutely nothing more.
But even she faintly knew what a ridiculous lie that was.
Fortunately, just as the night was about to descend into an irredeemable situation, the other protagonist’s fire went out.
Tang Jianxi turned her head, looked at Yun Chuji’s crimson eyes, and said, “Miss Yun, stop.”
And so Yun Chuji stopped. Regrettably, only the tip of the iceberg of that snowy back had been revealed.
Still, she tried to bargain. “Miss Tang, may I hold you for a little longer?”
Though it was a request, the alpha’s hands remained tightly wrapped around her. Shudder-inducing breaths still washed over her vulnerable gland. And most noticeably, there was that prodding thing against her rear.
It was dangerous, Tang Jianxi knew.
And with the press of a button, she could summon an AI bodyguard to get her away from this danger.
“It’s fine. You can hold me,” was her reply.
Tang Jianxi was not an unreasonable person; she knew this was primarily her own fault. At the same time, she was not impractical.
The reality was, she also wanted to be held by Yun Chuji right now.
The physiological connection between an alpha and omega after a permanent marking was far stronger than she had imagined. These past few days, she had deliberately gone against her own desires, intentionally keeping her distance from Yun Chuji. She had wanted to prove that unless a situation was unavoidable, she would not get entangled with an alpha.
Unfortunately, a compressed fire burns all the more fiercely. This episode was much closer to a heat than the last one. If this continued, her joking words might just come true—she would be in heat every moment of every day.
That would be too cruel for her.
And so, as the hover car’s ventilation fans worked hard to erase the traces of their recent entanglement, Tang Jianxi lifted her head and said softly, “Our previous contract is void.”
“You don’t have to atone anymore.”
“It was never your fault to begin with.”
“But I still need you to stay by my side for this year. I need you to give me regular—actually, daily—pheromone comfort. I also need you to help me play the part of my lover in front of others.”
“I know this might be difficult for you.”
“I’ll compensate you. A lot. More than I promised the original Yun Chuji. You’ll be able to live a stable life in this world.”
These words were not spoken on a whim. Aside from the part about daily comfort, Tang Jianxi had been formulating this plan ever since she learned Yun Chuji’s true identity. She had just been lacking the right opportunity to bring it up.
She had originally thought of it as a gift born of forgiveness, but now, her condition seemed to have turned everything into a fair and just transaction.
Yun Chuji didn’t answer immediately. She waited until her own reaction had subsided, still holding Tang Jianxi for a while, reciting the “Admonitions for Women” for the tenth time in her mind.
Then she let Tang Jianxi go. In that instant, a flicker of reluctance arose in both their hearts simultaneously, but neither could be sure if it stemmed from physiology or emotion.
At this point, Yun Chuji felt she could discuss the important matters. “Miss Tang, I can’t take your money. Regardless of whether I was the instigator, I was the one who did it. I can’t bear no responsibility at all.”
“I agree to all your requests.”
“I’m very grateful for your tolerance, Miss Tang, but what’s wrong is wrong. If you ever need my help with anything in the future, or if one day you feel you can’t let it go and want to take my life, I will accept it.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Tang—I still owe you a formal apology. And I’m sorry about today, too. I should have held back, but I ended up marking you.”
At this, Tang Jianxi cut her off. “No, you did the right thing.”
She said honestly, “If you hadn’t marked me in time, I probably would have gone into heat today.”
“As for your apology, I accept it.”
This was the first time since that day that they had spoken so openly about the matter. The funny thing was, today’s situation was just as chaotic. It was as if they were sitting in a pile of ruins, trying to sort through a previous pile of ruins. In fact, neither of them was sure if they were fully lucid. The strings in their minds were still pulled taut, their hands and feet restless. They were maintaining their composure purely by imitating rationality.
This couldn’t go on. They both spoke at the same time. “Let’s leave it at that for now!”
“Let’s go back!”
“Yes!”
With that, the car door opened. The cold air rushed in, making them both shiver. They glanced at each other, then immediately looked away.
They hurried home and rushed into their rooms.
Five minutes later, there was a knock on Tang Jianxi’s door.
Yun Chuji asked, “Do you still need pheromone comfort today?”
Tang Jianxi bit her lip and drank another bottle of ice water.
“Not today.”
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