Chapter 32

Qiao Yu felt rejected by Ye Yunjian. Without showing any emotion, she shoved a pile of documents behind her back and cautiously parted her red lips, "This..."

She moved her small, delicate feet, trying to hide the things behind her back with her slender legs. Under Ye Yunjian's indifferent gaze, Qiao Yu braced herself and hid the documents. Then, in a soft voice, she said without much force, "I'm helping my friend find a partner."

She had originally planned to use Tang Shu as a scapegoat, but then she remembered that Tang Shu already had a boyfriend, so she quickly turned her attention to Meng E.

“You probably haven’t met Aunt Ye yet.” Qiao Yu glanced at the back a few times out of the corner of her eye, and after confirming that she had almost finished packing, she finally straightened her back, became more imposing, and even raised her voice. “But I have already met Sister Lu and Sister Song.”

“She’s my best and closest friend besides Tang Shu. She’s currently having a crush on someone she shouldn’t like, so I took it upon myself to secretly introduce her to someone.” Afraid that Ye Yunjian wouldn’t believe her, Qiao Yu said sincerely, “She’s a very nice person, and all her classmates at school like her.”

Ye Yunjian's narrow eyes slowly swept over the pile of documents haphazardly hidden behind her slender figure, the curve of his lips unfathomable. Qiao Yu's heart raced, her mouth went dry, and the silence around her was terrifying, save for the occasional waft of Ye Yunjian's cool pheromones, which made her feel weak all over.

A strange palpitation gripped her chest. As Qiao Yu pondered the reason, Ye Yunjian leaned closer, his voice low as if emanating from the depths of his throat, "Do you think I'd believe that?"

The woman, who was usually so assertive, suddenly approached her. Apart from the faint scent of her perfume, the smell of her pheromones was like an impenetrable curtain, instantly making her dizzy and lightheaded.

The close proximity allowed Ye Yunjian to see Qiao Yu's flawless skin, and Qiao Yu to see Ye Yunjian's well-maintained, almost blemish-free face. A successful woman like Ye Yunjian, exuding confidence and alpha wildness, emanated from every cell of her being.

Qiao Yu froze, and for a moment she dared not move.

As their eyes met in silence, their warm breaths brushed against each other's cheeks, and a subtle, ambiguous atmosphere rose in the air.

Qiao Yu's heart pounded wildly. In the suffocating silence, she gasped for breath and took two steps back. "Aunt Ye, I'm feeling a little unwell."

Perhaps because differentiation was imminent, she could sense more clearly the extremely aggressive pheromones emanating from Ye Yunjian. Besides instinctive fear and apprehension, there was also a faint hint of longing and desire.

Frowning in confusion, Qiao Yu began to doubt her own existence. Could it be that she actually liked an alpha?

Qiao Yu's complexion was visibly bad; her usually rosy lips were noticeably pale today. Ye Yunjian narrowed his eyes, ultimately suppressing his imposing aura. "Where do you feel unwell?"

She reached out to check the temperature of the other person's forehead; the delicate skin was slightly hot, a little higher than normal. Reaching towards the back of the other person's legs, Ye Yunjian picked her up and easily walked to the comfortable sofa, saying, "If you're not comfortable, don't sit on the floor."

The words sounded like a reprimand to Qiao Yu, but the tone didn't convey any sense of reproach.

Ye Yunjian carefully set the person down, staring intently at her. "Didn't you call a doctor?"

"I called," Qiao Yu answered honestly, "and I took my medicine too."

Looking into Ye Yunjian's concerned eyes, Qiao Yu didn't know how to tell her that her discomfort wasn't due to illness, but rather because of Ye Yunjian's pheromones. However, she thought about it for a moment: alphas dislike each other's pheromones, so her reaction should be considered a normal rejection response?

Realizing she had deceived Ye Yunjian again, Qiao Yu completely lost her composure. To prevent Ye Yunjian from seeing through her act, she could only feign illness with a pained expression.

However, the consequence of pretending to be sick was that Ye Yunjian forced him to drink a large bowl of medicine.

Qiao Yu frowned, the bitter taste of the medicine filling her mouth, almost killing her on the spot. Ye Yunjian promptly fed her a piece of candy, which Qiao Yu ate without thinking. The candy slowly melted in her mouth, finally neutralizing much of the bitterness.

Ye Yunjian took a blanket and covered Qiao Yu completely, then turned around and his gaze fell once again on the pile of matchmaking documents lying haphazardly.

Without Qiao Yu's cover, all the information was exposed, and even a tiny word in the corner could be clearly seen.

Qiao Yu was startled, but before she could stop him, Ye Yunjian had already squatted down and read the contents aloud in a calm and unhurried tone: "Rich Woman's Edition?" His gaze slowly moved downwards, and Ye Yunjian saw his own name, along with a score he didn't know someone had given him: "Eight points?"

She squinted her narrow eyes and turned her head. "I only got eight points?"

Qiao Yu quickly rolled off the sofa. "Of course not!" she said firmly, her clear eyes fixed on Ye Yunjian. "In my heart, Aunt Ye, you are a perfect 10. No alpha in the entire capital can compare to you."

Ye Yunjian stared at her intently for a while, then finally raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he believed her.

Qiao Yu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, but then she saw that Ye Yunjian had picked up a document that was about military and politics. "Bai Yiyu?" she sneered. "That old fox is here too."

Qiao Yu cast a curious glance at him, but Ye Yunjian tore up Bai Yiyu's file on the spot and said to Qiao Yu slowly, "Don't even think about it."

Folding the two torn pages repeatedly and putting them into the pocket of his suit jacket, Ye Yunjian turned around with a warning look on his beautiful face. "If you don't want her to devour you completely, pretend you're blind whenever you see her in the future."

After thinking for two seconds, Ye Yunjian smiled with interest, "Pretending to be deaf isn't bad either."

She frowned and thought for a moment, then said regretfully, "But it seems she likes it even more this way."

Qiao Yu: "..."

She covered her ears, unwilling to face reality. Good heavens, what a strange auntie this is!

"In short, don't pay any attention to her when you see her in the future," Ye Yunjian said to her with his deep eyes. Qiao Yu nodded hurriedly, "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."

Her obedience finally pleased Ye Yunjian, who stopped arguing with her about secretly looking at the blind date information. However, when he got up, he still said with disdain, "A group of people who usually don't even dare to look at me have now become high-quality people on the same level as me."

She sneered, "It's really annoying."

Seeing how concerned Ye Yunjian was about his status, Qiao Yu quickly tried to appease the big shot, "Exactly! I wonder who collected the information. How can someone as top-tier as Aunt Ye be listed on the same page as you?"

"I'll call and complain right now, and I'll make sure they put you first."

Ye Yunjian nodded in satisfaction and finally revealed the purpose of her visit, "Your mother asked me to take care of you these next few days. She said your differentiation constitution has been very weak lately, and you often faint." She looked Qiao Yu up and down, "How can someone so thin not be weak?"

Qiao Yu could only force a smile that pretended to be strong.

She didn't want to scold the child, so she tossed a small piece of paper with her phone number on it to Qiao Yu, saying, "Call me if you're not feeling well." After taking a few steps, Ye Yunjian turned back, adding, "By the way, don't go out during this time."

"If I find out you're out there..." She curled her red lips into a chilling smile, and Qiao Yu felt a chill run down her spine. She quickly shook her head, "No, no, I'll be obedient."

Ye Yunjian's smile was faint. "You'd better be."

After seeing Ye Yunjian off, Qiao Yu was almost completely exhausted. If Ye Yunjian were to suddenly appear every now and then, even if she wasn't sick, she would be scared out of her wits. She put the blind date information aside, not daring to touch it anymore. What if Sister Song or Sister Lu suddenly walked in while she was engrossed in reading it?

Rubbing her slightly dizzy head, Qiao Yu slumped onto the sofa. "System."

The system floated into her palm. "Host, what's wrong?"

The system saw its host smile slightly, a smile as terrifying as Ye Yunjian's. "You tell me..." she paused maliciously, "Do you taste better deep-fried or braised?"

She thought about it seriously for a moment, "Stir-frying seems like a good option too."

Qiao Yu's face was full of smiles. "I've never tried it before."

The system immediately snapped to attention and surrendered, saying, "I'll go and make a small adjustment to your body data right away."

That's more like it.

After the system's adjustments, Qiao Yu felt much more comfortable. She hadn't expected the system to have this function. Holding the pillow, her face was full of interest. "How many more surprises do you have that I don't know about?"

This system isn't entirely useless, it seems.

The system explained succinctly, "However, I only have the authority to make minor adjustments, not major changes. This feature was specially enabled to prevent minor issues from affecting your ability to complete your tasks."

This was exactly what Qiao Yu had expected; otherwise, it wouldn't be a pure romance novel, but rather a supernatural fantasy novel set in the city.

After lying on the sofa with a soft pillow for a while, Qiao Yu suddenly heard a car drive by and stop next door. Next door? She jumped up. Had someone gone to see Lu Shangyi?

Hiding behind the floor-to-ceiling window, she saw a graceful woman, discreetly wearing a hat and mask, step out of a car. Her simple attire and thorough concealment made it impossible to tell whether she was human or a ghost.

Perhaps Lu Shangyi had told her the door code in advance, because she easily opened the door and walked towards the back of the courtyard, her figure quickly being shut out by the door.

Alarm bells rang in Qiao Yu's mind. Unable to distinguish friend from foe, she searched the entire house and found a bag of trash. She then stood outside pretending to be sorting garbage. Her eyes couldn't help but dart towards Lu Shangyi's house. The other party seemed to have no intention of hiding anything, and through the transparent window, Qiao Yu could see the situation inside clearly.

Lu Shangyi was cold towards women, but they treated him with great respect and courtesy.

The two people by the window weren't standing very close, yet the scene was remarkably harmonious. One was cold, the other hot; one was ice, the other fire—they looked perfectly matched.

The more Qiao Yu looked, the more she felt like she was having a heart attack. Unhappily, she looked away and prepared to go back.

The moment she looked away, Chu Mi, who was reporting the situation with her head down, looked at Qiao Yu with interest. "Is this your rumored girlfriend?" She measured Qiao Yu's slender figure. "Although she's a bit thin, she looks like she feels pretty good to the touch."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shangyi casually lifted her eyelids and said, "Have you seen enough?"

Chu Mi chuckled and consciously looked away. "But she's an alpha too, is that alright?"

Chu Mi asked curiously, "Isn't Song Wanzi also very close to her? You're not competitive at all right now. Do you need me to help you get together with her?" Chu Mi rested her chin on her hand and looked at Lu Shangyi with confidence, "I'm the best at this kind of thing."

Lu Shangyi didn't respond to her question, but instead asked, "How's it going?"

"Very good." Chu Mi smiled casually. "They're all a bunch of men who think with their lower bodies. I only gave them a wink and they were already impatient."

He placed several USB drives in front of Lu Shangyi, saying, "Here, all the evidence is."

"I'm not saying this to be mean, it's a miracle your company hasn't gone bankrupt yet," Chu Mi exclaimed. "Lu Shenghui is as reckless as ever."

After plugging the device into the computer and checking it to make sure there were no problems, Lu Shangyi closed the laptop and said, "You can go back now."

Chu Mi opened her beautiful, affectionate eyes wide in disbelief. "You're going to kick me out like this?!" She was heartbroken, but unfortunately, there wasn't a single tear in her eyes. "You only see the new love and laugh, but you don't hear the old love cry. You heartless woman, you've forgotten your old love as soon as you have a new one."

Lu Shangyi looked over with his deep eyes, expressionless. Chu Mi pouted and said, "I know."

She picked up her bag, stood up, took a couple of steps, then turned back to Lu Shangyi earnestly and asked, "Are you sure you don't need me to help you pursue your little girlfriend?"

In response, Chu Mi was met with Lu Shangyi's emotionless eyes. She smiled sheepishly, "Don't look at me like that, it'll cause misunderstandings." She pointed outside, "Maybe that girl is secretly observing you from outside."

Qiao Yu actually hid behind a big tree in the yard, secretly observing with binoculars as she watched the woman's enthusiastic attitude as she gave Lu Shangyi the gift. She turned away unhappily. It's just a gift, isn't it? She could buy Lu Shangyi several truckloads of trinkets like that.

However, if she was going to give a gift, she wanted something expensive. After much deliberation, Qiao Yu opened her phone and searched for the market value of the Lu family's companies. "..."

Although Lu Shenghui doesn't seem like the type to run a business, the company didn't go bankrupt under his management, so the price was shockingly high.

Silently closing the webpage, Qiao Yu convinced herself that gift-giving didn't have to be so elaborate; after all, it was the thought that counted. She ordered a large bouquet of flowers online, muttering to herself, "Girls should be given flowers."

Flowers paired with a beautiful woman are a feast for the eyes.

After placing the order, Qiao Yu picked up the binoculars again, but there wasn't a single person behind the French windows. Startled, she quickly looked around with the binoculars, until she changed her angle and found only darkness in the binoculars. She subconsciously looked up, and Lu Shangyi's stunningly beautiful face came into view, distorted and twisted.

Feeling guilty, Qiao Yu hid the binoculars behind her back and chuckled awkwardly, "Sister Lu, what brings you here?"

Pointing to her feet, she said, "I'm observing ants." She then invited Lu Shangyi, "Want to join me?"

"No need." Lu Shangyi didn't expose her, but sat down next to her and said in a calm voice, "She is an artist in my company, Chu Mi."

Qiao Yu suddenly realized, but she immediately felt guilty. Why was Lu Shangyi explaining this to her? Did he find out that she had been spying on their conversation? She pursed her lips and turned her head away, praising, "Just as beautiful as on TV."

Upon hearing this, Lu Shangyi's dark, deep eyes fixed on her slightly flushed earlobes. "You think she's pretty?"

Qiao Yu turned around, blinked, hesitated for a long time, and asked, "Isn't she pretty?"

Since she was able to debut under the name of Song Wanzi, she must have some beauty. Song Wanzi is a top-tier beauty in the entertainment industry. Ordinary people would stand out from the crowd if they had even a fraction of her beauty, let alone a woman like Chu Mi who resembles Song Wanzi in both appearance and spirit, yet has her own charming personality.

Qiao Yu wondered if she had said something wrong, but the atmosphere around Lu Shangyi had noticeably cooled down.

Knowing better than to dwell on the topic, Qiao Yu finally felt relieved after probing for a while and realizing that Lu Shangyi hadn't noticed her peeping. She got up and said she was going to get Lu Shangyi some water, but actually she wanted to hide the binoculars as quickly as possible, so her steps were unusually hurried.

The little girl walked further and further away until she was completely out of sight. Lu Shangyi expressionlessly took out his phone and sent a message to Chu Mi: "Don't come here again."

Chu Mi: "?"

After sending the message, Lu Shangyi put her phone away. Qiao Yu handed her some hot water, but Lu Shangyi quickly went back, as if she had only come here specifically to explain Chu Mi's identity to her.

Qiao Yu clutched her pounding chest, wondering if she was just imagining things.

After Lu Shangyi left, Qiao Yu hesitated for a while about whether or not to tell Lu Shenghui that a woman had come to see Lu Shangyi that day. However, thinking that Lu Shenghui must have sent others to monitor Lu Shangyi, Qiao Yu vaguely said, "A woman just went to see Sister Lu."

Lu Shenghui stared at the lit-up phone screen and asked in a hoarse voice, "You were played by a woman?"

The man opposite him dared not utter a sound. Lu Shenghui's lips curled into a cold smile. "What use is someone like that to me!" He suddenly erupted in anger as he spoke. The man lowered his head even further, his face filled with fear, and explained tremblingly, "That woman came prepared..."

When the gaze fell on him, he immediately dared not say another word.

Lu Shenghui coldly lifted his eyelids, his thin lips curled slightly, and he uttered clearly: "Get lost."

After everyone rolled out of the car, Lu Shenghui picked up his phone. There were two messages on it, one from Qiao Yu and the other from another informant. He rested his chin on his hand with amusement. Qiao Yu was quite obedient, but the Qiao family was now like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, unstoppable. How could he let her marry Lu Shangyi, unnecessarily giving Lu Shangyi more leverage and confidence to resist him?

Tossing his phone aside, Lu Shenghui pulled out a cigarette case, lit one, and as he rolled down the car window, a familiar face flashed before his eyes. But when he looked again, the street was bustling with people, and the face he had just seen was nowhere to be seen.

Silently holding a cigarette between his fingers, Lu Shenghui was lost in memories.

It absolutely couldn't be her.

I haven't seen her for a full nineteen years.

Suddenly taking a deep drag of his cigarette in frustration, Lu Shenghui rolled up the car window and said, "Drive."

Qiao Yu held her phone and noticed that more and more people were trying to curry favor with her lately. Knowing what these people were really thinking, Qiao Yu declined their invitations one by one, saying, "I'm sorry, I still need to study and prepare for exams."

Qiao Yu frowned slightly, her gaze falling on the computer screen beside her. Her parents' recent frantic business expansion, a stark contrast to their usual amicable approach to making money, had drawn the ire of many. Their assertive style had offended numerous people; many families and companies viewed the Qiao family as a thorn in their side, secretly plotting to strike when the opportunity presented itself.

Of course, some people couldn't hold their temper and rashly confronted Qiao Jinghuai head-on, but their endings were all tragic.

Not only were their families destroyed, but they were also burdened with enormous debts that they could never repay in their lifetime, and even selling their houses and cars couldn't help. However, it was precisely because of their powerful methods that many people dared not make any rash moves, fearing that if they didn't manage to get a piece of the pie from them, they would be devoured and become fish on the Qiao family's dinner table.

With these mixed feelings, some people gradually turned their attention to Qiao Yu. They didn't believe that a child who hadn't even reached adulthood could be more troublesome than those two old foxes, Qiao Jinghuai.

Qiao Yu was so annoyed by people every day that she finally had to ask, "Do you have an Ega at home? How old is he? Is he dating anyone?"

The other party was taken aback, then instantly became delighted: "Yes, yes, yes, just like you, Miss Qiao, I just turned eighteen and haven't been in a relationship yet." After saying that, she sent a photo and added: "My daughter is so innocent, so pure. I always have people keep an eye on her at school. Those scoundrels haven't even touched a hair on my daughter's head."

Then he quickly handed the child's business card to Qiao Yu.

After Qiao Yu replied with an "OK", there was no further response. After about ten minutes, the man nervously called his daughter over, "Did Miss Qiao add you?"

The girl blushed and said, "You've added me."

The man was delighted. "So what did you two talk about?"

“She…” the girl stammered, and finally handed her phone to her father with a sob in her voice, “She pulled me into an eGIA group chat.”

The girl was so angry she was almost crying. "There are already more than fifty EGAs in the group, and she can't care about me at all."

As they were talking, two more EGAs were invited by Qiao Yu to join the group chat.

Qiao Yu couldn't stop smiling. She had no idea there were so many EVAs in the capital city. In this world, Betas were the most numerous, followed by Alphas, and EVAs were the rarest and most precious.

An ega champion is often surrounded by countless alphas and betas, making them as popular as a national treasure.

Meng E had many suitors, but she wasn't interested in any of them, so she used Qiao Yu as a shield to reject them all at once.

Qiao Yu rarely saw more than a few EGAs at school, but thanks to her parents, she encountered so many at once. Clearing her throat, Qiao Yu pressed the talk button and sent out a message in a deliberately deep voice, "Hello everyone, I'm Qiao Yu, nice to meet you all."

Someone quickly replied: ".

Qiao Yu frowned. Whose EGA is so clueless about romance?

She glanced at the profile picture; it looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Ignoring the reply, Qiao Yu strained her voice, using a sexy, husky tone, and said, "Would you all like to come over to my place for a bit, have some fun?"

Qiao Yu was just about to say her next sentence when that familiar profile picture interrupted her again: "Qiao Yu."

After calling her by her name, the other person sent a message saying, "You've been quite free lately," followed by a space, "Really?"

Qiao Yu suddenly had a bad feeling. She felt like the other person knew her, and was quite familiar with her! She quickly clicked on the other person's profile picture, and the instant she saw the five words "Sister Lu's Alternate Account" in the contact's name, she exclaimed, "!!!"

Author's Note: Sister Qiao: Sorry to bother you.