Chapter 44

Qiao Yu felt that good sisters should confide in each other and share their innermost thoughts. Since the separation, Qiao Yu inexplicably felt very safe by Lu Shangyi's side.

She couldn't explain why, but she didn't reject the feeling; in fact, she liked and longed for it, as if her heart would soften whenever she saw the other person.

Qiao Yu had seriously considered the reasons, and in the end, she felt that this was the best proof that even if the sky were to fall, there would still be tall people to hold it up.

Qiao Yu became more and more excited as she spoke, gesturing in the air with her two slender hands. "Today, a playboy in our grade got caught. He was exposed for dating ten girlfriends at the same time." She clicked her tongue, her eyes unconsciously revealing longing. "But he's quite impressive. He managed to keep it a secret for two whole years before it was discovered."

Qiao Yu glanced at Lu Shangyi's face and reminded her, "Sister Lu, you have to be careful when you go on blind dates in the future. Don't be fooled by these scumbags."

Lu Shangyi lifted her eyelids slightly, her voice neither warm nor cold, "Judging from your tone, you're quite eager for it?"

"How could that be?" Qiao Yu denied seriously, "I am the most virtuous and loyal person." But in the blink of an eye, she smiled shyly, "But who can refuse double or even multiple times the love?"

She moved closer to Lu Shangyi, her dark eyes blinking curiously, "Sister, have you never thought about these things?"

The girl approached unexpectedly, her faint milky scent wafting into my nostrils without warning, stirring a subconscious thought within me. She tilted her fair face up, her warm breath gently brushing against my chin, creating a strange sensation.

Qiao Yu came over wearing a set of loungewear today. The creamy white color had a soft, velvety texture, and when you gently brushed your fingertips against it, it felt like touching a soft, harmless kitten. The loungewear had a low neckline, revealing her fair and delicate skin, which was very eye-catching and always made people unconsciously look in that direction.

Lu Shangyi subtly shifted her hand to avoid the weight of the girl pressing down on her, and said coldly, "No."

Qiao Yu was shocked, but then she remembered Song Wanzi saying that she had been pure and abstinent since childhood, with only studying in her heart, and she understood. A genius like Lu Shangyi with a bright mind is definitely different from an ordinary person like herself. Lu Shangyi can enrich her heart with knowledge alone, but she is not the same.

My mind is filled with nothing but lust and colorful junk.

If scientists were to dissect her brain for research someday, they would surely be amazed by the diversity of life on Earth.

Qiao Yu was lost in thought when Lu Shangyi's soft voice suddenly sounded in her ear, "Sit up straight." She was looking down at her, her beautiful face revealing no emotion. Qiao Yu stared at her blankly, then subconsciously straightened her back and sat up straight.

As the distance increased, the light fragrance at the tip of my nose disappeared.

Her fingers gripped the study materials tightly, but Lu Shangyi's expression remained unchanged, as calm as ever. However, after less than two minutes of obedience, that soft, fragrant body leaned closer again, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

Nowadays, everyone only cares about the difference between "ao" and "youth," and the difference between men and women, but no one has ever heard of the difference between "oo" and "youth." Lu Shangyi was silent for a moment, feeling that this time she had shot herself in the foot.

She reminded Qiao Yu twice more, but when she realized that the other party had no intention of correcting it, Lu Shangyi could only try to ignore the wonderful touch at hand.

Qiao Yu always felt that women these days were reluctant to approach her, and after subtly testing the waters twice, her guess was finally confirmed. She bowed to the system, tears welling in her eyes, and sobbed, "Why did it turn out like this?"

"Does that mean I'll be disliked if I differentiate into an Ega?"

The system replied, "Of course not. It's just that opposites attract and likes repel—that's an immutable law of nature. So, host, you'd better face the truth sooner rather than later."

Qiao Yu refused to believe it and secretly tried to get closer to the other person again. This time, Lu Shangyi didn't avoid her and let her do as if she didn't notice at all. Just as Qiao Yu was secretly pleased, a woman's voice suddenly rang out above her head, "I won't be staying here often this year."

She instinctively let out a sound of surprise, then blinked blankly, "Why?"

"Something happened at home," she said succinctly. Qiao Yu immediately realized that Lu Shenghui had probably suffered considerable losses recently due to being tricked by his parents and acquaintances. Although he didn't like Lu Shangyi interfering in anything related to the company, Jiang Mei was still young and in school, so no one could help him except Lu Shangyi.

No matter how capable he is, he would be powerless in the face of such a fierce crisis. He had no choice but to call Lu Shangyi into the company to help.

Qiao Yu said "Oh," and slowly added, "If I miss you, can I come to your company to find you?"

"Coming to the company?" Lu Shangyi narrowed her eyes. So, the reason she appeared at Bai Yiyu's company entrance that day was because she missed her? Gently putting down the tutoring materials, Lu Shangyi asked without changing her expression, "Have you finished the '53' practice books and test papers I gave you last time?"

Qiao Yu's fair face stiffened slightly. She opened her eyes wide in surprise. Why bring up something from so long ago?

Judging from the subtle changes in her expression, Lu Shangyi knew that she had long forgotten her feelings. She tapped her leg with her fingertips and said casually, "Now you don't even take my words to heart."

"Of course not!" Qiao Yu denied it outright. "I just haven't had time to catch up because I've had too much homework lately!"

Afraid that Lu Shangyi would bring up old grievances again, she quickly pushed back her chair, got up, and slipped away, saying, "I'm going back to do my practice problems right now! I'll do two sets tonight!"

"That would be best." A woman's calm voice came from behind. Qiao Yu paused, then quickened her pace. After locking the door, Qiao Yu let out a long sigh. With Sister Lu being so strict, her future boyfriend was definitely going to be henpecked.

And they must be the kind who secretly hides pocket money every day.

I wonder who was so unlucky.

After silently mourning for that unfortunate soul for two seconds, Qiao Yu pulled out the test papers Lu Shangyi had given her and, keeping her promise, completed two sets of questions. It was already midnight. She picked up her phone and played around for a few minutes, surprised to find Weibo unusually lively tonight.

A well-known paparazzi in the industry took photos of Song Wanzi and Jiang Mei on a blind date. He then approached Song Wanzi's team with the photos, offering a whopping 100 million yuan to buy them. This was no small sum, and of course, the negotiations fell through. Enraged, the paparazzi released all the photos without exception.

Both people in the photo are standing in dim light, but Song Wanzi's face is a living advertisement, making her instantly recognizable.

Previously, Song Wanzi had never been involved in any scandals. Qiao Yu was an exception, but fans didn't see anything happen between them and dismissed the news as fake. But this time is different; this time it's real, and even both sets of parents were there.

Lu Shenghui is a familiar face in major financial news outlets; anyone who reads the news even a little knows him. Considering the recent incident where Lu Shenghui was framed, almost 90% of people believed it.

The studio's phones were ringing off the hook, and the agent's Weibo notifications skyrocketed, reaching tens of thousands in the blink of an eye. The agent strode over to Song Wanzi, who was lazily watching a drama with her cheek propped up on her hand. "Wanzi, do you really not need to deal with this?"

"What is there to deal with?" The woman raised her eyelids to look at her, a bright smile on her lips, looking nonchalant. "What's there to deal with?"

“But…” the agent couldn’t help but emphasize, “This will have a very negative impact on you.”

Upon hearing this, the woman's nonchalant demeanor vanished, and Zhang Meiyan's face became unfathomable. The agent stared at her for a long while before finally turning and leaving, saying, "I'm going to deal with the emails."

Song Wanzi stared at her back, her eyes revealing an unreadable emotion.

Jiang Mei learned about the rumors between herself and Song Wanzi in the classmate group immediately. Her first instinct was to send a message to Qiao Yu to clarify, but Lu Shenghui suddenly walked in. She panicked and instinctively hid her phone under her desk.

Unfortunately, the man saw her movements clearly. With a blank expression, he stretched his hand out in front of Jiang Mei and said in a low voice, "Take it out."

Jiang Mei didn't move, so Lu Shenghui repeated himself, his tone full of threat and warning. Gripping her hand tightly, Jiang Mei slowly raised her hand from under the desk, but before she could hand over her phone, it was snatched away.

With a screech, the parts shattered into pieces on the marble floor.

Lu Shenghui stared coldly at the pale-faced man. "Didn't I tell you that your top priority right now is to get into a good university and not embarrass me?"

The man said sternly, "This is a one-time exception."

As the study returned to silence, Jiang Mei turned her gaze to the phone smashed to pieces on the floor, her eyes involuntarily reddening.

There was a moment when she longed for that girl who radiated light; she missed her so much that she was almost going crazy.

Suppressing her emotions, Jiang Mei picked up her pen and wrote each word with trembling hands, each stroke exuding restraint. If enduring this would allow her to stand upright beside the other person, she was willing to give up becoming Lu Shenghui's puppet.

Aunt Qiao has been very worried lately.

She couldn't find a suitable alpha, yet she didn't want to give up such a great opportunity to eliminate Qiao Yu, this major threat to her. She was so worried that she developed several wrinkles, and she kept sighing while doing her skincare routine at the vanity at night, finally attracting her husband's attention.

Uncle Qiao frowned. "What's gotten into you lately?"

The man held this uncultured woman from the countryside in utter contempt. Years ago, he had married her because he was captivated by her beauty and was proud of it. But as Qiao Jinghuai's business grew, so did his and his third brother's social standing, and gradually, the woman from the countryside became less presentable.

She was ignorant, poorly educated, had an unpleasant way of speaking, and a terrible temper. She constantly suspected him of having affairs. She cried and made a scene every few days, and his feelings for her had long since vanished.

He just needed a woman to help him make jokes and attract attention, so he refrained from kicking her away.

Feeling involuntarily irritated, Uncle Qiao raised his voice, "How many times have I told you? If you're really bored, go out to eat and play cards with your friends more often. Getting some useful information out of them is much better than anything else."

The man's disdain was undisguised, and Aunt Qiao immediately objected, "Do you think I'm idle at home all day? I'm only doing this so that Qiao Yu can get married sooner, so she won't threaten Jingjing's position." She threw down the face cream in her hand in exasperation, "These days, alphas are so spoiled and pampered, they're really useless! None of them are even worth anything."

Aunt Qiao grew angrier as she spoke, and began firing wildly, "Otherwise, do they think it's so easy to get into a wealthy family?"

"Qiao Yu?" The man paused in his steps. "Are you looking for an alpha for Qiao Yu?"

"What else?"

Uncle Qiao frowned deeply. Recently, Qiao Yu had been surrounded by alphas like Ye Yunjian and Song Wanzi. Could she possibly be interested in such men? Moreover, given his elder brother and sister-in-law's character, they would absolutely not agree to let Qiao Yu marry a poor, penniless boy.

but……

He narrowed his eyes slightly. If there really was an alpha who could make Qiao Yu fall head over heels in love with him, it wouldn't be a bad way to keep his older brother and sister-in-law so busy that they wouldn't have time to take care of the company.

The man gazed intently at Aunt Qiao, his expression deep. "Don't rush, take your time. There are plenty of alphas in Beijing who want to climb the social ladder. Besides looks, the most important criterion for you is that she's obedient and easy to control." After calming his wife, Uncle Qiao spoke softly, "Once we've got Qiao Yu under our control, do you still think Jingjing will have a hard time at the company?"

"By then, when we're all better off, who will dare to call you Mrs. Qiao without being polite?"

Aunt Qiao's heart skipped a beat. "Then I'll put in more effort."

Qiao Yu had long forgotten about her second aunt's plan to introduce her to an alpha. She was staring at the calendar, planning her winter vacation, when she noticed that the Spring Festival was unusually early this year, many days earlier than usual.

The final exams are over at the end of the month, and in about ten days it will be Lunar New Year's Eve. There's so little time to make any plans.

With the end of the semester approaching, the atmosphere at school has become tense again. Qiao Yu studied diligently for about half a month and finally finished her final exams smoothly. Although she was concerned about her exam scores, she estimated that they shouldn't be too bad. Now that the female lead had transferred schools, the others were even less worth mentioning.

Qiao Yu was very happy on the first day of winter vacation, but everyone seemed to be very busy. Neither Lu Shangyi nor Ye Yunjian could be seen, and even the house here was empty.

Fortunately, someone soon invited her out, and Qiao Yu agreed without hesitation. Later, she discovered that Tang Shu was also there, and not only Tang Shu, but Meng E was also in sight.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Qiao Yu put down her bag and sat down next to Meng E. "Did she trick you into coming here?"

"What do you mean by 'kidnapping'?" Tang Shu retorted indignantly. "I invited her through normal channels. You can ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

Seeing Tang Shu's determined look, Qiao Yu deliberately ignored her questions, which infuriated Tang Shu. Finally, seeing that no one was there to comfort her, she reluctantly and shamelessly sat back down. The rich second-generation circle spends money lavishly; the turnover in half a day was several hundred thousand yuan, and when they moved to another location in the evening, it would be another considerable expense.

The food at this restaurant is delicious, but the surrounding area is just plain and unexciting.

Qiao Yu held her water glass, looking bored.

From the moment Bai Yiyu stepped into the restaurant, she noticed the girl in the crowd. Despite the cold weather, she was wearing a pink off-shoulder sweater. The velvety texture made her skin look delicate and fair, especially the exquisite collarbone below her slender neck, which couldn't help but make people's imaginations run wild.

The restaurant wasn't cold, but the other person's exposed shoulder was still slightly red from the cold.

The girl's fair skin made every speck of color stand out clearly, giving her an inexplicably alluring and seductive look.

The other person didn't notice her and was chatting happily with their friend. Bai Yiyu looked away and remembered that the little bunny cake the other person had given her that day was indeed delicious—white, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth sweet, just like the alluring but unaware girl she was being teased.

As she strode past the door, her companions noticed the group of wealthy young men by the window. Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Is that Qiao Yu?"

His tone was tinged with interest. "I heard she's quite outgoing in private, but since the split, she's been well protected by Boss Qiao and his wife and rarely appears in public." The man was eager to try. "It's rare to run into her today. I wonder if she's really as daring as the rumors say."

Just as the man finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that Bai Yiyu, who was at the front, had stopped and turned around to look at him. Her expression was still gentle, but a fleeting dark glint in her eyes carried a dangerous aura.

The man was stunned, and reflexively apologized, "I'm sorry, I was just saying it offhand."

He didn't think Bai Yiyu had any ulterior motives; after all, many people knew that she and Qiao Jinghuai's wife were classmates. He knew she wouldn't stand idly by talking about her classmate's daughter in front of her; Bai Yiyu was known for her loyalty.

Bai Yiyu indeed didn't hold it against her, simply saying "This won't happen again" and didn't pursue the matter further.

However, just after the meal, the man was told by Bai Yiyu's secretary, "Mr. Zhao, it is a pity that we cannot cooperate with you this time."

Mr. Zhao was stunned, and subconsciously asked, "Why?"

The secretary looked embarrassed, then shook her head at him, "I'm sorry."

Mr. Zhao stood there for a long time, his face turning pale, and he couldn't help but look at the girl who still hadn't left. He had been accompanying Bai Yiyutian with trepidation all day, only accidentally saying the wrong thing when he came in just now.

Is it really because of this that he should miss the opportunity he painstakingly seized?

Everyone had planned to party all night, and Tang Shu had even booked a huge suite for it. Qiao Yu was having a great time when she suddenly felt something was wrong with her body. Meng E was the first to realize what was happening and quickly took her to the room to carefully check her patch.

Qiao Yu felt uncomfortable all over, both unwell and like she was being electrocuted, with an indescribable strong desire.

Tang Shu belatedly followed her into the room, just in time to see Qiao Yu curled up on the bed, writhing and twisting. Her off-shoulder sweater was already askew, revealing large expanses of her snow-white skin, making her look uniquely sexy. Tang Shu's eyelids twitched violently twice, then she looked away and expressionlessly pulled up a chair to sit down.

Tang Shu's gaze returned to the other person's flushed and burning face. She looked at the person on the bed coldly and said, "Don't bother. Even if you twist yourself into a pretzel today, the two of us sisters can't help you."

During the fever period, you either have to tough it out or rely on alpha markers, but where are there any alpha markers in the room right now?

Qiao Yu was in so much pain that she didn't even have the strength to talk to Tang Shu. After a few minutes, Tang Shu noticed that Qiao Yu's complexion was not right and became anxious. "Do you need me to call Ye Yunjian or Aunt Bai?"

"Otherwise, I'll ask Sister Lu if she has time. She's an EGA and won't be affected by your pheromones. Maybe she'll come over and help take care of you tonight."

Qiao Yu still ignored her, so Tang Shu couldn't help but get up and walk to the bedside. "Then I'll call them all over."

Surely one of these people is capable?

Qiao Yu immediately raised her eyelids and looked at her in disbelief, "Do you want me to be bitten into a sieve?!"

Author's Note: