Chapter 35

Ji Mingfei slept for a long time. When she woke up, she saw Chu Yue holding the child and standing in front of the window looking at the scenery. She wanted to turn over but found that she was too lazy to even move her fingers.

She knew that as soon as this woman appeared, she would become unprincipled and do everything according to the other woman's wishes.

That wasn't a counterattack at all; it was just a subconscious excuse to throw herself into someone's arms. How could she possibly win over an alpha?

While Ji Mingfei was lost in thought, Chu Yue, who had noticed the movement on the bed, turned around with June in her arms, shook the child's little hand, and said, "Mommy is awake."

June kicked her legs and bared her teeth, trying to pounce on Ji Mingfei.

Chu Yue walked around the bed with the baby in her arms, coaxing her, "Mommy is tired, I'll hold June in a little while."

Ji Mingfei was powerless to defend herself, thinking to herself, "Who did this? Working so hard in broad daylight, they clearly don't want her to get out of bed, so they can monopolize their daughter."

"Honey, if I get pregnant this time, do you think we should name the baby May?"

"..." Ji Mingfei stared wide-eyed at the grinning Chu Yue, "You, didn't use contraception?"

"I forgot."

Ji Mingfei sighed. Sure enough, she couldn't rely on the alpha to be self-aware. She forced herself to get up and rummaged through the bedside table.

"What are you looking for?" Chu Yue walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, taking away the things she had opened.

Ji Mingfei took out a small pillbox from the very back of the drawer. It was labeled "Emergency Contraceptive Pill".

Seeing that she was serious, Chu Yue quickly pressed her hand down and said, "I was just kidding. One June is tiring enough. If I have another one, I'll have to take maternity leave too to take care of you. Why did you even prepare this kind of medicine?"

"Are you telling the truth?" Ji Mingfei's face was full of disbelief.

Chu Yue assured him firmly, "Really, I'm not lying to you."

Ji Mingfei looked at the medicine in his hand, still wondering whether he should take one just in case.

Chu Yue saw through her little scheme and confiscated the medicine immediately. "You don't trust me that much now?"

"...It's better to be prepared."

"What's wrong with you?" Chu Yue asked deliberately.

Ji Mingfei tried not to look at Chu Yue's face and said softly, "If you forget or can't control yourself, I can make amends afterwards."

"You're preparing suppressants and birth control pills, aren't you? You're just trying to keep an eye on me!"

Ji Mingfei clenched her hands, "These are all medicines we keep at home, not for...for you."

"I've thought about this a lot while you were gone. You didn't come back to escape the heat; you came back to avoid me, didn't you?"

Ji Mingfei lowered his head and did not answer.

"I said some really hurtful things to you before because I thought you liked me too, but now it seems like it was just wishful thinking on my part."

Ji Mingfei glanced at her guiltily.

Is she finally going to give up?

"You really don't like me?" Chu Yue tilted her head to look at Ji Mingfei's face, asking again unwillingly.

Ji Mingfei turned his head away to avoid her, but after a while, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Looks like I still have a chance." Chu Yue quickly found a way to save face and gracefully stepped down.

Ji Mingfei has been able to clearly separate feelings from marriage, which is why she proposed to get a marriage certificate in such a short time.

Because she knew that a permanent commitment meant a de facto marriage, she wanted to secure a way out for herself while Chu Yue's infatuation was still fresh. However, she didn't want to get too deeply involved in this mismatched relationship, so she needed to find an excuse to separate.

Someone once asked, how much sweetness does a person whose life is very bitter need to be satisfied? The answer is, just a little bit of sweetness is enough.

Ji Mingfei is more perceptive than anyone else of the kindness shown to her, but she often misunderstands whether that kindness stems from goodwill or affection. The scheming alpha doesn't correct her misunderstandings; instead, he uses them as a starting point to pursue a relationship with her.

Ji Mingfei didn't want to repeat the same mistake. She couldn't judge Chu Yue's feelings for her because the time and place of their first meeting were wrong.

Is it believable that an alpha would easily sleep with a stranger omega?

With such doubts, she repeatedly succumbed to Chu Yue's gentle embrace, even if it was only for brief moments of intimacy.

"Since you've got the marriage certificate, you're a legal AO (Audience/Maleficent), so why are you still talking about whether you like her or not?" Ji Mingfei's words didn't sound like he was trying to reassure Chu Yue, but rather like someone resigned to a life of cohabitation.

Chu Yue complained, feeling wronged, "You hid in Longteng because you don't like me. Before we got our marriage certificate, I could see you every day, but now that we're married, I can only live with the certificate. Isn't the difference between liking and disliking someone obvious?"

"…I don't."

Seeing that Ji Mingfei hesitated, Chu Yue took the opportunity to grab her hand and said, "Then come home with me!"

But summer isn't over yet...

Chu Yue sighed, "Do you really have to use this excuse? Fine, we'll continue tonight until you agree."

"..."

Ji Mingfei's lower back suddenly ached.

Chu Yue's threat did not succeed, because in the afternoon, in order not to be disturbed by June, she let the child sleep for too long, which caused the little one to be unusually excited at night and keep making a fuss until after 11 o'clock.

After handing June over to Chu Yue under the pretext of strengthening their bond, Ji Mingfei went to bed early. When Chu Yue finally managed to coax the child to sleep, she couldn't bear to wake Ji Mingfei, who was already fast asleep in bed.

"I'll let you off the hook for now!" Chu Yue kissed Ji Mingfei on the forehead.

…

The next morning, the nanny came in carrying the groceries she had just bought and saw Chu Yue lying sprawled on the sofa, holding a baby bottle in her hand, with a pile of diapers scattered on the floor.

In the crib, June stretched out her little hands, babbling and playing by herself.

Ji Mingfei came out of the bedroom with a small blanket and made a shushing gesture to the aunt.

The aunt nodded and went into the kitchen.

Just as Ji Mingfei was about to cover Chu Yue with the blanket, a gentle breeze woke her up.

"No need... I'm up." Chu Yue wasn't fully awake yet, and the baby bottle in her hand tilted, soaking a patch of her chest with the nipple.

"Hiss... What is that?"

Ji Mingfei quickly took the bottle from her hand, pulled out some tissues to wipe her clothes, and asked somewhat apologetically, "Did you feed her last night? Why didn't you bring her over for me? I'm usually too lazy to get up at night, so I just feed her directly."

"I didn't dare disturb you yesterday, you must have been exhausted. Now that you've rested enough, we'll continue tonight..." Chu Yue was speaking smugly when suddenly the pacifier was shoved into her mouth, and a few drops of cold milk flowed into her mouth.

“…Auntie is here,” Ji Mingfei said softly, her face flushed.

Chu Yue leaned against the back of the sofa and glanced back, then deliberately said loudly, "We're a legal AO! Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and this is nothing... Ugh!"

Chu Yue quickly grabbed Ji Mingfei's hand to prevent her from suffocating.

"Wife, if you shut me up again, next time you beg for forgiveness, I'll make you pay me back with interest."

"..."

That's indecent!

Ji Mingfei didn't want to waste time arguing with her, so he picked up June from the crib and went into the bedroom.

Chu Yue, who had been enjoying her verbal sparring, touched her throat, which had just been poked twice by a pacifier, and began to clean up the mess on the floor.

When she came back from taking out the trash, she ran into Ji Mingfei taking June out. In the stroller, June was dressed in pretty little clothes and wearing a yellow sun hat, happily babbling in baby talk.

"I want to go too," Chu Yue stopped them.

"I'll be back in a bit. You haven't washed your face yet." Ji Mingfei didn't really want to take her with him.

Chu Yue looked at herself in the full-length mirror by the door and said, "I'll wash it when I get back!"

Ji Mingfei couldn't find a reason not to take her along, so he had no choice but to agree to walk the child with Chu Yue.

There's a small park next to the residential area, filled with tall, large sycamore trees, perfect for shading in the summer. This is the secret spot that Ji Mingfei discovered by chance while working in Shanhe.

Every day at this time, the park is filled with retired elderly men and women, some playing chess, some dancing, and some practicing Tai Chi. There are also a few young mothers playing with their children, and Ji Mingfei has become quite familiar with them over the years.

"Xiao Ji is here. Why are you so late today? This is your husband. He's really good-looking!"

"I gave my child that brand of formula you told me about yesterday, and it's working great!"

"These are free gifts for mothers and babies from the supermarket. I took a lot and just handed them out. You should try them too."

For the first time, Chu Yue felt so out of place in this world. The enthusiastic mothers chatted more than their negotiating opponents, and there was absolutely no chance for her to interrupt.

Ji Mingfei quickly joined the mothers' chat, leaving Chu Yue to push the stroller around the sycamore trees in the park.

"Is Mom always like this? She doesn't care about us June. Come on, let's go take a look ahead." Chu Yue muttered to June in words she couldn't understand.

Ji Mingfei chatted absentmindedly with the mothers, but his eyes kept following Chu Yue and the child.

"Xiao Ji is so lucky! Your husband finally managed to come all this way, and he even had time to come out and play with you and the kids. My husband, on his days off, he just wants to stay in bed forever. He's busy during the week, and he doesn't even think about spending more time with the kids on his days off."

“Once the child starts kindergarten, we need to find something to do. We can't just spend all our time around the stove. If we stay like this for too long, the one who's out earning money will start to look down on us!”

Ji Mingfei looked at her mother who was speaking and asked, "Why?"

"Because he feels that everything you eat, drink, and use is earned through his hard work, while you just stay at home and enjoy yourself all day without doing anything."

Enjoying a life of luxury? Ji Mingfei laughed. She couldn't sleep at all during the nights in June when the little one cried and fussed, and during the day, she was afraid to close the door when he went to the bathroom. Thankfully, they had a housekeeper to cook; otherwise, she would have to take the child shopping, cooking, washing dishes, and doing housework—just thinking about it made her want to collapse.

Ji Mingfei turned her gaze back to Chu Yue, who had walked away and was now holding Liu Yue by the pond, watching the fish.

After hearing so many complaints from other mothers, Ji Mingfei suddenly realized that Chu Yue was actually quite nice. As long as she was there, she hardly ever got out of bed at night, and Chu Yue would appear by the child's side without her even having to ask.

My phone vibrated.

Ji Mingfei took a long time to pull it out.

Why are you staring at me like that?

[Flushing face.jpg]