Chapter 4
Chu Jingzhi was swimming in the pool in a bikini. Her mother, Chu Tianhua, sat at the pool’s edge, swinging her feet in the water, while her Alpha mommy, Wen Zi, sat on a lounge chair beneath a parasol, reading through Qiao Nian’s medical records.
Chu Tianhua had added Old Madam Qiao on WeChat, saved her phone number, and even asked for her home address, terrified that they might lose contact with her again after this one meeting. She had also made a copy of Qiao Nian’s medical records.
Old Madam Qiao had left in a hurry at noon, and Wen Zi had been extremely busy seeing patients, with so many people waiting in line. So it wasn’t until Wen Zi and Chu Jingzhi had finished work, returned home, and eaten dinner that Chu Tianhua finally told Wen Zi about meeting the woman who had saved their daughter more than twenty years ago and learning that their benefactor’s granddaughter was ill.
Wen Zi was very surprised to hear this. Once the initial shock had passed, she understood Chu Tianhua’s thoughts and arrangements. She had been studying Qiao Nian’s medical records ever since.
Chu Tianhua turned to look at Wen Zi. “Well? Can that child be treated?”
Wen Zi, however, looked toward Chu Jingzhi in the swimming pool.
Chu Jingzhi lifted her head out of the water and happened to meet her Alpha mommy’s gaze.
She raised an eyebrow. “What’s that look supposed to mean? I’m grateful that Grandma Qiao saved me, too, but you can’t expect me to repay her kindness by offering myself in marriage to her granddaughter, can you?”
Wen Zi withdrew her gaze. “You’re wearing far too little. Have you no sense of propriety?”
Chu Jingzhi had a beautiful figure, and since she was swimming in her family’s private pool, she didn’t bother wearing a swimming cap. With her long hair flowing over her shoulders, she swam toward the edge like a mermaid, held on to the side, and laughed. “Such an old-fashioned stickler.”
Wen Zi, who was perfectly willing to admit she was old-fashioned but absolutely refused to admit she was old: “…”
Wen Zi turned to pick up a bath towel, bunched it up a couple of times, and tossed it toward Chu Jingzhi. “Get out. Let’s talk.”
“Let me mentally prepare myself before we have that conversation.”
Chu Jingzhi tossed the towel to Chu Tianhua instead of getting out. She turned around and continued swimming.
Chu Tianhua watched her daughter swimming gracefully through the pool, her fair skin and beautiful features making her a lovely sight. Then she remembered the photograph of the equally beautiful Qiao Nian tucked into the medical records Aunt Qiao had brought. In terms of looks alone, the two were absolutely a perfect match.
Chu Jingzhi swam for another ten minutes or so before climbing out of the pool with a splash. Tilting her head, she wrung the water from her long hair. Her red polka-dot swimsuit could barely contain her full, proud curves. Beneath her slender waist glittered a diamond waist chain, followed by beautifully rounded hips framed by the two thin straps of her bikini bottoms. Crystal-clear droplets slid down her smooth, delicate skin, while a small, flame-like rose seemed to bloom on her lower back.
Chu Tianhua never failed to appreciate every beautiful moment of her daughter’s life. She picked up her phone and snapped an incredibly gorgeous candid photograph before taking the bath towel and wrapping her daughter in it. Afraid she might catch a chill, she then stood behind her and helped dry her hair.
Chu Jingzhi sat down beside Wen Zi, picked up her juice, and took a sip through the straw. She complained, “Not sweet enough.”
Wen Zi beckoned a household helper over and asked her to mix some sweet coconut juice into her daughter’s drink. Only after Chu Jingzhi was satisfied did she explain, “Alpha Mommy isn’t asking you to marry her to repay a debt of gratitude. Of course, something as important as love must never be treated lightly.”
Resting her chin on her hand, Chu Jingzhi smiled. “I understand. You just want me to help relieve Qiao Nian’s pain so Grandma Qiao can have some peace of mind.”
Wen Zi nodded approvingly. “Exactly. That’s what I mean.”
The smile on Chu Jingzhi’s face turned into a cold smirk. “And then you’ll secretly hope that Qiao Nian and I develop feelings for each other after spending enough time together, right?”
Wen Zi: “…”
That was a rather unfair assumption about her intentions.
Although… she did indeed have that in mind.
Chu Jingzhi turned to look at Chu Tianhua behind her. “And that’s what you’re thinking, too, isn’t it?”
Chu Tianhua chuckled awkwardly.
She did indeed have the same idea.
Qiao Nian hadn’t dated anyone in the five years since she presented, enduring five years of pain.
Her own daughter hadn’t dated anyone since presenting either, and she had endured eight years of heats.
Although her daughter’s heats could be managed with suppressants and suppressant patches, even medicine had its drawbacks.
Besides, she genuinely hoped her daughter could find a stable, loving relationship.
And as for Qiao Nian, the fact that she would rather endure such pain than casually enter a relationship showed just how seriously she took matters of the heart. Wasn’t that practically a wonderful partner delivered straight from heaven?!
Chu Jingzhi understood where both her mothers were coming from. She had nearly been abducted as a child, and Grandma Qiao had saved her. She truly owed the old lady an enormous debt of gratitude.
And because her mothers shared such a sweet, loving relationship, they naturally hoped she would find an equally sweet love of her own.
But there were currently two problems.
Chu Jingzhi asked Chu Tianhua, “Are you certain Grandma Qiao is the person who saved me back then?”
Chu Tianhua replied, “Of course.”
·
Twenty-two years ago, when Chu Jingzhi was four years old, a newly developed children’s resort and amusement park had opened in a neighboring province. Chu Tianhua and Wen Zi chose a sunny weekend to take their two children there for a little holiday.
However, the younger sister was only six months old and was still at the stage of eating, pooping, sleeping, and then eating again. She couldn’t enjoy any of the amusement park attractions. They had brought her mainly because they planned to spend two days and one night exploring the surrounding area and simply couldn’t leave the baby behind for that long.
On the day they visited the amusement park, they left the nanny at the hotel to look after the baby.
To attract tourists and promote itself, the resort amusement park had no main entrance or exit gates at all. Children could come and go freely and enjoy the attractions without paying admission. Although four-year-old Chu Jingzhi had short little legs, she could run remarkably fast. Before long, she had worn herself out and grown thirsty, so she sat on the carousel to rest while it went around.
Wen Zi went to buy Chu Jingzhi some ice cream. Chu Tianhua, who had given birth only six months earlier and was still somewhat sensitive to the cold, left the shade and found a sunny spot to sit.
The carousel was very large in diameter, and its central golden pillar was enormous. When Chu Jingzhi rode around to the far side, Chu Tianhua couldn’t see her. But she wasn’t worried. After all, staff members were stationed around the outside, and nobody would be allowed in to collect their children until the music finished and the ride stopped.
Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Chu Tianhua began sweating in the sun and suddenly experienced a bout of dizziness. By the time she regained consciousness and opened her eyes to look at the carousel again, a new group of children had already boarded.
Chu Jingzhi was gone!
Wen Zi hadn’t returned yet. Chu Tianhua broke out in a cold sweat, her legs going weak as she hurried toward the staff in a panic to ask about her daughter.
Fortunately, shouting suddenly erupted nearby. Chu Tianhua had been gripped by terror for barely half a minute before she spotted Chu Jingzhi, who was being held protectively in the arms of a woman around fifty years old.
Chu Jingzhi was holding some cotton candy, completely unaware of what was happening and entirely occupied with eating it. Opposite her stood a seemingly refined, mild-mannered middle-aged man who kept shouting, “I’m not a bad person! Her mommy and Alpha mommy asked me to bring her over to them! I’m really not a bad person!”
The woman, meanwhile, remained crouched down with Chu Jingzhi in her arms, shouting back with her head raised, “We’ll find out whether you’re a bad person when the police and the child’s parents get here!”
Chu Tianhua rushed over, scooped Chu Jingzhi into her arms, and burst into tears. When the man saw that the child’s mother had arrived, he immediately tried to run. But Wen Zi came charging over and smashed an ice cream straight into his face. With the help of the surrounding crowd, she pinned him down, preventing the human trafficker from escaping.
Still trembling with fear, Chu Tianhua and Wen Zi repeatedly thanked the woman and asked what had happened.
The woman explained that she had overheard the man coaxing Chu Jingzhi, saying, “I’m your Uncle Chen. Your mommy and Alpha mommy bought you ice cream and asked me to bring you over to them.”
That had immediately caught her attention. When she saw the man leading Chu Jingzhi toward a less crowded area, she sensed something was wrong and rushed over to stop him, shouting that she would call the police.
After the woman finished explaining what had happened, Chu Tianhua and Wen Zi insisted on thanking her properly. But she said she needed to use the restroom and never returned.
Meanwhile, little Chu Jingzhi, who was still nestled in Chu Tianhua’s arms and had no idea what was going on, continued happily eating her cotton candy, smearing sticky sugar all around her mouth.
Only then did Chu Tianhua and Wen Zi belatedly realize the danger. They hurriedly snatched the cotton candy away and threw it out. Who knew whether it contained some kind of drug?!
Chu Jingzhi was so furious that she was about to cry. But when she looked up and saw tears on her mommy’s face, she quickly swallowed her own tears. She kept reaching out with her two chubby little hands to wipe her mommy’s cheeks, completely forgetting to ask for her ice cream.
·
Chu Tianhua pointed beneath her left eye. “Grandma Qiao did a good deed without leaving her name, but she has a beauty mark right here, beneath her eye. Besides, her appearance and bearing haven’t changed much between her fifties and her seventies. I recognized her immediately. There’s absolutely no mistake.”
Chu Tianhua thought that when Chu Jingzhi was four, Qiao Nian would have been only one year old. Grandma Qiao had probably been visiting the amusement park with her family, too. Perhaps she had slipped away quietly because she didn’t want to leave her name or delay her family’s plans.
Fate truly was a mysterious thing. Sometimes, it arrived suddenly at the most unexpected moment.
Chu Jingzhi listened as her mother recounted the incident from her childhood once more, sighing and blaming herself throughout. Even her drink seemed to acquire a faintly bitter taste. It really was a frightening thing to look back on.
Afterward, her mothers had taken the incident very seriously and constantly taught the sisters to be cautious. When she and her younger sister eventually started kindergarten, they had each been the only child in their respective classes who hadn’t fallen for the teachers’ simulated kidnapping exercises.
Now that Chu Jingzhi was certain her mother hadn’t mistaken the person, she lazily swung her feet and calmly brought up the second important problem.
“What about pheromones? Qiao Nian’s pheromones and mine might be completely incompatible.”
Wen Zi: “…”
Exactly. That was what she had originally wanted to discuss with Chu Jingzhi: whether they should try testing their compatibility.
They already had Qiao Nian’s medical records, including her pheromone genetic code. And naturally, they had Chu Jingzhi’s pheromone genetic code as well. They could conduct a compatibility test at any time and find out the results.
But her daughter seemed very resistant to the idea right now. Wen Zi knew she couldn’t push too hard, or Chu Jingzhi would only become more rebellious.
So Wen Zi merely said, “Zhizhi, Alpha Mommy only wants you to see whether you can relieve Qiao Nian’s pain during her rut.”
She practiced traditional Chinese medicine, primarily prescribing herbal formulas and gradually regulating her patients’ health. She had never trained extensively in acupuncture, so she couldn’t provide rapid pain relief when Qiao Nian was suffering during her rut.
Chu Jingzhi, however, had practiced acupuncture since childhood, and her hands were both exceptionally fast and precise. She was particularly well suited to providing quick pain relief.
So although Wen Zi had many more years of medical experience, she genuinely couldn’t compare with her daughter in this area.
If the two young women truly couldn’t develop feelings for each other, then having her daughter use silver needles to relieve Qiao Nian’s pain would still be a meaningful way to repay Grandma Qiao’s kindness.
Chu Tianhua stroked her daughter’s hair and smiled. “That’s right, sweetheart. We’re not asking you to date Qiao Nian, and we won’t arrange a compatibility test for the two of you either. When it comes to dating and marriage, we’ll respect whatever you decide, darling. Don’t worry.”
Wen Zi, who had been planning to retreat a little now in order to advance later: “…”
You said that too soon, Ms. Chu Tianhua!
Chu Jingzhi was satisfied. She smiled and stood up. “Those are your own words. You’re not asking me to date Qiao Nian, and you won’t arrange a compatibility test for us. You’d better remember that.”
Chu Jingzhi removed her bath towel and twisted her waist, stretching her slender, fair arms from side to side. Looking down at her two seated mothers, she drawled lazily, “I’ve closed the online appointment booking system today, but I still have three more days of patients to see. I’ll be free to accompany you to City A for a house visit after the twenty-fifth.”
“But whether I can relieve Qiao Nian’s pain is something we’ll only know when she’s actually going through her rut. So this visit is purely to see Grandma Qiao, not to meet Qiao Nian for a blind date. When the day comes, you’d both better make sure I don’t hear a single word about trying to get us together. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I lose my temper.”
With that, Chu Jingzhi kicked off her slippers and walked a few steps toward the pool. She raised her long, slender arms above her head and dove gracefully into the water. As her arms swept through the shimmering surface, she once again became a beautiful, carefree mermaid.
She was grateful that Grandma Qiao had saved her life, but her gratitude belonged to Grandma Qiao alone. No matter how beautiful Qiao Nian was, she would never transfer that gratitude to her granddaughter and repay the old lady’s kindness by offering herself in marriage.
·
On the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, Old Madam Qiao received a message from Chu Tianhua saying that she planned to bring Chu Jingzhi and her Alpha mommy to City A on the twenty-fifth to visit her.
She asked whether the old madam would be home and whether it would be convenient for them to come over. Would she be free in the morning or afternoon? Every sentence was worded with great care, as Chu Tianhua was clearly worried about disturbing her rest.
Old Madam Qiao didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she happily made her way to the greenhouse to find Qiao Nian.
The old madam was in an absolutely wonderful mood. Who was Chu Jingzhi, after all? She was the future mommy of Qiao Nian’s daughter!
Although she still hadn’t dreamed of the little baby again over the past two days, she was now completely certain that Chu Jingzhi was Qiao Nian’s destined partner.
Her future granddaughter-in-law was coming to visit! How could she not be delighted?
Qiao Nian’s greenhouse was fully modernized. Its humidity and ventilation could be adjusted throughout all four seasons, and the shading system on the roof was completely automated, allowing as many layers of shade as needed.
That might sound simple, but different flower-growing sections required different levels of humidity. Back when the greenhouse was being designed, the plans had gone through six revisions before they finally settled on the version that countless flower enthusiasts now envied.
Qiao Nian loved growing flowers just as much as her mother had, so naturally, the old madam supported her wholeheartedly.
Behind the water curtain wall, Qiao Nian was bending over an orchid planted in a purple clay pot, examining its leaves.
Today, Qiao Nian wore a white, front-opening traditional blouse and a light-colored horse-face skirt embroidered with gold thread. The outfit accentuated her slender waist, while her long hair was pinned up at the back of her head, with a few loose strands framing her face.
Her cheeks were soft and fair, with a healthy rosy glow. As a gentle breeze drifted through the greenhouse, the sleeves of her blouse rippled like flowing water. Her elegant bearing made her look as though she had stepped straight out of a painting.
Her assistant, Ai Xianxian, stood behind her with a notebook, occasionally writing down the instructions Qiao Nian murmured.
Growing orchids could require an entire year of painstaking care, only to enjoy their blossoms for ten days or half a month. Sometimes, they wouldn’t bloom the following year at all, or even for several years. The rest of the time was devoted to maintenance and appreciating their leaves.
Qiao Nian had the patience for that. Old Madam Qiao had absolutely none.
“Nian Nian!” Old Madam Qiao called out cheerfully. “What are you looking at? Are the leaves growing well?”
The leaves were growing beautifully. Qiao Nian was simply admiring them while explaining to her assistant a few precautions for caring for orchids during summer.
Qiao Nian turned to look at the old madam and was just about to smile when she suddenly noticed a familiar expression of ingratiating eagerness on Grandma’s face.
Her smile disappeared.
Straightening up, Qiao Nian said to Ai Xianxian, “Go pour the old madam a glass of water.”
Once Ai Xianxian had left, Qiao Nian fixed her gaze on Grandma and asked, “Have you found another blind date for me?”
The Qiao Nian who had been so gentle moments earlier was now cold and distant.
Old Madam Qiao immediately sucked in a breath. “I’d love to introduce someone to you, but it’s not as though I have an endless supply of suitable, unmarried Omegas! Grandma just has some friends coming to visit tomorrow, and I wanted to ask when you’ll be free.”
Qiao Nian: “…”
And how was that not a blind date?
Qiao Nian patiently asked, “What friends?”
Old Madam Qiao’s gaze shifted slightly away, but her voice grew louder and louder, as though she had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.
“You know, the family I told you about after we visited that acupuncturist in City O. They’re coming to visit Grandma tomorrow.”
After meeting Chu Tianhua that day, Old Madam Qiao hadn’t originally intended to tell Qiao Nian about the remarkable coincidence.
But once they got back into the car, she simply couldn’t contain her excitement. She had thought that the baby’s prophetic dream was already more than enough to make her happy. She had never imagined there would also be a connection dating back more than twenty years!
So she told Qiao Nian that she had unexpectedly encountered the child she’d saved over twenty years ago, delightedly explaining that the little girl had grown up to become an acupuncturist and so on.
Old Madam Qiao had deliberately avoided mentioning anything about blind dates or marriage. She hadn’t said the acupuncturist was beautiful, nor had she suggested that the woman might be able to cure Qiao Nian’s illness. She carefully avoided every potentially suggestive phrase and merely marveled at how mysterious fate could be.
But even though Old Madam Qiao hadn’t mentioned a single one of those key words that day, Qiao Nian had still keenly picked up on the unspoken meaning Grandma wanted to convey but didn’t dare say aloud.
And now, although the old madam was speaking with great confidence, her wandering gaze clearly betrayed her guilty conscience.
Qiao Nian said mercilessly, “They’re your friends. You can entertain them yourself. I’m not available.”
“Hey, you little brat! Y-you, you… Can’t you at least give Grandma a little face?”
Qiao Nian lowered her head and suddenly flicked Grandma on the forehead. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. I don’t need a girlfriend, and I certainly don’t need to get married. You can give up on that idea.”
Old Madam Qiao covered her forehead. “…”
She was going to drive this scheming little old lady to an early grave!
The little baby in her dream had already said that Chu Jingzhi was Qiao Nian’s destined partner. Her future girlfriend was practically knocking on their door, yet Qiao Nian was still so resistant!
Old Madam Qiao was just about to nag her granddaughter a little more when Qiao Nian suddenly sneezed.
Then she sneezed again.
Four sneezes in a row.
Old Madam Qiao: “?”
She hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong? Have you caught a cold, or is your rhinitis acting up again?”
Qiao Nian was both a flower grower and a perfumer. She spent her days surrounded by plants, flowers, and fragrances, and she had suffered from allergic rhinitis for several years.
Qiao Nian wiped her nose with a tissue, took a face mask from the bag on the table, and put it on. Pinching the bridge of her nose in discomfort, she said, “Probably my rhinitis.”
Old Madam Qiao was overjoyed.
Hadn’t she been worrying that Qiao Nian wasn’t going through her rut and Chu Jingzhi therefore had no reason to use her acupuncture needles on her?
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