A Cannon-Fodder Omega’s Self-Saving Guide - Chapter 9

She called Yin Yin’s name several times before finally pulling Yin Yin back from her thoughts.

“If Sister doesn’t mind, you can try these clothes.” Xia Weichen placed the clothes by the bed and opened a very hidden secret door in the wall. “This is the dressing room. Sister can go in and change first.”

Seeing that Yin Yin did not move, Xia Weichen smiled lightly again. “Sister, don’t worry. I don’t have a hobby of installing cameras in dressing rooms, and I won’t peek at Sister either.”

“Thank you, Miss Xia.”

Only then did Yin Yin hesitantly take the clothes and enter the dressing room.

Watching the hidden door close, Xia Weichen stood where Yin Yin had just been standing. She was a little curious about what Yin Yin had been looking at.

“Maybe Host embroidered it too well. Who wouldn’t like something so beautiful?” the system jumped out at the right moment and started flattering Xia Weichen.

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Xia Weichen’s brows furrowed slightly. “System, why do you think that if things followed the original plot, Yin Yin would target Lin Langruo at any cost?”

The system was stumped.

It only knew the general direction of the overall plot, but it did not understand the many causes and effects behind it. After all, it was only an observer, and its specific understanding of this world was not even as deep as Xia Weichen’s.

“I carefully thought it over many times. Right now, Yin Yin and Lin Langruo have no direct conflict at all. If you say it was just a sudden whim, I really can’t believe someone like Yin Yin would do something so self-destructive.” The more Xia Weichen thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so she simply threw the question to the system.

The system thought for a long time before finally squeezing out one sentence. “Could it be… because the plot needed it?”

“The plot needed it?”

“It means the story needed a villain who could threaten Lin Langruo. It only needed Lin Langruo to defeat that villain. As for where the villain came from, that wasn’t important. That’s what it means for the plot to need it.” The system began complaining about the author who had created this world. “Not all authors pursue logic that much.”

“…”

Xia Weichen actually could not refute that reason.

However, neither the person nor the system continued to explore this question further, because Yin Yin came out of the dressing room just then.

The clothes Yin Yin had chosen were simple and elegant, with a color tone similar to the formal outfit Xia Weichen had dirtied. The clothes that were one size too large for Xia Weichen happened to fit Yin Yin perfectly.

Xia Weichen stepped forward and took Yin Yin’s folded clothes, intending to ring the bell and have someone wash them.

“No need. I can do it myself.” Yin Yin softly declined Xia Weichen’s kindness. “Miss Xia, I’m still used to doing things myself.”

“But…”

Seeing the slight disappointment in Xia Weichen’s eyes, Yin Yin changed the topic. “Miss Xia shouldn’t stand for too long. It’s best to rest properly.”

Omegas were naturally delicate, and their wounds recovered more slowly than normal as well. Yin Yin could feel that when she applied medicine to Xia Weichen.

Xia Weichen did not respond to Yin Yin’s words. “I want to take a walk in the flower nursery. Does Sister want to come with me?”

“…”

Yin Yin’s gaze moved downward and landed on the knee covered by the white dress. There was still a faint bitter medicinal scent in the room. Xia Weichen had clearly not listened to a single word she had just said.

“All right.”

This time, Yin Yin did not refuse.

In the flower nursery, where the evening breeze blew gently, two beautiful figures appeared.

Most of the flowers blooming in the nursery were roses. Roses of different colors stayed neatly in their own plots, their hidden fragrance drifting, their colors overflowing with light.

Xia Weichen led Yin Yin beneath a flower trellis. Lush rose vines covered the entire trellis, and the sparse gaps between leaves and branches cast speckled patches of evening sunlight.

This nursery had actually only been an idea Xia Weichen had once had. She had imagined that after leaving the Xia family’s old residence, she could have a flower nursery of her own. But after she had simply mentioned the idea to Auntie Lu, she had gotten into the car accident. The entire nursery had been designed and cared for by Auntie Lu on her behalf.

Under the sunset, the evening breeze was cool. The hem of Xia Weichen’s dress fluttered with the wind. She reached down to press it in place, then raised her eyes and caught Yin Yin’s gaze.

“Sister Yin can feel at ease here. Like me, Sister is also the owner of this place.” Xia Weichen opened her mouth and broke the silence. There was no one else around at this moment, so there was no need to worry about anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Miss Xia is too polite.”

Yin Yin maintained her polite and distant courtesy from beginning to end. She stared at the rose blooming brilliantly above her head. Its red was striking, yet compared to Xia Weichen, whose looks leaned toward delicate beauty, it still seemed to lack something—even though Xia Weichen was wearing only a plain white dress.

There were some questions she wanted to ask in her heart, but for her, asking those questions was still rather difficult. She closed her eyes, pressed the tip of her tongue against her lips, and swallowed the words she had wanted to ask Xia Weichen.

“Although there are many roses in this nursery, none of them compare to the one Sister gave me today.” A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xia Weichen’s lips, her voice gentle. “I don’t have that kind of rose here. Sister was thoughtful.”

“It was just a coincidence. Miss Xia doesn’t need to mind it.” Yin Yin did not take the obvious hint Xia Weichen had thrown her way. “I had heard of Miss Xia’s character before, but I didn’t expect Miss Xia to be so gentle.”

“Only toward Sister. Toward others, I’m not necessarily this gentle.” Xia Weichen did not hide it. Although she knew that if she wanted to maintain this gentleness in front of Yin Yin, she could do it, at other times, the emotions in her bones were very faint—so faint that no matter what happened, she placed herself in the position of an observer.

Only by standing as an observer could one look at right and wrong, gathering and separation, with a heart as still as water. This was the philosophy of life that Master Yang Shuhe had taught her.

Perhaps because of this, when she saw Lin Langruo having an affair with her former private doctor right in front of her and plotting to harm her, she did not catch them in the act and expose them on the spot the way a normal person instinctively would. Even when she saw herself die, she had quietly welcomed the arrival of death, her life silently withering like most of the roses in the nursery.

Yin Yin originally thought Xia Weichen’s words were still meant to flirt with her. But when her gaze unintentionally swept across Xia Weichen’s face, she caught a seriousness and solemnity in the woman’s eyes, which should have been full of lively allure. It did not seem like a joke.

“After all, Sister is special.” Xia Weichen restrained the seriousness in her eyes and looked into Yin Yin’s eyes with a slight smile. Her gorgeous lips opened and closed, but her words grew even softer. “To me, Sister is special in every way.”

Yin Yin neither agreed nor denied it. Instinctively, she avoided Xia Weichen’s gaze as it slowly seemed to trap her. Although Xia Weichen did not take the initiative to reach out and touch her, merely from that waterlike gaze, Yin Yin still felt as if she were a moth that had flown into a fine, dense web.

Beneath her soft, shallow smile, Xia Weichen was like an unfathomable trap, drawing her in step by step.

The two did not stay in the nursery for too long. When moonlight had just begun spilling from the edge of the sky, they returned to the villa entrance. Beside the gravel path, the osmanthus tree gave off a hidden fragrance, and Auntie Lu was trimming branches beneath the tree.

“These are the ones I just cut. Miss, what do you think?”

Auntie Lu handed the osmanthus branch in her hand to Xia Weichen.

Tiny star-sized osmanthus blossoms densely dotted the branch, clustered together and blooming warmly.

“It can be placed in a vase.” Xia Weichen then handed the branch to Yin Yin. “Sister, smell it. It’s a different fragrance from the roses earlier.”

Seeing that someone else was present, Yin Yin remembered her agreement with Xia Weichen. Whenever someone from Xia Weichen’s family was present, she had to properly act out the role of being mutually in love with Xia Weichen.

“It is indeed different.” Yin Yin smelled it seriously, then said, “The rose fragrance just now was rich and intense, while the osmanthus fragrance is faint but lasting.”

“Then which one does Sister like?”

“I still prefer roses.”

Yin Yin did not say the reason behind the second half of her answer. Although the fragrance of osmanthus lasted longer, roses at least bloomed grandly and fiercely, drawing attention at a single glance. Meanwhile, the petals and fragrance of osmanthus were both faint. One had to stand within the scent of osmanthus for a long time before remembering its existence.

Yin Yin was ambitious, and she also hoped her company could grow. If she had no ambition, it would have been impossible for her to agree to Xia Weichen’s nearly absurd agreement.

The sky was too dark, so she did not notice the subtle change in Xia Weichen’s expression for an instant. She also did not notice that the hand Xia Weichen had been using to hold the corner of her clothes loosened at that moment.

But Xia Weichen quickly returned to normal. She pulled Yin Yin into the villa to look for a suitable vase.

“System, if my pheromones recover, won’t things between Yin Yin and me become very awkward?”

Her slender jade-like hand brushed over the smooth, bulging-bellied vase and straightened the cut flower branch. Her series of movements was practiced and calm. From Xia Weichen’s actions alone, no one could tell the waves surging in her heart right now.

Although she had never announced to the outside world what her pheromones smelled like, this kind of coincidence still made her feel somewhat uneasy deep down. She even started considering whether she should tell Yin Yin the truth.

“Host, why didn’t you say you had this thought earlier?” The system heard Xia Weichen’s inner voice and jumped onto the table in regret.

When Xia Weichen had noticed the system yesterday, it had only been a small golden ball. At some unknown point, it had grown thin little hands and feet, probably to make moving around more convenient.

Looking at the change in the system’s appearance, Xia Weichen had a bad feeling.

“When Host decided to rely on the villain Yin Yin from the setting to bring down the female lead and change your fate, I already submitted a proposal to the main space.” The system waved its thin, short little hands. It looked very comical, but listening to its words, Xia Weichen could not laugh at all. “Among the contents was the plan for Host and Yin Yin to pretend to be lovers, and for Host to act as if you had already fallen in love with Yin Yin in front of her…”

The hand arranging the flowers stopped. At the same time, the leaf Xia Weichen had been hesitating over whether to keep was crushed in her hand, squeezing out its sap. Xia Weichen stared at the trembling golden ball, which knew it had caused trouble, and for a moment, she could not say a word.

“If Host is detected as being different from the proposal, it will count as violating the Space’s rules. The Space has always had a terrifying desire for control. When the time comes, Host…”

“So your movements were too fast.”

At this moment, Xia Weichen had her back to Yin Yin. Yin Yin could not see Xia Weichen’s expression, but she could still feel that Xia Weichen seemed to be emitting cold air all over, so she could not help asking what was wrong.

“Sister, don’t peek yet. Wait until I finish arranging the flowers, then I’ll give Sister a surprise.”

Xia Weichen’s voice carried a hint of coquettishness. Yin Yin did not notice anything unusual, but the system felt as if it had seen the most terrifying scene of its entire system career. Even the pressure from its immediate superior was not as strong as the pressure from its host right now.

“So—” Xia Weichen’s tone changed completely in an instant when she spoke to the system. “Right now, I can only make myself fall in love with Yin Yin?”

The system nodded repeatedly, shrinking into a ball and not daring to look at Xia Weichen.

Xia Weichen took several stems of dancing-lady orchids and placed them beside the osmanthus as supporting flowers. The system anxiously watched Xia Weichen’s movements and did not dare say a single word. It felt that compared to Yin Yin’s natural aloofness and coldness, its own host was still a little more terrifying.

“It’s fine. I have no intention of holding you accountable.” Xia Weichen cut several sprigs of asparagus fern. Although her movements remained as gentle as ever, the system kept feeling as if Xia Weichen were about to cut it in half.

“Host, I really know I was wrong. But now it’s already…”

“If she’s willing, I actually can marry her.” Xia Weichen answered the system calmly. But the calmer she was, the more afraid the system became.

“Host, are you all right? If you’re angry, you can punish me however you want. Hit me, scold me, anything is fine, although this shell of mine doesn’t really feel anything…”

“I’m being very serious. I do need an Alpha to marry, and compared to all the other Alphas I know, Yin Yin is also in the highest-priority category.” Xia Weichen said seriously, “After all, I can’t guarantee that if I look for another Alpha in the circle, they won’t turn out to be the next Lin Langruo.”

She was the Xia family’s only heir, and she was also an Omega. If Lin Langruo, who had grown up with her, had not been there to block them from the beginning, the Alphas from famous and powerful families who wanted to come to the Xia family to propose marriage might already have worn down the threshold. But Lin Langruo likewise had not been a good person. There was certainly more than one person who held the same idea as Lin Langruo: eliminate the Omega and keep the assets.

Her mother, Xia Qiuling, had also considered this situation back when the engagement was arranged. So-called noble families were, for the most part, absolutely untrustworthy. That was why Xia Qiuling had placed extra importance on Lin Langruo, who had been adopted and raised by their side.

But in the end, knowing a person’s face did not mean knowing their heart.

“Host seems to trust Yin Yin a lot.” Seeing that Xia Weichen truly did not seem intent on losing her temper, the system finally took its two thin little arms away from its eyes. “Host isn’t afraid that Yin Yin will become the next Lin Langruo too?”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Why?” The system was a little puzzled.

“Maybe it’s intuition.” Xia Weichen placed the asparagus fern beneath the osmanthus branches and fixed everything in place with wooden stems, completing the final step. “I trust her.”