A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 14

Bai Shuzhou’s emotions were faint, and she always seemed melancholy.

At least, that was what Zhu Yu had originally thought.

But after staying home on sick leave because of her stomach illness, Zhu Yu discovered that Bai Shuzhou’s life was actually very rich.

Most of the time, Bai Shuzhou was reading. She had no taboos. From astronomy to the secrets of rice, even children’s literature—she read everything seriously.

When she read, she liked to lightly tap the sentences she favored with her finger, as if touching a fictional dream through the rustling pages. Those pale blue eyes reflected the light words. Her melancholy and her sharp coldness would also fade, melting into a faint crescent moon at the edge of her lips.

That lofty, cold radiance had descended into the mortal world.

Zhu Yu propped her chin in her hand and secretly watched her. The volume of the game console was turned very low, its background noise lively and lonely.

By the time Zhu Yu went out to work, Bai Shuzhou had already cleared all the game levels.

He Ming said Sister Xiao Zhou was amazing at games, unlike a certain someone. That certain someone was Zhu Yu, though He Ming had preserved a little of her dignity by not saying it directly.

All kinds of games were as flat as a blank sheet of paper before Bai Shuzhou. With one light glance, she would know how to break through the situation. Even at the brink of death, she could turn the tide. He Ming practically worshiped her as a god. Even when her friends encountered levels they could not pass, they would bring them over and ask Bai Shuzhou for help.

Her thoughts always stood in a high place. With a slight curl of her finger, she could untangle the most complicated puzzle. Her operations were fast, precise, and ruthless.

Always elegant.

Always effortless.

Zhu Yu, on the other hand, was very bad at games. When she played, she talked endlessly and densely, almost on par with He Ming. Full of confidence, she would hold her head high and hit GAME OVER, let out little animal-like cries, then say, “Mistake, mistake,” and keep loading the save file to restart.

As one of the only two adults in this happy little room, she had barely managed to play a few games with Bai Shuzhou.

Those children would not hesitate to climb mountains, cross districts on foot for two hours, and come all this way just to play with Bai Shuzhou. They grandly called it a tutoring class—parentheses, post-study relaxation edition.

Zhu Yu was so annoyed by these children.

Whenever they were at home at the same time, she would always feel a little lost. It was clearly Zhu Yu’s home too, but when she stayed there, she seemed more like an unnecessary outsider.

The children could cling to Bai Shuzhou without restraint, especially when they appeared in their young beast forms. Occasionally, when the woman was in a good mood, she would even help brush their fur.

It was also then that Zhu Yu discovered Bai Shuzhou did, in fact, smile.

Not the sneering or cold smiles that only tugged at skin and flesh, but an extremely faint smile from the heart.

She maintained gentle, distant courtesy toward everyone.

Except Zhu Yu.

She resented the bright moon for shining on everyone but her.

Resented the bright moon…

How could she bear to?

Zhu Yu liked watching her smile, even if that smile was not meant for her.

When one looked up at the moon, how could one dare hope to hold it in one’s arms?

She only wanted to place Bai Shuzhou back in the sky.

Zhu Yu spent a heavy sum to buy the wheelchair Nangong had brought. With one enthusiastic transaction, it cost eighteen thousand. Federation technology was impressive enough that getting in and out of the wheelchair could be done independently with anti-gravity assistance.

Now she did not even have an excuse to hold her.

Every time Zhu Yu massaged her, Bai Shuzhou would bite her lip. Even when her slender back tightened into a straight line, she refused to let out any unnecessary groan.

After the massage, she would look at Zhu Yu with damp eyes, her beautiful brows slightly furrowed like the folded brushstrokes of an ink landscape. Zhu Yu could not understand them.

She only knew that Bai Shuzhou seemed to hate her more and more, to the point that she was no longer even willing to open her mouth and tell her to “get lost.”

Now, the command to “get lost” had become a hooked finger.

One light flick.

And Zhu Yu would obediently be flicked away.

Bai Shuzhou liked this new little gesture, though Zhu Yu “rolled away” too seriously and never noticed the faint curve of Bai Shuzhou’s lips.

He Ming noticed.

She watched with great interest and consciously got in line. After Zhu Yu rolled out the door, He Ming immediately rushed up and raised her hand.

“Sister Xiao Zhou, I want one too! Me too!”

Then Bai Shuzhou stopped smiling. She pressed her lips together and put on a cold, dignified authority.

“Have you finished your homework? Shall I add two more chapters?”

He Ming fled in defeat.

Zhu Yu pretended to be calm and indifferent, as if she did not care at all, then turned around to suffer in secret, scream in secret, and secretly run off to work…

Oh, that last part did not need to be secret.

The ring Bai Shuzhou had forcibly given her had been made into a necklace and worn beneath her shirt, warmed by her body temperature.

It was Bai Shuzhou’s birthday gift. It was far too precious, so Zhu Yu naturally could not really sell it.

In the dead of night, under the glow of the little nightlight, she secretly tried wearing it. Bai Shuzhou’s fingers were so thin. Zhu Yu could not wear it on the same finger; it got stuck at the knuckle, so she had no choice but to change to another one.

In the dimness, firelight flowed through the gem. Zhu Yu raised her hand and admired it for a while.

Behind her, the white gauze swayed lightly, and the woman gave a low cough.

Zhu Yu’s face instantly flushed red. She quickly covered her hand and hurriedly turned around.

The woman’s eyes were quietly closed. She seemed to be fast asleep, breathing evenly. Her daily schedule was always very regular, as if she strictly followed a timetable.

At this moment, her long lashes cast a faint shadow, softened by the lamplight. Zhu Yu could never get tired of looking at her.

Zhu Yu imagined there must be another small world beneath Bai Shuzhou’s lashes, gently outlining a fairy-tale dream.

Feeling guilty like a thief, Zhu Yu slowly stood up, tucked the quilt around Bai Shuzhou, then carefully lay back down and adjusted the nightlight a little dimmer.

After Zhu Yu fell asleep, the jade Guanyin-like beauty on the bed opened her eyes. Lowering her gaze, she studied her for a long while before a vine silently reached toward the ring and made a few little adjustments.

The next day, when Zhu Yu woke up, she was horrified to discover that she could not remove the ring.

The huge blood-red gemstone glittered on her finger. She rubbed it with soap bubbles for a long time, but still could not take it off. And so, when facing Bai Shuzhou, she could only furtively hide one hand behind her back, keeping her spine very straight. At first glance, she even looked somewhat proper.

The only fortunate thing was that the gemstone was so big, it instead looked fake. Everyone tacitly assumed Zhu Yu was wearing a piece of colored organic glass.

Nangong mocked Zhu Yu for having no taste. She said Zhu Yu would be better off picking something from a vintage shop. Before, one could still praise her as refined and elegant. Now, she looked like a nouveau riche who had won the lottery.

Standing in Paradis with that giant ring on, she was like a beggar going out to beg with a golden bowl. Even her customer requests decreased a lot because of it.

Zhu Yu did not want to speak to her.

Toward this bastard who coveted Bai Shuzhou, Zhu Yu maintained one hundred and twenty thousand points of vigilance. She never spoke ill of others behind their backs. Only when her fluffy coworkers praised Nangong would Zhu Yu become filled with righteous indignation.

“What’s so good-looking about her! Is she really that good-looking?”

This was a question.

Nangong drifted past, her red lips curving slightly. She flicked her hair and winked at their direction. Her soul-stealing long legs easily stepped over Zhu Yu’s pride, stirring up a chorus of screams.

Nangong had an excellent figure. Standing beside her, even Zhu Yu seemed far too thin. The muscle lines on Nangong’s arms were also just right, and when mixing drinks, she would deliberately roll her sleeves very high.

There were also thin calluses at the base of her thumb and around her knuckles. Her fingers were exceptionally strong. When she held a tray, blue veins rose faintly over the back of her hand. Her sharp eyes were always searching, waiting to capture prey.

Zhu Yu wanted to scream too.

Out of anger.

Her coworker Haibao secretly asked Zhu Yu if she was close to Nangong, and whether Zhu Yu could privately pass along Nangong’s contact information. Haibao was willing to try a forbidden love that crossed species.

Zhu Yu said, “I don’t know her.”

Nangong leaned over, very close to Haibao. Her red hair spilled down as she smiled at Haibao, her voice low and magnetic.

“No need to do it privately. Right now is fine.”

Haibao was a jellyfish.

With a whoosh, she turned pink and melted, flowing bonelessly downward.

“Pull yourself together!!!”

Zhu Yu hurriedly caught her. Beside her came Nangong’s delighted laughter.

Nangong was always swaying around Zhu Yu, pestering her about how the new parts were coming along and when she was going to quit, forcibly monopolizing all of Zhu Yu’s regular customers.

Everyone found it hard to refuse Nangong’s enthusiasm. The market for seductive older sisters was far greater than Zhu Yu had imagined.

Without customer requests or sales performance, Zhu Yu had no idea what Nangong had said to the manager, but even the manager asked when Zhu Yu planned to resign. Since she was a highly educated repair technician, this place really was not suitable for her.

The most hateful thing was that when Zhu Yu sometimes took leave to focus on repairs at home, Nangong would still hypocritically come over to express concern and supervise her. Even the children who came to play liked her very much.

And she was also very good at games. She and Bai Shuzhou were evenly matched, neither one yielding to the other.

The frost-cold silver-haired woman sat in the wheelchair. Nangong bent down, her red hair blazing like fire, spilling all the way over Bai Shuzhou’s shoulder. The two of them clashed with tacit understanding, a subtle atmosphere flowing silently between them.

It was extremely pleasing to the eye.

He Ming poked Zhu Yu. “Don’t you think the two of them look really well matched?”

Zhu Yu flew into embarrassed anger. “Little brat, have you finished your homework? I’m confiscating your game console!!!”

She really wanted to perform a ritual and summon the original Zhu Yu to possess her.

Soul, come back.

Soul, come back.

Hurry up and use your little tricks for fighting over favor to drive away Nangong, that annoying ghost!

Or Bai Qianze, hurry up and come here. Save the princess. Strangle the redhead. This hateful Federation woman covets your younger sister!!!

Could it be that Bai Shuzhou liked bad women?

A princess who had lived aloof from worldly affairs in a high tower was indeed easy to deceive.

Nangong and the original Zhu Yu were very much the same kind of person…

While working at the nutrient-solution factory, Zhu Yu became a little dazed. She tried hard to restrain her strange emotions. It felt as though a dispirited little rabbit were bouncing around inside her stomach.

Then she turned her head, imitating Nangong as she flicked her hair and blinked clumsily at Xiao Shan beside her.

Xiao Shan took off her earphones and asked worriedly, “Have you been overworked for too long? Are your eyes sore? Are they cramping?”

Zhu Yu, complete defeat!

She lowered her head and lay there, wanting only to become one packet of sad nutrient cake.

Strawberry flavor.

Bai Shuzhou liked strawberries.

“…”

She was finished!

No, wait. The one finished might be someone else. Maybe Nangong, that bad woman, would replace the original owner’s role, seduce the princess, return to the palace with her, then reveal her true nature and get caught and whipped!

No.

What right did she have to make the princess sad?

They could not be like this.

Zhu Yu had not even signed the document confirming the divorce yet!

Ah.

Once Bai Shuzhou returned to the palace, Zhu Yu would still have to sign the divorce confirmation document.

Zhu Yu was thoroughly struck down.

In truth, she knew Bai Shuzhou had always been using those children to contact the outside world again.

Her home was not here. It was in that splendid palace, where the most dazzling starlight in the entire universe gathered. She only needed to beckon, and all things would arrange themselves according to her will.

Zhu Yu had no way to help her.

And Bai Shuzhou had never simply waited.

Toward the day that would eventually arrive, Zhu Yu both looked forward to it and feared it.

She looked forward to Bai Shuzhou regaining her glory, no longer having to worry about making a living. Bai Shuzhou would receive proper treatment. That was the path that belonged to her.

She feared that she herself would be killed.

The dragon race was powerful and mysterious, and their offspring were rare. In the current world, there were only two dragons. Bai Shuzhou had been abducted by Zhu Yu and was injured too. First of all, Emperor Bai Qianze would not let her off.

In the original novel, “Zhu Yu” had seemingly managed to live a little longer because of the child. But later, she had almost abducted the daughter as well, using her as a hostage in a vile attempt to exchange her for safety.

That was her daughter too.

How could someone be that bad?

A scumbag like that truly deserved a thousand deaths!

If this were my daughter, I would definitely…!

Why had she started having unrealistic fantasies again?

Zhu Yu despised herself greatly.

She swore that she absolutely respected Bai Shuzhou’s personal wishes. She swore that she absolutely had no improper thoughts toward Bai Shuzhou. She swore, if she violated this oath, then the heavens, the heavens…

The weather was really nice.

Letting her imagination run wild was not advisable. They were destined to be people from different worlds.

Bai Shuzhou’s future was clear and grand.

And her?

If Bai Shuzhou was healed and Zhu Yu had not been killed yet, perhaps she would become a repair technician. Like Baima, she would have her own workshop. That was Zhu Yu’s small expectation.

Baima said she was very talented. The individual repair parts Nangong assigned to her could be worth tens of thousands. She was still constantly learning. Although she was not yet stable for the time being, she would definitely grow more mature in the future.

She was someone who would win the Golden Wrench Award!

The future was still promising!

Thinking of this made Zhu Yu’s blood boil. The Golden Wrench was the highest honor for great repair technicians! And the prize money was very generous, enough for her to live without worries for the rest of her life. Maybe she would even receive orders from the military or the royal family…

In her excitement, the button on her Paradis uniform popped off, nearly shooting into a wineglass.

Zhu Yu had always felt that the material of Paradis’s uniforms was very poor. They split and popped buttons at the slightest movement. Her coworkers seemed long used to it. When their collars opened, they would laugh softly and cover their chests, while the buttons that flew off would be regarded by interstellar smuggling customers as symbols of luck. Most of them would give tips.

Zhu Yu did not understand the underlying logic there at all, but she could clearly feel the eyes of a regular older-sister customer light up. The customer’s gaze drifted over vaguely, then landed on the work vest Zhu Yu wore underneath.

Covered tightly from top to bottom.

The older sister took the button and still gave a tip, but she seemed in a poor mood. Nangong’s delighted laugh sounded from the side.

Zhu Yu secretly cursed Nangong as a smug villain in her heart.

But then the woman turned her wrist and took the initiative to offer to sew it back on for her.

Silver needle, white thread. In the span of a few breaths, she was done. She deliberately bent down and bit the thread off with her teeth, stirring another wave of fangirl screams from the customers.

Zhu Yu thought she was actually strangely nice.

It would be even better if she did not show off so much.

That night, because of Nangong’s faint but unmistakable exclusion, Zhu Yu got off work early.

She did not stay conflicted for long over her customers being snatched. She only hung up her uniform, then quietly came to the bedside. Facing the white gauze curtain, she pressed her palms together and bowed solemnly.

“Don’t hate me. Don’t hate me. Please like me, okay?”

Her murmured words were extremely soft, like she was casting a spell.

Unfortunately, she did not know magic.

The real night only spread out after she fell asleep, and the stars across the sky swayed gently.

The white gauze was lifted by a long, slender hand.

The woman’s beautiful brows furrowed. Alertly, she sniffed.

She sensed it.

A scent that did not belong to her.

Vines wound around Zhu Yu twice, then climbed onto the clothes rack and hooked up the young woman’s uniform.

After a while, those icy eyes narrowed. Jade-like knuckles flicked lightly, and a long, thin vine twisted around the second button.

In an instant, the surveillance device hidden inside the button turned to powder, falling softly down.

Was this a provocation?

Now, she could confirm Nangong’s identity.

A damned Federation spy.

What exactly was the relationship between Zhu Yu and her?