A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 31

Give me a hint.

Even just a tiny one would be enough.

Bai Shuzhou’s disguise was undoubtedly perfect. You could never wake someone who was pretending to sleep.

But just as Zhu Yu’s lashes trembled lightly and she was almost about to give up, the signal she had been waiting for actually appeared in the darkness.

Bai Shuzhou could have continued staying silent. Even if she said nothing, Zhu Yu would eventually leave. That “get out” was more like some kind of self-deceiving, tacit invitation.

Zhu Yu gazed at Bai Shuzhou’s thin, silent back, still as a glacier. Her silver-white hair was slightly messy, and her long neck drew an elegant, distant curve beneath the dim light.

Suddenly, Zhu Yu laughed silently.

When Bai Shuzhou was in a bad mood, she did not like to speak. She was like a tightly closed pearl clam, hiding all her softness inside a cold, hard shell.

Even when she and Zhu Yu had once squeezed together in that rented house, she had still kept a cool gentleness toward those curious children.

But once she pressed those pale lips together and the pressure around her dropped soundlessly, it was like a warning before heavy snow sealed the mountain. Everywhere hinted that strangers should not approach.

The boundaries were clear, and disobedience was not allowed.

At times like this, even the clingiest child would timidly retreat, not daring to disturb the snowstorm about to fall.

He Ming had once secretly complained that a silent Bai Shuzhou looked like someone who would not cry out even if she accidentally kicked the corner of the bed—completely different from ordinary mortals.

However, this kind of assumption did not apply to someone whose legs were injured and who could not move. It was also a little bit of a hellish joke.

Zhu Yu felt that, at this moment, she herself was that bed corner.

The bed corner itself not only did not go out, but even boldly sat down at the edge of the bed.

It did not kick either. It only stretched out a slender finger and, tentatively, gently poked the tightly wrapped quilt.

Zhu Yu tilted her head. Moonlight scattered over her fair profile, her black eyes flickering. Her voice was light and soft.

“Aren’t you curious why you married me?”

Under the quilt, the other person’s ear tip moved almost imperceptibly.

This was the killer move. Zhu Yu simply did not believe anyone could resist this kind of curiosity.

If she herself woke up one day with amnesia and was told she was already married and about to divorce, she would definitely be terrified at once, wondering what exactly had happened.

What more Bai Shuzhou, whose memories had regressed to when she was young, after she had just experienced the pain of losing her mother and should have been at her most lost.

And their situation was so special, their feelings so complicated. Bai Shuzhou had probably heard several different versions.

The version from Bai Qianze was definitely legal education. As for the outside world’s evaluation, it was probably split between two extremes: the ice mountain princess falling in love with a pure-hearted grassroots girl, or an anti-fraud campaign about a romantic schemer.

One did not hit a smiling person. Zhu Yu softened her posture completely, her voice warm and glutinous as she asked:

“How old are you now, Your Highness?”

She was practically coaxing her.

Eighteen-year-old Bai Shuzhou most disliked being treated like a child. Her teeth bit her pale lip with slight irritation, and she propped herself up with her arms.

The moonlight outlined her cold, noble face. Even for such an informal conversation, she could not allow herself to lie there while speaking to an outsider. It was far too improper.

Moreover, being lower than the other person would make her seem weak. She had to maintain control at all times.

Zhu Yu instinctively went to support her and arranged the pillows for her. Her fingertips accidentally brushed against the woman’s smooth, cool skin, and both of them froze at the same time.

The motion was too familiar and natural, as if it had already been done many times.

This bit of habitual contact was already very overstepping for Bai Shuzhou. She had always disliked physical contact. But strangely, in front of Zhu Yu, that instinctive rejection did not appear.

The young woman’s palm was warm and dry, forming a sharp contrast with the dragon race’s cold body temperature. It was even a little scalding.

A tiny, almost imperceptible fluctuation appeared on Bai Shuzhou’s frost-cold expression. She could not control herself from thinking: Mm, just as imagined. It really is very soft.

The side of the young woman’s finger carried thin calluses built up over time. When it brushed lightly over, it actually left a faint red mark on Bai Shuzhou’s snow-white arm.

Zhu Yu’s ears suddenly reddened. Flustered, she did not know where to look, and even her breathing skipped a beat.

Which of their previous touches had not been more intimate than this? The desperate entanglement during the sensitive period, the hospital bed where Zhu Yu had half-knelt and kissed her almost madly…

Yet now, with only their fingertips touching, her heart was beating absurdly fast.

Worse still, Bai Shuzhou’s expression was unusually calm and indifferent. Her emotions were detached, which made Zhu Yu seem even more bewitched and improper. Her fingertips went faintly numb.

Bai Shuzhou leaned against the soft pillows, half-lowering her eyes as she silently examined Zhu Yu.

The light outlined her clear jawline and those pale blue eyes that revealed no emotion.

She spoke faintly, her voice like spring water steeped in snow.

“Eighteen. I differentiated into an Omega.”

This was not happy news.

Although her constitution had been poor since childhood, she had still carried a trace of expectation toward her adult differentiation, hoping secondary development might bring a turning point.

Her frail body could not bear her excessively high mental power, and it had instead become a burden. She had disappointed many people.

But Zhu Yu did not hear the faint trace of loneliness in her tone. Her eyes lit up, and the corners of her lips curved.

“Eighteen is great!”

How incredible. She had actually met eighteen-year-old Bai Shuzhou!

At this time, Bai Shuzhou’s face was exquisitely cold like carved jade. Her aura was otherworldly, yet her edges were distinct. With her chin slightly raised, that innate pride was beautiful in a very aggressive way.

At first glance, she actually seemed even more mature than her twenty-five-year-old self.

Before the rose bloomed, sharp thorns had grown first.

When her long, narrow eyes lifted lightly, that condescending scrutiny fell into Zhu Yu’s eyes like unhidden snowflakes.

It seemed even more deliberate, as if she insisted on showing Zhu Yu her most unapproachable side.

Bai Shuzhou asked, “So why did we get married?”

She had already gathered a great deal of information without showing it, but she still wanted to hear the answer from Zhu Yu’s own mouth.

In truth, this was only a topic thrown out, and Zhu Yu had not thought of any particularly high-EQ answer. She blurted instinctively, “Of course people get married because—they mutually like each other!”

Bai Shuzhou was expressionless.

“You’re brushing me off. Get out.”

Young people were always more sensitive to emotions. Lies were too easy to expose.

Zhu Yu sat properly and honestly, both hands pressed against her knees as she secretly glanced at Bai Shuzhou’s reaction from the corner of her eye.

“Mm, actually, it should count as… marriage first, love later?”

“Love?” Bai Shuzhou laughed very faintly, like newly formed ice falling onto the heart. “You came to find me because of the divorce confirmation, didn’t you?”

“I will not love anyone,” she said with certainty, delivering judgment coldly. “Don’t waste your effort.”

Zhu Yu lifted her head and looked at that icy face, yet what she thought of was the passionate kiss from that night.

The body’s reactions could not deceive anyone. Bai Shuzhou had also leaned softly against her arms after exhausting herself, gently melting drop by drop.

Zhu Yu did not like sharp contrasts, but this subtle gap moe was like a tiny hook, quietly lifting her heart.

Eighteen—shouldn’t this be the age of looking forward to the future?

A hard mouth, a soft heart, and even softer lips.

If Bai Shuzhou was willing to mention this topic, that meant she had also thought about it.

The mood that had originally fallen to the bottom was suddenly fished up, faintly revealing light, like takoyaki being flipped over, golden and crisp before Bai Shuzhou.

Zhu Yu tried to learn the type Bai Shuzhou liked—

A bad woman.

She began clumsily spreading her tail.

In the steamy haze of the bathroom, she had practiced countless times in front of the mirror.

How could she smile in a more attractive way? The book said three parts cool indifference, seven parts unruliness, like the tempting serpent in Eden.

Add a bit of teasing, neither close nor far.

Zhu Yu did not dare truly touch her, afraid of offending eighteen-year-old Bai Shuzhou. The last offense had already made her reflect countless times. So she only used two fingers to pretend they were a little person, lightly walking a few steps over the quilt, detouring in front of Bai Shuzhou.

“I can also stop being a decent person,” she lowered her voice. The particular clear youthfulness of a young person was stained with a bit of magnetism in the low, hoarse tone, and the ending rose faintly, ambiguous yet inexperienced. “You’ll like me.”

“…”

That strange sense of division appeared again.

Bai Shuzhou silently closed her eyes.

How could I like… this kind of thing?

“Get out!”

Those words were far too crude. The moment they fell, even Bai Shuzhou herself froze, unable to understand how Zhu Yu had made her lose composure to this extent.

“Don’t. I’m sorry, I was wrong!”

The young woman immediately lowered her head and stopped acting cool. Her voice turned so soft it could be stretched into threads.

“Even if you don’t like me now, you’ll like me in the future… Can you give me a chance to pursue you?”

“Before you lost your memory, our relationship was really good.”

“We were stranded outside together, lived together, and even helped crack a star pirate trafficking and smuggling case.”

“When I was in the most pain, you descended from the sky, spread your wings, protected me, and guided my violent, out-of-control mental power…”

Bai Shuzhou, who had not beast-shifted in many years, clenched the quilt and interrupted coldly, “How long have we been together? What are my birthday and our wedding anniversary? What irreplaceable value do you have to me? Why should I like you?”

Ah.

This sudden barrage made Zhu Yu’s scalp go numb, cold sweat rolling down.

She did not know. She really did not know when the original body had gotten together with Bai Shuzhou. These questions were a little beyond the syllabus.

Worse, she actually did not even know Bai Shuzhou’s birthday!

Too awful. Too excessive.

Their beginning had been too rushed. Facing each other, they were now practically two blank sheets of paper—though not innocent blank sheets.

The young woman anxiously racked her brain. Seeing Bai Shuzhou’s expression grow colder and colder, she could only desperately try to fill in the blank exam paper.

“I know you can’t touch even a little cilantro. You like braised meat, prefer wide noodles over thin noodles, won’t eat carrots unless they’re cut into pieces, and vegetable rice has to be stewed until very soft…”

She could not answer a single key question and was changing the subject.

As expected.

This scummy Alpha!

She really had not placed anything in her heart, yet she insisted on acting so deeply affectionate before the media. It was all merely to seek benefits.

Bai Shuzhou sneered. “My chef knows these things too.”

The sharp Bai Shuzhou had eyes that could see through everything.

Under her pale blue gaze, Zhu Yu’s guilt had nowhere to hide.

Suddenly, Zhu Yu’s eyes lit up.

Right. She did have irreplaceable value!

Zhu Yu carefully held Bai Shuzhou’s fingertips. Her other hand opened and gently protected them, like shielding a weak flame from a violent wind.

In the corner where the cameras could not capture them, dots of warm firefly-like light spread along their touching skin, silently connecting the two of them. Warmth flowed like a current, trickling upward.

A crack finally appeared in Bai Shuzhou’s indifferent expression, stronger than when she first witnessed Zhu Yu’s ability.

A little incredulous, she lowered her eyes to look at their overlapped fingertips. From her throat escaped an extremely soft sigh, and then she immediately bit her lip, locking away all loss of composure.

That instant of blankness appeared on her always cold and arrogant face, making her especially moving.

“You…”

“Mm!”

Zhu Yu squeezed her fingertips, carrying a bit of small pride in her tone. From initially only being passively taken from, now she could already actively control it.

She lifted her chin slightly and said softly, “It’s all because you taught me well.”

“Please keep me. Don’t divorce me. To you, I’ll be very useful…”

After a small pause, she added softly, “Very good to use.”

Even compared to those excellent love rivals, she had her own advantages!

Not only cooking.

After a short silence, Bai Shuzhou raised her hand and gathered her hair behind her ear, as though lightly taking back control. She lifted her eyes and asked, unhurried yet somewhat uncertain:

“That sentence was also something I taught you?”

Ah, ah…!

That rising tone was so charming that Zhu Yu’s ears burned.

They were both eighteen. Why was Bai Shuzhou so good at flirting?

Bai Shuzhou, who had grown up in the imperial family, clearly recognized solid alliances of interest more readily. After Zhu Yu revealed her card, Bai Shuzhou’s sharpened edge instead softened.

She once again proposed formal contractual cooperation, requiring them to later write out each other’s chips and demands in black and white. Zhu Yu was already very familiar with this process. It was only when they shook hands at the end that she, hiding selfish intentions, held on for a few extra seconds.

Hehe. So what if Bai Qianze did not think highly of her?

She was just that promising. Bai Shuzhou would still choose her, even if it was in this form!

Looking at the foolish smile Zhu Yu could not hide, Bai Shuzhou lowered her eyes and emphasized faintly, “It is only a contract. I told you, I will not like you, and it is impossible for me to love you. Do not overstep. Understand?”

Understood.

Zhu Yu nodded hard.

She understood far too well. Back then, Bai Shuzhou had said the same thing.

But later…

That was hard to say.

If this could make Bai Shuzhou feel at ease, then it was also good.

Still, Bai Shuzhou’s tone was too businesslike, as if all the intimacy between them truly was only a transaction. It faintly stabbed Zhu Yu in the chest.

Like the cool autumn-night wind brushing past her cheek, somewhere inside her felt empty.

Zhu Yu thought and thought. She still did not know how to control her pheromones, so she could only reach toward the back of her own neck and press lightly against the fragile gland.

Bai Shuzhou had done this before. But Zhu Yu’s own technique and skill were far inferior to hers. There was no tingling itch, only a faint pain.

The warm woody fragrance mixed with rich rose scent spread out, making Bai Shuzhou frown lightly and quietly lean back.

She was sensitive to Zhu Yu’s scent, far more sensitive than Zhu Yu knew.

Was it still not obvious enough?

Looking at Bai Shuzhou’s still expressionless face, Zhu Yu gritted her teeth and very much hated that she was an Alpha, that her body was too good. The kiss marks Bai Shuzhou had left had long since disappeared. Otherwise, even teeth marks could have claimed ownership!

Oh, and also…

She took out the diamond Bai Shuzhou had given her from her pocket, unwrapping the handkerchief layer by layer. The deep-blue star diamond stained with Bai Shuzhou’s scent was finally exposed to the air.

“This was given to me by you after the sensitive period.”

The words “love token” did not leave her mouth. Zhu Yu was a little embarrassed. She rubbed her fingers and did not dare look at Bai Shuzhou’s expression.

The gemstone and their ambiguously mingled pheromones could not be faked. They were proof that they had once loved each other.

The night was heavy. Bai Shuzhou examined the gemstone’s glittering light as it reflected on the young woman’s clear face.

Marriage first, love later.

More than one contract.

Helping each other through sensitive periods.

And her gift…

After thinking for a moment, the woman raised her hand as usual, pressed it against her thin lips, and coughed lightly. She suppressed the strange throb in her heart and asked in an even colder tone:

“So, we’re bed partners?”

Author’s Note:

Zhu Yu: Are… are we? [Pitiful]