A Rich Family’s Matrilocal Alpha Married to a Vegetative Omega - Chapter 15

The Valentine’s Day gift Ye Fan brought back was a music box containing a preserved “everlasting” flower. Hearing Ye Fan’s description, Qin Shujian nearly burst out laughing and teased, “Didn’t you say before that preserved flowers are just a scam?”

“But it’s pretty.”

Ye Fan didn’t catch the underlying tease. She tilted her head and expressed her thoughts honestly. “It does feel a bit like a ‘stupid tax’… but the craftsmanship is quite refined. Even if it doesn’t actually last forever, it should be fine for a year.”

Hearing this, Qin Shujian didn’t hesitate to expose her. “That sounds familiar. Are those not the exact words the salesperson used to pitch it to you?”

“Cough, cough… we can just understand it in our hearts, why do you have to say it out loud?”

Ye Fan felt a bit embarrassed and let out two dry coughs to mask the awkwardness, quickly adding: “If you don’t like it, I’ll go out and pick another one!”

If she could go out once using Valentine’s Day as an excuse, she should be able to go out twice. Ye Fan thought this quite casually, but Qin Shujian was somewhat reluctant to let her leave just like that.

She also knew that for someone as indecisive as Ye Fan, being able to think of this gift was already quite impressive. For a moment, she stopped her in a slightly “tsundere” (stubbornly sweet) manner.

She said things like “this one is fine” and “you won’t find anything better if you choose again,” but in reality, her tone was soft and clingy. Ye Fan wasn’t an idiot; she picked up on it immediately and exposed her with a smile— “You actually really like it, don’t you?”

Qin Shujian’s voice paused. She coughed twice as if she wanted to argue, but finally admitted grudgingly: “…Seeing how much effort you put into it, it’s not like I can’t like it.”

Man, she’s such a tsundere.

Ye Fan’s face was beaming, but her heart was screaming with delight—she thought this side of Qin Shujian was simply too cute!

Perhaps beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Qin Shujian was already beautiful enough, but to Ye Fan, her beauty went far beyond just her appearance.

The two flirted and chatted for a while, but as they spoke, Ye Fan realized something was wrong. Her head felt hot and her breathing grew heavy—a clear precursor to a pheromone surge. Logically, she should have immediately retreated to the side to inject a suppressant…

But for some reason, perhaps mesmerized by the atmosphere, Ye Fan became bold. Her face flushed as she leaned closer and asked Qin Shujian, “I’m feeling a little uncomfortable… can I kiss you?”

Qin Shujian was completely stunned. For a moment, she was both shy and angry—angry that Ye Fan’s gift-giving indeed had “ulterior motives.” She spoke with indignation: “You rogue!”

This snapped Ye Fan back to her senses instantly. She wished she could slap herself and explained with a mix of embarrassment and grievance:

“It’s the pheromones inducing it, it has nothing to do with me!”

Does it really have nothing to do with you?

Ye Fan’s head was burning and she was at a loss for words. Unconsciously, she grabbed Qin Shujian’s hand. Feeling her nervousness, Qin Shujian actually found the situation a bit funny.

“…Since that’s the case, I’ll forgive you this once. Don’t let it happen again!”

Ye Fan was overjoyed and readily agreed. She splashed some water on her face and cautiously leaned in to kiss Qin Shujian—

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Both of them froze. It was as if Ye Fan had a bucket of cold water poured over her; she snapped completely awake. However, the pheromones in the air had not yet fully dissipated.

It would be too embarrassing to let someone else see such a private moment. Biting the bullet, Ye Fan quickly opened the window under the sound of the urgent knocking.

Hearing her movements, Qin Shujian found it hilarious, while Ye Fan heard her laughter and felt a bit grumpy.

Little did Ye Fan know, this wasn’t even the point that would make her the angriest.

She tidied everything up within a few minutes. When she finally opened the door, Su Yu was standing there with a slight frown, looking somewhat displeased. But before she could speak, a voice suddenly came from beside her.

“—It’s alright, Housekeeper Su. Shujian has been in her care all these days; it’s normal for her to be unable to attend to us for a moment.”

This “mistress of the house” tone left Ye Fan stunned. She blinked and saw an Alpha slowly emerge from the side. Her features were striking, but her makeup was a bit excessively heavy.

She looked at Ye Fan with a faint smile, her tone almost grateful. Under that gaze, Ye Fan felt an inexplicable discomfort and almost wanted to ask who this person was.

But Su Yu didn’t give her a chance to speak. She lowered her head, showing more respect than she ever did to Ye Fan. “Miss Li, you may go in to see the Eldest Miss now.”

The Alpha known as Miss Li nodded slightly. Someone surreptitiously led Ye Fan away, and only then did she realize this Alpha wanted to see Qin Shujian.

But… it was understandable that Qin Wan wanted to close the door to see her daughter, but why was this person also allowed to see Qin Shujian alone?

Ye Fan felt a surge of frustration and wanted to rush forward to do something, but Su Yu restrained her. “Let’s go?”

“Who is that person?” Ye Fan didn’t dodge the question, but Su Yu only gave her a complicated look and said, “That is not your concern. Come out with me for now.”

Without giving Ye Fan a chance to react, she half-dragged, half-pulled her downstairs.

Ye Fan was completely confused and felt increasingly uneasy, but she knew Su Yu was firm; one look at her face told Ye Fan she wouldn’t reveal anything.

Ye Fan looked left and right, then tentatively poked a nearby maid and whispered, “Do you know who that person is?”

The maid looked slightly surprised. Ye Fan quickly reassured her, “Housekeeper Su isn’t here, you can just say whatever. I’m just curious.”

The maid blinked, and her expression took on a similar complexity to Su Yu’s. Perhaps because they were close in age, Ye Fan even saw a trace of pity.

This pity made Ye Fan feel entirely uncomfortable. She twitched her lips and urged, “Just tell me what’s up…”

“Well, Miss Ye, let’s agree beforehand—you must not get angry when you hear this—”

Ye Fan nodded in promise. The maid didn’t hide anything and whispered that the visitor was the eldest daughter of the Li family, Li Wei.

The moment that name came out, Ye Fan was momentarily blank, and then she heard the following words clearly.

“Before our Eldest Miss had her accident, the two of them were almost about to get engaged.”

“What?” Ye Fan was shocked.

“Miss Li and our Eldest Miss were childhood sweethearts; they grew up together! Everyone who saw them thought they were a match made in heaven…”

The rest of the words were like thorns in her ears. Ye Fan fell into a speechless silence, her heart filled with hidden jealousy.

Seeing Ye Fan’s face turn pale, the maid immediately reacted. “Wait… Miss Ye, don’t misunderstand. The two of them have nothing to do with each other now. Since our Eldest Miss had her accident six months ago, the marriage proposal fell through, so…”

Ye Fan’s mood became increasingly sour. She was so conflicted she couldn’t speak. The maid took two steps back and asked cautiously, “Miss Ye Fan, do you still want to hear more?”

Hear what? This is just looking for a way to suffer, Ye Fan thought. She felt incredibly awkward and her heart was in a knot.

But since she had just promised she wouldn’t be angry, Ye Fan couldn’t bring herself to tell the maid to stop, so she let out two coughs.

“Tell me later. I’m going to the restroom.”

Ye Fan made an excuse and slipped away.

She was still a bit dejected as she walked away, her mind full of the phrase “childhood sweethearts.” She felt for sure she couldn’t compare to that woman in Qin Shujian’s heart.

Ye Fan was lost in her wild thoughts and didn’t notice a girl who had followed Li Wei. When the girl caught sight of her, a sudden flash of joy erupted in her eyes.

She looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, lowered her head and stepped forward to follow Ye Fan directly.

Immersed in her own thoughts, Ye Fan noticed nothing. She gloomily pushed open the restroom door and first splashed some water on her face.

Just as she looked up to check the mirror, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her, pulling her to the side. Ye Fan almost screamed, but another hand covered her mouth as if predicting her move.

Ye Fan was dazed. Her strength failed her, and she was dragged into a stall by the person behind her. When the person finally loosened their grip, Ye Fan took the chance to resist, only to hear a familiar voice: “Ye Fan… it’s me!”

Ye Fan froze. Seeing the person’s face clearly, it felt as if her brain had been struck by a heavy blow, and countless fragments of memory came rushing in.

She couldn’t quite organize them and stood there in a daze.

The person opposite her had red-rimmed eyes filled with tears. “Ye Fan, why are you here? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you? Why didn’t you wait for me?”

The memories slowly aligned. While the person in front of her was still expressing her longing, Ye Fan was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole. She finally remembered why the “cowardly” original owner had found the courage to run away from the wedding.

It was very simple. The person in front of her was named Zhao Yusze, and she was the original owner’s girlfriend. She and this girl had been in a secret relationship that didn’t have their family’s support.

So the two had agreed to elope, but an accident happened midway… and Ye Fan had transmigrated into this body.