After Becoming a Scumbag Alpha, I Protect the Female Lead’s Love - Chapter 16

When Xi Zhou woke up that morning, she was sporting a pair of massive, bruise-like dark circles under her eyes. When Nan Zhiyi and Nan Jing sat down at the dining table and saw her yawning, Nan Zhiyi began serving the porridge. As she placed a bowl in front of Nan Jing, a mischievous idea struck her. She asked, “An-an, a giant panda has come into our house, did you see it?”

At the mention of a panda, Nan Jing perked up instantly: “Where?”

Nan Zhiyi pointed at the yawning Xi Zhou: “Right there, see it?”

“Oh.” Seeing it was just Xi Zhou, Nan Jing lost interest immediately and buried her head in her food. “Mommy, you’re so boring.”

Nan Zhiyi wasn’t annoyed by the comment; her primary goal hadn’t been to tease Nan Jing anyway.

“Hey, hey, why are you making fun of me?” Xi Zhou stretched and started eating.

“Xi Zhou, if you’re lacking sleep, you don’t have to get up early to make breakfast for us,” Nan Zhiyi said, remembering the insomnia Xi Zhou had mentioned at the hospital.

“It’s fine, I just get up early.” Three or four in the morning was indeed early. Xi Zhou felt her statement was accurate.

“Is it that you can’t fall asleep, or is the quality of sleep bad?” Nan Zhiyi wasn’t fooled and pressed further.

“I have nightmares.”

“Oh.” Nan Zhiyi nodded and went back to her meal.

Before Nan Zhiyi and Nan Jing headed out, Nan Zhiyi handed her a small pillbox: “This is a sleep aid. Take it and get some rest.”

“Thanks.” Xi Zhou took the box with a complex expression as she waved them goodbye.

There was a small label on the box with instructions on how to take it. The handwriting was vigorous and firm—clearly the result of years of practice—completely unlike Xi Zhou’s “ant-crawl” scribbles.

The dosage Nan Zhiyi gave her was exactly enough to last until Friday.

With the help of the medication, Xi Zhou finally enjoyed a few nights of stable sleep. Every morning, after eating with the mother and daughter, she worked on developing her algorithm. Once finished, she applied for a patent with Nan Zhiyi’s help.

On Friday, Xi Zhou spent the morning at the kindergarten with Nan Jing. At noon, as she was preparing to take Nan Jing home for lunch, Nan Zhiyi called, wanting to join them.

When Nan Zhiyi hung up, she was already waiting for them at the gate. Having spent the morning running wild, Nan Jing was exhausted and acted spoiled, insisting that Xi Zhou carry her. Amused, Xi Zhou scooped her up. Nan Jing settled in comfortably, clinging to Xi Zhou like a koala while lazily sipping water from her bottle.

Nan Zhiyi stood by the roadside and waved to them. “Over here!”

Hearing her voice, Nan Jing immediately looked over: “Mommy!”

Xi Zhou’s lips curved into a smile as she lengthened her stride toward Nan Zhiyi.

Suddenly, a man stepped directly in front of Nan Zhiyi. Xi Zhou’s sharp vision caught the flash of disgust on Nan Zhiyi’s face.

Seeing the man’s hostile expression, Xi Zhou shifted Nan Jing to one arm and used her free hand to grab Nan Zhiyi’s wrist, pulling her protectively behind her.

To her surprise, her action made the man break into a grin. It was a fake smile—that was Xi Zhou’s immediate gut feeling. This man was not a good person. Xi Zhou knit her brows, standing her ground in front of Nan Zhiyi.

“Oh? Zhiyi, what’s the meaning of this? Where’d you find this bodyguard? What a loyal dog for guarding the house.”

Xi Zhou wasn’t riled by the provocation. Feeling Nan Jing’s arms tighten around her, she simply reached up to turn the child’s head away, preventing her from looking at the man.

“Be good, don’t look,” Xi Zhou coaxed gently. “Don’t be afraid.”

Nan Zhiyi patted Xi Zhou’s shoulder lightly: “It’s okay, I’ll handle it. Take An-an to the car first.”

“I’ll wait for you in the car then.” Though worried, Xi Zhou understood that Nan Zhiyi was signaling she could handle it. Moreover, with a child present, she had to follow Nan Zhiyi’s lead.

Xi Zhou had installed a child safety seat in the back a few days prior. After securing Nan Jing, she climbed into the passenger seat and rolled down the window to watch the situation outside.

The conversation between Nan Zhiyi and Liu Jinyan was clearly not going well.

“I want custody of Nan Jing,” Liu Jinyan said, that hypocritical smile still plastered on his face.

“In your dreams,” Nan Zhiyi sneered. “I will never hand An-an over to a beast like you.”

“I am her father!”

“Are you worthy?” Nan Zhiyi didn’t want to engage further as other parents were beginning to look their way. “Custody is out of the question. If you want to sue, I’ll see you in court.”

“Nan Zhiyi, I underestimated you. You’d better stay with that useless Xi Zhou forever. Don’t you dare divorce! Otherwise, I will definitely take that child from you.”

“Don’t trouble yourself with my affairs,” Nan Zhiyi retorted. “Stop stalking An-an. Otherwise, I’ll consider moving to another country with her.”

Without hesitation, Nan Zhiyi turned and got into the car. Xi Zhou started the engine and drove away from the kindergarten.

The drive was silent. Even the usually boisterous Nan Jing sat quietly in her seat with her head down, affected by Liu Jinyan’s appearance. Nan Zhiyi didn’t speak, and Xi Zhou didn’t ask.

“We’re home,” Xi Zhou said as she turned off the car.

“Mhm.” Nan Zhiyi had been absentmindedly staring at her phone the whole way. Xi Zhou glanced at her; Nan Zhiyi’s eyes hadn’t stayed on a single screen for more than ten seconds.

It wasn’t until lunch, when Xi Zhou and Nan Zhiyi kept teasing Nan Jing, that the atmosphere finally brightened up, dispelling the previous gloom.

Nan Zhiyi had taken the afternoon off and stayed home with them.

After returning, Nan Jing went to practice her violin sullenly, not asking for the adults to accompany her. Nan Zhiyi noticed the change but didn’t rush to push for answers. Meanwhile, Xi Zhou was in a great mood because her patent had been approved; she planned to bake a cake and cook a feast to celebrate.

Nan Zhiyi leaned against the kitchen door, watching her.

“Want to help?” Xi Zhou asked as she tied her apron.

“Sure,” Nan Zhiyi agreed readily.

The kitchen was large enough for both of them. Xi Zhou prepared the cream and handed it to Nan Zhiyi to whip. They worked in their own rhythms for a while. Once the cake was in the oven, they both found themselves with a free moment.

“That was An-an’s father,” Nan Zhiyi said suddenly.

“Mhm.” Xi Zhou’s calm demeanor gave Nan Zhiyi a strange sense of security. “Whatever you want to say, I’ll listen. What you don’t want to say, I won’t ask.”

In some ways, the two were quite alike. Neither took the initiative to pry into the other’s private affairs; Nan Zhiyi didn’t ask about Xi Zhou’s past life, and Xi Zhou didn’t ask about Nan Zhiyi’s social circle. They maintained a delicate balance—familiar, but not quite intimate. Nominally a married couple, they were effectively “the most familiar of strangers.”

Both were waiting for the other to be the first to cross that line.

Nan Zhiyi steadied her thoughts and continued: “When he divorced my sister, An-an was only a month old. He didn’t want custody.”

“My sister brought An-an back to the Nan family. He never paid child support and never visited. A year later, my sister passed away from cancer. He didn’t come to the funeral, let alone ask what would happen to the child. Recently, An-an’s check-up showed an 80% chance she’ll manifest as an Alpha. Now, he’s like a mad dog that’s spotted a bone, coming to fight me for custody.”

“I will protect you both,” Xi Zhou said. She looked at Nan Zhiyi, her voice light but her expression incredibly serious.

“Thank you.” Nan Zhiyi was taken aback. She felt a moment of daze before recovering and thanking her.

“If he tries anything, you must tell me. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

From Nan Zhiyi’s reaction, Xi Zhou guessed this wasn’t the first time Liu Jinyan had stalked the child. If something happened to Nan Zhiyi, custody would naturally fall to him. This meant Liu Jinyan was likely the cause of Nan Zhiyi’s “accidental” death in the original timeline.

Xi Zhou finally had a lead; she put investigating Liu Jinyan at the top of her to-do list.

This time, however, Nan Zhiyi didn’t just agree. “Xi Zhou, you have no obligation to protect us. You came here and your life has a new beginning. Your new life should be independent, not centered around me or always putting me first. You owe me nothing.”

“Even though I don’t quite understand what you mean about our fates being linked, I still think you should have your own life.”

Her words sent ripples through Xi Zhou’s heart, but she couldn’t stand by and watch the coming danger. Nan Zhiyi was half a head shorter than her. Her long, dark lashes trembled slightly, striking the softest chords of Xi Zhou’s thoughts.

Xi Zhou reached out and patted Nan Zhiyi’s head. Her hair was soft and felt nice to the touch.

“I know I have no obligation. But I want to help you. I don’t want you to be troubled by these things,” Xi Zhou’s voice carried a nearly imperceptible tremor.

Nan Zhiyi looked up, meeting a pair of moist eyes.

“Why are you crying?” Nan Zhiyi was moved to laughter by Xi Zhou’s sudden teariness, choosing not to overanalyze the somewhat ambiguous words.

“I’m not,” Xi Zhou sniffled. “I’m just moved by what you said.”

Xi Zhou admitted it openly, and Nan Zhiyi couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Seriously, Xi Zhou, your tear threshold is so low.” Nan Zhiyi tossed a tissue into Xi Zhou’s hand, laughing until she was out of breath.

Xi Zhou, a 25-year-old PhD in Physics, was moved to tears because Nan Zhiyi told her to live for herself. Nan Zhiyi found it genuinely hilarious.

“I regret it now,” Xi Zhou sniffled again, aggressively throwing the tissue into the trash.

“Regret what?” Nan Zhiyi wiped away a tear from laughing.

“Admitting I was moved.” Xi Zhou wore a cold face. “Fine, I’m not moved anymore.”

Nan Zhiyi tried to hide her smile, but to Xi Zhou, she still looked like she was mocking her.

“Stop laughing.” Xi Zhou pulled the cake out of the oven.

“Mhm.” Nan Zhiyi couldn’t help it and let out another snort of laughter.

In response, Xi Zhou kicked her out of the kitchen.

Coming out of the kitchen, Nan Zhiyi went to the door of Nan Jing’s music room. She knocked and entered after receiving permission.

“Sweetie, why are you unhappy?” Nan Zhiyi took the violin and set it aside.

Nan Jing crawled into her mother’s arms, pouting. “That man was mean to Auntie Xi. And Auntie Xi didn’t even get mad.”

“He was mean to Auntie Xi, so why is An-an unhappy?”

“Auntie Xi protected Mommy, but that man still yelled at her.” Nan Jing was indignant on Xi Zhou’s behalf. “What right did he have to yell at Auntie Xi?”

It seemed Xi Zhou had completely won over the little one. In just a few days, she was already standing up for her. Nan Zhiyi was happy, but the priority was soothing the child. “Because that man has no manners and he’s jealous of a good person like Auntie Xi. Auntie Xi is generous and kind, she doesn’t want to waste her breath on someone so rude.”

“Don’t you think Auntie Xi is very broad-minded?”

“I guess so,” Nan Jing nodded, accepting the explanation.

With a little coaxing, Nan Jing cheered up and went back to practicing, insisting that Nan Zhiyi stay with her.

When Xi Zhou finished cooking, she saw a spirited Nan Jing sitting at the table next to an exhausted Nan Zhiyi. Xi Zhou grinned mischievously and said:

“Ha! What goes around comes around!”