Chapter 23
In the early hours of the morning, Qi Yu lay sprawled across the sofa, questioning every decision she’d ever made.
This was probably the longest—and most exhausting—day of her entire life.
The night before, determined to minimize physical contact and keep Gu Qian from discovering her secret, she’d finally reached for the mysterious “gift” hidden beneath the sofa.
Then, relying entirely on her own ingenuity, she somehow figured out how to use every single thing that looked usable…
Thankfully, all her efforts had paid off.
Gu Qian had quickly grown tired and fallen asleep.
Qi Yu had immediately fled to the bathroom, where she’d spent two full hours under an icy cold shower.
While showering, she’d even covered her tablet with a waterproof sleeve, propped it on a rack, and forced herself to watch the evening news.
Between the physical torture and the mental self-discipline…
She had finally succeeded in suppressing every trace of desire.
The price, however…
Was not sleeping a single minute all night.
Qi Yu took out her phone and opened Baidu.
Soon she found herself browsing one of the country’s largest Alpha-Omega discussion forums.
A thread with several thousand replies sat pinned at the top of the homepage.
Urgent! What happens if an Alpha suppresses their desires for too long?
Original Poster:
Hi everyone. I’m an Alpha, and my girlfriend is an Omega. She was in a car accident a while ago and is still recovering. The doctor told us not to engage in anything too intimate for now.
The problem is… she keeps teasing me, and I’ve had to hit the brakes over and over again.
Now she’s mostly recovered, so we finally wanted to try again last night…
But I suddenly realized something wasn’t working anymore…
Can any fellow Alphas tell me what’s going on? 😭
Please don’t tell me I’m broken… 😭
1F:
Neither Alphas nor Omegas should suppress themselves too often. Lighting a candle for OP.
2F:
Sounds like you’ve hit the brakes too many times and your body hasn’t adjusted yet. I’d recommend seeing a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Don’t panic.
3F:
Speaking from painful experience—I have one piece of advice for every Alpha here.
Never keep forcing yourself to endure it.
Don’t ask me why.
My girlfriend and I broke up because of exactly this.
The further Qi Yu read…
The more frightened she became.
She started mentally counting just how many times she’d “hit the brakes.”
…I don’t think I’ve reached the original poster’s stage yet…?
Qi Yu silently swore to herself.
If Gu Qian ever does something like that again…
Even if I have to threaten my own life…
I absolutely cannot keep giving in halfway.
Thunk—
A heavy object suddenly hit the floor inside the bedroom.
Qi Yu immediately sat upright.
Gu Qian’s sleepwalking again?
Alarmed, she hurried into the bedroom.
Pushing open the door, she saw Gu Qian still asleep.
Qi Yu instinctively slowed her footsteps as she approached the bed.
Gu Qian had rolled onto her side.
One arm dangled over the edge of the mattress.
A plastic decoration from the bedside table had fallen onto the floor—apparently knocked off accidentally during her sleep.
Her eyes remained tightly shut.
Her brows were knitted together as though trapped inside a nightmare.
“…Don’t…”
“…don’t leave me…”
“…Dad…”
She’s dreaming about the years before she turned six again.
Watching Gu Qian murmur painfully in her sleep, Qi Yu gently brushed the damp strands of hair away from her face.
“It’s okay.”
“I’m here.”
Scenes like this had repeated themselves countless mornings over the past several years.
Qi Yu smiled bitterly to herself.
Even knowing that you can’t distinguish love from possessiveness…
Even knowing that perhaps the only reason you want to be with me is because of the scars left by your childhood…
I’ve still stayed by your side.
I’ve never once walked away.
Most of Alley had already finished filming.
Many actors had wrapped days earlier and gone home.
Today would be both Gu Qian and Qi Yu’s final scene.
It was also the very last scene of the entire production.
“Morning, Little Qi!”
Director Wang greeted her cheerfully.
The moment Qi Yu saw his face…
She remembered how she’d once wrongly suspected this respected, virtuous director of trying to take advantage of her.
The guilt nearly overwhelmed her.
“Morning, Director Wang.”
She forced herself to sound composed.
Director Wang, unusually cheerful today, completely failed to notice the complicated look on her face.
Instead, he stared at her in surprise.
“Little Qi?”
“What’s with those dark circles?”
“You young people really shouldn’t stay up all night.”
Qi Yu laughed awkwardly.
…Does rehearsing scenes until dawn count?
Remembering how refreshed Gu Qian had looked after waking up—
Compared with her own exhausted appearance—
Qi Yu suddenly felt deeply aggrieved.
Even the makeup artist couldn’t help commenting while piling several extra layers of concealer beneath her eyes.
“Miss Qi.”
“You really shouldn’t abuse your youth like this.”
“Look how pale you are.”
“It’s heartbreaking.”
The fragrant powder covered her face like snow in June…
Completely burying every explanation she wanted to make.
At this moment…
Qi Yu sincerely wished she really were an Omega.
Perhaps because yesterday had gone a little too far…
Even Gu Qian, who was normally perfectly composed, seemed somewhat embarrassed.
She barely teased Qi Yu throughout the entire morning.
As a result…
Their final scene was completed smoothly.
With all filming officially wrapped up…
That evening, Qi Yu flipped through the calendar and couldn’t help feeling sentimental.
Just a few months ago…
She’d been unable to eat or sleep while desperately trying to win the role of Xu Sheng.
Back then, she’d constantly imagined who the famous actor opposite her would be.
Now…
She had already completed filming the very first movie of her career.
And she’d spent several months living and working side by side with the childhood sweetheart she’d once tried so desperately to avoid.
Just as she was lost in thought…
Her mother called.
“Xiaoyu.”
“Have you finished filming?”
“Yeah.”
“Tomorrow’s just the wrap party.”
“Then you’ll make it home for Mid-Autumn Festival, right?”
“This year you have to bring Qianqian home with you.”
“If you come back without her…”
“Just see what I’ll do to you.”
Qi Yu sighed.
“Mom.”
“You think everyone has as much free time as I do?”
“Gu Qian’s a huge celebrity.”
“Her schedule’s probably packed for months.”
“She might not even get any time off.”
“I don’t care.”
Her mother answered immediately.
“I’ll ask Qianqian myself.”
“If she’s free…”
“And you don’t bring her home…”
“Forget Mid-Autumn.”
“You don’t need to come home for Spring Festival either.”
Qi Yu: “…”
The production had reserved a five-star hotel for the wrap party.
That evening…
News of the event spread quickly.
The hotel entrance became packed with reporters.
Only a handful of major media outlets were granted permission inside.
Besides the cast and crew…
Many influential figures and investors from the entertainment industry also attended.
Even before the banquet officially began…
The entire floor buzzed with people greeting one another and expanding their professional networks.
Newcomers like Shi Yunwei smiled sweetly while eagerly introducing themselves to industry veterans.
Meanwhile…
Established stars like Gu Qian and Jiang Lan found themselves surrounded by endless lines of people hoping to curry favor.
Qi Yu…
Being relatively unknown…
Had little interest in making connections.
She simply sat alone in a corner, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone.
Only then did she notice that Gu Qian had sent her a rather large compressed file earlier that morning.
Curious, she downloaded it.
It took quite a while to unzip.
Inside were more than a dozen videos.
The filenames were nothing but numbers.
1.
2.
…
15.
At first glance, there was no clue what they contained.
Since Gu Qian had previously shared acting reference materials with her…
Qi Yu thought nothing of it.
She put on her earphones and opened the first video.
Two minutes later—
Qi Yu slammed the video shut.
Locked her phone.
Then violently flipped it face-down onto the table.
Several nearby guests looked over in surprise.
Qi Yu’s entire face burned crimson.
Gu Qian had actually sent her Omega–Omega adult videos!
At first…
Nothing seemed unusual.
Then…
The longer she watched…
The stranger it became.
Only after hearing the unmistakable sounds through her earphones did she finally realize exactly what she’d just unzipped.
“Oh!”
“Little Qi’s over here!”
Jiang Lan smiled brightly as she walked over and grabbed Qi Yu by the hand.
“Come on.”
“You’re one of the leads.”
“You should sit here.”
Before Qi Yu could react…
Jiang Lan had already planted her directly beside Gu Qian.
The familiar scent immediately reached her.
Her face grew even hotter.
Feng Qi glanced over with concern.
“Little Qi.”
“If you can’t handle your alcohol…”
“Just drink less.”
“It’s fine.”
Gu Qian leaned slightly closer.
Maintaining a perfectly serious expression, she lingered near Qi Yu’s cheek for several seconds.
“Hm.”
“I don’t smell any alcohol.”
When no one else was paying attention…
She quietly whispered beside Qi Yu’s ear,
“You’re not allowed to drink.”
“I like the scent of mint.”
Warm breath brushed against Qi Yu’s ear.
Embarrassed, she glared at Gu Qian.
The banquet officially began.
After the usual speeches from the main cast and creators…
The audience below looked distracted.
Very few were actually paying attention.
Only when the lucky draw began did everyone’s spirits lift.
With Mid-Autumn Festival approaching…
The final raffle had been replaced with a festive activity.
The two lead actors from Alley would be selected to jointly design a pattern on a digital mooncake.
The production would then have the design made into real mooncakes and give them away to lucky fans.
The two names drawn…
Were Gu Qian…
And Shi Yunwei.
Shi Yunwei beamed shyly as she walked onto the stage beside Gu Qian.
According to the rules…
The two actresses had to hold hands while sharing a single stylus to draw together on the electronic display.
Excited cheers immediately erupted from the audience.
Qi Yu frowned.
She wasn’t stupid.
If the goal had simply been to create customized mooncakes for fans…
There would’ve been no reason to force two actors onto the stage together.
Especially not in such an intimate way.
Her mood suddenly darkened.
When the activity ended…
She quietly excused herself and headed for the restroom alone.
Inside…
Two relatively unknown actresses were whispering to each other.
“So…”
“What’s Shi Yunwei’s family background?”
“She actually managed to get Gu Qian to help promote her.”
“I heard she’s related to one of Fenghua’s major shareholders.”
“The senior probably doesn’t have much choice.”
“She’s still signed under Fenghua, after all.”
“Tch.”
“It’s so unfair.”
“We work ourselves to death…”
“And someone else just relies on connections.”
Only after the two actresses finished complaining did Qi Yu quietly step out of the stall.
A trace of gloom settled across her face.
Xu Man…
As Fenghua’s future head…
Is she really just letting her best friend be used for publicity like this?
She stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Beautiful.
Pure.
Large, watery eyes.
Her makeup softened the naturally heroic edge of her features, making her appear harmless and delicate.
Yet reflected within those eyes…
She saw something else.
Stubbornness.
And unwillingness to give up.
When she stepped back outside…
A tall figure leaned casually against the wall, smoking.
Seeing Qi Yu emerge…
Shi Yunwei extinguished her cigarette.
Then smiled provocatively.
“You heard everything.”
“Didn’t you?”
Qi Yu answered calmly,
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You can pretend not to.”
Shi Yunwei shrugged indifferently.
“I’m just telling you this.”
“There are countless people who want to cling to Gu Qian.”
“So stop acting all pure and innocent.”
“Trying to get close to her…”
“While pretending you want nothing to do with her.”
“‘Pure and innocent?'”
Qi Yu repeated the words with a faint smile.
Her eyes turned cold.
“When exactly…”
“…did I ever say…”
“…that I wanted to distance myself from Teacher Gu?”
She stepped forward until she was standing directly in front of Shi Yunwei.
Standing perfectly straight…
Qi Yu was just slightly taller than the Alpha before her.
Looking down into Shi Yunwei’s eyes…
Her voice was icy.
“I’m sorry.”
“But I don’t think I only want to cling to her.”
“What I want…”
“…is her.”
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