Chapter 19

“Screech!”

The chair scraped across the floor and directly tripped the completely unprepared Yu Fanhui. The girl in high heels was caught off guard and nearly hit the corner of the bed. She only barely managed to steady herself by holding onto the bedside, and when she looked at He Lingxing, who had suddenly acted up, grievance appeared in her eyes.

“Lingxing / Sister Lingxing…”

Her parents’ voices and Yu Fanhui’s voice rang out at the same time, while the arm Yu Fanhui had stretched out was tightly grabbed by He Lingxing. The strength of a top-tier Alpha who had trained specifically left Yu Fanhui with absolutely no room to resist. She only felt that the hand gripping her forearm was like an iron hoop, hurting so much that she could not help sucking in a cold breath.

“Didn’t I warn you before?”

There was a nameless irritation in her heart. Even in front of her parents, He Lingxing truly could not hold back her temper. The strength in her hand kept increasing, making Yu Fanhui, who had originally been partly acting, feel so much pain that her eyes became a little wet.

She felt as if her arm was about to break.

A normal person, after being warned, would not start touching someone again in such a short time. But Yu Fanhui was relying on the favor of He Lingxing’s parents and acting without restraint.

“It hurts, Sister Lingxing!”

A trace of grievance appeared on that carefully made-up fair face. Yu Fanhui was tightly held by He Lingxing and could not move, so she could only use her voice to vent her dissatisfaction.

He Lingxing looked at her coldly for a moment. It was not until Father He came over that she suddenly let go. Yu Fanhui was in so much pain that she immediately learned her lesson and pulled back the hand that had just been causing trouble.

When He Lingxing looked back and saw disapproval in Mother He’s eyes, she brushed aside the fallen strands of hair. “There’s still something at the company. I’ll Read on BaiLianTales go back first. I’ll come see you again tonight. A fruit basket will be delivered later. Dad, please pick it up.”

Father He looked at her as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he only waved his hand, signaling that she could hurry and leave.

Listening as the sound of her heels tapping the floor grew farther and farther away, Mother He once again gave Yu Fanhui an apologetic expression and gently said a few words of apology. After He Lingxing left, the grievance originally on Yu Fanhui’s face faded quite a bit. She subconsciously touched the spot that He Lingxing had pinched blue, and her face returned to its original sunny and bright appearance.

“It’s fine, Auntie. Lingxing has a quick temper. There’s probably something at the company making her upset. I understand.”

Seeing that it was about time, Yu Fanhui, whose real goal had never been the wine, naturally lost the mood to stay and chat with Mother He after the main person had left. “Please rest well.”

After saying that, she nodded to Father He and turned to close the door as she left.

“Lan.” After watching the two leave one after another, Father He sat beside his beloved wife, but the expression on his handsome face grew increasingly grave. His voice was dry and rough, as though it contained sand. “At the time, we thought Lingxing would differentiate into an Alpha. The test report also said there was a high chance she would differentiate into an Alpha. But unexpectedly, this girl actually became an Omega.”

Perhaps ordinary families did not care about their children’s secondary gender, but to them, no matter how high-level an Omega was, they were still a step below an Alpha. Alphas were natural leaders. Many things Omegas could not do, Alphas could easily complete.

If He Lingxing still refused to get close to Yu Fanhui, then her usefulness to the family was basically negligible.

At first, when they brought Yu Fanhui over as a child, it was actually because they wanted the two to become close girlfriends. But after they grew up, no one had expected He Lingxing to differentiate into an Omega. Since there was no one else in the family who could be supported, they could only take the path of marriage alliance again.

“There’s no way to identify what this child in my belly will become before they turn fifteen. Even bribing the examiner won’t make the report accurate.”

Because she was pregnant, Zhou Lan’s complexion was slightly pale. Especially when she recalled He Lingxing’s attitude toward Yu Fanhui just now, anger flared even more in her heart.

“She should look in the mirror and see what she is. Fanhui is good-looking too and should at least be [read the original at bailiantales.com]considered worthy of her. How many Omegas are still unmarried at twenty-four? It’s all marriage alliances anyway. Aren’t women much safer than men?”

Zhou Lan believed every single point was completely for He Lingxing’s sake. Naturally, the more she spoke and thought about it, the angrier she became. “I still have to wait fifteen years for this child to differentiate. If only I hadn’t gotten pregnant only now…”

“All right, I understand what you mean. But Xingxing has indeed been too stubborn since childhood. If she doesn’t suffer a little, she really won’t know that home is still the best.” Father He patted his wife’s back with considerable distress. “Don’t get so angry that you harm your body and disturb the baby. Besides, Xingxing and Fanhui’s families both run entertainment companies. Sooner or later, she’ll understand the benefits of mutual help between people in the same industry.”

“If only she could be half as sensible as Fanhui.”

**

He Lingxing had not slept well for several days in a row. By the time she returned home, it was already midnight. After applying a sleeping mask cream and sending the message she had not had time to send to Shu Minglan earlier, she turned off her phone and caught up on sleep.

This sleep was not very peaceful either.

She rarely dreamed.

The scene in the dream was not a world she had been to before. Instead, it seemed unrelated to her own memories, yet closely connected to this identity.

It was dusk after a clear day. The bright sky was gradually filled with vermilion and crimson seeping in from the west, translucent as though the colors had spread through water.

Rows of weeping willows were planted along the riverbank. She sat on the damp shore, with dirty mud beneath her. Her fair feet occasionally pinched up a lump of mud and naughtily tossed it into the water, splashing up droplets and startling the little fish gathered in a cluster. The girl’s laughter was crisp as bells, but soon, it changed in quality.

The scene shifted. It was a square little room, with only a small crack opened inside so “she” could breathe. When she opened her eyes, she could only catch faint, blurry outlines in the darkness. “She” desperately clawed and scratched wildly, but she could not break free from the shackles at that moment.

The lump of air pressing down on her chest grew heavier and harder, making it nearly impossible for her to breathe. She wanted to forcibly pull her consciousness out of this prison, ​bailiantales.com​but what she saw were her parents’ two smiling faces.

He Lingxing abruptly sat up from the bed.

Clear daylight fell through the gap in the curtains, casting a long, pale golden mark across the room. The pillow beside her had, at some point, been placed on her chest. Its filling was heavy.

He Lingxing’s sleeping posture had never been very good. When she got up, she only felt soreness in her waist, but her mind had become much clearer. When she turned on her phone, WeChat and her email were flooded with messages.

She first made a call.

Previously, there had been an IP discussing cooperation with her family. It had originally leaned more toward her side, but Yu Fanhui’s side also wanted it.

Perhaps because Yu Fanhui had said a few good words before, the original owner had vaguely thought of giving it up and had yet to make a decision. When this matter suddenly surfaced in her memory after waking up, He Lingxing directly had the relevant department finalize that IP today.

First, let that woman watch helplessly as a piece of fat meat slipped away.

The messages she had sent before sleeping last night had already been pushed down. He Lingxing typed a few words into the search bar at the top and clicked in. The last message in the chat history was the sentence she had sent. From one in the morning until now at nine in the morning, Shu Minglan had not responded.

Her mood inexplicably became a little irritated again.

However, there were still many things she needed to handle first thing in the morning. After washing up briefly, He Lingxing arrived at the company. The moment she sat down at her desk, she saw a disposable thermal lunch box.

A childish and cute little bear doodle had been drawn on top of the lunch box. Its round face wore a big smile, and it stretched out a hand as if indicating that the food should be eaten quickly. The order note stuck on it had been blurred a little by the steam melted out by the heat:

【It’s cold, so please make sure to deliver it quickly. Please eat it as soon as you receive it. It’ll stolen contenthurt your stomach if it gets cold—by Miss Shu (note)】

It was corn shrimp porridge and a small appetizing side dish.

He Lingxing subconsciously picked up the order note she had just torn off and placed on the table. Sure enough, she found a familiar name on it. It was still the breakfast shop Shu Minglan had mentioned to her before.

The porridge shop’s taste was indeed very good. It cleverly combined the fresh sweetness of corn with the soft stickiness of rice. Because the shrimp was slightly salty and smooth, it did not make the dish feel greasy. The side dish was not heavily flavored like in other places, and the portion was not large. Once stirred in, the taste was just right.

Beside it was also a small, exquisite pan-fried bun. Green scallions were sprinkled over the plump white bun skin. With one bite, the pork filling was savory, fragrant, and satisfyingly chewy.

Her appetite was usually not very good in the morning, but the portions of the porridge and bun were not large. After finishing them, she was just full enough without becoming too bloated and affecting her work.

He Lingxing sent Shu Minglan another message inviting her to have dinner together. This time, she quickly received a reply.

【Shushu】: I’m leaving this afternoon. I’ll eat lunch on set, so I probably won’t have time. Also, I’m dieting now. [Image]

It was a photo of an electronic scale.

Shu Minglan should be around 165 centimeters tall, or slightly above that. For a woman of this height, weighing in the ninety-plus jin range would already count as slim, yet she was currently only in the eighty-plus jin range.

Many artists desperately controlled their weight for the camera. This was even stricter for female artists, who faced higher standards regarding their figures.

But in truth, being too thin only made clothes look better on camera. In real life, a figure that looked as though it could be blown over by the wind was not actually very attractive. He Lingxing was about to say a few more words when her gaze landed on another incoming call.

“President He!” The voice on the other end belonged to that female mentor. Her tone carried extreme anxiety, almost with a faint sob. “Le Jiaxuan broke bailiantales.comher leg, but we still have a new schedule this afternoon!”