All for You (Lily Futa ABO) - Chapter 3

In early April, Lin Yao received notifications simultaneously via physical mail, email, and text message:

Notification Regarding the Matchmaking Conference
To Ms. Lin Yao (Omega):

The first session of the spring matchmaking conference for XXXX is scheduled as follows. Relevant details are hereby notified:

1. Conference Date and Time:
XXXX April 20, 15:30

2. Conference Venue:
Hall No. 1, Senlu Hotel, No. 23 Changping Road, City A

In accordance with Law No. XXX, as a single Omega who has reached the age of 25 and has not yet given birth, you are obligated to attend this matchmaking conference. Absence is not permitted except under special circumstances. Your assigned pairing number is 29. Please bring this notification to confirm your number and take your seat at the table corresponding to that number.

This concludes the notification.
XXXX Matchmaking Conference Organizing Committee
XXXX April 7

It had finally come. Lin Yao let out a sigh. On one hand, she felt nervous about being forced into such an awkward situation—meeting and chatting with a complete stranger. On the other, she had already decided she would definitely reject whoever it was. But her youth was going to slip away through one absurd mandatory matchmaking session after another, and the number of rejections she could still use would keep dwindling. And if by then the original owner still hadn’t returned, what was she supposed to do? She didn’t dare think any further…

The mandatory matchmaking conference was truly a big deal here. Lin Yao hadn’t told any of her colleagues, but when she requested time off for the afternoon of April 20, her superior immediately said that if it was for attending the matchmaking conference, all related leave would not count against the company’s allotted personal leave quota. Not long after she requested the time off, everyone came over to greet her, wishing her good luck with the matchmaking and hoping she’d find a satisfactory Alpha. This excessive attention left Lin Yao feeling deeply embarrassed for the few days leading up to the event.

The day of the matchmaking conference finally arrived. The night before, Du Jia sent her a message to cheer her on. Lin Yao couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Even though she had already decided to reject, she still couldn’t help wondering what kind of person she would meet tomorrow. If it turned out to be someone decent, maybe—even if they couldn’t become lovers—they could at least become friends…

Morning came. She looked at her haggard face in the mirror, didn’t bother with makeup, grabbed whatever comfortable clothes were in the closet, and headed out. When she arrived at work in the morning, her colleagues saw her sloppy, casual outfit and each scolded her for not dressing up properly for such an important day—as if they cared more about it than she did.

After lunch, Lin Yao arrived at the venue early. The matchmaking conference was held at quite a luxurious hotel in the city. Upon entering the hall, staff verified identities, then handed out a number tag and a booklet containing various details about the matchmaking conference. Lin Yao found table No. 29. The tables were similar in size to small two-person café tables, with two chairs facing each other across from one another. No one was there yet—it seemed she had arrived first.

She sat down and looked around to observe the situation. The hall was very large, decorated in a gaudy but classic gold-and-jade splendor style—probably specially arranged for the event. The walls were covered in large fake red roses, and the entire space gave off an overwhelmingly kitschy, instantly recognizable “romantic” vibe. Lin Yao couldn’t help but smile wryly. The hall was filled with identical small tables and chairs, each pair spaced about two meters apart, leaving plenty of room. It seemed designed to give participants some privacy while chatting—a surprisingly considerate touch.

In one corner of the hall were self-service beverages. Seeing them, Lin Yao went over and got herself a cup of water.

There was still some time before the start, but people were already arriving one after another. Strangely, Lin Yao began to feel her face growing hot. It was as if the air was filled with some peculiar scent. At work, there were often plenty of customers in the store, but she had never felt anything like this. Could it be because when so many Alphas and Omegas gathered in one place, they released more pheromones, and as an Omega who could sense them, she had become more sensitive? Watching the pairs around her begin to talk, she felt both embarrassed and tense. Her face flushed bright red; she quickly looked away and started flipping through the information booklet.

The more she read, the more embarrassed she became. First, to make things convenient for participants who took a liking to each other, they could directly use a free room at the same hotel hosting the current session… Second, she had previously assumed each matchmaking conference was just a single meeting, but it turned out there were actually multiple rounds. This session was only the first of three, which explained why the notice said “first session.”

According to the booklet, this matchmaking conference consisted of three events: this initial meeting, followed by a joint visit to a kindergarten, and then a nature picnic date. If either party rejected the other after the first meeting, they would not be required to attend the subsequent two events. Otherwise, both were obligated to participate in every activity.

This was just too awkward, Lin Yao thought. She figured she would probably reject right after this meeting so she could skip the rest.

Continuing to read, she learned that after completing the matchmaking activities, if both parties decided to get together—even if pregnancy didn’t happen quickly—they would no longer have to attend the new semi-annual matchmaking conferences. They could keep trying until they produced two children, but they would have to undergo annual medical checkups to confirm no artificial contraception was being used. Alphas or Omegas with congenital infertility issues, along with their partners, were exempt. Even if they chose not to stay together, as long as the Omega successfully became pregnant, neither would have to participate in new matchmaking until after the child was born. After the first child, they could reassess and continue participating as needed until two children were born… As she read through all the various rules and explanations, she gradually calmed down.

“Hello.”

Just as Lin Yao was absorbed in reading the basic information, a soft voice suddenly interrupted her. Startled, she looked up immediately and saw someone holding a No. 29 tag standing across from her. Her face instantly flushed again—even more dramatically than before, like a ripe tomato.

The other person was a fairly tall woman dressed in a pure white casual suit. Her voice sounded very polite, but strangely, she wore a large mask that completely covered half her face. After just a quick glance, Lin Yao lowered her head, held her breath, and felt too shy to move.

The other person was a woman—something she hadn’t expected. But then again, in this world where real genders were Alpha, Beta, and Omega, biological sex wasn’t that important, so being matched with a woman made sense. In her original world, although she had been a virgin her whole life, she had also secretly crushed on women before. Still, something felt off: she had heard that when meeting a highly compatible Alpha, one would feel an extremely strong presence—but Lin Yao felt absolutely nothing from her.

Only after the other person sat down did Lin Yao realize how rude her behavior had been. Gathering her courage, she looked up again.

The woman across from her looked extremely clean—not just because her pure white outfit was spotless, but also because her skin was very fair, almost pale. She had shoulder-length linen-colored hair that didn’t look dyed; it had a silky, natural sheen. Her eyebrows were the same color—thick, perfectly shaped, long past her eyes, and without a single stray hair. Lin Yao’s own eyebrows were long too, but somewhat messy, so she greatly envied people with beautifully shaped brows. Beyond that, the woman’s eyes were long and strikingly large. Beneath barely noticeable double eyelids, her irises were an unusual amber— so clear they almost seemed hard to focus on, adding to her distant aura. The outer corners drooped slightly, yet the lower lids curved upward just before the end, creating a subtle, elegant arc. Gazing at those graceful, exquisite eyes, Lin Yao felt her heart tremble. Snapping back to reality, she realized those bright amber eyes were staring right back at her. She quickly averted her gaze and softly introduced herself:

“Hello, my name is Lin Yao.”

“Hello. My surname is Cheng.”

How strange. She had given her full name, yet the other person only gave her surname. Thinking this, Lin Yao asked again: “May I ask your name?”

“My surname is Cheng,” the woman replied, her tone somewhat cold.

Now Lin Yao understood: the other person wasn’t even interested in the most basic self-introduction. Clearly she didn’t care about this event at all—or perhaps she had seen who her match was and lost interest? The thought made Lin Yao deflate instantly. Just minutes ago she had been planning to reject the other person right after this meeting, but now she realized she might very well be the one getting rejected.

“I’m 32 years old,” the other person suddenly spoke again, still in that cold tone.

Another odd point. In this world, everyone had to start attending these semi-annual events from age 25, with only ten rejections allowed—so shouldn’t someone at 30 have no more rejection rights? Meaning…

“You’re probably wondering why I’m still participating at 32. Because every time, I get rejected by the other person.”

She sounded completely indifferent.

Lin Yao was somewhat shocked. How could someone start the conversation by saying something so direct? And since she had said it outright, wasn’t she basically hinting that Lin Yao should reject her later? It seemed she deliberately asked others to reject her each time, using up their rejection quotas, which was how she had reached 32 without facing punishment. Lin Yao began to feel a bit repulsed.

The other person spoke again: “Do you know why I always wear a mask?”

In a time with no pandemic, still wearing one while talking to someone—because you lack manners? Lin Yao thought to herself, possibly even rolling her eyes a little without realizing.

“Because there are extremely ugly scars on my face.” She stared straight at Lin Yao as she said it.

Hearing this, Lin Yao felt a flicker of sympathy due to her usual empathy. But something felt off. Ms. Cheng’s tone and gaze seemed to carry a kind of provocation.

Although the woman’s voice was refined and pleasant, this aggressive, challenging way of speaking made Lin Yao uncomfortable. She gave a few vague responses, and seeing that the other person had no intention of continuing the conversation, she took out her phone and started looking at it—continuing to study product information for work while inwardly complaining that sure enough, all the weirdos came to these matchmaking events.

Yet strangely, despite the other person’s various unusual and inappropriate behaviors that made Lin Yao somewhat uneasy, deep down she didn’t truly dislike her.

While scrolling on her phone, she accidentally knocked over the cup of water on the table. Some splashed onto her phone. “Ah!” she exclaimed softly and hurriedly rummaged through her bag for tissues. But just like in her previous life, Lin Yao was disorganized and couldn’t find them right away.

As she was panicking, the person across from her had already taken out tissues and begun wiping her phone and the table. Embarrassed, Lin Yao quickly thanked her repeatedly. After drying everything, the other person handed the phone back and asked in a noticeably softer tone than before: “This phone—you’ve been using it for a long time?”

It was an older model from a brand called Carrot. The name was a bit funny, but it was actually a budget smartphone brand with steadily rising market share, developed by Tianhe Group—the parent company of the digital products store where Lin Yao worked. In her original world, she had used the exact same model, though the original owner’s phone looked even older, probably second-hand. Still, it didn’t affect the user experience.

Since she currently worked at a digital products store, Lin Yao had recently paid special attention to basic phone specs. After sharing her personal usage experience, she casually chatted a bit more about the phone’s technical parameters.

It seemed Ms. Cheng was very interested in phones; she kept the conversation going on the topic for quite a while. She appeared somewhat surprised by Lin Yao’s knowledge and asked about her profession. After learning where Lin Yao worked, she seemed to raise an eyebrow slightly.

As they talked, the subject gradually shifted. Since Lin Yao herself had studied literature, she couldn’t help steering the conversation in that direction. In the past, her friends had always found such topics boring, pretentious, and overly academic. But to her surprise, the woman across from her had an extremely broad knowledge base, considerable literary cultivation, and could respond to anything—even offering fresh, eye-opening perspectives on certain classics.

Lin Yao immediately gained a new level of respect for her and secretly admired her. The other person’s originally arrogant and cold demeanor also gradually softened.

Just as the two were chatting animatedly, the woman’s phone rang. She answered, spoke briefly, then told Lin Yao that due to a work matter, she needed to leave immediately.