Diva Alpha Meets Her Biological Daughter on a Parenting Variety Show - Chapter 1

On the northeast coast of Australia, a evening breeze brushed over the coral atolls.

The artist passage at the Brisbane Music Hall was packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through. On both sides of the concierge barriers, the crowd surged like a tide toward the center, waving light boards and bouquets with all their might, their faces flushed from screaming:

“Ming Nuo! Ming Nuo!! Ming Nuo!!!”

The cameras in the front row were all aimed at the center of the passage. As a pair of slender legs stepped out of the venue doors, a piercing scream erupted from the crowd: “Wife Ming Nuo, look over here! I love you! I love you!”

The Alpha who had just stepped out raised her hand and smiled.

She was still in her stage outfit; a burgundy camisole and black trousers outlined her tall, upright figure. Her silhouette was smooth and elegant. Click-click-click—flashes went off incessantly.

As her assistants followed behind, Ming Nuo walked down the passage toward her van. Fans on both sides scrambled to hand her gifts: custom dolls, handmade cards…

Suddenly, a CD featuring Ming Nuo’s portrait was thrust forward. The woman stretching her arm out looked frail and haggard. “Ming Nuo! My sister is sick and doesn’t have much time left. She loves your songs so much. Please, give her an autograph!”

The crowd quickly swallowed the woman up, and her plea was drowned out by the clamor.

Bitterness flooded the woman’s heart. She had snatched a ticket and flown all the way to Australia, queuing from dawn until evening. She had finally seen the real Ming Nuo, but now she didn’t even know if her request had been heard.

The tall figure on the red carpet paused slightly and looked in the woman’s direction.

Ming Nuo was tall and, wearing black high heels, her line of sight was higher than most. She called over a security guard: “Please let that lady come through.”

Supported by the guard, the woman approached the barrier. Overjoyed, she held up the CD with bony hands. “Ming Nuo! Please sign this for my sister. It’s her final wish.”

A girl nearby violently shoved her aside. “Who cares how many days your sister has left? We all queued since before dawn. Why should you get a signature first?”

The tip of Ming Nuo’s shoe stopped at the edge of the barrier. She tilted her head slightly, her jaw and neck forming a beautiful curve.

With just a gentle glance, the natural pressure of a high-level Alpha caused the arrogant Beta girl to scramble back in a panic.

The frail woman looked up nervously, her hands trembling as she held the CD.

Ming Nuo looked down and gave her a warm smile. Immediately, colorful markers were handed over from the crowd. Ming Nuo picked one at random and took the CD.

“Hello. What name should I write for the ‘To’ section?”

Seeing Ming Nuo’s face up close, the woman saw a flawless, fair oval face, thick eyebrows, bright eyes, and a high bridge of the nose. Her heroic brow radiated a natural brilliance, like a red wild rose.

This was Ming Nuo—the diva who “could have relied on her looks but insisted on using her talent.”

The woman stared at Ming Nuo’s breathtaking face for several seconds before snapping out of it and reciting her sister’s name.

Ming Nuo nodded, quickly signed the CD, and wished for a speedy recovery. As she handed it back, she asked, “Which hospital is she in?”

The woman hurriedly gave the address, her eyes wide with shock. “Will you… will you go see her?”

Ming Nuo’s gaze was tender. “I’ll visit her as soon as I return to China.”

“Thank you!”

The scene instantly turned electric. Someone screamed at the top of their lungs: “Good job, Wife Ming Nuo!”

“Ming Nuo, we love you! Ahhh!!!”

Fans began helping one another, passing forward CDs, photos, dolls, and even clothes. They chanted Ming Nuo’s name, a sound as powerful as a tsunami, wave after wave.

Ming Nuo waved to respond to her fans, patiently signing everything. The short walk through the artist passage took nearly an hour.

Her assistant looked on helplessly, only following her into the car once Ming Nuo was finished. They knew their Diva doted on her fans and tried to satisfy every request, but this spontaneous hour-long signing session had derailed their scheduled plans. It was truly willful behavior.

Closing the car door, Ming Nuo leaned back and slowly shut her eyes to rest. She hadn’t wanted to disrupt the schedule either, but because she had signed one for a special case, she couldn’t show favoritism by ignoring the others.

“Teacher Ming, throat-soothing tea.”

The assistant handed her a thermos. Ming Nuo cracked one eye open, her voice sounding noticeably dry. “Thanks.”

She had sung for two hours straight at the concert, plus the interaction with fans; even a throat made of iron couldn’t withstand that.

The assistant flipped through the schedule on a tablet. “Teacher Ming, we planned to have dinner by the sea at 8:00 PM. Since we spent an extra hour, it’s already 9:00…”

Before the sentence was finished, Ming Nuo’s phone rang.

The ringtone was loud—a very old-fashioned song: “Come home often, come home and see!”

“…”

This was a custom ringtone Ming Yan had set on Ming Nuo’s phone. She had said: “You’ve become famous and never come home. When this ringtone goes off, you’ll know it’s family calling to remind you to come back.”

Ming Nuo leaned against the window and sluggishly answered, “Mommy.”

“MING NUO!!!”

Ming Nuo pulled the phone away, her ears ringing from the high-decibel roar.

Ming Yan: “We agreed to eat at eight! Look what time it is now!”

Ming Nuo closed her eyes: “Mm.”

“Mm, mm, mm! All you know is ‘mm’! Where are you now?”

“In the car.”

“How far away?”

“Almost there.”

“Hurry up!”

“Mommy, you eat fi—”

Beep.

Ms. Ming Yan had hung up.

Ming Nuo sighed, set her phone to vibrate, and told her assistant, “I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we arrive.”

As they approached the hotel, the assistant gently woke her.

Ming Nuo tidied her appearance, took the elevator from the underground garage, and headed to the rooftop restaurant to join Ming Yan’s dinner party.

Ming Yan usually didn’t interfere with her daughter’s work. She had a childhood friend who had moved to Australia years ago, so she had requested to come abroad with her daughter’s team to catch up.

“Tell me about it! I was so worried back then!”

“As you know, I’m a Beta. I had Nuo Nuo through IVF with her mother. Although Nuo Nuo’s mother was an Omega, she had a congenital gland defect. So, when Nuo Nuo reached twenty-two and still hadn’t differentiated, everyone suspected she had a gland defect too.”

The private dining room was magnificently decorated, and the bright lights made Ms. Ming Yan look radiant.

As soon as Ming Nuo entered, she saw Ming Yan talking non-stop with a face full of smiles.

Seeing her daughter arrive, Ming Yan’s smile widened. “But in the end, our Nuo Nuo differentiated into an Alpha—and a Level 1 Alpha with the highest pheromone intensity at that! Oh, as her mommy, I can finally put my heart at ease.”

There were four seats in the room. The seat facing the door was empty. To the right was Ming Yan, to the left was a girl with bright eyes and white teeth, and an older woman sat near the door.

The woman smiled brightly. “Nuo Nuo the big star! I finally see you in person. Sit, sit.”

Ming Yan: “Nuo Nuo, this is your Auntie Xu, my old classmate. Back in the day, she was the class monitor and always made me stand at the podium as punishment.”

Auntie Xu laughed. “Oh, that was all when we were kids, and you’re still talking about it.”

Ming Nuo was used to Ming Yan’s “A woman’s revenge is never too late” social style. She gave a polite smile. “Hello, Auntie Xu.”

She sat down and caught a faint, sweet scent from the woman on her left. An Omega.

Ming Nuo greeted her formally. The Omega stared blankly at Ming Nuo’s face for a moment before looking down bashfully. “H-hello. I really like your songs.”

“Thank you.”

Ming Yan called out to her daughter, “Nuo Nuo, this is Auntie Xu’s daughter, Yingying. She’s a Level 2 Omega and a fan of yours! You young people should add each other on WeChat and chat more. Be friends.”

“Level 2 Omega” meant that this Miss Xu’s pheromones were highly compatible with a Level 1 Alpha.

According to hospital pheromone reports, Alphas and Omegas are divided into three levels based on intensity: Level 1 is the highest, Level 3 the lowest. Compatibility is generally higher within the same level range. However, Level 1 Omegas were incredibly rare, so many Level 1 Alphas chose to marry Level 2 Omegas.

Ming Nuo sighed inwardly. Here we go again.

In the past two years, Ming Yan had introduced at least five Omegas to her. This time was even worse—she had arranged a blind date dinner without even a word of warning.

Ming Nuo was blunt: “I’m sorry, I have no intention of dating right now.”

Miss Xu’s shoulders trembled slightly, and she buried her head even lower, poking at the soup in her bowl.

Auntie Xu smiled and said it was fine, but her eyes couldn’t hide the awkwardness.

Ming Yan was silent for a moment before slamming her cutlery onto the table.

“Ming Nuo, falling in love and starting a family is a major life event. You can’t learn bad habits from those monsters in the entertainment industry—waiting until you’re forty to get married and have kids when your physical health has declined.”

“Yingying has lived in Australia since primary school. She graduated with a Master’s from the University of Melbourne and is a doctor. She’s highly educated, has a respectable job, and is a good, clean girl. Auntie Xu and I grew up in the same compound; our families know each other inside and out.”

Ming Yan’s tone grew heavier as she tapped her knuckles on the table.

“I am firmly against you finding some questionable person in the entertainment industry. Like that ‘Lemon Snow’ who was in the news today—pregnant out of wedlock, refusing to admit her private life is a mess, and even high-profilely promoting some ‘keep the daughter, ditch the Alpha’ nonsense.”

Ming Nuo suddenly looked up.

“Who?”

“The one you like to watch movies of. She hasn’t filmed lately. Isn’t she called Lemon Snow?”

Auntie Xu, despite being abroad, was better informed than Ming Yan. “Her name is Ning Xueqing. No wonder she went into hiding after winning the Grand Slam a few years ago. Turns out she went off to have a child.”

The dinner knife in Ming Nuo’s hand slipped, clattering onto the tablecloth.

Her throat had already been dry, but now it felt like a rusted harp string—hoarse and stiff. “Ning Xueqing is famous. There are a lot of fake news stories meant to smear her.”

Ming Yan was adamant: “She admitted it on Weibo! It just hit the trending searches. See for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

The Weibo interface, exploding with notifications, shattered Ming Nuo’s final line of defense.

9999+ @-mentions and comments.

[A-Nuo, don’t look, it’s all bad comments!]

[Cyber-hand covering Nuo’s eyes. Nuo-bao don’t cry, we love you QAQ]

[@MingNuoReeed, Nuo-ah, stop the concert! Look at the trending searches. Your goddess… she has a child! (Crying on the floor)]

In Ming Nuo’s constricted pupils, the latest post from her “Special Follows” was reflected.

A profile picture of a cute lemon had reposted the news from @EntertainmentDetectiveBot regarding “Triple-Crown Best Actress Keeps Daughter, Ditch Alpha.”

@NingXueqingLemon: I love my baby daughter. Thank you for your concern. [Heart]

Boom—

It was as if the snow that had accumulated in Ming Nuo’s heart for years had collapsed in an instant, leaving only a vast, cold white.

The “Flower on the High Ridge” that she had piously admired for ten years had, in the end, been plucked by someone else.

Ning Xueqing. The youngest “Triple Crown” Best Actress in the country. She debuted at sixteen as the “Little Fairy” Zhang Jing in The Proud Twins. In the drama, her fiery red outfit, red whip, and red horse were striking and lively, making her famous overnight.

Later, she starred in the grand historical drama The Legend of Wu Zhao. Her portrayal of the young Wu Zetian captivated the entire nation. For those few years, if the TV wasn’t showing Journey to the West or Legend of the White Snake, it was Ning Xueqing’s Little Meiniang.

With fame came controversy. As her popularity rose, criticism surged. Many netizens criticized her “melon-seed” shaped face as being “petty” and were cynical about her future.

That same year, Ning Xueqing entered the Jinghua Film Academy with the highest scores in both academic and professional tests. She slapped her critics in the face with the highly acclaimed urban drama Old Affairs of the Bund. Masterpiece followed masterpiece until, at twenty-three, she won the Best Actress crown for the documentary film The Rain of Cherrapunji, solidifying her status as a top-tier star in the industry.

The year Ning Xueqing held her Best Actress trophy, Ming Nuo was only eighteen—a patient with a differentiation disorder from a low-income family in a fourth-tier city. She was carrying an old backpack and taking a long-distance bus to the provincial capital to participate in a talent show.

One was a favored daughter of heaven radiating light; the other was a penniless “country bumpkin.”

They were never supposed to cross paths, but because Ning Xueqing had felt a moment of compassion and rescued Ming Nuo—who didn’t understand the “unspoken rules” of competitions—from a casting couch dinner where she was expected to sell her looks, Ming Nuo’s fate was changed forever.

Her kindness and sense of justice were deeply imprinted in Ming Nuo’s heart, like a precious spark that ignited a secret crush that burned through the years…

Ten years.

Ming Nuo had transformed from a talent-show singer to a Mandopop Diva who took the music world by storm. Finally, she stood at a height where she could stand side-by-side with Ning Xueqing.

But just as she gained enough confidence to walk toward her face-to-face, Ning Xueqing had a child with someone else.

This fire… it was time to let it die.

Ming Nuo tilted her head and downed another gulp of rum. After finishing the dinner party, she had returned to the hotel’s resort villa. She sat under a tree in the garden, drowning her sorrows in alcohol while looking at the night view of the Brisbane River.

The riverbank for miles around was private hotel territory, accessible only to members staying in the villas. It was incredibly silent.

A wind rose over the river, and Ming Nuo’s sharp Alpha sense of smell caught a trace of an Omega’s pheromones.

Unlike a normal body scent, this was the specific, provocative scent of a heat cycle.

Ming Nuo’s body moved faster than her brain, leading her toward the riverbank.

It wasn’t because the Omega’s pheromones had numbed her reason, but because she recognized this clear, mellow scent.

On the night she differentiated into an Alpha, she had been driven into a frenzy of fire by this very same bone-melting allure…

The moonlight illuminated the rippling green waves.

Ming Nuo stood on the bank. Through the branches, she saw a slender woman sitting by an outdoor dining table where the lights were still on.

The woman was slumped lazily over the table, one hand draped across the surface, the other curled under her ear. Her eyes were half-lidded, gazing blearily at the river.

Ming Nuo’s breath hitched. Her entire head felt like it was on fire.

Ning Xueqing.

Why was she here?

Snap.

Ming Nuo stepped on a dry branch.

The tipsy Omega raised her head toward the sound. The corners of her peach-blossom eyes were tinged with pink. A breeze blew past, causing her fluffy, long curly hair to drift forward.

“Don’t go… Ming Nuo.”