Chapter 20
After struggling all night in dreams that seemed both real and unreal, immersed in lemon wine, Jing Qingxia woke with her head aching faintly, as if she had a hangover.
She tried to swallow, but her throat was still dry.
With difficulty, she opened her eyes. The light outside was shining through the curtains and falling on the exquisite face before her.
Jing Qingxia had not expected to see Zhong Mingxue’s delicate face the moment she opened her eyes.
For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming. She froze for two seconds before finally coming back to herself amid the warmth surrounding her whole body.
The sensation against her body told her that the two of them were pressed intimately together. One set of pajamas faded from yellow to white, while the other faded from white to pink, making them seem as if they had blended into one.
This posture was so intimate it was like… like close girlfriends.
All right, in truth, Jing Qingxia was not very sure either.
After all, in her previous life, she had many comrades-in-arms who had gone through life and death with her, but she had never had a best friend as close as a sister. That left her with no way to judge the boundaries of intimacy.
She carefully sensed the situation. At some point, Zhong Mingxue’s hand had circled around her, and the hand wrapped in gauze was pressed against her waist where her pajama top had ridden up. It was a little itchy.
Zhong Mingxue’s room was different from Jing Qingxia’s. It did not have thick, heavy curtains. So the entire room was already lit by the faint morning glow.
Jing Qingxia held her breath and stared at Zhong Mingxue for a while.
The way she looked while asleep really did resemble a little cat, relaxed and soft.
It was just that her face still carried the weakness left over from yesterday. Her brows furrowed lightly, then slowly relaxed. Jing Qingxia did not know what she had dreamed of.
A frail beauty. It was hard not to feel tender affection for her.
Jing Qingxia’s gaze slid from Zhong Mingxue’s brows down the bridge of her nose, then landed on her lips.
She pressed her own lips together. Yesterday, when this mouth had pressed against the back of her neck, it had not been nearly this obedient.
Her lips were a little pale in a sickly way, but still full. Jing Qingxia wondered what they would feel like if touched.
What am I thinking?
Jing Qingxia hurriedly moved her gaze away and focused her attention on Zhong Mingxue’s tear mole, shrinking the range of her thoughts.
At that moment, Zhong Mingxue’s lashes trembled, and then her eyes slowly opened.
Their eyes met without warning. Their gazes immediately tangled together, and yet neither of them was the first to look away.
Jing Qingxia kept looking at Zhong Mingxue and realized that Zhong Mingxue was probably just like she had been a moment ago—still groggy from sleep. It took Zhong Mingxue a full five seconds to come back to herself.
Because starting from the fifth second, visible to the naked eye, the redness climbed from her neck all the way up to her face.
She was dazed even longer than I was. Good thing I’m not the one hugging her right now. Good thing I woke up first.
Jing Qingxia secretly laughed in her heart, but her face showed nothing. She simply wanted to see what this little cat would do in this kind of situation.
Zhong Mingxue’s consciousness returned, and she discovered that Jing Qingxia was lying in the same position she had fallen asleep in last night, while she herself was clinging to Jing Qingxia’s body.
Since when had her sleeping posture become like this?
She had actually laid hands and feet on someone who had kindly stayed here to keep her company.
She hurriedly withdrew her hand, weakly turned over, and shrank back under the quilt.
Then she felt that this was too impolite, so she said in a muffled voice from under the quilt, “Sorry.”
Her throat was a little dry, and her voice carried a trace of hoarseness and stickiness.
What was with that voice?
Hearing it made Jing Qingxia’s face turn red too.
But seeing Zhong Mingxue’s reaction also made her want to laugh.
This was way too fun, right?
It was completely different from how she usually looked.
A little cute.
Jing Qingxia thought that since her mental age was older than Zhong Mingxue’s, this impulse to hug her right now must be the mindset of an older sister!
And so, this mischievous “older sister” replied with two other words.
“Good morning.”
Zhong Mingxue: “……”
Jing Qingxia had no intention of continuing to tease Zhong Mingxue. Otherwise, this little cat who had finally opened her heart a little might curl back up again.
She got out of bed briskly and went back to her own room to wash up.
Only after Zhong Mingxue heard the door close did she poke her head out from under the quilt and recall last night’s “dream.”
She could almost confirm that it had definitely not been the artistic creation of her brain cells, but something that had truly happened while the anesthetic had been taking effect.
Otherwise, there would not have been that kind of mark on the back of Jing Qingxia’s neck.
Last night, she really should not have given in to that moment of vulnerability and let Jing Qingxia stay with her.
Annoyed, Zhong Mingxue covered her face with the quilt again.
It was one thing that after Jing Qingxia saved her, her heart had been in such a mess that she had lost her vigilance.
It was also one thing that she had shared a bed with a prospective Alpha without suspecting whether the other person had improper intentions.
Although Jing Qingxia had not differentiated yet and they were both girls, for Zhong Mingxue herself to have done that kind of thing…
That was right. Jing Qingxia had not differentiated yet.
Zhong Mingxue threw off the quilt.
Even if she had been affected by both the anesthetic and Alpha pheromones, why would she do that kind of thing to Jing Qingxia?
But that neck had been so fair, so slender and tender…
Zhong Mingxue hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash her face.
She herself was the one who seemed more like she had improper intentions!
……
After returning to her room and quickly washing up, Jing Qingxia sat in the dining room and took the chance to message Yuan Leshan and Duan Yajie to confirm the agreed time.
Yuan Leshan: Boss, you really don’t trust us at all. We already agreed we’d definitely arrive on time.
Duan Yajie: I was so excited that I woke up early this morning!
Jing Qingxia: What happened yesterday wasn’t a good thing. When you meet her, be careful and don’t say random nonsense.
Yuan Leshan: Got it, got it. obedient.jpg
Duan Yajie: All right. It’s not like we’re going to do anything bad. We’re mainly just concerned about whether our academic goddess is okay. After running into something like that, she definitely didn’t sleep well last night, right?
Jing Qingxia: She’s fine. She rested pretty well.
Yuan Leshan: That’s good.
Duan Yajie: Wait, Sister Xia, why would you know whether she slept well or not?
Jing Qingxia knew Duan Yajie was about to tease her about something, and she also knew CP leader Yuan Leshan would react immediately.
She put her phone away, denying them the chance.
When she lifted her eyes again, she saw Zhong Mingxue slowly coming downstairs.
The expression on Zhong Mingxue’s face had already returned to normal.
During the process of washing up just now, she had finally managed to sort out all those complicated emotions.
In the end, she felt that what Jing Qingxia said yesterday was right. Rather than chasing after unease, constantly thinking about repaying her or feeling guilty, it would be better to interact according to the relationship between friends.
This wary little cat had finally made her first friend after the changes in her life.
Zhong Mingxue’s gaze landed on Jing Qingxia, and a faint smile touched her lips.
Who could have imagined that her first friend would actually be the little tyrant she had hated when they were young?
The soft morning light was different from the evening glow. It filtered in through the floor-to-ceiling window from another direction and fell across Jing Qingxia’s side.
Zhong Mingxue slowly walked to the dining table and sat side by side with Jing Qingxia in the morning light.
Jing Qingxia was drinking milk when she looked up and saw Zhong Mingxue smiling at her. The milk went down in a large gulp along with her nervous swallow, and it seemed as though she had tasted a strange lemon flavor.
She smacked her lips.
It was an illusion.
What a pity.
“You two still have to go out today, so you must be careful,” Auntie Zhang could not help reminding them again.
“I know. I’ll first take Zhong Mingxue to the hospital for a follow-up check. After confirming there’s no problem, we’ll meet up with our friends. I guarantee nothing will go wrong.” Jing Qingxia gave her word.
Auntie Zhang was silent for a long while before finally nodding.
The eldest young miss really was different now. She should give her a little more trust.
“Then as for Sir and Madam…”
Jing Qingxia looked at Zhong Mingxue.
Zhong Mingxue had also considered this question yesterday. “Let Uncle and Auntie focus on their business trip for now. When they come back, I’ll tell them personally.”
Jing Qingxia nodded.
When Zhong Mingxue gave her statement yesterday, she had also hinted at the situation in her family. The police had it on record, so they would definitely pay more attention.
After all, the one kidnapped was an S-rank Omega.
Existing laws still gave preferential treatment to Omegas. Not to mention a high-quality S-rank Omega.
Originally, Jing Qingxia had been noncommittal toward these laws. After all, so-called preferential treatment felt rather like the protection of resources, which made her uncomfortable.
But now, looking at it another way, it could at least count as a form of security.
Those low-class relatives of the Zhong family should restrain themselves quite a bit as well.
……
They took a taxi to the hospital and rode the elevator directly to the eighth floor.
While Zhong Mingxue had her medicine reapplied and gauze rewrapped, they waited for the gland examination.
Reapplying medicine was a small matter. For an S-rank Omega, the gland reexamination was the real focus.
When the doctor came over, Jing Qingxia stood up nervously from her seat. “Doctor, are the examination results normal?”
The doctor looked at Jing Qingxia. “Everything is normal. The gland is not actually that fragile. Still, you’re quite attentive. You accompanied her yesterday, and you’re accompanying her again today. The adults in your family didn’t come.”
The doctor had originally wanted to say that something like this should be accompanied by guardians, and that it was a little pitiful for two high school students to come by themselves.
But Jing Qingxia did not pick up the implication at all. Her mind was originally that of an adult.
“Of course. I’m her friend! I’m much more reliable than the adults at home.”
She sounded so proud that she did not seem like she was talking about a friend. It would not have been too much to say she was talking about a girlfriend.
Even the nurse beside them could not help teasing Zhong Mingxue. “Your friend treats you really well.”
Zhong Mingxue only smiled and did not refute it. “Yes. She’s a reliable friend.”
When they left the hospital, she did not forget to comfort this overly nervous friend. “I’m really fine. Yesterday, I should have simply been affected by the anesthetic. Otherwise, logically speaking, an S-rank Omega should still be able to resist a low-rank Alpha’s pheromones.”
After saying this, the tips of her ears turned slightly red.
But Jing Qingxia listened as though she had suddenly understood.
So that was how it was. The rank suppression of pheromones also existed between Alphas and Omegas.
Only then did she slowly feel relieved.
“Then let’s go. Leshan and Yajie are waiting for us at a nearby café. We can just walk there.”
As Jing Qingxia spoke and led the way, she lightly pulled Zhong Mingxue by the wrist to draw her to the inner side of the road, while she herself walked on the outer side. Her movements were smooth, natural, and effortless.
“The map says it’s this direction, six hundred meters.” Jing Qingxia did not forget to bring her phone in front of Zhong Mingxue and let her confirm the route, rigorous as a hired driver.
Does she need to be this cautious with me?
Zhong Mingxue began to examine herself.
In the past, she really had needed it.
Toward this, she did not want to feel sorry anymore. She could only respond with gratitude.
……
Yuan Leshan and Duan Yajie, these two high school girls who were good at having fun, had found a café that was also a cat café.
The moment the door opened, the bell jingled.
Several lazy gazes were cast over from inside the café.
Jing Qingxia felt somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by the little cats all at once.
So this was what it felt like to be targeted by little cats?
Zhong Mingxue looked at Jing Qingxia. “What’s wrong?”
Jing Qingxia looked into Zhong Mingxue’s eyes and slowly shook her head. “Nothing. I just feel like the cats are treating me like dried fish and watching me with predatory eyes. I’m a little nervous.”
Zhong Mingxue laughed softly.
Author’s Note:
Snow Cat: I feel like you’re implying something.
Xia Dog: nervous I’m not. I didn’t.
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