Chapter 7

Originally, neither of them had expected Ning Ye to stay the night. They had planned to send her home after dinner.

But then Ning Ye discovered that Mu Suiyun had a game console she liked, and immediately looked at Mu Suiyun with sparkling eyes.

How could Mu Suiyun resist that?

She instantly sat down and started playing with her.

The two of them played in the living room while Ning Zhifan worked in the study.

By the time Ning Zhifan finished dealing with her urgent work, she checked the time and realized it was already past ten.

She came out of the study and walked into the living room, only to see the older and younger figures clutching controllers and shouting excitedly.

At least they remembered to keep their voices down, so they were practically whisper-shouting.

“No, no, no!” Ning Ye begged for mercy. “Give me one chance, Sister Yunyun. You’re the best.”

Ning Zhifan glanced at the television screen.

They were playing some kind of fighting game. The character Ning Ye controlled was almost out of health, while Mu Suiyun’s character still had nearly a full bar.

Mu Suiyun let out a sinister little laugh. “Isn’t it a little too late to beg for mercy now?”

So childish.

Ning Zhifan stood at the study doorway and looked at Mu Suiyun.

She had to admit that her fiancée was very attractive. Even while making such a villainous expression, that gentle, handsome face remained completely unaffected. If anything, it only made her seem frank and adorable.

…No.

Childish.

Ning Zhifan looked away and frowned slightly.

The doctor had prescribed her some medicine today. She had brought it home in her handbag and taken the day’s dose in the study earlier. The discomfort in her gland had eased somewhat.

But perhaps because she harbored some resentment toward Mu Suiyun, the moment she saw her, her gland seemed to start feeling uncomfortable again.

“Xiaoye,” Ning Zhifan called.

The older and younger pair turned around at the same time.

Seeing Mu Suiyun put down her controller, Ning Ye sneakily fired off two more skills before asking Ning Zhifan, “Sister, are you finished with work?”

“Mm. I’ll take you home.”

It was already quite late.

Ning Zhifan didn’t want to trouble Mu Suiyun. She wouldn’t feel comfortable letting the child take a taxi, and calling a driver over now would take time.

Mu Suiyun picked up her phone and checked the time, only then realizing how late it had gotten.

She looked a little apologetic. “I’ll take her. You should rest early.”

“No need,” Ning Zhifan said. “You rarely go over there. It’s late, and you’re unfamiliar with the roads. I’d worry.”

Ning Ye looked at her Sister, then at her sister-in-law, and cautiously suggested, “Can I… sleep here tonight? I’m kind of sleepy.”

Since Sister was worried about sister-in-law, and sister-in-law was worried about Sister, then if she didn’t leave, neither of them would have to worry!

Xiaoye thought she was a genius!

Ning Ye even yawned to prove that she really was sleepy.

She had just been playing games so energetically, and now she was suddenly tired?

Ning Zhifan glanced at her. “Stop fooling around. You don’t have pajamas here.”

“I think it’s fine,” Mu Suiyun said. “We have toiletries. As for pajamas, she can make do with a new set I bought. They’ll be a little big, but for one night, it should be okay. I can take Xiaoye directly to school tomorrow.”

Ning Ye cheered.

She grabbed Mu Suiyun’s arm and shook it back and forth.

Mu Suiyun looked up at Ning Zhifan. “Do you agree, Zhifan?”

Ning Ye immediately copied her, putting on a pitiful expression. “Do you agree, Sister—?”

Ning Zhifan had no idea what sort of magic Mu Suiyun possessed that had even made her younger sister dare to act spoiled with her.

She looked away. “Then hurry up and wash up.”

“Yay!”

Ning Ye jumped up and high-fived Mu Suiyun.

As though they had won some great victory.

Their apartment was very large, so naturally there were spare rooms. Mu Suiyun went to make up a bed for Ning Ye, and Ning Zhifan came along to help.

“If we’d sent her home,” Ning Zhifan said, “you wouldn’t have to do all this.”

Mu Suiyun smiled.

The door wasn’t closed, and she could hear Ning Ye humming while washing up.

“She seems pretty happy.”

Her gaze landed on Ning Zhifan’s cold, distant face.

“Miss Ning.”

She suddenly called her that.

Ning Zhifan paused and looked over.

When they had first met and weren’t familiar with each other, they had politely addressed each other as Miss Ning and Miss Mu.

But not long after their engagement, Ning Zhifan had taken the ​bailiantales.com​initiative to ask Mu Suiyun to change how she addressed her.

Because forms of address represented a person’s attitude.

By then, she had already realized that Mu Suiyun could help her, so naturally she wanted their relationship to appear closer, which would make it easier to take advantage of her.

Now that Mu Suiyun suddenly called her Miss Ning again, Ning Zhifan inexplicably felt a dull tightness in her chest.

Fortunately, Mu Suiyun was still smiling, her eyes curved pleasantly, and Ning Zhifan’s heart relaxed again.

“Mm?”

“I’ve noticed something.”

Mu Suiyun lowered her voice slightly, as though sharing some secret.

“You… really can’t resist people acting spoiled with you.”

Once Ning Zhifan understood what Mu Suiyun meant, she paused.

Her lips flattened into a straight line.

She shoved the pillow she had just put into its case toward Mu Suiyun.

“Since she’s a guest Miss Mu wanted to entertain, then I’ll leave all this work to you.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

“Hey—”

Before Mu Suiyun could say anything, Ning Zhifan’s slender, elegant back had already disappeared from sight.

Mu Suiyun tilted her head, the amusement in her eyes deepening.

Was Zhifan…

embarrassed?

A smile remained at the corner of Mu Suiyun’s lips as she continued what she was doing.

After finishing the bed for Ning Ye, she finally wandered back out.

Sometimes, she thought Ning Zhifan was a lot like a cat.

When a cat got embarrassed, it was best not to stare at her.

Otherwise, the cat would get angry.

“Xiaoye,” Mu Suiyun asked, “what time do you have to be at school tomorrow?”

Ning Ye had finished washing up.

“Morning study starts at eight-thirty. I have to get to school by eight.”

“That early?” Mu Suiyun asked curiously. “Are you going early to study hard?”

Ning Ye sneakily looked around.

When she didn’t see Ning Zhifan, she finally told Mu Suiyun, “I’m going to have breakfast with my deskmate.”

Mu Suiyun raised an eyebrow.

“Oh.”

Ning Ye blushed. “We already promised each other. I can’t break my word.”

“Of course not.”

Mu Suiyun set an alarm. “I’ll definitely get you to school on time.”

Ning Ye nodded vigorously. “Captain Yunyun is the best!”

After praising Mu Suiyun, she became a little curious.

“Sister Yunyun, which room is your bedroom?”

Mu Suiyun paused slightly, then smiled. “Why? You’re this old already and still want to sleep with Sister?”

“No!”

Ning Ye grew embarrassed.

“I’m afraid I’ll wake up too early tomorrow and disturb you, so I wanted to ask first. Then when I pass by your door, I can walk on tiptoe.”

“So that’s why…”

Mu Suiyun said, “Don’t worry. The soundproofing is really good. Even if our Xiaoye stomps around, you still won’t wake us up.”

“Okay.”

Ning Ye nodded obediently.

Ning Zhifan had changed into her pajamas and came out of the bedroom.

She checked the time.

“Ning Ye, hurry up and go to sleep.”

“It’s this room!”

Ning Ye said. “I remember now. I’m going to sleep right away.”

She pattered toward the guest room they had prepared for her, then turned around at the doorway and waved at them.

“Good night, Sister Yunyun. Good night, Sister. See you tomorrow.”

When Ning Ye closed the door, Mu Suiyun suddenly realized an urgent problem.

She looked at Ning Zhifan and lowered her voice.

“Zhifan… what if she sees us coming out of different rooms tomorrow morning?”

Ning Zhifan frowned slightly and met Mu Suiyun’s gaze.

There wasn’t much difference in their heights.

Among the three secondary genders, alphas tended to have the tallest, broadest builds and the highest average height, while betas and omegas were fairly similar.

Mu Suiyun and Ning Zhifan were both considered tall for their respective genders.

Standing together, Mu Suiyun was roughly a forehead taller than Ning Zhifan.

When Ning Zhifan wore shoes with a bit of a heel to work, that difference nearly disappeared. If she attended a banquet and paired her outfit with higher heels, she would sometimes even end up taller than Mu Suiyun.

In other people’s eyes, that was considered one of the major disadvantages of a beta.

But Ning Zhifan had never really cared about it.

Only during the period shortly after their engagement, when they saw each other frequently, had she consciously worn flats [unauthorized copy]because she worried a beta might mind.

Later, after realizing Mu Suiyun cared even less about such things, she stopped paying attention to heel height altogether.

Sometimes, Ning Zhifan felt Mu Suiyun was best exactly like this.

Her body gave Ning Zhifan a certain sense of security.

As for the sense of safety people online claimed came from the size difference between an alpha and an omega, Ning Zhifan actually couldn’t understand it very well.

She didn’t like having to tilt her head up to look at someone.

Being able to meet Mu Suiyun’s eyes like this was much more comfortable.

“…Then we’ll do the same thing we do at the old residence and sleep in one room,” Ning Zhifan said.

They had gone to visit Grandma Mu at the old residence quite a few times.

Sometimes Grandma Mu would ask them to stay overnight, and they would sleep in the room Mu Suiyun had always used there.

There were many of Mu Suiyun’s old belongings inside, as well as photographs of her when she was little.

Out of politeness, Ning Zhifan had never looked at them closely.

Of course, that was also another expression of her lack of interest in Mu Suiyun.

However, Mu Suiyun’s room had a terrace with a sofa bed.

Whenever they stayed at the old residence, Mu Suiyun would move the sofa bed into the bedroom and sleep on it herself, leaving the bed to Ning Zhifan.

“In both your room and mine…”

Mu Suiyun asked for confirmation, bailiantales.com“there isn’t a second bed that someone could sleep on, right?”

Ning Zhifan gave a quiet “Mm.”

Then…

what were they supposed to do?

Mu Suiyun felt a headache coming on.

She had completely overlooked this earlier.

Seeing her slightly flustered and anxious expression, Ning Zhifan inexplicably found herself in a better mood.

“Regretting letting Xiaoye stay now?”

Mu Suiyun rubbed her head and shook it.

“It’s fine. I can sleep on the floor.”

It was early winter.

Jiangcheng was in the south, where the air was heavy with dampness. If she slept directly on the floor, there was no telling whether she would wake up sick with a fever the next morning.

Ning Zhifan glanced at her.

“I don’t have a hobby of abusing my fiancée.”

“Let’s sleep together.”

She made the decision cleanly and turned toward her bedroom.

“The bed is big enough for two.”

…Huh?

Mu Suiyun watched her walk away.

Her heartbeat sped up slightly, and she suddenly felt nervous.

“…Really?”

Ning Zhifan stopped and looked back at her helplessly.

“Hurry up. I’m tired.”

“O-okay! I’ll wash up right away!”

Mu Suiyun stopped delaying.

She quickly washed up, then carried her own pillow and blanket into Ning Zhifan’s room.

Ning Zhifan was already sitting by the edge of the bed.

When she saw Mu Suiyun come in, she shifted her pillow aside to make room for her.

Mu Suiyun obediently walked over and arranged her pillow and blanket.

Ning Zhifan could tell that Mu Suiyun’s movements were slightly stiff, as though she were about to turn into a robot.

And not a particularly intelligent one.

Truthfully, Ning Zhifan had also been somewhat hesitant about her own decision.

But after seeing Mu Suiyun like this, that hesitation disappeared.

In its place arose a strange, indescribable urge to tease her.

Perhaps…

because this beta was usually far too emotionally stable.

Her gentle temperament was certainly pleasant, but Ning Zhifan wanted to see more different sides of her.

That way, she could better control and take advantage of her.

She didn’t want Mu Suiyun to remain calm and composed all the time.

Especially during this heat when something had gone wrong with her gland.

Mu Suiyun had already seen her in such an embarrassing state.

Why should Mu Suiyun never have an expression like that for Ning Zhifan to see?

At the thought, the corner of Ning Zhifan’s lips actually lifted slightly.

She patted the spot beside her and spoke in a very soft voice.

“Suiyun, hurry up.”

Mu Suiyun’s heart trembled.

She bit her lip and looked at Ning Zhifan.

Seeing the faint pleasure on the usually cold and distant woman’s face, she climbed onto the bed while muttering inwardly—

The wicked little cat is going to scratch someone.

Ning Zhifan watched her stiffly lie down and shrink toward the edge of the bed, leaving barely a centimeter between herself and falling off.

“Move farther in,” she said. “If you fall onto the floor later, I’m afraid Ning Ye will think we got into a fight last night.”

With her back to Ning Zhifan, Mu Suiyun wrapped herself in her blanket and scooted farther inward.

Utterly flustered.

The corner of Ning Zhifan’s lips lifted faintly.

Still, she decided to spare her.

She turned off the light and lay down too.

“Good night, Zhifan,” Mu Suiyun said.

Ning Zhifan gave a quiet “Mm.”

“Good night.”

—

In the middle of the night, Ning Zhifan’s gland began aching and swelling.

She jolted awake, covered in cold sweat, and realized that at some point, Mu Suiyun had pulled her into her arms.

Ning Zhifan frowned deeply and tried to push this unruly person away.

“…Mm…”

Mu Suiyun was clearly deeply asleep.

She let out an indistinct little sound and instead tightened her arms around Ning Zhifan, stroking along her back as though soothing her.

Her fingers slid down Ning Zhifan’s spine, sending waves of tingling numbness through her body.

Pheromones frantically poured from her gland, wrapping around the two of them.

Ning Zhifan couldn’t control them.

Her expression turned frighteningly cold.

Only a beta could keep sleeping at a time like this.

…Useless beta.