Chapter 8
When Ning Zhifan realized that she was sleeping under Mu Suiyun’s blanket, her beautiful, cold expression turned even darker.
That meant Mu Suiyun hadn’t been the one behaving improperly.
Instead…
Affected by her gland and desperately needing to find someone who could provide her with pheromones, Ning Zhifan had unconsciously moved closer to the sleeping person beside her.
Fortunately, her heat was almost over. Her mind was still relatively clear, so she hadn’t reached the point where she needed to wake Mu Suiyun and ask her to inject another suppressant.
Ning Zhifan stopped trying to push Mu Suiyun away.
This person had no idea how terrible her sleeping posture was. The more Ning Zhifan pushed, the tighter Mu Suiyun hugged her.
Irritation rose in Ning Zhifan’s chest.
She restrained herself and waited until Mu Suiyun relaxed before gently pulling her arms away and slipping out of her embrace. Then she took a suppressant from the bedside table and injected herself.
After her pheromones gradually calmed down, Ning Zhifan sat by the bed, leaning against the headboard, and let out a soft breath.
The curtains were fully drawn. Not even the moonlight could enter.
The room was completely dark.
Even after her eyes adjusted, she could barely make out the person beside her.
Ning Zhifan turned her head and looked at the sleeping figure.
She could only judge from the shape beneath the blanket that Mu Suiyun was still lying on her side, maintaining the same posture she had used when hugging her earlier.
In the darkness of night, gloomy thoughts began to grow.
…Kick her off the bed, then pretend to be asleep.
An unbelievably childish thought suddenly appeared in Ning Zhifan’s mind.
She froze for a moment, then pinched the bridge of her nose.
She concluded that Ning Ye and Mu Suiyun had infected her, temporarily lowering her intelligence.
With a cold expression, Ning Zhifan threw those ridiculous thoughts out of her mind.
Then the real worries about her future surged back.
She…
couldn’t possibly ruin her life because of an arranged marriage.
Ning Zhifan had already planned long ago to separate from Mu Suiyun.
Her original plan had been to wait until she had established herself first.
Before then, even if they got married, she could stabilize Mu Suiyun and the Mu family for the time being.
As long as she didn’t have a child, divorce would be easy.
But now, the sudden problem with her gland had completely disrupted her plans.
She needed to separate from Mu Suiyun as soon as possible and find an alpha with sufficiently high compatibility so they could establish a stable marking relationship.
But…
how soon did “as soon as possible” need to be?
A trace of confusion appeared in Ning Zhifan’s icicle-clear eyes.
Right now, she had no ability whatsoever to discuss breaking off the engagement.
No one would support her.
A sense of loneliness rose inside her.
Ning Zhifan had always been independent from childhood.
Her personality was cold and distant, and even with her biological mother, she had never shared the kind of emotional bond built on complete trust.
She knew her mother wouldn’t support her either.
In this world, the only person who would help Ning Zhifan was Ning Zhifan herself.
Mu Huan had not misjudged her.
Ning Zhifan truly was a proud person.
She had an extremely strong sense of self-respect and refused to remain forever in a situation where she was constrained by others.
“…Zhifan?”
A slightly confused, sleepy voice sounded softly.
Then came the faint rustle of the blanket being lifted.
Ning Zhifan saw Mu Suiyun sit up.
She wasn’t sure whether their eyes met in the darkness.
“You… woke up?” Mu Suiyun asked softly. “Was my sleeping posture bad? Did I disturb you?”
How ridiculous.
Ning Zhifan pressed her lips into a straight line and didn’t answer.
She saw Mu Suiyun’s silhouette move closer.
Once she was near enough, Ning Zhifan could finally make out her face a little more clearly.
That gentle, handsome face showed traces of guilt as Mu Suiyun looked at her with concern.
…This person in front of her—
the person she had become engaged to almost immediately after they first met—
was actually the only person in this world who thought about Ning Zhifan sincerely, without seeking anything in return, simply because of that ridiculous sense of responsibility.
Ning Zhifan said nothing.
She didn’t know how to respond to Mu Suiyun right now.
Her naive fiancée had no idea that just moments ago, Ning Zhifan had been thinking about how to break off their engagement.
“Zhifan,” Mu Suiyun asked gently, “can you hug me?”
Hug…?
Confusion appeared in Ning Zhifan’s eyes.
“I get a little grumpy when I wake up,” Mu Suiyun said. “I need someone to hug me before I can calm down.”
Ning Zhifan felt irritated.
Why should she have to deal with Mu Suiyun’s waking temper?
With a cold expression, she reached out and placed a hand against Mu Suiyun’s back.
Mu Suiyun hugged her in return.
Kneeling in front of her, she drew Ning Zhifan intimately into her arms and gently stroked her back.
Ning Zhifan’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
Then she understood what Mu Suiyun meant.
She hadn’t wanted Ning Zhifan to hug her.
She had thought Ning Zhifan needed a hug.
Betas were always so perceptive.
Ning Zhifan thought Mu Suiyun would ask something.
But in the end, Mu Suiyun asked nothing.
She simply held Ning Zhifan in her arms and comforted her.
—
The next morning.
Ning Ye woke up and came out of the bedroom.
Seeing Mu Suiyun busy in the kitchen, she rubbed her eyes and ran over.
“Sister Yunyun, why are you awake even earlier than me?”
She had just checked her phone.
It was only seven.
Mu Suiyun smiled. “I’m getting old. I don’t need much sleep.”
“Huh?” Ning Ye looked shocked. “When you get to your age, you can’t sleep anymore?”
“Exactly.” Mu Suiyun frightened her on purpose. “If you don’t sleep enough while you’re still growing, later on, even if you want to sleep, you won’t be able to.”
Ning Ye took two steps backward, eyes wide.
A few seconds later, she finally realized something was wrong.
“No, no!”
“My mom is older than you, and she’s not like that.”
Mu Suiyun sighed.
“You’re hard to fool, Xiaoye.”
“Of course!” Ning Xiaoye said proudly. “I’m very, very smart. I’m in the top five in my entire school!”
Mu Suiyun let out an impressed “Wow.”
“That amazing?”
Ning Xiaoye nodded vigorously, looking extremely pleased with herself.
“Yep, yep!”
“Mom says I should learn from Sister. Sister was always first place when she was little.”
Her pride faded slightly.
“I still have a long way to go.”
But there was still so much pride in her eyes.
Whenever she talked about how amazing her Sister was, even her posture became straighter.
Mu Suiyun rubbed her head.
“You can learn from your Sister without comparing yourself to her.”
Ning Ye blinked.
“What does that mean?”
“Because Sister is Sister, and you are you,” Mu Suiyun said. “There are no two identical leaves in the world, and there doesn’t need to be.”
Ning Ye muttered, “I’m a leaf, and Sister is a big tree!”
After saying that, she looked at Mu Suiyun again.
“Sister Yunyun is a cloud? No, no. Clouds and trees are too far apart. Sister Yunyun is…”
Ning Ye thought seriously.
Then her eyes suddenly lit up.
“A little bird!”
“A little bird can fly freely through the sky like a cloud, but it can also rest on the branches of a tree. That way, you two can stay really, really close.”
She crossed both hands over her chest and let out an excited little cheer.
“And then, super sweet and lovey-dovey!”
So she was a CP fan.
Mu Suiyun laughed and rubbed her hair again.
“You’re going to school to have breakfast with your deskmate, so I’ll only make you a small portion. Just taste a little and put something in your stomach.”
“Mm-hm!”
Ning Ye pressed her head into Mu Suiyun’s palm.
“Thank you, Sister Yunyun.”
Then she looked around.
Not seeing Ning Zhifan, she asked, “Is Sister still sleeping?”
“Mm.”
Mu Suiyun made a shushing gesture.
“So once we leave the kitchen, we need to speak and walk softly for a while.”
Ning Ye nodded and lowered her voice.
“Copy that~”
After Mu Suiyun finished making breakfast and carried it to the dining table, she looked toward the still-silent bedroom and hesitated over whether to wake Ning Zhifan.
The company started work at nine.
There was no need for Ning Zhifan to leave as early as they did.
After thinking it over, Mu Suiyun let Ning Ye eat with her first.
She skillfully kept Ning Zhifan’s portion warm and left a note beside it.
The older and younger pair quietly finished what they needed to do and left.
After they were gone, the bedroom door opened.
Ning Zhifan walked out, her eyes perfectly clear.
She had already woken when Mu Suiyun got up that morning.
She simply hadn’t wanted to face her yet, so she pretended to be asleep.
She walked into the dining room and saw the breakfast left for her.
Ning Zhifan looked at the prepared sandwich.
Ever since she started living with Mu Suiyun, Mu Suiyun had voluntarily done many things for her.
Housework was only the most insignificant of them.
Sometimes, Ning Zhifan almost felt as though it wasn’t the Ning family who had sold her to the Mu family.
Instead, it was as though the Mu family had handed Mu Suiyun over to repay a debt.
Otherwise, why would Mu Suiyun satisfy her wishes in every way, accommodate her everywhere, and act as though she had no temper at all?
If…
Ning Zhifan thought, if she spoke honestly and openly with Mu Suiyun, would Mu Suiyun…
respect her?
Support her?
“I’m old-fashioned, conservative, traditional, and weak. I don’t want to break away from my family, so I’m willing to obey my elders.”
Mu Suiyun’s words echoed in her ears.
Ning Zhifan pressed her lips flat.
A cold, mocking smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
She really had been like a frog slowly boiled in warm water.
In a situation like hers, she was actually starting to think about relying on someone who directly benefited from it.
How could Mu Suiyun possibly support her?
Even if Mu Suiyun might soften toward her, so what?
Ning Zhifan had already judged her long ago.
Someone who relied entirely on her family for everything—how could she truly stand on Ning Zhifan’s side and help her do something that went against her own interests?
Mu Suiyun only needed to stand there and her elders would arrange everything for her.
Of course she could remain gentle, calm, and emotionally stable.
Ning Zhifan’s expression turned cold.
She threw the breakfast into the trash and left the house.
—
The weekend.
After repeated urging from the old residence’s housekeeper, Mu Suiyun and Ning Zhifan went together for their premarital physical examinations.
The moment the reports came out, electronic copies were sent directly to Grandma Mu.
Grandma Mu carefully examined Ning Zhifan’s medical report.
Although she had already seen one before the engagement, more than a year had passed. Naturally, she wanted to carefully confirm Ning Zhifan’s current physical condition.
All her indicators were normal.
Only her pheromone secretion level was slightly elevated.
But a change of this degree wasn’t serious.
It was probably because work had been exhausting lately and Ning Zhifan’s gland had been somewhat overstimulated.
Besides their individual examination reports, Grandma Mu had also arranged for both of them to undergo preconception testing.
If an omega and beta conceived naturally, the probability of producing an AO child was very low.
So Grandma Mu intended for them to use reproductive technology to have a child, allowing them to select the embryo.
When she saw the probability listed on the report, Grandma Mu smiled in satisfaction.
There was a seventy-three percent chance of producing an AO child.
At least the resources she had invested in Ning Zhifan, this granddaughter-in-law, had not been wasted.
The Ning family was greedy and foolish.
If it weren’t for Ning Zhifan, Grandma Mu would never have been willing to become in-laws with people like them.
Now, looking at these reports, all her compromises had paid off.
Next, all she needed to do was give Ning Zhifan another reminder before the wedding.
She couldn’t let this ambitious omega climb over Suiyun’s head.
—
After Mu Suiyun and Ning Zhifan arrived at the old residence, Mu Suiyun was immediately sent to pick some fruit in the estate that the old lady liked.
“Grandma is making me work again.”
Mu Suiyun pouted.
“I just got here and she’s already ordering me around.”
The housekeeper coaxed her, “Young Miss, Old Madam only thinks they taste sweet when you’re the one who picks them.”
“All right.”
Mu Suiyun sighed, then said to Ning Zhifan, “This is tiring work. You stay here and rest properly. When I come back, we’ll go see Grandma together.”
Ning Zhifan knew perfectly well that they were deliberately sending Mu Suiyun away.
But she smiled gently on the surface.
“Okay. Don’t tire yourself out. Be careful and don’t fall or get hurt.”
After Mu Suiyun left, the housekeeper took Ning Zhifan to see Grandma Mu.
Grandma Mu sat in a wicker chair with a thin blanket over her legs.
She raised her eyes toward Ning Zhifan.
Though slightly clouded with age, they were clear and sharp.
“Don’t come into contact with other alphas. Just because Suiyun doesn’t care about certain things doesn’t mean you’re free to do whatever you want.”
Ning Zhifan smiled.
“Grandma, you’re joking. I’ve never done anything like that.”
“Mm.”
Grandma Mu said, “Before you give birth, you cannot receive any alpha’s pheromones. It can temporarily affect your gland and make it harder for you and Suiyun to have an AO child. I’m reminding you of this again.”
Ning Zhifan obediently nodded.
“I understand.”
“I can tell you’re unwilling.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Grandma Mu’s lips.
“But you’re a smart person. Staying with the Mu family is the best path available to you.”
Disgust rose from the bottom of Ning Zhifan’s heart.
I refuse.
—
Ning Zhifan left Grandma Mu’s room and waited in the first-floor living room for who knew how long before finally seeing Mu Suiyun return, covered in sweat.
She was carrying a cloth bag, her face filled with a bright smile.
Ning Zhifan watched her relaxed happiness.
Her fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms.
“Zhifan.”
Mu Suiyun quickly walked up to her.
Her face was flushed, though Ning Zhifan couldn’t tell whether it was from exercise or embarrassment.
Suddenly, Mu Suiyun pulled a bouquet of flowers from the bag.
“…Do you think they’re pretty?”
Ning Zhifan’s gaze fell on the flowers.
At a glance, she could tell they had just been picked.
There was no real floral arranging skill involved.
Mu Suiyun had simply matched the colors together by instinct.
“They’re pretty.”
Ning Zhifan smiled faintly.
“Who are they for?”
Mu Suiyun held them out toward her.
“You.”
Ning Zhifan froze.
The fingers digging into her palm slowly loosened.
She reached out and placed her hand around the stems.
Then she raised her eyes and looked at her fiancée.
The gentle, handsome young beta’s eyes curved as she met Ning Zhifan’s gaze with complete focus and sincerity.
“I passed by the garden and thought these were the prettiest ones. I figured that if the right person held them, they’d look even more beautiful.”
Ning Zhifan gripped the bouquet tightly.
“Wipe your sweat.”
Like a perfectly qualified fiancée, she took out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from Mu Suiyun’s forehead.
“You worked hard.”
Mu Suiyun’s body stiffened slightly.
Perhaps cooperating with her, she gradually relaxed.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Whenever they were at the old residence, they tacitly performed moments of intimacy like this.
As Ning Zhifan wiped the sweat from Mu Suiyun’s forehead, every weak thought she had entertained earlier was completely discarded.
Within the Mu family, she was nothing more than a vessel for reproduction.
Even if the wife who would have a child with her treasured her, then…
what use was that?
She could only rely on herself.
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