After Becoming a Scummy Alpha, I Refuse to Get Divorced - Chapter 18

“Grandma, Shiyu and I still have things to take care of at home, so we won’t be staying the night. You and Momo can sit and chat—maybe talk about her lifelong happiness, help her get out of singlehood, you know?”

Zhu Qingran shot He Yimo a subtle look and grabbed her little wife’s hand, preparing to slip out.

The moment He Yimo gave her a bewildered ‘what??’ expression, Zhu Qingran mouthed a number.

Deal!

“Yes, Grandma! My cousin is already well on her way to becoming a proud mother, but me? I don’t even have a partner yet! You should worry about me too!”

He Yimo pitifully hooked her arm through Old Madam Zhu’s, doing her best to win Zhu Qingran a chance to escape.

Unexpectedly, the old lady raised a brow, her expression turning dark.

Wait—did Grandma want to keep Zhu Qingran and her little wife at home to consummate the marriage?

No way.

Little Zhu would die of embarrassment!

“Zhu Qingran, what are you rushing home for?”

“Water the flowers?”

“What flowers?”

“The sunflowers in the vase!”

“Then go. You make it sound like I’m trying to keep you here. Honestly, so narcissistic!”

After a short back-and-forth, Little Zhu actually lost the battle.

But once the old lady said they could go, Little Zhu wasted no time—she scooped up the order and headed home immediately.

On the way back, Zhu Qingran had intended to relax.

But the more she tried to relax, the harder it became.

Little Zhu clearly wasn’t kidney-deficient anymore.

So why were her palms sweating?

Wuwuwu, Little Zhu must stay strong.

Yingyingying.

The more she mentally rehearsed what would happen once they got home, the more her mind went blank.

“Grandma told me some stories about your childhood,” Shiyu said quietly as she looked out the window. “She’s also planning to send over the treasure box you saved for your future children when you were little.”

In her eyes, Zhu Qingran’s tension was probably because she wanted to know what Old Madam Zhu had said to Du Shiyu.

Zhu Qingran must be worried.

Worried that Du Shiyu would reveal her embarrassing past.

Like that time she suddenly asked her teacher to marry her because she wanted a partner who wouldn’t meddle in her life.

And how every display of affection whenever they visited home had always been an act.

Zhu Qingran might be a legendary CEO and the pride of the interstellar era.

But since childhood, the only person she never dared to anger was Grandma.

In her life, Grandma was probably the person she feared and respected most.

Even if it meant forcing herself to act in a loving marriage, Zhu Qingran refused to disappoint her.

“I had a little savings fund as a kid? How come I don’t remember that?”

Hearing she had once stashed away a treasure box, Zhu Qingran instantly perked up.

Of course, all her money should belong to her little wife. She never hid money. She never had a secret stash.

She did not!

“Shiyu, I’ll call Grandma right now and have her send everything I saved over to the house. Pick whatever you want. If I so much as blink, I’ll—”

Zhu Qingran decided this was the perfect time to confess everything. She couldn’t risk being seen as someone who hid money from her wife.

Was she the kind of person who cared about a tiny stash?

She was already completely hers—why would she need a small secret fund?

Zhu Qingran was so proud of herself she almost let go of the steering wheel just to give herself a hundred thumbs up.

Yet her little wife didn’t respond.

The atmosphere in the car instantly cooled. Zhu Qingran had successfully talked the conversation to death.

“Shiyu, I know you’re not in a hurry to get my savings.”

Just as Zhu Qingran was about to subtly express her devotion, Du Shiyu suddenly turned to look at her.

“I’m not in a hurry for what? But you are in a hurry?”

She asked gently, as if truly wanting to hear Zhu Qingran’s answer.

Of course, Zhu Qingran had to say she was in a hurry—hurried to prove herself, hurried to hand over every last bit of her money to her wife.

“I am! How could I not be?”

Her answer was so earnest it sounded like she was desperate to start having babies immediately.

So then.

Was she eager to produce an heir just to satisfy Grandma?

Or did she truly want a child that belonged to the two of them alone?

“Qingran, are you sure you’re really in that much of a hurry?” Du Shiyu pressed again.

This time, it was Zhu Qingran who didn’t dare answer too quickly.

She kept feeling that if she responded too fast, it would look like she was desperately using this one “little treasury stash” to hide a whole bunch of other little treasuries.

But she definitely didn’t mean it like that.

“Shiyu, I—”

“Enough. Pull over. I’m getting off.”

Du Shiyu never did get the firm answer she wanted.

She looked at Zhu Qingran’s side profile, flushed from anxiety, and made the decision—she needed some fresh air.

“Shiyu, you’re not planning to break up with me here, are you? Shiyu, did I do something wrong? Shiyu, I swear I’m trying so hard to change—just give me a little more time. Please, just a little more—”

“There’s our usual flower shop up ahead. I’m going to buy sunflowers. Didn’t the one at home wither this morning and get tossed out? So what, exactly? Were you planning to go home and mime watering an imaginary plant?”

She pointed at the flower shop on the side of the road, undoing her seatbelt.

Only after she repeatedly emphasized that she was going to buy flowers did Zhu Qingran finally bring the car to a stop.

Zhu Qingran followed her out and into the shop.

This time, she didn’t just buy sunflowers—she also picked up a bouquet of champagne roses.

On such a night where something delightful was definitely about to happen, how could roses, the essence of romance, possibly be missing?

Du Shiyu originally only planned to pay for the sunflowers, but then she saw Zhu Qingran slide the roses over as well.

“Ring them up together.”

Since President Zhu said she’d be paying together, the cashier naturally waited.

But after several seconds passed President Zhu didn’t seem to be planning on taking her card out at all.

“Use mine.”

At the moment the little wife confidently pulled out her card, Zhu Qingran suddenly felt like she was being kept by her.

It was a very interesting sensation.

Still, Zhu Qingran recited her membership number.

“The membership’s under my name, but my wife is paying.”

President Zhu was clearly determined to eat soft rice tonight.

When the staff all looked over, she flashed a bright smile.

“My wife controls our finances. I haven’t gotten my allowance for this month yet. Sorry to trouble her.”

She accepted the sunflowers, then placed the roses gently into her little wife’s arms.

“Wifey, happy rest day.”

And just like that across the vivid bouquet of roses, brushing past the petals, Zhu Qingran leaned in and kissed her.

Right then, if the little wife so much as dodged, Zhu Qingran would be barbecued on the spot.

But in reality, the little wife went along with the whole act today.

Whether it was a show of PDA for outsiders or a genuine kiss from the heart, she didn’t avoid it.

Petals, fragrant and softly damp with feminine sweetness, brushed against Du Shiyu’s cheek.

She simply waited there letting Zhu Qingran kiss her.

“Oh my god, President Zhu is so romantic!”

“Madam, remember to give President Zhu a bigger allowance!”

Even as they left the shop, everyone continued calling out to the pair.

By the time they got back in the car, the echoes still lingered.

Zhu Qingran looked almost relieved, as though she’d set down a heavy burden.

Du Shiyu didn’t think the sunflowers were heavy at all.

But Zhu Qingran’s ragged breathing was unmistakably real.

Was the bouquet really that heavy?

Of course, the little wife didn’t know that right before checkout, Zhu Qingran had also used the membership card to swipe for several large aromatherapy candles, ambiance essential oils, and a complimentary “couples intimacy set.”

Candles, roses, little wife.

Hehehe.

Zhu Qingran’s little scheme crackled with anticipation, but the moment came and.

“Achoo!”

“Achoo!”

“Achoo!”

From the moment she got home and put the flowers in a vase, she started sneezing nonstop.

And right when the little wife came out of the shower in silk pajamas—Zhu Qingran completely fell apart.

Her almost-recovered kidney deficiency.

Her almost-gone flu.

Her almost-get-to-consummate-the-night chance.

All. Gone.

She kept sneezing, each sneeze sending that faint green-tea scent blasting across the room.

The once lovely, fragrant bedroom had suddenly become a full-scale tea-tasting festival.

Zhu Qingran knew it was her pheromones, but she had no idea what was happening.

Her chest hurt, her head throbbed, even her lower abdomen ached, and her whole body felt feverishly hot.

Could this be the onset of a severe cold?

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Her little wife instinctively reached out to check Zhu Qingran’s forehead, but Zhu Qingran quickly caught her hand and held it down.

“Shiyu, I’m fine. Go to sleep first. I’ll stay in the guest room. The weather keeps changing and my cold is acting up again—don’t worry.”

She looked calm on the outside, but inside she was screaming a thousand damns.

She wanted nothing more than to buy an entire pasture and raise alpacas just so she could roll around and scream into the wool.

Before Shiyu could even decide what to do, she was already pushed away by Qingran’s cold distance.

Zhu Qingran slipped into the guest room as if escaping, even locking the door behind her.

She really was afraid her cold might spread to her little wife.

Du Shiyu followed her to the hallway. Hearing the door lock click into place, she raised her hand to knock—but finally let it fall.

Instead of forcing her way in, she went to prepare the usual medicine and a cup of warm water.

She passed the guest room more than once, but still heard nothing from inside.

“Zhu Qingran! Ah Ran are you okay? Ah Ran.”

Her voice was full of worry and so warm, yet Zhu Qingran was sweating through her clothes while feeling chilled to the bone.

She didn’t dare say much, afraid Shiyu would worry even more.

“Mm, I’m just sleepy. Shiyu, I’m going to bed. I’ll make you breakfast once I’m better in the morning. Goodnight.”

Feigning drowsiness, she replied softly, then wrapped herself in a blanket and pulled another quilt over it.

So cold.

It was so cold.

Her teeth were chattering uncontrollably, yet she couldn’t stop the hot sweat pouring down her back.

Once Shiyu was sure she had fallen asleep, she didn’t knock again.

She placed the medicine on the shelf by the door, and even set her smart bracelet to call the family doctor automatically if it detected the door opening.

After she left, Zhu Qingran sat cross-legged on the bed, staring blankly into space.

A deep, throbbing pain spread through her body in waves, forcing her to quickly open the “will” she had drafted and stamp it with her fingerprint.

“It’s over. I never thought that after living such a clean, upright life, I’d actually die before I ever got to sleep with my wife. Since things have come to this, there’s no point in crying. Let me see what mysterious terminal illness is taking me out!”

Eyes reddening, she pulled out her phone and searched her symptoms.

Then, on the tiny screen, one huge character appeared—Differentiation.

“What the! My chest did feel bigger, my butt too, am I about to differentiate into an Omega? Does this mean not only can’t I sleep with my wife, I’ll have to be her Alpha instead? No! I—”

Before she could finish, a sharp pain shot through her, making her gasp for breath.

“It hurts.”

She growled through her teeth, her voice thick with nasal congestion.

She wanted so badly not to make Shiyu worry, but her body was slipping out of her control.

When the scent of “clear tea” burst out, her scent gone wild, her entire body turned restless, burning with a craving she couldn’t name.

That restless, hollow ache spread through the darkness like it would never end.