After Becoming a Scummy Alpha, the Movie Queen Just Wants to Pamper Her Wife - Chapter 83

At a little past ten in the evening, Pink Lily Bar.

Lately, Xi Xiaohe had been frequenting this bar alone to drink.

She didn’t make friends, just quietly sat in a corner, ordered her favorite Searching for Her in the Crowd, drank it, and left.

Xi Xiaohe hadn’t first met Ji Yi at Xi Xiaoyan and Meng Chuwu’s wedding, but in this very bar.

This was something she had never told anyone, including Ji Yi herself.

Long ago, in a gossip piece about Meng Chuwu, Xi Xiaohe had inexplicably felt a surge of delight upon seeing Ji Yi’s icy face so vivid that she could never forget it.

So, she dug deeper into the rumors about Meng Chuwu and Ji Yi and learned that Ji Yi was a well-known figure in the female AA romance circles.

The fact that Ji Yi was into female Alphas delighted Xi Xiaohe for a long time.

Xi Xiaohe’s attraction to female Alphas had been suppressed for too long.

She had intended to keep it buried, knowing full well that Commander Xi and Professor Guan would never approve of female AA relationships.

But every time she recalled Ji Yi’s seemingly frigid face, she felt an inexplicable joy, an irresistible urge to see her.

There weren’t many female AA bars in Lucheng, and Pink Lily was the most famous.

Eventually, Xi Xiaohe couldn’t resist. To catch a glimpse of Ji Yi in person, she often came to this bar alone, just as she had been doing lately.

Mindful of her status, Xi Xiaohe always kept a low profile when going out. Around strangers, she carried herself with the poise of a refined lady gentle, polite, and soft-spoken giving no hint of her fiery temper.

At the bar, if anyone invited her to join them, she would politely decline, leading many to assume she was simply shy.

The women of the Xi family were nothing if not persistent, and Xi Xiaohe was no exception.

To see Ji Yi, she had spent nearly half a month sneaking out every night, risking the Xi family’s strict curfew of no later than ten o’clock, often lingering at Pink Lily until late.

Back then, Xi Xiaoyan was home for summer break during her third year of college and caught her returning late more than once, asking if she was seeing someone. Of course, Xi Xiaohe vehemently denied it.

She even threatened Xi Xiaoyan, saying if she dared snitch to their parents, she wouldn’t live to see the next day.

Xi Xiaoyan couldn’t be bothered to meddle, she had her own troubles.

Persistence paid off. One day, just as Xi Xiaohe was about to leave,

a tall waitress approached with a tray, placing a glass of cold-looking liquor on her table.

“I didn’t order this,” Xi Xiaohe said.

“Officer Ji sent it for you,” the waitress replied, glancing toward a table not far away.

Following her gaze, Xi Xiaohe saw a pair of cool eyes looking her way in the dim light, nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

Ah, it was Ji Yi! In that instant, Xi Xiaohe felt as if she’d been struck by something.

By the time she snapped out of her stunned, joy-filled daze, Ji Yi had already averted her gaze.

Later, Xi Xiaohe carried the glass over to Ji Yi, who was surrounded by five or six women.

Her presence was always formidable when she turned it on, and the chattering women around Ji Yi froze like startled deer as Xi Xiaohe approached unexpectedly.

Ignoring the others, Xi Xiaohe looked down at Ji Yi and asked, “Why did you send me this drink?”

“Afraid it’s drugged?” Ji Yi’s voice, like her gaze, carried a striking chill.

“Did you not hear my question?”

A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered across Ji Yi’s lips. “You looked lonely, sitting alone.”

The women around Ji Yi snapped out of their shock and immediately started chattering again.

“Just drink it, sis. Officer Ji wouldn’t harm you.”

“Yeah, she’s a cop. You can relax Officer Ji has a great reputation.”

“Want to join us, sis? More people, more fun.”

“Actually, I invited her to join us a few days ago, but she turned me down.”

“Why? Bars are more fun with company. Don’t be shy you’ll warm up to us.”

Xi Xiaohe still ignored them. At the time, she only thought Ji Yi’s stern demeanor stood out starkly amidst the lively young women.

She kept staring at Ji Yi, as if trying to etch her image into her mind.

Seeing that Xi Xiaohe neither spoke, nor left, nor drank the offered liquor, Ji Yi added, “If you’re worried, just leave it here.”

Xi Xiaohe gave Ji Yi one last deep look, then tilted her head back and downed the cold-looking drink in one go.

Amid the applause, she said to Ji Yi, “Thank you.”

Then she set down the empty glass and left the bar.

Rumors said Ji Yi was as much of a playgirl as Meng Chuwu, and Xi Xiaohe had just witnessed it firsthand.

The women surrounding her were all young, practically falling over themselves to get closer.

Now, over two years later, back at Pink Lily, the memory still made Xi Xiaohe furious.

Only recently had she learned that the drink Ji Yi had sent her back then was called Searching for Her in the Crowd.

The bar was almost unchanged from over two years ago, but she and Ji Yi had circled each other distant, then close, then distant again.

In the end, just as Xi Xiaoyan had said, perhaps because they’d started off on the wrong foot, there was no future for them.

Xi Xiaohe loved the name Searching for Her in the Crowd. Lately, she ordered a glass every night, and drinking it truly gave her the feeling of searching for “her” among the crowd.

The taste was the same as before, but Xi Xiaohe’s once-short hair had now grown past her shoulders.

When they met again at her sister’s wedding, she wasn’t surprised Ji Yi didn’t recognize her.

A woman who flitted from flower to flower probably had no heart to begin with.

Most likely, she’d offer a drink to any lonely woman she saw.

Even knowing Ji Yi was no good, Xi Xiaohe couldn’t help herself. At the wedding, she kept casting delighted glances at Ji Yi, thinking that being bridesmaids together marked the start of their fate.

In a way, it was true because later, they shared one spring night together, then another, and another, even a fourth and fifth.

Xi Xiaohe hadn’t expected that no matter how many spring nights they shared, it meant nothing to a woman who only wanted physical intimacy.

Only she had foolishly believed that with enough time, physical intimacy would eventually lead to emotional connection.

The truth proved her wrong about Ji Yi.

A while back, when Xi Xiaoyan started graduate school, they and Meng Chuwu helped her move in and rented an apartment near campus, spending the whole day on it.

After dinner, Ji Yi unprecedentedly asked Xi Xiaohe to give her a ride.

Xi Xiaohe was both surprised and thrilled, misinterpreting it once again.

But once in the car, Ji Yi casually asked, “Want to come to my place for coffee?”

Xi Xiaohe had already started the car. At Ji Yi’s question, she slammed on the brakes and turned to demand, “Ji Yi, how long are you going to keep playing me?”

“When have I ever played you?”

“From the start, until now nonstop!”

“In your eyes, sleeping together is playing you? Grow up!”

“Let me ask you again, what are we?”

“I thought we had an understanding.”

Xi Xiaohe wanted to scream at her, Don’t pretty up ‘friends with benefits’ as ‘coffee buddies’!

But uncharacteristically, she reined in her temper that day. Not only did she not call Ji Yi a scoundrel, she kept her voice calm the entire time. In the end, her tone was even uncommonly gentle. “I won’t have coffee with you again.”

“I see.” Ji Yi’s voice held no trace of displeasure at the rejection.

“Need me to open the door for you?”

“No.”

Ji Yi stiffened slightly. She seemed to want to say more but, after a pause, silently unbuckled her seatbelt. Before getting out, she coolly added, “Drive safe.”

“Goodbye.” Xi Xiaohe maintained her composure till the end.

The result of their calm separation was this, no room for ambiguity.

Three weeks had passed since then.

Xi Xiaohe managed not to pester Ji Yi again, yet found herself at the bar alone.

Before, she had stooped low in pursuing Ji Yi.

Finally, she understood for a woman who only wanted physical intimacy, winning her heart was a pipe dream.

After this last glass of Searching for Her in the Crowd, it was time to move on from that scoundrel. Xi Xiaohe convinced herself.

But just as she finished the last sip, a familiar, utterly detached voice sounded beside her: “Drinking alone? Why not invite me?”

Xi Xiaohe froze as if encased in ice.

It took her a long moment to snap out of it.

Ji Yi had already taken a seat across from her, perfectly at ease.

Damn this woman! As if that day in the car had meant nothing to her.

Under the table, Xi Xiaohe clenched her fists into rocks. She refused to accept that she was the only one who’d fallen.

In bed, Ji Yi had been so wild, so infatuated, so desperate for more.

Yet once the passion faded, she reverted to this cold, emotionless woman.

Seeing Ji Yi so unaffected by her rejection in the car, Xi Xiaohe didn’t know how she resisted leaping across the table to strangle her.

This woman, always so inscrutable, so impervious Xi Xiaohe desperately wanted to see her break down, weeping over love or anything else. Only then would she feel avenged.

“Drinking alone is lonely.”

Ji Yi’s offhand remark cut through Xi Xiaohe’s stormy thoughts.

“Ji Yi, do you have any idea how ridiculous the word ‘lonely’ sounds coming from you?”

“Is that so?”

Ji Yi simply stared coldly at Xi Xiaohe, as if reading her mind.

“I’m leaving.”

Xi Xiaohe struggled to suppress her raging emotions. Before today, she hadn’t known her tone could sound as detached and icy as Ji Yi’s.

“Have a drink with me.” Ji Yi’s gaze locked onto Xi Xiaohe’s eyes.

“Does this bar lack women willing to drink with Officer Ji?”

“I want you.”

“Ji Yi!” Xi Xiaohe was infuriated with herself.

Why did her body refuse to move the moment she saw Ji Yi?!

“Xi Xiaohe, don’t tell me you haven’t missed me at all these days.”

Ji Yi’s voice held no warmth,

yet it shattered Xi Xiaohe’s defenses completely. “I haven’t!”

Her expression might have been controlled, but her trembling voice betrayed her.

“Is that so?”

Just then, two women passing by their table greeted Ji Yi with smiles. “Officer Ji, long time no see.”

Ji Yi merely waved in acknowledgment.

“But, I missed you.”

“Missed having coffee with me, is that it?”

“Mhm.” Ji Yi’s expression didn’t change, answering as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her repeated rejections ignored, Xi Xiaohe finally snapped. With a roar of “You wretched woman!” torn from her despair and fury, she vaulted over the table, slammed Ji Yi down, and began pummeling her wildly, screaming, “What the hell do you take me for?!”

The scene of her beating Ji Yi threw the bar into chaos.

No one could believe their eyes their beloved Officer Ji was getting her ass handed to her.

To their shock, the usually fierce and taciturn officer didn’t fight back, letting the enraged woman straddle her, raining down blows while shrieking, “I’ll kill you!”

“You’re inhuman!” “I hate you, you heartless bitch!”

Several bouncers rushed over and struggled to pull her off.

On the floor, Ji Yi was already battered beyond recognition.

She didn’t get up, just lay there and shouted at the bouncers restraining Xi Xiaohe, “Let her go. Let her keep hitting me.”

“Whoa!” The crowd gasped in unison.

Even the bouncers hesitated, unsure what to do.

The bar manager arrived and ordered, “Release her.”

Xi Xiaohe shook off the bouncers impatiently and glared at Ji Yi, who was sprawled on the floor like a ruffian.

For some reason, seeing Xi Xiaohe’s furious glare and clenched fists, Ji Yi suddenly laughed. She felt happy.

The two of them just stared at each other one standing, one lying amid the noisy bar.

Xi Xiaohe seemed to want to say something more but held back.

She shoved through the crowd and stormed out.

“Miss, you haven’t paid!”

Xi Xiaohe froze at the door, then turned back to settle the bill.

While she paid, Ji Yi was helped up.

Then, she caught up with Xi Xiaohe, and the two left the bar amidst the buzzing gossip.

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