After Dating the President O, I Turned Into a Puppy-Like Lover - Chapter 3

After leaving the hospital, Jiang He had just stepped into her courtyard when her phone rang.

It was Duan Xinchun.

She swiped to answer. “Hello.”

“Jiang He, are you home already?” A gentle female voice came through the line, unhurried and soft-spoken.

“Mm.” Jiang He replied simply.

She was like this with everyone—perpetually indifferent, as though nothing much concerned her. Later on, after Zhou Yi grew closer to her, she once said she was like a block of ice: no one knew what she liked, what she wanted, or what she disliked. At such a young age, she already carried an air of having no desires at all.

Duan Xinchun, having known her for years, understood her temperament better than anyone.

She was already used to Jiang He’s reserved nature—someone who needed others to take the initiative before anything could ever happen.

To Duan Xinchun, this was actually quite nice. She, too, preferred quiet. Being with Jiang He meant each of them had their own space—comfortable, unintrusive, at ease.

For where they stood now, this was the most suitable distance.

“Did the results come out?” Duan Xinchun unconsciously tightened her grip on the phone. The tension was evident, both in her movements and her voice. “Can we do it?”

“The doctor said it has to be at least ninety percent.” Jiang He’s gaze was calm as she held the phone in one hand and pushed the door open with the other.

“I see.” Duan Xinchun felt a deep sense of regret.

Generally speaking, a compatibility rate above sixty percent was considered suitable for marriage; eighty percent already qualified as an exceptionally good match. Back then, discovering that she and Jiang He had reached an eighty-six percent compatibility had been the happiest thing she experienced that entire week. Even lying in bed at night, thinking about it would bring an unconscious smile to her face.

But now.

Now she could only sigh quietly over that number, because it wasn’t enough to help Jiang He.

If only it was just a little higher.

“Mm.” Jiang He said. “If there’s nothing else, go back to practicing the piano. I want to sleep. I got up a little past five today.”

It had been nearly a month since the last episode. Lately, she really had been sleeping more than usual.

“Alright. Go rest.” Duan Xinchun replied gently, waiting for Jiang He to hang up first.

After getting home, Jiang He took a shower. When she came out, her left eyelid started twitching uncontrollably. With that persistent twitch, she went to bed.

The next morning, sunlight flooded the entire room. She woke amid the glaring brightness, propped herself up, and stretched.

The moment her shoulder blades moved, the ache spread through her entire upper body. She sucked in a sharp breath.

The symptoms of pheromone mania were already starting to surface. She felt unbearably sleepy, her eyes barely able to open—yet once she lay down, sleep refused to come.

In the end, Jiang He simply got up, changed into workout clothes, and began her morning training.

She had a habit of running early: leaving the villa, circling the nearby park once. The defined abdominal lines she took pride in were the result of day after day of discipline.

Today wasn’t actually that early. When she headed out, the clock had just passed nine. By the time she returned, it was already ten.

Across from the Jiang family villa stood an ancient towering tree, hundreds of years old—a rare survivor that had endured wars and modern development alike.

Under that old tree stood a figure today, unexpectedly slender and upright.

Even from afar, just the outline alone was enough to catch one’s eye.

Jiang He slowed as she jogged closer, the distance shrinking bit by bit. The girl’s smooth, glossy hair cascaded down her back, stirred gently by the breeze. She lifted a finger, hooking a few stray strands back into place.

Jiang He’s eyes widened slightly. She couldn’t quite understand why the girl was here. Was she waiting for someone?

She glanced once, then again. Though her gaze seemed unable to pull away, she had already reached her home and had no choice but to turn around.

“Hello.”

The person beside her spoke up, stopping her in her tracks.

Jiang He halted, her thoughts momentarily adrift.

She turned back, offering a questioning look—an excuse to openly study the girl’s face.

“Hello,” the girl greeted again, polite and composed. “My name is Dan Sirou. We go to the same school.”

Sunlight spilled into her eyes, refracting into a golden shimmer. She looked warm, earnest, and sincere.

At that moment, Jiang He’s vision was filled entirely with her.

Of course, she knew the name Dan Sirou.

But the other girl seemed to have forgotten her.

Which was understandable. Back then, Jiang He had just returned from Haicheng, tanned dark from the sun, utterly different from how she looked now. Besides, she wasn’t as close to Dan Sirou as that Qin Chen was—just someone who’d been stood up twice. It was only natural she wouldn’t remember.

“Mm.” Even though Dan Sirou stirred a small ripple within her, Jiang He’s expression remained placid. “You’re looking for me?”

“Yes.” Dan Sirou wasn’t the shy type, but perhaps because of her purpose today, her words and posture were less direct than usual. “Classmate Jiang—do you currently have a condition called pheromone mania?”

Jiang He raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “How do you know that?”

“I was outside the door yesterday and overheard your conversation with the doctor.” Realizing that didn’t sound quite right, she added, “Please don’t misunderstand. I just happened to hear the name and got curious.”

Jiang He nodded. “Mm.”

Dan Sirou continued, “I heard that the only way to cure this condition is to mark an S-class Omega, with a compatibility rate of at least ninety percent.”

Jiang He nodded again.

No wonder she’d felt someone watching from outside yesterday—it had been her.

Jiang He lifted her gaze to Dan Sirou. “So why did you come to see me?”

“I think I can help you.” Dan Sirou tilted her chin slightly, meeting Jiang He’s eyes.

“Help me?” Jiang He narrowed her eyes. “How?”

“By the method the doctor mentioned,” Dan Sirou said. “Isn’t it about establishing a marking relationship with an S-class Omega? At least in Dongcheng, there probably isn’t anyone more suitable than me. And I’ve already had my sample tested against yours—we have a ninety-five percent compatibility.”

Jiang He froze for a brief moment—not because she was angry that an outsider knew about her condition, but because she was stunned by that number.

Ninety-five percent.

Her compatibility with Dan Sirou was actually ninety-five percent.

Dan Sirou was well aware of how rare and valuable her status as an S-class Omega was, this was her leverage. “I’ll help you get through five susceptible periods.”

“Five times.” As she said it, she seemed to waver over the number, sounding as though she was negotiating with Jiang He—or perhaps simply talking to herself. “That should be enough to cure your condition, right?”

Jiang He felt as though she was dreaming, yet everything was vividly real—as if half her consciousness were trapped in a dream, the other half anchored in reality.

Half-awake, half-dazed, she asked uncertainly, “You’re asking me to mark you?”

“Yes.” Dan Sirou’s answer was firm. “Other than this, there shouldn’t be any other solution, right?”

Jiang He fell into silence.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, forcing down the heat rising there. Then she asked again, “Is that all?”

“You’re being this kind, coming all this way just to help me?”

The situation felt unreal. Jiang He had never quite been able to forget Dan Sirou from the brief encounters of their childhood. Even after discovering they attended the same school, she would unconsciously steal a few extra glances whenever they crossed paths. Precisely because of these faint, unspoken feelings, the sight of the beautiful girl beneath the towering tree, speaking so boldly, felt almost illusory.

“Of course I have my conditions,” Dan Sirou said. “I want you to pay me one hundred thousand.”

“I help you treat your illness; you give me the money. After five markings, we’re even. Do you accept?”

The words fell calmly from her red lips. Jiang He stared at the young girl’s exquisitely beautiful face, as though pondering something deeply.

After a long stretch of silence, Dan Sirou nearly began to think Jiang He wasn’t interested in this mutually fair transaction. Panic flickered within her, she desperately needed the money, no matter the cost.

Jiang He blinked her dark lashes. “I don’t have a hundred thousand,” she said lightly, almost helplessly.

She looked straight at Dan Sirou. Her mind was already in a muddled haze—there was no room left for careful deliberation. She simply said whatever came to mind.

It was true that she didn’t have that much cash on hand. Her grandfather was strict, limiting her weekly expenses. The money she could freely access wasn’t even as much as Zhou Yi’s. If she truly needed it, there were ways to gather it—but only if she was willing.

“You don’t?” Dan Sirou clearly didn’t believe her.

She glanced at the sprawling villa. How could someone living in a place like this not have a hundred thousand? Just accumulated allowance alone should amount to far more.

Dan Sirou wasn’t unfamiliar with such an environment. A year ago, she herself had lived a carefree life, worrying about nothing except doing what made her happy.

Jiang He narrowed her eyes and countered instead, “Are you that short on money right now?”

“Yes.” Dan Sirou nodded. A trace of weariness seeped into her eyes as she revealed the family’s predicament. “My mom needs surgery—within the next few days.”

Her voice softened considerably. It was already sweet and gentle, like a breeze lightly brushing against one’s heart. Now, with the corners of her eyes drooping slightly, she looked like a flower battered by wind and rain, on the verge of falling apart.

When a girl who was usually strong revealed her vulnerability, it stirred an almost instinctive pity in others.

Jiang He’s lips pressed downward, the iceberg in her heart beginning to crack.

She had heard bits and pieces about Dan Sirou’s family situation. They had once been well-off; her father was a moderately well-known entrepreneur in Dongcheng. Business was glamorous, but always fraught with risk. In the past two years, her father’s attempt to transform the company failed, leading to bankruptcy. Unable to bear the blow, his mental state deteriorated, and in the end, he fell to his death.

When Jiang He first heard about it at school, Dan Sirou’s face had flashed through her mind for only a brief moment. She hadn’t felt much else. To her, Dan Sirou was essentially a half-stranger—someone she’d had a few childhood encounters with, most of them unpleasant. Perhaps she should have felt schadenfreude? Yet there was no joy, no particular sorrow either. It had been none of her business.

She knew Dan Sirou’s life afterward wouldn’t be easy—but she had never imagined it would come to this.

An Omega approaching an Alpha, proposing a marking for money.

Good thing Dan Sirou didn’t remember her. Otherwise, how could she have imagined that the girl she once ignored would one day become the person she turned to for help?

Thinking of the past, doubt surfaced in Jiang He’s mind.

“Why me?” she asked, staring at Dan Sirou. “You’re so popular—can’t you raise this money? Do you really need to humiliate yourself like this?”

The word popular was bitten down on with extra force.

At school, countless Alphas courted her openly. Not to mention all her friends.

And if one took a step back, even without considering all of them—at the very least, Zhou Tingchen would surely be more than willing to help her.

If this transaction truly had to happen, wouldn’t a high-quality Alpha like Zhou Tingchen be far more suitable than a “stranger” like herself?

“I already said it.” Dan Sirou lifted her chin. She was slightly shorter than Jiang He, and standing outside the grand Jiang family villa, she looked out of place in this affluent neighborhood. Yet there was no trace of inferiority in her eyes.

“I’m helping you because you happen to need it. That’s why I came to you.”

“I’m not selling myself.”

Jiang He felt as though she’d been choked by those words.

She couldn’t summon even the slightest trace of schadenfreude.

Dan Sirou wasn’t wrong. There were pheromone-trading clubs everywhere these days. If an S-class Omega—one in a million—truly stepped into that industry and named her price, it would be far more than a hundred thousand. Only top-tier tycoons could afford it.

And this was for five times.

“Give me some time to think it over,” Jiang He said after a brief silence.

“Alright,” Dan Sirou replied. “I’ll come back once you’ve made up your mind.”

Jiang He nodded.

They exchanged contact information. Jiang He watched her leave, her phone screen never dimming, still fixed on the other girl’s profile.

Moonlight.

Dan Sirou’s WeChat nickname.

Jiang He stared at it for a long moment before turning the screen off.

Back in her room, she didn’t rush to shower. She sat at her desk for a long time, then, as if remembering something, pulled open a drawer. Inside, in a hidden compartment, were a few personal items.

Resting on top was a photograph, its edges clearly cut by hand.

There was only one girl in the photo. A strip of blank space lay on the left. On the right, her arm was being held by an unidentified hand. Just as that hand would have reached her shoulder, it had been cut away—deliberately so, the edges rough and uneven.

Jiang He had asked for this photo from a distant cousin. Back then, she’d been surprised to learn how close the cousin was to Dan Sirou—and even felt a twinge of jealousy.

In the picture, young Sirou’s features already hinted at their future beauty, still carrying traces of youthful innocence. Even sealed within a small photograph, her smile was enough to make one’s heart ripple.

Jiang He took out her phone again and opened Dan Sirou’s profile, staring at it for a long while before heavily sinking back against the chair.

After a moment, she lowered her lashes. Her long fingers brushed across the screen, scrolling down her contacts until she tapped on her aunt’s avatar.