After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 12

If Shu Youzhan could dismiss that scent—the one that vanished instantly back at the gymnasium—as a mere hallucination, then now she was seventy to eighty percent certain.

Zhao Qinglan did not seem to be the same as the rumors suggested.

Shu Youzhan was far too curious about the scent of her pheromones. She tried her best to discern where that faint fragrance was coming from, her nose brushing lightly against that fair neck in small movements.

Zhao Qinglan instinctively tilted her head away, trying to dodge the ticklish sensation. She was about to tell Shu Youzhan to behave herself when she suddenly remembered the “pain” the other girl had mentioned earlier. The words at the tip of her tongue changed to a different question: “Where are you hurt?”

This time, Shu Youzhan still couldn’t recall exactly what the scent on Zhao Qinglan’s body was. Hearing the reminder, she sluggishly lifted her hand, showing the other girl her reddened knuckles.

After differentiating into an Omega, her skin seemed even more delicate than before. Even though she hadn’t used hand cream once during these past few days, Zhao Qinglan found her gaze captivated by this skin—so tender it looked like milk could be squeezed from it—as she stared at the prominent deep red color on the joints.

It was heavy enough to bruise.

It was clear just how much strength she had used to punch those people.

Zhao Qinglan’s deep black eyes looked somberly toward the three Alphas still kneeling on the ground in the distance, who had yet to regain consciousness. Her pheromones bypassed the person in her arms and surged once again toward those men on the ground.

The Omega who had been hiding in the corner with a flushed face instinctively looked over with watery eyes, like a startled little rabbit. Perhaps provoked by Zhao Qinglan’s pheromones, she could no longer control herself, and a thick, sweet fragrance began to spread.

Shu Youzhan regained some of her strength and immediately stood up heartlessly, pushing Zhao Qinglan aside. She turned to look over there, then came back to ask, “Do you have any inhibitory patches?”

Zhao Qinglan pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, remaining indifferent to this high concentration of Omega pheromones. She merely looked down at Shu Youzhan with a languid gaze and smiled. “Who brings those when they go out to eat?”

Besides, she wasn’t an Omega.

After a pause, she added, “This is beyond what a patch can handle. She was directly stimulated by those guys’ pheromones into a heat cycle; she needs an immediate injection of suppressants. I’ve already called the police; they should be arriving soon.”

Shu Youzhan nodded. Seeing how distressed the girl was, she walked over and whispered words of comfort to help her relax. Otherwise, the more tense her emotions became, the more uncontrollable the release of pheromones would be.

The sound of police sirens grew louder in the distance.

The girl kept nodding, trying her best to maintain her final shred of consciousness. She clumsily apologized and thanked Shu Youzhan at the same time. Shu Youzhan’s eyes curved into a smile as she gently patted the girl’s shoulder. “It’s what I should do, don’t mention it!”

“Be more careful when you go out in the future. Try not to take these kinds of small alleys, and ask for help immediately if you run into trouble.”

The girl nodded. After they exchanged a few more words, the police arrived at the scene. They began cordoning off the surrounding intersections to prevent any Alphas from approaching and being affected by the Omega’s pheromones.

Hardly anyone at this branch station didn’t recognize these two from the Zhao and Shu families, so their attitude became much more cautious.

Zhao Qinglan went to the mouth of the alley first, nodded to them, and briefly explained the situation inside. She looked back toward Shu Youzhan, then turned back to add something else.

After a moment, a young male police officer went to the car to get a bottle of something and handed it to her.

Inside, Shu Youzhan had already accompanied several uniformed officers, watching the girl calm down after the suppressant injection. Just as she thought the job was done, her back collar was suddenly pulled gently from behind…

She found herself being led involuntarily into the shadows where no one was around.

She turned to look, her eyes drifting upward. She felt as though Zhao Qinglan had grown a bit taller again.

Before she could ask what was happening, she felt a cool sensation on the back of her neck—

It was the sound of a biological patch being sprayed on again.

Because there were others around, Zhao Qinglan’s movements were very fast, almost imperceptible to anyone else. Shu Youzhan’s school uniform collar was turned up again, hiding that patch of fair skin on the back of her neck.

Realizing what had happened, Shu Youzhan covered her neck with her hand. She instinctively glanced at the police nearby, realizing from Zhao Qinglan’s actions that her own pheromones had been slightly affected as well, nearly blowing her cover in public.

Just as the awkwardness began to surface in her eyes, a slightly raspy voice dropped from behind her: “Don’t be nervous…”

“They won’t say anything.”

After blocking everyone’s sight to help Shu Youzhan dissipate the leaking pheromones, Zhao Qinglan shook the bottle in her hand and went back to return it to the person who had brought it. After saying her thanks, her gaze drifted toward the police car in the distance.

She stood there for a while with one hand tucked in her school uniform pocket. A team leader came over to ask her how to handle those three Alphas. Zhao Qinglan watched their figures being dragged away and said casually, “Follow the standard procedure…”

Thinking back to the scene she saw when she first arrived, Zhao Qinglan’s eyes darkened, and she added, “However, the surveillance shows they were the primary aggressors… You know how to sentence people for attacking the family members of military personnel according to Imperial Law.”

The team leader immediately nodded solemnly and asked her and Shu Youzhan to make a record. It wasn’t until he got back into the car that he remembered to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

A colleague whispered, “Hey, did you guys notice? It seems the relationship between the Zhao and Shu families isn’t as bad as the rumors say.”

“Yeah, but why did the one from the Shu family differentiate into an O? I’m so shocked. This way, she won’t be able to inherit, right?”

“Hehe, looking at her relationship with the one from the Zhao family, if they end up taking the marriage alliance route, then it’s hard to say what will happen in the future—”

The team leader, who was originally reflecting on today’s incident, was pulled back by the gossiping voices. He immediately turned around and said, “Everything regarding those two today—act like you didn’t see a thing. Understood?”

The others immediately retracted their smiles and nodded seriously: “Yes…”

In the alleyway…

Shu Youzhan gave a massive stretch. Remembering something, she immediately wanted to head back toward the restaurant: “I still have a grilled oyster I haven’t eaten! If I’m any later, it’ll get cold and fishy!”

Zhao Qinglan sighed. “Do you not want your hand anymore?”

“If you don’t go buy some medicine to apply now, you won’t even be able to write tomorrow.”

“But my grilled oyster?”

“Let Pei Yi or A-Jue eat it for you.”

“No way! That’s a total loss!”

“Fine then. Go back and eat. I recall there’s a math quiz tomorrow.”

“Let’s go buy medicine.”

Shu Youzhan turned and walked ahead of Zhao Qinglan. Belatedly remembering her friends who were still eating, she took out her phone and realized she hadn’t turned off the silent mode from class. There were about a dozen missed calls from Pei Yi and Shu Mi.

She casually called Pei Yi back: “The matter is settled; I’m going to buy some medicine… Hm? No, I’m not hurt, it’s just that it hurts from hitting people… Looking for me? Too much trouble, I’ll just go to the pharmacy on the next street.”

After hanging up, she walked up the steps and pushed aside the door curtain. Hearing the “Welcome” chime, she looked back and realized Zhao Qinglan hadn’t followed her. For some reason, the other girl had discovered her hair accessory was messed up and was seriously fiddling with the golden iris.

Her movements up the stairs were also much slower.

Shu Youzhan didn’t mind her. She turned inside to ask the owner for trauma medicine. She was just paying when she heard another “Welcome” chime. She instinctively looked over and was met directly with a slightly crooked iris.

“Pfft…”

She burst out laughing and said to Zhao Qinglan, “Don’t move, let me take a photo of you. I’m counting on this image of yours for my happiness this year—”

Zhao Qinglan immediately reached out to block her.

The owner’s voice rang out from behind the checkout counter: “Fifty-two yuan, thank you for your patronage.”

Shu Youzhan turned back and pulled out her phone to scan the code. She then saw the owner lift his eyelids to glance at the two of them. After a long moment, he pointed to the promotion on the table and marketed it casually:

“Second item is half price. Want to take a look?”

Shu Youzhan’s gaze followed the gesture. She saw a line on the product that read: “Passionate moments, ultimate experience.”

Then she looked at the product name: Durex.

Shu Youzhan: “??”