After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 30

Shu Youzhan was so angry she wanted to punch her.

Her hand had just been raised when she belatedly realized that their current position was still quite visible to the people in the living room. Especially since fireworks were being set off outside at that moment, several people had walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows to look out—

Detecting several astonished gazes, a bit of hot sweat broke out on Shu Youzhan’s neck. It was impossible for her to recount to others how Zhao Qinglan had just taken advantage of her verbally, so she had no choice but to lower her hand again.

She could only squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: “Have you no shame?”

Zhao Qinglan also caught sight of the guests’ gazes inside the house, yet her eyes remained smiling, reflecting only Shu Youzhan’s image. “How am I shameless? Didn’t you just say yourself that you know many tricks?”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

Did she mean “tricks” in that way?

Combined with Zhao Qinglan’s tone, it sounded even weirder, alright?

Seeing her start to get irritable, Zhao Qinglan stopped just in time and proactively changed the subject. “Alright, follow me inside. There are too many plants out here; there will still be small bugs at night. Your skirt is so short, you’ll definitely be bitten to tears if you stay a few more minutes.”

Shu Youzhan: “?”

Shu Youzhan: “Am I such a delicate person in your eyes?”

Zhao Qinglan gently pulled her wrist, leading her around the path toward the main door of the house, not forgetting to respond: “Oh? Who is the person who insists on using an umbrella even in a drizzle and refuses to step outside without one?”

Shu Youzhan forcefully tried to shake off the hand pulling her, but unexpectedly failed to break free. Her face showed an unwilling rebuttal: “That’s because rainwater is dirty! I’m avoiding the dirt; that’s not the same as being delicate.”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Zhao Qinglan nodded with zero sincerity. “Everything you say is right.”

At that moment, the two had walked to a darker area of the courtyard. The nearby bushes grew nearly to the height of the second floor, casting a dense black shadow that provided a pocket of cool air. Only the faint, round white lights gleamed eerily between the thin branches.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Shu Youzhan intended to act rather than speak. Taking a step forward, she raised her right leg, intending to give the other person a side kick.

As a result, Zhao Qinglan, who was in front, didn’t even turn her head. While her left hand-held Shu Youzhan’s wrist, her right hand, hanging at her side, directly intercepted Shu Youzhan’s ankle in mid-air. Her thumb brushed lightly over the ankle bone. She let go of Shu Youzhan’s hand, turned around, and raised an eyebrow.

Shu Youzhan: “…”

She absolutely hated today’s skirt.

She exerted force with her leg but couldn’t pull it back, noticing the banter in Zhao Qinglan’s eyes.

She took a deep breath and simply used the leverage of being held by the other to twist her body and launch the other leg…

Somehow, as they moved against each other, they both ended up rolling onto the lawn.

Just as Shu Youzhan’s head was about to hit the dirt at the edge of the bushes, a hand timely cushioned the back of her head.

Zhao Qinglan had somehow gained the upper hand; her brand-new military uniform was stained with a bit of grass on the shoulder.

Now looking down at her, Shu Youzhan tried to struggle several times but couldn’t break free. Finally, she gave up and looked at her, licking her lips, making the somewhat dry lip glaze she had applied in the afternoon sparkle again.

“Ahem… that, I just suddenly wanted to test your skills.”

Zhao Qinglan’s head gradually lowered, her gaze focusing on her lips, watching the crystalline color. Even in the dim light, a faint shimmer was visible, like translucent crystal jelly. After a long while, she finally responded: “Hmm? And after testing them, are you satisfied?”

The voice floated into her ear at such close range that it made Shu Youzhan think of the time she was marked—hearing those heavy breaths and that increasingly low, raspy voice.

It was like a plucked harp string, vibrating all the way to the bottom of one’s heart.

Shu Youzhan’s throat moved. She turned her head aside, unintentionally exposing her long neck and a line of skin as white as jade. “You get up first. People are coming and going here; if someone sees… it’s not appropriate.”

Zhao Qinglan let out a low hum. She didn’t tell her that at this time, everyone was either busy watching the fireworks and recording the flashing text on the screen in the sky, or they were gathered inside for the meal.

While her sensory nerves were quietly on guard, she didn’t grant Shu Youzhan’s wish: “Didn’t you start it first? When you were provocatively flirting with me just now, why didn’t you think about it being inappropriate?”

Shu Youzhan felt her choice of words today was a bit strange.

They always made one’s face turn red and ears feel hot upon hearing them.

So, she refused to speak or respond anymore. Instead, she moved her shoulders and legs, still wanting to flip the person off her.

However, she didn’t know where her knee hit, but she heard Zhao Qinglan let out a soft gasp of cold air, and the pressure pinning her down increased.

At the same time, with a hint of warning, she threatened in a dark tone: “Don’t move recklessly.”

Shu Youzhan: “?”

She felt her irritation had seeped into her voice, yet because she was so afraid of being discovered, her tone drifted with a bit of a pampered quality: “Then you… get off!”

Zhao Qinglan’s breathing grew heavy. Her black eyes, like ink-jade soaked in a cold spring, gave her a deep look. Her eyelids half-closed, she slowly moved closer to Shu Youzhan’s face.

For a moment, Shu Youzhan felt like her kiss was about to fall.

An indescribable panic swept over her. She was so nervous her feet went rigid. She turned her head and shouted with a slightly heavier voice: “Zhao Qinglan!”

The eyelashes of the person whose name was called flickered. As if reminded of something, her thin lips parted slightly, letting out a very soft sigh.

Then, she was seen dropping her guard and getting off Shu Youzhan. Kneeling on one knee beside her, she supported the other’s shoulder and pulled Shu Youzhan up into a sitting position as well.

Shu Youzhan’s heart relaxed, yet there was a sense of inexplicable melancholy. Before she could sort through these feelings, she saw Zhao Qinglan stand up from the side. Her gaze landed on the edge of Shu Youzhan’s skirt, and she slowly reminded her: “White…”

Shu Youzhan: “?”

Zhao Qinglan then returned to her usual teasing manner. Her eyes were filled with idle laughter, reflecting the faint lights from the bushes like stars. “How many people do you want to admire the white safety pants you’re wearing today?”

Shu Youzhan: “!”

She swallowed her words.

As if seeing through her thoughts, Zhao Qinglan offered a rare compliment: “Mm, being rational is good. Don’t casually provoke an opponent who is stronger than you.”

The veins on Shu Youzhan’s forehead were nearly popping. She couldn’t help but regret why she had been so foolish as to come and celebrate this person’s birthday. Look at how smug Zhao Qinglan was today: “Do I need to remind you of how you used to be pinned down and beaten by me? Zhao Qinglan, there’s no need to be so proud just because your constitution had a slight optimization after differentiating into an Alpha, right?”

Hearing her words, Zhao Qinglan froze for a moment.

The previous friendly, and even briefly ambiguous, atmosphere seemed to be blown away by the evening breeze, vanishing without a trace.

“I didn’t mean that…” Thinking of the way she had just pinned her down, Zhao Qinglan’s throat moved, and she added: “I was just… a bit worried. In case you encounter a powerful opponent in the future, if you act so impulsively without clearly judging their strength, it’s easy to suffer a loss.”

This should be considered a rare instance of her having a friendly attitude.

However, Shu Youzhan was nearly driven mad by her air of winning and then standing on high ground to give pointers. Some words left her mouth without even passing through her brain, coming out almost with a cold sneer: “Worried? Aren’t you worrying a bit too much? Given the relationship between the Shu and Zhao families, it’s hardly your turn to worry about me, is it?”

“Could it be that recent events have given you some kind of delusion?”

The smile on Zhao Qinglan’s face gradually disappeared.

Her dark eyes grew even colder.

Like frozen ice.

She understood the meaning behind Shu Youzhan’s words. Over the past century, whether in military, commercial, or other aspects, the relationship between the Shu and Zhao families had been so tense at times that the Empire thought a war would break out between them. As competition grew fiercer, their interactions became fewer, to the point where the side branches were even more incompatible than the main families.

Even without mentioning the two recent markings, Shu Youzhan’s words were almost directly telling her: the two of us are strangers to begin with.

It was clearly a summer evening breeze, but after being filtered by the large lake outside the Zhao family villa and the vast gardens, even the warmest wind turned cold. It blew against Zhao Qinglan like small knives, scraping into the crevices of her bones, threatening to freeze even her heart into ice.

The two stood silently facing each other for an unknown amount of time.

Zhao Qinglan sensed someone approaching. She raised her hand to brush off the grass clippings on her person. When she looked up again, she said softly: “Shu Youzhan—”

“Sometimes I even wonder if your heart is made of stone. Why does it seem like no matter how hard others try, they can’t warm it up?”

Shu Youzhan’s lips moved as if she wanted to respond one last time, but a voice already drifted over from the distance: “Qinglan, why are you here? They’ve been waiting for you inside for a long time.”

Zhao Qinglan nodded and walked toward that direction: “Coming right now.”

Before leaving, she gave Shu Youzhan one last look, then straightened the collar and sleeves of her military uniform and walked away with her long legs.

Shu Youzhan stood in place for a while, then suddenly crouched down to scratch her calf.

She didn’t know if it was because she had just rolled around in the grass, but it seemed she really had been bitten by a bug; it was itching like crazy now.

But she simply didn’t want to go inside. She didn’t want to see Zhao Qinglan in her glory, nor did she want to face those strange looks.

She simply sat down outside. The self-service pastries from the afternoon hadn’t been cleared away yet. She casually picked a Black Forest cake to eat. It was clearly a very sweet cake, but it tasted a bit bitter in her mouth.

A waiter even came over to ask her: “Hello, do you need a thin blanket? The wind is strong out here at night; be careful not to catch a cold.”

Shu Youzhan waved her hand, not even turning around. She just kept stuffing cake into her mouth, cursing the Zhao family’s chef in her heart for having such poor skills—how could they even make cake taste this bad.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have come.

“Hello, do you need—”

The same voice sounded again.

Shu Youzhan originally just wanted to be alone. Being disturbed repeatedly, she couldn’t help but turn around and say: “I said I don’t need it, so I don’t need it!”

After seeing her appearance clearly, the waiter froze slightly.

Drip…

The edge of the paper cake plate was slightly dampened.

Shu Youzhan lowered her eyes. Just as she was about to say their family’s cake was far too bitter, the waiter timely averted his gaze. Instead, he pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed them over. After thinking for a moment, he said softly: “I didn’t see anything.”

Holding that pack of tissues, Shu Youzhan herself couldn’t say why her heart felt so stifled. She clearly hadn’t said anything wrong.

But as soon as she thought of Zhao Qinglan’s appearance and those few sentences she had said to her, her eyes were like they were broken, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

It must be because her period is coming soon.

It must be that.

She put down the cake plate, softly said thank you to the waiter, and then muttered to herself: “I’m not quite used to the pastries here; I still prefer the ones at home.”

Having contacted the driver in advance, Shu Youzhan returned home.

She didn’t even remove her lip makeup. She perfunctorily told the butler she had already eaten and then ran to her room to sleep. She pulled the covers over her head and tossed and turned several times. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard a very soft noise at the door; it should be Wei Shuangchi and Shu Yu returning.

“This child… today she was the one who said she wanted to go celebrate someone’s birthday, but in the end, she’s also the one who ran back without even saying hello. What’s going on?”

A knock at the door sounded, light and short.

For the first time, Shu Youzhan didn’t respond to Wei Shuangchi, lying motionless in the blankets pretending to sleep.

“Really asleep?”

Shu Yu spoke with some impatience: “No need for such trouble, I’ll have someone pry the door open—”

“Prying open the door of our own home just like that? Regiment Commander Shu, do you have too much money burning a hole in your pocket? Besides, what time is it for the child? Isn’t it normal to be asleep? Come, come, let’s go back to our room and talk about the issue of educating the child. I’ve found that you really have no patience for Youyou lately…”

The conversation gradually drifted away.

Shu Youzhan pulled the covers down from the top of her head, staring with open eyes at the pitch-black room. She let out a breath and tried once more to close her eyes.

“Is everyone here? Good, today we will talk about—”

The next day, Class 1 classroom.

When Shu Youzhan went to her seat, there was a moment of awkwardness. She was wondering how inconvenient it would be for her to go in and out once Zhao Qinglan arrived, since she had to maintain a cold image of being in a “cold war.”

However, the situation she had rehearsed did not have a chance to appear.

Seeing that Old Fang was about to announce the start of class, Shu Youzhan looked at the empty seat next to her and couldn’t help but stab the person in the back, drawing out her voice to tattle: “Teacher, Zhao Qinglan isn’t here yet.”

On the podium, Old Fang, who had just picked up his thermos, looked over upon hearing this. Then he put down the thermos and said with a chuckle: “Oh right, I forgot to tell you all, Student Zhao Qinglan has dropped out of school starting from today.”

“Alright, let’s first take out the test papers from a few days ago. The first multiple-choice question…”

Old Fang dropped the notice and familiarly steered the topic back to his great undertaking of teaching. He took a sip of tea and asked: “The first choice—how many times have I said it? This question is a simple test of knowledge points. If you can’t even remember major historical events, what will you do during exams in the future?”

“Everyone raises your hands and let me see how many people got this one wrong.”

Shu Youzhan was stunned and couldn’t quite react; she only subconsciously raised her hand.

Seeing her, Old Fang said cheerfully: “Xiao Shu, tell us, how did you get this one wrong? Did you misread it?”

Shu Youzhan hurriedly stood up. She didn’t even notice her desk jolting Ping Hui in front of her awake from his dream. Her whole body leaned forward, her movements carrying several hints of urgency: “Teacher, why did Zhao Qinglan drop out?”

Old Fang: “…”

Laughter broke out in a corner of the class. Some people kept glancing back. Thinking of that photo of Shu Youzhan celebrating Zhao Qinglan’s birthday that had circulated last night, their gazes were full of gossip.

Old Fang said helplessly: “How would I know? Go ask her. The Director and the Principal approved it regardless—”

Having said that, he sighed again: “Shu Youzhan, did you get this question wrong or not? If not, sit down and don’t cause trouble.”

Shu Youzhan sat back down gloomily.

She no longer had any heart for the lesson, her gaze subconsciously falling on the desk beside her.