After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 53

Shu Youzhan’s legs were still weak, and her hand was still resting on the other’s arm. Now, even if she wanted to run, she couldn’t. She could only dryly lick her lips and, meeting Zhao Qinglan’s meaningful gaze, stuttered out a small sentence: “Let’s… let’s not eat that. I want to change to a different dish for lunch.”

“This dish of yours is too hard; it’ll break my teeth.”

Zhao Qinglan burst into laughter for a moment.

She raised her hand to pinch Shu Youzhan’s chin, asking with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Oh? Which dish do you want to change to? Shall I help you consider it?”

Her grip was a bit heavy, pinching her until it hurt, seemingly carrying a dangerous warning. Shu Youzhan was forced to shake her head and respond: “I’m talking about the food for lunch! I want to eat eggplant pot!”

Zhao Qinglan gave a hum of laughter and finally let her go, leading her toward the car outside the campus. Shu Youzhan saw her family driver from a distance and was about to take the opportunity to slip away and avoid this “firecracker” she had accidentally ignited. However, before she could take even half a step in that direction, she was pulled toward another car, half-held and half-embraced by the person beside her.

Shu Youzhan: “?”

She raised her hand to grip the car door, trying to remind her: “I… I have a shooting exam this afternoon.”

The person in the black military uniform walked around the front of the car. After opening the door and getting into the self-driving seat, she glanced sideways at her: “I just booked a range to let you get a feel for it. If you don’t want to go, then forget it.”

Shu Youzhan gave an “oh” and dawdled as she sat back down. Fumbling to grab the seatbelt beside her, she hummed out a sentence like a buzzing mosquito: “I can go.”

Zhao Qinglan was almost amused by her ability to yield or prevail as needed. Hearing this “reluctant” attitude, she tapped her fingertips on the steering wheel while setting the route and deliberately asked: “So, is this dish of mine still tooth-breakingly hard now?”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

She honestly followed the other person’s lead, showing her sense of timing: “It’s not breaking anything, not anymore. It’s not hard, not hard at all.”

Hearing the first half, Zhao Qinglan was quite satisfied. However, after the two words “not hard” came out, her fingertips tapping the input screen retracted slightly. She turned to look at the little girl in the passenger seat, wanting to confirm if those words were intentional or not.

Shu Youzhan felt a bit unnerved by her gaze. Her back pressed against the seat, and she couldn’t help but blink her eyes rapidly, like the fluttering wings of a butterfly.

Zhao Qinglan stared at her for a long while. Giving up hope on her common sense, she turned back with a sigh and continued navigating.

She only responded in a calm tone: “Whether it’s hard or not, you’ll know once you’ve tasted it.”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

She belatedly understood what the other person meant.

In this small, enclosed space, smelling that faint, powerful pheromone scent and hearing such words, her face immediately felt like it was burning. Her toes inside her shoes couldn’t help but curl up, feeling as if a string of imaginative images were bubbling up from the depths of her mind.

Fortunately, after touching the weapon, Shu Youzhan’s attention quickly shifted.

In her area of expertise, she quickly entered a heated state, feeling like she could maintain this momentum directly through to the afternoon test.

She was even more stunning than what Zhao Qinglan had seen before. Therefore, after the exam formally ended, Shu Youzhan was humming a song all the way home.

“Do you… want to come to my house for a bit?”

Before getting out of the car, Shu Youzhan offered a rare, polite invitation to stay. Thinking that Zhao Qinglan had put in effort for her exams during this period, she felt that letting her go like this would make her seem particularly like someone who is “ruthless after getting what they want.”

Zhao Qinglan shook her head instead: “Next time. I still have some things to do.”

“Ah…”

Shu Youzhan responded. After observing the other’s expression, she realized Zhao Qinglan wasn’t just being polite. She had to raise her hand to pull the car door, feeling that Zhao Qinglan had a mysterious veil over her—always appearing distant just when she felt they were getting close.

The door was halfway open.

Her shoulder was suddenly pressed from behind. Zhao Qinglan leaned in from the back, her voice carrying a hint of a smile: “What’s this? Your mood changes faster than the weather. You were happy just a moment ago, and now it’s gone from sunny to cloudy?”

Shu Youzhan kept her head down and didn’t move. She remembered how Zhao Qinglan had disappeared from school before without any notice. She always carried many secrets, and Shu Youzhan couldn’t push aside the mist shrouding them.

“Nothing…”

She said, “It’s just… I feel like I don’t really understand you.”

Zhao Qinglan asked her with a smile: “How do you want to understand me? I will definitely cooperate.”

Noticing that Shu Youzhan was still moping, she straightened her expression and pulled her back, pressing her into her embrace. Amidst the temperature of their lingering closeness, she said slowly: “What do you want to ask? I will tell you everything I know without reservation.”

Shu Youzhan pushed her hand away, silently trying to sit up straight and pull the car door again, but she was no match for Zhao Qinglan’s strength. After struggling gloomily for a long time to no avail, she almost ended up delivering herself further into the other’s arms.

Fortunately, the car was parked on a secluded roadside and had not yet entered the range of the Shu family estate.

Furthermore, the car’s privacy protection was very well done; nothing inside could be seen from the outside.

Zhao Qinglan glanced at the time on the car clock.

She roughly estimated the time it would take to reach the military headquarters and changed her answer: “Then I’ll walk you in and stay with you for a while, okay? It was my fault just now.”

Shu Youzhan was originally just having a momentary fit of temper; she hadn’t expected Zhao Qinglan to coax her.

Now, hearing her apologize for no reason, she finally smiled. Leaning in her arms, she tilted her chin: “Why did you apologize? You don’t even know why I’m upset.”

Seeing her smile, Zhao Qinglan felt a sense of relief. She raised her hand to smooth her hair, touching that silver strand and gently twirling it between her fingertips. Her voice was very gentle: “Regardless of the reason, I made you unhappy, so of course, I must admit my mistake first.”

Perhaps because this person’s dominance was always shown outwardly and never concealed.

So, when Zhao Qinglan showed this kind of compromise and thoughtfulness, Shu Youzhan was always particularly easy to move.

Clearly, when they first interacted, she was the one most easily angered by Zhao Qinglan. Now that their relationship had changed, Zhao Qinglan had unexpectedly become the person who made her heart soften the most.

The weaknesses she used to keep hidden in her heart, not intending to show them, had now become things she could voice.

Shu Youzhan rubbed against her palm before speaking about her thoughts in a light tone: “It’s not your problem… it’s just that I’m feeling a bit insecure. I’m always afraid you’ll be like before—disappearing from my life one day, and no matter how I ask around, I can’t find anything.”

So I can’t help but want to keep you within my line of sight.

Just after finishing her sentence, Shu Youzhan looked away awkwardly. She didn’t want to leave Zhao Qinglan with the impression that she was overly dependent. Her mind raced, trying to find something else to say to wash these words out of the other’s mind as quickly as possible.

However, Zhao Qinglan’s heart stirred.

She realized where she hadn’t done well enough.

Because she feared Shu Youzhan’s rejection, she had become accustomed to contributing silently and without a word.

She even intentionally or unintentionally avoided letting the other person touch the truth, wanting to give an invisible love, appearing in Shu Youzhan’s life only as a guardian.

But she had forgotten that now, she wasn’t the only one thinking of the other.

Shu Youzhan had also taken steps toward her. They were running toward each other, opening their arms to one another simultaneously. Both wanted to give, and both wanted to hear a response… she wasn’t the only one who was afraid.

“It’s just me being too fragile, I will—”

“No…”

Zhao Qinglan interrupted her.

“It’s my fault…” She smiled. “I didn’t give enough trust, nor did I provide you with enough security. From now on, no matter where I go, I will definitely tell you in advance, down to the smallest detail.”

“I will never disappear from your life again. Only you can drive me away.”

She kissed Shu Youzhan’s forehead, saying the most moving words of love in the gentlest tone.

As if to prove this point, without waiting for Shu Youzhan to ask, Zhao Qinglan began to recount everything about her recent situation—from the department she joined in the military to the meeting she was working late for tonight. Except for matters under the secrecy code, she told her everything she could.

Shu Youzhan suddenly turned to look at the time nearby: “What time did you say the meeting starts?”

“Six forty-five.”

“It’s already six thirty-eight… why are you still here? I’m getting out, I’m getting out! Go quickly! Don’t be late!”

After abruptly getting up from the other’s arms, Shu Youzhan broke out of that “gentle trap” state. She quickly pulled open the car door and dashed out, leaving not even a second of extra intimacy for Zhao Qinglan, merely waving goodbye through the window.

Zhao Qinglan: “…”

She rolled down the car window, her face looking helpless. She wasn’t quite sure if she had successfully coaxed the person just now. Just as she was about to say a few more words, Shu Youzhan was already rushing her: “Go quickly!”

The remaining words were swallowed back. The girl had already run far away.

Zhao Qinglan stared at her silhouette, confirming once again that her Omega’s moods were more unpredictable than the weather.

“Youyou, you’re back?”

“How do you want to spend your birthday tomorrow?”

Hearing the movement at the door, Wei Shuangchi, draped in a white cashmere coat, turned from the sofa to ask. Her hands were placed on a cushion on the table; someone in neat attire was carefully applying various bottled products to her for a treatment.

Seeing that she hadn’t gone to the beauty salon today but chose to stay in the living room, Shu Youzhan guessed she must be concerned about her grades. She immediately put on a big smile and ran over like a bird returning to the woods: “Anything is fine! As long as I spend it with Mom!”

Wei Shuangchi saw her collar was a bit messy and reached out to help her tidy it, but then remembered the essence she had just applied to her hands. She could only pull back and remind her with a gentle smile: “Where did you come back from? Why is your clothes and hair so messy?”

Shu Youzhan looked down and then reached up to touch her head, realizing that these must be the traces left from being in the car with Zhao Qinglan earlier.

Immediately feeling guilty, she quickly smoothed it over and spoke: “I… I ran too fast.”

Wei Shuangchi wanted to ask more, but she quickly found an excuse and slipped back to her room.

At midnight, exactly twelve o’clock.

Shu Youzhan was lying in bed in a daze when she heard her phone vibrating. She fumbled to pick it up, her voice thick with sleep: “Mm?”

“Happy Birthday!! Are you asleep, Sister Xiao Shu? Get up and look out the window! Someone prepared a huge gift for you!”

Pei Yi’s voice came from the other end.

Shu Youzhan was too lazy to move. She rolled over and replied with her eyes closed: “Mm… I know. I’ll look tomorrow. I’m a bit sleepy, going to sleep first.”

Pei Yi: “…”

Pei Yi: “I bet this is Zhao Qinglan’s doing. I don’t know if it can last until tomorrow morning…”

In her daze, Shu Youzhan heard the name “Zhao Qinglan.” She snapped her eyes open, and without even fully throwing off the covers—which were still tangled around her calves—she crawled to the window. She pulled back the curtains and glanced outside. In the distance, she saw the beautiful night view of the central business district; the brightly lit skyscrapers were like rainbow light bands, displaying prosperity.

What was more striking than those—

Was the scrolling advertisement screen of the commercial skyscraper. A line of text slid across every page: “Congratulations to Student Shu Youzhan for passing the Imperial Military Academy entrance exam! Happy 17th Birthday to the Military Academy’s first Omega student!”

Every building within her line of sight flashed with the same festive red.

She didn’t know how much of the city.

Or how much of the planet…

Exactly how many buildings had been lit up overnight.