After Rebirth, My Archrival Omega Looks at Me Differently - Chapter 27

The morning sunlight was bright and warm. The quiet breakfast between them brought a rare sense of comfort to the hospital room.

Just as Yanyan reached out proudly for the last fried dumpling on the plate, another pair of chopsticks suddenly moved in from the side.

Without saying a word, as if she hadn’t noticed Yanyan’s intention at all, Yan Youqing calmly picked up the dumpling just before Yanyan’s chopsticks touched it. She placed it on her own plate and took a bite without hesitation.

Her face remained as calm as ever, but the smug expression on Yanyan’s face disappeared instantly.

She stared at Yan Youqing in disbelief, her lips pressed together, clearly unhappy.

Yanyan was sure of it. Yan Youqing had done that on purpose.

This had to be her revenge for the bragging earlier.

Just as Yanyan was about to ask if she had done it intentionally, the phone on her lap began to ring.

This time, it wasn’t a message. It was a phone call.

And it wasn’t from Zhong Yi. It was from her father.

Chi Xufeng rarely called her directly. Considering everything Zhong Yi had just told her, Yanyan felt a wave of unease rise in her chest.

“Dad?” she answered cautiously.

“Yanyan,” Chi Xufeng’s voice sounded calm, “your aunt said you didn’t come home last night. What happened?”

“I…” Yanyan knew she couldn’t lie to him. She glanced at Yan Youqing sitting across from her and carefully explained, “One of my classmates had an emergency. I stayed with her at the hospital.”

“Was it that classmate named Yan?” he asked.

Yanyan nodded. “Yes, it was her.”

Yan Youqing listened silently. She could more or less guess what Chi Xufeng was asking.

“Are you alright?” her father asked gently.

Just as Yanyan was about to say she was fine, a familiar high-pitched voice broke through the call. Her aunt was crying loudly in the background.

“Oh, my poor Minxue. His father died so young and I raised him all by myself. Why is life so unfair to him…”

Yanyan’s words froze in her throat. Her brows knit together tightly.

“Dad, where are you right now?” she asked quickly.

Chi Xufeng hesitated for a second before answering truthfully, “At your aunt’s house.”

Yanyan’s face darkened. She immediately stood up.

“Wait for me. I’m coming over now.”

Seeing her so suddenly flustered, Yan Youqing asked, “What’s going on?”

While putting on her school jacket, Yanyan replied hurriedly, “My aunt dragged my dad over. Who knows what she’s up to this time.”

“Thanks for breakfast. I’ll go now.”

With that, she picked up her backpack and walked straight to the door.

Yan Youqing opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the door had already closed.

Yanyan was too worried that her aunt would sweet-talk and manipulate Chi Xufeng again. She rode her bike as fast as she could. What should have been a ten-minute ride was cut down to just five.

As soon as she reached the courtyard and parked her bike, she could already hear the familiar crying coming from inside.

The voice was loud and miserable, as if something truly tragic had happened.

“I’ve worked so hard for so many years. How could he turn against his own family like this?”

“My dear brother-in-law, it’s freezing outside, and I still went out early this morning for him…”

Bang.

But Yanyan was no longer the child who could be manipulated with emotional blackmail. She pushed the front door open with force and strode in.

She walked straight to the living room and looked coldly at Xu Yongli, who was sitting on the couch with tears in her eyes.

“Auntie, what did you do so early this morning? Go buy fresh fish for Minxue?”

Xu Yongli jumped at the sound of the door slamming.

Her face froze, but she quickly returned to her tearful act.

“You haven’t eaten yet? How can you talk to me like this? After everything I’ve done for you?”

Yanyan crossed her arms and looked at her coldly. “Oh, I remember everything. Do you want me to list exactly what part of the fish I had?”

Xu Yongli’s expression shifted slightly, and she suddenly gave a dramatic sigh like she had figured something out.

“So this is about holding a grudge, isn’t it? Is that why you were so cruel to your brother?”

“Yanyan, he’s your brother. He’s your family. You testified against him and now he’s facing disciplinary action. How is he supposed to face anyone in the future? He’s still just a child.”

Yanyan let out a short laugh.

“A child? He’s eighteen.”

“All I did was tell the truth. And you know what? I bet the school surveillance footage confirms everything.”

Xu Yongli’s face stiffened. She knew she couldn’t argue with Yanyan directly. So she turned to Chi Xufeng for help.

“Brother-in-law, is this the daughter you raised? So cold and heartless. I’ve spent years raising two kids on my own. And this is the thanks I get?”

“Please calm down, sister-in-law,” Chi Xufeng said gently, helping her sit back down on the couch.

Xu Yongli, believing she had won him over again, relaxed slightly.

But what came next caught her completely off guard.

“You really don’t have to get so worked up,” Chi Xufeng said politely. “I’ve always taught Yanyan to be honest and to speak up for what’s right. That’s how we’ve always lived. Children learn by example.”

“If you feel that Yanyan living here has brought you too much trouble, then perhaps we won’t disturb you any further.”

His words were polite and calm, but they carried weight.

The small living room instantly went quiet.

Yanyan was stunned. She hadn’t expected her normally quiet father to speak so clearly and firmly.

Xu Yongli sat there frozen, her eyes staring at Chi Xufeng as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

A few seconds passed. Then, in a huff, she slammed a pile of receipts and papers on the table.

“Well, if that’s how it’s going to be, then let’s settle things properly. Even close relatives keep accounts. Let’s calculate every meal and every expense over the years. If we can’t figure it out clearly today, no one is leaving.”

Yanyan instantly understood her aunt’s new plan.

She was trying to take one last jab at them before they walked away for good.

Years of pent-up frustration surged in Yanyan’s chest. Her instincts as an Alpha flared. Her clenched fists trembled slightly, and the restless pheromones just beneath her skin pulsed with intensity.

She was reaching her limit.

A cold and commanding male voice came from outside the door.

“If Ms. Xu needs a complete settlement, I can provide on-site service.”

Chi Yan found the voice strangely familiar. She turned her head and saw the lawyer she had encountered in the hospital hallway the day before. It was Yan Youqing’s lawyer, now standing at the doorway.

He was still impeccably dressed in a crisp suit. His tall and upright posture carried the untouchable authority of an Alpha. Even without showing anger, he radiated a presence that made people hesitant to provoke him.

This was the man who had caused her son to receive a yellow-level warning. Naturally, Xu Yongli did not like him at all. She immediately stood up like a furious woman and shouted, “Why are you here again? We don’t have any money to pay you people!”

The lawyer remained calm and responded, “You misunderstood, Madam. I’m not here because of Ms. Yan’s matter. She has entrusted me to handle Ms. Chi’s moving arrangements.”

Chi Yan was slightly taken aback when she heard this.

She stared at the lawyer in disbelief. Yan Youqing was truly something else.

Could she see the future?

After finishing his explanation, the lawyer gave Chi Yan a slight nod, acknowledging their previous meeting. Then he walked directly over to Chi Xufeng and said, “Mr. Chi, good afternoon. The moving company hired by Ms. Yan has arrived. Please help Ms. Chi gather her belongings. I will record the entire process for legal documentation to prevent any future disputes.”

Chi Xufeng, having worked for years at the Institute of Life Sciences, was not used to such formal proceedings. He quickly reached out and shook the lawyer’s hand.

“Hello, thank you very much.”

The sound of a small moving truck pulling up echoed from outside. Chi Xufeng glanced at the group of sturdy movers stepping down from the vehicle and smiled.

“Well then, we won’t turn down the help.”

The lawyer nodded and signaled for the movers to come in. He made no attempt to acknowledge Xu Yongli.

Xu Yongli, like a snake struck in its weak spot, sat alone on the sofa. Her eyes were filled with rage and frustration, but there was nothing she could do. Just like her son, her anger had nowhere to go. She stormed off and slammed her bedroom door shut with a loud thud.

With Yan Youqing’s lawyer present, the moving process was orderly and efficient. Before long, it reached the final stage.

Chi Xufeng gave the movers the address of the residential building at the Institute. Then he rode his electric scooter slowly back home with Chi Yan sitting behind him.

By that time, the rush hour for school and work had passed. The streets were quiet with only a few people and vehicles.

Looking into the rearview mirror at Chi Yan, Chi Xufeng said with concern, “You can’t act on impulse like that anymore. When we get home, you need to properly thank your classmate Yan.”

Chi Yan lowered her eyes and softly replied, “Alright.” Then, a bit stubbornly, she added, “I just couldn’t stand seeing Auntie bullying you because you’re too easygoing.”

Chi Xufeng sighed deeply.

“This is my fault as a father.”

His words floated into the breeze, unnoticed and formless. After a moment of silence, he lightened the mood with a soft chuckle and said, “Yan Yan, from now on you’ll be living a harder life with Dad again.”

Chi Yan shook her head and responded without hesitation.

“It’s not hard at all.”

She lifted her chin and looked at him, reminding him firmly, “Old Chi, I’m already an adult. I’m also an S-rank Alpha. No one can bully me anymore. If anything happens, I can carry you and run.”

As expected, Chi Xufeng laughed.

“You silly girl.”

The midday sun still carried the lingering warmth of the morning. It shone through the sparse branches and scattered across Chi Yan’s gaze.

Chi Xufeng’s back was still as broad as she remembered. However, in his messy curls, there were now a few strands of gray hair.

Perhaps the sunshine softened her heart. Chi Yan leaned gently against her father’s back with a quiet tenderness that rarely belonged to Alphas. Then she finally spoke the words she had kept in her heart for so long.

“Old Chi, I missed you so much.”

Chi Xufeng had no idea what the future held. He only took it as a rare moment of affection from his daughter.

He let go of one hand on the handlebar and reached back to gently pat her head.

“Dad missed you too.”

The wind rustled through the treetops, quietly following the father and daughter on their way home.

In the past, Chi Yan had believed that the most precious thing in life was meeting someone. Now she understood that what truly mattered was the chance to meet again.

Chi Yan did not have many belongings. Chi Xufeng’s apartment was just as messy as she remembered.

She was in no rush to clean up. With a three-day Mid-Autumn Festival break starting that afternoon, she had plenty of time to help her father get the place in order.

After lunch, Chi Yan slipped back into school among the crowd of day students.

During the lunch break, there were only a few students in the classroom. Some sat at their desks quietly reciting vocabulary and reading passages, focused and determined.

Chi Yan walked in slowly, out of sync with the others. She walked to her desk, carefully avoiding the surveillance camera above the blackboard, and took out two fruit teas from her bag.

She had bought them from the milk tea shop. One was for herself. The other was for Yan Youqing, a thank-you gift. She had chosen the lime coconut tea.

But just as she quietly tried to hide the cups inside her desk, she encountered a problem.

She placed one cup on her leg and curiously looked inside her desk compartment. There, in the middle of the otherwise spacious space, was a box.

Chi Yan was sure it didn’t belong to her. She took it out with some confusion.

It was a beautifully packaged gift box, tied with an elegant, oversized ribbon.

Chi Yan frowned and had a rough idea of what it might be. She bent down and began thinking about how to deal with it.

Just then, a shadow fell over her, and a clear, calm voice called her name.

“Chi Yan.”

A faint scent of sea salt floated down from above. Yan Youqing had returned without her noticing.

Her long lashes hung low like feathers, and the sunlight from the window couldn’t reveal what emotions lay behind her eyes.

Chi Yan was puzzled by her sudden appearance. Before she could say anything, she saw Yan Youqing slap a piece of paper down on her desk.

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