After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Zhu Yunqi, I Agree.

Dr. Ji looked at her again, more closely.

This is Shi Li’s girlfriend? She’s a Beta, isn’t she? So why does she look so Alpha-like?

Just based on appearance, the two of them were actually a perfect match.

Dr. Ji cleared her throat, preparing to give Zhu Yunqi a good lecture on how to take care of her girlfriend, instead of letting her go through these vulnerable and painful treatments alone every time.

“Are you Shi Li’s girlfriend? Come over—”

“I’m not her girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

Shi Li and Zhu Yunqi spoke at the same time.

After an awkward moment of staring at each other, Shi Li said, “She’s my friend.”

Zhu Yunqi said, “She’s my client. A potential one.”

They spoke in unison again.

Dr. Ji blinked, a look of displeasure on her face. “If you’re not her girlfriend, why did you come in?”

Zhu Yunqi was even more bewildered. “The nurse told me to.”

She had thought something had happened to Shi Li.

Shi Li was her crucial Plan A to get the engagement called off; she couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong. Zhu Yunqi had practically run all the way over.

The little nurse’s face beneath her mask turned bright red.

“I’m so sorry! Dr. Ji, I heard you wanted the patient’s partner, and I just saw the two of them come in together on my shift. I thought they were a couple, so I called her over…”

In the Omega waiting area, the Alphas who accompanied patients were either parents or lovers. This Alpha certainly didn’t look like the patient’s mother, so she could only be her lover.

And their looks were just too well-matched. It would be a crime against nature for them not to be together. The little nurse didn’t dare say this out loud. She had been secretly watching them the whole time.

So it was a misunderstanding.

Dr. Ji sighed and motioned for the nurse to get the injection equipment ready.

As the nurse left, she muttered under her breath, “If they’re just friends, why did she rush over like that…?”

It was as if his wife were inside and about to give birth.

Stupid, now she’d fallen for her own ship.

Dr. Ji said, “It was a misunderstanding, then. Shi Li’s friend, I apologize for making you rush over.”

Zhu Yunqi stood at the door with her hands behind her back. “Only a girlfriend can listen? Not a friend?”

Dr. Ji smiled. “You can listen. It’s just some basic knowledge that’s easy to overlook. Of course, with Shi Li’s consent.”

Since Dr. Ji had put it that way, Shi Li couldn’t coldly kick Zhu Yunqi out.

Zhu Yunqi had no obligation to care about her, but she had come as soon as the nurse called, even though they had only just met and their relationship was still a little strained.

She must be a very kind person deep down.

Zhu Yunqi stood and listened to an entire lesson on what to do during an Omega’s heat cycle.

She appeared to be listening distractedly, but every word sank in, and she even asked Dr. Ji a few questions.

By the end, Dr. Ji’s impression of Zhu Yunqi was extremely positive.

Once the instructions were given, it was time to give Shi Li the pheromone stabilizer injection. At this point, Zhu Yunqi had to leave.

She pushed the door open and didn’t go far, waiting patiently at the end of the walkway.

In the treatment room.

The cold needle pierced her scent gland, and Shi Li’s eyes reddened from the pain. She had naturally sensitive nerves when it came to pain, and every injection would hurt so much she couldn’t stop herself from crying.

Dr. Ji operated the instrument and said, as if casually, “Your friend is an Alpha, right? Is she single? She seems much more responsible.”

The unsaid implication was clear to both her and Shi Li. Dr. Ji had long been fed up with Shi Li’s Beta girlfriend.

Shi Li understood the hidden meaning in her words and slowly said, “Dr. Ji, I’m afraid of Alphas.”

Hearing this, Dr. Ji paused. The image of a bleeding Shi Li from ten years ago in the emergency room appeared in her mind. Her immature scent gland had been half-torn apart.

She was a doctor who had seen all kinds of tragic cases and might have become numb to them. But for every person involved, it could be a lifelong trauma that others couldn’t judge.

So she said no more, silently finishing the rest of the stabilizer injection.

Finally having completed her monthly task, Shi Li let out a sigh of relief.

Wiping away the tears in her eyes, Shi Li walked out of the clinic. Outside, the streetlights were already on. The hail had arrived on time, clattering against the glass of the walkway.

Looking down from the walkway, there were only a few cars left on the street.

Zhu Yunqi was waiting for her at the end of the walkway.

When she saw her, Zhu Yunqi didn’t say a word, just extended a long, slender hand with a tissue.

“Thank you.”

Shi Li turned her back and pressed the tissue to her eyes. The tissue still carried the warmth from Zhu Yunqi’s hands. Just like the first time she had someone waiting for her on the walkway, it no longer felt as cold as it used to.

Only after Shi Li had recovered from the intense pain did Zhu Yunqi go downstairs with her and drive her home.

In the car, Shi Li’s body shivered from the cold caused by the stabilizer injection. But she’d rather shiver than close the window. There happened to be a thin silk jacket in the car. Zhu Yunqi stretched out her long arm, retrieved it, and placed it on Shi Li’s lap.

“Put it on. It’s clean.”

Shi Li didn’t refuse and draped the jacket over her shoulders. Then, she focused on watching the hail outside the car window.

When they got to her building, Shi Li returned the jacket to Zhu Yunqi and said sincerely, “I’ll carefully consider your offer.”

Zhu Yunqi seemed unhurried. “No rush. I’m only giving you a ride because I’m genuinely bored. I’m not trying to emotionally blackmail you.”

“You should go up. It’s cold outside.”

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

After returning home, Shi Li felt exhausted. She dragged her heavy feet to the kitchen to find something to eat. She opened the cupboard, and it was empty. The fridge was empty, too. A clever housewife can’t cook without rice. The smart stove couldn’t make any dishes.

The cupboard’s mechanical arm handed her a packet of nutrient paste.

Shi Li said tiredly, “Thank you, Little Chef.”

Little Chef immediately replied in the cheerful voice she had been programmed with, “That’s what Little Chef is for! But, Master, Little Chef suggests you get some groceries. That way, Little Chef can cook you some delicious meals.”

As Shi Li left the kitchen, Little Chef automatically went into standby mode.

The apartment was rented, a thirty-square-meter one-bedroom with a living room, a separate kitchen, and a bathroom. The monthly rent was 10,000 star coins. In a Star City where the average housing price was 150,000 per square meter, this price was very fair.

However, the government had announced last year that it would continue to develop this area into a new commercial district. A school and a park next to the community were already under construction. The landlord would probably raise the rent. Just yesterday, a neighbor complained to her that their rent had increased by a thousand dollars.

Chewing on the bland nutrient paste, Shi Li carried her life-sized, fluffy teddy bear to the living room window. She sat on the tatami mat, with only a floor lamp on, making the room warm and cozy.

Shi Li buried her face in the big bear and opened her communicator. A stream of messages instantly popped up, and the message alert device on her wrist vibrated until her hand went numb.

Wen Yue’s messages were at the top, dozens of unread ones mixed with several call requests.

Shi Li ignored them for now. Below Wen Yue’s was a message from her landlord.

Landlord: Hi, beautiful, can we talk? Can we raise the rent by 800 star coins a month starting next month? The park and school nearby are almost finished, and I heard a branch of the hospital is moving here soon. A lot more people are looking to rent here now. Everyone’s rent has gone up. Some of the bigger apartments in our community have even increased by two thousand. My wife told me to talk to you about it.

As expected, speak of the devil. Just a moment ago, she was thinking the rent would likely increase, and the next moment, she received the notice.

Shi Li calmly replied, “Okay.”

It was expected, so Shi Li wasn’t overly sad about the 800 star coins she was about to lose. She continued to scroll down, and her pupils constricted when she saw a voice message from “Auntie Zhang” sent at 4 p.m.

Shi Li reflexively swiped past the unread message. A moment later, she quickly swiped back and reluctantly clicked on it.

Auntie Zhang was her mother’s caregiver at the sanatorium.

Auntie Zhang: Xiao Li, your mother made a huge scene at the sanatorium today and broke her leg. She needs a new prosthetic limb. The doctor said her old one is too outdated and can’t do anything but walk, so he recommended the latest model. Otherwise, she’ll be confined to a wheelchair. Your mother said she wants to change it. She doesn’t have money in her account, so it was charged to your credit card. I’ve sent you the bill, so remember to pay it back. And the caregiver fees for the second half of the year.

Attached was a credit card bill for 1.2 million star coins.

Looking at the five zeros after the twelve on the bill, Shi Li’s first thought wasn’t to jump off a building, but a sudden, strange notion: if she had a billion dollars, she could buy her mother eight hundred and thirty-three prosthetic legs.

The next second, Auntie Zhang’s video call came in.

After she accepted, her mother, Shi Yu’s, face appeared.

Shi Yu seemed a little excited. “Xiao Li, you’re finally online. My communicator account was temporarily suspended by the sanatorium, and I’ve been using your Auntie Zhang’s account to wait for you. As soon as I saw the message turn ‘read,’ I called you immediately. When are you coming to see Mom?”

Shi Yu’s curly hair was a frizzy mess on her head, her skin was an unhealthy white, she was skin and bones, and her eyes were wide open. Her face had obvious wrinkles. Shi Li could see herself reflected in her pupils.

Shi Li forced a smile. “Mom, I’ve been very busy lately. I’ll come to see you in a while, okay?”

Shi Yu was very understanding. “Work is important, work is important. Mom just misses you so much.”

The window wasn’t closed tightly. A gust of wind blew a small ornament off the windowsill. Shi Li excused herself to Shi Yu and got up to close the window. When she sat back down in front of the video screen, she found that Shi Yu’s expression had changed.

The kind look she had just moments ago was gone. Shi Yu’s eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes filled with uncontrollable rage, and her lips were tightly pursed into a thin line. She stared at the screen, her face so close it was as if she wanted to crawl out of the screen and grab Shi Li’s collar.

Shi Yu gritted her teeth. “Xiao Li, are you in a relationship?”

“Did I not tell you not to be with an Alpha? They’re all scumbags, all liars!”

Shi Li was startled. “Mom, I’m not…”

“You’re still lying to me! When you just closed the window, I saw your gland was swollen! Are you going into heat for them, begging them to mark you like a dog?!”

Shi Yu’s voice grew louder and louder, escalating from a shout to a scream. She couldn’t hear Shi Li’s explanation and was completely immersed in her own world.

“I should have aborted you when I was pregnant, knowing you were an Omega just like me!”

Shi Yu screamed, jumped off the bed, and started throwing things.

A few seconds later, a middle-aged Beta appeared in the video. Auntie Zhang rushed in, snatched the picture frame Shi Yu was about to throw, and reprimanded her harshly. “Shi Yu, what kind of fit are you throwing now? You already did this afternoon! If you keep this up, you’ll have to go into a locked-down treatment pod!”

Shi Yu struggled with all her might. She swung her arm, leaving several bright red marks on Auntie Zhang’s arm.

Auntie Zhang’s face was cold. She skillfully called for a doctor and other caregivers to help.

Noticing that Shi Li was still on the call, Auntie Zhang came to the camera and said with obvious impatience, “Xiao Li, your mother gets like this when she has a breakdown. Don’t worry about it. I’m hanging up now. Remember to pay for the damaged items later. I’ll send you the bill.”

Before the call was hung up, Shi Yu was restrained by the other caregivers and the medical robots in the room. She was held down tightly on the floor, but she was still struggling. Tears suddenly streamed from her eyes as she looked up despairingly at the cold, white ceiling. She stopped screaming and started to plead bitterly: “Xiao Li, I beg you, please get your scent gland removed. That way, we’ll never be deceived by an Alpha again—”

The voice was cut off abruptly.

The holographic projection turned off. The room was no longer filled with Shi Yu’s heartbreaking cries, only the drumming of the pouring rain outside the window. The hail had just stopped and turned into a torrential downpour.

Shi Li sat there blankly for a long time, then felt a warm liquid slide down her cheek. She reached out, pulled a tissue, and placed it over her face. Then she hugged the big teddy bear next to her and sobbed uncontrollably.

She tried to comfort herself with random thoughts: Mom is like this because she was hurt. Mom doesn’t want to be this way, either. Isn’t she normal most of the time? Dr. Ji told me repeatedly not to have any more big emotional swings and to keep a peaceful mind. Besides, crying won’t solve anything…

But the tears poured out like they were leaking from a dam.

She cried until she couldn’t breathe, then she forced herself to sit up and open her bank account balance.

Her balance was 130,000 star coins—not even enough to cover a fraction of the cost for Shi Yu’s new prosthetic leg.

There was also Auntie Zhang’s 20,000 monthly caregiver fee, the 10,800 monthly rent, the 15,000 she had to pay every month for her student loan…

Shi Li felt like a rope tied to a well, constantly hauling buckets of water from the bottom and pouring them into several pools that could never be filled.

The black card with its subtle, dark luster appeared in her mind. Held between the woman’s long, pale fingers, it shimmered with a deadly temptation.

Shi Li got up, took her handbag from the wall, and rummaged through the innermost layer until she found the heart-shaped note.

She took out the communicator number and dialed it without hesitation.

It was as if the other person had already calculated that she would call at this very moment. The call was answered in just three seconds.

“Zhu Yunqi, I agree.”

Support After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It