After Swapping Souls with My Rival Alpha - Chapter 8

Nie Yijun walked into the living room. Three people were there—two she had met before, Chi Mu’s mother and younger sister—and a male Alpha.

That must be Chi Mu’s Alpha father.

Father Chi sat on the sofa, his body angled toward her. Beside him sat Chi Xi, holding a tablet in her hands. The two of them were talking about something.

Shi Ya was seated on a gold, tree-shaped designer chair facing the entryway, clearly waiting for her.

“You’re back.” Shi Ya’s voice didn’t sound very warm.

The two on the sofa also turned to look at her. Father Chi’s features were severe, his stern expression even more intimidating than Shi Ya’s.

“Come here,” Father Chi said.

Nie Yijun stepped forward. He looked at her and said, “Kneel.”

“…!!” Nie Yijun was stunned. She’d expected him to hit her and had already braced herself for it.

“Kneel,” father Chi repeated.

Chi Mu had told her not to go against her father. Nie Yijun sighed inwardly, gritted her teeth, and knelt.

Her gaze dropped—and she saw Chi Xi’s legs in front of her, clad in white trousers. The fabric hung limply; beside her was a wheelchair.

“You started the fight?” Father Chi asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Why?

Nie Yijun thought for a moment. Last night Chi Mu had accused her of tampering with her thesis. But she hadn’t touched it. Was Chi Mu wrong, or had she just found a random excuse? Back in university, Chi Mu had always loved making trouble for her over nothing.

She had never been able to figure out how Chi Mu’s mind worked.

“I don’t know,” Nie Yijun replied.

The air went still for a few seconds before Father Chi spoke again. “Chi Mu, I’ve long since stopped having any hopes or expectations for you. I’m just asking you to be a decent person—a normal person who doesn’t stir up trouble. Is that too much to ask?”

“I can,” Nie Yijun said. “I won’t fight again.”

“You say that every time.” The voice wasn’t Father Chi’s, but Chi Xi’s. Her tone dripped with sarcasm. “You won’t do it again, you know you were wrong—and then? Not long after, you’re at it again. Hah. Your words are worth less than air.”

Nie Yijun didn’t respond, keeping in mind Chi Mu’s instructions: don’t talk to Chi Xi, and avoid her whenever possible.

She had no idea why the twin sisters were so estranged, but she had no desire to disrupt Chi Mu’s life.

Chi Xi was already used to Chi Mu’s silence. She rolled her eyes. “Bad luck. Father, you deal with her—I’m annoyed just looking at her.”

She grabbed her wheelchair, easily lowered herself into it, and rolled away.

“Car keys,” Father Chi said, holding out his hand.

Nie Yijun placed the keys in his palm.

He stood up. “I won’t say much more. If you mess up again, I’ll take back all the other cars you have.”

“Yes,” Nie Yijun replied.

Father Chi left with the keys. Nie Yijun rose to her feet, only to find Shi Ya still staring at her.

—With her, smile more and act a little spoiled. Usually, that works.

Smile. Act spoiled.

Those two things completely stumped Nie Yijun. She could kneel to Father Chi and ignore Chi Xi, but smiling sweetly and playing cute with Shi Ya? That was asking too much.

Shi Ya held up three fingers. “Self-reflect for three days. If you dare step outside during that time, don’t bother coming back.”

“Okay.” Nie Yijun nodded.

“Okay?” Chi Mu’s voice shot up on the other end of the phone. “He took my car keys?”

“Yes.” Nie Yijun put the call on speaker and held the phone a little away from her.

“You—! Didn’t I tell you to just agree to whatever my father says? How did you still end up losing the keys?”

“He asked me for them. Isn’t giving them to him exactly that—agreeing?”

“That’s not the kind of agreeing I meant!” Chi Mu was exasperated.

“He said if I mess up again, he’ll take the others too. Your mother told me to reflect for three days.”

“Aaah!” Chi Mu howled. “Aaaah, Nie Yijun, I hate you!”

Nie Yijun couldn’t be bothered to listen to her wailing. She hung up, opened her laptop, and got back to work.

“Bastard!” Chi Mu hurled her phone onto the bed and punched the mattress to vent her anger. She was furious—that car was her favorite.

If it wasn’t for Nie Yijun, she wouldn’t be stuck like this.

And still living in this tiny dump—well, not dump exactly, but it was small. And not soundproof. The neighbor was probably some online influencer and was livestreaming again—loud, noisy, and irritating.

So annoying!

Lying on her bed, Chi Mu felt so stifled she had to do something to get it out of her system.

The next morning, she was woken by her phone buzzing incessantly. The constant vibration was driving her mad.

“Hello!”

“Time to get up for work.”

“What work?” Chi Mu barked. “I don’t have a job!”

There was a brief pause, then a burst of piercing sound exploded in her ear. Chi Mu squinted at the caller ID.

Nie Yijun.

“I sent you today’s work schedule on WeChat,” Nie Yijun said. “Put on your headphones. I’ll be directing you in real time.”

Chi Mu sat up. “What are you using to talk to me right now?”

“The speaker in your room.”

“I told you not to mess with my stuff!” Nie Yijun replied.

“It was right there on the desk,” Nie Yijun said. “Fine, if you don’t like it, I won’t touch it again. Now get up.”

“Got it!” Chi Mu hung up.

Cursing under her breath, she got out of bed and studied Nie Yijun’s face in the mirror. The high nose bridge gave her eyes depth, her lips were small, her skin pale. She was a bold-featured beauty, the kind of face that was easy to look at.

Except…

Chi Mu patted her chest—flat. So flat she could go braless and no one would notice. Her figure was well-proportioned otherwise, but her pheromones? Absolutely awful.

Like a smashed jar of medicinal herbs—pungent and acrid.

Although, it didn’t seem constant—sometimes she could smell it, sometimes she couldn’t.

Everything about Nie Yijun was strange and irritating.

After washing up, Chi Mu opened the wardrobe—and nearly blacked out.

Black, white, and gray dominated. Mostly shirts and trousers. Dull, lifeless, and ugly.

Such a pretty face, but no sense of style, an awful pheromone scent… no wonder she couldn’t find herself an Omega.

Chi Mu really disliked these bland, characterless clothes, but there was nothing she could do—she had to put them on for work.

Passing by the nurses’ station, Chi Mu waved at the few nurses behind the counter.

“Morning!”

“Uh—good morning, Dr. Nie.” The nurses all froze for a second.

Chi Mu found their reaction amusing. She leaned one hand on the counter. Among the three nurses, one was Youli, the one who had applied her medication yesterday; the other two were also Omegas, all adorable in their own way.

“Had breakfast yet?” Chi Mu asked.

“Not yet, we’ll go buy something later.” Youli replied.

“No need,” Chi Mu said, unlocking her phone. “What do you feel like eating? I’ll order. My treat.”

The three nurses glanced at each other, none daring to speak first.

“If you won’t say anything, I’ll just decide for you.” Chi Mu smiled, placed an order on her phone, and said, “Alright, help me pick it up when it arrives.”

Humming a tune, she walked toward her office, leaving the three nurses puzzled.

“Why does Dr. Nie feel like a completely different person today?” Nurse #1 asked.

“No idea,” Nurse #2 replied.

Youli watched “Nie Yijun’s” departing figure. “But honestly, I think it’s a good change. She feels more… human. Before, she was too cold.”

The other two nurses nodded in agreement. “Exactly. I used to not even dare to talk to her.”

Chi Mu lounged back in her chair, yawning. She was exhausted—normally, she wouldn’t even be awake at this hour. She opened WeChat to see the work instructions Nie Yijun had sent.

— I’ve canceled my clinic shifts for the next few days. Just follow the schedule and do the rounds. For any unexpected situations, stay in touch with me.

She opened the ward round schedule.

The dense timetable looked busier than her high school class schedule. Before she could study it closely, Nie Yijun’s call came in.

“It’s time. First, go to Inpatient Building 1, Room 303, and check on Patient 072,” Nie Yijun said. “Put on your headset.”

“Seriously? I haven’t even had breakfast,” Chi Mu groaned. “I’ll go after I eat.”

“The patient is 48 hours post-op,” Nie Yijun replied, ignoring her complaint. “I need an accurate update now.”

Chi Mu didn’t move. Her head felt like it was about to split—early mornings plus no food made her irritable.

“You feed the donkey before making it grind the mill, you know! Don’t push me too far, Nie Yijun.”

“You won’t die from skipping one meal,” Nie Yijun said flatly.

“Oh, hell no!” That sentence lit the fuse on her already fraying temper. “I will die if I don’t eat!”

She hung up and threw the pen on her desk to the floor.

Ridiculous. Absolute crap.

Don’t tell me…

Nie Yijun called again. Chi Mu didn’t answer. Angry or not, she couldn’t take it out on patients just to spite Nie Yijun.

Storming out of the office, she passed the nurses’ station.

“Dr. Nie, heading to do rounds? Why aren’t you wearing your coat?” one nurse asked.

Chi Mu stopped, looked down at herself, and went back into the office. By the window stood a narrow cabinet. She opened it to find several neatly hung white coats.

She pulled one down and slipped it on. Like magic, the moment she wore it, she felt like a real doctor.

Some of her irritation eased.

Arriving at Room 303, she hesitated. How exactly was she supposed to do rounds? She had nothing in hand. What was she even supposed to do?

She swallowed her pride and put on the headset, answering the call that had been ringing nonstop.

“If you have a problem, take it out on me,” Nie Yijun said. “Don’t delay the important stuff.”

“I’m more reliable than you think,” Chi Mu muttered. “So, how do I do this?”

“Call over Nurse Xu, the one in charge of Room 303,” Nie Yijun instructed.

“Where is she?” Chi Mu glanced into the room. It was a shared ward. The bed near the door had a male Alpha patient with his bare backside exposed, a nurse applying ointment.

“Oh my god—!” Chi Mu immediately turned away, heart pounding from the unexpected scene.

It’s fine. You’re a doctor. You’ve seen plenty of anatomy and private parts during training.

But the truth was, classroom diagrams had nothing on the raw impact of reality.

The nurse finished up, carrying her tray out of the room. “Dr. Nie, here for rounds?”

“Uh…” Chi Mu glanced at her name tag. “Nurse Xu Xiaoqing?”

“That’s her,” Nie Yijun confirmed through the headset.

“Give me thirty seconds,” Nurse Xu said. “I’ll toss this out and be right back!”

“Alright.” Chi Mu patted her chest to calm down.

Nurse Xu returned quickly, holding a clipboard. Chi Mu followed her into the ward.

Patient 072 was also a male Alpha. His right arm had been amputated at the shoulder—his entire right side was gone. Chi Mu felt a pang of emotion.

For Alphas, the gland was located on the inside of the right forearm. Without the arm, the gland was gone too.

“Ask him how he’s feeling,” Nie Yijun said.

“How do you feel? Any pain besides the wound?” Chi Mu asked.

The patient looked weak but still tried to give her a smile. “Pretty good.”

“How’s his appetite?” Chi Mu relayed the question to Nurse Xu.

“He had two meals yesterday, both exactly as you instructed. No issues,” Nurse Xu replied.

Following Nie Yijun’s directions, Chi Mu gave a quick check, issued new orders to Nurse Xu, and was about to leave when the patient called out.

“Dr. Nie.”

Chi Mu turned back. His eyes were full of longing. “My gland… can it be saved? I’m not married yet… I’m the only child in my family.”

Chi Mu paused. She honestly didn’t know how a gland could be saved when the arm was gone.

“Tell him,” Nie Yijun said in her ear, “as long as I’m here, it can be saved.”