After the Sickly Child Differentiates into A - Chapter 45

First, they headed to the third floor. Wen Jingzhi wanted to buy Lin Li a new phone, as the one she was using had been purchased by Wen Xize three years ago.

Lin Li didn’t use her phone often, but the battery life only lasted a year or two. Last month, when the young girl was leaving school, she had called her but couldn’t get through because the phone had run out of battery.

Perhaps she had used it to watch videos during break time.

At the store, Wen Jingzhi asked for the girl’s opinion and received the reply, “The one you use is really good.” Amused, Wen Jingzhi chose the same model she used, opting for a blue case for Lin Li while hers was cyan.

After buying the phone, Wen Jingzhi took Lin Li to her regular hairstylist for a trim. They strolled around casually, had a hot pot rice noodle lunch that Wen Xihe highly recommended, and spent the afternoon wandering through a nearby park.

Returning to the mall a little after four, Lin Li suddenly became interested in the claw machines at the arcade. Tugging Wen Jingzhi along, she exchanged a box of game tokens.

After watching the girl play a couple of rounds, Wen Jingzhi’s gaze fell on her slightly chapped pink lips, and she frowned slightly. “Are you thirsty?”

“Hmm… a little.” Lin Li slipped the leash around her right wrist, picked up the box of tokens, and made a move to leave. “Shall we go buy something?”

Wen Jingzhi ruffled the girl’s soft hair. “I’ll go. You keep playing.” Before turning away, she added, “Don’t wander off.”

Lin Li smiled. “I know. I’ll wait right here for you, sister.”

Wen Jingzhi curved her lips and left.

Lin Li tried the claw machine a few more times on her own but didn’t succeed even once. She stopped inserting tokens and stood in front of the machine, studying the claw.

“Lin Li?”

A hesitant call came from her left. Lin Li’s eyes shifted, and she froze for a moment.

It was the girl who had invited her to hang out on Friday, what was her name again?

“It really is you! What a coincidence!” The girl next to Su Ke nudged her, and with reddened ears, Su Ke “abandoned” her friend and hurried over to Lin Li, saying softly, “Are you out by yourself?”

Oh, right Su Ke.

“What a coincidence,” Lin Li replied with a squinting smile. “No, my sister went to buy drinks.”

“I see!” No wonder she hadn’t agreed to hang out with her. Su Ke suppressed her disappointment, moved closer to Lin Li’s left side, and noticed Xiao Xi squatting on the right. “Wow, such a cool dog! Is she yours, Lin Li?”

“Mm.” Lin Li raised her hand, and Xiao Xi shook herself and stood up, her back reaching about Lin Li’s waist. “Her name is Xiao Xi.”

“So handsome!” Su Ke waved at Xiao Xi with a smile, then noticed the game tokens on the claw machine console. Tentatively, she asked, “Do you want to grab a plushie?”

Lin Li nodded, smiling. “Too bad I don’t know the tricks. I haven’t caught anything.”

Su Ke immediately perked up, brimming with confidence. “Which one do you want? I’ll grab it for you! I’m really good at this!”

Lin Li pursed her lips and pointed to the gray-blue dog plushie inside.

Su Ke rolled up her sleeves, moved closer to Lin Li, inserted two tokens, and started operating the claw.

Lin Li shifted aside slightly but stayed close enough to watch how Su Ke did it. Their arms brushed lightly, and their heads leaned in together.

From behind, the two girls looked intimate in both proximity and posture.

When Wen Jingzhi returned with milk tea in hand, this was the scene she walked in on.

The unfamiliar girl crouched down and retrieved a plush toy from the dispensing slot, handing it to the slender girl beside her. The latter turned slightly, accepted the toy, and tilted her head up with a soft, warm smile at the other girl.

The sight of the two girls smiling at each other was so intimate and lovely.

Wen Jingzhi’s expression turned cold, her eyes narrowing.

The girl, sensing a familiar presence, turned her head. The moment she saw the other, the corners of her lips lifted even higher. “Sis!”

Wen Jingzhi walked over with a neutral expression, handed the milk tea to Lin Li, and fixed her icy gaze on Su Ke from behind her sunglasses, her voice a low hum. “Hmm?”

“She’s a classmate from school,” Lin Li explained. “We just happened to run into each other.”

Though she couldn’t see the expression on the older sister’s face, Su Ke felt a chill run down her spine. She forced an awkward laugh and took a step back. “Hello, Lin Li’s sister.”

Wen Jingzhi gave a slight nod, then shifted her gaze to the plush toy in Lin Li’s hands. “Did you catch this?”

Lin Li pressed her lips together. “Su Ke caught it.”

Su Ke?

Wen Jingzhi stared at the plush toy and responded coolly, “Hmm, have you thanked her yet?”

“Not yet.” Lin Li smiled brightly at Su Ke. “Thank you! See you next time.”

Sis seems a bit upset. I’ll try catching one another time.

Su Ke’s entire demeanor drooped with disappointment. “Alright! Next time, let’s hang out together! I’m really good at catching plushies!”

Lin Li smiled but didn’t respond.

Wen Jingzhi took Lin Li’s left hand, gave Su Ke a polite nod, and led her out of the arcade.

Su Ke watched their retreating figures, her eyes suddenly widening in realization.

Why does Lin Li’s sister look so much like my goddess, Zhi Zhi?!

“What’s on your mind?” A friend who had been watching from the sidelines for a while came over and patted her shoulder. “Failed to make plans with your crush again?”

It must be my imagination.

Su Ke pushed the thought aside and sighed. “Yeah, she’s so hard to pin down.”

“That’s normal. Your crush is really popular at school so refined and delicate, with that fragile aura that’s just captivating. It’s not just Alphas; even a lot of Omegas want to get close to her.”

“Too bad she seems soft on the outside but keeps everyone at a distance.”

“It’s almost the end of the first semester, and she’s only ever been close to Sun Xiaoxiao.”

Her friend patted her head consolingly. “But don’t worry, Sun Xiaoxiao already has an Omega.”

Su Ke wasn’t comforted at all. She had a strong feeling that Lin Li’s elegant older sister didn’t like her.

Getting disliked by the “family” before even starting to pursue someone, what kind of hellish difficulty level is this?!

On the way back, Wen Jingzhi remained silent. Lin Li could clearly sense her sister’s displeasure and spent the entire journey trying to figure out what had happened.

Even after arriving home, she still hadn’t figured it out. Tentatively, she reached for her sister’s hand and asked with a smile, “Sis, why are you upset?”

Wen Jingzhi glanced at her, closed her eyes briefly, and said, “I’m not upset.”

Upon reflection, she realized she might have overreacted. Over the years, Lin Li had only been close to two friends Sun Xiaoxiao and Zhou Cheng. She trusted them and hadn’t interfered with their friendships.

But suddenly, a stranger had appeared, gazing at her precious girl with unmistakable longing, and it left her feeling unsettled.

Lin Li didn’t believe her and tilted her head curiously. Wen Jingzhi glanced at the plush toy in her arms, smiled faintly, and ruffled her hair. “Go rest.”

It’s time to make dinner.

After dinner, Wen Jingzhi went to her study to work. As the night deepened, she leaned back in her chair, her expression cold and brows furrowed.

The lingering frustration refused to fade.

The phone rang, and a glance downward revealed it was Shen Yuan.

She answered the call, her tone not particularly warm: “What?”

“Hmm? In a bad mood?” Shen Yuan keenly detected the unusual tone in her voice. “What’s got you upset?”

Wen Jingzhi pinched the bridge of her nose, hesitating.

Shen Yuan hadn’t married yet and had no children, so he probably wouldn’t understand.

“Jingzhi?”

“It’s about Xiao You.” She let out a soft sigh and briefly explained what had happened that afternoon.

“Hahahahaha.” Shen Yuan’s laughter came through the phone, the teasing tone making Wen Jingzhi frown.

“It’s quite amusing to think about the little one who used to follow Xihe and me around is now worrying about her ‘child’ having a puppy love.”

Wen Jingzhi replied impatiently, “She’s my sister.”

“Right, right, your sister.” Shen Yuan laughed heartily before teasing, “Jingzhi, you’re still such a perfectionist.”

That statement struck Wen Jingzhi like a heavy hammer. Her expression turned serious as she realized the root of her discontent her inherent flaw.

Shen Yuan’s description of her as a “perfectionist” was a euphemism.

Her true flaw was “the desire for control.”

During her estrus cycle, her body and thoughts slipped beyond her control. Even with her strong rationality, which kept her from being overwhelmed by desire, she still detested that period.

For anything she decided to do or any goal she set whether it was academics, a sudden interest in crafts, or acting if she wanted it, she had to achieve it perfectly.

She needed everything, known and unknown, to be under her control.

The only thing in her life not entirely under her command was Lin Li.

Frail and vulnerable, the slightest mishap could take her away such unpredictability.

So, she devoted effort to smoothing out the uncontrollable aspects of Lin Li, making them manageable.

For instance, her withdrawn personality, suppressed emotions, and lack of trust.

She gradually changed these, bit by bit, building trust.

But now, an unfamiliar, even more uncontrollable young Alpha had suddenly barged in, trying to take away this “breeze” she had nurtured.

This was something she could not tolerate.

“Jingzhi.” Shen Yuan sighed softly. “No one can control everything.”

Wen Jingzhi’s eyebrow twitched. “I know.”

She had never thought otherwise.

She was acutely aware of her flaw and often suppressed it, trying to temper the intense desire for control that had been particularly fierce in her youth.

Nowadays, she rarely fixated on anything.

But, she did not trust the immature Alphas at school.

The idea of handing Lin Li over to such an unrefined Alpha was absurd.

No one in the Wen family would agree to it.

“You’re overthinking this.” Shen Yuan chuckled. “That young one already promised not to engage in puppy love.”

“From what you’ve mentioned over the years, that child seems very well-behaved and sensible. She wouldn’t say one thing and do another.”

“Of course.” She wasn’t worried about Lin Li herself; she was concerned about the Alpha who lacked boundaries and coveted her little one.

“Then there’s no need to worry too much.”

“Now I’m curious, when that child goes to college and actually brings back an Alpha, will you.”

“No.” Wen Jingzhi refused to entertain the thought, but the image of Lin Li holding hands with an unfamiliar Alpha, smiling softly and sweetly, intruded into her mind. She pressed her fingers firmly against her brow, her tone icy. “But I will vet them for her.”

Not just any Alpha could take her little one away.

Shen Yuan chuckled again, sensing her impatience, and changed the subject: “Shall I pick you up tomorrow at two in the afternoon?”

“Mm.”

Wen Jingzhi took a soft breath, closed her eyes briefly to suppress her emotions, chatted with Shen Yuan for a while longer, then hung up the phone and returned to her bedroom with a cold expression.

After freshening up, her assistant called again.

“Ms. Wen, should we ignore the photos online like last time?”

Wen Jingzhi paused slightly. “Wait a moment.” She pulled the phone away and opened Hongbo.

Sure enough, her outing with Lin Li today had been photographed.

The topic had already climbed into the top ten trending searches. She clicked on the hashtag “Actress Wen’s Intimate Outing with Female Friend,” where two clear photos were displayed.

Both were taken from behind.

The tall woman was turned slightly toward the slender girl on her right, her face almost entirely obscured by sunglasses and a mask. Beside the girl sat a large gray-and-white dog, looking majestic.

In the middle, the girl faced the woman, her eyes crinkled into a smile behind silver-framed glasses. Her profile in the shot appeared somewhat frail and pale, yet gentle and soft with amusement.

The next photo was from the same scene.

This time, the woman’s right hand rested on the girl’s head, and the girl’s left eye visible in profile opened slightly, as if glancing unintentionally toward the camera.

That eye was pitch-black, staring directly into the lens like an abyss, filled with profound darkness and a sharp, chilling intensity.

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