After the Sickly Child Differentiates into A - Chapter 5

The next day, New Year’s Eve.

Lin Li had to take medicinal meals and medicine four times a day at 6 AM, noon, 6 PM, and midnight.

The effects of the medicine seemed fixed, lasting only six hours each dose.

So at 6 AM, Wen Xihe was abruptly awakened by knocking. Hearing the butler say it was time for Lin Li’s medicine, she suppressed her grogginess and hugged Lin Li for a few seconds.

Suddenly, a small hand patted her head lightly.

“Sorry for waking you, sister,” Lin Li’s voice was still soft and weak, lacking strength. “Next time, Xihe sister shouldn’t sleep with me.”

Wen Xihe snapped awake instantly, all sleepiness forgotten. She kissed the little girl’s cheek. “No need to apologize, Xiao Li. Sister isn’t tired.”

With such an adorable little sister at home, who needed sleep? Not her!

Fueled by determination, Wen Xihe carried Lin Li to the bathroom, setting her on a stool so they could brush their teeth and wash their faces together. Staring at their reflections in the mirror, she burst out laughing.

What a novel experience.

After taking her medicine downstairs, Wen Xihe noticed how much Lin Li loved watching the snow. So she carried her to sit by the window on the carpet, keeping her company as she gazed outside.

After a while, though, Wen Xihe grew bored and pulled out her phone to reply to messages.

Seeing New Year’s greetings from her company, she recalled yesterday’s events and sent a message to a friend’s account:

[After Wen Jingzhi’s new film finishes its awards run, sell Chen Qing dirt-cheap to Global.]

[Compile all her scandals, I’ll need them.]

The recipient, an Alpha from her company’s talent department, was likely still asleep and didn’t reply.

Perhaps due to her sudden emotional shift, a few traces of pheromones escaped despite the scent patch on her neck.

Wen Xihe caught the scent herself and froze. Glancing at the busy maids, she sighed in relief.

Luckily, all the household staff were Betas no one could smell it.

In the Wen family’s upbringing, releasing pheromones carelessly was considered impolite.

Yet Wen Xihe never expected the one person who shouldn’t have noticed did.

Lin Li’s eyes flickered slightly, her expression unchanged as she stared at the snow outside.

A scent she couldn’t define lingered in her nose.

Like the fruit wine Grandma used to ferment in jars sweet, but richer than that.

Logically, undifferentiated children and Betas shouldn’t detect pheromones. But her body had long since become something even she didn’t understand.

She could smell many things.

The exhaust from cars outside the courtyard, the floral scent carried by the wind, the occasional perfume on her siblings.

And pheromones.

In her nearly three months with the Wen family, she’d caught Grandpa Wen’s scent like pine trees in the village’s snowy fields and Xize’s, though she couldn’t describe his.

Now, only Jingzhi’s pheromones remained unfamiliar.

The Wen elders were all refined and disciplined, rarely letting even a wisp of scent escape. This was a relief for Lin Li, whose body reacted strongly to odors or rather, her weak constitution.

If a scent was too overpowering or unpleasant, her body would protest.

“You really love watching the snow that much?” Wen Xihe asked after hours of silent observation.

Lin Li smiled faintly. “Mm. I do.”

“Why?”

Lin Li didn’t know. So she simply shook her head lightly.

When being carried away from the window, Lin Li suddenly thought of something and weakly clenched her fingers.

Perhaps it was because she had been picked up by her grandmother as a ‘gift’ in the snow.

Or perhaps it was because she longed to have another snowball fight in the snow, to build a snowman maybe not pretty, but definitely big.

After waking up, Wen Chende took Lin Li to the study to read books and play chess.

With nothing else to do, Wen Xihe lazed around for a while before getting up to paste the New Year couplets.

Wen Xize stayed holed up in the art studio painting, while Wen Jingzhi, who was usually an early riser, didn’t come downstairs until nearly lunchtime, looking somewhat listless.

Wen Xihe understood and asked, “Did you check the suppressants?” They hadn’t been home for so long, what if they had expired?

Wen Jingzhi pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded. “Got them ready.”

The lunch spread was more lavish than usual, but Lin Li couldn’t eat much. Wen Xihe kissed her several times in sympathy, only to be comforted in return, making Wen Xize and Wen Chende laugh.

Wen Jingzhi wasn’t feeling well and went back to her room after the meal.

That evening, on New Year’s Eve, after dinner, Wen Xihe and Wen Xize were busy calling friends to exchange blessings, while Wen Chende made a few video calls to old friends.

Dressed in a snug red new outfit, Lin Li leaned against the back of the sofa, watching the lively crowd and thinking of her grandmother.

Her memory was excellent she could recall things from when she was six or seven with perfect clarity.

Every moment of roughhousing, every mischievous swing from tree branches, every snowball she had thrown at her grandmother, all of it was vivid.

Wen Jingzhi hung up a call with a friend and turned her head, her gaze lingering on Lin Li’s face.

In that instant, she saw loneliness and melancholy on the face of a ten-year-old child.

Without hesitation, almost instinctively, she walked over and pulled the girl into her arms. Only when she saw that frail face soften into a gentle smile did she realize what she had done but she didn’t let go.

With a calm expression, she wondered: What had this little one been thinking just now?

To wear such a strange expression.

Wen Jingzhi carried Lin Li, bundling her up in a thick down jacket, hat, and scarf, then followed Wen Xize and the others outside to set off fireworks in the yard.

She didn’t light them herself that task fell to Wen Xihe.

Holding the child by the doorway, she looked up at the fireworks bursting in the sky in perfect sync with her.

“Sweetheart, isn’t it pretty?” Wen Xihe cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Isn’t it beautiful!?”

“She’s calling you,” Wen Jingzhi murmured, curling her lips as she brushed a finger against Lin Li’s tightly wrapped face.

Lin Li blinked in surprise before nodding at Wen Xihe, who grinned in satisfaction and told Wen Xize to bring out a few more boxes of fireworks.

The fireworks soared and exploded in dazzling bursts.

Lin Li tilted her head back, then nestled into Wen Jingzhi’s arms and closed her eyes.

Her body was no longer under her control she often fell asleep without warning.

Wen Jingzhi lowered her gaze, her expression softening as she looked at the little one fast asleep in her arms.

Having an extra child in the house wasn’t so bad after all.

Without saying goodbye to the still-celebrating Wen Xihe, she carried Lin Li back inside, upstairs, removed the child’s scarf and hat, took off her jacket, and tucked her into bed.

Once everything was done, she returned to her own room next door, closed the door, showered, and lay down.

Late at night, the festivities faded, and the old house grew quiet.

Wen Jingzhi, deep in sleep, was roused by a familiar heat. She opened her eyes, exhaled through gritted teeth, then got up and went to the medical cabinet. Pulling open the drawer, she took out a suppressant.

The inhibitor patch on the back of her neck had been torn off, now damp. In the darkness, those pale eyes remained clear, though the burning redness at their corners betrayed her body’s reaction yet her mind was utterly lucid.

She gripped the inhibitor without hesitation, piercing the edge of her gland, pressing down as the solution was injected.

At midnight, Lin Li was woken to take her medication. Unable to sleep afterward, she got up and left her room. Passing Wen Jingzhi’s door, she walked to the window at the end of the hallway, gazing out at the silver-white world outside.

Suddenly, she frowned strangely and reached out to touch the window frame.

It was shut tight.

No snow drifted in, nor was there any wind.

So where was this cold, snowy scent coming from?

Lin Li pressed against the icy glass, then abruptly turned her head toward Wen Jingzhi’s room.

There.

The scent of snow seeped from beneath the door.

Cold, drifting, white.

Heavy, like a blizzard.

There was something unhappy in that scent.

As if trapped in a snowstorm.

A strange feeling.

Lin Li couldn’t quite describe it. Lightly stepping closer to Wen Jingzhi’s door, the cold intensified.

A strange sound came from inside.

Like muffled coughing beneath blankets.

Uncomfortable, distressed.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Li raised her stiff, chilled hand and knocked.

The blizzard inside seemed to halt instantly. The sounds within vanished.

“Who?” A voice colder than usual.

Lin Li hesitated. “Sister, it’s me.”

Silence.

In the dark room, a slender figure sat motionless at the edge of the bed.

Why was this sickly child out at this hour? And why had she knocked on her door?

The image of that thin face, flushed from suffocation, flashed before Wen Jingzhi’s eyes. She frowned and stood.

Was she feeling unwell?

Driven by guilt and a need to compensate, Wen Jingzhi suppressed her own discomfort and finally moved to open the door.

Outside, Lin Li shivered as the cold air seeped from beneath the door, her body stiffening.

She couldn’t tell how long passed before footsteps approached inside, and the door opened.

Wen Jingzhi stood hidden in the shadows, a sheen of sweat on her brow, looking down with a quiet murmur, “What’s wrong? Are you unwell?”

Lin Li tilted her stiff neck, gazing up at her, then suddenly cocked her head in confusion.

She seemed puzzled as to why her sister looked so distressed. After a moment’s thought, she suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around Wen Jingzhi’s waist, looking up at her with soft, quiet words: “Sister, are you cold?”

Why are you trembling?

Wen Jingzhi’s heart clenched. Staring down at the obedient child, she took a slow breath and closed her eyes.

Yes, she was cold.

She hated her heat cycles.

The loss of control over her body, the uncontrollable heat.

The restless, chaotic thoughts.

Even with the inhibitor, she still felt unwell.

It wasn’t about desire just pure, suffocating revulsion.

More than once, she’d wished she were a Beta, unaffected by pheromones, not reduced to a rutting beast, snarling with need during her cycle.

She couldn’t imagine ever losing control.

Her pride, her dignity tossed onto the bed, shattered under someone else’s touch.

It was utterly unbearable.

“Still cold, sister?” The thin arms clung tightly, as if trying to share warmth. Wen Jingzhi, twenty-four years old, found herself unable to define what she felt for the first time in her life.

Her heart ached faintly, yet it also felt submerged in scalding warmth.

There was a hint of shame at being discovered in such an uncomfortable state by the child.

The pair of eyes that lifted were as deep and dark as obsidian, yet clearer and purer than water.

The child didn’t know what these scents were unaffected by pheromones.

It had nothing to do with “love” or “desire.”

She was unaware of her embarrassment and struggle.

In those eyes, there was only pure earnestness.

And just like that, the shame dissipated.

Wen Jingzhi squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the chaotic emotions, and asked, “Why aren’t you asleep so late?”

“Took medicine, couldn’t sleep.” Lin Li noticed her sister’s trembling had stopped and loosened her small hands, stepping back slightly with a smile. She pointed toward the door crack. “Felt cold was worried about you.”

The words were a little disjointed. Wen Jingzhi glanced where Lin Li pointed, connecting the dots between the “cold” she mentioned and the truth, another flicker of irritation and shame rising.

Her pheromones had leaked out, making the hallway feel frigid to the child.

Wen Jingzhi lowered her gaze slightly, studying the small figure before her, silent for a long moment. Lin Li didn’t quite understand but shivered slightly, squinting as she asked softly, “Are you still cold, sister?”

It was tender, genuine concern.

Wen Jingzhi inhaled quietly. Whether it was the restlessness of her pheromones disrupting her composure or the child’s repeated care piercing through her tightly guarded heart, she hesitated only a second before reaching out, pulling Lin Li up and into her arms.

Feeling the feather-light weight in her embrace, she hesitated a few more seconds before carrying Lin Li inside, shutting the door behind them. She laid the child down on the bed, tucked her under the covers, and gently patted her thin back.

“I’m not cold anymore. Sleep, it’s very late.”

The blizzard outside had softened to a light snow. Lin Li, her body numb from the cold, gave a small shiver before relaxing, nestling into Wen Jingzhi’s arms as her eyes closed.

Wen Jingzhi woke a little past four in the morning burning up from the heat radiating off the child in her arms.

Noticing Lin Li’s labored breathing, her pupils constricted. She reached out to touch the child’s forehead.

So hot.

Was it because of her pheromones?

An Alpha or Omega’s pheromones carried a degree of tangible influence sunshine-scented pheromones, if too intense, could make one feel scorched; alcohol-based pheromones in high concentrations could genuinely intoxicate. And hers were snow uncontrolled, they made others feel cold.

This coldness was real, seeping into skin and nerves.

Even those who couldn’t smell pheromones would still be affected.

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