After the System Called Me Mom, My Arch-Nemesis Omega Fell for Me - Chapter 26.1

“Ngh…” An unexpected soft moan from Jiang Mingyue traveled through the microphone to the other side.

“Why go to a bar in the middle of the night?” Lu Lingzhi threatened fiercely into the phone. “It’s a mess there, you’re not allowed to go! If you dare go, we’re through!” Having said her piece, she sat on Jiang Mingyue’s lap like a protective little beast, arms crossed and chin tilted high, putting on a “super fierce and super logical” majestic posture as she waited for a promise.

Jiang Mingyue looked at the face so close to her and felt the slight trembling force coming from her lap.

She said nothing, merely raising her free hand to press a warm, soothing finger against Lu Lingzhi’s lips, which were slightly parted from excitement.

“Aren’t we already ‘through’? We don’t even have each other on WeChat.”

“……”

She wants to cut ties with me. She doesn’t want to keep me anymore.

Lu Lingzhi’s vision began to blur. The moisture in her eyes started to well up, and a sob was just about to echo through the quiet space.

“Shh.” Jiang Mingyue made a silencing motion with her lips, her gaze calm and steady. Only then did she put the phone back to her ear. “Brother, you guys have fun. I’m not coming over; it’s too late.”

The other side seemed to want to say more, but Jiang Mingyue decisively pressed the end-call button. The busy tone sounded exceptionally clear in the suddenly silent living room.

Jiang Mingyue slowly withdrew her finger from Lu Lingzhi’s lips. “Satisfied now?”

Hearing the promise, Lu Lingzhi could no longer maintain her “majestic” posture. She took a breath and buried her face contentedly in the crook of Jiang Mingyue’s neck. The blizzard-like cherry pheromones gradually calmed, turning into a gentle mist like a winter morning. The little Alpha muttered gloomily, “What do you mean ‘satisfied’? I’m doing this for your own good. How can you be so confused about who’s good and who’s bad?”

Lu the Second really possesses a ‘crusader’ personality that never experiences internal conflict.

An evil Beagle.

“Yes, yes, yes, you’re the best,” Jiang Mingyue laughed silently, her fingers gently combing through Lu Lingzhi’s messy hair. The living room fell back into silence, with only the floor lamp casting a warm orange glow, tenderly enveloping the two snuggled figures.

“Mhm. I was a good person to begin with. You’ll only learn to be good if you follow me.”

“A good person, huh?” Jiang Mingyue pinched her cheek and scratched her chin. “There’s one thing you should explain to Ji Yunyan. Her stepmother’s endorsement deal wasn’t terminated by me, it was my brother.”

“I told Yunyan that two days ago. I knew you wouldn’t do something like that.”

“So you feel bad for me.”

She’s quite nice when she’s being good, but quite annoying when she’s being bad.

Lu Lingzhi took Jiang Mingyue’s finger into her mouth, her gaze falling on those red lips. She swallowed, then bit the finger again. Seeing Jiang Mingyue’s brow furrow slightly, she stopped biting and used her tongue to slowly lick it, smoothing away the discomfort.

She said indistinctly, “It’s called ‘seeing injustice on the road and drawing a sword to help.'”

[System: Mama, Jiang Mingyue’s favorability toward you has increased by 50.]

The Bar

Jian Cheng’s fingers tightened around his glass until his knuckles turned white. That sickly yet stubbornly persistent “You’re not allowed to go!” over the phone, followed by Jiang Mingyue’s final, stirrings of the heart “Ngh,” was like a small thorn pricking his nerve endings.

He recognized it.

It was that “Second Young Miss.” Jiang Mingyue had called her name: Lingzhi.

The campus belle of Capital University, Lu Lingzhi.

Thinking about how she had ruined his plans time and time again, old and new grudges surged up at once. The first time at the bar, he had meticulously planned a confession, and it looked like Jiang Mingyue was about to be moved by the atmosphere he created, then this Lu Lingzhi appeared out of nowhere and dragged her away, leaving him looking like an idiot.

Now, having finally used his connection with Jiang Mingzhao to create another opportunity to get closer to Jiang Mingyue, it was Lu Lingzhi again. Hiding in Jiang Mingyue’s arms, acting spoiled and throwing a tantrum, she had effectively ruined his night.

It was her again. Always her.

Like an inescapable ghost, she was everywhere, making things difficult for him.

“What’s wrong, Young Master Jian?” Jiang Mingzhao keenly caught the sudden darkening of Jian Cheng’s expression and the faint aura of hostility radiating from him.

Jian Cheng downed a mouthful of liquor, but even the icy liquid couldn’t suppress his irritability. He was young and impetuous, not knowing how to fully hide his emotions. Frustration was written all over his face, and his voice carried a suppressed edge: “Brother Jiang, who was that ‘Lingzhi’ on the phone? She seems very close to Junior Jiang.”

A sharp light flashed in Jiang Mingzhao’s eyes, too fast for anyone to notice.

Oh, he has a grudge against Lu Lingzhi. Trying to get info on her from me?

As the Alpha fire began to spread in the other man’s eyes, Jiang Mingzhao feigned a drunken smile and poured himself more wine. “You mean Lingzhi? My sister’s high school classmate, Lu Lingzhi.”

He swirled his glass, speaking in the tone of a friendly older brother. “A very simple kid, a pretty little girl. Sometimes she makes you not know whether to laugh or cry.”

Jian Cheng quietly picked up an expensive bottle of Ace of Spades champagne and diligently refilled Jiang Mingzhao’s nearly empty glass, the golden bubbles rising cheerfully. “Brother Jiang, I think I’ve heard of her. Isn’t this Student Lu the campus belle of Capital University?”

The cold champagne slid down Jiang Mingzhao’s throat. He rubbed his temples as if he couldn’t handle his liquor, his voice becoming slurred: “Mhm, campus belle, I think so. She’s been popular since she was a kid; my Mingyue really dotes on her. Mingyue has rejected many Alphas for her sake, and she’s blocked a lot of ‘rotten peach blossoms’ for my Mingyue.”

He let out a wine-scented hiccup, sounding as if he were “speaking the truth after drinking,” half-complaining and half-warning: “But, that little ancestor has quite a temper. She’s spoiled, pungent, and an Omega to boot. Her standards are sky-high. I haven’t heard of a single Alpha who can catch her eye. Tsk, hard to serve. Only my Mingyue is willing to coax her and pamper her.”

Then, as if remembering something, he struggled to maintain a sliver of sobriety to explain for his sister: “Don’t blame Mingyue for not coming tonight. I’ll help you ask her out next time.” Jiang Mingzhao thumped his chest with his fist. “She’s probably looking after her. I ran into them at the hospital this afternoon. The little ancestor didn’t look well, seemed like she was going through a second differentiation. Young Master Jian, as Alphas, we should be magnanimous.”

He narrowed his eyes, appearing to struggle with a memory, then lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “That pheromone level of hers… I, I remember it was a 12…”

Jiang Mingzhao knew that Lu Lingzhi was originally an A-rank Omega with a pheromone level around 12. But after hearing gossip from the general secretary this afternoon, he guessed that Lu Lingzhi was undergoing a second differentiation to become an Alpha.

Pheromone level 12.

Jian Cheng, of course, knew what that value implied.

Lu Lingzhi was in the middle of a second differentiation.

A simple, beautiful, pampered, and difficult girl who was nearly the perfect mold for a top-tier Omega.

The glass trembled slightly in his hand, the golden liquid reflecting the sudden, aggressive light igniting in his eyes.

“Young Master Jian, don’t mess with that little ancestor… Mingyue is very protective of her.” Jiang Mingzhao “passed out” on the bar counter.

He hadn’t revealed Lu Lingzhi’s privacy.

The fact that she was an A-rank Omega was common knowledge in the wealthy circles of Yun City. He said she was undergoing a second differentiation, but he never explicitly said the value of the new differentiation was 12, nor did he explicitly state she would remain an Omega.

Based on his sister’s behavior and the rank of the Lu family…

Lu Lingzhi’s floor was A-rank, and her ceiling was top-tier. But he speculated she would land in the middle at S-rank.

Young Master Jian, let me show you that society is full of villains.

Your Jian Corporation’s prices are a bit high and you refuse to budge? Then don’t blame me.

Jian Cheng, you must make Lu Lingzhi cry, so I can see what Lu Lingzhi looks like as an Alpha.

Just how vicious can this little vicious dog be?