After the System Called Me Mom, My Arch-Nemesis Omega Fell for Me - Chapter 3

Jiang Mingyue’s state was completely out of sync with the surrounding revelry. Her head was slightly bowed, one hand unconsciously pressing against her temple. Her face was pale, and her eyes held a sense of weary numbness that bordered on the traumatic.

Beside her, her roommate Su Xi was clearly anxious. She nudged Jiang Mingyue hard with her elbow and hissed under her breath, “Mingyue, the senior is confessing to you! Give him some kind of reaction! Everyone is watching.”

Jiang Mingyue jolted as if waking from a nightmare. Her first instinct was to check the time on her phone. She strained her ears to listen; only the cacophony of music and voices filled the air.

The damned click was gone.

She had truly escaped that hellish loop.

She stood up almost instantly. She didn’t want to stay in this bar for a single second longer; she needed to leave immediately, terrified that she might be pulled back into the cycle at any moment.

Forcing a faint smile, she offered a weak refusal: “I’m sorry, Senior Jian Cheng. I don’t have any plans to date right now.”

Having said her piece, she moved to leave.

Jian Cheng’s smile froze. He clearly hadn’t expected to be rejected so bluntly in front of everyone. Reacting quickly, he stepped forward to block her path, his tall frame carrying the natural pressure of an Alpha.

He maintained a forced tone of casualness: “Hey, Junior Jiang, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. Even if we aren’t dating, we’re still friends. It’s only seven o’clock, what’s the point of going back so early? Stay and play for a while. Don’t spoil everyone’s fun.”

He was trying to use the crowd to pressure her.

The corners of Jiang Mingyue’s mouth pulled down into a frown of displeasure. The warmth in her eyes vanished completely. Suddenly, she spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

“She’s with me,” a lazy, clear voice rang out, cutting through the bar’s noise.

Interrupted, Jian Cheng knit his brows in irritation and looked toward the source. “Who’s speaking?”

“Your ‘Second Young Miss,'” the owner of the voice replied flippantly, with a hint of natural arrogance.

The crowd instinctively parted. The newcomer possessed a beauty that rivaled Jiang Mingyue’s like a midsummer breeze, reckless and unbridled. It was as if a vibrant wind and a cold moon had both fallen into the mortal realm.

Lu Lingzhi strolled forward with a leisurely posture, looking less like she was in a rowdy bar and more like she was wandering through her own backyard.

Coming to a halt before Jian Cheng, she first gave the bouquet-holding senior a critical, up and down look, her brow twitching almost imperceptibly.

She thought to herself: Up close or far away, he’s just average. Oh right, people said he was the Student Union President, not the School Hunk.

Then, ignoring Jian Cheng’s darkening expression, she shifted her gaze toward the pale Jiang Mingyue.

Jiang Mingyue is clearly unwell, yet she chose to come to a bar? What was she thinking?

And this Jian Cheng is clueless too. Can’t he see she looks like a ghost? Still being an idiot and confessing… he deserves to be rejected.

As for the others, aren’t they all from the Medical University?

None of them noticed she’s sick. I’m never going to an alum from this year if I ever get ill.

Lu Lingzhi tilted her chin up and walked straight to Jiang Mingyue’s side. She grabbed Mingyue’s slightly trembling wrist and scanned the room. “She’s with me.”

She looked at Jiang Mingyue and said familiarly, “Mingyue, let’s go.”

Watching his meticulously planned confession get hijacked, a surge of anger rushed to Jian Cheng’s head. He frowned at this arrogant Omega.

However, her beauty caused his anger to strangely dissipate by half. Fine, beautiful people have privileges; it’s not entirely unforgivable.

But understanding aside, taking someone away right in front of him was a slap to the face. It was too brazen.

Priding himself on being a gentleman, Jian Cheng suppressed his temper and asked deeply, “And who might you be?”

“Senior Jian Cheng, this is my friend…”

“Of course, I’m not just an ordinary friend,” Lu Lingzhi chuckled, adding a touch of flirtatious provocation three parts charm, seven parts wildness. “I’m the kind of friend who can use Mingyue’s nickname, you know~~”

Jiang Mingyue looked around. Where are Lu Lingzhi’s four signature bodyguards? Why aren’t they here to back her up?

She’s trying to take on the whole room alone.

Lu Er, who gave you the courage?

If it weren’t for that face, she’d be cursed out by now.

Jiang Mingyue grabbed Lu Lingzhi’s hand and said apologetically to the group, “Senior, everyone, we have something to attend to. Please, enjoy yourselves.”

It wasn’t until they escaped the suffocating circle, crossed the noisy bar area, and neared the exit that Jiang Mingyue felt like she had finally fled a place of terror.

Beside her, Lu Lingzhi complained, “Jiang Mingyue, you’re pinching me.”

Jiang Mingyue’s grip on her wrist didn’t loosen; if anything, it tightened. She whispered, “Hurry, let’s go. This place… this bar… is haunted!”

Lu Lingzhi: “???”

Her beautiful peach-blossom eyes were full of confusion and disbelief. She turned to look at the pale girl beside her. “What nonsense are you talking about? This is a trending spot with nothing but five-star reviews.”

She couldn’t comprehend Jiang Mingyue’s state of mind. Jiang Mingyue also realized how absurd she sounded, but the psychological shadow of the ten loops she had just endured was far too intense.

Lu Lingzhi frowned. “If it’s haunted, why didn’t you bring your roommates and classmates out? Why are you just running away by yourself?”

Jiang Mingyue was at a loss for words, her eyes growing more panicked.

“I’ve only known them for a few days. If I told them it was haunted, why would they believe me? But you’re different… we’ve known each other so long. We have that much of an understanding.” Her voice grew quieter, carrying a sense of dependency she wasn’t even sure of herself.

Lu Lingzhi looked into Jiang Mingyue’s eyes. Those eyes, usually calm and gentle, now held a fragility she had never seen before.

Jiang Mingyue was scared. She wanted Lu Lingzhi to take her back to the apartment her family rented for her, but they had blocked each other on WeChat a long time ago. “I feel terrible. Can you… can you take me home?”

She loosened her grip slightly, only to notice Lu Lingzhi was gently rubbing the area between her thumb and index finger.

Lu Lingzhi didn’t seem to mind the change in grip. Instead, with a touch of “Tsundere” pride, she reminded her, “I am now the bona fide School Beauty.”

Jiang Mingyue instantly understood the subtext.

Lu Lingzhi was saying her title was earned through her own looks and that she didn’t need Jiang Mingyue to “step aside” for her back in high school. Back then, Jiang Mingyue had helped her campaign for votes, yet Lu Er had still come in second.

“Miss School Beauty, the most kind and invincible person in the universe, could you please take me home? I see your hand is bleeding; let me bandage it for you.”

Hearing the title “Miss School Beauty,” the corners of Lu Lingzhi’s mouth twitched upward uncontrollably. Her mood index skyrocketed. She looked down and saw a small scratch on her hand likely from when she was playing scratch-off tickets earlier.

Looking at Jiang Mingyue’s state, despite being full of questions and thinking the “haunted” claim was sheer nonsense, she could see the girl’s distress was genuine.

She raised an eyebrow and opened her umbrella again, tilting it toward Jiang Mingyue to shield her from the drifting drizzle. “Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll show some mercy and see you home. But I’m not splitting the taxi fare with you. I have to get back to my dorm later, so you’re paying.”

Jiang Mingyue nodded.

Her family had given her a monthly allowance of three thousand.

She actually quite liked it when Lu Er bickered with her over the small things.