After the System Called Me Mom, My Arch-Nemesis Omega Fell for Me - Chapter 34

Downstairs Coffee Shop

“That’s how things happened. She got into an argument with Jiang Mingzhao. She told me that Jiang Mingzhao knew about Lu Ningzhi being kidnapped while blocking a disaster for her, and used it to humiliate the Lu sisters.”

Those who knew the full story of the kidnapping: Her, Xie Fuyun, the Lu family, and Jiang Mingyue.

The reason Jiang Mingyue knew was that she happened to be passing by and saw the iron gates of the Lu family’s suburban villa wide open and all the surveillance cameras destroyed. She entered to find a group of servants unconscious, so she called the police.

It took her a long while to find the hidden Lu Er (the second daughter). After questioning her, she learned the kidnappers said they wanted to take “the one wearing the crown.”

So, how did Jiang Mingzhao find out?

Chang Xi truly wanted to play matchmaker for Lu and Jiang. Since both of them were quite stubborn, she didn’t mind acting as the mediator.

Chang Xi continued, “When she told you to ‘get out’ that day, she didn’t truly mean to make things difficult for you.” She gently stirred her coffee, peeling back the layers of misunderstanding between the two. “Later, when you were standing in the rain, she actually… felt terrible. She quietly had the maid prepare ginger milk to ward off the cold, and even walked to the window, intending to open it and call out to you.”

The only person who could truly make Lu Lingzhi feel aggrieved was likely Jiang Mingyue.

A hint of regret surfaced in Chang Xi’s eyes. “It just so happened she saw your brother arrive to pick you up, so she stepped back. Her sister wasn’t by her side that day, and she felt stifled. In the end, she just ran over and hugged me. She…”

When Lu Lingzhi collapsed in her arms, the wound on the back of her head had split open. She developed a high fever that night, and Chang Xi stayed by her side all night.

“She was emotionally agitated. Thinking of myself as her ‘little mommy,’ I kissed her. I didn’t expect that a series of coincidences would lead you to misunderstand for so long.”

So that’s how it was.

Jiang Mingyue gripped the warm coffee cup, her fingertips tightening slightly. So, at that time, Lu Lingzhi wasn’t entirely cold or heartless toward her.

If she had persisted a bit longer that day, or if her brother had arrived a bit later, would she have seen that soft-hearted side of her?

“Was it very difficult to knock on her door?”

“…She told me to get out.”

Chang Xi set down her coffee spoon, her gaze becoming deep and serious. “Mingyue, I want to say that Lu Bao’s greatest virtue is that she respects everyone. She is very serious about feelings. Do you remember last time when you accompanied her to the hospital’s psychology department, and I asked you to leave first, saying there was a patient?”

Jiang Mingyue nodded.

“That so-called patient was actually her,” Chang Xi revealed the secret. “The question she came to consult about was, how to maximize self-control during her rut (susceptible period) to minimize potential impact and harm to the Omegas around her. From the very beginning, she was prepared to endure it alone. It wasn’t because she hated or rejected you. Having been an Omega herself, she is very considerate of them.”

Chang Xi leaned forward slightly, her tone leading. “Mingyue, whether as an Alpha or an Omega, she might lose her temper with you, be stubborn, or make you hop mad… but she will never truly hurt you. I believe you didn’t tell Jiang Mingzhao the details of the kidnapping. I hope you can tell Lu Bao.”

“Give this to her.” Jiang Mingyue took an application form from her bag, it was her application to transfer to the Psychology Department of the Medical School.

Chang Xi took it, glanced at it, and a gratified smile touched her lips. “Good.”

Back at the Apartment

Pushing open the bedroom door, the room was quiet, filled only with the sound of Lu Lingzhi’s breathing. Outside, the last of the daylight had faded, and the city lights were flicking on one by one, casting a hazy, gentle patch of light onto the floor through the gaps in the curtains.

Jiang Mingyue lightened her steps as she approached the bed. She squatted down, using that bit of dim light to carefully study Lu Lingzhi’s sleeping face.

In sleep, Lu Lingzhi had retracted all her thorns and disguises, looking like a defenseless child. Her long eyelashes cast faint shadows under her eyes, and her lips were slightly pursed, as if she were still competing over something in her dreams.

Jiang Mingyue’s heart felt as if it were being brushed by the softest feather. She reached out to brush away a stray lock of hair from Lu Lingzhi’s forehead, her movements as gentle as if she were touching a rare treasure.

Her gaze lingered on that exquisite face, and she whispered in a breathy voice, “Goodnight, my little Alpha.”

Just as the words fell…

Lu Lingzhi’s eyelashes fluttered. She slowly opened her eyes. Her newly awakened gaze carried a bit of dazed mist, looking somewhat blank, but it quickly focused on Jiang Mingyue’s face.

Hmm. It’s a very good-looking… her face is so big. Wait… what kind of look is that? Is she going to force a kiss on me again? Damn! When I was an Omega, I wasn’t full of this kind of ‘yellow’ [NSFW] thoughts! Don’t come over here!

Lu Lingzhi panicked inwardly. She grabbed Jiang Mingyue’s hand, which was reaching behind her. “Jiang Mingyue, what are you doing? Entering my room without even knocking. You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

Seeing this display of feigned bravado, delivered with a hint of post-sleep hoarseness, the smile in Jiang Mingyue’s eyes deepened. Instead of backing away, she leaned closer. As she grabbed a soft pillow to prop up Lu Lingzhi’s lower back, she felt the other girl’s waist tremble.

She replied composedly, “If I didn’t have a lot of nerve…” She deliberately trailed off, her gaze pointedly sweeping over Lu Lingzhi’s reddening ear tips, “I wouldn’t have kissed you like that this morning and gotten that kissing photo.”

At the mention of that photo, Lu Lingzhi felt her “illustrious reputation” had been ruined by this blackened woman. She subconsciously gripped the thin quilt beneath her. “Delete it! Immediately! Delete it for me right now!”

To her surprise, Jiang Mingyue agreed readily this time. “Okay.”

Lu Lingzhi: “…”

Jiang Mingyue handed the phone to Lu Lingzhi, letting her delete it herself. Lu Lingzhi handed the phone back.

Jiang Mingyue tossed the phone onto the nightstand and then, without warning, leaned in close.

A shadow loomed over her, carrying the faint scent of tulips. Jiang Mingyue’s face grew larger and larger as Lu Lingzhi leaned back, crashing into the soft pillow.

Jiang Mingyue braced her arms on either side of her body, trapping her between the soft bed and herself. The distance was instantly closed to the extreme, they could hear each other’s breathing. Jiang Mingyue stared into her suddenly widened eyes, her hands resting on the back of her head.

When she had pushed Lu Er back then, it was only because she saw her choking Jiang Mingzhao, who was holding a wine glass and about to smash it at Lu Er. She was afraid the glass shards would scar her face or even her eyes. She just hadn’t expected Lu Er to be injured by her push.

She wanted to feel that wound. Had she needed stitches back then?

Lu Lingzhi’s hands pushed against her shoulders.

What is she doing now? She’s not going to be intimate with me again, is she? I’m really weak, I’m too weak. How is her stamina so good? If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was the Alpha. Should I reset time to before I fell asleep and just lock the door? No, my kissing photo, my dark history, is still in her hands. Besides, the loop doesn’t work on her. What if she cheats?

In the middle of her mental brainstorm, she suddenly caught a flash of hurt in Jiang Mingyue’s eyes. Is it because I locked her out yesterday, told her to ‘get out,’ and said I hated her?

Wait, I only said ‘I hate you’ in my head. Or did I mumble it while dazed?

A blurry realization crossed her mind, after a temporary marking, an Omega becomes psychologically and physiologically dependent on and craves the Alpha who marked them. They need the other’s comfort to gain a sense of security. Is she also feeling miserable?

She took out the photo and deleted it so readily. Was it… just to use this method? To trade for a little bit of my… comfort?

Thinking of this, the stubbornness and resistance in Lu Lingzhi’s heart softened by a fraction. She hesitated, and the strength in her hands that had been pushing against Jiang Mingyue’s shoulders gradually relaxed.

I am an Alpha, an Alpha. Be generous, generous… I am very generous. Really generous, generous…

Finally, as if making a decision, she proactively tilted her face up and placed a gentle kiss on Jiang Mingyue’s slightly cool cheek. The contact was as light as falling cotton, gone in an instant, yet carrying a startling warmth.

She felt like one wasn’t enough. She leaned in again and pressed another kiss in the same spot.

After these two bold actions, her cheeks were so red they were practically dripping blood. Her eyes darted around, not daring to look at Jiang Mingyue. She pulled Jiang Mingyue into a hug and reached out, rhythmically and gently patting Jiang Mingyue’s back.

It was as if she were saying: Don’t be sad anymore, here is some comfort.

She exerted a little force to push Jiang Mingyue a short distance away from her shoulder. The soft glow of the bedside nightlight illuminated their huddled figures, sketching a warm and intimate silhouette.

Enduring her physical exhaustion, Lu Lingzhi brushed her thumb over Jiang Mingyue’s slightly damp eye corner. “Better now?”

Stunned by this sudden tenderness, Jiang Mingyue froze. She had actually wanted to say “I’m sorry.” But those words were swallowed back down. She was afraid any speech would break this dreamlike, heart-trembling atmosphere of ambiguity.

She just wanted to hold her quietly for two or three more minutes, drawing enough warmth to console her long years of longing, and then she would leave.

However, Lu Lingzhi seemed to misunderstand.

She felt that Jiang Mingyue still had no intention of letting go, in fact, the hug tightened. She couldn’t help but wonder: Is my method of comforting wrong? Did it fail to soothe her emotions?

But my head really feels like it’s splitting open… such a small thing, better not tell Jiang Mingyue.

Thinking of how Jiang Mingyue had gossiped about her body being “weak” that morning… Actually, she was right. Her body was indeed very weak. She didn’t want to hear the system saying, “Mama, your reputation value has dropped by this much because you’re too weak.”

She had her pride, too.

She took a soft breath, as if coming to a resolution. First, she firmly but gently broke the embrace, and then, under Jiang Mingyue’s somewhat bewildered gaze, she stood up.

She stepped barefoot onto the carpet and walked to the bedside, picking up the phone Jiang Mingyue had tossed onto the nightstand. Her fingers expertly unlocked it and swiped to the music app, selecting the most-played track from the favorites list, a light yet lingering English song.

It was the song she had sung during the campus “Top Ten Singers” competition. Jiang Mingyue had recorded it.

She pressed play.

Soothed yet rhythmic notes flowed through the quiet, dark bedroom like a trickling stream, skillfully dispelling the previous silence and awkwardness, injecting a different, indescribable atmosphere into the air.

Lu Lingzhi turned around. In the hazy light, she saw Jiang Mingyue still sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at her with a mix of confusion and lingering emotion.

Without saying a word, she walked straight to Jiang Mingyue. Then, to the other’s surprise, she slowly knelt down in the space between Jiang Mingyue’s legs, forming a subtle and intimate posture.

This stance forced Jiang Mingyue to look down at her, while Lu Lingzhi looked up. The distance between them closed once more, their breaths intertwining.

Lu Lingzhi’s hands rested lightly on Jiang Mingyue’s shoulders; her fingertips could feel the warmth and slight tension beneath the shirt. She took a deep breath, as if drawing courage from the music, then closed her eyes and tilted her head up to kiss Jiang Mingyue’s lips.

The kiss was no longer a fleeting touch like the one on the cheek. It was gentle, lingering, and even carried a sense of giving her all. The rhythm of the music seemed to melt into the rhythm of the kiss, smoothing over all remaining tension and unease.

She could feel Jiang Mingyue’s initial stiffness, followed by a gradual softening and a passionate response.

For the duration of this one song. Four minutes and eleven seconds. She remembered this number very clearly.

4:11. Jiang Mingyue’s birthday was April 11th. Jiang Mingyue’s birthday was half of her own. Jiang Mingyue had once said that after waiting for four months and 11 days, she was finally born.

In her favorite song, she gave her the best kiss she could imagine. When the last note quietly fell, the kiss naturally ended.

Lu Lingzhi’s strength seemed to drain away with it. Her forehead rested against Jiang Mingyue’s, her breath coming in short gasps, her cheeks flushed, and her long lashes trembling. She whispered:

“…This time, is it enough?”

[System: Congratulations, Mama! Jiang Mingyue’s favorability toward you has increased by 80 points.]