Always Chasing My White Moonlight Omega - Chapter 2

Ruan Yang felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

Her eyes were large, a strikingly clear amber color, usually devoid of any emotion, giving off an unapproachable aura.

But now, those eyes were unmistakably filled with hurt.

Xu Zhiyi studied Ruan Yang’s face, from her eyes to her nose, and finally settled on her lips.

The memories of last night inevitably resurfaced in her mind.

Their breaths had mingled, scorching hot, the ice cubes chilling, mixed with the intense scent of pinewood even she had been momentarily intoxicated.

But Xu Zhiyi quickly snapped out of it. Without a trace of hesitation, she turned and walked away, leaving the room.

Watching the door close again, Ruan Yang gripped the bedsheet tightly, her knuckles turning white before she finally let go.

Even if she had always been reluctant to pay attention in biology class and knew little about physiological matters, Ruan Yang now understood, she had undergone differentiation last night.

Most people differentiated at the age of eighteen. For someone like her to differentiate at twenty was already extremely rare.

Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Ruan Yang took a suppressant patch from the first-aid kit and decided to go to the hospital for a checkup.

After the examination, the doctor confirmed that she had indeed differentiated last night, into an Alpha.

Though she had already guessed the outcome, hearing the doctor say it aloud made Ruan Yang exhale a barely noticeable sigh of relief.

As she was leaving, the doctor spoke earnestly, “Your pheromone level is very high. Typically, Alphas with high levels differentiate later than others. A high level is a good thing, but you’ll need to be careful during your rut. Because you differentiated late, your needs during that period will be much stronger than those of an average Alpha.”

Needs, much stronger.

Memories of last night flooded Ruan Yang’s mind again. She lowered her head, her neck flushing red.

The doctor continued, “My advice is to find a stable Omega partner as soon as possible. Otherwise, when your rut comes, regular suppressants won’t be much help.”

Then she glanced up at Ruan Yang and added gently, “Don’t worry, young lady. A beautiful Alpha like you won’t have any trouble finding a compatible Omega.”

Ruan Yang didn’t know where to put her hands. She quickly thanked the doctor and left the hospital.

Once outside, she calmed down. The doctor’s words echoed in her mind, along with the image of Xu Zhiyi’s glistening eyes last night.

Her heart warmed at the thought, only to recall Xu Zhiyi’s breezy dismissal: “Don’t take it to heart. I’m not interested in kids like you.”

It was maddening.

Ruan Yang bit her lower lip and checked the time, it was just past two in the afternoon.

For some reason, she suddenly didn’t want to go home.

After a moment’s thought, she decided to stay at the university dorm for a couple of days.

She wasn’t ready to face Xu Zhiyi just yet.

“Holy shit, am I seeing things?!”

A loud exclamation broke the silence of the study room. People around turned to look, but before anyone could voice their annoyance, the male student wailed, “Xu Zhiyi! Xu Zhiyi was just exposed spending a passionate night with that rising starlet Zheng Tang! They even had dinner together and are meeting the parents?!”

For a moment, everyone was torn between continuing to scold the male student for making a scene or pulling out their phones to check if the news was true.

“Huh? Is this for real?”

“That Zheng Tang who just got a bit of fame from a web series? What makes her worthy of being with Xu Zhiyi? I don’t believe it!”

“Me neither! Hands off our Zhiyi! Can these no-name alphas stop leeching off her popularity? So annoying!”

Soon, the quiet study room erupted like a pot about to boil, filled with skeptical voices. No one remembered the male student who had first shouted the news.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the study room, Ruan Yang, who had been working on her editing assignment, furrowed her brows as the commotion disrupted her train of thought.

Lu Yiye, sitting beside her, noticed her subtle expression and quickly nudged Fang Yao, the male student who had caused the uproar with a hint of reproach in her tone.

“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you gossip somewhere else? Look what you’ve done, you’ve disturbed Yangyang’s work.”

“Ah… huh?” Fang Yao, still slightly dazed from the shocking news, grimaced and glanced at Ruan Yang. “Sorry, Ruan Yang, I didn’t mean to. But I was just so shocked! It’s Xu Zhiyi we’re talking about, my goddess…”

Xu Zhiyi, a three-year veteran in the industry, winner of countless awards, an actress so talented it was as if the heavens had spoon-fed her success. Her fox-like eyes were especially mesmerizing; just one watery glance could make anyone’s knees weak.

And now, this national sweetheart omega was apparently dating some barely-known alpha who’d just gained a bit of fame maybe even getting engaged? How could Fang Yao possibly accept that?

As he rambled on, Ruan Yang’s expression grew colder by the second. She pressed her lips together, her grip on the stylus tightening unconsciously, before her eyes inevitably flicked to Fang Yao’s phone.

The screen still displayed a photo of two beautiful women having dinner together, snapped by paparazzi. The one with more delicate features and an irresistibly charming aura had faint, ambiguous marks on her neck.

It reminded Ruan Yang of that night two days ago.

“Enough, just shut up already!” Lu Yiye genuinely thought Fang Yao had no sense of tact. She lowered her voice and leaned closer. “Can’t you keep your mouth shut? Don’t you remember Yangyang doesn’t like your goddess?”

At this, Fang Yao’s eyes widened. He quickly turned off his phone, finally looking a bit embarrassed. “S-sorry, Ruan Yang. I shouldn’t have been looking at this in the study room…”

Ruan Yang, who had silently set down her stylus at some point, opened her water bottle and downed the ice-cold water in one go before relaxing her expression.

“It’s fine.”

As if her earlier displeasure had been nothing but Lu Yiye’s imagination. Lu Yiye blinked, about to say something else, but the clueless Fang Yao cut in first.

“But Ruan Yang, there’s something I’ve been curious about for a long time.”

Lu Yiye had a bad feeling about whatever idiotic question this fool was about to ask. She reached out to cover his mouth, but she was too late, Fang Yao had already blurted it out,

“Why on earth don’t you like my goddess? She’s so beautiful everyone who’s seen her in person says she’s even more stunning than on TV or in movies. She has such a great personality, and she’s the only one in the entire entertainment industry with that uniquely pure yet alluring charm. Seriously, why don’t you you like her?”

As soon as this question was asked, Lu Yiye had already packed up his books, ready to leave this potential battlefield at any moment, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

But Fang Yao just had to keep going. “You just presented as an Alpha yesterday, right? Maybe that’s why you haven’t gotten Xu Zhiyi’s appeal yet. I can confidently say there isn’t a single Alpha in the entire empire who can resist Xu Zhiyi. Ugh, if I could just meet my goddess once, I could die happy,”

“I have things to do.” Ruan Yang suddenly stood up, swiftly gathering the laptop she had brought with her. Her strikingly beautiful face showed no expression. “See you tomorrow.”

With that, she grabbed her bag and prepared to leave. But after just two steps, she inexplicably paused.

“It’s fake,” she said, turning back.

“…Huh?” Both Lu Yiye and Fang Yao were stunned. “What’s fake?”

The rumors, the rumors are fake.

Ruan Yang wanted to say it, but then, as if thinking of something, she let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Never mind.”

She couldn’t very well say that the marks on Xu Zhiyi’s body were actually made by her, could she?

Ruan Yang quickly left the school. When she returned home, her mother was surrounded by a group of boutique sales assistants, picking out the latest jewelry of the season.

Spotting her, Ruan Qingyu called out cheerfully, “You’re back, Yangyang. Come help me choose which one looks better. I’m wearing them tonight to accompany your father to a banquet.”

At the mention of “father,” Ruan Yang visibly frowned. She glanced at the woman before her, a woman in her forties who still looked like she was barely thirty her gaze lingering just long enough to seem like she was studying her, but not quite.

Then she said, “They all look nice.”

Ruan Qingyu was displeased. “You!”

But before she could finish, Ruan Yang turned her attention to the kitchen, where Aunt Chen was cooking. She glanced at the dishes, all of them Xu Zhiyi’s favorites.

“Is Zhiyi not home?” she asked.

Aunt Chen had little fondness for Ruan Qingyu but was willing to be more patient with Ruan Yang. “No, Miss Xu went out. She’ll be back soon.”

Ruan Yang didn’t think much of it. “Then let me help you, Aunt Chen.”

Seeing her own child dismiss her so coldly in front of all these sales assistants, not even letting her finish speaking, yet showing such concern for that seductress Xu Zhiyi, Ruan Qingyu’s face darkened with displeasure. “What are you doing, Ruan Yang? I send you to school so you can come home and do the work of servants? Go to your room!”

The atmosphere in the living room instantly turned tense. Aunt Chen’s smile faded slightly as she looked at Ruan Yang. “Miss, you should listen to your mother and go to your room. I can handle the kitchen.”

Ruan Yang stopped in her tracks and raised her head.

She had inherited Ruan Qingyu’s beauty, but hers carried a sharper edge. The coldness in her eyes as she looked up made Ruan Qingyu feel an unfamiliar chill from her own daughter.

Ruan Qingyu shuddered involuntarily. “Why are you looking at me like that?! I’m your mother!”

Ruan Yang fell silent, then turned back, picked up the bag she had tossed on the sofa, and headed upstairs.

“Wait a minute!” Ruan Qingyu tried to call out to the slender figure walking away. “Come help me pick out some clothes and jewelry! Next month is your twenty-first birthday, and your father is throwing you a birthday party!”

“That’s not my dad,” Ruan Yang suddenly spoke up. “You never married him, so he’s not my dad.”

Seeing Ruan Qingyu about to argue, Ruan Yang continued, “You’ve lived here for three years, and he’s never once mentioned marrying you. When are you going to wake up and realize he’s not worth what you’re doing for him?”

“Ruan Yang, what are you saying?!” Perhaps struck by the truth she had long avoided, Ruan Qingyu’s face twisted in anger. “I’m giving you a chance to take those words back!”

This scene had played out many times before.

Ruan Yang had often tried to persuade Ruan Qingyu to leave with her, to escape the cold stares and mockery they endured here.

She could already support herself and provide the life Ruan Qingyu wanted.

But Ruan Qingyu was like someone drowning in what she believed was love, refusing to come up for air.

Arguing further was pointless.

Ruan Yang said nothing more. She walked to the end of the second-floor hallway, opened her bedroom door, and didn’t look back once.

Left behind, Ruan Qingyu angrily threw the clothes in her hands onto the sofa, muttering about how ungrateful her daughter was.

Ruan Yang, of course, couldn’t hear any of it.

Her room was soundproof. As soon as she entered, she turned on the large TV, sifted through a box of DVDs for a long time, and finally selected the film that had catapulted Xu Zhiyi to fame, pressing play.

In the darkened room, Ruan Yang stared at the screen like a robot, her expression only flickering when Xu Zhiyi appeared onscreen.

It was a romantic art film, so kissing scenes were inevitable. Having watched it countless times, Ruan Yang expertly grabbed the remote and skipped past the moment another female Alpha leaned in to kiss Xu Zhiyi’s forehead.

She watched until the end. The credits rolled with a monologue from Xu Zhiyi, her voice soft and sweet, carrying her unique cadence and tone. Listening, Ruan Yang slowly closed her eyes.

At some point, the sound of rustling reached her ears. Ruan Yang suddenly opened her eyes and checked her phone, it was already evening.

Voices could be heard downstairs. Ruan Yang’s mind cleared, realizing Xu Zhiyi had returned home.

After a brief internal struggle, she decided to go downstairs.

It had only been a day, but to Ruan Yang, it felt like an eternity.

She tried her best to keep her expression neutral, to not let her thoughts wander.

But as soon as she looked up, she saw that besides Aunt Chen and Xu Zhiyi, there was another young woman standing beside Xu Zhiyi in the living room.

Both were stunning, one radiantly bold, the other gentle and refined. Standing together, they looked inexplicably perfect.

Ruan Yang froze in place.

Xu Zhiyi acted as if she hadn’t seen her and didn’t greet her.

Aunt Chen, noticing Ruan Yang’s dazed expression, introduced, “This is Miss Zheng Tang. The young lady brought her over for dinner.”

Ruan Yang felt as if her heart had been seized by something like a small bird trapped beneath eternal ice, its neck caught in an inescapable grip.

Zheng Tang.

This woman turned out to be none other than Zheng Tang, the very person Fang Yao had mentioned that afternoon as being in a relationship with Xu Zhiyi, even to the point of meeting each other’s parents.

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