My Virtual Wife From my Phone Has Come to See Me - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: 【Do You Like Boys or Girls?】

Xing Xiaochu lifted her beautiful eyes and gave Qi Ying a vacant look. After a pause, she said, “It should be a while longer before it arrives. Why, Sister?”

An Omega’s heat cycle is fixed, basically occurring once a month. Xing Xiaochu usually took medication before her cycle and wore suppressor patches. Consequently, during her time living at Qi Ying’s house, she had managed to hide the fact that she had already passed several heat cycles.

After all, that wasn’t exactly something one discussed with an Alpha.

“Nothing,” Qi Ying said with a smile. “Maybe there’s just something wrong with my nose.”

Xiaochu gave her a puzzled glance.

Over the next few days, Qi Ying felt the problem with her nose was only worsening. She kept smelling that mysterious osmanthus scent in all sorts of places—sometimes in the game, and sometimes even in real life.

The strangest instance happened while she was sketching. She suddenly looked up at Xia Ruoxin, who was working nearby, and asked with a frown, “Do you smell osmanthus?”

Xia Ruoxin sniffed left and right, up and down, then said in bewilderment, “No? It’s not even autumn yet. Where would osmanthus come from?”

Just as Qi Ying was feeling perplexed, the doorbell rang. Shi Yu entered holding a box of pastries. “A new batch of osmanthus cakes just came out. I bought a box; want to try some?”

Xia Ruoxin glanced at Qi Ying and let out a curious, “Huh?”

Beyond that, Qi Ying felt her body becoming more restless by the day. Especially at night, she kept having those kinds of vivid dreams.

In the dreams, Qi Ying was passionately kissing a slender girl. Her nose was filled with that haunting, sweet osmanthus scent. Every time things reached a critical point, she would bolt awake and stare at the ceiling in a daze.

Qi Ying felt helpless and confused. Could I be sick?

But aside from her nose being hypersensitive to osmanthus and having nightly “springtime” dreams, her body hadn’t changed much—except for the occasional bout of irritability and a low tolerance for everyone around her.

Xia Ruoxin suggested it was a hormonal imbalance. Qi Ying was inclined to agree.

One day, a customer was being particularly nitpicky about a design. Qi Ying couldn’t hold back and got into a heated argument. Xia Ruoxin had to drag her into the back alley, looking at her with a massive headache.

“A-Ying, what is wrong with you?” Xia Ruoxin asked, baffled. “You’ve never fought with a customer before. Why the sudden temper?”

Qi Ying was so angry her blood was boiling. She pointed toward the shop. “First she said no bows, now she says bows look better. Before she wanted it loose for comfort, now she wants it form-fitting. And the buttons! She specifically asked for coffee-colored ones, but now that it’s done, she says milky gold would look nicer.”

Qi Ying was losing it. “How is that any different from asking me to redo the whole thing from scratch!”

Xia Ruoxin’s hair was practically blown back by the shouting. She smoothed her hair and tried to soothe her friend. “Alright, alright, don’t be mad. I’ll handle this customer. In our line of work, isn’t it normal for clients to change their minds? You’ve dealt with unreasonable people before and kept your cool. Why such a fuse today?”

Qi Ying glared at her. Before she could snap, Xia Ruoxin executed a metaphorical “sliding tackle” apology.

“I’m not blaming you!” Xia Ruoxin said quickly. “The customer is definitely in the wrong. But hey, for this set, we’re making forty to fifty thousand. Aren’t you short on cash lately? When the final payment hits, it’s all yours. I won’t take a cent. Just do it for the money’s sake.”

The logic worked. Qi Ying’s temper cooled slightly. She did need the money to find a record label for Xiaochu.

…

Xing Xiaochu was diligently taking notes. The teacher was away, so the class was in self-study mode. The class monitor sat at the front, while others whispered in the back.

Thwap. A crumpled paper ball landed right on Xiaochu’s notebook.

She looked around in confusion. A boy sitting diagonally in front of her turned around, smiled, and pointed at the paper, signaling her to read it.

Xiaochu slowly unfurled the scrap of paper. It was torn from a notebook, and written in messy ink was: 【Do You Like Boys or Girls?】

Xiaochu blinked. She didn’t quite understand the intent.

It had been nearly half a month since school started, and she was no longer as nervous as she once was. The kids at school were mostly simple, and several had expressed interest in her. But being tossed a “love note” was a first.

Boys or girls? Xiaochu didn’t know. But Qi Ying’s silhouette inexplicably flashed through her mind, making the tips of her ears burn.

Before she could think of a polite rejection, a slender hand with beautiful, long fingers reached out and snatched the paper. Her desk mate, leaning her head on her hand, glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.

Xiaochu jumped, looking at her desk mate. The green-dyed streak of hair fluttered in the breeze from the window. Su Yun read the boy’s note, gave Xiaochu a sidelong glance, and asked curiously, “Xing Xiaochu, do you like boys or girls?”

Su Yun didn’t speak loudly, but the classroom was quiet. Almost everyone heard her.

“What’s going on?” someone shouted. “Is Su Yun bullying people again?” “Bullying? Looks more like a confession to me!” “No way, she likes Xiaochu already?” “Why not? Have you seen how many people wait at the door for Xiaochu after school? They aren’t there for Su Yun!”

Xiaochu’s face went white. She was naturally shy and tried to blend into the walls; being the center of attention was terrifying. She gripped her pen, looking at the gossiping crowd, paralyzed.

“What are you all looking at?!”

Su Yun suddenly slammed the desk. Her voice was sharp. “Everyone loves a show, huh? Who said I was confessing? Lu Xuan, you threw this, right? Why are you playing dead now?”

The boy named Lu Xuan turned pale and shrank into his seat, not daring to look back.

Su Yun sneered “Coward,” crumpled the paper back into a ball, and pelted it straight at the back of the boy’s head.

“If you have something to say, say it out loud. Don’t do this sneaky crap,” Su Yun told the room. “Also, don’t bother me while I’m sleeping.”

She didn’t care about Xiaochu’s reaction. She pulled her jacket over her head and went back to sleep.

Xiaochu stared at her. The rest of the class, also somewhat afraid of Su Yun, lowered their heads and got back to work. Xiaochu didn’t dare breathe too loudly, fearing she might wake her up and get hit.

Delinquents are truly scary.

When the final bell rang, Su Yun woke up instantly as if she had an internal alarm. She yawned, ruffled her messy hair, and grabbed her jacket to leave. Xiaochu quickly moved to let her out.

The class monitor tried to stop her. “Su Yun! You’re the only one who hasn’t turned in yesterday’s Chinese essay. Are you handing it in or what?”

Su Yun didn’t even acknowledge him, walking straight out the back door.

The monitor grumbled a curse and left with the stack of papers, clearly giving up on her. Xiaochu organized her things, ready to head home.

As she walked toward the gate, two Beta girls, Chen Dongdong and Xin Ya, came over to walk with her. As they passed an alleyway near the school, Chen Dongdong pointed. “Is that Su Yun?”

Xiaochu looked. Sure enough, there was Su Yun. She was leaning against a wall in her uniform, smoking.

Xin Ya quickly pulled Chen Dongdong’s hand back. “Don’t point! Let’s go before she sees us.” They hurried Xiaochu along. “You’re new so you don’t know—Su Yun is a real delinquent. She loves picking on people. Whatever you do, don’t provoke her.”

Xiaochu nodded. She had no intention of doing so.

As they reached the neighborhood, Xin Ya nudged Xiaochu. “Hey Xiaochu, isn’t that your sister?”

Xiaochu looked up. Sure enough, Qi Ying was there again to pick her up.