Redeeming that Beautiful, Strong, and Miserable Omega [Transmigrated into a Book] - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Test

After much persuasion from Wen Yan, He Lan reluctantly agreed to give Xu Ruozhou another chance.

The two walked toward the practice room, where a graceful violin melody drifted through the open window.

Xu Ruozhou was playing Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto, entitled.

Winter

Through the window, Wen Yan saw the Omega’s focused back as she played.

Her waterfall of black hair flowed down her back, her sharp jaw resting against the violin. Although her shoulders were slightly stiff, her bow-holding right hand accurately drew every note.

The music was beautiful and melodious, every part precisely rendered, yet…

“She is not suited to play the violin.”

The violinist standing beside Wen Yan suddenly spoke, a single sentence immediately sentencing Xu Ruozhou’s path to learning the violin to life imprisonment.

Wen Yan remained silent.

He Lan looked at her, slightly surprised. “Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

In terms of the composition’s completeness, this Omega, who had never touched a violin before, could almost compare to an expert who had been studying since childhood.

An amateur wouldn’t be able to discern her issue.

“I think I know.” Wen Yan’s tone was flat. “Why you think she isn’t suited to play the violin.”

“Oh?” He Lan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Then tell me…”

Wen Yan stepped aside, giving the violinist a clear path to the practice room.

“It’s her first time learning. It’s inevitable that she has flaws. Emotion is built up gradually; even a genius requires conscious training.”

“Professor He Lan, please do not give up on a student with exceptional talent merely because of a slight emotional imperfection.”

Wen Yan played her trump card. “I believe that if your wife were still alive, she would certainly hope you would give her another chance. I trust you will change your mind.”

The door to the practice room was pushed open.

The powerful violin music abruptly stopped. Xu Ruozhou held the bow, her forearm trembling from fatigue. Her reddish-brown eyes looked over with a hint of surprise.

After a moment of eye contact with the strange violinist, Xu Ruozhou’s gaze finally settled on the Alpha’s gentle face. The bow in her hand unconsciously tightened its grip.

“Wen Yan, why are you here?”

“How do you plan to make me change my mind?”

Xu Ruozhou and He Lan spoke simultaneously, both addressing Wen Yan. Their voices collided, startling both of them. Only Wen Yan’s expression remained calm.

Wen Yan stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the Omega’s waist from behind. Xu Ruozhou was slightly surprised, but she quickly realized—

This sudden back hug was not the Alpha flirting with a desired Omega.

The Alpha’s warm palm completely covered Xu Ruozhou’s right hand holding the bow, and her other arm wrapped around her, pressing down near the strings close to the scroll.

Xu Ruozhou readjusted her playing posture. She vaguely felt the potential power stored in the warm palm covering her right hand.

All sounds around them seemed to vanish. Xu Ruozhou could only hear the increasingly intense heartbeat coming from her fifth rib on the left side.

“Focus.”

Accompanied by this calm voice, Xu Ruozhou suddenly snapped back to attention. Her grasped right hand followed the Alpha’s movements, slowly drawing the bow across the violin on her shoulder.

The bow slid over the long strings, and a powerful, resonating long note suddenly erupted.

The surrounding environment rapidly dissolved with the music.

She felt as if she were in the cold, hard lands of Siberia, seeing a melancholic violinist, facing the bitter wind, drawing the bow across the strings in a snowstorm.

The music grew heavier and heavier.

The bugle call to charge was buried deep by the overwhelming snow. The dead corpses lay at their feet.

Eyes that refused to close spoke of longing for distant loved ones. Insults, weeping, flailing fists—complex emotions intertwined, becoming the vulnerable swan song of life.

Xu Ruozhou closed her eyes, feeling her eye sockets gradually moisten. Just as tears were about to fall, a clear, sustained note suddenly shattered the entire scene.

The wind blowing in her face was no longer cold but the gentle breath of spring as the seasons changed.

New green buds poked their heads out from the white snow, swaying in the wind. The cries of newborns washed away the last traces of cold light from the raging battle.

The piece ended.

The air was silent for a moment before the sound of applause drew the dazed Xu Ruozhou back from her trance.

Her reddish-brown eyes looked toward the source of the sound.

She saw the usually serious violin prodigy looking excited, shedding his gentle, polite façade, like a mad artist.

He Lan grabbed the Alpha’s sleeve, her voice trembling with excitement. “When did you learn to play?”

“Why haven’t I heard your name?”

This was the first time Xu Ruozhou had seen such an expression on Wen Yan’s face.

Even though she had just performed a piece that stunned a famous violinist, those clear dark eyes showed no ripples.

As if she had just done the most ordinary thing.

Seeing He Lan clutching the Alpha’s sleeve, Xu Ruozhou frowned slightly. Just as she was about to step closer, a pair of hands returned to the back of her hands. She looked sideways and saw the tall Alpha once again holding her bow-holding hand.

A gentle voice whispered in her ear.

“Wife, when you practice, you must have an image in your mind. The fingers pressing the strings should…”

Wen Yan led her through several repetitions. Xu Ruozhou, imitating the way she had just played, performed the piece again by rote.

He Lan didn’t praise her, nor did she criticize her, but her gaze on Wen Yan grew even more fervent.

On the way back to the villa, Wen Yan’s hand was held by Xu Ruozhou the entire time, with the driver following behind them.

“Wife, there are so many people here…” Wen Yan glanced left and right, feeling a little shy.

They had encountered many acquaintances since leaving the practice room. Some had just finished playing golf, and others were walking their dogs past them.

The teasing looks made Wen Yan blush. “Wife, why don’t we just link arms instead?”

Wuwuwu, holding hands this way is too intimate~

Before transmigrating, Wen Yan was a young woman who had never been in a relationship. Forget holding hands; she hadn’t even touched a girl’s hand.

“Oh?” Xu Ruozhou interlaced her fingers tightly with hers, stroking her smooth palm. “Why?”

Wen Yan’s cheeks were flushed. “There are too many people. I’m a little shy.”

“Ha.” Xu Ruozhou suddenly chuckled. Wen Yan shuddered. She saw those reddish-brown eyes looking over with a hint of scrutiny. “You’ve already marked me. Why are you still so easily embarrassed?”

“That day at the hotel, with so many people around, didn’t you bite very deeply, very…”

A hand carrying the faint scent of Douglas Fir nervously covered her mouth. Wen Yan pressed her palms together, pleading, “Wuwuwuwu, wife, I was wrong.”

“Keep your voice down. These people are super gossipy.”

Xu Ruozhou looked at her, her eyes deep.

Wen Yan sighed. She didn’t actually care what these people said; she stayed home all day and didn’t hear the gossip, but Xu Ruozhou was different.

Both the original host and she were business failures, but Xu Ruozhou was not. She stood at the cutting edge of change, where any minor detail could stir up massive waves intended to swallow her whole.

Wen Yan didn’t want Xu Ruozhou to become the subject of gossip.

After a long time, Xu Ruozhou lowered her eyes and said in a deep voice, “I understand.”

It was late when they returned to the villa.

Wen Yan hadn’t expected the day to pass so quickly. She had only accompanied Xu Ruozhou in the practice room for a few extra violin concertos.

Exhausted physically and mentally, Wen Yan was terribly sleepy. She climbed the stairs. Before she could open her door, a pair of cold hands gripped her forearm from behind through the sleeve of her pajamas.

Why is the female lead at my bedroom?

“Ruozhou?” Wen Yan was surprised. “Didn’t you go back to your room? Why are you still up?”

Wen Yan noticed Xu Ruozhou was barefoot. She went back into her room, took out a clean pair of slippers, squatted down, cupped those hands-as-cold-as-ice feet in her palms, and slipped the slippers onto her feet.

“Wife, you’ll catch a cold without wearing slippers.”

Xu Ruozhou was silent for a moment. “I don’t like wearing them.”

“Then tomorrow I’ll ask Lin Xi to custom-order carpets and lay them in every corner of the house. That way, we can walk around barefoot freely.”

With that, Wen Yan kicked off her slippers and bounced playfully on the cold floor.

“…Mm.” Xu Ruozhou softly said, “I’ll listen to you.”

Wen Yan looked at her strangely. “Wife, did you need something from me?”

Xu Ruozhou’s room was on the east side of the third floor, and her room was on the west side of the second floor, separated by one floor and the furthest east-west distance.

Unless she needed something, Wen Yan couldn’t think of any reason why Xu Ruozhou would walk all the way to her door barefoot.

Xu Ruozhou was silent for a moment. “…Nothing.”

What’s wrong with the female lead today?

Wen Yan’s eyelids were drooping. She really couldn’t think any more. She gently whined, “Then I’ll go to sleep first, wife. If you need me for anything, feel free to message me anytime. I’ll be there.”

“…Okay.”

“Then, good night?”

Wen Yan tilted her head.

“…Good night.”

Wen Yan closed the door, collapsed onto her soft, large bed, and immediately fell asleep.

Her steady breathing passed through the gap in the door, reaching the ears of the Omega who lingered outside the door.

On the way back, Xu Ruozhou had held Wen Yan’s bow-holding right hand the entire time, their fingers tightly interlaced.

She could feel that the Alpha’s fingertips had none of the thin calluses left from training.

It was a pair of hands that had been pampered and never done any heavy work, yet she had effortlessly played a passionate melody that shocked a master.

The mystery surrounding Wen Yan seemed to be growing. Xu Ruozhou couldn’t help but let her thoughts drift to the worst-case scenario.

If Wen Yan was not “Wen Yan,” then who was the person who drugged her, the former or the latter?

If the latter drugged her, then…

Xu Ruozhou lowered her eyes. Her cold feet still retained the body temperature from the Alpha’s palms.

If the latter drugged her, then perhaps the “liking” she confessed at the hotel was also fake.

The next day, Wen Yan was pulled out of bed by Xu Ruozhou before she was fully awake to accompany her to class. She thought it would still be the violin, but when she opened her eyes, a horse’s nose was pressed against her face.

“Awoo—”

The loud neigh almost scared the soul out of Wen Yan. She quickly patted the horse’s head soothingly, looking around for Xu Ruozhou.

“Wen Yan.” A familiar voice came from behind. Wen Yan turned around, and her pupils slightly widened in admiration when she saw the person.

Xu Ruozhou was dressed in equestrian gear: a fitted black double-breasted jacket on top, tight white breeches on the bottom, paired with a pair of black Chelsea riding boots.

Wen Yan looked down at her own attire: a cartoon half-sleeve shirt, loose Bermuda shorts, and ordinary leather shoes. She looked less like she was there for equestrian training and more like she was there to lead the horses for the princes and princesses.

“Wen Yan, get up here.” Xu Ruozhou said in a deep voice.

Only then did Wen Yan notice the other dark-skinned horse next to the female lead. It had its nostrils flared toward the sky and immediately let out a long neigh when it saw her gaze.

Oh wow, that’s a good horse.

Just has a bit of a bad temper.

Xu Ruozhou lowered her eyes, hiding the test in her gaze. The equestrian coach standing nearby was openly worried.

This was the best horse in the equestrian training grounds, and also the one with the worst temper. To this day, no one had managed to tame it.

Anyone who rode this horse was either thrown off and left concussed, or sent to the hospital.

Thinking about the young CEO Wen, who had never learned to ride, the coach couldn’t help but advise, “How about we change…”

Before he could finish, the Alpha had already mounted the saddle.

Almost immediately after she mounted, the wild horse bolted like it had broken free of its reins.

“Wen Yan!” Xu Ruozhou knew the horse was difficult to tame, but she hadn’t expected it to rush out before giving anyone a chance to sit steady.

The equestrian coach hurriedly mounted his own horse. “Madam, don’t worry. I’ll chase after them immediately. I will definitely bring CEO Wen back safely…”

“…Huh?”

Why was CEO Wen’s wife also chasing after them?!

Xu Ruozhou desperately tightened the reins. The white horse beneath her let out a painful neigh and picked up its pace.

Gazing at the figure pulling further away, gradually blurring, Xu Ruozhou dared not stop for a moment.

Faster.

Faster still!

She felt like she was chasing a colorful bubble that could burst at any moment. Even though she knew the bubble contained lies and deception, she stubbornly refused to pop it.

She wanted it to stay by her side a little longer, just a little longer…

The reins in Xu Ruozhou’s hand were almost choking the white horse’s neck, but the horse’s pace slowed due to fatigue. The blurry figure was about to disappear from her sight.

“Wen Yan!!!”

The Omega’s heartbroken cry pierced the wind and reached the ears of the figure in front, who was gripping the reins and galloping across the field.

The figure that was about to vanish suddenly paused. The tight reins turned the direction, and the black horse galloped back toward Xu Ruozhou’s location.

The white horse came to a halt.

“Wife, wife, what’s wrong?”

Tears filled her eyes, streaming down the Omega’s pale cheeks.

Wen Yan was confused and helpless. “Wife, I didn’t know you were following me. This horse runs too fast. I was so busy trying to tame it that I didn’t notice you behind me.”

“Don’t cry, wife. I’m really fine. I’m perfectly fine.” Wen Yan patted the horse’s head. The black horse let out a dissatisfied neigh. “See how obedient this fellow is?”

The equestrian coach widened his eyes at the sight.

Was this the same stubborn horse he fed every day?

Why was it as docile as a dog?!

And also, hadn’t the Wen family’s useless Alpha never learned to ride a horse?

Wen Yan wiped the tears from the Omega’s cheeks, preparing to say something amusing to cheer up Xu Ruozhou. Just as she was about to speak, a soft body rushed into her arms.

Wen Yan froze. Her hands were suspended in the air, unable to move. She stammered, “…W-wife?”

“Wen Yan, I don’t care why you’re approaching me. From now on, you are not allowed to leave my side for half a step.”

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