The Alpha’s Hidden Marriage, Public Obsession - Chapter 51

Lin Yulan tore the silk scarf in half and roughly wrapped each piece around the raw spots on Jiang Xue’s heels. But she knew that if Jiang Xue continued wearing high heels, the friction would still irritate the wounds.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Yulan took off her own flat shoes. Her feet were about the same size as Jiang Xue’s maybe just one size bigger so they wouldn’t slip off while walking.

Jiang Xue immediately understood what she was planning but still snapped instinctively, “What are you doing?!”

Lin Yulan replied, “Your heels are in this state, do you really plan to walk back in high heels? Do you even want your feet anymore?”

It did hurt, but not so much that she couldn’t walk. There was no way she’d keep wearing the heels, but going barefoot would be better for the trek back to school.

Of course, passersby would probably think she’d lost her mind if they saw her walking barefoot when she had shoes. Only someone mentally unstable would do something like that.

“Who said I was going to wear the heels back?”

Lin Yulan looked up at her. “If you’re not wearing the heels, then what are you going to wear?”

There weren’t any shoe stores nearby was she really planning to walk back barefoot?

And sure enough, Jiang Xue answered, “I can’t wear the heels, but I can take them off and walk back barefoot!”

Lin Yulan glanced around at the steady stream of pedestrians passing by and couldn’t help but imagine the scene if Jiang Xue actually walked barefoot.

The thought made her burst out laughing.

Jiang Xue took one look at her grin and knew this jerk was thinking something vulgar again. She scowled. “What’s so funny?!”

Lin Yulan instantly straightened her expression. “I’m not laughing at you, Professor Jiang. I just mean, you’re wearing such a beautiful dress, if you walk back barefoot, holding your shoes in your hands, the whole aesthetic would be a bit.”

“So what?” Jiang Xue grew even angrier. “Is that really so amusing?”

If they weren’t on the side of the road, she would’ve bent down and smacked this damn Alpha in the face with her high heels!

Seeing the situation take a dangerous turn, Lin Yulan swallowed her laughter and said, “You’re seriously considering walking back barefoot? The streets might look clean, but no matter how well they’re swept, they can’t possibly remove every tiny hazard. What if there’s broken glass or a needle or something sharp on the ground? You’d end up needing a tetanus shot at the hospital.”

“I—”

Though this infuriating Alpha was beyond irritating, she wasn’t wrong. At night, the ground was too dark to see clearly, and if she stepped on something sharp, she wouldn’t just be walking back barefoot, she’d need an ambulance.

Jiang Xue was both furious and frustrated furious because this damn Alpha inexplicably made her blood boil, and frustrated because the only person offering help right now was this same damn Alpha, leaving her with no other choice.

When Lin Yulan’s shoes were securely on her feet, Jiang Xue’s emotions became even more tangled.

“Alright.” Lin Yulan confirmed that the scarf was securely tied and wouldn’t loosen before standing up. “Do you have any ointment for scrapes in your dorm? If not, wait for me, I’ll make a quick call.”

Jiang Xue didn’t stop her, but she didn’t obediently stay put either. Testing her footing to ensure her heels wouldn’t rub against her shoes, she took advantage of Lin Yulan’s phone call to slip away.

Seeing this, Lin Yulan didn’t even bother putting her high heels back on. Holding them in her hand, she chased after Jiang Xue while speaking into the phone, “That’s it for now. I’ll hang up. Meet me at the school gate later.”

Because the skin on Jiang Xue’s heels was scraped, even with the scarf wrapped around them, she didn’t dare walk too fast. Lin Yulan quickly caught up.

“Professor Jiang, wait up!”

Jiang Xue didn’t pause, didn’t glance to the side, and didn’t even bother opening her mouth. She kept walking forward with unshakable determination, as if Lin Yulan didn’t exist beside her.

“Xiao Xue? Professor Jiang? Darling? Sweetheart? Wife?” Lin Yulan called out every possible endearment, appropriate or not. When Jiang Xue still showed no sign of acknowledging her, Lin Yulan resorted to her trump card pretending she’d stepped on something sharp. She crouched down, moaning in exaggerated pain. “Ah! ah!”

Jiang Xue had already walked nearly ten meters away. She really didn’t want to deal with this troublemaker, but the growing whispers of passersby and the genuine-sounding distress in Lin Yulan’s voice eventually softened her resolve.

After an internal struggle, Jiang Xue gritted her teeth and turned back.

Lin Yulan had assumed Jiang Xue wouldn’t return after walking so far and had stopped her fake moaning. But just as she looked up to slip on Jiang Xue’s ill-fitting high heels, she caught sight of Jiang Xue retracing her steps in the distance. Immediately, she halted her movement and resumed her dramatic performance.

“Ouch!”

“Ah!”

When Jiang Xue approached and saw Lin Yulan clutching her foot with a pained expression, she finally couldn’t hold back. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Yulan didn’t even lift her head, putting on a convincing act. “Not sure. Maybe I stepped on glass or something. It’s fine, if you want to go back to campus, go ahead. I’ll just wait here for my assistant.”

Jiang Xue nearly forgot about that. She shouldn’t have turned back. Lin Yulan had come with an assistant, after all. No matter what, the assistant would take care of her. There was no need for Jiang Xue to return.

“Good. I’ll head back then.”

With that, Jiang Xue turned to leave without hesitation.

The next second, her hand was caught by the Alpha behind her.

“Weren’t you coming back for me?”

“No!”

Though the denial lacked any real conviction more like a desperate attempt to hide the truth Jiang Xue absolutely refused to admit she’d turned back out of soft-heartedness.

At this point, if Lin Yulan were to say the opposite, Jiang Xue would undoubtedly shake off her hand immediately and walk away without a second glance. So, Lin Yulan switched tactics. “I just told my assistant that if she bought the medicine, she should wait for us at the school. She’s probably already there by now. It’s such a short distance, it wouldn’t be right to make her drive all the way back here. Teacher Jiang, could you please take pity on me and help me walk over there to wait?”

Admittedly, this display of pitifulness was quite effective. No matter how unwilling Jiang Xue was, out of sympathy for the hardworking assistant, she chose not to shake off Lin Yulan’s hand.

She pulled her hand back and turned to look at Lin Yulan. “Little President Lin, you only hurt one foot. You still have the other one.”

Lin Yulan: “…” She wasn’t a frog, she could hop on one foot if she had to!

“Don’t look at me like that, Little President Lin. Am I wrong? Or is that foot of yours completely useless, unable to hop at all?”

“…”

“Then I’d suggest calling an ambulance. For someone like you, that shouldn’t be difficult just one word, and you’ll be comfortably carried back in no time.”

“…..”

Fortunately, Lin Yulan had already witnessed Jiang Xue’s ability to insult without swearing, so she managed to stay composed. “Teacher Jiang, I can hop, but my other foot doesn’t have a shoe either.”

Jiang Xue didn’t hesitate to drive the point home: “But you have shoes right here. Little President Lin can wear these.”

Lin Yulan stared at the two pairs of high heels in her hand, momentarily at a loss for words.

Still, given the situation, the fact that Jiang Xue had come back for her meant she wouldn’t leave her stranded. That alone meant her goal had been achieved.

“Fine, I’ll just walk there slowly on my own. No need to trouble Teacher Jiang anymore.”

With that, Lin Yulan stood up and began limping along the roadside, looking utterly pitiful.

Jiang Xue didn’t offer support but followed closely behind, observing carefully.

Lin Yulan knew the Omega was verifying whether she was faking it. So, despite how painful it was to limp especially since she hadn’t actually stepped on anything, she put on the most convincing performance possible.

At the very least, she had to make it look like her foot was genuinely injured.

After walking like this for nearly twenty meters, Jiang Xue finally dismissed her suspicions and prepared to step forward to help.

But just then, the assistant returned with the medicine.

“Little President Lin, I’ve got the medicine you asked for. I saw you and the young madam still here, so I circled back to pick you up.”

Lin Yulan: “…”

Jiang Xue took in Lin Yulan’s frozen expression and thought that if swearing could be visualized, the Alpha was probably cursing up a storm in her mind right now.

But the more displeased this scoundrel Alpha was, the happier Jiang Xue felt. If the assistant had arrived just a moment later, this shameless Alpha might have actually gotten her way. She’d have to buy a commendation banner for this assistant later.

“Little President Lin, what’s wrong? Why do you look so upset?”

Jiang Xue now had a reasonable suspicion that Lin Yulan was just putting on an act, but she didn’t call her out. Instead, she sneered, “Oh, nothing’s wrong with you, Young Master Lin just a little something poking your foot. Make sure you escort Young Master Lin back later, but don’t rush him home just yet. Take him to the hospital first and let a doctor check him out. What if he stepped on a nail or something? If he doesn’t get a tetanus shot in time, the consequences could be serious.”

The assistant had no idea what was going on, nor did he realize his boss was mentally cursing him to the high heavens at that very moment. Hearing Jiang Xue’s words, he genuinely thought Lin Yulan had stepped on something sharp and asked with naive concern, “Young Master Lin, did you really step on something? Should I take you to the hospital right away?”

Lin Yulan: “…” No one better stop me, I’m definitely replacing this clueless idiot!

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