The Cold And Straight Alpha Is Always Being Flirted With By The Goddess Aunt - Chapter 17

Before dawn, Xi Zhaowan woke up. She woke up in the bathtub.

The bright white light of the bathroom shone upon her, feeling somewhat dazzling in her daze. She furrowed her beautiful brows as the flush faded away. In the constant temperature water, her fingertips slid gently. Memories from a few hours ago surfaced, what had she said?

“Qing’er… don’t go.”

“Qing’er, it’s so hot.”

Those were the words she had said to Qing’er. To think she had behaved that way, and in front of a junior she had raised since childhood. She closed her eyes in regret, feeling that it would be difficult to face Yan Qing normally ever again.

She didn’t yet know that the soul inside Yan Qinghe the girl she regarded as her own had long since been replaced.

As Xi Zhaowan attempted to stand up, she turned only to find Yan Qing beside her, completely unclothed, soaking in the same tub.

A rush of astonishment, shame, and a sense of forbidden fear hit her heart. She leaned against the wall for support, barely managing to keep herself from collapsing.

It was her first time being completely exposed before another, and her first time bathing together with someone.

Was I marked by Qing’er?! Xi Zhaowan hurriedly felt the back of her neck and let out a long sigh of relief. No, thank goodness, she hadn’t been.

Yan Qing’s warm body was currently leaning against her leg without any awareness, as if she were fast asleep. Feeling the smooth glow of the young girl’s skin, Xi Zhaowan stole a quick glance before hurriedly turning away. Qing’er has grown up… long legs, a slender waist, she’s truly beautiful. She couldn’t help but steal a few more glances.

Wait, what am I thinking? What am I doing?

I’m acting like a creepy older woman, Xi Zhaowan thought, slapping her own cheeks.

But in the next second, Yan Qing opened her eyes, making Xi Zhaowan even more embarrassed. Through the hazy mist, those cold, clear pupils gazed at her like a detached deity. Even though Yan Qing was looking up at her, Xi Zhaowan felt that there wasn’t a trace of desire in that gaze. Instead, it made her own impure thoughts feel even more shameful.

Yet Qing’er had indeed grown up; she was different than before. Xi Zhaowan found herself charmed and bewildered by the person she had become. Yan Qing’s youthful and beautiful face, her pure aura, her refined manners, and her calm, steady strength… all of it was gradually winning her heart.

“Sister Wan, you’re awake.” Yan Qing didn’t seem to notice the complex, submerged look in Xi Zhaowan’s eyes. She was simply pleasantly surprised to find that her experimental spiritual cultivation method had worked.

“Mhm.” Xi Zhaowan stood up awkwardly and stepped out, her curvaceous figure fully revealed through the water vapor.

Yan Qing watched her back, stunned for a moment, and reflexively lowered her head. She was surprised by how calm Xi Zhaowan appeared, she didn’t seem shocked at all, despite the fact that they were both completely exposed. Yan Qing had no idea that Xi Zhaowan’s heart was currently a stormy sea of conflicting emotions, and she was merely forcing herself to look composed.

“Are you alright?” Yan Qing asked cautiously, explaining that she had been performing a treatment, which was why she had resorted to such a plan.

“Where did you learn these methods?” Xi Zhaowan found it somewhat unbelievable that Yan Qing, a mere high schooler, was self-taught in solving a toxin issue that even doctors struggled with.

“When you were abroad, I listened to a forum by pheromone experts. A Dr. Schubert proposed a treatment method specifically for toxins,” Yan Qing lied without blinking. She had prepared this excuse long ago when they began the spiritual resonance.

Schubert? Xi Zhaowan had met him once; he was an expert in Alpha pheromones and chemistry. Seeing that her symptoms of chills and fever had indeed vanished, and seeing Yan Qing’s sincere expression, she suppressed her doubts and gave a slight nod.

Her eyes accidentally brushed against Yan Qing’s body again. Does this child have no sense of shame?

Xi Zhaowan hurriedly grabbed a bath towel and handed over a bathrobe while keeping her back turned. “Qing’er… put your clothes on quickly. The water… is getting cold.”

But this was a constant temperature bathtub; the water wouldn’t get cold. The clumsy excuse only highlighted how nervous Xi Zhaowan truly was.

In front of Yan Qing, she seemed unable to regain her former composure. Just thinking about her own lingering, affectionate behavior from the previous night made her feel utterly ashamed and humiliated.

Meanwhile, Yan Qing’s sea of consciousness was overflowing with spiritual energy. Her meridians felt clear as if a blockage had been removed. The agitation from before had vanished. The breakthrough in her cultivation invigorated her spirit, and the awkwardness she felt last night had dissipated into thin air. She was filled with the joy of progressing further on her path.

After dressing, she noticed Xi Zhaowan’s face was flushing again and thought the symptoms were returning.

“Sister Wan, are you feeling unwell again?” She tugged at Xi Zhaowan’s sleeve and naturally reached out to feel her forehead. “It seems okay.”

However, thinking her hand might be warm from the water, she leaned in and pressed her forehead against Xi Zhaowan’s. Their noses nearly touched, and their breaths mingled.

“No! I’m fine… not unwell.” When Yan Qing leaned in, Xi Zhaowan’s heart rate spiked. The girl’s eyes were closed as she felt her temperature, her long lashes fluttering like feathers tickling Xi Zhaowan’s heart.

Xi Zhaowan lowered her face, reflexively pulling back like a sensitive mimosa plant to avoid the enlarging face. She gripped the hem of her clothes and, before the other could look baffled, forced herself to say: “Qing’er… you must be hungry. How about I go make you breakfast?”

Yan Qing looked at her with amusement. At this moment, Xi Zhaowan looked like a startled little white bird, she was quite cute.

Yan Qing arched her eyebrows and replied just as seriously, “I’m not hungry. It’s four in the morning. Are you sure you want to make breakfast at this hour?”

Xi Zhaowan returned to her room as if in a trance. Her mind echoed with the care Yan Qing had shown her, the way she had gently removed her clothes, helped her into the water, and the impact of Yan Qing’s maturing body. Her meticulous care, her jade-like gentlemanly manner, and her ethereal grace were both foreign and unforgettable.

She didn’t know when it started, but she was becoming more and more concerned with her.

If she knew then that Yan Qing was not actually Yan Qinghe that the soul had changed perhaps she wouldn’t have suffered through the struggle that followed. But even then, if Yan Qing’s soul occupied Yan Qinghe’s body, how much would that change?

At least for now, psychologically, Xi Zhaowan firmly believed that liking Yan Qing was wrong. Yan Qing was Yan Manxing’s daughter. She began to deny it, telling herself it was just a temporary illusion, not the feeling of love.

While the toxins in her body were gone, it felt as though Yan Qing had planted a spell in her mind, leaving her bewildered and unable to control herself. The more it was like this, the more Xi Zhaowan wanted to be near her to prove that her thoughts tonight were just a moment of losing control. She told herself this was a form of psychological “desensitization therapy.”

At seven o’clock, she began making a “breakfast of love” again. As long as Yan Qing was there, she would always cook for her. Today, she wanted to desensitize herself, to be even more diligent, to prove she had a clear conscience.

Qing’er must still be sleeping, right? She must be tired after last night. She remembered how Qing’er was as a child, she loved to sleep in on weekends and would only get up lazily after being called several times.

Back in her room, Yan Qing reflected on her breakthrough. She searched her memories and realized it happened when she was treating Xi Zhaowan, her spiritual energy had brushed against the other’s “Dantian Foundation,” and the two had entered a state of mutual circulation.

Yan Qing was startled. Xi Zhaowan, as an Omega, actually possessed a spiritual root for cultivation. Furthermore, her constitution seemed to be the rare “Innate Spiritual Foundation Body” from the Light Spirit Continent. She could automatically build her foundation without even practicing. She and Yan Qing were perfectly complementary.

Likely, during the treatment, Xi Zhaowan’s constitution was accidentally triggered, and under Yan Qing’s unconscious cultivation habits, they had completed their first “Dual Cultivation.”

Fantastic! Sister Wan is truly my benefactor.

How should one treat such a benefactor? Naturally, by serving her well. Yan Qing now wished she could cultivate with Xi Zhaowan every day, but convincing her seemed impossible. Her own identity was hard to explain, she couldn’t exactly say the original soul was trapped and she was a replacement. Xi Zhaowan wouldn’t believe it and might even send her to a mental hospital with Yan Manxing.

Watching Xi Zhaowan’s elegant figure cooking in the kitchen, Yan Qing felt a wave of softness in her heart.

“Sister Wan, your body hasn’t fully recovered. You should rest more.”

The girl walked to Xi Zhaowan’s side, bringing with her a pleasant scent of cold cedar mixed with a faint hint of sandalwood. Is this Qing’er’s pheromone? Xi Zhaowan wondered. Her impression was that it used to be Calamondin orange.

Did I remember it wrong? Regardless, she preferred this cold fragrance. She indulged in it for a moment before scolding herself. She was almost charmed by Yan Qing again! I really am a weird older woman!

She was actually having pre-estrus feelings for Qing’er, who was like a niece to her.

Pheromones are highly sensitive in the ABO world. An Alpha releasing pheromones can be an intentional hint or an accidental leak. Similarly, an Omega only likes an Alpha’s scent if they don’t reject or actually like that Alpha. It is the prerequisite for a first “bonding.”

Is Qing’er giving me a hint? Does she also…

Xi Zhaowan’s heart wavered as a hidden joy sprouted like a seedling. But then she denied it again. Impossible. It can’t be. When they played piano together and Qing’er wasn’t wearing a suppressant patch, she hadn’t smelled anything. Why now?

She didn’t know that after their first “dual cultivation,” Yan Qing’s spiritual energy was replenished, causing her own natural scent to leak out unconsciously.

“Sister Wan, I want to learn how to cook from you.” Yan Qing was willing to overcome her indifference to worldly food for Xi Zhaowan’s sake.

“I’ll still be the one to cook for you.” Xi Zhaowan’s cooking style was methodical and graceful, like she was handling lab experiments. “Qing’er just needs to enjoy it.”

She finally turned around. She admitted it, she wanted to see Yan Qing. She wanted the first thing she saw in the morning to be Yan Qing. She wanted to see her clear eyes, her calm demeanor, and her outstanding aura under the morning sun. This feeling had been fermenting since the piano playing, the encounter with Wei Weizhi, their mutual healing, and their late-night talk.

But it wasn’t allowed!

“But… I want to cook for Sister Wan. All these years, you’ve cooked for me. I want you to taste what I make…” Fearing Xi Zhaowan would refuse, Yan Qing added, “A breakfast of love.”

A breakfast of love…

I must be overthinking it. It’s a common phrase.

Xi Zhaowan mocked her own thoughts. Her “desensitization therapy” was making her more sensitive instead. She stole a glance at Yan Qing and then quickly looked down. That look again… just like last time in the kitchen, like she wants to eat me up.

Does Yan Qing really not like me? She was afraid, but she couldn’t hide the curiosity deep in her heart. Perhaps, within that curiosity, there was a faint, unnoticed spark of expectation.