The Cold And Straight Alpha Is Always Being Flirted With By The Goddess Aunt - Chapter 28

For Xi Zhaowan’s personal tutoring session, Yan Qing put on a show of extreme solemnity. She tidied up the original owner’s desk, lining up new and old textbooks in neat rows.

During the cleanup, she discovered three thick notebooks belonging to Yan Qinghe. Adhering to the principle that a “fake academic failure” must stay in character until the very end, Yan Qing placed them on the bookshelf along with the rest.

When Xi Zhaowan sat down beside her, Yan Qing had her test paper spread out. She felt her body open up its senses as Xi Zhaowan approached, she took a deep breath, feeling a mix of nostalgia and loss at this long-awaited proximity.

The woman’s slender, pale fingers traced the errors on the test paper, explaining cause and effect in a gentle narrative. As Yan Qing listened to her beautiful voice, the white curtains by the desk swayed slowly in the night breeze. The scent of white gardenia wafted from the neck where an inhibitor patch was applied, reaching the tip of Yan Qing’s nose.

Her thoughts began to drift back to the three nights they had spent together. With what kind of heart had Xi Zhaowan agreed to tutor her?

And with what kind of hope was she herself yearning to get close to her again?

Was it merely the pheromone dependence an Alpha experiences after a reverse marking?

All she knew was that if Xi Zhaowan ignored her, her normally placid heart would toss up and down like it had been flung into the air. Just sitting by Xi Zhaowan, smelling her scent, brought her an incomparable sense of peace.

As she explained, the woman’s long eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly, casting an alluring, curled shadow.

Having been stared at for quite some time, Xi Zhaowan finally sensed Yan Qing’s daze. A flush crept onto her earlobes, complementing the red mole at the edge of her ear beautifully.

“Qing’er, have you seen enough?” Xi Zhaowan’s cheeks burned under the gaze. She furrowed her delicate brows and shot Yan Qing a reproachful, yet watery, look.

Yan Qing hurriedly averted her eyes and coughed, dragging her chair a few centimeters closer to Xi Zhaowan. “Sister Wan, where were we?”

Xi Zhaowan repeated the explanation in her soft, low voice. “Do you understand?” she asked, requesting Yan Qing to recite it back.

Yan Qing didn’t want Xi Zhaowan’s hard work to go to waste, but she had been too busy staring at the woman’s face to hear the actual logic of the solution. She was forced to explain it using her own reasoning, hoping it aligned with Xi Zhaowan’s method.

Xi Zhaowan looked deeply into Yan Qing’s eyes, then wrote down a similar problem for her to solve. Realizing she had been too impulsive, Yan Qing picked up her pen and moved sluggishly, unable to write a thing.

Xi Zhaowan pressed a hand to her forehead. “Qing’er, do you really not know how to do any of these?”

Yan Qing nodded like a submissive kitten.

Xi Zhaowan pursed her red lips and continued her meticulous explanation. However, her heart was not as calm as her exterior suggested. Agreeing to tutor Yan Qing was born out of a sense of guilt, the thought that her momentary indulgence in marking had hindered Yan Qing’s studies made her feel incredibly uneasy.

But Qing’er was acting very strange today, she was sitting far too close. Xi Zhaowan could feel the girl’s leg pressing slightly against hers, her arm brushing hers as if by accident.

Xi Zhaowan shifted away imperceptibly, but Yan Qing followed, leaning in closer. The longer Xi Zhaowan sat there, the more the pheromones throughout Yan Qing’s body clamored with a sense of drought.

The dependency after being marked was terrifying.

And Xi Zhaowan was simply too beautiful.

Having not met for so long, the longing was truly uncontrollable.

Yan Qing felt that ever since meeting Xi Zhaowan and helping her detoxify once, she had become less and less like herself.

“Qing’er, what’s wrong?” Xi Zhaowan asked softly, her tone full of concern as she looked at the girl’s flushed face.

“I… I don’t know, I just really want to be like this.” Yan Qing tried to circulate her spiritual energy, but the energy also surged with joy due to Xi Zhaowan’s proximity, as if desperate for another round of dual cultivation.

Xi Zhaowan felt a surge of unease. Was it truly a dependency reaction caused by her reverse-marking the Alpha?

While another marking could alleviate Yan Qing’s symptoms, it was something she absolutely could not do again. It would only deepen the dependency until Yan Qing could never leave her.

She sighed. The bitter fruit of indulging her private desires, the weight of her guilt, and the bitterness of Yan Qing’s lack of response all rippled through her heart.

“Qing’er, lean closer.” It’s fine, she thought. Since I caused this dependency, I will help it fade away completely after it’s been eased.

She turned her waist slightly, brushing her long hair off her shoulders to reveal the gland on her snowy neck. “Peel off the inhibitor patch for me.”

Yan Qing obeyed.

“You can’t mark me, but you can lean in a bit closer.” If they marked each other again, they would truly be inextricably entangled. She would consider this as returning the favor for Yan Qing treating her.

Yan Qing nodded with a red face. The tip of her nose brushed against Xi Zhaowan’s gland, feeling the woman’s body tremble slightly, like a mimosa plant shrinking back after being touched.

She buried her face in Xi Zhaowan’s neck, greedily inhaling the wonderful fragrance of white gardenia.

It felt so good! The pheromone agitation in her body was greatly relieved. In a daze, she felt she had found her place of peace. In this ABO world, she was holding her own Omega. She was no longer the Sect Master of the Light Spirit Continent commanding tens of thousands of disciples, and Xi Zhaowan was no longer Yan Qinghe’s elder.

Stripped of all identities, they clung to each other. Yan Qing breathed in the fragrance. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. She tightened her grip on the woman’s waist, trying to pull her fully into her embrace.

Xi Zhaowan shifted uncomfortably but was held tighter by Yan Qing. She heard the girl’s low, raspy voice, no longer as clear and cold as water.

“Sister Wan, don’t ignore me…” The girl’s voice was aggrieved as her nose nuzzled the gland.

Xi Zhaowan’s face flushed again. Having said those things to Yan Qing that day, how could she ignore her just because the girl didn’t respond? It was all a mistake. She had seen Yan Qing’s panic and unease that day.

But she was hurting after all. Because of that pain, she had indeed given Yan Qing the cold shoulder for a few days, thinking that avoiding her would make the forgetting happen faster. She had even thought that perhaps accepting another Alpha would stop her from thinking about Yan Qing.

“So, is Sister Wan regretting it?” Enveloped by the fragrance in her arms, Yan Qing’s voice was a murmur, as if she were drunk.

Did Xi Zhaowan regret confessing to her?

Xi Zhaowan didn’t know how to answer. She was caught between panic, loss, and pain. While she didn’t regret falling for Yan Qing, the chasm between them had already formed.

“Qing’er, do you know what love is?” Xi Zhaowan resigned herself to being held, her expression showing a hint of suffering.

Yan Qing was bewildered. “I just don’t want you to leave me.”

As expected, she’s just a child. I actually gave my heart to a child.

“Be good. This is just temporary pheromone dependency. You’ll be fine after some time.” Xi Zhaowan no longer held onto hope.

“Calling you over that day… I was just being indulgent.” Xi Zhaowan was referring to the night she thought they were just clearing toxins, only to trigger her heat and spend the night together.

“I don’t know how deep pheromone dependency goes, but I like being like that with you.” Yan Qing liked dual cultivating with Xi Zhaowan, not just because it helped her cultivation, but because she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else doing it. If it were someone else, she wouldn’t accept it, no matter how helpful it was.

“Like what?” Like talking, or like this hug?

“Like this.” Yan Qing reached out both hands, turning Xi Zhaowan around and pulling her to sit on her lap.

“Just like that night, I sat on you for a long time,” Yan Qing stated seriously. She had never been so close to anyone since she was young, but she didn’t dislike it with Xi Zhaowan.

Xi Zhaowan’s face turned bright red. This posture was too ambiguous. Her back was to Yan Qing, and her vulnerable neck was being inhaled by the girl.

“Let go…” As an elder, doing such an ambiguous thing during a tutoring session was highly inappropriate.

“Sister Wan, just sit like this and explain the problems to me. I feel my pheromones are much more stable now.” Yan Qing’s mind was incredibly clear now. She spoke with a straight face, completely unaware of how provocative the position was.

Drawn in by the soft scent of the girl, Xi Zhaowan had no heart for tutoring, yet Yan Qing forced a pen into her hand. In that position, they finished two test papers.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” Xi Zhaowan gritted her teeth. She felt her gland was practically burning from Yan Qing’s nuzzling. She wanted to escape this agonizing embrace.

Yan Qing blinked innocently, ignoring the protest. “Sister Wan, you explain things so well. Help me study again tomorrow night.”

“I have something to do tomorrow night, I can’t.” Unable to break free, Xi Zhaowan was getting a little angry. She felt that since Yan Qing knew her feelings, acting like this was simply bullying her.

Especially since she was her elder, where was her dignity now? Seventeen years of care felt like it had been fed to a dog.

“Is it dinner with Wei Weizhi?” The girl’s voice was low, and her eyes seemed tinged with fire.

Xi Zhaowan was going to say no, but on a whim, she nodded. What does that have to do with you?

“Qing’er, you just focus on your studies. Don’t worry about adult matters.” She didn’t want to provoke Yan Qing, but the girl’s temperament was truly unpredictable. She didn’t want to play this game anymore.

“Do adults and juniors do things like this?” Yan Qing bit down resentfully on Xi Zhaowan’s gland. To go on a dinner date with Wei Weizhi right after confessing to her, was there anyone so casual in all of history?

“Don’t bite there…” Xi Zhaowan’s voice softened into a plea. “That was a moment of confusion on my part, I’m sorry.”

“Do you like Wei Weizhi?” Having left a red mark, she then licked it like a little rabbit.

“Qing’er, this has nothing to do with you.” Xi Zhaowan panted slightly. “Let’s not interfere with each other, okay?”

“Just like you’ve grown up, and I’ve never interfered with your puppy love.” Xi Zhaowan’s voice dropped. “Just like your feelings for Ji Qianqian.”

Ah, she had finally said it. In the heat of this ambiguity, she poured out all the jealousy and suspicion she had been harboring.

“No, I don’t like her.”

“Right now, I only want to be close to you, be near you, and never leave you.”

“Please give me some time, okay?” The woman’s vulnerability, unease, and grievances were all received by her. Her heart softened, and she asked with genuine sincerity.

Xi Zhaowan turned around in disbelief. In Yan Qing’s serious, youthful eyes, she saw an undisguised infatuation.

“And, you’re not allowed to eat with that woman,” the girl commanded.

“If you think you were ‘confused’ for a moment, then please… continue to be confused by me.”

Xi Zhaowan felt her heart warm at these words that sounded like a confession. In a dizzying haze, she allowed herself to be held by Yan Qing.

The tutoring days passed quickly.

A week went by, and with Xi Zhaowan’s companionship and guidance, Yan Qing safely passed the pheromone dependency period. One taught gently, the other listened intently.

If only Qing’er would stop getting so close, the tutoring would be even more effective.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhaowan’s cheeks couldn’t help but heat up. She knew Yan Qing needed time to adapt to the change in their relationship, and she was extremely patient.

Because she could feel the girl’s obsession, could it be the kind of love she wanted? She was willing to wait for the day she figured it out.

As the final tutoring session was nearing its end, while Yan Qing was downstairs preparing dinner for them, Xi Zhaowan looked at the messy desk and shook her head, deciding to tidy up.

The three thick notebooks on the shelf caught her attention. If Qing’er had taken such extensive notes, how could her grades be so poor?

When Yan Qing finished the meal, she was informed by Nanny Zhou that Miss Xi had left suddenly for something urgent and told her to eat without waiting.

Yan Qing went upstairs, feeling an anxious premonition. The curtains swayed in the night breeze as if Xi Zhaowan’s departing figure was still lingering.

She looked at the neatly organized desk. Guided by intuition, she opened the notebook that was sticking out awkwardly from the shelf.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“I don’t like Ji Qianqian.”

The words she had said to Xi Zhaowan were still echoing in the air, just as the woman’s fragile doubts had.

But these three notebooks in her hand were 80 to 90 percent filled with Yan Qinghe’s secret journey of unrequited love for Ji Qianqian, and every single thing she had done during her time as a “simp.”