The Cold And Straight Alpha Is Always Being Flirted With By The Goddess Aunt - Chapter 34

In a corner known to no one, a pinhole camera captured the entire sequence of events: Wei Weizhi, dressed in a bathrobe, knocking on Xi Zhaowan’s door, and Xi Zhaowan opening the door, revealing her profile.

The faint light from the camera flickered. A while later, it captured Yan Manxing entering Xi Zhaowan’s room, followed by Wei Weizhi returning to her own room across the hall with a bottle of red wine.

Before entering the room, Yan Manxing seemed to sense something and glanced around. For a fleeting moment, she felt as if a pair of dark eyes were watching her from behind. She then mocked herself inwardly, wondering if staying in a high position for too long had made her overly paranoid.

Inside the room, Yan Manxing noticed several book titles on the table: On the Conflict of Neutralization Between Pheromones and Unknown Chemical Reagents, On the Synthesis of R6 Inhibitors… but one title stood out as completely out of place. Yan Manxing furrowed her brows, adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, and picked it up: How to Interact Normally in an Intimate Relationship.

“Since when did you start liking these kinds of books?”

“An assistant recommended it a few days ago, so I just picked it up to browse,” Xi Zhaowan replied naturally, pouring a cup of tea for Yan Manxing. “What brings you here?”

The more Yan Manxing flipped through the book, the more she felt it didn’t fit Xi Zhaowan’s usual style. The words “intimate relationship” poked at a hidden corner of her heart. She forced a small smile. “I should be asking you that. You don’t actually need to waste your time staying here with Wei Weizhi just for the R7 reagent research.”

Xi Zhaowan noncommittally replied, “It’s not entirely for the R7. The research project has been hectic lately, and I wanted a change of atmosphere away from the lab.”

Seeing Yan Manxing still reluctantly flipping through the book, she added, “It’s like reading too many scientific journals, occasionally reading an emotional self-help book helps clear the mind.”

Yan Manxing looked deeply at Xi Zhaowan. “So, it’s not that you’re struggling with how to interact with an Alpha?”

“I remember you saying last time that you didn’t want to resist Alphas anymore. Spending these days with Wei Weizhi… are you training yourself, or… do you actually have feelings for her?”

Yan Manxing asked the last part with feigned nonchalance. Only she knew how nervously her heart hammered while waiting for the answer.

However, Xi Zhaowan’s response didn’t put her at ease instead, it made her even more uneasy.

“I don’t hate all Alphas. I’m just… confused and lost regarding feelings that exist outside the standard concept of an Alpha.”

“For instance, obstacles like identity or ethics. Facing oneself honestly in the face of those shackles requires a certain amount of courage.”

Xi Zhaowan’s eyes were deep, filled with a hint of guilt as she looked at Yan Manxing. To her surprise, upon hearing this, Yan Manxing’s relaxed posture vanished, and she sat up straight and solemn.

Xi Zhaowan’s words were ambiguous, her expression troubled, as if she were shrouded in a mist that made her impossible to read clearly.

She was actually referring to Yan Qing, whose existence transcended the simple ABO gender concept, but whose identity and Yan Qing’s own hidden intentions, made it a difficult barrier for Xi Zhaowan to cross.

But to Yan Manxing’s ears, it tasted entirely different. Her eyes flashed behind her lenses as she stammered, “You… you have someone you like? And this person’s identity is even more complicated than an Alpha’s?”

Xi Zhaowan didn’t deny it, simply staring at her, waiting for her reaction. This gaze made Yan Manxing feel as if she were sitting on needles. Her voice dropped: “What kind of identity?”

“An identity similar to family,” Xi Zhaowan answered.

“And what kind of ethics?” Yan Manxing pressed, her heart in her throat.

“Ethics that are considered unacceptable by the standards of ordinary people.”

Oh no, Yan Manxing thought to herself. Xi Zhaowan must be referring to an “O-O relationship” (Omega x Omega).

She knew Xi Zhaowan had always used her resistance toward Alphas as a shield, sometimes even using Yan Manxing as a “fake” partner. Even though she wasn’t using Yan Manxing’s identity as a Chairman, she was definitely using her identity as an Omega.

Yan Manxing reasoned it out: aside from the swarm of elite Alphas, there were very few outstanding Omegas around Xi Zhaowan.

If the “unacceptable” relationship Xi Zhaowan was troubled by involved a “family” identity and was an “O-O” romance… Yan Manxing felt she finally understood. She looked again at the way Xi Zhaowan was watching her.

Something was “right.” Xi Zhaowan’s expression was three parts troubled, two parts guilty, and five parts a somber affection that Yan Manxing was just beginning to decode.

Combined with the book How to Interact Normally in an Intimate Relationship, who else has Xi Zhaowan been “intimate” with all these years besides her work at the lab?

Except for me, Yan Manxing thought. Her long legs shifted unnaturally on the swivel chair. She straightened her back, her shock quickly turning into a secret, bubbling joy as she added it up: Family identity and socially unacceptable…

Exactly! Aside from me, there is no one else!

Yan Manxing virtually rubbed her hands together in her mind. In an instant, a hundred emotions flooded her heart.

So, Sister Wan finally has feelings for me too? Usually the one to control every situation, Yan Manxing felt a rare, triumphant delight.

But after the thrill came a sense of bashfulness.

She pretended to be uncertain and asked, “So, does Sister Wan have someone she likes now?”

Better if she says no! But if she has one, it better be me and definitely not anyone else!

“I suppose I do,” Xi Zhaowan answered honestly. “I only hope that these feelings… won’t affect our relationship in the future.”

Perhaps on the day you find out I love your daughter, you will no longer see me as a sister… you might even curse me. I’m sorry for betraying your years of protection, Xi Zhaowan thought. She only hoped Yan Manxing wouldn’t project the “wrongness” of these feelings onto Yan Qing.

However, Yan Manxing felt this sentence was so direct it was practically a confession. Among smart people, you didn’t need to name names.

Ah, Zhaowan loves me too. Her hidden desires trembled with joy, like a flower bud quivering as it prepares to bloom.

At this moment, Yan Manxing felt like a victorious queen who had finally won the heart of the princess she had grown up with.

Yet, amidst the joy, there was a gnawing anxiety.

She was a Queen, and a Queen had a territory to expand and a reputation to uphold. She thought that an “O-O” relationship, something considered taboo in Country D might be something Xi Zhaowan viewed the same way she did: fine as a shield, but if they actually got together, especially in high-society circles, they would face immense pressure.

“How could it?” Yan Manxing’s smile was slightly strained, a mix of amusement and intensity. “It won’t affect our relationship.”

“You’ve helped my company for so many years, and you’ve even helped me look after Qinghe. You’ve worked so hard.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” Yan Manxing said, putting heavy emphasis on the word “Sister.” “But, great kindness needs no words. After all, we share a deep sisterly bond!”

As she finished, she saw Xi Zhaowan’s expression dim even further. Yan Manxing immediately shut her mouth, realizing she might have said the wrong thing. Does she really hate being called ‘sister’ that much?

Yan Manxing didn’t realize that Xi Zhaowan’s shift in mood was actually because she had mentioned Yan Qing, causing Xi Zhaowan to feel a pang of guilt.

Regardless, Yan Manxing felt she had achieved her goal. She hated the idea of Xi Zhaowan liking another Alpha, but she was equally unsettled by the reality of Xi Zhaowan liking her.

She wanted to say something to soften the strange atmosphere between them, but Xi Zhaowan’s phone lit up. A message captured the woman’s entire attention. After reading it, Xi Zhaowan told her with a complex expression that it was late, and they should say goodnight.

Having gotten what she came for, Yan Manxing stated she had a project to handle and needed to fly to the next city, so she wouldn’t be staying at the Riverside Hotel tonight.

Xi Zhaowan nodded faintly. Yan Manxing felt a layer of mist settle between them again, unable to guess what the other was truly thinking.

After she left, Xi Zhaowan stared at her phone for a long time. The screen displayed a single sentence:

“Sister Wan, I will be waiting downstairs at your house at 8:00 PM tomorrow night. I will wait until you are willing to see me. Qing’er”

“Old Zhou, drive to G-City now,” Yan Manxing instructed the driver after getting into the car. She took off her glasses and massaged her temples.

Outside the window, she saw two Omega women leaning against each other affectionately.

Yan Manxing rolled up the window, narrowed her eyes, and asked the Beta driver, “Are those two out there lovers?”

Old Zhou was startled by the sudden question. He glanced outside and replied, “Yes, looks like an O-O couple.”

“What do people think of that?” she asked. “Isn’t it a bit… strange?”

“To be honest, Boss, yes. It’s very strange,” Old Zhou replied matter-of-factly.

“Indeed. A-O pairings are the natural order of things.” If it were commoners, an O-O relationship wouldn’t matter much. But as the Chairperson of the Yan Group, her every move affected the stock price. What right did she have to be reckless?

From the moment she followed her father Yan Jue’s wishes, giving birth to an Alpha heir, Yan Qinghe (nickname: Yan Qing), to satisfy the family’s expectations and supporting the Yan Group’s future as an Omega, she had lost the right to self-determination.

Others saw her as powerful, but she couldn’t even control her own reproductive cycles or her own heart. This resentment had gradually twisted her mindset. Since she couldn’t decide whether to give birth, she chose not to raise the child, viewing her only as a tool for power.

The more she ignored Yan Qing, the more she felt a sense of perverse satisfaction. She loathed Yan Qing’s birth, yet she was forced to use that very birth to pursue the power she craved.

She loved Xi Zhaowan’s companionship, but hindered by social norms, she couldn’t break through her inner barriers. She could only keep Xi Zhaowan by her side, monitoring her movements to allow her secret affection a moment of release.

She hated Yan Qing, yet she loved watching Xi Zhaowan care for her. In those moments, she felt a delusional sense of satisfaction, as if they were a “family of three.”

Look! Xi Zhaowan is so good to my child. She’s more tender and thoughtful than most mothers. And all of that is only because she is the child I, Yan Manxing, gave birth to.

Much later, on the day Yan Manxing finally learned the truth, she would realize that this “house” game that should have involved three people had, at some unknown point, become a movie featuring only two.

And she wasn’t even the lead.

One of them had no romantic love for her, and the other had no heart for her. From the very beginning, she had been the only one performing a solo act.