The Cold And Straight Alpha Is Always Being Flirted With By The Goddess Aunt - Chapter 8

Someone to stand with me at dusk, someone to ask if the porridge is warm…

Xi Zhaowan lifted Yan Qing’s shirt. Deep purple bruises were scattered across her skin, looking like the aftermath of being kicked followed by a series of blunt impacts.

She couldn’t help but furrow her elegant brows. Placing her palm against the skin, she began to rub and massage the area slowly.

As she worked, a pair of gentle eyes remained fixed on Yan Qing’s face, monitoring her reaction. “The congestion needs to be dispersed. Does it hurt when I press like this, Qing’er?”

This gentle, maternal touch from a non-blood-related elder in this alien world felt like the softest spring breeze, or the finest cotton.

Yan Qing let out a quiet sigh of relief. “It doesn’t hurt.” She wanted to express her gratitude, but remembering Xi Zhaowan’s previous words that “family members don’t need to say thank you” she simply lowered her eyes and felt the sensation in silence.

“Your massage technique is very comfortable. Did you study this?”

“You really are a forgetful little imp,” Xi Zhaowan said with a curve of her lips, tapping Yan Qing on the forehead.

“You were so mischievous and playful as a child, always tripping and falling. Have you forgotten who used to come home crying and complaining of pain, and who begged me in tears to ‘blow’ on the wound to make it better?”

Because the original Yan Qinghe was frequently injured from brawling as a child, Xi Zhaowan had specifically gone out of her way to learn therapeutic massage techniques.

No wonder she’s so professional, Yan Qing thought. She muttered that she hadn’t forgotten, and for a moment, the two fell silent.

The air was filled with the medicinal scent of Safflower oil.

“This time… was Qing’er injured because of a fight again?” Unable to suppress her worry any longer, Zhaowan finally asked the question.

Yan Qing pursed her lips, feigning nonchalance. “I just accidentally fell during the sports meet.”

“Oh~” Xi Zhaowan replied with a look of feigned realization, her eyes twinkling. “Did Qing’er fall on her gland as well?” She glanced at the scent-blocking patch Yan Qing was wearing and asked with a smile.

It seemed this “aunt” of the original host was not easily deceived.

Yan Qing covered her neck, where she had been marked, and tried to remain calm. “You know, everyone wears these now. It’s a travel essential.”

“Mm, you have a point. Perhaps I was overthinking,” Xi Zhaowan replied in a tone that suggested belief. Once the medicine was applied and the massage finished, she gently pulled Yan Qing’s shirt back down.

Good, she bought it. Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to roll over from her prone position on the sofa.

“However, no matter what, Qing’er must remember to take safety precautions.”

The woman sitting beside her on the sofa dropped the sentence airily. Before leaving, she flicked Yan Qing’s forehead once more.

Qing’er had likely forgotten that Zhaowan held another identity in the Yan family: she was the head of the research team responsible for developing inhibitors. From the moment Yan Qing walked through the door, Zhaowan had smelled the scent of the R6 inhibitor on her it smelled like a failed attempt to suppress heat after a marks had already been made.

Given Yan Qing’s recent habit of never wearing patches, the fact that she was wearing one now suggested she had been marked by an Omega after an inhibitor failed to work. She was using the patch to cover her tracks.

Since the R6 inhibitor, which was currently a sensation in Country D, was developed by Zhaowan’s team, she was exceptionally sensitive to its scent.

Her deduction was logical, though the conclusion didn’t quite fit Qing’er’s usual style. As clever as she was, Xi Zhaowan didn’t press further, nor did she explain how she had found out. However, Yan Qing’s reaction only served to confirm her suspicions.

Yan Qing nearly fell off the sofa again. She grabbed Xi Zhaowan’s hand. Being misunderstood after being involuntarily marked by Ji Qianqian felt terrible.

“It’s not what you think,” the girl’s face turned as red as a cooked shrimp.

“It’s alright,” Xi Zhaowan replied generously, not pushing for answers, her heart open and calm.

At this moment, she could never have imagined that one day in the future, she would be the one luring Yan Qing into bed, coaxing the truth of today out of her step by step amidst the girl’s blurred senses and rising passion.

As a “straight” woman from another world, Yan Qing felt she needed to understand the gender dynamics of this world more clearly, especially after the “Ji Qianqian marking” incident.

“Aunt Wan, can I talk to you?” She held Zhaowan’s hand. Zhaowan sat down naturally, and as the girl leaned against the sofa, the woman turned her gaze to watch her tenderly.

“Qing’er, is it because we haven’t had a ‘reading session’ in a long time?” Xi Zhaowan smiled.

As it turned out, when Yan Qinghe was little, she would pull Xi Zhaowan to read storybooks together before bed. As she grew older, the books changed, but the routine remained: after reading, Yan Qinghe would act like a curious baby, throwing endless questions at Zhaowan for answers.

This habit had stopped around the time Yan Qinghe entered high school partly because she had grown up, and partly because of certain “indescribable” reasons related to Ji Qianqian.

Yan Qing cut straight to the point: “Can Alphas and Omegas be together regardless of whether they are male or female?”

“Mm, of course. Male and female are the primary genders; AO (Alpha/Omega) are the secondary genders. Since humans differentiated into AO a century ago, the secondary gender has become the primary prerequisite for a union. That is, a female Alpha can be with a female Omega, and the same applies to males. If it’s a double Alpha (AA) or double Omega (OO) pairing, it’s considered a ‘same-sex’ union, but there’s nothing wrong with that either.”

“Aunt Wan, sometimes I still find it hard to imagine that I am an Alpha. After all, before the differentiation, I was just a girl. If this were a century ago, wouldn’t someone like me be considered… neither male nor female?” Yan Qing struggled to find the right words.

Outwardly, she was a cultivator; inwardly, she was a woman who followed the traditional Daoist principles of Yin and Yang. Xi Zhaowan’s care had caused her to momentarily lower her guard, revealing a rare confusion that didn’t match her age.

“Qing’er, in truth, one shouldn’t hold absolute concepts regarding gender. Whether it’s male-male or female-female in the primary sense, or AA and OO in the secondary sense, we shouldn’t look at the exterior. We should look at the heart.”

“After all, gender roles are socially constructed; they are human concepts. It’s not a rule that a woman must be gentle and domestic, or that a man must be brave and responsible. These are like fictional concepts created by society. The ‘me’ that is male or the ‘me’ that is female is just a label forced upon oneself.”

Hearing Xi Zhaowan’s words, Yan Qing fell into deep thought.

“So, people who appear male or are Alphas can easily be trapped in the ‘boxes’ built by society. The idea that a man must love a woman, or an Alpha must pair with an Omega, is just a narrow rule within that box,” Yan Qing tried to use modern language to simplify and understand Zhaowan’s point.

“Qing’er is so smart.”

Hearing Xi Zhaowan’s tone the way one might praise a child the “100-year-old” Yan Qing felt her face flush with a hint of embarrassment, but a strange joy flowed through her heart.

Xi Zhaowan’s voice was so beautiful. When she praised her, it sounded especially clear and pleasant, like the celestial melodies Yan Qing had heard when her spirit traveled the heavens during meditation. Every word echoed in her heart, creating ripples.

She suppressed the childish urge to ask Zhaowan to praise her again, but the woman seemed to hear her heart’s desire. She lowered her tender gaze: “In my eyes, an Alpha is not some ‘neither male nor female’ existence as you fear. A century ago, when part of humanity differentiated into AO, they became more acute in intelligence and physical strength compared to ordinary Betas. This evolution is a form of progress in the long river of time.”

“If bravery is considered a masculine trait and tenderness a feminine one, then doesn’t an Alpha, who possesses the characteristics of both, represent the perfect union of those traits?” Xi Zhaowan’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she stroked Yan Qing’s head.

Yan Qing leaned away slightly, but the turmoil in her heart was smoothed over as if by warm water.

Accept this body, balance its traits, and focus on cultivation.

“In my heart, it is a wonderful thing that Qing’er became an Alpha,” Xi Zhaowan whispered, her voice like a clear spring. “Whether you differentiated into an Alpha or an Omega, you are the best, and I love you regardless.”

What Xi Zhaowan didn’t say aloud was that due to certain shadows from her own youth, although she didn’t hate Alphas, she was instinctively unwilling to get too close to them.

Yan Qing was the only exception. After all, this was the child she had raised, a girl who was still only seventeen.

Zhaowan thought that Qing’er was likely in a sensitive stage of puberty where gender identity confusion often occurs. This was why she had provided such psychological guidance.

Was Yan Qing blushing this time? No.

Having accepted the second praise as a matter of course, and with her first major mental hurdle in this ABO world completely cleared, she thought Yan Qinghe’s aunt actually has quite a bit of wisdom. If there is an opportunity in the future, perhaps I should lead her into cultivation so we can witness the Great Dao together.

Only thirty-three years old… truly a promising student, the 100-year-old Yan Qing thought with admiration, forgetting that in the world of Guangling, her own age was barely considered adulthood, and she was technically younger than Xi Zhaowan here.

One of the side effects of being marked was that Yan Qing actually felt hungry. Xi Zhaowan didn’t cook the entire meal herself this time due to her busy schedule, she only made one dish Yan Qing’s favorite, “First Class Crispy Square” (Yi Pin Su Fang). The rest was handled by the family chef in another kitchen.

Yan Qing rarely saw how modern people cooked. The Yan family kitchen was vast. Seeing her leaning against the counter, Xi Zhaowan didn’t shoo her out instead, she let Yan Qing act as her assistant.

Xi Zhaowan reflected on how she had become increasingly busy since Yan Qinghe started high school. Looking back, aside from their fixed time at night, she rarely had time to accompany her during the day. The child had grown up mostly on her own.

Initially, her care had been out of gratitude to Yan Manxing, but hearts are made of flesh; through their time together, she had come to view this mother and daughter as her own family. Watching the child she raised devour the food she cooked gave her a simple, genuine sense of joy.

She laid out the ingredients slicing, grinding, sprinkling… every item was arranged perfectly by her slender fingers. Yan Qing stood by, handing her what she needed.

The exquisite blue and white porcelain plate was set. Xi Zhaowan sliced the scallions into garnishes and the garlic into thin rounds. Sugar, and what else? Right, the sweet bean sauce.

“Qing’er, help me get the sweet bean sauce from the first shelf of the middle cabinet.”

“Okay.” Yan Qing followed the instructions and handed it over.

“Hmm? Qing’er, is there something on your chin?”

Xi Zhaowan turned around. She was wearing kitchen gloves and her hands were occupied with the food. She tilted her head and leaned her face close to Yan Qing’s.

In Yan Qing’s vision, Xi Zhaowan’s features once blurred like a flower in the fog finally became clear. She saw her long eyelashes, her naturally red lips, and her refined jawline. The light blue V-neck knit dress gave off a faint scent of white ginger lily. Her waist was so slender that Yan Qing felt she could wrap a single hand around it.

The high-end range hood hummed quietly. A soft, dim light spilled over Zhaowan’s incredibly gentle and beautiful face. Her jade-white ears were bathed in a hazy glow, and a tiny red mole beneath her soft earlobe added a flickering, captivating charm to her delicate appearance.

In this moment, Yan Qing who had spent ten years in solitary cultivation, untouched by the mortal world felt a long lost sense of fulfillment and peace amidst the domestic atmosphere Xi Zhaowan had created.

Someone to stand with me at dusk, someone to ask if the porridge is warm, she thought. This is good.

She could hear the joy in her own heart. It was as if she were standing outside her own body, watching herself with crumbs of a crispy snack on her chin, and watching Xi Zhaowan lean in, her breath like an orchid. With her red lips slightly parted, Zhaowan blew away the tiny crumb from her chin.

The stove must be too hot, Yan Qing thought. She felt a wave of heat it flew to her face, then down to her elixir field (dantian), and finally back to her eyes.

Watching Yan Qing whose face had turned red in a second stare at her with eyes that were burning, bright, and moist, Xi Zhaowan felt a sudden throb in her heart.

This version of Qing’er felt so… strange.

She must be too hungry, Zhaowan thought. Look at her, she’s even scavenging for crumbs off the cutting board.

What kind of look was in those eyes? Yan Qing didn’t realize it at the time.

Much later, when the two of them reminisced about their early days, Xi Zhaowan would describe that look: it was as if, in the very next second, she was going to be swallowed whole.

“Why don’t you try a bite now?” Yan Qing turned into a “little monster,” adopting a mock aggressive tone and pouncing as if to take a bite.

Only then did Xi Zhaowan realize that when a hunter becomes the prey, one can easily end up being “eaten” completely, never to be parted again.