The Omega Who Canceled the Engagement Ended Up Falling for Me - Chapter 35

The young couple’s second weekend arrived as scheduled. Xu Qing had promised her younger sister she would go look at cars and called her to wake up at eight in the morning. However, the deep-sleeping Omega had long since forgotten the agreement. Burrowing into the covers with a bout of “get-up-and-go” irritability, she grumbled and murmured, utterly unwilling to crawl out of bed.

Defeated, Xu Qing decided to head out on her own. While brushing her teeth, she checked her email and found that the car she had sent to the 4S dealership for repairs was finished and waiting for her to pick it up.

The vehicle was an SUV belonging to Xu Qing’s father—an “old comrade” that had served the Xu family for many years. To the Xus, it was a veteran employee long overdue for replacement. During the time it was in the shop, no one besides the insurance company had even inquired about it. Old Xu had other cars to drive, and if worst came to worst, he could drive Ms. Min’s car. Therefore, this “old employee” was essentially Xu Qing’s default transport. It was decent enough to drive and perfectly suitable for picking up and dropping off her Omega sister from work; it protected them from the elements, and she didn’t have to worry about the risk of traffic fines.

Xu Qing wavered for a moment between “looking at new cars” and “driving the old one.” She decided to get the old comrade back first, take her sister for a spin this weekend, and then consider whether to return it to Old Xu.

When Min Se visited Xu Qing last weekend, Xu Qing hadn’t exactly given the woman a warm welcome. Objectively speaking, however, Xu Qing was living in her parents’ house and driving her father’s car. No matter how you sliced it, she ought to play the part of a filial daughter to save face.

Even if she didn’t consider herself, she had to consider her girlfriend, who lacked a fixed residence, and provide her with a stable safe harbor.

With a heart full of complex emotions, she stepped out the door, simultaneously calculating exactly how much salary the job she was currently negotiating could offer her.

At her public institution job, Xu Qing took home six thousand a month. Even with various hidden benefits, she barely touched the ten-thousand-yuan threshold. This compensation was vastly different from what she could have secured abroad. If it weren’t for the fact that she now had a girlfriend and life was feeling sweet, Xu Qing would surely be regretting being tricked back to the country by Ms. Min.

How much could this foreign firm she was talking to offer? These days, the construction industry was facing a bitter winter, with news of corporate layoffs everywhere. How could a fresh graduate like Xu Qing compete for a position against the “old foxes” who had entered the industry early?

The news was saturated with stories of university students being unemployed upon graduation, with a massive influx of graduates squeezing into the civil service system. Xu Qing should have been contentedly enjoying the stability of the system, yet like someone trapped in a “besieged city,” she restlessly wanted to climb out.

In the past, she might have weighed the pros and cons, but now, Xu Qing had made up her mind.

When she slacked off at work, she often checked Wish’s account on the international web. She watched her leading girls through a lush farm where they fed animals, picked flowers, and shared daily handmade food and textiles. Even simple video clips of children interacting with animals garnered many likes online.

Two days ago, a foal had been born on the farm. Within days, it was running wild on the grassland, its short legs looking incredibly joyful as it shook its furry body, its pure eyes reflecting the lovely smiles of the girls.

Xu Qing knew her Omega sister liked small animals. She hadn’t just kept cats; she’d had dogs, rabbits, hamsters, and even experience raising cold-blooded animals. If she took her to live with Wish for a while, she would surely be very happy.

She hoped the new job could be negotiated to fifteen thousand. Although her industry wasn’t doing great, she at least had a Master’s degree from overseas to back her up, along with her previous design portfolios—Xu Qing couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but she could tell the supervisor at the new company really liked her drawings.

Once she changed jobs, she would have more confidence in providing for her girlfriend. Next time they encountered those clothes in the mall costing several thousand yuan, she could grit her teeth and afford them.

It was already November, and the temperature in Shengyuan was dropping fast. Xu Qing saw several people on the road wearing down jackets, both men and women. Generally speaking, however, she rarely encountered female Omegas on the street now; she didn’t even see male Omegas.

The subway was even more distinct, completely occupied by bottom-tier Betas working overtime on the weekend.

Just as Xu Qing got off the subway and was preparing to hail a taxi, the one at home finally woke up and sent her a message: “Where did you go?”

Fu Shuang woke up to find the house empty. Even Koala was nowhere to be found, as if she had suddenly been abandoned by the world.

Intense emotions flooded her. Although she didn’t express it verbally—the four simple words “Where did you go?” betrayed no emotion—Fu Shuang didn’t expect her Alpha sister to understand her current feelings. Though she was pampered and spoiled, having experienced her mother’s death and her father’s dalliances with a mistress, she could endure a certain level of frustration and hardship. It was better to digest negative emotions privately; she should be more considerate of others…

A call notification flashed, and the dejection on Fu Shuang’s face vanished instantly. She swiped the screen to answer—

“Sweetheart, you’re awake?”

Xu Qing’s voice sounded slightly different over the phone, not as steady as when speaking face-to-face, seemingly distorted by electromagnetic waves, but it was still very attractive.

Fu Shuang murmured, “Just woke up. When did you leave?”

Xu Qing smiled. “I just got out of the subway station myself. You were sleeping so soundly, I couldn’t bear to wake you. It’s a hard-won day off, after all.”

Fu Shuang gave a very obedient “Mhm.” “Did you go to look at cars?”

Xu Qing: “Not yet. I’m waiting for when you’re free so we can go together. First, I’m going to get my dad’s damaged car. The shop said it’s fixed. I’ll just finish the hand-over with the insurance company. I should be home around ten-thirty. Think about if there’s anywhere you want to go today, and I’ll drive you around.”

The corners of Fu Shuang’s lips curled up, and her mood improved significantly. She said calmly, “I have a part-time job this afternoon, and the same tomorrow. I have to wait until I finish these lessons for this student; there’s probably a month left.”

Xu Qing expressed surprise again: “You’re giving lessons? You…”

The unspoken question following that was: Aren’t you just eighteen? Normally, someone that age should be in school. Working a job and doing part-time tutoring on top of that… no matter how I analyze it, something is off, right?

Although Xu Qing didn’t understand Omegas—much like how a high school student in a top-tier track knows nothing about the lives of vocational students—analyzing it by common sense, her girlfriend’s various behaviors didn’t match the capabilities someone her age should have.

Xu Qing had also submitted a resume to the company where she was interning and hadn’t received an interview invite yet. How could someone without an educational background get in there?

So, did Lulu lie to her?

Xu Qing suppressed the suspicion in her heart. Over the silent phone line, she smiled and said, “Baby, you’re so amazing. You actually know how to give lessons? Even I don’t know how to do that.”

Fu Shuang gave a few perfunctory replies, perhaps sensing something, and then remembered the main topic: “Sister, did you see Koala this morning?”

Xu Qing: “I scooped the litter this morning. He was sticking to me for food then. Why, what’s wrong?”

Fu Shuang took a heavy breath, sounding as calm as if she had become a different person: “I looked all over the house and called his name, but there was no response. I suspect the cat is lost.”

Xu Qing froze, never having considered such a thing: “The cat is lost?”

On the other end of the phone, Fu Shuang was walking around the house, checking bedrooms, storage rooms, under the bed, and under the sofa. She sounded a bit helpless: “I’m not sure. Usually, he comes as soon as I call, but I’ve called him many times today with no reaction… Did you feed him this morning?”

“I gave him some canned food. He took two bites and lost interest. Isn’t he a bit in heat lately? Could that be the reason?” Xu Qing thought as she spoke. “I didn’t pay much attention when I opened the door this morning. Could he have slipped out?”

That would be terrible.

Xu Qing had already hailed a taxi and began to struggle with whether to go back and look for the cat first. She was worried the cat was lost, but even more worried about her Omega sister facing these things alone at home.

She suddenly felt a surge of irritability, thinking that if her strikingly beautiful Omega girlfriend went looking for a cat all over the neighborhood, she would surely be eyed by others.

There was a strange change in her glands, and her fangs felt itchy, like a predator out on a hunt worrying that the prey at home might be stolen. A primal impulse tried to snatch away Xu Qing’s rationality.

It was truly strange. Xu Qing felt as if she were being governed by some emotion; she even felt unfamiliar to herself. Clearly, it was the cat that was lost—why was her first concern for her girlfriend?

The sounds on Fu Shuang’s end were cluttered, sometimes far and sometimes near; it seemed she wasn’t holding the phone. Xu Qing said with her heart in her throat, “Have you checked every part of the house? Inside closets, in boxes—cats love squeezing into places like that.”

“I haven’t finished looking yet,” Fu Shuang, the cat’s owner, was actually less worried than Xu Qing. “Koala’s IQ is decent; even if he ran out, he wouldn’t go far. He’s a coward; he might be hiding somewhere and is too scared to come out. So don’t worry too much. I’ll search the house thoroughly first. By the way, are there any places in the house I don’t know about?”

She hadn’t expected to be comforted by her girlfriend one day. Fu Shuang’s ability to analyze things surprised Xu Qing; she was nothing like the little Omega who usually exploded at the slightest touch.

Xu Qing thought: If she really were a simple, harmless Omega who knew nothing, perhaps I wouldn’t have been attracted to her at all.

She thought for a moment and said, “In the west-facing bedroom, there’s a small storage room behind the wardrobe. A few months ago, I took some tools and cut a hole at the entrance of the storage room to run some electrical wires. That hole might be just big enough for Koala to crawl through. Go see if he’s in there.”

“Nani, nani,” Fu Shuang made a peculiar sound, like discovering a hidden dungeon in a game. “The house actually has a weird place like that?”

Xu Qing coughed lightly. If it weren’t for finding the cat, she would never have mentioned the storage room. There were too many old things in there; she didn’t know what kind of “dark history” materials her girlfriend might dig up.

For example, photos of her cosplaying during high school… the memories of her “chunibyo” phase were simply too embarrassing to recall. There might even be the open-crotch pants she wore as a toddler in there!

She got into the taxi, but the call remained connected to the situation at home. Hearing the sound of a door being pushed open, Xu Qing quickly asked, “Well? Is the cat there?”

Koala’s tiny, soft meow came through the phone. Fu Shuang was both angry and amused: “He really is! To think he’d find a place like this. Mental cat!”

Xu Qing couldn’t help but laugh, listening to Fu Shuang complain about Koala being covered in dust. Judging by the situation, Koala must have crawled into the storage room and couldn’t get back out. Fortunately, Xu Qing had thought of that spot.

After a moment, Xu Qing heard her girlfriend’s voice sounding a bit stunned: “Sister, are you there?”

“I’m here.”

Fu Shuang took a sharp breath. She seemed to have received some kind of shock, her voice trembling and incoherent as she said, “Sis… you, you, you… before, you… you… was your surname originally Xu?”

Xu Qing was baffled. For a girlfriend of half a month to not even know her real name was truly absurd. She said, “I am Xu Qing.”

Fu Shuang said with a shake in her voice, “No, no, that’s not right. On the house registration, it says ‘Min,’ ‘Min’… and the address where you receive packages doesn’t have this name. You… how did you become Xu Qing…?”

Only then did Xu Qing realize that the younger girl had misunderstood her name all along. This matter was embarrassing to explain; it was her own fault for never finding the chance to say it. Perhaps now, the girl had seen her old photo albums or yearbooks and realized she’d gotten the name wrong.

“For a while, I addressed things I sent home to my mom’s name. Later, I was too lazy to change it and didn’t explain it clearly to you. I’m really sorry.”

Xu Qing’s tone was flat. Although this misunderstanding was stupid, it was harmless, and she didn’t think it would affect anything.

On the other side, Fu Shuang hurriedly hung up the phone. Holding the dirty, fat cat, she fell into a state of self-doubt.