The Zombie I Flirted With After Losing My Memory, Who Was Pretending to be an Alpha, Is Actually My Ex - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Filing a Complaint

The kiss was short but intense; by the time it ended, both were breathing heavily.

Teng Xi gently caressed Xie Jinbing’s cheek. Her fingertips felt as if they were lit with tiny flames, making Xie Jinbing’s face flush. Her eyes were brimming with love, and her voice was low and husky, the end of her sentences curling upward like a scratch against the heart: “Sister, don’t cry anymore, okay?”

In truth, she had already stopped crying, but those beautiful peach-blossom eyes were still misty with unshed tears, whether from a lingering sense of grievance or because of that deep, suffocating kiss.

“Why… why did you run away?” Xie Jinbing sobbed slightly as she spoke, her hands clutching the other’s hem, still fixated on this question.

Teng Xi pursed her lips, and her soothing hand paused. After a moment, she finally spoke: “I killed people.”

Xie Jinbing sniffled, her response a bit childish: “If you didn’t kill them, they would have killed us.”

Teng Xi remained silent and buried her face in the crook of the other’s neck.

Seeing Teng Xi like this, Xie Jinbing felt a surge of frustration. Even her finger—which hadn’t been that painful—began to throb with the irritation she felt. It was such a simple logic, yet Teng Xi was being so stubborn and wouldn’t understand.

Realizing she couldn’t change Teng Xi’s mind in an instant, Xie Jinbing decided to change her tactics. She rubbed the top of her head against Teng Xi’s in a coaxing manner, a kitten-like purr vibrating in her throat: “Xi-Xi, don’t hide from me anymore, okay? I’m scared.”

“Mhm. I won’t leave.”

Teng Xi meticulously treated the cut on Xie Jinbing’s hand, acting with extreme caution for fear of bumping the wound, until the finger was wrapped up like a zongzi. She kissed the bandaged finger over and over with heartache, wishing the one injured had been herself.

The two snuggled together by the window, watching the sun gradually sink below the sea horizon until it vanished, leaving only a trace of red light reflecting on the water, stretching that red line into the distance.

An unknown amount of time passed before they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Jinbing, you should rest,” Qi Yin stood at the door, speaking to Xie Jinbing without sparing even a glance for Teng Xi.

“Teng—”

“You have an examination tomorrow. There are no extra beds here. It would be more convenient for Captain Teng to return to her own room to rest,” Qi Yin interrupted her, her words seemingly carrying a hidden meaning as she stepped aside to reveal the medical staff standing behind her.

Receiving their orders, the two medical staff approached Teng Xi, preparing to push her wheelchair without another word, but they were stopped by a greater force and could not move.

“Dean Qi, this…” the staff spoke up, conflicted.

Regarding Qi Yin, Teng Xi was hesitant. On one hand, she was wary of whether there was a genuine blood relation between her and Xie Jinbing; on the other hand, she couldn’t forgive the woman for the injection she had just given her.

She pressed down firmly on the wheelchair with her hands, turned her head toward Xie Jinbing, and spoke in a somewhat indirect manner: “Sister, you and Doctor Qi… you don’t have any ‘special’ relationship, do you?”

“?”

“I mean, just…” Teng Xi looked at Qi Yin by the door. That face was clearly well-maintained, but the fine lines at the corners of her eyes suggested she wasn’t young. Then she looked at the Xie Jinbing beside her—cold, elegant, and exquisitely beautiful.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but the more Teng Xi looked, the more she felt the two bore a resemblance.

While she struggled with how to say it delicately, Xie Jinbing swept her with a look: “What kind of relationship?”

With a face full of internal conflict, Teng Xi leaned in close, her warm breath hitting the other’s ear: “She isn’t my future mother-in-law, is she?”

“Ow!” Xie Jinbing flicked her forehead without mercy, causing her to let out a cry of pain.

“She and I have a purely professional employer-employee relationship. I’m not someone who got in through connections.” Xie Jinbing spoke candidly, and everyone in the room heard her clearly.

Having received a definitive answer, Teng Xi’s confidence surged instantly. As if she had been holding it in for ages, she pointed right at Qi Yin’s nose, her voice sounding incredibly aggrieved: “She just stabbed me with a needle! She made me pass out! Before, when you were unconscious and I wanted to see you, she even scolded me! She blocked me and wouldn’t let me in!”

That voice, that tone—it was exactly like a child who had been bullied running to find their mother to file a complaint. She pointed at the “villain,” her eyes full of fury, her tone brimming with the triumph of finally finding someone to back her up.

Xie Jinbing wanted to laugh at this performance, but seeing that she truly looked aggrieved, she suppressed the urge. She reached out to smooth the “fur” on Teng Xi’s head and gave Qi Yin a look of shared indignation: “Dean Qi, is this the attitude you use to treat my lover? Although I work for you, I am not your slave, and my family members cannot be bullied by you at will. Shouldn’t you apologize, Dean Qi?”

Her tone carried a threat, causing Qi Yin, standing at the door, to frown deeply.

Teng Xi hadn’t actually expected Qi Yin to offer any real compensation; she simply wanted to drive a wedge between them. She didn’t like the way Qi Yin looked at Sister Xie. However, to her surprise, Qi Yin spoke.

She stood at the door, her spine as straight as ever. Staring straight at Xie Jinbing, she finally spared a sliver of attention for Teng Xi and spoke slowly: “Captain Teng, I apologize. It was my lack of courtesy.”

Teng Xi’s eyes widened at Qi Yin’s apology; she hadn’t expected filing a complaint to actually work. Xie Jinbing, however, seemed to have anticipated it.

But Qi Yin wasn’t finished: “As compensation for Captain Teng, I will put in a good word for her at the Board of Directors meeting in three days.”

“Board of Directors?” Teng Xi looked at Xie Jinbing in confusion, only to see her also frowning with equal perplexity.

Qi Yin: “Jinbing likely doesn’t know. During the year you spent on the island, you were only focused on refining your medical skills, and no one told you the rules of the island. If an Alpha wishes to stay on the island, they must go through a vote by the board members to reach a final decision.”

“It’s late. Jinbing just woke up today. Captain Teng should let her get some rest.” Qi Yin interrupted their thoughts and waved her hand to the two medical staff.

Teng Xi didn’t resist further. As she left, she reluctantly squeezed Xie Jinbing’s soft fingertips and whispered: “I’ll come find you tomorrow.”

After Teng Xi left, Qi Yin took a deep look at Xie Jinbing and prepared to leave. But just as her hand touched the doorknob, her gaze flicked to the other’s finger.

The finger was wrapped in layers of gauze, and blood had already seeped through slightly. That piercing red caused a hint of resentment to enter Qi Yin’s eyes. She closed the door, took the first aid kit from the cabinet, and walked toward Xie Jinbing.

She pulled a stool over to sit opposite her, her tone carrying a hint of mockery: “You needed to go to this extent for her?! If news got out that ‘Single-Cut Xie’ slipped and cut herself, how many people would trample you underfoot with ridicule?”

“Single-Cut Xie” was the title the industry had given Xie Jinbing, because she could always find the right spot for an incision with a single cut, never failing.

Xie Jinbing, however, curled her lips into a smile, her eyes filled with a mirthless cold: “Do those who want to trample me underfoot still exist in this world? No, I should ask—are they even still human? Your little island is far from the disaster for now, but aren’t you afraid that the poisonous fire will one day burn its way here? Sooner or later, this will become a paradise for the living dead.”

Qi Yin didn’t answer, her expression unchanged. She reached out to take her finger to re-bandage it, but the other dodged.

She felt a surge of anger. Just as she was about to scold Xie Jinbing, she remembered Teng Xi’s words from earlier. Wasn’t her behavior exactly like an over-worried mother dealing with a rebellious daughter? Feeling a headache coming on, she carelessly tossed the first aid kit aside.

“Is she the Alpha you mentioned all those years ago?” Qi Yin leaned against the back of the chair, staring at Xie Jinbing without blinking, not missing a single expression on her face.

“Yes.”

To her disappointment, Xie Jinbing didn’t shy away at all.

She still remembered when Xie Jinbing first arrived on the island. She had excellent skills and a likable personality, but every time she was alone, she would look grief-stricken. That sorrow and loneliness came from the heart. Many times, passing by and seeing Xie Jinbing standing by the beach, Qi Yin had wondered if she would walk into the surging sea in the next second and sink straight to the cold, dark bottom.

Through six months of contact, she had gradually gotten Xie Jinbing to open her heart, yet she only told her that it was an Alpha—her former lover, someone she loved very, very much.

“Jinbing, she isn’t good enough for you. You must understand, Omegas are the saviors of this world. Filthy creatures like Alphas shouldn’t even exist in this world.”

Xie Jinbing frowned and moved her wheelchair back slightly, trying to escape the oppression Qi Yin brought: “Your anti-Alpha sentiment is too extreme.”

Qi Yin was truly angry now, her tone sharpening: “Anti-Alpha? They aren’t even worthy of my notice! Omega pheromones are the most wonderful thing in the world—aren’t you the best example? Your pheromones can inhibit RNA replication and even eliminate viruses. You’ve seen the reports; there is absolutely no virus in your body. But Alphas are different; they only need one bite from a zombie to mutate. Isn’t this the best proof of nature’s survival of the fittest?”

Saying this, Qi Yin rose and approached Xie Jinbing, squatting in front of her. She looked at her injured hand with a hint of pity, her tone gradually becoming frenzied: “What can Alphas do? They are nothing more than a pack of beasts who go mad the moment they smell pheromones. How are they different from those zombies? They have no reason whatsoever!”

“Yes, you’re right. Teng Xi is cowardly, ruthless, driven by desire, and full of nonsense,” Xie Jinbing spoke, earning a shocked but slightly joyful look from Qi Yin. Just as Qi Yin thought Xie Jinbing was seeing reason, she continued:

“But she was able to restrain herself during my abnormal heat and not fully mark me.”

Xie Jinbing never expected that one day she would use this incident as an argument.

“She can also choose to save people in life-threatening situations, always pointing her blade at the enemy and shielding us behind her.”

“She can even lick the blood from my wounds, even knowing she might be infected.”

“Most importantly, she loves me.”