Unexpected Motherhood: Marked by the Elite Alpha - Chapter 2

Grandmother was packing multigrain pancakes into a bag that she had just spread yesterday. They were made from a blend of several types of flour—millet, wheat, corn, and mung bean and cooked on an old-fashioned cast-iron griddle.

The winter wheat had just been harvested recently, and its fragrance was rich. The pancakes were thin yet chewy, and when rolled with a filling of fried chili and crushed peanuts, the kind ground into fine bits, they tasted even better than meat.

Grandmother packed a large, full bag, tied the opening, and handed it to her. “Take this to your Great-Aunt on your way. Bring those two jars of leek flower sauce as well; your Great-Aunt said they were delicious when she came back last year.”

“Got it, just leave them there for now. I’ll put them in the car in a bit.”

Although she was somewhat reluctant, she did not say it in front of her grandmother. The elderly had simple thoughts; whenever there was something good at home, they wanted to give some to relatives and friends, without considering whether the other party needed it or looked down on it.

She went to take a shower. Because she was in a hurry, she just did a quick rinse, put on a clean T-shirt, and took everything her grandmother told her to bring to the car.

Three large watermelons, two big bags of small cherries, and some seasonal vegetables filled the back seat to the brim. Once she reached the town, she first delivered two of the watermelons and a bag of cherries and vegetables to another relative who owned a shop there. The remaining items would be taken to her Great-Aunt in the county seat.

Both the village and the town had elementary schools, but the school in the county seat had better teaching facilities and specialized foreign teachers.

The drive from her home to the county seat took about forty to fifty minutes, which was within an acceptable range. In the morning, she would drive her daughter to school. The school provided lunch at noon and also offered nap dormitories for students who did not go home. She had visited them before, and the conditions were quite good: everyone had a small bed, bedding was brought from home, and the school arranged for resident teachers.

The fees were certainly much more expensive than those of the schools in the town. To this day, some people in the village still did not understand her decision, believing that for elementary school, any place would do and that there was no difference between the town and the county. They argued that the town school also had English teachers who were proper university graduates and no worse than foreigners. Why spend so much money to send a child to the county seat? Plus, the commute was a hassle and just was not worth it.

However, her family supported her. Her grandmother and her grandmother’s sister were among the first group of people from Yangtoubu to venture south in their youth, going to the Pearl River Delta region. They worked in factories there and had seen more of the world than their peers in the village, so they fully agreed with her sending Taiyang to study in the county seat.

She had left late, and with some delays on the road, she saw that she was about to run out of time, so she went straight to the school.

Despite her best efforts, she was still a few minutes late. She ran up to the classroom. The little girl waiting for her in the corridor with eyes full of longing was her daughter. Her formal name was Li Taiyang. She was seven years old this year, wearing a red, white, and black summer school uniform, and she ran toward her with her twin ponytails swinging.

“Mom, why did you just get here? It is about to start; everyone is waiting for you.” Taiyang grabbed her mother’s hand, complaining about her lateness, but she was not angry at all. She giggled and dragged her mother toward the classroom door.

Li Sangyue felt embarrassed for being late. “I am sorry, Mom left home late today. Have you been waiting long?”

“Not really, Mom. I want to eat fire noodles. Buy some for me later; I got full marks on my exams this time.”

“Alright, I will buy them for you. Still going to that auntie’s stall from last time?”

“The ones from other places are not good; only that auntie’s are delicious, and she gives a lot.”

Taiyang moved behind her mother and used both hands to push her mother’s backside, nudging her into the classroom. Being tall for her class, her seat was arranged in the back row.

Li Sangyue pulled out the chair gently and sat down, listening to the homeroom teacher speaking at the podium.

Her Taiyang and a classmate were leaning against the window watching. Whenever she turned her head, the girl would wave vigorously, only hoping that the parent-teacher meeting would end quickly so they would not miss out on buying the fire noodles. The seaweed, ham, and fire noodles, priced at one yuan per box, were very popular near the school and would sell out within ten minutes.

The test papers were in the desk drawer. Li Sangyue pulled them out to look and found a sticky note attached to the score.

“I am Mom’s precious daughter, Mom is my precious Mom, I love Mom”

Li Sangyue’s nose felt stingy, and with reddened eyes, she looked up at Taiyang outside the window. Her little girl had moved this old mother to tears.

Taiyang raised both hands above her head to form a heart shape, her large, bright eyes filled entirely with her mother.

“Li Taiyang, your mom is so beautiful, she looks like a big star,” Taiyang’s classmate said enviously.

Li Sangyue rarely came to parent-teacher meetings; her own mother usually came instead. Taiyang’s classmates had not seen her much, so they were curious once they knew she was Taiyang’s mother.

Taiyang puffed out her little chest, her face full of pride: “Of course, my mom is the most beautiful Omega in the whole world.”

“But your grandma is beautiful too! My mom says your grandma looks so young, she even wants to marry your grandma.”

This made Taiyang quite troubled. Her mom was beautiful, her grandma was beautiful, and she was beautiful too. So who was actually the most beautiful?

Choose Mom? Hmm, or maybe choose Grandma? Grandma can fight bad guys; if anyone dares to bully her or Mom, Grandma will hit that person.

This parent-teacher meeting lasted a long time. Final exams were next week, so the parents were anxious, catching the homeroom teacher to ask about their children’s academic progress.

Li Sangyue was not as tense. She was the first parent to leave the classroom, taking Taiyang’s backpack with her.

“Let’s go, baby, time to buy fire noodles.” She took Taiyang’s hand and left under the envious gazes of the other children.

Several nearby schools also held their parent-teacher meetings on Friday, and since the dismissal time was pushed back, the stalls at the school gate still had stock. Taiyang happily ate her long-awaited fire noodles.

“We will go home after we deliver the watermelon to Great-Grand-Aunt.” Li Sangyue turned the steering wheel at the intersection.

Great-Grand-Aunt was her grandmother’s sister. She called her Great-Aunt, so Taiyang had to call her Great-Grand-Aunt.

In her youth, Great-Aunt worked at a government agency in the county seat and was already a division-level cadre before she retired. She was the most successful person from Yangtoubu. Great-Aunt’s partner had already passed away, and she had an only daughter working for the County Party Committee. Now, the whole family lived in the Party and Government Compound of the county seat.

Taiyang sat in her seat, swinging her legs, her eyes darting around. She did not like going to Great-Grand-Aunt’s house.

Places like the Party and Government Compound did not let people enter freely. Every time Li Sangyue came, she found it a hassle. She would call her Great-Aunt, but most of the time no one answered. She did not know if the phone was not nearby or if the woman just did not want to pick up. She did not bother to ask; if the call was not picked up, she would leave the items at the security post and send a message to her aunt, Great-Aunt’s daughter, before leaving. It was the same operation this time.

As she was walking out, she noticed a motorcycle parked in the corner that looked a bit familiar. It seemed like it belonged to those wealthy people from this afternoon.

She looked around but did not see anyone, so she went back to ask the security guard. The guard thought she was someone trying to claim a connection to get ahead and would not tell her.

Just then, a car was about to enter, and the guard was busy lifting the barrier and had no time to deal with her.

Sensing it was time to leave, she turned around and saw her Aunt in the car. The other woman noticed her too but acted as if she had not seen her, driving right past and naturally treating her like thin air.

The security guard also knew who was in the car. Seeing that the woman did not even acknowledge Li Sangyue, he felt a bit of pity and reminded her: “I have seen you come several times, always leaving things and going. I did not have the heart to tell you before, but Director Li never actually comes to get them, nor does she ask us to send them up. Why bother?”

Li Sangyue smiled nonchalantly. “Then just consider it a gift for you all to eat. It is all homegrown anyway, it is not worth much money.”

The guard sighed. He had worked there for several years; the threshold of this place was higher than the sky. Ordinary people could never hope to step inside in this lifetime, and the people inside loated poor relatives trying to climb the social ladder through them.

Taiyang was still waiting for her in the car, so Li Sangyue did not delay any longer.

Qin Nian had come here to visit a friend. As she came out, she saw the little Omega standing at the gate talking to the security guard.

She had changed her clothes, but the style was similar, still a white T-shirt and long pants. She was thin and tall, her back was slender, her arms were thin, and her wrist bones were prominent.

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Nian could not resist the possessiveness in her heart and walked toward the little Omega.

“What a coincidence to meet here,” she greeted with a smile.

The few friends behind Qin Nian were all surprised. Since when was this person so kind to others, even taking the initiative to say hello?

Li Sangyue also did not expect to actually run into her, but it was perfect; she could return the money to her. The money was in her bag.

“It is a coincidence. I came to pick up my child from school and brought some things for a relative. I did not expect you all to be here too.” She looked down to take the money from her bag and stuffed it into Qin Nian’s hand without allowing any argument. “Since we ran into each other, I will return this money to you. We really cannot accept it, please take it back.”

Her fingers inevitably brushed against Qin Nian’s skin, but she withdrew before Qin Nian could feel more.

Qin Nian’s heart skipped a beat. She unconsciously gripped the roll of money and caught a whiff of an unusual mango sweetness in the air.

This sweet scent had appeared in her dreams many times over the past seven years, making her heart itch with an extreme longing.

“You have a child?” Qin Nian was surprised.

“Yes.”

Li Sangyue did not say much. She had been marked and got pregnant just as she turned of age, and the villagers had been gossiping about it ever since. Taiyang had even been bullied by classmates for not having an Alpha mother and was called a bastard. That was the reason her own mother had hit someone last week.

Taiyang could not wait any longer for her mother to return, so she ran down to find her.

“Mom.” She ran over and hugged her mother’s waist, glaring at the stranger in front of her with a tight face, thinking her mother was being bullied.

Seeing Taiyang’s appearance clearly, the shock on Qin Nian’s face could not be hidden in time, and the same went for her friends.

Li Sangyue smoothed Taiyang’s twin ponytails, picked her up, and cradled her in her arms, then nodded to Qin Nian and the others.

“Then we will be heading home. You are welcome to come and play again in the future. Taiyang, say goodbye to the aunties.”

“Bye-bye, aunties!” Taiyang, being held by her mother, very obediently waved her little chubby paws.

The money in Qin Nian’s hand was crumpled. The memories of that night came rushing back frantically.

Her friends were also in a state of shock, repeatedly exclaiming, “This is too similar! She looks exactly like you did when you were little.”

It took Qin Nian only a few seconds to calm herself down. She put the money that carried the little Omega’s scent into her pocket.

It seemed there were some things she needed to confirm once more.