What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Tipsiness: They Are Both Linguistic Paper Tigers.

Shu Qiong felt a bit like she was riding a tiger and couldn’t get off.

Mainly, she hadn’t expected Yan Xiangyu to ignite with just a single spark.

She slightly averted her eyes.

Their relationship was undefined, and the atmosphere was ambiguous; once they kissed, it would be difficult to end things smoothly. Shu Qiong broadcasted a signal of refusal.

She knew that Yan Xiangyu always liked to use feigned ruthlessness in her words to cover up the green, pure nature of her actions. Sure enough, as soon as Shu Qiong looked away, Yan Xiangyu’s expression softened.

Yan Xiangyu let go of her hand, her thumb lightly brushing against the back of Shu Qiong’s hand.

“Still a coward.”

It was unclear who she was talking about.

Shu Qiong looked pretentiously at the fully simulated window scenery outlined on the starship’s inner wall, thinking to herself that neither of them should laugh at the other—they were equally cowardly.

Both were linguistic paper tigers.

The sound of the engine starting vibrated beneath their feet; the starship was finally departing. Shu Qiong remembered some official business and stood up to head toward the back once the ship’s movement stabilized.

On the way, she passed Jin Yan’s seat. The young lady was occupying an entire row of seats alone, her face covered with a hat as she snored away. Sensing movement, she asked with sleepy eyes, “Going to see the doctor?”

Shu Qiong nodded. “Yes. I need to tell the school doctor about my symptoms in advance as a precaution. Just in case a problem arises during training, we won’t be in a frantic rush.”

Her intolerance to opposite-sex pheromones was relatively niche and essentially a ticking time bomb. Before coming, she had consulted with her own doctor and finalized an emergency plan, but the plan required a professional to implement it as they saw fit.

Jin Yan fell silent after saying that one sentence. Shu Qiong looked closely and found that the other party had already closed her eyes and fallen back asleep.

She shook her head and walked away.

The school doctor’s lounge was at the tail end of the starship. Shu Qiong knocked on the door.

“Student Shu? Are you feeling unwell?”

Shu Qiong delivered her prepared explanation, clarifying her condition of opposite-sex pheromone intolerance. She then added, “My family’s medical team said that drug research hasn’t yielded results yet. If a problem occurs during training, please provide treatment according to the specific symptoms at your discretion.”

The “family medical team” was, in fact, the Jin family’s private doctors.

The school doctor took the thick stack of Shu Qiong’s case details and symptom analysis reports. “Alright, don’t worry. Our medical team is accompanying the group specifically to handle such special situations.”

Shu Qiong felt much more at ease and left the medical office.

She passed many independent rest cabins along the corridor, which were prepared for long-haul passengers; Shu Qiong and the others didn’t need them, so most were empty.

She strolled along and unknowingly arrived at the bar area adjacent to the main hall.

One side of the bar was an entire starry-sky wall, a 100% reproduction of the view outside the starship during interstellar jumps. Shu Qiong stood there and looked up, feeling a sense of immersion. Her thoughts involuntarily drifted, feeling the insignificance of humanity.

Buzz buzz.

She tapped her wristband. Signal stability inside the starship was poor during the initial phase; she was only now receiving delayed messages.

The message came from Jin Yan’s Omega mother, Fang Lin. Shu Qiong clicked on the photo she sent, which showed the gift Shu Qiong had sent to the Jin residence in advance, beautifully packaged.

Shu Qiong swiped down. The second message was another photo, showing the opened gift box with the transformable helmet inside. The shell was a low-key, bright black metal, but the interior was highly sophisticated—a gift Shu Qiong had spent a long time hand-making herself.

The helmet’s impact resistance and safety coefficients were mecha-grade, embedded with a companion-type exclusive AI. Delicate gold-traced patterns were specially drawn on the details, showing the level of effort put in.

The other side sent back several photos in a row: one of Fang Lin holding the helmet while standing in the luxury mansion, a selfie of her smiling while wearing the helmet, and a final one taken from a third-person perspective showing her straddling a brand-new motorcycle while wearing the helmet.

At the bottom was a voice message. Shu Qiong clicked it and found it was from Jin Yan’s Alpha mother, Jin Man: “Xiao Shu, you are so thoughtful. Auntie Fang couldn’t wait to go to the racing track for a few laps after receiving it. Now everyone here knows her helmet was hand-made by her own daughter.”

Fang Lin was a hardcore racing enthusiast. Jin Yan had perfectly inherited this hobby from her mother, loving both floating supercars and land motorcycles.

Shu Qiong was very happy that her carefully crafted helmet had received such a warm response. She directly placed a video call. The other side picked up instantly, and Fang Lin’s voice came through: “Xiao Shu! Are you on the starship?”

Shu Qiong nodded with a smile, seeing Fang Lin maintaining her new motorcycle. Holding the camera was a capable Alpha with features similar to Jin Yan’s but with a powerful aura—she was holding the helmet for her wife with one hand while adjusting the filming angle with the other.

“Neither Little Jin nor I can make it to the birthday banquet this year. Auntie Fang, don’t miss us too much.”

Hearing this, Jin Man moved the camera closer to her lover and exposed her: “She’s been grumbling about this for two days. She only got happy today after receiving the gift.”

Fang Lin glared at her. “What do you know! You cold Alpha, can’t I miss my daughters?”

Jin Man immediately surrendered. It took a while before the conversation turned back to the two girls. The two elders chatted for quite a while, giving detailed instructions before hanging up.

From behind came the sound of Jin Yan yawning. “You called them?”

Shu Qiong was puzzled. “Since you’re here, why didn’t you say hello to your mom?”

Jin Yan said gloomily, “Am I rushing to eat ‘dog food’ (public displays of affection)? No thanks.” She had been a little lightbulb in her parents’ romance for nearly twenty years and always felt it was sickeningly sweet.

“Besides, we just saw each other last night. Seeing them too much is annoying.”

Jin Yan, looking like a face-saving rebel, sat at the bar and ordered a coffee. She was exhausted today because she had returned home overnight just to confirm that the precious motorcycle she had ordered months in advance had arrived safely.

Shu Qiong raised an eyebrow. So that brand-new bike Auntie Fang had was from Jin Yan; their gift ideas had coincidentally formed a set.

The coffee was coming a bit slowly. Jin Yan’s eyelids were fighting to stay open; she grabbed the cup in front of Shu Qiong that hadn’t been drunk yet and took a huge gulp. “Iced juice? Is it refreshing?”

Shu Qiong tried to stop her, but it was too late. Jin Yan coughed uncontrollably and complained, “What kind of person drinks alcohol first thing in the morning?”

Shu Qiong crossly handed her some tissues. “It’s noon already, Young Lady. You’re sleep-dazed.” She pushed the remaining half of the cocktail over. “Don’t waste it.”

Jin Yan reflected deeply on herself, vowing to correct the bad habit of her hands moving faster than her brain. She finished the cup of alcohol with a bitter face. “If I act crazy later, it’s all your fault.”

Shu Qiong grinned. “Then I’ll have more filming material!”

Jin Yan looked at her childhood friend with eyes reserved for demons, then proceeded to condemn the school. “Why is there alcohol on the Military University starship? Aren’t they afraid students will become drunks?”

The bar staff smiled and chimed in, “We just picked up a ship full of leaders for a welcome party two days ago. There were a lot of expensive drinks left over. Wouldn’t it be a waste to throw them away?”

Jin Yan shook her head and left, accepting her bad luck. When she arrived, her footsteps were light; when she left, they were even more erratic. “Does the pilot know how to fly? Why is the ship shaking so much…”

Shu Qiong hurried to catch up. “Hey, are you really drunk?”

Jin Yan intentionally held up a finger. “Why are there two daughters?”

“…” Fearing she really would act out, Shu Qiong opened a separate rest cabin and tossed her inside.

Sending off one Alpha, another Alpha arrived.

Yan Xiangyu was sitting at the bar, propping her chin as she admired the brilliant nebulae of the vast universe. Seeing Shu Qiong, her brow twitched slightly. “Going to open a room?”

Shu Qiong immediately gave her a hand-chop. Nothing good ever comes out of your mouth!

Receiving a blow only made Yan Xiangyu’s smile grow wider. “Want something to drink?”

“I already ordered.” Shu Qiong picked up the hand-poured coffee that Jin Yan had ordered but hadn’t waited for.

Yan Xiangyu said directly without even looking at the menu, “A special blend. Brandy as the base, whatever for the rest.”

Shu Qiong couldn’t help but glance at her, looked away, and then looked back again.

Yan Xiangyu tapped her fingertips on the table and said playfully, “Yes, I did it on purpose.”

Shu Qiong gave a dry laugh. “Haha, I didn’t ask.”

“Your eyes asked.” Yan Xiangyu felt pride rather than shame.

Quite the “eyes asked.” Are they literally “talking eyes”?

Shu Qiong advised, “Is your alcohol tolerance okay?”

Yan Xiangyu actually thought about it seriously. “Hard to guarantee. If I get drunk, is Student Shu willing to open a room with me?”

“…I’ll give you one more chance to rephrase that.” Shu Qiong put down her coffee cup and stared at her.

Yan Xiangyu cooperatively put on a look of feigned terror at the thought of being presumptuous. “If I get drunk, is Student Shu willing to take me to a room?”

“…”

The drink Yan Xiangyu ordered was served. It was fruity, with an inviting color—multi-colored and looking very deceptive. She took a sip and didn’t speak for a long time.

Shu Qiong had no idea about her tolerance and watched her state closely.

“After we reach the base, the four of us Alphas will live together. I heard the instructor say the dormitory conditions there are quite simple.” Shu Qiong spoke to her to confirm the itinerary after disembarking.

Yan Xiangyu still didn’t speak.

Shu Qiong turned to look and found Yan Xiangyu leaning halfway on the table, staring fixedly at her, her eyes misty and dazed.

Shu Qiong was almost laughed out of anger. So she talked so big before ordering, but she’s actually a “one-cup-downer”? No, it wasn’t even a cup; she had only taken one sip.

Shu Qiong helplessly leaned closer. “Do you know who I am?”

Yan Xiangyu didn’t flush when drunk; she looked no different than usual, but her eyes flickered. “Xiao Qiong.”

Shu Qiong asked again, “Do you remember who you are?”

Yan Xiangyu answered obediently, “Your girlfriend.”

Shu Qiong suspected she was faking it.

“…Do you know where you are?”

Yan Xiangyu looked around blankly, her expression seemingly genuine. “On a starship. I’m taking you home.”

Her hometown was in a remote star system that could only be reached by long-haul starships. Although it wasn’t as prosperous as the Capital Star, it was peaceful, with beautiful flowers blooming in all four seasons. She had always wanted to take Shu Qiong to see it.

Shu Qiong’s heart softened instantly. She grabbed her arm and helped her up. “You’re drunk. I’ll help you go rest.”

“Okay.”

The drunken Yan Xiangyu was incredibly well-behaved.

Shu Qiong’s peripheral vision caught the drink that only had one sip taken out of it. After thinking about it, she reached out, took the cup, and downed it in one go. It was quite expensive; waste is shameful.

After swallowing, she found Yan Xiangyu staring at her without blinking, her dazed gaze filled with concern. “Don’t drink it. Headache.” She vaguely remembered that her head felt uncomfortable because she drank that thing.

Shu Qiong gave the “Little Drunken Vegetable” a soothing pat on the back and said affectionately, “That’s just you. I won’t.”