What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Hot Water

 

Shu Qiong turned to ask Fang Yingying, her tone polite yet distant: “Have you ever come to visit me? Also, since when did we have an arranged marriage?”

 

Fang Yingying smiled faintly: “It was decided by your father and the Shu family; they hit it off immediately with those old fossils in the Fang family. Rumor has it the engagement banquet is scheduled for next month. Didn’t they tell you?”

 

Both Yan Xiangyu and Shu Qiong felt their temples throb at her phrase “old fossils.”

 

With a darkened face, Shu Qiong said: “Without my nod, such an absurd agreement doesn’t count for anything.”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t know about that.”

 

Fang Yingying crossed her arms and tilted her chin up. “I think you’d better communicate with your family. If things really escalate to the point of marriage and registration, I wouldn’t actually mind. But this little girlfriend of yours looks quite pitiful.”

 

Yan Xiangyu’s eyelashes drooped slightly as she gently squeezed Shu Qiong’s pinky finger resting by her side. “I can understand Qiong’s difficulties. No matter what you choose, I will support you.”

 

Shu Qiong immediately turned to comfort her, feeling that these words were six parts bitterness, three parts grievance, and one part forced composure. Her heart softened completely. “Setting our relationship aside, I won’t let such a thing happen.”

 

Fang Yingying’s eye twitched: “…Anyway, I’ve delivered the message. Figure out how to solve it yourselves.”

 

Her gaze drifted slightly; she didn’t seem to have the intention of leaving.

 

When Yan Xiangyu looked at her, her expression turned unpleasant again: “Is there something else?”

 

Fang Yingying gave a “tch” sound. “Who wants to stay here with you two?”

 

As she spoke, she subconsciously twisted her fingers, looking conflicted about something.

 

“Daughter?” Jin Yan’s voice drifted over. She and Qin Liang’s group had made a trip to the medical point and arrived a bit late, missing the earlier conversation. “Why are you all standing at the door?”

 

She walked closer and finally saw Fang Yingying standing opposite Shu Qiong. She let out an “Oh!” immediately. “Yingying? I didn’t expect the Superior Military Academy to come this year. In previous years, didn’t you all complain that this base was too remote?”

 

Cadets from Superior were often nicknamed “aristocratic soldiers.” These young ladies and masters lacked for nothing except money; they refused to endure even a bit of hardship outside of training. Their campus equipment and instructor teams were famously top-tier throughout the Alliance. There was almost no need for them to come to this base for intensive training.

 

“What do you know? I’m not like you lot who ran off to the United Military University.” Fang Yingying snorted arrogantly. “The instructors said the conditions in the competition zones will be harsh in the future, so they wanted us to take the intensive training as a chance to adapt to the living environment of commoners.”

 

Despite her usual “looking down on everyone” expression, Shu Qiong strangely felt that Fang Yingying’s mood had suddenly become very good.

 

Since when did the Great Miss Jin have this kind of magic?

 

Shu Qiong didn’t understand. Shu Qiong only ever felt the kind of magic from Jin Yan that made people want to punch her.

 

Jin Yan said, “Oh. I don’t really get it. Well, we’re going to train now. Bye.”

 

“…”

 

Shu Qiong carefully observed the change in Fang Yingying’s expression and found that her perfect smile and noble bearing cracked for a split second.

 

Yes, this was the effect Jin Yan had when she was performing normally.

 

Fang Yingying was practically gritting her teeth as she asked with a smile: “It’s been so long since we met. Has Auntie missed me?”

 

Jin Yan scratched her head: “Then call her and ask. How should I know if my mom missed you?”

 

Yan Xiangyu couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled Shu Qiong away from this conversation between fools.

 

Don’t listen; she was afraid Shu Qiong would be infected by Jin Yan if she listened for too long.

 

Yan Xiangyu now fully believed that the relationship between Shu Qiong and Jin Yan was as straight as stainless steel chopsticks. Miss Jin was simply an unawakened, innocent soul.

 

Even regarding Fang Yingying—a powerful competitor who had made her feel like she had a lump in her throat countless times—Yan Xiangyu now felt zero pressure. It turned out all her previous worries were just her seeking her own trouble.

 

Having solved two major heartaches at once, Yan Xiangyu was in a great mood.

 

Shu Qiong keenly sensed the change in her partner’s mood. She crossed her arms and chuckled: “So you really did come that day. You just happened to run into Chen Aishu and that Old Man Shu outside the ward and were discouraged by them. Then you saw Fang Yingying, the ‘marriage partner,’ and after getting confirmation from her, you felt utterly despondent. Is that why you were giving me the cold shoulder?”

 

She started settling old scores. “I was wondering why I waited from dawn till dusk on the day you promised to visit, yet never saw a shadow of you. Turns out you were scared off by a roadblock. I even…”

 

She had even prepared a long, formal confession to tell the lover she was about to be separated from by distance.

 

She wanted to say that even though they were separated by a vast sea of stars, she wasn’t afraid. She was willing to wait for Yan Xiangyu to return. They would go to school and live together in the future; her plans were filled with her.

 

She wanted to say that no matter what second gender they differentiated into, it was just a label; their feelings wouldn’t change because of it.

 

She was willing to share the mess of her own family and the warmth she felt from the two aunts in the Jin family with Yan Xiangyu. All those things Yan Xiangyu wasn’t good at handling, Shu Qiong would take care of once her wings were fully grown, so her partner wouldn’t get stuck in the mire of wealthy family trivia.

 

But Yan Xiangyu hadn’t come.

 

Shu Qiong had spent the night counting the pigeons flying past the window with her eyes wide open. Before the girl she liked arrived, she differentiated that night and suffered from a persistent high fever.

 

Yan Xiangyu looked into Shu Qiong’s eyes: “I’m sorry. I…”

 

She couldn’t state a reason. No excuse could cover up her cowardice at that time.

 

Yan Xiangyu stood still, her voice soft: “I’m only arriving now. Am I late?”

 

Shu Qiong glanced at her, shoved her hands into her pockets, and walked away: “Figure it out yourself.”

 

Yan Xiangyu smiled.

 

Thank goodness, thank goodness. I wasn’t too late.

 

To be honest, Shu Qiong didn’t truly blame her. Both of them shared responsibility for the breakup back then.

 

For instance, Shu Qiong herself, out of a thin sense of pride in the early days, refused to tell Yan Xiangyu about her family affairs, always feeling that her family was an embarrassment. This indirectly led to Yan Xiangyu being unable to judge the truth of the Shu family’s words when she met them.

 

Well, the Shu family members were indeed an embarrassment.

 

Shu Qiong thought while doing leg stretches: So what exactly has my status as a ‘wealthy heiress’ ever brought me?

 

The more she thought, the more silent she became.

 

It seemed there were no benefits at all!

 

Ms. Shu Ci hadn’t asked the Shu family for a penny since starting university; on the contrary, after becoming successful, she had channeled many resources back to them.

 

Shu Qiong was even more extreme. All her expenses came from her mother and the two aunts in the Jin family. Aside from being briefly looked after by her grandmother for a few days during childhood holidays, she practically hadn’t eaten a single grain of the Shu family’s rice!

 

She gained a deeper understanding of her grandfather’s—the Shu family patriarch’s—desire for control.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Chang Xichun, who was also stretching nearby, asked upon seeing her looking distracted.

 

Shu Qiong blurted out: “Thinking about how to usurp the throne.”

 

This wasn’t a joke. She realized her mother’s method of resistance was too gentle—it treated the symptoms but not the root cause, leading to relapses. Now that it was her turn, she was determined to be more ruthless.

 

Once this intensive training ended and she returned to the Capital Star, she needed to pay a visit to the long-abandoned Shu family mansion.

 

After not seeing her for a long time, Grandpa Shu might have forgotten her and her mother’s stubborn tempers and started testing her obedience again.

 

But for now, she had to finish her physical training.

 

Shu Qiong sighed and ended her stretching, ready for the hard work.

 

At first, Shu Qiong still had the energy to talk to Chang Xichun while doing weighted squats, but later she went silent. After finishing twenty sets, both of them were completely mute, lacking the strength to chat.

 

Finally enduring until 9:30, Shu Qiong saw Yan Xiangyu return from the medical point with a tube of injection.

 

“What’s this?” She stopped her movements.

 

Yan Xiangyu signaled her to roll up her sleeve: “Strong repair fluid.”

 

A cool, transparent liquid flowed from the needle. Shu Qiong looked away, feeling a tingling itch. “The school doctor gave it to you?”

 

After finishing the injection, Yan Xiangyu used a ball of absorbent cotton in her other hand to press down on the spot. “Mhm. They said the base provides it; it’s very effective.”

 

She was only two or three sets away from finishing her own training tonight; she had clearly gone to the medical point early to get the repair fluid just for Shu Qiong.

 

“Thanks.” Shu Qiong stood up and felt her leg muscles. “It’s very itchy, a bit stinging.”

 

Yan Xiangyu observed and gave a conclusion: “It’s a normal reaction. When you finish training and go back to the dorm, I’ll give you another shot.”

 

Shu Qiong reached out to feel Yan Xiangyu’s pocket and indeed found a new tube of repair fluid. “The base is that generous? Two tubes per person?”

 

Yan Xiangyu gave an indifferent “Mhm.”

 

With a swift chop of her palm, Shu Qiong snatched the unopened medicine, tore open the packaging, and poked it straight into Yan Xiangyu’s arm.

 

Yan Xiangyu: “…”

 

Shu Qiong handed the empty packaging back to her and laughed: “Do I look that easy to fool?”

 

Yan Xiangyu obediently took the trash and put it in her pocket, shaking her head honestly: “Not easy to fool.”

 

Shu Qiong glanced at her: “Are you almost finished on your end?”

 

Yan Xiangyu: “Yes, I can finish in half an hour.”

 

“Then go back to the dorm when you’re done, don’t wait for me.” Shu Qiong waved her hand and went back to training under heavy pressure.

 

Shu Qiong’s physical training continued intermittently until 11:30 before she finally clocked out. Chang Xichun was about ten minutes faster than her. By the time the two of them returned to the dormitory building, the public bathrooms had stopped supplying hot water.

 

Shu Qiong deeply felt this design was extremely unreasonable. She stuffed her clothes and toiletries into a bucket, planning to just rinse off with cold water.

 

The dorm was pitch black. Shu Qiong used the light from her wristband to pick up her toiletries when her toe accidentally kicked something.

 

她 shone the light and found a row of thermoses placed against the wall with a note attached.

 

“Hot water for washing up. —— Yan”

 

Shu Qiong tucked the note into her pocket, quickly grabbed her things, and headed to the bathhouse.

 

At this hour, there were actually quite a few people back from training taking showers. Everyone was too tired to talk; the bathhouse was filled with the monotonous sound of water.

 

The temperature at the base during this season was below ten degrees, and it was even cooler at night. When the shower head turned on and cold water poured over her, Shu Qiong couldn’t help but shiver.

 

She unscrewed the thermos and mixed the water in her bucket to a better temperature, finally feeling a bit more human.

 

It seemed that although the instructors hadn’t set a time limit for the nightly physical training, there were still hidden requirements. Shu Qiong finished washing up numbly, put on a T-shirt and shorts, and carried the empty thermos upstairs.

 

When she got into bed, the frame creaked slightly. Yan Xiangyu frowned slightly and opened her eyes to see Shu Qiong just about to lie down.

 

Shu Qiong asked in a whisper: “Did I wake you?”

 

Yan Xiangyu chuckled with a raspy voice: “Did you see the thermos? I guessed you’d be very late. Don’t catch a cold from the sudden changes in temperature.”

 

“Mm-hmm.” Shu Qiong spread out her blanket and said, “You’re too thoughtful, Student Yan. What would I do without you?”

 

Yan Xiangyu propped herself up on her arm to look at her, her expression languid and her eyes slightly squinted: “Then don’t ever leave me.”