“You will help me with tutoring.”
Xu Xintong had long been completely infatuated by Nong Wanshi’s coquettish tone.
In the past, she could only approach Nong Wanshi and have her help with tutoring because they were good friends, but this time, the two of them had zero relationship at all.
Though her studies were genuinely faltering and she desperately wanted Nong Wanshi’s help, the other girl had no obligation whatsoever.
The moment she finished speaking, she actually regretted it.
What she never expected was that Nong Wanshi agreed to it against all odds.
Because this person was useful to Nong Wanshi.
The more Xu Xintong thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt, realizing just how shameless she was being.
After school, Xu Xintong walked aimlessly.
Seeing Xu Xintong approach, the girl who had previously delivered a thank-you gift hurriedly shoved a note into her hand and quickly pulled her friend away.
Xu Xintong looked dazedly at the departing girl and unfolded the note.
Scrawled across it was a string of numbers and a single line of text: My contact information, alongside a cute sticker.
Coming to her senses, Xu Xintong tucked the note into her pocket.
She really should return the favor for the gift last time; she would ask what the girl liked and give her something later.
Thinking this, Xu Xintong figured it saved her some trouble since she wouldn’t need to seek the girl out individually.
As luck would have it, right after the girl left, Nong Wanshi walked past right behind Xu Xintong.
“Come to my house this weekend.”
It was a casual, weightless remark that left her completely bewildered.
Xu Xintong turned around and collided directly with Nong Wanshi.
Standing nearly a full head taller than Nong Wanshi, Xu Xintong’s sudden impact caused Nong Wanshi to stumble backward reflexively.
Xu Xintong reacted quickly, catching the nearly falling Nong Wanshi.
Yet, the instant her hand touched Nong Wanshi’s waist, Nong Wanshi’s body seemed to flinch.
Xu Xintong pulled Nong Wanshi tightly into a hug, failing to notice that Nong Wanshi had lowered her head, her face flushing crimson red in an instant.
Passing students cast curious glances their way, making Xu Xintong realize just how awkward this posture was.
Nong Wanshi swatted away Xu Xintong’s hand from her waist, maintaining a completely composed expression.
“Weren’t you looking for tutoring?”
Without giving Xu Xintong a chance to reply, Nong Wanshi walked ahead on her own accord.
Xu Xintong never imagined that in this lifetime, Nong Wanshi would still end up tutoring her anyway.
Did she genuinely want to tutor her, or was she just using tutoring as a pretext to forge a friendship?
Oh, Xu Xintong, Xu Xintong.
Meeting, tutoring, the closing of distance between them, and eventually becoming best friends for five years.
It seemed everything was still unfolding precisely along the trajectory of her past life.
After returning home and adding the other girl’s contact information, Xu Xintong learned her name was Ou Yue.
Through their text conversation, Ou Yue felt like an adorable and very shy little girl, which instantly helped Xu Xintong relax.
Three polite knocks on the door. Xu Xintong stood at the threshold, hesitating and unable to move.
In her past life, she could come to Nong Wanshi’s house whenever she pleased; she was never this fidgety before.
The door clicked open. A housekeeper looked at Xu Xintong, and the two pairs of eyes locked in a stare-down.
“Ah, um, Auntie, I…”
“Aunt Dong, let her in.”
Hearing her young mistress speak, Aunt Dong stepped aside.
Xu Xintong stepped inside, feeling awkward and unsure of where to stand.
Nong Wanshi sat right there, gracefully eating breakfast while still clad in her pajamas.
At moments like this, Nong Wanshi looked ethereal and refined, exuding an unapproachable, cold aura.
“Cough, cough, um, am I early?”
Hesitating for a long moment, Xu Xintong figured she must have arrived too early and interrupted Nong Wanshi’s breakfast.
“No, you’re right on time. We can start right after.”
Noticing the caution in the other girl’s tone, Nong Wanshi wiped her mouth and gestured for Xu Xintong to take a seat.
Given permission, Xu Xintong relaxed her rigid posture, sitting down and letting out a long breath of relief.
I always used to come at this exact time in the past, I completely forgot she’d still be resting.
Back in her past life, whenever Xu Xintong had free time on the weekend, she would come find Nong Wanshi, usually arriving while Nong Wanshi was still asleep.
She would spend some time playing with Nong Wanshi’s Ragdoll cat, Niannian, waiting patiently until Nong Wanshi woke up before saying hello and leaving.
Nong Wanshi had heard everything she was thinking.
“Why do you know my home address?”
Her tone rose slightly at the end, steady yet deeply serious.
“I asked Lao Cai.”
“Since I’m coming to you for tutoring, of course I had to ask for the address.”
“I don’t have your contact information anyway.”
Xu Xintong hadn’t even realized the note of grievance in her own voice.
How could she have lacked Nong Wanshi’s contact information before? It was just that in this current lifetime, she lacked the standing to ask for it.
“Here is my contact number: 1XX-XXXX-XXXX.”
Seeing Xu Xintong hurriedly pull out her phone to jot down the number, a subtle smile crept onto the corner of Nong Wanshi’s lips.
However, her gaze was quickly drawn away by a notification popping up on the screen.
The sender’s profile picture featured a cute sticker.
The incoming message read: Should we go see a movie together today? accompanied by an adorable emoji.
The slight twitch at the corner of Nong Wanshi’s mouth betrayed her displeasure.
Yet she kept her composure.
This person, interacting with others like this.
“Hand your phone over to me. It will interfere with your focus.”
Her tone sounded devoid of emotion, though it was actually brimming with personal feelings.
Just as Xu Xintong entered the number and before she even had a chance to check who had messaged her, her phone was promptly confiscated by Nong Wanshi.
As expected, she was just as strict as ever.
Xu Xintong had grievances she couldn’t voice.
After a short break to collect their focus, the intensive study session quickly got back on track, thanks entirely to Xu Xintong having already survived Nong Wanshi’s past demon-tier tutoring; otherwise, she would have been crying tears of agony all over again.
Even so, she couldn’t endure the prolonged torture indefinitely. After two and a half hours of diligent study, Xu Xintong finally pleaded for a short break.
Nong Wanshi also felt her throat going dry, and a break would offer a welcome moment of relaxation.
Following their brief respite, a ring of the doorbell disrupted the momentary quiet.
After Aunt Dong opened the door, she warmly welcomed the visitor inside.
“Aunt Dong! You go ahead and do your chores, I’m here to see Wanshi.”
Li Jingshan walked into the living room with an easy familiarity, only to freeze upon seeing Nong Wanshi sitting exceptionally close to an unfamiliar girl.
Her right hand clamped down with sudden force on her left wrist, gripping it so tightly it left raw red claw marks.
She clenched the pack of cookies in her hand so hard they were crushed into unrecognizable crumbs.
In a neglected corner out of sight, Li Jingshan’s expression turned pitch dark, her eyes flashing with an unreadable emotion.
“Wanshi, I brought you some cookies, but they got slightly crushed on the way here.”
Her voice carried a trace of grievance and flirtatiousness, and anyone with eyes could tell she was fishing for concern and comfort.
Xu Xintong and Nong Wanshi both turned their heads, but Li Jingshan’s gaze remained firmly fixed on Nong Wanshi alone.
She didn’t spare the person beside her even a single glance.
The moment Li Jingshan entered and spoke, Xu Xintong recognized who she was.
After all, having known Nong Wanshi for so long, she was well-acquainted with her circle of friends.
Li Jingshan was the daughter of Nong Wanshi’s father’s business partner.
Back when Xu Xintong and Nong Wanshi were friends, Li Jingshan would frequently drop by to see Nong Wanshi for one reason or another, much like Xu Xintong herself.
In her past life, Li Jingshan had been an Alpha, albeit one with certain physical drawbacks. Because of this, Li Jingshan had always struggled with deep-seated insecurity and lacked friends.
Yet Nong Wanshi had never pushed her away, befriending her and encouraging her to regain her self-confidence.
Consequently, Xu Xintong had never harbored any hostility toward her, holding only encouragement and respect in her heart.
In her past life, Xu Xintong felt their relationship was neither particularly close nor distant, they interacted occasionally, but not much.
Only, right now, something felt a bit off.
“Why is she holding such intense hostility toward me?”
The moment Li Jingshan closed the distance, the instinctive, inexplicable competition between Alphas seemed to be flaring up underneath the surface.
Perhaps it was simply because they were both Alphas.
Xu Xintong felt puzzled inside, though her outward expression remained calm.
Nong Wanshi also sensed a trace of confrontation in the air, along with the faint leakage of suppressed pheromones.
“It’s fine. You can just hand those over to Aunt Dong.”
Nong Wanshi had clearly picked up on Xu Xintong’s inner thoughts, though she was equally baffled as to why Li Jingshan harbored such animosity toward her.
Oblivious to what was going through Nong Wanshi’s mind, Li Jingshan only wanted to grow closer to her.
Treating the nearby Xu Xintong as if she didn’t even exist, she focused entirely on chatting with Nong Wanshi.
Not wishing to insert herself into their conversation, Xu Xintong let her mind drift and began chatting with Diudiu in her head.
“Yibao, why on earth did that person crush those cookies to pieces?”
Human beings truly were strange creatures.
Diudiu had been resting in dormant mode, but the moment it woke up, it noticed a figure standing right behind its host with a gaze locked onto her in a fixed stare.
Sensing the clear malice radiating from the visitor, Diudiu had been transmitting continuous telepathic warnings to its host.
“Diudiu, I have no idea either, but she seriously looks like she hates my guts.”
Xu Xintong couldn’t fathom why someone she had just met would detest her so much.
While Xu Xintong and Diudiu chattered away in full swing, Li Jingshan kept prattling on to Nong Wanshi about various amusing anecdotes she had encountered.
“Nong Wanshi, I think I’ll head back now. It’s getting a bit late.”
With dusk approaching, the evening sky blazed with a crimson sunset, a magnificent sight indeed.
Xu Xintong wanted to head home early so she could cook a meal for her family, ensuring it was hot and ready by the time they returned.
Nong Wanshi agreed that they had covered enough material for the day, and she was feeling rather tired herself.
All the way home, Xu Xintong continued chatting with Diudiu, her solitary shadow stretching longer and longer under the fading sunset.
Diudiu kept peppering Xu Xintong with questions about everything that had happened during its period of dormancy, and Xu Xintong gladly answered them one by one.
It felt as though they had an endless stream of things to talk about.
After Xu Xintong left, Li Jingshan showed no intention of departing.
Nong Wanshi sat on the sofa, just opening her mouth to speak.
“Why, why would you be with her?”
A darkened face, gloomy eyes, and an interrogative tone.
Li Jingshan looked like a completely different person.
Before Nong Wanshi could adjust to the sudden transformation of the standing girl, she was hit by a wave of an oppressive, heavy pine-needle pheromone that left her terrified.
The impact was so severe that Nong Wanshi’s body instantly locked up, paralyzed against the sofa.
Acting as though she meant to swallow Nong Wanshi whole, Li Jingshan frantically unleashed her pheromones.
“Aren’t you surprised? Why my pheromones are suddenly this strong.”
“Hehe, with that bottle of medicine, I’m not a cripple anymore.”
“That way, you won’t pity me anymore.”
“You’ll accept me, won’t you?”
“I know what happened between you two at school. Her, what right does she have, why.”
By this point, Nong Wanshi’s vision was unfocused; she couldn’t even make out the other girl’s facial expression.
Watching Nong Wanshi trapped under the control of her pheromones and flushed with desire, Li Jingshan felt her possessiveness spiral entirely out of control.
“Oh no! My phone is still at Nong Wanshi’s house!”
Xu Xintong, rushing anxiously to get home, only just remembered that she had been too busy chatting with Diudiu to ask Nong Wanshi to return it.
“Ugh, Diudiu, do you think she’s eating dinner right now? Would it be rude if I went back over there?”
Recalling the awkward scene from that morning, she really didn’t want to live through it a second time.
Exercising its capabilities, Diudiu projected a live visual feed of Nong Wanshi’s current situation directly into Xu Xintong’s mind.
At a single glance, Xu Xintong knew something was terribly wrong. She couldn’t mistake the greed shining in Li Jingshan’s eyes.
She had witnessed plenty of people flash that exact look toward Nong Wanshi in her past life.
Nong Wanshi was in grave danger.
Breaking into a full sprint, Xu Xintong ran like the wind.
No, Nong Wanshi was in peril.
She had no time to question what Li Jingshan was up to; she only knew Nong Wanshi needed her right now.
Beep, beep, beep.
Familiar with the keypad code, Xu Xintong unlocked the door, barged straight inside, and yanked Li Jingshan violently by the collar.
“Get lost!”
Xu Xintong was furious to her absolute core. The entire living room was thick with a nauseating, deeply pungent odor.
“Heh, Wanshi even gave you her house code, hehe.”
Finding the collar-grab deeply uncomfortable, Li Jingshan tried to wrench herself free, but Xu Xintong’s grip was overwhelmingly strong.
“Get out. If you don’t want to get arrested, scram.”
Xu Xintong had already called the police on her way over, and the authorities would be arriving shortly.
Daring not linger, especially since her own emotional breakdown had driven her to attempt an illegal assault on Nong Wanshi, Li Jingshan had no choice.
Cough, cough, cough.
Clutching her chest in panic, she turned and fled in disgrace.
Xu Xintong dropped to her knees, moving to check on Nong Wanshi’s condition.
Before she could react, Nong Wanshi leaned in close, her cheek brushing lightly against Xu Xintong’s face.
The moment they made contact, Xu Xintong’s heart skipped a beat.
A rich cedarwood fragrance laced with the crisp freshness of melting snow blended seamlessly with the fiery warmth of approaching spring.
At the same time, a potent white musk pheromone was screaming from her neck, merging flawlessly with the cedar.
“Don’t come closer.”
Her words carried a hint of rejection, yet remained laced with tenderness.
Xu Xintong forgot how to breathe, freezing in tension before taking in a deep, involuntary gulp of air.
Things were getting terribly complicated; her own deeply hidden feelings had nowhere left to hide.
Triggered into a forced heat cycle of her own, Xu Xintong was suffering immensely, her sole instinct shouting at her to pull the person before her tightly into her arms.
Mm, hmph, hmph.
Nong Wanshi no longer recognized who was standing before her, but catching the comforting scent allowed her to drop her guard entirely.
Yet, it felt so agonizingly uncomfortable.
Hearing Nong Wanshi’s whimpers filled Xu Xintong with a crushing wave of guilt. If only she had hurried back a little faster, none of this would have happened.
“I am sorry, I am late.”
“It’s okay now.”
Xu Xintong gently stroked Nong Wanshi’s trembling spine. The young girl’s frame still felt so frail and slender.
Aching with a tender, agonizing pain, Xu Xintong felt a searing ache twist straight through her heart.