When she returned home exhausted, the lights in the hall were still on. Her eyes, already heavy with fatigue, grew even colder. Cui Yu originally intended to pretend she hadn’t seen anything and head straight to her room, but that loathsome voice rang out nonetheless. “Xiao Yu, how was today’s combat drill? Did you meet anyone you liked?”
“No.”
Her eyes, cold as ice, slowly lifted to look at the older woman on the sofa. “Mother, the general election isn’t until next year. Why are you in such a hurry?”
“You know the Xu family has always intended to form an alliance with us through marriage. Their son is an Omega and perhaps has feelings for you. If you continue to go your own way, I will have no choice but to agree to them.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. It’s just that as an Alpha, Xiao Yu, you need to contribute to the family. I’ve given you the chance to find love on your own. You have two months left, if you don’t bring someone back by then, you will marry the Xu family’s youngest son.”
The gloom between her brows deepened. Ever since she presented as an Alpha, her mother’s expectations had grown heavier and her demands stricter. In her tangled thoughts, Cui Yu suddenly thought of someone, if it were her, she could begrudgingly accept it.
The youth had excellent grades, a resilient character, and happened to have feelings for her.
Sighing, not wanting to drag an innocent person into her troubles, Cui Yu lay flat on her bed. She thought of the words the person had mumbled while unconscious.
“Cui Yu… tuition fees…”
The most important condition for agreeing to the sponsorship back then was that the school would keep it strictly confidential. Jiao Jin shouldn’t have known that the person sponsoring her was Cui Yu. Could those words have another meaning?
Thinking these thoughts, Cui Yu drifted off to sleep.
“What? You remembered everything?”
When she opened her eyes, the spirited youth from her memories had gained a touch of somberness, looking stable and reliable. However, those sharp, heroic eyes now held a few traces of hostility, and her words bordered on mockery.
Cui Yu sorted through the extra memories in her mind, they were scattered fragments of this person back at school.
“I haven’t remembered everything. Ah Jin, do you loathe me that much?”
There was a hidden grievance in her flat voice, but it seemed her personality had changed slightly after merging the memories. The woman before her was no longer so transparent, her guarded emotions hid behind eyes filled with testing.
“So, what did you remember? To be able to call me ‘Ah Jin’ so calmly at a time like this, I imagine you haven’t remembered much, have you?”
From the moment she knew this woman’s memories were resurfacing, Jiao Jin had become inexplicably agitated, as if afraid of losing that frank and sincere affection. Realizing Cui Yu had changed, Jiao Jin’s tone grew colder.
“I didn’t remember much, just images of you at school. You looked quite spirited back then.”
“Me at school?”
“Yes. The images are fragmented, one moment it’s you walking through the woods clutching exam papers, the next it’s you fighting with all your might in the arena. But… we never had any intersection.”
Jiao Jin’s brow furrowed. She had thought the woman remembered everything and would show an equal level of disgust toward her. But she only seemed to recall scenes from before they met?
After all, she had no reason to lie, no reason to pretend if she truly remembered everything.
Jiao Jin inexplicably felt a sense of relief, and the warmth in her voice gradually returned. “And your past? Before you met me, did you remember that?”
“A little.”
Cui Yu paused, perhaps debating whether to speak. But currently, the only person she could rely on was Jiao Jin. She looked up, her gaze lost. “My mother… she doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“Why do you think that? If she didn’t like you, how could she have spoiled you into such an arrogant temperament?”
“I don’t know. It’s just an intuition. In those memories, my emotion was always a desire to avoid her.”
“You can actually empathize with your emotions from back then? Then what about me? What’s the feeling toward me?”
The confusion in her eyes was replaced by guilt. Cui Yu gripped the blanket over her, her fingertips turning white. “Ah Jin… I seemed to have planned to use you. I didn’t love you, but I needed you to marry me.”
Jiao Jin’s heart skipped a beat. She had entertained this suspicion before. They had gotten together in the second year before the election. Because of the current low marriage rates, the government required the two top leaders to be in stable partnerships. Jiao Jin guessed she might have been in a rush to be with her because of this, but…
Even so, it still hurt to have the suspicion confirmed.
“Why? Is there a reason? Why did you have to marry me?”
Her hoarse voice sounded more despondent than ever before. Cui Yu felt a pang of pity but didn’t want to deceive her. “My mother needed me to be elected as Deputy Bureau Chief, but I didn’t meet the criteria for being married, and I didn’t want to marry into the Xu family. After thinking it over, I chose you.”
Before Jiao Jin could speak, she added urgently, “I’m sorry! I… I don’t know what I was thinking then, but I must have had some feelings for you, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen you.”
Jiao Jin’s gaze turned cold. She sneered, “So, choosing me and deceiving my feelings is supposed to be my honor?”
“No, that’s not what I meant, I…”
She was clumsy with words, and with her memories still blurred, Cui Yu didn’t know how to explain. Everything after that day of the combat drill was unknown to her, like a place that should have been clear but was suddenly obscured, leaving her frustrated and uneasy.
“Forget it. What’s past is past. Since you have your memories, go back to the Cui family. I have no reason to look after you anymore.”
The woman’s aloof tone was piercing and painful. Lacking her previous bold courage, Cui Yu just looked at Jiao Jin with a lingering, hesitant gaze as the other woman tried to distance herself. Her eyes slowly reddened. “Ah Jin, I don’t want to go back.”
“That is your home. Why wouldn’t you go back?”
“But I don’t want to face my mother. In the few memories I have, I’m just a tool to her. I don’t have the freedom Peining has at all.”
“Maybe your perception is wrong. She’s your mother, after all, why would she treat you differently?”
“It’s not a mistake. Really, Ah Jin, believe me…”
The woman’s attempt to hold back her emotions while looking so pitiful was even more heart-wrenching than before. As if abandoned by the entire world, her beautiful eyes dimmed, and a layer of mist covered her lifeless pupils.
A sensible child who doesn’t cry is often more endearing than one who wails.
Jiao Jin felt uncomfortable and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Fine, I believe you. But something happened to my sister, so I have to go back tonight.”
“Your sister? Is she the girl from the psychological clinic?”
For some reason, as soon as that girl’s image appeared in her mind, Cui Yu’s heart flared with a wave of panic. An uneasy pain surged through her logic, leaving her fearful and trembling.
“Yes. She encountered a creep today. I’m going home to stay with her for the night.”
Cui Yu seemed to want to say more, but Jiao Jin received a call from Bureau Chief Cui. She pointed to her wrist to signal the call and answered. The voice on the other end was frantic: “Xiao Jiao! There’s news of Pei Ning! I received a message saying as long as I withdraw from tomorrow’s election, they will return Pei Ning unharmed. But if I insist on running, Peining…”
The rest didn’t need to be said. Jiao Jin fell silent, glancing at Cui Yu, whose expression was equally grave.
“Xiao Jiao, are you listening?”
“I’m here, Bureau Chief Cui. I’ll bring the team over first and see if we can trace anything through the ID info.”
“Good. Thank you for your hard work.”
Just as she opened her contact list to send the technical staff to the Cui residence, her wrist was grabbed. The woman, having recovered part of her memory, looked restrained yet worried. “Ah Jin, be careful. Your own safety is important too.”
Nodding, Jiao Jin pulled her hand away, unsure for a moment what to say.
It was strange, she clearly loathed her, so why was her heart feeling so soft right now?
She spent the whole night at the Cui residence with her subordinates, but the result was a total lack of progress. The number used state-level protection encryption; no information could be found. However, they could determine the suspect was someone within the government. Since they mentioned the Bureau Chief withdrawing from the election, was it a competitor?
The names of Bureau Chief Cui’s two competitors came to mind. Bai Wen was said to be gentle and polite, while Xu Yichong was hot-tempered. But would they do something so foolish?
“Xiao Jiao, do you want some water?”
“Yes, thank you, Bureau Chief.”
After staring at the screen for so long, her eyes were dry. Jiao Jin took the cup handed to her and took a small sip.
“How is it? Any leads?”
Shaking her head while sighing, she closed the laptop. “The address is completely untraceable. Bureau Chief, what do you plan to do? Are you still participating in tomorrow’s election?”
Both fell into silence. Bureau Chief Cui lowered her head, her expression unreadable, her voice only carrying a hint of loneliness. “If there’s still no information by tomorrow, I’ll withdraw. Peining’s safety is more important.”
“Chief…”
Jiao Jin also felt uneasy, but at this moment, she thought of what Cui Yu had said that the Bureau Chief liked Cui Peining much more than her. Could it be true?
“Don’t worry. Even if I don’t participate, it’s just losing the position of Bureau Chief. I can still be an idle official in a clerical department. As for you, when do you plan to get married? Don’t you want to climb the ladder?”
Being looked at teasingly by the older woman, Jiao Jin smiled awkwardly. “I don’t have those plans for now. You don’t need to worry about that, Chief.”
“I recall you’re already twenty-three, Xiao Jiao? Xiao Yu was around your age when she became Deputy Bureau Chief. Won’t you work a little harder?”
Standing up at that moment, the time displayed on her wrist was getting late. She cleared her throat. “I don’t even have a partner, so I’m not thinking about those things. Bureau Chief, I’m heading back to the Detention Bureau. If there’s any news tomorrow, I’ll contact you.”
Without waiting for the Chief to say anything more with a smile, Jiao Jin grabbed her equipment and left, fearing that if she stayed, she’d be interrogated further. Her team was waiting outside, everyone looking somewhat dejected.
“Keep your spirits up. At least we can confirm that Cui Peining is safe for now.”
“Young Chief…”
“We’ll talk back at the Bureau.”
Seeing Bureau Chief Cui come out, even though Jiao Jin was an orphan, she felt like she was being pressured to marry by an elder. Jiao Jin nodded to her and hurried away with her team.
The older woman watched them leave and exchanged a complex look with Mrs. Cui, who had slowly walked out onto the balcony upstairs.
By the time they returned to the Detention Bureau, the moon had hidden away. Seeing how exhausted everyone was, Jiao Jin didn’t drag them into a meeting. She just told them to put their gear away and go rest; tomorrow was the solemn general election, and there would be a lot to do.
Her wrist vibrated. It was a message from Cui Yu: “Ah Jin, are you finished with work?”
She wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or fate, but getting a message just as she finished work felt strangely heartwarming. She called her back. The other side picked up almost instantly, her voice soft and warm: “Ah Jin, what is it?”
“Too lazy to type, so I’m just telling you I’m done. But… I’m sorry, still no news about your sister.”
Though her memories had returned and her calm, flat nature had restored somewhat, she hadn’t lost her sensitivity to emotions. From the first second Jiao Jin spoke, Cui Yu could hear her exhaustion and frustration, it seemed she was blaming herself for her incompetence.
“Ah Jin, why do you take everything on yourself? Although everyone is anxious about Peining’s disappearance, it’s not solely your responsibility. It’s not your fault she hasn’t been found. Why are you apologizing to me?”
The other side was silent. Cui Yu paused, her voice growing even softer. “Ah Jin, you’ve done well enough. You gave up your weekend, you’ve been running around the moment there’s news, and you’ve had to take care of me and your sister during all this. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I think you’re great, really.”
For some reason, after being comforted, the emotions she had been holding back surged like a flood. Jiao Jin suppressed the sourness rising in her throat and forced a laugh. “Do I need your validation?”
“Of course you don’t need my validation because you’ve already done so well. But you always put too much pressure on yourself, even for someone as annoying as Pei Ning, you’re searching so earnestly. Ah Jin, you’ve worked hard.”