Ming Jiao and Lin Wanshuang stayed together in the laboratory until the lunch break. They had only completed the needle biopsy so far and hadn’t had time to extract the pheromones yet. Lin Wanshuang planned to continue after lunch.
She had originally been pondering how to convince Ming Jiao to abandon the idea of eating out at an external restaurant. As it turned out, Ming Jiao seemed to have forgotten about the matter entirely, quietly following behind Lin Wanshuang as they walked toward the research institute’s cafeteria.
Walking behind Lin Wanshuang, Ming Jiao consistently lagged a step or two behind. Frowning slightly, Lin Wanshuang deliberately slowed her pace until she was finally walking side by side with her companion.
She first turned her head to check the area around the glands on the back of Ming Jiao’s neck. There was no swelling, only a slight redness, which was completely normal. She then spoke up to ask, “Did that biopsy just now make you uncomfortable?”
Lin Wanshuang’s voice carried a hint of gentle concern. Ming Jiao’s fingers, hanging at her side, curled slightly as she replied softly, “No, just a bit of discomfort now that the anesthesia has worn off.”
Lin Wanshuang breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. After we eat, I’ll have Xiao Ba fetch an ice pack for you to cold-compress it, and it’ll be fine.”
Ming Jiao nodded, looking at Lin Wanshuang with an analytical, probing expression.
Lin Wanshuang stared at her for two seconds, knowing she must have many questions, so she said directly, “If there’s anything you want to ask, just ask. I’ll answer as I see fit.”
Hearing this, Ming Jiao lowered her eyelashes and let out a soft laugh. The young mistress truly acted like a young mistress.
“I only have one question. Is Your Ladyship’s cooperation with me solely for one of your mentor’s projects?” Ming Jiao stared straight at her, her light-brown eyes suddenly filled with a rare earnestness.
Ming Jiao didn’t know what she was being so sensitive about, she only knew that she had been completely out of it ever since she overheard the conversation between Qiao Yi and Lin Wanshuang. She shouldn’t be acting like this. Her cooperation with Lin Wanshuang was supposed to be a matter of mutual utilization. The question she just asked was clearly overstepping boundaries. She closed her eyes, suppressing the emotions in her heart.
“My apologies. Just pretend I never asked.”
“Of course not!”
Their voices rang out at the same time. Lin Wanshuang looked at Ming Jiao with a face full of astonishment, as if completely failing to understand why the other woman would think that way.
“Ming Jiao, do you have any idea how important your appearance is to me? It’s practically the equivalent of sending charcoal during a snowstorm!” Lin Wanshuang’s blunt words carried no hint of romantic ambiguity, they were entirely a testament to Ming Jiao’s sheer utility.
Ming Jiao froze in place, her expression looking uncharacteristically blank. “W-What?”
Lin Wanshuang rolled her eyes dramatically. “The Sang family’s relentless pressure means I absolutely must have a fiancée to completely cut off their illusions. Looking at it now, Sang Xuerui still hasn’t given up.” The occasional harassing messages popping up on her phone in her pocket were the best proof of that.
A verbally acknowledged fiancée wasn’t enough to make the Sang family completely give up on Lin Wanshuang.
“Furthermore, given my job and family background, I am destined to need a bodyguard following me at all times, someone who won’t harm me, has no ulterior motives toward me, won’t suppress me with Alpha pheromones, and is capable of fighting. Currently, you are the only one who meets all these criteria.”
“And what’s incredibly fortunate for me is that your appearance simultaneously allows my research project to advance further.”
“You play a massive role. How could you possibly be as simple as just a lab rat?”
The barrage of words hit Ming Jiao squarely in the face, leaving her utterly stunned. “Ah, so that’s how it is…”
“Of course it is.” Lin Wanshuang put her hands behind her back and quickened her pace forward. “Hurry up, hurry up, I’m starving to death.”
“Right, right, right,” Ming Jiao responded with a smile.
Hearing this, Lin Wanshuang secretly wiped away a bead of sweat in her heart. As an employer, she really was dedicated to her duties, not only did she have to pay her employee’s salary, but she also had to constantly worry about the employee’s psychological well-being.
When the employee was unhappy, she even had to rack her brains to coax her, terrified that the other party might just throw a tantrum and quit.
Sigh, it’s hard to be a boss.
By the time the two arrived at the cafeteria, it was peak lunch hour. The dining tables were mostly occupied by emaciated researchers sitting in groups of twos and threes, and one could occasionally hear them discussing work.
Lin Wanshuang led Ming Jiao toward the meal service windows, speaking as they walked. “The cafeteria food tastes pretty good. Just use the ID card issued to you today to pay. You’re different from standard volunteers, you don’t have any dietary restrictions, so you can eat whatever you like.”
Ming Jiao glanced around and didn’t find anything she particularly disliked. She had never been a picky eater, so she nodded to show she understood.
“Alright, then get your food and find a place to sit. I’m going to check the second floor to see if there’s anything else to eat, and I’ll come down to join you in a bit.”
“Okay.” Ming Jiao watched Lin Wanshuang vanish like a puff of smoke toward the second floor, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile again. She had just scanned the area earlier, the first floor didn’t have the dish Mustard Shrimp Balls.
Ming Jiao picked out a few stir-fried dishes, then carried her meal tray to a seat not far from the staircase leading to the second floor. That way, Lin Wanshuang would spot her the moment she came downstairs.
Using her bamboo chopsticks, she popped diced chicken into her mouth one bite at a time. Ming Jiao ate leisurely, glancing toward the staircase every now and then. Perhaps because her looks were too striking and completely unfamiliar, passing researchers would occasionally cast their gazes upon her.
They would look at Ming Jiao and sometimes huddle together to whisper a few words, expressions of scrutiny, curiosity, and disdain. Ming Jiao took in all of their reactions, but she didn’t care in the slightest. She had experienced being the center of public attention far too many times, it no longer left a single ripple in her heart.
However, ten minutes passed, and Lin Wanshuang still hadn’t come downstairs. Ming Jiao stared at her lunch, which was nearly finished. After a moment of thought, she set down her chopsticks. They had come to the cafeteria together after all, it wouldn’t look right to leave the young mistress to eat all by herself later.
Right at the exact moment Ming Jiao set down her chopsticks, a sudden burst of commotion erupted from the second floor. Her expression shifted instantly, and her immediate instinct told her that something had happened to Lin Wanshuang.
In the next second, the people on the first floor only saw an incredibly swift, platinum-blonde blur flash past their eyes, charging straight toward the second floor.
Lin Wanshuang stood amidst a complete mess, holding her meal tray with one hand. Her head was lowered, masking her expression, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Two steps away from her stood a group of people, roughly numbering seven or eight. The rest of the occupants remained seated at their tables, their eyes glued to the scene, yet none of them stepped forward to intervene.
Food mixed with greasy stains was splattered across the floor, leaving a few grease marks on the hem of Lin Wanshuang’s clothes, trouser legs, and shoes. Lin Wanshuang had really liked these shoes, but right now, she only wanted to throw them into the trash can and never look at them again.
“Director Lin, it’s been so long since we last met, and you don’t even say sorry when you bump into someone anymore? Even though you’re a director now, you should still have basic manners, right?” The passive-aggressive words came from the mouth of the Omega leading the group opposite her, and the people beside her immediately chimed in agreement.
Lin Wanshuang raised her eyes expressionlessly, swept a glance over the speaker, and then looked away. Looking even a second longer felt like inflicting torture upon herself.
Treating the group like thin air, she turned slightly toward an empty table nearby. She wanted to set her meal tray down before dealing with her stained clothes. This was the very last portion of Mustard Shrimp Balls, after all, she had to guard it well.
“Lin Wanshuang, it’s bad enough that you deliberately bumped into me without showing any classmate solidarity, but now you want to leave without even offering an apology? Do you truly consider yourself a young mistress? No wonder you couldn’t shed a single tear at Mentor’s funeral, you’ve never regarded anyone from the institute with any respect!” The Omega grew angrier as she spoke. Seeing Lin Wanshuang about to walk away, she took two or three strides forward, reaching out to grab Lin Wanshuang’s shoulder.
Smack!
A sharp crisp sound echoed through the second floor cafeteria. Lin Wanshuang only felt a burst of warm aura shielding her into an embrace, and she could even smell a hint of a refreshing scent amidst the greasy aroma of the food.
Ming Jiao wrapped a single arm around Lin Wanshuang to shield her, while her other hand struck heavily against the Omega’s arm. With a single-handed shove, she immediately forced the individual back, instantly creating distance between her and Lin Wanshuang.
How could a frail Omega researcher ever match the physical strength of an Alpha like Ming Jiao? The woman stumbled backward a couple of steps, her left foot accidentally stepping into the food she had spilled on the ground. Losing her balance, she slipped backward and, before the others could even notice, fell heavily right into the pile of greasy food, eliciting a chorus of gasps from the surroundings.
“Wanwan!”
“Oh my! Wanwan, watch out!”
Amidst the rising waves of startled cries, Ming Jiao and Lin Wanshuang remained completely unaffected. Ming Jiao calmed her violently thumping heart, quickly checking Lin Wanshuang’s condition. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”
Lin Wanshuang shook her head quietly. Only then did Ming Jiao breathe a sigh of relief, chuckling softly. “Your Ladyship truly does need a personal bodyguard. Danger seems to follow you everywhere you go.”
Ming Jiao had only left Lin Wanshuang for ten minutes, yet the woman had managed to get bullied like this right out of her sight. Heaven knew what kind of explosive speed Ming Jiao had unleashed when she saw that Omega trying to lay a hand on Lin Wanshuang. If this were the end of term practical speed trial, she probably would have taken first place.
“My food.” Lin Wanshuang felt that her meal tray was much safer in Ming Jiao’s hands than on the table, so she turned and pressed the tray against Ming Jiao’s chest.
The golden-yellow Mustard Shrimp Balls rested quietly inside the compartment. Lin Wanshuang tilted her head up slightly to look at Ming Jiao, her round, dark eyes reflecting Ming Jiao’s platinum-blonde hair.
Ming Jiao remembered that the calico cat had looked at her with the exact same expression. This portion of Mustard Shrimp Balls felt exactly like the cat treat strip she held in her hand back then.
“Ahhh! Lin Wanshuang! You ungrateful, white-eyed wolf! Mentor taking you in was practically inviting a wolf into the house!” the Omega spat out viciously. “You couldn’t even manage to put on a show at Mentor’s funeral. What right do you have to call yourself Mentor’s student?!”
“I don’t have the right? Then does a fool like you, who can’t even distinguish between a scent blocker and a suppressant, have the right?” Lin Wanshuang stepped out from Ming Jiao’s embrace. Shrugging off her grease stained outer coat, she walked toward the group with a cold face.
Her gaze swept over every single person in that group, each face utterly familiar. “We studied under the same mentor, yet it seems all of you share the exact same thoughts as Feng Wan.”
“I truly feel sorry for Mentor. Teaching students for years only to have them turn out worse than beasts, unable to tell right from wrong, only knowing how to sway like blades of grass to whichever side has power. To think you actually have the nerve to bring up Mentor.”
This string of words instantly ignited the fury of the group, and each of them glared at Lin Wanshuang with venomous eyes.
“Lin Wanshuang, you’ve gone too far!”
“There are people among us who at least have more seniority than you. Show some respect!”
“Relying on Mentor’s admiration to look down on everyone, yet you didn’t shed a single tear at Mentor’s funeral. Lin Wanshuang, are you even human?!”
Lin Wanshuang walked up to them with an icy expression. “If crying could bring Mentor back, I would willingly cry until I went blind. What about you all? After you finished crying, you forgot Mentor completely. The only time you remember you have a deceased mentor is when you’re rallying together to corner me.”
The group was hit right where it hurt. The person standing at the very front even looked like they wanted to strike Lin Wanshuang. Ming Jiao’s expression hardened as she prepared to step forward to intercept, when Lin Wanshuang suddenly barked sharply, “What? You want to put your hands on me too?”
“Feng Wan has Director Lan protecting her at all costs. What about the rest of you?”
“Want to give it a try? Let’s see whether your hand hits me first, or whether you pack up your things and pack your bags out of this research institute first.”