The scent of AO (Alpha/Omega) pheromones is like underwear worn on the body, it belongs to a category of things that are both private and yet not entirely private. Just as normal people wouldn’t go around asking what color underwear someone is wearing today, no one would proactively ask to smell the scent of another person’s pheromones.
By making this demand, this convicted felon had no other purpose than to humiliate and insult the leader of this sampling team.
As an Omega, Lin Wanshuang occasionally faced this kind of harassment. She never paid it any mind, so after hearing Yu Xiu say this, she didn’t care much about the incident itself. Instead, she was far more interested in the secret regarding the differentiation of AO glands that the felon had mentioned.
“Heh.” A cold, furious sneer echoed right by Lin Wanshuang’s ear.
Compared to Lin Wanshuang herself, Ming Jiao minded this insult far more, though she didn’t even know the reason why.
Just the thought of a personage like the Eldest Miss being fantasized about by such a vile Alpha set a fire burning inside Ming Jiao’s heart. She wished she could use that fire to burn away every shred of malice directed at Lin Wanshuang.
However, Ming Jiao masked her emotions exceptionally well. Aside from that single sneer squeezed from between her teeth, she didn’t utter another word. She was Lin Wanshuang’s subordinate; her most important duty was to be obedient.
After a moment of deliberation, Lin Wanshuang made the arrangements. “Arrange a meeting for me with that convicted felon, and have all the necessary testing equipment prepared.”
“Understood.”
Once Yu Xiu left, Lin Wanshuang turned to look at Ming Jiao. Her dark, round, grape like eyes reflected Ming Jiao’s stiff expression.
Lin Wanshuang: “You’re angry.”
It was a statement, not a question.
“I…”
Lin Wanshuang didn’t wait for Ming Jiao to speak. Interrupting her explanation, she raised her brows slightly, carrying an indescribable aura of arrogance. “To me, this convicted felon is nothing more than an experimental subject urgently awaiting verification.”
She shifted her gaze, letting it fall onto a worn indentation on the floor, her tone carrying a trace of calm cruelty. “The only distinction she holds with me is whether she is a valuable experimental subject or a worthless one. As for what the experimental subject thinks, I never care. I am the surgeon, and she is the fish on the chopping board. Do you care about what the fish on the chopping board thinks?”
No, I would only care about whether the cooking method of the “fish” can satisfy my own “appetite.”
Ming Jiao silently added the answer for Lin Wanshuang in her mind.
With that, her state of mind calmed down. That irritating anger felt as though it had been deprived of the surrounding oxygen, dying out completely.
Taking note of the changes in the other woman’s expression, Lin Wanshuang crossed her arms and rested her chin on one hand, biting her lip as she contemplated for a few seconds. “Your personality shouldn’t be this easily angered. How strange.”
She suspected it was Ming Jiao’s susceptibility period acting up, which was why Ming Jiao was getting angry over such a trivial matter. But how could that be? Ming Jiao’s susceptibility period had only just passed; there was no way it could be staging a comeback so soon.
Excluding external influencing factors, the only remaining cause had to be Ming Jiao herself.
She leaned in close to Ming Jiao, scrutinizing her intently, her gaze sweeping across every feature of Ming Jiao’s striking face. Hmm, her skin is really good, it’s almost impossible to find a single pore.
“Hmm… I can’t see through you.”
Lin Wanshuang was deeply engrossed in her study, while Ming Jiao had frozen completely on the spot the very moment the other woman leaned in.
The distance between them was incredibly close, so close that the air Ming Jiao exhaled gently stirred the stray bangs falling across Lin Wanshuang’s forehead. She could only force herself to lighten her breathing. Lighter, just a little lighter.
However, Lin Wanshuang quickly drew back, leaving Ming Jiao alone to curl her trembling fingers, staring blankly, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Ming Jiao took a deep breath, suppressing her pounding heart, and only managed to calm her emotions after a good while.
She knew something was a bit off with her, but now was not the time to look deeper into it. She needed to find a quiet night when she was alone to carefully ponder the answers to all of this.
Whatever the answer turned out to be, she would accept it gladly.
Qiu Danqiu was a convicted felon who had been transferred all the way from Capital City, and with that god-forsaken pheromone scent of hers, she was locked away in a solitary isolation ward.
The isolation ward was quite a distance from the grand auditorium, located in the area closest to Mount Xinsong. If the isolation ward had a ventilation window, one would see the grim, towering mountain the moment they looked up.
The trio of Lin Wanshuang and her companions arrived at the isolation ward. Before entering, they specifically changed into protective suits and masks to prevent themselves from being contaminated by Qiu Danqiu’s pheromones.
The isolation ward was vast. Because it housed such a peculiar prisoner like Qiu Danqiu, the prison had specially cleared out some space to set up simple experimental equipment.
When they arrived, there was already another figure inside dressed in a matching protective suit, busily working away.
While waiting for the prison guard’s inspection, Lin Wanshuang inquired about the person’s identity. “Who is that?”
Yu Xiu held her hands up to allow the guard to search her, replying, “That’s Dr. Hu, the head of the prison health station. She’s a very good person. Sometimes when we are understaffed, we ask her for help. This time, since we needed to arrange the testing equipment for you, she came ahead to get things ready.”
Lin Wanshuang nodded, then spoke up a moment later to offer a reprimand. “The sampled pheromone specimens are classified experimental materials. Do not let anyone outside the sampling team get involved next time.”
Yu Xiu’s face flushed crimson. She forced herself to swallow the reprimand and accept Lin Wanshuang’s reminder. “Yes.”
Once Yu Xiu walked in ahead of them, Ming Jiao took a step forward and whispered, “Eldest Miss is truly strictly impartial.”
Lin Wanshuang knew exactly what she meant. Keeping her face expressionless, she stared straight ahead. “I am merely reminding her. If she does this and someone reports her, she will be fired immediately. This already counts as a professional leak of secrets.”
Ming Jiao shook her head inwardly, her tone carrying a hint of melancholy. “I am just afraid some people won’t understand Eldest Miss’s good intentions and will return kindness with enmity instead.”
“That is her business, it has nothing to do with me.” Lin Wanshuang turned around in cooperation with the inspecting guard. Facing Ming Jiao, she said, “It is enough that I do my own job well. I don’t care what others do.”
Hearing this, Ming Jiao was taken aback for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Eldest Miss, I have learned a valuable lesson.”
Lin Wanshuang tilted her chin up proudly, let out a soft snort from her nose, and then turned to walk inside.