The two of them got into the car for the return journey. Ming Jiao and Lin Wanshuang sat in the back seat, where the privacy partition in the front isolated them into a relatively private space.
In truth, Ming Jiao didn’t quite understand Lin Wanshuang’s purpose in coming to find her tonight. Since she thought so, she simply asked her directly.
Lin Wanshuang was drawing and doodling on the slightly fogged-up car window. Hearing Ming Jiao’s question, she paused her movements and pinched her somewhat chilly right index finger in her palm.
She turned her head to stare at Ming Jiao with a serious expression, “You don’t seem to have an accurate perception of your own value.”
“GHS causes a patient’s glands to atrophy, leading to a drop in rank. This only appears in older Alphas. Their bodily functions are all declining, so for them, it is irreversible. But you are different. You are still very young, an Alpha in the prime of your life, and your bodily functions haven’t even reached their peak yet. This means only your glands are atrophying. If you can be cured, it would be equivalent to a secondary development. This is a very important breakthrough for both Alphas and Omegas. Though, it’s definitely going to be very difficult.”
“So, I need to hide you away.” When Lin Wanshuang said this, she seemed to be glowing all over. Her mouth spoke of how curing Ming Jiao was an incredibly difficult task, but those eyes of hers were filled with ambition and the determination of holding victory within her grasp.
Ming Jiao stared at her blankly, her light brown eyes seemingly sucked into the other’s dark, obsidian pupils.
In the six months or so since she was diagnosed with GHS, she had sought out countless doctors. Every time, what she saw in those people’s eyes was regret and sympathy, regret that she contracted such a disease at such a young age, and sympathy that she had fallen from a high place where anyone could step on her.
It wasn’t that Ming Jiao didn’t feel resentment; it was just that resentment was useless. In the end, she still compromised, she compromised with GHS, and she compromised with every single person who stepped on her.
But Lin Wanshuang’s appearance was like a drop of spring rain on parched land, a sliver of moonlight amidst despondency.
Perhaps in the end Lin Wanshuang still wouldn’t be able to save Ming Jiao, but at least at this very moment, she let Ming Jiao see something different, a light called hope.
Returning to Lin Wanshuang’s house after a gap of a few hours, Ming Jiao was still not quite adapted. Having lived in a multi-Alpha environment since childhood, invading an Omega’s living space so directly for the first time made her feel somewhat constrained and awkward.
Fortunately, Ming Jiao didn’t smell any pheromones in Lin Wanshuang’s house, otherwise, she would only have been more embarrassed. However, she was also quite surprised by this. Although she didn’t know the rank of Lin Wanshuang’s pheromones, it was clear that the other’s rank was only high, not low, completely different from an E-rank like herself.
Yet, within the living space where Lin Wanshuang resided long-term, there wasn’t the slightest scent of her pheromones, nor was there any scent of blocker sprays. This could only mean that Lin Wanshuang was extremely restrained in this regard, possessing incredibly strong self-control.
Ming Jiao had always been highly respectful of such people, and she was also somewhat glad that she hadn’t smelled Lin Wanshuang’s pheromones.
However, that bit of respect shattered completely into pieces the moment Ming Jiao saw the game room she was supposed to sleep in.
Compared to what she had seen during the day, the game room had already been tidied up, and the newly bought bed was already set up, more than spacious enough for Ming Jiao alone.
But only the bed frame had been set up. There was neither a mattress nor a bedding set, not a single one.
“Uh, does the Eldest Miss mean for me to have a barbecue on this bed frame tonight?”
Lin Wanshuang scratched her cheek rather awkwardly. She had only been thinking about bringing the person back under her own eyelids as soon as possible, completely forgetting what the delivery installation worker had told her today.
“Miss, the mattress you ordered needs to be transferred from the neighboring city. The earliest it will arrive is tomorrow morning.”
As for what she had replied at the time, Lin Wanshuang couldn’t remember a single bit of it.
“Cough, I only asked you to come and see the progress of your room’s setup. I didn’t say I was going to let you sleep here,” Lin Wanshuang said, still stubborn.
Ming Jiao: “Then where do I sleep tonight?”
Lin Wanshuang waved her hand grandly, her mouth running faster than a train on its tracks, “That’s simple. You sleep with me.”
The air fell into a deathly silence. Neither Ming Jiao nor Lin Wanshuang herself said a word for quite a while.
Lin Wanshuang was not the type to bow her head, “What? You don’t want to sleep with this young lady?”
Refuse quickly, refuse quickly!
Ming Jiao blinked, snapping out of her daze. Hearing Lin Wanshuang’s words, she smiled instead. Her light brown eyes stared straight at the other person for a few seconds. She used one hand to brush back the strands of hair hanging over her forehead, responding magnanimously, “Sure, then I shall respectfully accept.”
With that, Ming Jiao turned around and left the “game room” that had not yet successfully transformed, walking straight toward the stairs.
Lin Wanshuang raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes, the words in her throat completely choked back into her stomach by Ming Jiao.
No, how can this person not tell the difference between polite banter and serious talk!
Ming Jiao walked all the way to the staircase and had already stepped onto the first step with one foot. She turned her head to look at Lin Wanshuang behind her. Teasing someone, after all, had to be done in moderation.
But Lin Wanshuang, whose footsteps had originally been flustered, immediately forced herself to calm down upon seeing Ming Jiao turn to look at her. She put on an expressionless face and acted completely composed, as if sharing a bed with Ming Jiao was no big deal at all.
Suddenly, Ming Jiao recalled the two hair whorls she had seen on the top of Lin Wanshuang’s head during the day. As expected, she was a stubborn breed, she truly refused to say a single word of backing down.
Withdrawing her foot from the step, Ming Jiao turned around and walked toward the sofa in the living room, which looked very comfortable.
“I think I’ll just manage on the sofa for the night. After all, even an E-rank Alpha is still an Alpha, right, Eldest Miss?” Ming Jiao sat back on the sofa, crossing her legs and lightly swinging her toe, the very image of someone teasing another.
Lin Wanshuang was left speechless. She knew Ming Jiao was giving her a way out, but looking at how the other person was acting, she wanted to be stubborn again. Yet, she was afraid that if she spoke up, the other person would really “grant her wish” and share a bed with her.
Thus, Lin Wanshuang kept her mouth tightly shut, took a few deep breaths without saying a word, muttered something in a small voice, and then turned around, running upstairs with a series of thuds.
Ming Jiao had excellent senses, so she happened to hear Lin Wanshuang’s words crystal clear.
She had said, “Coward, come up if you have the guts.”
Ming Jiao let out a chuckle, completely ignoring this childlike provocation.
However, her impression of this Eldest Miss Lin had changed just a little bit.
If the Lin Wanshuang who had taken the initiative to solve problems at the hospital before was very assertive, then looking at her now, she was entirely like a stubborn elementary school student. Yet, she possessed very strong professional ability and execution.
It wasn’t hard to see that Lin Wanshuang had grown up in a completely happy family. Perhaps up until now, she hadn’t experienced any major storms, the most severe and harrowing moment might have been that unsuccessful kidnapping.
Just like that, Ming Jiao moved into Lin Wanshuang’s house under the identities of “fiancée,” personal bodyguard, and experimental volunteer.
That game room was also officially converted into the guest room where she resided. After being cleaned up, it was much larger than her previous bedroom in the tenement building, and all the daily necessities she needed were prepared down to the last detail by Lin Wanshuang’s people.
After a few days of living together, the two of them turned out to be unexpectedly compatible in their daily routines. Ming Jiao had an early to bed, early to rise schedule, while Lin Wanshuang frequently stayed up late to handle work for the research institute, so she naturally slept late and woke up late. They didn’t interfere with each other and lived their own lives.
In the morning, Ming Jiao would go out for a morning run and bring back a warm breakfast when she returned, the custard buns that Lin Wanshuang liked to eat. This shop was actually recommended to Ming Jiao by the auntie who came to cook at the house.
Lin Wanshuang had a bit of morning crankiness, but generally, after one bite of a custard bun and a sip of a hot latte, she would calm down like a kitten whose fur had been stroked the right way.
Ming Jiao had never taken care of anyone like this before, but over the past few days, she had really gotten used to it.
On this particular morning, Ming Jiao opened the door holding the steaming custard buns as usual. Lin Wanshuang, who normally needed a knock on the door to wake up, was currently curled up in a large, oversized bathrobe on a lazy sofa in front of the floor to ceiling window, soaking up the sun.
Her thick, pitch-black long hair cascaded over the armrest like a piece of glowing black silk, with the long ends of her hair falling onto the floor bathed in sunlight.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Lin Wanshuang lazily stretched her arms, straightening her toes perfectly. She extended her body in a deeply satisfying yawn, and only then opened half an eye, fuzzily blocking the dazzling sunlight with her hand. Her voice was sticky and muddled.
“You’re back. I’m hungry.”
Watching her series of movements, a memory suddenly flashed through Ming Jiao’s mind of a pampered calico cat her best friend used to have, which would always act spoiled and roll around her feet for the cat treats in her hand.
“Ming Jiao?”
Lin Wanshuang’s voice interrupted Ming Jiao’s recollections. She snapped out of it, placed the custard buns on the walnut dining table, and went to the coffee machine to brew coffee for the other.
“Come and eat. While it’s hot.”
“Oh.”
This little morning interlude left no impact on either of their hearts. Ming Jiao had already eaten breakfast outside, so she only brewed a cup of coffee and sat by the dining table, waiting for Lin Wanshuang to finish eating.
The other person waking up so early this morning definitely wasn’t as simple as just wanting to soak up the sun.
Lin Wanshuang ate very methodically and gracefully. A bite of custard bun followed by a sip of latte made her thoroughly content, so much so that even her dark, grape like eyes squinted with pleasure.
Ming Jiao held her coffee cup and took a sip, looking straight ahead.
She really looks like that calico cat.
After finishing breakfast, Lin Wanshuang fully came back to life. Taking the tissue handed over by Ming Jiao to wipe her mouth, she finally spoke about today’s arrangements.
“Come with me to the research institute today. I need to check the condition of your glands first.”
“Alright.”
It was finally here.
Ming Jiao’s sole hope after falling ill.