When Qiao Yi saw Qiao Jiao, she subconsciously straightened her back.
The airport was bustling with people.
The woman wore a white shirt with one corner of the hem tucked into her trousers, her hands tucked in her pockets as she walked out.
Under the lights, her skin was luminous, exuding a capable yet cold and aloof beauty. Qiao Jiao was tall, her eyes revealed above her mask an extremely striking pair of peach-blossom eyes, when she lifted her gaze, it looked as if rippling light was dancing within them.
Qiao Yi took a few steps forward, then broke into an extremely sweet smile: “Sister.”
Qiao Jiao looked at her and nodded.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Her voice was very soft, with a deeply magnetic timbre that made one’s bones go weak.
Qiao Yi: “Not long, not long, I’ve only been standing here for a little while.”
Qiao Yi: “Let me help you with your luggage.”
Qiao Jiao said softly: “No need, I’ve got it.”
Getting into the car, Qiao Jiao handed a paper bag to Qiao Yi.
Qiao Yi paused, her eyes widening reflexively: “Sister, is this for me?”
This bag was a limited edition, only sold overseas. Qiao Yi had previously gone out of her way to have someone buy it for her, only to come up empty-handed every time.
Qiao Jiao gave a soft hum of affirmation.
Qiao Yi said happily: “Thank you, sister! I’ve wanted this bag for the longest time, but when I had people try to buy it before, they couldn’t get it. I, ”
Qiao Jiao took off her mask and said: “Focus on driving, stop talking.”
“, Understood.”
A brief silence fell inside the car. As Qiao Yi drove, she cast stealthy glances at the sister she hadn’t seen in over a year.
The woman possessed a cold, porcelain-fair complexion and a slightly elongated oval face. Her jawline was distinct without being sharp, carrying a gentle beauty instead. Her eyes were exceptionally distinctive, narrow, slightly elongated double-lidded eyes resembling blooming peach blossoms. It was this exact face that had created the myth of the entire media industry, hailed by netizens nationwide as the Nation’s Goddess.
Qiao Jiao crossed her arms, her delicate brows slightly furrowed as she looked ahead, then turned her head and stretched her neck.
Seeing this, Qiao Yi hurriedly pulled a tube of ointment from the glove compartment: “Are your glands bothering you, Sister? I have some soothing ointment here, you should put some on.”
Qiao Jiao used the ointment handed over by Qiao Yi.
To her surprise, it was quite different from other ointments on the market. Applied to the back of her neck, there was zero burning sensation, instead, it felt cool, refreshing, and very comfortable.
As her fair, slender fingers turned the white tube of ointment, Qiao Jiao noticed the handwriting on it:
[Xiao Yi, remember to apply it on time every day, three times a day, to relieve gland pain.]
Qiao Jiao: “Did your girlfriend give you this?”
The woman’s gaze, as cold as a mountain stream, turned toward her. At that exact moment, Qiao Yi slammed on the brakes, causing both of their bodies to lurch forward violently from inertia.
Qiao Jiao: ?
Qiao Yi pressed her lips together, her palms slick with sweat against the steering wheel, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
The whole affair between her and Duan Jinwei had passed by many days ago in the blink of an eye.
At the end of the day, she was in the wrong. She couldn’t stand Duan Jinwei, so she went out and found another Alpha.
But how could she ever speak of such a thing to Qiao Jiao!
Qiao Yi’s fear of this older sister of hers was ingrained deep into her bones.
They weren’t biological sisters.
To be precise, Qiao Jiao was her cousin.
Qiao Jiao was seven years older than Qiao Yi.
When Qiao Yi was very young, she had been sent to Haicheng for school, living with Qiao Jiao.
Qiao Jiao was like an elder figure to her. Back when her mother was busy with work and absent from home day in and day out, seventeen-year-old Qiao Jiao would often come to school for her parent-teacher conferences.
The young Omega would sit among all the parents, her temperament as cold and pure as snow, composed and dazzling.
That was the nightmare of Qiao Yi’s childhood. When she was little, she lived perpetually under the shadow of her overly brilliant sister. She was most terrified of failing an exam, because if she did, Qiao Jiao would silently print out all the test papers from that exam after getting the report card, stand guard over her while she redid every single question, and tutor her on the spot.
If she genuinely couldn’t figure it out, Qiao Jiao wouldn’t scold her, she would simply gaze at her with those serene eyes and let out a very soft sigh.
Hearing that sigh from her exceptional sister was far more agonizing to Qiao Yi than a direct scolding.
Even into adulthood, Qiao Yi would sometimes wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares echoing with the sound of her sister’s sighs.
“Yes…”
Qiao Jiao paused for a moment and put down the ointment: “This was a gift given to you by someone else. It’s not appropriate for me to use it.”
Qiao Yi bit her lip: “My gland condition is fine, I don’t need it at all. She even forces me to use the medicine every day. Sister, you have no idea how clingy she is, I’m driven crazy by her.”
Whenever Qiao Jiao returned from business trips in the past, Qiao Yi would often have her girlfriend pick her up.
Qiao Jiao remembered a very introverted girl who would blush just speaking a few words, very shy, yet always helpful with the luggage and awkward when forced to call her “Sister.”
What was Qiao Yi’s girlfriend’s name again?
She couldn’t quite remember.
Her only impression was: a little whipping boy with a remarkably good temper.
But Qiao Jiao had no interest in Alphas and didn’t care to understand them deeply.
By the time morning work concluded, it was already two o’clock in the afternoon.
Duan Jinwei bought some food and found a quiet corner in the hallway to sit down.
Duan Jinwei was naturally slender, and wearing her white coat made her look exceptionally delicate. The coat had been washed many times and was starting to pill.
After a couple of bites, she had no appetite left and closed the container lid.
Leaning her back against the wall, she lowered her gaze, gripping her phone as she typed on the screen:
[Why would a girlfriend cheat?]
The answers on the web varied wildly, and Duan Jinwei looked at them silently.
Her hand drifted unconsciously into her bag, brushing against the cold voice recorder.
Qiao Yi’s words from that night echoed in her mind.
Even after so many days had passed, she still couldn’t walk past it.
Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder lightly.
“Babe, are you eating out here?”
Duan Jinwei turned her head to see Xia Tang standing behind her, wearing a white coat identical to hers.
Xia Tang: “What’s wrong? Still upset?”
Duan Jinwei managed a weak smile: “…No.”
Xia Tang said: “Weiwei, if you ask me, breaking up with Qiao Yi is the best thing that could have happened. You have zero reason to feel sad.”
“How did Qiao Yi usually treat you? She was always bullying you! Did she ever check on you during your rut? No! In all the years you dated her, what did she ever do besides take from you?” Xia Tang said indignantly. “She was unhappy that you went to donate pheromones every month and scolded you for it, so you stopped going. She wanted you to mark her, so you went and studied for the marker certification. And you spent days researching and making a bodily care regimen for her. Do you have any idea how much an Omega rehabilitation specialist charges online? But she never appreciated any of it.”
“You’re so wonderful, with top-tier grades and strong capabilities. Now that you’ve left her, are you worried you won’t find another girlfriend? Staying with her was such a waste. Listen to your sister here, stop thinking about her, she’s not worth it.”
Xia Tang had learned about Duan Jinwei and Qiao Yi’s breakup online.
Qiao Yi was wealthy and the campus belle of the journalism department. She was already a campus celebrity, and to top it off, she posted on Weibo after the breakup, making the matter spread far and wide.
Duan Jinwei raised a hand to wipe her eyes and said softly: “Alright, stop talking about it.”
Xia Tang asked: “What on earth was the reason for your breakup this time? How could it be so sudden? She dumped you, she has to have had a reason!”
Duan Jinwei hadn’t told Gu Tian about Qiao Yi’s infidelity because she felt it was improper to spread that kind of private Omega matter.
Duan Jinwei shook her head.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated, it was a message from Gu Tian.
Gu Tian: [Weiwei, what’s going on between you and Qiao Yi? People on the forum are talking about you. Are those things true?]
Duan Jinwei paused. Gu Tian sent her a screenshot.
It was a screenshot of the A University campus forum, with a thread titled: [Inside story on Miss Qiao’s breakup: some scumbag Alphas these days are truly infuriating].
The original poster had published a long post, dropping hints left and right that Qiao Yi’s mental state had deteriorated severely after the breakup, and that she even went to see a psychological counselor this morning, allegedly because her Alpha girlfriend’s infidelity had inflicted severe psychological trauma on Qiao Yi.
The comments section was a barrage of curses.
[No way, a top student from the medical school turns out to be a scumbag? Miss Qiao lowering herself to be her girlfriend is the blessing of a lifetime, what more could she possibly want, she actually cheated?]
[Cheaters deserve to die, scum Alpha, drop dead!]
[Outrageous! Qiao Yi accommodated and tolerated her from start to finish, how dare she let someone down like that?]
In just a few hours, the thread’s view count exceeded ten thousand, and replies skyrocketed, piling up to over a thousand comments.
Seeing the entire piece filled with grotesque rumors and abuse, Duan Jinwei froze in place.
“Weiwei, what are you looking at?” Xia Tang leaned over: “Damn!”
“Are these people sick?”
Xia Tang logged into the forum and quickly found the post.
It was easy to find, it was already trending on the front page. Her fingers flew across the screen typing: “I am going to fuming mad! Do they know the situation? Clearly Qiao Yi dumped you, what right do they have to say things like this?”
Duan Jinwei: “Forget it, online public opinion will die down after a while.”
Xia Tang: “I’m just afraid some of Qiao Yi’s brainless stans might come looking for trouble.”
Duan Jinwei: “I’m not afraid of these groundless insults.”
Xia Tang made a phone call: “Hello! Qiao Yi!”
“Did you see those things on the forum? Aren’t you going to come out and clear the air?”
The hallway was quiet, and Duan Jinwei, hugging her knees, could clearly hear Qiao Yi’s cold voice: “What does that have to do with me?”
Xia Tang: “? What do you mean what does it have to do with you, you, ”
Qiao Yi hung up the phone.
Xia Tang: “Damn it!”
Duan Jinwei couldn’t eat a single bite of her food anymore.
When she went out to throw away the trash and stepped out of the fire exit, Duan Jinwei’s eyes turned red. A sour sensation crept up from the bridge of her nose, carrying an indescribable sense of grievance and anger as tears slipped down her cheeks.
She had actually been cried angry. But she was just a coward, even when angry, all she could do was cry…
The hospital lobby was still bustling with coming and going crowds, very noisy. She took off her glasses and wiped them, and everything in front of her began to blur into nothingness.
Duan Jinwei abruptly bumped into someone, causing the person opposite her to step back a pace.
“Sorry, sorry.” Duan Jinwei apologized hurriedly, her tear tracks still wet.
A very faint fragrance brushed against the tip of her nose, peony, a deeply feminine scent.
Duan Jinwei raised her head in a panic and found herself locked in an unexpected gaze with a pair of cold, aloof eyes.
In an instant, Duan Jinwei took two steps back as if a thunderclap had exploded overhead.
It was a tall woman, whose entire presence was flawless to the point of perfection.
The lights outlined exquisite contours on her face. Her bone structure was extraordinarily gorgeous, her raven-black hair tucked behind one ear on one side, a black leather jacket accentuating her narrow shoulders, slender waist, and long legs.
The woman stood before her with one hand in her pocket, looking down at her. Because she wore stilettos, she had to lower her gaze slightly to look at Duan Jinwei. Her pupils were pitch-black, like jade immersed in a winter cold spring.
Duan Jinwei’s heart thumped wildly, her legs turning weak out of sheer fright.
She lowered her voice: “Sorry…”
Qiao Jiao stared at Duan Jinwei’s rabbit-red eyes for a moment: “Watch where you’re going.”
Years of hosting experience gave her a habit of speaking with exceptional clarity of articulation. Qiao Jiao’s tone was cool yet bright, clean and translucent like icy spring-water jade. It wasn’t shrill, instead exuding a sense of underlying skeletal structure and high-class nobility.
Duan Jinwei stood pressed against the wall, slowly curling her spine only after the woman stepped into the elevator.
That was Qiao Yi’s older sister, Qiao Jiao.
Duan Jinwei had met Qiao Jiao a few times in the past.
Yet those were merely brief encounters with virtually no intersection.
Duan Jinwei kept her distance from Qiao Yi’s sister.
For some reason, in front of a woman radiating such queen-like aura, she always felt a sense of self-abasement.
Watching the woman’s retreating figure gradually disappear, a sudden, alarming thought popped into Duan Jinwei’s mind.
She could ignore malicious gossip, but what if Qiao Yi’s sister saw this storm and, believing the rumors, came looking for trouble with her? How would she handle that?
In front of Qiao Jiao, she could never get more than half a sentence out.
Duan Jinwei suddenly grew anxious.
…
In the afternoon, Duan Jinwei scrubbed in to assist the attending physician with a surgery.
The operation lasted a full six hours. When she walked out of the surgical corridor, she looked as though she had just been fished out of the water.
She removed her mask, wiped away her sweat, and went to the restroom. When she came out, Xia Tang was passionately flaming with internet trolls on the forum.
[No, do you guys even know the real truth before you go around slandering people like this? Won’t your consciences hurt making things up out of thin air?]
Within seconds, a large wave of sarcastic counter-attacks followed:
[? Is the user above a paid internet water army hired by djw? What do you mean slandering? There are photos, there are chat logs, how does this still not prove that the scumbag Duan cheated?]
[Seconded! Someone with such rotten personal conduct doesn’t even deserve to hold a school scholarship. Suggesting the school revoke her scholarship directly.]
Gu Tian had already rushed from school to the hospital. Seeing Duan Jinwei come out, she lunged forward to hug her: “Weiwei!”
Duan Jinwei paused slightly.
“Tianqian?”
The girl before her was tall and fair, wearing an imperial-sister-style mini trench coat and high heels, exuding a sharp, sassy vibe.
Gu Tian was Duan Jinwei’s high school classmate who had tested into A University together with her.
Duan Jinwei studied medicine while Gu Tian studied journalism. Their dorm was a three-person room, back then, due to her own college dorm being full, Gu Tian had mistakenly been assigned to the medical school dorm. Living together with medical students Duan Jinwei and Xia Tang, she often looked at their white coats and joked that she was a big bad wolf mixed into a flock of sheep.
Gu Tian rushed over and gave Duan Jinwei a bear hug: “Weiwei, don’t be sad, I already went and cursed out Qiao Yi for you!”
Xia Tang: “Qiao Yi agreed to see you? She let you curse her out?”
Gu Tian scoffed: “Why wouldn’t she? Yours truly specifically waited at the back door of her classroom after class and gave it to her straight. You didn’t see the look on her face back then, hilarious. Clearly she wronged Weiwei, yet she acted like she was the one who suffered the greatest grievance in the world.”
Xia Tang: “With a cursing session like that, originally we might have had a chance to get her to come out and clarify things, now it’s even less possible.”
Gu Tian: “As if she would’ve come out and clarified things just because we didn’t curse her.”
“…”
Gu Tian wrapped an arm around Duan Jinwei’s shoulders, comforting her: “It’s fine, Weiwei. Sis has already reported that forum thread. It’s just that today is Friday and the admin is off, so they won’t handle it until Monday. Those are just rumors with zero evidence, they won’t affect your scholarship.”
“Just stay off the internet lately and don’t look at those comments. People online are like that, so easily swayed. It’ll blow over in a few days.”
Seeing her roommates stick up for her like this, Duan Jinwei felt her gloomy mood from earlier in the day lift slightly: “Thank you, Tianqian.”
“What are you saying? Be this polite to me again and I’ll punch you!” Gu Tian shook her fist playfully at her.
Duan Jinwei suddenly thought of something, frowning as she asked: “Is this matter blowing up very big online?”
She worried the rumors would spread too fiercely and reach Qiao Yi’s sister.
“Eh, not too big,” Xia Tang said with absolute confidence: “I’m keeping it under control.”
Duan Jinwei finally felt at ease.
Gu Tian: “Alright, alright, don’t let bitches ruin your mood. I bought small cakes, let’s go back to the dorm and celebrate!”
Xia Tang was speechless: “Celebrate what?”
Gu Tian: “To celebrate Weiwei breaking up, of course.”
After lights out, Duan Jinwei didn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, she stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, lost in thought.
If she had still harbored some lingering wishful thinking the day she saw Qiao Yi kissing that woman, now there was only chill disappointment left.
If Qiao Yi was that kind of person… it was time to let this relationship go.
Duan Jinwei might be a bit of a coward, but she wasn’t stupid.
Little did Duan Jinwei expect that the very next day after making her decision to let go, she would receive a terrifying phone call.
“I am Qiao Yi’s sister. I’ve heard about what happened between you and Qiao Yi,” the woman on the other end of the line paused, then spoke calmly. “Let’s meet up.”