After finishing her final exam, Sang Ying visited her rented apartment one last time. The rent was paid monthly, and since she had moved into the bright, spacious livestream studio, there was no need to keep this place. She cleaned it out thoroughly.
She did not have many belongings to begin with. The desk belonged to the landlord, and the chair was hers, so she listed it on a second-hand website. The camera was an expensive investment, so she was reluctant to sell it, and selling it now would not recoup her losses.
The simple wooden shelves still held some inventory. Now, her products were manufactured directly alongside VW products at their factory, with the entire process overseen by professionals. Since the Qingdeng online shop had to be taken offline due to contractual obligations, these remaining stocks were effectively stuck, which felt like a waste.
She had been chatting quite pleasantly with Yinyin77 on Weibo over the past few days, and the user frequently gave her feedback that the skincare products were very effective. Thinking it best to just give the rest away, Sang Ying called the courier before he finished his shift for the day.
The courier looked at her empty room with surprise. “Are you planning to stop your e-commerce business?”
Sang Ying smiled. Just as she was about to explain, the courier added, “It is good that you are stopping. I always felt that students from top universities like you are wasting your time doing this. Business is difficult, and you should find a steady, proper job.”
The courier packed up the last of the inventory. Sang Ying cleaned the small room, returned the apartment to the landlord, and took her camera with her.
She ran into Wang Feifei squatting at the entrance of the dormitory building. Seeing Sang Ying, Wang Feifei jumped up and exclaimed, “Sang Ying, when are you going home? Have you bought your ticket?”
Wang Feifei’s hometown was also in Ping City, though she lived in the city center while Sang Ying lived in a county under its jurisdiction. They could take the same train.
“I…”
“Tomorrow?” Wang Feifei asked with excitement. “There are still tickets for tomorrow afternoon at 3:15.”
Sang Ying sighed and said, “I do not like you.”
Wang Feifei was stunned. She looked up, her face showing obvious shock. “Sang Ying, do you know how direct you are when you speak?”
Of course she knew. Since she was a child, many people had told her she was too blunt, but she likely could not change it. If she disliked something, or if she believed something was incorrect, she had to say it directly. This was something her Omega father had taught her since she was young: a person should not hide their true thoughts.
“I am sorry,” Sang Ying said.
Wang Feifei shrugged. “Then who do you like?”
“I…” A woman suddenly flashed into Sang Ying’s mind, a woman who always maintained her elegance and occasionally made inexplicable requests. She was both adorable and kept an air of unreachable distance.
“What is it?” Wang Feifei looked at her.
Sang Ying shook her head. “Nothing.”
She did not dare to have feelings. That person was miles above her, and she was not someone Sang Ying could ever imagine being with. However, the chance to travel to country S together brought Sang Ying a sense of anticipation she had never felt before. She did not know when it started, but she found herself looking forward to seeing Xia Tingwang.
Xia Tingwang arranged for a private jet for the trip. Sang Ying dragged her suitcase to the airport terminal Xia Tingwang had designated and witnessed the private jets and personal hangars of the wealthy.
Her joy upon boarding the plane was quickly dampened. The interior of the private jet was not large; at a glance, it could probably only seat six or seven people. Bai Li and Zhuang Yan were sitting in the front row, and the back row was more spacious. Xia Tingwang was sitting by the window with a woman with short hair beside her, and the two were chatting and laughing.
“Sang Ying,” Xia Tingwang greeted her and pointed to the seat opposite her. “Over here.”
Zhuang Yan took her suitcase and stowed it away. Sang Ying walked over and sat opposite Xia Tingwang.
“Let me introduce you,” Xia Tingwang said. “This is Yin Wei, the person in charge of the VW Water Grain partnership. And this is Sang Ying, my…”
“Mm, I know,” the short-haired woman looked at Sang Ying and extended her hand. “The VW streamer. Hello.”
There is an innate sense of antagonism between Alphas, and Sang Ying was no exception. This Alpha named Yin Wei made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
“Hello,” Sang Ying said as she reached out to shake her hand.
“I have watched your livestream,” Yin Wei retracted her hand. “How should I put it? It feels quite direct, which is actually not bad. The style is novel.”
Yin Wei turned to look at Xia Tingwang. “Xiao Wang, where did you find her?”
Xia Tingwang rolled her eyes at her without answering and pressed the intercom to instruct them that they were ready for takeoff.
The intimacy and harmony between the two women did not look like a partnership; it looked more like the relationship of old friends. The anticipation Sang Ying had felt for this trip was shattered in that moment, leaving a dull ache throughout her body.
“Fasten your seatbelt,” Xia Tingwang said suddenly.
Sang Ying came back to her senses. Xia Tingwang was looking at her and tilted her chin toward the belt. Sang Ying hurriedly looked down, fumbled with the buckle, and fastened it.
The plane flew smoothly. Xia Tingwang put on an eye mask and fell asleep. Yin Wei, sitting beside her, covered her with a small blanket and also put on an eye mask to sleep. In the cabin, only the hum of the aircraft engine could be heard. With both women on the opposite side wearing eye masks, Sang Ying stared openly at Xia Tingwang.
With her head tilted and resting on a U-shaped pillow, one side of Xia Tingwang’s face was slightly pressed out of shape. Sleeping soundly, Xia Tingwang was no longer maintaining her elegance, showing the cuteness and naivety that an Omega should have. Xia Tingwang shifted her head and smacked her lips.
Sang Ying suddenly felt her throat go dry and itchy. She looked away and pulled a book from the small bookshelf to her left to flip through. The title page read: “Human eyes are deceptive and prone to self-suggestion.”
Snap. Sang Ying closed the book in a panic before she could even finish the sentence. A certain part of her Alpha anatomy was actually reacting. She carefully lifted her right leg and crossed it over her left.
The flight to country S took over seven hours. More than five hours later, Xia Tingwang removed her eye mask, feeling hungry and thirsty.
“I would like an iced coffee,” Xia Tingwang pressed the intercom. “And two pieces of small Ciflin.”
She unfastened her seatbelt to use the restroom. When she returned to her seat, she glanced at Sang Ying opposite her. Sang Ying was sleeping with her eyes closed, her posture upright and rigid, showing no signs of fatigue.
However, Xia Tingwang stood up from her seat again, leaned over, and looked closer. The shadows under her eyes were not dark circles but the shadows of her eyelashes. Her lashes were quite long, and her skin was excellent, fair with a rosy tint. Even without makeup, there were almost no visible pores or acne scars.
Tsk, youth is a wonderful thing.
Swish. Sang Ying opened her eyes. Xia Tingwang’s face was magnified right in front of her, so close that she could see the tiny black mole on the tip of Xia Tingwang’s nose.
Sang Ying swallowed. For the first time, she felt nervous; she had not even felt this nervous during her college entrance exams.
Xia Tingwang felt awkward at being caught. She calmly grabbed a book from the rack and tossed it to Sang Ying. “It is a bit boring. You read to me.”
Saying this, she turned and sat back down, snap, and fastened her seatbelt.
Xia Tingwang often made inexplicable little requests. Sang Ying had experienced this several times and no longer found it strange. She opened the book, fortunately, it was not the one she had been holding earlier. It was a foreign book: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
“Does the school you need really prepare children to deal with the real world? Study hard, get good grades, and you will find a high-paying job with many other benefits. My parents used to tell me that. Their life goal was to send my sister and me to college.”
The coffee and dessert were delivered at the right time. Xia Tingwang smiled contentedly while eating her dessert. With coffee, delicious food, and the most beautiful voice in the world, what more could one ask for in a happy life?
“I have two dads, one rich and one poor. One was well-educated, brilliant, with the halo of a Ph.D. He finished his four-year undergraduate studies in less than two years and went on to further his studies at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University, receiving full scholarships from all of these schools. In contrast, my other dad did not even finish the eighth grade.”
Sang Ying’s raspy voice was like a feather sweeping across her heart, light, soft, and slightly itchy. Xia Tingwang wanted to scratch the itch but could not find the exact spot. She took a sip of coffee to suppress the feeling.
Sang Ying’s reading woke Yin Wei up. She removed her eye mask and glanced at her watch; there was less than an hour of flight time left.
“That year was 1956, and I was nine years old. Through the arrangement of fate, I attended a public school, and many wealthy people also sent their children to that school.”
Sang Ying turned a page. “Our town was basically a sugar plantation. The managers of the plantation and other wealthy people, such as doctors, businessmen, and bankers, all sent their children to this school.”
Yin Wei turned curiously. The coffee cup on the small table was empty, and only a fork covered in cake crumbs remained on the plate. Xia Tingwang sat with her arms crossed, listening with great interest.
She leaned toward Xia Tingwang’s ear. “I thought you hated noise the most.”
“Shh,” Xia Tingwang raised a finger. “I want to know the difference between the educational methods of these two dads.”
She was clearly listening intently, so Yin Wei stopped talking and decided to listen along with her.
She had watched Sang Ying’s livestreams before; her voice was unforgettable, raspy yet gentle. Hearing it in person was even more impactful than over the stream. Her raspy tone was obvious, but her reading was very evocative; she would adjust her tone according to the plot and the different characters in the book.
It sounded more like she was coaxing a child.
Yin Wei was startled by her own thought.
The hotel was one Xia Tingwang stayed at frequently, a presidential suite on the top floor with a three-bedroom, two-living-room layout. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, one could see the ocean across the way.
Xia Tingwang’s luggage was taken into the master bedroom by the staff. Country S was experiencing temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius, so Xia Tingwang went into the master bedroom to change.
The hotel had a rooftop swimming pool that was accessible directly from her master bedroom balcony. Xia Tingwang changed into a white one-piece swimsuit and pushed open the sliding door.
The swimming pool was reserved exclusively for guests of the presidential suite, and at that moment, it was empty. Xia Tingwang felt an itching desire to swim. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have someone by the poolside to talk to or tell stories?