Sheng Qingshan pushed her face away: “If you mess around again, you can sleep by yourself tonight.”
Sheng Yunshu gave a soft hum, grabbed her arm, and bit her wrist. “You don’t have a single bit of sense of humor!”
After saying this, Sheng Yunshu stepped into her slippers and stomped off to wash her hands, looking indignant.
Looking at the shallow tooth marks on her wrist, Sheng Qingshan shook her head, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
During the meal, Sheng Yunshu asked her to try the pancakes first.
“How is it?”
Sheng Yunshu rested her chin on her hand and watched her, her eyes sparkling, waiting for praise.
Sheng Qingshan’s chewing motion paused.
“Not good?” Sheng Yunshu’s expression fell visibly. “It’s my first time making them. 01 said I overmixed the batter, so they aren’t fluffy enough. Next time I will—”
“It’s good.”
Sheng Qingshan interrupted her and took another bite.
In reality, the pancakes were a bit tough and rather bland; the thicker parts tasted just like plain flour cakes. But Sheng Qingshan had never been picky about food, and besides, Sheng Yunshu had made these.
Sheng Yunshu’s eyes curved into crescents, and she leaned over to kiss her on the cheek again. “Then I’ll make them for you every day from now on!”
“Don’t move around while eating.”
Sheng Yunshu stuck out her tongue. “Got it!”
In the following days, Sheng Yunshu really did make a plate of pancakes for Sheng Qingshan every night, to the point that Sheng Qingshan was tired of them.
One day after dinner, as Sheng Qingshan was preparing to take the kitten out for a walk with Sheng Yunshu, her intelligent brain suddenly popped up a video call request, and a cartoon line-drawing dog danced on the screen.
Sheng Qingshan guessed who it was. She handed the leash to Sheng Yunshu, telling her and 01 to go ahead, and she would be there in a moment.
Watching the woman turn back, Sheng Yunshu couldn’t help but complain: “It’s not like she’s the only councilor. Are the others just freeloading?”
Holding Tuan Tuan, she stood at the doorway and watched Sheng Qingshan’s back disappear into the elevator. She stood there for two seconds, then followed.
The kitten was spinning around anxiously, biting her pant leg and pulling her backward while whimpering.
“Wait a second.” Sheng Yunshu bent down to scoop her up and held her close. “We’ll wait for Mommy.”
The kitten kicked her legs in dissatisfaction but eventually compromised, lying on her arm with her tail flicking around irritably.
Sheng Yunshu didn’t go up; instead, she lay on the sofa waiting for Sheng Qingshan to handle everything.
Upstairs, in the study.
“Captain Shangguan had people investigate according to your intel, but the harvest was not great.”
Su Sheng was on the flying bridge of a yacht. The sea breeze blew her medium-length hair everywhere, and her T-shirt clung to her body, vaguely revealing an irregular object on her chest.
“The higher-ups mean that she definitely has more she hasn’t said. If you can’t get it out of her, and I can’t extract it, then we can only take her back to IFIB for interrogation. After all, this matter is of great importance. I believe you can understand.” Su Sheng spoke lightly, but her eyes became burning.
Sheng Qingshan had studied micro-expression analysis for a time and knew she was excited.
Although Sheng Qingshan had left the IFIB not long after the other woman arrived, she had heard a little about her track record.
If Shangguan Wenzhu testing her was for the greater good, then Su Sheng was purely acting out of personal selfish motives.
People like this would do anything for their obsessions.
If Sheng Yanzhou were to fall into her hands, she would be stripped of a layer of skin, if not killed.
“I know.” Sheng Qingshan did not answer directly. “I will handle her affairs.”
“Councilor Sheng,” Su Sheng drew out the tone, a hint of playfulness in her voice. “You should know that this is not something you can handle alone. The things in Sheng Yanzhou’s possession relate to the safety of the entire galaxy. The IFIB cannot wait indefinitely just because you say you will handle it.”
“I know.”
“Then you still—”
“Give me a week.”
Su Sheng stared at the expressionless face on the light screen and suddenly laughed.
“Fine, one week.” She picked up the wine glass beside her and raised it from afar. “After one week, either you make her spit out everything she knows, or I will take her away, Councilor Sheng.”
The call ended.
The line-drawing dog jumped twice in the center of the screen and then disappeared.
Sheng Qingshan did not get up immediately; instead, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
The files on the light screen were still flickering, there were over a dozen unread messages in her terminal, and tomorrow’s schedule was fully packed.
But she didn’t want to do anything right now.
It wasn’t exhaustion; it was annoyance.
Sheng Yanzhou’s situation was trickier than she had anticipated. Sheng Yanzhou refused to let slip what that so-called intel actually was. Sheng Qingshan had asked three times; every time, the other woman acted like toothpaste, only saying one word when forced.
Just as Sheng Qingshan’s patience was about to run out, the other woman would pull off her neck scarf, point to that scar, and ask if she wanted to do it again.
She had likely stopped taking her medication on purpose, which was why that scar remained on her neck. Every time she saw it, Sheng Qingshan would remember that day.
The blood of a stranger and the blood of a relative were different.
In matters unrelated to Sheng Yunshu, Sheng Qingshan was infinitely tolerant toward Sheng Yanzhou.
But one thing was certain: what Sheng Yanzhou knew was very important, enough to make the people at the IFIB stir into action.
Having Su Sheng, rather than Shangguan Wenzhu, contact her meant that the upper levels had lost their patience.
One week.
This was the final deadline she had secured.
Sheng Qingshan opened her eyes and stood up to walk out of the study.
Downstairs, Sheng Yunshu was lying on the sofa with the kitten sprawled on her stomach; both human and cat were drowsy.
Hearing footsteps, Sheng Yunshu lifted one eyelid: “Done?”
“Yes.”
Sheng Qingshan reached out a hand to her. “Let’s go.”
Sheng Yunshu took her hand but didn’t get up; instead, she pulled her toward herself with force.
Before the other could get angry, Sheng Yunshu was the first to act spoiled: “No, I’m a little sleepy. Sis, let’s just pretend we’ve already walked the cat and come back, okay?”
Sheng Qingshan knew she was being lazy again, but it wasn’t a big deal, so she let her be.
However, the kitten, who had been waiting until now, was unhappy. She climbed onto Sheng Yunshu, stepped on her stomach, and let out a sharp cry of protest.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
Sheng Yunshu made Sheng Qingshan sit down. She laid her head on the latter’s lap, lifted the kitten up and tossed it a few times, laughing: “Sis, look, did she gain weight? She used to be just a scrawny lump, now she’s really become a little dumpling, haha!”
Sheng Qingshan leaned against the sofa, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly. “Feeding her seven meals a day; if she didn’t gain weight, she really would need to see a doctor.”
“Oh, she’s still growing, of course she needs to eat more! Right, Tuan Tuan?”
The kitten got annoyed at being tossed around, let out a meow, and slipped out of Sheng Yunshu’s hands.
Once the cat left, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
Sheng Yunshu didn’t say anything, just held her hand against her face and closed her eyes: “Touch me.”
Her fingers curled; Sheng Qingshan hesitated for a moment but followed the command.
The calluses on Sheng Qingshan’s hands made Sheng Yunshu feel a little ticklish. She shrunk her neck but didn’t dodge away.
“Why are you so easy to talk to today?” She curved her eyes. “You do it when I ask you to touch me. Before, you’d be awkward for a long time if I even touched you.”
Sheng Qingshan didn’t speak; her fingers landed on the shell of her ear, her pads gently brushing the earlobe.
Sheng Yunshu’s ears were very sensitive, and they turned red from just one touch.
She bit her lip, suppressing the urge to make a sound, but her eye sockets grew sour. It would be so good if things were like this before.
She used to feel that there was plenty of time, that they had an eternity to slowly smooth things out. Sheng Qingshan didn’t like to express herself, so she expressed for her; Sheng Qingshan wouldn’t come close, so she took the initiative to cling to her.
Even if Sheng Qingshan didn’t love her, she was the only one who could get close to her and touch her, and that was enough.
But now they were married. Although they hadn’t crossed that line, their daily life was no different from an ordinary couple.
Sheng Yunshu sometimes wondered if they were just a normal couple with low libidos, rather than two people forced to form a family for certain reasons.
“Why are you crying?” Sheng Qingshan touched the corner of her eye, her tone filled with worry. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Sheng Yunshu opened her eyes, her voice muffled: “Why didn’t you let me take on kissing scenes before?”
The topic changed too abruptly. Sheng Qingshan was stunned for a moment before saying: “You were only fifteen at the time. How could I possibly let you take that kind of scene?”
“What about later? When I grew up, you still wouldn’t let me film them. Not even scenes that were a little intimate.”
“Standard dramas have more influence; you don’t need to take the traffic-star route.”
“What if I want to take them anyway?”
“What’s so good about those scenes?”
Sheng Qingshan didn’t object to her dating, but the other party couldn’t be someone in the industry.
Because of Ji Xi, Sheng Qingshan held deep prejudices against people in the entertainment circle; she didn’t want those people to touch her sister.
Every time she thought of someone pawing at Sheng Yunshu in the name of acting, Sheng Qingshan couldn’t suppress the killing intent in her heart.
Sheng Yunshu stared at her for a while, and tears rolled down without warning. “You manage me so strictly. I haven’t even kissed anyone yet. If I died, I wouldn’t even know what kissing feels like.”
Sheng Qingshan wiped away her tears and didn’t respond.
After such a long time, she could guess what Sheng Yunshu was trying to do by saying these things.
However, she really had never thought about kissing anyone other than Ji Xi.
And the other party was a sister she had raised since childhood. Sheng Qingshan frowned; it was really strange.
Sheng Yunshu waited for a while, but when no response came, her tears fell even more violently.
She knew she was being unreasonable.
But she really wasn’t willing to give up.
She wasn’t willing to go through life without ever kissing the person she liked.
“Don’t cry.” Sheng Qingshan’s voice lowered, her fingertips rubbing the corners of her eyes again and again. “Don’t cry.”
Sheng Yunshu sniffled, turned her face away, her voice hoarse and stubborn: “I’m not crying.”
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Sheng Qingshan felt that the temperature of her cheeks was higher, but she was quickly distracted by her tears again.
Seeing her covering her face and sobbing on her lap, Sheng Qingshan’s brows furrowed even tighter, and she felt awful inside.
“Yunshu, stop crying.”
Sheng Qingshan picked her up and sat her on her lap, holding her face-to-face.
This posture was too intimate.
Sheng Yunshu used to like hanging on her, but most of the time it was just for fun, and she would slip away after a while. But now it was different; Sheng Yunshu was sitting on her lap, hands on her shoulders, eyelashes still wet with teardrops. She was soft and hot, and a sweet fragrance wafted through the air.
Sheng Qingshan didn’t know where to put her hands; finally, they rested on her waist, holding her loosely.
“Stop crying,” she said again, her voice lower than before.
Sheng Yunshu sobbed, burying her face in her neck, her voice muffled: “Hold me tighter.”
Sheng Qingshan hesitated for an instant, then tightened her arms, wrapping her into her embrace.
Sheng Yunshu’s body was very hot, as if she were running a fever. But because of the increasingly strong pheromones, Sheng Qingshan didn’t think of the worst-case scenario, simply assuming her heat cycle had arrived.
That made things even more troublesome.
Although Sheng Qingshan had undergone professional training and would not be affected by an Omega’s pheromones, this Omega was not a stranger, and Sheng Qingshan could not remain completely unaffected by her emotions.
Tuan Tuan jumped onto the coffee table, tilted its head to look for a while—probably thinking the two humans were in an overly strange position—and then jumped down, stepping on Sheng Qingshan’s feet as it ran off.
Sheng Yunshu was still crying, and not only was she crying, she began to kiss Sheng Qingshan’s neck.
Sheng Qingshan stiffened.
She thought Sheng Yunshu was unintentional; she was crying so hard, her nose rubbing back and forth, it was normal to touch things.
But then the second one came, not a rub, but a real kiss, her lips pressing against the skin on her neck, and even…
“Yunshu.” Sheng Qingshan’s voice tightened.
Sheng Yunshu ignored her.
The third one, the fourth one, from the side of the neck to the collarbone, fine and dense, like a newborn beast clumsily searching for something. The wet kisses made one’s heart panic with itchiness.
Sheng Qingshan wanted to push her away, but Sheng Yunshu seemed to have used all her strength for this moment; Sheng Qingshan actually couldn’t push her away.
“Sheng Yunshu.”
As things went further, Sheng Qingshan gripped her shoulders and pulled her away, her voice sinking: “Your heat cycle is here. Calm down.”
Sheng Qingshan’s strength was great, causing Sheng Yunshu’s shoulders pain, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
Looking at the warning in her eyes, Sheng Yunshu felt even more dizzy. She wiped her tears indiscriminately and spoke hoarsely:
“I know. It’s disgusting to be touched by someone who doesn’t like me.”
Sheng Qingshan released her hands. “I don’t think you’re disgusting; I just can’t accept this behavior.”
“It is disgusting.”
Sheng Yunshu looked up at her, a miserable smile on her face. “Sis, I don’t know why I’m like this. I said I wouldn’t force you or put you in a difficult spot, but the one who has always made things difficult for you is me. I don’t want this, but I really want to be close to you, I…”
People are always greedy.
At first, Sheng Yunshu thought it would be fine just to stay with Sheng Qingshan forever; later, she wanted a name; once she had the name, she wanted to be intimate with her. If Sheng Qingshan were willing to give it to her, would she really be satisfied?
Once she had the status, she wanted the desire; once she obtained the desire, she would crave to devour her heart.
She always used “Ji Xi is good” and “liking her is normal” to numb herself, but how could she not care? Who could not care?
Sheng Yunshu was a petty person; she wanted all of Sheng Qingshan to belong to her.
But she couldn’t do it.
Seeing her covering her face and crying again, Sheng Qingshan wanted to ask what was wrong? She was fine just a moment ago; why did she suddenly become like this?
But she was crying so miserably that Sheng Qingshan couldn’t bear to keep pressing her.
After a moment of silence, Sheng Qingshan reached out and pulled her into her arms again, her palm gently patting her back. “You haven’t made things difficult for me, and those things aren’t your fault. Perhaps it is I who didn’t handle certain things well, leading you to have the wrong ideas, which resulted in this situation.”
“Yunshu, stop crying. This isn’t your fault.”
If a relationship that shouldn’t have been born was exposed to the sunlight, the one who should be held accountable is the elder.
She was the older sister; she shouldn’t have done things with ambiguous implications while taking care of her younger sister, leading her astray.
“It’s not your fault!”
Sheng Yunshu raised her head from her arms. “Why do you always take everything upon yourself? It’s me who likes you, it’s me who used my illness to force you to marry me, and it’s me who is pestering you now! What did you do wrong?”
Sheng Yunshu’s voice echoed in the living room, carrying sobs and a kind of near-angry grievance.
She didn’t understand why Sheng Qingshan was always like this. Always reflecting on herself, always finding her own faults, always carrying other people’s problems on her own shoulders—as if she were born to bear everything.
Sheng Qingshan wiped the tears off her face and said softly: “Then let’s not talk about it, okay?”
Sheng Yunshu wanted to say no, but her head hurt so much, and her body was getting hotter and hotter. Before the rest of her words could be spoken, she fainted.
When she woke up again, she was already at the hospital.
The first thing she saw was Sheng Qingshan sitting by the bed. She just wanted to speak when her peripheral vision caught sight of Ye Lingyun on the side and a line of hospital leaders outside the door.
“?” Sheng Yunshu blinked and reached out toward Sheng Qingshan: “Sis, what happened?”
Could her illness be even worse?
Sheng Qingshan tightly held her hand, her eyes rimmed with red, but her face could not hide the joy.
“Lingyun, you say it yourself.”
Ye Lingyun adjusted her glasses and stepped forward with the report. “Yunshu, according to the latest examination report, your body is very healthy. The previous result was a misdiagnosis.”
The sudden news made Sheng Yunshu open her eyes wide, disbelievingly: “Misdiagnosis? Isn’t that an instrument available at only three hospitals in the entire Federation?”
That was exactly where the problem lay.
“After a series of investigations, the machine itself is not broken.” Ye Lingyun was also somewhat embarrassed. “When we performed the examination on you that day, the prosthetic modification room downstairs had just finished a high-power neuro-pulse, which interfered with the sensor band of the pheromone dual-chain quantum deconstruction instrument. Because you didn’t have another checkup afterward, and no other patients used the deconstruction instrument during this period, it was only just discovered.”
Even though she said so, Sheng Yunshu still couldn’t believe it.
“But I have been having headaches, nausea, and pain in my body during this time. Isn’t that the organ failure you spoke of?”
Facing the expectations of everyone in the hospital, Ye Lingyun pulled the corners of her mouth.
“Not at all. I said at the time that you needed a comprehensive re-examination; I could not make a judgment on your health without one.”
“But…” Sheng Yunshu secretly glanced at Sheng Qingshan, her heart beating very fast.
“But I really feel very uncomfortable! If there’s no problem, why would my heat cycle be chaotic?!”
Big Sister, that’s enough of that!
A formulaic smile appeared on Ye Lingyun’s face: “There are many factors that cause chaotic heat cycles, such as excessive emotional fluctuations, irregular rest schedules, and excessive stress. An unhealthy sex life leading to endocrine disorders is also one of the main reasons for a chaotic heat cycle.”