Fortunately, Jiang Tan hadn’t started eating yet; otherwise, she feared she would have choked on those sudden words.
She looked at her with a hint of helplessness. “Can we please not make these kinds of ethical jokes?”
She couldn’t handle this!
Jiang Yue’s smile deepened, her eyes shimmering with a trace of playfulness that wasn’t usually there. “You seem very afraid of having any kind of relationship with me.”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Jiang Tan pointed to the ring on the other woman’s left ring finger. “Look at what that is. What if you’re married?”
If one wasn’t married, no matter how much they messed around, not much could be said. But to mess around while married—that would be bordering on subhuman behavior.
Jiang Yue looked down at the ring on her finger, tilting her head slightly with a look of confusion. “Would a wedding ring be this simple?”
It was just a plain band, looking utterly ordinary.
“Why wouldn’t it be? Maybe you used to be a low-key, reserved person who liked this kind of simple style,” Jiang Tan said casually as she served her own rice.
Jiang Yue: “…”
Seeing Jiang Yue looking as if she’d been stifled, Jiang Tan couldn’t help but curve her brows and laugh out loud. “Oh, you really can’t say for sure! Look at you—when you pick clothes for yourself, you never choose anything flashy. It’s clear you really are a low-key person!”
Jiang Yue seemed to lose the desire to speak and began picking up green vegetables from the table to eat.
Seeing her eat only vegetables, Jiang Tan blinked. “Eat some meat!”
“My instinct tells me that eating in the order of vegetables, then meat, then rice is healthier,” Jiang Yue said calmly.
Jiang Tan: “…Well, you’re quite health-conscious.”
Jiang Tan also started eating the vegetables first.
Jiang Yue glanced at her, and as she looked down to pick up more food, a faint, almost imperceptible curve touched the corners of her lips.
The two ate, chatting occasionally. When they finished and Jiang Tan was about to clear the plates, Jiang Yue spoke up: “I’ll clean up. You take a break.”
Watching Jiang Yue’s movements, Jiang Tan hesitated for a moment before saying, “Alright then. I’m going out to deliver orders.”
Jiang Tan tidied herself up briefly so she wouldn’t look too disheveled, then headed out to get busy again.
Jiang Tan had only been back for a short while—just long enough for a meal—before she left again.
As Jiang Tan departed, the scent of licorice in the air faded, and Jiang Yue felt as if a piece of her heart had gone missing along with her.
The emptiness felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Jiang Yue pursed her lips. Wasn’t the inhibitor just administered? Why is the dependency still so strong?
On the other side, Jiang Tan was working hard delivering food, wanting only to earn as much money as possible. She didn’t want Jiang Yue to be in that state and yet be reluctant to use another dose of inhibitor.
It was just…
Earning an honest living was really difficult!
It was already midnight. As Jiang Tan delivered the last order to the entrance of a bar, listening to the music inside that was loud enough to blow the roof off, she couldn’t help but blink.
Actually… she had heard that the people responsible for promoting alcohol inside made quite a lot of money.
Jiang Tan muttered to herself inwardly, but places like bars were ultimately a bit chaotic. For now, she was only thinking about it and hadn’t resolved to try it.
Besides, bar hours were too late; it would affect her tying rebar at the construction site the next day.
By the time she returned home, it was 12:30 AM. She opened the door quietly, only to find the living room light was still on.
Jiang Tan froze for a moment.
It had been a long time since a light had been left on for her return.
“Why so late?” Jiang Yue rubbed her forehead and slowly sat up.
Jiang Tan looked at her, realizing she was actually lying on the bedding Jiang Tan had originally spread out on the sofa. She fell silent. Doesn’t Jiang Yue mind at all?
“I delivered a few extra orders, so it got late. Why aren’t you sleeping in the room?” Jiang Tan took off her delivery jacket, her voice softening.
“You weren’t back, so I couldn’t sleep soundly.” Noticing the exhaustion lingering between Jiang Tan’s brows, Jiang Yue urged, “Go take a shower quickly.”
“Yeah. I’m back now, so go back to the room and sleep.”
Jiang Yue nodded, watching her take her change of clothes into the bathroom.
Jiang Yue rose slowly and helped rearrange Jiang Tan’s bedding. She sighed softly in her heart, feeling that herself during the heat cycle was truly somewhat unreasonable.
While Jiang Tan was away, she would constantly seek out Jiang Tan’s scent, eventually lying in Jiang Tan’s bed just to catch a whiff of it while waiting for her return.
Now that she had confirmed the person had returned safely, Jiang Yue didn’t persist in staying in the living room. She went back to the bedroom and curled up under the covers. Her mind couldn’t stop trying to envision their future days, but no matter how she thought about it, the future remained a hazy state without clear images.
Perhaps it was because she had been exposed to too little since losing her memory; maybe as time passed, it would be different.
Jiang Yue murmured to herself inwardly, eventually unable to hold out any longer as she sank into a deep sleep.
On the other side, when Jiang Tan emerged from the bathroom, Jiang Yue was no longer in the living room. Seeing her bedding restored to its neat state, she reached up and scratched her slightly flushed cheek.
Although she knew Jiang Yue only acted this way because of that damn heat cycle, still…
It was embarrassing.
After turning off the lights, Jiang Tan lay down in her bedding. She could still smell the lingering scent of night-blooming cereus from Jiang Yue…
Biting her lip, her face grew even hotter.
Sigh, Jiang Yue had better recover her memory soon, or her family had better find her. If they keep living like this…
Jiang Tan really can’t guarantee that feelings won’t grow over time!
Jiang Tan thought irritably. After all, Jiang Yue was so beautiful; that face was a constant challenge to one’s self-control!
How frustrating.
Why am I so shallow? Good looks can’t put food on the table.
With her mind racing, Jiang Tan finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with Jiang Yue’s face. When she woke the next day, her heart was still thumping strongly.
This is bad.
What on earth am I doing!
Jiang Tan wailed in her heart, trying hard to shake the dreams from her head as if nothing had happened. Hearing movement from the kitchen, it was clear Jiang Yue was already up and trying to tinker with breakfast herself.
Dressed in printed pajama short sleeves with her hair loose and eyes misty with sleep, Jiang Tan stood at the kitchen door. She yawned and said, “Why are you up so early? And don’t tell me you came in here trying to make breakfast yourself.”
Jiang Yue turned to look at her, finding the dazed Jiang Tan rather adorably muddled. She curved her brows with a shallow smile. “Yes, I thought I’d try making it.”
Mainly, she felt Jiang Tan was too tired; if she did it, Jiang Tan could sleep a little longer.
“Don’t touch anything, I’ll do it in a bit.” Jiang Tan rubbed her face to wake herself up. “You don’t know how, and it’s not safe to do it alone.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yue pursed her lips. “I watched you while you were doing it.”
Jiang Tan blinked. “Then when do you add the oil?”
Jiang Yue was puzzled. “Can’t you add the oil right after lighting the fire?”
“And what if there’s still water in the pot?”
“…”
Seeing Jiang Yue suddenly unable to answer, Jiang Tan curved her brows and laughed. “So you’d better not touch anything. Wait for me.”
After saying that, she turned to wash up.
Jiang Yue frowned slowly, looking annoyed with herself. Since Jiang Tan asked, there obviously shouldn’t be water in the pot. It was clearly a matter of common sense, yet she didn’t even understand these basic things.
When Jiang Tan returned from washing up, she saw Jiang Yue standing there frowning as if she were sulking. She couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s wrong? Feeling discouraged?”
Jiang Yue pursed her lips and said nothing.
However, her brooding only made Jiang Tan’s smile brighter. “Oh, why be so concerned with dignity? I didn’t understand these things at the beginning either.”
When she first started cooking, it was a total frantic mess; she wasn’t necessarily any better than Jiang Yue.
“You could learn it, so can I,” Jiang Yue whispered, her lips set.
As Jiang Tan started the stove and heated the oil, she asked curiously, “Since someone is already doing it, why are you so persistent?”
Jiang Yue stared at her movements and didn’t answer.
She thought that if she answered directly—that she wanted to learn so that Jiang Tan could have a meal ready when she got back—the other woman would probably say she was thinking too much.
Seeing her silence, Jiang Tan turned to look at her curiously. “Hmm?”
Jiang Yue: “…In case there’s a day you don’t come back, I can still make something for myself.”
Jiang Tan blinked gently. “Oh, alright. That makes sense.”
Jiang Yue: “…”
Jiang Tan ended up making two bowls of noodles, each topped with a poached egg. Although it looked a bit plain, Jiang Tan comforted herself that eating lightly prevented “internal heat.”
“You seem a bit better today,” Jiang Tan noted thoughtfully while they ate breakfast.
Today, Jiang Yue’s control over her pheromones seemed better; the scent wasn’t as thick as it had been the previous two days.
Hearing her say this, Jiang Yue’s ears turned hot. After all, her actions over the past two days were difficult for even her to understand upon reflection.
Fortunately, Jiang Tan didn’t think she was an overly “easy” Omega.
“I feel a bit better today,” Jiang Yue said softly. As the tide of passion slowly ebbed, she felt she wouldn’t do those irrational things anymore.
After all, weren’t many of her previous actions a form of seeking favor—or even “soliciting”?
Even Jiang Yue herself felt they looked like seeking favor, let alone how they would appear in the eyes of an Alpha.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but steal a glance at Jiang Tan.
She wondered if Jiang Tan felt she was seeking favor.