The fine rain fell with a pitter-patter, adding insult to injury for Fu Yi’s already soaked clothes. The rain gathered into droplets, shaking off onto the ground one by one. A heavy footstep suddenly splashed through a small, rippling puddle, sending water flying onto the low bushes nearby.
“It’s, it’s raining.” The two of them had walked silently to a deserted area. When Fu Yi finally spoke, she was startled by her own voice.
Why was it so hoarse? It felt so uncomfortable.
The rain could not wash away the scent of osmanthus. Under the dense maple forest, light and shadow flickered in spots, but Fu Yi felt as if Ye Xunshu had led her into a forest of osmanthus instead.
She was on the verge of losing all reason.
“Suppression patch.” Fu Yi smelled the sweet fragrance. Thoughts that shouldn’t exist flashed through her mind from time to time, only to be forcibly suppressed. “Xunshu.”
She spoke with great difficulty: “Give me a suppression patch.”
She could not forcibly possess the person in front of her again. Without a suppression patch, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to control herself.
Time felt incredibly long during their departure, as if half a century had passed before the person in front of her finally spoke in a clear, cold voice, uttering just two words: “I don’t have one.”
Fu Yi’s pupils shrank slightly, and even the strength in her hands faltered. “What?”
If there was no suppression patch, then she, what should she do?
The person in front of her stopped. They were surrounded by a dense growth of maple trees. The night was dim, with only occasional moonlight filtering through the gaps in the trees to touch the ground.
This place was far from the busy market; the warm lights there had become distant stars. The prosperity and noise were far away. Here, it was quiet, with only the summer night sky twinkling overhead.
Fu Yi broke free from her hand and ran backward, almost fleeing in panic.
It was too strong. It was too hard to endure.
She had endured it the whole way, and Ye Xunshu had not increased the strength of her grip. Yet, Fu Yi felt as if she were under a spell; throughout the entire process, she hadn’t once pulled her hand away. Perhaps the noise nearby had hindered her original thoughts.
The rain had been hitting her face the whole way, and she wondered if her mind had cleared slightly. Fu Yi finally remembered that she needed to leave Ye Xunshu. Seeing that she was safe was enough.
She had jumped into the water to save someone. She couldn’t allow herself to not only fail at the rescue but also possess someone while her pheromones were out of control.
“Sister!”
The girl’s nasal cry was suppressed to the extreme. Fu Yi stopped abruptly, her steps feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds, unable to move another inch. Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by something; it hurt terribly.
Fu Yi could hear her own heartbeat. Was that throbbing sensation fear or a sudden palpitation?
By the time she regained her senses, her waist was already tightly encircled. The scent of osmanthus rose from below, gradually intensifying.
“This place is far from there.” Ye Xunshu’s soft voice fell by her ear, light and airy, as if drifting from a great distance. “Sister, you smell it, don’t you?”
“The wind blows that distant sea water, accompanying us the whole way.”
The spot on her waist where she was being touched became extremely sensitive. Fu Yi’s brain swung between heat and cold. Her hands had nowhere to go, hovering in mid-air.
Ye Xunshu had been silently shedding tears the whole way, physiological tears suppressed under the heat of passion. “Don’t leave Xunshu behind anymore.”
“Sister.”
Fu Yi had a bad premonition. Just as she opened her mouth to stop her, an unexpected kiss fell upon her cheek from behind.
Ye Xunshu stood tremblingly on her tiptoes. Fu Yi’s mind went blank; she only knew that an overwhelming scent of osmanthus was crashing over her.
“Sister.”
“The rain is clearly so light, yet we are both soaked.”
The wind suddenly gusted, blowing down maple leaves that fell with a rustle, appearing like osmanthus blossoms fluttering down, their lingering fragrance staying on the two of them.
That wind was like a violent tide, raging through the rainy night for a long time, yet it softened its stance as it picked up the fragile flowers, becoming gentle and showing a protective nature.
The flowers, nourished by the rain and dew, were gently caressed by the wind, and then slowly, very slowly, opened their inner buds, repaying the sea breeze with an even richer fragrance.
Linger and entwined, until the rain stopped and the wind died down into calm.
The next morning, at the first break of dawn.
Fu Yi looked at the exceptionally obvious teeth mark on the back of Ye Xunshu’s neck and fell into deep thought.
She had actually done it again.
What was even more ridiculous was that this time was more intense than any previous time. And the two of them were here yesterday, in an open-air, small forest, having an affair?
Help.
Although the reality was that they were already a married couple, the thought of rolling around with her in a small forest on a dark and windy night still made her want to find a hole to crawl into.
Fu Yi covered her own neck, wanting to give that “disappointing” gland a hard pinch, but remembering how it felt when she first transmigrated and pinched it, she touched it and let her hand drop.
The clothes on her body were not yet dry and were even covered in muddy soil. After the two of them “rolled around” on the ground, they looked incredibly disheveled.
Fu Yi stared at Ye Xunshu’s quiet sleeping face. Her fair skin was stained with quite a bit of dirt, but it still couldn’t hide the girl’s slightly flushed face.
Reasonably speaking, an Omega’s heat should be relieved after a temporary marking; the face shouldn’t still be red. Fu Yi’s heart stirred, and she leaned over to feel Ye Xunshu’s forehead.
It was very hot. She was indeed running a fever.
“Fu Yi!”
“Miss Fu!”
“Miss Ye!”
The production team had been looking for these two for a day.
After the drowning accident occurred in the center of the lake last night, the production team immediately found the guests and brought them safely to shore, but they could never find Fu Yi and Ye Xunshu.
Shen Yiyi had confirmed with someone who saw Fu Yi coming out of the water last night. But the situation last night was too chaotic, and they couldn’t find everyone who had witnessed the scene. This person had only seen Fu Yi emerge from the water but didn’t know how she had gone in.
Shen Yiyi knew Fu Yi could swim. As a friend, she was naturally worried, but compared to the Alpha she had known since childhood and understood perfectly, she was now more worried about the Omega, Ye Xunshu.
The young mistress of the Ye family spent her years in the boudoir; where would she have had the chance to learn to swim?
Fu Yi fell into the water, and Ye Xunshu was on the same boat as her. Was it possible that Ye Xunshu had also fallen in?
With both of them missing, Shen Yiyi was worried sick.
“Fu Yi-jie!” Upon learning that Fu Yi was missing, Zhou Ying searched near the market for nearly the entire night. Among all the searchers, she was the one who shouted the longest.
“Fu Yi-jie, cough, cough.”
Yun Manman had advised her last night to protect her throat, but by now her voice was hoarse. She felt a bit sorry for Zhou Ying. She knew full well that the other person’s heart was not with her.
“Do you want to drink some water and rest?” Yun Manman handed over a cup. Zhou Ying glanced at her, took the water, and sat down to one side, unable to lift her spirits.
Yun Manman tried to comfort her: “They’ll be found eventually. They are two grown people.”
“But it’s been a whole night.” Zhou Ying couldn’t help but start crying. “A whole night and we can’t find Fu Yi-jie. If something happened to her.”
“If something happened to her, then what would happen to you?” Xu Lanxi stood to the side with her arms crossed.
While Fu Yi and Ye Xunshu were missing for the night, she was the one among them whose search efforts felt the most half-hearted.
“Miss Zhou, you really won’t give up until you face the inevitable.” Xu Lanxi let out a snort. “Do you need her to tell you personally to give up before you’ll understand even a little bit?”
“Our great Miss Fu Yi doesn’t have you in her heart at all, and it’s not worth you pouring your heart out for her like this.”
Zhou Ying was a bit stubborn when it came to love, but she wasn’t entirely blind to who Fu Yi actually liked. However, the fact that everyone could see was now thrown in her face by Xu Lanxi in front of so many people. Regardless of the intent, it was an extremely embarrassing thing for her.
Xu Lanxi’s condescending posture was about to continue when she was interrupted by Yun Manman: “That’s enough.”
Xu Lanxi was stunned, looking at this person who was usually all smiles but now seemed provoked, her voice much colder.
“Miss Xu, this is a live stream. You should mind what you say.” Yun Manman said, “Everyone hopes Fu Yi and Ye Xunshu are okay. Don’t say such unpleasant things. Don’t let it get out on camera that this is the kind of upbringing the Xu family provides.”
Xu Lanxi’s face changed. “You!”
Yun Manman ignored Xu Lanxi, thinking to herself that this young mistress only knew how to mock others verbally throughout the day; when she was out-argued, she could only stutter “you, you, you” for a long time without producing any words. It was truly quite boring.
Xu Lanxi always thought that as a daughter of the Xu family, she would always be a level above someone like Yun Manman who came from a common background. Being spoken to like this made her feel she had lost face.
But what the other said was also the truth. Fu Yi didn’t like Zhou Ying at all, yet Zhou Ying kept shamelessly approaching her; wasn’t that just asking for trouble? Besides, she didn’t want anything to happen to Fu Yi either.
Even though she had a grudge against Fu Yi since they were children, after all these years, no matter how much she disliked her, it wasn’t to the point of hating her enough to curse her with an accident. In a moment like this, she still hoped she was alright.
Seeing that Yun Manman was ignoring her, Xu Lanxi grew irritated and sat off to the side to sulk, no longer continuing the search.
Zhou Zhou sat down beside her quietly. As show partners, they couldn’t appear too distant. Even though, in his heart, he felt absolutely nothing for Xu Lanxi.
Xu Lanxi glanced at him, only thinking that although this person was a man, he seemed frail. The gap between Alphas and Omegas was still too large. Throughout the entire night, he was also one of those who had shouted quite hard during the search.
Seeing that everyone around was busy searching, Xu Lanxi let out a soft sneer: “The young master of the Zhou family is searching so hard. Could it be that you also like Miss Fu?”
Zhou Zhou lifted his eyelids but didn’t speak.
“What is it?” Xu Lanxi smiled and whispered in his ear: “I thought, Young Master Zhou’s goal in coming to this dating show was the Fu family’s business properties.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhou’s hand hidden in his sleeve slowly clenched, though his face remained calm.
Xu Lanxi let out a “tsk” and moved away. “Boring.”
“It’s Fu Yi!”
Someone shouted, and everyone’s gaze followed the cry toward the damp stone path in the distance.
Fu Yi was walking back with Ye Xunshu on her back. Both of them were covered in filth, and it was unclear what they had gone through. But seeing that both were okay, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes were on the small path in the distance. Consequently, no one noticed that when Zhou Zhou saw Fu Yi return alive, his indifferent gaze flickered slightly along with a faint furrow of his brow.