For several days in a row, Shu Qingyou seemed to return to the time when the two of them spent every moment together. She treated her obediently, occasionally showing a bit of willfulness, and Lin Xu was delighted. As long as she didn’t think about running away, everything was fine.
Shu Qingyou avoided expressing any desire to go abroad on social media. Her communications with her sister and friends were all normal daily chatter.
Lin Xu would wake up in the middle of the night to check her phone, but Shu Qingyou didn’t point it out. Lin Xu’s obsession had reached an incurable level.
Half a month later, Shu Qingyou received an email specifying the date, location, and instructions to pick up her new identity—read and then delete.
Things went very smoothly, precisely because Lin Xu stayed home with her every day.
Shu Qingyou sat on the sofa with Lin Xu for a long time. She cut a fruit platter and fed it to her mouth. Lin Xu didn’t think much of it and politely said things like “thank you” and “I like it” each time—empty, grandiose words.
Hearing them too much, she paid even less attention to how much possessiveness and false affection hid behind them.
Shu Qingyou naturally echoed such sweet nothings without thinking, but she still couldn’t quite gauge Lin Xu’s bottom line. Was it just restricting her movements?
At least she could be grateful that she wasn’t tied up hand and foot right now, or simply chained to Lin Xu for some prisoner play.
“I’ll go out for a bit later.” Shu Qingyou nestled beside her, her fingers playing with the ends of Lin Xu’s hair, wrapping them around her knuckles several times.
Lin Xu, who was reviewing a proposal, paused and turned her face to kiss the top of her head. “What for? I’ll go with you, or I can have someone drive you. Driving yourself is such a hassle.”
Shu Qingyou didn’t stop there. Following the enticing scent, her dense kisses landed on Lin Xu’s cheek, until they reached her soft lips.
She didn’t mind—in fact, she quite liked kissing Lin Xu. Though she’d never kissed anyone else, she was certain Lin Xu not only had beautiful lip shape but also impressive softness.
The offensive flipped. Lin Xu leaned back on top, her waist suspended in the air, arms propped on the sofa, slightly dazed with half-closed eyes. Shu Qingyou was so proactive today.
Shu Qingyou licked her crimson lips, her fingertips caressing them, a smile in her eyes. “Baby, from now on, when I pick up Rongrong, you wait at home for me?”
Lin Xu struggled to straighten her back, but seeing this, Shu Qingyou pressed her down and kissed her solidly again.
Pheromones continuously eroded the Alpha’s rationality. Lin Xu panted heavily—it was practically upside down. She was a proper Alpha, after all. Her lips moved.
“Okay, but you have to come back quickly, or I’ll worry.”
For an Omega, it was just the right amount of coquetry, but from an Alpha, it had a unique flavor. Shu Qingyou sighed inwardly. If only Lin Xu could stay like this forever, but things rarely went as wished.
Shu Qingyou had thought her daughter would feel uncomfortable in crowded places or get bullied by others—her three-year-old stature wasn’t as tall as her peers.
Thanks to Lin Xu’s relentless feeding of high-calorie cakes—which weren’t healthy—she’d gained a little chub. Apart from baby fat on her cheeks, her build was still slim and small overall.
What surprised Shu Qingyou even more was that her daughter, upon seeing her, just clung tightly and didn’t cry like other kids separated from their moms.
Before heading out, Shu Qingyou asked, “Lin Xu, why doesn’t Rongrong cry after not seeing me for half a day?”
Lin Xu thought for a moment and lifted the corner of her moist lips. “Maybe she knows Mommy will always be waiting at the school gate.”
“I was about the same age as her when I was little. It’s not like going off to battle— it’d be weird to cry. Anyway, I knew Mom would sleep with me every night. What’s there to cry about?”
“I see…” Shu Qingyou curled her fingertips, then released them. She took a breath and said softly, “If it were you waiting at the school gate all the time, she’d be happy too.”
“Hm? Baby, what did you say?”
“Nothing.”
The pickup spot wasn’t as remote as Shu Qingyou had imagined—no shady back-alley deal. Instead, it was right out in the open at a burger joint.
The contact was straightforward too—a refreshingly dressed young woman with spirited brows and eyes. Upon spotting Shu Qingyou, she confirmed it was the buyer.
She waved high, her left hand clutching a half-eaten fried chicken leg. “Over here, over here! Come on!”
Shu Qingyou approached. The young woman’s lower lip was smeared with sauce. Shu Qingyou’s gaze lingered for a moment, and the other keenly noticed, chuckling as she wiped it off casually with her hand.
“Wait a sec.” The young woman set down the crispy chicken leg and rummaged in a bulging black backpack, her face buried inside.
Shu Qingyou felt a bit uneasy sitting there amid the bustling crowd in the burger shop—harboring a trace of guilt. Her eyes drifted down to the eye-catching black-and-white QR code surrounded by red and green.
Without much thought, she pulled out her phone and scanned it. From the dizzying array of fried chicken and burgers, she selected the flavor Lin Xu had liked before and placed the order.
“Hey, sis, you hungry too?”
The young woman looked up. On the table sat a small handbag about ten centimeters across. She nudged it over. “Here, take it. Hit me up next time you need anything—my card’s inside.”
The leather handbag had faint oil stains. Shu Qingyou lowered her gaze and picked it up by the dry corner. “Mind if I ask what you do?”
The young woman dipped a fry in ketchup. “Main job’s coding, side gig’s a hobby. Guess?”
Shu Qingyou: “Not guessing. Can we leave after I get my fried chicken?”
Only then did the young woman look properly at this new client—cool, aloof brows and eyes, black turtleneck sweater outlining slender shoulders, giving off an unapproachable vibe.
She didn’t like these haughty types. The young woman pursed her lips and shifted her gaze back to the chicken leg.
It looked delicious. Shu Qingyou noted the young woman’s devouring it and was surprised to think of Lin Xu, who once stuffed herself with fried chicken until she was stuffed.
After a perfunctory goodbye to the mysterious young woman, Shu Qingyou carried a large box of fried chicken takeout and her identity documents to the car.
She timed it perfectly to pick up Rongrong after school. Rongrong’s little nose sniffed, detecting the tantalizing aroma from the big box in the passenger seat. In mere seconds, drool trickled from her mouth.
“Rongrong, no eating.”
Shu Qingyou sighed. Why were kids so unable to resist junk food?
Back home as promised, Lin Xu immediately felt she’d done wrong. She trotted over to greet them. “Baby, I can’t go an hour without seeing you—it claws at my heart. From now on, we’ll pick up Rongrong together. Work isn’t that important.”
Shu Qingyou handed over the fried chicken matter-of-factly. “Okay, eat.”
“You got fried chicken for me!” Lin Xu’s pupils contracted slightly. Moved, she sniffled. “You’re so good to me, baby. I have no way to repay you except…”
Before “with my body” could come out, Shu Qingyou pressed a finger to her lips. “Got it, I accept your feelings.”
Lin Xu grinned slyly, then noticed the eldest daughter standing still, eyes full of grievance. She lowered her voice. “Rongrong wants some?”
Shu Qingyou stopped it promptly. “No spoiling her. Her teeth can’t take it.”
“Fried chicken no, but fries…”
“No.”
“Oh…” Lin Xu helplessly ruffled Shu Rong’s hair. “Mommy said so, not Momma denying you. How about this—you watch me eat nearby. Smelling it is better than nothing.”
Shu Rong pondered and found Momma’s logic sound, toddling after Lin Xu happily.
What a schemer, Shu Qingyou shook her head. Bullying her daughter was something Lin Xu never missed a day of.
Shu Qingyou sent a text to the teacher and deleted it.
A few days later, Lin Xu and she picked up and dropped off their daughter together—a picture-perfect family. Even the kindergarten teacher was envious, thinking President Lin wasn’t as cold and cunning as the rumors said.
Fawning over the Omega like that, she was the epitome of henpecked wife.
Shu Qingyou was constantly held in Lin Xu’s arms, heedless of others’ gazes—like a sticky taffy.
After much deliberation, she felt it was time. After days of mental preparation, it was time for action.
The sleeping pills from the hospital, disguised as vitamins, sat blatantly in the bathroom cabinet. The passport was new, name changed from Shu Qingyou to Shiraishi.
She took a moment to inform her sister of the full plan and quickly got full support—she could take care of Shu Rong.
Shu Qingyou wasn’t worried about that. Lin Xu treated Shu Rong well; it was she who repeatedly couldn’t bear to part with her daughter, unable to sever those emotions.
Sometimes, looking at Shu Rong’s serene little face, she felt like her daughter was healing her. She needed her daughter, but that was twisted.
Her daughter wasn’t her medicine. To step over that hurdle in her heart, she needed to do it alone.
Amid the flow of people, Shu Qingyou blocked out all surrounding noise and gazed blankly at the sky.
Tomorrow—no more delays.
