Chapter 46 Part 1

The phone screen suddenly lit up.

Lu Ningshuang didn’t check it right away. Instead, she turned her head to look at Qin Yushu. “Is it okay if I mess with your phone like this~?”

Her green tea attributes suddenly awakened!

After handing over her finger as authentication, Qin Yushu continued to focus on her work.

She only looked up again at the sound of the Alpha’s voice, giving a light, casual glance.

…Hmm?

Her lover’s eyes shimmered with unspoken allure.

Lu Ningshuang continued, “I mean, you have so many business partners and work secrets on here. What if taking it affects your work? Or if I see something I shouldn’t…”

“Don’t worry.”

Qin Yushu interrupted the Alpha’s chatter.

She suddenly raised her other hand, her slender knuckles waving it lazily. In her grasp was another phone.

It was the same model as the one in Lu Ningshuang’s hands, only a different color.

Qin Yushu said, “It won’t affect anything. That’s my personal number.”

Lu Ningshuang remembered again.

Earlier at the hotel, when she’d answered Huo Yunyi’s call for her, Qin Yushu had mentioned she had two phones that didn’t overlap.

She vaguely recalled that the phone for Huo Yunyi’s call had been silver—the very one Qin Yushu now held, her work phone.

A spark of pleasure bloomed in the Alpha’s heart.

The little dog asked again, “So which phone am I in?”

Qin Yushu glanced at her again.

Faintly, casually.

“Where do you want to be?”

Lu Ningshuang pursed her lips, not answering right away—or rather, not wanting to say it too directly.

“See for yourself.”

Qin Yushu said, glancing faintly at the device in the Alpha’s hand. Her trailing tone was casual, yet somehow… teasing.

“Now one of them is in your hands, Youyou. You can find the answer yourself.”

Could she?

Lu Ningshuang looked up and met Qin Yushu’s dark, profound gaze, which seemed to carry a hint of encouragement.

It hooked her, baited her to keep scrolling.

No one could resist eyes like that. Lu Ningshuang was indeed bewitched; her hand seemed to move on its own. With anticipation and a touch of nervousness, she opened Qin Yushu’s WeChat.

And saw—

The chat with her own profile picture pinned at the very top.

In an instant, countless fireworks exploded in her heart, dyeing the entire hazy sky.

The Alpha suppressed her surging joy and scrolled further.

Her last message to Qin Yushu had been at 17:46, but there were two or three more messages after that, with the final reply even later—yet they were buried below.

Further up, the chat bubble with her picture was indeed a deeper shade.

It was pinned.

When Lu Ningshuang turned back, the delight on her face was impossible to hide. She melted into a colorful soft candy, soft and sticky, utterly clingy.

“How… how did you put my chat first and pin it~~?”

The Alpha’s voice floated upward, drifting in the air.

From the moment Lu Ningshuang had looked down at the phone, Qin Yushu’s gaze hadn’t left her.

Her dangling hand unconsciously pressed her thumb and forefinger together, rubbing the delicate skin slowly.

Her emotions tonight were a bit unsteady.

Qin Yushu had always known.

Though Lu Ningshuang, this Alpha, was one she’d carefully selected, at her core, she was just a… useful tool to handle her monthly gland heat periods.

At first, it was just a test. Once she found the other woman reliable and obedient, she decided to keep the arrangement long-term.

However.

The other hesitated.

When she sensed signs of the other wanting to flee, she loosened the leash, giving her some freedom. Even though it was a return to her usual life, the woman felt off-balance, unadapted.

Then she yanked the leash tight, securing her with a brand-new, beautiful collar.

Did Qin Yushu have to use marriage to solve her current situation?

Not necessarily.

And it wasn’t even a real dilemma; she could maintain the status quo, just with a bit more hassle.

But…

It was only a minor, insignificant trouble. Nothing at all.

No matter how pretty the collar, adorned with flowers or diamonds, it was still a collar.

Meant to leash someone.

Once the first step was taken, the chain reaction was inevitable. She kept Lu Ningshuang in her villa, raising an Alpha—perhaps no different from raising a dog.

Raising a pet brought pleasure, so to get more emotional value from her doggy, she didn’t mind treating her a little better.

It was just a matter of words.

And a well-raised dog could give back to her, right?

At the same time, as a businesswoman, not a saint, she never did good deeds anonymously. Everything she did for the little dog, every penny spent, had to be known.

Silent, unseen devotion was for fools!

Whether the other wanted it or not, now that she lived in her house, ate her food, used her things, she had to acknowledge the debt—and repay it double.

That was the value of raising a pet.

But…

The little dog could sense emotions. Treat her well, and she’d return it.

But that return wasn’t boundless or unconditional. Or rather, she’d raised a clever little dog—though she often seemed not so bright.

Give her three parts kindness, and she’d give back three or four, even five if in a good mood, generously up to six or seven!

But that was just momentary. Pushing to eight was impossible, ten out of the question!!

At first, Qin Yushu thought it fair.

Like investment returns: give three parts, get three in profit? Great. Double it, and it’s a jackpot, sharp eye.

But gradually…

She realized the little dog’s return model worked for anyone who treated her well. And that casual three parts “good” she tossed out didn’t feel so casual to her anymore.

—She started to care.

Just that evening, she’d warned the little dog not to be too clingy. The dog obeyed without question, didn’t even ask why—just stopped clinging and went out to play late.

Leaving her, the empty-nest “owner,” alone in the vast villa. She’d demanded it, yet when the dog happily returned unscathed, she was the one who’d worried all along.

For the first time, Qin Yushu realized excessive obedience wasn’t always good.

The little dog’s compliance wasn’t blind trust or exclusive loyalty. Her commands were optional; she could follow or not.

Either way.

You just chose for her, saving her the dilemma, so she went along—to placate you.

Without crossing her own lines, she could placate and deceive you endlessly, gaining your smug satisfaction while losing nothing herself.

She might even send false signals to bait your command, flipping the script to take control.

But this purely cunning yet sly… little dog.

No.

Wrong.

These emotions shouldn’t exist—she was supposed to control the little dog she’d kept, not have this seemingly innocent dog control her.

The initiative had to stay firmly with her from start to finish!!!

So, intentional or not, when she sensed she was being subtly counter-manipulated again, Qin Yushu decisively severed those improper feelings.

Her mind raced, plotting how to plant a mine in their everyday interactions and reclaim control step by step.

Perhaps—

In a flash of thought, she realized that the moment “sever” and “reverse” crossed her mind, she’d already half-fallen into the other’s trap.

Intentional or not.

But like sunk costs in business, once the trap was set, there was no stopping.

Impulsive emotions would override reason.

Purely from a business or company standpoint, Qin Yushu could cut losses swiftly, make the optimal call. But when it involved her…

Even her shrewd, rational mind fell to “the bystander sees clear, but the person involved is blind.”

Everyone knew the principle.

But on yourself? You’d eat the loss three or five times before learning—or maybe never.

One such mine was the pinning on her personal phone.

That evening alone, she’d seen the chat bubble bumped up casually, wondering when Lu Ningshuang would step on it and explode. And here she was, jumping right in dumbly.

Maybe it wasn’t that complex. Was this little dog before her actually just dumb? Beauty traded for brains?

The thought flashed through Qin Yushu’s mind. Meeting Lu Ningshuang’s clear, innocent eyes, she said offhandedly,

“No big meaning.”

Lu Ningshuang blinked. “Huh?”

Qin Yushu’s eyes lowered slightly, hiding the profound light within. Her red lips parted casually.

“There’s hardly anyone on my personal number. Putting you first means I can find you right away when I need you.”

Classic Qin Yushu: ambiguous, casually revealing three parts, laced with faint intimacy.

A keener mind might dissect those few words—tenderness here, affection there, care everywhere…

Tossing and turning sleepless all night.

However.

Lu Ningshuang had a big heart—or rather, she’d experienced Qin Yushu’s peculiar linguistic charm.

Hot one moment, cool the next… emotions tugged along before she could think.

The little dog’s moods came fast and faded fast.

She’d been thrilled at first, but now with Qin Yushu’s “fitting” explanation, the live-in luxury son-in-law A, with no standing at home, naturally accepted it.

So she nodded, buying the excuse, and turned to adding her to the group.

Qin Yushu: “…”

Heh.

Now not even the baseline three parts.

…

Lu Ningshuang’s attention fully shifted. She fiddled with both phones.

Their Old Lu Family group was nationwide uniform—”Happily Married Family Group”:)

She’d just pulled Qin Yushu in with her own phone, not even introduced her yet.

Lu Peirong, her internet-addicted great-aunt who never put her phone down—Qi Jingming’s mom—spoke first.

[This is Little Shuang’s marriage partner, right? Hello hello, welcome to the family!]

[@Qi Facai tsk tsk, look at you. As the big brother, you’ve been totally outdone by your sister in every way~]

[@Lu Family Son-in-Law Group, come give money!]

The two @’d were her cousin Qi Jingming and Uncle-in-law Qi Nanqing—currently her aunt’s two most handy tools.

Cousin might be busy, but her Uncle-in-law, true to his rep as the family’s top romance brain, arrived instantly and… started sending red packets.

The chat exploded with his string of red packet messages.

Lu Family Son-in-Law: [Happy newlyweds! @Top Earner Slacker @Q]

Lu Family Son-in-Law: [Everyone grab! @Everyone]

Lu Ningshuang scrolled up nonstop. Uncle-in-law sent about twenty-plus, WeChat’s limit per packet two hundred, but totaling four or five thousand.

She tapped one—