Chapter 52 Part 1

Ye Chengxing looked at the message Li Jia had just sent over, her fingertip pausing for a moment.

She typed out a line first, but after looking it over, she felt it wasn’t quite right and deleted it.

After going back and forth like that, only one sentence remained: 【Of course.】

After sending the message, Ye Chengxing typed another line and sent it off: 【I’ll pick you up this Sunday.】

Two seconds later, Li Jia replied with a nodding cat emoji: 【It’s a deal then.】

Time flew by when she got busy. In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and Sunday arrived.

After receiving Li Jia’s message, Ye Chengxing drove straight over.

By the time she got there, Li Jia was already waiting by the roadside. Ye Chengxing spotted the Omega’s figure from a distance, and it looked like Li Jia was carrying some beautifully packaged gift bags.

Ye Chengxing pulled up beside her without honking the horn. She got out and opened the passenger door on Li Jia’s side.

Noticing the gift bags in Li Jia’s hand, Ye Chengxing spoke up. “This is…?”

Li Jia gently shook the bags and curved her eyes into a smile. “Gifts for them. It’s our first meeting, so I prepared a little something.”

Ye Chengxing blinked.

She’d prepared gifts, huh.

Ye Chengxing acknowledged it and reached out to take the bags from Li Jia’s hand to put them in the back seat. But just as she lifted her hand, Li Jia dodged the motion. The Omega’s voice held a faint laugh, but her refusal was thorough. “It’s fine, Sis. I can handle this much weight.”

Ye Chengxing’s hand hung in midair for two seconds before she withdrew it.

Strange… it felt like Li Jia was avoiding her.

The atmosphere carried an indescribable sense of distance—not quite cold, but not warm either.

Seeing Li Jia get into the car, Ye Chengxing temporarily set her thoughts aside and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Ended pretty early today.” The weather had started cooling off, so as Ye Chengxing spoke, she handed Li Jia the hot milk tea she’d prepared before heading out.

After numerous experiments and ingredient tweaks, she’d finally made a zero-sugar version that tasted just as good without feeling heavy.

Li Jia took the cup of milk tea. Its warmth instantly soothed her slightly chilled hands.

Gripping the milk tea, she explained, “It wasn’t supposed to wrap up this early. There was supposed to be a scene with my co-star today, but the actress had some issues a few days ago and got into it with the director. The director decided to recast the role, but they haven’t found anyone suitable yet, so it’s on hold.”

With that, Li Jia stuck in the straw and took a sip. The milk tea was exactly to her taste, warming her from the inside out.

Li Jia blinked, and a comment nearly slipped out instinctively. But she caught it at the last second and turned it into a polite compliment instead. “The milk tea’s delicious. And it’s warming me right up.”

Ye Chengxing murmured an acknowledgment and sneaked another careful glance at Li Jia through the rearview mirror. This time, though, their eyes didn’t meet.

After that remark, Li Jia quietly sipped her milk tea and occasionally checked her phone.

…Was she chatting with someone?

Never mind. Staring at someone else’s phone was rude. Ye Chengxing focused on the road instead.

The place she’d arranged for Xi Yue and the others wasn’t on a busy street—too many people could be inconvenient, especially given their circumstances.

Once they arrived, Ye Chengxing parked the car and gestured to Li Jia. “We’re here. Let’s head in.”

She’d mentioned beforehand that she’d be bringing her little sister, but when they saw it was Li Jia, they let out some surprised noises.

Especially after Li Jia handed out the gifts she’d prepared, one by one.

Fu Tao stammered her thanks, clearly nervous. Wen Zhiyu’s face turned bright red. Qi Chaoyi accepted her gift bag with an awkward, “Thank you.”

After thanking Li Jia, Xi Yue ruffled her little sister’s hair. “Xiao Ran, make sure to thank Sis properly.”

Xi Ran looked up at Li Jia, blinking her big eyes repeatedly. After saying “Thank you,” she added in a tiny voice, “Sis, you’re so pretty.”

With that, she shyly ducked behind Xi Yue, peeking out at Li Jia.

Li Jia curved her eyes into a soft smile as Xi Ran’s words landed.

At her smile, Fu Tao dramatically clutched her heart. Wen Zhiyu had to steady her as she murmured, “Gosh, am I seeing a fairy? She’s way too beautiful.”

Halfway through her sigh, Fu Tao bounced over to Ye Chengxing like she’d been shot from a cannon. “Boss! Why didn’t you bring your sister around to introduce her sooner? I’m dying from all this beauty! Sob sob—sure, I like Alphas, but for a second there, B/O romance didn’t sound half bad…”

Ye Chengxing knew Fu Tao was all talk and no substance, always spouting nonsense. She stuck out a finger and shoved the incoming Fu Tao away in disgust. “What do you mean B/O sounds good? You’re just a face-con. A few days ago, you were going on about B/B romance.”

Li Jia’s gaze followed the interaction between Ye Chengxing and Fu Tao. Her lips still curved in a smile, but her eyes darkened.

Xi Yue had been chuckling and was about to join in the teasing when she caught Li Jia’s gaze. Her words died on her tongue.

In that instant, her body triggered an instinctive warning, out of nowhere.

Xi Yue had dodged plenty of dangers thanks to that gut feeling before.

…What was this?

Before she could dwell on it, Li Jia seemed to sense her stare and turned her eyes this way.

The second their gazes locked, Xi Yue went rigid all over, her hairs nearly standing on end.

She parted her lips, then heard Ye Chengxing say something. The Omega in front of her immediately curved her eyes into a sweet smile and responded.

Even though the sensation had faded, that intuition had never steered her wrong.

Xi Yue’s eyes darted between Ye Chengxing and Li Jia a few times. Suddenly, her scalp prickled.

Ye Chengxing came here often to teach them cooking.

She’d mentioned her little sister Li Jia before them plenty of times, always with a gentle tone. Xi Yue remembered the descriptors, even if she’d never shared the name.

One descriptor after another flashed through her mind. None of them matched the Omega standing before her.

She had no idea why this woman was pretending to be something she wasn’t, but did Ye Chengxing realize what kind of look Li Jia was giving her? It was the gaze of someone coveting their prize, dead set on claiming it—no matter the means, if the opportunity arose.

…Talk about keeping a wolf at your side while thinking it’s a pure little lamb.

Only Ye Chengxing would see someone like this as harmless.

No, hold on.

Xi Yue numbly scanned the rest of the group.

Aside from her, they were all clueless—faces flushed as they chatted with Li Jia, practically swooning.

Xi Yue: “…”

She wished she hadn’t noticed. Then she could have joined in, none the wiser. But no—she had to pick up on it.

And to make matters worse, the other woman knew she’d been made.

Why did she have to be so damn perceptive?

(pain mask.jpg)

Today was supposed to be business as usual: teaching Xi Yue and the others to cook.

But Ye Chengxing saw how hyped everyone was and figured they could chat for a bit first. They’d been working hard lately, so a little relaxation wouldn’t hurt.

By the end of it, Fu Tao had even wheedled Li Jia’s contact info out of her.

Li Jia looked a little embarrassed from all the prodding.

Ye Chengxing couldn’t help yanking Fu Tao aside. “Tone down that enthusiasm. You’re scaring my sister.”

Xi Yue, who was nearby drinking water, nearly spat it out at Ye Chengxing’s words. She barely held it back but ended up choking hard, coughing up a storm.

Her reaction drew every eye.

Ye Chengxing turned to her.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Xi Yue seemed off today. Hard to pinpoint—just not her usual self.

Seeing Xi Yue cough so violently, Ye Chengxing grabbed another bottle of water without thinking. “You okay?”

Xi Yue only coughed harder. She waved Ye Chengxing off, gesturing that she’d step out to recover.

Ye Chengxing found it even stranger. “What’s wrong with her?”

Even those who spent the most time with Xi Yue shook their heads. Li Jia smiled and said, “She’ll probably come back once she’s caught her breath.”

Ye Chengxing didn’t dwell on it. A little later, Xi Yue returned.

With her back, Ye Chengxing glanced at the time. It was about right, so she herded everyone into the kitchen to get to work.

Once they’d settled on the menu, Ye Chengxing turned to Li Jia. Before she could speak, Li Jia beat her to it. “Sis, can I join you in there?”

Ye Chengxing had been about to ask exactly that. She smiled. “Of course. I was going to invite you anyway.”

She’d never planned to keep any of this from Li Jia—just like when she’d started the gourmet store from the beginning.

Li Jia smiled back but didn’t budge. Her gaze dropped to Ye Chengxing’s neck, and she suddenly asked, “Sis, why aren’t you wearing the necklace outside anymore?”

“Oh, this?” Ye Chengxing touched the butterfly wings through her clothes. “This spot might not get splattered anyway, but keeping it close to my skin feels safer.”

Li Jia let out a soft “Ah.” “I thought maybe you found it annoying and tucked it away. Glad that’s not it.”

“How could I?” Ye Chengxing carefully hooked the necklace out with her fingertip, glanced at it, and tucked it back in. “Something this important—I’ll always wear it properly.”

She looked at Li Jia. “More than that, it’s from Xiao Li. I’ll treasure it forever.”

As Ye Chengxing finished, her eyes stayed fixed on Li Jia’s face. She was the one observing, but somehow she was the nervous one.

Li Jia’s expression barely changed. The Omega nodded shyly. “I’m already so touched that Sis is willing to wear this necklace.”

Ye Chengxing hummed softly in response to Li Jia’s words.

That faint, elusive sense of distance she’d noticed before crept back in.

It wasn’t outright coldness—in fact, one could literally call it closeness.

But their interactions over the past stretch had been far more intimate than this. Just a few days ago, things hadn’t felt this way. If anything, it reminded her more of those early days when she and Li Jia weren’t that close yet.