Chapter 11

The last sliver of ice melted away between Shen Wanqing’s lips.

Lu Zhixia’s face was flushed red as she headed back to the freezer for another popsicle. This time, she sat on the other side of Grandma.

Shen Wanqing kept her head down, fiddling with her phone as if she were busy with something.

Lu Zhixia nibbled at her popsicle without paying much attention, barely registering the story Grandma was telling. Her tongue tip ached faintly.

Earlier, when they’d been tussling over the ice cream, Shen Wanqing had bumped her mouth. Lu wasn’t sure if it had been deliberate.

The spot went numb from the cold at first, but then it started throbbing with a heated sting once the chill faded.

Lu Zhixia’s phone buzzed. “Grandma, I have to take this call.”

It was her mother checking on the errand. Lu walked over to Shen Wanqing and handed her the phone. “You handle the report.”

She was terrified her mother might hear about the wedding dress price—she’d be dead meat when she got home.

Shen Wanqing was quick on her feet. She mentioned knowing friends and catching a discount, glossing over the exact cost.

Yan Fanghua sounded delighted on the other end. “What a reliable girl. Little Xia treated you to a nice meal, didn’t she?”

Shen Wanqing handed the phone back with a reminder. “She’s asking about the meal.”

Lu Zhixia’s attempt to dodge the question failed. Her mother found out about the mala tang, and Yan Fanghua let out a long-suffering sigh over the line. “You really need to learn from Wanqing. She’s no ordinary girl…”

“Okay, okay, Mom.” Lu Zhixia didn’t want to listen to all the praise—it was always for someone else.

She glanced over and saw Shen Wanqing tapping out replies to messages while absently scratching the back of her hand.

A mosquito buzzed near Lu Zhixia’s ear. She swatted at it and raised her voice. “Mom, I got it. Gotta go.”

“Make sure you send her home safe. Got it?”

“Got it.” Lu Zhixia hung up with a helpless sigh. Who was the real daughter here?

She said goodbye to Grandma. “Shen Wanqing, let’s head out.”

Shen Wanqing didn’t budge, her head still buried in her phone.

Lu Zhixia stepped right up to her, casting a shadow overhead. A lazy voice drifted down from above, urging her on. “Come on, come on. Professor Yan told me to drive you home.”

Shen Wanqing was still texting. Lu Zhixia stomped her foot, saw no reaction, and wandered a few steps aside with a yawn. “Miss, I don’t think I need to drive you home. You’ve got four people tailing you already.”

On second thought, she circled back and squatted down in front of Shen Wanqing, gazing up at her like an obedient puppy.

“Am I right, Shen Wanqing?” Lu Zhixia hugged her knees, tilting her head as she looked at her. “You don’t need me to drive you home, do you?”

Shen Wanqing’s gaze settled on her. The squat and head tilt made her look like a big, goofy dog.

She glanced down coolly. “If you don’t want to drive me, then don’t.”

“Tch.” Lu Zhixia had seen it coming. “You just get a kick out of messing with me.”

Shen Wanqing didn’t deny it. Lu Zhixia stood up, stretched her back with her hands on her hips, and sighed. “Fine, mess with me all you want. Once I’m done with their wedding errands, you won’t get the chance.”

Lu Zhixia helped Grandma tidy up the snacks and drinks laid out on the table outside. By the time Shen Wanqing finished with her phone and looked up, Lu Zhixia was out by the roadside, kicking at pebbles in boredom.

She was on another call, laughing cheerfully and seeming genuinely happy.

“Your words are too formal—we’re not like that.” Lu Zhixia chuckled. “We’ll grab something delicious together in a couple days. I just had mala tang today, oh.”

Something was said on the other end, and Lu Zhixia ducked her head, her voice dropping as if afraid of being overheard. “Me? I came with someone else.”

She hurried to add, “You don’t know her. I’m not that close to her either.”

Lu Zhixia said earnestly, “She’s just… just…” She fumbled for words for a moment before settling on, “just someone who always manages to get under my skin.”

She spun around and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Shen Wanqing was standing right behind her. Lu had no idea how much she’d overheard.

Lu Zhixia muttered, “Talk later,” and hung up. Just then, Shen Wanqing turned and started walking away.

She hurried after her. “Heading out now?”

Shen Wanqing didn’t reply, and her expression wasn’t exactly pleased.

Lu Zhixia wasn’t one to push her luck. They passed a pharmacy, and she called out from behind, “Hang on a sec. I need to grab some medicine.”

When Lu Zhixia emerged from the shop, Shen Wanqing was gone—along with the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.

She pulled the medicine box from the bag. It was for mosquito bites. With a mutter, “Guess I don’t need it after all. I’ll use it myself.”

Lu Zhixia squeezed out a dab of white ointment and rubbed it into the red welt until it faded completely.

There was another one on the back of her neck too, right by the gland, of all places. Talk about unlucky.

She scratched at it lightly to ease the itch and ambled onward.

A few hundred meters from the Mala Tang Shop, a red Ferrari suddenly barreled toward her.

Lu Zhixia startled, jumping back. Then two more cars whipped around in smooth arcs, pulling up in front of her.

The three vehicles formed a triangle, boxing her in at the center.

Lu Zhixia stood in the middle of the road and turned to glare at the Ferrari.

The window rolled down to reveal a beta woman with her black hair pinned up, exposing the pale skin of her neck. She wore a mask over her face and a sun hat perched on her head.

“You almost hit me,” Lu Zhixia said as she strode forward. “Apologize.”

“You’re Lu Zhixia?” Yan Menghui eyed her up and down.

Lu Zhixia narrowed her eyes and replied coolly, “I don’t care who you are, and I’m not interested in hearing you say my name. Apologize to me. Now.”

A few people climbed out of the other two cars and gathered beside the Ferrari. Yan Menghui let out a cold laugh. “Who do you think you are?”

The others burst into mocking laughter. Lu Zhixia bent down slightly, bracing both hands on the windowsill. “Apologize,” she repeated flatly.

“Even if I didn’t hit you, I could afford to pay you off if I had,” Yan Menghui said, lifting her chin with haughty arrogance. “A cheap little translator like you, scraping by on mala tang—stay the hell away from her, or I’ll beat you every time I see you.”

That was when Lu Zhixia realized what this was really about. She let out a derisive snort. “And you think you can make that happen?”

“Agree to it, and I’ll let you walk. Otherwise, we’re starting right now.” Yan Menghui’s arrogant tone finally pushed Lu Zhixia over the edge.

The bystanders closed in around her. Lu Zhixia glanced back—five alphas and three betas.

“Quit hiding in your car like a coward. Get out here and fight me yourselves.” In a flash, she seized Yan Menghui by the collar. Caught completely off guard, Yan Menghui snarled, “Beat her senseless!”

Lu Zhixia whipped around with a powerful kick, diving headlong into the fray.

Grandma’s supermarket had already shuttered for the night, and the last stragglers heading home had vanished into their houses. The alley lay quiet and deserted.

Eight against one should have been no contest, but Yan Menghui saw no easy victory in sight. A cold smirk twisted her lips as she slid out of the car and yanked a baseball bat from the trunk.

Lu Zhixia was locked in combat with the others when Yan Menghui swung the bat hard at her unguarded back.

The instincts of a top-tier alpha were leagues beyond those of ordinary folk. Lu Zhixia twisted aside at the last second.

Enraged, Yan Menghui barked, “Pin her down!”

The rest lunged as one. Finally, one tackled her legs in a desperate bear hug, another latched onto her waist, and a third scrambled to grab her arms.

Yan Menghui hefted the bat high. Lu Zhixia fixed her with a furious glare, a primal, savage energy radiating from her that gave Yan Menghui pause mid-swing. “Can’t you just stay away from her?”

Lu Zhixia’s deepest trigger had been struck. She bared her teeth in a sneer. “No.”

Gritting her teeth, Yan Menghui brought the bat down. Lu Zhixia wrenched free with explosive force, sending the weapon crashing into one of her own allies instead.

In an instant, Lu Zhixia hurled them all off her. She unleashed a barrage of brutal kicks amid a chorus of agonized screams.

Yan Menghui realized then that numbers alone wouldn’t save her. She bolted back toward the car.

The restless heat buried deep in Lu Zhixia’s bones surged to the surface, thickening the scent of Ambergris Pheromone in the air until it wafted away on the breeze.

Yan Menghui threw herself inside and slammed the window shut.

But Lu Zhixia was already there. She cocked her fist, drove her elbow forward, and smashed it into the glass.

It shattered with a deafening crack.

Yan Menghui fumbled frantically for the ignition. Lu Zhixia lunged in, yanking her hair and collar with iron strength. Her eyes burned crimson as she snarled, “Apologize.”

Someone crept up behind her. Yan Menghui clamped her jaw shut. The man swung a fist at the back of Lu Zhixia’s head.

She sidestepped smoothly, seized his arm, and slammed it straight into the jagged shards of glass.

He howled in pain as blood streamed down over the broken window.

Yan Menghui snatched up a chunk of glass and stabbed at Lu Zhixia’s hand.

Lu Zhixia yanked it back just in time. Yan Menghui jammed the car into gear and wrenched the wheel, barreling straight for her.

The vehicle grazed Lu Zhixia, sending her sprawling to the ground. She rolled aside desperately.

“Get in!” Yan Menghui whipped the car around in a circle while the others scrambled aboard.

The Ferrari’s engine roared to life, and it sped off into the night.

Lu Zhixia lay there on the pavement, her back throbbing so fiercely that she trembled.

She dragged herself upright bit by bit and reached back, her fingers coming away slick with blood. Her T-shirt was shredded.

Damn it! Lu Zhixia’s eyes blazed scarlet as she slammed her fist into the ground.

She sat there for a long while before struggling back to her feet. The bag of medicine had been flung far down the alley.

Limping toward it, her back burned too much to let her bend. She lowered herself into a squat with agonizing slowness and retrieved the mosquito repellent.

Fire lanced across her skin. Her breaths came in shaky gasps from the pain. Lu Zhixia remained crouched there for some time before forcing herself upright once more. Then, headlights swept into the mouth of the alley.

Squinting against the glare, she made out the familiar three-pointed star emblem—a black Mercedes-Benz van.

The beams shone mercilessly, too bright to face.

Shen Wanqing’s gaze cut straight through the night, locked unerringly on her.

The door swung open, and Shen Wanqing stepped out of the van, her eyes never wavering.

She took a single step forward. Lu Zhixia retreated one. Shen Wanqing advanced another, and Lu Zhixia scowled. “Stay back.”

But Shen Wanqing pressed on as if she hadn’t heard a word, closing the distance one deliberate step at a time.

Just a few steps away, Lu Zhixia roared angrily, “I said! Don’t come over!”

However, Shen Wanqing walked right up to her with a cold expression. Their eyes met, and Lu Zhixia’s were bloodshot and glistening with moisture.

She didn’t know why, but being stared at by those beautiful heterochromatic eyes filled her heart with grievance.

The moment Shen Wanqing parted her lips, Lu Zhixia frowned and said, “Don’t ask anything. I don’t want to answer.”

Shen Wanqing extended the back of her hand, revealing a large patch of red marks. She deliberately raised it and held it right in front of Lu Zhixia, saying innocently, “You have to take responsibility.”

“What if I don’t?” Lu Zhixia asked fiercely.

Shen Wanqing said dead seriously, “Then I’ll be fierce to you.”

“How are you going to be fierce to me? Let me see!” Lu Zhixia demanded even more aggressively.

“Like this.” Shen Wanqing tiptoed closer, the end of her words vanishing against her lips.

Lu Zhixia cried out in pain—this woman had actually bitten her!

In other words, it’s a very fierce big doggy.

Lu Zhixia: Awooo? Woof! [Yanking her hair]

Yan Menghui: ……

Author’s note:*

Will you take responsibility or not?

Readers: [Lining up to apply medicine for Big Sister.jpg]

Big Dog: Be fierce a few more times!