Chapter 22: Her Lover, the Deceiver Part 1

Inside Jia Hua’s living room, Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi were flipping that new ID card back and forth, scrutinizing it repeatedly. Especially the gender column—they touched it over and over. Then the two of them opened their arms wide and hugged each other tightly.

Jia Hui: “Wuwuwu, C-rank Omega! It’s C-rank! Our child actually got C! Honey, it’s all thanks to your good genes!”

Song Qiaoyi: “No, honey, your genes are great too! It’s both of our genes that are great! Huahua inherited our excellent genes to get C!”

Sitting on the single sofa, Jia Hua was silent: If you’re happy thinking that way, sure.

She listened to the two endlessly praising each other, and finally couldn’t help but toss the tissue box from the coffee table at them: “Wipe it, your snot is dripping.”

“How is that possible? Fake-crying doesn’t produce actual snot!” Jia Hui grabbed a tissue to wipe her nose and realized she’d been tricked.

Jia Hua glanced at her: “Terrible acting.”

“How did you… hey, Jia Hua, why are your lips so red in a big patch? Did a bug bite you?” Jia Hui noticed Jia Hua’s lips were slightly swollen, with a reddened area around them—starkly obvious against Jia Hua’s fair face.

Jia Hua’s slender finger brushed across her lower lip. She raised an eyebrow at Jia Hui: “No.”

Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi, who already had a child, instantly understood. The two fell silent.

After a long moment, Song Qiaoyi spoke up: “You didn’t do anything… to her, did you?”

She imagined a scene of her Omega daughter pinning an Alpha against a wall and forcefully kissing her, and couldn’t help but shiver.

That’s way too forward! Should she try to dissuade her? But would she even listen?

Song Qiaoyi organized her words: “Even though you’re an adult now, you are still in high school after all. Shouldn’t you perhaps reduce some of the… close physical contact?”

The adults didn’t oppose the two kids being together, but for now, focusing on studies was still recommended.

Unexpectedly, Jia Hua gave them a mysterious smile: “Who’s a high schooler? I’m practically a university student now.”

“What nonsense are you talking, kid? Aren’t you still in the third year at An City No. 2 High School? You haven’t even taken the college entrance exam. What do you mean ‘practically a university student’?”

Jia Hua spread her hands: “Moms, I’ve already been admitted to the Imperial Capital Omega Academy. The admission letter will arrive at our house tonight.”

The Alphas and Omegas of the ABO world might not know much about many universities, but they definitely knew about places like the Imperial Four Major Academies and the Imperial Capital Omega Academy. Though most people’s comments about them were complaints about their harsh requirements and sky-high tuition fees, everyone still yearned for them.

“Honey, I didn’t hear wrong, did I? Jia Hua said she got into the Imperial Capital Omega Academy!” Jia Hui forcefully pinched her own cheek. Hiss~ That hurt…

Song Qiaoyi stared blankly at Jia Hui: “Honey, I heard it too. So, this isn’t a hallucination!”

“But with our daughter’s intelligence, how could the Imperial Capital Omega Academy possibly admit her? Is the Empire really that short on C-rank and above Omegas?”

“Right? Isn’t our daughter at the bottom of the class every single exam? Has the Imperial Capital Omega Academy become that desperate?”

Jia Hua: “…”

As a good daughter, Jia Hua naturally wouldn’t let her mothers wallow in false pride. She explained: “Because Zhen Yan’s mental power rank is A. She’s an A-rank Alpha. So a teacher from the Imperial Fourth Military Academy came personally to invite her. And as her girlfriend, I’m riding on her coattails.”

Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi nodded blankly upon hearing this: “Oh, well, that makes sense… What?! Zhen Yan is an A-rank Alpha?!”

Both Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi’s eyes widened.

“What’s wrong?” Jia Hua waved a hand in front of their faces.

“Honey, didn’t I always say Zhen Yan was definitely no ordinary kid, at least a B-rank? Who knew she’d be an A!”

“Mm, the first time I saw Zhen Yan’s mothers, I knew they weren’t ordinary people!”

Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi were muttering quietly to each other.

Jia Hua’s ears perked up. This was the first time she’d heard Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi talk about Zhen Yan’s mothers. From what they said, Zhen Yan’s mothers didn’t seem ordinary at all!

“Dear mothers, what were the names of Zhen Yan’s mothers?” Jia Hua leaned in and asked. In the original owner’s memory, ever since she could remember, Zhen Yan hadn’t had her mothers. And her own mothers rarely brought up Zhen Yan’s mothers either, at most saying “Old Zhen.”

Song Qiaoyi thought carefully: “I remember Zhen Yan’s mother was called Zhen Ke. But her mom—I don’t know her full name. She never told us; she just had us call her Little Qi.”

“Their family moved here the year you were born. At the time, Little Qi was pregnant with Zhen Yan, and I was pregnant with you. I went downstairs for a walk. The first time I saw her, I just felt she was from a different world than me. Gentle and polite, speaking softly and gently. Zhen Ke was also very good to her, very caring.”

“Their age difference was, I heard, over ten years.”

“…”

In Zhen Yan’s kitchen, Zhen Yan turned off the stove and ladled the finished egg drop soup into a soup bowl. Then she successively brought out the accompanying stir-fried dishes to the dining table, finally dishing up two bowls of rice. She placed one bowl before Grandma Zhen and smiled at her seated at the dining chair: “Grandma, let’s eat a bit more lavishly today. Five dishes and one soup!”

“Good, good, good! It’s your birthday today, you should eat well! Normally, Grandma should have prepared all this. Now you’ve gone and done it all.” Grandma Zhen laughed happily.

“Doesn’t matter who makes it, right? My cooking skills were secretly learned from you. It tastes just as good as yours.” Zhen Yan picked up a piece of meat and placed it in Grandma Zhen’s bowl.

“You’re a good girl, secretly learning to cook.” Grandma Zhen thought of how other kids ran wild all over the streets as children, while Zhen Yan had been at home early, taking the initiative to help with chores, laundry, and cooking. Her eyes felt a little sore.

Seeing Grandma Zhen on the verge of tears was the last thing Zhen Yan wanted. She quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and said to Grandma Zhen: “Grandma, I have something to show you!”

With that, she dashed towards her room, pulling the admission letter from her backpack and presenting it to Grandma Zhen with both hands.

“Grandma, look! I’ve been admitted to the Imperial Fourth Military Academy!” Zhen Yan said happily.

“Really?!” Grandma Zhen was clearly overjoyed. “Quick, bring me my glasses!”

“Right away!” Zhen Yan immediately ran to the coffee table and fetched the reading glasses.

Grandma Zhen put on the glasses. Her wrinkled hands carefully opened the admission letter.

At the very top were six large characters: “Imperial Fourth Military Academy.” The second line: five large characters: “Admission Notification Letter.”

Grandma Zhen read it out character by character. She was happiest when she saw Zhen Yan’s name. She even turned slightly to point out the two characters “Zhen Yan” to Zhen Yan.

Zhen Yan bent her knees to stay at Grandma Zhen’s eye level, sharing the joy of the acceptance together: “Yes, yes, it’s me, Grandma! I really got admitted to the Imperial Fourth Military Academy!”

“You are Grandma’s pride. I will always be proud of you!” Grandma Zhen was overjoyed, the wrinkles on her face gathering together. Time had carved countless deep lines on her face, yet now, she felt much more energetic.

Her granddaughter had achieved something great. As her grandmother, she was happy!

Seeing Grandma so happy, Zhen Yan decided not to tell her now that she had turned into an Omega. After all, she was still going to the military academy. The Omega identity would also make Grandma Zhen worry about her.

Listening to Grandma Zhen’s aged voice, Zhen Yan smiled too.

If Grandma was happy, she was happy.

After finishing the meal, Zhen Yan tidied the table and washed the dishes, then walked into her own bedroom. After closing the door, she went to the wardrobe, pulled open the bottom storage compartment, and rummaged through a pile of miscellaneous items to find a clean little iron box. Taking it out and placing it on the desk, she took a deep breath and opened it.

Inside lay a crumpled photograph, quietly resting there. The photo was of two women. One wore a military uniform, her skin slightly on the darker side, the corner of her mouth faintly turned up. The other woman wore a beautiful long dress, her smile sweet as she linked arms with the uniformed woman. They looked like lovers.

Ever since Zhen Yan could remember, she hadn’t seen her mothers. Every time she asked Grandma Zhen, Grandma Zhen would only say they loved her very much but had unfortunately passed away early.

Not a single photo of her mothers existed at home—not even solo pictures of her mother or her mom. When she asked Grandma Zhen, the reply was always that people back then didn’t like taking photos, so there weren’t any.

Asking more would make Grandma Zhen cry. Zhen Yan learned to be sensible early on; to avoid making her grandmother sad, she deliberately skirted around the topic of her mothers. She knew she only had her grandma.

Until one day, while cleaning the house, she went to her grandma’s room to empty the trash and found something crumpled up in the bin. Perhaps it was fate—Zhen Yan secretly hid that thing away. Back in her room, she uncrumpled it: it was a photo of two women. Zhen Yan, who had never seen her mothers before, knew at first glance that these were her moms.

She had kept this photo hidden until now. Her strong desire to enter the Imperial Fourth Military Academy was also because of this photo.