Chapter 4: Her Lover, the Deceiver

Suddenly, a sharp police siren sounded.

A pink backpack was hurled like lightning, smashing into the back of the adult Alpha who was raising the Iron Rod. Zhen Yan opposite ducked to the side, quickly dropped down, and swept her long leg out. The adult Alpha crashed to the ground, letting out a loud “Bang!”.

“Police officer, uncles and aunties! Over here, someone is beating up underage students!” Jia Hua’s shout rang out from the alley entrance.

As a result, the three would-be robbers, upon hearing this, became even more excited.

“Get them, go attack them quickly!” The Alpha who had been swept to the ground by Zhen Yan commanded the other two adult Alphas, agitated. After shouting, she also wanted to stand but, perhaps having fallen too hard, simply couldn’t get up.

Zhen Yan’s fight went from one against three to one against two, becoming much easier.

Jia Hua stood at the alley entrance and sighed, turning off the police siren from her phone. She bent down and picked up a few small pebbles from the roadside. Whenever someone tried to ambush Zhen Yan, they would suffer the fast, accurate, and ruthless attack of a small pebble.

Lin Ziyue, protected behind Zhen Yan, occasionally threw a soft, weak punch at the two robbers as well—better than nothing.

When the real police siren sounded, Jia Hua abruptly sat on the ground deliberately, hugging her knees, her whole body trembling. Just as expected, two police cars quickly appeared at the alley entrance. Several police officers swiftly disembarked; one ran to comfort Jia Hua, while the others rushed quickly into the alley.

All six individuals were brought to the nearest police station.

In an interrogation room, three people stood before each of the two opposing walls.

“Go on, tell me. How did the fight start?” A police officer who looked to be in his thirties sat in a chair, questioning them with a grim face.

Jia Hua spoke first, her voice quavering: “These three bad Alphas wanted to rob us. When we refused, they assaulted us. We’re all underage students, encountering something like this for the first time, we were very scared…”

Zhen Yan, standing next to Jia Hua, silently glanced at her, then lowered her head as well.

The police officer glowered at the three robbers crouched on the ground with their heads covered and asked, “Is that how it happened?”

The three robbers quickly agreed. The one who seemed like the leader even stood up and said, “Yeah, they refused to give it, so we had no choice but to beat them. Officer Li, beating underage students, that’s a serious crime, right? Can we be caught and thrown in jail now?”

Officer Li’s mouth twisted into a cold sneer. He kicked his chair back, sliding it as he stood up. The leader who had just stood up instantly crouched back down, covering her head and hiding behind her two hooligan friends.

Officer Li strode over and delivered a series of heavy slaps to the three robbers’ heads.

“How many times do I have to see you guys in a month? Huh? How many times? Young and able-bodied, with hands and feet, all of you are Alphas, yet you’re this shameless? Huh? Have you any shame? Any shame at all?”

He smacked their heads with every sentence he spoke. The three robbers didn’t dare resist at all and just covered their heads to dodge the blows.

While Officer Li was having a “friendly” exchange with the three robbers, a female Alpha police officer walked over to Jia Hua and the other two, handing them three cups of water.

“Have some water. These three crooks were just coveting the free meals and beds in jail, too lazy to work. We’ll punish them, rest assured.”

The three took the water cups and nodded: “Thank you.”

The female Alpha added, “Alright, the statements have all been verified. You can leave now. Follow me.”

As the three followed the female Alpha out of the interrogation room, Jia Hua turned her head and glanced at the three robbers still cowering in the corner, not daring to move. She asked softly, “Police officer sister, these three bad guys won’t come back for revenge against us, will they? We’re just students…”

The bruises on Lin Ziyue’s arms had come from these three Alphas, surely. She was pitiful too.

The female officer smiled: “Don’t worry. There’s an undeveloped resource planet that needs people to go there for reclamation. Recently, anyone committing crimes will be sent there. They won’t come looking for trouble with you again.”

Jia Hua nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, officer sister.”

After Jia Hua finished speaking, she tilted her head and noticed Zhen Yan, head down, seeming to be lost in thought.

At the police station entrance, Jia Hua stood before the other two and asked, “Where are you going now?”

Zhen Yan glanced at Lin Ziyue: “Taking her home.”

Lin Ziyue heard this and immediately waved her hands, shaking her head: “The bad guys have already been taken away. I’m safe now. I can go home alone!”

Lin Ziyue stepped back and bowed deeply to the two of them: “Thank you both for tonight! Really, thank you very much!”

Having said that, she turned and ran off with her schoolbag, seemingly afraid they might actually insist on escorting her home, which would truly be too much of a bother for them.

After Lin Ziyue ran off, Zhen Yan suddenly spoke: “Jia Hua, let’s go.”

She turned and started walking, as if issuing an order.

Jia Hua: …

The two walked one after the other. Zhen Yan abruptly stopped and turned to look at her.

Jia Hua asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Zhen Yan tilted her chin towards the bus stop across the street: “Cross the road, take the bus back. There’s a night bus that goes directly back to our area from here.”

“Wait,” Jia Hua suddenly reached out quickly and grabbed Zhen Yan’s wrist, “You’re hurt.”

The knuckles on the back of Zhen Yan’s hand were bleeding from scrapes.

“I’m fine.” Zhen Yan pulled her arm free from Jia Hua’s grasp and hid her hand behind her back.

Jia Hua shook her head. Stubborn kid, won’t even say she’s hurt.

She looked up and glanced around, spotting a pharmacy up ahead not far away. So she said to Zhen Yan, “Wait for me, I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t bother—” Zhen Yan watched as Jia Hua, with her pink schoolbag, ran into the pharmacy. She bit her lower lip, raised her hands to look at them, glanced at the dried blood on the knuckles for a moment, then lowered them.

Honestly, compared to the pain in her knuckles, her arms and waist were where the real injuries were. After all, there was still a gap in strength between adult Alphas and underage Alphas. Plus, it was three against one, and the other side had Iron Rods…

Jia Hua quickly ran out of the pharmacy, handing a bottle of antiseptic solution and a pack of cotton swabs to Zhen Yan: “Take these. Remember to apply it when you get back.”

Zhen Yan pursed her lips and took them, nodding.

The two arrived at the bus stop. At this hour, there weren’t many people there. They stood side by side. Zhen Yan tossed the medicine bottle and cotton swabs into her schoolbag and zipped it up, then suddenly spoke, “You have quite good aim.”

Every time, Jia Hua had precisely hit whoever was trying to ambush her.

Jia Hua casually fibbed: “Just lucky.”

“Really?” Zhen Yan’s voice carried skepticism.

Jia Hua kept her mouth shut.

No, it was trained.

Soon, an An City Route 68 bus stopped before them. She took two coins from her pocket and dropped them into the fare box.

“For me and the person behind me,” Zhen Yan said and then went to find a seat.

Jia Hua followed her up. As she passed the driver, she caught sight of the driver’s face from the corner of her eye and froze for a moment before walking to sit in the seat next to Zhen Yan.

Zhen Yan noticed Jia Hua’s distracted expression and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Jia Hua shook her head: “Nothing.”

What a coincidence, she’d gotten on her mother’s bus… wait, why had her mother changed routes?

The Route 68 bus stopped just before reaching Old Street. Jia Hua and Zhen Yan got off.

The two walked together towards Old Street. As they neared the barbecue stall run by Zhen Yan’s grandma, Zhen Yan stopped and turned to Jia Hua: “Thanks for tonight.”

Jia Hua was still a bit surprised, then the corner of her mouth lifted slightly as she waved her hand dismissively: “It’s nothing, no need to thank me.”

Zhen Yan was quiet for a moment: “Then I’ll… go help my grandma with work.”

“Okay, bye,” Jia Hua waved.

Zhen Yan: “…Bye.”

She strode off towards the barbecue stall.

Remembering the wounds on her hands, Jia Hua called after her retreating figure, “Take care of your wounds.”

Zhen Yan didn’t look back; instead, her departing pace quickened considerably.

Watching Zhen Yan’s distant back, the smile on Jia Hua’s lips hadn’t faded.

“This kid, quite easy to coax, isn’t she? This is definitely better than using that—” Jia Hua’s pupils suddenly contracted.

The thing she had bought!

Jia Hua sprinted home, went straight into her room, sat down carefully at her desk, and gently opened her schoolbag. She took out a packaging box and opened it. Inside was a very cute cartoon little girl, wearing a white princess dress, with a rabbit ear headband on her head. There was a white button on the base. Several cracks had appeared on the cartoon girl’s body.

At least it didn’t shatter…

Jia Hua pressed the white button and watched the little girl start moving. She pinched the hem of her skirt and bowed, saying in a milky voice, “I’m sorry…”

If you didn’t press the stop button, it would keep repeating the action and sound endlessly.

This was an Apology Doll. There were several types, but this one was Jia Hua’s favorite because it most resembled the little girl that the system at the Atonement Team registration office had transformed into when registering her.

Jia Hua lightly tapped the cartoon girl’s head with her finger. “It’s you! You landed me in this damn world. I’ll smack you…”

Over at the barbecue stall, Zhen Yan and Grandma Zhen were working feverishly. When business slowed down, Grandma Zhen asked, pained, “Yanyan, what happened to your hand? Were you fighting with someone?”

Zhen Yan denied it: “No, I fell just now and used my hands to break the fall. That’s how I scraped them.”

Grandma Zhen looked at Zhen Yan’s hand and asked, “Does it hurt?”

Zhen Yan shook her head: “I’m fine, doesn’t hurt.”

Hearing Zhen Yan say it didn’t hurt, Grandma Zhen didn’t press further and changed the subject: “Was that Huahua with you just now?”

Zhen Yan: “Yeah.”

Grandma Zhen chuckled silently: “On a date?”

Zhen Yan: “…No.”

Grandma Zhen smiled: “Next month is both of your birthdays. Anyway, you two grew up together since childhood, perfectly matched in feelings, and their family knows our family’s situation clearly too. After you differentiate, we’ll formally go and propose marriage.”

Zhen Yan was a bit taken aback: “Grandma, I don’t like her.”

Grandma Zhen laughed: “Okay, okay, you don’t like her, you don’t like her, and you weren’t on a date with her tonight either…”

Zhen Yan: “…”

Jia Hua was sitting in her room, repairing the somewhat damaged Apology Doll, when she heard knocking on her door.

Jia Hua got up to open it. It was Jia Hui.

“Dinner’s ready,” Jia Hui said.

“Okay.” Jia Hua followed Jia Hui to the dining table.

Jia Hua’s family was very simple, just the three of them.

As Jia Hua was eating, she heard Jia Hui say to Song Qiaoyi, “Wifey, guess who I ran into on my last bus run today?”

Jia Hua’s hand holding her food paused.

Song Qiaoyi picked up a piece of fish, continuing the conversation: “Who did you run into?”

Jia Hui glanced at Jia Hua with a smile: “Ran into a young couple.”

Song Qiaoyi shrugged: “What’s so unusual about that—” Her voice abruptly cut off, and she raised her eyes to look at her precious daughter sitting opposite. She lifted her chin, “You and Yanyan came back on your mother’s bus tonight?”

Jia Hua raised her head, looked at the two curious faces opposite her, and said helplessly, “We met on the road, so we came back together.”

Jia Hui put a piece of meat in her mouth, tilted her head to look at Song Qiaoyi, and winked: “Ah, but Route 68 doesn’t pass by An City No. 2 High School. Wifey, what would two senior year high school students not go straight home after school but head to West City for? What are they doing?”

Song Qiaoyi played along perfectly: “Do you even need to ask? A date, obviously.”

Jia Hua: “…We really just bumped into each other.”

Jia Hui nodded: “Good girl, next month is your and Zhen Yan’s birthday, right? After the birthday, once you differentiate, you two can openly be together. Zhen Yan really is great—sensible, good grades. Lucky you two have been mutually in love since childhood and secured her early. Otherwise, how could she ever take a liking to you—”

Jia Hua interrupted her: “Mother, I don’t like her.”

Jia Hui and Song Qiaoyi were shocked: “This child, have you taken the wrong medicine? You’re practically twenty-four seven latched onto her. Before, you were shouting every day about marrying Zhen Yan, and now suddenly you say you don’t like her… Go take a bath and get to bed early. What nonsense are you spouting.” Both were very dismissive of Jia Hua.

Jia Hua: “…”

The next morning, Jia Hua still got up early. After washing up, she carried her backpack to a bun shop on Old Street to buy breakfast.

Jia Hua had just reached the bun stall when she saw Zhen Yan also there.

“Xiao Yan, two meat buns and a steamed sponge cake, anything else?” The shop owner smiled, handing the breakfast bag to Zhen Yan.

Zhen Yan took it with both hands: “And a cup of soy milk.”

“Coming right up, it’s on the table, get it yourself. Oh, Xiao Hua is up this early too? Are you going to school with Xiao Yan? What would you like?” The owner was enthusiastic.

Jia Hua, completely unabashed, walked over and ordered: “Three meat buns, two sponge cakes, one lotus leaf rice wrap, and a cup of soy milk.”

Zhen Yan’s hand reaching for the soy milk paused, and she slowly turned her head to look at Jia Hua.

The auntie was also stunned for a moment before she started filling Jia Hua’s bag: “Xiao Hua, can you finish all this by yourself?”

Jia Hua nodded: “Yes, I can. I eat a lot.”

Zhen Yan: “…”

Zhen Yan walked slowly towards the school. Jia Hua caught up in just a few steps and followed behind her. The two walked to school in silence the whole way. Again, they were the two earliest to arrive.

They sat in their seats eating breakfast. Zhen Yan had less food and finished quickly. But after she finished, she was surprised to see Jia Hua had also finished, and indeed hadn’t wasted a single bit.

In front of Zhen Yan, Jia Hua rolled up the bag, tossed it with unerring accuracy into the trash can against the back wall, and then took a pack of tissues from her drawer, pulling one out and handing it to Zhen Yan: “Do you need a tissue to wipe your mouth?”

Zhen Yan reached out and took it. After wiping her mouth, she pretended to ask casually: “Why’s your appetite so big today? In the past, wasn’t one meat bun enough for you?”

Jia Hua: “Was it? Probably I was just hungry this morning.”

Zhen Yan: …Even if she’s hungry, an Omega couldn’t eat this much, right?

Near seven-thirty, the classroom gradually began to fill with people.

“Sister Yan!” Zhang Juan’s loud voice rang out from the back door.

She quickly jogged in and plopped her butt down on the lap of a female Alpha in the group next to Zhen Yan’s, then faced Zhen Yan and opened her mouth wide.

“Quick, look at my teeth!” Zhang Juan’s canine teeth began to rapidly lengthen and sharpen.

Jia Hua craned her neck to watch Zhang Juan. This was the first time she had seen the effect of Alpha differentiation. Then she heard Zhen Yan say, “Didn’t you say you were a year younger than me?”

Zhang Juan retracted her canine teeth, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish grin: “Wasn’t that just so you’d look after me a bit more?”

Zhen Yan laughed: “Scram. No wonder you stink so much.”

Zhang Juan wasn’t convinced: “I chose it myself. Orange-scented Alpha pheromone blocker. Smells so good…”

The morning reading bell rang, and Zhang Juan went back to her own seat, showing her retractable canine teeth to the other underage classmates.

After class, Jia Hua reached out and poked Zhen Yan. When Zhen Yan turned her head, Jia Hua asked quietly and seriously, a question she was intensely curious about.

“May I ask, how does a Female Alpha impregnate a Female Omega?”

Jia Hua was genuinely curious. She had searched through all of the original owner’s memories and found absolutely no relevant information. The original owner only had thoughts of marrying Zhen Yan and bearing her children, but no details on the actual process of how it happened.

Arriving in this ABO world for the first time, Jia Hua expressed: I’m very curious.

She thought Female Alphas might have some kind of appendage, but then it seemed like they didn’t. So how did a Female Alpha impregnate Female Omegas and Male Omegas?

As for Zhen Yan, a native of this world, upon hearing this, her eyes first widened, then her lips pressed tightly together, while her entire face flushed rapidly.

How can she ask me this!!