Chapter 54: Your Pheromones Are Sour

"Ji Xiao?"

"Ji Xiao."

It was not known how many times Jin Nanfeng had called out. Only then did Ji Xiao come back to her senses.

Wei Qingyu appeared in the banquet hall, which was in full bloom like a fairy descending to the mortal world. All the other beautiful women around her became her foil.

Those turquoise eyes carried her unique chill and looked around the banquet hall with aloofness.

Pink and white ribbons hung down from her neck, outlining a stunning curve on her fair neck.

Ji Xiao looked on and could not help but privately rejoice, glad that Jin Nanfeng had not seen the scene just now.

Otherwise, she could not guarantee that the young man would not be moved in an instant and find it hard to forget.

Ji Xiao heard Jin Nanfeng's call and pretended not to know she was being rude as she looked at him. "Oh, what's wrong?"

"What are you looking at?" Jin Nanfeng asked with confusion.

"Nothing," Ji Xiao shook her head and poured herself a glass of fruit wine. "I was just a bit bored, so looked around."

"Since you find it boring, why come?" Jin Nanfeng asked.

Ji Xiao could not help but sigh, truly the sharp-tongued and indifferent male lead, his words were direct and to the point.

But she was not like those in the text who were overly cautious and flattering him simply because of his surname.

Ji Xiao raised an eyebrow and responded with a casual tone, "Don't you find it boring?"

"If you keep making up stories about how harsh your experimental class is, it would indeed be very boring."

As Jin Nanfeng spoke, he set down his wine glass. His deep, dark eyes showed that he had long seen through everything with composure.

"…"

Ji Xiao was momentarily at a loss for words and took a sip of wine.

Had all her eloquent talk just now been in vain?

You don't seem to want me to go to Affiliated High School? "Jin Nanfeng asked bluntly.

Ji Xiao also broke the already broken pot, acted like a dandy, and rested her arm on the sofa. She nodded and said, "Oh, is it not allowed?"

The girl herself was wearing a low-cut dress that was prone to wardrobe malfunctions. With such a willful and unruly motion as she threw herself onto the sofa, the layers of tulle around her chest and beneath her instantly lifted. From a distance, it looked like a black swan spreading its wings.

The snowy white peaks were faintly visible through the black tulle, both continuous and majestic.

A beautiful collarbone held the light scattered from above, filled with temptation under the tousled long hair.

The intertwining of sensuality and unruliness was the most lethal and unique charm of a female Alpha.

Wei Qingyu watched from a distance, with a trace of barely perceptible displeasure flashing in her turquoise eyes.

Jin Nanfeng's hand holding the cup paused involuntarily.

After taking a sip of wine, he spoke with a slightly husky voice, "May I know why?"

Ji Xiao glanced at Jin Nanfeng, her golden-orange eyes saying: your existence is the biggest reason.

But she could not say that, so she impatiently and vaguely explained, "Why? I just do not want to. There is no need for so many reasons."

Hearing this, the usually icy-faced Jin Nanfeng showed a slight ripple of emotion.

Seeing this, Ji Xiao looked towards Wei Qingyu, who was in the distance, being led by Jin Changsong and Ji Qingyun to talk with the big shots of the upper class.

The girl looked young, yet she showed no signs of stage fright in such a setting. The long-term immersion and training allowed her to navigate this kind of occasion with ease.

Her jade-like hand held a wine glass. Although the fruit wine was light in color, it did not diminish her calm demeanor one bit.

In fact, she radiated even more of her long-hidden brilliance than she did at school.

She was the moon.

Meant to be lifted by countless stars.

Ji Xiao did not know if everything she did today would pave a path for Wei Qingyu to take what belonged to her from Ji Qingyun in the future, but she hoped she could replace Jin Nanfeng in Wei Qingyu's career.

As for the matter of feelings...

Ji Xiao listened to her heart pounding.

Still not understanding this feeling, she just hoped it could be delayed a little longer, just a little longer.

At least not before she returned to her original world.

With this thought, Ji Xiao turned to look at Jin Nanfeng, who still had not caught a glimpse of Wei Qingyu.

"Jin Nanfeng, many things in this world do not have a reason. Just like today, it is me you met."

Not Wei Qingyu.

As the girl spoke, her voice carried a hint of delight that even she did not notice.

….

The upper-class party came to an end around midnight.

Jin Nanfeng left the banquet with Jin Changsong. Out of courtesy, Ji Xiao stood on the porch to see them off.

The cold winter wind brushed against the layers of tulle on Ji Xiao's dress, creating gentle ripples.

The girl stood quietly in the hall's lounge area, waiting for Wei Qingyu. From afar, she could hear the sound of light footsteps.

Wei Qingyu walked slightly behind Ji Qingyun, accompanied by a dignified and elegant elderly woman.

The smile on the elderly woman's face indicated that the two were having a pleasant conversation.

In contrast, the man who wanted to manipulate the emperor to control the nobles did not look as pleased.

Without Ji Xiao's interference, Wei Qingyu followed Ji Qingyun and met many people who had past relations with the Wei family. They chatted a bit here and there.

Ji Qingyun did not expect Wei Qingyu to converse so eloquently, so he walked ahead with a dark expression on his face.

He headed straight for the hall, toward the Porsche Cayenne that had yet to arrive.

"Very happy?" Ji Xiao teased, tilting her high heel as she watched Wei Qingyu walk over after bidding farewell to the elderly woman.

Wei Qingyu's expression remained unchanged as she replied, "It was okay."

"Not just okay, I saw you chatting quite well with them from the VIP section," Ji Xiao said again.

Hearing this, the emotions that Wei Qingyu had been suppressing surfaced, despite her earlier pretense of indifference.

She looked at Ji Xiao's slightly lowered strapless dress and said coldly, "From where I was, it seemed you were chatting quite well too."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xiao couldn't help but look a little surprised.

She suddenly felt a bit scared that she had covered Jin Nanfeng's eyes but failed to cover Wei Qingyu's. Feeling guilty, she quickly asked, "Did you... see him?"

Wei Qingyu, not directly addressing him by name, responded with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice, "Yes."

Ji Xiao's heart tightened, "Did you see his face?"

"Just his back."

As Wei Qingyu spoke, a sense of unease suddenly grew in her heart.

She had never seen the side profile of the young man named Jin Nanfeng up close, nor did she know what he looked like or what kind of person he was.

The girl looked at Ji Xiao's jet-black skirt under the lights and couldn't help but recall the extraordinarily beautiful scene she had glimpsed between the two of them earlier.

Wei Qingyu's usually calm heart could not help but develop a sense of unease and suspicion toward the unfamiliar Jin Nanfeng, like seaweed growing in the depths. She could not resist asking Ji Xiao, "After talking for so long, what do you think of him?"

"Sour-faced, poisonous tongue, difficult to talk to," Ji Xiao spat out the words she had come up with while waiting. If it were not to give Wei Qingyu an opportunity, she wouldn't have stayed with him for so long.

As she spoke, she thought about how she had ruined the male protagonist’s potential match tonight and, feeling a bit sympathetic, added a positive note: "He can also be considered a gentleman."

The night breeze gently passed by the edges of their gowns, with the black tulle brushing against the light pink satin.

Ji Xiao looked at Wei Qingyu beside her and decided to test her attitude toward Jin Nanfeng by passing the question to her, "What about you?"

At first, hearing Ji Xiao describe Jin Nanfeng with those three negative terms made the tension Wei Qingyu had been holding in her heart ease slightly. 

However, when she heard the term "gentleman," which Ji Xiao had never used before, her expression darkened again.

Suddenly, a cold breeze was forcefully stirred up after Ji Xiao finished speaking. 

Even with a thick mink coat draped over her, she couldn't help but feel a chill at the back of her neck.

While tidying her hair which had become a bit disheveled from the wind, Ji Xiao looked toward Wei Qingyu.

However, she felt a chill that was even colder than the wind that had just blown as soon as she met Wei Qingyu’s gaze.

Wei Qingyu looked at Ji Xiao and, with her lips slightly parted, said, "I wasn’t in the corner booth with him all night, so how could I know?"

The words that did not express her own opinion hit Ji Xiao's heart word by word. She looked at the resentment in Wei Qingyu's eyes and suddenly felt a sour taste of mint on her tongue for some reason.

It was like suddenly biting into an unripe plum, catching Ji Xiao off guard and leaving her a bit confused.

What’s going on?

Ji Xiao found the flavor she had detected to be very strange. She looked at Wei Qingyu in confusion and asked, "Are you feeling unwell? I think your pheromone smells weird."

“What?” Wei Qingyu asked, showing confusion on her face.

Ji Xiao carefully described, “It just smells a little sour... like it's gone bad.”

The dull pheromone betrayed its owner. Wei Qingyu stood stunned. Although it was a bitterly cold winter, she felt a sudden intense heat.

The girl who had been calm and composed at the banquet was instantly thrown into disarray by the words of the person before her.

It was as if her deepest secret had been exposed. She hurriedly lifted her skirt and walked towards the door.

Her previously calm heart now rippled with waves. The clacking of her high heels on the floor was chaotic, mirroring the turmoil of her heartbeat.

Seeing Wei Qingyu's reaction, Ji Xiao thought she was truly unwell and became even more anxious.

She hurriedly lifted her skirt and chased after her, advising, "Wei Qingyu, you can't ignore this. Do you want to get a check-up? Pheromones are very important for both Omega and Alpha."

The more Ji Xiao said this, the more Wei Qingyu felt her cheeks burning. The earnest words from someone who knew nothing made her feel embarrassed and guilty.

Wei Qingyu hurriedly lifted her skirt and crossed the path in front of the porch, walking towards the parked Porsche Cayenne, while saying, "It's nothing, I’m just tired. Rest will be fine."

"Is that so? Then get some rest early tonight. Tomorrow morning, if—"

"Screech—"

While speaking, the sudden screech of brakes interrupted Ji Xiao's incomplete sentence. 

Just a moment ago, there had been only Ji Qingyun’s car. Suddenly, another car appeared.

The headlights suddenly flashed into Ji Xiao's vision, glaringly bright to the point where only an expanse of pure white remained in her sight.