MORIC - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Confirmation Once More

The car door closed, and the hovercar picked up speed. Chi Yueshan's loud mutter still echoed in Xi Zhoumeng's ears.

After a private chuckle, she went to pick up her older brother, who was waiting on the side of the road for her to return.

Standing in the cold wind, the blond Alpha in an expensive suit looked at Xi Zhoumeng with an expression of grief and indignation.

Xi Zhoumeng's smile grew even brighter. "Sobered up, Big Brother?"

Xi Li covered his face. "Even if you were afraid I'd interrupt your little romance, you didn't have to just dump me on the street, did you?!"

His voice still sounded slurred. Xi Zhoumeng scoffed. "You call that a romance?"

Xi Li rarely discussed such matters with Xi Zhoumeng. For one, it had always seemed like Xi Zhoumeng and Wen Xinghuo were a done deal.

For another, the young lady herself didn't seem to have much passion for love.

Xi Li took a moment to reflect on his own youth. He figured that even though he didn't have a partner, he hadn't negatively influenced his little sister's views on love, had he?

Not to mention Xi Chun, whose love life was tumultuous and practically an idol drama. And Xi Yang was even more of a textbook case, following the classic script of a fiery Omega and a pure-hearted Alpha.

With four siblings, the even split of experiences shouldn't have made anyone disillusioned with love.

And yet, Xi Zhoumeng seemed anything but youthful, carrying herself more like a dignified lady at a queen's banquet.

Another family might have been delighted to have such a daughter, but Xi Li didn't see the appeal.

She lacked a human touch. All the lively chaos and commotion at home couldn't seem to leave a mark on her. After the age of twelve, his sister acted as if she had become disillusioned with the mortal world. Whether Wen Xinghuo was in the picture or not, it seemed she was destined to become a nun.

So what if she grew a dick and was still an Omega?

Love was never about logic anyway, so who cared about physiological factors? If you felt like a woman in your heart, that thing shouldn't stop you from loving someone.

It didn't matter if the other person was a woman, either.

Every time Xi Li said this, Xi Zhoumeng would grow even more disgusted, tossing a cherry at her blond brother's head and telling him to get lost.

Xi Li said, "If not, then what is it? Search your heart and tell me, don't you treat Xiao Yueshan differently?"

Xi Zhoumeng replied, "Don't call her so intimately."

Xi Li said, "See? You're already possessive. I don't get your insistence on pairing up with Wen Xinghuo. If you two actually got married, you'd probably be the model AO couple who secretly see other people."

Her brother was already letting his imagination run wild. "But I think with someone like Wen Xinghuo, hmm... never mind. It's not that I have anything against the Empire's Expeditionary Force, but being apart more often than not, like with Mother... most Omegas wouldn't be able to handle that. Not like our mother, Chu Jing, who actually enjoys the distance."

When it came to choosing between the greater good and one's own family, Xi Li would, without a doubt, choose his family.

Xi Zhoumeng wouldn't even consider such things. In her past life, she had turned her own family into a complete mess, with no regard for morals or ethics.

She was, after all, the bastard offspring born from the illicit affair of her parents, who were siblings.

"This is possessiveness? I feel that way about my sheep, too."

Xi Zhoumeng opened the pink app and went to her profile. She was indeed a frequent user and had spent a considerable amount of money.

But her top tipper had always been the same person. However, that Omega had since deleted their account, leaving only a gray default avatar and an ID that had reverted to a string of numbers.

Xi Li was still chattering away. Xi Zhoumeng said, "Hey," then called out, "Brother."

Xi Li snapped to attention. "Present! What are your orders?"

Xi Zhoumeng turned her light-brain screen toward him. "Help me look someone up."

Upon seeing the app, Xi Li gave a knowing smile. It was a popular short-video platform with a strict rating system, where adults could indulge in adult pleasures.

It was a side business he and Xi Chun had invested in.

Xi Li said, "I'm not that powerful, and you can't abuse your authority. Our family tradition is one of integrity."

Xi Zhoumeng retorted, "Don't talk about things that don't exist as if they're real."

A beautifully manicured nail pointed to the screen again. Xi Zhoumeng raised an eyebrow, the ruby chip diamonds on her brow bone glinting conspicuously, shifting her aura from pure to bewitching. "Don't you know the Omega lady who developed it?"

Xi Li looked as if he'd been punched. He took a deep breath. "No."

Xi Zhoumeng said coolly, "Then I'll pay her a personal visit tomorrow. I remember running into her at the coffee shop. Her self-introduction was..."

"Alright, alright! Stop!"

Xi Li was out of options. "Fine, I'll help!"

Xi Li stared at Xi Zhoumeng for a moment. "Why are you looking this up? Did you max out your spending limit again?"

Xi Zhoumeng shook her head.

She was just curious about Chi Yueshan's reaction. The app's target audience was quite clear; it had been adult-oriented from the beginning.

Besides, the developer was a female Omega. Xi Zhoumeng had a natural gender bias, believing women were more thoughtful in their work. Take this app, for example; as someone who was, in soul, a genuine woman, she found it very comfortable to use.

There was no vulgar language, and even the system-generated messages for individual tips were pleasant.

It provided an excellent channel for people with niche interests.

"I'm just checking to see if my suspicion is correct," Xi Zhoumeng said lightly.

Xi Li hesitated for a long moment, looking like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just said, "Oh. I'll let you know when I find out."

Xi Zhoumeng chuckled. "I don't need you to. Just send me that lady's contact number."

"Huh?" Xi Li asked.

Xi Zhoumeng asked, "Are you looking forward to it?"

Xi Li was left speechless and didn't say another word to his teasing sister for the rest of the ride home.

---

As Chi Yueshan was returning to her dorm, she happened to run into Xuan Ping, who was also coming back from outside.

The two of them walked upstairs together, and people who passed them would recognize Chi Yueshan and start whispering.

Xuan Ping linked her arm through Chi Yueshan's and asked in a low voice, "Yueshan, did you really become a model? I saw it on StarNet, and there are so many discussions on the campus forums..."

Chi Yueshan knew, of course. She had never received so many compliments in her entire life, and she was, at the very least, happy about it.

"It was... Xi Zhoumeng asked me for a favor."

Xuan Ping said, "Oh," then smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Yueshan, you look so beautiful in all those outfits."

Her voice was still a whisper. Chi Yueshan noticed her slightly swollen lips and asked quietly, "You and your Senior Mu..."

Xuan Ping nodded. "But I was studying all evening, and she's very busy too, so we just took a walk down Orchid Avenue."

Chi Yueshan nodded. Xuan Ping then asked, "The flower arranging exam is coming up soon. Yueshan, how are your preparations going?"

Chi Yueshan thought about the video she had recorded. She felt that if she just did what Xi Zhoumeng had told her, there shouldn't be any problem. "They're okay, I guess," she said.

They walked upstairs arm in arm, and Xuan Ping pulled Chi Yueshan into her dorm for some dessert. "Did Senior Xi teach you? I told you she was a nice person."

Chi Yueshan thought about that night with Xi Zhoumeng, and the "lesson" in the flower garden.

She always felt that Xi Zhoumeng's "niceness" wasn't exactly obvious.

But her rare failure to argue back caught Xuan Ping's attention. Xuan Ping smiled. "You're just being stubborn."

Chi Yueshan accepted the hazelnut cake Xuan Ping offered her. "I'm not. Anyway, we just have a transaction."

Xuan Ping leaned against her desk. Her dorm room was completely different from Chi Yueshan's, decorated in a very girly style—though it was a different kind of girly from the pink decor of Xi Zhoumeng's hovercar.

It just felt very... feminine.

Chi Yueshan suddenly felt that her own dorm was a bit messy. If Xi Zhoumeng were to visit, she would definitely be disgusted.

"Oh, right, Yueshan, besides the general course exams next week, you also have your elective, right? I'm already finished with mine, so I can come watch your final performance."

Xuan Ping pulled out a chair and sat down. On her desk was a photo of her with her parents, looking happy and harmonious. Beside it was a selfie with Mu Lai.

Mu Lai didn't have the best reputation, and Chi Yueshan had been worried she might be deceiving Xuan Ping. But after all this time, their relationship seemed to be going strong.

Thinking about her elective, Chi Yueshan covered her face in anguish. "I just want to get it over with. It'll be such a relief when it's done."

She ran her hands through her hair, messing it up. Xuan Ping suddenly leaned in, sniffed her scent, and asked, "Are you..."

Chi Yueshan nodded. "It's here. I took my suppressants. No problem."

She replied with practiced ease. Xuan Ping nodded. "Speaking of which, I ran into Ling Xun today. She even said hello to me."

Xuan Ping winked. "Are you sure you won't consider her?"

Chi Yueshan shook her head. "We're just friends, purely friends."

"Alright then. A lot of people like Ling Xun, you know. Was that brand event fun? I've never been to anything like that before."

Xuan Ping opened her light-brain and showed Chi Yueshan the most-shared highlight reel from the event, sighing, "Back in my old school, I used to fantasize about the high society of the Upper World. This video really captures that feeling."

From the arrivals to the opening, the mingling guests, the candid shots—there were even some familiar faces.

Xuan Ping spotted Wen Xinghuo. "I don't know if I'm just being influenced by the comments, but I get the feeling the three princesses don't get along. That's the second one, right? She keeps looking at Senior Wen!"

Chi Yueshan didn't even look closely. "Senior Wen is good-looking."

Xuan Ping was already used to her friend's taste. "That's just what you think."

Chi Yueshan said, "Well, she's an Alpha, and she's so big. Sitting there, she's like a log stuck in the middle of a lawn. Of course she's conspicuous."

For a second, Xuan Ping even doubted whether Chi Yueshan actually liked Wen Xinghuo. That comparison was just too harsh.

"Hey, isn't your drama elective with Senior Wen and this third princess?"

Chi Yueshan's expression didn't contort at the mention of the two of them like it used to. She even nodded calmly. "Yeah. Senior Wen is playing my father, and Sheng Yangkui is my younger sister."

She muttered, "There aren't any intimate scenes, though."

The only one with intimate scenes is me and Xi Zhoumeng.

How awful. Before I... did that with Xi Zhoumeng, I thought the scenes were so risqué.

Now they just seem like nothing special.

So annoying.

Xuan Ping said, "Oh. I want to see it too. Do I need to save a seat in advance?"

Chi Yueshan replied, "Is there anything Senior Mu can't get? You don't need to worry about it."

A blush crept onto Xuan Ping's face. "Well, it's not like that..."

Fidgeting, she pressed play. The lighting and cinematography were perfect, and when the camera panned to the person across from the stage, it still made viewers gasp.

Even though Xuan Ping had already seen it, she couldn't help but marvel at Xi Zhoumeng's beauty.

"Senior looks so good in this style, too. The studded shoulder piece is so punk. Ugh, she's like an angel and a devil at the same time..."

Chi Yueshan woodenly ate the cookie in her hand.

Some angel. More like a piece of shit.

All she knows is how to bully me.

"I read in the comments that the entire front row was the Xi family. That blond guy is so handsome, and the gray-haired one isn't bad either..."

While Xuan Ping was engrossed in the video, Chi Yueshan was preoccupied with the problem of their one-hundred-percent compatibility rate.

Xi Zhoumeng and I are both Omegas. If the one-hundred-percent match is real, then what does that mean?

Will we be attracted to each other?

Or will my premature heat induce hers?

My arm still has the mark from the suppressant injection, but Xi Zhoumeng said she got one too.

But there's no sign of it at all.

Chi Yueshan subconsciously touched her gland. It was still a little sore, but she didn't feel like it had been invaded.

It was just a simple bite. If an Alpha had bitten her, pheromones would have been injected.

Her fingers brushed over the waterproof pheromone patch. In her jacket pocket was the suppressant Xi Zhoumeng had given her.

Besides the vanilla-flavored one, there was also a type of suppressant that sold for ten thousand Star Coins a dose on the market, rumored to have a pleasant taste.

Chi Yueshan had always thought it was an idiot tax.

But now, her heart felt heavy.

Why?

Why would Xi Zhoumeng do this to me?

Is it because of the one-hundred-percent match?

But we're both Omegas. Such a high compatibility rate is useless.

The testing machine that day even said something about getting married on the spot. An O marrying an O is just too absurd.

"Honestly, Senior Xi has such a great figure, and she's taller than the average Omega. Her spiritual power is so strong, too. If she were an Alpha, she'd definitely be an Omega's dream A..."

"Senior Wen still looks a bit too rough. Oh, I'm embarrassed to even say it, but the comments say she looks like she'd be really good at fucking"

Xuan Ping was still muttering to herself. "Why are people asking why the four Xi children all have different hair colors? It must be dyed, right? Senior's hair should be black, I've never seen her..."

"It's dyed," Chi Yueshan said.

Xuan Ping let out a little "ah."

Chi Yueshan stated with absolute certainty, "She's a natural blonde. Her second older brother told me."

It took a moment for Xuan Ping's brain to catch up. She asked subconsciously, "Yueshan, when did you get to know Senior Xi's family?"

Chi Yueshan stammered, but before she could answer, Xuan Ping sighed and gave her a look of resignation.

"Yueshan, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. There are so many good Alphas out there. You really don't need to go probing Senior Xi's family for information just for Senior Wen's sake."

"Something like marriage isn't necessarily up to them, anyway..."

Chi Yueshan: ...

That's not it! I wasn't thinking that at all!

You have no idea what happened to me!

I was fucked by that gentle, simple, domestic Omega you were just talking about!!

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