Chapter 47: Not Enough, Don’t Leave
What should she do?
Both before and after transmigrating, Ming Fei’s life was always faced with this question. She had no one to rely on, no roof to shelter her from the rain, and no support to hold her up.
All the “what to do’s” had to be answered by herself.
Before transmigrating, for minor decisions, she used to flip a coin. For major life choices, she would carefully consider all possibilities, anticipating the best outcomes and the worst consequences.
After transmigrating, her situation gradually improved. She no longer had to be so cautious and gradually learned to weigh options and make decisions quickly.
Now—
Ming Fei’s mind was a little muddled after the recent pheromone guidance.
The lingering woody fragrance, like playful flower buds, bloomed on her fingertips, every second telling her through its state:
[Like.]
[Not enough.]
[Don’t leave.]
Because of the unusual joy expressed by the pheromones, Ming Fei even began to suspect… had Zhu Yiqiao tricked her?
She thought, it hadn’t been like this last time at the hotel in Taiya.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like the premonition of an impending heat cycle.
But—
Zhu Yiqiao had given a negative answer.
Ming Fei pursed her lips, wanting to release a little more of her pear scent to appease the lingering woody fragrance. But she didn’t do so directly, instead politely asking Zhu Yiqiao’s opinion first.
“Jiejie, I think your…”
She carefully chose her words, but Zhu Yiqiao, as if sensing something, quickly withdrew all her pheromones.
“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” Zhu Yiqiao asked.
Ming Fei shook her head: “No.”
“Get some rest.”
The implication was clear, and Ming Fei, who had been working for more than two years, understood. But worry overshadowed caution, and she asked again,
“Then are you alright, Jiejie? Are you feeling unwell?”
During the previous gland checkup, Zhu Yiqiao had been wearing a black nightgown, like a dark rose blooming in the snow. This time, she was only wearing a simple white shirt, but Zhu Yiqiao exuded an irresistible nobility.
Every button was fastened to the top, her shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbows, making her look less meticulous and more casual and relaxed. When she stood up, her half-tied long black hair cascaded down like a silken waterfall.
Her beautiful, aggressive face still showed no change in expression, consistent with Ming Fei’s memories of her.
She said, “I’m fine.”
Just as Ming Fei breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that everything was over for tonight, Zhu Yiqiao suddenly changed the subject.
“It’s just that my pheromones are very reluctant to part with you.”
Ming Fei’s ears felt hot.
Although she had already known this from the interaction between their pheromones, hearing the aloof Zhu Yiqiao say it so directly still made her blush.
She didn’t know how to respond.
In this brief moment, Ming Fei chose to throw the question back to Zhu Yiqiao. After all, Zhu Yiqiao was Party A, and she had to hear Party A’s thoughts first before she could know how to improve her performance.
Therefore, she asked softly, “Then what should we do?”
Large predators, before hunting, seemed to give their targeted prey some kind of warning. Whether the prey could sense the danger and avoid or escape it depended entirely on their vigilance and survival experience.
But the deer in the flower bush was too innocent.
Asking such a question meant that it had surrendered the initiative, not only unable to sense the danger but even actively approaching it, gently nudging it with its small antlers, innocently inviting the hunter to its habitat in the forest.
Because of this pure, unguarded innocence, the air in the room seemed to slow down, and the woody fragrance that had just been withdrawn began to tentatively emerge again.
The flat branches and leaves of the cedar trees stretched in from outside the window. Just as they were about to touch the sweet pear, Zhu Yiqiao simply raised her eyes, and all the probing disappeared.
Zhu Yiqiao silently looked out the window, suddenly remembering that the Tree of Mystical Jade from many years ago had been just as innocent.
At that time, Tree of Mystical Jade was still a thirteen-year-old girl.
162 centimeters tall, ten centimeters shorter than her, with a gentle tone of voice, and she even used emojis.
According to her expectations, Tree of Mystical Jade should have differentiated into a kind and lovely omega, who liked handicrafts, reading, and chatting with her about the vast world.
She had once thought that after her plan succeeded, if Tree of Mystical Jade had time, perhaps she would bring gifts and meet her. After all, this little girl, three years younger than her, always worked day and night to ensure she received the Grape-faced Bellflower Orchid Drum before her seventeenth birthday.
But life was unpredictable.
They lost contact during a blizzard, and neither of them received the gifts they had prepared for each other.
Now, meeting again, Tree of Mystical Jade, who was three years younger than her, had grown taller than her, and those deft hands that often crafted orchid drums could now make more and more kinds of handicrafts.
Not only that, but Tree of Mystical Jade’s differentiation was completely different from what she had expected.
Not an omega or a beta.
But an alpha.
An alpha whose pheromones smelled like pears.
An alpha whose pheromones made her own feel joyful and reluctant to part.
Thinking of all this, the now powerful Chief Judge still didn’t take advantage of the former little girl, but asked directly,
“The online friend you mentioned, did you know her before you transmigrated?”
Ming Fei almost didn’t follow Zhu Yiqiao’s train of thought, because the topic changed too quickly.
She nodded: “Mm.”
Zhu Yiqiao asked, “You’re a supporter of the Mehertaer faction, so you met on ‘Supporters of the Rose’?”
Ming Fei admitted honestly: “Yes, when I was thirteen.”
Their eyes met. Zhu Yiqiao’s tone was light, but ripples spread through her heart.
“Then why didn’t you contact each other again later?”
At this moment, Ming Fei felt a little strange, because she thought these questions had nothing to do with pheromone guidance, let alone Zhu Yiqiao’s or the Trial Court’s work.
In her understanding, Zhu Yiqiao was completely uninterested in irrelevant matters, and it was even more impossible for her to ask so many questions.
But perhaps because it was late at night, the snow scenery outside the window was beautiful, and because of the recent pheromone guidance, Ming Fei’s guard was lowered again and again. Without thinking too much, she revealed the reason.
“…She suddenly deleted her account.”
Her voice was low, her lowered eyelashes hiding her clear eyes: “I don’t know why, but it shouldn’t… be because of me. In our last conversation before she deleted her account, I didn’t make her unhappy.”
At that time, she cherished One Raccoon Hill as a friend and wouldn’t say anything to make her unhappy, let alone do anything that would cause her resentment.
But she didn’t elaborate on these details, just mentioning her only friend: “She was my only friend on ‘Supporters of the Rose.’ I couldn’t use my communicator anymore at the time, and because she wasn’t there, I just deleted my account.”
Zhu Yiqiao couldn’t describe how she felt at this moment.
She caught the clues in the story and asked, “Why couldn’t you use your communicator anymore?”
The snow outside the window grew heavier, and long-sealed memories, like a rolling snowball, instantly broke through the door Ming Fei had closed on them.
Growing up, she hadn’t actually felt inferior because she was an unwanted orphan.
But before transmigrating, if others asked about her childhood, she still couldn’t talk about those experiences without any emotional fluctuations. No matter what, there would still be some ripples in her heart.
But after transmigrating to the Independent State of Yi Meng, and after working hard step by step to get where she was today, she no longer felt any sadness when talking about the past.
Her gaze shifted to the window, looking at the boundless snow, and she explained the key reason behind this story.
“Jiejie, I’ve always told you that I’m an orphan, but before transmigrating, I was actually adopted three times.”
“I won’t talk about the first two times. When I connected with this… friend, it was during my third adoption. But due to some unavoidable reasons, my third adoptive parents sent me back to the orphanage a year later.”
Zhu Yiqiao’s gaze froze, the frost in her eyes deepening.
And Ming Fei, as if telling someone else’s story, smiled faintly: “That communicator was bought for me by my third adoptive parents. It was very expensive for me at the time, and I felt it would be impolite to take it back to the orphanage, so I left it there.”
“To ensure a good experience for the next user, I deleted all the information before leaving, including the ‘Supporters of the Rose’ account.”
Ming Fei wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but when Zhu Yiqiao spoke again, she detected a hint of hoarseness in her voice.
“When you sent her the Grape-faced Bellflower Orchid Drum, were your adoptive parents already planning to send you back?”
Since they had already talked so much, Ming Fei didn’t mind satisfying Zhu Yiqiao’s curiosity further, explaining the complicated situation in more detail.
But she wasn’t complaining. She had never complained, and wouldn’t allow herself to complain to anyone. The only time she had expressed her sadness and distress was in the two messages she sent to One Raccoon Hill before leaving.
[Tree of Mystical Jade: I’m a little sad.]
[Tree of Mystical Jade: …Jiejie, today has been awful.]
That single instance of honest vulnerability, and her only friend hadn’t replied, directly deleting her account the next day.
Therefore, when telling Zhu Yiqiao, Ming Fei omitted all the tears and sadness.
“Probably. Actually, they were very good to me. Sending me back was… only natural.”
“I was preparing a birthday gift for my friend at the time, the Grape-faced Bellflower Orchid Drum that both Jiejie and Zaozao like. One night, I accidentally overheard my adoptive parents’ plan and realized they were preparing to send me back.”
The faded woody scent began to surge, but Zhu Yiqiao suppressed it with an impassive expression and asked the question she most wanted answered.
“How much time passed between your friend deleting her account and you being sent back?”
“About a day.” Ming Fei paused. “Actually… it was the same day.”
She cut to the chase, her simple words like a sharp sword: “I only learned about my adoptive parents’ plan a few days before she deleted her account. The Grape-faced Bellflower Orchid Drum was only half-finished at the time. After learning about their plan, I worked very hard to finish it and send it out before the agreed-upon time.”
“The day I sent the gift was the day I had to leave.”
“Actually, I sent her a message before sending the gift, but she didn’t reply. When I logged in the next day before leaving, I found that she had deleted her account.”
After a pause, Ming Fei smiled faintly: “My situation with her is a bit complicated, so when Jiejie asked me about our relationship today, I couldn’t give you an answer immediately.”
“Because I don’t know if a one-sided friendship counts as a friendship.”
She spoke naturally and casually, but her words stirred a blizzard in Zhu Yiqiao’s heart.
This blizzard came too late, much later than the snowy night thirteen years ago when they lost contact. The current snowstorm was quieter, but also more turbulent, like the repeated torment of a guilty conscience.
After a long silence, Zhu Yiqiao suddenly said,
“…I’m sorry.”
Ming Fei looked at her, confusion and surprise in her eyes.
She asked, “Why are you apologizing, Jiejie?”
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