Satisfied

“A while back, you kept asking me what Yu Tiantian wanted from me, what she wanted me to do,” Hua Yu said softly. “You were also worried she might have something on me.”

Wei Yin nodded. That had been one of the things troubling her lately. “Will you tell me now?”

No matter how Wei Yin asked before, Hua Yu wouldn’t say. Wei Yin had even nearly gone to Pedro for help, but this involved Hua Yu, and Wei Yin was afraid she’d only make things worse.

Hua Yu gave her a reassuring smile. “Give me a little more time. It’ll still be a while before the product hits the market, so for now, you don’t need to worry about this.”

She had seen the faint unease and overthinking in Wei Yin these past few days. Hua Yu didn’t want her wasting energy on it; she would rather tell a few harmless lies.

Wei Yin eyed her suspiciously. “Really?”

“At least not for the time being,” Hua Yu said. “Your biggest task these days is to protect your gland, accept its changes, and adjust to your current physical state.”

Wei Yin was still hesitating when Hua Yu said gently, “Do you think technical breakthroughs are simple? Even after it’s developed, there’s still market launch and promotion, and building good relationships with the designated hospitals. There’s still a long way to go. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

Wei Yin could only nod. Her expression turned serious. “Then you have to remember to tell me.”

Hua Yu smiled faintly. “Okay. Now we really should talk about your situation.”

Her situation?

Wei Yin thought for a moment. What else was there to discuss now?

“About me being discharged?” Wei Yin asked.

Before Hua Yu could answer, Wei Yin said flatly, “Yang Cha and the others said I’m a little miracle, that my gland is recovering. Is that it?”

She didn’t sound excited at all. Her tone made it seem as if she were talking about someone else entirely. Hua Yu studied her expression and asked softly, “You’re not happy?”

“It’s not that. It’s just hard to believe; it doesn’t feel real,” Wei Yin said, tilting her head to look at Hua Yu. “What does Dr. Hua think?”

Hua Yu set aside her worry and said calmly, “From a medical standpoint, your gland condition is... normal.”

Wei Yin frowned in confusion. “But I still don’t understand. Am I really better? Can this illness actually improve? And it’s only been a few days—how did it suddenly get better?”

Hua Yu didn’t answer. These past two days, she had already spoken with Xu Ya Qing, so of course she knew Wei Yin had gone to Yu Tiantian’s factory before the accident.

So she didn’t follow Wei Yin’s line of thought. Instead, she encouraged her, “You can try to feel your current condition. Congratulations on recovering your health.”

The benefits of a healthy gland would gradually become apparent; for example, improved cardiopulmonary function, greater stamina, stronger immunity, and so on. Those changes would come little by little.

Wei Yin blinked. “Really?”

These past few days, she had been rushed to the hospital, made to take a lot of medicine, and subjected to countless examinations. Everyone around her was shocked and congratulatory; only Hua Yu had remained calm and quiet the entire time.

Wei Yin remembered the gloomy look on Hua Yu’s face that day. So even if everyone said she was a miracle, as long as Hua Yu’s attitude was like that, she wouldn’t believe it so easily.

Hua Yu didn’t answer that question. Her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, only for an instant. “Your gland can now secrete pheromones, more or less. Whether you can sense it or not, it is secreting. Theoretically, it’s already out of the atrophy range.”

Wei Yin touched her gland. She didn’t feel much, only a faint numbness. “Uncle and Auntie are amazing. Traditional Chinese medicine is so magical.”

Over the past few months, Hua Yu and her parents had worked hard to nourish and care for Wei Yin’s body. Wei Yin could feel herself growing sturdier from the inside out; day by day, she felt fuller, smoother, lighter, and more at ease.

Although she hadn’t had any especially obvious sensations like the day Hua Yu smelled her pheromones and took her to the hospital, her body as a whole didn’t feel bad. So Wei Yin didn’t think too much about it and gave all the credit to Hua Yu’s family. Obediently, she said, “After I’m discharged, come with me to visit Uncle and Auntie. I can thank them for taking care of me.”

“That works too,” Hua Yu said after a pause, thinking that if her parents looked at Wei Yin, they might notice something. Wei Yin had gone through that ordeal with Yu Tiantian, and when she came back, her gland started recovering. No matter what, Hua Yu couldn’t set aside her worry and suspicion. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Not that? Hua Yu didn’t want to talk to her about her illness?

Then what was it?

Hua Yu didn’t beat around the bush and said plainly, “You can secrete pheromones now.”

Even though medication and blockers had prevented any leakage these past few days, her body really was recovering to a normal secretion level.

Wei Yin still didn’t get it. “Huh? So what?”

Hua Yu stared at her without much expression, clearly wanting her to figure it out herself.

But Wei Yin couldn’t. She didn’t even know where to start.

Looking at Hua Yu, she noticed the other woman seemed tense. No, not just tense—very concerned, as if facing a powerful enemy. It was baffling.

Could it be that Dr. Hua was prejudiced against omega pheromones? That couldn’t be, right?

But Hua Yu’s expression clearly looked complicated, as if she had some unspeakable difficulty.

Thinking of Xu Ya Qing’s gossiping words behind her back, Wei Yin’s eyes rolled and she gasped in shock. “Dr. Hua is pheromone-phobic?”

Hua Yu: ...

She looked helpless. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“No,” Wei Yin answered very quickly. “Then why?”

This person really couldn’t work it out on her own. Hua Yu considered her words and explained in the most straightforward way possible, “You’re an omega; a normal omega who can secrete pheromones.”

She paused there and pointed to herself.

“And I’m an alpha.”

At that point, anyone should have understood.

Wei Yin was stunned for two seconds, then said flatly, “That’s pretty good, actually. We match.”

Hua Yu was speechless. “...You’re not entirely wrong.”

Wei Yin immediately looked proud.

Hua Yu coughed twice, hiding the helpless smile in her eyes, then lifted her head and said seriously, “Enough fooling around. Let’s talk business. Alphas and omegas shouldn’t live together unless necessary; that’s an important rule in alpha-omega relationships. Even couples often choose to live separately before marriage, or before a full mark, in order to avoid too much exposure to each other’s pheromones in daily life and triggering heat. So for your health and safety, I recommend we live separately.”

Wei Yin had sensed something was wrong from the start and tried several times to interrupt Hua Yu, but Hua Yu ignored her protests and insisted on finishing.

“I’ve already found a place. There are apartments for rent across from my place and upstairs from it. That way we can still live close by; on holidays—no, every morning—you can still come over for breakfast, and I can take you to the studio. It won’t be any different from living with us.” Hua Yu rattled off a long string of words in one breath, picked up her cup and took a gulp of water, licked her lips, then looked at Wei Yin and ended with a polite, concluding question. “What do you think?”

Wei Yin thought: What do I think my ass.

Hua Yu had laid out every advantage and disadvantage herself, and now she was asking what Wei Yin thought; she clearly didn’t actually want Wei Yin’s opinion.

Wei Yin’s whole face scrunched up; every inch of her body radiated resistance.

“You’re being overbearing again,” Wei Yin said in exasperation. “I don’t agree.”

Hua Yu’s expression remained calm, unaffected by Wei Yin’s protest.

She seemed to have made up her mind about having Wei Yin move out. When she heard the objection, she simply looked away and said nothing.

That attitude of total disregard irritated Wei Yin. She reached out and shoved Hua Yu’s arm. “I’m talking to you. I don’t agree.”

Hua Yu said evenly, “There’s no better solution.”

“Why do I have to move out?” Wei Yin raised her voice. “I’m not leaking pheromones all over the place, and there are blockers too...”

“Just in case,” Hua Yu said in a low voice. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

That sounded very nice, but Wei Yin was no longer the Wei Yin she had been when she first reunited with Hua Yu. She could see through all the overprotective behavior hidden beneath the sweet words. At once, she shot back, “Your pheromones have always been perfectly normal. Why do you never worry about them leaking and affecting me? Didn’t you say that even if my gland was atrophied, I still couldn’t stay in a space with disordered pheromones, and an alpha’s pheromones could still hurt me?!”

Hua Yu’s pace didn’t falter in the slightest. “That’s because I was certain I wouldn’t... ”

“Then why can’t you trust me!”

Hua Yu fell silent.

After a while, amid Wei Yin’s still-unsteady breathing, Hua Yu said softly, “Even later on, I still didn’t have complete control, did I?”

Wei Yin was still breathing hard, her brow tightly furrowed. “That was because of that omega neighbor who was squatting in the detention room.”

“They have a name,” Hua Yu said after thinking for two seconds. She still couldn’t remember it and gave up. “...And detention isn’t a lockup.”

“Is this the time to nitpick!” Wei Yin was nearly losing it. “I don’t care. If we rule out all unstable factors, we can totally live together.”

It sounded exactly like a child throwing a tantrum. Hua Yu was so exasperated she almost laughed. Only then did she belatedly realize that Wei Yin was younger than her to begin with; she was a junior, and she had suffered so much. Now that she had finally met Hua Yu, life could get a little better, so of course she wouldn’t want to be far away from her, not even by the length of one door.

Hua Yu’s tone softened. “Unstable factors can’t be predicted; they’ll always exist.”

Especially when she thought of Yu Tiantian’s involvement in this matter, Hua Yu was too cautious to keep Wei Yin too close to her; she was afraid that what happened later might sweep Wei Yin up in it.

And in Hua Yu’s calm, rational judgment, since Wei Yin had already been nursed back into a healthy omega, her food, clothing, housing, and daily routine could no longer be treated the same way they had when she was still a beta. She had to pay attention to protecting herself in every movement and every rest; especially, she needed to stay a little farther away from alphas. Hua Yu of course had to be included in that. Her hormone levels were much higher than average, and the impact on an omega would be greater as well.

Thinking of that, Hua Yu cautiously reminded her, “Qing’s alpha hormone levels aren’t very high, but you should still pay a little attention when you’re around her.”

Wei Yin hadn’t expected that one trip to the hospital would end with her being pushed into moving.

And by the owner of the house, no less.

“You just don’t understand at all,” Wei Yin said, deeply unhappy.

Hua Yu took that as agreement and stood up to handle her discharge paperwork, along with the medication she still needed to take.

On the way downstairs, they ran into Wang Qiyao, who had come out for a walk.

Her face was better than when she had first arrived; she had gone from looking like an old woman at a glance to looking like an auntie in poor health. At the very least, that deadened aura, that sense of waiting for death to come from old age, had faded quite a bit.

Even so, she was still gasping after only a couple of steps, with three caregivers following beside her.

Wang Qiyao spotted Hua Yu from afar and raised a hand to wave.

Hua Yu walked over at once and helped her adjust her scarf.

“It’s turned cold early this year. Starting in September, the temperature will keep dropping. You have to be careful to keep warm; you can’t catch a cold.” Hua Yu warned her sternly.

Wang Qiyao’s eyes were red. She reached out a hand marked with age spots and clutched at Hua Yu’s sleeve. “Dr. Hua, I’m sorry.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Hua Yu said, frowning in disapproval. “You need to stay in a good mood. Starting now, don’t think about this anymore.”

Hua Yu’s admonishment was not especially gentle, and Wang Qiyao didn’t dare say anything else. She could only promise softly, “Okay. I’ll wait for Dr. Hua to come back.”

Hua Yu nodded. “Goodbye.”

Watching Hua Yu’s receding figure, Wang Qiyao’s eyes kept reddening. She felt deeply sorry for what her father had done to Hua Yu, but she also knew that anything she said would be useless.

Her father and mother would still use every privilege and marshal every resource to treat her illness, whatever the cost, and make sure she recovered.

Among the three caregivers, one had been the nanny who had cared for Wang Qiyao closely since childhood. Seeing Hua Yu leave just like that, she said with dissatisfaction, “That doctor is so cold to patients. She doesn’t have any professional ethics at all.”

Wang Qiyao said in a cold, hoarse voice, “If Dr. Hua really had no medical ethics, then all the treatment I’m getting right now would have to stop.”

The caregiver was visibly shocked. “Why? Isn’t she just a little doctor? If not her, there’s always someone else.”

“For all these years, only the field she studies and the clinical trials she’s done have helped my condition. You think she’s not good enough? Then why don’t you find me someone else?”

The caregiver immediately shut up.

Wang Qiyao was deeply grateful to Hua Yu. Even if Hua Yu stopped treating her because of this incident, she wouldn’t complain at all.

Three months ago, she had only been able to sit in a wheelchair. She had to breathe oxygen every day, go into the sterile room at the slightest provocation, swallow piles of pills, get piles of injections, couldn’t even stand up, and gasped after saying just a couple of sentences, let alone eat the food she liked.

But now she could go downstairs for walks, occasionally taste a little good food, and even had the energy to watch movies and scroll on her phone.

Since the night she turned white-haired at eight years old, she had never again enjoyed such simple happiness, stripped of the pain and decay of her own body.

So she was endlessly grateful for all of it.

A faint breeze blew toward her; Wang Qiyao pulled her scarf tighter and said softly, “It’s getting windy. Let’s go back.”

-

On the way home, Wei Yin didn’t say a word. She didn’t even sit in the passenger seat anymore; she sulked in the back.

Hua Yu glanced back several times, but Wei Yin kept turning her head away and refusing to meet her eyes.

Hua Yu was sensible and didn’t pour oil on the fire.

After they got out of the car, Hua Yu headed for the elevator from the garage, but Wei Yin turned toward the other elevator and didn’t even take one ride with her.

Hua Yu still didn’t say anything.

Wei Yin’s silence and cold war collapsed the moment she entered the apartment and saw the packed luggage waiting for her.

It was like a layer of ice that hadn’t been very thick to begin with; it shattered completely.

Wei Yin was thoroughly devastated.

“I suggest you live across the hall; that’ll be more convenient. The south wall is connected to my bedroom. If you knock hard a few times, I can feel it. If something urgent comes up, you can let me know that way.”

“The green box contains blockers and suppressants. But you’re nowhere near needing suppressants yet; at your current rate of recovery, you probably won’t show heat symptoms until next spring.”

“I’ve arranged for a moving company to come. Your bed can be moved over directly, so it’ll be easy for you to rest at night. The place has already been cleaned, and the furniture that’s missing can just be borrowed from here for now.”

“The little turtle and those succulents can be taken too.”

Hua Yu had prepared everything as thoroughly as possible for Wei Yin. Now all Wei Yin had to do was turn around, take a step, open the door, and she could move into a new home.

A new home without Hua Yu.

Wei Yin felt like she was about to split in two; one half cold as the frozen depths of the ninth heaven, the other half hot as a boiling flame.

The cold and heat tangled through her veins, and Wei Yin was about to explode!

Hua Yu was still droning on with her instructions.

Did she really think Wei Yin needed her care?

What finding a place for her, arranging everything, making sure she didn’t need to worry about anything... From beginning to end, there was no need for Hua Yu to arrange all this for her at all!

Wei Yin could take care of herself; she had followed Hua Yu home because she genuinely liked her, not because she couldn’t live alone and had to cling to her house!

The way Hua Yu was acting now, so considerate and meticulous, was no different from some scummy ex who keeps dutifully taking care of you after a breakup, was it?!

The more Wei Yin thought about it, the angrier she got. She was almost losing all reason, yet except for looking a little paler, nothing showed on her face.

“I’ll help you move to the apartment across the hall,” Hua Yu said.

Wei Yin suddenly grabbed her luggage and said stiffly, “No need.”

Hua Yu froze. “...Xiao Yin?”

Wei Yin hadn’t even taken off her shoes; you could say she had barely stepped into the house before being shoved right back out again, still carrying bag after bag.

A little self-mockery rose in her. She hefted the bags and walked out. “Since we’re not living together anymore, Dr. Hua should stop worrying so much.”

Hua Yu’s brow slowly tightened.

With a bang, the door across the hall slammed shut behind Wei Yin, and the corridor fell silent.

Hua Yu was about to say something when she walked out, only to receive a phone call.

From Yu Tiantian.

Hua Yu answered with a blank expression.

On the other end, Yu Tiantian’s voice held a coy smile. “How’s Xiao Yin’s recovery? I really put a lot of sincerity into this gift I sent you. Are you satisfied?”