Yun Huaizhu Gave Her a Punch

For some reason, Yun Huaizhu found herself thinking back to her childhood again: back then she was already in first grade, yet she still loved playing hide-and-seek with her mother.

She would hide under the sofa and send a servant to tell Yun Jinyu, hoping to coax this mother—who was always nowhere to be found—into spending a little more time playing with her.

It was boring under the sofa, so she turned on her handheld console, muted it, and started playing Tetris.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she suddenly heard movement above the sofa. The little girl set down her console, delighted, waiting for her mother to discover her. But the next moment, a stranger's voice shattered her joy.

“Jinyu, we were together once, at least. You got me thrown in prison, and now you won't even give me the time of day. Isn't that a bit much?”

Her mother's voice followed: “I'm only now realizing just how thick-skinned you are. Cough, cough... You were the one who hurt me, and now you have the nerve to ask me for money. I only let them bring you in because you said you had something important to tell me. If you keep wasting my time with this nonsense, I'll have you thrown out.”

The stranger: “No, don't be like that... Jinyu, we even have a child together. I want to give her a complete family. That's why I came to find you. By the way, where's Huaizhu? How come I haven't seen her? Have you told her she has a mother like me?”

Yun Jinyu's eyes nearly split with rage. “If you dare have anything to do with my daughter, I'll kill you. Have you forgotten what you are? You used filthy tricks to get one night with me. Don't tell me you actually think that makes you my equal?”

“But it's a fact that I'm her mother! You must have feelings for me. If you didn't, why would you risk your life to have the child? You've always known I like you... yet in the end you heartlessly sent me to prison. Without my pheromones to soothe you, you still bore a child of my blood—your body will only get worse.”

Yun Jinyu sneered: “That's none of your concern. I'll tell you the truth: the only reason I kept the child is that marriage is too much trouble. I knew I would need an heir someday, and it didn't matter who I had one with. She simply came at an inconvenient time, so I kept her. You have nothing to do with her. If you dare show your face here again, I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead.”

“Someone, see her out!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the stranger began to shout: “Yun Jinyu, are you really going to do this? Even if you don't consider the child, won't you consider yourself? Without my pheromones to soothe you, you'll die soon... Yun Jinyu, sooner or later you'll come begging to me!”

At the sound of that voice, Yun Jinyu laughed bitterly, then broke into violent coughing, as if she might cough up her organs.

From that day on, the fairy-tale dream Yun Jinyu had woven for Yun Huaizhu shattered in an instant. Yun Huaizhu's fierce thirst for answers drove her to investigate who that woman was, but the more she dug, the colder the truth left her.

While her mother was in power, everyone in the Yun family claimed they didn't know. Later, at a family gathering, for reasons she never understood, a cousin-uncle she had barely ever met told her about that woman.

In that instant, grief and fury surged in her heart; she wished she could beat that woman viciously just to vent her rage.

From the moment she learned the truth, every time she faced Yun Jinyu, a trace of piercing pity would enter her eyes.

But back then she said nothing to Yun Jinyu, and the two of them remained a loving mother and daughter.

...

Yun Huaizhu didn't know why this memory surfaced now. Her mood was just like when she'd hidden under the sofa as a child, listening to that woman speak—confusion, anxiety, unease.

Finally, when she knocked on Lin Meng's door and saw the woman who answered, the hope she'd been holding onto died completely.

Somehow, when Huo Yi saw the dark-faced Yun Huaizhu standing at the door, she felt like the mistress watching the wife arrive to catch them in the act—except the adulteress was her.

Yun Huaizhu stood silently outside the door for only a dozen seconds before she caught the heavy scent of ylang-ylang pheromones drifting from inside.

A normal omega would have been drawn in by an alpha pheromone like that, one that stirred desire, sinking into an uncontrollable tide of passion. But in that moment, Yun Huaizhu's towering fury had already overwhelmed the pheromones' effect on her. Almost instantly, she clenched her fist and swung hard at Huo Yi's face.

Huo Yi hurriedly retreated behind the door, then raised both wrists to block, but the next moment Yun Huaizhu struck her abdomen hard, as if going for the kill. Pain burst through Huo Yi and she doubled over with a groan.

When Lin Meng heard the commotion and rushed over, she saw the usually gentle and demure Yun Huaizhu, face twisted with savage rage, grabbing Huo Yi's long hair: “You shameless bitch, how dare you seduce Mengmeng-jie! And you've spread your disgusting pheromones all over this place!”

Seeing her drop all pretense and reveal such a ferocious expression, Huo Yi sneered. She grabbed Yun Huaizhu's hair in turn and yanked until the other woman's scalp hurt: “And you're any better? Don't think that just because you did things in secret, I don't know it was you who secretly collected Mengmeng's fingerprints and slipped into her home while she was out!”

Yun Huaizhu felt a flash of guilt at those words, but she immediately seized Huo Yi's collar again, furious: “You're the disgusting one—you actually sent your own cousin to spy on Mengmeng-jie's company, to spy on Mengmeng-jie!”

The two stood locked in confrontation; whoever moved first would trigger a fight—and possibly lose some hair in the process.

Lin Meng, panicking and at a loss beside them, was completely stunned after hearing their exchange...

The person who had been sneaking into her home with ill intent all this time was actually Yun Huaizhu?

Seeing the two about to come to blows again after exposing each other's secrets, Lin Meng shouted: “Enough, both of you, stop!”

At that voice, Yun Huaizhu's fury gradually subsided a little. Only then did she realize Lin Meng was still in the house.

She immediately released her death grip on Huo Yi's hair, and Huo Yi let go as well.

Yun Huaizhu had no mind to care whether Huo Yi lived or died; she ran anxiously to Lin Meng. Tears came on cue, streaming from her bloodshot eyes: “Mengmeng-jie, are you all right? She did something to you, didn't she? Did she force you? If she did, I'll call the police for you right now, okay?”

Seeing Yun Huaizhu in this near-mad state, Lin Meng actually felt a trace of fear; she had never seen Yun Huaizhu so extreme.

As if frightened, Lin Meng lowered her head and said nothing. Yun Huaizhu stepped forward and gripped Lin Meng's shoulders tightly: “Mengmeng-jie, do you know what's in Huo Yi's pheromones?”

Only then did Lin Meng come back to herself a little. She raised her head and looked into Yun Huaizhu's bloodshot eyes with a frightened, uneasy gaze.

Seeing that Yun Huaizhu was about to tear away her last shred of cover, Huo Yi hurriedly got up and ran forward, grabbing the hand Yun Huaizhu had on Lin Meng's shoulder: “You suddenly come knocking on the door and punch me twice without a word—what the hell is wrong with you? You've scared Mengmeng, do you know that?”

Yun Huaizhu saw her frantic attempt to stop her and knew she was trying to hide something. Yun Huaizhu looked at her without a trace of fear: “Do you dare say there's no aphrodisiac component in the pheromones you released? You must have used some excuse to coax Mengmeng-jie into helping you, right? You despicable wretch, do you know what that behavior is called? It's called seduction by deception!”

Sneaking into her home, an aphrodisiac component in pheromones...

What on earth were these two talking about?

Lin Meng's head ached from their arguing, so she shouted, as if unable to control herself: “Enough, both of you, stop arguing!”

At Lin Meng's shout, Yun Huaizhu's furious accusations cut off abruptly. As if afraid Lin Meng would misunderstand something and hate her, she quickly flung off Huo Yi, whom she'd been gripping, then hurried to Lin Meng's side and grabbed her arm: “Mengmeng-jie, I'm sorry... I admit I used improper means to learn your door code, but I just felt too lonely. Sometimes when I feel unsafe at home, I want to come here, but you weren't home then. I was so scared, that's why I did it. You have to believe me!”

With that, she burst into tears.

Hearing this, Lin Meng quietly pulled her arm free from Yun Huaizhu's grasp.

From watching Huo Yi bustle around for her to now seeming to fall into endless panic, less than twenty minutes had passed. She vaguely sensed that these two seemed different from how she remembered them...

Huo Yi and Yun Huaizhu had both become so frightening.

Seeing Lin Meng's arm slowly slip from her palm, Yun Huaizhu's eyes filled with alarm and disbelief: “Mengmeng-jie...”

Lin Meng suddenly felt her mind in utter chaos. She needed to rest now, to properly digest the shock these two had just given her: “Yiyi, Zhuzhu... I feel a bit tired now. Can you come another day? I want to rest first.”

Tears streamed endlessly from Yun Huaizhu's eyes, remorse and reluctance intertwining in her chest. She wanted to grab Lin Meng; she didn't want Lin Meng to be afraid of her.

But Huo Yi seemed even more hateful and despicable than Su Yutang—she had never expected Huo Yi's pheromones to contain an aphrodisiac component. At this moment, it was only her extreme fury that kept her from being affected by the lightly released pheromones.

Huo Yi had finally managed to get a little closer to Lin Meng, but with Yun Huaizhu stirring things up, it seemed she was back to square one. At this moment her heart was also full of resentment and unwillingness; she even had the same thought as Su Yutang—

A mad dog like Yun Huaizhu deserved only to be a plaything; once let loose, she would surely bite everyone in sight.

“Mengmeng-jie, you have to believe me, I would never hurt you... I just missed you too much, wanted to be with you too much. We're already so close, yet you won't even tell me your door code. I was so sad, I felt like you would abandon me someday, so I felt awful...” Yun Huaizhu shook her head as she grasped Lin Meng's arms, even seeming about to kneel and beg forgiveness.

The moment Lin Meng learned that the person who had sneaked into her home and frightened her was Yun Huaizhu, her heart became a tangled mess. She didn't want to accept it, couldn't accept it... but Yun Huaizhu was just such an insecure person.

Yun Huaizhu had no bad intentions, and wouldn't hurt her... this person was simply too insecure. Her tragic experiences, her heartbreaking origins, had shaped her somewhat dark, isolated inner world.

No one in this world could understand Yun Huaizhu; even Lin Meng couldn't claim to understand her completely.

But whenever this pitiful Yun Huaizhu showed such a broken, helpless expression before her, the pity in her heart would always quickly cover her other emotions. In the instant Yun Huaizhu was about to bend and kneel, Lin Meng's body moved faster than her reason; she caught Yun Huaizhu with both hands: “Zhuzhu, I know... I don't blame you for this. My mind is just a mess right now, I really need to rest. Once I've rested, I'll contact you, okay?”

Yun Huaizhu's tear-filled eyes widened with excitement: “Really?”

Lin Meng nodded slightly: “Mm, so stop crying for now.”

Standing off to the side after being beaten by Yun Huaizhu, Huo Yi gradually began to feel wronged.

How touching. Yun Huaizhu cried so pitifully; if not for that earlier display, she might actually have been moved by Yun Huaizhu's acting.

Why should she?

She was the one who'd been beaten for no reason, yet the one Lin Meng comforted was Yun Huaizhu—just because Yun Huaizhu cried hard enough?

Huo Yi had never suffered such an injustice in her life; her eyes gradually reddened. But before she could cry, Lin Meng walked toward the bedroom in a daze.

“Click...” As soon as Lin Meng entered the bedroom, she quickly locked the door, leaving no chance for anyone outside.

...

Seeing that Lin Meng wasn't truly angry at her, Yun Huaizhu breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at the person whose face had gone nearly green with anger.

She went up to the furious Huo Yi and, as if to provoke her, lowered her voice: “So what if you used despicable means to get Mengmeng-jie's body? The one Mengmeng-jie loves most is still me. To be honest, I took Mengmeng-jie's first kiss. I won't hold it against you for servicing Mengmeng-jie—you're at least a ‘Crown Princess’ of some standing in Jing City, so could you stop approaching Mengmeng-jie under the guise of being outgoing and cheerful? It's really undignified.”

Hearing this, Huo Yi clenched her fists tightly. She even wanted to punch Yun Huaizhu and take back all the grievance she'd suffered in front of Lin Meng. But Lin Meng had just gone into the bedroom to rest; if she really did that, it would only make Lin Meng more disgusted with her.

“Then why don't you dare speak to me loudly now? Afraid Mengmeng will see this sharp, venomous side of you?”

Yun Huaizhu suddenly smiled sweetly, though to Huo Yi it was utterly detestable.

Yun Huaizhu crossed her arms with an indifferent look: “Say whatever you want. Seeing you unhappy makes me happy. Mengmeng-jie is going to marry me in the future. I'm already being polite by only being sharp-tongued; otherwise I'd kill you.”

As she spoke the last words, her gaze gradually turned dark and vicious, and her beautiful eyes radiated a chilling coldness that made one's heart tremble.

Seeing this, Huo Yi sneered: “Heh... I told Su Yutang before that you're a dog that bites, and Su Yutang didn't even take it seriously. We really shouldn't give you any chances, or you really will turn and bite people.”

Yun Huaizhu no longer cared about such words.

Ever since the ‘illegitimate daughter’ public opinion storm, she had heard things a thousand times worse than what Huo Yi said; why would she care what these people called her?

She only knew that people who were truly wounded were the ones who tore off their hypocritical masks and recklessly slandered and insulted her.

Yun Huaizhu stared fixedly at Huo Yi: “Do you think seducing Mengmeng-jie means you've won her? Look at yourself. Stop your wishful thinking—what Mengmeng-jie hates most is people like you who treat others as dogs. She will never like you.”

With that, Yun Huaizhu stepped away, pretending to be relaxed as she prepared to leave.

But when she deliberately rammed her shoulder hard against Huo Yi's, Huo Yi said coldly: “Then we'll see.”

By then Yun Huaizhu was almost at the door. She stood by it and looked contemptuously at the mistress who had seduced her girlfriend into bed: “Mengmeng-jie said she wants to calm down. You're not planning to shamelessly keep loitering here, are you?”

Huo Yi rolled her eyes at her, then bent down to pick up the phone she'd dropped on the floor and walked out.

...

After returning to the bedroom, Lin Meng suddenly felt a little cold, so she turned off the air conditioner that had been running the whole time. But afterward, the cold seemed to seep through her skin into the very marrow of her bones.

Lin Meng couldn't help but dig out a thick quilt and lie on the bed, wrapped up tightly.

Actually, she no longer quite remembered what Yun Huaizhu and Huo Yi had argued about.

Because at that time her mind had been a mess.

She only remembered two things—the ‘bad person’ she'd suspected of coming into her home was actually Yun Huaizhu, and the reason she'd suddenly felt hot and itchy that night was Huo Yi's pheromones.

No wonder she'd felt so hot that night, like she had a fever; no wonder that when Huo Yi came near, she felt an impossible-to-restrain desire, as if she longed for Huo Yi to do those things to her the way Su Yutang and Yun Huaizhu did.

So Huo Yi's pheromones contained an aphrodisiac component.

If Huo Yi had merely wanted her help, she wouldn't have ignored her in a crisis—so why had Huo Yi hidden this?

So her desire that night, the embarrassment when she woke, had all been caused by the aphrodisiac.

The more she thought, the more wrong it felt; the more she thought, the colder her body became. Even though she wrapped herself up almost like a rice dumpling, the cold didn't fade.

And Yun Huaizhu... she had punched Huo Yi the moment she entered. Huo Yi was the boss of Jing City aside from Su Yutang—if Yun Huaizhu acted so recklessly, what if it brought Huo Yi's revenge down on her?

When Lin Meng thought of this, she felt an urge to plead with Huo Yi on Yun Huaizhu's behalf, but when she thought of that night, a chill gradually rose in her heart.

Right now, she couldn't bring herself to talk to Huo Yi at all.

She buried herself in the quilt, shivering, and after who knew how long, her cheeks burning hot, she gradually drifted off from the mild lack of oxygen.

Just then, her phone suddenly buzzed, pulling her fading consciousness back. Lin Meng weakly turned the phone over to look at the message, but the next moment, a strange yet familiar address appeared on the notification bar—Mom.

Mom: [Mengmeng, is work in the big city tiring?]

[Have you been eating properly lately? No matter how tiring work is, you have to eat first. It's just you and me in our family; I don't have much to spend money on here, so you don't need to work so desperately.]

[You didn't come home for New Year the year before last or last year. Are you coming home this New Year?]

[Mom doesn't have anything important; I just want to know how you're doing now. Mom misses you a little.]

Lin Meng didn't know why, but when she saw these messages popping up one after another, her nose suddenly stung.

Such gentle words, full of longing—her mother in her original world had never said anything like this to her.

In mother-daughter relationships, she was rather traditional. She thought that even if she didn't know this world's mother, she should still send money to support her. This person had sent her greetings during holidays before, and she had replied with very standard messages.

But today was the first time it had been like this.

When people are at their most vulnerable, they really are easily captured by such emotions.

Lin Meng's eyes gradually moistened, and then she made the first phone call to this ‘mother’ since coming to this world.

The other end picked up after a single ring, as if the person had been waiting by the landline all along: “Hello, is that Mengmeng?”

Hearing that somewhat aged yet gentle voice, Lin Meng said: “Mom, it's me.”

Hearing her voice, the other end seemed to cry with joy: “Mengmeng, you haven't called Mom in so long.”

Lin Meng continued: “Mom... I saw your messages. Is something wrong at home, or is the money I send you not enough?”

She had originally wanted to say some warm words of greeting, but somehow, when they reached her lips they turned into this.

Perhaps it was because since entering society she had never said such things to a mother figure; she wasn't used to it.

“No, no, Mengmeng, you send Mom money every month. Mom can't spend it all; I've saved it for you, for when you get married. Are you busy now? If work is busy, Mom will hang up first and not disturb you.”

Hearing this, Lin Meng hurriedly said: “No, I took leave today and didn't go to work.”

The person on the other end paused slightly, then nodded with a smile: “All right, all right. Mom is always afraid of disturbing your work, so I rarely message you. It's just that this time I really missed you, so I wanted to ask if you're coming home for New Year... You don't know, our village is undergoing major renovations. The old mud houses have all been torn down and rebuilt as new brick houses. The rich ones have even built three-story buildings—so grand.”

Hearing her ramble, Lin Meng felt much warmer inside—perhaps after she quit her job, she wasn't without a place to go.

At least she still had a home, and in that home there was a mother she had never met yet who worried about her.

After listening, Lin Meng nodded: “Mm... I'll come home this year.”

“Really? That's wonderful! Then Mom will cook a table full of your favorite dishes!”

The woman was overjoyed, and on the phone she listed what Lin Meng used to love eating, like reciting a menu.

Lin Meng didn't feel annoyed at all, and what was more, those dishes were all her favorites too.

...

That phone call took over an hour. Lin Meng lay in bed for a long while, until it was completely dark outside, before she lifted the quilt and got out of bed.

She thought the best thing to do was still to leave this bustling city.

But when she went out, the large new fridge Huo Yi had bought and all kinds of snacks were still sitting outside.

Although her stomach felt awful now, she had no appetite at all. Looking at the things filling the living room, Lin Meng's mood turned irritable again.

She felt she might need to go out for a walk.

*

This time she simply put on slippers and went downstairs, strolling around the park near the neighborhood.

Outside, people came and went, traffic flowed endlessly, a scene of bustling liveliness.

As Lin Meng walked along the less crowded greenery, she could still smell the faint fragrance of roses, and she felt her mood lift a little. During those two hours of aimless wandering, she gradually figured some things out—this was never her world to begin with; she didn't necessarily have to stay here to live well.

The big city had the big city's prosperity, and a small place had a small place's warmth.

It was time for her to go home.

Just as she thought this and smiled with relief, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind her.