Zhuzhu's Meal Time

The moment a sliver of light from the door crack fell across Lin Meng's profile, a hand yanked her back inside with brutal force.

"Bang—" The door slammed shut.

Yun Huaizhu pinned her from behind, her voice a dark, cold whisper against Lin Meng's ear: "Mengmeng-jie, I haven't even said anything yet. What are you running for?"

Lin Meng felt those unnaturally cold arms coil around her like a pair of venomous snakes. Goosebumps erupted across her skin. "I... I wasn't running. I just wanted to close the door."

Yun Huaizhu let out a cold laugh. "Mengmeng-jie, don't trouble yourself. See? I already closed it for you. Now, how about we have a proper talk about you moving without telling me?"

Lin Meng felt Yun Huaizhu's arms tightening, her ribs on the verge of cracking. Her voice came out in a strangled, unnatural pitch: "I... I just thought you were so far away, Zhuzhu, and busy with work. I didn't want to bother you with something so trivial. I can handle it myself..."

Yun Huaizhu rested her head on Lin Meng's shoulder, a chilling breath ghosting across her skin. "Is that so?"

Lin Meng squeezed her eyes shut and nodded frantically. "Zhuzhu... you're hugging me too tight. I really can't breathe. Can you... let go first?"

At those words, Yun Huaizhu abruptly released her. Lin Meng felt a surge of relief—but the very next moment, Yun Huaizhu seized the back of her neck and forced her to turn and face her.

Lin Meng saw that Yun Huaizhu's expression was even worse than when she'd first walked in. Her hands gripped Lin Meng's shoulders, and she spoke with devastating sorrow: "I've always thought of you as my future partner. Mengmeng-jie, no matter how much you play dumb, you must have noticed that I like you, right? Last time, you not only refused to give me an answer—now you won't even tell me when you move. You don't treat me as a friend. You even want to draw a line between us."

Lin Meng shook her head. "No... that's not it. You are my good friend. It's just that my presence has disrupted your life. I only wanted our lives to return to normal... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Yun Huaizhu stared at Lin Meng's desperate evasion, her eyes bloodshot. "Don't apologize! Since you keep saying you're not good enough for me, then our positions are unequal. What use is your apology to me?"

Her hands slowly slid upward, gently encircling Lin Meng's fair, slender neck. "You're always like this—relentlessly belittling yourself, using excuses to push away people who love you. No matter what, I should be better than Su Yutang, shouldn't I? So why do you like her and not me?"

Lin Meng was struck dumb, frozen in place.

What was Yun Huaizhu even saying? Why couldn't she understand a single word?

When had she ever liked Su Yutang?

Yun Huaizhu's icy fingers traced ceaselessly along the side of her neck. "Mengmeng-jie, tell me the truth. The night you came with me to the gala—did you really take a taxi home by yourself?"

Lin Meng had wanted to wait until Yun Huaizhu calmed down before explaining, but when she heard that night mentioned, her heart leapt into her throat.

Her intuition told her Yun Huaizhu must have found out something. Otherwise, she wouldn't be this angry.

Lin Meng felt as though her throat were being crushed. She wanted to lie, to talk her way out of it, but no words would come.

Seeing her reaction, Yun Huaizhu let out a cold laugh. "Mengmeng-jie, do you know? You're really terrible at lying. Every time you feel guilty, it's written all over your face. You can't lie, but you can deceive—especially me. I've been played for a fool by you."

By the end, her voice was choking up.

Lin Meng's heart felt as though it were being pricked by countless fine needles.

That night with Su Yutang had been an accident, but she had indeed cheated on Yun Huaizhu.

Lin Meng stood frozen, speechless.

Yun Huaizhu stared at the person before her with resentment and grief, tears streaming endlessly down her face. "I trusted you so much. I kept waiting for your answer. And then I found out that you never actually left the Su estate that night. From the moment you walked in, until twenty-four hours later, when every guest had gone—you still hadn't come out."

Lin Meng stepped backward, but Yun Huaizhu held her fast, immobile. "I'm really curious—how did you slip past all those Su family cameras and vanish into thin air? Su Yutang broke down the door and carried you out, didn't she?"

Lin Meng's eyes widened in disbelief.

She had guessed Yun Huaizhu knew something, but she never imagined she knew this much detail—even the smallest things.

There was no way to argue her way out now. She hung her head weakly. "I... I'm sorry. But that night, I had no choice..."

Hearing this, Yun Huaizhu's expression flickered with a spark of hope. "She forced you? If that's really what happened—" Her face contorted with something savage. "If that's really what happened, then I'll go kill her!"

Seeing that terrifying expression, Lin Meng grabbed her hand. "No! It's not like that!"

Yun Huaizhu's eyes flew open in horror and fury. She shook Lin Meng uncontrollably, as if possessed. "Then what was it? Tell me! If she didn't force you, does that mean you went willingly? When I think about how you spent that night with her—that your first time went to her—I hate her so much, and you still slept with her. I want to kill her. I want to strangle you..."

She collapsed into uncontrollable sobs. "But I love you so much, Lin Meng... I love you. If you didn't answer me, if you refused to give me an answer, I wouldn't be this angry. If you were with someone else, anyone else—but why her? You should know what kind of person she is. You know what she did to me..."

Hatred tangled in Yun Huaizhu's heart. Before seeing Lin Meng, she had genuinely considered locking her in the basement, never giving her a chance to see daylight again. But when she saw Lin Meng's face, she remembered their first meeting.

After she lost her mother—her strongest pillar—everyone around her had used her, drained her value, schemed against her. Only Lin Meng... this person had appeared in her world like a visitor from beyond, never coveting anything from her, never calculating what benefits she might gain.

She had thought heaven had finally smiled on her. But fate was cruel and fond of playing tricks.

Seeing Yun Huaizhu's pain, a dull ache flooded Lin Meng's chest. "No! It's not like that! That day, she'd been drugged. I was afraid of what she might do to you. I was looking for you and stumbled into that room by accident, and I helped her that one time because she was in danger—she was about to die. I didn't want to see someone die in front of me, so..."

Yun Huaizhu's expression shifted with surprise. The light gradually returned to her dull, hopeless eyes. "So... you insisted on coming with me because you were afraid Su Yutang would do something to me when she saw me? That day, you went through all that because you were trying to protect me?"

Although Yun Huaizhu's understanding was somewhat off, it was broadly correct. Lin Meng nodded hastily. "So that night was just an accident. I don't like her..."

Hearing this, an indescribable bitterness welled up in Yun Huaizhu's heart.

That day, the drug had been placed in Su Yutang's drink at her own instruction—she had told Bai Li to do it. And Lin Meng had gone upstairs to find her because she wanted to protect her. No wonder Lin Meng's voice on the phone that day had been so urgent, telling her to leave. Lin Meng had been afraid that she, an omega, would be harmed, and had rushed her away.

At this thought, Yun Huaizhu laughed and cried at once. As if unable to bear the reality, her hands slid from Lin Meng's body, and she collapsed weakly to her knees before her.

Startled, Lin Meng caught her quickly. "Zhuzhu, are you okay? Don't scare me!"

Yun Huaizhu saw the worry on Lin Meng's face and, as if something inside her shattered, threw her arms around her tightly. "I'm sorry, Mengmeng-jie... I'm the one with the despicable mind. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you. You love me so much, and I still doubted you. Just now, I even thought about..."

Regret and helplessness filled Yun Huaizhu completely. She had already redirected the blame for Lin Meng's mistake onto Su Yutang.

If Su Yutang hadn't seduced Lin Meng, why would Lin Meng have agreed?

What nonsense about dying if she couldn't find release—if an S-rank alpha would really die from a single aphrodisiac, then she should just die!

Lin Meng was always so softhearted. Su Yutang only had to say she would die, and Lin Meng agreed just like that.

Hearing Yun Huaizhu's heart-wrenching sobs, Lin Meng felt as though her heartstrings were being pulled taut, aching unbearably. Yun Huaizhu's crying drew tears to her own eyes.

When all was said and done, Yun Huaizhu was just someone without a sense of security. She was only afraid.

Afraid that Lin Meng would side with Su Yutang and turn against her.

At this thought, Lin Meng also hugged Yun Huaizhu tightly. She placed a hand on Yun Huaizhu's back and patted gently. "It's okay. It's all in the past... In the end, I'm the one who wronged you in this. As long as you're willing to forgive me, I'll do anything for you."

Yun Huaizhu sobbed in Lin Meng's embrace for a long while. When she heard those words, it was as if a keyword had been triggered. She slowly lifted her head.

With those red, swollen eyes that looked so pitiful, she blinked at Lin Meng. "Really? You'll do anything for me?"

Lin Meng saw the desire gradually staining Yun Huaizhu's gaze with something ambiguous and unclear. She hesitated for a moment, as if her mind had been clouded by the intense panic and guilt from earlier. Looking into Yun Huaizhu's amber-beautiful eyes, she gave a slight nod. "Mm."

Yun Huaizhu instantly released her pheromones. She knew Lin Meng couldn't smell them, but she still wanted to mark Lin Meng's entire body with her scent.

She wanted to erase Su Yutang from Lin Meng's body, until Lin Meng was filled with nothing but the smell of her pheromones.

Yun Huaizhu gently cradled Lin Meng's face, placed a kiss at the corner of her lips, and then spoke with deep affection: "Mengmeng-jie, I got too emotional just now, and my heat came early. An omega in heat with unstable emotions is very fragile. If not properly soothed, it could leave permanent aftereffects. Are you willing to help me?"

Lin Meng was stunned, frozen in place.

Why did those words sound so similar to what Su Yutang had said to her last time?

Except Su Yutang had said she would die, and now Yun Huaizhu was saying she would suffer permanent aftereffects.

She was a beta. She didn't understand alpha and omega heat cycles, so she had no way of knowing whether Yun Huaizhu was telling the truth.

Seeing her hesitate, Yun Huaizhu put on a look of pique. "Su Yutang was about to die, so you softened and helped her. What about me? My body will suffer permanent damage too. I might die as well. This whole thing started because of Mengmeng-jie. Even if you haven't figured out how to answer my question yet, are you unwilling to help me? Am I that much worse than Su Yutang?"

Seeing her tears fall with every word, her appearance so utterly pitiful, Lin Meng quickly denied it. "No! I just think... someone as good as you, I can't, I'm not worthy..."

Hearing her about to say something she didn't want to hear again, Yun Huaizhu leaned in and sealed her lips with her own. Lin Meng's lips were soft, her mouth wet and slick with a faint cherry-mint fragrance, and beneath it, the metallic sweetness of the tongue she'd bitten earlier.

That bitter yet faintly sweet taste was exactly like what was in Yun Huaizhu's heart.

She hated that Lin Meng's first time hadn't been hers. She hated that Lin Meng wouldn't say she loved her. She hated this intangible, uncertain relationship—as if Lin Meng might slip away the moment she let her guard down.

"Mm, Zhuzhu... we..."

Lin Meng felt the kiss moving too fast; she could barely breathe. Seeing this, Yun Huaizhu stopped. She pressed her forehead against Lin Meng's, cheeks flushed. "Don't say anything about not being worthy again. If you do, I'll kiss you again, until you can't say it anymore."

Lin Meng promptly shut her mouth.

When their eyes met, Lin Meng felt she might drown and never surface.

That gaze was like a pool of gentle water, luring her toward something dangerous—yet her reason pulled her back again and again. The water looked soft, but once she fell in, it was a bottomless abyss.

Yun Huaizhu helped her to her feet. Lin Meng's heart pounded with unease, but Yun Huaizhu took her by the hem of her clothes and slowly led her into the bedroom.

...

Lin Meng thought she should have refused.

She had entered Yun Huaizhu's world to spare her from physical torment, and then to let her end up sweetly with her canon love interest.

Yes, her original intention had been to get Su Yutang and Yun Huaizhu together without all the body-horror suffering. Not like this—helping Su Yutang, then helping Yun Huaizhu...

What on earth was she doing?

Yun Huaizhu laid Lin Meng gently on the bed. She unfastened Lin Meng's belt and tossed her top and pants to the floor like trash.

Lin Meng suddenly felt cold all over. She snapped back to her senses and shyly covered her chest. "No, don't... Zhuzhu, this isn't right."

Yun Huaizhu leaned close to Lin Meng's ear like a temptress. "How is it not right? I don't like alphas. I don't like being touched by strangers. The person I like most now is Mengmeng-jie. Only you can help me. Are you going to watch me die?"

But you could buy suppressants... Su Yutang's situation last time was an emergency—the door wouldn't open from the inside and there were no suppressants. But now she could have suppressants delivered in minutes.

She had already made one mistake. If she made another, what would happen to the relationship between Yun Huaizhu and Su Yutang?

As if reading her mind, Yun Huaizhu said, "Suppressants don't work on me anymore. Mengmeng-jie, you might not be able to smell it, but this room is already filled with my pheromones. If an outsider enters and these pheromones leak out, any omega or alpha nearby will be affected by this high concentration. So, for everyone's sake, Mengmeng-jie, please help me..."

After saying this, she took Lin Meng's hand—the one covering her chest—and pressed it to her own burning face. "Just this once, okay?"

Yun Huaizhu's hand was so cold, but her face was so hot. If it weren't for her heat, Lin Meng would have thought she had a high fever.

Lin Meng felt like she'd been backed to the edge of a cliff. Forward was Yun Huaizhu; backward was a bottomless abyss. Her mind went blank for a moment. "Just... just this once."

A gentle, tender smile bloomed on Yun Huaizhu's face. "Mm, just this once."

The words had barely left her lips when Yun Huaizhu removed Lin Meng's stiff hand from her chest and directly laid herself over Lin Meng, her soft, wet lips trailing light kisses back and forth.

Lin Meng clutched the bedsheets tightly. As Yun Huaizhu kissed her, she watched her reactions. Every time she touched a spot that made Lin Meng emit an unusually shy sound, she lingered there like a mischief-maker.

The scent of night jasmine filled the entire bedroom. The pheromone concentration was so high that anyone other than Yun Huaizhu who entered might suffocate from the sheer grade of it.

Lin Meng faintly caught a sweet fragrance. It was completely different from Su Yutang's—this was a bewitching scent, alluring, carrying a thread of attraction that made one feel warm inside.

Lin Meng didn't know what was wrong with her. Her body grew more and more sensitive under Yun Huaizhu's kisses, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. Just when she could barely endure it, she felt a cold sensation slide past her navel, heading lower.

Lin Meng jolted from the cold and quickly clamped her legs together.

Seeing this, Yun Huaizhu's brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of guilt appeared on her face. "Sorry, Mengmeng-jie. My fingers seem a bit cold. How about I warm them up first?"

Hearing these unbearably shameful words, Lin Meng quickly covered her face. She didn't dare look into Yun Huaizhu's eyes, only nodding repeatedly.

But the next moment, she felt something cold approach the corner of her mouth. Lin Meng moved her hand in surprise and opened her eyes—and then those cold fingers slid in through her slightly parted lips.

"!!"

"Mmph..."

Lin Meng's eyes flew open in shock. Yun Huaizhu's face was full of pleasure. She sat on Lin Meng's stomach, moving back and forth, and soon a glistening film of moisture coated her fair, slightly pink abdomen.

No, this was too much stimulation. Lin Meng felt as though she couldn't handle the impact.

Yun Huaizhu pushed deeper toward her throat. She choked, nearly unable to breathe, her eyes rolling slightly upward.

Finally, Yun Huaizhu's fingers were as warm as her lips.

Lin Meng's cheeks had turned a deep, flushed red. Her head was hot, and the room seemed to spin around her. Then she felt something cool advancing—Yun Huaizhu's fingers, slick with her saliva.

Lin Meng clutched the bedsheet tightly. The flimsy wooden bed shook more and more violently under Yun Huaizhu's movements.

Tears seeped from Lin Meng's eyes. She quickly reached for Yun Huaizhu's hand, but Yun Huaizhu caught her restless hand and pressed it against her own stomach.

Yun Huaizhu's fingers were slender and long...

They passed through the secret, sensitive place and kept going. Lin Meng grew frightened by the increasingly dangerous movements, until finally the fingertips touched the ring at the entrance to where a mother gives life. That was already the limit Yun Huaizhu could reach with all her effort.

Lin Meng jolted, her mind going white. She cried out, "Don't..."

A clear stream of fluid, carrying Yun Huaizhu's sweet pheromone scent, sprayed out. Yun Huaizhu knelt between her legs, letting the sweet wetness splash across her face.

A dreamy expression crossed Yun Huaizhu's face. She released the hand she'd been holding and used it to wipe the tears from Lin Meng's face. "Mengmeng-jie, you're so beautiful. So comfortable..."

Lin Meng was so ashamed she wished she could find a crack to crawl into. Yun Huaizhu had gone too deep just now. She quickly grabbed the hand touching her cheek. "Zhuzhu, no... no more."

Yun Huaizhu pouted with feigned annoyance. "That night with Su Yutang—did you only do it once too?"

Lin Meng froze for a moment, her scalp going numb with a buzzing sensation.

And the next moment, Yun Huaizhu resumed her previous movements.

Lin Meng's eyes flew open wide.

The fact that Su Yutang had taken Lin Meng's first time was already enough to make her jealous. If Lin Meng hadn't fainted today, she definitely wouldn't have stopped.

Yun Huaizhu tried more than a dozen times, but only occasionally did the base joint of her palm barely enter, only touching that ring.

She wanted so badly to enter that room where new life could be conceived, like returning to how her mother had first protected her. But every time she touched it, Lin Meng cried endlessly, her whole body trembling, flushed a lovely pink.

Forget it. As long as she kept in contact with Lin Meng regularly, one day she would get in.

Lin Meng truly couldn't take anymore. Her waist ached sorely, and below was burning hot.

And she heard the bed shaking more and more violently. Just as a white light burst before her eyes, she suddenly heard a loud "crack"—then the bed boards tilted.

Because of the tilting force, Yun Huaizhu used that momentum to push a small section into that little room in that instant.

The pain and itch made Lin Meng's scalp tingle. She didn't even have attention to spare for whether the bed had broken, because the world before her eyes began to spin, and then everything went black.

Only after hearing that sound did Yun Huaizhu's rationality pull free from the mad tide of desire. She stared blankly at the collapsed bed boards, a dazed look on her face.

She looked at the mess on the floor and the caved-in bed, then at Lin Meng, who had fainted from exhaustion.

Forget it.

Yun Huaizhu let out a helpless laugh, then lay down beside Lin Meng.

Today, in this tiny room, was the happiest and most indulgent day she'd had since losing her mother.

She gently brushed the sweat-dampened hair from Lin Meng's forehead.

Lin Meng's face still bore tear tracks that hadn't dried. Her nose tip and eyes were red, making her look utterly adorable.

Yes, her Mengmeng-jie was so adorable, so beautiful.

She couldn't resist her—how could anyone else?

That incident wasn't Lin Meng's fault. It was Su Yutang's fault.

Fortunately, Su Yutang had already rolled out of their world. From now on, she would protect Lin Meng well, be with Lin Meng properly, and Lin Meng would never leave her again.

Su Yutang was gone, but there was still that annoying Huo Yi. If Huo Yi dared compete with her, she would use every means at her disposal to kick Huo Yi out of the game.

No one could take her Mengmeng-jie away. No one!

Looking at Lin Meng, Yun Huaizhu let out a quiet laugh. She wrapped her arms tightly around Lin Meng's body, sharing warmth with her.

Then she placed a kiss on Lin Meng's eyelid. "Goodnight, Mengmeng-jie."