Before It ShrivelsChapter 24

It turned out that Qi Shu truly wanted to marry me.    

I sat on the leather sofa in the high-end clothing store, scanning the luxurious and exquisite suits and wedding dresses displayed on the window. It felt especially surreal. gR qof

The store manager said that they had gotten my size chart last month. The best craftsmen were invited to speed up the work and made four sets of dresses. Today I just need to try to see if there’s anything that didn’t fit, so they could take it back and change it.

Four dresses, sets of two black white. It had a harmonious appeal to it, with the bowties in an assortment of colors. 

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Qi Shu pointed to one of the white pairs and said, “Try that one.”

I changed to it, and he’d also put on a black clothing.  kNmG8H

Two people faced the mirror, one was handsome, tall and dazzling. The other was a pale, thin man with an ugly scar on his forehead.

Regardless of what kind of person he is, Qi Shu’s skin could be considered flawless.

Yet no matter how I look at him, it didn’t match him.

He took the bow tie in the store manager’s hand and put it on for me, his action close to gentle.

 After he wore it, he caressed the back of my neck and sighed almost imperceptibly.

——Because there’s no gland there?

If you don’t like being with a beta, why’d you want to marry me? mwzvr7

Only one possibility had come to mind after a long time: Qi Shu was angry with his grandfather and had purposefully wanted to be married to a beta who wasn’t surnamed Wen.

The store manager had praised us with a tone lining between sincerity and flattery.

I think she’d been fascinated by money, since even the six-figure haute couture also looked good on a beggar.   ifyHx0

Qi Shu held me from behind and circled his arms around me. He looked in the mirror and asked, “Have I ever told you that you looked as if you’re thinking about having an affair?”

No. He’d once evaluated my appearance as vulgar, shallow and decadent.

I don’t get it. Why does he always think I’m seducing him and other alphas?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Chrysanthemum Garden.

It seemed as if something had changed about him, but I had no interest in getting to the bottom of it. 

All four sets were tried one by one. In the end, Qi Shu had made the decision for me, saying that the first set was the best. Vwnuy4

The lingering effects of the cold easily made me tired. I sat on the sofa watching the store manager suggest to him to slim the waistline a little more. I didn’t bother to interrupt.

The glass door of the store squeakily opened as I sat there in a daze, and a tall and thin man strutted in.

The moment I saw him coming, my eyes unconsciously widened and I straightened my sitting form. FNmHls

“S-Senior Wen Yan..”

Wen Yan wore a silver-gray silk shirt, half of his hair casually tucked behind his ears, and a faint smile hung on his face.

I turned my head to Qi Shu, only to see him casually raise his gaze and drop them back again. It was obvious that he knew Wen Yan would come. 

What’s the situation now? Did the benefactor’s white moonlight show up before the wedding to throw me a check and say “leave him”?     afhESr

Inwardly, I was extremely looking forward to Wen Yan doing so. 

It’s fine if there’s no check. As long as he said a word, I’d immediately return Qi Shu’s hands. 

But he came up to me, slightly opened his arms and said, “Xiao Xiao, long time no see.”

I froze.  plEuwG

Seeing that I didn’t move, he smiled helplessly and leaned over himself to give me a hug.

As he approached, I suddenly noticed something amissーー Wen Yan didn’t emit a scent of pheromones, or any scent of blockers and inhibitors being used. My peripheral vision fixated on his smooth neck, which had also provedーhis gland was gone. 

Qi Shu looked over coldly and asked, “Have you had enough?”

Wen Yan mumbled “stingy” at a volume that only the two of us could hear, and let me go. VJ9CeG

I still didn’t react. What exactly the hell was going on? 

He also called me Xiao Xiao. He shouldn’t be angry with me… right?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

I first saw Wen Yan in a cafe outside the school.

I didn’t do well in general knowledge class, particularly in math. I’d always flunked it. On the weekend before the monthly exam, I carried a bunch of books and did some questions in the cafe. Yet the end result was I didn’t do a simple geometry for more than an hour.  417Ap

As despair had also approached me, a nice voice suddenly came from the opposite side. “Try drawing an auxiliary line between point A and point E?”

I looked up abruptly, and what greeted me was the face I had seen countless times in the honorary alumni column.

“….Senior Wen Yan?”

His eyes held the sunshine of the early spring. “You know me ah?” I9rDLi

I replied in embarrassment that I was his junior in the same school. He asked my name again, and then grinned with delight. “Xiao Xiao.”

Afterwards, I’d always come across Wen Yan in the cafe on weekends. It’s strange, I understood the problems that I couldn’t understand in class as soon as he talked about them.

I think he’s probably the gentlest and most patient person I’d ever met. He’d never been impatient with such a stupid student as me.

Then one day, while in a daze, I unconsciously wrote down Qi Shu’s name on the draft paper. When Wen Yan saw it, he joked and asked me if I liked Qi Shu. I blushed and admitted it. He looked at me for a long time and sighed, “Secret love is nice.” ocgLrf

——Secret love is nice. 

I finally understand what that sentence meant now. 

He sat down, took a sip of the scented tea poured by the staff, and said, “I wanted to see you as soon as I returned home, but Qi Shu won’t let me.”

See me?  yW1eC8

My brain’s still too slow. Up ’till now, I still don’t understand why the situation that should’ve been a scene of carnage turned out to be so calm, and even harmonious. 

Shouldn’t he be disdainful of me or hate me? With a face somewhat similar to him, I took his place and stayed with Qi Shu for four years. And now I’d be the one marrying Qi Shu instead of him.

“Senior, your gland…” I mentioned tentatively.

“Soon after going abroad, I had an operation to remove it.” He touched the back of his neck and said, “Although there are some risks, I’ve gained freedom.” RnTKJ0

——Recalling my act of transplanting a fake gland to please Qi Shu, it made me feel more and more ashamed.

“The equal rights movement abroad has unyielding and large momentum. In the past two years, a lot of omegas and alphas have chosen to remove glands.” Wen Yan continued, “You don’t know how much I envy betas.”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

An all-in-one omega, beloved by everyone, would actually envy a beta…

“Oh, that’s right! Here.” He handed me a delicate box and winked, “Happy marriage.” WZqlMT

His eyes were full of sincerity and kindness. I couldn’t refuse, so I had to take the gift box and say “thank you”.

In the box was a bottle of perfume, which had yet to be released in the market. The most special thing would be that the design of the bottle cap was a crystal warm amber rose.

I caught the scent of a sweet and sugary fragrance slowly leaking from the box, which was, unexpectedly, closely similar to the smell of Qi Shu’s pheromones mixed with my own. 

——If we do love each other, this would be the best gift. VvWw4l

The box was snapped close by Qi Shu. He looked at Wen Yan and said in a lukewarm tone, “The things have been delivered and people have seen them. You should be at ease ba?”

“I didn’t worry so much until I saw him.” Wen Yan’s original warm smile dissipated more than a half. “If a good person turned out like this, could you reassure me?”    

After speaking, he may have realized that his tone had been a little heavy. He turned, caressed my head and said softly, “I’m sorry, Xiao Xiao.”   

Then he stood up and looked at Qi Shu. “Come outside with me.” vZYGPz

I watched, confused, as their figures disappeared behind the door.

If I were to look from the glass window, I could only see that their expression didn’t look so good, and I could hardly hear their voice.     

Is it that bad…? I touched my face, it seemed a bit dry, shriveled.

Zhou Chen had also said I was difficult to raise. He tended to me with tasty foods, yet I didn’t gain any meat.   CAD3g4

What’s Zhou Chen doing right now…. Would he also know that I’ll be marrying Qi Shu….

He’s Qi Shu’s cousin, he’d definitely attend the wedding…

Is he going to wish me a happy marriage? 

My mood sank to the bottom, feeling unpleasant as I looked at the dress in front of me.  7 FDYV

I don’t want to get married, let alone see Zhou Chen attend the wedding.

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