CHAPTER 85

Qin Zhongying and Ye Yufeng exchanged a glance, and then Qin Zhongying turned to Qin Zhaoci with a nod of agreement. "Yes, daughter, whatever you decide to do, both your mother and I support you. It's not easy to find something worthwhile to pursue, so go ahead and do it."

"And, my dear in-law," Qin Zhongying continued, looking at Ye Lianyin with a proud smile. "You have raised Yinyin exceptionally well. We never expected her singing to be so beautiful. She could even become a star. She has also won all the scholarships. It's amazing. When our Xiaoci was studying, we didn't even dare to dream of scholarships. As long as she didn't cause any trouble, it was enough."

"Definitely." Ye Yufeng chimed in. "When her sister learned something, she followed along and learned too." Ye Yufeng was proud of her approach to raising children.

After hearing this, Ye Lianyin glanced at her mother and replied dryly, "That was before my differentiation."

Ye Yufeng understood that Ye Lianyin was mocking her and immediately retorted with a cold expression, "After your differentiation, I intended to cultivate you in the direction of a musician. I planned to send you to study music at the Omega Institute. It would have been great for you to become a musician. Who knows why you insisted on studying spacecraft design? Is spacecraft design suitable for an Omega? Will any company hire you?"

Qin Zhaoci opposed defiantly, "Mother, there's no such thing as a profession that's suitable for a specific gender. If the Imperial Academy accepts Omegas for this major, it proves that Omegas can study it. As for whether there are companies willing to hire, that's the problem of those companies and the Empire. They talk about equality, but equal policies are not as good as they claim to be." 

Ye Yufeng looked at Qin Zhaoci. "So, can you change the current state of the Empire?"

Qin Zhaoci fell silent.

Ye Yufeng snorted coldly. "Youngster, Omegas have been facing this situation for a long time. When you have the ability to change it, then you can talk like that."

Qin Zhaoci looked up at her with a firm gaze. "I can."

.....

After seeing off their parents, Ye Lianyin turned to look at Qin Zhaoci, her eyes filled with sadness and grief.

It was the first time Qin Zhaoci had seen such an expression on Ye Lianyin's face. Her heart ached slightly, and she held her hand, leading her to sit on the couch.

Qin Zhaoci didn't say anything, just sat beside Ye Lianyin, looking at her with concern in her eyes. After a brief eye contact, Ye Lianyin lowered her gaze and remained silent.

Then, Qin Zhaoci sighed softly and embraced her, gently patting her back. She whispered softly, "It's okay. You have me now. I'll be with you."

This voice is gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the fragile person in front, but the words are full of reliability and firmness.

Ye Lianyin grabbed the corner of Qin Zhaoci's clothes, her body trembled, and the tears she had been holding back flowed down her cheeks and fell into Qin Zhaoci's clothes, disappearing.

"My, my mother used to be quite good to me before I differentiated." Ye Lianyin held Qin Zhaoci and suddenly opened up, "Maybe it was because I hoped that the pheromone test report might be wrong, because there are also many test reports in the empire that say Omega and end up differentiating into Alpha."

"But actually, since I was five years old, she started to show favoritism, not just her, but also my two grandmothers. They basically never treated me kindly."

"I actually met Shan Pan around that time too. She is different from me. The Shan family is a medical family, with generations of doctors. They don't have such thoughts, so Shan Pan was cherished by her family since childhood."

"You can also tell that she dares to love and hate. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so fearless towards Wan Baiyun. Of course, thanks to her fearlessness, I have been able to be good friends with her for so long."

"When I noticed the change in attitude from my family when I was young, I felt sad for a long time. I became less talkative and silent. Many of my classmates at school thought I was mute, but only Shan Pan stuck by my side, saying I was beautiful and wanted to be friends with me. Thanks to her, I didn't become completely withdrawn."

"I also started to make an effort not to care about my family's attitude towards me. I worked hard to study and hoped they would see my strengths, but it was all in vain because I'm not an Alpha. I don't have much value to them."

Ye Lianyin's voice choked up a bit at this point.

"But, but, I guess I couldn't really do it. I had expectations for my mother, maybe because I had seen her being good to me, and I long for that little bit of goodness."

"Didn't your mom help you?" Qin Zhaoci's eyes turned slightly red, filled with compassion for Ye Lianyin.

Ye Lianyin shook her head. "My mom's life has been even more difficult. When she married my mother, it was to save the family business, she was treated like a tool. After the marriage, my family never cared about her again, and it was impossible for her to seek help from them. My two grandmothers didn't treat her well either."

"My mom once wanted to take me and my sister away, but as you know, as an Omega permanently marked cannot be separated from an Alpha for too long. Long periods without the soothing of a partner's pheromones can disrupt an Omega's pheromone balance and endanger their life. Removing the marking is also dangerous and has a low success rate. If it fails, it can lead to severe consequences."

"In addition, due to the Empire's policies, after she married my mother, she didn't have a job and couldn't find one either. That's why she ended up being treated like this."

Qin Zhaoci frowned, "The Empire's technological and medical advancements are so advanced. How is it possible that the technology to remove the marking isn't mature yet? Aren't there any researchers dedicated to studying this?"

"Of course there are. Perhaps someone has already made progress in that area." Ye Lianyin snorted, "But the Empire doesn't allow such information to surface."

Qin Zhaoci understood her meaning. It all came down to the political manipulation of the Empire.

"So the Empire doesn't allow institutions to develop artificial Alpha pheromones for Omegas, all for the purpose of increasing the birth rate."

Ye Lianyin nodded, "Yes, but there are still many Omegas who are unwilling to get married, and some special organizations secretly engage in such research. After all, who wouldn't want to make money? But the cost is high, and it's all done in secret."

"Then you..." Qin Zhaoci furrowed her brow, recalling that she had personally helped Ye Lianyin through her heat cycles.

Ye Lianyin didn't hide anything, "I have also sought help privately, but my status is too high, so it will take some time for them to develop a solution for me."

"No wonder." Qin Zhaoci murmured a few words to herself, her expression complex.

At this point, Ye Lianyin moved away from Qin Zhaoci's embrace and looked up into her eyes, her gaze filled with sadness. "Qin Zhaoci, this is who I am. I'm not that outstanding, and I can't change the current situation. I'm not as proud as I appear to be. In fact, I'm even insecure, fragile, and sensitive. I also have a bad temper. With all these flaws, do you still love me?"

Qin Zhaoci looked at her with such self-doubt and sensitivity, tears streaming down her face. She gently reached out her hand to caress Ye Lianyin's cheek and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on the corner of her lips.

This kiss was filled with tenderness, tinged with the saltiness of tears.

"Of course I love you. I'm not outstanding either, and I'm not that great. But you love me too, don't you, Yinyin? It's not that you're not good enough; it's that this world limits you. You're a dusty star, and one day, you'll shine with your own radiance."

Ye Lianyin looked at Qin Zhaoci's tear-stained face, raised her hand to wipe it away, and gave a helpless smile. "Why are you crying too?"

"Well, because I feel heartbroken for you." Qin Zhaoci said, tears welling up in her eyes as she gazed at Ye Lianyin. "You shouldn't have to endure all of this."   

Ye Lianyin felt that she would never forget this day in her lifetime. On this day, there was someone who looked at her with teary eyes, feeling sad for her pain and upset about her experiences. It was a warmth she hadn't experienced in a long time, and their hearts were stuck together, very close.

............

"Yinyin, have you ever thought about starting your own business? Finding a partner to do it together." Qin Zhaoci said seriously the next morning during breakfast, looking at Ye Lianyin.

Ye Lianyin furrowed her brow after listening, shaking her head. "The spacecraft industry isn't easy to start a business in. The Ye family started in other industries first to accumulate the funds for this. It requires researchers, component manufacturing factories, assembly factories. These things can't be accomplished overnight."

Qin Zhaoci frowned. "But you also mentioned that you could start from other aspects, like robotics, home design, chips. Look at the several appliances you've already developed in the kitchen, which can be produced. Didn't you already apply for patents?"

"You make a valid point." Ye Lianyin furrowed her brow and pondered. "However, my professional knowledge isn't solid enough at the moment. I need to seriously consider starting a business, and I'll need capable people to join me as partners."  

"Okay." Qin Zhaoci nodded. "Why don't you start by researching robots for me? Build upon the foundation of the housekeeping robot and add four separate manipulator arms that can be operated separately."

"But your milk tea shop is opening in just two weeks. I won't have enough time." Ye Lianyin frowned.

Qin Zhaoci shook her head. "For now, I'll use the housekeeping robot as a substitute. The milk tea shop will only be in the trial operation stage, so it doesn't need high efficiency. But if we plan to open chain stores in the future, then it might be necessary."

"Alright, I understand." Ye Lianyin nodded. "I'll consider it."

"Well, I'm going to go to your school with you later. I almost forgot to tell you. Yesterday, in the audience seats, I saw Teacher Bai's mentor, Zheng Siwei. He invited me to directly join the laboratory and gave me a backdoor entry. Today, I'll go take care of the formalities, and I'll be an auditor from now on."

With so much happening yesterday, Qin Zhaoci almost forgot to mention this and immediately told Ye Lianyin.

Ye Lianyin didn't expect Zheng Siwei to provide Qin Zhaoci with a backdoor entry. She smiled and nodded. "Looking forward to learn from you, classmate Qin."

"You're always welcome, Xiaoye." Qin Zhaoci tilted her head and smiled. "Let's eat quickly. I've prepared our lunchboxes too, and we'll have lunch together."

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