CHAPTER 34

Is there really any difference between these two? Although the wording and order are slightly different, fundamentally speaking, it's not a problem to say they're the same sentence.

When Ye Chengxing heard Li Jia say this, she felt her face grow even redder.

She didn't know if it was because she was helplessly embarrassed or if it was an awkward feeling, or perhaps both.

Ye Chengxing looked at Li Jia, who showed no intention of letting go, and pursed her lips. In the end, she had to reluctantly come up with another reason and said, "If we hug like this, neither of us will be able to sleep..."

Hmm, it made sense. If she said that, Li Jia should let go, right?

While saying this, Ye Chengxing couldn't help but hesitate, wondering if Li Jia was doing it on purpose. After all, this posture was too intimate and close, almost crossing a line.

Li Jia, upon hearing her words, didn't let go. Instead, she spoke in a perplexed manner, "Then how should we hug to fall asleep?"

If Ye Chengxing's mind was calm and rational at this moment, she would immediately realize that Li Jia didn't ask, "How can we fall asleep?" but rather, "How should we hug to fall asleep?" It was just a few words, but the meaning was completely different.

However, at this moment, at least in this second, Ye Chengxing clearly lacked composure and rationality. She was caught off guard and dizzy by Li Jia's embrace and the pheromones surrounding her. It took her two seconds to react to what she said and finally understood one point: Li Jia wasn't doing it on purpose, he just didn't know how to hug.

Why would Li Jia do this on purpose?

Coincidentally, at that moment, she heard Li Jia's voice again in her ear, "I don't know. Can sister teach me?"

Ye Chengxing agreed and thought it was easy, "Then you let go first."

"Okay... But if I let go, sister won't immediately get out of bed and run away, right?" Li Jia spoke softly, and then answered her own question, "But I don't think sister is that kind of person. If you promise to sleep together, you definitely won't do that."

Upon hearing what she said at first, Ye Chengxing was about to deny it, but then she heard Li Jia's words afterward. Her shaking head turned into a nod of agreement, "Of course, I will do what I promise."

The indoor lighting was too dim, but after her eyes adjusted for a while, she could vaguely see things, unlike when the lights were first turned off and she couldn't see anything clearly.

Li Jia curved her lips, her smile radiant. She spoke very slowly, almost word by word, with a serious tone, "In that case, sister, please don't lie to me. I will truly remember this sentence."

The tone of Li Jia's voice carried a hint of a spoilt girl's charm, but Ye Chengxing inexplicably sensed a hint of danger.

She dispelled that feeling and continued to promise while couldn't help but wonder what was going on with herself, why she felt these strange and incompatible feelings towards Li Jia.

After agreeing once again, Ye Chengxing felt Li Jia let go of her.

She blinked and thought, as expected, Li Jia wasn't doing it on purpose.

Li Jia just didn't know how to hug, that's all.

See, now that they communicated a little, she retracted her hand and didn't hug her again.

Ye Chengxing couldn't help but recall what Li Jia had just said. She didn't expect to leave such a subconscious impression on her. She wanted her to remember her as someone who keeps her promises.

Unconsciously, Ye Chengxing's thoughts shifted from "being too intimate might not be appropriate" to "I must hug Li Jia and sleep together, so she doesn't think I'm untrustworthy."

However, she didn't have much awareness of all this.

But...

At this moment, Ye Chengxing suddenly realized a problem.

That is, she didn't really know how to hug in a way that would allow them to sleep.

Last time they didn't hug while sleeping, and the distance between them was quite far before falling asleep. It was a coincidence that they ended up hugging in their sleep, and they only realized it when they woke up.

Ye Chengxing forced herself to come up with an excuse, "Oh, I forgot if I asked Xiaobai to clean up the table. I'll go down and check first."

After Li Jia heard her words, there was silence for two seconds.

Although her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting after some time, she still couldn't see the specific expressions clearly.

Before Li Jia could speak, Ye Chengxing quickly reassured her, "I'm not lying to you. I will definitely come back."

After pausing for a moment, she heard the Omega's voice, and it seemed like Li Jia smiled, "Of course, I believe you, sister. I'll wait for you to come back."

Ye Chengxing nodded and calmly picked up her phone and left the room.

Even after leaving the room, she was still a bit uneasy. She walked downstairs and then discreetly took out her phone. She opened the search engine and typed a line in the search box:

"How to hug to fall asleep?"

As soon as she confirmed the search, various answers appeared on the page.

The most eye-catching was the first answer: "Explaining the correct positions for hugging your girlfriend while sleeping."

Ye Chengxing stared at this answer for two seconds, considering clicking on it, but then thought it might not be appropriate.

She decided to look at other options.

As she scrolled down, she found results like "How to soothe a newborn to sleep" and "How to sleep while holding a newborn."

These results had no connection to her search query, they were completely unrelated.

Ye Chengxing hesitated for a while and finally clicked on the first answer.

But as she clicked on it, she felt that something was off. Even her heartbeat started to accelerate.

This didn't feel right at all.

She couldn't help but silently tell herself that just because she clicked on it doesn't mean she and Li Jia have that kind of relationship.

After thinking this way, Ye Chengxing felt that her heartbeat hadn't slowed down. It was still jumping around like a startled rabbit.

But if she didn't tell herself that...

She didn't know how to describe the feeling at this moment—perhaps there was still some residual influence from the previous dream. Ye Chengxing only knew that if she didn't tell herself that, her random thoughts would probably become even more difficult to conceal.

She realized that she still wasn't quite accustomed to the gender differences in the ABO world. Just like tonight, while Li Jia was waiting for her upstairs in the room, she was downstairs browsing the correct positions for sleeping while hugging a girlfriend.

She suddenly found it difficult to determine whether all of this was just a normal and ordinary sisterly relationship as she had initially thought or if it had already crossed the line into an AO relationship.

But no matter how she thought about it, Li Jia probably only saw her as an older sister.

Perhaps they were somewhat intimate, but it was mostly reliance. If it hadn't been her who appeared by Li Jia's side and helped her, if it hadn't been her, there probably wouldn't be much difference in her life right now.

It was the same at this moment. Li Jia needed her, clung to her, only because she didn't feel secure and she was the only one by her side. But looking at the larger context of this world, Li Jia would eventually fall in love with another Alpha and be together with them. There would be more and more people around her, just as she had originally wished. Her future would get better and better because she, Ye Chengxing, was an excellent person. When that day came, Li Jia would take off the filter she had towards her due to the twists and turns they experienced, and she would realize that she, Ye Chengxing, was nothing special.

So all she needed to do was be a good older sister to her and leave when she no longer needed her... that would be enough.

Ye Chengxing slapped her face lightly, thinking that late nights really made people overthink.

She glanced at the answer once again.

Her heartbeat had actually calmed down by now, but she started to feel a sense of inexplicable restlessness.

Ye Chengxing suppressed all the random thoughts in her mind, turned off her phone, and as she climbed upstairs, she contemplated how she should hold and comfort Li Jia to help her sleep.

......

After returning to the room, Li Jia was indeed still awake, waiting for her.

"Has Xiaobai finished cleaning up?"

Ye Chengxing got on the bed, sounding apologetic because she took too long to come back. "It's done."

She lifted her hand and half-embraced Li Jia.

But Li Jia took the initiative to snuggle up closer to her. "That's good."

Ye Chengxing didn't say anything more.

After a moment of silence in the dark night, Li Jia narrowed her eyes and asked with a simple tone of confusion, "What happened? I feel like sister isn't very happy."

Indeed, the Alpha's mood did seem a bit down.

Ye Chengxing was taken aback by her words. She didn't expect Li Jia to sense it.

But how should she respond? Should she say it's because of her? Or should she say it's because I was overthinking and made myself feel a bit down?

No matter how she thought about it, it felt strange.

Ye Chengxing didn't want to bring negative emotions to Li Jia. She smiled and realized it was too dark for her to see, so she explained, "It's nothing, just a bit tired. Let's go to sleep."

After saying that, she lightly patted Li Jia and her tone sounded as if nothing was wrong, as if the previous low mood was just Li Jia's misconception. 

"Goodnight, Xiaoli."

Ye Chengxing didn't know if Li Jia believed her. After saying that, she closed her eyes and pretended to be preparing to sleep.

Li Jia looked at her for a while, a long while, and responded, "Goodnight, sister."

She thought about Ye Chengxing taking her phone and going outside, but she was certain that Ye Chengxing wasn't checking if Xiaobai had cleaned the table.

Before going out, Ye Chengxing's mood hadn't been like this.

Could it be that someone sent her a message? Was she feeling down because of someone?

Thinking about this unknown presence, Li Jia's fingertips tightened slightly.

She snuggled closer to Ye Chengxing's embrace.

Although Ye Chengxing closed her eyes, Li Jia knew she was still awake. The Alpha beside her was in a state of turmoil because of someone Li Jia didn't know.

They were lying together, but Ye Chengxing's attention was divided by someone else.

As Li Jia thought about this, she felt increasingly restless.

Even though she and Ye Chengxing were already intimate, it still wasn't enough.

And considering the timing... her heat period was approaching.

Li Jia felt Ye Chengxing's breath and greedily savored her scent, not willing to close her eyes.

Although Ye Chengxing had agreed to her request, for some reason, whether it was because of the recent coldness or something else, it made her feel that this closeness was very rare.

Even now, when they were so close, she still had a feeling that Ye Chengxing could leave her at any moment.

In the breaths they shared, the faint and distinct aroma of oolong tea emanated from the Alpha, stirring Li Jia's heart with desire. Perhaps it was the deep night that suppressed her already hidden desires, making it impossible to restrain.

"Sister, you can't sleep?" She tugged at the corner of Ye Chengxing's clothes, her tone seemingly innocent and concerned.

Ye Chengxing originally wanted to pretend to be asleep, but after thinking about it, she felt that it would be too obvious, so she opened her eyes again and answered, "Maybe... a little."

Li Jia blinked her eyes. "Then shall I make a calming sachet for sister? I often sleep with it."

Ye Chengxing made a sound of hesitation. "Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"Not at all," Li Jia chuckled lightly. "I'll go get it for sister."

After saying that, Li Jia quickly got up.

Ye Chengxing initially felt that they had already laid down, but since Li Jia was getting up again because she couldn't fall asleep, it was a bit troublesome for Li Jia. However, seeing Li Jia's excitement, she wasn't sure if her own perception was wrong. But since it was like this, she should not let Li Jia's kindness go to waste.

She lay in bed for a while, feeling increasingly guilty, so in the end, she also got up.

However, just as she reached the door, she ran into Li Jia, who had returned.

Li Jia was holding a small, exquisitely packaged bag in her hand, and Ye Chengxing instinctively took it.

The weight of the calming sachet was much heavier than she had imagined.

Feeling this, she instinctively asked.

Li Jia answered without hesitation, "Because I added a lot of things inside, the effect should be very good."

Ye Chengxing nodded, still feeling a bit embarrassed. "It's alright, let's go back and continue sleeping. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Li Jia curved her lips, and as she saw Ye Chengxing taking the bag, the curve of her lips became more apparent. Her lips had a deep watermelon red color, and her tone was pure and innocent. "It's nothing. Sister is the closest person to me."

Ye Chengxing held the calming sachet and felt even more guilty. Li Jia was truly kind. After a moment's hesitation, she moved and quietly said, "Mmm... You are also the closest person to me."

The two of them returned to the bed.

Whether it was because of the calming sachet or because their hearts had settled down, Ye Chengxing truly felt a bit sleepy.

She placed the calming sachet next to her pillow, and in a hazy state of consciousness, she caught a hint of sweet white peach fragrance emanating from the sachet.

Ye Chengxing didn't open her eyes, but she felt more at ease.

The calming sachet was indeed used by Li Jia, and it still carried a faint scent of the Omega's pheromones.

With no more troubled thoughts in her mind, Ye Chengxing quickly fell into a deep sleep. Therefore, she was unaware that after Li Jia noticed she had fallen asleep, Li Jia waited for a while and skillfully opened the so-called calming sachet that Ye Chengxing had placed by her pillow. She took out a small, pale pink round comforting toy from inside.

However, in just a short while, the toy had already picked up a hint of the Alpha's pheromone scent.

Li Jia's fingertip glided over it, confirming that this method was effective, and then she carefully put the toy back to conceal it.

The night was deep and quiet.

The Omega, in a good mood, lay back beside Ye Chengxing in an intimate position.

In a sense, this was indeed her calming sachet.

Especially after this night.

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