CHAPTER 55

She doesn't know if it has anything to do with the pheromones left by Li Jia, but after being surrounded by the Omega's pheromones, all those uncomfortable and restless emotions in Ye Chengxing's heart were completely smoothed out. She slept very well.

After tidying up, Ye Chengxing prepared to go downstairs to make breakfast.

These past few days have been busy, and she haven't sat together for breakfast with Li Jia for several days due to mismatched schedules.

However, as she walked downstairs, before even entering the kitchen, she saw that breakfast was already set on the table.

Ye Chengxing was startled, and then she saw the Omega coming out of the kitchen with utensils in hand.

Meeting her gaze, Li Jia smiled softly and said, "I was just about to go upstairs to call you, sister."

As she spoke, she reached out and pulled Ye Chengxing to sit down. "Sister, try it and see if it suits your taste."

The breakfast in front of her was beautifully prepared, with enticing colors and aromas. She didn't need to taste it to know it must be delicious.

Ye Chengxing made a sound of agreement.

Usually, she was the one doing these things, and perhaps she had gotten used to taking care of Li Jia. Now, being taken care of in return felt a bit unfamiliar, or rather... a little embarrassed.

She didn't say anything, but Li Jia seemed to understand what she was thinking just by looking at her expression.

The Omega chuckled lightly. Her words seemed to imply something, but also seemed like an illusion to the listener. "Sister shouldn't always treat me like a child in need of care."

Ye Chengxing smiled in response and jokingly said, "But Xiaoli is a child in need of care when she's with me."

Upon hearing Ye Chengxing's words, Li Jia's expression froze for a second.

She recalled her usual interactions with Ye Chengxing and suddenly realized a serious issue.

She guessed that Ye Chengxing liked the type of obedient, harmless, and cute Omega, so she had always tried to portray herself in that way, thinking that with proximity and enough time, she would eventually open Ye Chengxing's heart.

But if Ye Chengxing truly saw her as a little sister in need of constant care...

After Ye Chengxing finished her jest and noticed Li Jia's lack of response and the increasingly rigid expression on her face, she couldn't help but wonder if she had said something wrong.

However, after careful consideration, she couldn't find anything wrong with her words. So she directly asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

As the questioning words fell, Li Jia looked at Ye Chengxing and forced a smile. "It's nothing, sister. Let's eat."

Ye Chengxing had gotten used to being called sister, so it would be strange if Li Jia suddenly used a different title. Someone who had always called her sister suddenly stopped calling her that.

"Is this like tying myself up in a cocoon...?"  [It expresses a feeling of being trapped or confined by one's own choices or emotions.] The Omega suddenly muttered to herself in a low voice.

Because her voice was too soft, Ye Chengxing didn't hear clearly. Hearing Li Jia say it was nothing, she still felt that something was off and couldn't help but remind her with a hint of concern, "If there's something wrong, you must tell me. Don't suffer alone."

Li Jia had already concealed her thoughts well, and upon hearing Ye Chengxing's words, she blinked. "I will, of course. I'll tell you everything, sister."

Ye Chengxing nodded and tasted the delicately arranged food on the plate. She was instantly amazed and said, "Xiaoli, your cooking keeps getting better."

"We have such a talented Li Jia." Seeing her shining eyes, the Omega smiled happily.

......

Breakfast was quickly finished, and Li Jia checked her phone, indicating that she had to leave soon as her manager's car had arrived.

Ye Chengxing spoke gently, "Alright, you go ahead and take care of yourself."

Li Jia grabbed her jacket and waved to Ye Chengxing. "Then I'll go now, sister. See you later."

Ye Chengxing waved back and smiled. After Li Jia's figure disappeared, she stood still for a second, then called Xiaobai to tidy up the table and went into the kitchen to prepare today's offerings for sale.

However, as soon as she entered the kitchen, her phone started ringing.

Usually, there weren't many people who contacted her on her personal number.

She picked up the phone and glanced at it.

Surprisingly, it was a call from the Ye family.

This was somewhat unexpected.

Since Ye Chengxing entered this world, she had never directly contacted the Ye family. Their only interaction was when she confronted Lin Que before, and the Ye family had stopped providing support to the original host. Apart from that, there was no connection at all.

Based on the original host's memories, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary with the entire Ye family at first glance.

She wondered if it had anything to do with the original host's poor mental state. Many memories were blurry and confused.

Ye Chengxing's sense that something was off with the Ye family was purely deduced from the details. After all, the sense of dissonance was too strong. On the surface, they seemed doting, but in reality, they left her here to fend for herself. Moreover, the original host originally had control over the inheritance, but due to a drunken mistake, the shares were gambled away. Subsequently, the inheritance ended up in the hands of the other members of the Ye family, which seemed like an unbelievable coincidence.

Ye Chengxing paused for two seconds in the air with her fingertips, then pressed the answer button.

She didn't speak, and neither did the person on the other end.

After a while, perhaps noticing her silence, the person on the other end reluctantly spoke, "Chengxing, come and attend the banquet tonight. Remember to bring that Omega named Li Jia with you. Sigh, because of your recent immaturity, everyone is very disappointed."

Ye Chengxing's gaze narrowed slightly, and she replied lazily, "Just because you want me to go, I should go? I won't. I'm not going."

The person on the other end seemed choked by her stern tone but didn't say anything. They sighed like an elder who genuinely cared about a younger person, saying, "You, this child..."

Ye Chengxing didn't listen any further and hung up the phone herself. The voice on the other end was also abruptly cut off.

It was as if someone who hadn't contacted her in ages suddenly called, even specifically emphasizing that she should bring Li Jia along. It was practically saying that there was a problem.

As if she would go.

Ye Chengxing turned off her phone screen and continued preparing the food to be sold today.

........

A few days passed after the call from the Ye family.

The reputation of the Risheng food shop had completely taken off, and more and more people came to the store.

Ye Chengxing expanded the food shop a bit.

The culinary street was still under preparation, but the custom kitchen utensils had already been delivered and installed. The kitchen was also organized. Previously, customers weren't allowed to dine in the store because there was only her. If they ordered food, she would be too busy to handle it. But now, with the addition of Xi Yue and the others, she could operate in this mode. In other words, starting today, customers of the Sunrise Cuisine Store could dine in.

When the customers received the menus, they were all astonished.

Before this, there was no option for customers to dine in at the store.

On the first day of this new mode, the sales of the store reached a new high, several times higher than the usual income.

Because there were so many customers coming to dine in, even with the help of Xi Yue and the others, Ye Chengxing was busy to the point of being overwhelmed.

Finally, the day's business came to an end. Ye Chengxing stretched her shoulders and neck, smiled at Xi Yue and the others, and then mentioned something about salaries.

After speaking, she looked at the quiet group of people and gently said, "Do any of you have any objections to the salaries? I estimate that the workload won't differ much from today in the future. If you feel the wages I've set are too low, I can raise them."

The group of people shook their heads rapidly as soon as they heard her words, almost shaking their heads like tambourines, speaking one after another.

"Sister Chengxing, to be honest, even if you don't pay us any wages, it's fine. You've brought us here, provided us with a place to stay, given us money, and even taught us how to cook. You've already done too much for us."

"That's right, boss. The wages I already have are burning my hands. Don't give us any more."

"You've already helped us so much..."

"We didn't even pay tuition to learn, so we can't take your money anymore."

Ye Chengxing chuckled at their words. "Let's just open the wages then. We'll go with the numbers I mentioned earlier."

She picked up the jacket placed aside and took out her phone to check. "I have to leave now. You all must be exhausted as well, so finish cleaning up and go get some good rest."

As Ye Chengxing walked out of the shop, the girls behind her watched her figure, their eyes suddenly feeling a bit moist.

........

The closing time today wasn't particularly early today.

As usual, Ye Chengxing took a detour and removed the disguise spray before returning to her parked car.

As she sat in the car, the restlessness that she had been suppressing surged up in an instant.

Lately, she had been feeling like this from time to time, so Ye Chengxing speculated that her sensitive period was approaching. The sensitive period for Alphas was always irregular, with no specific predictable time. It could come every month or only once every four to five months or even half a year. Even if she had this premonition, taking suppressants in advance wouldn't be effective.

However, she was starting to have such a feeling now, and it was probably approaching soon.

So these days, Ye Chengxing always carried suppressants with her, afraid that one day her sensitive period would suddenly come, and she wouldn't have suppressants with her.

Ye Chengxing turned on the phone screen.

Half an hour ago, Li Jia had sent her a few messages. The gist was that they had finished shooting today's scenes, and she could go back to the hotel arranged by the crew to rest. There were also some other miscellaneous things mentioned, like having dinner and the little flowers in the corner of the shots.

Ye Chengxing looked at the last message Li Jia sent, a happy and coquettish cat emoji, and couldn't help but smile, dissipating some of that restlessness.Her fingertip tapped on the screen, and she first typed a line of explanation: [I'm done as well, just checked my phone.]

After explaining, Ye Chengxing chose a cat patting its head emoji and sent it. Then, she started replying to Li Jia's messages one by one from top to bottom.

[That's great! Li Jia also had a good dinner today. Meow meow.]

[This little white flower you took a photo of is so cute!]

......

After replying to the last message, Ye Chengxing's smile hadn't faded yet when suddenly Li Jia's call popped up on the screen.

She tapped the answer button and connected the call. Just as she was about to say "Li Jia," she heard a hurried voice from the other end.

But it wasn't Li Jia's voice; it was another unfamiliar voice, sounding extremely anxious.

"Hello, are you Miss Ye? Li Jia was attacked by a stalker. She's in the hospital right now. Can you come over?"

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