Chapter 142: Special Treatment

"I’m being kept on my own merits..."

"You’re no good, either."

"..."

Wen Qian was getting a headache from their bickering, so she stood on her tiptoes and twisted each of their ears.

"If you two aren’t going to sleep, you won’t let anyone else either, is that it?" Wen Qian glared.

"You’re yelling at me..."

Her temples throbbed. Wen Qian forced a smile. "Knock it off."

Gu Mian watched quietly from the side, a faint smile playing on his lips. Then, he picked up the jacket from the sofa and gently draped it over Wen Qian.

Glancing at the two men, whose faces had gone rigid, Gu Mian said softly, "Don’t catch a chill."

’What a gentle, considerate, and wonderful man,’ Wen Qian thought, her eyes welling up.

’What a disgusting, manipulative green tea bastard,’ Yin Zhi thought, gritting his teeth.

’Isn’t this snake black? Why is he acting so... green tea?’ the Little Fox wondered in shock.

"Okay."

She abruptly let go of their ears, her gaze landing on the handsome man’s face.

Yin Zhi’s expression instantly soured. He was clearly the first one to live in Wen Qian’s house, so why did it now feel like someone was trying to steal her away from him?

’An illusion... It must be an illusion!’

’How could his noble Tiger Clan possibly lose to a mere snake?’

’Wen Qian loves fluffy little animals best! He has a soft tail and fluffy fur; there’s no way he could lose to a cold, slippery snake.’

But...

Noticing the intimate looks they were exchanging, Yin Zhi’s heart sank.

He reached out and grabbed her arm, the rims of his eyes turning red. "You can’t just cast me aside..."

’We’re already sleeping together! What would happen if she abandoned me now?’

Wen Qian looked at Yin Zhi’s impossibly aggrieved expression and patted his face soothingly. "I know you’re worked up, but try to calm down first."

She took a moment to compose herself, let out a long breath, and explained to Yin Zhi in a gentle voice, "I really, really just want to sleep..."

"But do you know what he’s thinking? Just look at that smug face of his..." As he spoke, Yin Zhi shot Gu Mian a vicious glare.

"What could he possibly be thinking?" Wen Qian smiled. "Have you forgotten what you made for me this morning?"

"What?" Yin Zhi frowned. "Strawberry milk tea?"

"Why did you put red dates in my strawberry milk tea?" Wen Qian asked through gritted teeth.

His nose twitched. Wen Qian backed away in disgust, but she still heard Yin Zhi exclaim with a hint of delighted surprise, "You’re on your period!"

...

’For the love of God, can someone please take this tiger away?’

The next day, Gu Mian and Li Jiu left the villa early. Thanks to Xiao Rui’s help, Yin Zhi also received his new identity ahead of schedule.

Things went very smoothly on Gu Mian’s end. He not only obtained the fragment but also found a box with a keyhole.

Inside the box was a stack of lists, all related to the Beastman experiments.

He photographed the contents of the list and sent it to their group chat. Wen Qian glanced at it and was surprised to find a familiar name among them.

University A’s Vice Principal, Fan Shang.

’Fan Lin’s aunt?’

’So she was the one who first discovered the secret of the fragments.’

Her brow furrowed slightly. Wen Qian tapped her fingers on her leg. ’Does that mean... she has another fragment?’

With that thought, Wen Qian decided to call Fan Lin.

Fan Lin was now considered one of Wen Qian’s friends, so during the call, Wen Qian tried to subtly probe her for information about Fan Shang.

Fan Shang had gotten married eight years ago. Both she and her husband worked in the public sector, and they had a lovely daughter. Fan Lin was very close to her aunt; in fact, her aunt was the one who had helped arrange her leave of absence from the university.

Wen Qian had heard of Fan Shang’s reputation as a powerhouse career woman; you could find information about her all over the major forums. But she had never heard that Fan Shang was married, let alone that she had a daughter.

"Qianqian, do you want to meet my aunt?" Fan Lin could tell Wen Qian was very interested in Fan Shang, so she took the initiative and asked.

"Would that be okay?" Wen Qian hesitated, feeling her request might be overstepping.

To her surprise, Fan Lin’s voice came back quickly from the other end. "Of course it is! My aunt was just asking me about you a few days ago. I was wondering how to bring it up myself!"

A look of delight flashed in Fan Lin’s eyes.

She didn’t know where her aunt had heard about Wen Qian, but she had subtly asked her a lot of questions. If it had been anyone else, Fan Lin would have been suspicious, but since it was her good friend, she was simply thrilled.

A smile spread across her face as she thought that her aunt must have taken notice of Wen Qian’s capabilities.

Her aunt was a competent professional and well-known in City A. If Wen Qian could build a good relationship with her, she might not have to scrape by doing attendance check-ins and homework for others anymore.

Fan Lin beamed at the thought.

"She asked about me?" Wen Qian was stunned for a moment.

"Yeah, I have no idea where she heard your name... She also asked about your family, but don’t worry, I didn’t say a thing," Fan Lin said in a solemn tone.

Wen Qian was certain she hadn’t said anything. Besides the publicly available information about her family, she had never told anyone the rest.

’But what Fan Shang most likely wants to ask about is the Beastmen... assuming she’s really involved in all that.’

With Fan Lin acting as the go-between, the two parties finally settled on a time to meet.

The subsequent matters concerning the labs still needed to be dealt with, so Gu Mian and Li Jiu didn’t return. Yin Zhi and Ling Xuan also left in succession. The labs were scattered all across Blue Star, and the Beastmen imprisoned within them needed to be safely resettled.

In the end, only Shen Mqing, Wen Qian, the Little Fox, and Chi Heng remained in the large house.

Qi Ke was very happy about this. Every day, he would find some way to weasel his way into Wen Qian’s room to sleep.

Chi Heng couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. He remained in his beast form and, over the past few days, had used his thick, lush fur to secure the opportunity to warm Wen Qian’s feet.

Whenever Wen Qian was on her period, her hands and feet would grow cold and her whole body would ache. With the weather also getting colder, she became even more reluctant to go outside.

For the past two days, she would curl up on the sofa after meals, and Chi Heng would dutifully lie down at her feet to warm them.

At first, the Little Fox didn’t think much of it. But as Wen Qian started calling for Chi Heng more and more often, he began to feel a sense of crisis.

Whenever Chi Heng tried to show off, the Little Fox would transform, leap onto Wen Qian’s lap, and stuff his fluffy tail into her hands.

Wen Qian felt like she had not only gained a foot-warmer but also a personal hand-warmer... Even the perpetually arrogant young master, Shen Mqing, had been exceptionally well-behaved lately, thoughtfully preparing hot milk for her in the mornings and evenings.

’I’m truly overwhelmed by all this favor!’

That night, the Little Fox once again tinkered with the lock and opened Wen Qian’s door, then tiptoed over and leaped onto her bed, hugging his tail.

Wen Qian hadn’t been asleep to begin with, and now she was wide awake. She grabbed him by the tail, trying to shove the fox off her bed.

’Excuse me?’

’Is this door just for show?’

’He comes and goes as he pleases. Does he have any respect for me at all?’

The Little Fox, oblivious to Wen Qian’s thoughts, clung to her arm with all four of his limbs.