Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 45

At this moment, Lu Jianbai appeared somewhat agitated. He shot a vicious glare at Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan before turning around and walking away with clenched fists. There were too many people here. If he continued making a scene, it would become far too conspicuous. Already, some people were starting to look over.

Watching Lu Jianbai’s retreating figure, Shen Xian commented, “What’s wrong with him? Why does he keep pestering you?”

Lin Qinghan glanced at the hand she had hooked around Shen Xian’s arm and quickly let go. “Who knows? Just ignore him. But why did you come so close?” she asked. Shen Xian had been standing very close to her, which startled her a bit.

Leaning in, Shen Xian replied, “Didn’t you say I was clingy? Since you said that, of course I have to play the part and be a little clingy.”

Lin Qinghan pushed Shen Xian back slightly. “Cut it out. I only said that for Lu Jianbai to hear. Don’t take it personally.”

Shen Xian smiled at Lin Qinghan and raised an eyebrow. “Alright, then I won’t cling so tightly. Is that good enough?”

“Whatever. Do what you want,” Lin Qinghan said, but as she spoke, she felt a faint heat coming from the gland at the back of her neck. She reached back and touched the pheromone blocking patch.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Xian asked, noticing the change in her expression and moving closer.

Lin Qinghan’s brows furrowed. “My gland feels uncomfortable. But there’s still over a week before it’s supposed to start. Why would it be heating up now?” Her voice trembled slightly. If her susceptible period had really arrived early, and with no pheromone inhibitors on hand, it wouldn’t just be Shen Xian — the only alpha around — who would be affected. If her pheromones started leaking uncontrollably, the consequences could be unimaginable. The thought alone drained the color from her face.

Shen Xian also realized how serious the situation was. An Omega’s pheromones didn’t affect regular people, but they were highly attractive to alphas. And now there was no time to descend the mountain — it would take at least an hour to get down, and since the mountain wasn’t very tall, there weren’t any cable cars or tourist shuttles. When she looked at Lin Qinghan again, she saw that her body was already unsteady.

Shen Xian quickly supported her. “Qinghan, how are you feeling? Did your susceptible period really start early?”

Sweat had already started to bead across Lin Qinghan’s forehead. She forced herself to endure the discomfort and said weakly, “Shen Xian, take me somewhere with fewer people.”

“Okay, come on, Qinghan.” Supporting her, Shen Xian led her toward a shaded area on the other side of the mountain peak. About ten minutes later, they reached a relatively isolated spot. By then, Lin Qinghan’s forehead was dripping with sweat, soaking through her T-shirt.

Shen Xian laid her jacket on the ground and helped Lin Qinghan sit down, leaning against her. Lin Qinghan’s body trembled slightly, and the gland on the back of her neck had already swollen, causing the pheromone patch to peel away.

Shen Xian gently wiped the sweat from her face with tissues, one arm wrapped around her. “Qinghan? How are you feeling? Is it really that bad?” Shen Xian’s eyes were red with worry. Susceptible periods for Omegas and Alphas followed regular cycles — if Lin Qinghan’s came this early, someone had clearly tampered with her. The only thing they’d had recently was the bottled water from Lu Jianbai’s car. But now wasn’t the time to confront him.

Lin Qinghan lay limp in Shen Xian’s arms, barely conscious. She was only acting on instinct now, seeking the comfort and safety of someone familiar.

Seeing how much she was suffering, Shen Xian felt even worse. A drug-induced susceptible period was always harder to bear, and without inhibitors, the only option was for Shen Xian to soothe her using her own pheromones.

Holding the trembling Lin Qinghan in one arm, Shen Xian reached out and lightly touched her gland. It was burning hot.

Lin Qinghan flinched slightly and leaned into Shen Xian’s shoulder. The sweat from her forehead soaked through Shen Xian’s T-shirt. Shen Xian gently stroked her back and whispered in her ear, “Qinghan, there’s no other way. Let me help guide it, okay?”

Lin Qinghan weakly clutched at the hem of Shen Xian’s shirt and nodded despite the discomfort.

Shen Xian, heart aching, pulled her into a tighter embrace. Carefully, she peeled off the blocking patch from the back of Lin Qinghan’s neck. The scent of osmanthus and longjing tea immediately filled the air around them. Shen Xian wrapped one arm around her while pulling back her own hair and slowly removing her own pheromone blocking patch. The sweet scent of orange was quickly engulfed by the tea fragrance.

Fighting her body’s natural reactions to the combined pheromones, Shen Xian carefully guided her pheromones toward Lin Qinghan’s gland to soothe her. Unlike their previous pheromone exchanges, this one happened during a susceptible period. Shen Xian could feel Lin Qinghan’s fragrance completely wrapping around her own orange-scented pheromones. Sweat began dripping from her own forehead as well.

Lin Qinghan’s condition was worsening in her arms. Her cheeks were flushed red, and the gland on her neck still radiated heat. Because it had been so long since either of them had soothed the other during a susceptible period, Lin Qinghan’s pheromones clung to Shen Xian’s with an aggressive intensity. Shen Xian’s grip around her tightened, and her breathing gradually became heavier due to the uncontrollable physiological reaction.

Biting the tip of her tongue, Shen Xian forced herself to stay clear-headed. Qinghan was already suffering; she couldn’t hurt her by losing control. Forcing her brain to work quickly, she finally recalled that biting open the gland and injecting one’s own pheromones directly into it was also a valid method of soothing.

Lin Qinghan’s body was burning hot. Shen Xian gently turned her to the side, brushed her hair away, and exposed the reddened, swollen gland at the back of her neck.

She bit her lip nervously — was it too presumptuous to bite there? But seeing Lin Qinghan’s state and knowing she had little time left before losing clarity herself, Shen Xian pressed her lips to the gland. The moment her lips touched it, she was met with scalding heat.

Lin Qinghan obediently leaned against her shoulder, instinctively rubbing her head against Shen Xian due to the contact on her gland. Shen Xian wasn’t faring much better. The intense bodily reaction left her unsure of what to do. Enduring the overwhelming discomfort, she parted her lips and gently bit into Lin Qinghan’s gland. Her own consciousness was beginning to blur, but even then, she was careful not to hurt Lin Qinghan as she softly broke the skin.

The flood of osmanthus and longjing tea scent overwhelmed Shen Xian’s senses, making her feel like a cat overdosed on catnip. Her mind turned fuzzy. But her heart was still focused on Lin Qinghan. Slowly, she began to inject her pheromones through the tip of her teeth into Lin Qinghan’s gland.

Lin Qinghan seemed to respond very well to Shen Xian’s pheromones. She nuzzled comfortably against Shen Xian’s neck, instinctively seeking comfort from her partner. About five or six minutes later, the temperature of the gland where Shen Xian’s lips rested began to cool slightly. Only then did Shen Xian slowly pull away. In the air, the scent of sweet orange blended with osmanthus and longjing tea — a uniquely sweet and comforting fragrance.

Shen Xian’s consciousness gradually returned, and her eyes also became clear. She slowly pulled Lin Qinghan into her arms, facing her directly, letting Lin Qinghan rest her head on her shoulder. Lin Qinghan’s arms were tightly wrapped around Shen Xian’s waist, her forehead affectionately nuzzling against Shen Xian’s neck, making Shen Xian feel a strange ticklishness in her heart for some reason.

But Shen Xian didn’t have time to dwell on that. An Omega during their susceptible period is already physically weak, and Lin Qinghan’s susceptible period had been forcibly induced by drugs, making her condition even more fragile. With the strong mountain wind blowing, Shen Xian held Lin Qinghan tightly, shook out the jacket she had been sitting on, and helped Lin Qinghan put it on.

“Qinghan, are you feeling any better now?” Shen Xian asked gently in Lin Qinghan’s ear as she held her in her arms.

“It hurts… Shen Xian, I feel awful… really awful…” Lin Qinghan’s voice was very soft, laced with sobs. Hearing it made Shen Xian’s heart ache. She just couldn’t understand — Lin Qinghan hadn’t done anything wrong, so why did all these terrible things keep happening to her?

Shen Xian even started to wonder, if she hadn’t come to this world, would Lu Jianbai really be the decent male lead he was supposed to be? What kind of methods had he used to end up with the original Lin Qinghan in the book?

These past few days, Lin Qinghan had finally started to smile again, even seemed a bit more cheerful. But it had only been a few days, and now she was once again thrown into a crisis.

Shen Xian sighed and gently comforted the person clinging tightly to her, “Alright, Qinghan, don’t be afraid. I’m here. We’ll go to the hospital soon, don’t worry.”

Just recently influenced by Shen Xian’s pheromones, Lin Qinghan was very dependent on her now. She softly rubbed against Shen Xian, whimpering, “It hurts…”

Seeing Lin Qinghan like this made Shen Xian’s eyes turn red. She took out two pheromone-blocking patches from her bag and placed them on both herself and Lin Qinghan. Only then did she support Lin Qinghan as she stood up. Lin Qinghan’s body was limp and weak, so Shen Xian steadied her before picking her up on her back.

“Qinghan, hang in there. I’ll get you to the hospital soon. We’re going down the mountain now.”

“Mm…” Lin Qinghan whimpered, rubbing against the back of Shen Xian’s neck.

Shen Xian didn’t dare to waste a single moment. The path they took up the mountain earlier was the closest route down, so she had no choice but to retrace her steps, carrying Lin Qinghan back to the mountain’s summit platform.

Han Rui saw Shen Xian carrying Lin Qinghan and rushed over. “What happened?”

Shen Xian lowered her voice. “It looks like someone drugged her. Her susceptible period was triggered early. Can you help contact the driver below? We need to get to the hospital immediately.”

“Okay, I’ll go now,” Han Rui said, and ran over to Director Zhao to say a few words. Director Zhao came over at once.

“How is Qinghan? Do you want me to find a few male staff members to help carry her in turns? I already contacted a bus below, and it’ll take you to the hospital right away,” Director Zhao said.

“No need, I can manage. I’ll take her down first,” Shen Xian replied. As she spoke, her gaze flicked toward the trash bag where she had thrown the water bottle earlier — only to find that it was no longer hanging on the railing where she left it.

But Lin Qinghan’s condition was critical, and Shen Xian didn’t have time to worry about anything else. She could only carry Lin Qinghan down the mountain. The path was already made of steps, which made descending difficult, and with someone on her back, the descent became even more treacherous.

Director Zhao and Han Rui, worried about them, followed along down the mountain.

After covering only a third of the distance, Shen Xian’s clothes were already soaked through with sweat. But with the unconscious Lin Qinghan on her back, Shen Xian gritted her teeth and pushed through the discomfort, continuing downward.

Han Rui was getting anxious watching her and said, “Do you want to rest for a bit? If you carry her all the way down like this, you’ll end up in the hospital too.”

Shen Xian shook her head and said while walking, “There’s no time. Qinghan’s in a lot of pain. I have to move faster.”

Director Zhao and Han Rui could only follow anxiously behind. Seeing Shen Xian so desperate and determined for Lin Qinghan’s sake, Han Rui was deeply moved. She truly felt that Shen Xian really cared about Lin Qinghan.

By the time they reached the latter half of the descent, Shen Xian was relying solely on willpower. Her sweat had dried and soaked through her clothes again and again. Her arms and legs felt completely numb, her body moving only on instinct, driven by the thought of the person on her back.