Diva Alpha Meets Her Biological Daughter on a Parenting Variety Show - Chapter 30

The starlight and moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, draping over the people in the tent like a thin, silver-white veil.

Ming Nuo tilted her head back, not daring to blink. Ning Xueqing leaned over, propping herself up against Ming Nuo’s chest; her exquisite features looked like those of a moon goddess descended to earth.

Ning Xueqing’s lips curved slightly. She glanced back at the soundly sleeping child before slowly taking her finger away from Ming Nuo’s lips and turning to pull the zipper of the tent partition closed.

“Mengmeng has a bit of heat rash and wasn’t sleeping comfortably. I just managed to soothe her.”

“Should we call the crew’s doctor to take a look?”

“It’s a minor issue, no need. I applied some talcum powder before bed; she’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.”

Ning Xueqing adjusted her position and sat down, her legs pressed together, her hands folded over her thin skirt.

Ming Nuo moved inward, giving up as much space as possible. “Sister, you haven’t rested yet this late?”

Ning Xueqing gave her a reproachful look. “What did I say earlier? Did you forget?”

Ming Nuo scrambled to search her memory. They had said a lot today—which part was Ning Xueqing referring to?

Ning Xueqing didn’t keep her guessing; she pulled out a hidden comb and a pair of scissors from behind her back to show Ming Nuo.

“Oh right, you said you’d trim my hair tonight.” Ming Nuo had a sudden realization.

Ning Xueqing smiled and patted the spot next to her thigh. “Come a little closer.”

Ming Nuo beamed and leaned out of her sleeping bag. Just as she was about to move her leg, she thought of something and dragged out her towel-blanket, wrapping it around her waist as she came out. When her hand hit the ground to steady herself, she slipped slightly and nearly tumbled.

Ning Xueqing hurriedly caught her. “Don’t rush. Look at you, just like Mengmeng.”

Ming Nuo buried her head in embarrassment. Just like Mengmeng—she was teasing her for being as clumsy and impetuous as a child.

With Ning Xueqing’s support, Ming Nuo sat upright and crossed her legs inside the towel-blanket. Ning Xueqing used the tip of the comb to lift the singed lock of Ming Nuo’s long hair. Her movements were light, her gentle fingertips weaving through the strands with the comfort of a scalp massage. Ming Nuo felt a faint wave of sleepiness.

“Did you go find Ji Lang?”

“Mm. After the noodles were done, I talked with her for a bit.”

Ning Xueqing’s combing motion paused momentarily.

Ming Nuo, sitting in front with her back turned, couldn’t see her expression, so she added quickly: “I didn’t bring you up, and she didn’t mention anything either.”

Even if the Ji family knew all the details of the love and hate surrounding Ning Xueqing’s other parent, Ning Xueqing didn’t want anyone mentioning it.

Ning Xueqing opened the scissors and cut away the charred ends at an angle. “I should go thank Ji Lang too. But before today, I really didn’t know that woman surnamed Ji had a connection to the Houjiang Ji family.”

“When my Mammy left home, I was still young. My mother refused to tell me much about her; I only knew she cheated with a very wealthy Omega from Shenjiang.”

“If Ji Ci’s mother really had ties to the Ji family, it would be impossible for her not to use the Ji name to do business in Shenjiang. I think Ji Lang’s attitude represents the attitude of the whole Ji family—they likely look down on Ji Ci’s family from the bottom of their hearts and don’t allow them to use Ji resources.”

Ming Nuo listened silently, nodding in agreement.

Ning Xueqing’s scissors went snip-snip, carefully comparing the trimmed lock with the hair beside it to create layers.

“Ming Nuo, has your Mammy ever done anything to make you afraid?”

“Yes. When I was very young, maybe first or second grade, my mother went into the city for training. Over the weekend, my Mammy said she’d take me on a green-skinned train to the city to see her. To save money, my Mammy only bought a ticket for a partial stop. Halfway through, the conductor came to check tickets, so Mammy told me to sit next to an auntie who had a ticket while she went to hide in the restroom. But she ran too far and forgot which carriage she had left me in.”

“And then?”

“I waited for a while but she didn’t come back. I was so scared I cried. The auntie next to me thought I was a kidnapped child and called the police. Eventually, my Mammy picked me up from the station’s police room and had to pay a fine. In the end, we didn’t even see my mother. After we got home, Mammy scolded me for being disobedient, saying she told me to keep quiet before she hid. She said if I hadn’t cried, she wouldn’t have had to pay an extra fifty yuan.”

Ning Xueqing’s expression was sympathetic, yet she couldn’t help the corners of her mouth from curving. “Auntie Ming certainly has a lot of ideas, and she’s very frugal.”

Ming Nuo made a crying face. “Whose side are you on? I almost got lost!”

Ning Xueqing put away the scissors. She pressed her palm against Ming Nuo’s hair, smoothing it out gently, then held up a small hand mirror. It reflected Ming Nuo’s deep-set features and Ning Xueqing herself behind her shoulder.

“Does it look good?” Ning Xueqing whispered behind her ear.

Ming Nuo stared at their faces in the mirror for a moment, her eyes bright. “It looks great! You’re so skilled.”

Ning Xueqing said softly, “My Mammy killed a cat in front of me.”

Ming Nuo froze. In the mirror, her pupils were suspended in the center of her eyes.

Ning Xueqing’s voice remained steady. “She didn’t like cats; my mother did. At a class reunion, an old classmate gave my mother one. A few days later, while my mother was away on a business trip, the cat broke my Mammy’s jade bracelet. Mammy tied the cat to a pot and burned it alive. I heard it scream for a long time. I smelled the scent of burnt fur, which slowly turned into the smell of roasted meat.”

“She told me I couldn’t tell my mother. If she asked, I had to say the cat ran away. She said if I didn’t listen, she would punish me. But as long as I was obedient, she would buy me many toys.”

“I was very small then. Mammy told me that the chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep we ate were all prepared this way, and that burning an animal was normal. But I thought it was terrifying. I was afraid she would punish me, so I never told my mother. My mother always believed the cat had escaped on its own.”

Ming Nuo felt the person behind her trembling slightly. She turned around and tentatively touched Ning Xueqing’s shoulder.

Ning Xueqing didn’t move. Ming Nuo gently pulled her into a light hug.

Ning Xueqing dazed for a moment, her eyes dark and out of focus.

“Ming Nuo, I’ve also seen… seen those kinds of pictures.”

Ming Nuo brushed away a stray hair from her forehead and asked softly, “What kind of pictures?”

Ning Xueqing instinctively flinched back. Ming Nuo hurriedly withdrew her hand to give her space. Ning Xueqing apologized, curled her legs up, and wrapped her arms around her own shoulders.

“Do you know about… those ‘alphabet’ kinks?”

Ming Nuo processed this for a moment. “If I’m not mistaken, you mean the ones involving props?”

“Yes. I saw them on my Mammy’s computer when I was little. It was full of scarred Omegas. I saw an auntie being strangled by the neck and held under a swimming pool… There was a specific group for sharing pictures. I also saw a message in the group about selling drugs.”

“Inducers?” A type of prohibited drug that can trigger pheromones.

“No, it was Alpha Gland Morphological Hormones.”

Ming Nuo was shocked. “Is that the experimental drug from high school biology books? The one where continuous injections during childhood can guide gland differentiation?”

Ning Xueqing nodded. “The only reason I saw that message was because my Mammy placed an order. The group leader tagged her in the chat.”

Ming Nuo’s face was filled with utter disbelief. This drug was in early experimental stages worldwide; there had been little progress for decades, and research subjects who underwent continuous injections often suffered from physical deformities and mental illness.

Ning Xueqing huddled in the corner of the tent. “But Mammy was an adult Alpha. Who was she buying that drug for?”

“The cat, the pictures, the gland hormones… It wasn’t until I was in fourth grade and learned more basic knowledge that I looked back and realized how horrific it was. By then, my mother and Mammy had divorced. I hated my Mammy—hated her for abandoning us. I wanted her love, but I feared her even more. To take it a step further, I feared Alphas.”

“My mother always thought her failed romance and marriage caused my resistance toward Alphas. I admit that’s part of it, but mostly… my Mammy was the first Alpha I ever encountered. The impression she left in my mind created an indelible fear of the Alpha group as a whole. I know not all Alphas are that terrifying; my Mammy was just a rare extreme. But I could never bring myself to let it go.”

By the end, Ning Xueqing was uncontrollably sobbing, covering her tear-stained cheeks with her hands.

Ming Nuo felt a chill down her spine hearing this. To put it bluntly, this wasn’t even about Alphas anymore; this was the difference between a normal person and a psychopath.

She looked at the slightly trembling Ning Xueqing, her heart aching as if being cut by a blade. Her own childhood had merely consisted of a rowdy kid and an unreliable “Mammy,” but what kind of life had Ning Xueqing lived…? It was like living under the same roof as a devil wearing a gentle mask.

Before Ning Xueqing’s Mammy cheated, Ning Zhixuan had always believed she was a beautiful, outstanding Alpha.

Ming Nuo finally understood the reason for Ning Xueqing’s rejection of Alphas. It wasn’t a natural physiological or psychological hatred; it was the shadow cast by her Mammy’s bizarre behavior. These were Ning Xueqing’s most deeply buried secrets. To resolve to speak them out loud—how much effort must that have taken?

“Xueqing, you don’t need to ‘let it go.’ You were hurt. You need warmth and healing; don’t force yourself to change. Those illegal, criminal acts and items… they will surely be punished.”

“Just like you said by the spring, you used to think hiding was safest, so you hid. Today you suddenly felt you needed to talk, so you spoke. If your heart feels safe and slowly gets better, you will change naturally. That is what’s real.”

Ning Xueqing went quiet for a few minutes. She wiped the corners of her eyes and smiled through the redness. “Mm. Thank you, Ming Nuo.”

Ming Nuo sat up to grab her bag. Realizing she was an Alpha and that a sudden movement in such a small space might startle Ning Xueqing, she asked if Ning Xueqing could help pass it.

The act of grabbing the bag distracted Ning Xueqing. She adjusted her emotions quickly, and when she met Ming Nuo’s eyes again, her face was much calmer.

“Here.”

“I wanted to get a soothing eye mask for you.”

The skin around the eyes is very delicate; even Little Pea knew she had to massage her eyes after crying. Ming Nuo couldn’t bear to see Ning Xueqing wake up tomorrow with swollen eyes. Ming Nuo found an eye mask in the bag, but she didn’t hand it directly to Ning Xueqing; instead, she placed it on the moisture-proof mat between them.

Ming Nuo decided that from now on, she would avoid physical contact with Ning Xueqing and maintain a proper distance to avoid putting pressure on her. Sigh, thinking back to the first session, I actually carried her to bed. That was so reckless.

But thinking carefully, Ning Xueqing hadn’t resisted then; she had even put her arms around Ming Nuo’s neck.

What does Ning Xueqing actually feel about me…

Ming Nuo sat there lost in thought until a sweet mint-lemon scent wafted to her nose, gradually growing stronger. Ming Nuo turned her head. Ning Xueqing had somehow moved closer and gently took hold of her arm.

“I’m not resistant to all Alphas. But sometimes, I can’t control myself from feeling sudden fear.”

Ning Xueqing leaned onto Ming Nuo’s shoulder, turning Ming Nuo’s chin so their faces met. She lowered her head and lightly sniffed the faint cherry-wine scent at the base of Ming Nuo’s ear.

“Can you help me desensitize, Cherry?”