Chapter 4

The small villa was quiet—clearly, her adoptive family was still away at summer camp and hadn’t returned.

The painful burning from her differentiation (分化 fēnhuà) had long since faded. The young alpha’s body was filled with energy that seemed endless, but Bai Ye just sat on the bed, staring listlessly out at the lifeless fields, feeling like her whole body ached. She couldn’t even say where exactly it hurt—everything hurt. She had no strength at all.

It was as if some indescribable exhaustion was drowning her.

Those two days in Ye Qingman’s body… were they really a dream? Or had she actually transmigrated?

Bai Ye sat there in a daze for a long time before finally getting up and hurrying to the living room’s landline to check the date. Even in rural areas, smartphones were common these days, but her adoptive parents had never bought her one. They said elementary and middle schoolers didn’t need phones—she could get one in high school. But her younger sister Zhao Xiaoyue had a phone and several different tablets.

Bai Ye told herself that being taken in, fed, and not left to starve was already kind of them—she shouldn’t expect too much. Still, when she saw Zhao Xiaoyue playing on her phone, a sour, envious feeling would rise up inside her.

The landline showed today’s date: July 25th. It had been exactly two days since Bai Ye’s differentiation.

She tilted her head in thought, then ran back to her room. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but now realized her once messy room was suspiciously clean. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the floor. Her schoolbooks were neatly organized on the desk, and even her wardrobe was sorted by season. Someone had clearly cleaned it thoroughly.

Immediately, Bai Ye was reminded of Ye Qingman’s room.

It was the exact same level of immaculate.

Her golden eyes suddenly lit up, practically glowing.

So—so it wasn’t a dream after all? She had really transmigrated? But not in the way she’d imagined—she had swapped bodies with an omega named Ye Qingman!

It was real! That was amazing!

Bai Ye nearly jumped for joy. She dashed out of her room and bounced around the house like a pinball—but quickly came to a stop, staring blankly at the landline again.

She picked up the receiver.

Even if the transmigration was real… what now?

Her hand froze midair.

She only knew Ye Qingman and her parents lived in Haicheng—but not the specific address, not their phone number. And even if she did… what could she say? “Hi, I was your daughter for two days because I somehow swapped bodies with her”?

Ye Dad and Ye Mom were kind to her because she was in Ye Qingman’s body.

They weren’t kind to her—to Bai Ye.

She was… nothing.

Her hand trembled as she hung up the phone with a soft click.

Stumbling back to her room, she yanked open a schoolbook. Though everything was neatly arranged, not a single new note or mark had been made. Ye Qingman, while in Bai Ye’s body, hadn’t left behind a trace.

The joy on Bai Ye’s face vanished completely. She suddenly went limp and sank to the cold floor, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, face buried. Her shoulders trembled, and though she made no sound, she was crying.

When the tears stopped, she scrubbed her face dry with the back of her hand and sprang to her feet.

She shook her head hard.

Even if the transmigration was real… she would just treat it as a dream. Now that the dream was over, there was no point thinking about it anymore. She wasn’t going to let herself wallow.

But Bai Ye didn’t yet understand: once you’ve seen the sunlight, how can you ever go back to living in darkness?

---

Her adoptive family returned that same afternoon. Just as she always had when they went on trips, Bai Ye obediently ran to the door to greet them. She plastered on a bright smile, ready to call out “Dad! Mom!” but the words stuck in her throat and were swallowed bitterly.

After experiencing Ye Dad and Ye Mom… she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Dad… Mom…” Her voice was small.

They didn’t notice her at all. Only Zhao Xiaoyue looked over—warily—and glared like she was about to start crying.

Bai Ye quickly moved aside and poured warm water for all three of them, placing the cups on the coffee table. “Dad, Mom, Xiaoyue—tired from the trip? Have some water?”

“Thank you, Xiaoye,” her adoptive mother said cheerfully, gulping it down. Her adoptive father took a sip and sat on the couch with Zhao Xiaoyue, turning on the TV. No one asked how Bai Ye’s differentiation went. No one asked if she was okay.

She stood at the edge of the living room, completely… extra.

Clutching the hem of her shirt, she backed away quietly. “I’ll go back to my room…”

“Mm,” her adoptive father replied.

She turned to go—but paused as she heard them talking behind her.

“What’s that weird smell…? My gland feels a little irritated—smells like alpha pheromones,” he muttered in disgust. “Lan, do you smell it?”

“A little,” the adoptive mother yawned.

“Xiaoye, wait.” Her adoptive father’s voice suddenly turned stern.

She turned back to see him frowning, irritated, scratching at the back of his neck. “You differentiated into an alpha?”

Bai Ye nodded obediently, instinctively afraid, fingers clutching tight.

“Seriously? Dr. Wang didn’t tell you? Before an alpha’s gland matures, you have to use suppressant patches, or else your pheromones just leak out and bother everyone.” He pulled a box out of his bag and tossed it to her. “Here. Use them.”

Her adoptive mother muttered without thinking, “Why’d you have to become an alpha? So troublesome. Betas are way easier.”

Back in her room, Bai Ye locked the door before realizing her hands were shaking.

So… the “weird smell” they complained about was her pheromones.

She had transferred to the rural school in sixth grade and never learned about ABO biology. Everything she knew came from vague fragments. While in Ye Qingman’s body, Ye Hanyi had briefly explained it to her—but from an omega’s perspective.

But alphas were different. Omegas could control their pheromone emissions most of the time—alphas couldn’t until full gland maturity, usually in adulthood.

Bai Ye barely knew anything about being an alpha.

She sniffed hard. There really was a faint scent in the room—hers. But she couldn’t tell what it smelled like. Her adoptive parents found it “pungent,” but to her, it seemed… pleasant.

Besides that, she didn’t feel much different. Maybe a bit stronger.

But her father said her pheromones stank. Her mother said alphas were a hassle.

Her head throbbed.

“Mm…” Bai Ye curled up under the covers, trembling pitifully. She whimpered softly—like a little beast abandoned in the cold.

---

At some point, she drifted into a restless sleep.

In her dreams, fragmented images flickered by—her adoptive parents’ disgusted expressions, their dismissive words, Zhao Xiaoyue’s vicious glare. It felt like they were all brandishing swords, driving her into a narrow, dark corner.

Just as she hit a dead end, she suddenly fell into a warm embrace. A soothing scent surrounded her. Ye Dongyun held her gently: “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you?”

Ye Hanyi stood nearby, resting a hand on her head. His frail body somehow seemed strong enough to hold up the sky: “If anyone bullies you, we’ll bully them back.”

“Mm…!” Bai Ye sobbed and nodded hard.

The moment she did, the dream shattered.

She woke up. Still curled under the blankets, tears soaking the sheets, her breath caught in her throat.

It was dark outside. The room was pitch-black, the only light the cold moonlight streaming through the window. The cicadas buzzed, shrill and relentless.

The Ye couple were gone. The loneliness of the darkness threatened to swallow her whole.

She hugged her knees tightly, panting softly, her nose stuffy from crying. Her mind was full of fragments of the dream. She stared at the wall, blank and numb. After a long while, she suddenly threw off the covers and jumped out of bed, switching on her desk lamp.

In the dim light, she opened her wardrobe, grabbed a few changes of clothes, and stuffed them into a backpack. She rummaged through the drawers until, at the bottom of her desk, she paused.

There was a small bottle labeled suppressant spray, with instructions printed on the side.

Spray it on the gland to block pheromone scent.

So Ye Qingman, while in Bai Ye’s body, had already used a suppressant—Bai Ye had just missed it that morning when she was in a rush.

She sat at her desk, grabbed a mirror, and lifted her hair. The alpha gland was located at the back of the neck—the same place she had felt the worst pain during differentiation. Now, the skin there looked normal, just a little itchy to the touch.

Carefully, Bai Ye sprayed the suppressant.

“—Tss…”

It tingled, but wasn’t painful—just unfamiliar.

After spraying, she took a deep breath. The scent in the air noticeably faded. Just to be safe, she peeled off one of the suppressant patches her adoptive father had given her and stuck it on.

The smell disappeared completely.

She threw both the spray and the patches into her backpack.

Lastly, she pulled out a notebook, chewed the end of a pen for a moment, then scrawled a few large, direct characters:

Uncle and Aunt, I’m leaving. Thank you. I’ll repay your kindness when I earn enough money.

She placed the notebook in the center of her desk, gave her bag one final check, and then—

flung open the glass window.

With practiced ease, she leapt out onto the ledge and disappeared into the night.

The young alpha’s body was light and agile. Like a lone wolf, she slipped silently between the rice fields and vanished beneath the moonlight.