Chapter 22: The Female Inhibitor

Sang Fuying was unaware that the two men in the study were discussing her, assuming they were simply occupied with work. She spent her time in the living room downstairs exploring the electronic devices of this world, eventually figuring out how to order a brown sugar pearl milk tea on a food delivery app.

Whenever she had her period, she preferred a steaming cup of brown sugar pearl milk tea over brown sugar water. Back on Earth, due to limited economic and physical conditions, she could only indulge in it once in a great while. Now, at least, she had enough money to drink until she grew tired of it.

The delivery arrived quickly, guided by automatic positioning, and within ten minutes, it was at the door. The robot at the manor entrance retrieved it and brought it to her. Unsure how long their conversation would last, Sang Fuying settled in to drink her tea while watching an idol drama from this world.

The milk tea was quite good, and the television program was entertaining. In this world, females were highly revered and scarce; they were not expected to perform tedious, complex work or earn a living in public. In the drama she was watching, she had only seen one female character so far. The plot revolved around a group of males dressing themselves up in flamboyant attire, trying every trick to seduce the most prestigious princess in the empire, yet the princess seemed interested only in a quiet, unassuming "puppy-dog" type. In short, it was a gender-swapped version of a bossy CEO falling for a pure, innocent flower.

Watching the classic, cringeworthy trope where the leads spun around, hugged, and kissed to the astonishment of everyone around them, Sang Fuying couldn't help but laugh. However, a surge of heat from her lower abdomen hit her like a dam breaking, the pain so sharp that she curled up on the sofa, clutching her stomach.

Yuan Feiye and Sang Yao came downstairs with dark expressions, only to find Sang Fuying curled up on the sofa, her brows tightly furrowed and her face pale with discomfort. The two men scrambled to her side, each claiming a spot next to her.

"Are you in pain? I'm taking you to the hospital," Sang Yao said, reaching out to lift her up.

Yuan Feiye blocked him, refusing to let him touch her. "I'm warning you, Sang Yao, don't go handling her. This is a normal reaction for a female during her period; there's no need for a hospital."

After their intense confrontation in the study regarding the fact that the little one was actually a normal female disguised as a defective one, he had realized that Sang Yao was just as clueless as he was. Even though Sang Yao had tried his best to feign ignorance, it was clear he hadn't known. More importantly, Fuying hadn't been pretending at all. How had they lived under the same roof with Fuying making no effort to hide her nature, yet Sang Yao had failed to realize she wasn't a defective female? There was no explanation other than the fact that Sang Yao was extremely indifferent to her.

Once the cramping subsided, Sang Fuying stood up from between them. "I'm fine now. It's almost eleven, and I have school tomorrow, so I’m going back to my room. Goodbye, Uncle. Goodnight, Brother Yuan." She had stayed downstairs specifically to say goodbye to her uncle.

Yuan Feiye tilted his head at her with a warm smile. "Goodnight, Fuying."

"Goodbye," Sang Yao murmured, his thin lips twitching. His voice sounded inexplicably strained and reluctant, a stark contrast to Yuan Feiye's enthusiasm.

Sang Yao had been baffled by this. What had happened to Fuying over the last two days? It was as if she had turned into a different person. The Fuying of the past never gave him a pleasant look and was terrified of him. It had all started when she was a child, crying and asking for her father; he had been annoyed and told her that her father was dead and couldn't take care of her anymore, and that no one in the house wanted her except him—if she kept crying, he would throw her out to wander the streets. It was meant to scare a child, and he had later felt guilty enough to buy her gifts as an apology, but Fuying had remained timid and cautious around him ever since. Yuan Feiye had said Fuying kept trying to run away to escape him, and it seemed that was indeed the case. Had her attitude changed now because she was with the young master of the Lesterlin family, or because she now had Yuan Feiye, who volunteered to take care of her?

After returning home, Sang Yao found himself drawn into Sang Fuying’s room. It was only the second day since she had left, yet the room still held that clean, sweet fragrance, like plum blossoms in the snow. It was faint, but to a male with a keen sense of smell, it was a scent that could stir his genetic instincts, easily caught even when subtle.

In the past, he had never been interested in her room, and she always kept it locked regardless of whether she was home or not. The last time he had entered was months ago, when he delivered her admission letter for Federal University. Back then, the room had been filled with the stifling, heavy scent of artificial perfume. The difference between those synthetic scents and this natural, pure fragrance was like heaven and earth.

Now that he thought about it, could the perfume in her room have been a deliberate attempt to mask her female pheromones? But if she wanted to hide it, why was there no perfume now? The more Sang Yao thought, the more suspicious he became. She must have hidden it before because she hadn't found a suitable male and didn't want to expose herself as a normal female. Now that she had found one, she simply stopped pretending.

Sang Yao opened the girl's pink wardrobe. Ignoring the piles of gaudy clothes, he noticed a small box with a combination lock at the very bottom. He fiddled with the box and, based on the wear on the buttons, cracked the code on his third try.

When he opened the box, he was shocked once again. It was... female suppressant! Normal male suppressants were light blue, while female suppressants were light purple; the vials inside were distinctly light purple. Did Fuying use these regularly? Females rarely used suppressants because, once they reached adulthood, they would begin matching with males, and their heat cycles would naturally be managed by their partners. Females reached maturity at the same time their heat cycles began. Fuying had only reached adulthood six months ago, which was exactly when she started focusing on her appearance and trying to flirt with males...

So, Fuying really was a normal female. Was she looking for males to find herself a beast-husband? Why hadn't she told him? Was it just as Yuan Feiye had said—that she was afraid he was some sort of scumbag who wanted to possess her?

In the bedroom, besides the suppressants, he found a half-used pack of sanitary napkins in the nightstand. His conviction only grew stronger. He had to have a serious talk with Fuying about this.

The next day, just like the day before, Yuan Feiye dropped Sang Fuying off at school before heading to his base for work. The first class of the day was the one she hated most: mathematics. Advanced mathematics, to be exact. The teacher was none other than the Mr. Zhou Ying she had seen on her first day.

When Mo'er sat down next to Sang Fuying, his overly sensitive nose—far sharper than ninety percent of males—detected a change in the girl's scent.

"Are you injured?" he asked, taking the initiative.