Chapter 2
Gu Sijiu's injuries weren't serious. Perhaps because Alpha physiques in this world are so robust, the car accident hadn't caused any severe damage. The only real nuisance was that the impact wounds on her head and body needed fresh dressings every day. Still, the few days of recovery in the hospital had at least allowed her to piece together the original host's scattered memories and get a rough handle on how this world worked.
The Original Host of this body was also named Gu Sijiu, only daughter of former Imperial General Gu Nancheng, twenty eight years old. She held the rank of major general in the military, but because these had been years of relative peace, she'd never had the chance to take part in any major campaign. Even when regional skirmishes broke out, Gu Nancheng couldn't bear to send his only daughter to the front lines. Gu Sijiu's daily military duties consisted of reviewing documents in her office, the occasional bout of physical training, and drilling new recruits.
The fiancee who'd appeared once at the hospital a few days earlier and then never again had been engaged to the original host a month ago. As for the adjutant who'd been at her bedside every day, Shan Ni'er, she'd been at the original host's side since first joining the military. A straightforward and loyal Alpha, she was one of the people Gu Sijiu could trust.
"Shan Ni'er..." Gu Sijiu pulled back from her thoughts and, from where she lay in bed, gently called out to the adjutant standing nearby.
Gu Sijiu had a habit of drawing out people's names when she called them, especially the final syllable, which she'd lift slightly from flat to rising, and she'd pair that voice with a slight widening of those peach blossom eyes. At this rather unusual form of address, Shan Ni'er, who had been standing at rigid attention, felt the corner of her mouth twitch. She collected herself, strode to the bedside in her combat boots, and waited respectfully for Gu Sijiu's command.
"Uh... don't be so stiff. I just wanted to ask, in your eyes, what kind of person am I?" Gu Sijiu's voice was soft, her lips curling up by force of habit into a slight smile. Shan Ni'er had grown used to these random smiles her major general now flashed at the drop of a hat. The old major general had always been stern and taciturn, and everyone in the ranks had been somewhat afraid of her. Now, perhaps because she was weakened by her injuries, not only did the major general smile more, but the whole aura she projected had softened considerably.
"In my eyes, the major general is a very serious person. She handles her duties with absolute precision, rewards and punishes fairly, and is deeply respected by all her subordinates."
Shan Ni'er spoke with something approaching reverence, and listening to her, Gu Sijiu felt the adjutant's fan filter was a bit too strong. Based on the hazy memories the original host had left behind, she knew that Shan Ni'er harbored a somewhat blind devotion to her. After all, the idea that a titular major general could be genuinely beloved by her subordinates was nothing but wishful thinking.
"Alright, enough about me. What do you think of Song Jinzhi?" The real reason Gu Sijiu had been circling the point was that what she most wanted to know about was Song Jinzhi. She was intensely curious about this woman. Gu Sijiu was straight, emphatically, unequivocally straight. Even though same sex relationships had been common in her original world, Gu Sijiu had never once felt that kind of attraction toward a woman, though part of the reason was, admittedly, her abysmal luck with women in general.
Now she'd been dropped into this world, a complete stranger who understood nothing, and they'd immediately saddled her with a fiancee, also a woman. By this world's gender framework, a union between her and Song Jinzhi was a pairing of Alpha and Omega. But the way Gu Sijiu saw it, that was just... lesbianism. Especially when she thought about Song Jinzhi's expressionless face, and the way the woman looked at her with undisguised resentment. Just thinking about it annoyed Gu Sijiu. How was she supposed to marry someone like that?
"Young Mistress Song? That... I haven't had much contact with the young mistress. I'm not too clear, but she does seem rather... difficult to get along with."
Shan Ni'er looked somewhat troubled. The way she saw it, the major general treated the young mistress exceptionally well, with a degree of consideration that almost no Alpha could match. And yet, in response, the young mistress consistently showed the major general nothing but cold indifference and impatience. Even understanding that the two families had arranged this marriage for mutual benefit, the compatibility rating between Gu Sijiu and Song Jinzhi was extremely high. They should, by all logic, have gotten along splendidly, but the young mistress's behavior was frankly hard to accept. As Gu Sijiu's subordinate, Shan Ni'er couldn't help feeling her major general was getting a raw deal.
"Difficult to get along with? I also got the impression she's not exactly easy to talk to. That face is like a block of wood. Good looking, I'll grant, but still a notch below me." After hearing Shan Ni'er's description, Gu Sijiu turned Song Jinzhi's face over in her mind. If a perfect score were one hundred, she'd be willing to give Song Jinzhi a high ninety nine. As for that one deducted point, well, naturally, it was because she wasn't as good looking as herself.
Gu Sijiu still didn't know what exactly had happened, why she'd come to this world, or where this body's original inhabitant had gone. She understood the principle of taking things as they come. For now, she had no idea how to return to her own world, so she might as well get a solid grasp of this world's rules first and continue being this other Gu Sijiu. Song Jinzhi was her fiancee and, in all likelihood, the person she'd be spending the most time with going forward. Without full command of the original host's memories, lacking sufficient understanding of Song Jinzhi would clearly put her at a disadvantage.
"The young mistress is indeed very beautiful, but Major General... you..." Shan Ni'er hesitated. She'd noticed that over these past few hospital days, the person the major general asked after most was the young mistress. Yet aside from showing up that one first time, the young mistress had never come to visit again. Thinking of how deeply the major general adored the young mistress, and how the young mistress still responded with lukewarm indifference, Shan Ni'er's heart ached all the more for her.
"Major General, I'll go prepare your lunch. You should be able to be discharged this afternoon." Shan Ni'er said no more. She turned and left to arrange the midday meal. She was back quickly, setting Gu Sijiu's lunch on the table in front of her and asking if she needed any assistance. The latter shook her head. She'd only injured her head and back; eating was something she could still manage on her own.
Gu Sijiu ate quietly, the food before her distinctly unremarkable. She'd discovered that this world's grasp of the culinary arts was, frankly, rather deficient. The ingredients were clearly top tier, yet the resulting flavors fell far short of expectations. It was like something out of those movies: when technology reaches a certain point, humanity loses many of its original capabilities.
People here rarely cooked with any care. Restaurants no longer employed head chefs, instead handing everything over to robots. Every household had an automatic cooking machine, and naturally, the food it produced never rose above the level of "edible."
When even that felt like too much trouble, people just downed a nutrient supplement to get through three meals. Gu Sijiu managed only a few bites before losing all interest in continuing. She drank a nutrient supplement and had Shan Ni'er clear the tray away.
Once Shan Ni'er had finished tidying up and saw she wasn't needed here, she headed back to the military base.
Gu Sijiu went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, then settled back into bed. As she lay there, another important matter suddenly surfaced in her mind. From what she'd gathered, female Alphas in this world possessed both a first and a second sexual organ. The so called "first sexual organ" was something developed from the clitoris... an organ functionally analogous to the male counterpart. But she didn't have one.
Over the past few days, Gu Sijiu had continuously felt that her body was no different from an ordinary woman's. She'd noticed nothing unusual while showering or using the bathroom. This puzzled her. Could the thing somehow hide itself? The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she grew. She'd put off investigating while still in the early stages of recovery, but now that it came to mind, she decided a more thorough confirmation was the safer course.
Gu Sijiu sat up, slowly eased down her pants along with the pure white underwear beneath, then looked down. Finding none of the hideous appendage she'd imagined, she let out a sigh of relief. Still uneasy, she reached down and felt around, her fingers finding only a small, somewhat rounded bead of flesh. She'd certainly touched herself before in her old life, so Gu Sijiu knew perfectly well what it was, but the texture felt a bit larger than she remembered. There was no hood of skin covering it; it was directly exposed.
Probing further, Gu Sijiu reconfirmed that she hadn't grown anything resembling a so called first sexual organ. She exhaled in relief, the corners of her mouth curling up in a smile. She stroked a few more times and found that the tiny thing was actually growing somewhat warmer under her fingers. She hurriedly withdrew her hand, clamped her legs tight, and let out a soft grunt. This spot seemed more sensitive than she'd expected, it appeared she could get worked up very quickly. So absorbed was she in these observations that she forgot to pull her hand out from between her legs. And she absolutely failed to notice that, at some point during all this, the long absent Song Jinzhi was now standing in the doorway, having taken in every single one of her movements.
Watching Gu Sijiu, head bowed, touching such a shameful place while her laughter carried an indescribable strangeness, Song Jinzhi's brow furrowed with disgust. She wished she had never set foot in this room. Gu Sijiu sensed a shift in the atmosphere. She looked up, the smile still lingering unretracted on her face, and met Song Jinzhi's complicated gaze.
That expression, it was as though she were looking at something filthy.
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