After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

The small interlude of gift-giving quickly passed.

After all, both Gu Junwan and Joris had more important matters to discuss with each other at today’s visit.

In fact, if it weren’t for Quintina’s insistence, this gift-giving segment wouldn’t have occurred at all.

Jiang Xinyue, who had been harboring gossip in her heart for quite a while, ultimately didn’t witness the ‘dramatic scene’ she had imagined.

She pondered briefly, thinking perhaps she had been watching too many palace intrigue dramas lately.

How could the Empress possibly do anything unbecoming of her status in such an occasion?

Besides, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the little princess giving a bicycle as a token of gratitude.

It wasn’t like she was offering an engagement ring.

When Shen Han returned to her post, she was nearly in tears like a fierce tiger!

Just as she turned to leave earlier, she clearly saw a mysterious glint reflected in Special Assistant Xu’s glasses.

Her salary card was about to be zeroed out, who needs a bicycle!

The Ksenrodian guests left the base after lunch.

Due to the attempted attack incident, Joris adjusted his itinerary and headed straight to the airport with his team after leaving the base.

He needed to report in detail to his grandfather about the good and bad intelligence he had gathered on this trip.

Within the base area, guard team members didn’t need to closely follow the Empress at all times.

Their work mainly focused on training and patrolling.

During a break, Shen Han immediately sent a message to her Omega.

[Junwan, Junwan! Did you know? Princess Quintina also prepared a gift for Jiang Xinyue.]

[It’s a VIP card for a jewelry store in the Guthrie Mall. The benefits it offers are truly amazing!]

After sending the message, the anxious Alpha didn’t receive a reply from her girlfriend for quite a while.

Considering that she might be busy, Shen Han suppressed the urge to make a phone call.

She scratched her head for a while before continuing to type in the message box.

[That mountain bike, I think it belongs to the entire guard team. After all, I only did my duty.]

[So I asked Ning Xi to sell it to a collector she knows. We converted it to cash as a bonus for our guard team.]

At the end of the message was an emoji of someone working hard at manual labor.

In the Empress’s office, Gu Junwan lowered her eyes to look at her phone screen. The Alpha’s survival instinct was so strong that it gradually lifted the corners of her lips into an alluring curve.

In fact, she knew very well in her heart that there was no need to care about the small interlude that had occurred earlier.

She could see that Quintina’s gift-giving was simply a pure act of gratitude.

Perhaps mixed with a bit of curiosity about Shen Han.

But knowing was one thing.

The uncomfortable feeling in her heart when she saw another Omega giving gifts to her Alpha was real.

So when Shen Han sent the first message, Gu Junwan didn’t reply.

It wasn’t until the other sent the second message that the small hint of jealousy in the Omega’s heart dissipated.

Her delicate fingers lightly tapped out [Mm, I see.] in the message box.

And sent.

Xu Zhao was organizing documents in the office, but her peripheral vision kept glancing towards Gu Junwan.

When she saw her Empress’s personal phone screen light up, she knew it must be Shen the dog sending a ‘survival message’!

Special Assistant Xu felt she was being a bit unfair.

Because she found herself secretly anticipating something in her heart.

It was that kind of anticipation of watching someone else’s salary get docked with schadenfreude.

‘Sigh! This isn’t right of me. Shen Han hasn’t done anything wrong. I should speak up for her, that would be a display of good character, not sit here waiting to watch the drama unfold.’

Thinking this way, Xu Zhao secretly began estimating the probable amount on the other’s salary card.

“Xu Zhao.”

Hearing Gu Junwan’s voice, Special Assistant Xu nearly blurted out the figures she had just calculated in her mind.

She pushed up the glasses on her nose bridge and stood up to look at her Empress.

Her face was serious, but the gossipy gleam in her eyes was uncontrollably revealed.

Seeing her assistant’s reaction, Gu Junwan found it quite amusing.

Was she the type to get unreasonably jealous?

Even if Shen Han hadn’t sent those messages, she wouldn’t have done anything to her.

She would have simply emptied her salary card, that’s all.

“I remember there’s an old vintage bicycle shop in the Fourth District.”

“Find out if they have an online store for me.”

Xu Zhao immediately complied.

But she was holding back laughter in her heart: Is our Empress going to defeat a bicycle with another bicycle?

Gu Junwan didn’t have such a strong sense of competition.

She just felt that Shen Han might like that thing.

Earlier in the banquet hall, before knowing the gift’s ownership, there was a hint of eagerness in the other’s expression when looking at the mountain bike.

Though not very obvious, Gu Junwan had still caught it.

Since her Alpha liked it, she would choose one for her.

A night passed.

Since it happened to be her day off, Shen Han didn’t get up early as usual in the morning.

Around 9:30, the phone she had placed beside her pillow suddenly vibrated once.

Shen Han didn’t pay much attention at first, continuing to doze for a few seconds before suddenly flipping over and grabbing the phone in her palm.

She had two phones, the one for work was placed on a desk a bit further away.

The one by her pillow was the encrypted phone she used to communicate with Gu Junwan.

[Are you awake? Did I disturb your sleep?]

Shen Han, with messy hair, curled up in her blanket and quickly replied: [I’ve been awake for ages! It’s my day off today, do you want to come to the apartment for dinner? I’ll make you pork rib soup!]

Gu Junwan’s days off were different from hers, and she had already been working in the office for a while.

She had originally planned to contact the other later, but she wanted to know if Shen Han liked the gift she had prepared for her.

So she sent that message at 9:30 in the morning.

Now seeing that the Alpha wanted to cook for her, her mood became as bright as the warm sun outside the window.

[I have a gift for you. It’s next to the storage box downstairs from your apartment. The password is your ID number.]

Seeing this message, Shen Han sprang up from the bed.

She quickly changed her clothes while rapidly tapping out a reply on her phone.

Shen Han: [Ahhh! What is it? I’m going downstairs right away!]

Gu Junwan: [Do you want me to tell you in advance?]

Shen Han: [No, sister! Let me find out myself!]

Gu Junwan looked down at the last sentence the other had sent.

Before she could recover from the word ‘sister’, the next message from the other had already popped up.

[I’m heading out! Countdown to unlocking, 60 seconds, 59 seconds]

The Alpha’s joy and excitement seemed to penetrate through the phone screen, dotting gentle smiles in the Omega’s golden pupils.

Gu Junwan slowly leaned her slender back against the chair, then began to patiently wait for her girlfriend’s next response.

Shen Han, busy going downstairs to get the gift, had only hastily changed into some clothes, put on a baseball cap, and rushed out of the apartment with her phone.

Only when she entered the elevator did she realize she was still wearing flip-flops.

Her feet felt a bit chilly, but she didn’t want to waste time going back upstairs to change.

While guessing what gift Gu Junwan had prepared for her, she also felt a bit anxious.

Because she felt that her girlfriend had given her so many gifts, but she hadn’t specially chosen anything for her.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about giving Gu Junwan something, but many items she had considered were rejected by herself.

She couldn’t afford anything too expensive.

And things like couple’s mugs that hinted too obviously at their relationship weren’t convenient for Gu Junwan to use in public.

So, what could be something that she could use without worry in front of others, yet would immediately make her think of Shen Han when using it?

Moreover, it had to be something Gu Junwan liked! Something she could use frequently! Preferably something unique!

Pondering this ‘cosmic puzzle’, Shen Han had already reached the first floor in the elevator.

In the apartment lobby, near the storage boxes, there was a sealed box about half a person tall and nearly 2 meters long.

The surface of the box was very clean, with no text or message stickers of any kind.

Shen Han walked around the sealed box once, and finally entered her guard team ID number on a small screen on top.

Instantly, several crisp mechanical sounds rang out in succession, and one side of the sealed box popped out slightly like a sliding door.

Shen Han reached out to push open the ‘side sliding door’ of the box, and then her eyes immediately lit up.

Inside the box was a very exquisitely crafted bicycle.

The frame was quite tall, with a straight horizontal bar in the middle, very suitable for long-legged Alphas to ride.

The main body of the bike was black and silver, with only the handlebar grips and saddle in a warm coffee color.

The vehicle was vintage yet full of texture, looking full of tension and nostalgia.

Shen Han couldn’t put it down, taking several photos in a row to send to Gu Junwan.

Then she lifted the bicycle frame with one arm and quickly walked out of the apartment.

As she swung her leg over to get on the bike, the just-right height made Shen Han feel as if this bicycle had been custom-made for her.

The Alpha rode the vintage bicycle back and forth on the roads near the apartment, like a big cat frolicking freely in a winter field.

Just as she was enjoying herself, Shen Han suddenly saw four figures, two large and two small, staring blankly at her at the intersection ahead.

She braked, stopping about 3 meters away from them.

It was a family of four who also lived in the base. Come to think of it, Shen Han had seen them on New Year’s Eve night.

At that time, she had been grinning stupidly at a car’s rearview mirror, and the four of them sitting in their car had witnessed the whole process.

In short, it was a somewhat embarrassing bit of personal history.

The head of the family recognized Shen Han’s identity, so he brought his wife and children forward to greet her.

“Good morning, Captain Shen!”

Shen Han felt a bit embarrassed being scrutinized by the two children tilting their heads, so after exchanging a few pleasantries, she quickly rode away on her bike.

It wasn’t until her figure completely disappeared around the corner that the 6-year-old girl with pigtails finally withdrew her curious gaze.

“Mommy, why did that big sister come out to ride a bike wearing slippers?”

As she spoke, the little girl shook her neck and added, “Isn’t she cold?”

The mother bent down to pick up her daughter, smiling as she said, “That big sister probably won the lottery again today.”

Shen Han carried the bike back to her apartment, still excited.

Suddenly, she had an idea and hurriedly sent a text to Gu Junwan.

[Junwan, can you spare some time today? I want to give you a ride on my bike!]

[The off-road training ground is empty today. I’ll be careful, no one will see us.]

Upon receiving the message, Gu Junwan immediately checked her schedule for the day.

Then she quickly replied: [Alright, 3 PM then. I’ll meet you directly at the off-road training ground.]