A Cannon-Fodder Alpha Marked The Future Villainess After Transmigrating Into A Novel - Chapter 2

Ning Yunqing tightly clutched the clothes still carrying the scent of Alpha pheromones. The gland that had only just been marked began to burn faintly again.

Biting down hard on her lip, she dressed herself, glanced at Xie Jing without saying a word, and forced herself to rise from the hard wooden bed.

The soreness throughout her body instantly brought a veil of moisture to her eyes. Gritting her teeth, Ning Yunqing crouched down and began picking up the mushrooms scattered across the floor, placing them one by one into the bamboo basket.

These mushrooms were her younger sister’s lifeline.

Yesterday, she had foolishly believed Xie Jing when she said she could help sell them. Yet the moment Ning Yunqing arrived, that woman had dragged her into the house…

Ning Yunqing bit her lip so hard it nearly bled.

Only then did Xie Jing notice the mushrooms strewn everywhere.

She was just about to speak when a fragment of the plot suddenly flashed through her mind.

The female lead, Lin Qingqing, had tearfully complained to the original Xie Jing that Ning Yunqing had stolen her mushrooms. The original character had then tricked Ning Yunqing into coming over under the pretense of helping her sell them, intending to teach her a lesson.

Who could have known that the original character would suddenly enter her susceptible period and develop a fever?

By sheer coincidence, Xie Jing had transmigrated at precisely that moment and, in her confused state, marked Ning Yunqing.

If the original character had been despicable, didn’t that make Xie Jing worse than a beast?

The hazy images from last night suddenly poured into her mind.

Like a wild animal seizing its prey, she had bitten down hard on the back of Ning Yunqing’s neck and refused to release her, no matter how desperately the woman pleaded.

Xie Jing instinctively glanced toward Ning Yunqing’s nape.

It was covered by her long hair, but faint traces of bruising could still be seen beneath it.

At once, Xie Jing felt that unfamiliar impulse inside her threatening to burst free again.

She abruptly crouched down, lowered her head, and began helping Ning Yunqing gather the mushrooms.

Ning Yunqing reacted like a frightened cat, scrambling backward so quickly that she landed on the floor.

“…”

Xie Jing instinctively raised a hand to help her, but when she met Ning Yunqing’s terrified eyes, her fingers awkwardly flexed in midair before she pulled them back.

She continued gathering all the mushrooms into the bamboo basket, then pushed it toward Ning Yunqing from a distance.

Afraid of frightening her again, Xie Jing took two steps back and watched her quietly.

Ning Yunqing glanced at her, quickly grabbed the basket, hugged it tightly to her chest, and left the Xie family courtyard with her head lowered.

Xie Jing stood there staring after her.

Even after Ning Yunqing had disappeared into the distance, a faint rose fragrance still lingered between Xie Jing’s lips and teeth, and the back of her neck began to throb restlessly again.

Just then, a little girl of seven or eight walked in.

“Second Sister, I just saw someone leaving your room.”

The newcomer was the original character’s younger sister, Xie Zhenzhen. The little girl blinked up at Xie Jing.

“…”

Xie Jing covered her mouth and coughed lightly.

“Don’t talk nonsense. What person?”

“But I clearly saw—”

“You saw wrong,” Xie Jing immediately interrupted.

Feeling somewhat guilty, she touched her nose and hurriedly changed the subject.

“Why are you back by yourself at this hour instead of working with Mom?”

Sure enough, the interruption made the little girl forget to continue questioning her. She headed toward the room.

“Hey—”

Xie Jing instinctively moved to stop her.

Ning Yunqing had only just left, and the scent of rose tea still filled the room.

Xie Zhenzhen looked at her in confusion.

Xie Jing pressed her lips together. Only then did she remember that Xie Zhenzhen had not differentiated yet and therefore could not smell pheromones.

Even so, her face still reddened.

Xie Zhenzhen walked around her and entered the room. She picked up the teapot from the table, poured herself a bowl of water, and took a large gulp before speaking.

“It’s too hot. Mom told me to come back and tell you that the dragonflies are flying low, so it might rain tonight. She wants you to go to the back mountain and gather some firewood. See whether there are any wild vegetables you can dig up while you’re there too. Our grain is almost gone.”

“Got it,” Xie Jing replied.

After finishing her water, Xie Zhenzhen left again.

In this era, every household depended on earning work points. The more work points a family earned, the more grain they received.

Father Xie was an honest man who never shirked his work, so he earned the maximum number of points every day.

The original character’s older brother also worked at the canned-food factory in town. Not only did he earn fifteen yuan a month, he occasionally received extra subsidies as well. As a result, the Xie family lived relatively comfortably.

Other families were not so fortunate.

Forget eating meat—even vegetable cornbread was beyond many of them. They could only climb the mountain and dig up wild vegetables to survive.

That was precisely why the original Xie Jing had been able to bring food to the female lead from time to time.

Unfortunately, the female lead had never liked her in the slightest, and the original character eventually met a miserable end.

Now that Xie Jing was here, she certainly would not follow the same path.

After tidying the room, Xie Jing found some suppressant ointment and applied it to her neck.

Her susceptible period had only begun today. Although she had marked Ning Yunqing, an Alpha’s susceptible period usually lasted around three days.

To be safe, she still applied the ointment.

At noon, Xie Jing’s parents had brought dry rations with them and would not be returning home to eat.

Xie Jing went to the kitchen and took a cornbread bun.

It had been made from cornmeal mixed with wild vegetables and was as hard as a rock in her hand.

Sighing, she wrapped it in cloth, placed it in a bamboo basket, strapped the basket to her back, and headed out.

The back mountain was not far from the village. The villagers often came here to dig for wild vegetables and gather firewood.

But when Xie Jing arrived, all she saw was a barren stretch of land.

Forget wild vegetables—there was not even a single blade of green grass on the ground. Almost all the firewood had already been collected as well.

Good grief!

Xie Jing wandered around for a long time and found only a few sticks.

She had originally been thinking about Ning Yunqing’s mushrooms and had hoped to gather some herself. That way, they could have mushroom soup that evening.

She had not expected the place to look like this.

She clearly remembered Ning Yunqing bringing quite a lot of mushrooms to the original Xie Jing that morning, asking her to help sell them.

Could there be somewhere else they grew?

According to the original character’s memories, this back mountain was where the villagers came most often.

There were wild beasts deeper in the mountains, so no one dared venture farther in.

Where had Ning Yunqing gathered all those mushrooms?

Xie Jing bit her lip.

Maybe she could ask Ning Yunqing the next time they met?

The moment the thought appeared, she immediately rejected it.

Who was Ning Yunqing?

She was the future great villain of the novel.

She might seem powerless now, but one day she would become a top-tier powerhouse. Had the male and female leads not possessed protagonist halos, she would have crushed them into dust long ago.

Besides, Xie Jing had offended her beyond repair the moment she arrived.

Ning Yunqing might already be thinking of ways to kill her. Why would she possibly tell her anything?

Xie Jing sighed.

In this era, traveling anywhere required a letter of introduction. Without one, she could easily be arrested.

Even running away would be difficult.

Dejected, Xie Jing kicked idly at the pebbles beneath her feet.

Suddenly, someone called her name from behind.

When she turned around, she saw a woman with two braids walking toward her.

“Xie Jing, why are you here?” the woman asked with a displeased frown.

Xie Jing stared at her blankly.

When the woman saw that she did not answer, her tone grew sharper.

“Did you follow me here? Haven’t I told you countless times not to keep pestering me?”

“…”

Xie Jing was speechless.

Which one of her eyes had seen Xie Jing following her?

And why would Xie Jing follow her in the first place?

Because she was beautiful?

Xie Jing curled her lips.

In her opinion, this woman was nowhere near as beautiful as Ning Yunqing.

As the woman drew closer, an unpleasant smell suddenly rushed into Xie Jing’s nose.

She felt like vomiting.

“Ugh—”

Xie Jing hurriedly covered her mouth.

“Xie Jing!” the woman shrieked.

At that moment, the system abruptly spoke.

“Warning, Host. Warning, Host. This person is the female lead of the novel. You must maintain your character setting, or you will be punished.”

“…”

The female lead?

There was nothing likable about her at all.

And that smell coming from her…

Xie Jing covered her nose and mouth, her expression difficult to describe.

007 explained, “That is how this world works. Pheromones from the same classification naturally repel one another. Since you have just marked the villain, your body has absorbed her pheromones. It is perfectly normal for you to feel repulsed by other Omegas. Once the Omega pheromones in your body have been metabolized after a few days, you will be fine.”

Xie Jing said, “I feel like throwing up just looking at her. How am I supposed to stay in character?”

“Well…”

007 paused, then said rather irresponsibly, “You’ll have to improvise, Host. This system will withdraw for now. But you must remember to maintain the original character’s personality.”

As the electronic voice faded with a crackle of static, 007 disappeared.

No matter how Xie Jing called for it, the system did not respond.

Xie Jing closed her eyes briefly and continued covering her nose and mouth.

When Lin Qingqing saw the disgusted expression on Xie Jing’s face, anger immediately lodged in her chest.

She had always been the one who despised Xie Jing. Since when did Xie Jing get to despise her?

Planting her hands on her hips, she demanded, “Xie Jing! What is that supposed to mean?”

“…”

What else could it mean?

The corner of Xie Jing’s mouth twitched.

Had she not needed to maintain the character setting, she would have turned around and walked away.

But all she had to do was put on an act.

Xie Jing took a breath, pointed at Lin Qingqing, and asked, “Did you fart?”

“You’re the one who farted!”

Lin Qingqing’s face instantly turned bright red, and she exploded in fury.

Xie Jing took a step back.

Lin Qingqing was about to continue raging when she suddenly remembered why she had come.

Taking a breath, she forced down her anger and barely managed to pull out a smile.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve only been eating wild vegetables these past few days…”

Xie Jing nodded to show that she understood.

When Lin Qingqing saw that Xie Jing merely nodded and did not immediately offer her grain coupons or meat coupons as she had before, unwillingness stirred in her heart.

Gritting her teeth, she continued pretending to be pitiful.

“My father twisted his ankle while working a few days ago. He can’t work at all right now, and our work points…”

As she spoke, she wiped at the corner of her eye.

Xie Jing’s lips twitched.

This woman’s green-tea act was far too amateurish.

Looking at Lin Qingqing’s weak and tearful expression, Xie Jing suddenly remembered Ning Yunqing’s wary eyes filled with moisture—dark, bright, and glistening.

Her heart heated.

She cut off Lin Qingqing’s tale of misery.

“You said Ning Yunqing stole your mushrooms. Where did you gather them?”

“Huh?”

Lin Qingqing froze.

Why was this woman refusing to follow the usual script today?

Normally, the moment Xie Jing saw her crying, wouldn’t she have rushed over to comfort her, then eagerly handed over all the best things from her family?

Lin Qingqing looked confused before raising a hand and pointing toward another mountain.

Xie Jing frowned.

According to the original novel, wild beasts roamed that mountain.

The story had mentioned a villager who had become so hungry that he took the risk of entering it. He never came back.

Everyone said the beasts in the mountain had devoured him completely. After that, no one dared venture there again.

How could a green-tea Omega like Lin Qingqing possibly have the courage to go there?