A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 8

The curtains were pulled open, and sunlight spilled in.

Amid the steaming warmth of food, even the gray, dusty little house seemed to soften.

Helan set down the bowl and chopsticks. “Eat while it’s hot. Don’t be polite. If it’s not enough, have Xiao Ming go get you more. Noodles come with free refills. Eat until you’re full.”

The woman on the bed opened her eyes.

Even though Helan had seen countless people in her life, the moment those pale blue eyes lifted, she could not help freezing for a second.

Distant, cool, noble—but not unpleasant.

She had eyes like the sky.

“Thank you for saving me,” Bai Shuzhou said with a slight nod. Her voice was light and crisp, solemn in a rare way.

For a second, the world seemed to fall silent.

Helan suddenly regretted not putting more beef in her bowl.

How could there be such a clean, beautiful child? She was like a work of art fired from colored glass, quietly leaning against the soft pillow.

While Zhu Yu had run out to buy noodles, Bai Shuzhou had already changed her clothes. It was one of Helan’s dresses from when she was young, originally folded neatly beside the pillow.

Zhu Yu had not dared help her change without permission, so she had deliberately chosen a loose outfit, somewhat like sleepwear. Bai Shuzhou could change into it easily by herself.

She would not like accepting help.

Set off by the oversized dress, her bones looked even more delicate. Very inappropriately, Helan thought of a wind chime. She always felt that Bai Shuzhou was swaying in the wind, and when she spoke, there would be a clear, ringing echo.

He Ming, who was lying on the table, gave a tiny “wow.” Before Helan could speak, she giggled foolishly and pushed the milk from her little bag over to Bai Shuzhou.

“Hehe, it was no trouble at all! No need to thank us, no need! Sister Xiao Zhou, drink this. Get well soon!”

“No need,” Bai Shuzhou said coldly.

Then, before the little trumpet could droop in disappointment, she added, “Thank you.”

Give He Ming a little sunlight, and she would shine immediately.

Her whole face lit up.

Helan could not bear to look at it anymore and sent her outside to play with Zhu Yu.

The young woman was sitting in the courtyard outside on a small chair. At first glance, she looked as if she were squatting, her thin back seeming a little lonely.

The moment Bai Shuzhou saw her, she frowned.

Zhu Yu felt that if a bully kept swaying around in front of her every day, it would indeed ruin her appetite. She was very self-aware as a “second-generation scumbag.”

When the little girl opened the door, Zhu Yu instinctively looked back and met Bai Shuzhou’s eyes.

The woman naturally saw the bun pinched in her hand, the one that had fallen onto the ground earlier.

Bai Shuzhou could already imagine how Zhu Yu had pitifully picked up the dirty bun, then when outsiders asked about it, pretended to chew it casually, magnanimously asking only for a bowl of beef noodles. A full performance. An utterly self-sacrificing face.

Zhu Yu had always been like this.

She was very good at placing herself in a weak position, turning herself into bait on a chessboard. Foolish fish would take the hook, ignoring what had happened before and ignoring the truth. All they would think was, Ah, she’s so pitiful.

The commoner star was always accommodating the noble princess. People always loved to talk about vast differences in class.

Seeing Bai Shuzhou’s expression growing colder and colder, Zhu Yu, completely unaware of the reason, panicked and stuffed the bun into her mouth, then swallowed it.

Oh no.

She had picked something up off the ground and eaten it. Bai Shuzhou would not think she was unhygienic, right?

But she was not stupid. The dirty side had been rinsed with water, or the outer skin had been peeled away. The dough ball inside was clean and innocent.

Though it was a little bad-tasting.

Back in the cafeteria, there had been no choices anyway. Compared with that swill-like pig food, Zhu Yu felt the biggest flaw of this bun was that it had too little meat. Selling a small steamed bun as a meat bun was a crime of the highest order!

Bai Shuzhou soon turned her face away and picked up her chopsticks to eat the noodles.

She ate quickly, but remained elegant. Not a drop of soup splashed out, and she made no sound. Helan really wanted to drag in that leaky bucket outside—the one twisting her butt while wide-eyedly asking Zhu Yu, “Sister, what are you eating? Is it good?”—and make her learn.

Genetic lottery.

How could the gap be this huge?

But then Helan thought about it. Zhu Yu was not so stunningly beautiful either, so winning a grand prize like this was indeed rare.

Helan was at peace.

“You sisters really don’t have it easy,” Helan sighed.

Bai Shuzhou’s hand paused as she ate the noodles.

Helan sensed the slightly stiff atmosphere and smiled. “What, did you two have a fight?”

Without seeming obvious, she glanced toward Bai Shuzhou’s legs.

Bai Shuzhou had just woken up and could not move around for the time being. She also studied dance, so it was probably very hard for her to accept such a reality. It was normal for her mood to be low.

Helan tried to comfort her as naturally as possible. “Life is still long. When you look back later, even difficulties that once seemed enormous at one stage will pass eventually. Apart from life and death, nothing is really that big a deal.”

“When I found you two, she was barely conscious, but she was still holding on to you and begging me to save you. She never gave up on you, just like you never gave up on her.”

“…”

Bai Shuzhou set down her chopsticks and interrupted Helan’s earnest words.

“I’m done eating.”

Helan raised a brow.

She had an unusual sharpness and immediately noticed the ripple beneath that calm surface.

Done eating.

Not full.

The noodle bowl was perfectly clean. Bai Shuzhou had eaten so quietly that the large bowl of noodles seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Huh. Strange. Did I give her too little?

Helan waved. “Xiao Ming, come here. Go home and bring another bowl of noodles. I’m taking Xiao Yu to work.”

She turned back and instructed Bai Shuzhou, “Don’t be embarrassed. When you’re sick, you need to eat more. Only after eating your fill will you have the strength to fight this long battle. Noodles don’t cost much anyway. Eat as much as you want.”

Bai Shuzhou nodded.

Zhu Yu quietly followed behind Helan, poked her face out, and chimed in, “That’s right. Eat more. It’s already paid for, so don’t worry.”

She was going to work.

To earn money and support the family.

It felt a little unfamiliar, a little fresh, and a little nerve-wracking. But when she thought that she would soon be able to rely on herself, what she felt more than anything was steadiness.

Although Zhu Yu came from a single-parent family, she had never suffered much hardship. She lacked a little of society’s beating. During her internship, she had been half-attached to the school, had no salary, and still maintained a good attitude.

The nutrient-solution factory was huge, far more impressive than Zhu Yu had imagined. Even the floors were pure white. The machines operated in neat order, humming steadily.

Helan led her forward like a heroic leopard and introduced her to the person in charge, saying Zhu Yu was her niece, here to take a summer job. With this connection, even though Zhu Yu had no proof of identity, the person in charge did not make things too difficult for her.

Lunch was included at noon too.

She could eat as much as she wanted.

And so, the moment Zhu Yu started work, she began looking forward to lunch break.

After changing into work clothes, she found the job simple and dull. It was just endlessly repeating a few very basic tasks. They seemed to have become tiny screws in the enormous machine.

The girl beside her secretly put on earphones. The MP3 player was small and leaked a little sound. Zhu Yu listened along for a while. It was all rock music, with a strong beat.

Still very boring.

While keeping the same pace as the people around her, Zhu Yu studied the machines, imagining their internal structures.

They were only responsible for packaging and quality inspection. They were not qualified to participate in the production process. Zhu Yu was actually quite curious about how nutrient solution was made.

The factory was filled with overwhelming propaganda, only increasing as she went farther in. It claimed nutrient solution was the greatest blessing of the interstellar era: a few mouthfuls and you were full, greatly saving time and cost.

But what was all that saved time supposed to be used for?

Hadn’t the human lifespan already become quite long?

What was Bai Shuzhou doing right now?

Would she be as bored as Zhu Yu?

Ah, she forgot. She should have found Bai Shuzhou some books or something to pass the time. Otherwise, she could only keep lying on the bed. That was too sad.

A sad Bai Shuzhou would blacken, reminisce about the turbulent years of her past, then rise up and kill Zhu Yu.

Thinking of the original owner’s miserable ending, Zhu Yu could not help shivering. She practically wanted to raise her fingers to the heavens and swear that she had already turned over a new leaf.

There was a mirror in the factory bathroom.

The first time Zhu Yu saw this body’s face, it was like being struck by lightning.

It was not because it was too beautiful or too ugly.

It was because they looked exactly the same.

Zhu Yu could not understand.

She could not understand.

Aside from her friends, she had barely spoken to girls more than a few times. How had the original owner become a playboy scummy Alpha?

The sense of immersion was too strong. It was as if she had been wearing a fluffy mascot shell, dancing recklessly in the middle of a crowded street, only for the headpiece to be removed and reveal that it had been custom-made with her own face.

A magnified social death.

What a terrifying Russian nesting doll!

Was this some parallel-world curse? No wonder she had kept dreaming of adventures and being hunted down before.

But Zhu Yu did not collapse for too long. The whistle sounded.

It was lunchtime.

Zhu Yu changed faces at once, happily lining up with her coworkers to receive lunch. The girl beside her glanced at her a few more times. “New here?”

Zhu Yu smiled at her. “Yeah. Hi. Nice taste in music. I’m Xiao Yu.”

“Mm. I’m Shan.”

The people here were both warm and cold. In general, when interacting, they only used one character of their names. A chance meeting, easy to remember and easy to forget.

The factory made nutrient solution, and the lunch they provided employees was also nutrient solution.

Xiao Shan jerked her chin and lowered her voice to say, “They give us the cheapest nutrient solution. It sells for five yuan a packet outside. Occasionally, if they overproduce other products, they’ll give those out too. If you take some with you, no one cares.”

Zhu Yu asked curiously, “Other products?”

Xiao Shan was already numb. “All kinds of flavored nutrient solution, nutrient agents, nutrient blocks, nutrient cakes.”

A whole string of nutrients.

Xiao Shan added, “But the five-yuan stuff doesn’t actually have any nutrition. It only fills the stomach and maintains vital signs. You can go to the pharmacy and spend a few yuan on vitamins.”

It was called nutrient solution, but had no nutrients.

Was “nutrient” a trademark?

Zhu Yu felt as though she had learned some enormous secret. Like a secret agent meeting a contact, she whispered, “Thank you!”

An Alpha’s physique really was good. She had not felt tired all morning. Zhu Yu felt this was probably the only benefit the original owner had left her.

The nutrient solution came in one small strip. Zhu Yu tore it open and smelled a faint fragrance, but once she poured it into her mouth, the taste disappeared.

It felt as if something were fermenting and expanding. Zhu Yu felt that she was very much like a loaf of bread currently being baked.

She was full, but she had paid the corresponding price. It felt as if she had experienced, sixty years ahead of schedule, the sensation of lying in bed at eighty years old, intubated and eating liquid food.

Her life had taken a sixty-year shortcut.

If she ate this stuff all the time, a lifetime would probably pass very quickly.

Her wages still had to be reduced by rent and the money she owed Sister Helan. There would not be much disposable income left.

Once she held out until Bai Shuzhou returned to the palace, then they would…

No.

She, at least, would not necessarily be safe.

Those top-tier Alpha love rivals were watching like tigers, wishing they could get rid of her and be done with it.

If she died, would she be able to return home?

To that forever safe, warm, fragrant home, the one that could always shelter her from wind and rain.

The thought surfaced very abruptly. Zhu Yu was startled and quickly pinched her wrist.

She was afraid of pain and afraid of death.

Life was so precious!

Besides, Bai Shuzhou was still waiting for her.

If she really left and that bastard original owner came back to abuse Bai Shuzhou again, what then?

Damn nutrient solution. Eating you makes people want to die!

But it was free, so Zhu Yu angrily ate two more packets.

The more expensive nutrient solution claimed to “let you taste the flavor of happiness.” Zhu Yu seriously suspected they had secretly added hallucinogens.

Sister Helan’s food was delicious, but it really was a little expensive. Last night, Zhu Yu had found some appliances, including a little electric pot with a broken wire. If she repaired it, it could still be used.

Zhu Yu clenched her fist.

With a skill at her side, just watch how she transmigrated overnight and led her family to wealth!

Just thinking about Bai Shuzhou eating slowly and gracefully put Zhu Yu in a very good mood. It was like feeding stray cats by the roadside in the past. Even if the other party was very aloof and turned away without acknowledging her after eating, their existence alone was a kind of happiness.

Xiao Shan watched as Zhu Yu inexplicably became fired up. At that exact moment, a burst of explosive electric guitar came through her earphones.

Xiao Shan: == There it is. A weird coworker.

Zhu Yu stayed full of energy all the way until work ended. Among her lifeless coworkers, she stood upright like a fresh green onion.

After walking away, the green onion began to wilt.

In the morning, Helan had brought her along. On the way home, she was alone, walking through winding, old alleys by herself. Some of the floor tiles were uneven, forming an enormous contrast with the factory’s pure white environment.

She felt a little disappointed in this “future world.”

It was the same kind of disappointment she felt toward the original owner. Clearly, there were better material conditions, yet life did not seem to have become any better.

The high-intensity repetitive labor made her wrists a little sore. She had calculated and planned a bunch of things. After getting home, she would secretly observe Bai Shuzhou’s mood, find her something to play with, fix the little electric pot, the fridge, the electric saw, and there was also a game console that looked very fun…

After deleting and cutting things down, it eventually became:

Forget it.

So tired.

Fix the little electric pot first.

From far away, she saw that the light in the little courtyard was on. Like a vast lighthouse at sea, it stood in the dim yellow dusk.

The aroma of food curled upward. Her tired heart suddenly became very peaceful. All sounds seemed to fall silent, as though her adventure at sea had been only to wait for this moment of returning home.

Zhu Yu quickly ran back.

To her surprise, Helan was there too. The woman’s tall figure moved around in the little courtyard. Zhu Yu was deeply grateful for how she had looked after Bai Shuzhou, so she pressed her hand against the money she had counted in her pocket and stuffed it toward Helan first.

All along the way, she had touched it from time to time, and it had already been warmed by her hand. She had been terrified someone would steal it.

This was the first pot of gold she had earned. Naturally, it was extraordinary.

“No hurry. Sit down and eat first. It’s not like I’m missing this one meal.”

Helan’s expression was complicated, as though she wanted to say something but hesitated. She pushed open the door. On the table was already a small mountain of bowls and plates stacked high.

She turned her head and called, “Zhu Zhou—”

This was the fake name Zhu Yu had made up.

Zhu Yu and Bai Shuzhou.

Bai Yu and Zhu Zhou.

Originally, she had thought that since everyone was being called Xiao-something anyway—Xiao Ming, Xiao Yu, Xiao Zhou—it was all the same and no big deal. But Helan had clearly already treated Bai Shuzhou like an adult, and called her with more respect, using both first and last name.

Zhu Yu’s pupils trembled.

Bai Shuzhou would not think Zhu Yu was humiliating her, right?

Inside the room, that cool-colored figure looked back and blinked lightly, accepting the name.

She had been found out.

Zhu Yu froze in place. A subtle tingling sensation rushed up from her heart.

Why did she answer?

She actually answered!

Bai Shuzhou lowered her eyes expressionlessly, still as autumn water. Her voice was clear and cold.

“Bai Yu, come here.”

Her surname.

Her name.

With a boom, Zhu Yu’s heartbeat sped up. For some reason, a buzzing sound filled her ears. She felt as though her young body had begun to decay, becoming a rusty old machine, clicking and sparking.

Zhu Yu clutched her chest.

It was as if a spring inside her was creaking as it wound tighter and tighter.

She could not fix it.

In a daze, Zhu Yu felt as if she had struck a match. In the firelight, someone was saying, This name wouldn’t be bad for our daughter either…

That person was probably herself, because for indulging in delusions and teasing the imperial princess, Bai Shuzhou had tied her over a fire to roast.

Her ears burned.

She was about to be burned to death.

What butterfly effect, grandmother paradox, since she was already here…

Nothing had happened between them except kissing. Bai Shuzhou hated her so much. How could they possibly have a daughter!!!