A Scumbag Alpha Gets the Simp’s Script - Chapter 21

Time seemed to freeze. Yu Jinzhao didn’t know how long she had been looking at her; it felt like a century, yet also like only a fleeting moment. Then, she nodded abruptly. “I’m done.”

She didn’t need to look at Pei Daowan anymore, for that scene had been deeply branded into her mind. She no longer needed a model; she only needed to depict the beauty she had captured.

So she’s memorized it? Her memory is quite good!

“When will it be finished?”

Yu Jinzhao began packing away the tools she hadn’t even fully spread out yet, not forgetting to answer: “It might take a long time.”

Pei Daowan was surprised. Although she didn’t paint and had never studied art, she assumed finishing a single painting was a relatively simple task. Why would it take so long?

As if sensing her confusion, Yu Jinzhao continued: “I originally thought I could finish it tonight, but the moment I saw you, I realized I was being too arrogant. Not only have I not touched a brush in a long time, but I simply cannot depict your beauty right now.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Yu Jinzhao continued her praise: “You are too beautiful. I’m almost afraid to paint you; it feels a bit… presumptuous.”

If anyone else had said these words in a different setting, Pei Daowan would have found them incredibly greasy. She had heard countless similar lines, many even more exaggerated than Yu Jinzhao’s.

But looking into Yu Jinzhao’s clear, transparent eyes, she felt no rejection or discomfort. Perhaps it was because Yu Jinzhao was so open and sincere that she felt a rare flicker of bashfulness herself.

This was rare. She knew the nature of Alphas all too well. Even though she knew in her heart that this Yu Jinzhao wasn’t a “real” Alpha, once someone was tied to that identity, how much better could they be?

She admitted she held a certain prejudice against Alphas, so she usually disliked interacting with them and hated hearing such words. She wasn’t some teenage girl who would get dizzy from a few sweet phrases. To her, these romantic-sounding expressions usually felt annoying and laughable—the talk of people who didn’t know their place.

Yet, when these words came from Yu Jinzhao tonight, she recognized the lethality of such sincerity for the first time.

A slight tingling sensation spread through her chest, leaving her a bit flustered. Not wanting to lose face or be put at a disadvantage, she looked directly back into Yu Jinzhao’s eyes.

Her heart rate accelerated involuntarily, and an emotion she had never felt before surged within her. She suddenly felt a pang of regret; perhaps she shouldn’t have intentionally enticed Yu Jinzhao.

Before Pei Daowan could think further, Yu Jinzhao spoke with a light smile: “There is a beautiful lady, clear and graceful. Meeting her by chance, she fulfills all my wishes.”

Pei Daowan paused. She didn’t recognize the classic verse immediately, but she could easily guess its meaning.

“It’s a saying from my world. I thought it suited tonight perfectly, so I wanted to tell you.”

Pei Daowan desperately wanted to see something else in Yu Jinzhao’s eyes—a voyeuristic gaze at her beauty, a desire to possess an Omega, the hunger of a predator…

But there was nothing. It was as if Yu Jinzhao truly just thought she was beautiful, a praise coming from the bottom of her heart. It left Pei Daowan not knowing how to react.

Her beauty had never brought her many benefits; in both her past and current lives, it had only caused trouble. She understood the concept of “possessing a jade makes one a target.” Sometimes she even wished she weren’t so good-looking. Now, as she used her own face to lure Yu Jinzhao, something seemed to be slipping out of her control.

Yu Jinzhao liked her beauty, but it seemed she only liked it—the way a child looks at a flower, happy and delighted but without further thought. This kind of affection was too pure; it wasn’t what Pei Daowan wanted.

She would have preferred it if Yu Jinzhao had a lot of selfish motives, such as wanting to possess her. That way, she could use her without any moral burden. But Yu Jinzhao seemed to have none of that; she simply offered pure appreciation.

At this thought, annoyance rose within her again. Was her charm lacking, or was Yu Jinzhao just too good at acting?

Her emotions took over, and she issued a dismissal: “Fine. Since you say you’ve memorized it, go back and paint it slowly.”

Yu Jinzhao noticed the immediate shift in Pei Daowan’s mood. If she had been as calm as water with a hint of proud confidence before, she was now dark-eyed and cold, pushing people a thousand miles away.

Though she didn’t understand the change, Yu Jinzhao could only accept it. she felt a bit of regret; she wouldn’t be able to see her tonight, and she didn’t know when the next time she could look at her like this would be.

Packing her tools, Yu Jinzhao politely said goodnight and closed the door.

The sound of the lock clicking was very soft, just like Yu Jinzhao herself—perfectly well-mannered. Yet Pei Daowan still felt that lingering annoyance.

Click.

All sound from the outside was cut off. Pei Daowan was alone in her room again. They had returned to their respective spaces, back to being “polite strangers.”

Pei Daowan instinctively twitched her nose, catching a lingering scent in the air. Pheromones?

It was different from before. That person’s pheromones didn’t smell like this—they were disgusting. Could it be that when the soul changes, the scent of the pheromones changes too? Pei Daowan took another sniff, but there was nothing left. It felt as if the scent just now had been an illusion.

If it were Yu Jinzhao… what would her pheromones smell like? What kind of scent would she like? What kind of pheromones would be compatible with her?

In an instant, these questions popped into her head one after another, clamoring for attention. Pei Daowan pinched herself, forcing her mind back to clarity.

What did Yu Jinzhao’s pheromones have to do with her? With her glands drugged like that, they were as good as ruined anyway.

I am going to use her. I shouldn’t have these irrelevant thoughts. At this thought, Pei Daowan’s gaze grew much sharper. She didn’t need anyone to save her. Anyone could be a pawn on her path to revenge!

Yu Jinzhao, unaware of the turmoil in Pei Daowan’s mind, was in high spirits. She wasn’t tired at all; instead, she spread her canvas back out.

She painted through the night. It wasn’t until the morning sun made her eyes sting that she finally stretched her stiff muscles. She had painted for the entire night without stopping once.

As the sunlight hit her face, she let out a lazy yawn, squinting as she looked at her work with an appreciative gaze.

She hadn’t painted Pei Daowan yet. She had painted the balcony itself, leaving a large area of white in the center. That was the space she had reserved for Pei Daowan.

Yu Jinzhao nodded with satisfaction. Though it had been a long time since she’d painted, she wasn’t too rusty. Her hard work studying art as a child hadn’t gone to waste.

Carefully putting away her easel, she let out a long breath. Having stayed up all night, she was currently in a state of high excitement.

While painting the balcony, she had been conceptualizing how to render Pei Daowan’s portrait. This was Aphrodite; she had to treat it with the utmost seriousness.

At the same time, her mind was racing. She had been here for over a month. The System was unreliable, the Yu family couldn’t be trusted… the only choice left was Pei Daowan.

She had no other options, so she would place all her bets on Pei Daowan. After all, she truly had nothing of her own except for the original owner’s identity.

Yu Jinzhao stood straight and faced the rising sun. Though it was only dawn, it still stung her eyes, making her tear up physiologically, yet she didn’t look away.

She wasn’t some “Child of Destiny,” and her past life had been smooth sailing—except for that business failure. At that thought, her gaze darkened, her eyelashes trembled, and a few crystalline drops slid down, stung out by the dawn.

It’s time to move on. One cannot stay trapped in the past. She had failed because she trusted outsiders too easily and made an incorrect judgment of the market. She would learn her lesson; she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Since she had the original owner’s identity, she would start by mastering and controlling the original owner’s resources!

She wouldn’t fail a second time!