A Scumbag Alpha Gets the Simp’s Script - Chapter 22

When Yu Jinzhao went downstairs, she happened to run into Pei Daowan. She instinctively offered a smile. “Morning, Miss Pei!”

Pei Daowan gave a slight nod to show she’d heard. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the other’s figure brush past her. Once Yu Jinzhao was out of sight, Pei Daowan suddenly turned her head back.

As if sensing Pei Daowan’s gaze, Yu Jinzhao stopped and turned back as well. “What is it?”

Pei Daowan bit her lip lightly, leaving a pale mark. Truthfully, she didn’t know why she had turned around at that moment; by the time she regained her senses, she was already looking at Yu Jinzhao.

Under Yu Jinzhao’s questioning gaze, Pei Daowan felt a flicker of awkwardness. Why had she done something so abrupt?

“Nothing. I just feel like you’re… different today.”

This wasn’t just a perfunctory excuse. Pei Daowan truly felt a change. If Yu Jinzhao’s previous aura had been steady and reserved—impossible to see through except for the occasional leak of loneliness—now, she seemed to be radiating light. She was impossible to ignore, like a sword finally drawn from its scabbard after being buried in dust.

Yu Jinzhao laughed, her expression holding a touch of boldness that was quite different from her previous smiles. She admitted it without hesitation.

“Yes. I suddenly realized some things. I need to look forward.”

Hearing this, Pei Daowan wondered privately: What qualifies as looking forward? Accepting the reality of being in a strange world, or accepting being someone else?

Yu Jinzhao was in a great mood. Since she was certain Pei Daowan was her only ally, she didn’t hold back in sharing her past.

“Actually, before I came here, I’d just experienced a business failure. I owed over three million. When I quit my job, I was a bit arrogant—I thought I was smart enough to go solo, so I teamed up with some friends as partners. But business isn’t that simple. It went smoothly at first, but in the third year, our capital chain snapped. I lost quite a bit. I was pretty depressed for a while, and then… I ended up here.”

Pei Daowan listened intently, her eyes unblinking, her body unconsciously leaning forward. The System had never mentioned this.

“A snapped capital chain?”

“Mm. One of the partners ran off with the money. Straight overseas, impossible to track. I tried to take out loans, but it was a drop in the bucket. I was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy with over three million in debt.”

Yu Jinzhao was surprised she could speak so easily about it today. This event had been a thorn in her heart—the first real failure of her life.

Her mothers actually had the ability to help her clear the debt, but she was too stubborn. Her pride wouldn’t let her ask, and she didn’t want to live on their charity, so she just made things hard for herself. She’d been in a bad state back then; her friends were afraid to talk to her, and her behavior had become somewhat extreme.

Looking back now… she had been so young.

With Pei Daowan’s intelligence, she immediately grasped the key issue: for someone to run off with the funds, it had to be someone Yu Jinzhao trusted deeply.

Just as Yu Jinzhao thought the conversation was over—Pei Daowan was holding her car keys, ready to head out—the woman spoke again.

“Do you hate her?”

Yu Jinzhao thought about it seriously, then nodded and shook her head. “At first, I hated her intensely. We grew up together. I even had a secret crush on her in middle school. I trusted her with everything, and she betrayed me. To say I didn’t hate her would be a lie. But now? I don’t. Hatred doesn’t solve problems, and besides… I was responsible too.”

When she was first discovering her feelings in middle school, she realized she liked girls, just like her two mothers. The person she spent the most time with was her childhood friend. She was gentle, beautiful, a top student, and popular. There was no reason for Yu Jinzhao not to like her.

Young people can rarely distinguish between admiration and love. Encouraged by a group of friends, she pursued her friend relentlessly. The girl didn’t agree at first because of her studies, saying they could be together if they got into the same university. Yu Jinzhao didn’t disappoint; they ended up at the same school.

The day they got their admission letters, the friend confessed. In that moment, Yu Jinzhao suddenly felt cold. She realized she had never distinguished between admiration and love; she didn’t truly love her. So, she refused. They never spoke of it again, acting as if it hadn’t happened. They graduated and started a business; their lives were always intertwined. They were more like family than lovers.

But at some point, the feelings changed. Yu Jinzhao couldn’t explain it. She was so immersed in her career that she ignored her friend’s needs, leading to that final outcome. Perhaps if she had handled things better back then, it wouldn’t have ended like that. She sighed. “But that’s all in the past. If I could do it again, I’d handle it much better.”

Pei Daowan stood against the light. Yu Jinzhao couldn’t see her expression, only the shadow falling over her eyes, leaving half her face in darkness.

In a very flat voice, Pei Daowan said, “I see.” Then she turned and left.

Yu Jinzhao watched her go before sitting down to breakfast. Pei Daowan always left thirty minutes earlier than her. She didn’t know where she went and never asked. But now, she couldn’t help but think: If I wake up thirty minutes earlier tomorrow, could I have breakfast with her?

Pei Daowan drove a bit faster than usual, her gaze sharp and fixed on the road. In the passenger seat, the System was shivering. It wasn’t that it intentionally hid the business failure; it was just that the Host had never asked!

Now, it was a sin not to speak, and a sin if it did.

As she neared her destination, Pei Daowan softened her expression and rubbed her brow. She needed to pull herself together and stop thinking about Yu Jinzhao.

She glanced at the System shrinking in the corner and said coldly: “When we get back tonight, I want to hear everything about Yu Jinzhao and that person. Organize your words; tell me everything.”

She added, through gritted teeth: “In exhaustive detail!”

The System could only nod timidly.

The day felt exceptionally long to Pei Daowan. Tasks that were familiar from her previous life felt awkward and difficult to manage now, which made her uncomfortable. She attributed this strange situation to the System. Why hadn’t it told her such an important detail? She could have understood Yu Jinzhao better, closed the distance, and made her more obedient.

Feeling distracted, Pei Daowan stopped working. Her new company had just been founded; there weren’t many major tasks, but the mountain of administrative trifles was irritating her. Most importantly, her plan hadn’t made significant progress because… she lacked money.

“Qingyi, come here.”

Liu Qingyi dropped her work immediately. “Sister, you called?”

“What’s the status of the project?”

Liu Qingyi checked her report. “No major issues in the early stage. The main problem is capital. We need funding to continue research.”

“From implementation to launch, how much are we looking at?”

“With sufficient funds, a year at the fastest, three at the slowest. We need at least fifty million.”

Liu Qingyi peeked at Pei Daowan’s reaction. Seeing no movement, she continued: “That’s just the preliminary plan. We’ll likely need more later…”

She truly hadn’t expected Pei Daowan to start such a massive project right away. She didn’t doubt her mentor’s ability—she’d always felt Pei Daowan was overqualified for the Pei family business. But… financing wasn’t easy. Fifty million was a conservative estimate.

“Don’t worry about it. Just go ahead. I’ll figure out the money. Don’t be stingy with research and development; give talented people the salary and respect they deserve.”

“You got it, Sister! I’ve already talked to HR. We’ll get the best people.”

Seeing that Pei Daowan wasn’t worried about the money, Liu Qingyi stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Sister, are you going to let that Yu Jinzhao person invest?”

Pei Daowan seemed to smile, though it was subtle. Liu Qingyi found it hard to read. A month ago, she wouldn’t have dared to ask. But lately, whenever Yu Jinzhao’s name came up, Pei Daowan didn’t look repulsed. Occasionally, when Liu Qingyi badmouthed her, Pei Daowan would even interrupt her, which was shocking.

Pei Daowan didn’t plan to hide it. “Uh… I have that intention. But not in the Yu family’s name. In Yu Jinzhao’s own name.”

Is there a difference? Liu Qingyi wondered. She stuck her tongue out. “I just hope Yu Jinzhao isn’t a mindless puppet for her family. Who still follows those archaic traditions nowadays?”

Pei Daowan’s smile became more obvious, her eyes showing a hint of indulgence. “Yu Jinzhao isn’t that kind of person.”

Hearing Pei Daowan defend her again, Liu Qingyi felt a bit sour. How long has it been? How did Sister’s heart flip so fast? She hadn’t forgotten it was Yu Jinzhao who forced the marriage in the first place.

“Hmph. Sister, have you heard the saying? If an Alpha is trustworthy, pigs could climb trees.”

Pei Daowan’s eyes held a teasing glint. She thought: Not only is Yu Jinzhao not an Alpha from this world, but even if she were, what could she do with those glands of hers right now?

At this moment, Pei Daowan didn’t realize that her current actions would one day come back to haunt her.

“Hmph. Ever since my old Alpha got a government job, he changed. He started saying Omegas should return to the home. What a load of crap. I kicked him to the curb immediately. Sister, if you’re looking for an Alpha, find a young one. You should see the university town near my place—those are real Alphas. Bursting with youth. You can’t even compare them to the ones now.”

Pei Daowan laughed. “Yu Jinzhao isn’t old. She’s in her twenties, in the prime of her life.” While I have lived two lives.

“Whatever. An aging Alpha is a nobody. My next partner has to be exactly eighteen.”

Pei Daowan listened to her chatter while closing her laptop. She wanted to head back early tonight.

“Alright, I’m leaving. You should head back too if you have nothing else. Don’t miss those university Alphas.”

Liu Qingyi’s round eyes widened. Something is wrong. Pei Daowan was a known workaholic. Lately, not only was she going home on time, but she’d been dazing off occasionally—something that never happened before.

“Sister, are you… living with Yu Jinzhao right now?”

“Mm. At Jiangnan Bank.”

Liu Qingyi grew nervous. “Is that person being disrespectful to you?”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry. First, she wouldn’t dare. Second, she can’t. Most importantly… she wouldn’t.”

Seeing Liu Qingyi’s look of disbelief, Pei Daowan massaged her temple. The original Yu Jinzhao’s reputation was truly so bad that Qingyi had such a terrible impression without even meeting her.

“When I have the chance, I’ll let you meet her.”

Liu Qingyi perked up, rolling up her sleeves and cracking her knuckles. “Don’t you worry, Sister. I’m a professional at identifying trash. Leave it to me.”

Pei Daowan didn’t actually want to share Yu Jinzhao with anyone else. She wasn’t the original person anymore, and as for this Yu Jinzhao… she didn’t want too many people to know her. Knowing her herself was enough.

She laughed it off and bypassed the topic, picking up her things to leave.

Author’s Note:

Wow, why is no one commenting? [Crying]