A Vicious Scum Alpha in a Heartthrob Novel - Chapter 7

Strictly speaking, whatever Xu Qingshui did had nothing to do with Fu Jinghua. However, according to their contract, Xu Qingshui was not allowed to have intimate contact with others during the agreement period.

Fu Jinghua took a deep breath, lowered her eyes, and saved the photo. As long as it didn’t affect the contract, it didn’t matter what the Alpha did. After all, it was just a marriage of convenience.

On the other side, Xu Qingshui had no idea her “acting highlight” had been photographed. Right now, she had other things to attend to. Having dealt with one, there were still two others waiting for her resolution.

Xu Qingshui was a woman of action. She went to find her next “girlfriend.” This one was someone she’d met at a bar; family background unknown, only a name to go by. She was beautiful and bore a striking resemblance to the original owner’s first love. The original Alpha had insisted on “sponsoring” her, only learning her name much later. She seemed like someone who would be easy to break up with amicably.

Xu Qingshui sent a WeChat message to the woman to arrange a meeting to discuss the breakup. When the other party didn’t reply for a long time, she sent another message. This time, a red exclamation mark appeared next to her text.

Xu Qingshui: “…”

Well, at least that trouble is dealt with.

Now only the last one remained: Bai Hua, an 18th-tier actress. There were no real feelings involved; the original owner had specially “sponsored” this little lover just to spite Fu Jinghua. Settling things with her shouldn’t have been difficult, but the woman held onto many chat logs from back then and was part of the industry. Xu Qingshui used to be a professional director and had some connections in the circle, and her current status was Fu Jinghua’s partner.

She feared the woman would try to extort her.

However, before Xu Qingshui could even contact her, Fu Jinghua’s call came through first. Xu Qingshui was puzzled, spending half a second recalling the contract to ensure she hadn’t committed any infractions before answering.

“What is it?” she asked.

Fu Jinghua was succinct: “Look at the trending searches.”

Xu Qingshui had a bad premonition. She opened the trending list and found several tags:

#Best Actress’s Wife Keeping Lovers Outside#

#Domestic Disharmony#

#Best Actress’s Scandalous Private Life#

#Woman Surnamed Bai and Woman Surnamed Xu Together#

Xu Qingshui: “…”

Fu Jinghua’s voice was indifferent; she clearly held no hope for Xu Qingshui’s character. “Look at the ‘good’ lover you found.”

Xu Qingshui was speechless. She hadn’t expected Bai Hua to be so stupid. Usually, one would talk to her first, negotiate, and then get what they wanted. This woman was so desperate for fame that she chose a “suicide mission” tactic to drag everyone down.

Xu Qingshui couldn’t understand it. It seemed there was no need to go find her—the bomb had already exploded.

Feeling a rare pang of guilt, Xu Qingshui quickly said, “Let’s make a clarification video. We need to control the public opinion first.”

A mocking laugh came from Fu Jinghua’s end. “Clarify what? That you didn’t do it?”

Recalling the agreement, Xu Qingshui defended herself: “I only gave her money to make you jealous. Nothing actually happened.”

Fu Jinghua didn’t reply to that. Instead, she said, “Come back home. I’m waiting for you. You’re going to explain every single detail.”

What a dictator, Xu Qingshui thought, but she obediently replied, “Alright.”

When she arrived home, she found Fu Jinghua sitting on the sofa in the dark. It seemed the woman always did this when her emotions were turbulent. Xu Qingshui turned on the light, hung her trench coat on the rack, and softened her tone: “I’m back.”

She didn’t expect Fu Jinghua to speak calmly, but she also didn’t expect a cup to be thrown at her almost instantly.

Fortunately, Xu Qingshui was quick enough to catch it. Feeling guilty, she didn’t take offense at Fu Jinghua’s outburst. In some ways, Xu Qingshui was uncharacteristically mature. Then again, years of chronic illness had tempered her mindset; now that she had a healthy body, she figured she had to pay some price for it.

Xu Qingshui calmed herself and, by the time she faced Fu Jinghua again, she was composed. “Don’t be angry yet. What do you want to ask?”

Fu Jinghua looked at her with a hint of surprise, her anger dissipating slightly. Maybe there really is a misunderstanding, she thought. Unknowingly, she was beginning to develop a bizarre sense of trust in Xu Qingshui. The realization made her frown.

“What’s the deal with that woman at the university?”

Xu Qingshui was stunned, not expecting the topic to jump there. But she reacted quickly, looking Fu Jinghua in the eye. “No special relationship. I haven’t violated the contract.”

Fu Jinghua’s frown deepened, but surprisingly, she didn’t press further. “As long as you know what you’re doing.” She then asked abruptly, “And what about this little actress?”

Xu Qingshui, sensing she had figured out Fu Jinghua’s triggers, replied: “That didn’t violate the agreement either.”

Fu Jinghua inexplicably hated Xu Qingshui’s “contract this, agreement that” rhetoric, yet she didn’t understand why it bothered her so much. Finally, she just said coldly, “Response video.”

Xu Qingshui nodded, her voice still gentle. “Okay.”

The two looked entirely like strangers. If anything, it was a one-sided hostility from Fu Jinghua.

They used Fu Jinghua’s phone for the response video. To Fu’s surprise, Xu Qingshui wasn’t awkward in front of the camera at all; she was very relaxed. As the recording started, Fu Jinghua dropped her cold facade for a more gentle one. Xu Qingshui remained as she usually was.

Fu Jinghua looked at Xu Qingshui, appearing quite intimate. “A-Shui, why don’t you explain the rumors floating around online to everyone?”

Xu Qingshui was marveled. Truly a professional actress. This was entirely different from her real personality. And “A-Shui”—she had never heard Fu Jinghua call her that. Usually, it was no name at all, or her full name.

After a second of dazing, Xu Qingshui followed the atmosphere and looked into the lens with a smile. She began sincerely: “First, I’d like to apologize for our recent affairs taking up public resources and everyone’s time.”

“Regarding the allegations made by Ms. Bai recently, I have no excuses to make. However, everything happened for a reason.” She paused. “As everyone knows, Jinghua is an outstanding person. I put in a lot of effort to be with her. Beyond that effort, a little ‘roleplay’ between couples is essential.”

Fu Jinghua raised an eyebrow. She should have been angry, but she knew this was a response video. It wasn’t wise to make a scene. Given Xu Qingshui’s answer, she was willing to give her some face.

Xu Qingshui had cleverly re-labeled “keeping a mistress” as “couple’s roleplay.”

How clumsy, Fu Jinghua thought, voicing the inner thoughts of the netizens. “Roleplay? I didn’t feel that way. It was clearly an overboard behavior, wasn’t it?”

Xu Qingshui looked at Fu Jinghua with a smile in her eyes. “If it weren’t for her help, you’d probably still think I’m someone nobody wants.”

Fu Jinghua couldn’t help but let her true nature slip: “You are anyway.”

Xu Qingshui countered, “I am not. Plenty of people like me.”

Fu Jinghua instinctively snapped back: “You certainly have a stubborn mouth.”

The team would edit this later, so they weren’t too worried about any discordant remarks leaking out. To some extent, their dialogue had a lot of freedom. The back-and-forth actually managed to disperse the previously stiff atmosphere.

“Back to the point: my actions with Ms. Bai were only to make Jinghua jealous. We had no substantial relationship. I can release all our chat logs to show everyone.”

With that, Xu Qingshui opened her phone to show the logs. There was nothing intimate; the last conversation was from last year. The rest were just plain, unadorned money transfers.

“As you can see, there was no ‘sponsorship’ relationship. She was merely an ‘assist.'”

The remark was a bit offensive to the actress, but Xu Qingshui clearly didn’t care.

Fu Jinghua grabbed the phone. “Consider yourself lucky.”

Because she was leaning in to look at the phone, they were very close—especially given the strong attraction Fu Jinghua had to Xu Qingshui’s pheromones.

Xu Qingshui looked uncomfortable for a moment, but she didn’t dodge. Instead, she watched the screen with Fu Jinghua. Seeing the string of transfers, Fu Jinghua fell into a bizarre silence. She suddenly asked, “Since there was no relationship, why did you keep giving her money?”

Xu Qingshui thought for a moment. “Because I have a strong sense of contract spirit.” A double entendre.

Fu Jinghua surprisingly didn’t get angry. Instead, she gave an evaluation of the behavior: “Guapi.” (Slang for ‘idiot/blockhead’)

Xu Qingshui was confused. “What does that mean?”

The real meaning almost slipped out of Fu Jinghua’s mouth, but she remembered they were recording. More “authentic” footage meant higher credibility. So she brushed it off: “It’s a compliment, saying you’re like a wealthy mascot.”

Wealthy… doesn’t that just mean ‘more money than brains’? Xu Qingshui suspected it wasn’t a nice word, but seeing the “sincerity” in Fu Jinghua’s acted-out gaze, she decided to play dumb. It was her mess, after all. She didn’t want to genuinely anger Fu Jinghua while she was putting on such a performance.

She gave the woman a helpless look and stopped arguing, turning back to the screen: “Jinghua’s career is going well. I’m not sure if someone leaked this intentionally, but if you want to see how we really get along, we have a show coming up. Fans familiar with Jinghua should know what it is. Please look forward to it.”

By the time she finished, Fu Jinghua found her opinion of Xu Qingshui changing even more. She couldn’t help but stole a few looks. That face was certainly pretty, and the woman actually sounded like a decent human being when she spoke.

Once the recording finished, Fu Jinghua immediately distanced herself to handle the aftermath. She sent the footage to her team for editing. While she worked, Xu Qingshui sat on the sofa, uncharacteristically silent—or rather, exhausted.

Fu Jinghua had just left her side, but her faint rose scent remained, which was quite soothing. Even with the sounds of Fu Jinghua handling business, Xu Qingshui didn’t find it noisy; instead, she felt a sense of peace.

She actually fell into a deep sleep right there on the sofa.

Fu Jinghua’s voice instinctively lowered. Since Xu Qingshui had proven herself somewhat useful, she decided not to wake her for now. She stepped out of the room to continue her calls elsewhere.