After Becoming a Scumbag Alpha, I Protect the Female Lead’s Love - Chapter 17

On the day Nan Zhiyi went to the Xi residence for dinner, she wore a formal long dress and applied fresh, light makeup. Before heading out, Xi Zhou couldn’t help but roast her for looking too business-like: “I say, President Nan, we’re just going for a casual meal. Why are you dressed like you’re heading to a board meeting?”

“Shouldn’t one be solemn when meeting the parents?” Even though it was a question, Nan Zhiyi’s tone was certain. Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely sure herself, but whatever came out of her mouth always sounded reasonable.

“Is that really necessary?” Xi Zhou felt a bit unsure after being questioned back.

“Forget it, I’m already wearing it. Let’s go. Don’t keep your parents waiting.”

Xi Zhou had no idea that the “solemnity” of the Xi family would completely redefine her expectations.

“What is going on here?”

Xi Zhou pointed at Xi Rui, who was dressed in a little suit looking like a tiny gentleman, and asked a similarly formally dressed Xi Jiajun with a look of utter confusion.

“We have to leave a good impression on Zhiyi.”

“Was it like this when Sister-in-law first came to the house?”

“Of course. Back then you weren’t even willing to wear a dress; I had to promise to buy you a computer to get you to wear it, remember?”

“Vaguely.” Xi Zhou realized her question was a bit OOC (out of character). However, Xi Jiajun and Yang Xiu had been married for ten years, and since the original Xi Zhou had a poor memory, Jiajun just assumed she had forgotten.

Having visited the Xi family before, Nan Jing was familiar with the place. Seeing Xi Jiajun come out to greet them, she greeted him happily: “Hello, Uncle!”

“Hello, An-an. Uncle has some candy for you!” Xi Jiajun grinned and pulled a handful of candy from his pocket, stuffing it into Nan Jing’s hands.

He then pulled out a red envelope and handed it to Nan Zhiyi, who was walking behind. “Happy wedding.”

Nan Zhiyi instinctively moved to refuse, but Xi Zhou turned around and mouthed for her to take it. Nan Zhiyi had no choice but to accept the heavy envelope. “Thank you, Big Brother.”

When Nan Zhiyi caught up to her side, Xi Zhou leaned in and whispered in her ear: “Just take it. Don’t let our contract marriage slip.”

The warm breath, carrying a faint hint of alcohol, flushed Nan Zhiyi’s earlobe. Seeing her ears turn red, Xi Zhou leaned in again and teased: “What’s this, President Nan? One sentence and your ears turn red?”

Smelling that whiskey scent, Nan Zhiyi lightly swatted Xi Zhou with her bag: “Stay away from me.”

“Hey, you’re so double-standard. Why are you allowed to tease me but I can’t tease you?” Xi Zhou acted aggrieved, clutching the spot where she’d been hit.

“Your pheromones are leaking!” Nan Zhiyi pulled an oral suppressant from her bag and made Xi Zhou take it.

“Huh?” Xi Zhou hadn’t even noticed, but she took the suppressant as told.

“When did the hospital schedule your next physical therapy session?”

“This afternoon.”

“Oh,” Nan Zhiyi nodded. “I’ll go with you after lunch.”

Remembering how restless Nan Zhiyi had been during her first time at the hospital, Xi Zhou quickly waved her off: “No need. Stay home with An-an. You finally have a day off; don’t go through the trouble of following me around.”

Nan Zhiyi hesitated but ultimately listened to her: “Alright then.”

Xi Jiajun walked ahead, holding Xi Rui with one hand and Nan Jing with the other. He glanced back to see the two lagging behind, interacting and laughing, but he didn’t call out to rush them.

Everyone in the Xi family was present except for Xi Jiahua.

When the meal started and Jiahua still hadn’t arrived, Xi Zhou asked her father: “Aren’t we waiting for my sister?”

“Jiahua said she’s busy and won’t be coming back today,” Father Xi gestured for everyone to start. “Let’s eat, don’t wait for her.”

“Okay.”

The members of the Xi family were all very easy-going, and the atmosphere during the meal was pleasant. Yang Xiu, a jewelry enthusiast, ended up in a spirited conversation with Nan Zhiyi. Yang Xiu especially liked the lead piece for Minsen’s summer collection. Seeing how much she liked it, Nan Zhiyi grandly promised to send her a set as soon as it was released.

“President Nan really is a beautiful and wealthy ‘overbearing CEO,'” Xi Zhou commented on the way home.

While the Xi family had dressed up for the occasion, they hadn’t pried into Nan Zhiyi’s background during the meal. Just as Xi Zhou said, it was just a casual family dinner. Nan Zhiyi’s manner was elegant and poised; the more the Xi family looked at her, the more satisfied they became. Then they would look at Xi Zhou, remember all the ridiculous things she had done, and get annoyed all over again.

How could such a fine girl have taken a liking to Xi Zhou?

When the three left, Xi Zhou was carrying a pile of gifts from her parents for Nan Zhiyi and Nan Jing. The Xi family saw them off with lingering reluctance.

“Let’s go!” After Xi Zhou and Xi Jiajun loaded the car, Xi Zhou stood at the door and finally had to urge them.

“Coming!” Nan Zhiyi and Nan Jing said their goodbyes one by one before getting in.

Xi Zhou dropped them off and went to the hospital alone for her therapy. As she emerged from the treatment room, her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.” Nan Zhiyi’s voice sounded exhausted. “Finished your therapy?”

“Just finished.” Xi Zhou was puzzled by the sudden call. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Li Qingyu is in trouble.”

Nan Zhiyi didn’t say much over the phone, only gave her a ward number and told her to come over.

“What happened?”

Xi Zhou knocked and entered the room. Besides Li Qingyu and Nan Zhiyi, there was Liao Dong and a stranger. The moment Xi Zhou entered, Liao Dong shot her a fierce glare.

“You have the nerve to ask what happened? Isn’t this all your doing?”

“Huh?”

Liao Dong’s words were sharp and accusatory, leaving Xi Zhou unable to defend herself. She turned a pleading gaze toward Nan Zhiyi.

Before Nan Zhiyi could speak, the woman next to Liao Dong spoke up: “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Let’s step outside first.” Nan Zhiyi pulled Liao Dong and the stranger out of the room, leaving Xi Zhou alone with Li Qingyu.

As they were about to leave, Xi Zhou grabbed Nan Zhiyi’s wrist, signaling with her eyes not to leave her alone—she still had no idea what was going on. Nan Zhiyi looked at Xi Zhou’s hand and told the other two to wait outside for a moment.

To Li Qingyu, the interaction between the two was an eyesore: “Xi Zhou, I want to talk to you in private.”

She emphasized the word “private.”

Xi Zhou adopted a rogue-like stance: “I have nothing to talk to you about. If people find out we’re talking in private, it doesn’t matter to you, but it’s bad for my reputation.”

“You…” Li Qingyu was speechless with anger.

Nan Zhiyi frowned and whispered a reminder to Xi Zhou: “Watch your tone.”

“Xi Zhou, do you really not have even a shred of feeling left for me?” Two lines of tears rolled down Li Qingyu’s face.

Xi Zhou was completely thrown by the tears. She and Nan Zhiyi exchanged a glance; Xi Zhou was utterly lost, so Nan Zhiyi finally spoke to soothe her.

“Stop crying. Is your life really over without Xi Zhou?” Nan Zhiyi tossed a tissue from her pocket onto the bed. “I didn’t see you acting like life and death were on the line when she got married.”

Xi Zhou froze. Was that supposed to be comforting? It sounded even more brutal than what she had said.

Great comfort, please don’t do it again.

“Tell us what’s really going on. There’s no point in hiding it; I can roughly guess why you tried to commit suicide. I know about your relationship with Liu Jinyan.”

Nan Zhiyi’s sentence revealed a lot: Li Qingyu was in the hospital because of a suicide attempt, and Liu Jinyan—Nan Jing’s biological father—was involved with her. No wonder Nan Zhiyi hadn’t wanted Xi Zhou to be so sharp.

“You might not trust me, but right now, you want to get away from Liu Jinyan, and I want to create a good environment for An-an to grow up in. Our goals are aligned.”

Xi Zhou remained silent, listening. Nan Zhiyi gave Li Qingyu time to consider: “Think about it. We’ll wait here. Talk if you want, don’t if you don’t. But if you don’t, I’ll have HR fire you as soon as I get back. Whatever you do with your life after that won’t have anything to do with me.”

“Nan Zhiyi, can you really help me?” Li Qingyu looked at the two standing side-by-side and asked desperately through her tears.

“I will do my absolute best.” Nan Zhiyi gave a firm answer without hesitation.

Li Qingyu wiped her tears and sobbed as she recounted everything: “He drugged me that day, and I was… by several Alphas…”

Nan Zhiyi guessed what was coming and cut her off: “Don’t force yourself to remember that. Just tell me what he’s using to threaten you.”

“A video. He said if I can’t get Xi Zhou to divorce you, he’ll post it online tomorrow.”

“I see.” Nan Zhiyi nodded, then couldn’t help but curse: “He really is a piece of sh*t.”

Xi Zhou hadn’t expected Nan Zhiyi to swear. However, the swearing Nan Zhiyi felt more real and vivid than the dignified, elegant young lady portrayed in the book.

“Rest well. Get some sleep.” Nan Zhiyi signaled for Xi Zhou to leave with her. “When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be better.”

Nan Zhiyi’s words weren’t a formal promise, yet they soothed Li Qingyu. She chose to trust her.

Liao Dong and the other woman were sitting on the chairs outside. As soon as they emerged, the woman stood up and asked: “How is it?”

“Liu Jinyan threatened her,” Nan Zhiyi said. “Let’s go back to my place to discuss this in detail. An-an is still home napping; she’ll cause a fuss if she wakes up and no one is there.”

Xi Zhou desperately needed to exchange information. She had a stomach full of questions. She hired a designated driver to take her own car back and squeezed into Nan Zhiyi’s car.

“Who was that other woman?” Xi Zhou asked the moment she started the engine.

Nan Zhiyi knew who she meant: “That’s Liao Dong’s partner and my friend, Xu Zhilan. She’s the Design Director at Minsen. Li Qingyu is an intern in the design department. They were all working overtime today. Zhilan said Li Qingyu took a call, sat at her desk, and swallowed sleeping pills. Fortunately, the dose wasn’t huge and Zhilan found her quickly. They got her to the hospital for a stomach pump, so she’s out of danger.”

Nan Zhiyi laid out the whole story in one go, saving Xi Zhou the trouble of asking step-by-step.

However, Xi Zhou felt a bit helpless: “What else are you hiding from me?”

“You knew about the connection between Li Qingyu and Liu Jinyan all along. You were afraid I would help them take custody of An-an. That’s why, even after seeing me splash water on her, you still tested me with those photos that night, right?”

Nan Zhiyi let out a long sigh: “I really can’t hide anything from you.”

“Nan Zhiyi, I’ve already been honest enough with you.” Xi Zhou sighed too.

It felt like no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get Nan Zhiyi to fully drop her guard.