After Becoming a Scumbag Alpha, the Green Tea Omega is Reborn - Chapter 17

“Okay, I’ll be there immediately.” Tao Ran tossed her phone aside and hurriedly grabbed the jacket she had set down when entering the room.

“What happened?” Yu Li asked quickly.

Tao Ran was frantic, her voice carrying a hint of a sob. “My dad fainted from hypertension and has been hospitalized.”

“Don’t panic. Send me the hospital’s location; I’ll drive you there right away.”

Yu Li initially thought of calling Lin Lin, but then she realized the assistant had likely just gotten home. Having her come back would be inconvenient and a waste of time, so she decided to drive Tao Ran herself.

Tao Ran nervously pinched the hem of her clothes, her thoughts as tangled as a thousand silk threads.

She clearly remembered that her father wasn’t supposed to be hospitalized for hypertension at this time. In her previous life, it happened six months later, when her younger sister, Tao Yu, dropped out of school and got into trouble, causing him to collapse from anger.

Had something changed at home?

“Ranran… Ranran?”

“Hmm?” Tao Ran snapped back to reality. “What is it?”

“Hurry and send Sister Zhang’s phone number to your mom. Tell her that if she gives the hospital Sister Zhang’s name and number, they can transfer your dad to a VIP ward.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tao Ran scrambled to message her mother. Even as she tried to calm her emotions, tears welled up in her eyes when she walked into the ward and saw her mother’s haggard face.

“Mom.”

“Ranran.” Mother Tao saw her daughter and was about to step forward when she caught sight of Yu Li behind her. She froze for a moment. “Ah, Yu Li is here too. Please, both of you, sit down.”

“How is Dad?” Tao Ran asked anxiously.

“Fortunately, he was brought to the hospital in time. The doctor said he’s out of danger now. But your father’s blood pressure is always unstable, and he gets agitated so easily.” Mother Tao let out a heavy sigh.

Tao Ran’s family situation was one of the reasons people in the industry kept their distance. The Tao family was poor; things only improved slightly after they sacrificed everything to support Tao Ran’s entry into the entertainment world. On top of that, there was Tao Yu, the troublemaker sister.

Tao Ran sat down and hugged her mother, offering a few comforting words. Yu Li glanced at Father Tao and said, “It’s good that he’s okay. I’ll go out to make a phone call.”

In the original novel, Father Tao spent most of his energy worrying about Tao Yu, but that girl was far from a “good child.” Yu Li stepped out of the ward and was about to call Sister Zhang when she caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past the shadows of the stairwell.

Yu Li followed quietly.

Inside, Tao Ran sat for a while before taking her mother’s hand. “Mom, tell me the truth. Is Dad’s hospitalization related to Tao Yu?”

Mother Tao looked at Tao Ran hesitantly and let out a long sigh. “Xiao Yu refuses to go to school again. She’s almost in her senior year of high school; I don’t know what she’s thinking.”

“I knew it. She’s the one who made Dad this angry.”

“Ranran, that child won’t listen to anyone these days. If she comes to find you, you must talk to her—really try to persuade her.”

Tao Ran frowned slightly. She stepped out of the ward and contacted Liu Xia.

On the other end, Liu Xia woke up almost instantly, asking with concern: “Ranran? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. But my dad is in the hospital.”

“What happened to him?”

“I’ll explain the details later. For now, can you help me track Tao Yu’s phone location?”

She wanted to drag Tao Yu back to school.

“No problem.”

A few minutes later, Liu Xia spoke tentatively. “Ranran, which hospital are you at?”

“Hospital A.”

“That’s strange. The GPS shows your sister is at the Blue Mountain Café right across the street from your hospital.”

Tao Ran took a deep breath and looked through the glass window at the café across the road.

Inside the Blue Mountain Café, Yu Li had ordered two coffees. The girl sitting across from her couldn’t stay still, her eyes and hands wandering restlessly.

Like Tao Ran, she had a face that anyone would love—especially those soulful peach-blossom eyes, a mirror of her sister’s. However, her lips were thin and sharp, giving her a slightly cynical look. And in stark contrast to Tao Ran, Tao Yu was an Alpha.

Tao Yu sat for a while before finally asking, “My dad… is he okay?”

“You’ve already asked that twice.” Yu Li smiled helplessly. “He’s fine. If you’re so worried about him, why didn’t you go inside to see him just now?”

“What’s the point,” Tao Yu muttered under her breath.

The server brought the coffee. Yu Li pushed one cup toward Tao Yu and asked gently, “What did you two fight about?”

“It’s just because I want to enter the entertainment industry and he won’t agree.”

Yu Li raised an eyebrow; that answer was genuinely unexpected.

“What’s so bad about the entertainment industry?” Tao Yu grumbled loudly. “You and my sister are both doing so well. With your background and my looks, I’d definitely be a hit if I joined.”

Yu Li stared at her for a long time before choking out, “Who gave you the courage? Fish Leong?” (A Chinese cultural reference to the song ‘Courage’)

“No, a talent agency contacted me.”

“And that’s your reason for skipping class?”

So the little brat was just young, ignorant, and getting scammed.

“I didn’t want to, but the company said I have to pay basic tuition for preliminary training. I don’t have that much money, so I had to go out and find work.” Tao Yu peeked at her guiltily. “If you and Tao Ran can do it, and I’m not bad looking, why can’t I?”

Yu Li was so frustrated she laughed. She rubbed her temples and said, “Little girl, are you using me and Tao Ran as role models? Do you even know our educational backgrounds?”

Tao Yu wilted a bit at that. “Beijing Film Academy… Central Academy of Drama…”

“Then why don’t you enter the industry through a proper degree?” Yu Li spoke like a motherly figure, her voice full of earnest advice. “I believe if you can get into a regular art college’s acting department, your parents won’t object.”

“But I don’t want to study anymore. I just want to make money.”

Tao Yu ran her hands through her hair irritably and took a huge gulp of coffee, only to scream from the heat.

“You and Tao Ran make big money from movies; why won’t you take me with you?” she shouted, sticking her tongue out.

Even though she wasn’t much older, Yu Li suddenly felt the “burden of motherhood.” “The coffee is hot, you child…”

Tao Yu was almost in tears from the burn, panting with her tongue out.

Yu Li tapped her finger on the table, pondering for a moment. “You just want to enter the industry to make money, right? Fine. I’ll help you convince them.”

“Really?”

“I don’t lie to people.”

Tao Yu stared at Yu Li for a moment, then nodded solemnly. “I believe you.”

“I’m not finished. My condition is that you go back to school and study hard. Once you get into an art university, I will pay your full tuition and living expenses.”

“Pfft,” Tao Yu pouted. “After all that, you’re still just telling me to go back to school.”

“If you make progress in school—for every point you improve in any subject on your next monthly exam—I’ll give you fifty yuan. And it’s cumulative.”

Tao Yu’s eyes lit up instantly. “Holy crap, you’re serious?”

Yu Li lightly clinked her coffee cup against Tao Yu’s.

“A Chinese person doesn’t lie to a fellow Chinese person.”

By the time Tao Ran arrived, Tao Yu had finished her coffee.

She ran up to Tao Ran and said excitedly, “Sis, you married well!”

Tao Ran: “???”

Tao Yu chuckled mischievously and lowered her voice. “Be better to Sister Yu Li. Even if there’s no love, don’t let this ‘money tree’ go. I’m going back to school.”

She didn’t even have to do anything, and Tao Yu is already going back to school?

Tao Ran frowned anxiously and asked Yu Li, “Did she just ask you for money?”

“No, we were just chatting.”

“About what?”

Yu Li shrugged. “She said she wanted to enter the industry. I advised her to go back and study.”

Tao Ran let out a sigh of relief.

Only she, as the elder sister, knew what a mess Tao Yu truly was. Skipping class and dropping out was nothing compared to what came later: being tricked into high-interest loans, racking up massive debts, and then being scammed into selling a kidney to pay them back. Their father, who already had hypertension, eventually became bedridden from the exhaustion of dealing with her.

She needed to think carefully about how to save Tao Yu.

“Don’t worry, Tao Yu isn’t a bad person. She’s just naive and easily used by malicious people. Regardless, she is family; we won’t give up on her.”

Tao Ran nodded with mixed emotions.

“I’ve already had Sister Zhang find a nurse to watch your dad. It’s late; the VIP ward has a rest area, so let your mom sleep there tonight.”

“I want to stay at the hospital too. I won’t feel at peace if I go home now.”

Yu Li nodded. “I know. It’s all arranged. But there aren’t enough VIP rest areas, so we’ll have to squeeze into a regular rest room next to the ward for the night.”

“Okay.” Tao Ran gave her a grateful smile. “Yu Li, thank you.”

Yu Li froze. This was the first time since her transmigration that she had heard Tao Ran call her by her name.

The two returned to the hospital. After watching over Tao Ran’s parents for a bit, they went into the small rest room next door. When the light flickered on, they both froze.

There were two beds, both equally small. The problem was… who could tell her why the two beds were tied tightly together? What should have been two singles had become one large double bed.

Yu Li coughed awkwardly and went to inspect them. Two ropes were wound tightly around the head and foot of the beds; without scissors, there was no way she could separate them.

Tao Ran raised an eyebrow expressively. Yu Li hurried to say, “Um… I didn’t do this on purpose. I didn’t expect the room Sister Zhang arranged to be like this.”

Yu Li now strongly suspected Sister Zhang had done this intentionally.

“It’s fine. It’s not like we haven’t slept together before.”

After Tao Ran said it, she realized that she and this “Yu Li” actually hadn’t slept together yet.

“Then… light’s out?”

The room plunged into darkness. Yu Li’s heart was racing like mad. She and Tao Ran lay back-to-back, neither of them thinking of turning around.

The wall clock pointed to 2:00 AM. Yu Li sighed softly; her heartbeat hadn’t calmed a bit. The scent of white musk drifted quietly, overpowering even the heavy smell of disinfectant in the hospital air.

Whether it was a hallucination or not, the scent felt even more potent than when they sat together during the day. Yu Li wanted to pull the blanket over her head. She chanted in her mind: Let me fall asleep, let me fall asleep… I have to be up early for the film set tomorrow.

About twenty minutes later, Tao Ran rolled over. Yu Li felt the blanket behind her lift. The scent of white musk grew heavier.

Tao Ran was moving closer.

“Are you asleep?” Tao Ran asked in a tiny whisper.