After Being Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha, She Relies on Acting Cute to Survive - Chapter 10

A few days later.

Ruan Ci was jolted awake by her phone.

“Why haven’t you gone to the company again these past two days? Your mother is asking about you,” Mother Ruan’s voice was sweet and melodic.

“Ah, I… I’ve just been resting for a couple of days…”

Ruan Ci’s reply was a bit guilty.

Now that Lin Shu’s affairs were settled, her motivation had vanished. She had absolutely no desire to report to the company; she wasn’t cut out for management and had never touched it before.

However, Mother Ruan hadn’t called to interrogate her. She knew Ruan Ci’s personality; the call was simply because she missed her daughter.

Mother Ruan teased affectionately, “Even when resting, you don’t remember to come see me. You actually waited for me to call and nag you. Honestly.”

“Uh, I thought you and Mother were busy…”

“What could I be busy with? Your mother is indeed busy, though. These past two days she even wanted to sleep in a separate room, saying she was afraid of waking me up when she gets back late at night.”

Mother Ruan complained a bit about how late Mr. Ruan had been coming home lately before saying excitedly, “…Once your mother finishes this busy period, come over for a meal.”

The original host had moved out of the house before she even came of age, mostly because she couldn’t stand watching her two parents flaunt their affection every single day.

Mr. Ruan, usually a cold and overbearing Alpha, would lose all his boundaries whenever he encountered Mother Ruan. He became incredibly easy to talk to and negotiate with, which had deeply wounded the original host’s heart.

Ruan Ci agreed absentmindedly, thinking it was no big deal: “Mhm, okay.”

“…”

On the other end, Mother Ruan stopped laughing. There was a moment of silence—so long that Ruan Ci picked up her phone to check if the call had dropped.

“Mom… Mother? Why… why aren’t you saying anything?” Ruan Ci had been answering while half-asleep on her pillow, but now she didn’t dare lie down anymore. She propped herself up and sat up hesitantly.

Mother Ruan seemed to let out a soft sigh: “Now that’s a good girl… Hahaha, Ci-ci, are you still in bed? Get up quickly, look what time it is.”

“I’m getting up now…”

The call ended.

Ruan Ci closed her eyes and rested for a bit. She figured Lin Shu should be on set by now; she wondered how the self-defense lessons were going.

She’d heard from the butler that Lin Shu had recently signed up for an English class… Sigh, such an ambitious female lead~ truly different from a salted fish like me.

As she lay there thinking, drowsiness began to creep back in. The corners of her mouth were slightly lifted, as if she were about to fall back into a beautiful dream.

Suddenly.

The phone rang again.

“…”

Ruan Ci jumped. She grabbed the phone and answered without even looking. Thinking she had just hung up with Mother Ruan, she blurted out, “Mom, is there something else?”

There was no answer from the other side.

Belatedly, Ruan Ci blinked at the caller ID on the screen. It was—Director An!

Ruan Ci’s eyes widened; she was completely awake now.

“Ahem, Xiao Ci, even though I’m close with your mother, you shouldn’t joke around like that.” Director An laughed. “Not fully awake yet? I figured as much.”

“…My mom just called me. I—I thought it was still her… Sorry.” Ruan Ci scratched her head as she sat up.

“No worries, no worries.” Director An’s tone shifted. “Xiao Ci, don’t say I’m not a pal. Just giving you a heads-up: Miss Guan has taken your Lin Shu away.”

“Guan… Guan Jianyue?”

This name appeared quite often in the novel, and because the name was a bit unique, Ruan Ci remembered it.

It was no secret in the circle that the eldest Miss of the Guan family was obsessed with oranges. She favored all sorts of orange-scented Omegas or Alphas, and when she got ruthless, no one could stop her.

Hearing the news, Ruan Ci didn’t immediately think the worst. For one, the original host had a friendship with the Guan family. For another, Lin Shu’s pheromones weren’t orange-scented, so Guan Jianyue shouldn’t be unable to tell them apart.

Director An let out a yawn: “Yeah, she intentionally plied Lin Shu with alcohol at the table. Who would dare stop her?”

Plied with alcohol?? Ruan Ci’s brow slowly furrowed. This… this was different.

“…Wait, this didn’t happen last night, did it?!”

Director An gave an “mhm”: “I was wasted last night, I only just heard about it.”

Ruan Ci: “!!!”

Director An rubbed his temples. “It’s actually quite a coincidence. Whoever Jianyue has been into lately is in our crew, so she brought her to the gathering yesterday. She didn’t really talk to Lin Shu at the table, but later… I don’t know what happened, but they left together.”

“…W-w-w-where did they go!”

“I wouldn’t dare say; Jianyue didn’t tell me.” Director An thought for a moment and reminded her, “I remember you know that one from the Xu family? She has connections, doesn’t she? Have her look into it.”

Guan Jianyue wasn’t in the same circle as them. Director An had two dramas relying on her for funding, so he only called Ruan Ci out of respect for Mr. Ruan.

The one from the Xu family was different; she had almost no ties to the Guan family, making her easy to use for an investigation. Most importantly, she wasn’t afraid of causing offense.

—Actually, this ‘straw bag beauty’ of the Ruan family is quite impressive, Director An mused. Not a single one of her childhood friends is easy to deal with.

“O-o-okay, thank you!” Ruan Ci was dying of anxiety, but she still waited for Director An to say goodbye before hanging up.

She sat on the bed feeling lost for a moment before suddenly remembering the person Director An mentioned. Ruan Ci immediately leaped out of bed and ran downstairs, her bare feet pitter-pattering on the floor.

Today was Dr. Xu’s day off.

She didn’t seem to have been very well-behaved last night either. When she came down the stairs, her collar was open, loosely revealing marks underneath.

Ruan Ci was bewildered: “…” I thought they said Xu Yayi never fooled around!

The strong female Alpha leaned in, her eyes sweeping casually over Ruan Ci’s face. “Looking for Lin Shu?”

She answered her own question: “That’s not hard, but why should I help you?”

“What do you want?”

“What do you have?” Xu Yayi glanced at the sofa, gesturing for Ruan Ci to sit down.

“…” Ruan Ci obediently sat, looking up at her. “I’m asking because I don’t know what I have that you’d want.”

The tall female Alpha leaned down, her thin lips close to Ruan Ci’s pale ear, exhaling softly: “I’m afraid you can’t afford what I want.”

“!”

The breath sent a shiver through Ruan Ci, and she instinctively tried to jump up—only to be held firmly on the sofa by the hand on her shoulder.

Dazed and a bit flinching, she looked at Xu Yayi, her lips bitten red.

The Xu family butler had lowered his head the moment Xu Yayi approached. He saw nothing and knew nothing of the commotion by the sofa.

At a distance that could be called offensive, the Alpha brought her nose close to Ruan Ci’s nape and paused for a moment.

Xu Yayi was certain she smelled a clear, sweet orange scent.

“Mhm, it really does smell good.” Xu Yayi tilted her head, a mischievous smile in her eyes. “You look more like an Omega than Lin Shu does.”

Thinking it a thousand times wasn’t the same as saying it once.

Ruan Ci: “…” Ahhh, I can’t smell it, don’t ask me!!

She wanted to push Xu Yayi away, but then she thought—

Could I even push her?

Xu Yayi looked very… very “A.”

If she couldn’t push her and her hands ended up resting on the other’s shoulders, wouldn’t that make her look even more like an “O”?

It was better to just keep a stiff face and act like she didn’t care.

Right, right! Alphas putting their arms around each other is normal! Only impure people would think too much!

Ruan Ci tried her best to keep a straight face and act nonchalant, even though she felt like she was struggling to breathe.

Xu Yayi still wouldn’t let those bright red ears off the hook.

She even leaned closer, her other hand reaching over Ruan Ci’s shoulder to brace against the sofa.

From a distance, it looked as if she were pulling Ruan Ci entirely into her embrace.

Xu Yayi let out a snort of laughter. “Hey, when you two are together, who’s actually on top and who’s on the bottom?” Lin Shu looks much harder to pin down than Ruan Ci.

Her voice wasn’t low, and the teasing intent was heavy.

The Xu family butler: “…” Hey, the floor looks exceptionally clean today! Kudos to the cleaning lady!

—But could Miss Ruan really be on the bottom? Wow, an Alpha on the bottom?! Unheard of!

Dr. Xu, you really don’t treat me like an outsider, do you?!

The hand on her shoulder squeezed twice more.

“!!” The dazing Ruan Ci almost let out a “yipe.”

Ruan Ci silently moved her back away from the sofa, and away from the oppressive female body behind her.

She swallowed and forced a smile. “That joke isn’t funny.” Why does it feel like there’s a huge gap between this Dr. Xu and the one in the story? She’s too… too… uh, flirty?

From their first meeting this month, Xu Yayi had felt her childhood friend was a bit strange. Seeing her today—

Mhm, she really had changed.

In the past, if she had leaned this close, she would have been pushed away unceremoniously. The other woman would have said, “Get lost, look at me one more time and I’ll gouge your eyes out,” in a tone so disgusted she’d want to stab her.

The eldest Miss of the Ruan family naturally wouldn’t actually do something so cruel to a member of the Xu family, but making harsh threats had become a habit; she liked to maintain a safe distance from everyone.

Now, this Miss Ruan had changed significantly.

She didn’t talk back when touched, and she didn’t fight back when teased. She just sat there, obedient and soft, letting her have her way—Tsk, if I didn’t know better, I’d think the Ruan family had twins.

One fierce older sister, one soft younger sister.

Xu Yayi wanted to study Ruan Ci’s body some more, but the other woman had finally caught on.

Using practically every ounce of strength she had, Ruan Ci pushed—

She pushed Xu Yayi from her leaning position into a standing one, though the other woman’s feet didn’t move even an inch.

Ruan Ci: “…” I knew it!

Ruan Ci’s cheeks were slightly flushed, both from embarrassment and anger.

She hadn’t expected the original host’s best friend and family doctor to be such a rogue. If she hadn’t stopped her, who knows where that hand would have wandered!

“Alright, I’m done teasing you.” Xu Yayi quit while she was ahead. “Let’s go, I’ll take you there.”

“…Really?!”

One moment she was as awkward as a flower that had opened only to regretfully try and close its petals; the next, she was looking at her with sparkling, expectant eyes—Xu Yayi twitched the corner of her mouth, though she was in a good mood.

She had confirmed what she was thinking.

The driver kept his eyes on the road, focusing on driving and ignoring the commotion in the backseat.

“…Don’t touch me!”

Ruan Ci reacted strongly, pushing away Xu Yayi’s approaching body. Her breathing was ragged as she grabbed the door handle, acting as if she were about to jump out.

When she got in the car, she felt she had been touched several times for no reason. Now that she was settled, the Alpha’s body pressed in again, cornering her until she had nowhere to retreat.

She really couldn’t take it anymore! This wasn’t a normal interaction between Alphas; it was clearly—

“Your pheromone scent has mutated. It’s become that orange scent Guan Jianyue loves most.”

Xu Yayi propped one hand beside Ruan Ci, toys with a small tin of ointment in the other, and smiled faintly. “This is an ointment that can temporarily mask pheromones. Are you sure you don’t want to apply it?”

“…” Ruan Ci choked.

S-so she just wanted to apply medicine for her?

But that still wasn’t right! Why didn’t she give a heads-up instead of just touching her!

But Ruan Ci really did want that ointment…

“Do you want to find your Lin Shu or not? Turn around, let’s just get this over with.”

Ruan Ci bit her lip and glanced at Xu Yayi with reddened ears.

“Then… apply it quickly.” Ruan Ci, who couldn’t see any hint of a hidden motive in the other woman’s expression, lowered her head in defeat. She let go of the door handle, moved a tiny bit closer to Xu Yayi, and brushed her hair away from her neck.

The stretch of pale white skin presented to her was like a herbivore personally wrapping itself in a large leaf, seasoning itself, and offering itself to a predator’s mouth.

Xu Yayi narrowed her eyes for a moment.

“Do you remember the amusement park we went to when we were kids?”

While casually taking the ointment and unscrewing the lid, Xu Yayi spoke: “The one with the rainbow Ferris wheel.”

“…” Ruan Ci.

She had only transmigrated into the body; she didn’t have any of the original host’s memories.

She knew Lin Shu’s plot, but she really didn’t know much about this cannon fodder original host…

Ruan Ci stayed silent, pretending she hadn’t heard.

But Xu Yayi immediately asked again.

Ruan Ci: QAQ

With her back to Dr. Xu, Ruan Ci pulled a bitter face and grit her teeth: “It’s been too long, I… I forgot.”

She was afraid Xu Yayi would ask for details, and then she really wouldn’t be able to make anything up. She figured saying she didn’t remember… should be okay, right?

Xu Yayi’s eyes shifted.

—Ruan Ci had once cracked her head open in the haunted house of that amusement park. She had been bedridden in the hospital for two months after that, and after she was discharged, her relationship with Xu Yayi had grown much colder.

Since then, Ruan Ci had never entered a haunted house again, nor had she visited an amusement park.

“Mhm, it’s fine if you don’t remember.”

Different personalities might have different memories, and different identities.

A faint smile touched Xu Yayi’s lips.

To be honest, she didn’t like Ruan Ci, and she didn’t like Guan Jianyue.

Even though they were in the same circle, she rarely accompanied that large group when they went wild outside, looking for random people to play with; she found them quite filthy.

When Ruan Ci was a child, she was an exquisite, beautiful little girl who would have to bathe and change into a new dress if even a tiny oil stain got on her clothes.

The first time Xu Yayi saw Ruan Ci after returning to the country, seeing her laughing boisterously with her arm around a random Omega as if she didn’t care about anything, she didn’t even recognize the person.

Xu Yayi had once dated a few partners properly, intending to marry. However, they each either complained she was too overbearing or that she was too controlling. Gradually, Xu Yayi stopped looking; she could make do on her own.

She knew she had a strong desire for control and lacked a sense of security. Unless she had a partner who relied on her wholeheartedly, she would never be able to shake her suspicious nature.

But it was funny—Xu Yayi didn’t like clingy, pampered Omegas; she was interested in independent Betas who wouldn’t be swayed by pheromones.

But no Beta would be willing to stay home and be kept by her; she’d likely never find someone who suited her.

Fingertips dipped in the cool, light green paste were applied repeatedly to her nape.

Logically, the place where a female Alpha’s pheromones were strongest should be the lips or the chest. Only an Omega’s nape was soft and fragile, making it suitable for marking.

Xu Yayi suppressed a certain suspicion in her heart and quickly finished applying the medicine.

—If she didn’t hurry, this ethereal, sweet fragrance would make her want to bite down.

Not that she wanted to mark her, she just… wanted to take a bite, that’s all.

After the application was finished, Ruan Ci breathed a sigh of relief.

For some reason, when Xu Yayi’s fingers touched her nape, she couldn’t stop shivering.

It was like wearing only a short-sleeved shirt in a cold wind.

Ruan Ci let her hair down and straightened her clothes. She cleared her throat, as if she could use that to dispel the awkwardness in the car.

Ruan Ci: “You said Guan Jianyue took Lin Shu because of me? Why? Did I… offend her somewhere?”