After Being Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha - Chapter 14

Inside the car, Yun Qi removed her appearance-altering simulator and leaned back lazily against the rear seat. Seeing this, Lin Chen removed hers as well. Lin Xi was somewhat reluctant, but after a firm word from Lin Chen, she followed suit.

Blessings never come in pairs, but misfortunes never travel alone. Following the injury to her arm, Yun Qi’s wish to return home and go on a shopping spree in the System Mall was also put on hold.

From a distance, she spotted a rounded figure in front of the Ducal Mansion.

As they drew closer, Yun Qi recognized the ball-shaped person as Lin Chen’s mother, Lin Jue, standing alongside her younger daughter, Lin Yaoyao. Yun Qi frowned; she didn’t recall any major event recently that would require Lin Jue to make a special trip to wait for her in the afternoon.

Lin Chen and Lin Xi saw them too. Lin Chen felt nothing much toward her mother, but Lin Xi shrank back into the rear seat in fear. Lin Jue had never shown her the typical affection of a doting grandmother; every time she saw the girl, her expression was one of “disappointment in a failure,” lamenting how much better it would be if she were a little Alpha.

Before leaving this morning, Yun Qi had told the butler not to contact her unless it was urgent. Consequently, the butler hadn’t called Yun Qi to ask whether to let Lin Jue in; instead, he simply barred her at the gate, consistent with the mansion’s long-standing arrogant image.

Seeing the slowly approaching car, Lin Jue appeared quite happy. Although it wasn’t the vehicle Yun Qi usually used, she could guess the situation from the guards’ reactions.

The car stopped at the gate. The window rolled down slowly; Yun Qi gave the guard a nod and rolled it right back up. Nevertheless, Lin Jue followed happily behind the car as it entered.

“Is something the matter?” the master of the house asked impatiently after Lin Jue had dragged her bloated body panting into the living room.

“I heard Chen’er disobediently ran off to do some meaningless things outside. I was afraid she’d been deceived by outsiders, so I came to talk some sense into her.” Lin Jue wore a fawning smile, occasionally gesturing toward Lin Chen, who stood beside Yun Qi, signaling her to speak up.

Lin Yaoyao stood by her side with a beaming smile, though she was inwardly surprised. She had expected another scene of her mother scolding Lin Chen as usual, but what did she see today? The Grand Duke had actually taken that “wooden block” and Lin Xi out! And her arm—was she injured?

“I…” Lin Chen didn’t get to finish her sentence before Yun Qi interrupted.

“Did I give you permission to speak?” The Duke then looked at Lin Jue.

“Have you considered the possibility that I made her go?” A smirk curled the Alpha’s lips as she stepped toward Lin Jue and asked in a low voice.

She didn’t understand how such a cowardly Alpha could exist. Despite being one of the leaders of a major Imperial family, Lin Jue always displayed this subservient attitude. A compliment or two might be enjoyable, but constant fawning was wearying. Why was her family-in-law such a disgrace?

The throbbing pain in her arm made her temper even shorter. Today had been unlucky enough; finally getting home only to see this “lump of mud” at her doorstep was truly foul luck!

“I…” Even someone with zero social awareness could see the Duke was in a foul mood. Realizing her timing was off, Lin Jue’s bloated body began to tremble. Sweat dripped onto the clean floor—and onto the Duke’s nerves.

A grin split “Yun Qi’s” face as she suddenly recoiled as if from a monstrous beast. she shouted for the butler to drag Lin Jue out, pry up the floor tiles she stepped on to throw them out as well, and replace them with new ones.

My acting is pretty good, right?

[I regret to inform you that you’ve hit the Scum Value cap for today.] Even though Yun Qi hadn’t asked, the system knew what her next thought would be. Their rapport over these past days wasn’t for nothing.

Heartless and cruel. However, there was a bit of personal grudge in that performance. Yun Qi herself didn’t like Lin Jue—she disliked how she treated Lin Chen, pampering the daughter from her current wife like a precious jewel while pushing her late wife’s daughter into a fire pit.

She hadn’t expected Lin Jue to be this afraid of her. In the original plot, Lin Jue died quite early, passing away from illness before Lin Chen even met Mu Yu. Looking at her now, her health was likely already failing.

“My apologies. Mother’s health hasn’t been great lately, and it wasn’t convenient for her to come out, but she was so worried about Sister that she forced herself to come,” Lin Yaoyao explained, moving closer to Yun Qi.

She looked at Yun Qi without a hint of fear regarding the Alpha’s cold expression. Perhaps because she grew up bathed in the affection of those around her, her voice carried a subconscious hint of coquettishness.

But it was useless. The acerbic Duke only heard the “health isn’t great” part and decoded it as Lin Jue intentionally coming to see her while sick; she then pathologically interpreted it as Lin Jue trying to drag her down with an infection.

Simultaneously, another equation appeared in the Duke’s mind:

Lin Jue is sick = Lin Jue has germs = Lin Yaoyao has germs = Lin Yaoyao is approaching = Lin Yaoyao wants to infect me on purpose.

As Lin Yaoyao drew closer, “Yun Qi” took a massive step back. She was trying to dodge the pathogen, but in Lin Yaoyao’s eyes, she was avoiding her while moving closer to Lin Chen behind her.

Showing loyalty? Lin Yaoyao was puzzled. Today’s Yun Qi was abnormal—coming back with Lin Chen and Lin Xi, and pointedly drawing a line between them.

Lin Yaoyao wisely stopped and handed a book to Yun Qi from a distance.

“Thank you for lending me this ancient text. I’ve finished it; it helped answer many of my questions.” The book bore the unique seal of the Ducal Mansion. For a moment, the servants didn’t know whether to drag Lin Yaoyao out or not.

Lin Chen’s ears twitched as she gave Lin Xi’s head a reassuring pat.

“Yes, yes, we also came to thank you for lending Yaoyao such a precious book,” Lin Jue added hastily.

Yun Qi knew the mansion held some rare, private volumes, but why was one in Lin Yaoyao’s hands?

Little Scum, did the original host have any contact with Lin Yaoyao?

[It wasn’t in the plot, so I don’t know. Maybe you can buy a memory? Perhaps you’ll find some scandalous history,] the system said mischievously.

Yun Qi had a servant take the book, instructing them to disinfect it before bringing it to her study, and then asked Lin Jue and her daughter if they could leave now.

A look of grievance appeared on Lin Yaoyao’s face, but Yun Qi, who had turned away to obsess over the ancient book, didn’t see it. Lin Chen, however, saw her “dear sister” clearly and plainly.

That evening, Yun Qi leafed through the book in her study. It was a history of the Empire. Public versions existed, but this one might have contained noble gossip—yet it held nothing scandalous or remarkable.

Thinking it over, Yun Qi concluded that Lin Yaoyao was likely interested in history, and the original host had “borrowed a gift for a friend,” lending her the book.

Stopping her rumination, Yun Qi opened the System Mall. The most anticipated time of the day had arrived!

She checked the top left corner: 121. A lucky number.

“Little Scum, I recall you said the first Random Plot purchase is only 100 Scum Value.”

[Yes.]

“Buy one Random Plot.”

The moment the words left her mouth, black mist enveloped her. When it cleared, Yun Qi found herself inside a cramped wardrobe. Her body seemed to have shrunk.

It looked like a study, but Yun Qi remembered there was no wardrobe here in her timeline.

Outside the wardrobe were two people. One was very familiar—the original host’s mother. The other was a strange Beta male. They were acting very intimately.

Trapped in the original host’s young body, Yun Qi could only observe; she couldn’t control the movements. She could feel how furious and incredulous the young host was. “Her” fists were clenched tight, her eyes fixed on the man and woman outside—mostly the Beta man, as if trying to memorize him for future revenge.

The intense gaze was finally noticed by the woman on the sofa. She asked the man if he felt anything strange.

Yun Qi felt the young host hold her breath nervously, unpracticed in using Alpha abilities to hide her presence.

The Beta stopped and looked around. Luckily, he didn’t find her. Relaxing, he kissed the woman and continued where they left off.

The young host remained curled up in that wardrobe, awake all night. Yun Qi, reliving the memory, felt the same.

With a surge of black mist, Yun Qi returned to the study. She stretched her stiff body; spending a night in a wardrobe wasn’t pleasant. However, this memory answered some questions—like why “Yun Qi” enjoyed tormenting people in the study.

In the plot the system provided, the mother was a gentle, sunny person deeply in love with the father. This memory shattered that perception.

She rubbed her temples. The study seemed to linger with an unpleasant scent. Feeling uncomfortable, Yun Qi decided to take a shower and get some proper sleep.