After Being Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha - Chapter 21.1

“Have I… grown taller?” Upon waking, Yun Qi felt her field of vision was broader than before. Looking in the mirror, she had indeed grown a bit taller, and the wounds on her arms had completely healed.

[The body undergoes certain changes after using the agent,] the system stated lazily.

“Then how am I supposed to explain this?” While Yun Qi was happy about the height boost, such a thing would be hard for others to understand, wouldn’t it?

If the system had told her in advance that her body would change, she could have laid the groundwork and thought of a reasonable explanation before using the agent.

[They will subconsciously accept your current height.]

Is this another of the system’s abilities…? Even now, Yun Qi didn’t understand the system very well, and its ability to alter human perception made her feel a bit uneasy.

Knock, knock. Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Lin Chen pushed the door open and entered.

“The day after tomorrow is Xi’er’s school travel-study activity. I came to ask if you need anything packed.” Meeting Yun Qi’s puzzled gaze, Lin Chen explained.

The Omega was wearing pale blue loungewear, standing gracefully at the door. Just as the system said, she didn’t notice Yun Qi’s sudden increase in height.

‘!’ Yun Qi had truly forgotten; this week had passed too quickly. However, she didn’t let it show.

“I assume you know what can be touched and what cannot.” After saying this, the Grand Duke brushed past Lin Chen at the door and went to the study.

…

The day for Lin Xi’s school travel-study activity finally arrived. Yun Qi, Lin Chen, and Lin Xi all put on appearance-altering simulators, turning themselves into ordinary-looking people.

The three of them had quite a bit of luggage, but a certain Scum Alpha clearly had no intention of helping her partner carry bags. Lin Xi wanted to come over and help, but Lin Chen refused her.

[Scum Value +30.]

As the system’s voice sounded, the butler appeared beside Lin Chen, took the luggage from her hands and back, walked quickly out of the mansion, and placed all the bags in the back of the car.

‘It seems those points came from the butler.’ The butler really liked Lin Chen, Yun Qi realized once again.

If the butler hadn’t appeared then, Yun Qi might not have been able to stop herself from helping. The contrast between the Omega’s petite frame and the heavy luggage was stark—especially for an Omega who had finished her special period only a few days ago.

The car was a very ordinary one, specifically bought by Lin Chen for this activity.

Yun Qi sat in the driver’s seat in the front, while Lin Chen sat in the passenger seat holding Lin Xi.

‘How can an Alpha let an Omega drive? That would be such a loss of face. If the other parents saw it and thought I couldn’t drive, what would I do?’

[I recall you didn’t say that before.]

‘Before was before, and now is now. Times are progressing; people can’t stay the same forever.’

While driving, Yun Qi found her senses were much sharper. Not only could she see further, but the lane changes and actions of nearby cars seemed slower to her, almost like an “Eagle Eye” skill.

This was the second time she had come out to play with Mother and Mama, but Lin Xi was still very happy. She lay in Lin Chen’s arms and tried to grab the corner of Yun Qi’s clothes. Seeing that Yun Qi didn’t stop her, she looked up and smiled at Lin Chen, her hand never letting go of the fabric.

They soon arrived at the school.

It was a bit larger than Yun Qi had imagined. Cars couldn’t drive inside and had to park outside. Everywhere, there were Alphas carrying luggage and Omegas leading children.

‘I can’t be the one holding Lin Xi, right, Little Scum? The original host was someone who hated this child. Besides, I just used the body enhancement agent; the weight of the luggage is nothing to me.’

Without waiting for the system’s reply, Yun Qi got out of the car and moved all the luggage to her side.

The bags looked heavy, but when Yun Qi picked them up, they felt like large pieces of foam.

They soon reached the classroom door, where many parents were already gathered and chatting.

“You must be Mu Xi’s parents.” A Beta walked toward Lin Chen. “That little monkey boy is mine. He talks to me every day about how cute his desk mate is.” She pointed to a thin Omega next to Lin Xi, even thinner than Lin Xi.

Even in a disguised state, the Grand Duke had no desire to speak with an ordinary Beta.

Lin Chen took the lead in the conversation. “That’s right, our Xi’er also tells me every day about the fun things that happen with her desk mate.”

Lin Chen, when smiling, was truly beautiful. Even though she had seen it many times, Yun Qi was still drawn to Lin Chen’s sun-like smile.

Then the two mothers walked to one side to chat about their children, while the two Alphas stood silently to the side.

During the chat, Lin Chen learned the other woman was named Wu Yuanyuan. Her name matched her person; she still had baby fat on her face and looked quite cute. Lin Chen also told her that her own name was Yun Chen, and the child’s “Mother” (Alpha parent) was named Mu Qi.

“We were quite busy before and didn’t accompany Xi’er to previous activities. Does Huang Siting’s mother have any advice?” As they spoke, Lin Chen began to ask for information about the trip.

“In the past, we always went to ancient cities and the like; we’d just bring some food and clothes. I don’t know how they chose this time, picking the forest.” Wu Yuanyuan got annoyed speaking of this. Although the school assured the parents of safety, she felt that even if there were no danger, the poisonous mosquitoes and other small creatures in the forest would prevent the trip from being as happy as before.

…

Soon, everyone in the classroom had arrived. They boarded the school’s vehicle and headed to the forest outside the capital.

Vehicle speeds in this world were already very fast, but it still took a day and a night to reach the forest.

When she stepped off the vehicle and felt the sunlight, Yun Qi felt like a withered plant in the dark suddenly touching water droplets sliding down a stone wall. She felt a sense of coming back to life and subconsciously squinted her eyes.

Seeing the Alpha’s small action beside her, Lin Chen couldn’t help but laugh. Curled up in such a large mass inside the cramped cabin, she must have felt quite mistreated.

However, she remembered it didn’t seem to be like this before. Was her memory wrong?

Lin Xi also mimicked her Mother by squinting her eyes, adding a gesture of embracing the sun with both arms.

The similar actions of the adult and child pulled Lin Chen’s thoughts back. She felt that watching this pair every day might just be the happiest thing for her.

‘I also want to dump the luggage on Lin Chen, but look at her compared to the other Omegas—others are almost twice her size. She’s so thin; if she fainted halfway, wouldn’t I have to carry her as well as the bags? Anyway, this trip is long; there will be plenty of chances to increase the Scum Value.’ After stretching her body, Yun Qi went with the other Alphas to get the luggage.

“Even though yours doesn’t talk much and looks cold, she’s quite good to you.” Wu Yuanyuan leaned closer to Lin Chen.

Among the parents, although all the Alphas carried the luggage, most would give some lighter small items to the Omegas. There weren’t many who, like Yun Qi, carried everything alone—Wu Yuanyuan’s Alpha was one of the few.

“Mm.” It was a magical experience; Wu Yuanyuan was the first person to tell her that Yun Qi was good to her. Although she knew Yun Qi wasn’t exactly as she appeared on the surface, hearing it from someone else felt remarkably different.

“Mine is the same, doesn’t like to talk. I’ve taught her so many times how to say sweet words but she never learns. Every time she says ‘I love you,’ it sounds like ‘I hate you.'” The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Wu Yuanyuan glared at her Alpha holding the luggage nearby. The innocent Alpha tilted her head, not knowing why her precious Omega was angry again.

Seeing Lin Chen didn’t reply, she assumed Lin Chen was just shy.

“I noticed on the vehicle, you two hardly speak, just quiet.” Wu Yuanyuan kept talking. “It’s fine for one person to be a bit block-headed, but it’s bad if both are. When I got married, I was scared seeing her not talk.”

“?” Lin Chen looked at her in confusion.

“We had an arranged marriage from childhood. The doctor found I was an Omega, but when I was born, I was actually a Beta.”

“It was the same for me and Mu Qi.”

“What a coincidence! I felt we were natural friends.” Wu Yuanyuan felt Lin Chen was a perfect fit as a friend. “My father was ready to treat the arranged marriage as a drunken joke, but she came to our house to propose. We grew up together, and I liked her, so I married her.”

Recalling the wedding, Wu Yuanyuan glared at the person behind her again.

Lin Chen silently offered a prayer for that innocently implicated Alpha.

“On the wedding day, she still wouldn’t talk to me. I thought she was being forced, so I didn’t take the initiative to speak. At that time, I was like you, not saying much. Later, I found my photo album in her study, guessed she liked me, and took the initiative. That’s how we became like this.”

Wu Yuanyuan stared at Lin Chen. She thought the current Lin Chen was just like her back then—shy and timid, too embarrassed to speak to Yun Qi.

Lin Chen smiled somewhat awkwardly. Wu Yuanyuan talked a lot, but she didn’t find it annoying. Moreover, she felt Wu Yuanyuan’s Alpha was slightly similar to her own; perhaps she could learn something.

“I’m telling you, you should…”

…

The local guide hired by the school led the way at the front, with the Omegas and Betas following. The children wanted to play together and didn’t want to stand with their parents, so the whole class of kids was in the middle of the line, followed by the Alphas carrying luggage.

The Alpha group was much quieter than the two groups in front, and Yun Qi’s side was particularly silent.

One reason was that this was Yun Qi’s first time participating, while the other Alphas had accompanied their children several times and were quite familiar with each other. Another reason was the vibe Yun Qi gave off. Although she looked ordinary after using the simulator and wasn’t aggressive, others felt there was a wall between them and her.

Only Wu Yuanyuan’s Alpha walked alongside Yun Qi, but she also had a silent personality, so the two of them together were even quieter.

Lin Xi looked very excited, playing and fooling around in the line with her good partner. Yun Qi watched from behind, her heart in her throat.

The paths in the forest were not flat, with occasional gravel. Lin Xi had already been tripped a few times; luckily, she hadn’t fallen.

The Alpha beside her was also staring intently at her own daughter, for fear of an accident.

‘So boring,’ Yun Qi complained to the system.

[You could go talk to them.]

‘That wouldn’t fit the persona.’

[So now you know how I felt in the “little black room”? I didn’t come out for a whole week then.]

‘Don’t you have dramas left by your predecessors to binge?’

While Yun Qi and the system were bickering, the line slowly stopped.

It was hard to imagine such a wide-open space in the forest. In the center was a large circular altar surrounded by dilapidated stone pillars, which still bore some blurred patterns.

It was clear that this place had once been magnificent, but with the development of the era and the progress of technology, it had been gradually abandoned.

Suddenly, when her gaze shifted to one of the stone pillars, Yun Qi froze for a moment.

Thanks to her enhanced vision from the agent, she felt the marks on this pillar were newer than those on the others.

Yun Qi subconsciously wanted to walk closer to that pillar, to touch its rough surface and the mysterious script upon it.

“Time to start pitching the tents.” The Alpha beside her spoke to remind her. This was the first sentence she had ever said to Yun Qi.

After speaking, she walked toward her Beta.

The temperature difference between day and night in this forest was large, and visibility at night was low. On the first day of the itinerary, the only activity was pitching tents, followed by family time for students and parents to familiarize themselves with the surroundings—though they couldn’t wander too far.

Yun Qi came back to her senses, feeling as if she had been possessed just now. She stopped paying attention to or approaching that eerie stone pillar and walked toward Lin Chen.

“Xi’er wants to go pick some wild fruit with her friends, so could you help us pitch the tent first?” Lin Chen leaned close to Yun Qi and whispered.

The disguised Grand Duke looked at her partner in surprise and nodded reluctantly.

‘I can’t exactly accompany Lin Xi to pick wild fruit, can I, Little Scum? The original host was someone who hated her Omega daughter that much. What do you think?’ With a trial-and-error mindset, Yun Qi explained to the system.

She didn’t think this reason held water. She hadn’t wanted to agree; in her original plan, she should have stood coldly to the side, watching the Omega pitch the tent alone. This would contrast sharply with the Alphas nearby pitching tents while the Omegas played with the kids, highlighting how scummy she—Yun Qi—was. Then she could earn Scum Value and reach the peak of life.

Most importantly, pitching a tent isn’t a hard task for an Omega; she didn’t think she’d go soft-hearted over it. Probably?

But when Lin Chen leaned in just now, a faint scent of lily wafted over, and a strand of hair seemed to brush against her. Since using the agent, Yun Qi’s physical perception had greatly increased. She hadn’t expected her sensitivity to these touches to rise as well. Looking at the big Omega’s sparkling eyes and the little Omega beside her with the same star-eyes as her Mama, Yun Qi somehow agreed.

[Mm.] The system seemed a bit distracted and actually agreed with Yun Qi’s reasoning.

Pitching a tent—isn’t that something anyone with hands can do? That was Yun Qi’s initial thought.

Sorry, I don’t have hands. That was her thought during the process.

Lin Chen might have intended to do it herself initially, as she hadn’t brought the manual. Yun Qi had to rely on intuition to assemble the pile of unfamiliar parts before her.

The results were unsatisfactory.

Every part seemed to be combined correctly, but the tent just wouldn’t stand up.

She secretly glanced at how other Alphas were assembling theirs, but the tents around her were varied and didn’t look like hers.

‘This is really a headache. Little Scum, do you know how to pitch a tent?’

[You guess.]

‘I think you do.’

[Then you guessed wrong!]

How stupid was she to ask a system?

“Need help?” Wu Yuanyuan’s Alpha quietly leaned over. She had already finished her tent, arguably the fastest among the parents.

The Grand Duke felt she didn’t need help, but she did need a servant to pitch the tent for her.

A grand Grand Duke, even in disguise, would not personally pitch a tent.

“Mm.” Yun Qi nodded.

Seeing Yun Qi nod, the Alpha opposite began to work.

“You…” The Alpha seemed hesitant but asked anyway, “How do you make your partner so happy?”

She had seen the interaction between Yun Qi and Lin Chen earlier.

The Omega asked a question, Yun Qi agreed, and then the Omega’s eyes became smiley. Even though she was also pitching a tent—and had even taken the initiative to do so before Yuanyuan asked—Yuanyuan hadn’t even looked at her before going to play with her new friend.