After Being Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha - Chapter 44

Midway through dinner, Yun Qi’s communicator rang. She glanced at it; it was her cousin calling.

“Are you busy lately?”

“I’ve got some things going on. Why do you ask?”

“Did you forget something recently?” Yun Xiaoyue asked with a laugh, but Yun Qi heard the underlying threat. It felt as if Yun Xiaoyue would crawl through the phone to beat her if she dared to say she had forgotten.

She thought back carefully. Before her “accident,” she had discussed Xu Jilin with her cousin. She had guaranteed she’d act as the scout to find out if Xu Jilin had anyone she liked; if not, she’d be the first to tell her cousin and build a bridge of love between them.

Could this be what her cousin was referring to?

“How could I forget? I remember everything involving you clearly, Cousin,” Yun Qi said with a smile. The little snowy owl had woken up at some point and scurried out of Lin Chen’s bedroom, running to Yun Qi’s side to tread on her shoes with its talons.

“I asked Jilin. She doesn’t have anyone she likes.”

“Really?” Yun Qi felt something was slightly off with Yun Xiaoyue’s tone.

“Of course it’s true. And she…” Yun Qi paraphrased what Xu Jilin had told her and relayed it to Yun Xiaoyue, emphasizing what a responsible mother and partner Xu Jilin would be in the future.

As she spoke, she felt a gaze from beside her. Lin Chen found Yun Qi’s matchmaking act quite amusing and was watching her with a stifled laugh, hand over her mouth.

The Alpha felt belittled by her Omega and gave her partner a fierce glare. Seeing this, the Omega lowered her hand and blinked at the Alpha to signal her apology.

While Yun Qi and Lin Chen were interacting, there was total silence on Yun Xiaoyue’s end.

“Cousin? Yueyue? Yueyue? Are you listening?” Yueyue was Yun Xiaoyue’s nickname. Because there was no response, Yun Qi instinctively used the pet name.

Whenever Yun Xiaoyue threw a tantrum, the original host loved to call her by her nickname. Yun Xiaoyue would stop crying and say angrily, “I’m your older sister, you can’t call me that.”

“I’m listening. So that’s what she told you.”

Yun Qi felt the voice on the other end was odd—lower and raspier than usual, lacking its typical vibrancy and perkiness.

“You don’t believe me? Jilin has been following me constantly; she doesn’t have many chances to interact with Omegas.”

“So she’s learned to be just like you.”

Great. Now Yun Qi could tell for sure—the other person was definitely angry.

But before she could say anything else, Yun Xiaoyue hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing the smile vanish from Yun Qi’s face, Lin Chen asked softly.

“Eat your food. It’s none of your business.” Having been vented at by her cousin, the Alpha naturally took it out on the partner she supposedly disliked.

[Scum Value +30.]

She picked out some of the sweeter dishes and placed them in front of Lin Chen, signaling her to eat and be quiet.

Yun Qi didn’t actually mind Yun Xiaoyue’s behavior much. Though she acted close to her, she was a transmigrator after all; she lacked the deep blood bond between the original host and her family. Furthermore, having seen the original host’s memories after she “woke up,” Yun Qi didn’t think the original host actually liked this cousin that much. Aside from the extreme loathing for Lin Chen, the original host’s feelings for others seemed to be in a constant state of flux.

Speaking of which, now that she had clarified her own heart, she needed to go see the other protagonist—but that would have to wait until she recovered.

“You, you… you have wings but don’t use them. You run around on the ground like a ‘walking chicken’ all day. I bet you won’t even know how to fly soon.” In just a moment, the snowy owl had scurried over to Lin Chen, bobbing its head and hooting to act spoiled until the Omega picked it up to rub its face.

Yun Qi couldn’t help but look at the owl’s soft, round body. Its wings were so pudgy it really looked like it couldn’t fly. Noting Yun Qi’s gaze, the owl hooted at her once and dove into Lin Chen’s arms, leaving only its back for Yun Qi to see.

It still remembered the grudge from earlier!

Just as Yun Qi thought the day would end uneventfully, her communicator rang again. It was still Yun Xiaoyue.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you just now.” Yun Xiaoyue had come to apologize.

“Mm.” The Grand Duke wasn’t that easy to coax.

“So I’ve decided to come over and apologize in person.”

“?” The Grand Duke started to panic. Her cousin was not someone who could keep a secret.

“I’m almost there. Remember to tell the guards to let me in.” Yun Xiaoyue thought for a moment and added, “Don’t tell my mother. She’ll kill me if she finds out.”

“I’ve got some business lately and I’m not at the mansion. I’ll come find you when I’m free.”

“I can wait for you to come back.”

“Don’t go disturbing Lin Chen. she’s been feeling unwell lately.” The Alpha finally thought of an excuse. “Be good.” Hearing the continued coaxing from the other side, the Grand Duke added the final line.

When it came to acting spoiled, Lin Chen’s voice was much more pleasant; it made her unable to refuse. Yun Qi looked at the Omega taking a nap beside her. This girl, as soft as a rabbit, always loved to say firm things in a soft tone while looking at her with those beautiful eyes, making it impossible for Yun Qi to voice a refusal. She ended up violating her initial intentions time and time again.

Perhaps disturbed by the sound of the call, Lin Chen shifted closer to Yun Qi, pulling the quilt up to cover her ears. In her sleep, Lin Chen never hid her dissatisfaction; she would make many movements to assert her presence, as if acting spoiled to the person beside her: “Stop being so noisy, I’m almost awake.” To Yun Qi, these movements were incredibly cute.

Moreover, perhaps because she understood her own heart now, Yun Qi felt a secret sense of pride when she saw Lin Chen’s defenseless state beside her. She didn’t think such trust was easy to earn. In the original plot, even Mu Yu only managed to touch the depths of Lin Chen’s heart near the grand finale.

However, to prevent the Omega from smothering herself, she pulled the quilt down slightly before getting up to go to the bathroom to finish the conversation with her cousin.

Yun Xiaoyue realized there was no room for negotiation. Knowing her cousin was as stubborn as her mother, she didn’t push further. She complained a few times—”Why are you all keeping things from me?”—and stopped making demands.

“I saw Xu Jilin out eating with a strange Omega,” Yun Xiaoyue said to Yun Qi with some grievance.

“You must have seen wrong. Jilin has been very busy lately.” Yun Qi searched her mind but found no one who fit that description.

“It was a very tall Omega. I’ll send you the photo later.” Very tall? Yun Qi was even more certain she hadn’t seen such a person.

Before the photo was sent over, Yun Qi was absolutely certain her cousin had identified the wrong person—until she saw herself in the photo. She was stunned for a long while.

It certainly fit her cousin’s description perfectly.

“Go ask her for me—who is this woman?” Yun Xiaoyue’s huffy voice pulled Yun Qi’s thoughts back.

“…She is a lead for some business I’ve been busy with lately. I’m the one who told Jilin to get in touch with her.”

“But they went to a private booth together!”

“They had matters to discuss. She reported it to me beforehand.”

“Really?” Yun Qi could hear that although Yun Xiaoyue’s tone was questioning, her mood was significantly better.

“When have I ever lied to you?” As long as you don’t know, it counts as not lying.

Saying what people want to hear to their faces—that was something Yun Qi had learned in her past life. Even if she was reluctant to socialize, she had to play the part. If there was one person in this world she was unwilling to deceive, it would be Lin Chen (Lin Xi didn’t count since she was a child). Even a well-intentioned lie could corrode a relationship like a crack that required countless small lies to patch. Life is long, and she couldn’t ensure she could keep a lie forever. She didn’t want to see the Omega’s disappointed face.

“Alright…”

Afterward, Yun Xiaoyue complained about entertainment gossip for a while, specifically about Jin Mo. She had disliked that “dodder flower” from the start, but since her cousin liked her so much back then, she hadn’t said anything.

Originally, Jin Mo had met Yun Qi as the date of one of Yun Qi’s playboy friends, but she had played up a “ethereal” persona. Every time Xiaoyue was around, Jin Mo would act aggrieved, as if she were being bullied.

Recently, one of Jin Mo’s endorsements was snatched by a newcomer. Coincidentally, that newcomer also favored white clothes and belonged to the same company. In a recently released movie, Jin Mo’s promotional photos were everywhere, but audiences found that the newcomer in the corner of the poster was the actual lead; Jin Mo only appeared in flashback fragments. Since then, reviews on various platforms have been introducing the newcomer as “Little Jin Mo.”

Though Jin Mo appeared magnanimous on the surface, telling friends she was helping a junior, anyone could see the company was using her reputation to pave the way for the newcomer. Regarding the company’s move, some were happy and some were worried; Yun Xiaoyue was definitely in the happy camp. She urged Yun Qi over the phone not to help if Jin Mo came looking.

Her suspicion had merit. The two biggest entertainment news segments lately were the newcomer’s debut and the “scandal” between Jin Mo and Yun Qi—reheating old news that had been reported ages ago.

“Does your cousin look like the type to eat ‘regurgitated grass’?” If Xiaoyue hadn’t mentioned it, she would have forgotten the person existed.

Her impression of that woman was complex. When Jin Mo interacted with the original host (or her transmigrated self), she gave off a feeling similar to Lin Chen—totally different from her ethereal public persona. But everyone in the Empire knew the Grand Duke hated her partner, so why would anyone mimic the person the Grand Duke hated?

She comforted herself saying these were coincidences, but the sense of déjà vu between Jin Mo and Lin Chen was too strong; it made her uncomfortable.

After chatting with Yun Xiaoyue for a bit longer, she hung up.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found her spot had been hijacked. The snowy owl had scurried from its floor nest onto the bed. That nest was a brand new purchase the owl had picked out online itself, yet it only had three minutes of interest before abandoning it.

“Move over,” Yun Qi threatened the owl in a low voice. Then, she lay back down in her spot.