After I Became A Scumbag Alpha, the Female Lead Omega and I Both Fell Hard (Transmigration Into A Novel) - Chapter 9

Ruan Tang wept softly in despair, then bent down to pick up the broken pieces of porcelain.

Alarmed, Song Chenxi immediately caught her hand.

“Ruan Tang, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself!”

Ruan Tang froze. She did not dare nod, much less shake her head.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

The words “go home” sent a chill across Ruan Tang’s back.

She had broken the flowerpot one of her master’s friends had given her. Her master was surely going to punish her.

“Master, I’m sorry. I really—I really didn’t do it on purpose. I-I was wrong. Please don’t hit me…”

Song Chenxi glanced at the shattered celadon flowerpot and immediately understood why Ruan Tang was apologizing.

A wave of bitterness rose inside her. She pursed her lips into a smile and said gently, “It’s all right. Those things aren’t important.”

Ruan Tang could not believe her. She shook her head desperately.

“No, no! It is important. It’s very important. Everything Master likes is… is very… very important…”

Her tears fell in an unbroken stream, making Song Chenxi’s heart ache terribly.

“Ruan Tang, be good. Don’t cry.”

Song Chenxi reached out and gently wiped the tears from Ruan Tang’s face.

“I don’t like those things anymore, all right?”

Ruan Tang looked at the broken flowerpot and then at Song Chenxi, her eyes unfocused.

How could that possibly be true?

A scented diffuser whose brand she could not even name—or a pair of high heels—had always pleased her master far more than she ever could.

Song Chenxi exerted some force and pulled Ruan Tang to her feet.

Ruan Tang’s legs were weak and slightly numb. She instinctively fell into Song Chenxi’s arms.

Song Chenxi caught her with both hands.

As their eyes met, time seemed to stop.

Only the gentle breeze remained beside their ears, blowing softly and ambiguously around them.

“Are your legs numb?”

Ruan Tang returned to her senses and blinked.

“No. I’m… I’m fine now,” she whispered.

Looking at her trembling legs and the ankle that had swollen even more than before, Song Chenxi narrowed her eyes.

“Come here. I’ll carry you.”

Before Ruan Tang could react, her entire body became weightless. Her feet left the ground as Song Chenxi carefully cradled her in her arms.

Her master had never carried her like this before.

Whenever she made a mistake in the past, her master had grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the floor.

Could some other punishment be waiting for her?

Ruan Tang did not dare think too deeply. Her eyes remained fixed on the shattered flowerpot, and she stayed silent for a long time.

*

After they returned inside, Song Chenxi removed her coat.

The weather was growing warmer. Following the little incident outside, a fine sheen of sweat covered her back.

“Do we have a first-aid kit?” she asked.

For Ruan Tang, being injured was an ordinary part of life. The first-aid kit was always stocked with various medicines for bruises and sprains.

She nodded. The moment her feet touched the floor, Song Chenxi pressed a hand against her shoulder.

“Tell me where it is. I’ll get it.”

Ruan Tang did not dare disobey. She sat perfectly still on the sofa.

After setting down the first-aid kit, Song Chenxi went into the kitchen.

When she returned, she carried a small square white towel and a bowl of ice cubes.

She pulled out a wet wipe and very gently cleaned the dirt from around Ruan Tang’s ankle. Then she wrapped several ice cubes inside the towel and pressed it against the ankle joint, which had swollen into a large lump.

Ruan Tang shivered at the sudden cold. She drew back her foot slightly and endured it nervously.

“Ruan Tang, this might hurt a little, but try to endure it.”

After speaking, Song Chenxi’s expression grew more serious.

“Has this ankle been injured before?”

Her observation was meticulous.

Ruan Tang’s other ankle was normal, its joint smooth and delicate.

This ankle, however, appeared unnaturally distorted. Even with a sprain, it should not have swollen this severely.

Ruan Tang nodded.

One second later, she shook her head in terror.

“N-No!”

Song Chenxi blinked, and her movements became even gentler.

She understood that Ruan Tang’s nod had been instinctive, while her denial came from fear.

So this ankle truly had suffered an old injury.

Song Chenxi responded with a quiet “Mm.” Since Ruan Tang did not want to discuss it, she had no intention of continuing to question her.

After all, Ruan Tang still did not trust her completely.

The novel had devoted most of its pages to explicit scenes, leaving many other matters unexplained.

Had Ruan Tang always been this thin?

Did her parents not care about her?

With those questions lingering in her mind, Song Chenxi removed the ice and sprayed medicine over the injury. She moved extremely carefully, afraid of causing the little Omega any pain.

When she noticed Ruan Tang’s confused yet frightened expression, Song Chenxi suddenly remembered the other girls’ love ABO novels she had read.

She decided it would be better to make her position clear first.

“Ruan Tang, I’m sorry. You’ve suffered so much throughout this past year. I know I haven’t been a competent Alpha partner and that I’ve hurt you repeatedly. But it won’t happen again.”

Ruan Tang’s face turned deathly pale with fright, and she shook her head frantically.

“No. Master has always… treated me very well.”

Song Chenxi: “…”

Even Song Chenxi herself could not say that with any conviction.

She bandaged Ruan Tang’s ankle, then put away the first-aid kit.

Ruan Tang felt nothing upon hearing this promise.

In the past, the Alpha had grabbed her hair from behind and slapped her face repeatedly, sneering, “Why the fuck are you crying? You only got beaten once. Be obedient, and it won’t happen again.”

Every promise had been followed by even more brutal torment and humiliation.

Realizing what Ruan Tang was thinking, Song Chenxi crouched before her and looked up into her face.

“Everything that happened before was my fault. But from this moment onward, I will never hurt you again. Please believe me.”

Ruan Tang’s gaze darted away.

Everything that had happened during the past year was like an abyss swallowing her whole, leaving her unable to see any hope.

She did not dare believe her.

At eight that evening, Song Chenxi grew hungry.

“I’ll see what we have to eat.”

After speaking, she headed into the kitchen.

She opened the full-length, double-door refrigerator. The enthusiastic smile on her face immediately froze.

Two packets of fresh noodles.

Two cartons of pasteurized eggs.

One small bunch of leafy greens.

Song Chenxi: “…”

It truly was spacious and clean.

Ruan Tang struggled to her feet and limped into the kitchen as well.

“Ahahaha, we have noodles. That’s not bad, right?”

Song Chenxi looked at the nervous Ruan Tang.

“Then we’ll make something simple.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Hearing Ruan Tang apologize made Song Chenxi’s heart ache.

She turned around and removed every ingredient from the refrigerator as she said pointedly, “Ruan Tang, you haven’t done anything wrong. You don’t need to apologize to me.”

Ruan Tang had never heard such words before and did not know how to respond.

Song Chenxi looked at her and gently stroked the top of her head. Her hair was dry, yet very soft.

Ruan Tang did not understand.

For as long as she could remember, she had constantly been ordered to “apologize.”

Her father, her mother, and now her master…

It was as though she owed the entire world something merely by existing.

“Ruan Tang? I’ll make dinner tonight. Your foot is injured, so go and rest.”

When Ruan Tang returned to her senses, Song Chenxi was already standing beside the sink, preparing to wash the vegetables.

How could she allow her master to wash vegetables and cook?

Enduring the pain in her ankle, she hurried to Song Chenxi’s side as quickly as possible.

“Master, let me do it.”

“There’s no need. I’ll do it.”

The moment Song Chenxi finished speaking, she narrowed her eyes and stared at the faucet with the same baffled expression as the old-man-on-the-subway-looking-at-a-phone meme.