After I Picked Up the Movie Queen Who Was Pretending to Be an Alpha - Chapter 12

“Try it. It’s sweet and soft.”

Cotton candy.

In truth, Pei Suyuan had only eaten it once in her entire life. It was during a summer break in elementary school when Zheng Xuncheng and Wang Qian took her to an amusement park. Zheng Yi was there too. But after that day, she never went back to the Zheng house, nor to an amusement park. She certainly never had cotton candy again.

Tasting it now, it was soft and sticky, filling her mouth with a heavy sugary taste. It was very sweet. Pei Suyuan blinked hard, trying to force back her tears. She didn’t want to—she didn’t want to lose face like this in front of Wei Jinzhi.

Wei Jinzhi was very considerate; she turned her head away and waited until Pei Suyuan’s urge to cry subsided. Only then did she turn back and ask, “Want to eat hot pot?”

Pei Suyuan continued blinking, looking at her with pursed lips.

Sitting in the passenger seat of the Tesla, Pei Suyuan still felt a bit dazed. She didn’t even know how she had ended up following Wei Jinzhi to the underground garage and getting into her car. The cotton candy was still held in her hand; she hadn’t continued eating it.

Wei Jinzhi stole a few glances at her while driving and asked, “Not eating anymore?” Before Pei could answer, Wei continued to herself, “It’s fine if you don’t. We’re going to eat hot pot soon anyway; you can eat it later.”

When mentioning hot pot, Pei Suyuan noticed that Wei Jinzhi’s tone became perceptibly cheerful. It was different from her usual melodic, indirect way of speaking; her pitch had shifted upward significantly.

Pei stole a glance at her and saw that the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned as well. She couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really like hot pot that much?”

“I love it. I love spicy food. What about you? Can you handle it?”

Pei Suyuan nodded slightly. “I can.”

After answering, she turned her head back to the window to watch the night scenery. She thought to herself that people in West Beijing usually have diverse tastes and eat everything, but they weren’t necessarily known for high spice tolerance. Most of the locals Pei had met were like that, and she assumed Wei Jinzhi was the same.

However, when they sat down in a private room at Haidilao, she was stunned. Wei Jinzhi ordered the spiciest broth available. Two portions of beef, two of lamb, tripe, and duck intestines—there was almost no greenery. Seeing that Pei hadn’t ordered anything, Wei tilted her head and asked, “Don’t like hot pot?”

“It’s not that…” Pei shook her head, looking at the tablet. “You ordered quite a lot, so…”

“Do you eat vegetables? I don’t like them, so I didn’t order any, but… you can,” Wei Jinzhi interrupted. Though she framed it as a question, she was already adding a vegetable platter to the order.

The food arrived quickly. Wei Jinzhi seemed genuinely hungry. She mixed two dipping sauces and started cooking the meat. She ate quickly yet neatly, rarely getting anything on her face. Her lips grew slightly swollen from the spice and her eyes reddened, but her chopsticks never stopped.

Pei Suyuan fared a bit better because she didn’t eat nearly as much. Eating like this late at night felt a bit extreme. As Wei Jinzhi ordered two more plates of meat, Pei asked weakly, “Don’t actresses need to maintain their figures?”

Wei Jinzhi paused, a smile spreading across her slightly swollen lips. She countered, “Aren’t you an actress too?”

Pei thought about it and shook her head. “I’m not. I’m just an amateur. I don’t count as a real actor.”

“Then… what is your profession?”

What is my profession? Pei Suyuan wanted to say singer or songwriter. But she didn’t feel qualified; she couldn’t even name one famous song she’d written. Thinking it over, the only thing she could technically call “professional” was being a recording engineer. Because she had the certificate.

She opened her mouth to answer, but she suddenly felt a puff of warm air near her ear. Wei Jinzhi was right beside her. The scent of white tea Alpha pheromones surrounded her—a very realistic, simulated pheromone. It almost sent Pei Suyuan into a frenzy.

At that moment, Wei Jinzhi suddenly backed away slightly. She seemed to realize the smell of her simulated Alpha pheromones was too strong and apologized to Pei Suyuan.

In the next instant, the sweet marshmallow scent masked the white tea.

Pei Suyuan shuddered and turned her head stiffly. Wei Jinzhi leaned in again. What greeted Pei were those red, slightly swollen lips. Like this, she looked even sexier than usual.

Pei’s face felt hot. Looking into those flirtatious, tender peach-blossom eyes with their reddened corners, she felt like she was going to explode. To break the awkwardness, she asked in a raspy voice, “W-why do you pretend to be an Alpha?”

Wei Jinzhi smiled mischievously. Instead of answering immediately, she leaned back against the seat, admiring the Alpha’s face, which had turned as red as a tomato from shyness.

After about ten seconds, Wei Jinzhi stopped smiling and slowly mimicked Pei’s earlier stammer: “D-didn’t you say you weren’t curious?”

The teasing was obvious. Since she had been shut down by her own past words, Pei Suyuan was too embarrassed to ask again. she stiffened her neck and focused on picking up some meat, trying to act as if nothing had happened. Her silence was largely due to her social anxiety. Wei’s smile and the question were harmless, but they made her want to retreat, causing a sense of panic and awkwardness.

Wei Jinzhi noticed that Pei’s hand was trembling slightly while eating and stopped teasing her.

“Mmm… pretending to be an Alpha gives me a sense of security, I guess.” Wei was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes; there was a hint of a carefully disguised casualness.

Pei Suyuan nodded and didn’t pursue the topic. Instead, she mentioned her trip back to Lin City. “That day, I had an emergency at home, and then I suddenly got a job.”

Wei Jinzhi was mostly finished eating. She put down her chopsticks and looked at Pei with a smile. “Mmm~ Is Xiao Yuan reporting her whereabouts to Sister?”

“I…” In front of Wei Jinzhi, Pei Suyuan found it far too easy to blush. She didn’t know how to respond for a moment, saying stiffly, “I… I just wanted to explain why I didn’t answer your call.”

“Oh, and why it took a whole night to add my WeChat?” Wei was still smiling, but Pei felt the atmosphere shift slightly.

Pei Suyuan suddenly felt as if she were sitting on a bed of needles. Then, she realized something was off—were she and Wei Jinzhi supposed to be in this kind of relationship? She remembered Yan Xin’s words from a few days ago: Give it a try. She had wanted to try that day, but then her courage vanished. Wei Jinzhi was so good and so warm; did she even deserve her?

“Now that you’ve had hot pot, do you feel better?” While Pei was spacing out, Wei had started eating again and turned to ask her.

Pei Suyuan looked at her profile, then at the red spicy broth, and nodded. “Much better. Thank you.” In her heart, she added: I feel better not because of the hot pot, but because of the sweet cotton candy.

“Then how are you going to thank me?”

Wei Jinzhi’s sudden question made Pei’s heart skip a beat… followed by her cheeks turning a deep red. The smile on Wei Jinzhi’s face deepened. Teasing a “clamshell” like Pei Suyuan was truly one of life’s pleasures.

She wiped her mouth and stood up. “Going back?”

“We’re… going back now?” Pei bumped her chair as she stood up, making a loud noise. Embarrassed, she lowered her eyes.

Wei Jinzhi’s smile didn’t fade; she stepped closer and rested her hand lightly on Pei’s shoulder. Standing neither too far nor too close, it was just enough for Pei to smell the sweet Omega pheromones. The sweetness grew closer. Pei Suyuan instinctively stared at Wei Jinzhi’s red lips and wanted to retreat in a panic.

Wei Jinzhi wouldn’t… want to do it here…?

The thought made her entire body stiffen. In a move of pure avoidance, she closed her eyes, trying to think of how to politely decline. What she didn’t realize was that, like this, she looked exactly like she was waiting for a kiss.

Wei Jinzhi bit her lip, watching her with amusement. Then, she lightly brushed her finger against the corner of Pei’s mouth. “What a messy kid,” she teased. “You got food on the corner of your mouth.”

If her cheeks had been red before, now even Pei Suyuan’s neck was stained a light pink. Since she was wearing her hair in a high ponytail today, Wei Jinzhi could see every reaction clearly—even the way she nervously swallowed.

Having teased her enough, Wei took her hand off her shoulder. She chuckled and said, “I start work tomorrow, so~ time to go back and sleep.”

By the time Pei Suyuan opened her eyes, Wei Jinzhi had already put on her coat and was waiting for her, bag in hand and smiling brightly. That smile made Pei’s heart tremble; she was so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

Back at home, Pei Suyuan stared at the cotton candy for a long time. Then, she filled her bathtub and soaked her entire body in it. She had brought the cotton candy into the bathroom; it sat not far away.

Pei Suyuan stared at it without blinking. After a while, she covered her face in frustration. Today, Wei Jinzhi felt a bit different in her heart.

She had given her cotton candy.

Very few people had been kind to Pei Suyuan growing up; she had endured most of her pain and hardship alone. Feeling Wei Jinzhi’s kindness caused her to quietly move the woman to a higher place in her heart. But because of that, beyond the gratitude, she felt even more embarrassed.

What on earth am I overthinking!