After I Picked Up the Movie Queen Who Was Pretending to Be an Alpha - Chapter 4

Back in the car, Wei Jinzhi took off her sunglasses and leaned against the back of the seat. Her cheeks were flushed a pale pink, and her breathing was slightly erratic.

Her assistant, Xiao Nan, placed a suppressant in her hand and asked softly, “Sister Wei, do you want me to help you?”

Wei Jinzhi barely looked up. She uttered a quiet “No need” and took the suppressant. She then rolled up her sleeve. As the medicine slowly entered her body, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She took out a fresh scent-blocking patch and applied it to the back of her neck.

Today was the final day of her heat. It was grueling—utterly grueling.

Approaching the age of thirty, every heat cycle had become increasingly difficult to endure, and the duration felt longer. Typically, during the most intense two or three days, Wei Jinzhi would lock herself at home, accompanied only by potent suppressants.

This time, however, an accident had occurred. Not only had she failed to inject a suppressant on the first day of her heat, but that fierce cycle had been triggered into something even more unbearable.

The marshmallow scent was cloyingly sweet. Wei Jinzhi asked Xiao Nan to turn on the ventilation and then had her hand over her Alpha pheromone spray. For years, she had used the same white tea-scented pheromone mimic. She would then layer it with a woody perfume featuring vetiver base notes to mask the tea scent.

It was a perfect disguise, preventing anyone from detecting her naturally, over-the-top sweet marshmallow pheromones. In fact, outside of her heat periods, even Wei Jinzhi herself would forget they existed.

Once the disguise was set, Wei Jinzhi leaned back to rest with her eyes closed. She was actually quite uncomfortable. The feverish tide of her heat hadn’t faded despite the strong suppressant; instead, it had surged violently just moments ago.

Wei Jinzhi knew exactly why. In her heart, she couldn’t help but complain about the owner of that “sour yogurt” (cheese) scent.

So annoying…

Because Wei Jinzhi had raised concerns, the director eventually changed that final scene. Though it wasn’t directly because of her own efforts, the outcome was the same, and Pei Suyuan felt much better about it.

After several consecutive days of shooting, the crew of The CEO Alpha’s Little Sweet Wife Runs Away with His Baby officially wrapped.

The wrap party was held at the Qijiang Hotel. Pei Suyuan originally intended to be a “invisible person,” but the director dragged her over and forced a few drinks on her. Her tolerance wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t a heavy drinker either. After a few rounds, her head was spinning, though her mind remained clear.

The director, however, was visibly tipsy. He grabbed Pei Suyuan’s wrist, hinting repeatedly that once she “hooked up” with Yuefeng, she should remember them and collaborate again if given the chance.

The fact that someone who had been ignored for two months was suddenly getting such attention—even outshining the leads—sparked a lot of resentment. Especially from Jiang Yin.

Jiang Yin’s gaze was sinister. Holding her wine glass, she kept her eyes fixed on Pei Suyuan. Though one was an Alpha and the other an Omega, meaning their career paths rarely clashed, Jiang Yin still harbored a grudge from their time on the talent show years ago. Jiang Yin had placed eighth, just one spot behind Pei Suyuan; she couldn’t help but hold a bitter grudge.

Later, Jiang Yin had climbed her way up through “casting couch” favors. Looking back at Pei Suyuan’s struggling career used to give her a sense of satisfaction. But that satisfaction was gone now.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her glass. She glanced at Qin Dong beside her, seeing his equally dark expression. She smiled thinly, tapped the back of his hand, and looked toward the director.

She knew exactly how Qin Dong had gotten where he was. The young master of the Zheng family in West Beijing doted on him, but that man was a pure spendthrift who had opened a company for Qin Dong without having any real connections. He had even tried to shamelessly curry favor with Yuefeng.

Jiang Yin surmised that Yuefeng had noticed the production through Qin Dong, and then noticed Pei Suyuan. After all, the two had known each other for years; if Pei Suyuan had Yuefeng backing her all along, would she have ended up this miserable?

She was unhappy, and Qin Dong was naturally unhappy as well. The two of them approached Pei Suyuan and the director together. Since she couldn’t take physical action at this point, couldn’t she at least disgust Pei Suyuan a little?

What Jiang Yin hated most was Pei Suyuan’s indifferent, silent attitude—as if she didn’t care about anything, yet somehow ended up with everything in her hands.

Back when Pei Suyuan was at the center of the scandal storm, Jiang Yin had watched the show and even fanned the flames. When Pei Suyuan was at rock bottom, Jiang Yin could play nice and even offer fake concern. But the moment this person stood on a higher level than her, Jiang Yin felt like her heart was being clawed by a hundred talons.

Jiang Yin leaned down, her deep V-neck revealing a suggestive view. The director beside her glanced at it instinctively, reached out to hold her wine glass, and said flirtatiously, “A cross-cupped drink?”

The two of them were making eyes at each other, and Pei Suyuan saw it clearly. She instinctively wanted to move away, but as soon as she shifted, Jiang Yin practically glued herself to her.

What is she doing?!

The thought had just crossed Pei Suyuan’s mind when she felt a hand rest on her knee. Without a doubt, it was Jiang Yin.

Pei Suyuan’s looks weren’t aggressive like a typical Alpha’s. When she widened her eyes, they looked somewhat round, but usually, she looked uninterested in everything, her eyes hidden under the shadow of long lashes. Only when someone was extremely close would they notice her eyes were actually beautiful and bright. She had a high bridge to her nose and full lips.

After a few interactions, one would realize she was actually a fairly easy-going Alpha. This was exactly why Jiang Yin had teased and played tricks on her repeatedly in the past.

During the competition, the two of them had actually been on good terms. However, Jiang Yin’s suggestive actions eventually annoyed Pei, whose cold expression became more pronounced. Surprisingly, some fans liked that “aloof” look; while Pei was attacked by many, she gained a small surge of popularity that pushed her into the debut lineup. Meanwhile, Jiang Yin, who tried to play the victim, ended up hurting herself.

Pei Suyuan had seen Jiang Yin’s true colors then and decided to keep her distance. During this shoot, they had barely spoken unless necessary.

But today was different. Jiang Yin was starting her old tricks again. Pei Suyuan moved her leg away inconspicuously. A moment later, Jiang Yin followed. Finally, when Pei tried to stand up to avoid her, Jiang Yin pretended to be pulled and stumbled, leaning toward her.

As an Alpha, Pei Suyuan hesitated for a split second about how rude it would be to let an Omega fall on the floor. Then, she used her elbow to nudge Jiang Yin toward the director instead.

Did Jiang Yin really want to do something? Not necessarily. She just wanted to disgust her—to make her remember the embarrassment of being attacked by the entire internet years ago.

When her first trick failed, Jiang Yin didn’t try anything else physical, but she kept glancing at Pei Suyuan while drinking with the director. Finally, acting tipsy, she raised her glass to toast Pei Suyuan. There were too many people around; Pei Suyuan had no reason to refuse.

She raised her glass, clinked it against Jiang Yin’s, and downed it in one go. She didn’t even want to look at her.

Jiang Yin, however, complained to the director in a dramatic tone, “Director, look, Suyuan still has a cold face even when someone toasts her.”

The director was quite drunk. Whether out of genuine or fake pity, he grabbed Jiang Yin’s hand to comfort her and even told Pei Suyuan to have another drink with her. Pei Suyuan didn’t want to; she found this whole drama tedious. But she hadn’t received the final payment for the gig yet, and she was afraid the director might be petty and withhold it.

After hesitating, she clinked glasses with Jiang Yin again. Jiang Yin immediately moved to grab Pei Suyuan’s hand. Pei Suyuan dodged and said seriously, “I am an Alpha.”

Jiang Yin giggled, glanced at the director, then turned back with a playful reproach. “What are you saying, Suyuan? Back during the competition, we were very close. Back then, Li Xi…”

Jiang Yin stopped abruptly, as if she had said something she shouldn’t have. Her eyes went wide as she apologized to Pei Suyuan, “Suyuan, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned what happened back then.”

Pei Suyuan was a “flop” now, and she hadn’t been a superstar back then either, but people always love gossip. Quite a few people knew about that incident. As soon as Jiang Yin mentioned it, everyone turned to look.

The familiar sense of embarrassment finally arrived. Pei Suyuan’s face flushed with awkwardness, and even her palms broke into a thin sweat. Jiang Yin’s tactic was clumsy and low, but it definitely hit a nerve.

The atmosphere grew awkward. The director looked between the two, then suddenly put his arm around Jiang Yin’s shoulder and laughed, “Xiao Yin is just happy from the drinking. Come, come, come, have a few more drinks with Big Brother.”

With the director speaking like that, Jiang Yin didn’t dare refuse. She continued drinking with a forced smile. Pei Suyuan sat to the side, watching the men and women laughing with cold eyes, a sarcastic twist at the corner of her mouth.

All because the director thought she had a connection with Yuefeng, everything was suddenly different. The same went for Jiang Yin. Just like back then—Jiang Yin was “kind” when she thought Pei was at the bottom, then became hideous later.

Eventually, Pei Suyuan toasted everyone, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left early. Having drunk, she couldn’t drive, so she stayed at the hotel for one more night.

The next morning, she drove home. Having been away for a while, the stuffy smell of the apartment bothered her. After opening all the windows, she began cleaning.

That night’s “beautiful dream” had passed quite some time ago, but after staying in the room for a while, Pei Suyuan couldn’t help but catch a faint, lingering scent of marshmallows. Standing in the living room for a long time, she convinced herself it was just because she hadn’t cleaned the room thoroughly enough.

So, she cleaned the sofa, the coffee table, and even under the bed. When she swept out some debris from under the bed, she saw a stack of cash and a piece of paper.

She didn’t touch the cash. Instead, she opened the paper. The handwriting was spirited and elegant:

“Thanks for the help. Your technique is pretty good. Hope there’s a next time.”

Below the note was a string of numbers—a phone number and a WeChat ID. Pei Suyuan held the paper with both hands, staring at the numbers with a furrowed brow, before clenching the paper tightly in her fist.