After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 20

Ten minutes earlier.

Su Chen walked out of the school alone and immediately saw Pei Yuanqing with a girl. The two were in a very intimate position, the girl’s face almost buried in Pei Yuanqing’s chest. They were standing right on the path Su Chen had to take. Without even thinking, Su Chen walked past them with his eyes straight ahead. But before he could take more than a few steps, he was called back.

Pei Yuanqing sent the girl away and quickly caught up to the Omega who was about to leave.

“Junior! You still remember me, right?”

Su Chen’s expression was blank as he replied coldly, “I remember.”

“I’ve been waiting for you for an hour.”

“Oh.”

Seeing Su Chen’s impatience, Pei Yuanqing stopped beating around the bush. The corner of his lips curved up into what he considered his most handsome angle as he smiled at Su Chen. “Are you free during winter break, Junior? I’d like to invite you to a party at my house.”

Before Pei Yuanqing could finish, Su Chen directly refused, saying he had no time.

However, the moment he turned to leave, a pulling force spun him around so his back was against the wall. A body pressed close. The unfamiliar body heat and scent made Su Chen feel disgusted.

“Su Chen… I’ve realized you’re really special. I admit it — you’ve caught my attention. You don’t need to keep playing hard to get anymore. My attention is already on you…”

In Pei Yuanqing’s mind, Su Chen had become an Omega who loved him but couldn’t have him, who deliberately gave him attitude every day to attract his notice, and who had finally succeeded in his scheme.

Veins bulged on Su Chen’s forehead. Just as he was about to punch Pei Yuanqing, he caught a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. Instead, he turned his head away, put on an expression of humiliation, and said to the Alpha who was a head taller than him, “Senior, please have some self-respect.”

Pei Yuanqing lowered his head and sniffed lightly, muttering, “Didn’t they say he’s an Omega? Why doesn’t he have any scent?”

A storm brewed in Su Chen’s eyes. Being approached by someone he loathed made goosebumps rise all over his skin, and the Alpha was still sniffing around on him.

“I’m a defective Omega. I’m not worthy of Senior Pei. Please don’t waste your time on me.” His voice sounded like it could freeze into ice, but the Alpha, who had never been rejected before, didn’t notice at all.

His attention was drawn to the scarf wrapped around the Omega’s neck. The scarf looked a little familiar — very similar to the one someone had been wearing that morning.

“This scarf of yours…”

The next second, a heavy object slammed into his head. Before he could react, he was tripped by something unknown and fell to the ground. When he looked up, he saw a familiar schoolbag.

Su Chen silently retracted his outstretched foot.

A second-year student’s schoolbag was no light weight. Pei Yuanqing rubbed his bruised face and glared furiously at the newcomer.

Gu Jingning walked over to Su Chen’s side. The Omega had unshed tears hanging on his lashes, his body trembling slightly as if he had suffered immense grievance.

“Senior…”

Before the owner of the schoolbag could step forward, Pei Yuanqing had already exploded, “What the fuck! Gu Jingning, are you crazy?!”

Seeing Pei Yuanqing turn around and accuse him instead, Gu Jingning’s anger flared up instantly. If he had to pick the person in this book he most wanted to strangle, Su Zhiguo ranked first, and Pei Yuanqing ranked second.

One was the father, the other was the lover. These two people who should have been the greatest pillars in Su Chen’s life had instead pushed such an obedient person into hell.

Gu Jingning channeled all his anger toward Su Zhiguo as well. He raised his foot and kicked the Alpha, who hadn’t had time to get up, with full force.

“I already told you! Stop sexually harassing people! Why won’t you listen?!”

“I told you to stay away from him! Can’t you understand human language?! Do you need to go back to elementary school to relearn Chinese?!”

“Can’t you see you’ve scared him to tears?!” This last sentence was practically roared.

“Enough!” Pei Yuanqing shoved away the Beta who was punching and kicking him and stood up, wiping his face.

Gu Jingning staggered back a few steps and was steadied by Su Chen.

Having grown up in luxury and surrounded by people who treated him with utmost respect because of his family background, there had only ever been one person who would do something like this to him.

He could no longer maintain his composure and shouted angrily, “Why are you taking your madness out on me?!”

“Madness? Ha!” Gu Jingning laughed mockingly.

“Pei Yuanqing, wake up. Do you see this Omega willing?” Gu Jingning pointed at Su Chen standing behind him. Pei Yuanqing looked over and saw Su Chen tightly hugging Gu Jingning’s arm while glaring at him fiercely.

When Gu Jingning gently patted his head to comfort him, Su Chen immediately switched back to a pitiful appearance.

He hadn’t looked like that at all just now! How does this person have two different faces?!

“You! I… He didn’t reject me just now either!”

Su Chen spoke up at the right moment. “I already told Senior Pei that I don’t have time.”

“See! He already said he doesn’t have time! Why are you still pestering him?!”

“Whatever he says goes? How long have you known him? You believe him but not me?” Pei Yuanqing was so angry he was practically jumping.

Gu Jingning said contemptuously, “Why would I believe a scumbag who talks nonsense, changes lovers like he changes clothes, and uses pheromones to suppress people? Why wouldn’t I believe a beautiful, obedient, soft Omega instead?”

Pei Yuanqing now only wanted to grab Gu Jingning and shake him awake. He pointed at Su Chen. “Fuck, you’ve been tricked by him! He wasn’t like this at all just now!”

Completely impervious to reason.

If he hadn’t shown up today, would Pei Yuanqing have taken Su Chen away again to satisfy his habit of finding substitutes because he couldn’t see his white moonlight? Gu Jingning really couldn’t understand the mindset of those overbearing CEOs who liked finding substitutes.

If you truly liked someone, why find a substitute to replace the real person? Wasn’t that just insulting the person you liked?

Thinking of this, Gu Jingning had already calmed down. He said expressionlessly, “Hey, is it fun to find substitutes?”

“……” It was as if his most hidden thoughts had been stabbed. Pei Yuanqing turned his head away. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Gu Jingning gave a cold laugh. “If you like Gu Jingyu, then go abroad and find him! Is going abroad difficult for Young Master Pei? Why do you keep finding substitutes in the country?”

“You coward who doesn’t even dare confess to the person you like! You spineless coward! Scumbag!”

“Gu Jingning!” Pei Yuanqing stared at the Beta fiercely. “Don’t think I won’t hit you.”

Gu Jingning gently moved Su Chen’s hand away, took a few steps forward, and grabbed Pei Yuanqing’s collar. “Hit me then! Go ahead and hit me!”

Pei Yuanqing swung his fist hard, stopping it just before it could touch Gu Jingning’s face.

The two were now extremely close. Pei Yuanqing could see the rage burning in Gu Jingning’s eyes. For the sake of one Omega, Gu Jingning was really ready to fall out with him completely!

It felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Pei Yuanqing. He gritted his teeth and said, “We used to be friends.”

More than ten years ago, the Gu and Pei families had been neighbors. They had been each other’s first friend in life. Although their relationship had become strained because of Gu Jingyu, and the Beta was cold toward him, he had thought they could at least remain ordinary classmates.

Gu Jingning laughed sarcastically. “What does a friendship from when we were eight years old count for? Stop clinging to those old, stale things.”

He let go of Pei Yuanqing, no longer wanting to speak to him.

He picked up the dusty schoolbag from the ground, took the seemingly frightened Su Chen’s hand, and was about to leave.

Pei Yuanqing still stood in place, head lowered so his expression couldn’t be seen. “Are you really going to cut ties with me?”

Gu Jingning’s steps paused. He felt it was utterly ridiculous. He turned back to look at the Alpha still standing there and said indifferently, “I thought we had already cut ties a long time ago.”

“Back when you framed me for Gu Jingyu’s sake.”

Watching the two of them walk away, Pei Yuanqing kicked the wall in frustration.

Gu Jingning pulled Su Chen along for a while. During that time, their hands never separated, and Su Chen was happy not to remind him.

Gu Jingning asked, “Why didn’t you go with Yunhe and the others?”

“My mom is hospitalized. I need to go to the hospital to take care of her. What about you, Senior? Why didn’t you go with Jiang Senior and the others?”

“Something urgent came up suddenly, so I didn’t go…” Gu Jingning looked Su Chen up and down carefully and asked, “But how did you run into Pei Yuanqing?”

Su Chen lowered his eyes, his expression downcast. “I was going to the bus stop. The moment I walked out of the school gate, I saw Senior Pei flirting with someone. I originally wanted to ignore it, but for some reason, Senior Pei suddenly called out to me and trapped me between him and the wall.”

As if remembering the frightening scene, Su Chen trembled slightly, his voice carrying a sob. “Senior Pei seemed… to want to force me to attend his birthday party.”

The Omega cried like pear blossoms in the rain. Gu Jingning pulled him into a tight hug, gently patting his back to soothe him. “It’s okay now. It’s okay.”

“Mhm… It’s a good thing Senior came.” Su Chen’s voice was muffled, as if he was still immersed in his low mood.

But behind Gu Jingning’s back where he couldn’t see, Su Chen’s expression was intoxicated as he greedily inhaled the Beta’s scent.

Senior… Senior…

The two embraced for a while. After Gu Jingning released him, Su Chen felt a little regretful, but he still obediently left the Beta’s arms.

At that moment, Gu Jingning suddenly remembered — Su Chen had a girlfriend! Shit! He had lost control of his hands again and forgotten that Su Chen was the opposite sex! Aaaah!

In his previous life, he had been used to roughhousing with friends. After coming here, aside from Lin Mo, he didn’t know any other Omegas. Over time, if it weren’t for seeing other AOs going into heat, he would still feel like this world wasn’t much different from his previous one.

He had heard that possessive Alphas couldn’t stand having another person’s scent on their Omega. He had just been holding and hugging Su Chen — what if some of his scent had accidentally lingered?!

If it made Su Chen uncomfortable, any explanation would sound like an excuse. So he asked in a flustered but careful tone, “Sorry, I got a bit worked up earlier. Do you want to tell your girlfriend about what happened today? If you need me to explain, I can go with you.”

Su Chen was stunned. “What girlfriend?”

“The girl… the one who often walks with you.”

An Zhixia? Although he didn’t know how Gu Jingning had misunderstood, Su Chen still explained that the two of them had no such relationship.

Upon hearing that the two weren’t dating, Gu Jingning subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Wait, why was his heart beating so fast in his chest after learning Su Chen was single?

He was completely baffled. Perhaps it was because Pei Yuanqing now had another chance to pester Su Chen, so he was probably just a little nervous.

Having convinced himself, he followed Su Chen to the bus stop to wait for the bus. He also planned to go visit Su Chen’s mother together.

“It’s a good thing Senior made my mom go to the hospital for a check-up back then. I haven’t even had the chance to thank you properly.”

“It’s nothing. How is your mom’s health now?”

Su Chen shook his head, his voice carrying a barely noticeable tremble. “The doctor said if it had been discovered any later, we might have needed to prepare ourselves mentally. But it was caught fairly early. If she rests and recovers properly, the chances of regaining full health are still very high.”

The two walked to the outside of the hospital room. At that moment, a group of men in black suits was just walking out, passing by them.

It was a four-person ward, so it wasn’t unusual for other people to come and go. But a whole group of people dressed in black suits still made Gu Jingning curious enough to look twice.

The leader wore sunglasses and had a tiger tattoo on his arm. Tsk… he looked a bit like a gangster. At that moment, the tattooed man seemed to notice Gu Jingning’s gaze and turned to meet his eyes. Gu Jingning immediately looked away and quickly walked into the hospital room.

It wasn’t because he was afraid of gangsters, but because he was afraid of inviting trouble. He comforted himself this way.

He stayed and chatted with Su Chen’s mother until evening. It was time for them to leave. Seeing that it was already late, Gu Jingning told Su Chen he would send him home.

However, he was refused by Su Chen. The reason was actually that he had to go to work!

“It’s already so late. Why are you still going to work?” Gu Jingning frowned, disapproving.

“Today is my night shift. It’s fine, Senior. Exams are over, so I won’t be working this late normally.” The Omega gently tugged at the hem of the Beta’s uniform, hoping to keep him from getting too angry.

“Where do you work?”

“The convenience store where we met last time.”

If it weren’t for Su Zhiguo, Su Chen wouldn’t have to work so hard. In his heart, Gu Jingning once again dismembered Su Zhiguo into eight pieces. With a sour face, he said, “Let’s go. It’s near the school anyway. I’m heading that way.”

Su Chen quickly followed.

Before entering the convenience store, Gu Jingning said to Su Chen, “Are you free on the day of the closing ceremony?”

“Ah… I have to work in the evening, but I should be free before six.” Knowing the Beta didn’t like him working so late, he didn’t quite dare to say it.

But this time, Gu Jingning didn’t get angry. His voice was calm. “Mm, then keep that time free. I’ll take you somewhere.”

“O-okay.”

Although he had made Senior angry, the fact that Senior’s emotions were caused by him was enough to make him feel delighted.

That entire night, his heart felt warm and cozy, as if soaked in a hot spring. Even when harassed by a drunk uncle, he was able to calmly and politely refuse.