The Sickly Girl Becomes a Scum Alpha - Chapter 13

Chu Ci stayed in the study, reviewing documents for a while longer, but as she grew increasingly sleepy, she eventually crashed on the couch.

The next morning, Chu Ci was in a deep sleep when a phone call jolted her awake.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the caller ID. It was utterly ridiculous—it was Cao Xi. Calling me this early? Is the sun rising in the west?

She answered the phone. Cao Xi spoke in a quiet, mysterious tone, like a secret agent reporting to her superior. “Major discovery! Meet me at Platinum in half an hour!”

Chu Ci: “…”

Not wanting to discourage the child’s enthusiasm, Chu Ci pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

“OK!”

She hung up the phone, checked the time, and thought about the drunken Jian Sui from last night as she headed toward the bedroom.

She gently opened the bedroom door, intending to check on Jian Sui and grab some clothes, but as soon as she reached the bedside, she saw Jian Sui’s eyelashes flutter. Jian Sui opened her eyes.

The newly awakened Jian Sui looked at Chu Ci with a dazed expression. Chu Ci was terrified Jian Sui would misunderstand what she was doing, so she scrambled to explain herself:

“You were drunk last night, so I slept in the study. I just came back to grab some clothes!”

Jian Sui looked at Chu Ci’s flustered state and smiled, nodding lightly. “I know.”

Her voice, just after waking, was soft and intimate, like a gentle feather brushing against Chu Ci’s ear canal. It made it hard for Chu Ci to tell if the tickle was in her ear or her heart.

Her face felt warm. Chu Ci nodded vaguely. As long as Jian Sui didn’t misunderstand, everything was fine.

“Then I’ll grab my clothes and go.”

Feeling Jian Sui’s gaze behind her, Chu Ci became so tense that her fingers felt numb, and she almost couldn’t open the closet. She yanked out two random pieces of clothing and fled.

Jian Sui sat up in bed, pulling the blanket around her. She squinted at the closed door. Why didn’t I notice that Chu Ci was so easily flustered and shy before?

She was surprisingly cute.

Jian Sui stretched comfortably. She had never felt so good after a night of drinking. She got out of bed and stood in front of the slowly opening curtains. The sun was bright outside; it was a perfect spring day.

In a good mood, everything seemed pleasant. Jian Sui turned around to wash up when she saw a large, conspicuous box on the table with an enormous bow on top.

When did that get there?

She pressed a hand to her forehead to think. Jian Sui suddenly realized: Chu Ci had said she was going to the club to stay out all night and told her to go home. But Chu Ci had secretly returned. Was she preparing this?

At that thought, Jian Sui felt a subtle flicker of anticipation.

She walked to the box and reached out to touch the strange ribbons beneath the bow. Although something felt off, she ignored it, setting them aside. Then she saw the sticky note Chu Ci had written herself.

[For Jian Sui]

It really is for me.

A smile unconsciously formed on Jian Sui’s face. She looked at the box’s combination lock. So mysterious?

Could it be my birthday?

No.

Could it be Chu Ci’s birthday?

No.

The wedding anniversary?

No.

The first time we met?

No.

…

The smile on Jian Sui’s face slowly vanished. She searched the box but couldn’t find the code. Did Chu Ci forget to tell me?

Folding her arms and looking at the box, Jian Sui thought about being drunk last night and Chu Ci’s hasty exit this morning. It really was possible that she had forgotten.

She spun her phone in her hand. Would it be too direct to just ask her? It would look like I’m desperate to open the gift.

But what if Chu Ci really did forget the code?

Ask? Or don’t ask?

After much deliberation, Jian Sui thought about the kind of person Chu Ci was—always silently doing things, never saying anything, and so thin-skinned—and decided to be the brave one.

Taking out her phone, Jian Sui still felt too embarrassed to call, so she sent Chu Ci a subtle message.

When Chu Ci arrived at the club, Cao Xi had a pen stuck in her hair and papers scattered all around her—a rare sight to see her so focused.

“What’s so urgent that you called me here?”

Chu Ci cleared a spot on the sofa and briefly scanned the documents.

“Look at this! Look at this!”

Cao Xi quickly pulled the pen out of her hair, circled a section on the paper in her hand, and showed Chu Ci.

“Last night, Qian Quan and the others secretly gathered. I had someone keep an eye on them and got their proposal. I discovered they plan to team up and completely rip you off! I stayed up all night to study the documents. Look, this is how they plan to swindle you—”

“The process of lowering the price, releasing funds, and reclaiming the company—which is what we planned for Zhao Zhu’s company—is fine. But they plan to drive the price down extremely low, completely ignoring the problem of the return rate. Then, they’ll step in, take a chunk of the shares, and then inflate the price. With all that back and forth, you’ll have a net loss of three hundred million, and all that money will go straight into their pockets.”

Cao Xi aggressively poked the document with her pen, clearly furious as if she were poking Qian Quan and his black-hearted crew.

Chu Ci had figured that out, too. She gave Cao Xi an approving look. “So, what do you think we should do next?”

“We don’t need their plan! I have other ideas!”

Knowing it was a trap, Cao Xi certainly wouldn’t let Chu Ci fall for it. However, the culprits had only been greedy and tried to get some money. It wasn’t a capital offense. She figured marginalizing them later would be enough. They were still friends, and making things too ugly wasn’t right.

Chu Ci patted Cao Xi’s shoulder with satisfaction. Cao Xi was more meticulous than she had imagined.

“Then I’m putting you in charge of this entire matter. I’ll wait to see your results.”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got this!”

Cao Xi then paused, pointing to herself with some hesitation. “Chu Ci, are you sure you’re giving me full control? My mom always says I’m a good-for-nothing…”

“Concrete is what gets put up on a wall. Good-for-nothing mud is best for growing flowers. Everyone has a purpose; it just depends on how you use it.”

Chu Ci nodded with certainty. Everyone has a first time. Without starting and trying, how would you know if you could succeed?

“Chu Ci! How can you be so nice?!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Cao Xi hugged Chu Ci, almost in tears. “I’m going to fall in love with you!”

“Get lost!”

Pushing Cao Xi’s face away and dodging her enthusiastic hug, Chu Ci thought, You really don’t have to be that moved!

As they were in a playful deadlock, Chu Ci’s phone chimed with a notification.

She looked at it and finally remembered that the gift box really did have a combination lock.

Since Cao Xi was right there, Chu Ci kept her eyes on her phone and casually asked, “What’s the code for that box lock again?”

“Six zeros,” Cao Xi said, immediately excited. “Are you planning to give it to her tonight?”

[The code is six zeros.]

Chu Ci sent the message to Jian Sui while answering Cao Xi. “I already gave it to her. Jian Sui received it.”

“Hmm?”

Cao Xi made a confused sound. “Shouldn’t that be something you two open together? What’s the fun of Jian Sui opening it alone?”

“You’re kidding, right? Does opening a gift need that much ceremony?”

Chu Ci looked at Cao Xi with confusion.

“Of course! I even carefully prepared music and a little video to go with it!”

Cao Xi said, pulling out her phone to show Chu Ci what she had prepared.

Chu Ci was completely baffled. What is this? Is this gift that complicated? Does it come with an instruction manual?

She leaned in to look at the contents of Cao Xi’s phone and seriously doubted her eyesight.

Her voice trembled. “What is this?”

“What else could it be? It’s the mood-setting kit, silly. Don’t you like it?”

Cao Xi looked at the content on her phone with a smug expression.

Chu Ci stared at the screen, which showed a person in a fox costume wearing the large, fluffy tail from the bottom of the box…

!!!

Jian Sui is opening that right now?!

Chu Ci’s eyes slowly shifted to her own phone. That was the code she had just sent to Jian Sui, and right below it was Jian Sui’s reply.

[Received.]

Chu Ci’s eyes widened in horror: !!! NOOOO!