Transmigrated as the Domineering Scumbag Alpha Forced into Marriage by a Delicate Subordinate (GL) - Chapter 24

And so, Qin Jue and Tang Yun actually went looking for a roadside jianbing (savory Chinese crepe) stall.

After having Mo Quan drop Qin Yao back at school, Qin Jue personally drove Tang Yun aimlessly around the main roads. Qin Jue was too embarrassed to let the driver take them to find a jianbing stall. She didn’t understand why they had both taken it seriously when she had originally just been joking with Tang Yun.

Qin Jue opened the navigation app on her phone and searched for “Jianbing.”

“Didn’t you say it was a roadside stall? Can the navigation locate that?” Tang Yun asked.

Indeed, to have a place on the navigation, a stall needed a fixed storefront at the very least, but Qin Jue’s requirement was too specific—she had promised to find a small pushcart stall, which would definitely not have a storefront. CEO Qin pondered over the navigation for a long time, feeling like she had entered a completely unfamiliar territory.

“I’ll take you to find one,” Tang Yun said.

She spent three seconds finding a location on her own phone and directed Qin Jue to drive there. Tang Yun had her window halfway down. The warm, autumn breeze rushed in, and her wispy bangs danced in front of her eyes as she leaned against her side of the car door.

“How did you find it? What keyword did you search for?” Qin Jue asked.

“I searched for junior high school,” Tang Yun said.

Qin Jue paused, then burst out laughing.

Indeed, if she wanted to find food stalls, the most common place would be near schools. Tang Yun had even considered that elementary school students had too little pocket money and high school students were often in boarding schools and couldn’t leave campus, so she chose junior high schools.

Qin Jue followed the navigation, turning from the wide main road onto a small street in a residential area, slowly inching forward. Soon, she saw the “slow down for school” sign ahead. She found a parking space, stopped the car, and walked the rest of the way with Tang Yun.

The one who now looked out of place was CEO Qin in her custom trench coat. Tang Yun, wearing her hundred-yuan clothes, smoothly blended into the atmosphere of the old neighborhood. She skillfully navigated to the back gate of the school, found the snack street, and stopped a pushcart selling multi-grain jianbing that was about to close up shop.

“CEO Qin, do you want to try one too? Since you’re treating,” Tang Yun asked.

Qin Jue paused in front of the jianbing stall. The first thing she noticed was the years of oil stains and mysterious smudges on the cart’s sign. The simplicity of the roadside stall exceeded CEO Qin’s imagination, but Qin Jue wasn’t a stuffy aristocrat. She was quite willing to try things she hadn’t experienced before.

“Sounds good,” Qin Jue said.

“Then please order first, CEO Qin,” Tang Yun smiled.

Qin Jue frowned, staring at the crude menu with its red letters on a yellow background. She couldn’t match the pork loin, chicken fillet, and bacon listed to the suspiciously red skewers on the cart. The option to add cheese, floss, corn, and spicy strips made the final product’s flavor unimaginable to Qin Jue.

Tang Yun couldn’t help but smile at her side. Qin Jue realized the girl was deliberately making her experience the feeling of not understanding the menu, getting revenge for the high-end restaurant earlier.

The girl certainly held a grudge.

“Ahem,” Qin Jue cleared her throat and asked the jianbing owner with a smile, “Do you have any recommended set meals?”

“Huh?” The owner was stunned. Perhaps he’d never heard jianbing described as a “set meal,” but he was quick to adapt and replied, “Then let’s go with the ‘Family Feast’.”

CEO Qin nodded in agreement, then told Tang Yun, “I’ve ordered.”

Tang Yun was dumbfounded, not expecting Qin Jue to pull this move. Qin Jue seemed completely immune to embarrassment, simply demanding service as a matter of course. Right. Why didn’t I think to ask the waiter for a recommendation? At least they could have suggested something filling.

Tang Yun glumly ordered her favorite childhood style—chicken fillet and pork loin with black pepper sauce—while secretly wondering if CEO Qin was simply incapable of being flustered.

The owner quickly poured the batter, scraping out a large, round crepe, then cracked an egg with one hand. Finding a moment, he looked up at the two well-dressed people standing there, neither of whom looked like they were going to pay.

The owner pointed to the QR code above his head, “Scan here to pay, please.”

“Ah, sorry,” Tang Yun came to her senses.

It had been too long since she’d eaten from a roadside stall; she’d forgotten the procedure. As for CEO Qin, who had offered to treat, she had absolutely no intention of scanning a code to pay!

Tang Yun took out her phone, scanned the code, and paid for both jianbing. Qin Jue, standing behind her, keenly spotted Tang Yun’s WeChat alias for her.

“‘White Steamed Bun’? What does that mean?” Qin Jue asked, confused.

Tang Yun suddenly became very nervous. She quickly hid her phone, a suspicious blush creeping up to her ear tips. She then swiftly changed Qin Jue’s alias to the perfectly standard “CEO Qin,” her back rigid as she stammered, “It… it doesn’t mean anything.”

That reaction definitely meant something suspicious. Qin Jue narrowed her eyes, certain it wasn’t a good nickname.

“Do you think following me only allows you to eat steamed buns? Am I that stingy in your eyes?” Qin Jue asked.

Tang Yun was rigid all over. After a long pause, she slowly whispered, “Uh… yes.”

The owner’s skill at making the jianbing seemed to mesmerize Tang Yun, preventing her from turning around. Qin Jue couldn’t see Tang Yun’s expression, but even with Tang Yun’s back to her, Qin Jue noticed that after saying that, Tang Yun’s back began to relax little by little. It seemed she finally realized that problems needed to be communicated immediately, and that CEO Qin wasn’t completely unreasonable.

Except that the blush from her ear tips had now spread to her neck.

Qin Jue pulled out her phone to transfer money to Tang Yun. She enjoyed teasing Tang Yun, but that didn’t mean she would actually be stingy with her finances. Qin Jue might joke about only treating Tang Yun to roadside food, but she wouldn’t blink an eye when transferring ten thousand yuan to Tang Yun.

“Check your account, Secretary Tang. I said I’m treating. I can’t let you pay out of pocket,” Qin Jue said with a smile.

Tang Yun kept her phone in her pocket and didn’t take it out. The notification sound of the transfer couldn’t sway her, as if she had instantly achieved enlightenment and no longer cared for such worldly pleasures.

Was it that big of a deal? It’s just the owner saw the nickname she gave him, right? Qin Jue couldn’t help but shake her head.

“Your jianbing are ready,” the owner handed over two packages, one large and one small, in paper bags inside plastic bags. The larger one, overflowing with fillings, was Qin Jue’s; the smaller one was Tang Yun’s.

CEO Qin looked at the size of the jianbing and fell silent.

Tang Yun held the two plastic bags and walked back with Qin Jue. She was genuinely nervous and dared not force Qin Jue to condescend to eat such “slum food.”

The nickname on Tang Yun’s phone had a long history, dating back to when Qin Jue was hospitalized with a sudden heart attack. The inspiration was a fleeting glance in the bathroom mirror: so white, so big, so round. Later, during one of Qin Jue’s exploitative moments, she had given Qin Jue the nickname out of indignation and a certain unspeakable familiarity.

Tang Yun would never admit it.

Her thought process was too wild, her associations too outrageous. No one in the world, except herself, could work backward to figure out what garbage she was pondering when she set that nickname. Compared to that secret, complaining behind her back that CEO Qin was stingy was a harmless little joke. So, she simply admitted it. The most important thing now was to return to normal quickly and stop making Qin Jue feel suspicious.

Tang Yun hypnotized herself the entire way. By the time they walked along the sycamore-lined path to the school’s main gate, she finally felt she had regained control of her facial muscles. Tang Yun opened the car door, got in, handed Qin Jue the “Family Feast” jianbing, and asked, “CEO Qin, would you like to try it?”

Qin Jue took it, examined it, and very cautiously took a small bite, savoring the taste.

“If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. I can take it home and have it for dinner,” Tang Yun said.

Qin Jue slowly glanced at Tang Yun and said deliberately, “I can’t do that. Otherwise, tomorrow I might be labeled ‘Multi-Grain Jianbing’ in your phone.”

“That’s even worse than ‘White Steamed Bun.’ At least that’s a refined carb.”

Tang Yun erupted in a fit of earth-shattering coughs.

“I’m sorry, CEO Qin. I’ve already changed it. Please don’t say it again,” Tang Yun’s face and ears were completely red.

Qin Jue handed her a bottle of mineral water.

Tang Yun twisted off the cap and took a big gulp to hide her embarrassment, feeling for the first time that she might be even more of a jerk than Qin Jue.

“Feeling better?” Qin Jue asked.

“Much better. Thank you, CEO Qin,” Tang Yun replied quickly, sounding very obsequious.

Qin Jue’s huge “Family Feast” jianbing was set aside after that one small bite. Qin Jue slowly stepped on the gas and started the car. The driving was smooth and steady, allowing Tang Yun to comfortably sit in the passenger seat and finish the entire jianbing. She was very well-behaved, cautious the whole time, not dropping a single crumb in Qin Jue’s precious car.

“Um, why did Miss Yao come looking for you today?” Tang Yun tried to change the subject. If she heard words like “White Steamed Bun” or “refined carb” from Qin Jue’s mouth again, she might just pass away on the spot.

“Miss Yao?” It took Qin Jue a moment to realize the convoluted title referred to Qin Yao.

“Nothing much. Just some family matters,” Qin Jue said.

“Was it about the dinner last night?” Tang Yun asked.

She had been called to pick up Qin Jue with a single WeChat message and had struggled to help the feverish Qin Jue back to the apartment. Tang Yun clearly remembered Qin Jue looking fine that morning. It was hard not to suspect that some unpleasantness had occurred at the dinner.

Qin Jue’s jaw tightened. It seemed Tang Yun’s attempt to change the subject wasn’t going well.

“Nothing. Yao Yao won an award in a competition. We were just celebrating,” Qin Jue chose to omit the latter half of the dinner.

“That’s impressive! What kind of competition?” Tang Yun followed up.

Qin Jue chuckled, adopting the typical detached tone of a parent: “Not very famous, just a small-scale one. She created an indie game.”

“Oh, then I know which one it is,” Tang Yun responded with a smile.

Before the smile faded, Tang Yun suddenly shot up from her seat, her back straight, and turned to stare intently at Qin Jue.

“I know,” she whispered.

“You know what?” Qin Jue was puzzled.

“I know what’s wrong with Xiao Jianming’s code!”

“Quick, quick, quick, let’s go back! I need to confirm it right away,” Tang Yun urged.

Qin Jue slammed the accelerator. A thin layer of sweat broke out on her palms. For some reason, she seemed infected by Tang Yun’s excitement, and a long-lost thrill pulsed in her chest.