Transmigrated as the Domineering Scumbag Alpha Forced into Marriage by a Delicate Subordinate (GL) - Chapter 8

The heavy, soundproof door of the ward separated the inside and outside into two different worlds. When Mrs. Qin, having seen off Guan Li, pushed the door open and entered, Qin Jue was already awake, leaning lazily on the pillows, eating small bites of apple. A great weight finally lifted from Mrs. Qin’s heart.

“Xiao Jue, you scared your mother to death,” Mrs. Qin sighed softly.

Mrs. Qin sat down by Qin Jue’s bedside and glanced at Tang Yun. Qin Jue knew this meant Mrs. Qin had something to say, so she told Tang Yun to leave. In a moment, only the mother and daughter remained in the large VIP ward.

“When Mo Quan called me… I felt like the sky was falling,” Mrs. Qin said, her eyes reddening as she shook her head. “Don’t think your mother is useless. I only want you and Yao Yao to be well. Everything else, I can ignore.”

“But I’m fine now, aren’t I… Mom.” Qin Jue responded awkwardly to this moment of deep maternal affection, her mouth dry, not knowing what to say.

“The doctor said you must have been unwell before. Why didn’t you ever tell the family? Your father left us this way; you know what I fear the most. You and Yao Yao, you absolutely, absolutely must not abandon me again,” Mrs. Qin said.

Qin Jue was silent. She didn’t know what to say at a moment like this. She neither knew the original owner’s past health condition nor the cause of the original owner’s father’s death. When she arrived, the Qin family was just a widow and her orphans. But if she put herself in her shoes, she felt she could understand Mrs. Qin’s state of mind.

Qin Jue gently held Mrs. Qin’s hand and comforted her softly: “I’m fine. I think I was just a little tired recently.”

“I’ve been reflecting over the years. Before, your father valued the company more than his life, and he and I both thought you would surely take over his burden and make the company prosper, but…”

Mrs. Qin stopped abruptly here. Qin Jue knew without thinking that the rest of the sentence was definitely: But things didn’t work out. The original owner didn’t have the ability, only knew how to muddle through life, throw her weight around, and fool around with women.

“Guan Li is ambitious, but he’s also quite capable. The company has relied entirely on him since Old Qin passed away. I know this, and Yao Yao probably knows it too.”

Qin Jue looked up, somewhat taken aback, staring at Mrs. Qin. Mrs. Qin was intently examining the hands they held together, lost in recollection, completely missing the change in Qin Jue’s expression.

“Do you know what he’s plotting?” Qin Jue couldn’t help but ask.

Mrs. Qin chuckled softly, “Nothing more than this family business.”

“He and your father are not the same kind of people. What your father left behind is outdated now, and the company’s business has been tied up with him for the past few years, and he also wants to be our son-in-law…”

“For years, I’ve been thinking that just having enough money to support ourselves is enough. As for the rest, should we let go of what we can’t keep early on? But whenever I think of you and Yao Yao, I can’t bear to…”

“Don’t give up,” Qin Jue squeezed Mrs. Qin’s hand.

Mrs. Qin looked up and finally noticed the obscure flicker in Qin Jue’s eyes.

“Maybe you can try to trust me,” Qin Jue said.

Changfeng Technology was founded thirty-five years ago, bringing happy childhood memories to two generations. Qin Jue’s father overworked himself to death. After his passing, the disappointing eldest daughter was easily stripped of power, the younger daughter was deceived, and his life’s work was radically transformed. Mrs. Qin, with clear eyes and a clear mind, watched all this happen, only able to cautiously maintain the relationship, hoping to appease the ambitious outsider.

Frankly, Qin Jue couldn’t bear to watch this.

“I’ll work hard, and we won’t let outsiders take advantage, okay?” Qin Jue tried to make the conversation sound lighter.

Mrs. Qin: “Xiao Jue…”

Mrs. Qin might say Old Qin’s business was outdated and that it was better to give up early and hand over the family business to her future son-in-law, but when Qin Jue said she would work hard for the family, a spark of hope still ignited in her heart.

After a long pause, Mrs. Qin finally shook her head. “Don’t force yourself.”

“I’m not forcing myself. I just suddenly feel that I might actually like working,” Qin Jue said with a smile.

“Why?” the System in her mind didn’t understand.

The Qin family’s affairs had nothing to do with her. According to the System’s design, the plot of this novel was entirely a free ride for Qin Jue to enjoy. Why did she have to focus on these minor details, why did she have to increase the difficulty for herself?

Furthermore, she knew the Qin family’s ending: the massive Changfeng Technology was destined to collapse. She had to rush down the slippery slope to successfully complete the mission and go home.

Qin Jue lowered her eyes. She had, of course, considered all the System’s arguments. If Qin’s mother had remained clueless and ornamental as she had initially assumed, she could have watched the Qin family unknowingly head toward ruin without a single ripple in her heart. But the fact was, Mrs. Qin was clear-headed and felt powerless and pained by it.

A dull ache pressed in Qin Jue’s chest. She understood Mrs. Qin’s predicament too well, so it was hard for her to completely stand aside, even if this was just a story designed by someone else, all fake.

Being a good daughter to the Qin family was the exact opposite of her ultimate goal, but in the immediate present, she couldn’t make an overly cold choice.

The future had not yet arrived. She had experienced near-death resurrections several times. Qin Jue never obediently stayed within someone else’s predetermined framework. She believed she could still find a loophole in the System this time. For now, she just needed to take things as they came.

Qin Jue pursed her lips and smiled, imperceptibly shaking her head, blocking out the System’s long analyses, and focusing her thoughts on the present.

She pointed to the collar of Mrs. Qin’s cheongsam. Mrs. Qin raised her hand and felt that the first pearl button had come undone. In her anxious haste, she hadn’t even noticed.

“Why didn’t anyone remind me?” Mrs. Qin was slightly embarrassed.

“You’re just worried and flustered,” Qin Jue smiled.

Mrs. Qin straightened her collar, then walked into the bathroom in the ward to check herself in the mirror, tidying her hair.

“I told Aunt Song. She will come to the hospital to take care of you for the next few days. Is that alright?” Mrs. Qin asked.

“No need. Aunt Song should stay home with you. I have someone to look after me,” Qin Jue refused.

Aunt Song had been with the Qin family for many years and had practically watched the original owner grow up. Qin Jue still remembered Aunt Song’s intimacy with the Qin family when she returned to the old house the night before. She wasn’t the real Qin Jue, so it was best not to get too deeply involved.

“Who will take care of you?” Mrs. Qin asked.

“Well…” Qin Jue stuttered.

Qin Jue subconsciously wanted to say she had an assistant, but the next second, she realized she wasn’t the decisive CEO Qin she used to be. In this world, the original owner might have an assistant, but she hadn’t met them and didn’t even know their gender (male or female) or secondary gender (Alpha or Omega).

Having a complete stranger take care of her in the hospital was something Qin Jue couldn’t quite accept.

System: “Cough!”

“Oh, Secretary Tang has been with me. It’ll be fine if she looks after me for a few days,” Qin Jue smoothly followed the suggestion.

Mrs. Qin’s conversation with her daughter was short. Tang Yun felt she had only waited for a short time outside the ward door before Mrs. Qin pushed it open and came out. Tang Yun quickly stood up.

Tang Yun didn’t know what the mother and daughter discussed inside, but Mrs. Qin was noticeably more spirited now than when she arrived, as if a long-standing constraint had been slightly loosened.

“Xiao Tang, what exactly are you responsible for while working with our Qin Jue?” Mrs. Qin asked.

Tang Yun: “…”

How should she answer? She couldn’t answer.

Tang Yun subconsciously rubbed her hands against the seams of her trousers. She didn’t need a mirror to know that her face must be pale with tension right now.

“I just help her handle some miscellaneous tasks,” Tang Yun said softly.

Mrs. Qin nodded, “Miscellaneous tasks are tiring too. Thank you for your hard work.”

Tang Yun cautiously scrutinized Mrs. Qin’s expression and tone. She wasn’t sure if Mrs. Qin was just being polite or was speaking with the air of a wealthy madam to put her in her place. She suspected that wealthy people’s playthings weren’t supposed to meet the family one by one like this—it was all the fault of this cursed coincidence.

“Qin Jue wants you to stay and accompany her during her hospitalization for the next few days. Do you have any objections?” Mrs. Qin asked kindly.

Tang Yun: “…No.”

How could she dare to object?

“Caring for the sick is tedious. If you ask me, she shouldn’t always be ordering you around like this. Hiring a professional nurse for a few days would be fine, but she probably can’t do without you and specifically asked for you to stay. Xiao Tang, don’t worry, I will urge Qin Jue to give you a big red envelope,” Mrs. Qin said with a smile.

Tang Yun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Mrs. Qin seemed afraid that she would feel wronged about caring for the patient.

“It’s alright. Helping CEO Qin with miscellaneous tasks is part of my job,” Tang Yun explained.

After finally sending Mrs. Qin off, Tang Yun took a deep breath outside the ward door. She couldn’t understand how an Omega as gentle and even somewhat simple as Mrs. Qin could give birth to someone like Qin Jue.

As dusk approached, Tang Yun skillfully walked into the hospital cafeteria and bought some plain congee and light side dishes for Qin Jue, and a five-yuan bag of fried noodles for herself. She returned to Qin Jue’s VIP ward under the afterglow of the setting sun.

The VIP ward was on an upper floor. Tang Yun stared at the elevator numbers ticking up one by one. Her heart tightened when it flashed past a number that was very familiar to her. Mrs. Qin was worried that Tang Yun would find patient care too tedious, but Tang Yun had already become accustomed to all this tediousness.

Ding—

The elevator arrived. The two doors, reflecting Tang Yun’s image, parted. Tang Yun walked out with her and Qin Jue’s dinner. Only then did she belatedly realize that someone of Qin Jue’s class probably wouldn’t eat the hospital cafeteria’s patient food, would they?

But Qin Jue hadn’t made any requests, and Tang Yun certainly wouldn’t go out of her way to find trouble. Tang Yun calmly placed the plain congee and side dishes from the cafeteria on the small table in front of Qin Jue, then sat down and opened her bag of fried noodles.

Instantly, the aroma filled the room.

Qin Jue stared at the overly meager dinner in front of her, suspecting that the female lead’s revenge had already begun.

“Tang Yun, let’s switch,” Qin Jue said.

“You should eat a light diet, low oil, low sugar, and low salt,” Tang Yun said.

“And high protein,” Qin Jue said.

Tang Yun: “…There’s no meat in the fried noodles either.”

She estimated that Qin Jue would order her to go buy the supposedly high-protein, nutritious meal again. She didn’t intend to go on an empty stomach to buy food for Qin Jue, so she quickly stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth.

Most people eating fried noodles in the hospital were the less-affluent family members of patients. The chef had made the flavor very strong. She admitted her taste was simple, and she thought it tasted very good.

Qin Jue silently watched Tang Yun gulping down the fried noodles. She distinctly felt that Tang Yun seemed less afraid of her after she ended up in the hospital bed. This difference in attitude suggested that Qin Jue’s status as a dominant benefactor was precarious. This time, without the System’s urging, Qin Jue knew it was time to bully her again.

“The doctor ordered me to have bed rest,” Qin Jue said.

Tang Yun: “?”

Qin Jue: “So, there are some things I probably can’t do by myself.”

“Such as, taking a bath.”