When the Top Chef Transmigrated into a Scum Alpha (GL) - Chapter 4

In contrast, Shang Wumian was struggling with the hoeing. She couldn’t grasp the technique, and her injured leg made it highly strenuous. Lin Qingwan sat watching her, her gaze empty, wondering what she was thinking.

The current Shang Wumian was very different from the one in her memories of the previous life.

If it were the Shang Wumian from the past, she would have flatly refused when Lin Qingwan asked her to come out with her in the morning, let alone trying hard to hoe the field while injured.

Lin Qingwan believed she had a clear understanding of how selfish and self-serving that person was. So, what was the meaning of this charade the other party was putting on now?

Lin Qingwan lowered her eyes, and when she looked up again, all her emotions were hidden. She knew Shang Wumian was injured, but she deliberately made things difficult in order to test her, to see if the other person would reveal her nasty nature.

As it was, Shang Wumian hadn’t shown any flaws. Lin Qingwan scoffed internally: Heh, she’s putting on quite a show.

However, it was also clear that Shang Wumian was genuinely unskilled at hoeing; the patch of land she had worked on could only be described as a sorry sight. Compared to her two lives, this person had become proficient in cooking but had forgotten this most basic skill.

Lin Qingwan glanced at a few people passing by the field, finally stood up, and stopped the other person: “Alright, stop hoeing. Go rest on the side.”

The low efficiency was one thing, but if the image of her struggling despite her injury spread, it would look like she was harshly treating her savior.

Although Lin Qingwan didn’t care about what others thought, she intended to live here with A-Fu for a while and didn’t want to attract too much attention.

Shang Wumian gracefully accepted the reprieve, immediately stopped what she was doing, and looked up at the other person. In that short amount of time, she felt her back aching and her physique was surprisingly weak.

In contrast, Lin Qingwan’s movements were crisp and clean, and the force with which the hoe landed was perfectly controlled. The distance she covered quickly surpassed what Shang Wumian had laboriously managed.

Shang Wumian glanced at the strangers working in the adjacent fields. Although she couldn’t tell whether they were Qianyuan (Alpha) or Kunze (Omega), they were all proficient in the task without exception.

Looking around, it seemed like she was the only one who couldn’t do it.

However, Shang Wumian didn’t dwell on this fact. She was an outsider who had lived a privileged life in her original world; it was not strange that she didn’t know these things.

Shang Wumian carefully sat down against a tree, placed her injured leg flat, and then shifted her attention to observe the surroundings.

The air was fresh, and the ancient style was rustic.

The environment, which she had only glimpsed through text, now presented itself so realistically before her, which made Shang Wumian feel a strange sensation.

At the same time, she thought casually that even the sets and costumes for historical dramas probably weren’t as authentic as this place.

Shang Wumian was lost in thought. In Lin Qingwan’s eyes, she merely frowned but ultimately ignored her.

In Lin Qingwan’s view, there was no need to spare any more glances for someone she no longer intended to be involved with. So, after she finished hoeing the ground, she didn’t say anything, but picked up her tools and headed straight home.

Shang Wumian dutifully followed, using the hoe as a crutch in one hand while limping, and carrying the water bottle they had used earlier in the other.

After all, Lin Qingwan was under no obligation to let a relatively unfamiliar person stay in her home for free food and lodging. Since Shang Wumian hadn’t contributed any labor this time, she had to make up for it in this way.

Throughout the walk, Lin Qingwan never deliberately stopped to wait for the other person. Whether Shang Wumian could keep up or not, she would eventually find her way back, and even if she truly didn’t, it would be even better for Lin Qingwan.

Shang Wumian limped along, secretly thankful that her memory was good enough to clearly recall the way back.

Along the way, they encountered a few elderly Kunze (Omega) women from the village. They looked at Lin Qingwan and Shang Wumian passing by one after the other, and habitually began to gossip. Subtle, observant gazes were cast in their direction.

Lin Qingwan knew the habit of these idle Kunze women gathering, and she walked away calmly, without looking sideways.

Shang Wumian had slight social anxiety. Seeing so many people gathered together from afar reminded her of those stereotypical elderly relatives in TV dramas who loved to sit around, cracking melon seeds and pointing fingers.

That kind of local gossip was the most annoying.

Shang Wumian didn’t want to be subjected to their synchronized scrutiny, so she wanted to walk faster, but her injured leg wouldn’t cooperate.

Fortunately, until the moment they left, Shang Wumian didn’t hear them talking about herself, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems she had overthought it and wrongly judged those people.

What Shang Wumian didn’t know was that these Kunze women had extensive gossiping experience. They only started their official discussions after the subjects had walked a good distance away.

Aunt Shi folded her arms, squinted her eyes slightly in the direction Lin Qingwan and Shang Wumian had left, and was the first to bring up the related topic.

“Hey, did you see? That girl over there is the one surnamed Lin.” Aunt Shi squinted again and continued, “And the one following behind, is that the outsider Qianyuan?”

Once the gossip was sparked, the other familiar Kunze women joined in, and a flurry of chattering followed.

“Yes, it’s them. I heard that Qianyuan is now living in Lin Qingwan’s house.”

“I don’t just hear things, I saw them leaving together and coming to the fields earlier.”

“What’s going on? A single Qianyuan and a lonely Kunze, just living together like that? Little Lin used to seem like an honest child; why is she doing such a foolish thing now? She’s really not afraid of the villagers talking.”

Finally, Madam Zhong couldn’t listen anymore: “It’s not just the two of them; isn’t that little girl A-Fu there too? I’m telling you all, don’t spread rumors unnecessarily. Didn’t that Qianyuan save both Miss Lin and A-Fu from the fire a few days ago? It’s normal to let her stay for a few days.”

The other Kunze women agreed, saying, “That’s true,” and quickly moved on to another topic as they saw new people passing by.

A little later, after returning home, Shang Wumian vaguely felt some pain in her palms. She looked down and saw she had developed two blisters. This happened just from holding the hoe for a short time.

Due to her profession, Shang Wumian had always treasured her hands. She frowned, hesitated briefly, and then tried to ask Lin Qingwan if she had any ointment.

Lin Qingwan showed no particular reaction. She simply turned and went back to the room to search, and soon found an ointment for her.

Shang Wumian looked at the other person, her eyes expressing an unspoken message.

The blisters on her hands were evenly located, one on each palm, making it quite inconvenient to apply the ointment herself. She wanted to ask Lin Qingwan for help but hesitated, worrying she would be refused.

Reading the novel before wasn’t visceral enough. Now that Shang Wumian had actually transmigrated, she deeply understood what the frequent comment section phrase “Cold Beauty, My Love” meant.

Shang Wumian held the small bottle of ointment with two fingers, thinking: Your beloved female lead… is so cold that I feel if I were to suddenly collapse right now, Lin Qingwan would only glance over with doubt, make sure I wasn’t dead, and then walk away as if nothing happened.

Lin Qingwan was keenly perceptive. After waiting for Shang Wumian for a long time without her speaking, and observing her actions, she knew what the person in front of her was planning.

She was the one who initiated the question: “Do you want me to help you apply the medicine?”

This question hit the bullseye for Shang Wumian, so she nodded immediately.

Lin Qingwan said nothing more. Out of what exact psychological reason, she agreed to help with surprising ease.

After she directly took the small bottle of ointment from Shang Wumian’s hand, she casually set it aside as if she had just remembered something and turned to fetch a needle.

Looking at the cold glint of the needle, Shang Wumian suddenly felt a little nervous.

Lin Qingwan lowered her eyes, heated the needle over the hot candlelight, then raised her eyes and looked at Shang Wumian with an ambiguous expression.

Shang Wumian instinctively sensed some danger. In an instant, many horrifying images flashed through her mind, and suddenly she didn’t want the other person’s help anymore.

Lin Qingwan held the needle and said to Shang Wumian in an unquestionable tone: “Let’s pierce the blisters first. Bear with it, okay?”

Even though Shang Wumian had done some mental preparation beforehand, she couldn’t control her reaction to the pain and let out an “Ah.”

In pain, slight physiological tears appeared in the corners of Shang Wumian’s eyes. All her attention was focused on the two blisters that had just been popped, so she naturally didn’t have the presence of mind to notice anything else.

Therefore, she didn’t notice Lin Qingwan subtly curling her lips into a smirk.

Does it hurt? It should hurt. It would be best if it hurts you to death.

“Yikes!” Both were preoccupied with their own thoughts and failed to notice A-Fu, who had just returned from school, looking at them with excitement.

Sister Qingwan and Sister Wumian seem to be getting along quite well. They were even holding hands just now!

A-Fu secretly peered at the two people through her fingers, earnestly declaring: “Sister Qingwan, you two continue, I didn’t see anything at all~”

If Shang Wumian knew what A-Fu was thinking, she would feel utterly hopeless: Thank you, but that was not a mutual “holding hands”; it was Lin Qingwan pressing my hand down tightly so the needle could be applied easily.

Moreover, when the other person used the needle, she was utterly decisive, as if she was stabbing a vital point. If this could be considered the two of them being loving and harmonious, then she would truly feel compelled to spout nonsense.

Lin Qingwan was much gentler when facing A-Fu: “Rest for a while, then do the homework the teacher assigned.”

A-Fu was well-behaved and obedient, and started doing her homework as instructed.

Shang Wumian, sitting not far away, felt the pain in her hand subside. She unintentionally heard a few sighs and looked at the little girl with some amusement: “What’s wrong? Why all the sighing?”

A-Fu frowned and answered miserably: “Doing the assignments the teacher gave… “

Small head, big confusion. It’s too difficult; she couldn’t do it.

Shang Wumian was curious, so she stood up, leaned closer to A-Fu, and took a look: They were arithmetic problems and poetry matching, quite simple.

She pointed things out and gave the little struggling girl a few pointers.

A-Fu immediately brightened and picked up her brush to write.

Lin Qingwan had been keeping an eye on the situation. Without needing an excuse, she naturally walked over and rubbed A-Fu’s head.

She was actually trying to look at the paper with A-Fu’s homework.

There were no mistakes.

Lin Qingwan glanced at Shang Wumian without speaking.

… How does this person also know how to read and write? The uneducated Qianyuan from the previous life despised books and was completely illiterate right up until her death.

Lin Qingwan mused internally, It seems that after my rebirth, quite a few changes have truly occurred in Shang Wumian.

And these changes were curious at every turn.

Shang Wumian didn’t know the thoughts racing through Lin Qingwan’s mind. She simply complied with A-Fu’s request and wrote down a small trick for poetry matching.

Since her hand had just had the blisters popped, writing was slightly uncomfortable, but she endured the pain and tried her best to write as clearly as usual. Even the handwriting produced under these conditions immediately drew praise.

“Sister’s handwriting is so beautiful!” A-Fu’s eyes flashed with a glimmer of admiration.

It wasn’t that A-Fu was deliberately trying to compliment Shang Wumian; Shang Wumian’s handwriting really was beautiful.

Unlike her own, which was shaky and messy.

—The teacher even scolded her for drawing ‘ghostly runes.’

“Practice more, and you can do it too,” Shang Wumian smiled slightly. After putting down the brush, she gently rubbed the other person’s fluffy head. She had a little niece at her friend’s house, about the same age as A-Fu.

She was also very fond of her.

A-Fu picked up the brush and wrote two characters, realizing they were still ugly. Compared to Shang Wumian’s, they were unpresentable, so she asked full of expectation: “Sister Shang, can you teach me?”

Shang Wumian smiled: “I…”