After Becoming the Live-in Scummy Alpha, I Pamper Her with Real Strength - Chapter 41

Before He Song and Mo Qingran could even begin their honeymoon, they received an invitation from the production team of Inn Beneath the Clouds—a new reality show launched by Shanzhu TV. The concept?

Couples running a countryside inn together.

After the success of Someday, the wife-wife CP of He Song and Mo Qingran continued to draw intense public interest. The show’s director had a lightbulb moment and decided to invite them both.

The filming location was in Dali, Yunnan, known for its expansive skies and breathtaking natural beauty. Lili was especially excited—because the inn belonged to one of her friends.

“He-jie, you have to go! It’s such a fun place. Bring President Mo with you!”

While her left eye was closed to let the makeup artist apply eyeshadow, He Song looked over at the bubbling Lili. “I’m fine with it. Seaside Times wrapped up and my schedule is free. But Mo Qingran might not have time—she’s running a huge corporation, after all.”

That night, He Song knelt by Mo Qingran’s side with her hands pressed together in a pleading gesture. “Qingran, can you come with me?”

Mo Qingran, still drenched in post-shower dampness and staring blankly at the ceiling, looked like she wanted to kick He Song off the bed. “I don’t have time for that. I’m very busy.”

“It’s just for a month! One month. Yunnan is amazing.”

Mo Qingran scoffed. “You want a billionaire CEO to go manage a guesthouse? Sounds like a bad deal for me.”

He Song, ever the sycophant, massaged her legs and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Didn’t you already acquire Mo Corp? After working non-stop, you owe me a little quality time.”

(Mo Qingran’s inner thoughts: You don’t think we already spend enough quality time every night?)

Eventually, worn down by He Song’s relentless pestering, Mo Qingran “reluctantly” agreed.

The next day, He Song gleefully packed their luggage and flew off to Yunnan with her wife.

—

Besides the invited cast, the inn was only staffed with a single chef in the kitchen and one server at the front. Before shooting officially began, He Song decided to learn some of the inn’s staple dishes—one chef clearly wouldn’t be enough during busy hours.

Fu Qingqing and He Ruan also joined the show. He Song had been surprised not to see the award-winning couple during Someday and now understood why.

Fu Qingqing smiled. “Originally, the production team asked us to be the love observers. But…” She gently patted her stomach. “We had a little surprise. Both Ruan and I were caught off guard.”

She wore no makeup, but even near forty, her beauty was striking. Her shoulder-length hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she wore a pale green chiffon dress with flat canvas sneakers. A soft aura of happiness radiated from her.

Her belly still showed no visible bump, barely noticeable.

“Just over three months along. In a little while, it’ll start to show. I’ll be manning the front desk and keeping a close eye on your work.”

He Song couldn’t help but notice how different Fu Qingqing was now—so down-to-earth compared to her usual aloof, queenly image in the media. Was it the pregnancy glow?

The cameras started rolling right at the beginning of the National Day holiday, and the inn was instantly packed. Tables inside and out were filled to capacity, with a line still forming outside.

Chef Li frowned at the crowd. “This won’t do. He Song, go outside and hang the ‘Not Accepting New Guests’ sign. We’re running out of food stock.”

In the midst of stir-frying, He Song wiped her forehead, dished out a bowl of egg fried rice, and headed outside to tell Mo Qingran about the shortage.

Mo Qingran had her hair clipped up and wore a scarf apron, looking neat and efficient. She handed He Song the recipe book. “Mark the dishes we still have ingredients for.”

Outside, Mo Qingran posted the temporary closure sign, then went to each customer waiting in line and offered complimentary tea. “Today we’re offering a special discounted set menu—20% off. These are the inn’s signature dishes, perfect for foodies visiting Yunnan.”

“And if you have kids with you, we’ll include a free pudding.”

He Song wrapped her arms around Mo Qingran and grinned. “Babe, you’re amazing.”

Mo Qingran, annoyed by the clinginess, pushed her away, her ears flushed red. “Get back to work!”

After the dinner rush, only a few tables remained.

The blackboard behind the front desk showed that day’s revenue and average customer satisfaction rating. All in all, it had gone fairly well—with no major hiccups. It was a solid start.

Server finally relaxed after placing down her last tray. Mo Qingran walked over and gave her shoulder a light pat. “Good work today.”

Ning Yu replied, “Not really. I messed up several orders. If you hadn’t remembered exactly what each table ordered, things could’ve gone south fast. You’re amazing, Mo-jie.”

Mo Qingran said, “It’s not a big deal. Mistakes happen when it’s this busy.”

“But you handled everything so smoothly. I’ve been working here for three months, and on your first day, you were already this good. I have a lot to learn from you.”

“Not many customers left now. Go have dinner.”

Ning Yu waved her off. “No need, Mo-jie. I’ll wait and eat with everyone.”

Just as they were chatting, five more customers walked through the door. Ning Yu immediately stood up and approached them with a warm smile and menu in hand.

Mo Qingran sat down beside Fu Qingqing at the front desk, flipping through the accounts.

Fu Qingqing watched her with amusement. Here was the CEO who could negotiate deals worth tens of millions without blinking—now managing the guesthouse accounts like a humble clerk.

Ah, the power of love.

“How was today’s income?”

Mo Qingran tapped her pen thoughtfully against her chin, then got up and adjusted the numbers on the blackboard.

Fu Qingqing glanced over. “Not bad. Ning Yu told me the inn’s daily average income—today we’ve made double that.”

But Mo Qingran just shook her head. Arms crossed, she began scribbling on the board. “But our costs are high. Food ingredients, utilities… even with conservative estimates, we’ll only be left with about a fifth of today’s revenue. Divide that among five staff members, and everyone’s salary is under 1,000 yuan.”

“Huh? How can that be?” It was the national holiday—peak season for tourism. Business should be booming.

Mo Qingran frowned. “Exactly. But if this continues, once the holiday ends and customer traffic drops, we’ll be operating at a loss. I’ll ask Chef Li for the inn’s old account books later. The food cost ratio seems off.”

Fu Qingqing immediately suspected the production team. “It’s probably their doing—artificially inflating the costs. If we just run this inn too comfortably, there wouldn’t be any drama for the show.”

“We can talk it through properly at the meeting tonight—”

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by shouting from inside the store.

Bang!!

“I told you already, we didn’t order this!”

Ning Yu stood awkwardly by Table 5, holding a bowl of yellow croaker tofu soup. Her voice trembled slightly. “But… but this really is your order. It’s right here on the ticket…”

“Are you deaf? We said we didn’t order it, so we didn’t. Who the hell knows what happened with that order?”

Five burly middle-aged men sat at the table, one of them—fat-faced and greasy—was now yelling at the top of his lungs.

Customers at surrounding tables turned and frowned at the commotion.

Ning Yu’s eyes reddened. “But… but it really was your order…”

Fu Qingqing furrowed her brow. Great—drunken thugs?

She stood up, ready to step in, but Mo Qingran stopped her.

Mo Qingran glanced at Fu Qingqing’s belly and said quietly, “You need to be careful now. I’ll handle it.”

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“You really are a clueless little thing,” one of the men sneered. “Why don’t you come play with us a bit?”

Their words grew more and more vulgar. Ning Yu bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes.

The man wearing a gold chain reached out and slapped her hand. “There’s a grove over there. Why don’t we go have a little fun, huh? We’ll just—”

Crack.

Mo Qingran had grabbed his filthy paw, her face expressionless and cold. “Sorry. We made a mistake. This really isn’t your order.”

“But… Sister Mo…” Ning Yu murmured.

The fat-faced man’s eyes lit up. He’d never seen a woman as beautiful as Mo Qingran before, and now this one was even more stunning. His gaze turned downright lecherous.

“Well, since this pretty thing knows what’s good for her, how about you come play with us instead?”

Disgusted, Mo Qingran yanked a few napkins from the table, wiped her hands, and flung them into the man’s face.

“Beasts don’t get to place orders. Now get the hell out of our inn—we don’t serve animals here.”

“What did you just say?!”

The man’s face turned mottled purple with rage. He stood up, seething. “We’re being nice, and you spit in our faces? Boys, grab her!”

Mo Qingran didn’t expect them to actually make a move in broad daylight. The man with the gold chain closest to her had already seized her wrist and was trying to drag her out of the shop.

“Disgusted by me, huh? Let’s see how disgusted you are afterward…”

Other patrons began to protest, but were immediately silenced by the gang’s glares.

“Anyone else wants to die today?”

Fu Qingqing watched in horror and ran straight to the kitchen for help.

The moment He Song heard that Mo Qingran was in trouble, she rushed out and saw the group of thugs surrounding her. Beside them, Ning Yu was crying and shouting, desperately tugging at Mo Qingran’s clothes to pull her back.

“Help! Somebody help us! Please!”

He Song’s eyes burned with fury. She grabbed a wine bottle and stormed forward, smashing it over the gold-chain man’s head.

The bottle shattered with a loud crack, and shards of glass rained down on him. He flinched and loosened his grip. He Song quickly pulled Mo Qingran behind her.

The fat-faced man erupted with fury. “Are you out of your damn mind?!”

He Song gave a cold sneer, her face twisted with a sharp, dangerous edge. She pointed the broken bottle neck at them, glass glinting like a blade.

“Try me. Let’s see who’s really afraid of dying here.”

The only way to deal with thugs like this was to show them you’d go just as far.

Breathing heavily, the fat man stared at the bottle in He Song’s hand and glanced at the bystanders now watching intently.

“A woman thinks she can threaten me?”

He lunged at her, aiming to slap her across the face.

But He Song moved first. The jagged edge of the bottle sliced across his hand.

Blood poured out. The other four men, now fully enraged, stared at her with murderous eyes.

Just then, a girl at a nearby table raised her phone and shouted, “I’ve already called the police! They’re on their way. If you don’t want to get arrested, leave now!”

Unfortunately, that only fueled their fury.

The man with the buzzcut pointed at the girl. “I’ve got your face memorized. Once we’re done with them, we’ll deal with you next.”

The situation spiraled out of control. Most of the other guests just watched, detached, unwilling to get involved.

No one wanted to be the next target.

Ning Yu sobbed, “Please… someone help us…”

But no one moved. Even those who had spoken up earlier now lowered their heads in silence.

He Song stood at the front, calm and resolute, facing down the four men. At that moment, they had no one to rely on but themselves.

Just then, from the side, Fu Qingqing came charging in with a basin of hot water—and dumped it all over the men’s heads.

Screams erupted.

He Song immediately rushed forward, delivering a swift kick to each one. She had trained in women’s self-defense—she knew exactly where to strike to cause the most pain.

At that moment, He Ruan arrived with the show crew.

He had just been upstairs discussing the next episode’s script when he got Fu Qingqing’s call. He didn’t expect to come down to this chaos.

The five men were swiftly tied up by the staff and left at the door to await the police.

He Song finally breathed a sigh of relief. When she lowered the bottle, she realized her hand was trembling.

Mo Qingran, eyes red, rushed up and hugged her from behind.

“Did they scare you?” He Song clicked her tongue. “That last kick wasn’t enough. I should go back and get in a few more.”

Mo Qingran’s choked voice came from behind her, soft and trembling. “I was so scared you’d get hurt, He Song. I was terrified. When those four came toward you… my mind just went blank…”

He Song turned and wrapped her in a comforting embrace, gently rubbing her back.

“But I’m fine, aren’t I?”

Feeling her warmth and calm, Mo Qingran’s breathing finally settled. But as she looked toward the thugs outside the door, a dark glint passed through her eyes.

Some people don’t change just because they spend a few months behind bars…

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Author’s Note:

There’ll be a baby-raising extra tomorrow!