After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 42

Around seven in the morning, the production crew arrived at the Jiang family villa to organize the girls for their return trip.

At that hour, most of the girls had just gotten up and were busy getting ready.

Tang Ling had already packed her things, but she wasn’t sure how to face anyone—especially Tan Shiyi, who was downstairs. Her mere appearance would probably be another blow to Tan Shiyi.

She didn’t plan on showing up first; naturally, Jiang Manli came to find her.

Jiang Manli hummed a little tune as she padded to the door in her cool slippers, the sound going pa-da, pa-da. “Ling-jie, you in there? Still not up yet?”

Tang Ling opened the door. “I’ve been up. Just finishing packing.”

Jiang Manli peeked inside. “Wow, you even cleaned up the room yourself? I could’ve had someone come in and do that for you.”

Given what had happened last night, there was no way she wouldn’t clean up. Tang Ling replied, “It’s fine. I can manage myself.”

Jiang Manli shrugged. “I just thought your arm’s still not fully healed. Come on, let’s get some breakfast. You missed lunch yesterday—my sister-in-law made seafood dumpling soup, and there’s plenty left. I warmed it up, it’s so good, you’ve got to try it.”

Just hearing Tan Shiyi’s name made Tang Ling’s heart ache. “Don’t call her your sister-in-law anymore. Especially not in front of her, unless you want to make her angry.”

Jiang Manli blinked. “I’ve been calling her that for ages, and she’s never gotten mad. I even went drinking with her last night! She looks aloof, sure, but she’s actually really easy to get along with—and patient too. I was rambling nonsense, and she still listened.”

Tang Ling thought wryly, At least you know it was nonsense. “Just, don’t call her that again. Things aren’t the same now.”

Jiang Manli eyed her suspiciously. “Ling-jie, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for someone else already? Come on, Tan Shiyi’s great—miss this chance and you’ll never find another like her.”

Tang Ling said quietly, “I haven’t fallen for anyone else. She’s just finally seen me for who I am.”

Jiang Manli burst out laughing. “Seen you? Seen what, that you’re a scummy Alpha? You’re overthinking. Last night she told me seriously that no matter what others say about you, she only trusts what she’s seen herself. She said she still has faith in you.”

Tang Ling’s chest tightened painfully. “That was last night. She wouldn’t say that now.”

Even Jiang Manli, usually slow to catch on, realized something was wrong. “Wait—what happened? Did something happen between you two last night?”

Tang Ling didn’t want to explain. She nudged Jiang Manli toward the stairs. “Don’t ask. Just remember what I said—don’t provoke her.”

But as they turned down the stairs, they ran right into Tan Shiyi, who had just come out of her room with her suitcase.

Her golden curls were loosely pinned up with an ivory shark clip. She wore a pearly-white floral dress that made her look effortlessly elegant, like a painting come to life.

Jiang Manli instinctively wanted to greet her—“Morning, sister-in-law!”—but Tang Ling pinched her waist from behind.

“Ow!”

At the sound, Tan Shiyi lifted her gaze slightly and cast them both a faint glance. Her eyes were cold, laced with disgust. She said nothing, simply rolled her suitcase past them and walked downstairs, leaving behind only her graceful yet distant figure.

Jiang Manli mouthed to Tang Ling, She really does look mad. What on earth did you do?

Tang Ling muttered, “Don’t ask. It’s all my fault.”

In the end, Tang Ling never did get to taste Tan Shiyi’s seafood dumpling soup. The other girls had been much quicker to eat, and by the time she reached the dining room, there were only a few boiled eggs left.

She absently ate two eggs—good protein for an arm that no longer needed it—then took her suitcase outside and loaded it into the car.

At the door, Jiang Manli waved with reluctance. “You all have to come visit again! Next time I’ll take you on something more exciting—sailing trips, jet skis, banana boats!”

Tan Shiyi merely smiled politely. “Thank you for having us.”

The morning had been such a rush that no one had time to talk much. Once they were in the car, the girls immediately began chattering about Su Mengzhi’s condition.

When they learned that Su Mengzhi would have to stay in an S City hospital for a few days, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that they’d gotten her medical help in time.

Xiao Rong asked, “So when will she be back with us? Should we wait for her to write her part of the chorus with Tang Ling, or do we move ahead?”

Tang Ling paused. “Wait—what chorus?”

He Junnian explained, “We’ve finished most of the song, but we left a section open for you and Su Mengzhi—just some detail work for you two to finalize. Shiyi said she wanted everyone to have a part in it.”

Tang Ling asked, “Do you have the sheet music? Let me take a look.”

Tan Shiyi took out the stack of papers she’d left on the piano last night and passed them forward.

Tang Ling flipped through them. “This is the second chorus section, right?”

Tan Shiyi’s tone was indifferent. “You can work on it with Su Mengzhi if you want, or just do it yourself. Up to you.”

Seeing how little was left to finish, Tang Ling thought waiting for Su Mengzhi would only delay the schedule. “I’ll do it. Once it’s done, I’ll message her to see what she thinks.”

Tan Shiyi only said, “Do whatever you like. Just make it quick—we still need to arrange the instrumentation.”

Then she put on her headphones, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes.

Fu Xin whispered, “She seems kind of off today, doesn’t she?”

He Junnian blinked. “Really? Maybe she just didn’t sleep well?”

Fu Xin guessed, “Or maybe she’s carsick?”

Though Tan Shiyi had her headphones on, there was no music playing. She heard every word from the backseat.

She didn’t want to be so petulant, didn’t want her emotions to affect the team—but after what happened last night, she simply couldn’t pretend nothing had happened.

She wasn’t that composed, nor that strong.

Of course, Tang Ling understood her. She quickly smoothed things over, saying, “She went drinking with Jiang Manli last night. Probably just hungover and feeling rough. Let her rest.”

The girls nodded knowingly and held up their fingers in a “shh” gesture.

A surge of nameless anger welled up inside Tan Shiyi. After all, it was precisely Tang Ling’s gentle, thoughtful demeanor that had deceived her in the first place. Even after everything that had happened between them, Tang Ling still tried to smooth things over, pretending to be calm and tender. It was both infuriating and ridiculous.

Tang Ling, on the other hand, had no idea that no matter what she did now, it would only make things worse. She genuinely thought she could at least salvage a bit of her “scummy Alpha” image. So, when Xiao Nan, her system, announced that her Scummy Alpha score had gone up another five points, she was completely dumbfounded.

“What? But I was just normally caring for her! How does that make me more of a scum Alpha?”

Xiao Nan replied cheerfully, “That just proves you used to be really scummy! When a scum Alpha does anything—literally anything—of course the scum value goes up. Isn’t that common sense?”

Tang Ling groaned. “I don’t even want to be scummy to her anymore. Isn’t there any way I can fix the image she has of me?”

Xiao Nan, in an entirely detached tone, said, “That’s beyond my pay grade. I’m just the customer service rep for the ‘Scummy Alpha Training System.’ You’re on your own now, Host—welcome to your personal ‘win-her-back hell.’”

Six hours later, the girls returned to the training camp.

As soon as Tang Ling got back to the dorms, she started composing. She fed the portions she’d written into her music software, played them over and over, tested several variations, then finalized one version. After jotting down a few notes on what to tweak later, she decided to look for Tan Shiyi.

Maybe she could redeem herself a little by showing some genuine dedication to her work.

But Tan Shiyi wasn’t in the dorm, nor in the practice room. Tang Ling searched all over the training base and couldn’t find her anywhere.

With no other choice, Tang Ling stood downstairs from Tan Shiyi’s dorm building and sent her a message:

“Where are you?”

Tan Shiyi, however, didn’t have time to reply—she was in a meeting.

A few days earlier, after the second half of the third performance episode aired, the group’s stage for Summer Equation had sparked new buzz online. The girls’ refreshing, summery looks caught the attention of a swimsuit brand targeting young women.

The brand, recognizing Tang Ling’s traffic and popularity, originally wanted her and Tan Shiyi to be the dual ambassadors. But upon learning that Tang Ling’s arm injury prevented her from participating in the swimsuit photoshoot, they reconsidered.

After some deliberation, they decided to contact Pu Xiaoyu instead. Thus, Pu Xiaoyu and Tan Shiyi were chosen as co-brand ambassadors for the campaign.

It would be Tan Shiyi’s first real commercial endorsement. The ads she’d done before were just in-show sponsor plugs; this, however, was an official collaboration.

The brand’s offer was generous. After reviewing and confirming the terms with their respective managers, both women signed the contract. The shoot was tentatively scheduled for three days later.

When the meeting concluded, Tan Shiyi prepared to head back to her dorm.

Pu Xiaoyu caught up from behind. “Junior sister, we meet again.”

Tan Shiyi frowned slightly. She didn’t like how overly familiar the woman sounded. “Miss Pu, I have no plans to switch companies, so please don’t call me ‘junior sister.’”

Pu Xiaoyu chuckled. “But I was your performance mentor, wasn’t I? Doesn’t that make me your senior? What’s wrong with calling you that?”

Tan Shiyi said nothing.

Whatever. She was already in a foul mood and didn’t feel like arguing.

Pu Xiaoyu tilted her head. “You don’t look happy today. Haven’t seen you smile once.”

Tan Shiyi replied coolly, “Thank you for your concern, Miss Pu. I suppose I’ve just never been good at showing emotions.”

Pu Xiaoyu studied her for a few seconds, then let out a soft, amused laugh.

Tan Shiyi looked at her, puzzled. She had no idea what the woman found so funny.

Pu Xiaoyu said, “Since I rarely get the chance to visit your Beidou Star Training campus, shouldn’t my junior sister show me around?”

Given that they were about to work together, Tan Shiyi didn’t want to appear rude. “Alright,” she said.

In truth, there wasn’t much to see inside Beidou Star Training’s grounds. Outside of filming hours, the studio building was locked. The only accessible areas were the office, practice room, and dormitory—none of which were exactly scenic.

The two ended up just strolling along the campus roads, stopping at a convenience store to grab some snacks.

After a while, Pu Xiaoyu received a phone call—apparently something came up. “It’s getting late,” she said. “Let me walk you back.”

Tan Shiyi replied, “You’re the guest here. I should be the one walking you back.”

Pu Xiaoyu laughed softly. “Why be so formal between us? Your dorm’s right up ahead—it’s just a few more steps.”

Tan Shiyi didn’t insist. She allowed Pu Xiaoyu to walk with her.

From a distance, she noticed someone standing under the trees near the dorm building.

Tang Ling.

She was holding a stack of papers, pacing anxiously back and forth.

Hearing their approaching footsteps, Tang Ling looked up.

Their eyes met.

Tang Ling’s widened instantly.

She recognized the outfit Tan Shiyi was wearing—and that familiar figure beside her, with gold-rimmed glasses, Was that Pu Xiaoyu?

In that split second, Tang Ling remembered the terror of being humiliated by garbage-picking duty.