After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 56

On the other end of the line, Pu Xiaoyu let out a low laugh. “How is our Shiyi so clever? How did you guess it was me?”

Tan Shiyi rolled her eyes, not in the mood for small talk. “What’s with that birthday invitation?”

“Didn’t you get it?” Pu Xiaoyu feigned surprise. “Madam Tang is very proactive. The debut ranking was just announced this morning, and by this afternoon, the invitations were flying everywhere. You can really tell how much she adores her daughter. But isn’t it ironic that the invitation ended up at the hands of her biological daughter instead?”

Tan Shiyi murmured, “And you’re certain you’re the Tang family’s real daughter?”

“Data doesn’t lie,” Pu Xiaoyu said with a smile. “I have no reason to fake it.”

“So, what are you planning? To ruin Tang Ling’s birthday party?”

“Ruin?” Pu Xiaoyu corrected her. “Sister, isn’t that a bit biased? This isn’t just Tang Ling’s twentieth birthday—it’s mine too. I just want to claim what’s rightfully mine on my birthday. What’s wrong with that?”

Tan Shiyi’s voice turned cold. “Whatever you plan to do has nothing to do with me. Don’t think you can use it to threaten me.”

“I never intended to threaten you. I just want our relationship back on track,” Pu Xiaoyu said, sounding genuinely puzzled. “Shiyi, do you really feel nothing for me?”

“Back on track? What does that even mean?” Tan Shiyi almost laughed. “Why would I feel anything for you? Are we even close?”

Pu Xiaoyu didn’t get angry. “Shiyi, you’ll understand. Compared to Tang Ling, I’m the better fit for you.”

Tan Shiyi thought this woman was completely insane—there was no way to reason with her. “If it makes you happy, then fine.”

She hung up swiftly, not wanting to deal with any more nonsense.

After hanging up, she immediately regretted her impatience and couldn’t help but wonder: what exactly was Pu Xiaoyu planning?

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why Pu Xiaoyu held such inexplicable hostility toward Tang Ling, and why she stubbornly assumed Shiyi should have special feelings for her.

Would Pu Xiaoyu really reveal her identity at Tang Ling’s birthday party? And if so, how? How would Tang Ling’s parents react? Could Tang Ling even accept this reality?

The more Tan Shiyi thought, the more confused she became. Leaving aside her own complicated relationship with Tang Ling, both Tang Ling’s parents were genuinely good people. She couldn’t bear to see the Tang family dragged into a public scandal.

If possible, she wanted to minimize the damage this storm could cause.

She had to attend Tang Ling’s birthday party.

The only problem was—would Tang Ling even invite her?

Meanwhile, Tang Ling was completely oblivious to Shiyi’s concerns, busy to the point of exhaustion.

The reason? She was face-blind.

The next morning, the girls arrived on time for the “Heart of the Sea Breeze” group training.

Twenty girls mixed together, and Tang Ling could barely distinguish Tan Shiyi, He Junnian, and Cheng Qingyan by their hairstyles. She couldn’t remember the names of the others.

The formation had to take height, temperament, and many other factors into account. Since she couldn’t recall the girls’ names, Tang Ling had no choice but to go out onto the floor and personally place each girl in her designated spot.

Whenever a girl’s movements weren’t precise, she couldn’t just call out their name. She had to walk over, demonstrate, or physically guide them to correct their posture.

By the end of the session, Tang Ling was utterly exhausted—but the girls praised her highly:

“Tang Ling is so responsible! She personally corrected all my mistakes!”

“Yeah, and she’s so gentle. Her voice is so soft, what do I do, I think I’m falling for her!”

“Then debut quickly! Go out there and ship yourself with her!”

“Forget it, I’m still shipping Tang Shiyi.”

Fans watching the 5201 live stream went wild in the comment section:

“u1s1 Tang Ling is so A! My heart is racing!”

“She’s really giving it her all—she deserves that debut spot!”

“srds, why didn’t Tang Shiyi get any screentime today?”

Tang Ling wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel, opened a bottle of water, and gulped down half of it.

Although the practice room had air conditioning, the high level of activity had her dehydrated.

Most of the girls had gone to continue training in the next room, leaving only a few in the practice room. Tang Ling glanced up and met Tan Shiyi’s eyes from across the room.

Tan Shiyi gestured toward the door, signaling for her to follow.

Tang Ling immediately set the water bottle down and went after her.

The fans in the livestream were thrilled:

“They said Tang Shiyi doesn’t interact, but look! They’re moving!”

“Ahhh, where are they going? Can I see too?”

“Sisters, camp out at R02’s camera angle—you might catch them outside!”

Of course, Tan Shiyi wouldn’t let herself be caught on camera. She led Tang Ling to the end of the corridor.

Tang Ling followed closely, her heart pounding. She didn’t know what Tan Shiyi’s intentions were.

Tan Shiyi turned to her and said directly, “Your birthday’s coming up, right?”

Tang Ling paused. “Yes, in ten days.”

“Do you have any plans for your birthday?” Tan Shiyi asked.

“I don’t really have any plans. My mom seems to want to throw me a birthday party. Do you have anything arranged? If you do, I can cancel it. Honestly, I think birthdays don’t need to be such a big deal—my mom’s being over the top.”

Worried that Tang Ling might cancel the party and make things harder to manage, Tan Shiyi said, “Your twentieth birthday is pretty important. Don’t let Auntie’s efforts go to waste.”

Seeing that Tan Shiyi didn’t object, Tang Ling asked cautiously, “Would you like to come with me? My mom said she wants to invite you.”

This was exactly what Tan Shiyi wanted. Not wanting to show too much, lest Tang Ling become suspicious, she deliberately lowered her gaze and said, “I’ll see.”

Tang Ling hurried to respond, “Sure, whatever works for you.”

Tan Shiyi glanced at her. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m just asking. It’s training time now; you should go back and rest too.”

Since Tang Ling was no longer a trainee, she didn’t need to push herself like before. Apart from two hours of group lessons every morning, the rest of her schedule was relatively free.

“I’ll let you get to training, then. Don’t overwork yourself—good luck,” Tang Ling said.

Watching Tan Shiyi enter the practice room, Tang Ling immediately called out to Xiao Nan.

“What’s up with Shiyi asking about my birthday all of a sudden?”

Xiao Nan said confidently, “Asking about your birthday obviously means she’s planning to give you a gift! Honestly, it looks like all your recent hard work finally moved her—she’s feeling something for you again!”

Tang Ling didn’t think it would be that quick. Apart from this, Tan Shiyi had always been cold and distant, showing no sign of warmth toward her.

“Has my Scummy Alpha value dropped?” she asked.

“Not today. It dropped a bit a couple of days ago. You’re still at 62 points. But you should be careful—if you keep being nice to every trainee like you were today, your Scummy Alpha value could change again. Don’t regret it later.”

Tang Ling: “…”

Tang Ling: “Why do I feel like your tone is so sour?”

Xiao Nan fidgeted. “I just want to ship Tang Shi, and your behavior is basically forcing me to deal with that thing.”

Tang Ling thought to herself that this little assistant really had a lot of quirks. “I don’t want to act so cold to everyone! You know my situation—I can’t recognize them. What else am I supposed to do?”

After a pause, Xiao Nan said, “Technically, I’m not supposed to reveal unreleased rewards, but is it possible that our system could help you cure your face blindness?”

Tang Ling: “?!?!”

Tang Ling: “Why didn’t you tell me something this important earlier?”

Xiao Nan said, “I’m just a system assistant following the rules. I figured since I’m about to leave, I’d leave you a lifelong benefit.”

Tang Ling asked, “How many points do I need to unlock the reward? I’ve accumulated 16 points so far. Can you fudge the numbers so I just need 4 more points to unlock it?”

Xiao Nan said, “I could fudge it, but this reward is a 30-point double reward, so you’d still need to earn 14 more points.”

Tang Ling: “Double reward? Double what?”

Xiao Nan explained, “The reward is called ‘Ears and Eyes Open’—it enhances both hearing and vision.”

Tang Ling: “?”

Tang Ling: “Are you sure this reward can cure face blindness? Is it possible that the problem isn’t my eyes, but my brain?”