After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 59

Tang Ling walked along the street, her mind entirely focused on how to play the game with Pu Xiaoyu next.

She had originally planned to seize all the remaining “Scummy Alpha” points in one go today and finally bid farewell to her face-blindness. But seeing how closely she was watching, Ah Tong didn’t give her a single chance to approach Pu Xiaoyu once the event started—let alone create any conflict.

Ah Tong wasn’t a fool. After today’s incident, there was no way she would introduce Tang Ling to any projects involving Pu Xiaoyu again. Now, how to ignite the remaining eight points of Scummy Alpha value would require careful planning.

Lost in thought, she heard someone calling her from the direction of the small garden: “Tang Ling?”

She turned and saw the familiar sight of golden curls and long black hair. From their clothing and gait, it looked exactly like Tan Shiyi and Cheng Qingyan.

She hesitated to believe it. After all, the relationship between these two was complicated. It was hard to imagine them appearing together so harmoniously.

Cheng Qingyan stepped forward. “It’s so late. Has the event just ended?”

The flat, even tone was unmistakable.

Tang Ling scratched her head. “You both know about it?”

Cheng Qingyan nodded. “I saw it on Weibo. It’s a meaningful event.”

Meaningful, yes—but the organizers hadn’t set the air conditioning low enough for the health of the cats and dogs. Tang Ling had to hold the animals for photos, ending up drenched in sweat, covered in fur, and smelling faintly of animals.

Not wanting to appear in front of Tan Shiyi all stinky, she instinctively stepped back.

Tan Shiyi, confused, stepped forward as if to say something, but seeing Cheng Qingyan beside her, she seemed to hesitate and ultimately said nothing.

Cheng Qingyan glanced at them. “Weren’t you planning to say something to her? I’ll continue my run—you two talk.”

Tan Shiyi froze, surprised.

Cheng Qingyan waved to the two of them with a faint smile and soon disappeared into the night.

It was just Tang Ling and Tan Shiyi left.

Tang Ling looked at Tan Shiyi with delight. Since securing her debut spot, she had hardly had the chance to properly look at her, let alone say more than a few words. After a few days apart, Tang Ling felt Tan Shiyi looked even slimmer—her cheeks no longer had any trace of softness. Tang Ling wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.

“Shiyi, did you come to see me?”

Tan Shiyi avoided her gaze. “You, you attended the event with Miss Pu tonight?”

Tang Ling didn’t understand why Tan Shiyi would ask about Pu Xiaoyu right away. “Yes, we went together.”

“She didn’t say anything to you, did she?”

“No.”

Tang Ling thought to herself: she may not have said anything, but I certainly did.

“That’s good,” Tan Shiyi exhaled. “I was worried she’d make things difficult for you.”

“She didn’t,” Tang Ling quickly said. “Sorry for making you worry.”

Tan Shiyi’s face flushed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I wasn’t worried about you.”

Tang Ling knew Tan Shiyi was likely lying with her words, so she comforted her gently: “The event was really nice. Very warm, the animals were well-behaved and adorable, and the security measures were thorough.”

Tan Shiyi lowered her eyes and murmured softly, “Now, whatever event you attend, I can only know about it through Weibo.”

Tang Ling paused. “I didn’t tell you because I thought you wouldn’t be interested.”

Tan Shiyi felt embarrassed. “Forget it. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Tang Ling asked cautiously, “Shiyi, are you caring about me?”

“I’m not.”

“Then, can I let you know in advance whenever I do something from now on?”

“You don’t need to report to me. We’re not really connected anyway.”

Tang Ling could hear the subtle difference. Tan Shiyi’s tone was awkward rather than cold. It was clear her attitude toward Tang Ling had shifted.

Though she didn’t know why this sudden change had occurred, it was a good thing.

She pressed her advantage, asking, “By the way, Shiyi, shall we continue our little music arrangement classes? We haven’t done one in a while.”

After all, during the sixty-second voting time, the girls had used the mini music lessons as a bargaining chip. After getting their debut spots, they hadn’t held a single class, which could seem like cheating the audience.

Tan Shiyi shared the same concern and nodded lightly. “Okay.”

Looking at the side of Tan Shiyi’s calm face, Tang Ling felt a subtle shift happening between them. Her previously parched heart began to fill up again.

Life became even busier.

During the day, Tang Ling had to teach the girls’ major classes. After classes, she went from practice room to practice room, guiding them through movements.

At night, she held the mini music arrangement classes with Tan Shiyi assigned homework to fans, checked their work, and considered distributing perks.

As her birthday approached, Tang Ling still had no idea how to deal with the remaining eight Scummy Alpha points.

She tried contacting Ah Tong to take on projects related to Pu Xiaoyu again but was scolded outright.

Xiao Nan was even more anxious than Tang Ling. Early every morning, it would greet her: “Host, am I still here?”

Tang Ling snapped irritably, “Will you just answer me—are you there or not?”

Xiao Nan whined, “I—I’m just worried! I’m scared that I might get unbound without even knowing it!”

Tang Ling raised an eyebrow. “Does your system not send a notification when it unbinds someone?”

Xiao Nan puffed up its chest defensively. “I don’t know! It’s my first time being a customer service assistant, okay?”

Although the binding was still intact, Tang Ling could feel the changes in her body. Over the past few days, she had been intermittently experiencing heightened sensitivity—restless, excitable—even medication couldn’t suppress it.

This was probably what Tang’s mother had described as instability. In this world, whether Alpha or Omega, citizens approaching their secondary differentiation were legally granted a “holiday.” The law recommended that they self-isolate at home to avoid affecting others’ daily lives.

Yet Tang Ling hadn’t taken leave. On one hand, training camp was hectic, and the final performance was just around the corner—she couldn’t leave the girls to fend for themselves.

On the other hand, she was a time-traveler. She wasn’t about to blindly believe that a little pheromone could control her.

Of course, as soon as she went live with Tan Shiyi, her heightened sensitivity flared up.

The lesson was on common chord progressions, but halfway through, Tang Ling suddenly felt her mouth dry, her heart race, and an overwhelming urge to get closer to Tan Shiyi.

This wasn’t the first time she’d experienced such symptoms. In the past, she would just take a cold shower to force herself to calm down.

But today’s live stream was in Tan Shiyi’s dorm, with no access to cold water, and the pervasive scent of Tan Shiyi only made it harder to restrain herself.

Tan Shiyi could sense the intense pheromone fluctuations, of course, but luckily, the live stream was almost over. She quickly wrapped things up and exited the streaming plugin.

As soon as the live stream ended, Tang Ling jumped up and downed a whole bottle of water to ease the symptoms.

Tan Shiyi followed her, concerned. “Are you okay?”

Terrified she might do something she’d regret, Tang Ling held up a hand. “Don’t come near me. Keep your distance—I’m afraid I can’t control myself.”

Tan Shiyi sighed. “You’re like this, and you still didn’t take leave?”

“I thought I could handle it,” Tang Ling said bluntly. “Can I use your bathroom for a bit?”

“Go ahead. I’ll find you some disposable clothes.”

Once Tang Ling entered the bathroom, Tan Shiyi sat restlessly inside.

She knew exactly what symptoms an Alpha would experience before secondary differentiation—and what the most effective solution was.

Naturally, it involved marking another Omega.

Judging by Tang Ling’s state, it seemed likely she would complete her differentiation early today.

Tang Ling herself felt anxious under the cold shower. Today’s fluctuations were far more intense than usual. Her birthday was still two days away, but an early differentiation wasn’t impossible.

Yet her “Scummy Alpha” points weren’t full. She was only eight points away from “Ears and Eyes Open,” and if she didn’t resolve her face-blindness because of those eight points, she might regret it for life.

Finally, Xiao Nan brought news. “Bad news, Host. The system just notified me: you’ve entered a twenty-four-hour differentiation period. That means you’ll complete differentiation within twenty-four hours. After that, it’s officially goodbye!”

Tang Ling spent a long while under the shower but finally calmed down a bit. She had twenty-four hours to provoke Pu Xiaoyu successfully and gain her Scummy Alpha points before completing differentiation.

She roughly blow-dried her hair until half-dry and stepped out, her expression heavy.

Tan Shiyi made her a cup of lemon water and handed it over. “Drink this.”

Tang Ling looked at her steadily and slowly said, “Shiyi, I have an unusual request.”

Tan Shiyi’s face flushed as she glanced aside. “I’ve thought about it. If you don’t want to do anything else, I can help you.”

If simply biting the gland could ease the symptoms, that wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

Tang Ling froze. “You know what I want to do?”

Tan Shiyi lowered her gaze. “Special circumstances call for special measures.”

Tang Ling couldn’t shake the feeling that what Tan Shiyi said didn’t exactly match her own thoughts. She asked again for confirmation. “You’re willing to help me contact Miss Pu?”

Tan Shiyi froze, blinking in surprise. “Miss Pu?”