After Being Forced to Take the Role of the Scumbag Protagonist - Chapter 8

With his mind heavy with secrets, Xu Ying had been listless since returning home. He spent his time darting shifty, sideways glances at Wu Yunzhi and Xu Congrong, his dark eyes flickering as he plotted, though no one could guess exactly what was going on in his head.

Normally, such erratic behavior would have alerted Xu Congrong. However, the eldest son’s health had been poor lately; he was constantly running to the hospital and returning sluggish and irritable. Because he was so focused on his own discomfort, Xu Ying’s strange behavior went completely unnoticed.

Even in his malaise, Xu Congrong remained as overbearing as ever. He hounded Wu Yunzhi incessantly about the progress of the engagement banquet, driving him to the brink of exhaustion.

Congrong refused to lift a finger to help with the arrangements but never stopped demanding updates. Finally, Wu Yunzhi snapped. Refusing to play the servant to the “young master” any longer, he threw down his notes and walked out, essentially telling Congrong that if he wanted the wedding so badly, he could plan it himself.

Patience has its limits. Wu Yunzhi was not one for self-sacrifice, and Xu Congrong was not one to back down. On the eve of the engagement, the two were locked in a cold war, refusing to even make eye contact. It was obvious to everyone that the “happy couple” was falling apart.

Xu Ying wasn’t the only one who noticed the cold shoulder, but he was the only one who approached Wu Yunzhi without judging him for not “yielding” to the eldest son.

“You had a fight with him?”

“A fight?” Wu Yunzhi, who was currently scrolling through a novel on his phone, looked up with a hauntingly vacant stare. “You need feelings to have a fight. If there are no feelings, what is there to argue about?”

At most, it was just a regular exchange of hostilities.

Xu Ying bit his lip. “You’re not even going to pretend anymore, are you?”

Wu Yunzhi shrugged, spreading his hands. “I’m with him for the money. I told you that from the start. You’re the one who keeps insisting we have a thing. I tell you the truth, and you just don’t believe me.”

Xu Ying was silent. Wu Yunzhi’s talent for turning the tables was only getting stronger.

He didn’t know what else to say, so he looked down. His eyes landed on a bowl of crisp, purple plums on the table. For some reason, his mouth began to water uncontrollably.

Noticing this, Wu Yunzhi straightened his long limbs, reached across the table for the glass bowl, and held it out to him. “Eat.”

Xu Ying hesitated for a second before taking the bowl and crunching into a plum.

Wu Yunzhi watched him for a moment before returning to his novel. He hated anything sour enough to set his teeth on edge, so he was more than happy to “share” with Xu Ying.

Despite the brief distraction, Xu Ying remained anxious all evening. He was terrified that if Wu Yunzhi found out about the “green hat” he was being given, he would break things off with the Xu family and lose his chance to pay back the debt. But there was a deeper, more painful reason he refused to acknowledge:

He didn’t want Wu Yunzhi to get engaged to Xu Congrong.

Even if it was purely transactional, even if there was no love, he couldn’t stand it.

Yet, he was paralyzed by the thought of Wu Yunzhi ending up disabled if the debt collectors came for his hands. Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, Xu Ying got up and checked his bank balance by the light of his phone.

Twenty thousand.

It was the money he had saved before the breakup, intending to take Wu Yunzhi to a high-end restaurant. To Wu Yunzhi’s current problems, it was a drop in the ocean.

Frustrated and wide awake, Xu Ying threw on a coat and grabbed a flashlight. He headed to the garden, hoping the cool air would help him think of another way to help. Wu Yunzhi’s plan was essentially a high-stakes gamble with his own life as the collateral. It was far from wise.

The Xu family’s back garden was sprawling and lush. It was summer, and the lotus pond was in full bloom.

At the sight of the flowers, Xu Ying was immediately reminded of the Lotus-scented pheromones from the Alpha he’d seen with Xu Congrong. A wave of nausea hit him. He covered his nose to leave, but a faint noise from the corridor near the pond stopped him.

He looked back and saw Xu Congrong clutching a large trench coat, burying his face in it. He seemed to be trying to catch a lingering scent, but when he found nothing, he threw the coat onto the ground in a fit of tearful rage.

Xu Ying knew Wu Yunzhi’s wardrobe by heart. He could tell at a glance that the coat didn’t belong to him.

He’s pining over another Alpha’s clothes the night before his engagement?

Steeling himself, Xu Ying walked toward his brother.

Congrong, lost in his own frustration, stiffened when he heard footsteps. Cold sweat broke out across his back. He turned slowly, trembling, only to find Xu Ying’s expressionless face staring back at him.

Relief washed over Congrong when he saw it wasn’t Wu Yunzhi, and his arrogance instantly returned. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? Trying to scare me to death?!”

Xu Ying ignored the outburst, his gaze falling on the discarded coat. “Xu Congrong.”

He spoke quietly. “I don’t really have the right or the standing to criticize you. But don’t become someone like Xu Tingshan.”

Thinking Congrong might not catch the drift, he added pointedly, “Don’t become the very person you used to hate.”

“…” Even as a spoiled heir, Congrong wasn’t stupid. His face, already pale, turned a sickly shade of grey. “What exactly are you implying?”

“The back alley of the bar. That night.” Since Congrong was playing dumb, Xu Ying dropped the bomb. “There are no secrets in this world, only things people haven’t found out yet.”

Congrong lunged. Before Xu Ying could react, his brother had him by the collar, slamming him against the corridor wall. Congrong’s face was twisted, his eyes bulging with a manic, terrifying energy.

“Don’t you dare say another word!”

“I—cough—”

Xu Ying was pinned, his airway restricted as Congrong’s grip tightened. His vision began to blur from the lack of oxygen. “Let go!”

“…” But Congrong didn’t let go. If anything, he squeezed harder. He looked like a man who had lost his mind, ready to strangle the only person who knew his secret.

In a desperate struggle, Xu Ying managed to bring his knee up into Congrong’s stomach. The eldest son gasped, doubling over and retreating a few steps. He looked up, glaring at Xu Ying with pure venom.

“Cough… hack…” Xu Ying leaned against the wall, gasping for air. His throat was on fire, and a ring of red finger marks was already forming on his pale skin.

He didn’t run. He looked up and forced the words out through a raspy throat. “I’m not going to tell Wu Yunzhi. And I won’t tell the patriarch.”

“I know how much the old man values the family name. I know what would happen to you if he found out.”

Congrong’s shame turned into a defensive fury. “You say you won’t tell Grandpa, but you’re standing here threatening me!”

“If I wanted to threaten you, I would have dragged that Alpha out and told the whole world already.” Xu Ying paused to cough again. “I truly have no intention of exposing you.”

Congrong’s eyes remained narrow and suspicious. “Then what’s the price?”

He stepped closer. “Money? Shares in the company? What do you want?”

“None of that.” Xu Ying shook his head slowly. “I just want you to make sure this never comes to light. Keep it hidden. Don’t let anyone find out.”

He looked at his brother steadily. “Tuck your tail in and hide it well.”

“…” Even if Xu Ying hadn’t said anything, Congrong planned to do exactly that. But he couldn’t understand why his half-brother was suddenly on his side. Surely this stubborn “bastard” hadn’t suddenly learned how to suck up to him?

No. That was impossible.

Xu Ying was a man of bone-deep stubbornness. When Xu Tingshan first brought him home, the boy was ordered to kowtow three times to the patriarch and call him “Grandfather.” Tingshan had beaten him until the rattan switch snapped, and Xu Ying hadn’t made a single sound, let alone opened his mouth.

He was born with a rebellious streak, and combined with his striking looks, it had always sparked a deep sense of resentment and competitive jealousy in Congrong.

Congrong’s hatred wasn’t just about Xu Ying’s status as an illegitimate child; it was because Xu Ying, as an Omega, seemed far more independent and free. He didn’t follow the Xu family rules.

Deep down, Congrong envied that freedom, a fact he would never admit. It drove him to try and surpass Xu Ying at every turn. If he could have what Xu Ying couldn’t, he felt a twisted sense of triumph. He clung to the family rules to prove that his way of living was superior, until he eventually became the loudest supporter of the very system that suppressed him.

“What are you really after?” Congrong sneered. “Don’t tell me you’re still pining for Wu Yunzhi?”

Now it was Xu Ying’s turn to lose his composure. “What are you talking about?!”

“You care about him, don’t you? You’re so worried about him that you’re stuck between wanting to protect him from my ‘affair’ and making sure he stays with me so he can pay off his debts. That’s why you’re here threatening me the night before the wedding.”

Congrong stared at Xu Ying for a moment before bursting into a laugh that turned into tears. “Xu Ying, you’re pathetic.”

He watched Xu Ying’s face go white with satisfaction. “You’re still helping him after everything he’s done. How can you be so cheap?”

“Love… isn’t about being cheap,” Xu Ying forced out.

“Oh, really?” Congrong had finally found the weak spot. “You know, when he’s with me, he sends me the most desperate love letters.”

Congrong stepped forward, grabbing Xu Ying’s chin and forcing him to look at his phone screen. “You can’t be so stupid that you think he’s only with me for the money. Look at this.”

He shoved the chat logs in Xu Ying’s face. “He likes me. He loves me.”

Congrong’s eyes were dark and malicious. “He loves my money, doesn’t he? That means he loves me. He only tells you he doesn’t like me to keep you on the hook. He’s lying to you.”

Xu Ying slapped Congrong’s hand away and stumbled back, his head spinning. He turned to flee, but Congrong grabbed his wrist, wanting to twist the knife further. Xu Ying lashed out, knocking the phone from his hand. It hit the ground, the screen spider-webbing into a thousand cracks.

“You’re so proud of yourself for stealing someone else’s boyfriend,” Xu Ying hissed, his face pale with disgust. “You knew we were together. You only said yes to him to spite me.”

“That’s right. Your mother disgusted me for years with her existence, and yours. Why shouldn’t I take your boyfriend and disgust you for once?”

Congrong smirked. “Fair is fair.”

The sheer toxicity of his brother made Xu Ying’s stomach churn. That familiar, violent wave of nausea surged again. He doubled over by the lotus pond and began to retch.

The commotion finally woke the rest of the house. Congrong’s second sister was the first to arrive. She took one look at Xu Ying vomiting and knitted her brows. “What is going on here?”

Congrong opened his mouth to lie, but as he watched Xu Ying retch, his own stomach began to flip. Without warning, he turned to the other side of the pond and began to vomit as well.

He was even worse than Xu Ying, retching until he was brought to his knees. By the time Wu Yunzhi arrived, both Omegas were doubled over. He hesitated for a heartbeat before going to support Xu Ying.

“Are you okay?”

Xu Ying was too weak to speak. He slumped into Wu Yunzhi’s arms, his sweat-soaked hair clinging to his forehead.

As for Xu Congrong, the arrival of Wu Yunzhi and the faint scent of his Iris pheromones seemed to make things worse. He retched violently, almost as if he were trying to purge his very soul.

“What happened to you two?” Wu Yunzhi looked between the two pale, shaking Omegas. He frowned, his eyes moving from Congrong to Xu Ying.

“Do you… need to go to the hospital?”

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