After Being Forced to Take the Role of the Scumbag Protagonist - Chapter 9

Wu Yunzhi had spoken out of genuine concern, but the moment the words left his mouth, Xu Congrong’s expression twisted. If he hadn’t been so physically depleted from vomiting, he looked ready to bolt in the opposite direction.

His visceral rejection was obvious to everyone. Since he was an adult, Wu Yunzhi couldn’t force him to go to the hospital and instead moved to help him back to his room.

However, as Wu Yunzhi drew near, Congrong’s face turned from a sickly green to a bruised purple. He barked out a refusal, forbidding Wu Yunzhi from coming any closer and demanding that his sister help him instead.

Xu Congxing was a Beta. She had no scent, which was likely why Congrong chose her.

But why was Xu Congrong suddenly so sensitive and repulsed by an Alpha’s pheromones?

Had he been marked by another Alpha? Had his body become so accustomed to a specific scent that it now violently rejected any other?

It didn’t make sense. Unless it was a “deep marking,” such physiological imprints eventually faded, returning the Omega to a neutral state where they could accept a new Alpha. Furthermore, severe rejection reactions usually only occurred when the compatibility between an Alpha and Omega dropped below 30%. Given Wu Yunzhi’s calm composure, their compatibility was likely well above 50%. A drop below 30% was a guaranteed recipe for a miserable marriage.

While compatibility wasn’t a perfect predictor of happiness, it was a standard benchmark. Xu Congxing, the second sister, knit her brows in confusion. She kept her suspicions to herself as she helped Congrong away, glancing back to see Wu Yunzhi kneeling on the ground, lightly tapping Xu Ying’s pale, ghostly face.

Wu Yunzhi grabbed Xu Ying’s hand to pull him up.

“Pull” was perhaps too kind a word. “Yank” was more accurate.

Wu Yunzhi’s movements were rough, lacking any trace of gentleness. He looked like a weary office worker forced to pull a double shift after being woken up in the middle of the night.

Knowing Wu Yunzhi was notoriously grumpy when sleep-deprived, Xu Ying didn’t dare complain. He braced one hand against a corridor pillar and used Wu Yunzhi’s arms for leverage to stand. He was steady enough to rise, but his footsteps were light and airy, as if he were walking on clouds.

They were exes now, and in the crowded, watchful Xu household, Wu Yunzhi couldn’t afford to show special concern. As soon as Xu Ying was upright, he let go.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away without a backward glance, tossing a cold “Let’s go” over his shoulder.

The moment Wu Yunzhi released him, Xu Ying’s palm felt agonizingly empty.

A sudden, overwhelming sense of abandonment washed over him. He felt an irrational surge of self-pity, and his stomach lurched again. He wanted to vomit, but there was nothing left.

His legs shook, and his vision began to fracture into dark spots. Waves of dizziness hit him like a rising tide. He managed two steps by clinging to the pillar, but Wu Yunzhi’s silhouette was already doubling in his vision. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but his strength finally evaporated. His body went limp, and he collapsed backward onto the floor.

Wu Yunzhi had been walking ahead at a leisurely pace. Hearing a thud, he assumed Xu Ying had simply tripped. He stopped and waited, scrolling through his phone for a moment, expecting the Omega to get up and follow.

When the sound of footsteps didn’t return, his brow furrowed. He turned around casually, only for his pupils to contract sharply.

“Xu Ying!”

Xu Ying had fainted, but he wasn’t entirely unconscious.

Seconds later, he heard the frantic thud of Wu Yunzhi’s boots as he ran back. His head was lifted, and he felt a sharp pressure on his philtrum as Wu Yunzhi tried to shock him back to his senses.

Xu Ying was aware of everything, including the sound of Wu Yunzhi’s voice and the heavy, ragged breathing against his ear as the Alpha swept him up into a horizontal carry, but his eyelids felt like they were made of lead.

A moment later, he felt the softness of a bed beneath him. The scent of the Alpha’s pheromones flooded his senses, bringing with it an incomparable feeling of safety.

The bitterness in his heart dissolved like mist. Subconsciously, Xu Ying leaned into the touch as Wu Yunzhi’s fingers brushed his forehead. The contact caused the Alpha to stiffen; he withdrew his hand as if he’d been electrocuted.

The loss of that warmth felt like a dream popping like a bubble.

Dissatisfied, Xu Ying’s nose crinkled. The surge of emotion gave him the strength to force his eyes open, wanting to see why the warmth had left.

As his vision cleared, he saw Wu Yunzhi with his back turned, making a phone call. He was asking someone if a doctor could come by to check on Xu Ying.

Xu Ying lay there, listening to the conversation in silence. Once Wu Yunzhi hung up, Xu Ying forced his sluggish brain to work. His voice was thick and low.

“Don’t call anyone.”

Xu Ying stared at the ceiling. “No one is going to come here for me.”

His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. It was the sound of someone who had long ago accepted his place in the world.

Wu Yunzhi froze, then turned toward him.

“A doctor sees one person or two; it makes no difference to them.” Wu Yunzhi leaned over him. “Unless you have some shameful disease you’re trying to hide?”

Xu Ying shifted his gaze, finally letting his eyes settle on Wu Yunzhi’s face.

It had been a long time since they had been this close, or rather, it had been a long time since they had spoken without baring their teeth. Usually, their conversations were a battlefield of sharp words and mutual cruelty, nothing like the couple they used to be.

Then again, they weren’t really a couple. Wu Yunzhi had only been with him for the money, or more accurately, to climb the ladder to his brother.

The thought drained the energy from him. Xu Ying turned onto his side, facing the wall so Wu Yunzhi couldn’t see his expression.

“I have nothing to hide,” Xu Ying said. “In fact, some people should reflect on whether they themselves are truly ‘shameful’ or not.”

Wu Yunzhi blinked, then let out a sharp breath as the insult landed. “Are you talking about me?”

Xu Ying remained silent.

“Not bad, Xu Ying,” Wu Yunzhi remarked. “You’ve learned how to insult people with metaphors now, have you?”

After a pause, Xu Ying’s muffled voice came from the pillow. “I never use metaphors when I insult people.”

He meant it exactly as he said it.

Having been insulted after helping the man back to his room, even a saint would have been annoyed. Wu Yunzhi stood up and nodded.

“Fine. I won’t stay here and ruin your mood, ‘Your Excellency.'”

He turned toward the door. “The doctor is coming anyway. See them or don’t. I couldn’t care less.”

Xu Ying still didn’t respond, but his grip on the pillow tightened. He closed his eyes and pulled the blanket over his ears. As Wu Yunzhi closed the door, he caught a glimpse of the curled-up figure through the crack. He hesitated on the handle for a heartbeat before clicking the door shut.

Ultimately, neither Xu Ying nor Xu Congrong saw a doctor that night.

Congrong claimed he felt fine and didn’t need one, whether he was actually better or just avoiding scrutiny was unclear. As for Xu Ying, his pride was wounded. He was still fuming over the confrontation with Congrong, and the thought of sharing a doctor with the man who stole his boyfriend made him recoil. He stayed in bed, nursing his grudge against Wu Yunzhi.

The day of the engagement banquet arrived quickly.

Xu Congrong’s complexion was so poor that the makeup artist had to apply heavy layers of blush just to make him look alive. Wu Yunzhi, by contrast, didn’t even bother with makeup. He simply changed his clothes and went out to greet the guests.

On his way out, Xu Tingshan stopped him. He held out a check, but as Wu Yunzhi reached for it, Tingshan pulled it back.

“Today is Congrong’s big day. Do not let anything go wrong.”

Tingshan seemed to have suddenly remembered his role as a “good father.” He looked at Wu Yunzhi and said softly, “I can tell you and Congrong aren’t deeply in love yet, but you must treat him well in the future. The Xu family will take care of you.”

Wu Yunzhi looked at him blankly.

It wasn’t that he disagreed. He and Congrong didn’t just lack “deep love”; they lacked any feelings whatsoever. But since Tingshan was using money as a carrot and a stick, Wu Yunzhi gave a perfunctory nod.

“Fine.”

Relieved, Tingshan continued, “Once the ceremony is over, I’ll give you a few tens of thousands for your ’emergencies.’ I don’t want your private mess spilling into this house. It’s bad for everyone.”

Wu Yunzhi knew he was referring to the gambling debts. He wasn’t embarrassed; he was perfectly open about it. He wasn’t afraid of Tingshan digging into his past. In fact, he wanted them to dig. The more the patriarch wanted to save face while controlling him, the more “opportunities” Wu Yunzhi would have.

He rubbed his fingertips together, ignored the check still in Tingshan’s hand, and walked out to find the other star of the show: Xu Congrong.

In the dressing room, Congrong was mid-meltdown. He was miserable with his appearance and was demanding the makeup artist redo everything. The poor woman was on the verge of tears; she had never dealt with a client this difficult. But with the amount of money Congrong was throwing at her, she had no choice but to endure it.

Wu Yunzhi pushed the door open. The first thing he saw in the vanity mirror wasn’t his fiancé, but Xu Ying sitting behind him.

Sensing a gaze, Xu Ying looked up. Their eyes met in the reflection of the glass.

At that moment, Congrong closed his eyes to let the artist apply eyeshadow.

There were supposed to be only two protagonists in this wedding, yet the mirror had captured all three of them in a single frame.

Perhaps realizing it was inappropriate to stare at someone else’s fiancé, Xu Ying broke eye contact. He stood up, intending to leave the couple alone and brushed past Wu Yunzhi on his way to the door.

Being so close, Wu Yunzhi noticed the faint redness and swelling around Xu Ying’s eyes. It looked like he had been crying.

He cried?

“…”

The moment the thought entered his mind, something in Wu Yunzhi snapped. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed Xu Ying’s wrist.

Xu Ying froze, his fingers trembling.

The heat where their skin met surged like an electric current, sending a shiver through both of them. A simple grip suddenly became thick with ambiguity, heavy with the weight of unspoken words. All of their attention narrowed down to that single point of contact.

And at that exact moment, Xu Congrong finished his eyeshadow and slowly opened his eyes.

In the vanity mirror, he saw everything: Wu Yunzhi, turned toward his brother, gripping Xu Ying’s hand with an intensity that no one could mistake for a casual gesture.

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