After Being Used As A Substitute By A Scumbag Alpha - Chapter 25

For the past two days, whenever Su He arrived at Zhongli Tang’s house, she felt the atmosphere was a bit off. One person was hiding, while the other insisted on making a scene just to provoke the other and make her angry. Su He observed for a long while before confirming, the two of them were having a fight.

To be precise, Qin Wei was angry. But her anger was different from others, she talked when she needed to and ate when she needed to, but she simply refused to look at the person she was mad at.

Zhongli Tang had already pretended to “accidentally” drop and break two cups, and had even teased the cat, Gray Fluff, until its fur stood on end, with no sign of stopping her antics.

Qin Wei kept her eyes lowered, tending to her own business and completely ignoring the interference. Her attention remained fixed on her computer.

“Um… you two, what exactly is going on?”

Su He really couldn’t stand this tense and oppressive atmosphere anymore. Most fatally, Zhongli Tang kept shooting her suggestive glares that made her skin crawl.

Only then did Qin Wei peer out from behind the computer. she looked up quickly, then dropped her gaze back to her work, appearing perfectly composed. “It’s nothing.”

Su He: “…”

It certainly doesn’t look like nothing to me, and Zhongli Tang’s expression is terrifying. It’s not like nothing happened at all.

Qin Wei seemed used to it and gave no reaction. However, she had three scent-blocking patches stuck to the back of her neck. Even so, it wasn’t enough, if one got close, they could still detect the Alpha’s pheromones, the “Ocean” scent was as surging and turbulent as ever. She had peeked in the mirror; the bite mark on her gland was very deep and a dripping shade of red. One could only imagine how intense the encounter had been.

Ever since that night when Zhongli Tang was provoked and lost her reason, her Alpha instincts had taken over. Qin Wei had been powerless and could only try to soothe her bit by bit. Her gland had felt the invasion of pheromones and failed to resist. Just when she thought she was truly going to be “permanently marked,” Zhongli Tang stopped.

Although the marking wasn’t complete, it had been only a hair’s breadth away.

A temporary mark is different from a permanent one. For the former, an Omega only needs the Alpha’s pheromones to get through their heat cycle. But the latter is different: an Omega can only be permanently marked by one Alpha, belonging to them thereafter. An Alpha, however, can mark many Omegas. When the heat cycle arrives, the Omega must rely on that specific Alpha’s pheromones otherwise, they have to endure it and the pain of having no relief is far worse than a temporary mark.

Despite modern medical technology being able to “wash away” a mark, the process is extremely painful for an Omega and the consequences are irreversible. Unless absolutely necessary, people generally do not choose that route.

Thinking of this, Qin Wei’s fingertips trembled slightly. Her face turned involuntarily pale, and the pheromones in her body were restless, clashing inside her. It wasn’t comfortable or perhaps she was rejecting it but since she was long accustomed to enduring, the discomfort wasn’t visible.

“Let me pour you some more water.”

Su He nodded repeatedly, but before Qin Wei’s hand could touch the cup, Zhongli Tang took it with a cold face.

“I’ll pour it for her.”

Su He shivered from the chill between the two, not daring to say another word.

When Zhongli Tang came out of the kitchen, she scanned the surroundings.

“She went to the study,” Su He explained.

Zhongli Tang pursed her lips and closed her eyes, forcing down the urge to go inside and drag the woman out. She had already made her angry, she couldn’t afford to start another fight at this critical juncture.

Su He was actually quite surprised. Zhongli Tang was definitely not a good-tempered person, she was the type who did whatever she wanted regardless of the cost. Seeing her “swallowing her pride” like this was a novelty. Su He wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, making her face look somewhat distorted.

Zhongli Tang: “…”

Zhongli Tang decided to give up her pride: “Tell me, how do you make an Omega happy?”

Only now did she realize that Qin Wei didn’t seem to have any particular hobbies or things she liked. Even if she wanted to coax her, she didn’t know how, so she had to ask Su He for ideas.

“Qin Wei? She has such a good temper,” Su He waved her hand dismissively.

Zhongli Tang shook her head. This time was different. She hid all the details, letting them fade into one light sentence: “I almost permanently marked her.”

Su He nearly spat out her water.

Zhongli Tang looked at her with utter disdain. “Is it really that shocking?”

Su He nodded vigorously, taking a long moment to calm down. “Why would you try to permanently mark her? Don’t you know what a permanent mark implies.”

Zhongli Tang frowned, of course she knew.

“If you had actually succeeded, there would be no going back. You wouldn’t have actually planned to make Qin Wei go wash it off, would you?!” Su He’s eyes widened, her voice rising.

“What are you thinking? How is that possible?” Zhongli Tang subconsciously retorted. She would have taken responsibility. This wasn’t just “hindsight” talk, after she cleared her head, she had thought about what to do if the permanent mark had succeeded.

Taking her to wash it off, even if Qin Wei was a thousand times unwilling, she would have forced her to go. That was her first instinct as a person of privilege and the most “correct” choice.

But then, Zhongli Tang suddenly felt that even if she had marked Qin Wei, so what? The other woman wouldn’t leave her anyway. It would just be one more layer of permanent marking between them, it wouldn’t change anything fundamental.

Zhongli Tang quickly and calmly accepted the idea. Besides, the marking hadn’t even succeeded.

“It’s over, it’s over,” Su He clicked her tongue, her gaze complex. “You actually don’t regret it?”

Zhongli Tang raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why should I regret it? Qin Wei is gentle and she won’t leave me. What’s wrong with giving her a permanent mark?”

Su He smiled: “As long as you’re happy. But do you really think Qin Wei would accept a permanent mark?” She felt it was highly unlikely.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Zhongli Tang had no doubts. “You still haven’t told me how to coax her.”

She didn’t think Qin Wei was angry because of the permanent mark itself, but rather that she had been too impulsive and scared her. Establishing a permanent mark should be a moment of mutual passion and romance.

Nothing about that night had fit that description, there was only coercion and suppression. No wonder Qin Wei was angry.

“I think you should just give her more time to do her experiments,” Su He said sincerely.

Zhongli Tang rejected it without a thought. “I’ve given her enough time.”

She hadn’t even eaten dinner just now, was she not even allowed to mention it?

Su He kept shaking her head, racking her brain before coming up with a plan. “Or, just tell her directly that the laboratory belongs to you.”

Zhongli Tang refused again; that didn’t count for anything.

“Then I’m out of ideas.” Su He was usually the one being pursued and pampered, coming up with one or two suggestions was already her limit.

“By the way, it wasn’t convenient to say while Qin Wei was here, but I came to tell you… Xu Sui is back in the country.”

The various thoughts churning in Zhongli Tang’s mind suddenly froze. Her voice sounded strained and bitter.

“Who… who did you say?”

For a moment, she thought she had misheard.

Sorry…