After Transmigrating into a Scumbag Alpha, I Had a Happy Ending with the Heroine - Chapter 11

“Miss Song, are you feeling alright? You didn’t look well this afternoon.”

Song Qin Ning didn’t reply right away. Jiang Qing set her phone aside and calmly went to apply a facial mask.

The moisturizing sheet mask clung tightly to her skin, soft and smooth. As always, Jiang Qing set an alarm to remind herself when to take it off.

After that, she picked up a folding desk from beside her vanity. She extended all four legs and placed it firmly on the floor.

Jiang Qing sat down and began reading her script.

The original owner of this body clearly wasn’t used to studying. There wasn’t even a single proper desk in the entire house.

There were several vanities, though. All of them were cluttered with bottles and jars, and each one had a large, overly decorative mirror propped on top.

The kind that couldn’t be removed.

Jiang Qing didn’t even consider using a vanity as a desk. It was far too risky.

She was worried that after reading the script and still feeling emotionally in character, she might look up and suddenly see a face staring back at her in the mirror. Even someone without heart problems could faint from the shock.

The folding desk she was now using had been bought by her at a stationery store downstairs.

It cost eighty-six yuan.

But it was worth every cent.

While reading, her hands stayed busy. She almost never stopped marking notes in the margins using pens of different colors.

Whenever she reached a line spoken by the character “Xiao Xu,” she read it out loud.

This helped her bring emotion into the role. Speaking in the character’s tone and rhythm allowed her to fully connect with the feelings behind the words.

After finishing a short section, she set her pen down and stretched her sore neck and shoulders.

She glanced at her phone and saw that it was already nine thirty.

Once again, she had missed the alarm and forgotten to remove her mask.

Jiang Qing rushed into the bathroom.

She washed her face, applied her skincare products, and slipped under the covers.

She opened WeChat just as a message came through from Song Qin Ning.

“I’m not feeling unwell.”

She’s lying.

Jiang Qing raised an eyebrow.

Back then, she had looked into Song Qin Ning’s eyes and clearly caught a flicker of panic. It hadn’t gone unnoticed.

There was no way Song Qin Ning didn’t remember that moment of eye contact.

So was she hiding the truth?

Jiang Qing began typing a few words, but another message arrived from Song Qin Ning.

“I don’t like being too physically close to people of the same gender.”

This message sounded reasonable.

But when sent right after the first one, it felt more like an attempt to cover something up, as if she were trying to explain too much.

It didn’t quite make sense.

Jiang Qing paused for a moment and replied with a sticker: “Cat nodding in agreement.jpg.”

After that, with no other public appearances scheduled, Jiang Qing focused entirely on studying Director Chen’s script at home.

She was determined to master it.

She also continued to set aside time each day to exercise.

Her hard work had paid off. Her figure had become more elegant and defined.

Even the clothes that used to fit perfectly now had extra room around the waist.

Admiring herself in the full-length mirror, she felt increasingly satisfied.

She could already imagine how stunning she would look in costume.

The sense of accomplishment was overwhelming.

Sometimes, during short breaks while reading the script, Jiang Qing would send messages to Song Qin Ning.

Nothing serious. Just to maintain a fragile colleague relationship that could fall apart at any moment.

She would forward small things like “Sun protection tips for actors,” or “It’s 2215 and you still don’t know which pen to use for script notes?” and some new bunny emojis she had collected.

Those bunny stickers looked almost identical to Song Qin Ning’s profile picture. Jiang Qing thought it was hilarious.

Her thoughts were simple.

She and Song Qin Ning were about to spend months working closely together, with many intimate scenes. Staying in touch more often couldn’t hurt.

But something felt off.

She tapped on her phone with slender fingers.

Looking back through the chat, the screen was filled with a long string of emojis she had sent.

The messages spanned several days but were all recent.

In contrast, Song Qin Ning had not replied since the night they last talked after filming.

Everything Jiang Qing had sent, no matter how cute, had vanished without a trace.

It was strange.

Although Jiang Qing wouldn’t claim to understand Song Qin Ning completely, she was confident in her judgment of her basic personality.

There was one thing she believed firmly. Song Qin Ning’s inner self was not as cold and distant as her outer appearance.

For example, even though the original owner had hurt her and she had responded like a wary hedgehog, on high alert and full of guarded hostility, she had still handed Jiang Qing a packet of tissues on the day she arrived.

That small gesture suggested that while Song Qin Ning might not fully trust her, she probably wouldn’t ignore something as harmless as an emoji.

So maybe Song Qin Ning was just too busy to reply.

Jiang Qing could relate.

There had been a time when one of her shows became a major hit. With endorsements and offers coming in nonstop, she flew all over the country for shoots and promotions. Even finding time to sleep meant patching together minutes whenever she could.

Spending even three minutes checking her phone felt like a luxury. Replying to messages was nearly impossible.

Jiang Qing let out a sincere sigh. Popular young actresses were always busy.

A quiet bitterness hung in the air like the scent of lemon.

She wondered when she would also be so in demand that she wouldn’t have time to check WeChat.

But reality was harsh.

After the arrogant heiress turned over a new leaf and began politely asking for opportunities, not a single investor or sponsor was willing to work with her.

They all kept their distance.

He Shu had once asked if she wanted to ask President Jiang for a couple of roles.

Jiang Qing had refused.

With her talent, it wasn’t a matter of if. Those sponsors and investors would soon be knocking on her door with offers. It was only a matter of time.

And she wasn’t in a rush. She could wait.

As she finished her nighttime routine, the phone on her nightstand rang.

The bright screen lit up with an incoming call from He Shu.

“Hello? Sister He?”

“Jiang Qing, try not to go online for the next couple of days. Stay home and focus on your script.” He Shu’s voice sounded tense.

“What’s going on online?”

“The official Weibo account just confirmed your role. Now the whole internet is cursing you.”

“It’s alright. Something this small won’t ruin my mood.” Jiang Qing really thought it was no big deal.

Her tone sounded just like usual. Nothing had changed. Hearing that, He Shu felt a bit more reassured.

“Once filming starts, I’ll ask the director to post more behind-the-scenes clips of your acting. I’m sure those people will be completely proven wrong.”

Since she still had a meeting with the public relations team, He Shu quickly said a few more words and hung up.

After ending the call, Jiang Qing tapped into Weibo.

The top three trending topics were all about her.

Every single one was filled with criticism.

Before the official announcement, the news of her joining the cast was just a rumor. Since it wasn’t confirmed, netizens simply took the chance to insult her like they always did, calling her nothing but a fame-hungry actress.

But now that the studio had made it official, Jiang Qing’s role was real. People online became furious.

One after another, they filled the comments under the announcement, begging Director Chen to reconsider. They claimed she was the same shallow actress who once dragged down an entire production. She was not as harmless as she appeared.

They said she could ruin everything.

Jiang Qing scrolled for a little while, then closed the trending page.

Back in her original world, even though she had a good public image, she still had plenty of haters.

The taller the tree, the more wind it catches.

The hate reached its peak when she became a breakout star. The backlash was overwhelming.

She really got a crash course in the diversity of living creatures.

During that time, rumors were everywhere. Jiang Qing would almost torture herself by reading every disgusting comment from those haters.

But after a while, she got used to it. She stopped feeling anything.

Eventually, it even started to seem funny. Most of those haters probably lacked intelligence or imagination. The insults were always the same few lines, repeated again and again. There was nothing original about them.

She could probably recite them in her sleep.

Later, every one of those rumors was cleared up by her team and her fans. Ironically, the cyberbullying brought her even more attention. She became even more famous after that.

She rose to the top and truly became a leading actress.

Just like a lotus that stays pure no matter how dirty the water is.

What did not break her only made her stronger.

Jiang Qing was about to exit the app, but her finger accidentally tapped into her fan forum.

Since she was already there, she casually scrolled through it and was surprised to see that she actually had one or two fans who liked her appearance.

Every day, they showed up faithfully, posting compliments and calling her beautiful with dramatic praise.

The original owner of this body had never cared about maintaining a fanbase.

Jiang Qing opened her photo album to pick a selfie from a few days ago.

But after going through them all, she still could not choose one.

It was too hard.

Every photo looked great. No matter which one she left out, it felt like a waste.

She thought about it for a moment, then struck a new pose, opened the camera, took a fresh selfie, and posted it.

She added a caption: “Looking gorgeous again today.”

Then she shared the official post and added, “Thank you, Director Chen, for the recognition. I’ll do my best.”

Before the haters had time to swarm in, she logged off.

She turned her phone to silent mode, turned off the bedside lamp, and let the world grow quiet.

When she woke up again, still groggy, Jiang Qing grabbed her phone to check the time.

She couldn’t even see the time clearly at first. What really woke her up was the long list of missed calls.

All from He Shu.

The most recent one had been just five minutes ago.

Yawning, Jiang Qing sat up and called back.

“Jiang Qing, what happened between you and Song Qin Ning?”

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