I Heard I’m a Scummy Alpha? [Transmigration] - Chapter 23

Yan Zui calmly picked up the shrimp again and asked,

“What video?”

Her dark blue eyes carried a trace of confusion, as though she truly had no idea what Qi Yunwei was talking about.

Qi Yunwei reminded her,

“The clock on the wall. I didn’t realize it was there this morning, so I wasn’t careful while changing clothes.”

On the surface, Yan Zui looked calm, but inside waves of shock crashed violently.

How did Qi Yunwei know that the clock on the wall had a hidden camera?

And after realizing it, how could she speak of it so casually?

“I’ll delete it after we eat.”

The words slipped out before Yan Zui could stop herself.

It was too late to deny it now. She studied Qi Yunwei’s face—who was still focused on peeling shrimp—and asked,

“You really don’t mind?”

Qi Yunwei truly didn’t. Ever since she had entered this body, and especially after, for physiological reasons, she had marked Yan Zui, she felt she already owed her. Whatever Yan Zui did, she could understand.

Besides, she didn’t want to keep everything from her. In the novel, Yan Zui had already been deceived enough times. No matter how smart she was, no matter how high her IQ, she had still been caught off guard by those Alphas’ schemes.

Yan Zui, hearing Qi Yunwei’s affirmation, waited for her to press further about the hidden camera. Yet Qi Yunwei showed no interest in digging deeper. Once she confirmed that Yan Zui would delete the video, she changed the subject altogether.

Yan Zui frowned slightly, unable to figure out Qi Yunwei’s game.

Qi Yunwei looked open and honest, yet in truth she had revealed nothing. Yan Zui still couldn’t grasp her true intentions.

“After work, are you going home first or going straight to your place?” Qi Yunwei asked.

Yan Zui popped another shrimp into her mouth, her lips stained faintly with sauce.

“I’ll go home to pick you up, then we’ll head over together.”

Qi Yunwei handed her a napkin, then remembered something and said,

“I should warn you, I have an Alpha brother and an Omega sister. Both of them have personality flaws. The brother looks gentle on the outside but is black-bellied underneath. The sister is spoiled and reckless, says whatever comes to mind. Ignore the first one completely. As for the second, if she says anything unpleasant, don’t bother responding—I’ll deal with her for you.”

Yan Zui looked up at her. Seeing the seriousness in her dark eyes, she paused, then said softly,

“Mm.”

She reached out for another sweet-and-sour shrimp—only to find the lunchbox empty. Holding the napkin in her hand, her brows furrowed.

Qi Yunwei noticed a smear of sauce still on her lips. She pointed to her own mouth as a hint.

Yan Zui misunderstood, her cool voice edged with faint frustration:

“You ate all the shrimp?”

“What?” Qi Yunwei blinked, then laughed as she realized the misunderstanding. She pulled out another napkin, leaned forward, and pressed it gently to Yan Zui’s lips.

“Wipe it off.”

Her dark eyes gleamed with amusement as she glanced at the plate in front of Yan Zui.

“I didn’t eat a single shrimp. I peeled all of them and put them there for you.”

Yan Zui nearly lost her composure. Her cold façade slipped, and the tips of her ears—hidden beneath her dark curls—flushed pink.

“Thanks.”

Qi Yunwei blinked playfully.

“You’re welcome.”

The food-loving beauty was just too adorable.

Yan Zui got off work two hours early. She didn’t let Qin Lifeng follow her and drove home alone.

When she stepped inside, she found only the butler watching TV in the living room.

“Uncle Jiang, where’s Qi Yunwei?” she asked.

The butler pointed toward the study.

“Miss Yunwei has been spending a lot of time in there these days, making some, ahem, little toys.”

Yan Zui caught the butler’s oddly strained expression and the sudden flush on his face. Suspicious, she headed for the study.

Knock, knock, knock!

She rapped on the door, but there was no response. Thinking Qi Yunwei must be up to something improper, she turned the handle and pushed it open.

Instead of the flustered face she expected, she found Qi Yunwei sitting at the desk, fully absorbed in assembling a pile of unfamiliar metal parts. She hadn’t even noticed the knocking.

【Master, Yan Zui is here!】 Xiaoman’s voice rang in her mind.

Qi Yunwei had just finished fitting a set of parts together. Carefully setting them aside, she stood up, turned around, and feigned surprise.

“You’re back already?”

But Yan Zui didn’t look at her. Her gaze fixed on the desk cluttered with metal.

“What’s this?”

Qi Yunwei repeated the excuse she had given the butler.

“Just a little toy. Something to tinker with.”

Yan Zui was unconvinced.

“What kind of toy makes Uncle Jiang blush?”

“He misunderstood.” Qi Yunwei’s tone carried a hint of embarrassment at her bluntness.

“An hour early would’ve been enough. Why come back this soon? Do you have something else to do?” Qi Yunwei quickly changed the subject before the conversation veered completely off track.

Yan Zui’s eyes flicked over the clothes she was wearing.

“Go change. Before we head to the Yan villa, we’ll stop at the beauty salon.”

Qi Yunwei went into the bedroom to change, and Yan Zui followed her inside.

As soon as they entered, both glanced at the wall opposite the bed where the clock hung. Yan Zui walked over, intending to take it down.

Qi Yunwei stopped her.

“No need. Leave it—it keeps me disciplined.”

Yan Zui: “…” She was the one who had lost control in the middle of the night, while Qi Yunwei had behaved perfectly. As for who exactly she was supervising, she really wasn’t sure.

Yan Zui pressed her lips together and said,

“But now that you know it’s there, how could it possibly keep you disciplined?”

With that, she walked over, removed the clock, and carried it out of the room.

When Qi Yunwei finished changing and came back, the clock was nowhere in sight.

Yan Zui was sitting in the living room waiting. Qi Yunwei sat down beside her. As Yan Zui started to get up, Qi Yunwei caught her wrist.

“Wait.”

Yan Zui’s icy eyes showed her displeasure. Qi Yunwei glanced at the butler watering flowers nearby, then lowered her voice.

“Yan Zui, did you delete the video of me changing clothes?”

Yan Zui had left work two hours early, which meant she had to work more intensely while at the office. The entire time after Qi Yunwei left, she hadn’t had a spare moment to deal with the surveillance footage.

“Not yet.”

“Is it that you think my figure’s too good, so you can’t bear to delete it?” Qi Yunwei teased.

It was just a matter of moving a finger, yet the whole afternoon had passed and the video still wasn’t deleted. Either Yan Zui had forgotten, or she simply couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Since Yan Zui hated her so much, it was probably the former.

Qi Yunwei only wanted to tease her.

Yan Zui pressed her lips together, casting a cool glance her way. “I’ll need a computer. We’ll talk after the party.”

“There’s no real risk of it leaking, so keeping it isn’t a problem either,” Qi Yunwei replied glibly.

Yan Zui pretended not to hear.

The butler, who happened to be watering the flowers, caught sight of the two of them huddled together chatting intimately. Unaware of the truth, he felt gratified.

If their relationship was this good, the Master could rest assured. He himself wouldn’t need to linger here much longer and could return to the Yan household without feeling like an unwanted third wheel.

Qi Yunwei followed Yan Zui to her usual beauty salon, where Yan Zui was meticulously groomed from head to toe before they drove to the Yan family’s hillside villa.

By the time the car pulled up in front, the sun was just setting, the horizon streaked with amber-orange. As soon as they stepped out, the villa’s lights came on one after another.

The housekeeper stood waiting at the door, ushering them straight toward the dining room.

“Miss Yunwei’s family arrived about half an hour ago,” she said. “They’re currently chatting with the Master and Madam in the dining room.”

When the door was pushed open, the people inside turned at the sound.

Qi Yunwei’s gaze instantly locked onto Qi Fanghuai. The moment Yan Zui entered, his eyes fixed sharply on her. Behind the glint of his silver-rimmed glasses flickered something dark. A faint, cultured smile curved his lips, presenting the façade of a gentleman.

Qi Yunwei instinctively took a step forward, placing herself directly in front of Yan Zui, blocking her entirely from his line of sight. Fanghuai’s smile vanished, his expression hardening, a storm brewing in his eyes.

Qi Yunwei reached back and took Yan Zui’s hand, leading her over to greet both families.

This was a family dinner, so none of the extended Yan relatives were present. Qi Yunwei first flattered her father- and mother-in-law with a warm smile, then introduced her own family to Yan Zui.

“This is my dad, my mom, my brother, and my sister.”

Yan Zui gave each a polite nod, her expression cool, offering not a single word. Qi Jiuyuan and Luo Yi could only smile awkwardly, not daring to complain—after all, their daughter-in-law was also their direct superior at work.

Qi Fangyue, however, couldn’t swallow the slight. Feeling ignored, she leapt up and snapped, “Sister-in-law, you can’t even greet us? Do you look down on our family, or is it that you can’t stand my second sister?”

“Fangyue!” Luo Yi startled, quickly pulling at her daughter to sit down.

But Fangyue yanked her arm free, staring stubbornly at Yan Zui, demanding an explanation.

Unable to rein her in, Luo Yi hastily apologized to Yan Zhao and He Ran. “Chairman Yan, Madam, please forgive her. Fangyue’s spoiled—she speaks without thinking. I’m truly sorry.”

“Mom! Why are you apologizing? It’s clearly Sister-in-law’s attitude that’s wrong!” Fangyue shouted.

She turned defiantly to Yan Zhao. “Chairman Yan, Uncle Yan, now that my second sister and Sister-in-law are married, the Qi and Yan families are in-laws. It’s supposed to be an equal relationship, one built on mutual respect. If Sister-in-law looks down on us from the very start, then there’s no need for this marriage at all! The Qi family may not be rich, but we have our pride. My second sister would never tolerate seeing our parents humiliated. Worst comes to worst, they can just divorce!”

The dining room fell into stunned silence. Even the housekeeper looked at Fangyue as though she’d lost her mind.

But Fangyue was brimming with self-righteousness, casting herself as a fearless crusader for justice.

On the surface, she seemed to be defending her family. In reality, every word was digging a pit for Qi Yunwei.

At the last sentence, Qi Yunwei’s eyes immediately flicked to Qi Fanghuai.

He sat quietly with lowered gaze, his expression unreadable, as though detached and above it all.

Fangyue was too brainless to come up with such words on her own. Clearly, Fanghuai had a hand in this.

“Leave it to me,” Qi Yunwei murmured, patting Yan Zui’s hand.

She turned to her in-laws first, their faces already stormy. “Dad, Mom, my little sister’s always been a bit simple-minded. Please don’t”

Everyone assumed her next words would be don’t take it to heart, an attempt to excuse Fangyue.

But Qi Yunwei shifted the blade. “don’t be fooled by her. She’s not just stupid, she’s stupid and malicious. I’ve been cleaning up after her since we were kids.”

Yan Zui gave her a sidelong glance.

Cleaning up after her. Could it be that all those scandals circulating in the company were actually Fangyue’s doing?

But no—that didn’t add up. Qi Yunwei was five years older. When she was in grade school, Fangyue was barely a toddler.

“Second Sister, how could you say that? Have you been brainwashed by this Omega who looks down on you? How can you speak that way about your own sister?!” Fangyue shrieked, her voice grating like a squeaky toy.

Qi Yunwei looked helpless. “See? A normal person would never say something like that. The truth is, my parents failed to raise her properly, and for that I apologize on their behalf.”

Then she straightened, her tone firming. “Dad, Mom, Fangyue’s already differentiated—she’s no longer a child. You shouldn’t let her keep indulging her whims. Otherwise, when the time comes for her to marry, it won’t be forming bonds, it’ll be making enemies.”

Qi Jiuyuan, who’d been silent until now, suddenly barked, his face dark as thunder. “Enough!”

Luo Yi shot Yunwei a reproachful look, torn between wanting to intervene and not daring to.

Finally, Fanghuai lifted his gaze. He rose, first apologizing to Yan Zhao and He Ran on behalf of his family, then sighed and turned to Yunwei. “Yunwei, you shouldn’t have spoken that way to Fangyue. She only said those things for your sake.”

Yunwei’s face remained unreadable, watching to see where he was headed. “Oh? So your meaning is—she insults my in-laws and my wife, and I should thank her for it?”

Fanghuai adjusted his glasses. “This isn’t the best place to discuss such matters, but if it isn’t addressed, it’ll only fester into something worse. Yunwei, you may not know, but lately the company has been rife with rumors dredging up your past. The higher-ups are clearly aware of your status yet have done nothing to stop the gossip. It’s hard not to suspect that those in power are involved. Fangyue only lost her temper because she couldn’t stand seeing you slandered.”

Qi Yunwei and Yan Zui exchanged a glance, mutual understanding flashing in their eyes.

So this was what it had all been leading up to.