I Was Just a Scumbag Extra, But She Loved Me Anyway [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 32

[You are now in your third task world. Your identity is the sole heir of the prestigious Su family in City L.]

[The original host’s mother died early, and her personality was notoriously difficult. A young stepmother entered the household and brought along a sponsored student—who grew up under the same roof as you. That childhood companion, your so-called “bamboo horse,” is the very person you encountered just now in the hallway.]

Su Chenli stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the collection room, watching Pei Nanxu reading quietly in the garden below.

“You’re saying… in this world, my identity is someone who grew up with the beautiful lady?”

[Yes. In this world, she’s two years older than you. The two of you attended school together, and she was always the one looking after and supervising you. It’s been nearly ten years.]

Grew up together…?

That meant the beautiful lady had arrived in this world ten years earlier—and had been here, waiting for her all that time?

Su Chenli closed her eyes for a moment, her chest tightening with pain.

But now, she didn’t recognize her…

Whether it was a rule of the small world or some form of forced separation, in the last world, Xie Xunyu hadn’t recognized her either. Even though they had been together for so long, Xie Xunyu hadn’t said a single word.

And she herself… had even told Xie Xunyu that she already liked someone else.

Every word she’d spoken back then now returned like a boomerang, stabbing her in the heart. The pain was unbearable. But no matter how much it hurt, Su Chenli couldn’t deny it—it had been her own doing.

Lowering her gaze to the figure of Pei Nanxu in the garden, Su Chenli softly asked:

“If I want her to fall in love with me again… what should I do?”

[Umm… According to the data, Pei Nanxu is the devoted female side character in this small world. Normally, she would rise through the ranks in the Su Corporation—working under your father, President Su—and then fall deeply in love with the Omega protagonist of this world, Yu Xi. But! The story hasn’t started yet, so you still have a chance.]

“Yu Xi?” Su Chenli repeated the name.

[Yes. The title of this world is Runaway Bride: The Playboy CEO’s Fragile Canary. Yu Xi is the story’s Omega lead—a mid-tier actress in the entertainment industry, neither obscure nor famous, who depends on her sugar daddy—namely, the scumbag Alpha lead, Chu Ningxin—for resources to stay relevant.]

[The Alpha lead is a playboy CEO of an entertainment company, and the Omega lead is a little canary actress. Naturally, the canary falls in love with her sugar daddy. But you know how these types go—scumbag Alphas trample all over the canary’s dignity, only to realize their feelings after the canary walks away. Then they’ll stop at nothing to win her back. It’s a standard story of “first hurt the A, then hurt the O.”]

“So what role does the beautiful lady play in this AO love story?” Su Chenli asked.

[Well… she steps in when the canary Omega tries to leave the scumbag Alpha—going so far as to protect and take in Yu Xi when she’s left with nowhere to go. Of course, in the end, she gets cast aside and exits stage left, heartbroken.]

“…Another tragic tool character,” Su Chenli muttered, rubbing her temples and gritting her teeth slightly.

It was always the same. In nearly every world, the devoted female side character—her beautiful lady—was nothing more than a plot device. As long as the AO main couple got their happy ending, no one cared what happened to the devoted woman.

The first time it happened, Su Chenli had already found it hard to accept. The third time? It was unbearable—especially when the devoted side character was her lover.

She would push the plot forward, sure. But let her lover fall for someone else? Never.

Taking a deep breath, Su Chenli asked,
“You said earlier that I can’t act too out-of-character—not even when facing the beautiful lady. I can’t reveal too much. So how did the original Su Chenli interact with Pei Nanxu? Are there any scenes from the source material?”

Even if she couldn’t break character, that was fine. She would just follow the original behavior—stay by her side. So long as they were together, eventually, Pei Nanxu would recognize her.

[Hmm… Let me check. Ah, found it.]

The system pulled up content from the original story and projected it in front of Su Chenli’s eyes.

Amidst pages and pages of steamy AO romance nonsense, Su Chenli finally located a few lines depicting an interaction between the original Su Chenli and Pei Nanxu:

A sleek Pagani screeched to a halt in front of Pei Nanxu. The arrogant young heiress flung open the car door with a dramatic flourish, strutting forward with a look of complete disdain.

When she stopped in front of Pei Nanxu, her gaze happened to fall on Yu Xi, who was leaning weakly against Pei Nanxu for support. With a look of disdain, she said, “Why are you still hanging out with this Omega? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from her?”

Pei Nanxu gave her a calm glance. “Who I choose to spend time with is my business.”

“What? Hah. You’re talking to me about freedom now?” Su Chenli sneered, stepping closer, her gaze arrogant and cold.

The system rummaged through the source material and projected the relevant section in front of Su Chenli’s eyes.

Amidst large blocks of text mostly detailing the AO protagonists’ messy romance, Su Chenli finally managed to dig up a few lines showing how the original Su Chenli interacted with Pei Nanxu—

A sleek, high-performance Pagani screeched to a stop in front of Pei Nanxu.

The arrogant heiress stormed out, slamming the car door with dramatic flair. With an air of utter disdain, she walked directly toward Pei Nanxu.

As she approached, her eyes flicked to Yu Xi, who was being supported by Pei Nanxu. Her expression twisted in disgust.

“Why are you still hanging around this Omega? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from her?”

Pei Nanxu shot her a calm, indifferent glance. “Who I spend time with is my choice.”

“What? Ha. You want to talk to me about freedom now?” Su Chenli sneered, stepping in closer. Her gaze was haughty and cold.

“Have you forgotten who’s been feeding you, clothing you, giving you this luxurious life, and letting you work at the company? You really don’t know what the Su family raised you for? You’re supposed to listen to me, serve me. You’re no different from a servant in my house. And you’re talking to me about freedom?”

Su Chenli immediately slammed the projection off with a snap, staring at the system in disbelief.

“What the hell did she just say? Has she lost her mind?! How could she dare speak to her like that?!”

[Uhh… well, that’s just the setting, Host…] the system replied sheepishly.

“I don’t care what kind of setting it is!” Su Chenli rejected the notion without hesitation.

[There’s actually a scene right before this one. Want to take a look?]

“Huh?” Su Chenli raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

The system reopened the projection, showing the lead-up to the confrontation between the original Su Chenli and Pei Nanxu.

Pei Nanxu helped Yu Xi out of the car.

The Omega, drunk to the point of incoherence, leaned directly into Pei Nanxu’s arms.

Recalling how awkward things had been at the banquet earlier—thanks to Chu Ningxin—Pei Nanxu sighed internally. She was just about to call out to Yu Xi when the dazed Omega suddenly wrapped her arms around Pei Nanxu’s neck, pulling her closer.

In that instant, the distance between them became intimate—almost suggestive.

Pei Nanxu’s heartbeat skipped involuntarily. Her hand, which had been supporting Yu Xi, shifted slightly—as if to embrace her.

Just then, a blinding pair of headlights flashed past. Pei Nanxu raised a hand to shield her eyes, then quickly regained control and withdrew her hand.

Su Chenli: “…”

Su Chenli: “???”

Just 176 words, but Su Chenli was as stunned as if her entire family fortune had just been stolen.

Staring at that description, for the first time she truly felt how deeply the small world’s devoted female lead might actually fall for the Omega protagonist.

A sudden, irrational wave of possessiveness surged within her. Grinding her molars, Su Chenli forced her voice to stay steady:

“So… you’re telling me that in this world, the little canary Omega and my beautiful lady actually might have something?”

[Well… not exactly together together, but like you saw—there’ll be a fair bit of ambiguity between them.]

Su Chenli inhaled deeply.

“Ambiguity” was enough to make her lose it.

Without saying a word, she stood up stiffly and stormed toward the door, exuding a cold, furious aura.

[Whoa—hey, hey!] The system panicked. [Host, what are you doing?!]

“Altering the plot!” Su Chenli grabbed the doorknob, her expression stormy, voice laced with murderous determination.
“I suddenly feel like being arrogant and overbearing isn’t such a big deal. I’ll watch my limits—but that damn ambiguity can go straight to hell!”

The system, watching its enraged host storm off, quietly shrank into the furthest corner of the consciousness space.

Yep… she was definitely pissed.

Su Chenli: “…”

Su Chenli: “???”

Just 176 words, and she felt as if someone had robbed her ancestral home.
Reading that description, for the first time, Su Chenli truly felt the depth of the devoted female lead’s emotions toward the Omega protagonist in this world.

A surge of inexplicable crisis rose in her chest. Grinding her molars, she forced her voice to remain calm:

“So… you’re telling me that in this world, the little canary Omega and my beautiful lady actually might have something?”

[Not exactly together-together… it’s just, like you saw, there’s quite a bit of ambiguity between them.]

Su Chenli took a long breath.

Ambiguity? That’s all it takes?

Without another word, she stood up stiffly and stormed toward the door with a cold, furious determination.

[Huh? Hey—wait!] The system was startled. [Host, what are you doing?!]

“Changing the plot!”

Gripping the doorknob, Su Chenli’s expression was dark and complex, her tone full of righteous fury:
“I suddenly feel like being arrogant, rude, and unreasonable isn’t such a crime after all. I’ll keep my behavior in check—but that so-called ‘ambiguity’? It can go to hell!”

The system watched her in silence, quietly shrinking into a mental corner of the consciousness space.

Yep… Host was definitely mad.

Su Chenli yanked the door open—and happened to bump into a housekeeper coming up to tidy the room. Her foot, halfway across the threshold, paused for a moment before she slowly drew it back.

Her expression turned aloof and arrogant as she said coolly,
“Tell Pei Nanxu to come see me.”

The housekeeper, seemingly used to such orders, gave a slight bow and turned to head downstairs.

Not long after, while Su Chenli was still fuming on the small sofa, she heard the sound of Pei Nanxu’s footsteps approaching.

The doorknob turned. Pei Nanxu stepped in, her elegant features cool and unreadable.
“What stunt are you pulling this time?”

Just hearing her voice sent Su Chenli’s mind flashing back to that scene in the original story—Pei Nanxu holding Yu Xi, almost embracing her.

She nearly dropped the whole mission out of sheer rage.

Her expression frosty and her tone stiff, she said,
“What stunt? I wanted to see you, so I called for you.”

It sounded flirtatious and provocative—but Pei Nanxu didn’t even flinch. She just gave Su Chenli a flat look and sat down on the sofa beside her, completely unfazed:

“Even if you’re upset about being grounded, trying to drag me down with you won’t work.”

Su Chenli blinked in confusion, then quietly asked the system in her mind,
“I wasn’t even thinking that—why is she so used to it? Did the original body mess with her a lot?”

The system answered quickly:

**[Well… the original material doesn’t go into too much detail, but there are a few things. Pei Nanxu and the original host grew up together as childhood companions. She was a scholarship student living in the Su household, always attending the same school as Su Chenli.

Pei Nanxu was the model student—top grades, top character—and also the school’s discipline committee rep. The original Su Chenli? She was basically the school’s top delinquent. During school hours, Pei Nanxu docked her points and made her read public apologies. After school, Su Chenli would retaliate and pick fights with her. She even made Pei Nanxu cry… twice.]**

Su Chenli: “…”

Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite so justified in her anger anymore.

Su Chenli quietly turned her face to the side, inwardly sighing. With a history like that, it was no wonder the beautiful lady didn’t want much to do with her.

She stayed still and didn’t cause trouble for once. That, in turn, surprised Pei Nanxu. She lifted her eyelashes slightly and gave Su Chenli a guarded glance before speaking slowly:
“You called me up here… and don’t have anything for me to do?”

“…I do.”

Su Chenli forced herself to stick to the script she had prepared:
“I want you to stay with me. However long I’m grounded, that’s how long you’ll accompany me.”

It was a bit overbearing, yes—but perfectly in line with the original host’s personality. More importantly, if she could stay by Pei Nanxu’s side all this time, not only would Nanxu have no chance to meet Yu Xi, she might even start to remember who Su Chenli really was…

“Impossible,” Pei Nanxu said flatly, her eyes lowering as she refused without hesitation. “I work at the company. I have plenty to do. I don’t have time to entertain you.”

Su Chenli choked on her next words. She thought for a moment, recalling a bit of backstory she’d seen earlier when reviewing the world data.
“That’s rich, coming from you,” she said, a bit hot with indignation. “I wouldn’t even be grounded if it weren’t for you tattling on me. If you hadn’t snitched, my dad wouldn’t have punished me in the first place!”

Pei Nanxu blinked once, then quickly looked away and played dumb.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As she spoke, she placed the item in her hand off to the side and stood up to leave.

Su Chenli instinctively reached out and grabbed Pei Nanxu’s hand.
“Wait.”

Pei Nanxu’s hand was soft, with long fingers, a narrow palm, and cool, delicate skin. It fit perfectly in Su Chenli’s grasp—like holding a piece of polished jade.

“What are you doing?!”

Startled, Pei Nanxu sharply tried to yank her hand away—but she couldn’t break free.

Su Chenli tilted her head up to look at her, and after a pause, insisted,
“You haven’t answered me. Where do you think you’re going?”

Pei Nanxu frowned. “You…”

Just as the two of them stood there locked in confrontation, there was a knock at the door. From outside, a servant said softly,
“Miss, President Su has returned. He asked you to come downstairs and join him for dinner.”

President Su? The original host’s father?

Su Chenli blinked. Wasn’t she still supposed to be grounded? Why was she suddenly allowed downstairs?

Before she could think it through, Pei Nanxu had already pulled her hand free, straightened her clothes, and said in a serious tone:
“If President Su is back, don’t bring up these pointless things again. Let’s go.”

Looking at how Pei Nanxu suddenly straightened up, Su Chenli sensed something odd. Even though her expression hadn’t changed much, she seemed… more tense.

…Was it because of the original host’s father?

“Oh—and don’t go down with me,” Pei Nanxu added suddenly.

Su Chenli was caught off guard.
“…Huh?”

What kind of rule was that supposed to be?

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