Scumbag Alpha’s Pheromones Are Toxic - Chapter 20

That unassuming iron shovel was truly heavy. Ji Yao didn’t let it show on her face, but the hand she had shoved into her pocket was trembling from the exertion.

After a moment of silence, Qin Zishu leaned back in like a clingy spirit, practically begging for another scolding. “Sister, let me massage your poor little paws.”

Ji Yao maintained a cold expression. “I’m still capable of wielding a blade, you know.”

Qin Zishu handed over a can of milk. “Then help me open this.”

“Don’t you have hands?”

Qin Zishu answered with a look of utter innocence. “Alas, I am frail and unable to care for myself. I need my guardian’s help.”

Ji Yao rolled her eyes but took the can anyway. She reached for the pull-tab naturally only for her hand to shake uncontrollably.

“Hahahaha!”

Qin Zishu slumped onto a nearby bench, paralyzed with laughter.

Ji Yao: “Stop laughing.”

“I swear, that’s the happiest I’ve been in years,” Qin Zishu said shamelessly. “Thank you, Sister.”

She didn’t stop there. Noticing a small dog trotting toward them, she addressed the pup: “Quick, say thank you to Sister.”

The dog let out a confused “Woof.”

It was a Chihuahua. Ji Yao stared at the little creature and sighed. “I used to have a friend who loved Chihuahuas more than any other breed.”

“That friend of yours.”

Qin Zishu’s smile faded instantly, a shadow of hostility crossing her brow. This “friend” Ji Yao spoke of had always styled herself as Ji Yao’s bestie, taking advantage of countless favors. Yet, when Ji Yao passed away, she ran faster than anyone, she hadn’t even bothered to attend the funeral.

“Hmm? What is it?” Ji Yao finally popped the tab and handed the milk to Qin Zishu. “Sun Lin. She used to buy you snacks all the time when you were little. Did you forget?”

“How could I ever forget?” Qin Zishu muttered through gritted teeth.

The only reason she hadn’t dealt with Sun Lin sooner was that she wanted Ji Yao to see for herself exactly how this “dear friend” had stabbed her in the back. In the future, Ji Yao wouldn’t be so easily blinded by people.

Ji Yao remained puzzled. “Why do I feel like you harbor so much animosity toward her?”

“I don’t,” Qin Zishu denied flatly. She jerked her chin toward the path ahead. “Isn’t that her right there?”

Ji Yao snapped her head forward and locked eyes with a man and woman approaching them.

Sun Lin and her scumbag boyfriend.

A wave of irritation washed over Ji Yao. Back then, Sun Lin’s boyfriend had been unfaithful and abusive; Ji Yao had worked herself to the bone to drag Sun Lin out of that misery. Yet, the moment she died, that spineless girl went crawling back to him. Ten years later, it looked like they had started a family. What a load of rubbish.

She didn’t want to see them for another second.

“Ji—” Sun Lin started, catching sight of the person beside Qin Zishu. She jumped back in fright and clutched her boyfriend’s arm. “Hubby, isn’t that, you know who?”

Ji Yao nonchalantly looked away and rested her head on Qin Zishu’s shoulder, whispering under her breath, “I don’t want her to recognize me. Help me.”

Hearing this, Qin Zishu looked up and called out, “She’s not who you think. You’ve got the wrong person.”

“Zishu! Long time no see. I heard you just won another big award.” Sun Lin and her husband were beaming, their attention naturally drawn to the much more valuable person: Qin Zishu.

Qin Zishu didn’t even stand up. She tilted Ji Yao’s face away, shielding her in a protective embrace while responding coolly, “Just call me Qin Zishu. We aren’t that close.”

Ji Yao, overhearing this: “…”

She won’t even pretend to be polite?

Sun Lin faltered momentarily but had the thick skin to keep pushing. “When your sister Ji Yao was around, I used to go to your house and bring you snacks all the time. Have you forgotten?”

Qin Zishu cut her off. “But she’s gone now.”

“Even if she’s gone, does that mean we aren’t close anymore? All those years of friendship.”

“Oh, so you do remember those years of friendship?” Qin Zishu had no interest in maintaining a facade of civility. She didn’t intend to leave Sun Lin even a shred of dignity, choosing instead to drag out the truths Ji Yao didn’t know.

“After my sister died, you—her ‘dear friend’—didn’t lift a finger for the funeral or the arrangements. You didn’t even seem sad.”

Sun Lin rubbed her nose. “I was just, very busy during those few days.”

“Busy with what?” Qin Zishu gave a biting smile. “Getting married?”

All those years ago, you lied to her, saying your life was a mess, that you were in constant misery and being defrauded by your boyfriend just to milk her for sympathy and money. Then, using the money she gave you, you married the very man she despised right during her funeral.

Sun Lin’s husband couldn’t take it anymore and stepped in. “Qin Zishu, don’t think you’re so special just because you’re a big star with some money! Watch your mouth! With an attitude like that, you’re unworthy of your status!”

“I have no virtue to speak of, so ‘worthiness’ doesn’t apply. Being pretty is enough,” Qin Zishu said arrogantly. “You two have a lot of nerve talking about ‘virtue.’ I’m surprised you can sleep at night.”

Sun Lin pulled on her husband’s arm, telling him to forget it.

“That’s right, I’m so poor that all I have left is money. However,” Qin Zishu drawled, lifting her eyelids to reveal a gaze full of cold indifference. “When you have enough money, in certain respects, you become omnipotent. And that is a big deal.”

Sun Lin’s husband rolled his eyes.

“You took the money my sister gave you and secretly started a company. Life is pretty good for you now, isn’t it?”

Qin Zishu had intended to turn a blind eye to this couple and let Ji Yao handle them personally. But seeing them now, she changed her mind. Since these two were unlucky enough to cross her path today, she might as well bully them a little.

Qin Zishu could feel Ji Yao, who was leaning against her shoulder, subtly lifting her head.

Across from them, the couple’s expressions soured. Sun Lin asked, “What are you going to do to our company?”

“How should I know?” Qin Zishu was too lazy to actually get involved. All she had to do was drop a hint to her subordinates, and plenty of people would scramble to do the dirty work. She didn’t need to care about the petty details of corporate sabotage.

She continued, “I only need to see the result. I won’t cause too much trouble. I’ll just return you to the state you were in before you met me.”

That state: struggling to make ends meet, with a marriage defined by constant screaming matches and chaos.

“Qin Zishu, are you joking, or are you actually looking for trouble?” Sun Lin still couldn’t quite believe this sudden attack; she felt like Qin Zishu was just teasing her. “I can’t believe you’re this kind of person.”

“I was going to joke at first, but now I’ve decided to make it real trouble,” Qin Zishu gave a mockingly sweet smile. “Life is a bit boring. One has to find some entertainment, don’t they?”

Ji Yao finally faced the two of them fully. She remarked, “Manager Qin doesn’t play by the rules when she does things.”

Manager Qin?

Sun Lin was stunned by the title for a second before she looked closely at Ji Yao’s face. Ten years had passed, yet this face was as youthful as ever. It couldn’t be Ji Yao.

But the resemblance was uncanny. What was going on?

Ji Yao put on a frail act, clutching Qin Zishu’s hand with a look of submissive tenderness.

Qin Zishu didn’t say much, simply offering an explanation: “I had her face done to match hers.”

Sun Lin naturally filled in the blanks. Qin Zishu missed Ji Yao so much that she found a girl with a similar bone structure and had her undergo plastic surgery to look exactly like her.

Sun Lin: “…”

She felt like she had just stumbled upon some dark, twisted secret.

“Don’t worry too much. Manager Qin is just sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. She’s only upset because you haven’t contacted her in years.” Ji Yao’s voice was incredibly gentle almost artificially so. “What she said just now was just talk in the heat of the moment. Don’t take it to heart.”

The couple immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Sun Lin felt a surge of gratitude. Ji Yao was a good person, and even her ‘stand-in’ is so kind and considerate.

Sun Lin: “Thank you.”

Ji Yao smiled brightly. “I’d much rather hear ‘I’m sorry.'”

Sun Lin: “???”

Ji Yao: “Just kidding! Why are you looking so upset?”

Once the couple finally left with their dog, Qin Zishu turned to Ji Yao. “Sister, are you satisfied with that handling?”

“Excellent. Truly excellent.” Ji Yao’s gaze was unreadable as she stared at the soda can in her hand. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to hear their ‘I’m sorry’ anymore. It’s far too cheap.”

Qin Zishu waited patiently for her to finish.

Ji Yao asked her quietly, “Since you knew what they were up to, why did you wait all these years to strike? I don’t believe you’re the type to just sit on a grudge and only lash out on a whim.”

She was right. In her countless past “loops,” Qin Zishu had tried every possible way to torment these people. Eventually, she grew bored of the games and decided to wait, either to let Ji Yao handle it personally or to see how things played out.

This time, she had intentionally left the guilty parties untouched. She was simply waiting to see which unlucky soul would cross Ji Yao’s path first so she could make an example of them.

If Ji Yao wanted to handle it, the floor was hers. If Ji Yao didn’t, Qin Zishu would have them dealt with privately. One thing was certain: no one was getting off easy.

“Sister, you know how I am with grudges,” Qin Zishu said. “Anyone who bullied you was never going to have a happy ending. I just hadn’t decided on a method that felt satisfying enough.”

Ji Yao thought: I don’t believe you for a second. Qin Zishu’s threats earlier had been far too fluent, delivered with a precision that made one wonder if she had already rehearsed this exact scenario before.

For some reason, Ji Yao had a strange inkling that Qin Zishu had been waiting for this very day, waiting for her to run into Sun Lin and her husband just to test her reaction before dropping the guillotine.

“Sister,” Qin Zishu added, “I was worried you might still be too merciful. That you’d want to let these people go.”

Ji Yao crushed the soda can in her hand. “Huh? Aren’t we helping them?”

It was Qin Zishu’s turn to be confused. She let out a blank “Huh?” and stared at Ji Yao.

“We really are being merciful; we’re doing them a favor,” Ji Yao explained. “That couple can share the good times, but they can’t endure the bad. When life is easy, they’re ‘soulmates’ who know how to enjoy themselves. But the moment things go south, the man becomes abusive and the woman becomes bitter. Their conflict will only escalate until they destroy each other.

I tried to drag Sun Lin away from that man once because I wanted her to cut her losses and solve the problem at the root. I failed.

Life is full of ups and downs; there’s always a downhill slope after a peak. We’re simply being proactive—helping them accelerate their inevitable conflict now, while they’re still young, rather than waiting until they’re old and gray to start tearing each other’s hair out.

How merciful of us.”