The Aloof Beta Transmigrated as the Pretty Wife [Transmigration] - Chapter 23

After a full night’s rest, Su Ren’s physical condition seemed much improved by the time he woke up. He still had a low-grade fever, but the dizziness had finally vanished.

 

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his well-behaved little sister peeking her head through the door, smiling sweetly.

 

“Morning, Ge! Did you sleep well?”

 

Su Ren’s pale skin was currently tinged with a faint flush, and his expression was a bit dazed. He checked the time; it was only seven in the morning.

 

“Mmh, morning,” Su Ren replied, his voice clear but carrying a hint of hoarseness. “Why didn’t you sleep in a bit longer?”

 

Su Shi’s face slumped. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

 

“Oh?” Su Ren got out of bed briskly, preparing to make breakfast for her. “What’s wrong? Jet lag?”

 

“No… not that,” Su Shi said, hesitating.

 

“Then what is it?” The handsome young man, dressed in pure white pajamas, finished tidying the duvet and looked at her earnestly. “Something on your mind?”

 

Su Shi clutched a soft stuffed alpaca to her chest and nodded solemnly, her face clouding with embarrassment. “Ge, I suspect… Brother Chouqiu has a problem.”

 

Su Ren frowned. “How so?”

 

Su Shi squeezed the alpaca hard before saying through gritted teeth, “Brother Chouqiu might… be a pervert!”

 

Upon hearing this, an indescribable look crossed Su Ren’s elegant, beautiful face.

 

Even though Su Ren had known for a long time that Xie Chouqiu was a bit of a deviant, hearing his sister present it so formally was still unexpected.

 

“How did you find out? …I mean, why would you say that?”

 

Su Shi didn’t notice Su Ren’s internal conflict. Sunk deep into her own worries, she lamented with a long face:

 

“My white silk stockings are gone! I am certain, positive, and absolutely sure that before I left, I put a pair of unopened white stockings in the outermost pocket of my suitcase!”

 

Su Ren choked up for a second, blinking several times as he pressed his lips into a thin line. “Mmh.”

 

Seeing a response, Su Shi continued, “I was going to wear those with my JK skirt, but they’re gone! I’ve searched everywhere and couldn’t sleep a wink because of it. Waaaah, I suspect Brother Chouqiu took them.”

 

Su Ren looked down, kicking at a crooked rug. “Mmh, why do you suspect him?”

 

Su Shi took it as common sense. “Because only you and I have touched that suitcase! You wouldn’t take them, and I couldn’t have lost them, so it must be Brother Chouqiu. He spent time in my room yesterday!”

 

Su Shi’s explanation was a bit jumbled, fueled by both anxiety and anger. However, no matter what she said, Su Ren didn’t have much of a reaction. Instead, he maintained a look of indifference, as if thinking, You probably just remembered wrong; maybe you didn’t bring them back.

 

Su Shi blinked aggrievedly. She looked at her brother, whose clear, indifferent black eyes were shaded by long lashes. When he looked down, those lashes cast a shadow over his rose-tinted cheeks, giving him an indescribable air of serenity and beauty.

 

Ahhh, Ge is just too kind, she thought. He doesn’t want to hear me speak ill of Brother Chouqiu, and he doesn’t want to believe he’s a pervert. It makes me feel like some rumor-monger trying to ruin someone’s reputation!

 

Seeing that Su Ren didn’t believe her, Su Shi pouted and retreated in frustration.

 

Fine.

 

It was her own fault for not catching Xie Chouqiu red-handed.

 

But Su Shi had a bit of a temper too; as she left, she slammed Su Ren’s door with a deafening bang.

 

The sound made Su Ren jump.

 

Once he was sure Su Shi had actually left, his heart hammered against his ribs, and he let out a long, slow sigh.

 

Whew.

 

At the same time, the lolita voice rang out in his mind:

 

“Hi, unlucky host! We have a deal, okay? For this mission, you have to wear white silk stockings to seduce Xie Chouqiu. No cheating this time!”

 

Su Ren remained expressionless. “Shut up.”

 

Song Di’s “fingers” slammed across the keyboard, producing a noisy, meaningless string of angry gibberish: “zkldhbfqaie! Aiudhfgqwiougferfew…”

 

Su Ren ignored it entirely. After making breakfast for Su Shi, he grabbed his briefcase and fled the house.

 

He was feeling much better today. With the suppressant patch on the back of his neck, the scent was undetectable.

 

On this first day of the New Year, Su Ren had to go to the university to handle the work he’d missed while on leave yesterday. If he felt okay in the afternoon, he planned to drop by Fang Zhen’s company to watch the students’ ribbon-cutting ceremony.

 

Su Ren hadn’t originally intended to go.

 

In this “Second World,” everything revolved around his missions. His primary goal was simply to finish them quickly and return to the real world. Unfortunately, Su Ren was always soft-hearted. He still hadn’t learned how to refuse people, especially his students.

 

As for the mission.

 

He might as well just get it over with.

 

While drifting through these idle thoughts, Su Ren worked with mechanical instinct.

 

He handled administrative tasks very quickly. His brain functioned like a multi-tasking CPU, allowing him to be so focused that he wouldn’t hear even the slightest noise. Consequently, when Xie Chouqiu gently pushed open his door, Su Ren didn’t notice for quite some time.

 

Xie Chouqiu, a tall, broad figure, stood by the doorframe watching Su Ren, who sat at the desk with his head slightly bowed.

 

Perched on the bridge of Su Ren’s high nose was a pair of silver-rimmed glasses he only wore for work or study. Even today, one could see a slight, beautiful shimmer at the corners of his reddened eyes.

 

In winter, Su Ren had a habit of curling his fingers into his sleeves—a little quirk he probably hadn’t even noticed himself—making him look like a cold, aloof kitten tucking its paws in.

 

Xie Chouqiu’s thoughts were unreadable. After watching Su Ren for a moment, his clear gaze turned deep and dark.

 

After staring intently for a good while, he finally curled his index finger and knocked on the door.

 

“Come in,” Su Ren said, looking up. His soft, dense black hair brushed against his pale cheeks. Once he saw who it was, Su Ren’s brows knit together slightly.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“What am I doing?”

 

Xie Chouqiu stepped in with his long legs, a grim look on his handsome face. He tossed a thick stack of papers onto Su Ren’s desk and said irritably:

 

“What do you think? I’m working. Isn’t this the job you found for me?”

 

Su Ren unconsciously let out a breath of relief and looked down.

 

Ah.

 

It was the homework he had assigned to his students during the Q&A study session a few days ago. The deadline had passed, and it seemed Wang Lingyu had collected them and handed them over to Xie Chouqiu, who was now working overtime to grade them.

 

University teachers were rarely this responsible, let alone someone like Xie Chouqiu.

 

While Su Ren was rationally questioning Xie Chouqiu’s motives, he saw the man acting as if he owned the place. Xie Chouqiu pulled up a chair across from Su Ren’s desk, sat down naturally, and prepared to bury his head in the grading.

 

Su Ren finally couldn’t help himself and said coldly, “Don’t you have your own office?”

 

Xie Chouqiu looked up, a hint of playfulness in his eyes. “As you can see, I don’t. I’m not like Professor Su with a private room for one.”

 

Su Ren’s frown deepened as he corrected himself, “Don’t you have your own workstation?”

 

“Oh, I have one of those,” Xie Chouqiu said, reaching out to take a red pen from Su Ren’s desk. “But it’s New Year’s Day, and a bunch of students are in our office holding a Spring Festival party. It’s way too noisy.”

 

Xie Chouqiu’s sharp, handsome brows drew together as his mist-blue, puppy-like eyes looked at Su Ren expectantly. His gaze was much clearer than it had been in previous days, carrying a bright, clean smile. “I’m just borrowing a seat. You wouldn’t be that stingy, would you?”

 

As if burned by that gaze, Su Ren quickly looked away and said flatly, “My workspace is expensive. Fifty an hour, a hundred for two.”

 

Xie Chouqiu let out a short laugh. “You’re still just like you were when we were kids, always setting a clear price.”

 

Su Ren’s face remained cold, his exquisite profile so beautiful it was breathtaking. “Take it or leave it. If you don’t like it, get out.”

 

An alert for an “Alipay payment received” popped up. Su Ren took one look, and his brows knit even tighter.

 

Xie Chouqiu’s deep voice carried a half-smile. “Then I’ll book it until you retire. You aren’t allowed to rent it to anyone else.”

 

Psychopath.

 

Su Ren didn’t necessarily mean to be sarcastic, but he gave an instinctive “hmpf.”

 

He narrowed his bright, dark eyes, his competitive streak flaring up. He gave a fake but exceptionally elegant smile.

 

“Ten thousand to book it until I retire, and I can’t rent to anyone else? You certainly know how to strike a bargain. Since you’re so good at it, why aren’t you out there playing the stock market?”

 

Stunned by Su Ren’s sharp tongue, Xie Chouqiu froze.

 

It had been so many years since Su Ren had spoken to him like this; he had almost forgotten the flavor of it.

 

Back in middle school, when Su Ren and Su Shi lived with the Xie family, the two of them would bicker back and forth nearly every night at dinner.

 

At first, Xie Jichun and Xie Chengxia tried to mediate, but eventually, they realized it was impossible and just let them be.

 

The eldest brother, Xie Jichun, would just shake his head. “Tsk tsk. Xiao Ren is a sharp-tongued bride. Once he joins the family, he’ll definitely be the one in charge, the matriarch of our Xie house.”

 

Xie Chouqiu, who was about to argue the second half of a point, choked up and looked at his eldest brother in shock.

 

Then he heard Su Ren sneer: “Your Xie family is truly something else. By the time Xie Chouqiu is of marriageable age, I’m sure the suitors will be lining up at the door, but I, Su Ren, have no interest. As for ‘matriarch,’ a title that should have been eradicated along with the remnants of the Qing Dynasty, if it manages to survive in your family, you should save it for your virtuous ‘concubines.’ I, Su Ren, could never aspire to such heights.”

 

That speech left the four Xie siblings with very different expressions.

 

Xie Jichun’s face was as black as iron, Xie Chengxia covered her mouth to hide a laugh, Xie Chouqiu’s cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, and Xie Mudong was just plain confused.

 

The tension between Xie Jichun and Su Ren had become quite ugly.

 

Ultimately, that dispute ended with:

 

Xie Chengxia frantically putting food on Xie Jichun’s plate,

 

Xie Chouqiu continuously pouring soda for Su Ren,

 

And Xie Mudong resting his head on Su Ren’s elbow, snuggling up softly.

 

Xie Chouqiu found himself sinking into those endless memories again. His mist-blue eyes were clear and bright, devoid of any malice, as if his soul had been washed clean by the recollection—as if the system’s control no longer existed at all.

 

Su Ren, meanwhile, was watching Xie Chouqiu.

 

Lately, Su Ren had been sensitively aware of the changes in the man. At the very beginning, Song Di had said that Xie Chouqiu’s subconscious was incredibly powerful, which was why it took the system three days to link his subconscious to the system. Now, Xie Chouqiu’s subconscious seemed to have broken free from the system’s control, acting entirely according to his own subjective will.

 

For example, in Mission 6, in the middle of a crowded staff room, he had been able to fully accept Su Ren’s hints and cooperate to finish the task. And for Mission 7, spending the heat with a loved one, Xie Chouqiu had taken the initiative to call Su Shi back. In all the system history Su Ren had reviewed, this was completely unprecedented.

 

Su Ren’s deep eyes were dark as he sank into a long contemplation. He wasn’t yet sure how these changes would affect the missions. Would it create a butterfly effect? By skipping parts of the plot, would he accidentally rewrite the system’s narrative? After all, Song Di was very particular about them following the script to the letter.

 

Su Ren remained silent, absentmindedly writing a few words before capping his pen. His peripheral vision, however, remained fixed on Xie Chouqiu’s long, attractive right hand.

 

After a long pause, Su Ren seemed to make a decision. He pulled his briefcase out of the drawer.

 

Finally, he stood up.

 

There was no time to lose. Su Ren intended to complete the mission while the opportunity was there.

 

“Where are you going?” Xie Chouqiu asked instinctively.

 

“To the restroom,” Su Ren replied expressionlessly. He glanced at Xie Chouqiu, grabbed his bag, and walked out.

 

When Su Ren glanced at him, for some reason, Xie Chouqiu felt a tingling sensation in his heart, as if he’d been snagged by a hook, sending an electric charge straight down his spine.

 

Just then, his phone lit up with a WeChat message from Su Shi:

 

【It’s Su Shi: Brother Chouqiu! I can’t take it anymore! I have to ask you!】

 

【xcq: Ask.】

 

【It’s Su Shi: Be honest! Was it you?! Did you take that unopened package of stockings?! My white silk stockings are missing, and no matter how I think about it, no one but you and my brother could have touched my suitcase!】

 

【xcq: .?】

 

Xie Chouqiu thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up and strode toward the restroom.

 

Xie Chouqiu: Just sitting at home, and a disaster falls from the sky.