The Heartless Alpha Just Wants to Follow the Plot - Chapter 14

The air was unbearably awkward. Su Mo had no idea how to ease the tension and could only glance outside before tentatively asking, “It’s already pretty late, are you heading back tonight?”

The moment the words left her mouth, Su Mo wanted to smack herself. What on earth was she saying?

Pu Ying lifted her gaze, the corners of her lips curving in a half-smile. Without the glasses to hide behind, Su Mo could clearly see the teasing in her eyes. “Are you inviting me to spend the night?”

Su Mo felt her face heat up instantly, as if she had just been flirted with.

She clenched a fist over her mouth and coughed lightly. “I just meant the trip back is quite far. At this hour, you, um, a girl, being out alone isn’t very safe.”

Pu Ying set her glasses on the table and said with a faint curl of her lips, “Save the lines you use on those Omegas. They don’t work on me.”

“Uh.” Su Mo wilted instantly.

Actually, it was all a misunderstanding.

Pu Ying crossed her legs. “I came today mainly to remind you about Qiu Fu’s follow-up positioning.”

Su Mo, whose mind was full of complicated misunderstandings, blurted out, “Huh? I don’t need her location tracked. That’s illegal!”

Pu Ying: “…”

She stared at Su Mo for a long moment, struggling to speak, then finally sighed. “What exactly goes on in that head of yours?”

Was this a comedy routine?

Su Mo gave an awkward laugh. She’d really thought it was that kind of “positioning.” When it wasn’t, she quickly raised her glass and took a long sip of juice to hide her embarrassment.

Pu Ying set down her coffee cup and said calmly, “Since you’ve signed her into the company and put her in the public spotlight, you can’t just leave her unattended. I’ve taken the liberty of arranging her upcoming jobs and her character counter-narrative.”

Su Mo nodded immediately. Yes, yes, exactly—please don’t throw random people in her lap again.

“I’ll have the company cooperate so the two of you continue your ‘mortal enemies’ act. She’s agreed already. Now it’s just you left.

You’re harder to manage, and the things you do every day are completely unpredictable, so I’m the one sent to talk you into it. From now on, don’t get too close or clingy with Qiu Fu in public. If you really can’t help yourself, at least wait until you’re in private.”

Pu Ying looked at her coolly. “Can you manage that?”

Su Mo felt something was off. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Pu Ying picked up her coffee again, looking much more relaxed. “Aside from that, there’s your upcoming schedule. Since the old man specifically asked for you to go home at the end of the month, I didn’t arrange any work for you. As for the drama’s promotional events, you don’t need to worry too much. Everyone knows what your temperament is like.”

Su Mo: “…”

Su Mo fell silent.

Hmmm. They really did know. The original Su Mo had never done any promotions. Anyone who approached her got snubbed.

Yet her Weibo was full of acting critiques and snide remarks—despite being worse than half the people she mocked. Anyone with a similar level of skill, or worse, she ridiculed mercilessly.

With her powerful family backing, she hadn’t put anyone in her eyes.

Su Mo’s mouth twitched. Don’t mention it. It hurts.

Pu Ying knew the girl had zero self-awareness. Otherwise, her “Star Net” wouldn’t have become such a disaster. Out of her three million followers, at least two and a half million were there to hate on her. Clearing her throat, she continued, “As long as you’re aware. I’ve tried to avoid giving you overly demanding scripts, but if you want to survive in this industry, you need at least some actual skill.”

Her tone was gentle but firm—completely for Su Mo’s own good. Su Mo knew it. The original host would have been furious. She’d always felt that poor acting was because her co-stars didn’t follow her instructions, or the director didn’t shoot scenes her way.

She herself was absolutely fine.

Su Mo thought about it. After being reminded so many times, even the most confident person should feel some doubt, right?

With a hint of hesitation, she asked, “Is it really my problem?”

“But I am a Best Actress. There’s no way the problem is me.”

She said it without any shame, copying the original host perfectly. Even the system applauded her performance—truly worthy of being its chosen actor, flawless imitation and all.

Pu Ying clearly had long grown accustomed to this version of Su Mo. She adjusted her glasses and said coolly, “Most people on Star Net can already judge whose fault it is. Su Mo, even if you go take classes, the one who’ll suffer most will be your instructor.”

“And you currently have nothing you can actually show off. What will you do at the New Year Gala? And next year’s Best Actress selection—are you planning to buy it again?”

Su Mo: “…”

Su Mo was speechless.

She cleared her throat and doubled down, “If you can buy something, why bother with effort?”

“And if effort still doesn’t get you what you want, what’s the point of earning money in the first place?”

Pu Ying wasn’t surprised in the least. “You really have laziness carved into your bones.”

She stood, went to the vanity, tidied her hair, applied light makeup, then changed into freshly washed and dried clothes. By the time she returned to the table, her elite, razor-sharp aura had fully returned.

She picked up her coffee, drained it, and rose with her glasses in hand. “I should get going.”

Su Mo stood as well. “It’s really late. Why don’t you book a room and rest for the night? There’s no rush to leave tomorrow.”

Pu Ying looked at her, smiling faintly. “Do you know what it means when you repeatedly insist on having a Beta stay the night?”

Su Mo: “?”

Remembering her current identity as an Alpha, she suddenly froze. Chasing after a Beta like this—especially with the kind of ambiguous reputation she had—wouldn’t that practically look like courting her?

She forced out a dry laugh, her throat tight.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Friends could ask each other to stay the night, right?

And it wasn’t like Pu Ying had that kind of interest in her.

A woman like Pu Ying—strong, composed, always in control—would never fall for someone like her, someone lazy and supposedly “lecherous.”

Pu Ying watched her in silence for a moment. Then she adjusted her clothes and said calmly, “Be more careful.”

If it had been anyone else tonight, things really might have gotten out of hand.

Not that Su Mo even liked this type. The odds of an Alpha and a Beta having children were incredibly low, and for someone who liked kids as much as she did, that kind of match simply wasn’t worth it.

Someone like Su Mo could never stop for just one person.

Her heart was destined to belong to everyone she found attractive.

After Pu Ying left, Su Mo stood by the window watching until she saw Pu Ying board her aircraft. Only when she noticed there were other people with her did she finally relax.

【System, does Pu Ying, does she have any emotional entanglement with the original host in the plot?】

System:【?】

【Why ask that all of a sudden?】

Su Mo touched her cheek, murmuring, “I keep feeling that when she looks at me, it’s like she sees straight through me.”

The feeling hovered constantly at the back of her mind, making her wonder if her act wasn’t convincing enough—or if she simply hadn’t gotten close enough yet.

Pu Ying truly lived up to her reputation as a top manager. In some ways, she made Su Mo more uneasy than Jiang Xi, who followed her around every day.

System:【Probably an illusion?】

【If there was anything between you, the system would’ve shown it. And since it didn’t even bother to hide her identity, she’s definitely not some protagonist-level character.】

Then it added teasingly:

【Host, have you just been receiving too much goodwill lately and don’t know how to handle it? You’re not some universal heart-throb. Don’t forget, your persona is supposed to be the most universally despised type. There’s no way that many people like you.】

Su Mo: “…”

Maybe so, but why did Pu Ying’s attitude still feel so strange?

Unable to figure it out, Su Mo rubbed her temples and shut the door.

By the time Pu Ying got home, it was already early morning. Rubbing at her aching forehead—sleep deprivation gnawing at her—she stepped off the aircraft and casually transferred a few thousand to her assistant.

“Last night was rough. Take the day off. Come back tomorrow.”

The assistant lit up. “Understood!”

Inside her apartment, Pu Ying tossed her bag onto the sofa, removed her glasses, massaged the bridge of her nose, brewed herself a cup of coffee, and sat down to check the morning news.

Unsurprisingly, photos of her braving the rain to look for Su Mo had already broken online.

Because she was Su Mo’s agent, the headlines didn’t make their relationship explicit, but it did manage to wash away some of the trending rumors about Su Mo and Qiu Fu. That much, at least, satisfied her.

As for the people stirring the pot under the news, her eyes cooled. She let out a short, cold laugh and called the PR department.

“Reduce the CP hype between Su Mo and Qiu Fu. Shift public attention away from speculating about their relationship—push it toward Su Mo being a flirt instead.”

At a time like this, Su Mo’s reputation was the only thing they could sacrifice. It was already tattered; a little more wouldn’t matter.

PR’s lips twitched. This wasn’t the first time. At this rate, would the Su family patriarch actually come down here and beat them himself?

“Miss Pu, isn’t this not so good? It might affect Miss Su’s future marriage prospects.”

Mostly, he feared for his own job. Throwing mud at the family’s heiress like this—he’d never seen something so insane.

Pu Ying replied, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Su Mo doesn’t care.”

Something flickered in her mind, and she let out a faintly cold laugh.

“As for her marriage prospects—you don’t need to worry about that either. Someone like her was never going to marry an ordinary person. The people in that circle know her far better than you do.”

Though the Su family didn’t need marriage alliances to prosper, countless families still fought to marry into them. They didn’t care who Su Mo married—only that the Su family’s power might benefit them.

“Just do what I said. Don’t worry about the rest.”

PR: “Fine.”

An arm could never twist a thigh.

After settling everything, Pu Ying touched the back of her neck and peeled away a thin, flesh-colored patch. Immediately, a heavy scent of chocolate filled the room.

She lowered her eyes to the patch in her palm, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Su Mo—listening to the director recount recent happenings—suddenly felt a sharp tickle in her nose.

“A-choo!”

On the surface, the director looked concerned.

“If you’re not feeling well, we can use a stunt double. Don’t push yourself.”

Behind the scenes, he was practically chanting:

Say yes, say yes—even the stunt double acts better than you!