The Reborn Scummy A and the Sickly O Got Together - Chapter 37

Luo Mingyue’s vision had always remained at the standard 5.0, so even before she was led by her mother to the lounge area where the Zhang siblings were seated, she had already taken in their appearances.

The boy wore a simple light blue short-sleeved shirt and khaki cropped pants, his hair cut short and slightly tousled. It wasn’t the absence of a scent that marked him as a beta rather, it was her alpha instincts that told her so.

There was nothing aggressive about him. He seemed mild-mannered, even docile, which instinctively made one assume he was a beta.

The girl beside him, however, was far more striking. She had the delicate frame typical of an omega, her exposed arms and legs fair and soft, with almost no visible muscle tone. At first glance, she gave off an impression of softness.

She wore a white dress with a unique layered design in pale pink and gray, which accentuated the delicate smoothness of her slender legs.

Song An had been perched in her strappy high heels, but the moment she spotted Luo Mingyue approaching, she quickly steadied herself and rushed over to loop her arm through Mingyue’s.

As they drew closer, Luo Mingyue studied the siblings. The brother and sister shared about fifty percent resemblance in their features. However, Song An’s demeanor was far more lively and sweet, exuding the kind of confidence that came from being doted on spoiled, even.

After Song An complimented her, Luo Mingyue couldn’t help but feel awkward. After all, there was no reason for an alpha to feel proud about being called pretty by an omega.

From a mainstream societal perspective, it was no different from saying, This alpha is such a pretty boy.

Deep down, Song An harbored a faint dissatisfaction with Luo Mingyue. Ever since adding her on WeChat, the other girl had only ever responded politely to her messages.

Song An had taken the initiative twice, sending cute stickers and carefully curated interesting posts but Luo Mingyue’s replies were always brief, making it clear she had no real interest in engaging.

It made Song An want to just block her outright. Yet, she couldn’t think of anyone else who could serve as her plus-one for Friday’s gathering. At seventeen, her options were limited. Successful alphas in their careers were likely much older.

Even if she could convince one to accompany her, the age gap alone would raise eyebrows.

After weighing her choices, Luo Mingyue might not have the most prestigious background, but she was undoubtedly the best overall and the most eye-catching alpha.

So, suppressing her temper, Song An decided to wait until Friday to see how Luo Mingyue performed before making any final decisions. Now, seeing her in person, Song An thought to herself, even if they never became lovers or close friends, keeping her on social media would at least give her something nice to look at whenever her photos popped up.

The Third Miss Lu beamed like a flower in bloom. “From afar, I could already see how striking you young people looked. I knew it had to be you and Chuan Ping. And when it comes to beauty, Song An today is truly…”

Her gaze lingered on the omega girl standing beside her own daughter before nodding impartially. “You two look quite well-matched together.”

Song An immediately pulled out her phone, chattering excitedly. “Mingyue-jie, you’re so tall! Bend down a little, okay? Let’s take a photo together. I want to post it on my feed, my friends are going to be so jealous!”

Luo Mingyue didn’t want her photo taken and posted on someone else’s social media, knowing it would invite comments and gossip. But since she owed her attendance at this gathering entirely to Song An, she forced a mask-like smile and bent slightly.

With a click, the camera captured two perfectly polite smiles. “This shot is really good doesn’t even need filters,” Song An said. “I’ll send it to you privately.”

No matter how she looked at it, Luo Mingyue felt her own smile resembled a mass-produced product from an assembly line.

The boy on the sofa also stood up to greet Third Miss Lu. Though Lu San was the type to judge people by their status and privately looked down on betas, she was skilled enough to never show it. She warmly slung an arm around the boy’s shoulders.

Yet the boy kept glancing at Luo Mingyue. Noticing this, Third Miss Lu smiled with deeper meaning. “Mingyue and your sister look quite well-matched standing together, don’t they?”

Chuan Ping’s gaze held a trace of envy. His sister was overly familiar, but she had always been like that, alphas found her adorable and pretty, an omega whose behavior only delighted rather than offended.

So he deliberately scoffed inwardly. Luo Mingyue isn’t anything special. Aside from being good-looking, she’s probably secretly thrilled to have an omega clinging to her.

Unaware of Chuan Ping’s assumptions, Luo Mingyue was already trying to discreetly free her arm. The moment Miss Zhang Song An had linked arms with her, she had been briefly startled before reminding herself: Song An is just naturally outgoing and boundary-blind. Don’t embarrass her.

She endured the girl’s ceaseless chatter her voice crisp and sweet, laced with a sugary, strawberry-soft-candy-like lilt letting it go in one ear and out the other, never truly registering. In her past life, she might have found such an omega endearing, thinking, This is how omegas should be.

Now, though, she focused on extracting her arm as subtly as possible while preserving Song An’s dignity.

Her mind wandered inexplicably to Miss Feng. What if Miss Feng acted like Song An?

Bouncing when she walked, speaking with a coquettish lilt, her large eyes crinkling into crescents when she smiled.

It might be cute but then, would she still be Miss Feng?

Only when the elevator reached the 27th floor and they were led to a private dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows did Song An finally release her, rushing to hug her mother. Luo Mingyue finally reclaimed her arm.

Chuan Ping, having quietly stepped away from Third Miss Lu, now stood beside her. Out of nowhere, the beta boy asked, “Isn’t my sister adorable? Doesn’t everyone adore her?”

Luo Mingyue replied politely, “Miss Song An is innocent and charming. Anyone would like her.”

“And do you like her?” Chuan Ping pressed in a lowered voice.

She almost gave her usual noncommittal answer. Of course, I like sweet, genuine people the same diplomatic response she’d relied on in her past life for tricky questions. But at the last second, she decided to indulge in honesty.

“I thought I would like that type of omega,” Luo Mingyue admitted. “Alphas are supposed to like that type.”

Chuan Ping wasn’t stupid. He caught the implication, and for the first time, he regarded Luo Mingyue with new eyes.

He was about to ask: “So it seems you already have an omega you like, one with the opposite temperament of my sister?”

The private room door was pushed open again by a waiter, and this time more than two or three people entered. The noise level rose instantly, with Third Miss Lu and Mrs. Zhang becoming noticeably more enthusiastic at least three times more fervent as they repeatedly greeted the newcomers.

There were six arrivals, so many that even Third Miss Lu couldn’t recognize them all. Only Mrs. Zhang could match each face to a name.

Leading the group was Mrs. Zhang’s husband, followed by a robust young man at least 1.8 meters tall. Around twenty-three or twenty-four years old with decent, even handsome features, he bore some resemblance to her husband. This was the alpha son from her husband’s ex-wife, the very person Mrs. Zhang gritted her teeth in hatred over.

Walking beside him was a rather aloof-looking girl, not particularly tall, standing around 1.63 meters. Her delicate, refined beauty suggested she’d have a sweet, lazy-cat smile, yet her aura remained cool and detached. Even amid the boisterous crowd, she seemed wrapped in a chill breeze.

This girl was the coveted marriage prospect Mrs. Zhang had her eyes on, the eldest daughter of the Feng family, Feng Baiming. Behind her came Feng Baiming’s mother and several of the Zhang family’s relatives.

Mrs. Zhang put on a motherly facade toward her stepson Zhang Zhuoran, appearing even more affectionate than his real mother. But Third Miss Lu proved even more skilled. While Mrs. Zhang at least had the legitimacy of being the stepmother, Third Miss Lu effortlessly pushed her way to the front with charming smiles, radiating such enthusiasm one might mistake her for the hostess of this gathering.

She completely stole Mrs. Zhang’s thunder. After exchanging a few warm pleasantries with Mrs. Zhang’s husband, she unabashedly sized up Zhang Zhuoran, her smile appearing utterly sincere, devoid of any pretense, as she lavished praise:

“They say the new generation surpasses the old, this must be Zhuoran! I even held you when you were little, and now look how you’ve grown. As an alpha, you’ve turned out splendidly. I always said you’d go far!”

Zhang Zhuoran, freshly returned from studying abroad, ate up Third Miss Lu’s enthusiasm. Perhaps accustomed to foreigners’ casual friendliness, he immediately opened his arms for a hug, accepting the compliments with confident pride.

There wasn’t a trace of the humility expected from a Chinese person so much so that even his own father couldn’t bear it, giving him a pat on the back while downplaying his son’s achievements: “He’s not that outstanding, just muddled through for a foreign diploma.”

But his modesty only invited more flattery from the crowd. No fool would take those words at face value, even if most knew Zhang Zhuoran’s Ivy League admission came courtesy of his father donating a library.

In such social settings, Luo Mingyue would have followed her past self’s example, putting on polite deference toward elders despite personal dislike, joining the chorus of flattery.

Now, she simply found the collective adult hypocrisy a perfect showcase of tedium.

Standing disinterestedly to the side, her gaze settled on the true intended match of the evening, tall enough to see over the crowd to where the aloof girl stood.

Amid that group, Miss Feng should have appeared petite and delicate by comparison. Yet when their eyes met across the room, the girl curled her lips in a faint smile just for her.

Her face bore only light makeup, with clear and distinct features, yet the expression in her eyes and her demeanor remained effortlessly composed, casually indifferent, never swayed by the collective consciousness.

No one could overlook someone like her. Some might rigidly view this as eccentricity, others might see it as flamboyant individuality, but all would have to admit that such a temperament was truly outstanding and exceptional.

At the very least, she seemed far more suited to the name “Zhang Zhuoran” than Zhang Zhuoran himself.

Thus, the conversation quickly shifted to Miss Feng, with praises for Zhang Zhuoran turning into praises for Feng Baiming.

Zhang Zhuoran alone was a decent young man, but Feng Baiming simply had far more visibly commendable qualities.

Even Third Miss Lu now wore a more sincere smile, harmonizing with Mrs. Zhang in their effusive praise, one moment saying, “Who knows what this child was raised on? Even a fairy from the heavens wouldn’t have such looks,” and the next, “She ranked first in the entire school during the college entrance exams, double-majored in university, and had professors personally write recommendation letters urging her to study at prestigious overseas institutions. If not for her family’s concerns about her health, she’d have been Zhuoran’s schoolmate.”

Though both were alumni, the difference in prestige was just a single word apart yet that gap could mean the loss of face.

Zhang Zhuoran, abruptly sidelined from his role as the praised protagonist, grew uneasy at the prospect of further comparisons. Winning would naturally please him, but losing might force him to show displeasure. So he tactfully made his way to Luo Mingyue’s side, largely because this alpha girl, who hadn’t joined the crowd, was simply too eye-catching.

Truth be told, Zhang Zhuoran had noticed her the moment he entered the private room.

Her pheromones were faint, either due to high-quality gland patches or, judging by her youthful face, perhaps because she hadn’t fully matured yet.

Initially, all his attention had been on Feng Baiming beside him. Frankly, regarding future marriage prospects, he firmly believed in matching social status. The omegas and betas he’d dated in high school and college had been genuine affections, but that didn’t mean he’d ever considered them part of his future.

His mother had insisted he take this meeting with Feng Baiming seriously, explaining:

“This isn’t a blind date. Your father leveraged old-generation connections just to arrange for you youngsters to meet, so the ties between our families don’t fade after two generations. A young alpha from the Lu family is also joining.”

Before meeting Feng Baiming, Zhang Zhuoran, a seasoned dater hadn’t held much hope, only wishing her appearance wouldn’t disappoint.

After meeting her, he was satisfied with her looks but couldn’t help nitpicking her aloof personality. Amidst subtle flattery, he tactfully remarked, “If Miss Feng were a bit softer in temperament, she’d undoubtedly be the most sought-after omega.”

To his surprise, Feng Baiming laughed at his words, as if he’d said something absurd. “I’m not a celebrity. Why would I want to be sought-after?”

Zhang Zhuoran offered his advice earnestly: “Don’t you think it’s important to be liked by those around you? I believe one shouldn’t be too self-centered.”

The moment he said “self-centered,” this indifferent omega repeated coolly, “Liked by those around you?”

Zhang Zhuoran nodded. “You understand children of our background are destined to be leaders. Cultivating a positive image matters.”

Feng Baiming replied icily, “I couldn’t care less what others like.”

Zhang Zhuoran felt the words stuck in his throat, they clearly weren’t on the same wavelength. Yet he couldn’t help but admit that Feng Baiming was truly unique. However, compared to an omega, someone with such strong individuality seemed more like an alpha.

Support The Reborn Scummy A and the Sickly O Got Together