The Scummy Alpha Transmigrated into a Tragedy Novel and Went Viral! - Chapter 6

Despite Cheng Jingling’s attempt to act graciously, Ji Yufu’s expression only grew colder. Realizing she had said the wrong thing, Cheng Jingling instantly shut her mouth and pretended to focus on eating while secretly observing Ji Yufu’s face.

Then Ming Bo’s voice came through the hidden earpiece again:

“Ladies, could you sit a little closer? You need to show some intimacy. And don’t just eat in silence—talk to each other! Interaction is key!”

After reminding them both, Ming Bo turned his attention to Cheng Jingling.

“You’re the Alpha—take the initiative!”

Even the paparazzi in charge of taking photos had called him to complain.

“These two ladies are just eating separately without talking. Are they in a cold war or something? I can’t get a single sweet shot—this job is impossible!”

Usually, when celebrities faked couple publicity, they acted like conjoined twins in front of cameras. Even a simple dinner would involve sweet eye contact, feeding each other, and playful whispers. One short meal could easily yield hundreds of “romantic” photos. But these two? They were giving off serious “estranged couple” vibes—nothing to work with at all.

Receiving the signal, the two women glanced at each other. Cheng Jingling took the initiative, set down her chopsticks, and started to move closer to Ji Yufu. Just as she was about to pull up a chair beside her, three tables of nearby “diners” suddenly stood up at once, startling both of them. They quickly realized those “diners” were actually bodyguards.

Noticing that the surrounding guests were starting to stare, Cheng Jingling quickly gestured for the guards to sit back down before resuming her meal.

Once that minor chaos was settled, Cheng Jingling flashed Ji Yufu a fawning smile and dragged her chair closer. She rested one arm on the table, then, worried it still wasn’t close enough, edged little by little toward her.

Ji Yufu didn’t even look at her. She simply lifted her glass and took a sip of water. Cheng Jingling, thinking her lack of reaction was a good sign, was inwardly delighted and leaned in again.

But before she could move closer, Ji Yufu suddenly set her glass down with a sharp thud. The thick glass base landed just one centimeter from Cheng Jingling’s hand. The wooden table made a dull sound. Cheng Jingling’s pupils quaked as she quickly drew her hand back.

Only then did Ji Yufu smile and apologize softly.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there. You okay?”

Cheng Jingling inhaled twice, forcing a smile.

“I’m fine!”

The nearby bodyguards resumed eating as if nothing had happened, faces expressionless.

Then Ji Yufu’s phone rang—it was Jiang Yun. She stood up and walked toward the restroom, with a bodyguard following close behind. Cheng Jingling slumped in her seat, completely deflated. This mission was turning out to be way too difficult.

She tried calling out to her system again, desperately hoping for some kind of help.

Meanwhile, in the restroom,

“Hey, Sister Yun,” Ji Yufu lowered her voice.

“Yufu, about that hotel surveillance footage you asked me to get—it’s a no-go.” Jiang Yun didn’t bother sugarcoating it. “Bad news, straight up.”

“What happened?”

“I checked around. The hotel said the footage from that day was personally collected by the Cheng family’s butler. Everything’s already been cleared from their end. As for the segment involving you and Cheng Jingling, it’s all been packaged and taken away. I tried probing the PR director from Weihai Group—they have no idea any footage even existed. Looks like it’s in Madam Cheng’s hands now. Unless she gives it to you herself, we’re not getting it.”

“I see, okay then. Thank you anyway, Sister Yun.”

“It’s fine. I just wish I could’ve helped more. What’s your plan now?”

Ji Yufu frowned slightly and sighed.

“I’m not sure. I’ll take it one step at a time. I have to find some opportunity somehow.”

That footage held the key to exposing whoever had framed her. There was no way she’d let it go—but for now, she truly had no idea how to retrieve it.

“Alright then.” Jiang Yun hesitated, then added, “How’s it going with Cheng Jingling today? She hasn’t given you any trouble, has she?”

Ji Yufu recalled Cheng Jingling’s clumsy attempt to help her earlier and replied dryly,

“She’s fine. Still, behaving herself. Yueyue and Xiao Wei are with me anyway.”

“Good. If she does try anything, don’t hold back. You don’t need to be polite.” Jiang Yun’s voice carried a fierce protectiveness before softening again. “But if she’s behaving, then just play along for now. Focus on the bigger picture.”

“I know, Sister Yun.”

“Alright then. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Bye, Sister Yun.”

Ji Yufu hung up and went to wash her hands.

Meanwhile, Cheng Jingling was bickering with her system again.

“What do you mean there’s no ‘target strategy manual’? If you had one, I could finish this mission in no time!” she snapped.

“Oh, please,” the system rolled its eyes. “If I gave you a walkthrough, what would be the point of you doing the mission at all? Stop trying to cheat.”

“But how am I supposed to make her happy when she won’t even look at me?”

“That’s exactly why you’re supposed to complete the mission. Figure it out yourself. No shortcuts. And another thing—stop calling me for nothing!”

With that, the system vanished again. Furious, Cheng Jingling slammed the table.

“So annoying!”

“What’s wrong? Angry about something?”

Ji Yufu had returned without her noticing. Startled, Cheng Jingling blurted out.

“No, no! I just remembered something irritating, that’s all—not angry.”

Her tone was nervous, her excuse flimsy, but Ji Yufu didn’t press her. Instead, she frowned slightly, mind already drifting back to the surveillance issue. Unless Yang Shujuan willingly handed it over, there was no way to obtain it.

As she pondered what it might take to get that footage, the sound of clinking dishes snapped her out of thought. Looking up, she saw Cheng Jingling—who’d been sulking just moments ago—now calmly eating again. She was fishing mushrooms from her soup with a spoon, the metal lightly tapping the ceramic bowl.

Something about that simple, unpretentious sight made Ji Yufu’s lips curve upward.

So, this is what they call finding what you’ve been searching for without even trying.

Cheng Jingling, catching Ji Yufu’s smile, suddenly felt uneasy. There was something in that look—a kind of calculating amusement—that made her feel like a pig being appraised by a butcher deciding how to carve it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked nervously.

“Nothing. Why did you stop eating?” Ji Yufu’s tone was unusually gentle—so gentle that Cheng Jingling found herself a little unsettled.

“I’m full. Should we go back?” Cheng Jingling asked nervously.

“No rush. I need you to do me a favor,” Ji Yufu said, unhurried and calm.

“What kind of favor?” Cheng Jingling’s heart thumped uneasily.

Ji Yufu crooked a finger at her. “Come here.”

That single gesture, paired with her faint smile, carried a subtle allure. Cheng Jingling was momentarily dazed by it, but her internal alarm bells went off. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it!”

“Do you remember what happened that night?” Ji Yufu lowered her voice, leaning close to Cheng Jingling’s ear.

The paparazzi lurking nearby nearly had their blood pressure skyrocket—finally, a shot worth waiting for: an intimate whisper between the two actresses.

Cheng Jingling stared at Ji Yufu, eyes wide with surprise and confusion. She had always assumed that night was a taboo subject for Ji Yufu, something never to be mentioned again. She hadn’t expected her to bring it up first.

“I don’t remember,” Cheng Jingling admitted honestly.

The moment she said it, Ji Yufu’s expression turned even colder.

“You don’t remember?” she asked softly—but her face clearly said: If you dare say that again, you’re dead.

Cheng Jingling: “!”

System, should I remember or not? she shouted inwardly, but there was no response. No system, no guidance—just her own panic. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She genuinely didn’t want to step on another landmine and make Ji Yufu hate her more.

“I really don’t remember.” Cheng Jingling glanced around nervously before leaning in to whisper back, recalling the scene as best she could. “When I woke up, I was already in that room. You were lying beside me, already in your susceptibility period. The whole place smelled so sweet, I just.”

She stopped mid-sentence, realizing she was dangerously close to saying something inappropriate. “And then, well, you know what happened after that.”

She quickly pulled away, unsure if it was just her imagination, but Ji Yufu’s face seemed slightly flushed, her expression a little unnatural.

Ji Yufu had always been thin-skinned, and back then she’d been injected with a heavy dose of pheromone-inducing serum. It was no wonder she’d lost control. Now that Cheng Jingling was bringing it up again, she felt a deep wave of secondhand embarrassment—as people said these days, it was downright social death.

Still, she listened carefully.

“You were injected with the inducer too?” Ji Yufu asked, sensing something off.

“Huh? I—I don’t know. I didn’t really feel anything, just that I was really excited and impulsive.” Cheng Jingling’s voice trailed off. Great, she thought. I sound like a perpetrator trying to share her feelings with the victim. This conversation just keeps getting weirder.

Ji Yufu: “……”

Well, it did make sense. Cheng Jingling had the reputation of a notorious playgirl Alpha—of course she could enter a pseudo-heat state anytime, anywhere.

“Are you telling the truth?” Ji Yufu pressed, her suspicion deepening.

“I am! That’s all I remember, honestly!” Cheng Jingling said earnestly.

How could I remember anything else? I literally transmigrated into this body with just a preset personality and zero plot knowledge!

“If you want me to believe you,” Ji Yufu said, her warm breath brushing Cheng Jingling’s ear, sending a shiver straight down her spine, “then get me the hotel surveillance footage. That’s the favor I need.”

Cheng Jingling rubbed her ear, momentarily dazed by the ticklish sensation. “But you should ask the hotel for that, not me—I don’t have it.”

“The footage was already taken by your mother,” Ji Yufu said bluntly. “That’s why I’m asking you.”

“Oh.” Realization dawned. So, Mom’s already investigating this too.

“Alright, I’ll help you.”

Ji Yufu smiled—a slow, knowing smile. Her beautiful, peach-blossom eyes locked onto Cheng Jingling as she spoke in a low, silky tone. “If what you said is true, then we were both victims that night. Which means we should work together to find out who set us up. Don’t you think?”

Cheng Jingling’s gaze dropped to Ji Yufu’s hands as she absently toyed with her glass of water. Somehow, it felt like her own life was being played with instead. She nodded vigorously. “You’re absolutely right!”

“Then—happy cooperation.” Ji Yufu arched a brow.

“Since you’re full, let’s head back.” She left the last words hanging, then stood up and walked away without waiting for Cheng Jingling to follow.

Today’s public appearance was done; she had no intention of spending another second alone with this so-called “scumbag Alpha.” What Cheng Jingling said still needed verification, and Ji Yufu wasn’t ready to let go of her doubts about that night.

Watching her graceful retreating figure, Cheng Jingling couldn’t help but marvel again at her acting skills—one moment intimate and teasing, the next completely aloof.

“What a ‘use them when you need them, drop them when you don’t’ kind of Best Actress,” Cheng Jingling muttered as she got up.

By the time she exited the mall, Ji Yufu was already in her car with her two assistants. The driver started the engine and headed home. Neither woman spoke during the ride.

Ji Yufu sat with her eyes closed, but her mind was spinning. Based on what Cheng Jingling said—and her own fragmented memories—she could now be fairly certain they had both been set up. If Cheng Jingling was telling the truth.

And if Cheng Jingling really was a victim like her, then maybe she wasn’t as detestable as Ji Yufu had thought.

After all, Ji Yufu knew better than anyone how much strength it took to fight one’s own instincts. Especially for someone like Cheng Jingling—whose reputation as a frivolous Alpha was notorious—it was hard to imagine she could’ve restrained herself in a moment like that.