The Scummy Alpha Transmigrated into a Tragedy Novel and Went Viral! - Chapter 8

When Zhou Ziyu and Liu Ruilin heard what she said, they both pulled long faces and dramatically began a performance worthy of an award — wailing and pounding their chests like they were “mourning the loss of a beloved.”

Cheng Jingling just sat there quietly, watching the two of them act, curious to see how long they could keep it up.

When they noticed that she wasn’t reacting at all, they gave up pretending and immediately wrapped their arms around her shoulders, pressing for gossip.

“How did you even manage to win her over? We’ve never heard of you two having any interaction before!”

Zhou Ziyu’s imagination went wild. “Be honest, Lingling—did you drug her or something, then force her to give in?”

Cheng Jingling was speechless. Is that really what they think of me?

With a resigned sigh, she tried to defend herself. “I fell in love with her at first sight, so I went all out to pursue her. At first, she didn’t believe me, but eventually, my sincerity and persistence moved her, and we got together.”

Then, as if reciting from a script, she continued bragging, “Obviously, we’re the perfect Alpha-Omega match — a pair made in heaven!”

She shut her eyes and continued hyping herself up until she noticed the three of them looking at her sideways, expression full of skepticism.

You really think we’re buying that?

Realizing she might’ve gone a bit too far, Cheng Jingling awkwardly cleared her throat, placed her hands on her hips, and declared confidently, “Anyway, the point is—I’m irresistible!”

“Pfft!” The three of them burst out laughing.

Cheng Jingling felt utterly humiliated and was just about to retort when two light coughs interrupted. All three turned around to see who it was, immediately straightening their backs and greeting politely, “Good evening, Auntie!”

Standing at the doorway was Yang Shujuan, holding an elegant handbag, looking refined and poised. She smiled graciously. “Hello, girls.”

“Mom, you’re back.”

“Mm.” Yang Shujuan walked right past the three guests and came to stand beside Cheng Jingling. She glanced at the coffee table—where the tea had already gone cold—and frowned. “You have guests over and don’t even think to serve them anything? Just standing here chatting—how rude.”

Cheng Jingling looked at the table and realized there was only the usual fruit plate. Embarrassed, she scratched her head. “I got carried away chatting and forgot.”

“Auntie, really, we just got here—it’s no trouble at all,” Wu Di quickly jumped in to help.

“Right, we only came to check on her. Now that we know she’s fine, we’re relieved!” Liu Ruilin added.

Yang Shujuan seemed quite pleased by their words and smiled warmly. “That’s very thoughtful of you. She’s still recovering from her injury—it’s kind of you to visit.”

Liu Ruilin let out two awkward laughs, feeling her face stiffen. She nudged the other two, and Zhou Ziyu instantly caught on. “Auntie, we actually have something to do, so we’ll head off for now. Once she’s fully recovered, we’ll come hang out again!”

Cheng Jingling frowned. “You’re leaving already?”

Yang Shujuan tried to be polite. “You should stay for dinner. We’ve just changed chefs recently—the food’s quite good. You can try it.”

But the three had clearly made up their minds. “It’s fine, Auntie, we’ll come again another day.”

“All right then. You’re always welcome.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Cheng Jingling offered, but Yang Shujuan shot her a warning look.

“I know,” Cheng Jingling muttered, then obediently saw her friends to the door.

Once they were far enough from the house, Zhou Ziyu turned back and whispered, “Lingling, what did Auntie say to you?”

“She told me not to go out,” Cheng Jingling admitted honestly.

“Why?” Wu Di asked innocently—then her expression shifted as realization hit. “Wait, is it because your family’s handling your dating scandal? That’s why you can’t show your face in public!” She rubbed her chin, feeling smug about her deduction.

That was the real reason, but Cheng Jingling couldn’t admit it. Yang Shujuan had made it clear—she wasn’t to tell anyone about family matters.

“It’s not that,” she deflected. “We’re just dating normally. If someone wants to film us, so what? My mom won’t let me go out because I’m still not fully healed. I get dizzy sometimes, and the wound on my head can’t be exposed to sunlight yet—it might leave a scar.”

Wu Di nodded approvingly. “That makes sense. Auntie’s always been one for beauty!”

Cheng Jingling: “…”

Then Wu Di added, ever the sweetheart, “We’ve got tons of tonics at home—ginseng, bird’s nest, all that stuff. I’ll bring you some later, to help you recover!”

“Thanks,” Cheng Jingling said, giving her a quick high-five.

When she returned home, Yang Shujuan was sitting on the sofa. The moment she walked in, her mother set her phone down.

“From now on, don’t spend time with those three,” she said flatly.

Her tone left no room for discussion.
“Why? They’re my only friends.”

“Liu Ruilin and Zhou Ziyu are both scheming and shallow. Hanging around them will only drag you down. I used to think your mischief with them was harmless—some eating, drinking, and gossiping, maybe a few scandals here and there that could be fixed with hush money—but this time is different. Lingling, you were seriously injured and hospitalized. That made your father and me realize that if we keep letting you run wild, something truly awful will happen one day.

“They claim to be your friends, but when you were in the hospital, did a single one of them come visit you? Don’t you see what that means?”

Cheng Jingling fell silent.

“What about Wu Di?” she finally asked.

Yang Shujuan paused. “Wu Di has a kind heart, but she’s simple-minded. Naive. She lacks judgment. You shouldn’t stay close with her either.”

Just like that, her mother dismissed all three of her friends.

“I understand,” Cheng Jingling said obediently. Then, remembering what Ji Yufu had asked her, she hesitated before asking, “Mom, are you still investigating what happened that day?”

“I am,” Yang Shujuan replied, glancing at her.

“How’s it going?” Cheng Jingling asked, unable to hide her eagerness.

“There are a lot of people involved. It’s complicated. It’ll take time,” her mother said truthfully.

“I want to see the survei—” Cheng Jingling caught herself mid-sentence. Her mother’s sharp eyes were instantly on her. If she directly asked to see the hotel’s surveillance footage, it would expose Ji Yufu. So, she quickly corrected herself, “—the results. Mom, I just want to see what you’ve found so far.”

The suspicion in Yang Shujuan’s eyes faded, and Cheng Jingling silently exhaled. Mom really is too sharp for her own good.

“Come with me,” Yang Shujuan said, leading her to the study. “I already retrieved the hotel’s surveillance footage.”

Cheng Jingling froze in surprise—she hadn’t expected her mother to be that direct.

“It’ll make the investigation easier,” Yang Shujuan explained. “The footage is right here.”

Yang Shujuan turned on her computer, pulled up all the surveillance videos, and then took a medical report from her desk drawer and handed it to Cheng Jingling. After reading it carefully, Cheng Jingling’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Inducer test result: positive. Concentration: 50mg/ml.”

“What? I was drugged with an inducer too? Mom, what’s going on?”

Yang Shujuan looked at her daughter’s shocked expression, took the report back from her hands, and added matter-of-factly, “It’s the same type as Ji Yufu’s.”

“Then why don’t I have any side effects?” Cheng Jingling asked anxiously.

At that, Yang Shujuan’s face darkened with disappointment, and Cheng Jingling immediately realized she’d said the wrong thing again.

“The doctor said your glands are healthy. The drug only affected you that night, and it was metabolized quickly after treatment,” Yang Shujuan replied.

Cheng Jingling let out a long sigh of relief — thankfully, there were no lasting effects.

“Seems like all the breakup hush money I paid for you over the years wasn’t for nothing!” Yang Shujuan said, lightly swatting her daughter’s head with the report. Cheng Jingling could only take the scolding obediently.

Sitting before her mother’s computer, she looked at the hundreds of surveillance clips and felt utterly lost. “There are so many videos — how are we supposed to go through all these?”

Yang Shujuan snatched the mouse and clicked open the footage from that day. “The recordings are labeled by floor and room number. You were on the 12th floor, so we only need to check the clips showing you entering the hotel, taking the elevator, and walking through the corridor. We’ll also need to see who you came into contact with and what you drank. Your route’s pretty simple — Ji Yufu’s, on the other hand, we’ve only watched the beginning.”

As she spoke, she opened the clips showing Ji Yufu. The footage was crystal clear — Ji Yufu, fully disguised and alone, dragging her suitcase as she checked into the hotel. Through the high-definition screen, Cheng Jingling watched the slender figure and felt a strange pang of pity for what Ji Yufu was about to face.

Switching back to her own footage, Cheng Jingling saw everything that had happened that night before things spiraled out of control.

She saw herself entering the hotel with Liu Ruilin, Wu Di, and Zhou Ziyu — laughing, joking, carefree. They went straight to the upper floors. Once there, Liu Ruilin made a phone call, and a few minutes later, a heavily made-up woman in revealing clothes came to meet them and led them into a luxury suite. Cheng Jingling frowned as she watched, flashes of fragmented memories flickering in her mind.

When she opened the surveillance from inside the suite, she was stunned. The room was filled with men and women dancing wildly, bodies swaying to deafening music. The moment the group entered, the entire crowd turned to stare — their gazes unfriendly, the laughter cut off abruptly, leaving only the pounding of the cheap electronic music. The woman who’d brought them in quickly introduced who they were, and the room erupted in applause and cheers. Even through the screen, Cheng Jingling’s scalp tingled.

“They, they look like they’re high or something,” she muttered, feeling nauseated. The chaotic music echoing through the speakers made her chest tighten, the discomfort rising. She vaguely remembered telling Liu Ruilin that she didn’t like the place, that she felt uneasy.

Yang Shujuan let out a cold snort. “You’re lucky you walked out of there unharmed. If it had been something stronger than an inducer, even selling everything we own wouldn’t have saved you! Let’s see if you dare go partying with them again.”

Cheng Jingling shook her head frantically. “I won’t! I really don’t like that kind of place.” She liked to have fun, sure — but not the kind of reckless debauchery she saw on screen.

“Wait— isn’t that Tong Yali? What’s she doing there?” Cheng Jingling blurted, recognizing the actress. She’d just seen her on TV in a hit drama that everyone online had been talking about.

“She’s a key figure,” Yang Shujuan said with a bitter tone.

“According to my investigation, she’s been renting a presidential suite long-term at that hotel. She throws those wild parties often, introducing young girls to investors and directors. Quite a few minor celebrities owe their connections — and careers — to her matchmaking.”

Cheng Jingling was dumbfounded. “But, she’s so famous! Why would she need to do that?”

“Famous?” Yang Shujuan gave a derisive laugh. “No one stays famous forever. She’s forty. Isn’t it normal for her to secure her retirement while she still can?”

“But, isn’t that illegal?” Cheng Jingling asked, still confused.

“Illegal? Not when it’s all consensual,” Yang Shujuan replied, patting her daughter’s head. For a moment, she thought she and her husband had sheltered the girl far too well.

“How come I never knew any of this?” Cheng Jingling asked, half-pouting, as if she’d missed out on a juicy scandal.

“And what would you do with that knowledge?” Yang Shujuan shot her a sideways glare. “Join them?”

Seeing her mother’s deadly stare, Cheng Jingling waved her hands quickly. “No, no! I just wanted to gossip!” Then, glancing at the screen again — the young men and women fawning over middle-aged benefactors, toasting and flattering — she felt sick. Thinking back to her own behavior in the past, she suddenly felt a twinge of pride.

“Mom, compared to them, I’m actually not that bad, right? That’s why you and Dad trust me so much?” she said with a bit of smugness.

Yang Shujuan pinched her ear sharply. Cheng Jingling blinked in confusion before yelping in pain a second later.

“Why are you comparing yourself to the worst kind of people?” Yang Shujuan snapped, grinding her teeth.

“Ahh— okay, okay! My fault! Mommy, please love me again!” Cheng Jingling yelped dramatically, making her mother laugh despite herself.

“Anyway, here’s what we know so far,” Yang Shujuan summarized. “Tong Yali threw a party that night. You and your friends joined in. You unknowingly drank an inducer, then somehow ended up in bed with Ji Yufu. There’s still a lot of footage I haven’t gone through yet, so watch the rest yourself. If you find anything important, tell me right away.”

“Got it!” Cheng Jingling nodded eagerly — secretly delighted. This meant she could make a copy and give it to Ji Yufu.

“Uh, Mom. I’m hungry,” she said, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Hungry? I’ll have the kitchen make you something.”

“No, I want your noodles,” Cheng Jingling said, gazing at her mother with exaggerated puppy eyes.

“I don’t feel like cooking.” Yang Shujuan said flatly.

“Mooom. I just want your noodles,” Cheng Jingling whined, throwing herself into her mother’s arms. “I’ve been craving them since I was in the hospital.” Her muffled voice was soft against the fabric of her mother’s clothes.

Yang Shujuan brushed her fingers gently over the scar on her daughter’s forehead, her heart softening. “Fine, I’ll make it.”

“Thank you, Mom!” Cheng Jingling grinned brightly.

As Yang Shujuan took off her jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and headed to the kitchen, Cheng Jingling waited until she was gone — then dashed upstairs, grabbed a data cable, and connected it to her mother’s computer. Within minutes, she’d copied every surveillance file onto her own drive.