Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Boss of the Disabled Heroine - Chapter 22

Pei Yujiang had no idea that she had been labeled as a “little fool” in Yu Zhiwan’s eyes.

After returning that day, the female lead’s corruption value surged by 10 points, teetering once again on the brink of danger. Unfortunately, all the identities that could have comforted Yu Zhiwan had already been exposed. Pei Yujiang could only try to avoid Yu Zhiwan at the company, lest she further aggravate the protagonist’s descent into darkness.

Meanwhile, news spread to every resident of Wing City especially businesses that rising tides from the nearby sea, along with heavy rain and plummeting temperatures, were about to sweep through the city. To prevent casualties, a week-long suspension of work was mandated, with further instructions pending.

Though Pei Jinhuai hadn’t devoted as much attention to the company in recent years, she was still the businesswoman who had built Yue Rong from the ground up. During difficult times, she would often visit to oversee operations.

Currently, a crucial order was in progress. The backlog issue from earlier had been mostly resolved through Pei Jinhuai’s suggestion of promotional bundling and price reductions. Though the profit margins were slim, small gains accumulated, ensuring some earnings.

Yue Rong’s new product line was in development, and Pei Jinhuai planned to participate in this season’s cosmetics exhibition. While Yue Rong wasn’t yet at the point of needing a desperate last stand, its declining sales and inability to compete with newer brands were undeniable. The sudden storm warning, however, threw Yue Rong’s carefully planned rhythm into disarray.

A week-long suspension would significantly impact production progress. With logistics halted and work paused except for essential services like power plants and flood control everyone else in Wing City would be on standby at home.

The lost work time would be hard to make up. Either employees would suffer from brutal overtime later, or rushed, shoddy production would ensue neither of which Pei Jinhuai wanted to see.

Yet the exhibition wouldn’t adjust its schedule just for one city’s cosmetics brands, and Pei Jinhuai didn’t have the influence to demand it. Over the past few days, her furrowed brows had cast a gloomy atmosphere over the entire company. Even on the last evening before the official suspension, no one dared to cheer as they clocked out.

None of this, however, concerned Yu Zhiwan, a beauty model.

She was in a fairly good mood until Liu Huanran intercepted her at the punch-out station in the lobby, right under the shifting light that played across the Omega’s delicate features. Yu Zhiwan’s expression tightened with visible impatience, but Liu Huanran still raised her voice loud enough for nearby ears:

“The storm’s coming. Moving out can wait, why the rush?”

The punch-out area was crowded, and given Liu Huanran’s habit of boasting about her relationship with Yu Zhiwan, many had long assumed the two were a couple.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the sight of a lovers’ quarrel piqued curiosity, drawing onlookers.

Liu Huanran seemed to have a natural flair for dramatic, attention-seeking performances. She trailed after Yu Zhiwan, alternating between coaxing and whining. Tall, attractive, and an Alpha, she had no shortage of admirers among the younger staff. Yu Zhiwan, irritated by the unwanted attention, coldly pushed her wheelchair away and left.

Pei Yujiang was busy for a while, finishing up her work before heading downstairs to clock out. By the time she reached the lobby, only a few scattered employees remained. She overheard a female coworker gossiping with a friend:

“So even Liu Huanran and Yu Zhiwan argue? She’s usually so domineering, but when she acts cute, it’s surprisingly natural. Heh, if she were my girlfriend, I wouldn’t have the heart to refuse her.”

“Honestly, Omegas shouldn’t be too proud. If you meet an Alpha willing to humble themselves for you, just marry them already!”

The two giggled as they clocked out and left hand in hand. Pei Yujiang frowned at their gossip, waiting until they were gone before pressing her fingerprint to the scanner. With a beep, she slowly lifted her gaze to the gloomy weather outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

It was only a little past six in the evening, yet dark clouds loomed overhead, their heavy layers pressing down as if to crush the skyscrapers and squeeze out any remaining space for human survival. There wasn’t a hint of wind just stifling, oppressive heat making it easy to imagine how terrifying the coming downpour would be.

Terrifying yes, that was the word that flashed through Pei Yujiang’s mind, and she didn’t think it an exaggeration. Two hundred years ago, with advanced technology and civilization still intact, meteorological forecasts could warn people in advance to stay indoors and avoid the rain.

But what if it were a flood? Could staying home save them then?

**

The apartment Pei Yujiang had bought was on high ground, in a neighborhood with excellent drainage, rumored to have never flooded even during the worst storms. After confirming this through records, she firmly declined Pei Jinhuai’s repeated invitations to move back home. She even had to “lose her temper” under Pei Jinhuai’s persistent concern before her adoptive mother finally stopped insisting.

Pei Yujiang didn’t disclose her new address, and Pei Jinhuai, respecting her daughter’s privacy, didn’t pry. She only sounded a little hurt on the phone, murmuring, “I just worry you won’t be comfortable,” before hanging up.

Over time, Pei Yujiang had come to realize that Pei Jinhuai was fiercely protective of her family, gentle with them, and fair to her employees, a woman of great empathy. Yet at times, she could also be childlike, even occasionally acting coquettish toward her.

Pei Yujiang, who had never experienced maternal warmth before, found it in Pei Jinhuai. It made her feel awkward to snap at her the way the original owner of this body might have.

But she truly had something urgent to attend to and couldn’t return home yet.

Pei Yujiang was drafting emails to the meteorological bureau and the water resources department.

Accustomed to writing wartime bulletins, her wording was concise and clear. She finished one in just over ten minutes and was proofreading it when she suddenly heard the doorbell. At first, she thought it was her imagination until the chimes grew more insistent. Pushing her chair back, she opened the door just as a blinding bolt of lightning split the sky.

Outside, a torrential downpour had begun without her notice. The study’s soundproofing and drawn curtains had kept her oblivious to the storm until now.

A gust of rain-laden wind slapped her face the moment she opened the door, and along with the icy droplets, a warm, fragrant figure tumbled into her arms.

Beyond them, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, heralding a tempest that would soon engulf all of Wing City. Pei Yujiang suddenly felt that ever since her bloody death on the battlefield and her transmigration two centuries into the past, each day had been stranger than the last.

For instance, she recalled a passage from a history book about a horrifying rainstorm that nearly drowned Wing City due to a meteorological miscalculation. It had rained relentlessly for half a month, leaving the city accessible only by boat.

For example, she transformed from an Alpha into an “ordinary” Beta, forced to play the role of a wicked cannon fodder character in a melodramatic novel, one who committed countless evils and became a stumbling block to the beautiful love story between the main couple.

And yet, Yu Zhiwan, the female lead, somehow weathered this storm. Struggling to support her disabled body in a wheelchair, she stumbled forward and stretched out her arms toward her. When Pei Yujiang hesitated to respond, Yu Zhiwan threw herself desperately into her embrace.

“Save me, Pei Yujiang.”

Drenched and trembling, Yu Zhiwan clung tightly to this supposed villain with her delicate hands. Through the fabric of their clothes, Pei Yujiang could feel an indescribable softness pressing against her. The rich scent of an Omega’s pheromones filled the air. Yu Zhiwan’s eyes were red-rimmed, brimming with tears so desperate that she had resorted to every means an Omega could use, whispering a plea in her arms:

“Help me,  please.”

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