Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Boss of the Disabled Heroine - Chapter 34.2

Reacting swiftly, Pei Yujiang batted it aside while yanking the umbrella’s shaft to counterattack. But this was exactly what the other had anticipated, the umbrella toss had been a feint. The woman had somehow produced a spray canister and now unleashed its contents directly into Pei Yujiang’s face amid the icy downpour.

Acrid fumes filled the air. Pei Yujiang immediately covered her nose and mouth, but still inhaled some of the gas. She realized the umbrella handle must have been coated with some slippery substance too.

Fury and frustration welled up in Pei Yujiang.

She’d overestimated the peacefulness of society today. Though corruption festered among Wing City’s upper echelons and many incidents were suppressed below, she hadn’t wanted to ignore a girl in potential danger just because of her own wariness.

The man earlier had been thoroughly beaten into unconsciousness by her own hands. As for this woman who’d deceived her, Pei Yujiang showed no mercy either despite not knowing what substance they’d used, she knocked the woman out with a single precise strike.

Just then, several figures in black raincoats surged into the alley’s entrance. Assessing her remaining strength, Pei Yujiang shook her head to clear it, flung off her hood, and hurled it toward the alley’s mouth. Kicking down an approaching assailant, she seized the chance to pull out her phone.

Threads of rain fell densely from the sky, soaking the phone screen but also bringing slight clarity to Pei Yujiang’s muddled thoughts.

The phone slipped like a slippery fish in her hand, nearly dropping several times. In the narrow alley, over a dozen people swarmed toward her, with even an Alpha unleashing pheromones specifically targeting her. Unfortunately for them, Pei Yujiang was now a Beta, Alpha pheromones had no effect on her.

Pei Yujiang was confident in her fighting skills, but even the best fighter couldn’t hold off so many at once. With nearly ten people blocking the alley, packed shoulder to shoulder, an outsider might have mistaken it for a gang brawl.

She wasn’t in top form, having inhaled some unknown substance, and wanted to end the fight quickly. Fortunately, Pei Yujiang had never relied on her Alpha status or pheromones to cut corners in the past. On the battlefield, she had mostly depended on her own combat skills, which was why she could hold her own against so many attackers for a while, at least.

Her strikes were brutal, each punch landing with force, but she avoided lethal moves. Already restricted on all sides, surrounded and outnumbered, she shouted for help multiple times.

Pei Yujiang had read novels where the protagonist, cornered in a dark alley, found the world eerily silent around them.

But she wasn’t in some remote area, there were still a few households nearby. Yet despite the lights being on, no one responded to her cries. Maybe the rain drowned out her voice. Her throat ached from shouting, but no one came, and no police sirens sounded.

When one man swung his fist at her with a furious roar, Pei Yujiang used the momentum to stagger back. The impact sent a sharp pain through her chest, but it also gave her a chance to grab her phone again.

She barely managed to press a random contact and hit the call button before she was forced to hurl the phone as a weapon, deflecting a blade aimed at her.

Amid the relentless downpour, she heard the dial tone.

This was the second time Pei Yujiang had been hospitalized since crossing over.

The first time, she had been admitted in a daze later, she learned it was because the original host had drunk too much. After rescuing Yu Zhiwei, she had passed out.

This time, she still had no idea what had happened afterward.

Before collapsing from exhaustion, she had taken several hits without hearing any police sirens. In her fading consciousness, she saw someone raising a brick to smash her. With her last shred of awareness, she instinctively dodged, covering her head and curling her body to absorb the downward force.

When she first regained consciousness, she braced herself for broken limbs or at least a fractured rib. But after testing her movements, she found no signs of surgery everything seemed intact, with only superficial injuries.

Pei Yujiang was sensitive to injuries, not because she feared pain, but because she had a keen sense of her own vitality.

A wave of relief washed over her at the realization that she had survived relatively unscathed. Her stomach growled loudly, and she was about to get up to find food when she heard movement outside.

The door to the ICU was pushed open by a young nurse.

The nurse brightened upon seeing Pei Yujiang awake, then hurried over, pressing a hand to her forehead to check for fever. Only after confirming she wasn’t running a temperature did she relax.

“Miss Pei, you’re still weak, you’ve just been detoxed and slept for two full days. I’ll give you some glucose solution soon. Your external injuries have been bandaged, and we’ll change the dressings when it’s time. Don’t move around too much, okay?”

“Detoxed? What toxin?”

Pei Yujiang quickly grasped the key point from her words.

She was poisoned? That woman had applied venom to the umbrella? What kind of toxin was it?

“It’s an inhaled venom with complex properties, containing trace amounts of opium poppy extract. But don’t worry this doesn’t count as voluntary drug use. The dose was very small, and we’ve already performed a minor procedure to remove it.”

Pei Yujiang couldn’t help but frown upon hearing this.

Opium poppies could be refined into narcotics. In her past life, she had steered clear of all vices gambling, drugs, and illicit activities yet here she was, forced to experience the full spectrum. Someone with weaker resolve might have already broken down.

Even though the nurse assured her it was fine, Pei Yujiang’s mood was still in turmoil. The relief of having narrowly escaped disaster had completely vanished.

The young nurse took out her notebook, quickly jotted down a few notes, and then left. She returned a short while later with some cut fruit for Pei Yujiang.

Pei Yujiang thanked her and was about to take it when the nurse stopped her. The nurse looked quite young, and her badge clearly read “Intern.” Avoiding Pei Yujiang’s hand, she picked up the bowl of fruit and said earnestly:

“Patients should rest properly. Feeding injured patients is our duty.”

The nurse might as well have written “using work as an excuse for personal gain” on her face. Though Pei Yujiang had never been in a relationship and admitted she wasn’t particularly romantic, the nurse’s intentions were as obvious as Sima Zhao’s ambition, everyone could see it. Pretending not to notice would be too fake.

Pei Yujiang was the type who had a clear understanding of her own looks neither narcissistic nor self-deprecating.

She wouldn’t go so far as to call herself drop-dead gorgeous, universally adored, but at the very least, to most women who preferred women, she could be considered a striking beauty. Lying in bed, her slender waist and long legs weren’t visible, but the ill-fitting hospital gown accentuated her curves without being exaggerated.

Her dark, seaweed-like hair cascaded down, complementing her slightly pale complexion from illness. She wasn’t as dazzling as usual, but that made her seem more approachable, inviting more… imaginative thoughts.

The nurse, perhaps bored at work, had taken a liking to the sickly beauty and decided to be extra kind. Unfortunately, Pei Yujiang was known for her strict impartiality and ascetic discipline, a famously unapproachable general even in the apocalypse. Did the nurse really think a few pieces of fruit would sway her?

Seeing the nurse insist on feeding her, Pei Yujiang kindly reminded her:

“The elderly man in the next room is a lonely senior. He probably needs the hospital’s compassionate care more. Go feed him this fruit, and before I leave, I’ll cast two votes for you as the hospital’s model of moral excellence.”

The nurse’s face flushed red and then paled, clearly embarrassed at being called out. She then asked:

“Why two votes?”

“Because one is from my girlfriend.”

As she spoke, Pei Yujiang keenly caught the sound of a wheelchair outside. Sure enough, the moment her words fell, Yu Zhiwan pushed the door open. The Omega had tied her hair into a sleek high ponytail today, a simple style that made her face look delicate and youthful.

Yu Zhiwan had also brought fruit and candy, along with a basket of something unknown.

Pei Yujiang took a deep breath it smelled delicious. She was so hungry she could eat a whole cow and had no intention of following the doctor’s orders about slowly reintroducing soft foods. After enduring the apocalypse for so long, her stomach was practically ironclad. As long as it didn’t kill her, she’d eat anything. None of that post-recovery digestive fragility nonsense.

She craved Ningxiang’s fish maw hotpot, pizza, Yicheng’s spiced ox skull…

By the time the nurse left, her face was practically dripping with embarrassment.

Pei Yujiang’s so-called “girlfriend” wheeled herself to the bedside. Just as Pei Yujiang was about to ask what delicious treats Yu Zhiwan had brought, the woman pulled out a small bucket of cream puffs from the basket.

There was also the steaming but sealed beef offal noodles, a specialty of Wing City that Pei Yujiang had particularly enjoyed during her previous life, having eaten them once or twice. For years, she had longed for that very taste. This particular beef offal noodle shop was located at the city’s edge, generous with its portions of offal, and the broth was simmered over a low flame, the noodles hand-pulled exceptionally fragrant.

The side dishes were simple vegetables served in small dishes, perfect for one person without waste, pairing exquisitely with the beef offal noodles.

Pei Yujiang took a deep breath, letting the steaming aroma fill her nostrils.

“Want some fruit now?”

Yu Zhiwan asked her.

Pei Yujiang nodded, then suddenly shook her head.

If she ate fruit now, where would she have room left for all the delicious food?

Though she was quite hungry at the moment, fruit would still take up some space in her stomach. She wanted to save the biggest appetite for these delicacies. Yu Zhiwan was so considerate, thinking to bring her something to eat right at this moment.

Pei Yujiang thought happily to herself.

“Aunt Pei had some business today, so I came to see you instead. Aunt Fan and your younger sister visited once before, and Zhao Manlin also dropped by they all wanted to see if you’d woken up. But you slept for two full days, so there was nothing they could do but wait and check in when they had time.”

Pei Yujiang listened to her explanation but couldn’t care less about who had come to see her. After all, she was alive and well here, it didn’t matter who visited.

After speaking, Yu Zhiwan placed the washed fruit to the side, just out of Pei Yujiang’s reach, then opened the beef offal noodles. Feeling around for the table, she sat down and unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks.

Pei Yujiang slowly began to realize something was off.

Wasn’t this supposed to be for her?

Yu Zhiwan, while opening the chopsticks, complained to her:

“Things at the company have been so busy lately, I really couldn’t get away. Only now do I have a little time to visit you, but I’ll probably have to leave soon. After all, we Omegas have to have our own careers too.”

As she spoke, she took a slurp of the beef offal noodles, the rich aroma spreading through the air.

If she couldn’t see, Pei Yujiang might have just imagined the sensation of eating the noodles herself. But now, there was someone right in front of her actually eating, while she could only smell the beef broth and listen to the sounds of chewing and swallowing, her mouth dry and tasteless.

When Pei Yujiang first woke up, she had only had some water. Now she was on an IV drip with glucose solution. Though her body didn’t feel as terrible anymore, her stomach was burning with hunger.

Pei Yujiang stared longingly at Yu Zhiwan.

But Yu Zhiwan was blind, she couldn’t see Pei Yujiang’s gaze, let alone respond to it.

The Omega ate with slow, elegant movements, chewing unhurriedly and sipping the broth with a small spoon instead of lifting the bowl to her lips like others might.

The tantalizing aroma of beef was maddening. It wasn’t until Yu Zhiwan had already eaten half the bowl that Pei Yujiang belatedly realized, Yu Zhiwan must have come here deliberately to tease her. She didn’t know when Yu Zhiwan had become like this, but Pei Yujiang was so hungry her brain was short-circuiting, making her abandon her usual dignity.

“Can I have just one sip?”

Her request wasn’t excessive just a little broth, no offal or noodles. Right now, she just wanted a taste of that hot soup.

Yu Zhiwan seemed to read her thoughts. As the noodle soup cooled slightly, she picked up the bowl and took small sips. The tantalizing aroma made Pei Yujiang increasingly restless, fearing Yu might finish it all.

Lying in bed with an IV drip, dressed in hospital gowns, the woman began to act coquettishly. Pei Yujiang wasn’t sure how she’d mastered the art of acting cute without being taught perhaps it was an innate instinct, a natural weapon everyone possessed, ready to deploy at the right moment.

“Zhiwan-jie.”

“Yu Zhiwan? Wanwan? Fairy sister? Pretty sister? Pei Yujiang’s voice wasn’t particularly sweet, nor overly bold just clear and pleasant, making her act spoiled sound perfectly natural.

Even though Yu Zhiwan couldn’t see, she could easily imagine the sight: the person in the hospital bed trying desperately to please her, like a large dog pitifully raising its paws to act cute, begging for a treat from its owner.

Pei Yujiang let out a couple of shameless whimpers, adopting a posture that screamed she wouldn’t get up unless she got her soup. Her mind was blank, so she felt no shame.

Only when Yu Zhiwan finally gave in to her pestering did she bring over the remaining broth. Just as Pei Yujiang reached for it, Yu turned her wheelchair away and downed the last of the soup herself.

Pei Yujiang: “!!!”

Seeing how worked up Pei was, Yu initially considered teasing her further by eating a cream puff in front of her but thought better of it. Wiping her lips, she suddenly turned serious and asked:

“Do you regret it?”

What happened last time could only be described as an undeserved calamity for Pei Yujiang. That person had clearly lured her into a trap, then betrayed her without hesitation, showing not an ounce of gratitude for Pei’s daring attempt to “rescue” them striking swiftly and ruthlessly.

Pei Yujiang froze.

She didn’t know the full aftermath, but she suspected Zhao Shuangshuang was involved that woman was cunning and hard to pin down. Yet, not knowing the details didn’t change her stance.

Pei shook her head decisively:

“Why would I regret it? If I had the ability to help but chose to stand by and watch that girl get harassed or assaulted in that alley, wouldn’t that be the real regret? If I just called the police and did nothing, and something terrible happened, how could I live with myself?”

Yu Zhiwan abruptly looked up:

“But what if, what if she was lying to you…”

“So what if she was? I came back unharmed, didn’t I? Just two days in bed, no big deal.”

Sensing Yu’s unease, Pei could feel her worry and helplessness. With an easygoing smile, she leaned back against the pillow and mused:

“Just think of me as having a hero complex, Zhiwan-jie. I can’t stand by with the skills I have and do nothing. If she hadn’t been acting but was genuinely in danger, wouldn’t the consequences her being assaulted or even killed be far worse than me lying here for two days with minor injuries? At least I’m still in one piece.”

“And while assault is never the victim’s fault, society often blames them anyway. It’s not easy for survivors to move on and embrace a new life it’s not just empty words.”

“If I were timid and only cared about myself, I wouldn’t have saved you back then, and we wouldn’t have met. When I rushed forward, I’d already assessed that there were only a few people inside I knew I could handle them. I wasn’t acting recklessly, but after all, even the best plans can go awry.”

Pei Yujiang took a deep breath.

“But I had you with me.”

In this world, tracking a phone isn’t difficult. Even if the phone is smashed, the call records can still trace the IP. She believed Yu Zhiwan would understand her meaning, she only dared to throw the phone after confirming it was Yu on the line.

She just had this intuition.

Yu Zhiwan wouldn’t abandon her.

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