Transmigrated into a Trashy A and Ended Up with My Grudge-filled Best Friend and My Own CP - Chapter 31

“Oh ho, isn’t that the female Alpha who carried four teammates?” someone recognized her and exclaimed excitedly.

“Up close, her skin looks so good.”

“Not bad, not bad. But the real show is the tension between Shen Changle and Ding Moyan,” a female Beta who loved drama pointed out.

“She called Zong Jia ‘President,’ so she must be a student from the Rose Workshop. Students from there really are outstanding.”

Shen Changle stood up, her long, powerful legs taking a step forward. “Little girl’s got quite the temper, huh?”

Zong Jia rose to her feet, and all eyes turned to the figure standing at the center.

She picked up a beer glass and walked over to Ding Moyan, her gaze calm and unreadable, her expression unchanged.

Zong Jia held the glass out to Ding Moyan. “Have a seat.”

Ding Moyan’s palms were damp with sweat, regret gnawing at her for her earlier impulsiveness. She lowered her eyes, staring at the pale yellow beer before swallowing hard and murmuring, “Okay.”

“President.”

“Call me Zong Jia.” She paused, glancing at Ding Moyan before shifting her gaze to the boy in the corner. “I’m not the president anymore. The president is him.”

“What?” Ding Moyan blinked in confusion, and the system promptly provided an explanation.

[About half an hour ago, Zong Jia transferred the presidency to her cousin, Zong Mu.]

Ding Moyan: Why would she hand over the presidency to Zong Mu?

[Because she lost a bet.]

The reason was so simple it was hard to believe.

Ding Moyan knew full well the benefits this position brought. In the later stages of the original novel, Zong Jia leveraged it to gain support from numerous families, secure patents, and even evade several disasters.

The boy sitting in the corner had short black hair and a slender, almost frail build, looking every bit like a delicate Omega.

The dim lighting didn’t reach his spot, casting him in shadow and giving him an air of gloom.

Small in stature, but dangerous in reality.

Ding Moyan licked her lips: What’s Zong Mu’s deal? The original novel’s outline didn’t go into detail about him.

[Name: Zong Mu

Gender: Male Alpha

Pheromone: Rotten Wood

Personality: Cold, Perverse

Relationship with Original Host: None

Original Ending: Death]

Ding Moyan frowned: How is this any different from saying nothing?

[In summary, this character isn’t important in the original story.]

“Hey, dear A-Jia, you and this little girl seem pretty close.” Shen Changle, seeing Zong Jia hand Ding Moyan a drink, froze for a second.

Then she slapped a hand on Ding Moyan’s shoulder, switching to a buddy-buddy tone. “Hey there, little girl. How’d you get to know A-Jia? Tell big brother all about it.”

Ding Moyan irritably brushed her hand away.

“Go sit over there,” Zong Jia tapped the table, addressing Shen Changle.

“Ding Moyan.” The newly appointed president in the corner spoke up.

He’d seen the rumors about her and Zong Jia on the school’s official website. Though he personally doubted Zong Jia could ever like someone, he’d still taken note of this striking female Alpha.

Ding Moyan glanced over, awkwardly muttering “President” before falling silent.

Mostly because she had no idea what else to say staying here was just plain awkward.

“Anyone up for a game of So I Ha?”

Someone in the crowd suggested it.

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

“Playing for money? Any cap?”

“No money involved money ruins friendships. How about the loser drinks, and the one with the lowest points grants the highest scorer a wish?” a Beta suggested cheerfully. “Sounds good, right, everyone?”

“That’ll make things exciting.”

“Sure! Zong Jia, are you in?” Shen Changle tilted his head, grinning at Zong Jia.

Zong Jia replied, “I’m in.”

Shen Changle chuckled, his lips curling playfully. “Perfect.”

Zong Jia glanced up, his gaze making Shen Changle uneasy, sensing something amiss.

Sure enough, Zong Jia’s next words were,

“But I won’t be the one playing with you, she will.”

Zong Jia turned his head, his smile deceptively warm as he looked at Ding Moyan. “You’ll take my place.”

Ding Moyan blinked. “Huh?” Then, realizing, she shook her head. “I don’t know how.”

“No worries. If you lose, it’s on me.”

Zong Jia placed a hand on Ding Moyan’s shoulder, guiding her to the head seat at the four-player table. Leaning down, he whispered close to her ear, his proximity sending her heart racing.

The atmosphere grew charged, a few rowdy Alphas whistling in the background.

His breath brushed her neck, cool and faintly reminiscent of winter plum blossoms.

“Let’s begin, then.”

“Generous as always, Zong. Hope you’re ready to drink up if you lose.”

“Seems Zong’s really taken a liking to this Miss Ding, huh?”

…

The four took their seats, and the game of So I Ha began.

A young but seasoned dealer shuffled and dealt the cards.

The man in the shirt received his first hole card, sneering as he glanced at the former President. “Zong Jia, your substitute doesn’t seem too reliable.”

Meanwhile, Ding Moyan flipped through a small rulebook for So I Ha. She’d never played before her only exposure was from a Hong Kong film where an actor briefly explained it.

From what she gathered, the rules here were similar to the real-life version, with minor differences, but she could manage.

She peeked at her card.

Damn. A three. So low her luck was truly cursed.

After the first hidden card, the player with the highest face-up card would bet first.

Shen Changle eyed the King on the table, raising a brow before ordering a low-alcohol cocktail.

“Come on, Shen, that’s too light,” someone teased, nudging him to switch to something stronger.

Shen Changle smiled apologetically. “My dear Zong Jia’s health isn’t the best. Can’t have him drinking anything too strong.”

The onlookers nodded knowingly Zong Jia’s frail constitution was common knowledge in their circle. If he were playing, his odds of losing would be slim, but with a clueless rookie like Ding Moyan filling in.

No doubt about it everyone assumed Zong Jia was doomed to drink.

“I’ll raise.”

“Three bottles of vodka,” declared Zong Mu, seated across from Ding Moyan. His opening bet was clearly meant to intimidate.

His hand was likely a Full House just two pairs away from the third-strongest combination in So I Ha.

Shen Changle rubbed his nose, feigning sympathy as he glanced at Zong Jia and Ding Moyan.

Ding Moyan could practically feel his smugness radiating.

Seems Shen Changle and Zong Jia aren’t exactly on good terms, she mused silently.

When it was her turn, Ding Moyan was contemplating whether to call or fold. Her current hand consisted of low-value cards, and the chance of turning the game around was practically nonexistent.

In her opinion, stopping now to minimize losses was the best course of action.

But what would Zong Jia think?

Ding Moyan raised her chin slightly and glanced at the young woman standing beside her. Her dark eyes were fixed intently on the cards laid out on the table.

So composed, Ding Moyan thought as she averted her gaze. Was this the natural rationality of a villain?

Since Zong Jia had nothing to say, she decided to continue.

Ding Moyan declared, “Call.”

The man in the shirt shot her a look before tossing in his chips. “I call too.”

After two more rounds, only the final raise and reveal remained.

None of the players had dropped out midway, and they all flipped their hidden cards. The current leader was Zong Mu.

“What if the little girl wins? You never know,” Shen Changle said lazily, dipping his finger in water and drawing a circle on the table.

“Pfft, as if she could pull a straight flush,” the shirt-clad man scoffed, shooting Ding Moyan a disdainful look.

Ding Moyan’s cards were all low-value cards of the same suit. Unless she drew the ace of hearts for her final card to complete a straight flush, she would undoubtedly end up at the bottom this round.

“Shall I flip it for you?”

A calm voice reached her ears. Ding Moyan looked up, her gaze meeting Zong Jia’s.

Zong Jia repeated, “Do you need me to flip your card for you?”

“No way,” the shirt-clad man objected, unconvinced that Zong Jia would do such a favor for someone else.

In contrast, Zong Mu was brimming with confidence and readily agreed. “Go ahead.”

Compared to the high-stakes wager on the holographic team’s victory, Zong Mu found this card game far more thrilling and meaningful.

He could hardly wait to see the look on Zong Jia’s face when she lost to him after flipping the card. He had even already decided on the wish he would demand.

Given the current cards, there was no way Zong Jia could beat him. He refused to believe she could draw the ace of hearts.

So I Ha was his forte, a survival skill taught to him by his maternal family. There was no way he would lose to Zong Jia.

A pale finger landed on the card. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zong Jia slowly turned it over.

!

The entire room gasped in shock.

Ding Moyan was inwardly stunned but maintained a flawless poker face.

The last card, originally the three of spades, had somehow transformed into the ace of hearts.

This was a straight flush, the highest possible hand in So I Ha.

“Straight flush!” someone in the crowd blurted out.

“No way! How could she be this lucky? A straight flush…”

The shirt-clad man’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. His mouth hung open as he slammed the red table and shot to his feet. “Cheating! You must be cheating!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! With so many people watching, how could she cheat?”

Another person shook his head in disbelief. “Exactly. The dealer and all of us are here. There’s no way she’d dare cheat under so many eyes.”

“I never said it was her.”

“Then who? Zong Ye?!” one of the president’s admirers snapped indignantly. “Zong Ye even kept her promise and handed over the position of president at the Rose Workshop. Do you really think she’d stoop to cheating in a meaningless game of So I Ha?”

This statement silenced many of the murmurs in the room.

Right someone who could generously relinquish the coveted position of president wouldn’t resort to cheating in a game with no stakes. It was unthinkable.

“Your own boss agreed to let Zong Ye flip the card. Do you think she can predict the future and swap cards in advance?”

Zong Mu’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot, his grip on the last card in his hand so tight it was nearly crumpled beyond recognition. Unable to sit still any longer, he abruptly stood up.

“You lost, Zong Mu,” Zong Jia chuckled softly, her tone brimming with unmistakable delight.

She was clearly pleased.

Zong Mu closed his hand of cards and pushed them forward, his voice icy as he demanded, “What’s your wish?”

“It’s time to vacate the President’s seat again,” Zong Jia replied calmly, her gaze steady on Zong Mu, though her words grated painfully on his ears.

Having held the position for less than two hours, the humiliation of having it snatched back so soon burned Zong Mu’s face with shame. Staring into Zong Jia’s indifferent yet mocking eyes, his own filled with venomous resentment.

Many aristocratic youths from the upper circles were present, forcing Zong Mu to grit out a reluctant “Fine.” In front of everyone, he opened the bottle of vodka he had wagered and began chugging it down.

The high-proof alcohol seared like fire as it hit his stomach.

Before he could even finish the bottle, Zong Mu’s face flushed red, his body swaying unsteadily as if he might collapse at any moment.

His subordinate, a man in a dress shirt, hurriedly moved to support him. But before he could steady Zong Mu, the latter gagged and vomited violently, splattering the floor.

The scene drew looks of disdain and contempt from the onlookers.

After downing several bottles of strong liquor, the shirt-clad man dragged the thoroughly drunk Zong Mu out of the private room.

As time grew late, the crowd in the room gradually dispersed until only Ding Moyan and Zong Jia remained.

Left alone, Ding Moyan tensed, unsure of Zong Jia’s intentions in orchestrating all this. She kept her head lowered, fingers wrapped around her water glass, avoiding Zong Jia’s gaze for the moment.

At some point, Zong Jia produced a black card and pressed it into Ding Moyan’s palm.

Ding Moyan stared at the unfamiliar black keycard in her hand, bewildered.

“For me?” she murmured, fingers tracing the matte texture on the back. The gesture inexplicably reminded her of certain fanfiction tropes, and she shot Zong Jia a strange look.

Zong Jia’s cool gaze swept over her as she stated, “3:25 AM. Do you really think you can make it back to your dorm tonight?”

“Oh,” Ding Moyan realized, the dorm mother tiger.

The Rose Workshop dormitories strictly enforced curfews and inspections, especially for omega residences. At precisely 10 PM each night, the dorm mother would conduct roll calls room by room.

Ding Moyan had encountered the dorm matron of Building #2 several times. On one occasion, she’d even witnessed the woman personally disciplining an alpha who tried scaling the walls, a scene so brutal it had left even bystander Ding Moyan trembling.

But would Zong Jia really be this kind?

Standing under the showerhead, Ding Moyan relaxed as warm water cascaded from head to toe. The sound of rushing water filled the steamy bathroom, condensation fogging up the glass enclosure.

After a quick rinse, she wrapped herself in a white towel and padded across the room in slippers. Her long black hair clung damply to her flushed cheeks, the steam having turned her face the color of a ripe apple. Water droplets clung to her fluttering lashes as she blinked, using the back of her hand to wipe moisture from her face.

Seated on the plush sofa, Ding Moyan began blow-drying her hair while picking up her phone from the side table.

When the screen lit up, her eyes instantly locked onto the headlines:

“President Spotted Entering Adult Entertainment Venue With Campus Belle?”

“President Claims Territory By Getting Intimate With Beauty In Private Room??”

The President gave the campus belle a five-star hotel keycard, and the belle happily accepted it. Stars blinking.jpg???

Ding Moyan scrolled through the posts flooding the Engineering Institute’s official website, her expression subtle. “Are you all trying to speed up my demise or something…”

Who even took these photos?

Ding-ding.

A notification popped up for the latest chapter of a fanfiction she’d previously saved. Ding Moyan blinked, then inexplicably tapped to open it.

Her eyes remained glued to the unfolding plot, her earlobes turning crimson down to the base of her neck. When she reached certain…spicy scenes, Ding Moyan shyly covered her eyes. She unwrapped some snacks and nibbled on them piece by piece, trying to calm her racing heart.

After finishing, Ding Moyan bit into a pork jerky strip and completely on impulse hit the like button.

“Buzz”

“Buzz buzz”

Her phone vibrated incessantly.

[Who?]

[Who is this?]

[My notifications say the campus belle account I follow just liked this fanfic.]

[I saw it too! Spicy.jpg]

[It’s real, the actual person liked it.]

“…” Oh crap, I forgot to switch accounts.

The AC in the corner blew cool air as Ding Moyan sat frozen on her bed, her heart shattered like glass, miserably savoring this fleeting moment before the storm.

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