Transmigrated into a Trashy A and Ended Up with My Grudge-filled Best Friend and My Own CP - Chapter 54

Zong Jia’s tone remained as calm as ever, leaving Ying Shu with no opening to press further.

So she switched to another topic.

“I heard from Zong Ci that you brought Ding Moyan back to the Zōng family’s main residence,” Ying Shu said with a mysterious chuckle. “What, have you chosen her as your Alpha?”

“How should I put it? I’m quite taken with this beautiful Alpha myself especially given the high-profile connections she’s involved with. It makes me all the more curious about what’s inside, what kind of charm lures the fish to bite.”

Ying Shu’s voice grew increasingly animated. “Zong Jia, would you mind if I pursued her?”

Without waiting for Zong Jia’s reply, Ying Shu quickly cut in, “Oh! I know, you wouldn’t mind, right? After all, you two aren’t married yet.”

The moment the provoking words left her mouth, she swiftly hung up.

Ding Moyan, who had been admiring the flowers alone, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. A sense of foreboding crept over her, stirring unease in her heart. She had the urge to flee.

“Ding Moyan.”

Ding Moyan looked up and slowly made her way over to Zong Jia. “President.”

Zong Jia steadied her previously erratic thoughts and softened her voice. “Do you want to know what that call was about?”

Ding Moyan’s ears perked up instinctively, but she immediately shook her head. Everyone knew the more secrets you learned, the quicker you’d meet your end.

“I can tell you.”

From observing her father and dad’s relationship, Zong Jia had picked up a few lessons, one of them being the importance of giving the other party a sense of security. Open phones, free access to check them these were the basics. An Omega who refused to let their partner check their phone wasn’t a good Omega, and the same went for Alphas.

“N-no, I’m not curious about any of that,” Ding Moyan stammered, completely unaware of the President’s hidden intentions. She waved her hands in refusal and even considered cutting short her time in the garden to avoid the topic.

Ding Moyan changed the subject. “It’s getting late. Should we head back?”

Zong Jia stood still, silently studying Ding Moyan for a moment before finally responding with a quiet, “Mm.”

By the time Ding Moyan and Zong Jia returned to the main residence,

a team from the police department had arrived and was seated in the hall’s sofa area, discussing matters with the Zōng Jiāzhǔ. Each of them was a high-ranking Alpha or Omega, and they immediately stood upon seeing the newcomers.

Ding Moyan took in the scene before her, struggling to keep her lips from twitching. She couldn’t recall committing any intergalactic crimes, so her first thought was that the President beside her must be the one in trouble.

The woman leading the group appeared to be in her mid-twenties, dressed neatly with an icy aura. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied back simply with a black elastic, and her long lashes cast faint shadows under her eyes, giving her a weary, melancholic air.

“Hello. I’m Mo Tang, captain of the First Interstellar District Branch,” the woman said flatly, presenting her credentials before briefly explaining her purpose. “This morning, we received a report of a student from the Rose Workshop found dead in their dormitory. We’re here to ask Miss Zong some questions.”

Zong Jia, already prepared, remained composed. She nodded slightly. “Shall we discuss this in the study?”

Seeing the captain’s agreement, Zong Jia turned to Ding Moyan and instructed, “Go upstairs and wait in my room. Don’t wander around.”

“Alright.” Under the gaze of everyone in the room, Ding Moyan obediently nodded. In full view of the crowd, she promptly and efficiently dashed upstairs, as lingering even a second longer would have been disrespectful to the tense atmosphere.

Clattering up to the third floor, she reached her spot and looked down, her eyes meeting those of the female officer leading the group downstairs.

Mo Tang’s eyes lifted slightly, her gaze piercing through the gaps in her hair. Those pitch-black eyes, which seemed to bore straight into one’s soul, carried a faint trace of mockery and disdain upon closer inspection.

Back in her room, her phone chimed several times with incoming messages. Ding Moyan opened the notification bar to find a barrage of texts from Ye Ye. Following the words were several photos the text stark, the images gruesome.

Before even seeing the pictures, Ding Moyan abruptly stood up, her eyes locked on the news that Jiang Pei was dead. She gripped her phone tightly, her palms quickly damp with sweat.

Could this be the reason so many police officers had come looking for the President today?

Ding Moyan immediately dialed a call, but the other end declined, switching instead to a video call.

As soon as the video connected, Ding Moyan got straight to the point: “When was it discovered? Any suspects?”

Ye Ye: “Found this morning in Zou Ye’s dorm bathtub drowned. Around 8:30. The person who reported it was probably Zou Ye’s roommate.”

Dead in Zou Ye’s dorm. The faint smile on Ding Moyan’s lips faded.

Zou Ye had just died, and then Jiang Pei ended up in his dorm. Had he discovered something? Or was there something he absolutely had to retrieve?

Ye Ye, her hair in twin pigtails, sat swaying gently in a rocking chair, remarkably calm about the Engineering Institute’s death incident.

“What are you thinking? Wondering why he died in Zou Ye’s dorm?”

Ding Moyan: “Obviously.”

“Hmm.” Ye Ye wasn’t offended. She unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into her mouth. “I can’t figure it out either. Logically, once Zou Ye died, he should’ve been next. Zou Ye was killed by Wang Ye’s injection, and Wang Ye’s in the Capsule, so Jiang Pei’s death couldn’t be her doing.”

“Have you seen Zou Ye’s dorm?”

“Police sealed it off. Can’t get in.” Ye Ye had already considered what Ding Moyan was thinking, but by the time she knew, Zou Ye’s dorm had long been taped off. With so many people around at the time, sneaking in wasn’t an option.

“What other clues do you have?” Ding Moyan asked, one hand holding the phone while the other opened a packet of tea leaves, preparing to brew a pot.

Ye Ye chuckled. “So eager to avenge Jiang Pei?”

“Don’t overthink it. The situation is serious. Did you recheck Zou Ye’s case? There’s an extra needle mark on his neck.”

“What? An extra one?” Ye Ye’s voice rose sharply as she tossed the fruit in her hand back onto the plate.

If she remembered correctly, when she and Ding Moyan had rescued Wang Ye, aside from the injection Wang Ye had given before leaving, Zou Ye’s neck should’ve been untouched.

“Where are you? Send me your location.”

Ding Moyan moved around the room with ease, making Ye Ye assume it was her own room.

Aside from wanting to discuss Jiang Pei’s case in person, the biggest reason Ye Ye wanted to visit was the wall of Mecha models behind Ding Moyan, some of them rare editions she’d spent half a year searching for on the Star Network auctions without success.

Ye Ye acted on impulse, grabbing her phone in one hand and her shoes in the other.

Ding Moyan blinked her eyes and pursed her lips with feigned profundity. “Guess?”

“No riddles. Tell me where you are. I’ll come see for myself.”

“You really want to come?”

Ye Ye replied, “Obviously. We’ll talk in person this isn’t something to discuss over the phone.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Ding Moyan sent her location with mischievous intent.

Ye Ye, accustomed to bustling urban areas, frowned as she zoomed in on the map. “What kind of godforsaken place is this? The middle of nowhere.”

Compared to Ding Bai’s luxurious private residence, the geographical difference alone was like night and day.

“It’s quite nice here. There’s a hot spring and a backyard garden.”

“Wait for me.”

Watching Ye Ye grab her bag and head to the underground garage to rush over, Ding Moyan inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt for tricking her. Hesitating, she said, “Maybe forget it. You’re an Omega, traveling alone all the way here. By the time you arrive, it’ll be too late to go back. If you end up staying the night, would Uncle Ye and the others even be okay with that?”

“Hmph. Just wait for me. And remember to prepare dinner, I want mantis shrimp.” Ye Ye shut the hover car door and hung up.

Ding Moyan clicked her tongue and was about to slip her phone back into her pocket when.

“Who were you talking to? You looked so happy.”

A quiet voice drifted from behind, sending a chill down Ding Moyan’s neck. She stiffly turned her head and came face-to-face with a familiar figure.

Having often been subjected to the President’s sudden interrogations, Ding Moyan calmed her startled nerves in just three seconds.

Staring at Zong Jia’s cool, translucent complexion, Ding Moyan swallowed hard. “President, you’ve finished handling your matters?”

“Mn.”

Seizing the opportunity, Ding Moyan promptly brought over the tea she had personally brewed and offered it eagerly. “President, here I made this tea myself. Try it.”

Zong Jia was slightly taken aback. She lowered her gaze to the reddish-brown liquid, picked up the teacup, and took a sip. The bitterness spread across her tongue, and her brows twitched.

Seeing this, Ding Moyan grew uneasy. She glanced at the half-full teapot on the table. “What’s wrong?”

Had she messed up the brewing?

“…” Zong Jia suppressed the bitterness in her mouth, fighting the urge to fling the teacup away. But then she recalled her father’s advice: No matter what your partner cooks, even if it tastes awful, never say so outright, it’ll crush their confidence and add another brick to your path of eternal bachelorhood.

After a long pause, Zong Jia took a deep breath and downed the remaining tea in front of Ding Moyan before handing her the empty cup.

“Was it good?” Ding Moyan poured herself a cup.

“Average.” Zong Jia stopped her, eyeing the half-pot of tea leaves with concealed agony. “It would taste better with fewer leaves.”

“Ah, got it.”

“By the way, you’re cooking tonight.”

Ding Moyan’s eyebrow twitched, and she sucked in a sharp breath. She vaguely remembered promising the President to cook her a meal once. At the time, Zong Jia had mentioned it casually, and Ding Moyan hadn’t taken it seriously after all, with gourmet food readily available, who’d want to eat something made by an amateur? Besides, she couldn’t stay at the Zōng family’s main residence forever. She’d planned to brush it off, assuming the President might forget.

But she hadn’t expected this day to come so soon. Seeing the faint glimmer of anticipation in Zong Jia’s eyes, Ding Moyan’s heart sank. If she messed this up, would she get punished? There was no way she could win against the President in a fight.

Zong Jia walked over and sat down in the chair, resting half his arm on the black wooden table. His slender, well-defined fingers tapped rhythmically against the surface.

“Seems you still remember what you promised yesterday.” Zong Jia leaned lazily against the back of the chair. “If you need any ingredients, just ask Zōng Guānjiā.”

“O-okay.” Ding Moyan replied. “President, just to be clear, I’m not a skilled cook. The dishes I make are pretty basic, and the taste probably won’t be anything special.”

“Mm. You can go to the kitchen now to prepare the ingredients. If you don’t know something, ask the butler, he’ll help you.”

Ding Moyan was more than eager to leave. Hearing Zong Jia’s words, she nodded immediately.

Just when she thought she could finally relax and escape the tense atmosphere, Zong Jia spoke again: “Wait. I just remembered something.”

Ding Moyan’s scalp prickled. Her nearly fleeing footsteps came to an abrupt halt. Damn it, what fresh hell is this now.

Zong Jia’s eyes lowered slightly, his gaze shifting beneath his eyelids as he redirected the conversation.

“You still haven’t answered me, who were you talking to just now?”

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