After the Scumbag Alpha Heard her Inner Thoughts (GL) - Chapter 14

Su Wanqing wanted to refuse, but before she could even open her mouth, Xu Chengke had already hung up the phone.

“Madam, shall we go together?” Xu Chengke asked. “It’s all familiar faces—just a casual dinner.”

“Who’s going to be there?”

“President Lu, Doctor Cheng, and also the young lady from the Xie family. You two are on good terms, right?”

“Xie Muqi?”

“Yes.”

So, Xie Muqi had come back.

Su Wanqing and Xie Muqi had been university classmates. Every time Fang Shucui bullied her, she would seek out Xie Muqi to vent.

The two of them had been inseparable, but after Xie Muqi went abroad for further studies, their contact gradually dwindled.

Since there would be familiar faces—and a chance to see her beautiful friend—Su Wanqing felt much less resistant. She decided to treat it as a way to relax.

The car stopped in front of an upscale private club. Through the car window, Su Wanqing could see the simple bright white signage. Before she could make out the string of English letters, Xu Chengke had already opened the car door.

“Madam.”

Su Wanqing stepped out and followed Xu Chengke inside.

It wasn’t the rowdy, glitzy scene she had expected. Instead, the atmosphere was quiet and refined. They passed down a long corridor, occasionally seeing a few uniformed servers, but not much else.

At the end of the hallway, they took the stairs to the next floor. Crystal chandeliers hung on the walls, their bright light illuminating the space, giving the entire club an unmistakably luxurious feel.

“Madam, this way,” Xu Chengke said, pointing to a door ahead.

Su Wanqing pushed open the door and saw at a glance that it was a large open suite. In the center stood seven or eight people—some she recognized, some she didn’t.

Lu Qinghe was the first to spot her. Lifting the hem of her dress slightly, she trotted over, “Qingqing! What a surprise! I asked Muqing earlier and she said you weren’t coming.”

“I was on my way home—figured it was along the way,” Su Wanqing replied.

“I’ll go inform the boss,” Xu Chengke said, then headed toward a corner of the room where Chu Muqing was seated.

Following his direction, Su Wanqing caught sight of Chu Muqing.

She was lounging casually on the sofa, legs crossed, holding a glass of red wine in one hand. Just as Su Wanqing looked over, Chu Muqing happened to glance back.

Their eyes met across the hall, but it was hard to make out her expression clearly. For some reason, Su Wanqing felt her heart skip a beat and quickly looked away, focusing on Lu Qinghe instead.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chu Muqing lower her gaze, listening to whatever Xu Chengke was saying.

“I heard from Assistant Xu that you’ve found a new job. How’s it going? Everything okay?” Lu Qinghe asked warmly.

“Pretty smooth, I guess,” Su Wanqing replied.

“Just pretty smooth?” Lu Qinghe frowned slightly. “I know you like to keep a low profile, but don’t let yourself get bullied. If anything happens, come find me.”

“Alright.”

“So polite?” Lu Qinghe teased, taking Su Wanqing’s hand and leading her to another area.

Their relationship had grown much closer during the days they lived together at Yuejing. Back then, Lu Qinghe had been weak and relied heavily on Su Wanqing.

Two Omegas naturally had a certain affinity for each other.

Lu Qinghe led her over to a table where a variety of desserts and drinks had been prepared.

“Qingqing!”

Before Su Wanqing could even see clearly, a figure rushed up and threw her into a bear hug.

It was Xie Muqi.

“If it weren’t for Sister Lu telling me, I wouldn’t even have known you got married!” Xie Muqi exclaimed.

“You’re not still abroad?” Su Wanqing explained, “Besides, it’s only been a few days.”

“Then let me interview you—how does it feel to be married?” Xie Muqi teased.

Xie Muqi was still the same as before. At any party, whether among friends or strangers, she could navigate the social scene with ease.

Her chestnut-colored short hair made her look sharp and carefree. No matter what she said, it came out comfortably—completely different from Su Wanqing’s own style.

“Doesn’t feel like anything,” Su Wanqing answered truthfully. Apart from those two incidents between them, nothing else had happened—they weren’t even living together.

Work and life felt pretty much the same as before.

“Hmm?” Xie Muqi raised an eyebrow. “With the level of pheromone compatibility you two have, I don’t believe she could hold back…”

Su Wanqing quickly covered Xie Muqi’s mouth. “Alright, alright.”

Was that really something they could talk about out in the open?

More guests arrived later—both men and women—turning the gathering into a large social event, with everyone mingling and seizing opportunities to network.

Feeling bored, Su Wanqing stayed in the initial rest area, occasionally nibbling on pastries and sipping drinks.

Around nine o’clock, Lu Qinghe came over to call her, saying the dinner was about to start and asking her to take her seat.

“Sister Lu, I’m pretty full already,” Su Wanqing said, rubbing her stomach. “Can I sit this one out?”

“Gatherings like this aren’t really about the food,” Lu Qinghe explained. “It’s more about appearances. And I heard from Assistant Xu that you’re a designer now. Some designers are here tonight—you might as well meet them, make some connections.”

Actually, even among designers, it was all about chemistry. Sometimes meeting peers could spark inspiration—other times, it might just spark disdain.

Still, since Lu Qinghe had made the effort to explain, it would be rude to refuse. Su Wanqing nodded.

When Lu Qinghe led her into the main hall, most of the seats were already taken. The only available spots were two seats next to Chu Muqing.

Lu Qinghe nudged her gently toward the empty seat.

Chu Muqing sat there with a blank expression, never once looking at her.

From the moment Su Wanqing sat down, she could feel subtle glances brushing over her, but she didn’t care. She kept her gaze fixed on the plate in front of her.

She knew why everyone was looking.

They wanted to see what Chu Muqing’s wife looked like. Was she really, as the rumors claimed, some clueless bumpkin?

Su Wanqing had spent the whole day at work, dressed for convenience—a simple wine-red batwing blouse, a little fox pendant hanging from her sweater chain, and black shorts. It wasn’t bad, but compared to the people around her…

She might as well have been wearing rags.

Under the table, Lu Qinghe gave her hand a light squeeze. Su Wanqing turned her head and gave a faint smile, indicating that she was fine.

“It’s not easy to get President Chu to come out,” a voice said from across the table.

Both Su Wanqing and Lu Qinghe looked up. The speaker was someone Su Wanqing didn’t recognize, but she stood out easily with her pink-and-blue ombré wavy hair and heavy—but not gaudy—makeup, looking particularly seductive.

“That’s the designer I mentioned to you earlier—Sun Xiaoxiao,” Lu Qinghe whispered.

Su Wanqing nodded slightly, leaning in halfway to hear her better.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chu Muqing caught the interaction between them but didn’t even lift her eyelids as she replied with one word, “Busy.”

“Always busy. Busy enough that you didn’t even hold a wedding. Your wife must really be understanding.”

There it was. The conversation had finally turned toward her. Su Wanqing couldn’t help but purse her lips.

At the same time, she came to a conclusion—she and this designer were definitely not going to get along.

Sorry, Sister Lu, she thought. This connection probably wouldn’t happen.

“I don’t feel wronged,” Su Wanqing answered before Chu Muqing even had a chance to speak.

“Who would feel wronged marrying Chu Muqing?” Su Wanqing said with a smile. “If it were you, Teacher Xiaoxiao, would you feel wronged?”

“……”

Sun Xiaoxiao was momentarily speechless, choked by the comment. “Of course I wouldn’t.”

“Well, if you wouldn’t, then neither would I,” Su Wanqing said lightly, taking a sip of her tea.

The two of them clashed head-on, neither giving an inch.

Everyone present—except for Lu Qinghe—knew that Sun Xiaoxiao had once secretly harbored feelings for Chu Muqing. She had thrown herself into studying design for Chu Muqing’s sake, even traveling to the United States and later France to further her studies. Who would have thought that by the time she returned, the sky would have already fallen.

“Here comes the food,” someone next to Sun Xiaoxiao nudged her. “Xiaoxiao, you must’ve missed domestic cuisine after staying abroad for so long. This is the signature dish here—you should try it.”

They were trying to shift the conversation. Even though the earlier remarks had been aimed at Su Wanqing, no one could quite gauge Chu Muqing’s attitude yet, and the clever ones knew better than to stir things up too much.

After that, Sun Xiaoxiao didn’t press the topic any further. She picked up her chopsticks and began sampling the dishes in front of her.

Su Wanqing didn’t have much appetite. She took a few bites with her chopsticks, then set them down. Lu Qinghe, worried she might be bored, occasionally leaned over to chat with her.

Even though Su Wanqing hadn’t lost the silent battle against Sun Xiaoxiao, she still felt a little unsettled. Probably because of the frustration from work—and because she had never liked these kinds of two-faced social gatherings.

“Xiaoxiao, I heard you snagged a big project right after returning to China—and it’s a collaboration with the Lu family. Sister Qinghe, did you know about this?”

Lu Qinghe looked genuinely confused. She had no idea Sun Xiaoxiao was working with their family.

“It’s Yi Ren,” someone else chimed in quickly.

Yi Ren was under Lu Chen’s management and didn’t really overlap with her own work. These past few days she had been busy with projects involving the Chu family and hadn’t paid attention to what was happening over there. Her impression of Lu Chen had always been that he was low-key; she hadn’t expected he was quietly making so many connections behind the scenes.

Sun Xiaoxiao was the only daughter of the Sun family, a family of considerable standing. Though her personality could be overbearing, she did have both ability and connections.

For some reason, Lu Qinghe felt that something was off. “Brother Chen’s work style has always been very discreet. I’m surprised to hear he’s working with Sister Sun.”

Su Wanqing stiffened. She hadn’t expected it to be like this. No wonder Yi Ren had rejected Huafeng so quickly.

From beside her, Chu Muqing caught this small detail, glanced at Su Wanqing, then shifted her gaze across the table.

Just then, Sun Xiaoxiao happened to look up and caught Chu Muqing’s eyes. She immediately smiled and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. I just took on a random project after returning. I heard Miss Su is also a designer? Which company are you with now? Maybe we can exchange ideas sometime.”

Know your enemy. When Sun Xiaoxiao first heard that Chu Muqing had gotten married, the first thing she did was investigate Su Wanqing—and found out she worked at Huafeng. Otherwise, she would never have bothered to snatch the Yi Ren project.

Normally, Sun Xiaoxiao wouldn’t have even considered taking on a job like Yi Ren’s.

Xu Chengke had just told Chu Muqing that Madam seemed a little unhappy. Now it was clear—it was because of this.

“She’s working for me now. Last month, I partnered with the Cheng family to prepare for a move into the fashion industry, and she’s my designer,” Chu Muqing said. “After all, using my own wife doesn’t cost me anything, right?”

As she spoke, Chu Muqing casually placed a hand on Su Wanqing’s shoulder and gave her a light pat.

Sun Xiaoxiao’s expression froze.

Chu Muqing continued, “My wife isn’t very talkative—don’t scare her.”

Su Wanqing: “……”

Hearing this, Su Wanqing was completely stunned.
When had she started collaborating with them?
Why didn’t she know about it herself?
Wait—was Chu Muqing… defending her?

Was this still the same “scumbag A” she knew?

Sun Xiaoxiao had always known that the Chu family wasn’t involved in the fashion business. Otherwise, she would’ve made her move a long time ago.
She sneered, “Chu Muqing, what, did she catch you killing someone? You’re protecting her this much? The Cheng family is in pharmaceuticals, and everyone knows what the Chu Group’s business is. Or… are you so obsessed with her pheromones that you’re unwilling to lose your little medicine primer?”

Her words were sharp and unrelenting.

“Assistant Xu, come here for a moment,” Chu Muqing said calmly.

Waiting outside, Xu Chengke immediately entered upon hearing the summons.

“Go tell Cheng Zhuo,” Chu Muqing instructed, “to acquire Yi Ren. After that, replace the designer with my wife. After all, it’s not like Miss Sun thinks much of Yi Ren anyway.”

Sun Xiaoxiao had indeed looked down on Yi Ren.
But voluntarily giving it up and being kicked out were two very different things.
If Chu Muqing pushed her out, her future collaborations in Northern City would be much harder to secure.

“Chu Muqing, we’ve known each other for years,” Sun Xiaoxiao said, her voice trembling slightly. “Are you really going to treat me like this over her?”

“She’s not just anybody,” Chu Muqing replied, her tone unwavering. “She’s, my wife.”