After the Scumbag Alpha Heard her Inner Thoughts (GL) - Chapter 26

Upon hearing that Lu Qinghe was in trouble, Su Wanqing no longer cared about her own minor issues and immediately followed Cheng Zhuo downstairs.

As they walked, the nurse explained Lu Qinghe’s situation.
“Miss Lu was returning from the west side of the city. There was a three-car collision. Initially, she was unharmed, but a rear-end collision forced another car into Miss Lu’s vehicle.”

“She’s fine,” the nurse said cautiously, not daring to be too definitive. After all, everyone in the hospital who knew Cheng Zhuo was well aware of how protective he was of Lu Qinghe.

Since Lu Qinghe’s pregnancy, he had barely left her side, and she had undergone countless check-ups.

When they arrived at the emergency treatment room, Lu Qinghe was sitting there waiting for her examination results. Aside from her slightly messy hair, she showed no visible signs of injury.

Seeing the two of them, Lu Qinghe waved at Su Wanqing.
“Qingqing, what are you doing here?”

Cheng Zhuo rushed to her side and squatted down.
“Qinghe, how are you feeling?”

The emergency department director walked over.
“An ultrasound has been done.”

“I’m fine. Just had some stomach pain, but it’s gone now,” Lu Qinghe replied.

The director handed over the report.
“Nothing serious. Just rest and stabilize the pregnancy for a couple of days.”

Cheng Zhuo took the report, carefully reviewing all the data. Once he confirmed there was no danger, he led Lu Qinghe back to his own department.

Su Wanqing, unable to understand the report, asked a few questions to make sure Lu Qinghe was truly all right. Feeling somewhat unnecessary, she told them she had matters to attend to at Lanqing and left the hospital.

Today had been reserved for Su Wanqing’s surgery, so there were no other consultations. Once back in the office, Cheng Zhuo locked the door behind him, his expression grim.
“Was it the Gu family?”

After annexing the Chu family, the Gu family was bound to discover discrepancies. However, they currently had no effective solutions unless they could seize the rapidly rising Lu family.

But having already exhausted all their resources—employing both overt and covert tactics—the Gu family, having made an all-or-nothing gamble, now had little leverage left.

They could only resort to these despicable methods.

“Most likely,” Lu Qinghe said. “Thankfully, Sister Qing warned me early on. Whenever I go out, I use the Lu family’s car driven by a chauffeur, and I choose the most inconspicuous vehicle.”

To avoid drawing attention.

Yet, despite their precautions, they were still caught in the crossfire.

“How is Sister Qing?” Cheng Zhuo asked.

“Her surgery is scheduled for next month.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t tell Su Wanqing?”

“Even if we told her now, there’s nothing she could do. Su Wanqing can’t leave the country at the moment either.”

Lanqing could survive for now with his help, maintaining basic operations and income, but for long-term success, Su Wanqing would have to rely on herself.

After leaving the hospital, Su Wanqing returned straight to Lanqing and resumed work. She instructed Human Resources to expedite the recruitment of new designers.

Meanwhile, she locked herself in her office, focusing on drawing design drafts. In the summer, many people prefer wearing skirts, but with so many skirt designs out there, creating something eye-catching, comfortable, and considerate of undergarment concerns was a huge challenge.

Balancing all these aspects was truly difficult, yet despite the setbacks, Su Wanqing never once thought of giving up.

A month later, there was finally some progress in her work—surprisingly, thanks to Sun Xiaoxiao.

Sun Xiaoxiao had been holding back for half a month before finally making her big move.

Cheng Zhuo investigated and found out that Sun Xiaoxiao’s boyfriend was Gu Jian, who had been sent abroad for schooling from a young age and was a grade-A Alpha. Their pheromone compatibility was not high—only about sixty percent.

After the spring season, Sun Xiaoxiao officially launched her fashion brand, S.G.
Setting aside their rivalry, Sun Xiaoxiao’s design concepts were genuinely impressive.

Within just one month, S. G’s popularity rivaled that of Lanqing.

Once her company stabilized, Sun Xiaoxiao began her retaliation against Su Wanqing.
With Chu Muqing gone, no one remained to support the Su family. Occasionally, Sun Xiaoxiao would cause trouble for Lanqing.

It was as if, after gaining the upper hand, she deliberately toyed with her prey.

Before the summer collection launch, Sun Xiaoxiao first had Gu Jian invest heavily in her brand to promote the new season’s products. At the same time, she secretly warned several well-known designers not to join Lanqing.

Without the Chu family’s protection, and with people wary of the Sun family—and not daring to offend the Gu family, which had just swallowed the Chu family—Lanqing found itself isolated.

Just when Su Wanqing felt she couldn’t find any new designers, HR received the first résumé. Su Wanqing personally conducted the interview.

The applicant was a young woman who had just graduated. She had a fresh, vibrant appearance, her eyes still carrying the clarity of a college student. Yet her design drafts were quite impressive—smooth lines, fashionable concepts.

After a brief conversation, Su Wanqing found her very likable and immediately hired her. They even finalized a draft design together that very day.

At 7 PM, after washing up and putting on a facial mask, Su Wanqing video-called Lu Qinghe.

“How are you doing?”

“Doing well,” Lu Qinghe said with a pitiful look. “It’s just Cheng Zhuo—he’s being overly cautious and won’t even let me go outside. Luckily, there are people from the Lu family helping manage things.”

“The first three months are unstable. It’s right for him to be extra careful.”

“How’s Lanqing?”

“It’s not going bankrupt anytime soon.”

“I heard… you’re planning to cleanse your mark?”

After her check-up that day, once Lu Qinghe’s condition was stable, she had sensed something was wrong with Su Wanqing appearing at the hospital and had forced the truth out of Cheng Zhuo.

“It’s not important.”

“Actually…”

Lu Qinghe hesitated, unsure whether to tell Su Wanqing about Chu Muqing’s current situation. She was afraid that in their current state, telling her would only backfire.

“Hold on,” Su Wanqing said, looking at an incoming call notification on her screen. She hadn’t saved the number under any name, but she knew exactly who it was. “I need to take this call.”

Seeing her so urgent, Lu Qinghe thought it must be a work issue and waved goodbye, ending the video chat.

Afraid the call would be missed, Su Wanqing quickly answered. The call timer started, but she didn’t know what to say to Chu Muqing.

There was no sound from the other end. They both stayed silent, only their faint breathing passing through the line—soft and grainy, like the soothing static of a late-night radio show.

“Hello?” Su Wanqing called out tentatively.

“How’s Lanqing?” came Chu Muqing’s voice.

“It’s doing fine.”

Chu Muqing didn’t know what else to say. She actually had more updates about Lanqing than Su Wanqing herself, as Xu Chengke had been providing her with regular reports.

“What… what are you doing now?” Su Wanqing asked.

“Resting. Trying to calm my mind,” Chu Muqing replied, glancing up at the IV drip. The liquid was falling steadily, one drop at a time.

“You’re still not asleep this late?” Su Wanqing remembered the time difference between them.

“Almost,” Chu Muqing said.

Something about her voice sounded different—not as gloomy as before, but rather weak and feeble. Maybe she had been staying up too late?

“Then you should rest early.”

“Mm.”

After hanging up, Su Wanqing clutched her phone in frustration. The atmosphere between them had been so warm for once—how had she managed to kill the conversation?

On the other end, Chu Muqing placed her phone on the nightstand. Xu Chengke handed her a glass of water.

“Boss, are you sure you don’t want to tell her?”

“The surgery’s success rate is too low. There’s no point.”

The surgery to remove her gland wasn’t technically difficult, but the two glands had coexisted in her body for so long they had almost fused into one.

Even if the separation was successful, there was no guarantee that her gland would function normally afterward. There were too many uncertainties.
Telling Su Wanqing would only make her worry unnecessarily.

Looking out the window, Chu Muqing wondered when exactly she had fallen for Su Wanqing. She couldn’t pinpoint the moment.

She had once suspected it was simply an Alpha’s instinct.
But during these past few days of pre-surgery preparation, with her gland numbed and unable to emit any pheromones—and unable to sense Omega pheromones either—the once overpowering scent of atami flowers no longer affected her.

And yet, she still couldn’t stop thinking about Su Wanqing.

She hadn’t heard Su Wanqing’s soft murmuring voice in so long. She actually missed it a little.

“Tomorrow’s the surgery,” Xu Chengke said.
“Everything will go smoothly. After that, you’ll return in triumph and take back everything that’s yours.”

Chu Muqing gave a faint, bitter smile.