After the Scumbag Alpha Heard her Inner Thoughts (GL) - Chapter 32

After their arranged marriage, Su Wanqing had met Gu Heng a few times.
He always seemed difficult to approach, his expression serious and unsmiling.

Chu Muqing had introduced them and they had exchanged a few polite words.
Su Wanqing still remembered that at the wedding, she had accidentally spilled something on Gu Heng’s clothes.
At that time, Gu Heng had acted gracious and didn’t make a fuss about it — she had thought it was just the natural intimidation an Omega felt around an Alpha.

But now she realized it had all been an act.
Gu Heng’s acting skills were good enough for the entertainment industry — too bad about his face.

“Given Chu Muqing’s abilities, even if she handed the Chu family over to Gu Heng, it shouldn’t have gone bankrupt so quickly,” Lu Qinghe said, a confused look on her face.
“Back then, the Lu family had a lot of problems too. Before my secondary gender was exposed, I managed to seize control by getting leverage over certain people. I didn’t have the time to ask Chu Muqing about her situation.”

“Even when I visited her recently, I didn’t have a chance to ask.”

When she stayed with Chu Muqing in the hospital, Chu was awake very little.
Lu Qinghe hadn’t wanted to discuss stressful topics; most of her work communications were handled remotely with Ji Yu.

“Before she left, Chu Muqing only told me to take good care of the Lu family,” Lu Qinghe said.
“She’s always had a strong grasp on her own affairs. I think we should trust her.”

“Mm,” Su Wanqing nodded thoughtfully.
In the original storyline, Chu Muqing had indeed been portrayed as a rare business genius.
“You also need to be careful. You’re pregnant, after all.”

“Got it,” Lu Qinghe replied with a smile.

Although Cheng Zhuo was officially a hospital doctor, his family’s background was quite influential.
He had left his family business behind but still discreetly used family resources to build several ventures with Chu Muqing — Lanqing Studio being one of them.

After Lu Qinghe became pregnant, Cheng Zhuo had secretly hired a number of bodyguards using his family’s influence to ensure her safety.

There were two stationed outside the private room right now, and another disguised as a server watching for suspicious individuals nearby.

But neither Lu Qinghe nor Su Wanqing knew any of this.

Because of her pregnancy, Lu Qinghe couldn’t eat much heavy food.
The restaurant had specially prepared two sets of dishes: one regular, and one tailored to her needs.

Su Wanqing glanced at the table — Lu Qinghe’s portion was light but rich in nutrients, full of proteins and vitamins.
She clicked her tongue lightly. “Getting married really makes a difference.”

“What about you? How are things with Chu Muqing?”

“I’m not rushing anything,” Su Wanqing said.
“The Chu family is still a mess, and Lanqing Studio isn’t fully stable yet.”

“If there’s a chance, I’ll pursue it. If not, then I’ll let it go. When I visited her, I could tell — she doesn’t dislike me. And feelings, well, if you can’t sense them, then they probably aren’t there.”

“But I can feel it. Since that’s the case, I’m willing to give us a chance.”

“Actually… Chu Muqing is just naturally cold,” she added.
Back when Su Wanqing was rising through the ranks, she had studied Chu Muqing the most and knew her reputation wasn’t the best.
Before meeting her, she had been a little scared — especially since she was an Omega pretending to be an Alpha, always afraid Chu Muqing would discover her secret.

But after getting to know her, she realized how misunderstood Chu Muqing truly was.

Yes, Chu Muqing could be ruthless — but only toward those who foolishly provoked her.

After finishing their meal slowly, Cheng Zhuo came to pick up Lu Qinghe.
They parted ways, and Cheng Zhuo arranged for a car to send Su Wanqing home.

Meanwhile, Gu Heng was sitting in the office — an office that had once belonged to Chu Muqing.

He had visited it a few times before, always seeing Chu Muqing seated at that desk — and every time, his mood had soured for reasons he couldn’t explain.

Back then, he had vowed that one day, he would sit in that chair himself.

He had endured for two long years before finally finding his chance.
Word had leaked from within the company about a troubled project, and a key employee had been secretly transferring shares through shady deals.

Gu Heng saw his opportunity.
He arranged for agents to buy up the shares at a low price, then used the insider information to leverage more shares from the old master.
With the loose shares he collected, he eventually secured control.

He had seized the Chu family.

It wasn’t a dream — it was real.

On his first day, he redecorated the office to his liking.

But only a few days later, he realized something was wrong.

Having worked at the Gu family company for years, he was highly sensitive to financial and project data.

After reviewing the reports for two days, he was certain — something was seriously wrong.
The accounts were too meticulously kept; the company’s problems ran deeper than they appeared.

He immediately ordered an investigation into the Chu family’s active projects — and that was when he discovered the truth.

Chu Muqing had taken away the two most profitable projects.

The remaining projects were still functional for now, but without continuous investment, the entire operation would soon collapse due to a broken cash flow chain.

Each project within the Chu family was like a domino.
Chu Muqing had led Gu Heng by the hand, step by step, straight to the first tile.

And now, the moment he let go — everything would collapse.

If he chose not to give up, it would mean injecting massive amounts of money to keep things afloat.

It was like Schrödinger’s cat: alive or dead, the outcome was uncertain — until the box was opened.

The more Gu Heng thought about it, the angrier he became.
Three years ago, during the economic downturn, every corporation was struggling — so why had the Chu family, under Chu Muqing’s leadership, managed to rise so quickly?

Now he realized: it had only looked impressive on the surface.

Gu Heng thought back to the day of the shareholders’ meeting.
Chu Muqing had looked utterly calm, as if losing the Chu family had been a relief.
She had even kindly warned him that he would regret it one day.

The more he thought about it, the more enraged he became.
He didn’t have nearly enough money now.
Summer was almost over, and if he couldn’t raise funds before autumn, the entire group might…

No — absolutely not.
Investment?

If someone were willing to invest now, he might still have a chance.

Gu Heng set his sights on the Lu family.

Meanwhile, Su Wanqing, for once, had a day off.
After having lunch with Lu Qinghe, she went straight home and collapsed into bed — there was nothing more comfortable than her own mattress.
She showered early and then sprawled out on the bed, mindlessly scrolling through her phone.

It was morning where Chu Muqing was, and she had sent two messages:

【Are you asleep?】

【Not yet.】

And then — nothing else.

Su Wanqing didn’t initiate any more conversation either.

Chu Muqing stared at the screen for five minutes, trying to think of what to say.
“Morning,” “Have you eaten?” “What are you doing?” — meaningless small talk felt so pointless to her.

Yet, she still wanted to talk to Su Wanqing.

For a brief moment, she wondered if she should get her brain checked by a psychiatrist.

Since no new messages appeared in the chat, Su Wanqing didn’t rush either.

She knew that people who rarely expressed their feelings naturally lacked skill in these situations — but that didn’t mean she should always accommodate them.
Otherwise, what kind of relationship would that be?

So this time, Su Wanqing remained silent too.
She assumed Chu Muqing would just let it go.

But instead, Chu Muqing initiated a video call.

Seeing Chu Muqing’s face pop up on her screen, Su Wanqing was a little surprised — that was progress.

She sat up straight, adjusted the angle of her camera, and aimed it at her face.

The warm light of her bedroom cast a soft glow over her.
Her freshly washed hair was fluffy and draped casually over her shoulders, making her look especially gentle.

“What’s wrong?” Su Wanqing asked with a soft smile.

“Nothing,” Chu Muqing replied.
She had two meetings lined up today and probably wouldn’t get another chance to contact Su Wanqing.
“I just wanted to see you.”

Very straightforward.

Hearing this, Su Wanqing didn’t feel shy; instead, she gave a look of as expected.
That was just how Chu Muqing was — cold and rigid, a personality suited for business but not for romance.

“Go ahead, then,” Su Wanqing said, pulling her phone a little farther away and casually fluffing her hair.

Chu Muqing, her expression stiff, stared at the girl on the screen.
Su Wanqing’s nightgown was loose, her skin soft and radiant, her eyes sparkling brightly.

She wanted to kiss her.

Chu Muqing shifted her gaze slightly and unconsciously swallowed.

“Do you have work tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Su Wanqing replied.

A voice came from offscreen:
“Boss, are you ready yet?”

Outside the room, Xu Chengke called out loudly.
The meeting time was approaching fast — what was his boss doing?

Normally, Chu Muqing had an absurdly strong sense of punctuality.
If Xu Chengke were late, she’d dock his salary for an entire day.
And now… what was going on?

Xu Chengke stepped inside and saw Chu Muqing holding up her phone on a call.
He couldn’t see who she was talking to.

Being interrupted, Chu Muqing frowned, pressing the phone against her chest and shooting an unhappy glare at him.

Xu Chengke immediately froze on the spot.
Something was off — very off.
That expression definitely didn’t look like she was on a work call with Madam.

Xu Chengke: “…”

“You go ahead. I’m going to sleep,” Su Wanqing said.

“Mm,” Chu Muqing replied.

She glanced at the screen and hung up.

Today’s meeting was with Amy.
Allen and Amy were siblings.
Back then, when the family business was being handed down, Chu Muqing hadn’t revealed her full capabilities as a successor — partly because it was her own brother, and partly because she didn’t want the family to fall into an outsider’s hands.
She also wanted to see what her younger brother was truly capable of.

But who would have thought that in just six months, the company would fall into chaos?
Even if Chu Muqing didn’t say anything, Amy herself was already preparing to replace Allen.

No matter how many internal problems there were, they were still family issues.
Outsiders couldn’t be allowed to profit.
Thus, Amy was trying to press down on Chu Muqing’s negotiation terms.

Of course, Chu Muqing understood all this — but it didn’t bother her.
She was Chu Muqing, after all — and she had never lost a negotiation.

Knowing Chu Muqing hadn’t given up on her business back home, Su Wanqing didn’t slack off either.
The summer season’s new line had ended.
The sales data was stable — but not particularly profitable.

She began reflecting on the shortcomings of the summer collection.

Browsing online reviews, she found that the feedback was mostly positive — no scathing criticism, but also no standout praise.

Safe, but unimpressive.

For a fashion business trying to grow in North City, this was far from enough.
She picked out a few negative comments to reflect on them carefully.

After finishing that, Su Wanqing moved on to planning the autumn designs.

Meanwhile, Ji Yu was working on getting her best friend to help promote their summer dresses.

One particular dress set had the lowest sales numbers.
Due to scheduling issues, the best time slots for promotion had already been taken by other endorsements.
The free endorsement slot had been pushed far back.

Thanks to Ji Yu’s connections, they had managed to jump the line somewhat — but even so, the photoshoot was happening nearly a month after the new collection’s launch.

Ji Yu had been feeling guilty, believing she hadn’t fulfilled her promise.
She kept reassuring Su Wanqing: “It’s going to blow up. I swear, it’ll definitely blow up.”

Su Wanqing wasn’t nearly as anxious.
Whether something “blew up” or not depended on timing, location, and luck — it wasn’t something that could be forced.

After dragging Ji Yu through a reflection meeting and a strategy session for the new collection, Su Wanqing finally let her go to shoot the promotional photos.

Two days later, Su Wanqing had almost forgotten about it when Ji Yu came running into her office, hugging her phone and shouting: “Qing-jie! We made it to the top of the trending list — number one!”

“Top trending! And all the comments are praising our dresses!”

“We’re going viral! I heard they’ve already doubled the production order!”

Su Wanqing was in the middle of a video call with Chu Muqing when Ji Yu burst in — and the screen gave Ji Yu a full view of Chu Muqing’s face.

“Wow, who’s this beauty?!” Ji Yu gasped. “Her looks are almost on par with my Qiao Qiao!”

Su Wanqing: “…”

Chu Muqing: “…”

In the face of their helpless expressions, Ji Yu continued:
“She could totally be our model too! I could design something super cool just for her!”

“Wait — she looks kinda ‘A’… is she an Alpha?”