After the Scumbag Alpha Heard her Inner Thoughts (GL) - Chapter 37

Beicheng’s geographical location was poor, sitting far up north on the map.
The city was plagued by year-round winds and swirling dust, and its economy had gradually fallen behind.

Among the major families in Beicheng, only the Chu, Gu, and Lu families had managed to hold on for a few more years, relying on their family foundations.
The remaining families—the Su family and the Sun family—were barely scraping by.

No one wanted to watch their family decline, especially the Alphas who carried the expectations of their lineage.
Back then, the Chu family had survived largely thanks to the old patriarch’s connections, avoiding the disgrace that befell others.
Their only weakness was the lack of Alphas.

Chu Muqing, being both a woman and an Alpha, was leading the Chu family to greater heights.
Rather than admiration, what she faced was envy—and even stronger, jealousy. How could a woman possibly succeed? they thought.

Gu Heng had plotted step by step, but even he hadn’t expected to end up in his current situation.

He couldn’t accept it.
In his mind, his downfall was all Chu Muqing’s fault.
She hadn’t warned him.
She’d rather cooperate with the Lu family than extend a hand to him.
She had carefully created the illusion that the Chu Group was struggling, making him willingly step in as the “savior.”

Before Chu Muqing left, she announced her divorce publicly and severed most of her cooperation with both the Su and Lu families.

Chu Muqing had tried to protect them—but Gu Heng wasn’t about to let her succeed so easily.
If the Gu family was going down, he was determined to drag someone down with him.

Su Wanqing and Lu Qinghe sat together in silence.

“Chu Muqing told me she needs another month. Can you hold out that long?” Su Wanqing asked.

“What do you think?” Lu Qinghe gave a bitter smile. “Look at Gu Heng now—he doesn’t want cooperation. He wants to rob us blind.”

“Hold out a month? I’ll be lucky if I can hold him off for a week.”

“Then just stall him for now. Don’t rush into anything. Drag it out until you can’t anymore,” Su Wanqing said.
Thinking back to all the arrangements Chu Muqing had made before leaving, things that hadn’t made sense at the time, Su Wanqing now realized—she had been trying to untangle the relationships between the families.

To prevent the Chu family from being dragged down with the Gu family if it collapsed.

“I think Chu Muqing must have a plan,” Su Wanqing said. She didn’t know why, but she trusted her. Maybe it was just a woman’s intuition.

Chu Muqing wouldn’t have done all this without foreseeing the possible fallout.
If Gu Heng really managed to force a partnership with the Lu family, it would only make things harder for Chu Muqing when she returned.

“I’ll send her a message later and ask,” Su Wanqing added.

“Alright,” Lu Qinghe nodded.

Before Chu Muqing had left, Lu Qinghe had asked if she needed any help.
Chu Muqing’s response had been simple: Just take care of the Lu family.

Since then, using the few cooperative deals she had negotiated with the Chu family, Lu Qinghe had started several projects and focused on building her own career.
Now, her development was going quite well.

She, too, believed Chu Muqing must have some hidden cards left to play, though everything was still uncertain at this point.

“We’ll just take it one step at a time,” Lu Qinghe said calmly.

She wasn’t too anxious yet.
If things truly went south, she still had Cheng Zhuo to rely on.
Even though Cheng Zhuo had cut ties with his family for a while, she knew that recently he had started reestablishing contact.

If disaster struck, he wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.

“What’s going on with Lanqing anyway?” Lu Qinghe asked. She heard Cheng Zhuo mention it frequently and had wanted to help, but Cheng Zhuo had refused.

“Nothing serious,” Su Wanqing said. “It’s already taken care of.”

“If you ever need help, just call me.” Lu Qinghe tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Cheng Zhuo says my condition has stabilized. Aside from eating more, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Good.” Su Wanqing smiled and nodded. “If anything comes up, I’ll definitely ask you.”

While talking, Su Wanqing had to take deep breaths.
Speaking was draining her strength; she was short of breath, her body once again overwhelmed by heat, and her mind was rapidly turning into a muddled mess.

As an Omega herself, Lu Qinghe immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Susu—you—you—you—you’re not… going into heat, are you?!”

“Mm.” Su Wanqing’s eyes were misty, her cheeks flushed with two patches of red.
“I already used a suppressant,” she said, “but… it’s not working very well.”

Lu Qinghe: “…”

“This… isn’t normal,” Lu Qinghe muttered anxiously.

She instinctively reached for her phone to call an ambulance—or at least find someone to get Su Wanqing to the hospital.
Just then, Cheng Zhuo happened to call her.

“Cheng Zhuo! Something’s wrong with Susu—she’s in heat, but it’s a bit…” Lu Qinghe quickly explained.

“Heat cycle?” Cheng Zhuo immediately straightened up. “Did she take a suppressant?”

“She said she did. Supposedly, it should’ve stabilized her condition, but her pheromones are so thick they’re almost leaking into the air!”

Lu Qinghe, having been completely marked by Cheng Zhuo and being in her pregnancy term, normally wouldn’t be able to sense another Omega’s pheromones at all.
But now, Su Wanqing’s pheromones were so dense that they seemed almost tangible.

In a few fleeting moments, Lu Qinghe even thought she saw a faint white mist enveloping Su Wanqing.

Normally, only when an Omega’s pheromones reached S-rank would the concentration become visible like that.

But… if she remembered correctly, Su Wanqing wasn’t an S-rank Omega.

Had she remembered wrong?

Still, Lu Qinghe didn’t have time to think too much.
Su Wanqing was lying slumped on the sofa, her eyes tightly shut.

“Check her medicine cabinet,” Cheng Zhuo instructed. “As long as you find a suppressant without a ‘Q’ label on it, inject her with another dose. I’ll head over right away.”

“Got it.”

“Su Su,” Lu Qinghe called out, glancing around but not spotting a medical kit anywhere. “Where’s your medicine box?”

Su Wanqing’s mind was foggy; she could barely hear what Lu Qinghe was saying.

“Su Su!” Lu Qinghe shouted again. “Su Su! Qingqing! Su Wanqing!”

Sprawled on the sofa, Su Wanqing finally stirred slightly, one hand drooping off the edge of the couch, her forehead pressed against the fabric.
After struggling to focus, she finally understood and weakly pointed in a direction. “Over there.”

Lu Qinghe followed the gesture and spotted a low cabinet with three drawers.
She hurried over and yanked them open one by one.

In the second drawer, she found a first-aid box packed with suppressants and pheromone-blocking patches.

Lu Qinghe grabbed one suppressant, checked the label to ensure it was a standard one, then rushed back and gave Su Wanqing another injection.

The cool liquid spread through Su Wanqing’s veins.
After a few minutes, she gradually regained consciousness, though her body remained limp and weak.
Sweat, soaked through her thin shirt from earlier, chilled her back with an uncomfortable stickiness.

“Thanks…” Su Wanqing murmured, eyes still closed, resembling a beached octopus—barely able to lift her hand.

“Wait for Cheng Zhuo to take a look at you,” Lu Qinghe said.

Just as she spoke, the doorbell rang.
Lu Qinghe glanced at the video screen and let Cheng Zhuo in.

Seeing his wife, Cheng Zhuo smiled warmly, “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine,” Lu Qinghe replied quickly, tugging him forward.
“Hurry and check on Su Wanqing! Her heat cycles this time feels almost like a first-time differentiation!”

As Cheng Zhuo entered, a rich scent of damask rose pheromones assaulted his senses, nearly knocking him back.

He quickly went over and asked a few basic questions.
Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any major abnormalities.

“Stay home for two to three days and ride out the heat cycle,” Cheng Zhuo advised after his quick examination.
“Then monitor your pheromone levels for another two days afterward. If there are no further issues, it was probably just an isolated incident.”

“But,” he added seriously, “if your pheromones remain unstable even after the cycle ends, come find me. I’ll run a full gland examination for you.”

Su Wanqing nodded, indicating she understood.

Although Cheng Zhuo was a doctor himself, since Su Wanqing was currently in heat, he didn’t dare linger too long. After explaining the precautions, he quickly pulled Lu Qinghe along and left.

Cheng Zhuo also informed Chu Muqing about Su Wanqing’s situation.

Even though Chu Muqing was far away overseas, as an Alpha connected to her Omega by bond, it was necessary for her to know.

“What are you grinning about?”
Sitting in the car, Lu Qinghe noticed the mischievous smile on Cheng Zhuo’s face and was baffled. “You can still laugh at a time like this?”

“I told Chu Muqing about it,” Cheng Zhuo said smugly.

Lu Qinghe: “…”

Seriously childish.

What could Chu Muqing do even if she knew?

Meanwhile, Su Wanqing, who had initially taken two days off, was forced to extend her leave by another two days.
The batch of defective clothes from Lanqing had already reached customers.

Fortunately, because they caught the problem quickly, there were relatively few complaints or negative reviews.

When Ji Yu finally met with Jo Shiyi, she was in the middle of filming a reality show—a celebrity lifestyle program that aimed to show stars’ real private lives.

After airing, the show had received pretty good reviews.

During a break in shooting, Jo Shiyi spotted Ji Yu, and the two started discussing the recent clothing issue.

Jo Shiyi, her hair styled into soft chestnut waves and wearing light, natural makeup paired with a casual sports outfit, waved it off casually when she heard the situation.
“This kind of thing happens all the time in the entertainment industry. Without a certain level of status and influence, you’d get crushed instantly.”

“What they pulled is nothing but child’s play.”

Jo Shiyi spoke nonchalantly.

“Will it affect you, though?” Ji Yu asked, concerned.

“Technically, no,” Jo Shiyi replied. “After all, I only wore their clothes once on the red carpet and posted a couple of return photos. I never officially endorsed them.
Fans just searched for the same style and bought it themselves.”

She added lightly, “I’ll just act like I don’t know anything.”

“My agent agrees with that approach too.”

Ji Yu finally felt relieved. “That’s good.”

“But,” Jo Shiyi said, lifting her chin slightly with a righteous gleam in her eye, “this isn’t my style. Who does she think she is, daring to bully my friend?”

“I’ll get justice for you.”

Jo Shiyi’s tone was noble and gallant, her expression full of mischievous confidence.
“Just wait and see.”

Ji Yu wasn’t quite sure what Jo Shiyi was planning, but compared to Lanqing or even Su Wanqing, Jo Shiyi, as a public figure, clearly had a different level of influence.

If Jo Shiyi could help, that would be great. If not, Ji Yu wouldn’t blame her either.
Actually, she already felt a bit embarrassed—it was like getting help for free.

“Just make sure you don’t affect yourself,” Ji Yu reminded her.
After all, reputation was everything in the entertainment industry.

About a week later, Ji Yu finally understood what Jo Shiyi had meant.

Jo Shiyi had bought out the entire Lanqing inventory and distributed the clothes among her celebrity friends.

Every outfit was photographed and posted online.

The entertainment world exploded!

【What’s going on? Jojo’s wearing matching outfits with someone again?】

【A total femme fatale and a sweet girl—these outfits are so versatile!】

【Have you noticed? All of Jojo’s recent outfits are from Lanqing.】

【Didn’t someone say Lanqing’s quality was terrible?】

【Their official account already explained everything. After I returned my defective item, they gave me a permanent VIP card! Now I can dress like Jojo forever!】

【Wait, even Sister Lu is wearing it?】

【If celebrities are recommending it, it must be legit.】

The comment sections were overflowing with praise for Lanqing, and scattered among them were criticisms of S.G.—
not many, but enough to deal a heavy blow to S.G.’s reputation.

Meanwhile, Lanqing’s sales skyrocketed.

Half a month later, Sun Xiaoxiao officially announced the shutdown of S.G.

Ji Yu and Su Wanqing celebrated together in the office.
After her heat cycle ended, Su Wanqing had been regularly monitoring her pheromone levels.
Aside from two minor fluctuations, everything had remained stable.

She decided there was no need for a hospital visit.

Chatting with Ji Yu for a while after work, they ended up staying an extra hour.

Before leaving, Su Wanqing tapped her bracelet to power it off.
The bracelet beeped twice before shutting down, flashing a final reading of her pheromone levels.

The reading had risen again—only slightly below the level of a full heat cycle.

Su Wanqing hesitated about whether she should go to the hospital, but since she felt no discomfort, she figured it might just be a misreading due to the bracelet’s low battery.

She decided to head home first, recharge the bracelet, and test again.

Driving into the neighborhood, she parked in the underground garage.
After getting out of the car, she noticed the garage felt eerily emptier and darker than usual.

Probably because it’s later than usual, she thought, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking toward the elevator.

The empty garage lights flickered overhead.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of two shadowy figures.

Startled, Su Wanqing focused her eyes—but when she looked again, there was nothing there.

A sense of vigilance rose within Su Wanqing.
She subtly checked the zipper on her bag, making sure it was secure.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind her and before she could react, Su Wanqing lost consciousness.