After the Scummy Alpha Marked the Crazy Beautiful Heroine (GL) - Chapter 18.1

Pei Jiuyao’s coquettish and obedient demeanor faded almost instantly.

The alcohol, diluted by the cold air, left her even less rational.

She thought she might start spouting nonsense, but her voice came out far calmer than expected.

She looked at Chi Yang—eyes still misted with a reddish haze from the wine, answering whatever was asked with seemingly complete sincerity.

Yet what Pei Jiuyao blurted out was, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She wasn’t even sure anymore whether she should tell Chi Yang what she’d said before—that she and the “Pei Jiuyao” she knew were not the same person.

Would 7023 even allow her to say that?

Pei Jiuyao truly didn’t know whether revealing her identity would lead to good or bad outcomes. Going against “Heaven’s will” on impulse could have consequences too heavy to bear.

“If I’m not Pei Jiuyao, who else could I be?” she threw the question back at Chi Yang.

Her gaze remained hazy, her dewy almond eyes seemingly sincere—but rather than answering, she was asking.

As if she genuinely wanted to know who she was.

Chi Yang’s fingertip brushed across Pei Jiuyao’s wrist again, but quickly pulled away.

“Only you can answer that,” Chi Yang replied coolly.

The last time Pei Jiuyao had casually said she wasn’t the same person as before, it sounded so absurd that Chi Yang assumed she was joking.

Still, she had the handwriting on Pei Jiuyao’s previous signature examined.

The result confirmed it was the same person. And yet, that made it even stranger.

What was she expecting?

A perfect replica of “Pei Jiuyao” suddenly showing up—gentle and devoted, brave and loyal, even capable of occasionally displaying the temper of a naïve child?

Someone who could care for her during heat cycles, and still act spoiled when things were normal?

And that bastard from before just magically vanished?

What a delusion. Did she think Pei Jiuyao had been turned into some obedient, real-life version of ChatGPT?

“Let’s go,” Chi Yang said, turning off the engine and slamming the car door after getting out.

She would rather believe Pei Jiuyao was putting on an act—even if her acting was laughably bad.

In that fleeting moment, Pei Jiuyao had no idea that Chi Yang’s feelings toward her were like a rollercoaster—rising and falling without warning.

Still slightly floating as she walked, Pei Jiuyao staggered after Chi Yang, relying on her long-practiced self-reliance to make it all the way home.

The moment they stepped inside, she rushed to the bathroom and vomited.

Even she couldn’t stand herself—she braced against the sink, brushed her teeth three times, then collapsed straight onto the sofa.

Seeing Chi Yang approach, Pei Jiuyao shrank back slightly, wide, watery eyes fixed on her. “I feel awful,” she whimpered.

“What do you want me to do about it, hmm?”

Chi Yang suddenly didn’t feel like letting her off easy. She crouched by the sofa, pinched Pei Jiuyao’s chin coldly. “Don’t know how to use your sugar mommy privileges?”

Pei Jiuyao leaned into the sofa cushions, her head sinking in, caught somewhere between sincerity and fabrication—making it hard for Chi Yang to tell which was real.

The face that said “I like you” and the one that said “I don’t know” overlapped perfectly.

This reckless, sinful stray had charged headfirst into Chi Yang’s life—now lying here, dead drunk, on her couch.

Despite her usual obsession with cleanliness, Chi Yang didn’t have the heart to kick her off.

She simply loosened her grip on Pei Jiuyao’s chin.

After showering, Pei Jiuyao passed out on the sofa, mumbling in her sleep.

Chi Yang hadn’t intended to listen, but somehow still found herself walking over, brushing aside the red hair that covered her face. “What are you trying to say?”

“I said…” Pei Jiuyao’s voice was dreamy and soft, slurred with drunkenness, “I’m too dirty… I need a shower…”

Chi Yang scoffed. “In your state? How?”

“…Can’t… Chi Yang doesn’t like it…”

Pei Jiuyao turned her head slightly, looking at Chi Yang.

But from her blurred perspective, she could barely recognize who was in front of her.

Chi Yang frowned, choosing to ignore the words. She tucked Pei Jiuyao’s slipping arm back onto the couch and left her there.

Just as the remnants of that sentence fizzled like static in Chi Yang’s mind, Pei Jiuyao mumbled again, “Chi Yang doesn’t like it…”

Chi Yang hovered between calling someone to clean the guest room for her or throwing her into the bathroom to fend for herself. Eventually, she decided to phone her assistant.

Chi Yang had previously been an Alpha, and her assistant was one too. Taking care of Pei Jiuyao shouldn’t be a problem.

While waiting, Pei Jiuyao twisted uncomfortably on the couch, tugging at her collar and rubbing the back of her neck.

In the midst of the lingering scent of alcohol, Chi Yang caught a faint, icy note.

She frowned, grabbed Pei Jiuyao’s wrist, turned her scent-suppressing bracelet to full strength, then tossed a thin blanket over her head to dampen the scent glands.

Afterward, she headed to the kitchen to heat some milk.

By the time the assistant arrived, Chi Yang was still staring blankly at the bubbling milk on the stove, wondering why on earth she’d brought a drunk like that home.

So dirty. Smelled like a distillery.

When she heard the door open, she didn’t even lift her head. “Ye Ci?”

Ye Ci took off her shoes and stepped into the living room.

“Sorry to make you come so late,” Chi Yang said, turning off the stove.

“It’s fine. I don’t live far,” Ye Ci replied with a smile. “I was getting moldy from sitting around anyway.”

Ye Ci had been with Chi Yang since her first TV series, watching her transition into film, open her own studio, win Best Actress—eight years in total.

But eight years wasn’t much when it came to a path like this.

Even now, Chi Yang still pushed herself relentlessly, hardly giving herself a break.

She may have entered the industry out of pure passion, but what kept her going? Even she didn’t know anymore.

Probably more defiance than love—an urge to prove to that woman that her choices had never been wrong.

Recently, with Shan Hai still in early prep and Chi Yang just finishing a role, she’d used her health as a reason to skip several events—giving Ye Ci a rare chance to rest.

Looking at the drunken mess on the sofa, Ye Ci pulled back the blanket and instinctively checked if she was breathing.

Pei Jiuyao frowned in her sleep, apparently displeased by the absence of a familiar scent.

“You really just tossed her here like that? This couch’s probably a write-off tomorrow,” Ye Ci muttered, sliding the blanket to support Pei Jiuyao’s head.

“She’ll be fine,” Chi Yang said, massaging her temples.

If it was anyone else, she would’ve dumped her halfway—

No. If it was anyone else, she wouldn’t have gone to pick her up in the first place.

With that much alcohol on her, Chi Yang would’ve thought her car was ruined on the spot.

But with Pei Jiuyao… somehow, it wasn’t unbearable. It was even tolerable.

And more than that, Chi Yang felt… a little sorry for her.

And maybe—a little amused by her stubbornness.

Someone like her… shouldn’t she be even more arrogant now that she had a powerful backer?

Shouting “Sugar Mommy” all the time, yet can’t even bother to make a call when something actually happens.

Who was she trying to fool?

Was it because of the argument earlier this afternoon?

Ye Ci interrupted Chi Yang’s thoughts. “Do you want me to help her take a shower now, or let her drink the milk first?”

Chi Yang thought for a moment. “Let her shower first—don’t want her throwing up again. Keep an eye on her.”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Ci helped Pei Jiuyao up and added, “But since you two are already living together, are you still staying at the company dorm? What about that villa in the eastern suburbs—”

“We’re not living together,” Chi Yang interrupted, lifting her head.

Ye Ci paused. “Got it.”

________________________________________

After the shower, Pei Jiuyao had sobered up slightly, but her head was still spinning.

Once Ye Ci got her settled on the couch, she grabbed the car keys from the entrance and waved them at Chi Yang. “Sis, want me to take your car to get cleaned?”

Chi Yang nodded. “And don’t tell Chi Zong about what happened tonight.”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Ci said with a smirk. “I’m on your payroll, not his.” She slipped on her jacket and left.

________________________________________

Pei Jiuyao’s hair was still damp, wrapped in a heavy towel Ye Ci had fastened around her head. She sank into the couch cushions, lethargic and dazed.

Thankfully, Ye Ci had covered her with a blanket before leaving, or her skin would’ve suffered by morning.

There was no one else in the world Chi Yang would go through all this trouble for.

Chi Yang sighed inwardly. Hopefully, Pei Jiuyao’s pheromones would prove useful—maybe they would help stabilize her own imbalances.

She placed a cup of warm milk on the coffee table.

Pei Jiuyao’s cheeks were still dewy, eyes squinting at her. Her collar gaped open, exposing skin flushed red from the shower. Her legs were long and toned, bare feet lazily resting on the floor.

“Drink it,” Chi Yang nudged the cup forward. “It’ll help you feel better.”

Pei Jiuyao lowered her gaze. Her pitch-dark pupils stared at the milk—there was even a pale yellow skin forming on top.

Her gaze slid from the glass to Chi Yang: her soft pink toes tucked into slippers, smooth porcelain calves, and a creamy nightgown.

Above that were long, elegant fingers—shorter and slimmer than her own, with delicate bones and skin so pale it easily flushed red.

Then there was the waist beneath that tailored dress—slim enough to grasp in one hand.

Chi Yang’s waist was soft and sensitive; if you bit her there, she would tremble and go weak, slowly turning a lovely shade of pink.

Her collarbone, neck, earlobes…

Every part of Chi Yang during estrus became exquisitely sensitive. Even the lightest touch could make her moan, and if you pushed her too far, her voice would break.

Pei Jiuyao felt an odd warmth in her lower abdomen—must’ve been the hot shower—but it wasn’t just that.

It was being face-to-face with her like this.

Her lips parted slightly, and her gaze, bolder and more unfiltered under the influence of alcohol, locked on Chi Yang without any pretense.

Drunk, Pei Jiuyao’s eyes were like a wolf’s—brazen, hungry.

Chi Yang’s face stayed impassive, but her lashes fluttered faintly.

Could it be… Pei Jiuyao was nearing her susceptibility phase?

Chi Yang’s toes curled, and she stepped back a few paces, alert. “When’s your susceptibility period?”

“Susceptibility period?” Pei Jiuyao shook her head. “No idea.”

Chi Yang hadn’t expected much from a drunk, so she pushed the milk closer again. “Drink it. Then rest.”

Pei Jiuyao tried to move but sank back. “I don’t have the strength.”

Chi Yang’s voice was cool. “So what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know…” Pei Jiuyao’s eyes drooped, her expression a picture of pitiful helplessness.

Chi Yang picked up the glass and held it out to her.

Pei Jiuyao opened her mouth slightly. “Ah—”

Chi Yang sat down beside her, supporting her head and slowly pouring the milk in. Her movements were far from gentle, and Pei Jiuyao frowned, coughing a little.

Then she looked up, eyes burning, watching Chi Yang—watching her avoidant gaze, the red-tinged ears glowing under the warm light, and the fine hairs standing up along her skin.

A soft fox-like paw held the milky glass. Her fingers curved around it, the pads of her palms pink and tender.

Her body felt warm again. She must’ve been affected by the pheromones. But she didn’t smell strawberries—Chi Yang’s signature scent.

Pei Jiuyao knew what pheromones were now. She wouldn’t be controlled so easily.

But resisting wasn’t easy.

She clenched her fists and whispered, “Can I smell your pheromones? Just a little?”

Chi Yang stood, putting space between them.

“Just to smell. Nothing else,” Pei Jiuyao said again.

Before Chi Yang could react, Pei Jiuyao suddenly got up and leaned toward her neck, her breath warm and moist as it brushed over Chi Yang’s skin.

Chi Yang’s eyes narrowed. She pushed Pei Jiuyao’s forehead away with a single finger.

The bold little Alpha licked her canine tooth with a mischievous grin, not a trace of guilt on her face.

As if she didn’t know how intimate it was to sniff behind an Omega’s neck.

Chi Yang’s expression darkened immediately. “Are you sure your susceptibility period isn’t starting?”

“I’m not marking you. Just smelling,” Pei Jiuyao said, half-coaxing.

Resisting pheromones was really hard.

Pei Jiuyao had always believed she wasn’t someone driven by desire.

But ever since entering this world, her impulses had been magnified a thousandfold.

And now she’d tasted it for real.

Just one sniff—it didn’t count for much. She was being extremely restrained, or so she told herself.

She watched Chi Yang approach slowly, hand brushing over her own collar, then suddenly clenching it tight.

Her heart thudded like a drum.

Then Chi Yang grabbed her by the collar and tossed her straight into the guest room.

Click. The bedroom door locked behind her.

________________________________________

When Pei Jiuyao woke up, her head throbbed slightly.

The first thing she noticed was the faint, sweet scent of strawberries—like the moment she’d first arrived in this world.

She blinked, briefly disoriented.

But the smell quickly faded.

Trying to piece together the events of last night, she realized her memory was patchy.

Still, she recognized this as Chi Yang’s guest room—she’d stayed here before.

So Chi Yang had brought her back. It wasn’t a dream.

Just then, a mechanical voice rang in her head:

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve unlocked the talent: “Music.”]

Pei Jiuyao froze on the bed.

The sudden reward caught her completely off guard—and what was worse, she couldn’t remember what she’d done to earn it.

Chi Yang had still been angry yesterday afternoon… So how did things flip so suddenly overnight?

“Was it last night?” Pei Jiuyao asked.

[It was this morning.]

This morning? How strange.

Pei Jiuyao pulled off the blanket and got out of bed. She was wearing clean pajamas. Her lower abdomen felt warm, as though someone had been holding her all night—there were even traces of sweat.

Her brow furrowed. She was just about to go look for Chi Yang when she saw her phone flashing.

Opening it, she saw that Wen Li had called over ten times. The latest message said that Producer Chen was planning to break the contract.

Apparently, some influencer with strong backing wanted on the same variety show—specifically the episode with Chi Yang—and she just so happened to be the biological daughter of a major entertainment group CEO.

Since the guest list hadn’t been officially announced yet, Producer Chen said they would be willing to pay the breach fee.

It was a transparent move. Saying they would pay while probably laughing behind her back.

Pei Jiuyao was so furious she hurled her phone across the room, chest heaving until she finally calmed down.

When she stepped out, Chi Yang was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly hearing voices from inside the room, Pei Jiuyao thought there was a third person present. She walked over, only to realize that Chi Yang was on the phone.

She instinctively turned to leave, but froze at the sound of her own name being mentioned. She stopped in her tracks and stood quietly outside the door.

“You’re a well-known producer in the industry. How could you just break a contract like that?”

“My relationship with Pei Jiuyao is none of your business. Wait—where did you hear I was targeting her on purpose?”

“It’s just because Pei Jiuyao doesn’t have backing, right? Well then, do I count as backing?”

Even with the door closed, Chi Yang’s cold laugh could still be heard—it sent a chill through the air.

Pei Jiuyao didn’t stay to listen further. She silently walked away.

When Chi Yang came out, Pei Jiuyao had already finished cooking in the living room.

Pei Jiuyao had always known that Chi Yang had two sides—one for public, one for private—but this was her first time seeing Chi Yang in full “work mode.”

Especially the fact that Chi Yang had used her own connections to help her—it caught Pei Jiuyao completely off guard.

Was she really treating her like some kind of “kept woman”? Or was it because Pei Jiuyao had often joked about getting “sugar mommy perks”?

Chi Yang ruffled her hair and walked over. “What’s for dinner?”

Pei Jiuyao replied, “Just something light. I know you’re joining the set soon.”

Chi Yang carried the plates to the dining table, then paused. “Don’t worry about the variety show. I’ll handle it.”

Leaning on the kitchen counter with both arms, Pei Jiuyao asked, “Why would you use your own connections to help me?”

Chi Yang hesitated before answering, “If it was just your lack of ability, I might not have interfered. But you signed a contract, and they breached it. I couldn’t let that slide.”

Pei Jiuyao gave a slight smile. “Might not have?”

“If it was anyone else, you would say you definitely wouldn’t interfere. Is it because I’ve lowered your standards?”

Chi Yang’s lashes lowered slightly. She didn’t answer—just picked up her fork and started eating.

Pei Jiuyao added, “You didn’t want anyone to know about us. You didn’t even tell Song Mo. But now you’re saying that to Producer Chen? Word’s going to spread fast in this circle. Who knows what people will think.”

“I can handle things myself. You really didn’t have to—”

Chi Yang suddenly looked up. “Pei Jiuyao, when did you become so naggy?”

“Huh?” Pei Jiuyao blinked.

“I said it, the problem’s solved, and dealing with clout-chasers sometimes just takes this kind of approach. It’s no big deal.”

Chi Yang’s tone turned serious. “When I first entered this industry, I thought I was above needing capital. But without capital, even the most talented people get buried. You may not be that talented, but at least you’re with me…”