After Transmigrating, I Bent the Female Lead O - Chapter 19
“Screech!”
A chair scraped across the floor, directly tripping the unsuspecting Yu Fanhui. Wearing high heels, the girl stumbled unexpectedly, almost hitting the corner of the bed. She managed to steady herself by grabbing the bedside, her eyes now filled with a hint of grievance as she looked at the suddenly agitated He Lingxing.
“Lingxing / Sister Lingxing…”
The voices of her parents and Yu Fanhui rang out simultaneously. He Lingxing’s grip tightened on the arm Yu Fanhui had extended. The strength of a top-tier Alpha, specifically trained, left Yu Fanhui no room to resist. She felt as if the hand gripping her forearm was an iron vise, making her gasp in pain.
“Didn’t I warn you before?”
An inexplicable irritation simmered within her. Even in front of her parents, He Lingxing couldn’t suppress her temper, and the force in her hand steadily increased, making Yu Fanhui’s eyes, which had been feigning some pain, genuinely moisten from the agony.
She felt her arm was about to break.
A normal person, after being warned, wouldn’t lay hands on someone again so soon, but Yu Fanhui was emboldened by her parents’ favoritism.
“It hurts, Sister Lingxing!”
A look of grievance appeared on her carefully made-up, fair face. Yu Fanhui, held tightly by He Lingxing and unable to move, could only vent her dissatisfaction through her voice.
He Lingxing looked at her with cold eyes for a moment. Only when He’s father approached did she abruptly release her grip, making Yu Fanhui immediately learn her lesson and retract the hand that had been causing trouble.
Catching a disapproving glance from He’s mother, He Lingxing brushed back a stray strand of hair: “I have some company matters to attend to, so I’ll head back now. I’ll come see you again tonight. A fruit basket will be delivered shortly; Dad, please take it.”
He’s father looked at her, about to speak, but ultimately waved his hand, signaling her to leave quickly.
Listening to the receding sound of her heels, He’s mother offered Yu Fanhui an apologetic expression, softly uttering a few words of regret. After He Lingxing left, the aggrieved look on Yu Fanhui’s face largely dissipated. She subconsciously rubbed the spot He Lingxing had bruised, her expression returning to its original bright and cheerful demeanor.
“It’s okay, Auntie. Lingxing has a quick temper. She’s probably in a bad mood because of something at the company. I understand.”
Noting the time, Yu Fanhui, whose true intention was never to stay and chat, naturally lost interest in remaining after the main person of interest had left. “You should rest well.”
With that, she nodded to He’s father, turned, closed the door, and departed.
••••
“Alan.” After watching the two leave consecutively, the expression on He’s father’s handsome face grew increasingly serious as he sat beside his wife. His voice was dry and rough, as if filled with sand. “We thought Lingxing would differentiate into an Alpha back then. The test report also said there was a high possibility she would differentiate into an Alpha, but we didn’t expect the girl to actually be an Omega.”
Perhaps ordinary families didn’t care about their children’s gender, but for them, even the most advanced Omega would still be a step below an Alpha. Alphas were natural leaders, and many things Omegas couldn’t do, Alphas could easily accomplish.
If He Lingxing still refused to be close to Yu Fanhui, her usefulness to the family would actually be minimal.
Initially, when they brought Yu Fanhui over in childhood, the intention was for the two to be good friends. But growing up, they hadn’t expected He Lingxing to differentiate into an Omega. With no other person in the family to support, they were left with no choice but to pursue the path of arranged marriage.
“We can’t tell what this child in my belly will be before they’re fifteen, and even bribing the tester won’t guarantee an accurate report.”
Due to her pregnancy, Zhou Lan’s complexion was slightly pale. Especially as she recalled He Lingxing’s attitude towards Yu Fanhui just now, she felt even more annoyed:
“She doesn’t even look in the mirror to see what she’s like. Fanhui is pretty good-looking; she should be considered worthy of her. How many Omegas are still unmarried at twenty-four? It’s all about arranged marriages. Isn’t a woman much safer than a man?”
Zhou Lan believed she was entirely considering things from He Lingxing’s perspective, naturally growing more and more angry the more she spoke. “I’ll have to wait another fifteen years for this child to differentiate. If only I had gotten pregnant earlier…”
“Alright, I understand what you mean. But Xingxing’s always been a bit stubborn since she was young. She really won’t know how good home is until she suffers a little.” He’s father patted his wife’s back affectionately. “Don’t get so angry it affects the baby. Besides, both Xingxing’s and Fanhui’s families run entertainment companies. She’ll eventually realize the benefits of such peer cooperation.”
“If only she were half as sensible as Fanhui.”
••••
Having not slept well for a while, He Lingxing returned home late at night. After applying a face mask and sending the messages she hadn’t had time to send to Shu Minglan earlier, she turned off her phone and caught up on sleep.
This sleep wasn’t particularly peaceful either.
She had a rare dream.
The scene in the dream wasn’t a world she had visited before, but a vision seemingly unrelated to her own memories yet closely tied to this identity.
It was a dusk after a clear day, the bright sky filled with vermilion and crimson hues slowly bleeding in from the west, as translucent as colors diffused in water.
Along the riverbank, weeping willows were planted. She sat on the damp bank, on dirty soil, her fair feet occasionally scooping up a lump of mud and playfully tossing it into the water, splashing droplets and frightening the clustered little fish fry. The girl’s laughter was clear as a bell, though it soon turned sour.
The scene shifted to a square-shaped small room, with only a tiny crack open for “her” to breathe. Opening her eyes, she could only catch a few blurry outlines in the darkness. “She” desperately clawed at random, yet couldn’t break free from the shackles of the moment.
The lump of air pressing on her chest grew heavier and harder, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Wanting her consciousness to forcefully escape this predicament, all she saw were her parents’ smiling faces.
He Lingxing abruptly sat up in bed.
Clear daylight filtered through the curtain’s gap, casting a long, shallow golden streak across the room. A pillow beside her had, at some point, been placed on her chest, its core heavy.
He Lingxing’s usual sleeping posture wasn’t great, and she woke up with a sore lower back, but her mind was much clearer. When she opened her phone, she was bombarded with messages on WeChat and in her email.
She immediately made a phone call.
Previously, an IP was discussing cooperation with her family, and was originally more inclined towards them, but Yu Fanhui’s side also wanted it.
Perhaps because Yu Fanhui had buttered them up a few times before, the original owner had vaguely thought about giving way, and had been hesitant to make a final decision. This morning, the memory suddenly surfaced, and He Lingxing immediately instructed the relevant department to finalize that IP today.
First, she’d let that woman watch a fat piece of meat slip away.
The messages she sent before going to bed last night had already been pushed down. He Lingxing typed a few words into the search bar at the top and entered, seeing that the last message in the chat history was the one she sent. Shu Minglan hadn’t responded from 1 AM to 9 AM this morning.
Her mood, inexplicably, became a bit irritated again.
However, she had a lot of things to deal with early in the morning. After a quick wash-up, He Lingxing arrived at the company. As soon as she sat down at her desk, she saw an insulated disposable lunchbox.
On the lunchbox was a childishly cute bear drawing, with a round face and a big smile, extending a hand to indicate that it was ready to be eaten quickly. The sticky note order attached to it had its writing slightly blurred by the steam from the heat:
[It’s cold. Please deliver quickly. Please eat as soon as you receive it. It will hurt your stomach if it gets cold—by Ms. Shu (Note)]
It was corn and shrimp porridge and a small appetizer.
He Lingxing subconsciously picked up the order she had just torn off and placed on the table. Sure enough, she found a familiar name on it: the breakfast shop Shu Minglan had mentioned to her before.
The porridge shop’s taste was indeed excellent, cleverly combining the sweetness of corn with the softness of rice. The slightly savory and smooth shrimp prevented it from becoming cloying. The side dish, unlike those from other places, wasn’t heavily flavored and the portion was small, mixing in just right.
Beside it was a delicate little pan-fried bun, with green chopped scallions sprinkled on the white, plump bun skin. One bite revealed a savory and chewy pork filling.
Her appetite in the morning was generally not great, but the portions of the porridge and bun were small, just enough to fill her without making her too bloated to affect her work.
He Lingxing sent another invitation to Shu Minglan for dinner, and this time, she received a quick reply.
[Shushu]: Leaving this afternoon. Eating at the set for lunch, so probably no time. Also, losing weight now. [Image]
It was a photo of an electronic weighing scale.
Shu Minglan’s height should be around 165 cm or slightly taller. Women of this height are usually considered slender around 90-something catties (approximately 45-50 kg), but she was currently only around 80-something catties (approximately 40-45 kg).
Many artists desperately control their weight for the camera, and this is even more rigorous for female artists who have high body standards.
However, a body that is too light, besides looking better in clothes for the camera, doesn’t actually look very good in real life, as if it would fall over with a gust of wind. He Lingxing was about to say a couple more things when her gaze fell on another incoming call.
“CEO He!” The voice on the other end was that of the female instructor, filled with extreme anxiety, almost with a faint whimper, “Le Jiaxuan broke her leg, but we have a new announcement this afternoon!”