After Transmigrating into a Scumbag Alpha, I Had a Happy Ending with the Heroine (LILY , ABO) - Chapter 12

“Me and Song Qin Ning? There’s nothing going on between us,” Jiang Qing replied.

He Shu asked, “That post she made on Weibo, wasn’t that something you asked her to do?”

Jiang Qing was honestly confused. “No, it wasn’t me. I made my own post last night, then went straight to bed.”

With the speaker on, Jiang Qing switched to her chat with Song Qin Ning.

There were still no new messages.

Jiang Qing hesitated and said, “She didn’t mention anything to me about it on WeChat either.”

He Shu replied, “Song Qin Ning posted a photo of the two of you last night. It helped shift some of the negative attention away from you. There are still some nasty comments, but public opinion is mostly under control now.”

“I’ll go take a look at it on Weibo in a bit,” Jiang Qing said.

“Good. You can repost her photo and interact with her a little. I’ll keep working with PR to plan the next few days of media strategy,” He Shu said.

Jiang Qing picked up on the weariness in her voice and asked gently, “Sister He, did you not sleep well?”

He Shu paused. “I stayed up all night keeping an eye on public opinion.”

She wasn’t about to admit that she’d actually spent most of the night binge-reading novels and now kind of missed the days when she had no responsibilities.

Jiang Qing teased, “Didn’t you just complain the other day about losing hair? Aren’t you worried you’ll go bald?”

He Shu went silent and nervously ran her fingers through her hair.

Thankfully, not too many strands had fallen out.

Trying to act mad, she demanded, “Who do you think I’m doing all this for, huh?”

Jiang Qing replied in an exaggerated, dramatic tone, full of emotion, “Of course it’s for me. Thank you, Sister He. You’re the best.”

“You better know it. After all, I’m the manager of a future Best Actress,” He Shu said proudly, without an ounce of shame.

After the call ended, Jiang Qing ran her fingers over her phone screen.

She still couldn’t understand why He Shu had said Song Qin Ning posted a photo with her.

She couldn’t remember ever taking a photo together.

Jiang Qing opened Weibo and went straight to Song Qin Ning’s profile.

The first thing she saw was a cropped image.

She scrolled down and the full photo came into view.

Although she hadn’t been tagged, it was clearly a picture of her and Song Qin Ning.

But it wasn’t a formal photo. It was obviously a candid shot.

The picture had been taken the day they were doing a magazine shoot. She and Song Qin Ning were passing by each other.

In the image, neither of them showed any particular expression. But because they were both fully styled and made-up, the photo had a strong visual impact.

It gave off a cold and elegant vibe, as if the two of them had just exchanged harsh words and were refusing to back down, brushing past each other with quiet defiance.

If a tabloid had taken the photo, it would have been used as “proof” that the two actresses did not get along.

But this time, it had been posted by Song Qin Ning herself. That changed everything.

Posting a photo like that during such a sensitive moment was a clear statement, even without any caption. It was her way of showing support.

Some netizens fell silent after seeing the post. Most still believed Song Qin Ning had been pressured into doing it.

Soon, the hashtag “Song Qin Ning speaks up for Jiang Qing” climbed onto the trending list.

Song Qin Ning’s fanbase, the Cool Lemons, had originally been accusing Jiang Qing of trying to piggyback off their idol’s fame. But when they saw the post, they started panicking.

They began writing desperate comments, saying things like, “If our queen has been kidnapped, blink twice. We’ll form a rescue team.”

But ten minutes passed and Song Qin Ning didn’t delete the post.

After they finished crying, the Cool Lemons started thinking clearly again.

They had no choice. Their queen had always been this cold and distant. Crying wouldn’t change anything.

Once they regained their senses, the smarter fans started putting the pieces together.

Their idol had never compromised for the sake of publicity and had never once spoken up for Jiang Qing in the past.

The more they thought about it, the more one terrifying possibility came to mind.

What if Song Qin Ning actually wanted to help Jiang Qing?

Not long after, some of the major fan accounts stepped forward to organize support.

They began helping clean up Jiang Qing’s trending tag and comment section.

After all, they were loyal to their queen and would follow her lead.

In times like this, unity was more important than ever.

It had to be said, Song Qin Ning truly deserved her status as one of the most popular actresses in the industry. Her massive fanbase was not only large but incredibly coordinated. It didn’t take long before Jiang Qing’s social media feed was cleaned up and even more peaceful than before.

Jiang Qing hadn’t expected anyone to come to her defense.

She certainly never expected that person to be Song Qin Ning.

They weren’t from the same company. They weren’t part of a carefully packaged “friendship.” They weren’t even friends.

They were more like rivals.

It was hard to describe how she felt in that moment. But she could clearly sense a soft warmth rising in her chest.

Maybe she hadn’t always had the purest intentions when she tried to befriend Song Qin Ning. But now, she genuinely felt that not becoming friends with her would be a real loss.

Jiang Qing opened their chat again and typed, “Miss Song!”

There was no reply.

She set her phone aside, deciding to check back later.

By the afternoon, after finishing her final round of planks, she remembered Song Qin Ning again. Sitting on the exercise mat, she glanced at her WeChat.

Still no reply.

Only then did Jiang Qing start to realize something wasn’t right.

If Song Qin Ning had time to post on Weibo, she should have been able to spare a minute or two to explain things to her.

Besides, even if she was busy with work, if she had time to go on Weibo, it was unlikely she would miss Jiang Qing’s messages entirely.

But Song Qin Ning didn’t reply at all.

It felt intentional, like she was deliberately avoiding her.

Jiang Qing needed to be sure, so she sent a message to He Shu on WeChat.

“Sister He, do you know what Song Qin Ning’s been up to these days? Is she really that busy?”

“Huh? Not really. I just saw her and Xiao Yu post about a like-and-share event on their Moments at noon.”

“Like-and-share event?”

“Yeah. That new buffet place at Blue Yue City is doing a promotion. If you get enough likes, you can eat for half price.”

Jiang Qing stared at the message. “???”

“Qing, you called at the perfect time. I was just thinking about going there, but couldn’t find anyone to come with me. The food there looks amazing,” He Shu added eagerly.

She tried to tempt Jiang Qing. “And right now, you can still eat whatever you want. Once filming starts, even if you beg me to let you eat like that, I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”

Jiang Qing hadn’t been cooking lately. Her skills in the kitchen were limited, so she had mostly been surviving on store-bought salads and chicken br3ast that only needed boiling after defrosting.

Her meals had been bland for days.

After hearing He Shu describe the food, she couldn’t help but swallow a little. She was definitely tempted.

“Alright. What time?”

“Let’s go at six this evening. I’ll wait for you downstairs at your place,” He Shu replied.

With dinner plans now happily settled, Jiang Qing tapped on the bunny profile icon and opened Song Qin Ning’s Moments.

She wasn’t blocked.

Jiang Qing scrolled down.

Sure enough, at exactly one o’clock, Song Qin Ning had posted a message that read:
“Get enough likes for half-price dining. I’m waiting at Blue Yue City.”

A few people had already liked the post. They were probably mutual contacts from the original Jiang Qing’s life.

Jiang Qing didn’t recognize any of them.