After Transmigrating Into a Scummy Alpha, I Have Unlimited Krypton Gold (GL) - Chapter 12

“Xue Cheng could also handle basic chores, like washing vegetables and rice, scrubbing pots and dishes, and starting the fire—all of which she took care of on her own.”

Xue Cheng, completely unaware that her cover was blown, was focused on brewing the medicine. Before she started, she had carefully sorted and identified each herb. She recognized some, but not all, so she had to rely on their scent for the others. Still, she was confident that this medicine was meant to suppress the “heat.” Its composition had many similarities to modern-day pheromone stabilizers.

Before stabilizers were invented, the most primitive method of regulating pheromones was to crush certain herbs and apply them directly to the scent gland. Based on what Miss Zhu-er had said, Xue Cheng guessed Liu Wuyuan was suffering from a pheromone-related illness. She wasn’t certain it was a simple imbalance, as pheromone disorders had different stages, each with its own set of symptoms.

Many pheromone disorders emerged during differentiation, caused by congenital problems with pheromone secretion. This meant the gland didn’t get enough nourishment during its growth cycle, leading to various issues in adulthood due to a defective gland. This was why, in Xue Cheng’s world, adults paid great attention to a newborn’s nutrition and a mother’s diet during pregnancy. Some research even suggested that if an Omega didn’t get enough attention and companionship from their Alpha during pregnancy, the fetus’s development could be affected by the lack of their partner’s pheromones.

From an evolutionary perspective, Xue Cheng had always believed that Betas were the most complete and stable group. However, in her world and in the world of the novel, most people considered Betas to be the lowest and most common of the three genders—a view she found absurd.

Alphas, or the Qianyuan of this world, were naturally strong and often intelligent. Provided with societal resources, they naturally became the most successful individuals. Omegas, or the Kunze, the smallest group of the three genders, were often seen as people who needed to be protected. Most people believed that having them focus on bearing children and managing the household was a special form of protection.

Xue Cheng’s choice to study Alpha-Omega pharmacology in college was originally driven by her belief that Omegas were not as weak and helpless as people thought. She felt that without the burdens of pheromones, Omegas would be just as capable as the other two genders.

Her thoughts were a jumble as she brewed the medicine. She felt sad for Liu Wuyuan’s condition and wanted to do something to help, but her knowledge seemed to be of limited use in this era.

Suddenly, the system’s voice—a cute little girl’s voice—chimed in.

[The Host has spent two taels of silver on the heroine’s medicine. The heroine is in a good mood after treatment. The system rewards the Host with twenty taels of silver.]

It was a notification for a reward. Xue Cheng didn’t have a firm grasp of the local prices yet, but she remembered the noodles she’d bought cost five copper coins a bowl. In this world, one tael of silver was worth 1,500 copper coins, and a string of cash was usually 1,000 copper coins.

The doctor’s visit and medicine for the heroine had cost her two taels of silver, which was 3,000 copper coins—enough for 600 bowls of noodles. Xue Cheng quickly did the math. If a person ate noodles three times a day, that amount could feed one person for 200 days straight.

She silently gasped. That was a lot of money! She wondered if there was a health insurance plan in this era. Given Liu Wuyuan’s condition, the future medical costs would likely be even higher, and Xue Cheng definitely didn’t want a lack of money to delay her treatment.

Luckily, she had a “spend-and-earn” system. As long as she spent money on the heroine, she would receive a multi-fold in return, a rebate system. Otherwise, Xue Cheng wouldn’t have known how to get the silver to support her wife. Since she had taken over the original owner’s body and they had even gone through such an intimate act as a temporary marking, Xue Cheng secretly thought that the heroine was her wife.

The system’s little girl voice chimed in again, excitedly encouraging her.

 “Keep it up, Host! Try to get rich soon!”

Xue Cheng found the system’s purpose very strange. Was it just to make the host the richest person in the world? There were no other tasks to complete—just mindless spending. Her questions went unanswered, though. The system seemed like a slacker employee, only popping up at necessary moments and otherwise disappearing to who-knew-where.

Xue Cheng felt like the system had completely left her to her own devices.

After a long while, she finally managed to boil the three bowls of water down to one. Holding the black, steaming bowl of medicine, Xue Cheng carefully approached Liu Wuyuan’s room. She didn’t barge in but stood at the door and knocked gently. “Liu Wuyuan? Are you awake? The medicine is ready.”

Her politeness was noteworthy, but Liu Wuyuan, having already reached her own conclusions, was not surprised. She opened the door and invited Xue Cheng in.

After placing the bowl on the table, Xue Cheng stared at her, as if she wouldn’t feel at ease until she saw her drink it.

The freshly brewed medicine was still giving off steam. Liu Wuyuan pursed her lips, picked up the bowl, blew on it, and began to sip it slowly.

“Take your time, be careful not to burn yourself,” Xue Cheng said, fussing over her like an old mother hen, anxiously urging her to be careful.

Liu Wuyuan couldn’t help but give her a look that said, I’m not a child who can’t take care of herself. Xue Cheng blinked, understood the message, and promptly zipped her mouth shut. She sat down obediently, head bowed, not daring to stare anymore lest she cause more displeasure.

The medicine looked dark and smelled incredibly pungent. Xue Cheng didn’t even need to taste it to know it was terribly bitter; she had a sensitive nose and was particularly attuned to smells.

Liu Wuyuan tilted her head back and downed the last mouthful, placing the bowl on the table.

Hearing the sound, Xue Cheng finally dared to look up at her. She asked cautiously, “How is it? Does it work?”

“…”

The little mute beauty couldn’t speak, but her eyes held a look of pure exasperation. From her gaze, Xue Cheng could read the unspoken words: Do you think this is a miracle drug? That it would work as soon as I drank it?

She belatedly realized her concern had gone too far, her mouth running ahead of her brain. Xue Cheng awkwardly scratched her head, looking at her boots and the simple decorations in the room, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

Liu Wuyuan, however, wasn’t focused on what Xue Cheng was thinking. She stood up and walked to the door, clearly intending to see her out.

“Well… I guess I’ll leave then. You get some good rest,” the timid Alpha muttered, looking at Liu Wuyuan again before adding, “If you don’t feel well, tell me right away. Don’t just suffer in silence…”

Sensing that she was getting off track, Xue Cheng stopped herself mid-sentence. Still, she was genuinely afraid of another repeat of being pounced on in her sleep by a sweet-smelling, delicate beauty. While it was, in some ways, a fortunate thing, for Xue Cheng, who was unable to fully appreciate it, a few more times of that and she’d be locking her door to sleep.

And who knew if her own life would be safe if she marked the heroine too many times?

Each had her own thoughts. Xue Cheng didn’t think of herself as a bad person, but she was wary of challenging the limits of human nature, especially the instincts of an Alpha easily swayed by pheromones. She was afraid her instincts would overpower her reason.

So, she went out and hired a carpenter to build a new door. This money wasn’t spent on the heroine, so she received no system reward; the new door cost her two taels of silver.

Xue Cheng meticulously counted her remaining funds. She was already planning to go to the Guang’an Clinic the next day to get some tonic medicine for Liu Wuyuan. She wondered if it would be more expensive than the inhibitory decoction.

Just like when she was a student and had to budget every penny at the end of the month, Xue Cheng carefully planned each expense. She even started going out to buy groceries herself. She couldn’t cook, so she bought the ingredients and gave them to Liu Wuyuan. But she would do everything else she could—washing vegetables and rice, scrubbing pots and dishes, and starting the fire—all by herself.

She was truly embodying the image of a dutiful, virtuous wife. The only problem was that this image was a far cry from the original owner, a scumbag who spent her days carousing in brothels.

Liu Wuyuan had no intention of exposing her. Compared to the original Xue Cheng, a beast who tormented and humiliated her every day, she much preferred the current version. But she still couldn’t figure out when the switch had occurred. What happened to the original Xue Cheng? Was she dead, or had she been swapped to some unknown place?

And who would bother to replace someone as insignificant as a commoner like Xue Cheng? Could it be that some passing deity heard her prayers and kindly replaced that cursed original owner for her?

Her mind was full of questions, but luckily she could hold them in. Even if she couldn’t, she couldn’t ask them aloud. All she could do was secretly watch Xue Cheng with a suspicious gaze when she wasn’t looking.

After about five days, Liu Wuyuan’s “dewfall period” finally ended. Only then could she truly breathe a sigh of relief. Although she had already confirmed that this Xue Cheng was not the original one, she wasn’t 100% sure that this new person wouldn’t hurt her.

She had trusted someone once, only to be betrayed. Since then, it had become difficult for her to trust someone so completely and unreservedly ever again.

Xue Cheng could tell that the heroine’s attitude towards her had softened a bit. At the very least, she wasn’t as afraid of her and was only instinctively wary.

The road to winning the heroine’s trust was a long one, but Xue Cheng had already made some plans for what to do with her new “golden finger.”