After Transmigrating Into a Scummy Alpha, I Have Unlimited Krypton Gold (GL) - Chapter 15

“At least for now, the heroine, Liu Wuyuan, in her mind was a pitiful figure: beautiful and miserable, but not strong.”

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After the two of them finished a simple meal, Xue Cheng was about to return to her own room to sleep. After a full day of shopping, she was quite tired herself, but as a Qianyuan, her stamina was decent. Liu Wuyuan, however, must have been exhausted, so Xue Cheng didn’t want to disturb her any further.

But Liu Wuyuan stopped her, gesturing for her to wait. Xue Cheng waited obediently. Liu Wuyuan climbed onto her bed, fumbled for a thick book, and then walked to the table, motioning for Xue Cheng to sit down.

Unsure of what she was doing, Xue Cheng complied. Her eyes glanced at the book’s cover—it was a dictionary. Did Liu Wuyuan teach herself how to read? she wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Liu Wuyuan opened the dictionary, flipping through the pages quickly. Relying on memory, she accurately found the characters she wanted and pointed to them one by one for Xue Cheng to read. Xue Cheng followed along, reading the simple sentence aloud.

“Do not flaunt your wealth.”

Having just recently transitioned from being a pure-hearted college student, Xue Cheng had little real-world experience before being transmigrated. She was a scholar who had spent her days buried in research, so her mind was simple and naive.

But that didn’t mean Xue Cheng was dumb. On the contrary, she was quite intelligent, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been accepted into the most popular and highest-scoring major of her time.

She quickly understood what Liu Wuyuan meant: her behavior today had been a little too reckless. Everyone in the county knew about the meager wealth of the Xue family. The town wasn’t so big that news wouldn’t travel fast. Any bit of gossip would spread through the streets and alleys within a day or two, especially with a good-for-nothing Qianyuan like the original Xue Cheng suddenly spending so lavishly. People would inevitably start to wonder, where did Xue Cheng get all that money?

This could easily make them suspicious, and if a malicious person set their sights on the Xue family, the two women’s safety would be at risk. A smart person didn’t need a lengthy explanation. That simple sentence was enough to send a cold sweat down Xue Cheng’s back. She belatedly realized that while the source of her money wasn’t illegal, a person who suddenly became rich and could flaunt so much cash would naturally attract envious eyes.

Xue Cheng looked embarrassed. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn’t know where to start.

Liu Wuyuan, however, had no intention of prying into her secrets. She couldn’t even figure out who or what Xue Cheng was, let alone where her money came from. The reason she had chosen to warn Xue Cheng today was simply out of a sense of reciprocity. Xue Cheng had been good to her, so she didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. After all, a large portion of the money Xue Cheng was spending so freely was spent on her. Liu Wuyuan felt a sense of guilt and was afraid of implicating someone else. She couldn’t return Xue Cheng’s kindness, but she could at least offer this one warning.

“I understand,” Xue Cheng said quietly, her head bowed. She accepted Liu Wuyuan’s kind warning and, in an instant, felt a little foolish about her lavish spending earlier.

She sheepishly suggested, “Maybe I should go to the hiring agency tomorrow and hire a few people to guard the house? To make sure what happened before doesn’t happen again.”

She felt a jolt of fear. As a modern college student, she had a ingrained belief that all people were equal and was used to doing things herself, so it never occurred to her to hire servants. But now, thinking about personal safety, she felt that hiring some guards for the house would be a good idea.

Liu Wuyuan shot her a rare blank look, thinking, This person is really not very smart. If she were to hire guards now, wouldn’t that be a blatant announcement that she had a lot of money? A Qianyuan with no real job, why would she have the money to hire staff? Combined with the shopping spree today and the large bags they had brought home, and the cart that delivered their goods, their neighbors had likely already seen everything and were probably gossiping about it now.

Xue Cheng looked helpless, her large, innocent eyes full of a clear, naive stupidity. She truly didn’t know what to do. The college student Xue had never experienced the darker side of human nature, but Liu Wuyuan, despite her memory loss, had endured considerable hardship since the original owner “rescued” her, so her guard was much higher. The environment a person grows up and survives in determines how they face the world.

Liu Wuyuan wanted to sigh. She couldn’t understand how such an innocent and naive person had ended up here. Could she really be a mountain spirit that took human form and, having just entered the world, has no idea how to navigate society? The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. She looked at Xue Cheng’s innocent, goofy face, and it was as if she could see an invisible dog tail wagging behind her. The moment their eyes met, Xue Cheng gave her a fawning smile.

In that moment, as if possessed, Liu Wuyuan instinctively reached out and ruffled Xue Cheng’s soft hair. Xue Cheng didn’t seem to mind; she just tilted her head in confusion but obediently leaned into her hand.

Liu Wuyuan: “…”

She pursed her lips, struggled to pull her hand back, and a smile crept uncontrollably across her face.

Since she couldn’t speak, she resorted to her old method, opening the dictionary and using the dim candlelight to point out characters that formed a sentence for Xue Cheng to read.

After a moment, Xue Cheng lightly hummed, which meant she agreed to Liu Wuyuan’s request. Liu Wuyuan hadn’t offered any specific advice, just that Xue Cheng should act discreetly for now. In a short while, others would just assume her extravagant spending was a one-time indulgence, and once the attention died down, she could reconsider if she wanted to spend more money.

But Xue Cheng saw that Liu Wuyuan seemed to be in a good mood, so she decided to tell her about the plan she’d been forming.

“I plan to… take you to Xijing sometime soon,” she said. “It’s the capital, so I’m sure the doctors and precious herbs will be much better there. We might even find a way to treat your illness.”

She paused, then with a surge of courage, added, “And maybe, we can also look into your past.”

The original novel didn’t say much about Liu Wuyuan’s background, but Xue Cheng had noticed her inherent noble bearing, cultivated over many years. Every move, every smile, every gesture, was filled with the etiquette and upbringing ingrained in her bones. And Liu Wuyuan could read! The original owner had “rescued” her less than half a year ago and certainly wouldn’t have bothered to teach her to read. This meant she already knew how. In the State of Chu, most Kunze from common families didn’t have the opportunity to study. Only wealthy families hired tutors for their Kunze daughters.

Xue Cheng remembered the novel mentioning that when Liu Wuyuan was found by the original owner, she had a silk handkerchief embroidered with the name “Wuyuan” in gold thread. Her only other valuable possession was a golden longevity lock engraved with the character “Liu.” This was how Liu Wuyuan’s name was derived; the original owner didn’t just invent it out of thin air. The original owner had returned the handkerchief to Liu Wuyuan, but the golden longevity lock had long been pawned to buy alcohol.

Xue Cheng wanted to investigate Liu Wuyuan’s past in case she was the daughter of a wealthy family. If they found her family, she might be able to live a life of comfort. At the very least, she wouldn’t be all alone in the world, ignorant of her origins.

Liu Wuyuan was silent for a moment, then opened the dictionary and pointed to two words: “No need.”

Xue Cheng tentatively asked, “You don’t want to find your family?”

This wasn’t a question Liu Wuyuan hadn’t considered before, but she had no expectations. She was a mute. Whether she was born that way or became mute later, as a disabled Kunze, most families would consider her an omen of bad luck. She was found unconscious in the wilderness with no one to look after her, which showed her family didn’t care about her.

Besides, so much time had passed. She had such a beautiful and unforgettable face, so if her family truly wanted to find her, they would have done so already. The county wasn’t that big. With a little inquiry and a timeline check, anyone could figure out that this Kunze who suddenly appeared at the Xue house had a questionable past. So, Liu Wuyuan believed she was either intentionally abandoned or had been harmed by someone. It was better not to search for her family; if she did, she might be walking into a trap.

Moreover, this new Xue Cheng, though a bit foolish, was genuinely good to her. She cared for her, thought about her future, and was even planning to take her to Xijing for a cure. Liu Wuyuan felt that this person’s true self might be a loyal, lovable stray dog who had taken human form and, without asking for anything in return, was treating her as her owner. If she could speak, Liu Wuyuan would have been unable to resist teasing her: Come on, little dog, say “Master” for me.

She kept a straight face, but her mind was filled with nonsensical thoughts. Luckily, Xue Cheng was none the wiser, or she would have been seriously questioning her life.

At least for now, the heroine, Liu Wuyuan, in her mind was a pitiful figure: beautiful and miserable, but not strong. As for her later transformation into a ruthless villain? That was a result of being tormented and having her personality completely changed. Xue Cheng felt that if she had gone through all of that, she wouldn’t have been able to remain a kind and trusting person either.

She considered herself a prophet who had read the book and knew the plot. She saw Liu Wuyuan through the biggest, most beautiful filter, perhaps because Liu Wuyuan was the first person she saw after transmigrating. Whether it was the heroine she knew from the cold words on a screen or the one she now saw in person, Liu Wuyuan felt like the most familiar person in this strange world. Instinctively, she saw them as being on the same side, and she presumptuously thought of them as partners.

So, when she saw Liu Wuyuan nod and agree to the trip to Xijing, Xue Cheng was secretly happy for a long time, and she felt an even deeper, more inexplicable closeness to her new wife.