After Transmigrating Into a Scummy Alpha, I Have Unlimited Krypton Gold (GL) - Chapter 20

“Her mind worked quickly, her memory was excellent, and in a short time, she was already able to apply her knowledge creatively, sometimes even coming up with surprising solutions.”

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Liu Wuyuan spent a long time explaining the pros and cons to Xue Cheng, who was amazed by her intelligence. The original owner had only found Liu Wuyuan about half a year ago. As someone who had lost her memory and was at the mercy of that scoundrel of an owner, Xue Cheng found it impossible to imagine how much effort Liu Wuyuan must have put in to learn so much.

This also showed that Liu Wuyuan had been preparing to escape the original owner the whole time. She did everything she could to give herself a fighting chance, learning to read and acquire new skills, and looking for ways to save money for her journey. It was hard for Xue Cheng to imagine how Liu Wuyuan had managed to endure such a difficult time.

The more Xue Cheng learned about Liu Wuyuan, the more she was drawn to her. She thought to herself, No wonder Liu Wuyuan is the female lead. She’s so well-rounded in every aspect, from her personality and looks to her abilities. She was like a resilient little white flower, and at this moment, Xue Cheng still believed Liu Wuyuan was the kind heroine, pure of heart and not yet corrupted.

Liu Wuyuan stopped writing with the stick and discreetly flexed her slightly aching wrist. Writing out everything so clearly was no easy task for her. Xue Cheng saw this and instinctively took Liu Wuyuan’s hand, gently massaging her wrist.

“I hope that all this effort we’re putting in to hire the Thousand Gold Pavilion will cure your illness,” she said, “and maybe then you’ll be able to speak again.” Xue Cheng was still full of hope, but Liu Wuyuan wasn’t as blindly optimistic. The road ahead was long, and she could only take it one step at a time.

Seeing the faint look on Liu Wuyuan’s face, Xue Cheng guessed that she didn’t have much hope. Being a person driven more by emotion than logic, Xue Cheng became urgent and grabbed Liu Wuyuan’s hand.

“You will get better,” she insisted. She couldn’t say anything overly sappy to comfort Liu Wuyuan, so she just repeated her promise in her heart: A person as wonderful as Liu Wuyuan deserved a good life.

Liu Wuyuan stared at the stubborn, determined hands holding hers, then followed them up to meet the clear, pure light in Xue Cheng’s eyes. She thought to herself that she must be the luckiest person alive.

To be abandoned by a family she didn’t even know, to live alone in the world, to be taken in by a malicious villain and nearly have her life ruined… and then, at the most dangerous moment, Xue Cheng had come into her world and saved her from her misery.

She was now cherishing her, protecting her, and planning for her future. Liu Wuyuan opened her mouth, then remembered she couldn’t speak. She gave a self-deprecating smile. How could she possibly dare to hope for someone as wonderful as Xue Cheng?

And yet, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting it. If this person could stay with her forever, perhaps it wouldn’t matter if her illness was never cured. She would be willing to stay a mute, willing to endure the unstable “Dew Periods,” and willing to bear all the hardships in the world, just to keep this stroke of luck by her side. She knew she was like a rootless piece of duckweed, adrift in the world, and that her lost memories were probably filled with pain. Xue Cheng was the only good thing she had ever felt. Even if Xue Cheng were a mountain spirit or a demon, Liu Wuyuan didn’t care where she came from, as long as she stayed. This might not be love, but it was the first time she had ever felt that something in this world could belong to her, Liu Wuyuan. If that made her greedy, so be it. She wanted to possess this person.

Xue Cheng felt an inexplicable chill on the back of her neck. She shivered and muttered, “Is it getting too late and windy? Maybe we should go back inside to rest?” Since it was getting late anyway, and they had to save money to cure Liu Wuyuan, they had agreed on a plan to move forward.

The Xue family had once been prestigious. As a result, they still had a seventh-rank business permit passed down through the generations, which they used to run several businesses in this small county. The original owner’s parents had mainly managed the family’s bookstore and teahouse. The businesses were not very successful, but if the original owner’s parents hadn’t died young, the position of Xue family leader would likely have already passed from the matriarch to their father. In fact, the matriarch had wanted to groom Xue Cheng to take over the family, but the original owner was simply too useless, which was why the position had remained vacant for so many years.

Liu Wuyuan’s suggestion was that instead of trying to get a business permit from scratch, it would be much more practical to find a way to take over the family businesses and then grow them from there. As for how Xue Cheng would be able to guarantee she could make a profit—and enough to cure her illness—Liu Wuyuan had no intention of prying into Xue Cheng’s secrets. She knew that Xue Cheng had some methods that were not of this world, and if she tried to find out more, she might scare this strange “mountain spirit” away, and she would be miserable.

While Xue Cheng was not a mountain spirit, she was a pure-hearted but naive college student who was easily startled. If Liu Wuyuan were to ask how Xue Cheng could make money from thin air, Xue Cheng would probably be so frightened that she would want to run away. After all, the pure-hearted Alpha still had no idea her disguise had been exposed long ago; she still thought she was a master of stealth.

Still, taking over the family businesses was no easy task. The other family members wouldn’t easily agree, and the matriarch wasn’t so senile that she would hand over control of the family’s assets to a second-generation layabout who only knew how to drink at brothels. Xue Cheng needed to prove herself and earn the right to compete for the position. While this path was difficult, it was much easier than trying to get a business permit from nothing, especially since Xue Cheng’s status as the legitimate eldest heir was her trump card. As long as Xue Cheng appeared even slightly capable, given the traditional views of the elders, the family would still eventually be passed down to her.

But Xue Cheng’s ultimate goal wasn’t to inherit all the family’s assets. Even if she couldn’t become the family leader, as long as she could get control of one of the businesses, she could lay the groundwork for what she needed to do next. After all, with the system in hand, she just needed a plausible reason to spend money. That way, she could pour money into the business and get a return, no matter the cost. As long as the money was spent for the female lead’s benefit, the system would give her a corresponding rebate.

Even though Xue Cheng didn’t have much real-world experience, she wasn’t an idiot. A cheat was a cheat, and she wasn’t going to let it go to waste. The businesses that were supposed to belong to her branch of the family were the golden goose she was going to reclaim. Once she had them, it would be a steady cycle of money-making, one asset begetting another, over and over again.

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Within a few days, the Xue family noticed that something was off with Xue Cheng.

The girl was far too diligent. She was visiting the matriarch to pay her respects every other day. Before, the original owner would only show up on the first of the month to get her allowance. This daily routine was something no one had ever seen from her.

After a little digging, they found out that Xue Cheng was actually staying at the family home after her morning visits. She claimed to have “seen the light” and realized she couldn’t waste her life away anymore, so she was following the matriarch to learn.

Learn what?

Upon further inquiry, they discovered that the matriarch was teaching Xue Cheng how to manage businesses, read ledgers, and delegate tasks. And Xue Cheng was genuinely dedicated. She would wait outside before dawn to pay her respects, have breakfast with the matriarch, and then spend the entire day learning until sundown, at which point she would return home.

At first, people thought she was just putting on an act and scoffed at her efforts. But then they heard that not only was Xue Cheng learning from the matriarch during the day, she would also continue to study and ponder things at home in the evening. She would even ask the matriarch to give her test questions, and the next day, she would present her solutions.

Initially, the matriarch also thought Xue Cheng was just being a fair-weather student, assuming it was just another way to get on her good side. But day after day, the matriarch realized that Xue Cheng was genuinely serious about learning and was improving at an astonishing rate.

About a month later, at a regular clan meeting, the matriarch brought it up to the elders. She presented the tests she had given Xue Cheng and the solutions Xue Cheng had come up with. The old woman was in a great mood, unable to stop smiling, and looked much more energetic than usual.

“This child, Ah Cheng, has a natural talent for business,” she said, full of praise. “It’s my fault for neglecting her before, which is why she wasted so many years.”

The matriarch was clearly very satisfied with Xue Cheng’s recent performance, and her bringing it up at the clan meeting was her way of paving the way for Xue Cheng’s future.

The members of the second and third branches were unimpressed, thinking, “This useless scion, who has no education, has only been studying for a month. How good could she possibly be?”

But when they looked at the questions the matriarch had used to test Xue Cheng, their expressions changed. The matriarch hadn’t gone easy on her. She had listed a series of difficult, real-life situations that could arise in managing a business and asked Xue Cheng to come up with solutions.

Xue Cheng had no prior business experience. Her responses were all based on what the matriarch had taught her and her own creative interpretation. She wasn’t just regurgitating information; she was genuinely understanding the concepts and using her own unique approach to solve the problems. While it was all just theory at this point, everyone could see that Xue Cheng truly had a gift for business.

For Xue Cheng, a star student who had been accepted into a top national university and studied a highly specialized Alpha/Omega medicine research program with a 0.001% acceptance rate, this was all a piece of cake. Her mind worked quickly, her memory was excellent, and in a short time, she was already able to apply her knowledge creatively, sometimes even coming up with surprising solutions.

The matriarch had even tried implementing Xue Cheng’s strategies in a few shops, and they had already shown a positive effect.

That was why Old Lady Xue was so eager to tell everyone about Xue Cheng’s performance to everyone.