As a Scummy Omega, I Ran Away with the Baby - Chapter 16
“What is it? You looking for me?”
An Jin strolled in with a lazy swagger, a far cry from the serious, no-nonsense head of the Artists’ Department she had just been in the conference room.
Bai Qingqiu shot her a fleeting, icy glance and spoke coldly.
“If I didn’t have something to say, why would I call you in?”
“For Gu Yining?”
An Jin leaned over her desk, one hand braced on the table. Though she framed it as a question, her tone left no room for doubt.
Bai Qingqiu didn’t speak, only gave a slight nod.
“You really don’t know? Yesterday’s little stunt of Gu Yining’s had PR working overtime all night.”
At that, An Jin huffed and dropped heavily onto the sofa, irritation written all over her face.
When Hong Xia had brought it up earlier, Bai Qingqiu had already been puzzled. What exactly had Gu Yining done? Now that there was no point pretending, she asked directly:
“What happened yesterday?”
An Jin looked at her as if she was some kind of monster.
“You know I don’t usually bother with these things,” Bai Qingqiu replied evenly, lifting her glass to sip lemon water, suppressing the sourness in her chest. If she had to micromanage every single one of the company’s artists, even splitting herself into dozens of pieces wouldn’t be enough.
“Nothing much. Just that your precious darling was caught on camera kissing her rumored partner outside the TV station.” An Jin drawled, clearly enjoying the chance to stir trouble. She puckered her lips in a mocking little demonstration.
“And how was it handled?” Bai Qingqiu’s voice remained cool and unshaken, as though she hadn’t heard a word.
“The usual story. Just friends, malicious journalists caught the wrong angle… though we all know what it really looks like.”
As she spoke, An Jin pulled out her phone, tapping away for a while before flipping the screen toward her. The photo was dim and a little blurry, but the figures were still clear: a long-haired girl she didn’t recognize leaned up on tiptoe, pressing her lips firmly to Gu Yining’s cheek.
“I had to spend a good chunk of our budget to buy this from another outlet,” An Jin added casually, eyes glinting as she watched for Bai Qingqiu’s reaction.
Bai Qingqiu lowered her gaze, fingers clenching tight beneath the desk. Her face, however, betrayed nothing.
An Jin wanted a show. She couldn’t give her one.
When the expected outburst never came, An Jin’s expression soured. Still unwilling to let things go, she pressed harder.
“Bai Qingqiu, do you really love her that much?”
She hadn’t said a name, but Bai Qingqiu knew—An Jin wasn’t talking about Gu Yining, but about Bei Nanyan, the one person she could never forget.
“Gu Yining is Gu Yining. She is herself.” Bai Qingqiu’s voice was firm, each syllable deliberate. The name Gu Yining carried a weighty emphasis.
An Jin clearly didn’t believe her. And truthfully, neither did Bai Qingqiu.
“If Gu Yining didn’t look like Bei Nanyan, would you even have accepted her? Do you love her so much that even when she’s sneaking around with other women, you pretend you don’t see?”
“Enough.”
This time, Bai Qingqiu couldn’t hold back.
“I called you here to assign Gu Yining to you from now on. She’s yours to manage. I didn’t invite you in to trample over my scars.”
An Jin knew better than anyone what had happened between her and Bei Nanyan. The three of them had studied the same major, later even running a cosplay club together. An Jin had practically witnessed her whole humiliating history—how foolishly, blindly she had devoted herself.
For Bei Nanyan, she would do anything.
If Nanyan liked sweets, she signed up for pastry classes.
If Nanyan had a competition, she packed fresh towels, clothes, sneakers, cold drinks, and ice packs the night before. Even under a scorching summer sun, she would sit through the entire match with an umbrella shading her from the stands.
Because she loved her. And for love, she was willing to give everything.
But what she got in return was Bei Nanyan bowing to her, asking for a breakup—begging to be released, saying she felt suffocated, that not a single day of their relationship had ever felt free.
That memory was Bai Qingqiu’s deepest shame, one she never wanted to revisit.
And yet, today, An Jin had dragged it out again, reminding her just how pathetic she had been.
She told herself Gu Yining was Gu Yining, Bei Nanyan was Bei Nanyan. But the truth was, it was precisely because Gu Yining resembled Bei Nanyan that she had accepted her—out of some twisted, vengeful need.
An Jin was right. If Gu Yining hadn’t looked like Bei Nanyan, they never would have been together.
Gu Yining loved her so deeply, but she… she had made her a substitute.
All the wounds Bei Nanyan had left behind, she was now trying to redress through Gu Yining—controlling every corner of her life and her feelings, just to soothe her own insecurities.
All she could do now was treat Gu Yining better. A little better, and then better still. Anyone and anything that might hurt her had to be eliminated.
She couldn’t give Gu Yining love, so she would compensate with care.
And when the day came that Gu Yining no longer needed her, she would let her go.
But at the thought of Gu Yining’s face, Bai Qingqiu’s lips curved unconsciously.
For now, Gu Yining wasn’t going anywhere. After all, she loved her that much.