Dressed as the Scumbag Alpha Mom of the Tragic Female Lead (ABO, GL) - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“Tch!”

Staring at the error message on her computer screen again, Jiang Chuxie couldn’t help but slap the keyboard.

“What’s up, Chuxie? You’re awfully cranky today,” Zhuang Qi turned to her. “Finally cracked from coding? I thought code was your true love.”

Jiang Chuxie let out a noncommittal hum, inwardly grumbling.

If she had a choice, she wouldn’t want to be a coder at all! In her past life, it was just a hobby, but making it her career this time around? She’d barely started and was already fed up.

Plus, the two big incidents from the past few days had sparked a fresh sense of crisis.

“No choice. Your aunt… the dean’s pushing me to start my thesis.”

Zhuang Qi burst out laughing, gloating. “Who told you to pick my aunt as your advisor? She’s notoriously strict. It’s only the first semester of junior year—she’s rushing you already?”

Dean Zhuang Jingyuan was Zhuang Qi’s aunt, but from what Jiang Chuxie knew, the dean had cut ties with her family long ago, so the two rarely met.

“It’s fine. I wanted to finish early anyway.”

Jiang Chuxie didn’t believe she was the only one eyeing this opportunity. The sooner she could get it done, the better. There were still a slew of issues to tackle—funding alone gave her a headache—so she hoped to produce a working product quickly and get on track.

Zhuang Qi shrugged. “What can I say? The ‘workaholic’ title’s all yours.”

Jiang Chuxie ignored her, preparing to review her code again.

“Damn!”

“Holy crap, you’re cursing now?”

Her roommate acted like she’d discovered a new world. Jiang Chuxie stared despairingly at the screen, muttering, “It crashed.”

For someone used to a 10900F CPU, 3090 GPU, and 64GB RAM, her current setup was worse than a jalopy. But price-wise, this “jalopy” wasn’t cheap at all.

If it weren’t a productivity tool, Jiang Chuxie wouldn’t have splurged on it.

“Wow, my condolences.”

Jiang Chuxie sighed, feeling the need to lift her mood. She could tell her spirits had been off since meeting Gu Lingjun.

Running into Gu Lingjun was irritating enough, but then she had to save that Omega a second time on her way back. In six years, saving the same person twice was rare, and it almost always led to some messy drama—like that time with the mayor, when she nearly lost her life.

“What, going to eat?” Zhuang Qi saw her shut down the computer and stand, excited. “I’ll come with!”

“Why with me? What about your friends?”

“Why can’t I? You’re my roommate—eating together’s normal. Before, your work schedule clashed with mine. Now that you’ve quit, it’s great to hang out.”

“But eating with you draws attention.”

Zhuang Qi flicked her bangs, smug. “Can’t help it—I’m just that popular.”

“I wasn’t complimenting you.”

“Come on, what’s wrong with me keeping you company? To celebrate your escape from the grind and, ahem, to apologize for the other day, I’m treating you to a big meal today.”

With so much going on, Jiang Chuxie had almost forgotten Zhuang Qi suspected she was an Omega.

“Your imagination’s wild—I’m humbled. You shouldn’t be studying computer science; you should be writing novels.”

Zhuang Qi linked arms with her, grinning. “Don’t tempt me. My original dream was to write novels. Alas, with two mountains of family pressure, I’m stuck with this damn machine.”

Unable to resist, Jiang Chuxie was dragged downstairs. But as soon as they left the dorm, she spotted two unexpected figures.

“Ah—”

“It’s you!”

Two voices rang out simultaneously. The two looking at Jiang Chuxie turned to each other, both showing surprise.

“Whoa!” Zhuang Qi glanced at Jiang Chuxie, whispering, “What’s this? Besides the Life Sciences goddess Zhao Zi, you know the new humanities department beauty too?”

One was Zhao Zi, the other the male Omega Jiang Chuxie saved a few days ago. She didn’t know if they’d timed it to catch her or were just waiting aimlessly, but the timing was too perfect.

Zhao Zi shifted her gaze from the male Omega, smiling lightly at Jiang Chuxie. “Didn’t expect to meet again. So you know Zhuang Qi.”

And she really was an Alpha.

Zhao Zi had looked into Jiang Chuxie out of curiosity before—not with any serious intent, just casual inquiries. They’d only met once without any real connection, so digging too deep would’ve been foolish and embarrassing. Still, Zhao Zi was curious: was Jiang Chuxie really an Alpha, as she claimed? If so, why didn’t she have any pheromone scent?

“Oh, Zhao Zi, you meant Jiang Chuxie? Haha, I didn’t catch on,” Zhuang Qi said, putting on an act as if she’d just realized.

Jiang Chuxie deeply regretted coming out to eat with her.

Zhao Zi didn’t call her out, just smiled. “No worries, I was just asking casually.”

“Uh, so now…”

“I’m here for you,” Zhao Zi said, waving her phone. “Did you forget we’re supposed to book catering for the welcome event today? Your phone’s off, so I had to wait here.”

Zhuang Qi slapped her forehead. “Oh, shoot, I totally forgot.”

“No problem, I’ll jog your memory.” Zhao Zi, a rather assertive Omega, said with a smirk. “Come on.”

Zhuang Qi glanced at Jiang Chuxie, saw her cold expression ignoring her, and sighed. “Sorry, Chuxie, I’ll treat you another day.”

Having snagged Zhuang Qi and unexpectedly found Jiang Chuxie, Zhao Zi was in high spirits. “We’re tight on time today, but let’s chat next time… Chuxie~”

Jiang Chuxie had no interest in engaging with her, let alone the male Omega who’d been standing there, staring at her eagerly.

Eat or go back to the dorm? That was the question.

After a moment’s thought, she decided to ignore them and head to eat.

“Wait, Jiang, Jiang Chuxie…” The male Omega chased after her, anxious. “Um… I want to thank you. I-I’m from the Humanities Department…”

His words were almost identical to Gu Lingjun’s, and Jiang Chuxie had heard this routine plenty of times before.

“No need. I don’t want thanks.”

Jiang Chuxie walked down the dorm stairs without a glance, the Omega trailing her, looking frantic.

“But…”

“No buts. You’re bothering me—”

Jiang Chuxie decided it was time to be firm and shut down these Omegas’ advances with a tougher stance. But just as she raised her voice to let it out, an expensive-looking black sedan pulled up beside her.

Instinctively, she looked down as the window rolled down, revealing a refined female Alpha inside. Meeting her gaze, the woman asked, “Excuse me, are you Miss Jiang Chuxie?”