I Was Just a Scumbag Extra, But She Loved Me Anyway [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 14
To quickly confirm how the beautiful older sister was doing—and to get that bothersome “face-gain task” over with—Su Chenli rushed to the hospital where Jiang Youning was admitted.
While she was at the nurses’ station, waiting to get the room number, the system suddenly spoke up:
[Host, this isn’t looking good.]
“What is it?” Su Chenli replied while glancing toward the reception desk.
[I’m picking up an abnormal reading—Zhong Li’s emotional state is extremely unstable. This face-gain task might be way harder than expected. Her rage level is nearly maxed out.]
The system sounded genuinely worried.
Rage level? Su Chenli froze for a second. Since when was that a thing?
Who was Zhong Li mad at?
…If her anger was directed at the beautiful older sister, Su Chenli wasn’t sure she could stop her—not without Zhong Li blurting out something outrageous like she did back at H University.
Su Chenli frowned and stepped aside to make a call—to her father.
Meanwhile, the system kept fussing about the task, completely unaware that its host, Su Chenli, wasn’t paying attention at all. In fact, she didn’t seem even slightly concerned about the mission.
Inside the hospital room.
Zhong Li was glaring at Jiang Youning, snapping at Ruan Shengsheng, “So what—you’re choosing her over me?!”
Originally, Zhong Li had been across town in another district. But as soon as she heard Ruan Shengsheng was at the hospital, she rushed over.
On the way, she’d planned out everything: apologize, say some sweet things, maybe finally patch things up.
But when she opened the door, she saw Ruan Shengsheng—eyes red and full of worry—gently feeding soup to Jiang Youning in bed.
She froze.
When the shock wore off and she finally registered what she’d walked into—and the awkward expressions on both their faces—Zhong Li felt like her chest might explode from the rage.
Jiang Youning hadn’t even wanted the soup. It was just the worst possible timing.
“This isn’t about her,” Ruan Shengsheng said, stepping in front of Jiang Youning protectively. “We’re done. I don’t want to be involved with you anymore.”
She held one arm up between them and stood as a shield, clearly ready to stop Zhong Li if she tried anything.
Zhong Li was quiet for a moment, staring at Ruan Shengsheng’s defensive stance. Then she let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh.
Ruan Shengsheng didn’t say a word, just kept glaring.
A beat passed. Then Zhong Li said, voice tinged with accusation, “Can you seriously look at this and tell me you’re making the right choice? She got a scratch—she’s fine! I’m the one who’s actually hurt! Do you not care at all about me?”
Her usual air of confidence was gone. She had a cast on her left arm, her shoulders slumped, and even her signature bouncy curls looked limp and lifeless.
Meanwhile, Jiang Youning sat propped up in bed, letting Ruan Shengsheng stand guard beside her. Her cold, beautiful features were slightly lowered, expression distant and faintly annoyed—she clearly had no interest in arguing. She looked exactly like she had the first time Su Chenli had met her.
The more Zhong Li looked at her, the more ridiculous this all seemed.
She snapped, “So you’ve already moved on from me to some beta? A teacher, no less—seducing her student and ruining relationships? Disgusting. What the hell do you even—”
Before she could finish, Ruan Shengsheng’s eyes filled with tears. She slapped Zhong Li hard across the face.
“Don’t talk like that!” she said, trembling with rage. “Whatever happened between us, it’s our business. Don’t drag her into it!”
The slap landed with a loud crack, turning Zhong Li’s face sharply to the side. A vivid red mark quickly appeared on her cheek, stark against her delicate features.
Ruan Shengsheng blinked, finally realizing what she’d done. Seeing Zhong Li’s stunned expression and the deepening anger in her eyes, she instinctively curled her hand into a fist and stepped back.
Across from her, Zhong Li slowly raised a hand and touched the swelling on her cheek. Her eyes darkened further, voice dangerously calm.
“What’s so great about her?” she asked, stepping forward. “Can she mark you? Can she help you through your heats? Does she even know how to satisfy you?”
With every word, Zhong Li took another step closer.
Ruan Shengsheng backed away like a cornered lamb, visibly shaken, completely speechless as Zhong Li loomed over her.
By the time Zhong Li stopped, Ruan Shengsheng was pressed against the hospital bed, eyes filled with tears.
Behind her, Jiang Youning had finally had enough. She lifted the thin hospital blanket, preparing to get out of bed.
Zhong Li glanced at her and let out a cold, mocking laugh. She finished her thought with a sneer: “What can she do—she can’t even sense pheromones, can she?”
Jiang Youning’s hand froze on the blanket.
The implication was crystal clear. Everyone in the room understood it.
She couldn’t feel pheromones—Zhong Li was mocking her for being emotionally numb, chemically irrelevant, an outsider to the Alpha-Omega dynamic.
There was a long pause.
Then Jiang Youning slowly lifted her lashes. Her gaze was ice-cold—sharp enough to cut skin—as she locked eyes with Zhong Li.
Zhong Li didn’t back down. She met Jiang Youning’s stare with equal intensity, eyes blazing with challenge.
For a moment, the air between them seemed to crackle with unspoken fury.
Just then—the door swung open.
Su Chenli walked in, her presence as striking as ever. With a hint of teasing arrogance in her eyes, she swept the room with a quick glance before moving decisively toward Zhong Li.
She grabbed Zhong Li’s arm and pulled her back, speaking in a low voice that cut through the tension:
“What the hell are you saying?”
At the sound of her voice, Jiang Youning’s cold expression faltered. She turned her face away, looking toward the window instead.
Zhong Li’s eyes burned with frustration. “What am I saying?” she repeated, glaring at Su Chenli. “I’m saying that beta should stay the hell away from my Omega!”
Zhong Li turned her head, and only then did Su Chenli notice the red, glaring handprint on her face. Judging by its size… it must have been Ruan Shengsheng.
Who would’ve thought the delicate-looking Omega could actually pack such a punch?
“Enough,” Su Chenli said, grabbing Zhong Li’s arm. “Whatever you’re planning, it can wait.”
“Wait for what? I want answers now! Stay out of it!” Zhong Li yanked her arm away.
“She can’t stop you—but what about me?”
A calm, gentle voice came from the doorway. It wasn’t loud, but the moment Zhong Li heard it, her whole body went rigid.
“…Mom?” she turned around, stunned and completely unprepared.
Standing at the door was a strikingly elegant woman. She glanced at Zhong Li with a look that said everything and nothing at once.
Su Chenli subtly shifted toward the corner of the room, trying to make herself invisible.
Mrs. Zhong gave her daughter a cold, disappointed glare, then turned to Jiang Youning with a warm, gracious smile. “I’m so sorry, Professor Jiang. I didn’t raise her well—please forgive her for causing trouble.”
Jiang Youning’s expression remained composed. She nodded slightly. “It’s fine. Nothing serious.”
Zhong Li looked like she’d just swallowed a fly.
Mrs. Zhong then looked at Ruan Shengsheng. “You’re a good girl. You haven’t made me worry, and I’m grateful for that. As for Zhong Li, I’ll keep her in line. You don’t have to worry, alright?”
Ruan Shengsheng bit her lip and lowered her head, clearly holding back tears. She gave a small, quiet “Mm” in response.
Su Chenli glanced at her. She remembered that, in the original story, Mrs. Zhong had once asked Ruan Shengsheng to leave Zhong Li for good.
Back then, Ruan Shengsheng hadn’t fully made up her mind. But now, with Mrs. Zhong speaking in front of everyone—and in Jiang Youning’s hospital room no less—it would be impossible for her to walk it back, even if she still had feelings for Zhong Li.
“Mom, what are you saying?” Zhong Li finally snapped, her voice strained with panic.
“Quiet.” Mrs. Zhong cut her off with a sharp glare. “You’re coming home with me.”
Zhong Li hesitated, then gave Ruan Shengsheng a reluctant look. “I’ll come see you in a few days.”
Mrs. Zhong’s frown deepened. She tugged Zhong Li’s sleeve. “We’re leaving.”
With her assistant and bodyguards trailing behind her, Mrs. Zhong marched out, dragging a sullen Zhong Li with her.
Ruan Shengsheng stood frozen for a moment, clearly shaken. Then, flustered, she began fumbling around for a glass. “I—I’ll get Su President a drink.”
Jiang Youning gave her a quiet look and sighed. “It’s fine. Why don’t you take a moment to yourself?”
Ruan Shengsheng paused, then turned away from them. Her hand subtly wiped at the corner of her eye. “Mm,” she replied softly.
The room fell silent again.
Su Chenli and Jiang Youning looked at each other, neither sure what to say.
After a pause, Jiang Youning was the one to speak first. “Did you call Mrs. Zhong here?”
“Uh,” Su Chenli looked away awkwardly. “I figured Zhong Li might cause a scene.”
Another pause.
“I got a call from one of my students,” Jiang Youning said. “Did you invest in their project?”
Su Chenli went quiet. Then, in a low voice, she admitted, “I just used the Su Foundation to give them some support.”
Jiang Youning looked at her for a long moment. Then she quietly said, “Thank you.”
Su Chenli blinked and looked up. The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, casting a pale golden glow over Jiang Youning’s figure. It gave her an air of cool gentleness—so calm and warm it made Su Chenli’s heart stir.
She stared, stunned for a moment. “…No need to thank me.”
Jiang Youning could still say “thank you” with such softness and composure, completely unaware that the real storm hadn’t even started yet.
In the original story, after Ruan Shengsheng resolved to break things off with Zhong Li, she grew close to the beautiful older sister—so close that Zhong Li, already cast aside, saw her as a threat. Desperate, she spread damaging rumors that Jiang Youning was involved in a scandalous affair with a high-profile Alpha, forcing her to resign and flee overseas.
…No way Su Chenli was going to let things play out like that.
The so-called “Alpha” in the original story was the young spouse of a newly appointed vice chancellor at H University. At the university’s centennial celebration, both she and Jiang Youning had accidentally triggered a pheromone clash, and were caught in a compromising position by a staff member. The fallout ruined Jiang Youning’s reputation.
That car accident had been enough of a warning. Su Chenli would not let that kind of mistake happen again.
There were still two months until H University’s centennial event. Su Chenli began investigating the vice chancellor’s spouse while trying to gently persuade Jiang Youning to leave H University altogether—to make space for the “happily-ever-after” between Zhong Li and Ruan Shengsheng.
Because if the worldline didn’t progress smoothly, even minor changes could snowball into chaos.
While Su Chenli was running herself ragged trying to keep everything under control, a new message came in—from Zhong Li, of all people.
[Chenli, do you think I’ll never have a chance to get Shengsheng back?]
Su Chenli, who had been tracking the rumored “scandal partner,” blinked at the message in confusion.
After a moment’s hesitation, she replied with a simple: [?]
Zhong Li immediately followed up:
[Maybe I really screwed up before. I can’t live without her, Chenli. I miss her so much. She’s all I can think about. But no matter what I do, she won’t forgive me. Sometimes I swear—when she looks at me—it’s like she’s thinking about someone else entirely.]
Su Chenli sighed. She was about to type out something supportive, something to console this love-struck, emotionally wrecked Alpha… but another message came in first:
[Even if I can’t have Shengsheng, I won’t let anyone else have her. She can only love me.]
Su Chenli’s fingers paused mid-air. She summoned the system.
“…Tell me I’m not crazy. She’s talking about the beautiful older sister now, isn’t she? Is she planning something?”
The system seemed to think for a second.
[Well, the university’s centennial isn’t far off. If the scummy Alpha’s going to act, now’s about the time she’d start preparing.]
Su Chenli gripped her phone, frowning. “…That’s true.”
But no matter how she spun it, something didn’t sit right. The sense of foreboding hung heavy in her chest—especially since Jiang Youning had taken leave today and wasn’t in Su Chenli’s immediate orbit.
Anxious, Su Chenli checked her schedule. Jiang Youning had gone to attend an academic conference. That calmed her nerves a little.
Academic events were mostly industry professionals. The attendees were limited. Surely nothing would happen there… right?
Unfortunately, accidents have a way of arriving when least expected.
At 7:00 PM, Su Chenli scanned her badge to clock out of the lab and headed toward her car.
Just as she was about to start the engine, a very specific ringtone sounded—Jiang Youning’s.
Su Chenli froze.
Why would she call now? Wasn’t she in the middle of a conference?
She picked up.
But the voice on the other end wasn’t the calm, orderly voice she was used to.
What came through was chaos—shuffling fabric, background noise, and Jiang Youning’s shaky, unsteady breathing. Her voice, broken and laced with something dangerously ambiguous, was barely intelligible:
“S-Su Chenli… Lijia Hotel… room 1135… help me… don’t… don’t tell anyone…”
Then silence. A soft thump—as if the phone had fallen.
Su Chenli sat frozen for two full seconds.
Then she grabbed her car keys and bolted out of the parking lot.