I Was Just a Scumbag Extra, But She Loved Me Anyway [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Su Chenli hadn’t received any new face-recognition-related missions. Even in the lab, everything was quiet—utterly uneventful.

Maybe this is just what life as a background character in the Scummy Alpha Club is like—plain, mundane, and dry.

As usual, Su Chenli arrived at the research center. Just as she reached the ninth floor and was about to head to the changing room to get into her lab coat, her phone suddenly rang. It was Zhong Li.

Before Su Chenli could even greet her properly, Zhong Li exploded on the other end: “Tell me, is Ruan Shengsheng completely ungrateful or what?!”

Su Chenli blinked. “…Huh? What happened now?”

Zhong Li didn’t explain. She just kept ranting: “She said she dreamed of going to Greece, so I took her there. She said she liked the sea, so I rented an island just for the two of us. Whatever she liked—cars, houses, restaurants, dessert shops, cafés—I gave her everything. What more does she want?! Chenli, tell me—what does she want?!”

Su Chenli paused. “…What did she do?”

“She ran off again!” Zhong Li sounded deeply frustrated. “Last time we broke up, she cried and said I was always looking at others, always having fun with others, and that I never truly cared about her. So this time, I took her somewhere just the two of us—and she still ended up crying, saying I’m controlling her, that I don’t respect her freedom. Nothing is ever good enough for her! I don’t even know what she’s trying to pull!”

“Uh…” Su Chenli could already imagine how melodramatic it must have been. She swiped her keycard to unlock the lab door, entered the changing room, opened her locker, and asked like a loyal sidekick, “What’s this got to do with freedom? Did you lock her up or something?”

She had only meant it as a joke, but Zhong Li immediately snapped: “I regret not locking her up!”

Su Chenli: “…” Let’s not—kidnapping is a crime.

“I’ve treated her so well! Whatever she wanted, I gave her. She wanted me all to herself—I agreed. If any other Omega acted like this, I would’ve dumped them ages ago! I’ve done everything for her, but just one phone call from that Jiang Youning and she ditched me! Is she playing me?!”

Su Chenli’s eyes widened. She ignored Zhong Li’s fury and latched on to the key point. “So Ruan Shengsheng’s back in the country? Jiang Youning called her back?”

“Exactly!” Zhong Li snapped. “Yesterday afternoon, Jiang Youning gave her a call—I don’t even know what they talked about—and after hanging up, Ruan Shengsheng suddenly lost it. She insisted on flying back to find Jiang Youning. I said no, and she accused me of not respecting her again. Everyone can see Jiang Youning’s got shady intentions! And yet she listens to her like she’s God! Who’s her girlfriend here, huh?! I should’ve confiscated her passport when I had the chance!”

…Damn. That’s bad. Su Chenli slowly lowered the ID badge in her hand.

Ruan Shengsheng was back. And Jiang Youning was the one who called her. Yet Su Chenli had no idea.

As the most trusted tool—ahem, mentor—of the delicate little Omega, and the one who originally suggested returning to China, Jiang Youning was bound to be the first person Ruan Shengsheng would want to see.

If the two met again, even if it didn’t delay their eventual happily-ever-after, Jiang Youning was probably fated to once again become the long-suffering tragic character.

That had to be stopped.

Su Chenli hurriedly hung her lab coat back in the locker, grabbed her bag, and was about to leave. But before she could even exit the lab’s third wing, a familiar voice called out from behind her: “President Su?”

Su Chenli paused and turned around, only to see Ren Yu, carrying a laptop and a thick stack of documents, looking absolutely swamped.

“President Su, thank goodness you’re still here,” Ren Yu said while juggling her gear. “The professor left you an assignment and asked me to inform you today.”

“Huh? Me?” Su Chenli pointed at herself. “But I’ve got—”

Before she could finish, another lab technician stuck his head out from a nearby cubicle. “Is President Su around?”

Without waiting for an answer, he scanned the area, spotted Su Chenli, and beelined toward her. “You’re needed to sign off on a file. Don’t worry—Professor Jiang already approved it. You just need to go through the final steps.”

Ren Yu immediately protested, “Hey! The professor already assigned her a task!”

The technician waved dismissively and tugged Su Chenli gently in his direction. “Well, urgent tasks come first. Even if Professor Jiang were here herself, she’d agree. Don’t fight it—President Su’s coming with me.”

Su Chenli: “???”

Su Chenli: “Wait, I—”

She tried to wriggle out of his grip, hoping to reclaim her arm, but before she could get another word in, she was whisked away.

At the same time, Ruan Shengsheng’s flight had just departed from Copenhagen on a transfer route back to China. Zhong Li, not to be outdone, pulled out her sleek black private jet to personally go retrieve her runaway girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Su Chenli—perhaps due to the mysterious pull of the plot itself—found herself busier than ever. Usually idle enough to spin pens all day, she was suddenly so swamped that her feet barely touched the ground. Every time she found a window to slip away, someone would appear to block her path. Even her father—who had practically abandoned her to the research center—called her.

And there was no way she could reject that call.

While listening to her father’s spiel about experimental protocol, Su Chenli’s eyes darted around the office. Ren Yu, who had been clinging to her side, had just stepped out. The only two technicians in the room were immersed in data analysis, too busy to watch her.

Perfect.

Su Chenli tiptoed to the door—and quietly slipped out of the office area.

It was as if Su Chenli’s inattentiveness had been noticed—on the other end of the line, her father’s voice grew stern.
“Are you even listening?”

“I am, I am,” Su Chenli replied offhandedly as she absentmindedly unbuttoned her lab coat and pushed open the door to the changing room, making sure to glance back to check if anyone had followed her.

“Don’t brush me off!” Father Su snapped in frustration. “You always handle things carelessly—recklessly, without any discipline. How do you expect to run an enterprise as large as the Su Corporation like this?”

As her father continued his lecture over the phone, Su Chenli quickly shrugged off her lab coat and stuffed it into her locker. She grabbed her bag, double-checked her surroundings, and dashed into the now-empty corridor.

She couldn’t waste any more time. Without waiting for her father to finish, she jumped in her car and activated the voice system.

A quick glance at the dashboard told her it was already 6:30 PM.

…At this time, could she really make it in time to stop Ruan Shengsheng and Jiang Youning from meeting?

The Su Research Center wasn’t exactly next door to the university. By the time Su Chenli parked near the gates of H University, the sky had already darkened into twilight.

Guided by the system’s coordinates, she made her way to the rear of a stately old lab building on campus.

Wisteria vines clung to the red-brick walls, their green leaves spilling down toward a flower bed of blooming pale roses. The gentle fragrance of the blossoms lingered in the evening air.

“How strange,” Su Chenli muttered as she circled the building, failing to spot even a hint of Jiang Youning. She couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure this is the place? There’s no one here. Why would a professor be hiding around here anyway?”

[Uhh… Host, don’t panic yet—let me narrow it down a bit more…]

Su Chenli sighed.

Well, maybe even systems have their off days.

Resigned, she stayed where she was, waiting for feedback. With nothing else to do, she looked up at the sky—the layered colors of the sunset were strikingly beautiful. But before she could properly admire it, a soft sound reached her ears.

Crying.

It was faint, but distinct.

The sky was already dark, classes were over, and the area was deserted. Hearing a sudden sob in that stillness made Su Chenli jump nearly out of her skin.

“System!” Scenes from old horror flicks she’d watched for fun flashed through her mind. Pressing her back to the wall, she asked nervously, “You’re sure there are no supernatural elements in this world, right?? Don’t tell me some ghost is about to jump out at me?”

[No, no—definitely not! This world doesn’t include any supernatural elements, Host, I promise!]

Su Chenli let out a shaky breath and cautiously moved toward the sound.

If not for the crying, she never would have noticed the path trailing along the direction of the wisteria vines. Rounding a corner, she found herself in a small courtyard tucked behind the building.

Following the sobs, Su Chenli crept closer and ducked behind the wisteria-laced greenery. That’s when she saw them—two women standing apart in the shadowed clearing.

They weren’t close together, but stood facing each other, unmoving. In the dim light, neither of them spoke. Only the sound of quiet weeping disturbed the silence.

The woman with her long hair pinned up stood gracefully—composed and still—gazing down at the crying girl in front of her. That girl, clearly younger, wore a delicate white lace-collared blouse and a black skirt. She looked fragile, almost ethereal, and the way she wept stirred a natural sense of pity.

Who else could it be but Jiang Youning and Ruan Shengsheng?

Su Chenli froze, then sighed silently. She was a step too late.

The little white flower Omega’s flight had landed earlier than expected. She’d already reached H University ahead of her, and now she and Jiang Youning were deep in conversation.

There was no way Su Chenli could just barge in now.

What if they thought she was a—pervert? Or a stalker?

She silently took a step back, ready to leave, when Ruan Shengsheng suddenly choked out a sob so heart-wrenching it stopped her in her tracks.
“But I just like her. I can’t help it… Professor, what should I do?”

Su Chenli: “?”

She instinctively looked up—and saw the delicate little Omega, all tear-streaked and trembling like a broken kite in the wind, fling herself into Jiang Youning’s arms.

Su Chenli: “…???”

I saw that! Ruan Shengsheng made the first move!

Wait—hold on. Something’s not right. Who exactly did she just say she loves?

No. No way.

You’re crying about loving someone… and then you throw yourself into my beautiful mentor’s arms?!