I Was Just a Scumbag Extra, But She Loved Me Anyway [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 9
【HOST!!! ARE YOU CRAZY?! That’s the Devoted Female Lead!】
“…So what if she is?” Su Chenli finally replied to the system after a couple of seconds, deliberately slow and nonchalant, with a tone that practically screamed I know exactly what I’m doing, but I’m pretending I don’t.
【She’s an important character! The Devoted Female Lead is crucial to the plot! Did you seriously just… confess to her? Something like ‘I kinda like you’?!】
“…Yeah, I guess,” Su Chenli mumbled, sounding just a little guilty.
【?!?!?!】
【‘Yeah, I guess’?! Are you kidding me?! You can’t just mess with the trajectory of a main supporting character! What about the plot?! What about going home?!】
“Oh, relax,” Su Chenli said, now actually trying to calm the system down a bit. “Your rulebook never said I couldn’t romance the Devoted Female Lead. If I win her over, I’m freeing up the scumbag Alpha and the little white flower Omega to focus on their own tragedy-fueled love story. Isn’t that just speeding things up?”
……
The system fell silent.
…That does kind of make sense? In the original story, the Devoted Female Lead wasn’t even that prominent. If Su Chenli compressed the off-screen portions of her arc and helped the Alpha and Omega couple reach their HE sooner, wouldn’t that technically count as plot acceleration and early mission completion?
Still… there was one concern.
【Even if your logic holds up… the Devoted Female Lead is still involved in the main plotline. How do you plan to handle that?】
“I never said she couldn’t participate,” Su Chenli replied confidently. “Let her participate all she wants.”
Huh??
The system glitched for a second, like its algorithm had short-circuited.
Romance the Devoted Female Lead, speed up the plot, and don’t interfere with her original role in the story?
How was that supposed to work?
Su Chenli didn’t offer an explanation. She just turned and looked at Jiang Youning quietly—those beautiful eyes, sharp yet uncertain.
She had never made promises she couldn’t keep. Since she said it, she would make it happen.
Jiang Youning, of course, hadn’t heard any of the system’s ranting. She simply stared at Su Chenli. After a long pause, she asked, “Did you just say you like me?”
Her tone was as steady and emotionless as if she were discussing experimental data.
“Ah… yeah,” Su Chenli admitted, her eyes drifting off to the side. She looked genuinely a little embarrassed.
She had meant it when she said it—even if it came out like a joke. Now that Jiang Youning was bringing it up directly, she couldn’t help feeling awkward.
Jiang Youning looked at her deeply. “I’m a beta. Are you insane?”
Su Chenli blinked. “So what? What difference does that make? If you think Alphas and Betas shouldn’t be together, then why did you like Ruan Shengsheng? She’s an Omega, isn’t she?”
“Maybe there’s nothing wrong with AB relationships,” Jiang Youning replied, shifting her gaze away. “But I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you. I don’t believe what you say, and I won’t be swayed by pheromones. So you might as well give it up.”
Su Chenli: “…”
Okay, so that was a rejection.
“Are you in on this with Zhong Li?” Jiang Youning asked coldly, her voice detached like she was talking about someone else’s problem. “Trying another angle because I wouldn’t back down?”
“Of course not—” Su Chenli started to protest, but stopped.
…Okay, from the outside, this did look exactly like a setup.
After all, she was technically part of the scumbag Alpha camp and a close associate of Zhong Li. Every time she’d spoken to Jiang Youning before, it had been light, almost mocking. And this so-called confession just happened to come at the worst possible time… Yeah, it did look suspicious.
“No matter what angle you’re playing, I’m not buying it,” Jiang Youning said calmly, tidying up her tools with professional precision. She gave Su Chenli one last indifferent glance before walking out of the lab. “Give it up.”
Su Chenli watched her back fade into the hallway and sighed helplessly.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
She hadn’t even made it to her own office when her phone rang. The caller ID showed: Ruan Shengsheng.
Jiang Youning looked around and quietly pushed open the door to a nearby empty conference room.
“Hello?” she answered softly.
“Professor… it’s me,” Ruan Shengsheng’s voice trembled. She was clearly trying to hold herself together.
“…I know,” Jiang Youning said after a brief pause, her voice gentle.
That simple acknowledgment broke Ruan Shengsheng’s fragile composure. She burst into tears on the other end of the line.
“Did I cause you trouble again? I saw the posts on the forum—and I heard about what happened to Lin Chuan. I didn’t mean for any of this… I’m sorry, Professor. Maybe… maybe I should just go back to Zhong Li. That way no one else will get hurt.”
Jiang Youning closed her eyes.
This… this is exactly what she wanted to avoid.
“This isn’t your fault,” Jiang Youning said gently but firmly. “Who you choose to be with—or leave—is entirely your freedom. The one at fault is Zhong Li, who couldn’t accept the breakup and used money and power to pressure others, even dragging unrelated students into it. That’s on her.”
Someone like Zhong Li—so arrogant and entitled—probably would never learn to respect others. She didn’t respect her partner’s feelings, nor anyone else’s.
“As for your senior’s situation, don’t worry. I’ll find a way,” Jiang Youning reassured her.
From the beginning, Jiang Youning had never intended to let the innocent Lin Chuan take the fall. She had just been trying to find a solution that wouldn’t sacrifice anyone.
But just moments ago, Jiang Youning suddenly remembered—Lin Chuan’s project funding wasn’t solely from the university. A significant portion came from small private investors.
She had reviewed Lin Chuan’s proposed research outcomes before. If the project succeeded, it would have substantial value.
Originally, she had planned to wait until the first phase was completed before helping Lin Chuan approach a larger company for proper investment. But now, with things as they were… If she wanted to shield the project from Zhong Li’s interference, the only option was to secure funding from a group powerful enough to rival the Zhong Corporation.
She could personally guarantee the value of the research. The only problem was—who to turn to?
Most of the big players in J City were either affiliated with or friendly toward the Zhong family. It was unlikely they’d invest in a project that might offend Zhong Li.
President Su… might be the only exception. But would the Su Group be willing to wade into this mess?
Meanwhile, completely unaware that she had just been disqualified from Jiang Youning’s list of potential collaborators for being on the same “side” as the scumbag Alpha—and generally not looking like a reliable person—Su Chenli was lounging in her villa, reading the original novel via her system feed.
“I just realized this part of the timeline is when the scumbag Alpha and the little white flower Omega are going through their on-again, off-again mess,” she said, flipping a page.
【Correct. Since your consciousness was inserted a bit late, the story had already progressed. At this point, most of the scumbag Alpha’s worst behavior has already happened. 】
“Huh? Already halfway through?” Su Chenli blinked. “Then what finally gets her karma?”
【Uh… that would be… hurting the person the little white flower trusts the most…】
The system’s voice grew vague.
The person the little white flower trusted the most—
Su Chenli shot up from the couch. “Wait, isn’t that my pretty professor?!”
【Ahaha… yeah. She is the Devoted Female Lead, after all…】
The system tried to sound casual.
“Yeah right.” Su Chenli clearly wasn’t buying it. She flipped through the pages faster and muttered, “Might as well rename her ‘plot device’ instead of ‘devoted female lead’—same difference.”
【……】
She didn’t even look up as she roasted the system, continuing to flip pages in silence.
After a long pause, the system couldn’t help but ask:
【Host… what exactly are you looking for…?】
“Don’t talk.”
【…Okay.】
No one knew how long she’d been searching when Su Chenli suddenly stopped and pressed a finger to a section of the text.
“Here.”
She read aloud:
The rain came suddenly and hard. Caught off guard, Ruan Shengsheng and Zhong Li ducked into the park’s pavilion. Ivy vines blocked the lamplight, casting fragmented shadows. Soaking wet, the two stared at each other. Ruan Shengsheng’s eyes slowly reddened…
“Ugh, this doesn’t say anything useful.”
She flipped another page, grumbling:
Ruan Shengsheng yanked her hand from Zhong Li’s and ran into the rain. Of course Zhong Li wouldn’t let her Omega leave like that. She grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her back into her arms, and murmured against her lips, ‘Baby, I missed you so much’…
Halfway through reading, Su Chenli finally realized what she’d just said:
“…”
Eating drama alone was such a lonely thing sometimes.
If she weren’t afraid of missing info about her beautiful professor, she never would’ve read this junk so seriously!
Irritated but determined, Su Chenli kept reading, only to find things going from bad to worse. Zhong Li kept clinging on, Ruan Shengsheng cried and half-resisted, and eventually the two ended up back at Zhong Li’s villa—ostensibly to “get out of the rain,” but we all know better.
Right before the lights went out, Ruan Shengsheng’s mind drifted: I wonder if Professor is safe on her trip today…
Zhong Li noticed her distraction and punished her thoroughly.
Su Chenli: “…”
Girl, maybe you should worry less about the rain and more about your professor spitting bl00d from betrayal.
Still, she did manage to extract a key detail:
There was going to be a surprise thunderstorm soon… and her pretty professor was going on a trip?
Su Chenli thought about it and asked, “System, what’s this part about? The original didn’t mention her going on a business trip.”
【Let me check…】 The system pulled up the timeline.
【According to this world’s internal timeline, the Devoted Female Lead—Jiang Youning—is scheduled to depart tomorrow evening for a sudden trip to a neighboring city due to a project emergency. On the way, she’ll be caught in a flash storm, stranded on a mountain road, and nearly…】
“What? Nearly what?!” Su Chenli sat bolt upright, completely missing the system’s unfinished warning.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed her phone. “If something’s going to happen, I can’t just sit around…”
【It’s not that serious, really… she’s fine in the end… just shaken…
Wait—Host?! What are you doing?! This is an important plot event! Please don’t—don’t act recklessly—】
The system’s voice faded as Su Chenli dialed a number right in front of it.
“Hello? President Chen?” She pressed the phone to her ear. “Yes, it’s me. I need a team on standby tomorrow evening until the following morning. Be ready to contact rescue services at any moment—no, no need to shadow her personally. I’ll stay in touch throughout. Oh, and do you still have those satellite phones? Great. I don’t have time to prep one myself, so I’ll take one of yours.”
The system: “…”
It understood now.
It wasn’t being ignored. It had been muted.
Being a person is hard.
Being a system is harder.
Ah… the sorrows of a system.
No one ever sees them.