The Salted-Fish Alpha and the Actress Got Their Marriage Certificate - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Xi Xi!”

Xiao Xiang hurriedly interrupted. If she let this little troublemaker keep spouting nonsense, she wouldn’t be able to drive properly.

Xi Ling bit down on the candy with a loud “crunch,” her eyes drooping as she pouted at the rearview mirror.

Acting pitiful again!

Xiao Xiang sighed helplessly. “Ye Cike said you twisted your ankle?”

“Nope, I just lied to her,” Xi Ling said confidently, not seeing anything wrong with her behavior.

Who could blame her when the atmosphere had been so perfect, and Ye Cike kept saying things like “important” and “the first one”?

For no reason, Xi Ling wanted to get closer and steal a whiff of Ye Cike’s pheromones. Those sweet, warm pheromones—just a hint was enough to make her sigh in comfort.

Xiao Xiang’s face instantly showed a complicated expression. She hadn’t forgotten Xi Ling’s plan.

“You’re doing this for a temporary mark? So, what’s the progress now?”

Xi Ling’s eyelashes lowered, her earlier energy gone. “I just held her hand today.”

Xiao Xiang: ?

Xi Ling ground her teeth again, crushing the hard candy completely. The lemony fragrance lingered between her lips and teeth.

She bit down hard, as if she were chewing on someone who’d infuriated her, not just candy.

From their first meeting to finally holding hands today, it had taken nearly a month.

She’d even used her heat cycle as an excuse, but Ye Cike remained unmoved, stubbornly upholding her Alpha principles.

Xi Ling was now certain that, with Ye Cike’s personality, it might take another month just to trick her into a hug.

Then there’d be flirting, kissing, and finally, the temporary mark.

And that was a conservative estimate.

Who wouldn’t say, “The future looks bright!”

Xiao Xiang could only sigh. “So, has Miss Qu’s issue been resolved?”

“Of course.” Xi Ling lifted her chin proudly. “Meng Gujin won’t let her off easily. The company will definitely shelve Qu Weiyue.”

Qu Weiyue had only debuted two years ago. She had some fame but no money to pay the hefty breach-of-contract penalty.

If she couldn’t find someone to cover that penalty, her career would likely be ruined.

Xiao Xiang felt her eyelids twitch, a bad premonition rising in her chest.

Before the variety show, Xi Ling had complained to her that this issue wasn’t easy to resolve.

“Who’s the backer you found?”

“Star Han Entertainment. Big enough, right?”

Xi Ling sat up straight, brimming with pride. Her sparkling eyes practically screamed, “Praise me!”

Xiao Xiang had entered the entertainment industry as an agent right after graduation, when Star Han Entertainment’s status was already unshakable. Its momentum had never slowed, and the Meng family couldn’t compare.

But how had Xi Ling connected with Star Han Entertainment?!

She quickly found an open parking lot, stopped the car, turned off the engine, and moved to the back seat.

“Star Han will sign Qu Weiyue?”

She opened her laptop, listing the artists Star Han had signed—either prodigies or seasoned veterans with strong skills. Qu Weiyue would need at least three more years to qualify.

Xi Ling stretched out her hand, gesturing a length. “About sixty to seventy percent.”

Xiao Xiang still couldn’t believe it. “Why?”

“Because Ye Cike can make it happen.”

“No way!” Xiao Xiang reflexively retorted. “Star Han Entertainment is controlled by Ji Xinghan, and just recently, Young Master Ji was parachuted into one of their record labels—”

Ji Xinghan kept his family tightly under wraps, leaking no information. Until Young Master Ji appeared, most in the industry didn’t even know about the Ji family’s situation.

Xi Ling didn’t explain. Instead, she pulled Xiao Xiang’s laptop over, typed a few keys, and a celebrity encyclopedia page appeared on the screen.

The page featured an old photo of a woman wearing an elegant wide-brimmed hat, glancing back with a smile so captivating it was breathtaking.

Next to it was a brief introduction: Ye Qi, one of the most famous haute couture designers of the last century. Countless people spent fortunes on her designs, obsessed to the point of madness.

Yet, at the peak of her career, this legendary figure retired and married Ji Xinghan. She never appeared in the public eye again.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Ye Cike’s profile bore a striking six-point resemblance to Ye Qi’s.

Xiao Xiang’s mind buzzed. Who could’ve imagined that the Ji family had two heirs? Besides Young Master Ji, there was Ye Cike, who took her mother’s surname!

She turned to Xi Ling in disbelief, grabbing her arm. “You went this far for Qu Weiyue? Xi Xi, let’s not—”

“What are you thinking?” Xi Ling flinched, realizing what Xiao Xiang meant and immediately swatting her hand away. “I didn’t!”

She shrank back against the seat, nervously clutching a corner of her chiffon skirt. “I’m really just craving her pheromones. I’ll take what I want and leave, no strings attached.”

Xiao Xiang adjusted her glasses, looking at Xi Ling with a grave expression.

“I don’t know Ye Cike well, but in all this time, you’ve only held her hand once. That’s enough to prove she’s not someone who acts casually. If you leave in the end, what reason will you give her for breaking it off?”

“It’s just a temporary mark. Why would I need to date her?” Xi Ling muttered, her voice fading to a whisper.

“Xi Ling, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about the future.”

Xiao Xiang remained unmoved, her tone growing stricter.

She felt that Xi Ling was like a cat fishing by a pond, but were those harmless little fish? She might end up with nothing and get her pretty fur soaked.

Xi Ling turned her head away. “Love comes fast and leaves fast. What’s so hard to accept? Besides, being attracted to pheromones—can that even count as love?”

After a pause, she added, “If she really can’t accept it, I’ll just say her performance was lacking.”

Xiao Xiang: !

Her temples throbbed, her expression crumbling as she lost control. She felt utterly unwell.

Wouldn’t Ye Cike go insane hearing that excuse?!

“Little ancestor, I’m begging you! Can’t you just have a proper relationship? Why do you have to leave? I’ve even written a PR plan for your romance!” Xiao Xiang grabbed Xi Ling’s shoulders in frustration, shaking her.

Xi Ling didn’t respond.

She let Xiao Xiang shake her until she was done, then lowered her head to smooth her hair.

Outside, the city buzzed with traffic, the hustle and bustle never ceasing, a cacophony of sounds that never stopped.

Xi Ling sat silently, like a porcelain doll—quiet, fragile, and forever gentle.

Even now, many believed such qualities defined an omega.

“Am I cute?” She suddenly looked up, her deer-like, dark eyes gazing at Xiao Xiang.

Xiao Xiang lips parted, and after a moment, she said hoarsely, “Cute.”

Her voice was rough, as if forced from her throat.

“Is that what Ye Cike thinks too?”

Xi Ling opened a gift box containing a silk scarf, clearly handled with care, or the delicate mulberry silk would have been ruined, not perfectly preserved like this.

Her face expressionless, she ran her fingers over the scarf’s surface. “It’s treated so well by Ye Cike because it’s precious.”

“But I’m not as precious as it is. I’m not from a wealthy family, nor do I have top-tier omega pheromones. I’m even quite bad, always scheming.”

Xi Ling gave a self-deprecating smile, her voice soft. “I had the director cut her scenes, waiting for her to confront me, just so we’d have more interactions.

When I figured out her identity, my first thought was to use her to pave the way for Qu Weiyue.”

“I’m not as cute as she thinks.”

A long silence followed, then Xiao Xiang let out a deep sigh.

Xi Ling slowly began packing her things. The silk scarf was folded and tucked away at the bottom. The box of glittering candies was closed.

“Let’s go. There’s still a lot to do. Remember to delete the PR plan,” she said calmly.

Xiao Xiang hugged her laptop and returned to the driver’s seat, glancing at the rearview mirror.

Xi Ling propped her head up, looking out the window, distant and detached, as if an invisible glass wall separated her from the world.

Xiao Xiang hesitated but didn’t delete the PR plan on her desktop.

After all, someone had been so happy eating candy, her eyes brimming with satisfaction. Would she really be willing to leave?

Or, when the time came, would Ye Cike really let her go?

＊

Ye Cike swallowed a large gulp of medicine, her face wrinkling from the bitter, sour taste that overwhelmed her senses, as if it were destroying her taste buds.

This was the medicine Qin Cunxue prescribed to help control her pheromone leakage.

She sat at her computer, the chat window open, her mouse hovering over Xi Ling’s profile picture. Three days had passed since that dinner, and Xi Ling hadn’t reached out once.

But she needed to talk to Xi Ling.

Qin Cunxue had insisted she get an item with Xi Ling’s pheromones for testing to determine the cause of her condition’s changes.

But how was she supposed to ask without sounding weird?

“Ugh, how do I say it without seeming strange?” Ye Cike groaned, banging her head on the desk, her expression more troubled than when she drank the medicine.

A few minutes later, she lifted her head, moved the mouse, and started typing in the chat box.

Just as she typed “Xi Ling,” a pop-up notification in the bottom right corner caught her eye.

[Breaking! Qu Weiyue’s Long Post Accusing Meng Gujin]

Without thinking, Ye Cike clicked it.

But instead of Qu Weiyue’s post, Meng Gujin’s clarification statement appeared first.

She skimmed it quickly—predictably, it was nonsense. Meng accused Qu Weiyue of slander, demanded evidence, called it rumors, and threatened a lawsuit.

At the end, a highlighted passage read:

[The company nurtured you for years, and I always treated you like a sister. Now you accuse me with baseless claims. Good luck!]

A blatant threat.

Ye Cike smirked, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she posted a long message.

[Looking human must be tough for you, being non-recyclable trash and all.]

Feeling a bit better after the jab, she returned to staring at Xi Ling’s profile picture, lost in thought.

A sudden, jarring ringtone startled her. Glancing at the screen, Ye Cike cautiously answered the call.

Ning Lan’s deafening shout came through. “Ye Cike, you actually used your main account to trash-talk?!”