Toxic Pheromones of a Scumbag Alpha (GL) - Chapter 20
That plain-looking shovel was actually really heavy. Ji Yao kept a calm expression, but the hand she had in her pocket was shaking.
Tan Zishu stayed quiet with her for a while, then leaned over like a clingy child, clearly asking for trouble. “Jie, want me to massage your hands?”
Ji Yao gave her a cold look. “I can still lift a knife, you know.”
Tan Zishu held out a can of milk. “Then help me open this.”
Ji Yao raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have hands?”
Tan Zishu answered sweetly, with an innocent face, “Unfortunately, I’m too weak to take care of myself. I need my guardian to help.”
Ji Yao rolled her eyes, took the can without thinking, and casually pulled at the tab—only for her hand to tremble so badly she couldn’t open it properly.
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
Tan Zishu burst into laughter, sitting on the bench and nearly falling over from how hard she was laughing.
Ji Yao: “…Stop laughing.”
“I swear, this is the happiest laugh I’ve had in years,” Tan Zishu said shamelessly. “Thank you, Jie.”
And she didn’t stop. She turned to a little dog walking by and said, “Come on, say thank you to Jie too.”
The dog gave a confused little bark. “Woof.”
It was a Chihuahua. Ji Yao stared at the tiny dog and said softly, “I used to have a friend who loved Chihuahuas.”
“…That friend of yours…”
Tan Zishu’s smile faded a little. Her expression darkened, a trace of anger showing in her eyes. Ji Yao was talking about someone who used to call herself her best friend—someone who had enjoyed all kinds of benefits from Ji Yao’s kindness. But when Ji Yao passed away, that so-called friend disappeared faster than anyone else… She didn’t even show up to the funeral.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Ji Yao finally got the can open and handed it to Tan Zishu. “Sun Lin. She used to buy you snacks when you were little. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” Tan Zishu said through clenched teeth.
She hadn’t dealt with Sun Lin yet because she wanted Ji Yao to see with her own eyes just what kind of person that “good friend” really was. Maybe then, Ji Yao would stop trusting the wrong people.
Ji Yao still looked confused. “Why do I feel like you really don’t like her?”
“I don’t,” Tan Zishu said quickly, avoiding the question. Then she tilted her chin toward the path ahead. “Isn’t that her?”
Ji Yao looked forward—and immediately met the eyes of a couple walking toward them.
…Sun Lin, and her dirtbag boyfriend.
Ji Yao was fuming.
Back then, it was she who had worked herself to the bone to help Sun Lin escape from an abusive relationship—her boyfriend had cheated on her and hit her. Ji Yao had dragged her out of that miserable situation. And yet, after Ji Yao died, that pathetic woman went right back to the same man. Ten years had passed, and by the looks of it, they’d even gotten married.
What kind of messed-up joke was that?
She didn’t want to see them ever again.
“Ji…” Sun Lin’s eyes widened in shock when she saw the woman beside Tan Zishu. She instantly grabbed her boyfriend’s arm. “Hubby, isn’t that—her?”
Ji Yao calmly turned her face away and leaned gently against Tan Zishu’s shoulder, whispering, “I don’t want her to recognize me. Help me out.”
Tan Zishu understood immediately. She lifted her head and responded, “That’s not her. You’re mistaken.”
“Zishu! Long time no see,” Sun Lin greeted her with a wide, eager smile. Her boyfriend followed suit, clearly noticing that Tan Zishu was the more valuable person in the room. “I heard you recently won another big award!”
Tan Zishu didn’t even bother to stand. She gently adjusted Ji Yao’s position, shielding her as if protecting something fragile, and replied in a flat voice, “Just call me Tan Zishu. We’re not that close.”
Ji Yao, listening to all this: “…”
Not even a little courtesy?
Sun Lin’s smile faltered, but she forced herself to keep going, stepping forward to make a connection. “Back when your sister Ji Yao was still around, I used to bring you snacks all the time. You don’t remember?”
Tan Zishu cut her off. “But she’s not around anymore.”
Sun Lin tried again, “Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean our bond has to disappear. We’ve known each other for so many years—”
“Oh, so you do remember how many years it’s been?” Tan Zishu wasn’t interested in keeping up appearances. She had no intention of being polite. She went straight for the truth—things Ji Yao didn’t even know yet. “After my sister died, as her so-called friend, you didn’t help with any of the funeral arrangements. You didn’t even come to say goodbye. You didn’t grieve at all.”
Sun Lin rubbed her nose awkwardly. “I was busy at the time.”
“Busy?” Tan Zishu’s smile turned cold. “Busy getting married?”
All those years, she had told Ji Yao her life was a mess, that her boyfriend was abusive, manipulative, that she was trapped—and Ji Yao believed her. Ji Yao gave her sympathy, gave her care, gave her money. In the end, she used that very money—on the day of Ji Yao’s funeral—to marry the same man she used to cry about.
Sun Lin’s husband couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped forward to defend her. “Tan Zishu, don’t think you’re all that just because you’re a celebrity with a bit of cash! Watch your mouth! You’ve got no manners at all—your behavior is disgraceful!”
“I have no manners?” Tan Zishu said coolly. “Fine. I’ll admit I’ve got no morals, no class. But at least I’m good-looking, and that’s enough.”
She said it shamelessly, without blinking.
“And you two—talking about ‘morals’? Please. Doesn’t it keep you up at night?”
Sun Lin tried to hold her husband back, mumbling, “Forget it, forget it.”
Tan Zishu didn’t stop. “Sure, maybe all I have is money. But—” She dragged out the words, then lifted her eyes, those narrow single eyelids sharp and cold, “If you have enough money, that alone can make you powerful. It can make you untouchable.”
Sun Lin’s husband rolled his eyes hard enough to sprain something.
Tan Zishu went in for the kill. “You two used the money my sister gave you to secretly start a company. Things are going pretty well now, aren’t they?”
She had once intended to let Ji Yao handle them herself. But thinking it over now, she changed her mind. Since the two of them were unlucky enough to run into her today, she might as well take the opportunity to give them some payback.
She felt Ji Yao, still resting on her shoulder, subtly lift her head.
Across from them, Sun Lin and her husband didn’t look so good.
Sun Lin asked cautiously, “What are you planning to do to our company?”
Tan Zishu shrugged, not bothering to give a straight answer. She honestly couldn’t care less. All she had to do was drop a subtle hint to her team, and there’d be people lining up to get things done for her. There was no need for her to personally worry about some small-time business drama.
She replied, “I just want to see how it ends… I won’t make things too difficult. I’ll just help you go back to how things were before you met me.”
Back to those days when they struggled to make ends meet, constantly arguing, living in chaos.
“Tan Zishu, are you messing with us, or are you seriously trying to cause trouble?” Sun Lin was still trying to figure it out. This sudden turn from Tan Zishu didn’t feel real—it felt like a prank. “I didn’t think you were this kind of person.”
“I was just messing around at first,” Tan Zishu said with a fake smile. “But now? Yeah, I’m serious. Life’s been a little too boring lately—figured I might as well find some entertainment.”
At that moment, Ji Yao finally lifted her head and faced the couple directly. She added calmly, “Sister Tan doesn’t bother with fairness.”
Sister Tan?
Sun Lin froze for a second at the title, then stared more closely at Ji Yao’s face.
More than ten years had passed, yet this face still looked youthful, unchanged. It couldn’t possibly be Ji Yao… could it?
But she looked so much like her. What was going on?
Ji Yao, playing her role perfectly, clung to Tan Zishu’s arm with a soft, delicate expression, the very picture of gentle dependence.
Tan Zishu didn’t say much. She only added, “She had her face done to look like Ji Yao.”
And naturally, Sun Lin found a way to make sense of it—Tan Zishu must have missed Ji Yao so much that she had someone who resembled her undergo surgery to look even more like her.
Sun Lin: “…”
Suddenly, she felt like she had stumbled into something very strange.
“You really don’t have to worry,” Ji Yao said sweetly, her voice so gentle it felt almost fake. “Sister Tan may have a sharp tongue, but she’s soft-hearted. She’s just upset that you haven’t contacted her all these years. That earlier talk… don’t take it seriously.”
Sun Lin and her husband immediately let out a breath of relief.
Sun Lin swallowed hard, moved to tears by the kindness—even Tan Zishu’s ‘double’ was so thoughtful and sweet, always putting others first.
“Thank you,” Sun Lin said, genuinely touched.
Ji Yao smiled pleasantly. “I’d much rather hear: I’m sorry.”
Sun Lin: “???”
Ji Yao gave a bright, harmless smile. “I was just kidding. Why take it so seriously?”
Once Sun Lin and her husband finally left with their little dog, Tan Zishu turned to Ji Yao.
“Jie, were you happy with how that went?”
“It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.” Ji Yao’s expression was hard to read as she looked down at the empty soda can in her hand. “Actually… I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want their ‘sorry’ anymore. It’s worthless.”
Tan Zishu waited quietly, letting her finish.
Ji Yao turned her head and asked, “Since you already knew what they’d done, why did you wait so long to do something about it? I don’t believe you’re someone who holds grudges for years and just leaves them alone.”
She was right.
Tan Zishu had once been caught in a time loop. Every time it restarted, she would punish people like Sun Lin in different ways. But eventually, she got tired of it. She wanted to leave it in Ji Yao’s hands—to let her decide if these people were worth dealing with or not.
This time, she hadn’t done anything. She just waited—waited to see who would be unlucky enough to run into Ji Yao first. Whoever it was, would be the first to pay.
If Ji Yao wanted to deal with it, she would let her.
If Ji Yao didn’t, Tan Zishu would handle it quietly on her own.
Either way, no one was getting away easily.
Tan Zishu smiled. “You know I hold grudges. Anyone who ever hurt you isn’t getting off easy. I just haven’t figured out the most satisfying way to deal with them yet.”
Yeah, right, Ji Yao thought. You clearly already planned it out. You were way too smooth back there. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve done it before.
For some reason, Ji Yao had a strange feeling that Tan Zishu had been waiting for this day on purpose—waiting for her to run into Sun Lin and her husband, just to see how she’d react… and only then deliver the final blow.
Tan Zishu added quietly, “I was afraid you’d still be too softhearted. That you’d want to forgive them.”
Ji Yao crushed the empty can in her hand. “What? Weren’t we just helping them?”
Now it was Tan Zishu’s turn to look confused. She blinked. “Huh?”
Ji Yao explained, with a calm and strangely cheerful voice, “We really were helping them.”
She continued, more serious now:
“That couple is good at enjoying the good times together—but they can’t handle hard times. When life is easy, they get along just fine. But when things start going wrong, he gets violent, and she gets bitter. That just makes everything worse and leads to disaster.
I tried to help Sun Lin leave him before—because I wanted her to fix things at the root. But it didn’t work.
People’s lives naturally have highs and lows. Since a low point is coming eventually, we’re just helping them get there a little sooner. That way, maybe they won’t end up pulling each other’s hair out when they’re old.
That’s… really kind of us.”