Transmigrated as a Cannon Fodder Alpha in a Scum Alpha Novel (GL) - Chapter 18

In the original novel, Song Shixue’s emotions were often detached. Most of her “friendships” within the industry were merely top figures in the field mentioning her in variety show interviews, which marketing accounts then exaggerated into intimate friendships.

Before Fu Suihan could fully ponder the issue, the car was already parked outside a restaurant in the city center. The interior was decorated in an ancient style, with incense burners placed behind landscape painting screens, sandalwood wafting, water gently flowing, and zither music light and melodious.

In the private room, a woman with wavy hair twirled a pen idly. Her sharp suit highlighted her straight, long legs. Her assistant behind her was taking orders, and noticing the lowered voices of the two, she looked up at them.

This time, no system introduction was needed. Fu Suihan, having crammed entertainment industry knowledge for days, easily recognized the person—Fu An, a Beta who had won Best Actress for many years consecutively. During Song Shixue’s peak, she was the only actress who could contend with her.

However, in recent years, her focus had shifted more towards variety shows, taking very few acting roles. There were also rumors outside that “she was afraid of competing with Song Shixue.” Over time, most of Fu An’s fans also became anti-fans of Song Shixue, fanning the flames whenever Song Shixue made it to trending searches.

Over time, in the eyes of the public, the two were considered “arch-rivals” who never met face-to-face—

And now, the two “arch-rivals” were casually chatting about their recent schedules in a familiar tone. Fu Suihan only then learned that the other party had just finished filming on a certain set that morning and had come to Salt City specifically at Qi Yuan’s invitation to make a special appearance in “For the Emperor.”

The two were clearly old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. After her initial surprise, Fu Suihan decided to give them space to chat. Unexpectedly, the next second, Fu An looked directly at her, extended her hand, her foxy eyes full of curiosity: “You must be Fu Suihan, right? Shixue has mentioned you to me many times. Congratulations, and I hope we can work well together in the future.”

Fu Suihan: “…”

Song Shixue mentioned her to Fu An? Why? What for?

Fu An’s hand was still suspended in mid-air. Fu Suihan shook it briefly and released, as if avoiding suspicion, her tone calm: “Thank you… Senior Fu.”

Fu An had also looked up a lot of information about Fu Suihan before coming. The only two impressions she had were of insecurity and being unlikable, and she didn’t have a good feeling about her. However, now, being watched so closely by the other person, Fu An realized how earnest the gaze in those eyes was.

Fu An finally became interested and was about to continue chatting, but then she felt a cold gaze fall on her face.

“…”

Fu An shrugged indifferently, continuing the unfinished topic.

Song Shixue’s contract was about to expire, and her intention not to renew was very clear. Companies interested in her were as numerous as carp crossing a river. Terms could be negotiated, resources could be offered, as long as she joined. Wen’s, the company Fu An belonged to, was no different.

If Song Shixue was willing to sign with Wen’s, Wen’s would arrange an international project for her. The director was renowned, and the co-stars were all international superstars. Song Shixue had a reputation abroad, but she was still far from truly “international.”

This was undoubtedly a good opportunity.

But the more Fu Suihan listened, the more her eyebrows furrowed.

In the original work, there was also a similar production. It was released only after Song Shixue’s incident, and the female lead naturally went to Fu Qingning. Before joining the crew, press releases about her entering the international market were rampant online. Who knew that within three months of filming, in the very first week of joining the crew, scandals involving everyone from the director to the artists broke out.

There were legal issues, political issues, and moral issues of all kinds. Under public pressure, the investors had no choice but to abandon the project.

Netizens began to settle scores, and Fu Qingning bore the brunt, being ridiculed on trending searches for days. Even if Starry Radiance spent money to suppress public opinion, most passersby’s impression of her as a pure, innocent flower changed.

Upon closer thought, the critical turning point in Fu Qingning’s career seemed to be this movie.

Fu Suihan was thinking about how to subtly remind Song Shixue, but the woman directly rejected the offer: “I’m opening my own studio. Do you want to join?”

The reason used was extremely frank, and she didn’t forget to aggressively poach talent. Fu Suihan was amazed.

Fu An was clearly stunned by her directness too. After a few seconds, she finally said, “You? Open a studio? I asked you a few years ago if you wanted to go solo, and you said you felt tired. And now you’re opening one?”

Song Shixue responded even more frankly: “I didn’t open one before because I didn’t have a goal to strive for.”

Fu An: “And now you do?”

Song Shixue glanced at the stiff Alpha, chuckling lightly: “What’s it to you if I do?”

Song Shixue was being unreasonable, and even Fu Suihan couldn’t find a way to deal with her, so Fu An naturally couldn’t cope either.

The two still had many script-related questions to discuss. By the time the dinner officially concluded, the streetlights were already lit.

After returning to the hotel, Fu An didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and said teasingly, “Qi Yuan told me you were faking a limp, and I didn’t believe it. Are you faking a limp for the role, or for…?”

Song Shixue didn’t answer, but no response was also a strong response. The corridor was silent. Fu An’s attitude finally showed a subtle shift: “Are you serious?”

But the door had already closed in front of her.

After Fu An left, the lights in the room came on.

The sound of flowing water began, mostly obscuring the mechanical recitation of the script. Song Shixue removed her inhibitor patch, and the scent of peaches filled the room, but she seemed unaware, simply gazing at the screen.

A few seconds later, the phone rang. The woman identified herself as Chi Qionglan, the head of EMT.

The purpose of the call was to ask Song Shixue to give Chi Qiu another chance to audition for Shen Miaomiao.

Asking a director for a chance could be seen as “cherishing talent.” But explicitly naming an actor to be given a chance was blatant “under-the-table dealing.”

Chi Qionglan herself knew this wasn’t honorable, so she offered generous terms—a two-year global spokesperson contract for EMT.

Ordinary artists typically signed quarterly business contracts, with the longest partnerships lasting only about a year. A two-year contract was both a bribe and a gesture of goodwill. Clearly, Chi Qionglan was aware of Chi Qiu’s hidden intentions and wanted to win over Song Shixue.

After all, if the Chi and Song families were to intermarry, the biggest beneficiaries would still be the Chi family and EMT.

The Chi family mansion was brightly lit. After stating her terms, Chi Qionglan felt it was impossible for any artist to refuse her offer. Seeing that there was no response from the other end for a long time, she frowned and urged, “This is the best offer EMT can give. I hope Miss Song will consider it seriously and not waste our time for the sake of an inferior artist.”

In the silence, the woman slowly spoke. She sounded as if she was in a confined space, with a faint echo around her: “The contract has already been signed. The role belongs to Fu Suihan, and it will only be hers. Whether she is an inferior artist is not for President Chi to worry about.”

“After all, no matter how inferior she is, she can still play Shen Miaomiao,” Song Shixue said coldly. “What about Miss Chi?”

The words were sarcastic, but because of Song Shixue’s calm delivery, it took Chi Qionglan a long time to react. Just as anger surfaced on her face, the call was already disconnected. When she tried to call back, all that responded was the busy signal indicating she had been blocked.

Chi Qiu was in a daze throughout, barely hearing Chi Qionglan’s reassurances. She returned to her room in a trance. She looked down at the photos in her phone’s album, a full page of them, all showing Song Shixue and Fu Suihan intimately together at the crew’s discussion meeting, taken by others.

She looked at the names of famous marketing accounts in her private messages, hesitated for a long time, but still didn’t send anything.

••••

Three days later.

“For the Emperor” officially began filming.

When they arrived at the set, the sky was still gray, and the strong scent of incense and candles filled the air. Qi Yuan was calling everyone to light incense.

Song Shixue explained, “Qi Yuan has always been a bit superstitious. She’ll offer sacrifices every day during filming.”

Fu Suihan understood perfectly that the more powerful people were, the more they believed in ghosts and gods.

After accompanying Song Shixue to offer incense, the makeup and hair artist took Fu Suihan to another set for a makeup test.

Most of Shen Miaomiao’s early scenes were outside the palace and wouldn’t intersect with Ming Jue, who was inside the palace, so the filming locations were naturally separated.

Without Song Shixue by her side, Fu Suihan didn’t have to distract herself by paying attention to her. She got into character quickly and out of character even faster. Her first solo scene was a one-take, and the assistant director behind the camera was inevitably surprised—auditioning and filming were two completely different situations. The former could probably be passed by rote memorization, while the latter relied on improvisational states.

Fu Suihan blended the two extremely well, so he naturally had no objections.

But not every artist was Fu Suihan.

Soon, during a two-person scene titled “Shen Miaomiao Angrily Smashes a Teacup,” the artist playing the maid opposite Fu Suihan began to have frequent problems. It was either missing or mispronouncing lines, or inexplicably breaking into laughter, almost crashing into the camera.

She looked numb while acting, but her eyes were red and moving when questioned by the assistant director.

The assistant director, remembering her identity as the investor’s niece, was even more numb than she was. After several hours of no progress, he had no choice but to temporarily put this scene on hold, calling it “adjusting their state” and rescheduling it for another day.

In reality, it only conveyed one meaning: if they couldn’t get it right, the scene would be cut directly.

Fu Suihan didn’t care how others acted, but she was annoyed by the wasted time.

Glancing at the artist opposite her, she walked to a corner and looked down at her chat with Song Shixue. The chat history was still stuck on their goodnight wishes from several days ago. She was hesitating whether to ask if the other party had finished filming when a soft female voice gently sounded in her ear: “Fu Suihan.”

She looked up and saw the female Omega, Qiao Shu, who had just been wiping away tears: “You act really well. This is my first time acting, and there are some things I don’t understand. Can you come to my room tonight and teach me?”

She was already beautiful, and speaking slowly made her seem even more pitiful, her words filled with clear suggestions.

Qiao Shu was very sure that no Alpha would refuse such a proposal.

But the Fu Suihan in front of her just gave her a bewildered look, then returned her conflicted gaze to the screen, hesitatingly typing.

Several minutes passed. The words in the chat box were deleted and retyped numerous times, but Fu Suihan still didn’t click send.

Qiao Shu’s legs went numb, and her tears dried: “…Fu Suihan?”

“…You haven’t left yet?”

Fu Suihan seemed to only just notice her and finally spoke.

But her words were a direct hit. Qiao Shu said awkwardly, “Wasn’t I waiting for you?”

“Waiting for me to do what?” After asking, the Alpha seemed to remember something, paused, and replied, “I’m sorry, this is my first time acting too, so I can’t give you advice. If you want to improve your acting, you can read these books.”

After saying that, she showed her reading list.

The Omega felt dizzy just looking at it, completely unable to understand why something that could be “seen” (acting) required reading books: “Um, I mean tonight…”

Fu Suihan stopped speaking and stared at her seriously for a while. The Omega finally felt some hope and was about to introduce herself, but the Alpha’s voice was calm: “I’m sorry, you don’t quite fit my aesthetic. I’m not interested in Omegas.”

Qiao Shu had never heard such a rejection in her life. She said incredulously, “I’m not good-looking?”

“No,” Fu Suihan finally sent the message that had been deleted and retyped over a dozen times in the chat box. After receiving an almost instant reply from the other side, her tone remained calm. “It’s just that I like AA relationships. I’m not interested in Omegas.”

Qiao Shu: “………………”

Author’s Notes:

Qiao Shu: Cunning lesbian

Small Theater:

Shixue’s perspective: (It’s noon, time to greet Xiao Fu) (Opens chat box) (Sees “typing…”) (Excited) (Five minutes later, still “typing…”) (…Might as well be proactive): Want to eat lunch together?

Xiao Fu’s perspective: (Delete) (Delete) (Delete) (She invited me! ) (Replies in one second): Okay.