Transmigrated as the Black-Bellied Film Empress's Live-in Alpha (GL) - Chapter 6

She didn’t suspect anything, merely glanced at Chen Qingying, and teased, “It’s rare to see you so forgetful. Good thing Xiao Bai is by your side, otherwise no one would take care of you.”

“Oh, her? Old habit, nothing strange.” Although every time she was called “Xiao Bai,” she always had the illusion of being called a dog, Bai Nian had grown used to it over the years.

Walking to Chen Qingying’s side, she placed her hand on the Omega’s shoulder. A faint bitter scent wafted from her hair. Chen Qingying was tall and slender, and Bai Nian could feel the boniness of her shoulder when she held it.

“Xiao Bai has such a good personality.” Chen Zi clearly liked Bai Nian very much, laughing twice at her antics. In the eyes of elders, Chen Qingying was sensible and gentle, and logically, she would find someone similar.

Unexpectedly, it was Bai Nian, with her lively personality. While surprising, Chen Zi believed their relationship must be exceptionally good.

“Just got off the plane. I ordered dinner for Auntie. I’ll go to the main entrance to pick it up,” Chen Qingying said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes, smoothly changing the subject.

“You’re always so thoughtful, dear. I’ll go wait inside then, you tidy up your work documents.” Chen Zi gave a few instructions, then stood up and walked towards the dining room.

When the door was ajar, only Chen Qingying and Bai Nian remained in the empty living room. The laptop on the coffee table blinked with a red low battery light, and the agreement symbolizing their breakup was clutched behind Bai Nian’s back.

Seeing the person leave, Chen Qingying’s shoulders subtly lifted. After shaking off the arm resting on them, her foxy eyes stared at Bai Nian, her gaze inscrutable.

Her sharp features were distorted by the light. Although nothing was said, Bai Nian understood the warning.

“Hands off.” Leaving this reminder, she clipped the documents inside the laptop and carried it upstairs.

Bai Nian knew Chen Qingying was resistant to the original character; when she touched Chen Qingying just now, she distinctly felt her body stiffen for a moment.

How could she have forgotten that? Chen Qingying must now think she was taking advantage of her while acting.

Sure enough, she had the ability to mess things up since childhood.

Clutched in her hand was the divorce agreement, the edges of the paper wrinkled and distorted. Chen Qingying’s signature was elegantly graceful, yet not overly presumptuous. Bai Nian’s signature line, however, remained blank.

She wouldn’t be able to sign this contract today. Bai Nian felt both relieved and awkward.

While daydreaming, footsteps came from the staircase. Chen Qingying leaned on the railing, half of her long hair swept back, its ends slightly curled, covering the adornments on her chest, looking down at Bai Nian.

When she first entered the workplace, Bai Nian was taught: a worker should always appear busy, even if doing nothing, to make the boss feel you’re hard at work.

She deeply understood this principle. Now, Chen Qingying was her superior.

“Where’s the takeout? I’ll go get it for you!” She folded the divorce agreement and put it in her pocket, her voice full of eagerness.

Chen Qingying’s expression was like someone wanting to give Bai Nian a hard time but unable to find fault. Her skirt swayed as she walked downstairs, “The takeout isn’t allowed inside, it’s at the security booth.”

“Okay!” As her words fell, Bai Nian was already at the door, leaning against the wall, preparing to put on her shoes.

“Wait.” Just as she opened the door, Chen Qingying called out to her from behind.

The door was opened a crack, and hot air intertwined with the cool air inside, a feeling of dryness seeping from her skin into her heart.

The entrance light wasn’t on. The two of them were shrouded in dimness, observing each other by moonlight. Bai Nian couldn’t make out the other’s expression, only heard a crisp sound as Chen Qingying handed her something.

“Keys.”

The silvery metal almost touched her face. Feeling that coolness, Bai Nian suddenly felt embarrassed.

It was hard to describe her feelings at that moment, a sense of detachment from the book. It was like a person who only existed on paper was standing vividly before her, blurring the line between reality and dream.

Her usually articulate self suddenly faltered, speechless, taking the keys without daring to look at Chen Qingying’s face, quietly saying.

“Thank you.”

Thinking about it, Chen Qingying might not hate her that much. Or perhaps, even if she did, she would still give a reminder.

Her previous malicious and petty conjectures about this Omega seemed laughable, like looking in a mirror made of disturbed water.

No wonder she was chosen as the female lead by the author, indeed… it wasn’t without reason.

Mosquitoes buzzed in the summer night, especially where the greenery was dense. Bai Nian gripped the keys and jogged along the road.

Panting, she arrived at the security booth. Seeing her, the guard handed over the takeout box. “In such a good mood, celebrating with takeout?”

The guard was a burly male Beta in his forties. He was quite familiar with the original character and greeted her every time they met.

This made Bai Nian feel a sudden admiration. The person whose body she now inhabited was so smooth, so good at winning people over. No wonder Chen Qingying had been a poor judge of character.

“Yeah, we made up after a fight.”

Chen Qingying’s attitude towards her had improved; she could probably describe it that way, right?

Bai Nian thought to herself, standing on the steps and tiptoeing to take the takeout box, which was so heavy it almost made her stumble.

The square redwood box was intricately carved, with the restaurant’s name affixed to the top. Its four corners were smoothly polished, and the sides had a hollowed-out design, preventing any food aromas from escaping.

It was quite well-sealed.

But why didn’t anyone tell her this takeout box was almost as big as a twenty-four-inch small suitcase!

Bai Nian had reason to suspect that even if she didn’t offer, Chen Qingying would have made her get the takeout.

The abacus beads were practically hitting her face.

After stopping and starting for nearly ten minutes, she finally saw the villa. Speeding up her pace to enter, the comfortable coolness completely evaporated the sweat dripping from her, and she sighed, pulling a tissue from the rack and wiping her face haphazardly.

Voices came from the dining room. The two were chatting about something, and Chen Zi was laughing the whole time. When she closed the door, the noise from that end stopped. Then, Chen Qingying’s figure appeared at the doorway.

Seeing the person walk towards her, Bai Nian broke into a sweat. She deliberately stepped back a few paces to maintain distance. Thinking about her disheveled appearance, as if she’d just been pulled from water, she dared not get closer.

“Ms. Chen, your takeout.” She pushed the wooden box forward, feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if she had traveled to ancient times to be a maid, her tone full of seeking credit.

The Omega’s expression was unreadable. She didn’t reach out to take it, but instead took out a wet wipe and handed it to Bai Nian.

“Here, wipe yourself. Don’t let Auntie laugh at you.”

The white wet wipe, soaked in moisture, carried the smell of alcohol. Bai Nian was flattered. The tissue in her hand crumpled, and she carefully took the wipe, her fingertips inevitably brushing.

“Oh, it’s just a few steps, but Qingying was worried and insisted on coming out to see you,” Chen Zi’s figure appeared at the dining room doorway at some point, directly across the living room from them.

Her tone was teasing, her crescent-shaped eyebrows raised, as if watching a show.

For a moment, Bai Nian couldn’t describe her feelings. The slight joy that had sprouted in her heart extinguished like a newly lit small flame.

“Stop laughing, let’s eat.” Chen Qingying’s voice suddenly drew closer, the scent of rosemary growing stronger. Bai Nian stood there dumbfounded.

The other person simply brushed away the stray hair stuck to her temples by sweat. From the skewed angle, it looked intimate, like a couple in love.

“Hard work.”

The simple two words made her look up, seeing herself reflected in Chen Qingying’s eyes. Bai Nian was momentarily under the illusion that the other person harbored some genuine emotion.

Her eyes seemed like tangled silk, attracting the gaze of others who couldn’t help but look at her.

Bai Nian quickly lowered her head, softly saying “Oh.” After Chen Qingying turned away, she lifted her hand and rubbed her reddened cheeks.

How pathetic. Just a slightly attractive paper figure, and you’re utterly infatuated.

Silently cursing herself, she bent down again and carried the food box to the dining room.

The semi-open kitchen and dining room were connected. The clean, gleaming island counter showed no traces of oil splatters. Tools were neatly hung in rows on the wall, distorting the view of the room.

Chen Qingying didn’t like to cook and was unwilling to hire a maid to intrude on her private space. Most of the time, she would simply make a salad to get by, only eating properly when filming.

This led to her developing a severe stomach illness later in the book, even fainting from low bl00d sugar during filming.

Chen Zi opened the food box. Raw ingredients and lukewarm dishes were separated by wooden dividers. She took out plates and cutlery and placed them in front of the two.

“This dish is all red, looks spicy,” she said, making conversation during dinner. “When I was abroad, everything was either too sweet or too salty, making me constantly thirsty. I kept wanting to come back.”

“Xiao Bai, can you eat spicy food?” Chen Zi lifted her skirt and sat opposite Chen Qingying.

Bai Nian stared at the plate in front of her, her eyes green with hunger. Although she had eaten a meal at Zhongbang Plaza, her mouth was now starting to water again.

“Oh, me? I love spicy food.” She smiled politely, but her hand resting on the wooden chopsticks moved away.

It was an elder’s dinner. Since Chen Zi hadn’t started eating, she shouldn’t eat first.

“Love spicy food? I remember S City dishes tend to be sweet. Aren’t you a local?” Chen Zi picked up a slice of lantern-shadow beef. “Then how did you and Qingying meet?”

When Bai Nian’s unfamiliar territory was mentioned, she opened her mouth with an “Ah” and cast a pleading look at Chen Qingying beside her.

The Omega picked up a pork rib, elegantly deboning it. Blue veins showed through her porcelain-white hand. She didn’t even look up, slowly saying,

“Nian Nian, Auntie is asking you a question.”

Her voice was so soft it seemed like water could be squeezed from it. If this wasn’t about shirking responsibility, Bai Nian would probably have been utterly charmed.

I don’t know!

Her knowledge of the original character and Chen Qingying was limited to a few brief sentences in the book: they met when they were drunk at a bar. Could she really tell the truth, that she got married for the latter’s money?

How could she say such a thing to an elder?

Facing Bai Nian’s stuttering, Chen Zi assumed the child was shy. Her eyes curved into a smile, faint crow’s feet appearing at the corners. “Auntie won’t laugh at you. We’ve all been through that age; what haven’t we heard?”

She said this, but the radiant light of gossip emanating from her almost blinded Bai Nian.

“Um…” Bai Nian nudged Chen Qingying’s foot under the table, clearly feeling the person beside her pause, then slowly bring her legs together.

This clearly meant she absolutely wouldn’t chime in for her.

Fine, you asked for this.