After Transmigrating as a Scumbag Alpha, I Marked the Crazy Hotshot – Chapter 51

The Jadeite Bangle​¹

The evening breeze was faint, yet it rustled the leaves on the branches, shashasha​², making them sway without resistance.

Cheng Jiqing lowered her gaze. Reflected in her brown pupils was Bai Xin’s face, as delicate and beautiful as a red lily. Her peach blossom eyes were brimming with a watery mist, her eyelashes trembling, captivating one’s heart.

            

Even the splendor of spring wasn’t this intoxicating.

That fair yet scorching hand tugged at her skirt, moving slightly, like a cat’s paw scratching at her.

Cheng Jiqing said, “You’re drunk.”

            

In reality, Cheng Jiqing was saying this to herself.

Bai Xin was drunk and could say any drunken words; she herself was sober and couldn’t take all drunken words seriously.

But Cheng Jiqing understood very well that during her ‘conversation’ with Bai Xin just now, the component of joy in her heart was exceedingly high.

            

Then she had another expectation: she hoped Bai Xin wasn’t drunk right now.

Bai Xin tilted her head up, looked at her for two seconds, and suddenly swung her legs off the bed.

Her whole body was swaying precariously. Cheng Jiqing said, “You’re so drunk, don’t move around…”

            

Though she said that, she still subconsciously reached out to support her.

Bai Xin’s feet landed on the floor. It was only when her knee touched scorching skin that Cheng Jiqing realized—her own left leg had advanced between Bai Xin’s knees.

Her knitted long skirt, which reached her calves, was also pushed up slightly by Bai Xin’s left knee, forming a small arch.

            

Bai Xin shifted a little towards the edge of the bed, almost about to slide off. Cheng Jiqing held her down. “What on earth are you trying to do? Can we just behave ourselves, please?”

She wanted to go out directly to fetch water, but with Bai Xin moving about like this, she was afraid that if she let go, Bai Xin might do something unpredictable.

She was unwilling to think about it, but the sensation on her skin reminded her that if her knee moved any further forward, it would be an unexplorable territory.

            

Remembering that transparent piece of fabric of Bai Xin’s still lying on the bed… Cheng Jiqing was simply suffering.

She tried to pull her leg back. As she moved, Bai Xin suddenly lowered her head and buried her face in Cheng Jiqing’s lower abdomen.

Cheng Jiqing’s body stiffened.

            

The heat made it hard to distinguish whether it was breath or Bai Xin’s lips.

It burned so much that her legs felt a little weak.

The heat rose upwards, her glands throbbed wildly; the heat descended downwards, like ten thousand ants clawing at her heart​³.

            

“Cheng Jiqing… okay?” Bai Xin, so heavily drunk, was still stubbornly asking the previous question.

Cheng Jiqing took a breath. “If I dote on you​⁴, who will dote on me? You tell me.”

“I’ll dote on you.”

            

Bai Xin, pressed against her flat stomach, suddenly replied.

“…”

Cheng Jiqing listened to the muddled, drunken voice and asked, “En, how will you dote on me?”

            

Bai Xin’s hands gripped her waist. Her fingertips, which had been poking into her flesh, now loosened, and her open fingers moved downwards.

The hem of the knitted skirt flipped up over Bai Xin’s knees, which were pressed together. Cheng Jiqing’s legs trembled. She forcibly restrained herself, grabbing those hands that were attempting to venture wildly inwards, holding them tightly.

Cheng Jiqing’s heart pounded like a drum, her throat was dry, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

            

It was absurd, but for some reason, the drunken Bai Xin seemed to be intentionally trying to please her. Cheng Jiqing was reminded of the cat she used to raise.

Just like a little cat that realized it had done something wrong or angered someone, now appearing docile and obedient​⁵, going along with her in everything.

Cheng Jiqing inexplicably felt a sense of psychological satisfaction.

            

At least in Bai Xin’s heart, I’m not that dispensable, am I? Cheng Jiqing thought.

She knew that Bai Xin might not understand anything she said now. Perhaps tomorrow, all of this would be like clouds and smoke passing before the eyes​⁶, gone without a trace upon waking.

Cheng Jiqing said, “Do you know how much I’ve suffered because of you lately? Bai Xin, I’ve suffered too much in the past. From now on, I don’t want to suffer anymore. Do you understand what I mean?”

            

Suffering in any sense, she didn’t want it anymore.

“So, I won’t let myself take what you’re saying now seriously. But I hope… when you wake up, you can still remember what you said tonight…”

Of course, Bai Xin couldn’t understand. All she knew now was that Cheng Jiqing had grabbed her hands, rejecting her once again.

            

She suddenly pushed Cheng Jiqing away!

This push used all her strength. Due to the force and her drunkenness, Bai Xin fell backward onto the bed.

Cheng Jiqing took a step back, watched her fall and then turn over, burying her face in the bed, and said in a muffled voice, “You can go. You all leave eventually anyway…”

            

It was unclear what she meant. After saying that, she didn’t utter another word.

It was quiet for the time being. Cheng Jiqing waited a few more seconds, then slowly let out a breath and turned to walk towards the living room.

After going out, she touched the fabric over her lower abdomen; her fingers felt a little damp.

            

Bai Xin was still feverish, her temperature 38.2 degrees​⁷.

The phone in the living room rang. She answered it while walking into the washroom.

Inside the room.

            

Bai Xin felt extremely dizzy; the alcohol had fully taken effect. She could faintly hear someone talking outside.

“Everything’s fine here on my end. Just make sure you send Qin Yufu back safely.”

“You’re the one who invited her, so you keep an eye on things.”

            

Bai Xin frowned. Unsure what she had thought of, a surge of intense anger and grievance swelled to its peak, and her eyes instantly reddened.

Is everyone going to leave me?

In the end, everyone will leave her, right?

            

Cheng Jiqing hung up the phone and tested the water temperature twice. She couldn’t find any rubbing alcohol, but then she remembered seeing a bottle of baijiu​⁸ in Bai Xin’s kitchen cabinet last time.

Just as she poured the liquor into the water, she faintly heard some movement from inside the room.

She quickened her pace and carried the basin of water in.

            

As soon as she entered, Cheng Jiqing saw that Bai Xin wasn’t on the bed. Instead, she was sitting on the floor below the bed with her back to her, arms wrapped around her legs, her face hidden in her knees.

Her first reaction was: the floor is tiled, isn’t she cold?

Placing the water by the bedside, Cheng Jiqing walked over, squatted down, and intended to pick her up directly. “The floor is cold, first…”

            

Bai Xin slowly raised her head.

Cheng Jiqing froze on the spot—those peach blossom eyes were filled with tears, which fell like pearls from a broken string​⁹, chiseling into her heart.

Cheng Jiqing’s heart felt as if it were experiencing a small earthquake.

            

She was a little frightened, afraid that Bai Xin was in severe pain somewhere. She carefully squatted down and asked, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”

She saw Bai Xin holding a square velvet box.

Bai Xin’s crying was very faint; her sobs seemed suppressed, as if she were used to holding them back.

            

Cheng Jiqing’s brows furrowed deeply into the shape of the character ‘chuan’​¹⁰, leaving only panic and helplessness. “Bai Xin?”

She had seen Bai Xin cry before, but today was different.

Tears streamed down her delicate, flushed cheeks, looking so fragile she seemed about to break. Cheng Jiqing’s heart also grew heavy and pained.

            

She raised her hand to wipe Bai Xin’s tears, but Bai Xin wouldn’t say anything, just cried.

“Please don’t cry…” Cheng Jiqing bit her lip. She had never been this afraid of a woman crying before.

The tears seemed endless. Bai Xin cried with soft sobs, as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Cheng Jiqing knelt on one knee, cupped Bai Xin’s face with both hands, and her thumbs caressed her wet, hot eyes.

            

“Stop crying, okay? You’ll feel worse if you keep crying.”

Cheng Jiqing coaxed softly. Bai Xin had a fever and had been drinking; if she continued to cry, her temperature would only rise higher.

Bai Xin looked at Cheng Jiqing and, crying for no apparent reason, said, “I miss her.”

            

Cheng Jiqing didn’t react immediately. It was just that her crying made Cheng Jiqing feel unbearably anxious. She pressed Bai Xin into her embrace with one hand and patted her back. “Okay, I know.”

She quickly understood that Bai Xin was talking about her mother.

The box Bai Xin was holding was most likely her mother’s.

            

Bai Xin huddled in her embrace, saying in a muffled voice, “I miss her, I miss her so much… Wu, I miss her so much…”

Cheng Jiqing’s nose tingled, and her eyes unknowingly grew warm. She stroked Bai Xin’s back. “I know, I know.”

In Cheng Jiqing’s embrace, Bai Xin’s eyes were pressed against Cheng Jiqing’s chest. Sweat and tears rolled from their touching skin into Cheng Jiqing’s collar.

            

The heat made Cheng Jiqing feel a wave of suffocation.

Bai Xin sobbed, “You’ll all leave, won’t you? You’ll all leave me. Nothing counts, it’s all fake.”

How could Cheng Jiqing care about anything else right now? With Bai Xin crying like this, all she could do was coax her. “No one will leave. Don’t cry anymore.”

            

“I’m sorry…”

Cheng Jiqing’s hand, patting her back, suddenly paused.

Bai Xin’s fingers suddenly tightened on her arm. “I want Bai Zhaoliang to pay the price! I want him to wish he were dead! I want him to bring my mom… back… He’s the one who took her away.”

            

Those intermittent words, some sentences even seemed to be on completely different wavelengths.

But Cheng Jiqing connected them and seemed to understand something.

“The core personnel of the Y2 project… you deliberately withdrew them, didn’t you.” She knew Bai Xin couldn’t answer; this question wasn’t really directed at Bai Xin.

            

Because that was probably the answer.

That’s why Bai Xin had told her not to interfere in the Bai family’s affairs that day.

Cheng Jiqing stroked Bai Xin’s back, frowning and murmuring, “What on earth did Bai Zhaoliang do to you and your mother to make you suffer like this…”

            

Afraid that crying for too long would make her breathing difficult, she lifted Bai Xin’s face from her neck, wiped her tears again, and felt her burning temperature. “I’m not angry with you because of this either. Forget it, we’ll talk properly when you’re sober. Good girl, get up now, let me wipe you down. If you burn up too much, you’ll become silly.”

Cheng Jiqing, for some reason, suddenly remembered Bai Xin saying, ‘You are my laopo​¹¹‘. Following that train of thought, she muttered, “No one wants a silly xifu’er​¹².”

Seeing Bai Xin’s expression turn aggrieved again, Cheng Jiqing quickly said, “Okay, okay, okay, not silly, not silly. You won’t be silly once you get up.”

            

However, Bai Xin’s tears didn’t continue to roll down. Cheng Jiqing’s arm went under Bai Xin’s knees and she picked her up. She heard something fall to the floor as she placed Bai Xin on the bed.

Only then did she look down again and see it was the black velvet box.

She picked it up and placed it on the table. First, she went to the other side, wrung out a towel, and helped Bai Xin wipe her face, palms, arms, then her calves up to her knees, and finally, further up.

            

She paused for a moment, her fingers slightly adjusting the skirt, then wiped with the warm, damp towel.

Bai Xin’s feet twitched, and she murmured, “Water…”

Hearing this, Cheng Jiqing put down the towel, went out to get a cup of warm saltwater, and helped Bai Xin sit up with one hand.

            

Bai Xin took a sip, probably disliked the taste, turned her head away, and made a ying​¹³ sound.

Cheng Jiqing: “…”

She’s really so picky.

            

“You’ve sweated too much, take a couple of sips.”

Bai Xin refused. Cheng Jiqing, having no other way, gently pinched Bai Xin’s mouth open. “Show me some face​¹⁴, okay? If you don’t drink, I’m leaving, la​¹⁵?”

After she said that, Bai Xin surprisingly stopped resisting. Cheng Jiqing was slightly stunned.

            

She hadn’t expected those words to actually work. She looked at Bai Xin’s face again, confirming she hadn’t returned to normal. Then, recalling the things Bai Xin had said when she was crying her eyes out earlier… her heart softened.

“Two more sips.”

Seeing her obedience, Cheng Jiqing had her drink a little more, and saw water trickling down from the corner of Bai Xin’s lips.

            

Her long index finger wiped it away; the moisture quickly evaporated on the hot skin…

Cheng Jiqing placed an ice pack on Bai Xin’s forehead and lightly covered her with a blanket. This time, Bai Xin fell completely asleep, finally settling down.

Cheng Jiqing sat by the bed, her skirt completely soaked. She sat quietly for a while, preparing to get up and go outside to get some air conditioning.

            

Her gaze swept across the table to the box she had picked up from the floor earlier.

Only then did she notice that the bottom drawer of the bedside cabinet was half open. Bai Xin must have taken it out when she was sitting on the floor.

Curiously, Cheng Jiqing picked up the box and opened it.

            

Inside lay a jadeite bangle. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, her gaze fixing on a tiny crack in the bangle.

Cheng Jiqing’s eyes widened slightly. This bangle… and the bangle worn on the wrist of the woman who had saved the original owner of this body…

…were exactly the same.

            

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The author has something to say:

Everyone, don’t be sad, ah! Our Bai-jie has a wife!

Chengcheng: Wuwuwu, laopo, hugs.

            

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