Substitute Alpha Gets Confessed to by Her Ex’s Aunt on a Survival Variety Show – Chapter 177

Hongdu Lovers

“Captain Liu.”

Half-asleep, Nan Huaixu heard someone talking—a low, indistinct buzzing.

            

Whose voice was that?

She remembered falling asleep at home, not at the office.

And with Liu Yinxi, no less.

            

Nan Huaixu’s eyes snapped open. Her vision swam from blurry to clear as faint morning light filtered through the curtains, falling on the projector screen opposite the bed.

The classic old film was still playing, a character delivering the line: “I wish you happiness, even if your happiness no longer comes from me.”

Nan Huaixu stared at the screen, lost in thought.

            

So the voice she’d just heard was from the movie.

She lay still for a couple of seconds to collect herself, then remembered—last night she and Liu Yinxi had been watching a movie on the newly purchased projector. They’d fallen asleep halfway through. The system was set to loop the playlist, and since it was brand new with only one film saved in the favorites, it had played over and over all night.

Nan Huaixu reached for the remote, switched off the projector, and turned her head. From the plush pillow, a cascade of black hair spilled out, topped with a puppy ear.

            

Nan Huaixu laughed softly. This one had fallen asleep still wearing them.

She patted the top of Liu Yinxi’s head.

It was rare to see Liu Yinxi sleep in, so Nan Huaixu slipped out of bed as quietly as she could, careful not to wake her.

            

They’d agreed that whoever lost would make breakfast. Looked like Nan Huaixu would have to do it herself this time.

She almost never cooked, but breakfast was the simplest meal—just pop store-bought bagels into the little toaster oven to warm up.

After washing up and changing clothes, Nan Huaixu sat at the vanity to do her makeup. She tilted her cheek slightly and noticed a small wound near the corner of her mouth—the result of Liu Yinxi enthusiastically demonstrating “how a puppy barks” and accidentally biting her.

            

In Nan Huaixu’s opinion, that hadn’t been a demonstration of how a puppy barks. It had been a demonstration of how a puppy bites.

When it happened, Nan Huaixu had let out a pained grunt, and Liu Yinxi had scrambled back in a panic, rummaging through the medicine kit to disinfect the wound and spray on medicinal powder. After that, she’d sat there on her best behavior, not daring to make another move, obediently watching the movie.

Even now, thinking about Liu Yinxi’s frantic flustering, Nan Huaixu couldn’t help but laugh.

            

An inexperienced little Alpha was just clumsy and rash.

Downstairs in the dining room.

The toaster oven chimed—the bagels were done. Nan Huaixu was taking milk from the refrigerator when her phone rang.

            

She tapped the speakerphone, scrolling through news on her tablet while eating a bagel. “Hey? You didn’t get scolded when you went back yesterday, did you?”

“Who dares act presumptuous in front of me?”

“Hehe, your paper tiger mask has already shattered.”

            

“I’m not messing around with you. I have something to tell you. I was going to bring your saozi and Doudou over this afternoon to make cakes together, but I have a last-minute dinner engagement tonight, so we’ll come at nine-thirty in the morning instead. I want to take you along to the dinner tonight. Dress up a bit.”

Nan Huaixu set down her milk glass and picked up the phone. “Making cakes in the morning is fine, but you want me at your dinner? You’re actually inviting me to dinner? Why does this feel like a weasel paying a New Year call to the chicken—not up to any good.”

“Nan Huaixu! You’re getting more and more insolent. Am I a weasel?”

            

“It’s just a metaphor.”

“I’m not bored enough to waste time on useless dinner engagements. There’ll only be a few people this time—leaders from the broadcasting and publicity department, a TV station executive, and two media planners who’ve been rising to fame lately.”

“What a coincidence. Those are exactly the connections I most want to make right now. Sis, don’t tell me you put this dinner together specially for me?”

            

“Focus on your little cakes. Are you up yet?”

“Just woke up. I even prepared a whole box of practice workbooks for Doudou.”

An exaggerated laugh came through the phone from Nan Lingxuan. “Finally doing something a proper aunt should do.”

            

Nan Huaixu’s lips curved into a smile. They chatted a bit more before hanging up.

It was already past eight. Nan Huaixu went upstairs to wake Liu Yinxi.

She pushed open the bedroom door. A silhouette sat bolt upright on the bed, two puppy ears standing straight on top.

            

Nan Huaixu crept over and hugged her from behind. “Ambush!”

Liu Yinxi turned her head, the headband knocked crooked from the impact. She pressed a kiss to Nan Huaixu’s cheek, then reached up to touch the corner of Nan Huaixu’s mouth. “Does it still hurt?”

Nan Huaixu laughed. “If you’d waited any longer to ask, it would’ve fully healed.”

            

Liu Yinxi, still groggy from sleep, took a moment to register that Nan Huaixu was teasing her, then giggled twice.

Nan Huaixu brought her newly bought clothes and told her that Nan Lingxuan’s family was coming at nine-thirty, they’d have lunch at home, and in the evening Nan Huaixu would be going to a dinner with Nan Lingxuan.

Liu Yinxi nodded in agreement. Nan Huaixu removed her headband, tucked it into the vanity cabinet, and stood at the bathroom doorway watching her wash up. “What were you doing sitting on the bed just now?”

            

Liu Yinxi cupped water to splash her face, her voice mingling with the sound of running water. “I just woke up and was thinking about how to receive Eldest Sister.”

“Eldest Sister? You mean Nan Lingxuan?”

Liu Yinxi dabbed her face dry with a soft cotton towel. “Mm-hm. I’d only call her that in private. Am I allowed to address her that way?”

            

Nan Huaixu’s lips curved as she raised an eyebrow. “Of course. You can even call her that to her face.”

Liu Yinxi happily bounded over to kiss her forehead.

Having received Nan Huaixu’s permission, Liu Yinxi was delighted.

            

But in front of President Ling, she didn’t dare call her Eldest Sister.

Propriety had to be observed.

Two trays of fragrant cupcakes came out of the oven.

            

There were all sorts of flavors, a riot of colors—their beautiful appearance was enough to make anyone’s mouth water on sight.

Nan Lingxuan’s younger daughter went by the childhood name Doudou. She was still in middle school, exceptionally lively. Hearing that there’d be delicious cupcakes to eat and that she’d get to see her idolized Little Aunt, she came bounding in with excitement.

Doudou said she recognized Liu Yinxi—she’d seen her on the survival livestream.

            

She declared that Liu Yinxi was amazing and that she wanted to go wilderness surviving with her too, running up to Nan Lingxuan and shouting at the top of her lungs: “Mami! I want to go explore a primeval forest! You’ve never been to a primeval forest, have you? If you entered a survival competition, you wouldn’t last even one day. Day two—Nan Lingxuan eliminated!”

Nan Lingxuan: “?”

Doudou bounced over to Liu Yinxi’s side and said to Nan Lingxuan, “Not like Xiao Liu-jiejie—she’s super amazing, a survival champion! Mami, all you ever do is make me do workbooks. But did you know, people who only know how to do workbooks can’t survive in the wild at all? Mami, you’re so weak!”

            

Nan Lingxuan: “?!”

No—what was wrong with society these days? Did every kid think their mom was the weakest, most useless person who couldn’t do anything, while everyone else could do everything?

Nan Lingxuan narrowed her eyes, her gaze darkening several shades as it landed on Liu Yinxi.

            

Liu Yinxi hastily stuffed cake into the child’s mouth to shut her up.

She kindly helped Nan Lingxuan salvage a shred of dignity. “Doudou, everyone’s good at different things. In the city, there’s plenty of food and a place to live—your Mami doesn’t need survival skills. She’s incredible at business, you know. She makes lots of money and buys you yummy things.”

Doudou munched on cake and mumbled, “Business is so boring. I don’t like that kind of amazing. I want to be a big star! I want to be an explorer!”

            

Nan Lingxuan curled her lip. “You’ll be a big star in your dreams! If you don’t like it, forget it! It’s not like the Nan family’s future depends on you anyway.”

Doudou planted her hands on her hips. “Hmph!”

Nan Lingxuan planted her hands on her hips. “Hmph.”

            

Well now—these two shouldn’t be fighting like this.

How was she supposed to mediate?

Liu Yinxi cast a helpless glance at Nan Huaixu, who was sitting in the living room chatting with her saozi. The two beautiful, refined Omegas smiled at her and continued exchanging amusing anecdotes about daily life, showing no intention whatsoever of intervening in the mother-daughter squabble.

            

It seemed saozi wanted Nan Lingxuan to spend more time with Doudou, even if it meant arguing—any contact was better than none.

And from the way Nan Lingxuan and Doudou rubbed each other the wrong way, Doudou wasn’t close to her Mami at all. Clearly, Nan Lingxuan was rarely home.

After the cupcakes, Liu Yinxi started making lunch.

            

Doudou was curious because she’d watched Liu Yinxi cook camp meals on the livestream and they looked delicious, so she wanted to learn alongside her.

Liu Yinxi chatted with the child while prepping ingredients. “Doudou, who eats with you more often—your Mama or your Mami?”

Doudou said, “Mama’s always the one with me. Mami doesn’t come home for days at a time. She must be off visiting that illegitimate child.”

            

Illegitimate child?

She must mean Luo Ling.

Liu Yinxi now understood the root of the problem between mother and daughter: Doudou’s strained relationship with Nan Lingxuan stemmed from her belief that Mami favored an illegitimate child and didn’t care about her or Mama.

            

Liu Yinxi bent down and whispered to Doudou, “Do you know about my relationship with your family?”

Doudou gave her a sly, knowing glance and whispered back, “I heard Mama say before that you were a pitiful person. That Luo person didn’t like you and bought your freedom to be a stand-in. Xiao Liu-jiejie, you were hurt by that illegitimate child too, right?”

Liu Yinxi hadn’t expected this kid to know so much.

            

She immediately took Doudou’s side. “That’s right. Luo Ling wasn’t very nice to me.”

Doudou wore a precociously solemn expression. “I knew it. But don’t worry, Xiao Liu-jiejie—now you’re good friends with my Little Aunt! My Little Aunt is super, super, super nice. She’ll protect you!”

“Mm!” Liu Yinxi nodded, peeling a potato in her hand. Then she shifted the conversation. “But Doudou, in all the years I spent with Luo Ling, your Mami never once went to see her.”

            

Doudou frowned in surprise. “Really? Then why does she always say she’s working overtime or on business trips? I’ve seen it on TV, and my classmates say their parents use ‘overtime’ and ‘business trips’ as excuses when they’re cheating.”

“She really is working overtime and going on business trips. Your Mami runs the biggest corporate group in Hongdu. She leads tens of thousands of employees, and she’s responsible for all their families. If anything went wrong with the group and those employees couldn’t get paid, their children wouldn’t be able to eat good food or have fun.”

Doudou stared at the small potatoes soaking in the water basin, lost in thought. “Really?”

            

Liu Yinxi wiped her hands on her apron, pulled out her phone, and searched for Nan Group. She showed Doudou photos of the corporate headquarters building and news articles about Nan Lingxuan’s financial division. “Really. Your Mami is the most famous businesswoman in Hongdu. Look at where she works—it’s a very tall, very big building, all lit up golden even at night, with lots of people working overtime inside. Doudou, have you ever been to your Mami’s workplace?”

Doudou shook her head. She zoomed in on a photo of Nan Lingxuan in the news, studying it carefully, her expression astonished—as if she were seeing a completely different Mami.

Liu Yinxi’s voice was gentle. “Hearing is deceptive; seeing is believing. You’ve never actually seen your Mami go to the Luo family, have you? Doudou, if you want to know the truth, go visit the company with your Mami and see for yourself. Then you’ll know whether she’s been telling the truth.”

            

Doudou flipped through photo after photo of her mother immersed in the corporate world, her expression growing more somber, her voice taking on a nasal quality. “I understand now.”

Doudou had inherited the swift and resolute temperament of both her mothers. True to form, she sat down with Nan Lingxuan after lunch for an open and candid heart-to-heart. The two of them laughed and cleared the air. Doudou volunteered to accompany Mami at the company, and Nan Lingxuan promised to carve out more time to spend with her.

However, Doudou still refused to do her workbooks, and Nan Lingxuan refused to compromise on academic discipline.

            

The mother-daughter bickering hadn’t improved in the slightest.

Liu Yinxi sighed helplessly. She’d thought she could resolve the root cause, but it seemed like wasted effort.

Everything she’d done to mediate between Nan Lingxuan and Doudou had been witnessed by Nan Huaixu, who walked up behind her and patted her shoulder. “Don’t sigh. Doudou and my sister are clearly in much better spirits.”

            

Liu Yinxi was surprised. “Are they?”

Nan Huaixu smiled and nodded.

Liu Yinxi turned to look at the quarreling pair, puzzled. “How can you tell?”

            

Nan Huaixu leaned close to Liu Yinxi’s ear and whispered, “My sister came to tell me something earlier…”

Liu Yinxi’s eyes widened with pleasant surprise as she heard the rest.

—”Manman, ask Liu Yinxi if she’d like to come along to the dinner tonight. If she wants to carve out a place for herself in new media, she needs to connect with industry leaders and elites. Don’t misunderstand—I’m doing this for you, not for her. I will never accept her.”

            

After Doudou reconciled with Nan Lingxuan, Nan Lingxuan had sought out Nan Huaixu and spoken these words.

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Six in the evening, Hongdu Kelly Mansion.

The banquet hall was a gathering of luminaries, goblets clinking and toasts flying.

            

Compared to the lively first floor, the second-floor VIP private dining suites had their doors tightly shut. The corridor was empty and hushed.

Liu Yinxi followed Nan Huaixu and Nan Lingxuan into the private suite. Two people were already seated inside. Seeing them enter, both rose immediately to introduce themselves.

Liu Yinxi caught sight of one of the Betas and froze, staring for several seconds.

            

The Beta maintained a polite smile. “Hello, Liu Yinxi. My name is Han Shuang. I’m the chief planner of Survivor 5.”

Liu Yinxi snapped back to herself. “Oh—hi. Hello.”

Nan Huaixu smoothed over Liu Yinxi’s lapse in etiquette. “Hello, Planner Han. It’s not just Yinxi who has feelings about seeing you—I’ve got a little score to settle too. Those airdrop segments you designed were pure torture.”

            

Han Shuang laughed. “That’s what brings out the true strength of Teacher Nan and Liu Yinxi.”

Everyone laughed it off and moved on.

Before long, the rest of the guests arrived, and under Nan Lingxuan’s lead, they ate and talked.

            

The conversation centered mostly on business and resources. Liu Yinxi was a newcomer with no knack for socializing, so she mostly listened quietly, chiming in with a cheerful reply only when addressed directly by name.

Throughout the entire dinner, Liu Yinxi’s mind was preoccupied.

While drinking, she zoned out and accidentally splashed a bit of red wine on her collar. A staff member escorted her to the powder room to clean it.

            

Liu Yinxi had barely stepped inside, pulling out a tissue and cleaning spray, when she heard a low, resonant voice call out.

“Captain Liu.”

It was the form of address used by members of Liu Yinxi’s expedition team in her original world.

            

Liu Yinxi’s head snapped up. She turned to face the person who shouldn’t exist in this world, her throat opening but no sound coming out.

Han Shuang’s smiling eyes brimmed with tears. “The moment I saw your application materials, I knew it had to be you.”

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