Five Betas—all the original Su Ling's so-called friends. Lousy family backgrounds, dropped out of school young instead of hitting the books, nothing but low-life layabouts with nothing better to do than loiter around.
Even at his lowest, the original Su Ling was a distant relative of the Su clan, had a little cash in his pocket, and thought he was hot stuff around these losers.
He ate up their brown-nosing, ran with them all the time, getting into all kinds of trouble.
"Su Ge! Long time no see—we've been dying to hear from you!" A yellow-haired kid clapped him on the shoulder, way too chummy. "Couldn't reach you anywhere, we were worried sick! You good?"
"Su Ge, buying all this groceries? What's the occasion?" A scrawny, dark kid leered at him with his beady triangular eyes. "Must be nice, eating whatever you want. Me? I've been living on nutrient paste for over a week—mouth's so bland it's tasteless."
What would the original Su Ling do right now?
Grab the General's money, treat these losers to food and drinks, act like a rat in a rice barrel, over the moon with joy, party for days on end before slinking back home.
Then he'd go home and sneer at the General, hurl insults, feel on top of the world, live it up for a while.
Su Ling wasn't about to dig his own grave, though. He wanted nothing to do with these people—especially the tall guy at the back, his eyes glinting like a vulture. Zhu Yuanfeng!
He copied the General's blank, expressionless face. "Got stuff to do. Gotta go." His tone was flat, neither cold nor warm. He turned and strode off without a second glance.
Lucky for him, the original Su Ling had always been high and mighty with these clowns. They didn't stop him, just muttered a few words under their breath.
Su Ling let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, his tense shoulders slumping. Just gotta shake these guys off, that's all. If he didn't, all his hard work would go down the drain—and following the original plot was a death sentence!
That tall Beta, Zhu Yuanfeng? He'd become the original Su Ling's lover not long after, the two of them in cahoots, plotting to kill the General and steal his fortune. A textbook villain, through and through.
And his end? Ugly. Real ugly.
He was still thinking about it when a hand clamped down on his arm, yanking him into an alley.
A man with silver hair watched the whole thing go down.
He quirked his lips into a meaningful smile, followed them, and melted into the shadows.
"Xiao Ling, what's wrong? Trouble?" Zhu Yuanfeng put on his best worried face, his voice syrupy sweet. "You can tell Brother Yuanfeng anything, okay? I'll help you out."
Su Ling's whole body went cold. Dude, if you wanna die, don't drag me down with you!
He wrenched his arm free, desperate to distance himself. "I'm fine. I just don't wanna see you, don't wanna have anything to do with you. Let's pretend we never met, yeah?"
"Xiao Ling, don't lie to me." Zhu Yuanfeng's eyes were fake soft, fake concerned. "I can see you're unhappy. What's the problem? Just say the word, and Brother Yuanfeng will fix it for you, no matter what."
Zhu Yuanfeng was actually good-looking, dressed in all white, his face twisted into a mournful pout, his voice oozing fake tenderness—had a whole 'sad pretty boy' vibe going on. Su Ling's skin crawled, goosebumps popping up all over his arms.
Can't this guy take a hint? Mr. Scumbag, you wanna find a rich sugar daddy to leech off? Leave me out of it! I just wanna live!
Su Ling's face twisted in disgust. "I'm unhappy because I see you. Get lost."
"Why play hard to get, Xiao Ling?" Zhu Yuanfeng's eyes filled with fake, agonized devotion. "I've been looking for you every single day since you disappeared. Do you have any idea how worried, how lost I was?"
His gaze turned intense, dramatic. "When I couldn't find you? That's when I realized—you mean everything to me! Don't push me away, okay?"
This whole sappy, over-the-top speech made Su Ling's stomach churn.
Yep, scumbags not only couldn't take a hint, they were all Oscar-winning actors! You reject them straight up, and they think you're just playing hard to get.
Was this guy really stuck to him like glue? What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Su Ling's brain raced, and he decided to switch tactics—anything to shake off this slimy, stinky piece of gum.