After Being Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Scum Alpha - Chapter 33

When Yun Qi and Lin Chen arrived home, they found the Ducal Mansion in a state of absolute chaos.

Following the movement of the swaying chandelier, Yun Qi spotted a round, pudgy figure—the little snowy owl. It was perched on the chandelier, swinging back and forth like it was on a swing set. In the distance, tea cups and various other items lay scattered across the floor in a messy heap.

Lin Xi was below, calling out to the little snowy owl in an anxious voice. Hearing her, it hooted back a few times but refused to budge its backside from the chandelier. The other servants stood by waiting; they had never seen this animal before, and since the Grand Duke appeared to be extremely fond of it, they hadn’t dared to use forceful means to get it down, fearing they might injure the soft-looking creature.

The little snowy owl had been fed very well by Yun Qi these past few days. Its round little body looked solid, weighing the chandelier down until it teetered precariously, making everyone below watch with their hearts in their throats.

Upon seeing Yun Qi and Lin Chen return, the people in the mansion looked as if they had seen their saviors.

The little snowy owl also heard the commotion. It turned its head, glanced at Yun Qi, and then turned back, though it stopped its swinging antics on the chandelier.

Lin Xi ran to Lin Chen’s side. She said the little snowy owl had been perfectly normal when it woke up and had been playing with her, but starting in the afternoon, it became agitated. It hopped onto the table and used its talons to knock off all the cups and items, and then, while she wasn’t looking, it flew up to the chandelier. No matter how much she called, it wouldn’t come down.

She was very worried about the owl; this was the first time she had ever seen it fly. When it walked on the ground, its wings were pressed tightly against its round body, and her Mama had said that Xiao Xue was still a fledgling, so she assumed the feathers on its wings weren’t fully developed.

Today, while she was scolding Xiao Xue, it suddenly spread its wings—which were much larger than she had imagined—flew onto the chandelier, and huddled there, refusing to descend.

Yun Qi shouted at the little snowy owl, but it didn’t even turn its head, seemingly sulking.

“Xiao Xue is just like a child,” Lin Chen said with a smile beside Yun Qi. In the middle of the chaotic hall, the leisurely smiling Lin Chen was particularly striking.

“I think this is the first time we’ve been away from Xiao Xue for a whole day.” Seeing Yun Qi’s puzzled look, Lin Chen added an explanation.

“Two ‘parents’ going out to play and leaving our poor little Xiao Xue all alone in the mansion—that’s so mean. How could you be so mean?” Although Lin Chen was looking at Yun Qi, her words were clearly intended for the owl on the chandelier.

Lin Xi tugged at her mother’s clothes, indicating that she had been home to keep the owl company. Sensing her daughter’s movement, Lin Chen stroked her head.

The little snowy owl on the chandelier let out a “coo” after Lin Chen finished speaking, agreeing with her sentiment.

It hadn’t seen Lin Chen or Yun Qi when it woke up. While searching for them, it ran into Lin Xi and was held by her like a bolster, so it stayed in her arms to wait—but it waited until the afternoon and they still hadn’t appeared!

[Since the extra-dimensional snowy owl was given to the Host as a newcomer gift, the system has specially opened a new item—Snowball Fruit. Sourced from the snowy owl’s original world, it is the favorite snack of the snowy owl race and has a positive effect on their feathers and talons. 80 Scum Value per fruit.]

While Yun Qi was struggling with how to get the owl down without breaking her persona, the system dropped this line in her mind.

“Snowball Fruit.” The Grand Duke slowly spoke the three words to her pet.

As soon as the words were out, the little snowy owl’s feathers fluffed up. It turned its body around to face Yun Qi directly.

“Coo?”

[How do you know about Snowball Fruit?] The system helped translate. Over these days, it had been intermittently receiving its racial memory inheritance; it knew this wasn’t its original world and that Yun Qi and Lin Chen weren’t its kin, but it still liked them very much.

If there was one thing it regretted most, it was the Snowball Fruit of its home world. In its inherited memories, parents would prepare one Snowball Fruit for every hatchling—the snow-white, soft pulp and sweet juice were the rewards for pecking through the eggshell. Once they grew up, they had to harvest the fruit themselves in a place inhabited by their natural enemies.

“If you don’t come down now, they’ll be gone,” Yun Qi replied, offering no explanation.

Lin Chen silently committed this strange term to memory. Once again, the Alpha beside her had used a word she didn’t recognize. Even though they were always together, there was occasionally a barrier around the Alpha that isolated her. Sometimes the Alpha would look at her with unfocused eyes, as if looking at someone else or chatting with someone invisible.

“Coo!”

[It wants ten.] The system performed its duty as a translator.

“One.” Ten Snowball Fruits? Yun Qi calculated the Scum Value—was the bird trying to kill her?

Yun Qi looked at the little greedy-guts on the chandelier with a mix of anger and amusement.

“Coo…” It had just been a wild opening bid anyway. It wasn’t particularly disappointed by Yun Qi’s refusal, but one was far too few; it had waited for them all day.

[Five.]

“Two.” Yun Qi held up two fingers and shook them at the owl, giving it a threatening look. If it didn’t agree, she would have people bring a net to get it down.

Under the watchful eyes of the others, the little snowy owl flew down leisurely and landed on Yun Qi’s shoulder. It used the fluffy soft feathers on its chest to nuzzle Yun Qi’s face, cooing fawningly.

Because of the environment where Snowball Fruit grew and the fact that parents only provided one as a reward at hatching, most owls didn’t get a second one until they reached adulthood. But it—the cutest little snowy owl in history—had managed to earn two through its own efforts just a few days after hatching!

Yun Qi remained unmoved by the owl’s pandering. She wasn’t even sure if her Scum Value was enough to buy two, but since she had tricked it down, she could just coax it later. After all these days, she had mastered the essence of being a Scum Alpha.

Beside her, Lin Chen took the owl into her arms and began smoothing its ruffled feathers.

Seeing the strange animal finally descend, the servants breathed a sigh of relief and began cleaning the hall.

“Xiao Xue was naughty today,” Lin Chen said after a while, holding the owl up so it could see how much trouble it had caused everyone in the mansion.

Lin Xi nodded beside her like a little adult.

The little snowy owl shrank its head, cooing fawningly at Lin Chen, its voice even softer than when it addressed Yun Qi.

“If there’s a next time, I’ll turn you into stew,” the Alpha said with a smile, looking at the pet in her partner’s arms. It sounded like a joke, but there was a flicker of seriousness in her eyes.

‘Threatening even a cute little animal like a snowy owl—isn’t that scummy? Shouldn’t that give me some Scum Value?’ Yun Qi asked Little Scum. The two Snowball Fruits were making her already meager Scum Value even worse. She wanted to pluck a little “wool” from the owl; she missed Huang Yu, that massive producer of Scum Value.

[Scum Value +30.] Perhaps pitying the host’s misfortune, the system reluctantly granted Yun Qi’s request.

Thinking of Huang Yu, she suddenly remembered—didn’t Xi’er catch a rabbit? Why didn’t she bring it back? If a rabbit were here to accompany the owl, maybe she wouldn’t have gone bankrupt this time.

“Didn’t Xi’er give Mother a rabbit as a gift? Why can’t Mother find that rabbit now?” The Alpha suddenly looked at her daughter, her tone softer than ever before.

There were still servants in the hall cleaning up small shards. Hearing the Grand Duke’s words, they shivered. When a new maid had accidentally spilled water on the Omega the Grand Duke brought home, the Grand Duke had used the same tone. Later, that maid was taken to the study, and one miserable scream after another was heard, accompanied by the young Omega’s charming laughter.

After that, they never saw that clumsy maid again.

[Scum Value +30.]

“The rabbit ran away.” Thinking of her little rabbit made Lin Xi very sad. She had wanted to bring it home to raise, but it had hopped away at some point. She only realized it was gone just before they left and couldn’t find it despite searching everywhere.

The little Omega’s eyes grew slightly red. She had caught that rabbit with her own hands to give to her Mother, so the rabbit held a special meaning in her heart.

“Then does Xi’er want to help Mother raise another one? Mother will choose one for you.” Lin Xi nearly crying was unexpected for Yun Qi; she hadn’t realized Xi’er liked the rabbit so much.

Snow-white rabbits were cute and had indeed touched her heart back then, but she believed a snow-white Holland Lop would capture the little Omega’s heart even more than a wild forest rabbit.

‘Today is the 100th day since Nuannuan was born; it’s not a good day for violence. I might as well have Lin Xi help me raise a Holland Lop. Pet rabbits are more delicate than wild ones. I’ll pick an especially difficult one for her to raise. If she fails and something goes wrong with the rabbit, I can punish her along with Lin Chen later.’

Listening to her Mother’s gentle words, Lin Xi assumed Mother liked rabbits but was too embarrassed to raise one herself, so she was pretending to ask her so others would think it was the child who wanted it. Mama had said Mother liked to say the opposite of what she felt—clearly liking cute things while pretending she didn’t.

So, she “thoughtfully” agreed. And a rabbit chosen by her Mother could, in a sense, be considered a gift to her. Thinking of this, Lin Xi became even happier.

“Coo!” the little snowy owl suddenly hooted at Yun Qi.

[The snowy owl disagrees.]

“Objection overruled.” The two Snowball Fruits had cost Yun Qi a massive amount of Scum Value, so this “cooing chicken” had no “bird rights” in her eyes right now.

Lin Chen watched the interaction between the owl and the Alpha quietly. Once the owl settled down, she handed it to her daughter and then came over to embrace Yun Qi.

“The child is hungry,” she whispered into Yun Qi’s ear.

Yun Qi instinctively looked at Lin Xi and was about to argue when she felt the Omega’s soft body rub against her, and she suddenly realized Lin Chen was talking about the other child.

A crimson flush climbed Yun Qi’s cheeks. Lin Xi looked at her Mother and Mama with confusion, wondering why her Mother’s face had turned so red after Mama hugged her.

Looking at the child’s innocent and pure gaze, Yun Qi felt her face grow even redder.

“The child is starting to protest,” the Omega said, her body going limp against the Alpha as if she had lost all her strength. Yun Qi supported the Omega in her arms, a faint scent of lily wafting into her nose.

The little snowy owl also cooed in confusion at Lin Chen.

Yun Qi explained to Lin Xi that her Mama was unwell and tired and needed rest, then told her to take the snowy owl back to her room. Lin Xi looked at her Mama with concern, but seeing that Mama also wanted her to go to bed, she prepared to leave.

But the little snowy owl was unhappy; it had slept with Yun Qi or Lin Chen ever since it hatched, and it didn’t want to leave. Plus, Yun Qi still owed it two Snowball Fruits! Two! From the moment it heard about the fruit, it couldn’t stop salivating; it wanted to enjoy the fruits of victory tonight.

Yun Qi glared at the bouncing owl and told it she would give it the fruit tomorrow. After failing in several “staring contests,” the owl followed Lin Xi to her bedroom.

Yun Qi watched Lin Xi’s figure disappear up the stairs. After a moment, she heard the faint sound of a door closing, then she picked up the Omega and carried her back to her own bedroom.

The moment the door closed, a rich fragrance of lily exploded.

‘I’m doing this for the child in the belly—the reason is the same as before.’ This was the last thing Yun Qi said to the system today.