After Becoming An Internet Sensation For Pretending To Be An Alpha, I Turned Into An Omega - Chapter 8

“They’re new,” An Leng said, rubbing her nose, forcing herself to remain calm.

An Renjian was taken aback. He hadn’t expected that after just a few years apart, the child’s taste had become so… girlish.

“Can I come in and sit for a while?” An Renjian asked hesitantly. He was a force to be reckoned with at the company, but in front of An Leng, he was incredibly cautious, every movement betraying his restraint.

“It’s not convenient,” An Leng replied, standing her ground without moving to let him pass.

He was wearing a business suit, which she could tell he’d put on before coming straight from the office. The tie matched the suit perfectly—she wondered which female assistant had helped him pick it out.

“I brought you a lot of things, and Aunt Li made some dishes,” An Renjian said, as if he hadn’t heard her at all. He glanced around, saw no suitable slippers for himself, and decided not to bother changing.

He simply walked past An Leng, carrying the bags into the living room. “You didn’t even come to headquarters after returning. You did an online interview instead of just giving me a call. I could have arranged everything for you.”

Seeing him act this way, An Leng was reminded of something he’d said when they were younger: “Businessmen need thick skin. How else would you ever negotiate those contracts?”

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I had my assistant pick something out. What do you think?” An Renjian placed the garment bag on the sofa and then went to the kitchen to put away the food he’d brought.

An Leng glanced at it briefly, showing no interest.

It was just like high school. An Renju had always been too busy with work to care about anything related to her. When he took his daughter out, he’d have his secretary buy whatever she needed. If An Leng got upset, An Renju would even blame the secretary.

After a few incidents like this, he even started asking secretaries during interviews if they understood how to care for teenage girls. It was downright bizarre.

After putting everything away, An Renjian noticed the pill bottle on the table. “No wonder Xie Yijin brought a suitcase when she came over yesterday…” He trailed off, then looked down and saw another empty bottle in the trash.

“You finished a whole bottle in just one day?” An Renju exclaimed in shock. He shook the bottle in his hand, relieved to see that the one on the table was still nearly full.

His eyesight was failing, and the text on the bottle was too small. An Renjian held it up, squinting from a distance.

Forty tablets per bottle, five at a time.

No matter how he calculated it, finishing an entire bottle was excessive.

“This doesn’t concern you,” An Leng said, a headache coming on. It had been years since they’d last seen each other, and she had no idea how to interact with the person before her.

An Renjian put the pills back and sighed. “You’re still young. You shouldn’t be abusing your health like this.”

“I’ve been busy these past few days, and eating less hasn’t helped,” An Leng explained.

An Renjian, thinking he’d found a conversation starter, quickly added, “That’s right. With what happened to the young lady yesterday, you must be…”

“President An!”

An Leng cut him off. Bai Yue was in the room, and she didn’t want to reveal anything. Looking at An Renjian, her face stiffened as she asked coldly, “Is there something else?”

“No, no, I won’t say more…” Knowing he’d overstepped, An Renjian waved his hands and smiled apologetically. The smile revealed more wrinkles on his face. “You haven’t been home since you returned, so I thought I’d drop by. I figured if I told you, you’d avoid me, so I came today without telling you…”

“There’s no need for that between us,” An Leng said coolly. “I’ll fulfill my obligations and return home once a week as agreed, but let’s leave it at that.”

She didn’t need An Renjian’s empty courtesies, nor the gifts meticulously chosen by his female secretaries, all in an effort to curry favor with their boss.

“An Leng…” An Renju opened his mouth, hesitating for a long moment before continuing. “I’m getting on in years, and I don’t want to regret anything. Not considering your feelings before was my mistake. But I’ve always cared about you, and I’ve always wanted to make it up to you…”

An Leng remained silent.

A knock at the door interrupted their tense standoff.

The door had been left half-open since An Renjian’s arrival.

A young secretary in a suit stood in the doorway, bowing slightly before speaking. “President An, you have a meeting to chair at half past one. We should be leaving now.”

Shrugging, An Leng stepped back and said, “Goodbye, President An.”

An Renju sighed again. As she passed him, he paused and said, “Remember to come home this weekend. At least Aunt Li misses you…”

*******

Bai Yue hid in the bedroom, looking around and realizing she was actually in An Leng’s bedroom!

The faint scent of tea lingered in the air. The eyeshadow palette on the dressing table remained open, likely left out for the interview makeup.

The tea-scented perfume aroma was subtle, lingering in the air.

Her perfume was white peach, An Leng’s was tea-scented. So, combined, didn’t they make a white peach oolong drink?

…Wait a minute!

That coat on the hanger—wasn’t that the one Assistant Xie said he’d dry clean yesterday?

How could Assistant Xie be so careless, leaving her coat in An Leng’s bedroom?

Bai Yue silently grumbled to herself, then stepped forward to retrieve the coat. As she did, her fingers accidentally brushed against An Leng’s nightgown. The smooth silk fabric slid across her fingertips, the fleeting sensation sending a sudden wave of heat through her.

The sound of a door closing snapped Bai Yue out of her thoughts.

Clutching the coat, she carefully asked, “Director An… are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” An Leng forced a smile, her lips curving slightly. But when she saw the coat in Bai Yue’s arms, she froze, her mind momentarily blank.

“Assistant Xie said he’d dry clean this for me, but he must have put it on your hanger by mistake. I’ll take it back now,” Bai Yue explained, glancing at the coat in her arms.

An Leng lowered her gaze and murmured, “Mm,” thinking to herself, Leaving it here won’t cause any trouble.

Bai Yue, assuming An Leng was in a bad mood, hesitated before saying, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head out now…”

As she walked toward the door, she suddenly felt her clothes tug as An Leng grabbed them.

“Want to stay for dinner before you go?” An Leng asked, her gaze fixed on the cabinet above her.

Bai Yue paused, naturally delighted to spend more time with An Leng. She nodded with a smile. “Sure!”

After placing the congee on the dining table, An Leng opened the bag brought from An Renju earlier. Inside was a familiar thermos, the same type An Leng had always used at home.

Bai Yue recognized the box. When they first started high school, An Leng always brought her own lunch and never ate in the cafeteria with her classmates. The box back then had looked just like this one.

Later, as they grew closer, they’d bring their lunchboxes to the cafeteria and share dishes, trying a little bit of everything.

Opening the box now, she saw tomato and egg stir-fry, along with spicy lamb slices.

Bai Yue had always loved mixing the tomato and egg with rice. Back then, she’d always finish every plate of this dish.

Even now, Aunt Li still believed she had figured out An Leng’s preferences.

An Leng glanced at the lunch box and casually remarked, “Let’s see if the flavor has changed.”

As soon as she spoke, she regretted it. She stole a glance at Bai Yue, but the latter seemed lost in thought.

Could Bai Yue still be upset about what happened online?

“They just want to see you crushed,” An Leng said encouragingly after a deep breath. “But the more they try to bring you down, the brighter you should shine and keep moving forward, right?”

After serving this bowl of motivational chicken soup, An Leng stared intently at Bai Yue.

Then she watched Bai Yue pick up her chopsticks and head straight for the tomato and egg dish with a smile.

“Aunt Li’s cooking is still as good as ever!” Bai Yue praised sincerely, looking utterly satisfied.

The moment she spoke, their eyes met, and both froze…

Realizing what she had said, Bai Yue suddenly felt the food in her mouth lose its flavor… If she hadn’t forgotten even Aunt Li’s tomato and egg dish, how could she have forgotten An Leng?!

Fearing that her little secret would be exposed, her heart raced and climbed into her throat.

But An Leng simply murmured a quiet “Mm” and said nothing more.

If she hadn’t forgotten even Aunt Li’s dish, how could she have forgotten An Leng?

An Leng picked up a piece of cumin-spiced meat and fell into deep thought.

Bai Yue, unsure what was wrong, lowered her head and quietly ate her rice, afraid to look up at An Leng.

Suddenly, a burst of music filled the air.

The melody sounded familiar to An Leng.

It was the exact song used in the video she had been editing!

So… Bai Yue had seen that video?!

The phone rang, its volume loud enough to fill the room. Wang Xi’s furious voice boomed through the speakers: “Where are you?! Didn’t you promise not to run off? How long have I been ringing your doorbell? Are you not home or just dead asleep?”

“I…” Bai Yue glanced helplessly at An Leng, unsure how to explain herself.

An Leng leaned forward across the table, tucking her long hair behind her ear. She leaned closer to the microphone and murmured, “She’s at my place. Could you please come pick her up?”

The warm air from the speaker brushed against her fingertips, instantly turning Bai Yue’s ears pink. She froze in her seat, her gaze fixed on An Leng.

When An Leng had entered the room earlier, she was still in her formal attire. Having removed her jacket for dinner, she had draped it over the back of a chair.

Now, her tie hung loose around her neck, and two buttons on her blouse were undone, revealing a faint scent of tea-scented perfume.

Bai Yue could see An Leng’s collarbones, followed by that small, tantalizing glimpse of skin that stirred her imagination…

She swallowed hard. By the time An Leng sat back down and Wang Xi’s voice faded from the other end of the line, Bai Yue finally snapped out of her daze.

“I-I should go now… Sis Xi will be mad if I’m late,” Bai Yue said, flustered. She scrambled to her feet, leaving everything behind as she made to leave.

“Wait,” An Leng called out, rushing to stop her. She quickly went to the bedroom and grabbed a hat and mask.

Bai Yue was just two centimeters shorter than An Leng. An Leng walked over and casually placed the hat on her head, even taking the opportunity to pat her hair before saying, “Take this. Don’t get caught on camera.”

“Thank… thank you…” Bai Yue murmured.

Only after the door closed and Bai Yue left did An Leng collapse to the floor.

Everything was silent around her.

All she could hear was her heart pounding violently in her chest.

She pressed her fingers against her temples with a bitter smile.

She’d been so cowardly just now.

They’d been so close, just a hair’s breadth away…

Just a hair’s breadth away from losing control and kissing her!

If she confessed now, what chance would she have of success?

An Leng picked up her phone, agonized for a long moment, and finally sent two short messages:

[Only by striving to be yourself and pursuing your dreams can you become a role model for your fans.]

[Good luck with the finals tomorrow.]

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