After Little Sweet Omega Runs with the Ball - Chapter 40

By the time Song Shuangtian found out about Guanguan climbing the tree, she was already on the plane.

Yuan Yin, sitting beside her, remarked, “Oh? Our little Jar is officially a wanted fugitive now?”

Song Shuangtian: “…”

Can’t you wish for something better? Song Shuangtian thought to herself.

She looked at the message from the kindergarten teacher. They had actually put a large photo of Guanguan’s face on the warning sign under the tree. Because of this move by the kindergarten, the notice had even become a minor viral hit online.

Song Shuangtian: “.”

He Yanyan covered her face. “Maybe we should change Guanguan’s nickname.”

He Yanyan had just said it casually back when Song Shuangtian was in labor, but she hadn’t expected Song Shuangtian to actually call Song Yuqing “Guanguan” (Jar) for nearly four years.

Song Shuangtian refused. Her reason was the traditional belief: A “cheap” name makes a child easier to raise.

The plane arrived in Europe.

The climate here was different from home, and Song Shuangtian felt a bit of discomfort at first. As she stepped out of the airport, she saw the endless horizon of the sea and white seagulls flapping their wings. The salty scent of the sea breeze brushed against her face.

The Omega squinted her eyes and eventually placed a pair of peach-pink sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.

Yuan Yin took He Yanyan’s arm. “Let’s go. The people from the Association are already waiting for you.”

Song Shuangtian snapped back to reality, withdrawing the hand that was about to feed French fries to the seagulls. The seagulls emitted squawks of protest.

At the driver’s invitation, Yuan Yin entered the car. She patted the seat next to her for He Yanyan, while Song Shuangtian sat opposite them.

Yuan Yin took out some documents. “This ‘Global High Jewelry Association’ is a newly established organization. I heard the founders are high-level executives from M Group, but M Group only provides the funding and rarely participates in management. If you can join, you can network with many experienced top-tier jewelry designers. At the same time, your brand, Reborn, can expand into other ventures, like perfume.”

Song Shuangtian originally wanted to say she didn’t want to make perfume. But Yuan Yin saw through her thoughts instantly.

“Perfume has high profit margins. You need to save up ‘milk powder money’ for Guanguan.”

Song Shuangtian: “…”

She had nothing to say to that.

The reason she came abroad this time was because her aunt needed medication from Europe. Madam Qiu likely didn’t want Song Shuangtian to be constantly tied down at the nursing home, so she had essentially chased her out to work. Song Shuangtian knew this well, but she still couldn’t stop worrying about her aunt’s health.

Upon reaching the Association’s gates, Song Shuangtian, as the founder of Reborn, was politely invited inside.

The Global Association was located on a small island, accessible only by speedboat or helicopter. Right at the entrance was a golden beach. Standing there, one could see the city’s skyscrapers in the distance. A crimson sun hung at the tip of the tallest building, reflecting an orange-red glow off the panes of glass.

It was already evening.

Song Shuangtian arrived at the reception area. Most of the attendees represented heritage brands with over a century of history. Reborn had only been established for four years. No matter how much noise it made outside, it was considered far too young in the eyes of these “old-money” aristocrats.

Yuan Yin sneered. “Hilarious. Do they really think they’re something special? They haven’t realized how much their market value has plummeted.”

He Yanyan whispered, “Sister, stop it. They’re looking at us.” She subtly pointed toward a balding man with white hair standing nearby.

The man wore a meticulously tailored, conservative suit. The stiff fabric lent a forced sense of vigor to his slightly hunched frame. He wore an expression of disdain, as if sharing a room with a new brand like Reborn was an insult to his “blue-blooded” heritage brand.

Yuan Yin let out a “tsk.” “I wondered who it was. I heard his house is struggling to maintain its ‘status’ while making no money. They’re about to hold their noses and slash prices. Looks to me like they’re going bankrupt—look, the executives can’t even afford a wig anymore.”

The white-haired man: “!”

# Low damage, but high insult level #

Song Shuangtian: “Stop it. He’s already heading toward us with a wine bottle.”

Yuan Yin grumbled, indicating she still had more to say. “If you ask me, out of all these jewelers, only Ji Mingxue has a face worth looking at. She’s young, rich, and… not very smart.”

Song Shuangtian: “.”

“Would you dare say Ji Mingxue isn’t smart to her face?”

Yuan Yin thought to herself: If Ji Mingxue were smart, how could she have let her child wander outside for over three years?

Song Shuangtian handed her application form to the staff. Normally, she wouldn’t do this personally; she could have left it to her subordinates or simply emailed Ji Mingxue herself. But since she was at a nearby city hospital applying for medication—less than twenty kilometers away—she decided to drop by.

“I’m sorry, Madam. Your application cannot be approved.”

The white-haired man said sarcastically, “This place isn’t suitable for our ‘Royal Designer’ miss. Hehe. I hope your friend spends less energy gossiping and more on managing her brand properly.”

Yuan Yin was already starting to roll up her sleeves.

The staff member looked apologetic. “I am very sorry you came all this way. Reborn failed to present a representative work that satisfied the judges. The Global Association prefers brands with deep historical roots.”

Song Shuangtian frowned, her finger tapping on the application form. “I have a brand that fits your so-called ‘historical roots,’ but it was acquired by M Group.”

Though the ST Group was founded by her mother, its history actually involved generations of the Qiu family. It originally sold items from the South to overseas markets, evolving into a design philosophy with a strong Nanyang style. As it expanded internationally, it drifted toward popular trends and lost its original character, finally ending up in its pathetic state under her father’s hand.

The staff member asked, “You mean…”

Song Shuangtian felt a headache coming on. “The original name was ST. It has now been renamed the ‘Shuang Series’ under M Group.” She strongly suspected Ji Mingxue was playing favorites with that name.

The staff member remained unmoved. “Apologies, but my records show that the person in charge of the Shuang Series is not you.”

Song Shuangtian’s blood pressure rose. She turned to leave.

Fine. Great.

She hadn’t really wanted to join this association anyway; she was only doing it to earn “milk powder money” for Ji Mingxue’s child. She wasn’t going to get angry at the staff; she would blame all of this on Ji Mingxue.

Seeing Reborn rejected, several executives representing other brands laughed out loud. The looks they gave Song Shuangtian were a mix of polite apology and mockery. Winning royal recognition was one thing, but in the eyes of her peers, she was just an upstart who didn’t know the rules.

Yuan Yin rolled up her sleeves. “What are you looking at? Watch out or I’ll rip that wig off.”

The man who was laughing the loudest: “!!!”

You Easterners have no sportsmanship!

“Wait.”

The moment Song Shuangtian picked up her application and prepared to push open the door, she was stopped by a gentle voice.

As soon as that voice spoke, the entire room fell silent. After a few seconds, a chorus of sharp gasps filled the air.

“My God, I must be seeing things.” The white-haired man who had almost lost his wig forgot to resist.

“Madam Sabrina.”

Song Shuangtian looked over. She didn’t step forward to chat humbly as everyone expected; she just stood quietly by the glass door. The long rays of the sunset fell over the Omega, highlighting a faint gloom in her eyes.

If it weren’t necessary, she really didn’t want to see Sabrina. She was the previous ruler of M Group and the current Chairperson. Even if she was no longer involved in daily affairs, no one could ignore this “Big Boss’s” status in the fashion world.

More importantly, Sabrina held a title that made Song Shuangtian’s heart even more conflicted: She was Ji Mingxue’s mother. An Alpha who possessed a similarly crisp, cold pheromone.

Sabrina walked gracefully up to Song Shuangtian, took the application form with two fingers, and stamped it with her private seal in front of everyone.

“No talented designer could overlook your exquisite skill and unparalleled design talent. Song Shuangtian, you needn’t worry about irrelevant people.”

Sabrina’s words were effectively a slap in the face to the white-haired man. The staff member was stunned; she had taken money from the judging panel to block Song Shuangtian. Now that the ultimate boss had appeared, she was just a lowly employee and didn’t dare speak.

Sabrina smiled gently. The multicolored sunset fell on her silver-white hair, which was styled into an impeccable bun adorned with a Sugilite carving of a flower.

“Miss Song, may I have the honor of inviting you to dinner?”

Song Shuangtian looked down. She had planned to refuse, but smelling the cold pheromones on Sabrina—so similar to Ji Mingxue’s—she found she couldn’t. What was even harder to refuse was the overwhelming kindness in Sabrina’s gaze.

If maternal love could be personified, it would be the gaze of Madam Qiu and Sabrina.

By the time Song Shuangtian realized what was happening, Yuan Yin and He Yanyan had already slipped away. She and Sabrina sat together in a restaurant on the beach.

“I’m sorry,” Sabrina said sincerely. “My daughter has done many irreparable things. I apologize on her behalf.”

As soon as Sabrina said this, Song Shuangtian froze. Her fingers gripped her silver cutlery so hard she almost bent it. She hadn’t expected the first thing Sabrina said to be an apology. It completely threw her off.

“Ji Mingxue, she…”

Sabrina added, “That ‘dead thing’ has never known how to cherish people since she was a child.”

Song Shuangtian: “…”

Dead thing. Does Ji Mingxue know her mother calls her that behind her back?

“Don’t worry about the child,” Sabrina continued. “If I find out Ji Mingxue isn’t treating the child well, I’ll kick her out of the company.”

The bit of sadness Song Shuangtian felt vanished instantly. The education in Ji Mingxue’s family was certainly direct.

“I heard about the Shuang Series. This is the transfer contract. I’ve already signed it. It’s back in your hands.”

A heavy contract was placed before Song Shuangtian. The sun had completely set over the sea. The lights above were a warm yellow, and the sound of the waves echoed in her ears. Everything felt as quiet and still as a fairy tale.

Song Shuangtian’s fingers went stiff. “This… this isn’t right.”

It meant Ji Mingxue had spent over five billion to buy ST for nothing, only to return it to her after it had gained a reputation and steady revenue.

Sabrina’s emerald-green eyes lowered. “When your mother was alive, she said this was a gift left for you. She loved you in her heart, but I do not approve of her way of escaping.”

Sabrina placed her hand on Song Shuangtian’s cold hand. “If you won’t accept it as Qiu Tingnan’s legacy, then consider it part of the ‘bride price’ from Axue. After all, it is no longer the ST that represented bankruptcy.”

“My little ancestor,” Ji Mingxue muttered at the domestic M Group headquarters, her mind nearing a mental breakdown. “I’m begging you, please stop climbing trees.”

Ji Mingxue discovered that her White Jade Ball had grown taller, tall enough to scale the villa’s wrought-iron fence. She would flip over the wall to the lakeside of the manor and scramble up the trees. This camphor tree was significantly taller than the three-story sycamore at school.

 

“Does Mother not know how to climb?” The White Jade Ball radiated that cursed, angelic smile without restraint.

 

Ji Mingxue remained silent, thinking to herself, “Should I know how?”

 

Fortunately, the White Jade Ball only enjoyed the feeling of being at a high vantage point and didn’t linger. She scurried down nimbly and was promptly carried off by Ji Mingxue for a bath.

 

Lu Xing called out, “Boss?” during the afternoon meeting.

 

Everyone in the office was shocked to find that the Great CEO didn’t have a cigarette between her lips, but was instead sipping from a small medicinal bottle. Upon closer inspection, it was Jingxin Oral Liquid, a heart-soothing medicine.

 

Lu Xing cleared her throat and said, “President Ji has been working very hard lately. Let’s keep this meeting brief.”

 

Ji Mingxue still looked cold and rational, but only Lu Xing, who knew her best, could tell that her boss’s soul had effectively left her body. If one looked closely, her cuffs were slightly frayed.

 

The butler had shared some traumatizing gossip with Lu Xing: the young lady had insisted on climbing a tree to poke at a bird’s nest and wouldn’t come down for ages. When she first arrived, she was unnervingly well-behaved; now, she finally had the mischief of a normal child.

 

Lu Xing thought this was a bit too much mischief. Heaven only knows what President Ji has been through.

 

During the meeting, Ji Mingxue said, “Manager Li, go to my office and retrieve the new shipment of colored gemstones from Africa. We can launch a Candy Series next quarter to coincide with the Halloween aesthetic.”

 

Manager Li, granted rare access to the inner sanctum, hurried to the office. However, through the door, she heard a series of clatter and crash sounds. Sensing disaster, she burst in to find a lovely White Jade Ball sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by overturned gemstones.

 

At a glance, over five hundred nail-sized treasures were scattered across the carpet. Manager Li nearly had a heart attack on the spot. “This! This!”

 

The White Jade Ball even picked up a gem that looked remarkably like a fruit drop and prepared to pop it into her mouth.

 

Manager Li screamed in terror, “Don’t eat that!” She suddenly felt like she needed a bottle of Jingxin Oral Liquid herself.

 

Guanguan had tried to stand on her tiptoes to reach the milk cup on her mother’s desk, but had accidentally flipped the tray. Knowing she’d done something wrong, she froze on the floor. She knew these shiny, round things were expensive, and she wasn’t sure if Mother would scold her.

 

If she were with Mama, Mama would never let her touch these. But Auntie-Grandma, Madam Qiu, used to let her play with them like marbles.

 

Unsure of the adult’s reaction, Guanguan sat there helplessly, large tears splashing onto the floor. But Guanguan was actually very good at marbles. In the empty office, she had grouped the colored gems by hue and flicked them with two fingers.

 

It was like scattered flowers.

 

Guanguan laughed through her tears, wiping her eyes with her chubby paws. She had messed up; she had caused trouble for Mother. Would Mother dislike Mama because of her? Guanguan was playing while feeling anxious, but when she looked up, someone had pushed the door open.

 

She didn’t actually want to eat the gems; she just wanted to clean them of the dust. A mix of childish innocence, panic, and a bit of cleverness resulted in a scene that was both hilarious and utterly desperate.

 

Manager Li sprinted back to the boardroom and shouted, “President Ji!”

 

“Where are the items?” Ji Mingxue asked.

 

Manager Li had the look of a corporate slave who had seen the afterlife. She lowered her head and said, “You should probably go see for yourself.”

 

Ji Mingxue had a very bad feeling. She opened the door to see five hundred gems carpeting the floor. One would think they were decorations for the rug. Her baby was currently attempting to use spit to clean the dust off the stones.

 

The Alpha slammed the door shut, thinking she had opened it the wrong way.

 

She opened it again. The scene remained. Ji Mingxue’s blood pressure soared.

 

“Song Yuqing! Spit that dirty thing out of your mouth!”

 

The expensive gemstones likely never expected to be called dirty things in their lives. Ji Mingxue’s roar sent the White Jade Ball into a fit of silent crying, tears streaming down her face.

 

“Mother, I’m sorry. Don’t be angry. I know I was wrong. Don’t blame Mama; Mama taught Guanguan very well.”

 

Ji Mingxue’s heart, which had been at a boiling point, instantly plummeted back to zero. Raising a child was more of a rush than a roller coaster. The young mother knelt on the carpet and wiped her cub’s tear-stained face with a handkerchief.

 

“Does baby like these shiny stones?”

 

Guanguan shook with fear. “I, I don’t like them.”

 

The poor child was too scared to tell the truth. Feeling the judgmental glares of the other executives behind her, Ji Mingxue’s temple throbbed.

 

Ji Mingxue finally sighed. “Lu Xing, there are two more boxes of the same grade in the vault. Please retrieve them. As for these in the office, I will purchase them personally.”

 

Even after buying them, Ji Mingxue was curious. “What were you going to do with them?”

 

Guanguan lowered her head shyly. “I’m very skilled at playing marbles.”

 

Ji Mingxue thought to herself, “Truly my child. A natural-born big spender.”

 

Ultimately, Guanguan apologized, and Ji Mingxue grandly forgave her, though she repeatedly warned her not to put random things in her mouth. As a result, poor Guanguan was banned from actual fruit drops for a long time.

 

The five hundred gems were cleaned and, instead of lying in high-end velvet boxes, they were stuffed by the handful into Guanguan’s pockets. Soon, the entire upper-class circle knew that Ji Mingxue’s only daughter owned the most expensive toys in the world. Everyone saw how much Ji Mingxue doted on her heir.

 

Soon it was June 1st, Children’s Day. In a few months, Guanguan would turn four.

 

The kindergarten held a half-day event, and Ji Mingxue picked her up for a party at the villa. No one who received an invitation under Ji Mingxue’s name would dare refuse; it was the ultimate opportunity to build ties with M Group. Luxury cars lined the road for miles.

 

The White Jade Ball, wearing a cute princess dress, flashed her signature angelic smile to the guests.

 

It was a total sweetness attack. Everyone was melted.

 

As the star of the show, Guanguan received many gifts, though some were odd.

 

Guanguan asked, “That uncle just gave me a house?”

 

“Just keep it,” Ji Mingxue replied.

 

“That auntie bought me a sports car? But I have fifteen years until my driver’s license! Did she install a child seat?”

 

“I’ll save it for you,” Ji Mingxue said.

 

Guanguan felt she couldn’t take things for free. Mama taught her to reciprocate. She waddled over to a beautiful young auntie, a car company CEO, and pulled a handful of gemstones from her pocket.

 

“Thank you, Auntie. I like cars. Mother said she’ll put a seat in for me. This is a return gift for Auntie. Please keep it safe.”

 

The young CEO found herself holding a handful of brilliant, high-clarity stones. She knew these weren’t fakes; M Group would never let the heir touch glass. A single stone was enough to boast about at a banquet for months.

 

The CEO was stunned. “This, this is too precious.”

 

Guanguan tilted her head, not understanding. She knew Mama didn’t let her touch them usually, but fruit drops were cheap, so these should be too, right? She used them for marbles, after all.

 

Thus, every guest who came to give a gift left with a handful of nature’s bounty. Of course, under Ji Mingxue’s watchful eye, no one dared to be greedy; eventually, most found their way back into Guanguan’s collection.

 

After the party, a clean Guanguan whispered, “Mama said she prepared a gift for me.”

 

She hadn’t seen Mama in a long time. Ji Mingxue’s ears perked up at the mention of Song Shuangtian. The Alpha in courtship mode was desperate for a lead.

 

“Mama said the gift is in her office.”

 

Ji Mingxue pondered, “The Reborn building?”

 

She couldn’t get in. She was still on the security blacklist as a suspected home-wrecker.

 

Guanguan’s eyes sparkled. “There are three hours left of Children’s Day. Can Mother take me to get it? I want to go in the sports car with the child seat!”