After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It - Chapter 49.1

Chapter 49.1: This Drove Her Insane With Jealousy.

After the call ended, Shi Li looked at Wen Yue beside her.

“Are you satisfied now? I told you, Zhu Yunqi isn’t interested in who I marry.”

Wen Yue just stared at her without a word, then got out of the car, slammed the door shut, and locked it from the outside.

Shi Li was alone in the car. She didn’t have the car’s access rights. With Wen Yue locking it, she couldn’t get out at all.

The car was parked near the Star Style Group headquarters.

Shi Li smacked her forehead hard to make herself sober up. She rummaged through her bag with the help of the streetlights. Soon, she found a flat, black bug the size of a soybean on the decorative zipper pull of her bag.

She took it off and tried to break it. It wouldn’t break, so she put it in her mouth and bit it hard with her teeth until it was shattered.

A little while later, Wen Yue came back with a small bag of things in her hand.

She handed a tube of ointment to Shi Li. “Put this on the cut on your lip.”

She also threw over a warm sandwich. “You didn’t eat dinner. Have something to fill your stomach first.”

Shi Li picked up the sandwich. “That’s enough. You can go back. I still have to work some overtime.”

Wen Yue said, “I won’t put a bug on you again.”

Shi Li remained silent. She put the ointment and sandwich into her bag and put her hand on the car door, ready to get out.

Wen Yue asked from behind her, “Don’t you have anything to say?”

Shi Li’s movements paused.

“What do you want me to say? ‘Thank you for not putting a bug on me anymore’?”

“Can you talk to me properly?”

“Not at the moment.”

Shi Li closed the car door and walked toward the Star Style Group headquarters without looking back.

The office building was already empty, with only the security robots patrolling dutifully.

Shi Li numbly walked into the elevator. The elevator’s reflection showed a woman with lifeless eyes. She stared at herself in the elevator for a while, then suddenly took off her decorative glasses, wiped off the remaining lipstick on her lips, and messed up her hair.

She no longer wanted to dress herself up. She used to dress herself up to make herself happy and to make the people who saw her feel good. But now, she felt there was no need.

The elevator arrived on the twenty-third floor. Shi Li walked straight to her workstation. The motion-activated light turned on automatically, and the computer screen emitted a soft, eye-friendly light. On the screen was her almost-completed design draft for the competition robot.

She caught a glimpse of her team member’s workstation next to her and suddenly remembered how Zhu Yunqi used to sit there.

That night, Zhu Yunqi came all the way to give her the contract. She sat quietly and at ease in that chair, leaning comfortably against the back. Her long and well-defined fingers lightly held a lemon water, making the disposable cup feel like a high-end crystal glass. Her eyes shifted, like a gray forest with mysterious birds resting inside.

She had a premonition that what Zhu Yunqi wanted to say was not just a simple “take good care of yourself.”

On her way back after her check-up at noon, whether it was due to the pheromones or something else, she especially wanted to get closer to Zhu Yunqi. She even wanted to impulsively tell Zhu Yunqi that she had lied last night, that she no longer loved Wen Yue, and that she didn’t want to marry Wen Yue either. That was why she had sent that message.

All afternoon, she had been hoping Zhu Yunqi would ask her, and yet, she was also afraid that Zhu Yunqi would really ask her.

Until Wen Yue’s appearance ended all her struggles and hesitation.

Wen Yue insisted that Zhu Yunqi liked her. But at this moment, Shi Li felt that it was no longer important. Doing as Wen Yue said seemed to be the best option: she would continue to be with Wen Yue as if nothing had happened; Zhu Yunqi would return to the Black Star Belt on time to pursue her dreams; the engagement would be postponed and eventually canceled.

Their fates were originally two parallel lines that would never intersect. Meeting was a mistake. Now, they had to get back on track.

Will she never see Zhu Yunqi again?

Shi Li clutched her chest, and her breathing became difficult.

She wiped her eyes to stop her vision from blurring and sped up her work.

Late into the night, Shi Li finally completed the robot design draft. In the model, the robot had a perfect body proportion, a cool black jumpsuit, a thin silver chain on the chest pocket, and long, black hair that reached her waist braided into a snake-tail braid and hung down her back. It was wrapped with a retractable steel ring. When zoomed in, the steel ring was designed to look like a coiled snake.

The robot had a pair of deep purple eyes with pointed corners and long, narrow, upturned ends. It wore a little smokey eye makeup. There was a mole on the right side of its nose, its lips were thin and red, and its chin was pointed and slightly receded, giving her face a more aggressive look. However, the deep gentleness in her eyes and the slight upturn of her lips softened her sharpness, creating a contradictory and unexpectedly harmonious aura.

Lin Xiaonan had seen the half-finished product and gave it high praise: “Born cold and noble, but only smiles at me; decisive and assertive on the outside, but will sweetly wake me up at home; the long hair represents a crazy love for me, while the hair tied up with a steel band that symbolizes confinement shows a restrained and controlled love for me; look at her hands, they must be… in bed…”

This design didn’t look like Zhu Yunqi.

But when Shi Li looked at her, it was as if she was seeing Zhu Yunqi.

She hadn’t had a chance to show this work to Zhu Yunqi yet. While designing, Shi Li would sometimes wonder what Zhu Yunqi’s reaction would be if she showed it to her: would she be angry that she used her as inspiration? Or would she not care at all? Or would she look at her gently with those beautiful eyes and compliment her on how beautiful it was?

Shi Li guessed that the last reaction was the most likely. Thinking that Zhu Yunqi might like it, she maintained a joyful mood throughout the design process. The work designed in a good mood would have an “aura of love,” just as Lin Xiaonan had commented.

But now, it seemed that this design would never see the light of day again. She had lost the source of inspiration for her work, and designing had become meaningless to her.

She saved the design draft to a folder called “Discarded Drafts.” Shi Li then pulled out some of her previous designs from another folder called “Backup Drafts,” randomly selected one that was more in line with modern public aesthetics, and sent it to the competition organizer through her optical computer’s email.

After clicking “Confirm Send,” Shi Li felt all her energy being drained from her. She slumped over her desk, exhausted. It was a long time before she managed to get up and slowly walk toward the elevator.

…

Zhu Yunqi was up all night. She didn’t understand why Shi Li had suddenly become so determined to marry Wen Yue.

Early the next morning, Zhu Jingshan returned from her Omega mother’s funeral. She was wearing a black formal suit with a white flower pinned to her collar.

Zhu Yunqi just happened to be coming downstairs.

When she saw her, Zhu Jingshan forced a smile, but the sadness in her smile was impossible to hide. After the age of five, Zhu Jingshan had been living with Zhu Shengxi and Shen Qinghe, and her relationship with her biological mother was not deep. But when she learned of her death, her bloodline made her feel the great pain of losing a loved one.

Zhu Yunqi walked up and hugged Zhu Jingshan. She didn’t say anything, but they both knew that at this moment, a hug was the greatest comfort.

Zhu Jingshan didn’t mention anything about her mother. She brought Zhu Yunqi some good news.

“I talked to Mother on my way back yesterday. She thinks that Wen Yue is a hidden danger and not as obedient and sensible as she first appeared. She also roughly investigated Wen Yue and found that she seems to have some entanglements with a professional Omega. Your plan worked. Mother agreed to gradually withdraw the planned investment in Major General Wen Lirong’s campaign and cut the losses in time before too much was invested. Although she didn’t explicitly say that the engagement would be canceled, at least it won’t proceed as scheduled during your vacation.”

Zhu Yunqi frowned. “Did Mother go and investigate Shi Li?”

“That Omega’s name is Shi Li. I almost forgot her name.” Zhu Jingshan rubbed her forehead and eyes, her tone a little apologetic. “Are you worried that Mother might tell Major General Wen Lirong? She won’t. In Mother’s eyes, Shi Li is not the main threat to this engagement. If she really thought Shi Li was a threat to your engagement with Wen Yue, she would have taken care of Shi Li herself without Major General Wen Lirong’s involvement, instead of withdrawing the campaign investment like this.”

Zhu Yunqi thought that what Zhu Jingshan said made sense.

But she was still worried.

Zhu Jingshan noticed that her sister was not in a good state. In her memory, Zhu Yunqi had never been so down, to the point of being… lost and dejected.

“Yunqi, are you worried about Shi Li?”

Zhu Yunqi nodded heavily.

She didn’t know how to explain it to Zhu Jingshan, so she gave a vague explanation. “She’s innocent. She was only helping me…”

“If she’s smart enough, she’ll withdraw on her own after you go back to the Black Star Belt. Yunqi, your vacation will be over in a week, right?” Zhu Jingshan looked tired.

“Yes. I’ll have to go back soon.”

“Then have a good time for the rest of it. Oh, Mother unblocked your card. But your intergalactic travel pass is with Auntie Shen, and Auntie Shen hasn’t agreed with Mother’s decision about the engagement yet, so you can only stay in Z3291 for now.”

After she finished speaking, Zhu Jingshan had the butler prepare a bath. She had been on the road for a few days and was exhausted. She needed a good bath and rest.

Zhu Yunqi thought it over and over again and still wanted to find Shi Li to clarify things before she left. She still subconsciously believed that the “lie” Shi Li mentioned was not about riding the banana home with Tang Yingchi.

Such an obvious joke would not be something Shi Li would send a separate message about just to tell her: “I lied.”

Shi Li wouldn’t play a trick like that on someone.

Zhu Yunqi returned to her room and tidied herself up. The person in the mirror looked so spiritless. She even looked a little unlike herself.

After quickly grabbing a bag of nutrient solution from the kitchen, Zhu Yunqi drank it while driving toward the Star Style Group headquarters. On the way, she passed a pet store. The puppies were whimpering in the window, like balls of different colored cotton candy rolling around. Zhu Yunqi couldn’t help but think of “Little Cloud.” Shi Li would usually send her pictures of the little plant’s growth in the morning, but she hadn’t sent any yet today.

Near the Star Style headquarters, Zhu Yunqi sent a message to Shi Li.

Before she could send the message she had already typed, she received one from Shi Li first.

Shi Li: Reporting on the progress as usual. Wen Yue and I will have lunch together.

The two words “Wen Yue” stung Zhu Yunqi’s eyes.

She didn’t want to hear the name Wen Yue from Shi Li’s mouth anymore. This drove her insane with jealousy.

Zhu Yunqi: The engagement has been postponed. Our contract is completed. You don’t have to tell me about you and Wen Yue anymore.

She thought Shi Li would be happy to hear that the “contract was completed.”

However, the reply she received were only two cold words.

Shi Li: Received.

Zhu Yunqi didn’t give up.

She asked Shi Li if she had time in the evening. She was leaving in a week and wanted to have dinner with Shi Li.

Shi Li said that the design department was having a dinner party that night.

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