After the Heroine of a Smutty ABO Novel Read My Mind - Chapter 1

Ning County, deep within the mining district.

 

A biting wind howled through the tunnels, the damp air so cold it felt as though it were seeping into the very marrow of one’s bones.

 

The roadheader, which should have been roaring incessantly, sat in deathly silence. Dozens of workers stood exchanging uneasy glances, their eyes eventually settling on the figure standing at the very front.

 

Shen Huan was dressed in work blues, her face beneath the hard hat smeared with coal dust, yet it couldn’t mask her sharp, intimidating elegance. At that moment, she was frowning deeply at the half-excavated workface.

 

“Manager Shen…”

 

The technician swallowed hard, his voice trembling. “Er… we’ve dug up a ghost.”

 

The moment the words left his mouth, the temperature in the tunnel seemed to drop another few degrees.

 

But colder than the wind was the look Shen Huan shot him.

 

“If you’ve hit a tomb, say you’ve hit a tomb. What’s with all this superstitious nonsense?” Shen Huan let out a cold snort, her tone dripping with the irritability of a staunch materialist. “A ghost? If we miss the deadline and don’t get paid, I reckon you’ll all look a lot worse than any ghost.”

 

Luo Chunxiao, the project lead, shuddered and quickly shoved the babbling worker behind him. “Go on, get to the back!”

 

Turning around, Old Luo looked miserable. “Manager Shen, but now that a tomb’s turned up, the Cultural Relics Bureau will definitely step in. A work stoppage is a dead certainty. What are we going to do…”

 

Shen Huan massaged her throbbing temples.

 

She was rapidly calculating the daily losses in her head: equipment rentals, labour costs, management fees.

 

It was all money.

 

Her hard-earned money.

 

“Secure the site and notify the relevant departments,” Shen Huan decided instantly, turning toward the overhead cable car. “You keep an eye on things here. I’ll go sort out the Bureau.”

 

Old Luo scrambled to keep up. “Manager Shen, this is the client’s project. Isn’t it a bit overstepping for us to contact them? Besides, that Manager Wang.”

 

Shen Huan’s pace faltered at the mention of “Manager Wang.”

 

That greasy, lecherous pig. Relying on his connections within the client’s company, he’d done nothing but trip her up since day one.

 

Old Luo caught her expression and tentatively offered a dodgy suggestion: “How about… tonight you take that new Secretary Chu and accompany Manager Wang to a KTV for a few songs? If that fat sod softens up.”

 

Shen Huan stopped dead and spun around.

 

In the pitch-black tunnel, the Alpha’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, physically forcing Old Luo to swallow the rest of his sentence.

 

“Old Luo,” Shen Huan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a lethal chill. “I earn my money through hard graft, not through risking lives, and certainly not by playing the pimp. I don’t want to hear that sort of talk a second time.”

 

Old Luo broke into a cold sweat. “Yes, yes, quite right. My mouth got away from me.”

 

“Guard your site.”

 

Shen Huan threw the command over her shoulder and stepped onto the cable car without looking back. “As for that bastard Wang, I’ll deal with him myself.”

 

**

 

Back at the surface, after a quick wash, Shen Huan changed into a well-tailored suit, transforming back into the efficient, high-flying Manager Shen.

 

However, as she glanced at the time on her phone just past four, her brow furrowed further.

 

Manager Wang hadn’t replied to her messages.

 

She took the initiative and dialled. It rang seven or eight times before someone finally picked up.

 

The deafening roar of bass and the sound of men and women flirting exploded through the speaker. Shen Huan had to pull the phone away from her ear.

 

“Manager Wang, it’s Shen Huan.” She suppressed her fury, putting on the standard fake smile of a contractor. “About the work-stoppage permit, I was hoping to invite you out tonight.”

 

“Invite me for what?”

 

Wang’s impatient voice, thick with the smell of booze, drifted over. “Shen Huan, don’t push your luck. I’ve already told you my terms. Before ten tonight, send that little Omega to Room 333 at Phantom Bar. Once they arrive, I’ll sign. If not, you can wait for the breach-of-contract fines to bankrup you!”

 

Click.

 

The line went dead.

 

“F***’s sake.”

 

Shen Huan stared at the black screen and couldn’t help swearing.

 

Absolute scum.

 

She loved money, but she wasn’t so low as to sell her employees to secure a project payment.

 

But given the situation, a direct confrontation wouldn’t work. Hundreds of people at the site were waiting to be fed; she couldn’t afford to stall.

 

Taking a deep breath, Shen Huan grabbed her car keys and raced to the car park.

 

She’d have to corner him. If it came to it, she’d throw her dignity aside and drink the bastard under the table until her stomach bled, but she would get that signature.

 

The SUV tore along the mountain roads, Shen Huan’s temper rising in tandem with her speed.

 

Just then, the car’s Bluetooth rang.

 

Caller ID: Luo Chunxiao.

 

Seeing the name gave Shen Huan a headache. She answered irritably, “Say your piece or get off the line!”

 

“Manager Shen! Brilliant news!” Old Luo’s voice was literally trembling with excitement. “We just got word from the client, the Project Manager has been swapped! Wang has been sacked! You don’t need to go begging that prick anymore!”

 

Screech!

 

Shen Huan slammed on the brakes, the tyres letting out a piercing wail against the asphalt.

 

She felt the heavy weight in her chest lift instantly. “Really? Who’s the replacement?”

 

“No idea. Heard they were dropped in from the main office. Not sure who specifically.” Old Luo paused, his tone suddenly becoming hesitant. “Er… there is some bad news, though.”

 

Shen Huan’s eyelid twitched. “Out with it.”

 

“Secretary Chu… it seems Xiao Chu heard the rumours. She thought the company was going to go bust from the fines, so she took a taxi to Phantom Bar to find Manager Wang on her own…”

 

The car fell into a deathly silence.

 

A second later, Shen Huan’s voice sounded like it was being ground through her teeth:

 

“Does she have concrete brains?!”

 

“I don’t kno”

 

Beep.

 

Shen Huan hung up and floored the accelerator.

 

The Land Cruiser was being driven like a supercar.

 

The kid wanted to play the saviour? She should have checked whose turf she was walking into first!

 

A place like Phantom, if an innocent Omega went in there, would they even come out in one piece?

 

A twenty-minute drive was compressed into ten.

 

The moment the car skidded to a halt outside the bar, Shen Huan stormed out, radiating sheer menace.

 

The male Omega touting for business at the door brightened up, about to offer a “Fancy some fun, boss?”, only to be pushed back several steps by the sheer force of Shen Huan’s Alpha pheromones.

 

What a terrifying woman.

 

Shen Huan’s mind was entirely focused on rescuing Secretary Chu. She moved like the wind, not even looking at who was in front of her as she rounded a corner.

 

Thud.

 

A dull impact.

 

Shen Huan felt her left shoulder collide with something that felt like jade—hard, yet possessed of a gentle, smooth coolness.

 

The impact stung her bones.

 

“Sorry, I’m in a hur”

 

The apology died in her throat.

 

Shen Huan looked up, her gaze crashing into a pair of eyes as deep as a frozen pond.

 

The woman before her wore an impeccably tailored white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses. Her hair was as black as ink, her skin as pale as snow. She simply stood there, looking like a solitary “high-altitude flower” blooming amidst the chaotic, worldly noise.

 

Ascetic, cold, yet impossibly alluring.

 

As a seasoned connoisseur of beauty, only two words flashed through Shen Huan’s mind:

 

GOD-TIER!

 

“It’s no matter.”

 

The woman adjusted her glasses, her voice possessing the same cool, jade-like quality.

 

She glanced at Shen Huan, her gaze lingering for a fraction of a second on her frantic face.

 

Shen Huan snapped out of it, mentally cursing herself for being a “simp” at a time like this.

 

Just then, a scream and the sound of shattering glass erupted from a private room deep in the corridor.

 

“Don’t touch me! Get off!”

 

Room 333.

 

Xiao Chu!

 

Shen Huan’s face transformed. Forgetting all about flirting with the “God-tier” beauty, she spun around, took three steps in two, and delivered a brutal kick.

 

BANG!

 

The door was violently forced open, slamming heavily against the wall.

 

The room was thick with smoke. Manager Wang was dragging Secretary Chu by the wrist toward the sofa. Her clothes were dishevelled, and a bright red handprint marked her cheek.

 

“Wang, you fat prick! You’re asking for it!”

 

Shen Huan roared, charging forward to shove Wang aside, shielding the trembling Xiao Chu behind her.

 

Wang stumbled back. Once he saw who it was, his embarrassment turned to rage. “Shen Huan! You dare kick my door? I’m the client! Believe me, I’ll make you”

 

“What kind of client are you?” Shen Huan sneered, unbuttoning her cuffs and rolling up her sleeves. “Didn’t get the memo? You’ve been sacked! As of right now, you’re nothing!”

 

Wang’s face stiffened; clearly, he hadn’t received the news yet.

 

But looking at the four or five “friends” surrounding him, his confidence returned. “Sacked? Until the official document is out, I’m the manager! Lads, this woman doesn’t know her place. Teach her a lesson!”

 

Several thugs closed in with sinister grins.

 

Shen Huan took a step back while protecting Xiao Chu, inwardly cursing.

 

One against five? She was going to get bruised. But she couldn’t let her guard down!

 

Just then, a cool voice drifted from the doorway. It wasn’t loud, yet it cut clearly through the thumping music:

 

“Who dares touch her?”

 

Everyone instinctively turned around.

 

The woman from earlier was leaning against the doorframe. Although a faint smile played on her lips, she radiated a heart-stopping pressure.

 

The previously arrogant Manager Wang turned ashen the moment he saw her, his fat face becoming as white as paper.

 

It wasn’t just him; the thugs stood frozen like chickens being held by the throat.

 

“Xue?”

 

Wang stammered, his voice trembling.

 

Before he could finish, the woman’s eyes locked onto his, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

 

The woman ignored him, instead looking up at Shen Huan. The corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

 

“Take your person and go.”

 

Seeing the opening, Shen Huan quickly pulled the nearly unconscious secretary up.

 

“Xiao Chu, let’s go!”

 

It wasn’t until the three of them were outside, breathing the fresh air, that Xiao Chu let out a sob and rushed to the kerb to heave.

 

Shen Huan patted her back, her heart still racing with lingering fear.

 

At that moment, a pale, slender hand offered a bottle of mineral water.

 

Shen Huan took the water and looked at the powerful beauty beside her. “Thank you so much for today. I owe you one. I’m Shen Huan, Huan as in ‘joy’.”

 

She reached out her hand frankly.

 

The woman looked at her hand for a few seconds before reaching out to clasp it gently.

 

Her fingertips were slightly cool, her touch soft.

 

“You’re welcome.” The woman looked into her eyes, her red lips parting slightly. “I am Xue Lan. Lan as in ‘billowing waves’.”

 

The smile on Shen Huan’s face froze instantly.

 

The hand holding the other woman felt as if it had been struck by lightning.

 

Xue Lan?

 

Why did that name. sound so familiar?

 

Five years ago, she had died in an accident and transmigrated into this ABO world with her memories intact.

 

She had always thought this was just a normal parallel universe.

 

Until this very moment.

 

Xue Lan.

 

That was the name of the female lead in a “smut novel” she had read in her previous life a book famous for its “wild variety and explosive intensity.”

 

The heroine who appeared cold and ascetic on the outside, but was actually a “crazy yandere” who played every supporting character like a fiddle.

 

Shen Huan mechanically turned her neck to look at the breathtakingly beautiful face before her.

 

Only one sentence was screaming through her brain:

 

I’m screwed. Did I just try to pick her up?