Mistaken ‘O’ is a Crazy Gorgeous Boss - Chapter 1

The autumn chill deepened, and last night’s heavy rain had brought the temperature in Haicheng down even further.

Walking along the campus path, Qu Zhen immediately zipped her jacket all the way up as a damp, cool breeze swept past.

“Zhen Zhen, are you having lunch with Su Qi today?” Yang Shumeng, walking on her right, asked.

Hearing her roommate mention her girlfriend, Qu Zhen paused. “She hasn’t replied to my message yet.”

Yang Shumeng patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Maybe she doesn’t have morning classes and is still resting.”

“Mm.”

Along the way, they ran into a few classmates, and everyone began complaining about the semester’s course schedule.

Originally, the first semester of their senior year should have been free of classes, but due to adjustments made last semester, they now had to stay on campus to complete one final course.

Fortunately, this course only met twice a week and would conclude by the sixth week.

Qu Zhen listened quietly, occasionally pulling out her phone to glance at it. Seeing no new messages, a faint trace of confusion flickered in her eyes.

Su Qi hadn’t replied to her messages for three days straight.

Their last conversation had ended with her saying goodnight, and the most recent message was still the one she sent yesterday, asking if Su Qi wanted to go to the library together.

Qu Zhen began to ponder the reason. They hadn’t had any arguments recently, and the last time they met, they had shared a meal and only parted ways when the dormitory lights were about to go out.

Thinking it over, Qu Zhen concluded that Su Qi might be busy with her graduation project.

She thought seriously that, as her girlfriend, she should take more initiative. If Su Qi was overwhelmed with her graduation project, even though they weren’t in the same major, she could help Su Qi look up materials and prepare the things she needed.

…

When they arrived at Room 301 in the Wende Building of the Law School, the classroom was almost full.

Qu Zhen spotted her roommate Zhou Yun in the second row and followed Yang Shumeng to sit beside her. From the doorway to her seat, she didn’t notice the subtle glances from other classmates.

After taking out her books and setting down her water bottle, Qu Zhen was about to turn on her phone’s Do Not Disturb mode when Zhou Yun, sitting between them, leaned in and whispered.

“Xiao Zhen, have you checked the school forum?”

The school forum was a social platform almost every university had, filled with trending posts and casual discussions daily. However, since her freshman year, Qu Zhen had rarely logged in or used it.

“No,” she tilted her head. “Why?”

Zhou Yun’s expression was complicated, her tone equally so. “Xiao Zhen, there’s a trending post about Su Qi this morning. You should log in and take a look.”

“Okay.”

Qu Zhen glanced at the time. There were still five minutes until class started, enough time to retrieve her account and password from her WeChat favorites and log in.

Hearing her roommate’s words, Qu Zhen didn’t think much of it, as it seemed like there were posts about Su Qi on the school forum every day.

Su Qi was an Omega and had been a prominent figure since entering the university. She was voted the most beautiful girl in the School of Art, with outstanding looks and a well-off family. Her admirers could form a line stretching from the School of Art to the School of Science.

In contrast, Qu Zhen was an entirely inconspicuous beta.

Compared to many of Su Qi’s suitors, she seemed utterly ordinary.

Their relationship was like two parallel lines that should never have met, yet they had abruptly intersected.

After retrieving her account and password and logging in, Qu Zhen’s profile page showed that she hadn’t logged in for a hundred days. She tapped the check-in robot icon beside her profile, then switched to the forum page.

Qu Zhen clicked on the hottest post at the top, which was titled in lowercase with Su Qi’s name.

[Wuhu, what’s going on with Goddess Su Qi?]

The post contained two somewhat blurry photos, but even so, Su Qi in the pictures was still radiant and captivating. In the first photo, she was sitting in a restaurant, smiling as she spoke to the person across from her. The angle of the shot was tricky, capturing only the back of the other person’s head, not their face.

The second photo was noticeably clearer. The two were getting out of a car, sharing the same umbrella and standing very close to each other. As Su Qi tilted her head to speak to the person, they were so near that it seemed as if they were about to kiss the next second.

Qu Zhen’s gaze lingered on the second photo for a long while, while comments below continued to pile up.

[Maybe it’s just a friend? I think it’s not great to secretly take photos like this.]

[I haven’t seen Goddess Su with her beta girlfriend for the past three days. Did they really break up?]

[Even so, the second photo is so shippable. When I saw the goddess with her girlfriend before, there was zero chemistry. I don’t get why she’d date a beta… betas are so boring.]

[Wouldn’t this be a rebound? I just saw them together last Monday?]

[What do you mean rebound? Are we supposed to stay single forever these days?]

[Don’t assume they’ve broken up, what if it’s just a friend? Also, the comment about betas being boring is just stirring up drama. Please delete it.]

…

There were many comments like these, with some of the hottest ones popping up like bullet-screen subtitles. Even if Qu Zhen didn’t scroll down intentionally, she couldn’t avoid seeing them.

Beside her, Zhou Yun studied Qu Zhen’s expression, her eyes filled with concern.

They had been roommates all four years of college and shared a close bond. Whenever people on the forum claimed that Qu Zhen, as a beta, wasn’t good enough for Su Qi, they would always log in together to refute the comments.

But Qu Zhen showed no obvious emotional reaction. She put her phone away under the desk and calmly opened her textbook.

“Xiao Zhen.”

“Hmm?”

Zhou Yun asked, “Are you okay?”

Qu Zhen knew her roommate was worried about her. She explained softly, “I’m fine. Su Qi mentioned to me before that she’s been busy with her graduation project recently. She’s probably just having a meal with a friend to discuss it.”

Zhou Yun had arrived in the classroom earlier and had scrolled through all the comments in the post. A classmate in the front row even turned around to ask if the two had broken up. As Qu Zhen’s roommate, she knew very well that there was no truth to the breakup rumors.

Still, the speculative comments made her frown.

“Xiao Zhen,” she asked tactfully, “Are you going to see Su Qi after class?”

Qu Zhen nodded. “Yes.”

Footsteps echoed from the hallway, growing closer, and the class bell rang on time. Qu Zhen withdrew her gaze and focused entirely on the lesson.

…

Class ended at 8:40, and Qu Zhen sent another message to Su Qi.

She planned to buy breakfast for Su Qi, but there was no reply. After waiting a little longer, Qu Zhen headed to the library.

The elevator stopped on the 11th floor, which housed archaeology-related collections. Qu Zhen picked out a thick volume titled Western Archaeology and took a seat by the window.

The room was very quiet, with only the faint sound of pages turning. At 10:30, Qu Zhen received a WeChat message from Su Qi’s roommate.

[Eh? Su Qi isn’t in the dorm. She came back for a while yesterday but went out again. But we have a group meeting at noon today, and she said in the group chat she’d be back on campus around 11:30. Oh, and just now, Xiao Qian asked her to pick up a package from the north gate, so she’ll probably come in from that side.]

Back in her junior year, she and Su Qi’s roommate had participated in the same volunteer activity. After attending several times, they gradually became familiar and exchanged contact information. She rarely bothered anyone, but since Su Qi hadn’t replied for a long time, she had deliberated for a while before finally taking the initiative to ask this once.

Qu Zhen lowered her gaze, her fair and delicate profile revealing a hint of confusion.

The fact that Su Qi had replied in the group chat indirectly indicated that she had likely also seen the message Qu Zhen had sent her. So why hadn’t Su Qi replied?

She couldn’t quite understand this sudden coldness. Although their previous interactions hadn’t been frequent, there had never been a situation where Su Qi hadn’t replied for three consecutive days.

Even if she was busy with her graduation project and couldn’t reply promptly, surely when responding to the group messages, she could have found a moment to reply to her as well?

Thinking this, Qu Zhen grew increasingly puzzled. She politely thanked the other person and, after receiving a message that they needed to get back to work, packed her things and prepared to leave the library.

The north gate was quite remote, and it would take about twenty minutes to walk there from the library.

Despite her bewilderment and confusion, as she passed by the cultural square, Qu Zhen still queued up to buy Su Qi a cup of her favorite milk tea and some crispy, delicious butterfly pastries.

It was just 11:15 when she arrived at the outskirts of the north gate. She stood beside a lush locust tree, waiting quietly, her slender and upright figure resembling a pine tree.

Among the secondary genders, betas often seemed somewhat plain compared to the socially revered alphas and the more socially protected omegas. Since they lacked glandular pheromones, interacting with them was like dealing with colorless, odorless water.

Qu Zhen knew many people didn’t approve of their relationship. In fact, she herself didn’t quite understand why Su Qi had suddenly pursued her.

Flowers, gifts, candlelit dinners… Su Qi was like a blazing, flamboyant flame, effortlessly drawing the attention of others. At the end of the fourth month of Su Qi’s pursuit, Qu Zhen told her she was willing to give it a try.

Cars sped by on both sides of the road. Qu Zhen didn’t notice the black luxury car parked across the street. Its sleek lines resembled a beast lying in wait, plotting to ensnare its prey.

The autumn and winter winds in Haicheng were bitingly cold. After waiting for a while, Qu Zhen, who was sensitive to the cold, moved from the side of the tree to a more sheltered but slightly obstructed spot to the southeast.

The sky grew overcast, and soon a light drizzle began to fall. Just as Qu Zhen was about to open her backpack to get an umbrella, a silver-white car pulled up to her left.

The door opened from the inside, and the first to step out was a woman in a white trench coat. She opened an umbrella and walked to the front passenger side. The next moment, Qu Zhen saw her girlfriend, whom she hadn’t seen in three days, smiling as she leaned under the woman’s umbrella.

Qu Zhen blinked, about to approach, when the umbrella tilted forward abruptly, and the woman planted a kiss on Su Qi’s cheek.

The butterfly pastries in the transparent box scattered to the ground. Qu Zhen stood frozen in place, stunned.

The distance and positioning among the three were quite delicate. Qu Zhen, standing beneath the tree, could see them clearly, yet they remained completely unaware. As the two slowly walked toward the school gate, the distance between them gradually closed, and Qu Zhen could even hear Su Qi’s words.

“That beta you mentioned? Oh, her? she’s so plain and unassuming.”

Su Qi’s voice carried a hint of laughter. “We’ve been together for so long, and we’ve only held hands twice.”

The woman beside her chuckled. “Is there really someone who doesn’t fall for our Miss Su’s charms?””

“I don’t know, but Qu Zhen really is dull and clueless,” Su Qi admitted candidly. “Compared to alphas, betas are just so boring… utterly uninteresting.”

“Then why did you get together with her?”

Su Qi noticed someone near the tree but didn’t dwell on it, answering without hesitation.

“It wasn’t because I liked her, my taste isn’t that bad. It was just a bet with a friend at the time.”

As her words faded, raindrops slid down the umbrella and splattered onto the ground. Su Qi’s gaze collided with Qu Zhen’s beneath the tree.