Mistaken ‘O’ is a Crazy Gorgeous Boss - Chapter 46

The first time Wei Xinman met Su Qi was at a friend’s party two months ago.

That night, the radiant and captivating Omega kept glancing in her direction. Just as the party was about to end, she stubbed out her cigarette and brushed past the Omega. In that fleeting moment, the Omega called out to her with a playful smile.

Like all the other romantic encounters before, they exchanged contact information and maintained an ambiguous, on-and-off connection.

A week later, they met again at a hotel, where Su Qi stood on her tiptoes and took the initiative to kiss her.

Wei Xinman wasn’t surprised, nor did she pretend to be oblivious. After all, they were both just playing around in their social circle, and Su Qi was quite attractive.

So, they booked a luxurious suite in the hotel and spent the night together with unspoken understanding.

After that, they kept in touch. But just as the novelty was wearing off and Wei Xinman was about to call it quits, an unexpected phone call put a stop to that thought.

The caller was Amelia.

Behind that name lay the Shen family, Shengcan Group, and Shen Yunxi, who held everything in her grasp.

Shen Yunxi, the head of the Shen family, had always been a mysterious figure in their circles. For non-critical matters, her secretary, Amelia, usually handled them.

Amelia briefly stated her purpose and promised that once the deal was done, Wei Xinman would receive the reward she needed most.

At the time, Wei Xinman was swamped trying to close a collaboration deal. After understanding Amelia’s intentions, she agreed without hesitation. For her, this transaction was incredibly simple and highly advantageous.

All she had to do was stay by Su Qi’s side and continue playing her usual role. As for when to end it, that wasn’t something she needed to overstep and worry about.

…

Shengcan Venture Capital Legal Department.

After a busy morning, Qu Zhen finalized the last word of her work and headed to the company cafeteria for lunch with Xu Qingqing.

The internal cafeteria offered affordable prices, and the company’s meal subsidies were generous, so every serving window had long lines during lunch hours.

Qu Zhen didn’t have much of an appetite. She went to a less crowded window and ordered a plate of curry beef rice, then bought a drink from the vending machine before looking for a seat.

She placed her tray on the table, took out her phone, opened WeChat, and tapped into the chat with her pinned contact.

[Sister.]
[Have you had lunch yet? Even if work is busy, make sure to eat on time.]
[[Puppy seriously adjusting glasses.jpg]]

Just as Xu Qingqing sat down beside her, Qu Zhen received a reply from Shen Zhikou.

[I’m eating. How about you?]

The chat screen showed that the other party was typing. Qu Zhen waited with a smile in her eyes, and what finally came through was a sticker.

[[Kitten is eating hard.jpg]]

Qu Zhen found it utterly adorable. The smile in her eyes was impossible to hide, and her naturally upturned lips curved even higher as her fingers flew across the screen.

[I just sat down in the cafeteria. I’m having curry beef rice, it looks pretty good.]
[[Puppy holding a bone.jpg]]

After waiting a while without a reply from Shen Zhike, Qu Zhen set her phone aside and took a bite of the tender beef.

“Xiao Qu, are you chatting with your loved one?” Xu Qingqing suddenly asked.

Qu Zhen, wearing her wedding ring, replied, “Yes, it’s her.” She paused. “How did you know?”

“Because it’s quite obvious.” Xu Qingqing smiled shyly. “You’ve been smiling all along, clearly the kind of reaction you only have for someone you like.”

“Is it really that obvious?”

“Mhm.”

Qu Zhen unscrewed the cap of her drink, still thinking about how to respond when the two empty seats beside her were taken by interns from the same department.

“Hi, mind if we join you?” said Xiang Ting, an Omega girl. “How was your first day of the internship?”

“Attorney Cao is very responsible,” replied Tang Qian, an alpha girl with a lively personality. “The atmosphere in the entire department is better than I expected.”

“Yeah, me too…”

Qu Zhen didn’t catch the rest of their conversation because she had just received a message from Shen Zhikou and was busy organizing her thoughts to reply.

[I had shrimp wontons.]

[They were pretty good, but yours are still better.]

[[A kitten holding down a small dried fish.jpg]]

Whenever it came to matters related to Shen Zhikou, even in the midst of a bustling environment, all the noise around her would gradually fade away. It was as if she were encased in a protective bubble, Qu Zhen’s eyes could only see Shen Zhikou, and her ears could only hear Shen Zhikou’s voice.

Like right now, sitting in the innermost seat, she completely ignored the conversation among the three, focusing intently on lowering her head to reply to the message.

[Then I’ll make some for you when we get home tonight.]

[Your sticker is so cute, sis.]

Following the advice from a bestselling book on pursuing someone, Qu Zhen added another line.

[Kitty, kitty, I miss my sister a little. Can you pass that on to her for me?]

Her heart thumping, Qu Zhen turned off her phone and buried herself in her meal. When she finally looked up, she noticed Xiang Ting seemed to be examining her wedding ring.

“Xiao Qu, your wedding ring is so beautiful.”

Qu Zhen thanked her politely. “Thank you.”

“Mind if I ask how much it cost?”

The wedding ring was brought back by Shen Zhikou from a business trip. According to her, it was custom-made abroad, and since it was from a familiar partner, the price was more affordable.

As for the exact cost, when Qu Zhen had asked, Shen Zhikou didn’t give a specific price, only saying it was moderately priced and within their budget.

“It’s not expensive,” Qu Zhen said. “Just an average price.”

“Oh.” A hint of teasing flashed in Xiang Ting’s eyes. “Xiao Qu, you’re so young, why did you get married so early? Is your partner also fresh out of school like you? Is she also in the legal field?”

Her questions dug deeper and deeper, and Qu Zheng felt somewhat offended. After all, they weren’t familiar with each other, and she was usually very careful about protecting Shen Zhike’s personal information.

There were always gossipy people in the workplace, and she didn’t want to reveal too much.

“No, she works in another industry,” she said, changing the subject. “Let’s eat quickly. We still have work to do later.”

“Right,” Xu Qingqing nodded. “Let’s eat first.”

“I’m almost done,” Tang Qian said, spearing a piece of fish fillet. “By the way, I heard from them that we’re probably having dinner together tonight.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah, probably to welcome the newcomers.”

Qu Zhen frowned, unsure if the news was accurate. If it were true, she wouldn’t be able to go home with Shen Zhikou.

“I’d like that,” Xiang Ting said with a laugh. “Having a meal together can help us get to know each other better and integrate into the legal department more quickly.”

“True.”

The three of them chatted with great enthusiasm, though it was mainly Xiang Ting and Tang Qian doing the talking, while Xu Qingqing occasionally responded half-heartedly. Qu Zhen hardly said a word, silently finishing her curry beef rice before bidding the three farewell and leaving the cafeteria ahead of them.

After she left, Xiang Ting, who came from the wealthiest family among the four, lowered her voice and asked, “Has Xiao Qu really gotten married?”

Xu Qingqing paused mid-action.

Tang Qian asked in confusion, “Why would she lie about something like that?”

“There have been cases like this before,” Xiang Ting pursed her lips. “An alpha being married doesn’t really hinder anything…”

She began sharing some gossip she had heard before, but Qu Zhen paid no attention to their conversation. She walked to an open area in the rest zone and sent a message to Shen Zhikou.

[Sister, are you free to take a voice call right now?]

The next moment, her phone began to vibrate, Shen Zhikou had proactively called her.

Qu Zhen quickly answered, her voice a little low. “Sister.”

“Mm.” Through the phone, Shen Zhikou’s voice carried a hint of laziness. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that there will probably be a department dinner tonight, so I might be home a bit late.”

“Then I’ll wait for you at home.”

“Okay.” Qu Zhen tightened her grip on the phone. “Did the kitten not pass the message along to you?”

“It did.” Shen Zhikou seemed to chuckle. “Then did the puppy pass the message along to Zhenzhen?”

Qu Zhen’s heartbeat quickened. “What message did the puppy pass along?”

“Please tell Zhenzhen that I miss her too.”

“Not one bit less than she misses me.”

…

The first day of the internship was not a pleasant experience for Qu Zhen. In the afternoon, while reviewing contracts, both she and Xu Qingqing made a mistake in one of them, and they were soon called into Cao Yuan’s office for a mix of guidance and criticism.

At 6 p.m., just before the end of the workday, Cao Yuan announced the department dinner a minute early. Qu Zhen silently took out her phone to send a message to Shen Zhikou, then calmly followed her colleagues into the elevator.

The chosen dinner location was on West Street. Qu Zhen took the subway with Xu Qingqing, while Xiang Ting and Tang Qian hitched a ride in Cao Yuan’s car.

The subway during the evening rush hour was crowded. Qu Zhen took out her Bluetooth earphones to listen to music and, at the next stop, proactively stood up to offer her seat to an elderly person. She was soon squeezed to the far corner by the crowd. She glanced around and noticed that almost everyone was a working professional commuting home after work. Their actions varied, but each face bore the same expression of numbness.

The music playing in her earphones felt particularly fitting at that moment, and the reality of gradually leaving campus life behind peaked in that instant.

A WeChat message notification vibrated, but Qu Zhen was too squeezed to take out her phone. She had to wait until she got off at her stop before pulling out her phone to check the message.

It was another message in the four-person dorm group chat.

[Yang Shumeng: Dragged to a dinner, so miserable. Is this what growing up is? Not even having the right to refuse.]

[Zhou Yun: Lost my smile on the first day of work.]

[Blackened Orange for Grad School: Do you feel like blowing up the company and making it disappear? I get it! Blackened Orange is at your service O-O. Please press the button in front of you to choose whether to activate your destruction plan (＞口＜－)]

Qu Zhen couldn’t help but laugh, though she sighed inwardly and sent a bomb emoji.

She met up with Xu Qingqing at the exit, and the two headed to the chosen restaurant together. They arrived relatively late, but fortunately, Tang Qian had saved seats for them next to each other. Qu Zhen sat on the right, with Xiang Ting seated to her left.

The atmosphere at the dinner was harmonious. When Cao Yuan spoke and gestured for everyone to raise their glasses for a toast, Qu Zhen hesitated.

Her previous experience with drunkenness had taught her that her alcohol tolerance was very low. Unsure of the alcohol content in the wine glass, she couldn’t risk drinking it outright and could only pretend to take a small sip.

She managed to avoid it the first time, but the second time was unavoidable.

As night fell, the dinner gradually drew to a close. Just when Qu Zhen thought she could escape, Xiang Ting pulled the three of them over to their mentor, Cao Yuan, and took the initiative to propose a toast.

“Attorney Cao, it’s an honor to be your intern,” Xiang Ting said. “I’d like to toast you.”

Cao Yuan smiled noncommittally.

Under the glow of the lights, everyone turned to look. After Xiang Ting stepped back, Tang Qian followed suit, and then Xu Qingqing, who wore black-rimmed glasses.

Qu Zhen wasn’t particularly worldly, but her previous internship and part-time job experiences had taught her that there was no way to avoid this situation. Even if she explained that she had a very low alcohol tolerance, it would be difficult to get out of it.

After some thought, she raised her glass and walked over. When she lifted her head to drink, she did so in moderation, taking only a small sip.

After the four of them had each offered their toasts, the moment quickly passed. Qu Zhen sat down and remained silent, quietly enduring the burning sensation in her cheeks while calculating how much longer the dinner would last. She then pre-booked a ride on a ride-hailing app.

When the dinner finally ended and it was time to leave, she bid farewell to the other three and hurried out of the restaurant. Her head spinning, she found the white car she had booked.

The driver was a kind-faced female beta who, seeing Qu Zhen’s flushed cheeks, worriedly asked if she had a fever.

By then, Qu Zhen could barely tell east from west. She shook her head and said, “Thank you, Auntie. I don’t have a fever. It’s just… I think I’m drunk.”

Forty minutes later, Shen Zhikou, who was in her Xinyu Garden apartment, received a call from Qu Zhen.

Before she could say anything, an unfamiliar woman’s voice anxiously asked, “Hello, are you her older sister?”

Shen Zhikou’s expression turned cold. “Yes.”

“Miss, your younger sister is drunk in the car. I’ve brought her to Xinyu Garden as per the address. We’re at the north gate now. Please come quickly to pick her up, or she’ll fall asleep soon.”

“Okay. Thank you for looking after her. I’ll be right there.”

After hanging up, she put on her coat. Before leaving, Shen Zhikou noticed the sticky note by the entrance, with a cartoon puppy sticker at the end.

The dark thoughts hidden beneath the calm surface surged and churned after the call ended.

She lowered her gaze and thought,

How should she punish a little dog who got so drunk she didn’t even know how to get home?

The little dog is usually very obedient and well-behaved.

If she were to be shackled and locked up, would the little dog cry in grievance?