Mistaken ‘O’ is a Crazy Gorgeous Boss - Chapter 65

Haicheng, Green Desert Mountain Villa.

Amelia, who was usually unflappable, hurried along with quickened steps. Dressed in a black suit, her expression was stern, her brows slightly furrowed. Upon reaching the study, she immediately knocked on the door.

The double arched doors, adorned with walnut wood grain, swung open naturally.

Shen Yunxi sat at the desk, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, while Yan Shuang, with a grave expression, sat on the right side of the leather sofa, her slender fingers holding an unlit lady’s cigarette.

Amelia approached swiftly, choosing her words carefully: “President Shen, there’s new news from Lingshan in Nanyang City.”

Shen Yunxi’s gaze shifted from the book pages to Amelia, her eyes calm as she prepared to hear about the young alpha’s recent situation. However, Amelia’s expression made her keenly aware that something was amiss, and a chill gradually settled in her eyes.

“What happened?”

Yan Shuang also looked over, her fingertips lightly tapping the sofa’s leather surface like a somewhat curious snow leopard.

Under the gaze of both, Amelia pressed her lips together and relayed the message word for word: “At 8:40 this morning, a magnitude 5.6 moderate earthquake occurred in Lingshan. Rocks slid down the mountains, and some houses in the village collapsed. According to accurate reports, the damage caused by the earthquake is relatively minor, and local authorities have dispatched personnel to the scene. However, Miss Qu’s house was close to the epicenter. As of 9:05, Miss Qu… is missing.”

Yan Shuang’s expression turned grim, and she instinctively glanced at her friend. But before she could see her, an unusual sound reached her ears.

A heavy thud came from behind the desk as a duplex lamp at the edge rolled onto the center of the carpet. The sound of her own heartbeat echoed in her ears, but Shen Yunxi seemed oblivious, her vision gradually blurring.

Missing…?

She reflexively questioned why she could be missing. She didn’t believe in gods or Buddha, yet for the sake of her little one, she had lit sky lanterns year after year, praying for divine protection to keep her safe and sound.

But the latest update about her little one felt like a chisel had pierced her heart, the biting cold wind causing excruciating pain.

A heartache a hundred times worse than her illness brought physiological tears falling from the corners of her eyes. It was as if all the nutrients in her body had been drained in that instant, and the lily of the valley standing gracefully in the corner withered instantly.

Her face turned as pale as paper, the taste of blood rushing up from deep in her throat with a cough, slowly seeping from her rosy lips. The crimson hue became the only color on her face.

“Yunxi!”

“President Shen!”

Both Amelia and Yan Shuang rushed to her side, asking with concern and urgency.

“Yunxi, what’s wrong?” Yan Shuang asked, her brows tightly furrowed. “Wasn’t your condition improving? How did this happen?”

Amelia, a beta, took a clean wet wipe from the drawer on the right and handed it to Shen Yunxi, just as she had done before her previous episodes.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already sent word. The medical team and the search team are on their way to Lingshan. Please rest well for now. Miss Qu will definitely-”

The remaining words were abruptly cut off as Shen Yunxi wiped the blood from her lips, a storm brewing in her eyes, one that had been six years in the making. The facade she had maintained in front of Qu Zhen completely fell away, revealing her like an unsheathed blade, cold and sharp, exposing the solitary and obsessive side hidden beneath layers of masks.

Under the stunned gazes of the two, she spoke word by word.

“I’m going to find her.”

If the gods and buddhas would not protect her little girl, then she would be the one to protect her, to search for her, until her life ceased, until the ends of the world.

She had always been decisive. She strode forward as if heading toward a farewell with an uncertain future, the hem of her black dress fluttering like a butterfly. The rain outside the window fell into her eyes, and as her heart ached with a dull, twisting pain, she thought with unwavering resolve.

Her little girl said she missed her, so she would go to see her. Even if the path ahead was strewn with thorns and layered with towering peaks, she would definitely see her.

…

9:20 AM, amid heavy snowfall.

Due to frozen roads, the search and rescue team dispatched by the local government had yet to arrive at Ling Mountain. The villagers watched the landslide area with concern, while team leader Chen Mo, filled with anxiety, was on the phone with the rescue team. One of their members was trapped in the landslide and had not returned.

“Captain Fang, when will you arrive at Ling Mountain?” she said urgently. “Please hurry. Every minute delayed puts our teammate’s life at risk.”

“Captain Chen, I understand how you feel, but please give us a little more time.”

“Alright, how much longer do you estimate it will take?”

“Probably-” the other person sighed. “In such heavy snow, the mountain would have been closed off in the past. Given the current situation, it’s hard to guarantee an exact time. If all goes smoothly, we estimate an hour, but if the blizzard blocks the roads, there’s no telling.”

Ling Mountain was already in the most remote part of Nanyang City. They were doing their best to get there, but the blizzard made the situation far more complicated than anticipated, making it difficult to provide an accurate timeframe.

“Can we start searching for her on a small scale ourselves?”

The other person’s tone was serious. “Please do not act on your own. Based on the photos you sent of the scene, and with the uncertainty of aftershocks, I urge you, your colleagues, and all the villagers to stay in the safe area. Do not attempt to search on your own, as it could lead to even more severe consequences.”

“Alright, alright. Please try to get here as quickly as possible. I’m begging you!”

“We will.”

After the call ended, facing the anxious gazes of her team members, Chen Mo said softly, “It’s still uncertain, but they’re on their way. Let’s wait a little longer. Xiao Qu will return to us safe and sound.”

Gu Wen, who shared a room with Qu Zhen, stared blankly at the distant landslide, muttering to herself.

“I should have woken her up. I shouldn’t have left first.” She lowered her head and looked at her hands. “I should have shaken her awake and dragged her to the base camp for breakfast.”

Xiong Yue’s eyes were red-rimmed, and she patted Gu Wen’s shoulder sympathetically.

“It’s not your fault. No one could have predicted this would happen. Don’t blame yourself.”

In the past twenty years, Ling Mountain had never experienced natural disasters like earthquakes or landslides. No one had expected this day to come. To those close to her, Qu Zhen had always been lucky, but when the earthquake struck and everyone evacuated in time, she alone, being the closest, was buried under the landslide, lost in deep sleep.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, showing no signs of letting up.

Ling Mountain was blanketed in white, like a glacier frozen for millennia, never to see the sun. Occasionally, birds flitted through the forest, their strange cries resembling crows heralding misfortune. The atmosphere was heavy; some silently prayed for safety in their hearts, while others rushed from thousands of miles away upon hearing the news.

With unstoppable momentum, not even the blizzard could hinder her advance.

…

Qu Zhen knew very well that she was dreaming.

Because if it weren’t a dream, she would never have been able to see her grandmother again.

But this dream was strange, it spanned a long period, starting from when she was sixteen and ending in the final week of her twenty-second year. It was also the first time she observed He Yu, whom she had saved back then, from the perspective of an onlooker.

At sixteen, she had originally planned to spend just a week of her vacation in Meixiang Village. But after unexpectedly encountering He Yu, she ended up staying in the village for the entire holiday.

She watched as her younger self gave up her cozy, well-decorated room and, out of worry and caution, initially only dared to linger outside the doors and windows, occasionally stealthily pushing open a crack in the window to peek at He Yu with wide, almond-shaped eyes.

Three days later, when He Yu caught her, she froze like a squirrel caught by the neck, then mustered the courage to wave her hands and dart inside. Seeing that He Yu didn’t resist her approach, she finally dared to openly sit on a wooden chair not far from her.

The scenes flickered by like fleeting images from a revolving lantern. She watched as her younger self grew increasingly proactive, even sharing half the candies a neighbor had stuffed into her pocket with He Yu. Half a month later, she built a sandcastle for He Yu, and for the first time, she heard He Yu ask a question on her own initiative, as if she had witnessed something incredibly rare.

From then on, He Yu’s emotions became more vivid and pronounced with each passing day compared to when she had first arrived.

Back then, her younger self had thought that meant they were friends and if He Yu was willing, they could even become closer, better friends. But on a rainy night a month later, He Yu mercilessly shattered that idea, leaving without a word and without warning.

She searched the entire village and beyond, and when she returned home, she was overwhelmed with frustration, sadness, reluctance, and worry. At that time, she rarely experienced such complex emotions, so much so that she sat in the chair He Yu often used, tears falling like scattered pearls.

The rain lasted all night, and she buried herself under the covers, crying until the next morning when her eyes were swollen like walnuts.

The scene shifted again, and time flew to the summer when she was seventeen.

She wore a white dress, collecting seashells by the shore as the sea breeze swept in with the waves, the tide washing over the pale sand.

Qin Huan and Qu Han were taking photos not far away. She drifted closer to the rocky path on the right, where the naturally sculpted shells disappeared into the center of the stone-enclosed path. Only when she was fully immersed in collecting shells did she suddenly look up as if waking from a dream.

Spotting a beautifully crafted sandcastle in the center, she gasped in amazement. After circling it three times and examining every detail, she glanced around the empty surroundings but found no one who might have built it. Lifting the camera hanging around her neck, she murmured, “Hello, lovely little castle. May I take a photo of you?”

The sea breeze brushed past as she chuckled and said, “If you don’t say anything after I count to three, I’ll take it as your agreement.”

After counting down, she happily captured the sandcastle, which was as exquisite as a work of art, in her camera. She didn’t notice the French word “merci” (thank you) written behind it, nor did she spot the little kitten curled up in a corner of the castle’s courtyard.

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, she made a wish before her birthday cake and went to the Thousand Lantern River in the county to release a rabbit-shaped lantern.

As the candlelight flickered, the lantern carrying her wish drifted with the current, passing under the Moon Bridge. She saw that the river, which had only held her single lantern, was now dotted with several of her favorite rabbit lanterns.

Like a galaxy pouring down, stars falling, the river surface was illuminated by lanterns into a pale orange hue, and people on both sides of the road turned their heads in astonishment.

On a birthday night that wasn’t a special holiday, eighteen-year-old Qu Zhen witnessed the scene she had once fantasized about, countless rabbit lanterns converging into a dazzling galaxy, dreamlike and breathtakingly beautiful.

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed, forgetting that she had only ever shared this wish with the former He Yu.

At the age of nineteen, on the first day of autumn, she had grown considerably. In her utterly bewildering first year, she met her mentor, an archaeology professor, and that winter night, she joined her first field archaeology expedition, something she had long anticipated.

Amidst the mountains and by the campfire, her poor sense of direction nearly caused her to lose her way.

By then, she had learned to be cautious. In the end, a kind-hearted vendor pointed her in the right direction and even accompanied her halfway back to the campsite. Before leaving, the vendor gifted her a sachet embroidered with the word “peace.” By the time she entered her tent to fetch something as a token of gratitude, the vendor had vanished without a trace.

She felt a sense of melancholy and stood there for a while, only returning to the camp after receiving a call from her mother.

Between the ages of twenty and twenty-one, her life resembled a giant treasure chest, as if precious gems could fall from the sky at any moment. It started with small, trivial things, then escalated to winning a luxurious top-tier travel package and flawless jade pendants. She grew luckier and luckier.

It seemed fate had taken a special liking to her.

Yet, among all her memories, the luckiest moment for her was undoubtedly meeting Shen Zhikou at the age of twenty-two.

But… she was in so much pain.

Even in her dreams, she could feel the ache all over her body. The air in her chest grew thinner, and she was struggling to breathe.

What should she do?

She had just messaged Shen Zhikou that morning, and in two more days, they would see each other again. They were about to have a weekend of sleeping in each other’s arms, another chance to whisper sweet words of affection. But fate had other plans. It seemed… she might not get to see Shen Zhikou again.

As even breathing became increasingly unbearable, the dream began to shatter.

Her vision remained dim, and Qu Zhen, unable to move her body, closed her eyes again, nearly sinking into unconsciousness.

In her dazed state, she realized how greedy she truly was. She refused to succumb to this slumber. She still wanted to spend more time with her mother and her beloved, to see her lover’s smile one more time.

She even wished to walk hand in hand with Shen Zhikou under the falling snow, growing old together amidst everyone’s blessings.

But it seemed… she might really never.

A sound came from the beams surrounding her. After a long silence in the collapsed area, there was finally noise. Just before her consciousness slipped away, she heard Shen Zhikou’s voice.

“Zhenzhen.”

Was it an auditory hallucination?

She thought, otherwise, how could her sister be here?

But the calls came one after another, and other voices joined in, shouting her name. Among all the voices, she could only make out Shen Zhikou’s, like a prisoner trapped in the polar night finally glimpsing the dawn.

With no time to think too much, hot tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. When she tried to answer Shen Zhikou, she found her throat clogged as if with thick syrup, and she could barely make a sound.

Her fingers strained to move toward a small stone beside her. Using all her strength, she grasped the stone and raised her hand to tap it against the surface. In her heart, she silently called out.

Sister, sister.

I’m here.

She wasn’t sure if God had heard her voice, but the echo that followed made her realize with absolute clarity.

Her sister had heard.

Her sister had truly come.

“Zhenzhen, wait for me, don’t fall asleep, hold on a little longer. I’ll get you out soon.”

The woman’s cold voice was hoarse, yet incredibly gentle as she called out to her.

“Zhenzhen, I’m here.”

“Zhenzhen, don’t fall asleep. We’ll see each other very soon.”

“Zhenzhen, I’ve missed you so much.”

After the relentless wind and snow on Ling Mountain, a light rain began to fall in the mountains. Qu Zhen, trapped beneath the landslide, gradually saw her vision fill with light. As all the rubble and beams were moved aside, snowflakes and raindrops fell together onto her face.

In the last moment before she completely lost consciousness, amid the swirling snow, she saw Shen Zhikou, her eyes red-rimmed, rushing toward her.