My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 12

“Otherwise, I won’t play with you anymore.”

This was the first time Zhang Linen had brought Ji Zeyuan to her own home. Ji Zeyuan looked up at the old, dilapidated neighborhood—only six stories high, with stairs but no elevator—and felt a tremor in her heartstrings.

“Have you always lived here?” Ji Zeyuan asked in a low voice.

Zhang Linen shook her head with a faint smile. “I moved into an apartment after graduating from high school. Only my mother lives here now.”

As she spoke, Zhang Linen stepped onto the dark gray, worn-out stairs covered in small advertisements. Standing on the landing, she looked back at Ji Zeyuan. “Come on up.”

Zhang Linen’s home was on the third floor, the unit on the east side. The dark green iron door was plastered with small ads for locksmiths and real estate agents.

She knocked on the door three times with the back of her hand. Ji Zeyuan heard the faint sound of rustling footsteps inside, and the door opened a few seconds later.

Auntie Zhang’s face came into view; the eight years that had passed had left many marks on her features.

“Xiao Yuan is here.” Auntie Zhang’s voice was somewhat stiff, as if she were nervous.

Ji Zeyuan nodded with a smile and said, “Auntie Zhang, long time no see.”

Auntie Zhang nodded repeatedly, appearing so overcome with emotion that a layer of mist welled up in her eyes.

Beside them, Zhang Linen reminded her bluntly, “Let us in first.”

Auntie Zhang snapped back to reality, her expression flickering with a momentary loneliness as she stepped aside. “Yes, Linen is right. It’s my fault for talking too much.”

Ji Zeyuan’s eyes flickered between the two of them. She keenly sensed that something was off.

Auntie Zhang doted on Zhang Linen; she treasured her only daughter immensely, almost fearing she would break if held too tightly or melt if kept in her mouth.

In the past, Ji Zeyuan had only ever heard Auntie Zhang use two terms for Zhang Linen: “Baby” or “Girl.” Auntie Zhang would only call Zhang Linen by her full name when introducing her to a third party.

The apartment was a typical small two-bedroom layout. The living room doubled as the dining area, which was where they usually ate. As soon as Ji Zeyuan entered, she smelled the familiar aroma of home-cooked food.

As Ji Zeyuan took a seat at the dining table, Auntie Zhang said with a smile, “These are all the things you used to love to eat. Try them and see if the taste is the same as before.”

The taste was indeed the same as it had been, but her state of mind had changed significantly.

Ji Zeyuan picked up a piece of meat from the braised pork with carrots. After taking a bite that left a lingering fragrance in her mouth, she praised her sincerely, “It’s delicious. Thank you, Auntie Zhang.”

Auntie Zhang’s eyes turned red instantly. She hurriedly said, “Why are you thanking me? If you love it, I’ll cook it for you every day!”

Hearing this, Zhang Linen gave Auntie Zhang a cold, sidelong glance, her eyes filled with warning.

Auntie Zhang saw Zhang Linen’s cold expression but ignored it entirely, turning back to Ji Zeyuan. “Xiao Yuan, how was your life abroad? How many times have you been in love during these eight years?”

Ji Zeyuan, her head lowered, did not notice the silent clash between the two. She answered Auntie Zhang somewhat awkwardly, “I haven’t been in a relationship.”

Auntie Zhang asked, “Really? Our Xiao Yuan is so outstanding; was there really no one you liked?”

The image of Zhang Linen’s face flashed through Ji Zeyuan’s mind. She coughed lightly and said, “No.”

Her brow furrowed slightly and her expression turned sorrowful, but fearing that Zhang Linen would notice something was wrong, she quickly adjusted her composure.

“Then you—”

“Mom, let her eat in peace.”

Zhang Linen interrupted the unfinished question. Her tone was low, and Ji Zeyuan even detected a hint of a threat in it.

Auntie Zhang froze for a moment, then lowered her head and became quiet.

After finishing the meal, Ji Zeyuan prepared to leave. Although Auntie Zhang repeatedly urged her to stay, she truly could not continue to calmly face Auntie Zhang, who was as gentle as she had always been.

In the car, Ji Zeyuan suddenly asked, “Did you and Auntie Zhang have a fight?”

Zhang Linen glanced at Ji Zeyuan and gave an ambiguous answer as if nothing were wrong: “She’s annoyed that I’m this old and haven’t even been in a relationship. She nags me every day to find a partner.”

Ji Zeyuan was slightly stunned. She looked at Zhang Linen in surprise. “You’ve never been in a relationship?”

Zhang Linen smiled faintly and squinted at her. “Haven’t you also never been in one?”

Coming back to her senses, Ji Zeyuan turned her face away and said, “I’ve been dyingly busy; where would I find the time for that?”

As she started the car, Zhang Linen laughed and said, “I’ve been quite busy, too.”

After a moment of silence, Ji Zeyuan suddenly said, “Have you noticed? It seems like Hua Jianjiu is in a relationship.”

With her eyes curved into crescents, Zhang Linen asked warmly, “Why do you say that?”

Ji Zeyuan said, “I ran into her once at the company… she was kissing a girl in the stairwell.”

Zhang Linen focused on driving and asked with a smile, “Did you see who that girl was?”

Ji Zeyuan curled her lip. “I didn’t pay attention. I saw it by accident and left quickly after just one glance.”

Zhang Linen listened quietly, smiling without saying a word.

Ji Zeyuan leaned against the seat, looking sideways at the focused Zhang Linen. Suddenly, a wave of warmth surged in her heart.

The feeling was just like during their high school lunch breaks, when Zhang Linen would nap on her desk with a few rays of sunlight falling on her hair—quiet and beautiful.

Ji Zeyuan suddenly felt that this was actually quite good. There was no need for her to intentionally avoid Zhang Linen; she just needed to maintain the current state of things.

Thinking of this, Ji Zeyuan spoke up, full of guilt. “Xiao En, I’m sorry.”

Zhang Linen turned her head in surprise, nearly losing her grip on the steering wheel.

“I shouldn’t have left without saying a word. Can you forgive me?” Ji Zeyuan’s tone was sincere, her attitude soft.

Zhang Linen’s nose felt a bit sharp. She pursed her lips and said, “If you dare do that again, I’ll break your legs.”

Ji Zeyuan burst out laughing, looking straight ahead. “Harming people is against the law.”

Zhang Linen didn’t say a word. The heavy stone that had been blocking her heart for eight years finally fell away today because of Ji Zeyuan’s single sentence.

Ji Zeyuan and Zhang Linen’s first meeting had been in the small garden in front of the Ji family mansion.

At that time, Ji Zeyuan had snatched the gardener’s watering can to play with it as a water gun. It just so happened that Zhang Linen was hiding behind the rose bushes taking a nap in the sun. With a swing of her arm, Ji Zeyuan’s “area-of-effect” attack splashed onto Zhang Linen.

Drenched in water, Zhang Linen woke up with a start. When she looked up, the culprit was holding the “murder weapon,” staring at her blankly.

“Who are you?” Five-year-old Ji Zeyuan stared with two round eyes. She didn’t have the slightest awareness that she had done something wrong; instead, she was the first to question Zhang Linen.

“None of your business,” Zhang Linen retorted crossly. She immediately stood up and walked away in her wet clothes.

As the only daughter of the chairman of a Fortune 500 company, Ji Zeyuan had lived a life of luxury and had been the center of attention since childhood. Whether it was the family servants or children her own age, no one had ever dared to speak to her like that.

After being snapped at by Zhang Linen, she deeply remembered this arrogant and unique individual, vowing that the next time they met, she would make her taste the bitterness of defeat.

The second meeting was an accident and also fate.

On the day of the kindergarten entrance ceremony, Ji Cheng was busy with work, so Auntie Zhang went to the ceremony in his place.

“Is the young lady unhappy because her father couldn’t come?”

“Hmph.”

“Cheer up, Miss. When you meet my daughter later, I’ll have her play with you.”

“Whatever.”

Everything was such a coincidence. When they met again, Zhang Linen was sitting in the corner of the classroom, quietly leaning on her desk by herself.

Auntie Zhang pointed to Zhang Linen in the corner and introduced her as her daughter, smiling very gently.

During the self-introduction segment, when Ji Zeyuan said her father was the chairman of the Jixia Group, everyone gasped in surprise. Even the teacher cast an admiring glance, but Zhang Linen didn’t even lift her head.

When class was over, everyone scrambled to talk to Ji Zeyuan. Only Zhang Linen gave her a casual glance and then went back to sleep, completely indifferent.

Witnessing this, a strange competitive urge ignited in Ji Zeyuan’s heart. She immediately pushed through the crowd surrounding her and walked straight toward Zhang Linen.

“Do you remember me?” Ji Zeyuan pushed Zhang Linen awake, looking as though it were only natural.

Zhang Linen opened her eyes groggily and stared at her blankly for two seconds.

“Who are you?”

Ji Zeyuan’s face instantly flushed red with embarrassment. A classmate beside her added in surprise, “You’re finished! This is the daughter of the Jixia Group chairman!”

Zhang Linen was not intimidated by those words at all. She wore a puzzled expression, as if to say: So what?

“I want to sleep. Can you please stop bothering me?”

As soon as those words were spoken, the room erupted. Ji Zeyuan did the opposite of what was expected; she grabbed Zhang Linen’s arm and shouted, “No! You… you get up right now!”

From then on, whenever Ji Zeyuan had a free moment, she would go looking for Zhang Linen—during breaks, PE class, or at the snack shop.

When Zhang Linen refused to pay attention to her, Ji Zeyuan would complain to Auntie Zhang.

Auntie Zhang would then offer earnest advice to Zhang Linen at home: “Baby, she is the daughter of the employer where Mommy works. It’s thanks to the sponsorship of Mommy’s employer that you can attend this kindergarten. Just for Mommy’s sake, try to get along with her, okay?”

Due to the influence of her family environment, Zhang Linen had matured early and was much more sensible than other children her age. To avoid making things difficult for her mother, Zhang Linen began to learn how to deal with Ji Zeyuan with quiet endurance.

However, although Ji Zeyuan always pestered her, she never bullied her. Gradually, Zhang Linen’s hostility toward Ji Zeyuan faded.

One day, Zhang Linen developed a high fever because she had been out in the night wind the evening before. She took a leave of absence, and since Auntie Zhang couldn’t arrive in time, the teacher sent her to the infirmary.

After the doctor gave her fever medicine, she fell asleep on the infirmary bed.

When she woke up, she heard a rustling sound of voices from behind the bed curtain. These voices were both strange and familiar; they were people from her class, but they were not close to Zhang Linen.

“To be honest, don’t you think Ji Zeyuan is stupid? If she weren’t the daughter of the Jixia Group chairman, and if we didn’t get allowance money by following her around, who would want to play with her?”

It was a boy’s voice, seemingly one of the little lackeys who usually ran errands for Ji Zeyuan.

Zhang Linen’s sleepiness vanished, and she sat up.

“Exactly! Just because her family has money, she doesn’t even respect the teachers. And she pesters Zhang Linen every day—Zhang Linen doesn’t even want to deal with her at all.”

“Oh, stop talking. It seems like there’s someone else here. It won’t be good if Ji Zeyuan finds out!”

A few minutes later, the three of them opened the door and left.

A little later, Ji Zeyuan came to the infirmary, bringing several bags of snacks she had bought from the shop.

“Are you better?” Ji Zeyuan placed the snacks on the table next to Zhang Linen’s bed.

Zhang Linen nodded.

Ji Zeyuan scratched her head and fell silent. She had never really cared for anyone before, and she felt shy about this kind of expression.

“Why do you always give your money to others?” Zhang Linen suddenly asked.

Ji Zeyuan tilted her head and said, “Because I’m very rich.”

Zhang Linen: “…”

“Stop giving them money,” Zhang Linen said. “I hate them.”

Ji Zeyuan stared at Zhang Linen blankly and did not answer.

Zhang Linen repeated firmly, “Otherwise, I won’t play with you anymore.”

It seemed to trigger some sort of mechanism; Ji Zeyuan reacted immediately to those words, saying hurriedly, “I know, I know! I won’t give it to them anymore!”