My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 16

Watching Zhang Linen shed tears, Ji Zeyuan felt a heartache so deep she found herself unable to speak.

Watching Zhang Linen cry, Ji Zeyuan felt a heartache so deep she found herself unable to speak, left with no choice but to follow along, weeping powerlessly in silence.

A few minutes later, Zhang Linen released Ji Zeyuan’s hand. She lowered her head, wiping her tears while stiffly changing the subject: “Where is this? How did I end up here?”

Ji Zeyuan bit her lip, holding back the tear ducts that were on the verge of bursting. The moment she spoke, however, her voice still cracked: “This is… ahem, this is my apartment near the company. I’ve been staying here lately.”

Because she hadn’t wanted to go home, Ji Zeyuan had someone prepare a spare room here; she hadn’t told anyone the address.

The interior decoration style was minimalist. There weren’t many belongings, and everything was new, making it obvious that she had only moved in recently.

Zhang Linen looked down at the somewhat oversized white shirt she was wearing and asked, “Is this shirt yours?”

Ji Zeyuan’s eyes flickered away as she nodded, adding an explanation: “Your clothes were soaked through.”

Zhang Linen looked toward the balcony, where the clothes she had been wearing before losing consciousness were currently hanging to dry.

“You changed them for me?” Zhang Linen asked, looking at Ji Zeyuan.

Ji Zeyuan turned her head away and gave a soft, “Mhm.”

The two fell into another bout of silence.

Ji Zeyuan stood still for two minutes before eventually saying, “I still have to go back to the office. If you feel unwell, call me.”

At that moment, Zhang Linen lifted her head. Because she had just cried, her peach-blossom eyes were misty and watery, looking pitiable and moving. Ji Zeyuan’s eyes froze for a second; her heart soured, and she hurriedly averted her gaze.

“You won’t… not come back, will you?” Zhang Linen asked. Her tone was very weak, and her expression carried a hint of pleading.

Ji Zeyuan choked up, unable to answer immediately. She truly had intended not to return home tonight.

But looking at Zhang Linen’s reddened eyes, her throat felt as if a fishbone were stuck in it; she simply couldn’t bring herself to say the word “no.”

After a moment of internal struggle, Ji Zeyuan let out a soft sigh and answered, “This is my home. I will come back.”

Zhang Linen’s gaze was tender and lingering as she slowly nodded.

After Ji Zeyuan left, Zhang Linen immediately opened her phone, pulled up the GPS system, and saved her current location.

Zhang Linen’s heat cycle was not yet over; an Omega’s heat usually takes about a week to conclude.

Many single Omegas, in order to avoid disrupting their life schedules, take preventative suppressants before their heat. Even once the heat arrives, there are specialized high-potency suppressants.

Ji Zeyuan clearly did not understand these things; the suppressant she had given Zhang Linen was merely a short-acting version for emergencies.

Zhang Linen clutched the collar of the shirt, deeply inhaling the scent on the white fabric.

The clothing only smelled of detergent, which was the same as Ji Zeyuan’s pheromone scent: the fragrance of roses.

Zhang Linen inhaled the scent drunkenly for a long time before finally letting go with lingering reluctance.

She scanned every corner of the room within her field of vision, confirming there were no traces of any outsiders before withdrawing her gaze.

…

Only after returning to the company did Ji Zeyuan regain a bit of her sense of self. In front of Zhang Linen, she always ended up making decisions that went against her own rationality.

Due to her half-day absence, documents had already piled up like a mountain. Ji Zeyuan dove headfirst into them, attempting to use the heavy workload to numb her mind, which had been thrown into disarray by Zhang Linen.

…

The day after being discovered by Ji Zeyuan, Hua Jianjiu packed her things and went to process her reinstatement.

Since the transfer had been handled by Zhang Linen, Hua Jianjiu went directly to the CEO’s Secretary’s office.

However, the door to the CEO’s Secretary’s office was locked. A note was posted on it that read: “Temporarily absent. For urgent documents, proceed directly to the CEO.”

Hua Jianjiu recognized the handwriting on the note as Ji Zeyuan’s.

“What happened to that workaholic?” Hua Jianjiu muttered under her breath.

Hua Jianjiu took her reinstatement papers directly to the HR department. Since her previous transfer had been personally approved and handled by Zhang Linen, HR didn’t make things difficult for her and passed the paperwork immediately.

Returning to her department, Hua Jianjiu finished packing her things and decided she wanted to go see Li Ziruo.

She took her water cup, pretending to pass by to get water. When she walked past Li Ziruo’s workstation, she suddenly froze.

A stranger she had never seen before was sitting at what should have been Li Ziruo’s desk, wearing framed glasses and buried in work.

Hua Jianjiu glanced subtly at the other workstations. Many heads were bowed in diligent work like ants, but none of them belonged to Li Ziruo.

What did this mean? Had Zhang Linen “slaughtered the donkey after it finished the work”—tricking her into going to the film set to do her bidding, yet still refusing to let Li Ziruo go?

Hua Jianjiu’s heart skipped several beats. The hand holding the water cup began to tremble from a mix of anger and panic.

“Hello.” The girl sitting at Li Ziruo’s desk noticed Hua Jianjiu standing behind her and gave a greeting out of curiosity and politeness.

Only then did Hua Jianjiu snap out of it. She hid her uncontrollably trembling hand behind her back, doing her best to suppress her surging indignation as she asked calmly, “Excuse me, do you know where the person who was originally at this desk went?”

The girl nodded and turned to point toward a corner where a dilapidated square table sat, piled with miscellaneous items and with one leg propped up by a block of wood. “The manager moved her over there.”

Hua Jianjiu looked over. Just then, Li Ziruo happened to return; her head was lowered, her expression was dejected, and her hair was messy.

“Do you know… why the manager moved her there?” Hua Jianjiu asked, suppressing her churning emotions.

The girl gave a nonchalant smile. “What else could it be? She offended the CEO’s Secretary. To please her, the manager… ahem, anyway, I just joined the company so I don’t know the specifics, but I’m sure you understand how it is.”

Hua Jianjiu whispered a “Thank you,” and then quietly left to return to her own seat.

“I’m back,” Hua Jianjiu sent a message to Li Ziruo while secretly watching her.

She saw Li Ziruo pick up her phone. After clicking the message, Li Ziruo’s face broke into a wide smile. She then turned toward Hua Jianjiu’s direction with great joy, but because her reaction was too big, it drew the attention of those around her. Hua Jianjiu quickly lowered her head, and though Li Ziruo looked disappointed for a moment, she quickly pulled back her expression.

“【Heart】【Heart】,” Li Ziruo replied.

“Wait for me in the underground parking lot after work tonight. I’ll treat you to dinner,” Hua Jianjiu replied.

“Okay~” Li Ziruo replied.

“【Kiss】,” Li Ziruo replied.

…

It wasn’t until past ten o’clock at night that Ji Zeyuan finished all her work. She opened her phone to find several more unread messages from Zhang Linen.

“Have you eaten dinner?”

“What time are you coming back tonight?”

“It’s already ten o’clock.”

“It’s ten-ten now.”

“Can you please not ignore me?”

When Ji Zeyuan saw the last sentence, her heart felt a dull pang.

She immediately replied: “I was just too busy. I’m getting ready to head back now.”

After thinking for a moment, she added another line: “Did you drink the chicken soup I had sent over? How was it?”

The other side replied almost instantly: “Drive safely. I drank it, it was very delicious.”

Ji Zeyuan was about to reply “Okay” when a sudden incoming call interrupted her.

The call had no contact name—it was a stranger’s number. Without thinking, Ji Zeyuan hung up directly and replied to Zhang Linen: “Okay. If you can’t stay awake, go to sleep first.”

Zhang Linen replied with three words: “I can stay awake.”

Just as Ji Zeyuan was about to reply, that same number called again. Since the same number had called twice in a short period, Ji Zeyuan pondered for a moment and then answered.

“President Ji, why did you hang up on me? Did you really not save my number?”

Shen Jiuyue’s familiar voice poured into her ear. Ji Zeyuan paused for a second and answered truthfully: “I didn’t.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Ji Zeyuan frowned and asked, “Is something the matter?”

“Yes, there is!” Shen Jiuyue’s voice sounded very angry. “President Ji, did you give my contact information to someone else?”

Ji Zeyuan flatly denied it: “Miss Shen, first, you are a celebrity, and I am well aware of the importance of your contact information. Second, even if you weren’t a public figure, I would not casually give out someone’s contact information without their consent.”

Facing such an accusation, Ji Zeyuan felt a great sense of insult.

“President Ji, I also believe you aren’t that kind of person, then…” Shen Jiuyue’s tone became more respectful. “Perhaps your secretary gave it out? You could ask her.”

Zhang Linen gave it out?

Ji Zeyuan recalled yesterday, when Zhang Linen had called her to say that Mia had come to the company to find her.

Perhaps it was then…

Out of a sense of rigor, Ji Zeyuan asked, “What is the name of the person you’re talking about?”

“It’s that person we met at Imperial City that day. I think her name is Mia,” Shen Jiuyue replied.

Ji Zeyuan’s heart sank. After a moment of silence, she said, “My apologies. I was the one who gave it.”

“You gave it?” Shen Jiuyue’s tone was full of skepticism. She asked again, sounding very disbelieving, “President Ji, your words are quite inconsistent.”

Ji Zeyuan didn’t offer much explanation, replying calmly: “I forgot. I am very sorry for causing trouble for you, Miss Shen. Name a condition, and I will do my best to fulfill it.”

It took about a minute before Shen Jiuyue spoke slowly: “President Ji, those are your words.”

Ji Zeyuan replied firmly: “Naturally.”

“Then I want to go to an amusement park with President Ji. Whenever you have time is fine, any day.” Shen Jiuyue spoke very quickly, and once she finished, there was silence.

Ji Zeyuan was stunned. After considering it for a moment, she said, “Going out with you makes it easy to be caught by paparazzi. I don’t want unfounded rumors to be spread, you…”

Before she could finish, a chuckle came from the other end of the phone. Ji Zeyuan paused and didn’t continue.

“President Ji, you just promised me. Are you going to go back on your word already?” Shen Jiuyue asked in a slightly provocative tone.

Ji Zeyuan didn’t fall for it. She pursed her lips and remained silent, intending to give the cold treatment.

Seemingly realizing that Ji Zeyuan wasn’t the type of person to be swayed by that tactic, Shen Jiuyue changed her approach, softening her voice.

“President Ji, actually, it’s not a bad thing to have a scandal with me. Both of us are single, a beautiful Alpha and a beautiful Omega, and both of us are high-grade. To outsiders, we’d simply be a match made in heaven.”

Ji Zeyuan remained coldly silent. Shen Jiuyue continued: “Furthermore, our new product has just been released. If we can use the heat of a scandal to drive product exposure, and then hold a live stream session, an increase in sales will be just around the corner!”

As a businesswoman, Ji Zeyuan was indeed moved by Shen Jiuyue’s logical plan.

Going to an amusement park for a day wasn’t a difficult task. And she… as an Alpha in her prime, being rumored to be in a relationship wasn’t exactly a disgraceful thing.

“Miss Shen, do you remember what I said the first time I met you?” Ji Zeyuan’s tone softened.

Shen Jiuyue felt a throb in her heart and asked, “I remember every word President Ji has said. I wonder which sentence you are referring to?”

Ji Zeyuan’s voice was steady: “You are very different from the rumors.”

Shen Jiuyue’s answer was different from before. She gave a very light laugh and said, “President Ji, so are you.”