My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 3

Those who rely on time to forget cannot withstand a reunion.

Those who rely on time to forget cannot withstand a reunion. In the past, Ji Zeyuan would have found this sentence melodramatic; now, she would nod like a chick pecking at grain in deep agreement.

When she saw Zhang Linen’s message, Ji Zeyuan’s first reaction was one of unease and anxiety.

She could grudgingly accept Ji Cheng arranging for Zhang Linen to work at the grassroots level under her; that way, the two wouldn’t have much direct interaction.

But if Zhang Linen became her secretary, it meant that from now on, the two of them would spend the majority of their time at the company together. Ji Zeyuan could not do it.

Ji Zeyuan immediately called Ji Cheng.

“Hello, Xiao Yuan? What’s the matter?” Ji Zeyuan had taken the initiative to call, and Ji Cheng’s tone sounded very happy.

“Dad, regarding Zhang Linen being my secretary—did you arrange that?”

“Oh, so you just wanted to ask about that?” Ji Cheng’s tone suddenly shifted from warm to a somewhat slippery composure. “Linen has already been tempered at the grassroots level for several years. Her ability is outstanding, and she is familiar with the group’s business…”

Ji Zeyuan interrupted him: “Dad, I have my own arrangements for my secretary. You cannot make decisions for me without my consent.”

There was a silence on the other end of the line. After a few seconds, Ji Cheng’s serious, low voice came through: “Zeyuan, you are already a mature successor. It’s just changing a secretary. If even this can affect your work efficiency, how will you become the helm of the group in the future?”

Ji Zeyuan heard the determination in Ji Cheng’s words. He was dead set on planting Zhang Linen by her side. Arguing with him any further would be a waste of breath.

“Heh. Dad, I understand.”

Ji Zeyuan hung up the phone. Leaning against the back of the car seat, she helplessly placed her hand on her forehead and let out a heavy sigh.

The morning light illuminated the entire bustling metropolis. The morning peak traffic was crowded and noisy. At the ground floor of the Jixia Group headquarters building, employees clutching coffees scrambled to clock in at the very last second before being late.

“Hey, have you heard? The new CEO starts today and is holding a staff meeting.”

“Nonsense, who in the company doesn’t know? The new CEO is the Chairman’s daughter, a PhD from overseas.”

“I heard she’s a Super Alpha! I’m so jealous; I want to be someone like that too!”

“Word is this Little President Ji is still single. Do you think there’s a chance she’d take an interest in me?”

“Heh, take an interest in you? Better stick to your job.”

The department manager’s high heels went “clack, clack, clack” as she pushed open the door. The employees fell silent instantly, looking at the manager in unison.

“The new CEO arrives in ten minutes, at which point a staff meeting will be convened. It was mentioned in the department group chat beforehand. Everyone can head to the meeting room on the fourteenth floor now and wait quietly.”

At the bottom of the building, Hua Jianjiu stood at the company entrance, looking left and right with great anticipation. From time to time, she smoothed her neatly styled, shiny hair and pulled at the hem of her clothes to ensure her appearance was flawless.

A silver-black Maybach pulled up steadily in front of the Jixia Group building. Ji Zeyuan put down the documents in her hand, tilted her head to glance out the window, and finally fixed her gaze on the exaggerated and tacky reception line in front of the building.

The car door slowly opened. Silver-white ballet flats stepped out first. The car window reflected her lean and graceful figure under a cream-colored silk dress. Ji Zeyuan handed the documents to the driver and approached the building.

“Greetings, President Ji!” Hua Jianjiu bowed exaggeratedly and threw a coy, artificial look at Ji Zeyuan.

Ji Zeyuan found it amusing, but since many employees were present, she could only nod slightly and show a perfectly measured smile.

The beauty’s smile momentarily dazed the reception party. Such a beautiful Alpha was rare—amber eyes like refined jade, a clear and smooth jawline, a high bridge of the nose, and a scent of pheromones that was so pleasant, hitting the senses like the fragrance of roses.

Hua Jianjiu smiled respectfully: “President Ji, I will take you to the conference hall.”

Just then, a sweet voice called out, “Miss.” The receptionists wondered who would use such an archaic form of address these days, but when they turned around, they were hit by another blast of beauty.

Zhang Linen was dressed in a slim-fit professional suit. Though she didn’t have much embellishment, she was exceptionally eye-catching in the crowd—ink-black bright eyes, skin as fine and smooth as white jade, peach-blossom eyes that seemed both emotionless and sentimental, and pink cherry lips pressed firmly together without a trace of a smile.

In this second reunion, Ji Zeyuan was clearly much more composed. She avoided eye contact with Zhang Linen, her expression tense and displeased as she said: “In the company, call me President Ji.”

Just a moment ago, President Ji had been smiling, approachable, intellectual, and elegant; now she was frowning and cold as frost. This obvious difference in treatment was immediately noticed by the world-weary “old foxes” around them, who sensed the smell of gunpowder between the two.

“New here? Which department?” A department manager, believing herself to be very discerning, immediately began to curry favor by questioning Zhang Linen arrogantly.

Zhang Linen gave the person a faint look before turning her gaze back to Ji Zeyuan: “I am the CEO’s secretary.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar. The previously arrogant department manager fell silent. Hua Jianjiu, who knew the whole backstory, broke into a cold sweat inwardly, thinking: These two enemies haven’t seen each other for so long, why is the atmosphere so stiff?

Zhang Linen walked up to Ji Zeyuan. Looking at the driver holding the documents, she reached out her hand and said: “Give the things to me. You can go.”

The driver looked at Ji Zeyuan at a loss. Ji Zeyuan said: “Give them to her.”

Zhang Linen took the heavy stack of documents from the driver, but a happy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It gave Hua Jianjiu goosebumps, who thought: I guess only Zhang Linen could be as happy as a dog wagging its tail after finding work for herself.

Inside the conference hall, the lights were bright. The air was filled with the scents of various Alpha or Omega pheromones.

Ji Zeyuan took the meeting documents from Zhang Linen and walked to the podium with unhurried composure, introducing herself crisply and confidently: “Hello everyone, I am the new CEO of the group. My name is Ji Zeyuan.”

The atmosphere of the meeting was very oppressive. The series of reform systems announced by Ji Zeyuan caused dissatisfaction among many middle and senior management levels. By the second half of the meeting, no one was even willing to agree with her; the meeting had turned entirely into her personal solo show.

“President Ji, you are still young, after all—full of drive, hahaha.”

“But having drive isn’t always a good thing; it’s easy to flip the car.”

After the meeting, Ji Zeyuan slammed the documents onto her desk. At that moment, Zhang Linen entered with hot tea.

“Miss, you are new to the position. Those old fogies only say nasty things because they feel threatened. You don’t need to be upset by it.” Zhang Linen placed the tea in front of Ji Zeyuan, offering words of comfort.

Ji Zeyuan let out a heavy breath of turbid air and irritably pressed her temples with her thumbs, not saying a word.

The aroma of black tea drifted into Ji Zeyuan’s nose; even after all these years, Zhang Linen still remembered her taste.

The tea fragrance soothed Ji Zeyuan’s tense heartstrings. She subconsciously reached out to take it, but the moment her fingertips touched the warm rim of the cup, she snapped back to her senses. Ji Zeyuan pursed her lips imperceptibly and, speaking against her heart, pushed the tea aside with her fingertips: “The weather is too hot; I don’t drink hot tea.”

Zhang Linen’s eyes flickered with a dim light, her expression momentarily dejected, but she quickly regained her gentle demeanor: “Then I will change it for a lukewarm one. You cannot drink things that are too icy; your stomach is not good.”

Ji Zeyuan’s heart stirred, and a trace of sadness crossed her eyes. She hadn’t expected that after eight years, Zhang Linen hadn’t forgotten a single one of these minute details about her.

Her throat felt tight, and her nose felt a bit prickly as if she wanted to cry.

Masking her emotions, Ji Zeyuan casually opened a document and said with a lowered head, her voice suppressed to hide the urge to weep: “Secretary Zhang, take this cup of water away. You may leave as well.”

Zhang Linen felt a pang of sharp pain in her heart. She bit her lip, wanting to say something more, but Ji Zeyuan was like a bronze wall or an iron barrier, completely immersed in her work. In the end, she could only silently take the tea away and quietly leave the CEO’s office.

“Hey, did you see the new CEO’s secretary? She’s an absolute stunner. I heard she was parachuted into our company. You think she might be…”

“Don’t say it, it’s really a possibility. I overheard the HR people talking in the pantry yesterday. They said this secretary didn’t even go to university!”

“Huh? Don’t we only hire from 985 or 211 universities? If she didn’t even go to university… then she’s just a high schooler?”

“Damn, so that means she’s amazing! Her ‘bed-climbing’ skills must be top-tier!”

“Hey, how can you say that? Isn’t it bad to spread rumors like that?”

“But if it wasn’t for that, how could our group recruit a high schooler?”

Zhang Linen came to the restroom to pour the tea she had just served Ji Zeyuan into the sink. She heard the gossip in the restroom clearly. After pouring the tea, she deliberately didn’t leave, but waited at the restroom door, waiting for the people inside to come out.

“Oh, you know, I feel like I’m not that much worse looking than that secretary, how come…” The voice stopped abruptly. The speaker looked at Zhang Linen, who was leisurely washing her hands, and her face turned pale in an instant.

Zhang Linen calmly turned off the faucet, lightly flicked the water droplets off her hands, and turned to look at the leader of the group. She slowly approached and reached out to pick up the employee badge hanging around the other woman’s neck.

“Li Ziruo?” Zhang Linen’s tone carried a hint of contempt, her charming peach-blossom eyes curving slightly. “I’ve seen your employee file. If I remember correctly, didn’t you mess up the data for a multi-million dollar project just one month after joining? In the end, it was your supervisor, Hua Jianjiu… Supervisor Hua, who begged the client relentlessly before they gave some face and let you rewrite the proposal?”

Li Ziruo turned flush with anger. Her colleagues, seeing things were going south, all claimed to have business and fled the scene.

Zhang Linen let go of her work badge, leaned in close to her neck, and sniffed. Li Ziruo trembled all over and took a terrified step back.

“Hey, are you an Omega too?” Zhang Linen asked, rubbing her nose with her slender index finger. “You’d better spray some perfume. Because your pheromones… tsk, how should I put it…”

She pretended to think for a few seconds before saying as if suddenly realizing: “They smell like a rag that’s been used for a very long time. It’s very strange. If you don’t cover it with perfume, it will affect others. So, keep some perfume on you.”

Li Ziruo was so angry her eyes turned red, and she began to speak recklessly: “You… I think you’re just exasperated, aren’t you? I hit the mark, didn’t I? If it weren’t for unspoken rules, how could Jixia Group recruit someone who didn’t even get into university?”

Her voice attracted many curious onlookers. A crowd of people who loved drama gathered, and the entrance to the restroom was suddenly blocked.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd said in a small voice: “Actually, I feel like she’s not wrong. We worked so hard to get into university, only to be outperformed by a high schooler. Anyone would be resentful.”

Hearing someone agree with her, Li Ziruo became even more emboldened and spoke more excessively: “If you didn’t rely on climbing into beds, why don’t you explain how a ‘trash’ high schooler like you got in?”

Back then, because of Ji Zeyuan’s sudden departure, Zhang Linen’s emotions had collapsed, leading her to drop out of school. Although she didn’t attend university, her high school grades were enough to get her into the best universities in the country. Furthermore, after graduation, she had entered a subsidiary of Jixia Group under Ji Cheng’s arrangement. Under Ji Cheng’s guidance, she had handled many major projects and had rich work experience; her strength was not inferior to many graduates from prestigious schools.

But Zhang Linen had no desire to get involved with these irrelevant people. She didn’t believe there was any necessity to explain herself. The gossip of outsiders was insignificant to her; she only cared about Ji Zeyuan. She now desperately hoped that Ji Zeyuan would see everything that was happening.

Zhang Linen wanted to know: if she saw her being slandered and belittled like this with her own eyes, would Ji Zeyuan’s iceberg-like face show even a hint of emotion? Would she pity her, even for a second?

“Why are so many people crowded at the restroom door? Is this the only restroom on this floor?”

The familiar voice made Zhang Linen turn her head. The crowded group opened up a small path for one person. Ji Zeyuan walked through the crowd, her expression grim.