My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 4

As expected, you still care about me.

The crowd of onlookers, seeing that Ji Zeyuan had arrived, quickly scattered like startled birds and returned to their workstations. Only Zhang Linen, Li Ziruo, and Ji Zeyuan remained in front of the washroom.

Ji Zeyuan’s gaze was frozen, her eyes traveling between the two before finally settling on Li Ziruo.

“What happened here?” Her voice was solemn and steady, radiating an aura of immense authority.

Li Ziruo lowered her head, not daring to make a sound. She was breaking out in a cold sweat, her previous shrewish and talkative demeanor completely vanished.

In this heavy, silent atmosphere, someone suddenly rushed over, breaking the deadlock.

Hua Jianjiu dashed forward and forced Li Ziruo’s head down, bowing deeply to Ji Zeyuan alongside her. “President Ji, I am so sorry. This is an employee from my department. She was disrespectful just now; I apologize to Secretary Zhang and to you on her behalf.”

The colleagues who had fled the scene earlier had immediately reported the situation to their supervisor, Hua Jianjiu. When Hua Jianjiu rushed over, she happened upon this scene thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Ji Zeyuan furrowed her brows in silence. When someone had reported to her earlier, they only mentioned that someone was having a dispute with Zhang Linen at the washroom entrance, but she wasn’t clear on the specifics.

Based on the Zhang Linen that Ji Zeyuan knew, she wasn’t the type to swallow her pride, but she feared trouble most of all. She would usually try her best to minimize major issues and then settle scores later; a public, face-to-face confrontation didn’t seem like her style.

She looked at Zhang Linen and said, “Secretary Zhang, tell me, what is going on?”

Zhang Linen lowered her head submissively, her eyes still brimming with tears. She pursed her lips and remained silent, looking pitiable—a world away from the proud, unyielding woman who had been confronting Li Ziruo moments ago.

Ji Zeyuan had never seen Zhang Linen like this. In her memory, Zhang Linen was like a flower on a high mountain—rarely shedding tears, strong, cold, and always keeping others at a distance.

Yet, that same Zhang Linen was now crying like a “white flower” who had just entered the world and been bullied, her face covered in pearly tears because of someone else’s words.

Even Hua Jianjiu was stunned. In her impression, if someone offended Zhang Linen, she might not explode on the spot, but she would certainly pay them back a hundredfold later. She never cried easily. Aside from the period eight years ago when Ji Zeyuan suddenly left home, Hua Jianjiu had never seen this “robot-like” woman cry.

“What exactly happened?” Ji Zeyuan’s voice softened completely, her tone even carrying a hint of caution.

Zhang Linen raised her hand to wipe her tears, sobbing in a low voice: “Just now… this employee questioned how I became your secretary, suggesting I have an improper relationship with the higher-ups.”

Ji Zeyuan’s pupils suddenly contracted, and her gaze darkened completely. She turned her head and gave Li Ziruo a cold, chilling look.

Li Ziruo’s body shook violently, her face turning pale as she kept her head down.

Ji Zeyuan’s gaze didn’t linger on Li Ziruo for long; she quickly turned back to Zhang Linen’s face.

“Alright, stop crying,” Ji Zeyuan comforted her gently. She subconsciously reached out her hand to wipe away Zhang Linen’s tears, but the forbidden status between them reminded her at the crucial moment. She snapped back to her senses, frowned, and pulled her hand back.

Zhang Linen wiped her tears and said, “It’s okay… I’ll stop crying in a moment.”

Despite saying that, her tears continued to flow like a stream. Ji Zeyuan felt a pang in her heart, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

After a brief struggle, Ji Zeyuan pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it to Zhang Linen. Then, she turned to Li Ziruo, her face so cold it seemed like it might drop icicles.

“What is your name?” Ji Zeyuan asked coldly.

Li Ziruo replied in a small, trembling voice: “Li… Ziruo.”

Ji Zeyuan looked down at her disparagingly. After observing her for a moment, she asked, “Who hired you?”

Li Ziruo’s body swayed. Before she could answer, Hua Jianjiu stepped in front of her and spoke solemnly: “President Ji, it was I who hired her into the company.”

Ji Zeyuan looked at her, and after a long silence, said: “Since you hired her, you should be the one to handle her dismissal.”

Hearing those words, the corner of Zhang Linen’s mouth curved into a subtle arc. Her heart was trembling.

As expected, you still care about me.

Having said that, Ji Zeyuan raised her hand to check her watch and looked at Li Ziruo again: “I will be following the subsequent processing results of this incident. I have things to do, so I’ll be leaving first.”

Zhang Linen followed closely behind. Before leaving, she cast a glance back at the pathetic Li Ziruo, showing a triumphant, successful smile through her red eyes.

…

After quietly watching Zhang Linen and Ji Zeyuan leave, Hua Jianjiu turned to look at Li Ziruo. Li Ziruo stood there like a stake, dejected as if the life had been sucked out of her.

This wasn’t the first time Li Ziruo had caused such trouble. In the past, she hadn’t been this loose-tongued or lacking in boundaries, and Hua Jianjiu could still try her best to make amends for her.

But this time, Li Ziruo had provoked the one person she shouldn’t have. If she had provoked Ji Zeyuan, Hua Jianjiu could have pleaded for mercy, and Ji Zeyuan might have been too lazy to care and let it slide. But Li Ziruo had specifically targeted Zhang Linen.

Although Ji Zeyuan had gone abroad and cut off contact with Zhang Linen without explanation back then, judging by her various actions, she still deeply cared for Zhang Linen.

Hua Jianjiu gave Li Ziruo two looks of extreme disappointment, sighed silently, and prepared to leave. But at that moment, Li Ziruo suddenly grabbed her hand.

Li Ziruo gripped Hua Jianjiu’s wrist tightly with both hands, crying piteously: “Supervisor, I… I can’t be fired. I beg you, I was wrong, I won’t ever do it again.”

Due to her emotional breakdown, Li Ziruo’s pheromones were leaking out heavily. Hua Jianjiu inhaled a lot of them, and her mind began to feel a bit light-headed.

Hua Jianjiu tried her best to suppress her physical instincts and answered rationally: “I can’t help you this time. You provoked the wrong person. I don’t have that kind of power.”

“And you say this every time, but you’ve never truly reflected on your actions.”

Li Ziruo gripped Hua Jianjiu’s hand like a literal lifeline, her pheromones erupting like a flood: “Supervisor, I… I really won’t do it again. I really know I was wrong. Please, you know my parents always favor my sister. If they find out I was fired, they will definitely kick me out of the house. I beg you…”

Suddenly, a faint sound of footsteps came from the end of the hallway, sounding not very far away.

Hua Jianjiu’s rationality was on the verge of collapse. To prevent anyone from seeing Li Ziruo like this, she endured the sharp pang of desire and pulled Li Ziruo into the washroom. She found an empty stall, threw Li Ziruo inside, entered herself, and locked the door behind them.

“First, pull your pheromones back,” Hua Jianjiu said in a hoarse, hurried voice.

Li Ziruo looked at Hua Jianjiu while sobbing, appearing completely lost.

“Supervisor, I can’t control it. I really… I really can’t.”

As she spoke, Li Ziruo reached out and hugged Hua Jianjiu’s neck, pressing her entire body against her.

“Supervisor, help me. Help me one last time.”

Li Ziruo’s lips kissed the corner of Hua Jianjiu’s mouth. Hua Jianjiu gave her a resistant push, but Li Ziruo leaned back in even more forcefully.

“Why are you pushing me? Didn’t we used to do this often?” Li Ziruo kissed Hua Jianjiu’s tightly pressed lips, stroking her soft hair over and over.

“Do you hate me now? Is it because I always cause trouble for you? I’m sorry, I can never change my bad habits. Do you really not want to care about me this time?”

Li Ziruo’s murmurs were like a bone-eroding poison. Hua Jianjiu knew she shouldn’t take it, but by the time she realized it, the poison had already seeped into her marrow.

After a long silence, Hua Jianjiu let out a heavy sigh.

“Calm your emotions first.”

Li Ziruo immediately broke into a smile. She knew that Hua Jianjiu was willing to help her.

…

At the bottom of the Jixia Group building, the driver opened the rear door of the Maybach. Ji Zeyuan and Zhang Linen entered the car one after another.

The driver peeked at the red-eyed Zhang Linen through the rearview mirror. He had worked for the Ji family for twenty years. When he used to pick up and drop off Ji Zeyuan from school, he would always take Zhang Linen along. Although he hadn’t spoken many words to Zhang Linen, through over a decade of observation, he knew the girl wasn’t someone who cried easily. Naturally, he was curious about what could have made her cry like this.

As far as he could see, Zhang Linen’s expression was somber, her eyes watery. She was sitting with her laptop on her lap, quietly handling work.

They were headed to Yuebo Media to discuss an endorsement deal. Yuebo Media didn’t have many artists; their flagship star was the currently popular rising actress, Shen Jiuyue.

As an actress, Shen Jiuyue had stiff acting skills and poor line delivery—it could be said she had no professional merits at all. However, her face was exceptionally beautiful, with chiseled features that looked like a divine miracle. In TV dramas, she often played “eye candy” roles with little screen time.

Her superior appearance had led Ji Zeyuan to decide to hire her as the image spokesperson for the group’s newly developed high-tech beauty device.

“Miss,” Zhang Linen suddenly spoke in the silent car.

Ji Zeyuan turned her head to look at her, her expression calm.

Zhang Linen turned her computer screen toward Ji Zeyuan, analyzing methodically: “As an artist, Shen Jiuyue has too many scandals, and there is a lot of negative public opinion about her online. The risk of using her as a brand spokesperson is too high. I have compiled a list of other high-quality candidates whose looks are not inferior to Shen Jiuyue’s.”

After showing the windows containing information about Shen Jiuyue one by one, Zhang Linen closed them. She then opened another folder containing the profile photos of several suitable brand spokespeople she had newly selected.

Ji Zeyuan looked through them carefully. Zhang Linen’s eye was indeed good; the risk assessment for Shen Jiuyue was reasonable, and the people she selected were indeed on par with her.

However, a somewhat strange coincidence was that every single person Zhang Linen had selected was an Alpha.

“Let’s go see Shen Jiuyue first,” Ji Zeyuan said after reviewing all the materials.

Zhang Linen curled her lips into a smile and said gently, “Okay.”

The corners of her eyes were still rimmed with red. Her gentle voice combined with that harmless face made her appear extremely obedient.

The space in the back of the car was limited, and the two were sitting very close. They could clearly smell each other’s scent. From the moment she got into the car, the string in Ji Zeyuan’s heart had been pulled very tight.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that after what had just happened, Zhang Linen had somehow become much “softer.”

Or rather, ever since they reunited, Zhang Linen had been consistently “soft,” a stark contrast to her former cold and stubborn self.