My Childhood Friend, Who Is An Omega, Has Become My Personal Secretary - Chapter 51

I Quit

Ji Zeyuan stared fixedly at Zhao Yan, watching her until Zhao Yan felt uncomfortable before finally shifting her gaze away.

In terms of ability, let alone comparing Zhao Yan to Zhang Linen—even if one were to pick a random low-level blue-collar worker from the company, they would likely be more competent than her.

However, Ji Zeyuan hadn’t received a single notification, yet the person had simply shown up. It was obvious at a glance that Ji Cheng had arranged this.

With a cold face, Ji Zeyuan silently expressed her stance through her expression.

Just then, her phone rang with Zhang Linen’s exclusive notification tone.

“What are you holding in your hand?” Ji Zeyuan asked as she took out her phone to reply to the message.

Zhang Linen had sent a selfie of herself snuggled under a quilt. The corners of Ji Zeyuan’s lips curled up slightly as she replied: “I’ve set it as my desktop background.”

Zhao Yan, who was standing there foolishly holding her documents, saw the usually ice-cold Ji Zeyuan smiling so happily. She hesitated for a long time before answering: “My uncle’s assistant gave them to me.”

Ji Zeyuan frowned. Though she said nothing, her eyes swept over the stack of documents, her gaze as sharp as an awl. Zhao Yan couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.

“…Since you’re here, do your job well,” Ji Zeyuan said, withdrawing her gaze. She dropped that single sentence and left without looking back.

Hua Jianjiu sat at her workstation, her fingers mechanically tapping on the keyboard, working almost entirely on the professional inertia of a “laborer.”

Suddenly, someone knocked on her desk. Hua Jianjiu looked up impatiently to see Li Ziruo.

“This is for you.” Li Ziruo placed a cup of coffee on Hua Jianjiu’s desk and then left without saying another word.

Before Li Ziruo could even get far, Hua Jianjiu picked up the coffee without hesitation and threw it heavily into the trash bin by her feet. Several colleagues at nearby workstations looked over, and Li Ziruo, hearing the commotion, turned her head back with a flash of fear in her eyes.

“Manager Hua.” Someone was at the door looking for her. Hua Jianjiu looked up; it was Ji Zeyuan.

Under normal circumstances, if Ji Zeyuan needed something, she would call someone to deliver it. She rarely came down to the departmental offices in person.

When the people in the Brand Planning Department saw her, they all retracted their heads from watching the drama and buried themselves in “hard work.”

Upon seeing Ji Zeyuan, Li Ziruo nervously lowered her head to make way. Ji Zeyuan didn’t notice her and brushed past her toward Hua Jianjiu’s desk.

“Give me the supplier information for the components of that high-tech beauty device from before, I…” Ji Zeyuan paused. Hua Jianjiu raised her eyebrows in confusion, and Ji Zeyuan turned to look behind her. Hua Jianjiu followed her line of sight to Li Ziruo, who was just about to return to her station.

Ji Zeyuan turned back to look at Hua Jianjiu, her gaze now completely cold.

“Come out with me,” Ji Zeyuan said, interrupting her previous topic with a cold tone.

Hua Jianjiu stood up blankly. Seeing this, Li Ziruo’s heart instantly leapt into her throat.

Ji Zeyuan led Hua Jianjiu to an empty, deserted conference hall. After locking the door, she spoke: “Why is that person still here?”

Hua Jianjiu frowned. “Which one?”

Ji Zeyuan said, “Don’t play dumb with me. I’ve given you enough face by calling you here.”

Hua Jianjiu still didn’t understand. She carefully recalled Ji Zeyuan’s unusual behavior just now, and suddenly, a flash of insight hit her. She asked, “Are you talking about Li Ziruo?”

Ji Zeyuan had originally forgotten Li Ziruo’s name, but remembering it after Hua Jianjiu mentioned it, she said coldly, “So you do know.”

Hua Jianjiu was speechless. Ji Zeyuan said, “Make her leave today. Send the supplier information to my office in a moment.” Having finished, Ji Zeyuan gave Hua Jianjiu no chance to explain and walked straight out the door.

Zhang Linen pulled the car over to the side of the road. When she got out, she intentionally tightened her mask and pressed down the brim of her hat.

Ten minutes had passed since her scheduled time with Dr. Liang. She knocked on the door, and Dr. Liang opened it.

Zhang Linen sat down on the sofa and took off her mask and hat, her breathing slightly ragged.

“How are things going with that Miss Ji?” Dr. Liang asked with a smile, while pouring a glass of warm water and placing it in front of Zhang Linen.

Zhang Linen said, “We are together. It went smoothly.”

Despite saying this, there was no joy on Zhang Linen’s face.

Dr. Liang asked gently, “You don’t look very happy.”

Zhang Linen said, “I’m okay.”

Dr. Liang smiled without speaking, watching her quietly.

Zhang Linen frowned, her gaze drifting aimlessly. She pursed her lips in frustration, her fingers picking at the sofa cover.

“I feel like being with her… is so exhausting.”

Zhang Linen picked up the cup of hot tea in front of her. She didn’t drink it, just held it. “I’m so afraid she’ll find out what I’m really like. I know she doesn’t love me nearly as deeply as I love her…”

Under the pressure of her palm, the paper cup suddenly deformed, and the hot water surged out all at once. Zhang Linen’s delicate hand was scalded, turning a large patch of red.

“Xiao Zhang!” Dr. Liang was startled and hurried to the refrigerator to get some ice packs for Zhang Linen.

Zhang Linen pressed the ice pack blankly. Suddenly, she looked up at Dr. Liang and asked from the bottom of her heart, “Dr. Liang, do you think I’m very ridiculous, very pathetic?”

Dr. Liang gently stroked Zhang Linen’s hair and was about to offer comfort when Zhang Linen’s phone suddenly rang.

Zhang Linen pushed the doctor away, wiped her tears, and answered the call.

“Zhang Linen, did you not tell Ji Zeyuan about Li Ziruo?” Hua Jianjiu’s angry voice burst through the receiver.

Zhang Linen asked, “What do you mean?”

“Ji Zeyuan just saw Li Ziruo in the department and told me to get her out of here today!”

Zhang Linen sighed tiredly and said, “Back then you only asked me to keep her, so I kept her. Now, I am no longer a person of Jixia…”

“Zhang Linen, are you messing with me?” Hua Jianjiu sharply interrupted. “Back then, you had me, a planning department manager, go to the film set to do odd jobs just to help you monitor that celebrity who was interested in Ji Zeyuan. I went without a single word of complaint, and now this is how you treat me?”

Zhang Linen explained patiently, “I said I would help you keep her, and I did. As for the current sudden situation, I…”

“Then go tell Ji Zeyuan clearly right now. Don’t let her fire Li Ziruo,” Hua Jianjiu continued to interrupt.

Zhang Linen was already in a terrible mood, and Hua Jianjiu’s repeated rude interruptions completely incensed her.

“You resign, and I’ll have Ji Zeyuan keep her.”

Hearing this, Hua Jianjiu couldn’t believe it, thinking she had misheard. “What?”

Zhang Linen poked directly at Hua Jianjiu’s sore spot without any politeness: “Don’t you love sacrificing for love? She’s already cheated on you three or four times, yet you’re still willing to help her like this. I’m giving you a chance to show off your selfless spirit of devotion.”

In an instant, the other end of the phone fell into a dead silence. It took a while before Hua Jianjiu’s trembling voice rose again: “Zhang Linen, do you have to be so mean?”

“Aren’t you the same way toward Ji Zeyuan? Ah, right, let me congratulate you. After ‘licking’ her for so long, she’s finally willing to look at you. It’s truly strange—how is it that as soon as she found out you were Ji Cheng’s daughter, she was willing to be good to you? You…”

Zhang Linen hung up the phone, and Hua Jianjiu’s spiraling voice came to an abrupt halt.

After handling some of the project contracts, Ji Zeyuan took a moment of leisure to start flipping through an old photo album. When she was abroad, looking through these albums only brought infinite bitterness and longing.

Now that her wishes had come true, looking back at these photos made the various hardships and pains of the past seem like nothing much at all.

As Ji Zeyuan flipped through, she suddenly came across the image of that paternity test from years ago. Her fingertips paused. After a moment of thought, she moved her finger to the three dots in the top right corner. When the list expanded, she clicked delete.

But when it came to pressing the confirm button, Ji Zeyuan hesitated.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Zeyuan not only didn’t delete the photo but saved it again, moving it to the front of the album.

One day, she would have to explain the stupid misunderstanding from back then to Zhang Linen clearly.

Just as she finished saving the image, Zhang Linen sent a message.

“I’m going back to my own place today.”

Ji Zeyuan frowned and typed back: “Why? You only came for one day and you’re leaving? Why such a hurry? How is your pheromone phobia?”

After about a few minutes, Zhang Linen replied: “I have things to do.”

Brief and dismissive, not explaining the reason at all.

Ji Zeyuan thought about it and immediately called her. The phone rang eight times before it was picked up.

“Xiao En, what’s so urgent? Do you need my help?” Ji Zeyuan asked, her tone gentle yet carrying a bit of coquettish inquiry.

“No need. I’ll come find you in a few days,” Zhang Linen replied coldly, not picking up on Ji Zeyuan’s mood.

Ji Zeyuan felt disappointed and worried, but she didn’t want to ask too much for fear of making Zhang Linen withdraw again.

“Then if you’re not coming back, can I go find you?” Ji Zeyuan asked, settling for the next best thing.

Zhang Linen said, “No.”

Ji Zeyuan said, “Then shall we video call? If you don’t want to video call, then voice call. Or you could just send me more texts.”

Two soft chuckles came from the phone. Ji Zeyuan couldn’t help but curl her lips as well. After a moment, Zhang Linen said, “Okay.”

Ji Zeyuan said, “Xiao Yuan.”

Zhang Linen responded, “Hmm.”

Ji Zeyuan said, “I… oh, never mind. I’ll tell you when the time comes.”

Zhang Linen didn’t ask further and still responded warmly, “Hmm.”

The two didn’t exchange any more pleasantries and hung up their respective phones.

Ji Zeyuan found the contact information for the manager from whom she was buying the ring and asked, “Can my ring be finished a bit faster?”

The manager replied very quickly: “I’ll have to ask the designer first, President Ji. Please wait a moment; I will definitely complete it for you both with quality and speed.”

Ji Zeyuan smiled, unable to stop herself from imagining where the proposal should take place: In the manor? There were too many beautiful memories there, but thinking about the awkward atmosphere of their current relationship with Ji Cheng, it didn’t seem quite right.

In a chapel? Jixia owned plenty of chapels. She could pick the most magnificent venue, have someone decorate it, and then play some music…

Ji Zeyuan pressed her lips together in thought. Thinking carefully, that plan seemed a bit too cliché. Maybe she should change the venue to a meadow, or a flower field.

The sky and earth stretching wide, a light breeze blowing—quiet and beautiful.

As Ji Zeyuan thought about it, she became immersed, losing herself to the point of wishing it could happen right now. Just then, a knock at the door pulled her thoughts back from the clouds. Ji Zeyuan hid her silly smile and said seriously, “Come in.”

The person who entered was Hua Jianjiu. Ji Zeyuan looked at her watch and said, “Why did it take you so long to bring the materials?”

Hua Jianjiu didn’t speak. Ji Zeyuan continued, “Is that person taken care of?”

After she finished speaking, the silent Hua Jianjiu finally spoke in a heavy voice: “Ji Zeyuan, I quit.”