The CEO Omega I Picked Up Has Run Away - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sky wasn’t entirely dark yet; the roads were still visible. Under the system’s guidance, it took Ji Shu only ten minutes to reach the village entrance.

Most of the houses nearby were small two or three-story buildings. Most of the roads were paved with cement, and even the poorest houses were relatively new brick-and-tile structures. A mud hut like Ji Shu’s was truly one-of-a-kind in the village.

There were a few small streetlights at the intersection. Ji Shu immediately spotted a young woman with long hair on an electric scooter, stopping in front of a two-story house on the left.

After a few barks, a dark shadow lunged out of a side alley, charging straight for the young woman. She had just parked her scooter and was carrying a large bag of groceries; seeing the mad dog, she froze in terror, her only reaction being a scream.

From the shadows, Ji Shu grabbed a wooden stick she’d picked up along the way and, with speed far exceeding that of an average person, blocked the woman’s path. With a few sharp swings, she drove the dog away.

Ji Shu didn’t give chase. Instead, she turned to the woman with anticipation, wondering what “novice gift” the system had prepared.

The woman looked at her. She looked at the woman.

The woman’s face, still pale from the scare, turned even uglier. “Why is it you?”

Ji Shu blinked. This person knew the original host? From her expression, they weren’t on friendly terms.

But what did that matter? Ji Shu just wanted her gift. “I saved you.”

After a day of manual labor, she was starving. Her usual dinner time was six o’clock; it was already an hour late. Moreover, a creamy fragrance wafting from the woman triggered Ji Shu’s appetite. She looked at the bag in the woman’s hand with increasingly eager eyes. Mmm, I really like sweets.

The woman took a step back, misinterpreting the gaze. “What are you trying to do? I’m telling you, giving you subsidies is just my job. I will not be with you don’t even think about it! Even if you saved me, I won’t date you. I already have someone I like.”

She took Ji Shu for a delusional creep obsessed with her.

Ji Shu: “…”

“Xiao Tiantian…” Ji Shu ground her teeth.

The system’s voice was innocent: “Her name is Ji Xiaoru, a fellow villager. She’s an Omega working at the town’s Special Population Management Center. She’s the one who distributes the original host’s subsidies and scent-blocking patches. Isn’t it logical for her to deliver the novice gift?”

“Don’t worry, Host. You don’t have a blood feud. You just once publicly demanded that the state ‘assign’ her to you. She’s very professional, though.”

Ji Shu clenched her fists. “Does she look like she’s about to give me a gift?” Ji Xiaoru looked like she loathed her.

System: “Hehe, just watch.”

No matter how good Ji Shu’s temper was, she wanted to curse the system. But before she could speak, Ji Xiaoru thrust the bag into her hands. “Here! These are some snacks I bought. And you’ve always said you wanted a phone—take this phone too. Consider it repayment for saving my life. Just… stop pestering me.”

They say “petty people are hard to shake.” Ji Xiaoru’s biggest fear was being hounded by an Alpha like Ji Shu—poor, lazy, and shameless. Why did it have to be her who saved her today? If she could buy her off with these items, fine. If not, she’d rather quit her job and move her family away.

“Okay.”

Ji Shu took the items and left immediately, which actually stunned Ji Xiaoru. Looking at Ji Shu’s retreating, upright back, a flicker of doubt crossed her mind. This notorious village rogue seemed… different. At least today she looked clean, and her features were actually quite handsome.

No, no, she thought. A leopard doesn’t change its spots. That lazy Alpha is probably just so happy to get a phone that she forgot to harass me for a moment.

What a waste, though, she sighed. A month’s salary worth of snacks and a brand new phone…

Ji Xiaoru shook her head, feeling the sting in her wallet as she unlocked her door. Think of it as ‘spending wealth to avoid disaster.’ If that mad dog had bitten me, the hospital bill would have cost just as much. At least Ji Shu hadn’t tried to touch her or say anything disgusting today. That was a win.

Because the system explicitly labeled Ji Xiaoru’s items as the “novice gift,” Ji Shu accepted them without any psychological burden. The food would fill her stomach. The phone was a necessity; the system mentioned she needed to download a streaming app. By broadcasting her farming for thirty minutes a day, the system would funnel her earnings to her via “tips.”

I need to get a SIM card in town tomorrow, she thought. Otherwise, I won’t have data to stream.

As she walked, she rummaged through the bag. She didn’t find any cream cakes, which surprised her. She had clearly smelled a delicious cream scent earlier… Then it clicked. Ji Xiaoru was an Omega; that sweet fragrance was likely her pheromones.

Ah well, no cake, but other things were fine. She pulled out a box of sandwich biscuits and a carton of milk, eating as she headed home.

Her mud hut was broken, but it blocked the wind. The night wind here was fierce, nearly making it hard to keep her eyes open. It was pitch black now; without the system’s navigation, she would have been lost.

Reaching the hut, she paused and looked at Ji Hen’s house next door. The door was closed, but there was a light inside. After a moment’s hesitation, she carried the bag toward his door. Ji Hen had helped her today; he deserved a share of the “earnings.” Even if the system didn’t say so, Ji Shu believed in returning favors. Plus, building a good relationship would make it easier to recruit him for future farming.

She knocked on the right-hand door.

“Who is it?” After a moment, a voice came from inside Li Mengwan’s voice.

Ji Shu went silent. When Li Mengwan spoke again, she replied awkwardly, “It’s me. I’m looking for Ji Hen.”

The door opened. The breathtaking woman stood under the light. She was in the same clothes as earlier, but her sleeves were rolled up, water droplets clung to her fair arms, and her long hair was damp. She had clearly just washed her hair. It would have looked normal on a plainer face. But Li Mengwan’s face had a slight flush, her eyes were misty, and her voice was soft. Ji Shu nearly turned her back in a fluster.

“Sister? You’re looking for Brother Ji? He’s out looking for food. He might be back in a while,” Li Mengwan said.

Without thinking, Ji Shu placed the large bag of snacks at the door. “Food. For you guys. Tell Ji Hen for me.” She turned to leave, forgetting to keep a portion for herself.

“Sister.” Li Mengwan caught Ji Shu’s sleeve.

Ji Shu’s heart did a somersault. For some reason, she was more nervous now than she had been all day. She was doing a good deed, yet she felt like a thief caught red-handed.

Li Mengwan simply asked, “Aren’t you going to eat some?” She didn’t ask where the snacks came from; her question seemed born of genuine concern.

Ji Shu didn’t have the heart to take back what she’d given, so she shook her head. The night wind felt “sticky,” and she felt the sleeve Li Mengwan was holding catch that spring-like fragrance again.

Both were Omega pheromones, but Ji Xiaoru’s cream scent only made her think of food. Li Mengwan’s spring scent made her feel physically uneasy, especially at the nape of her neck. Wake up, Ji Shu, she warned herself. The female lead has amnesia now, but if she remembers this later, she won’t let you off easily.

Li Mengwan didn’t pester her. She released the sleeve naturally. “Then, thank you, Sister. You’re so good to me, I don’t know how to thank you.”

Alarm bells rang in Ji Shu’s head. She waved her hands. “No need. It’s just for Ji Hen’s sake.” She wanted no entanglement, no “repayment.” She just wanted to avoid trouble.

“Really? Sis, I didn’t expect you to keep me in your heart. I’m so happy!” Ji Hen, who had returned empty-handed and dejected from his search for food, overheard her and rushed to give her a hug.

Ji Shu deftly sidestepped, refusing the embrace. Her words were just a polite excuse, but Ji Hen had taken them as gospel.

“Heavens! So many snacks! Sis, where did you get these?” Ji Hen didn’t mind the missed hug; his eyes were glued to the bag. He pulled out a box of roasted crackers and started eating immediately. He then remembered Li Mengwan and handed her the box. “Little Wan, eat! These are the famous crackers from town, twenty yuan a pound! If you like them, I’ll buy you more once I get my pay tomorrow.”

Being a rough village man, Ji Hen didn’t care about his image. He talked with his mouth full, spraying cracker crumbs near the box. Li Mengwan’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly. Her movements to take a cracker slowed down. Even without memories, she was instinctively clean. She had been wearing the same blood-stained shirt and trousers for ten days because she refused to wear Ji Hen’s sweaty old clothes.

Logic told her not to refuse her savior’s food, but her body resisted the crumbs. Ji Hen didn’t notice, but Ji Shu couldn’t watch any longer. She reached into the bag, pulled out a fresh box of crackers, and thrust them into Li Mengwan’s hands. “One box each. That box isn’t enough for just one person.”

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to eat crumbs either, Ji Shu thought. She understood why the former CEO was hesitant.

“Sister is right,” Li Mengwan said, quickly withdrawing her hand from Ji Hen’s box to open the fresh one. “Mmm, it’s delicious.”

“Oh, right!” Ji Hen didn’t take offense. Unlike him, Li Mengwan ate elegantly even in her current state.

Ji Shu looked at her cousin. Honestly, this guy really didn’t match the female lead. He was a good man, but they were worlds apart. She wondered how the Li Mengwan who eventually regained her memories could stand him. Maybe CEOs have different tastes?

System: “Actually, Host, when she first recovers her memory, she looks down on Ji Hen. But he persists, they go through life-and-death events, and he even loses a leg and goes blind for three years for her. She eventually marries him out of gratitude. This novel has both sugar and angst.”

Ji Shu: “…” Well, I guess he earns his happy ending the hard way. She looked at Ji Hen with a flicker of pity.

Ji Hen, oblivious, invited her to stay. “Stay a bit longer, Sis. You don’t have lights at your place. Isn’t it lonely in the dark? Let’s eat together.”

Ji Shu thought of the graves she’d seen earlier. The word “dark” made her hesitate. But thinking about how hanging out with Li Mengwan led to “lost legs and blindness,” she couldn’t sit still. She feared being caught in the crossfire.

Ji Hen didn’t see her hesitation and pulled her into the house. In the process, Ji Shu accidentally brushed against Li Mengwan’s arm. She immediately pulled away to create distance.

Li Mengwan gave her a deep, searching look. Am I really that scary? I haven’t even done anything to her yet.

Once inside, Ji Hen asked, “Sis, where did you get these? If they’re stolen, we can’t eat them.” Given the host’s reputation, it was a valid concern.

Ji Shu sighed. “I happened to save someone. She gave them to me.”

“Who?”

“Ji Xiaoru.”

Pfft—! Ji Hen sprayed his milk. After coughing, he looked at her with realization. “Sis, I get it! You left in such a hurry because you knew Ji Xiaoru came home on Friday nights! You went to watch her and happened to save her, right?”

“Sis, give it up. She works a government job in town. Why would she look at poor folks like us? Listen to me, stop liking her. Even if the state assigns an Omega to you when you’re twenty-five, it won’t be her.”

In the corner, Li Mengwan’s eyes narrowed. The cracker in her hand didn’t move another inch.

Ji Shu’s lip twitched. She wanted to explain, but how? “You’re overthinking it,” she said dryly.

To change the subject, she asked, “You’re going to town tomorrow?”

Ji Hen nodded.

“I’m coming with you.”

The system’s range was only one kilometer; it couldn’t guide her to town. She needed Ji Hen. But more importantly, she wanted to borrow some money from him once he got his pay enough to get a SIM card and clean herself up.

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