The CEO Omega’s 'Soft Rice' Alpha - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After a full day of running around, Su Yi’an was exhausted.

She drove back to her newly purchased two-bedroom apartment in the city center of Beijing, made a call to have someone look up Zhan Ming’s specific details, and then collapsed onto her bed.

The “Soft Persimmon” System was not only bad at positioning but also lacked complete data. Furthermore, she hadn’t cared about Zhan Ming at all previously and hadn’t taken the so-called missions seriously. Consequently, Su Yi’an didn’t even know the address of Zhan Ming’s university yet. The apartment she bought was just a random purchase; she hadn’t intentionally chosen a location near him. After all, this wasn’t like being abroad; she didn’t have many people here she could fully trust.

At some point, a drizzling rain began to fall again. A cool breeze drifted through the wide-open window, dispersing the indoor heat. Accompanied by the sound of rain, Su Yi’an gradually fell into a deep sleep.

The white curtains fluttered in the wind. Droplets of rain fell into the room and onto Su Yi’an’s eyelids, carrying with them a faint, lingering scent of grapes.

A grape as large as a basketball, peeled and ready, was offered to Su Yi’an’s lips. With a light bite, the juice overflowed…

Drenched in sweat, Su Yi’an jolted awake from her dream, staring blankly at the pitch-black darkness outside. The rain had stopped again; Beijing’s weather was notoriously fickle.

The white curtains were now perfectly still, and no rain was splashing in. Su Yi’an uneasily pressed her legs together, her tongue touching the roof of her mouth. For a moment, she couldn’t distinguish whether what had just happened was a dream or reality. The soul-deep pleasure of “eating grapes” was something she had never experienced before, leaving her yearning for more.

The ventilation fan had automatically turned on, clearing the heavy scent of alcohol from the room.

“Host, Host, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?“

The System’s soft voice snapped Su Yi’an back to her senses. Her face flushed. She threw off the thin quilt and ran barefoot into the bathroom. It wasn’t until the slightly chilled water hit her face that the heat in her body slowly subsided.

Su Yi’an propped her hands on the sink, looking at her reflection with embarrassment. This shy, blushing woman with bedroom eyes certainly wasn’t her…

Fortunately, the Soft Persimmon System couldn’t see her dreams or peer into her inner world. Otherwise, she would die of shame over her nearly “dirty old man” behavior. No, wait—she was only twenty-three, in the prime of her youth with hormones surging. She might be “lecherous,” but she certainly wasn’t “old.” She should be a good match for the “Miss Grape” in her dream, right?

Su Yi’an traced her slightly dry lips with her fingertips. For the first time, she cared about her appearance. Her lips, which seemed perfectly suited for kissing, appeared to lack the nourishment of grape juice.

After her shower, she threw on a loose bathrobe and lounged on the sofa. She opened a delivery app and impulsively ordered five pounds of premium crystal grapes before turning her attention to the photos and data her contact had sent regarding Zhan Ming.

Zhan Ming: His parents were originally real estate developers with a modest fortune. Rumor has it the family possesses a “Blood Jade” passed down for centuries, worth a city’s ransom, though no one has ever seen it. The Zhan family went bankrupt a year ago, and his parents were hounded to death by debt collectors. Zhan Ming just turned eighteen and is a chemistry major at Beijing University. As the book described, he is taciturn, helpful, and keeps himself clean. Because of his good looks and top-tier grades, many Omegas at school like him, but he is solely focused on earning money to pay off debts. His biggest flaw is likely his tendency to be impulsive when his bottom line is crossed.

Su Yi’an nodded in satisfaction, her thumb brushing over Zhan Ming’s photo on the screen. Even to complete a mission, she didn’t want to give her money to a scumbag. Someone with eyes as clear as a fawn’s and such a clean face was indeed easy prey for a “bad older sister.” Word was, the female lead was more than ten years his senior.

However, Su Yi’an had a question: “Zhan Ming is a chemistry major. How does he end up in the entertainment industry?“

The system was also muddled and guessed cautiously: “Later, Zhan Ming is discovered by a scout because of his looks. His debut in a campus youth idol drama makes him an overnight sensation. Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps he felt it was a faster way to make money. After all, until the day he died, he wanted to pay back the female lead and live with his head held high.“

Su Yi’an nodded slowly. She only asked out of curiosity; she wasn’t particularly interested in his motivations as long as he wasn’t morally corrupt. Besides, if the “Soft Persimmon” System was helping him, his character likely wasn’t bad. After all, this system constantly preached about not destroying moral values.

The doorbell rang—the delivery had arrived.

Su Yi’an pulled her bathrobe tight, put on her slippers, and opened the door to take a large basket of grapes from the delivery man. She had bought the best grapes from the shop. They were fresh, juicy, and sweet, but Su Yi’an felt something was missing. They didn’t smell as good as the grape fragrance in the bar, nor were they the specific sweetness she craved. Out of five pounds, she only ate about a dozen before losing interest.

As the night grew deeper, she returned to bed but couldn’t fall asleep. After tossing and turning all night, she finally felt drowsy around 7:00 AM, only to be awakened by the dutiful system. Fortunately, she didn’t have much of a “morning grump” personality and knew this mission allowed for no mistakes.

She got up and washed, a process that took less than a minute. However, when going out, Su Yi’an was a meticulous person. Applying heavy makeup and choosing an outfit took over an hour, leaving the system almost in tears from waiting. Finally, she put on a carefully selected black dress. After admiring her perfect silhouette in the mirror, she grabbed her multi-million dollar red leather bag and headed out.

She believed that with her driving skills, she could definitely make it to Zhan Ming’s school before the female lead arrived at 9:00 AM. That was why she felt she could afford to linger.

However, things weren’t as simple as she thought. She hit a traffic jam from the moment she left, and it lasted nearly the entire way to the university gates. The red lights at every intersection were agonizingly long. By the time she arrived, it was slightly past 9:00 AM. Fortunately, Zhan Ming and the female lead had not met yet.

Su Yi’an parked her car in a secluded corner outside the school gates. The sun was intense today. Being fastidious, she put on her sunglasses and opened a parasol before striding toward the main gate.

“I told Host to hurry, but you wouldn’t listen! We were nearly sent back for ‘re-processing’!” The system was sobbing. Its mechanical voice sounded like a knife scraping the bottom of a pot—extremely annoying. Since comforting didn’t work, Su Yi’an put on a stern, fierce face while walking: “Stop crying. Isn’t there still a chance?“

Sure enough, the system was frightened into silence.

At that moment, several young men and women walked toward her, looking in her direction with suppressed excitement.

“That sister is so beautiful! Is she here to find someone?”

“I’ve seen that car in a magazine; it’s worth tens of millions.”

“And the watch on her hand, the clothes… they’re all incredibly expensive. She looks like a female CEO stepped right out of a novel. I love her!“

Su Yi’an paused and subconsciously checked herself. She thought she had been low-key enough today, even wearing sunglasses. Could she still be recognized? She instinctively wanted to avoid them, but as the students passed her, she realized they were talking about the person behind her.

Initially uninterested, she suddenly smelled that haunting, ethereal grape fragrance floating in the air.

Su Yi’an spun around. She saw an exquisite beauty standing by a supercar, holding a bouquet of roses. Her heart leapt into her throat.

It was “Miss Grape” from last night. Under the sunlight, she wore a pure white, tailored small suit. Although her body was stiff and her expression blank, Su Yi’an felt she was even more moving than the night before.

While she was dazed, Su Yi’an saw Zhan Ming walking out of the school gates among a crowd of students out of the corner of her eye. Her heart sank with a bad premonition.

“System, don’t tell me that is the female lead, Lan Yan,” she asked tonelessly.

Lan Lan, Lan Yan… Wasn’t that exactly her? Does this mean the person she “missed” last night was about to meet Zhan Ming? Su Yi’an suddenly felt a pang of regret.

The system was also dazed: “Looking at the situation, it seems so. What is Host planning to do? This system repeats: Host cannot do anything to destroy moral values! The male and female leads are about to meet! Host, charge!“

Charge indeed!

Su Yi’an lightly adjusted her sunglasses and let out a faint smile. “Sorry, this ‘soft rice’ bowl… Auntie is taking it away.”

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