The Cold And Straight Alpha Is Always Being Flirted With By The Goddess Aunt - Chapter 26

“I’m sorry, President Xi is busy and is not seeing guests right now.”

Yan Qing, who rarely visited the Yan Group, found herself blocked from seeing Xi Zhaowan by the front desk receptionist.

Fortunately, Sanzhu (Assistant No. 3), the personal assistant to both Xi Zhaowan and Yan Manxing, happened to pass by and recognized the Young Head of the Yan family. The receptionist’s attitude shifted instantly; with a face full of smiles, she apologized and said she would notify President Xi immediately.

However, Sanzhu stopped her. For a young woman in her twenties to reach the position of personal assistant, she possessed a “seven apertured heart” (a quick wit). She knew full well that Xi Zhaowan had been in a foul mood lately, and it likely had something to do with this young lady from the family. If she let her in unannounced and worsened Xi Zhaowan’s mood, the lives of the subordinates would only become harder.

Sanzhu pushed up her glasses and politely asked Yan Qing to wait a moment. She made a formal call to Assistant No. 2, who contacted Assistant No. 1, following the hierarchy. After waiting for nearly fifteen minutes, Yan Qing was given the result: President Xi was in a meeting, and the Young Head should perhaps head home first.

Yan Qing had already waited a while and didn’t mind a bit more time. She checked her phone, there was still an hour and a half before her afternoon classes.

However, after another thirty minutes, the meeting showed no signs of ending.

Yan Qing couldn’t resist sending a text to Xi Zhaowan: “Sister Wan, are you in a meeting?”

Five minutes later, a perfunctory reply arrived: “Yes.”

“I’m waiting for you downstairs. Is it convenient for you to come down after your meeting?”

“This meeting might take a long time. Why don’t Qing’er go back to school first?”

Xi Zhaowan’s reply was as gentle as ever, yet Yan Qing felt a sense of distance through the screen. There was so much she wanted to ask Xi Zhaowan for instance, what was her relationship with Wei Weizhi? Had she agreed to be pursued?

But she knew that once she actually faced Xi Zhaowan, those words might not come out. What standing did she have to question her? As a niece, she would seem too intrusive into an elder’s private life.

Yet, she felt she had no other standing left to choose from. Heart stricken, Yan Qing felt caught between leaving and staying. Looking up at the towering Yan Group skyscraper, imagining Xi Zhaowan working or conducting experiments inside, she fell into a daze.

With only half an hour left before school started, Yan Qing sighed and decided to leave. She mocked herself for her momentary impulsiveness; even if she had met Xi Zhaowan, she probably wouldn’t have said anything.

As she crossed to the other side of the road, she saw a flashy, bright red sports car pull up in front of the Yan Group. A tall, exquisite woman wearing sunglasses stepped out, carrying a large bouquet of flowers as she walked into the building.

A moment later, Yan Qing saw the figure she longed for and knew best the same elegant, fairy-like silhouette that claimed to be in a meeting walking out gracefully.

Clutching her chest, caught between a racing heart and a tightening sense of indignation, she watched Xi Zhaowan walk toward that woman.

It was Wei Weizhi! Yan Qing recognized the S-grade Alpha. She was the woman who had released her pheromones to secretly pressure Yan Qing on the night she had picked up Xi Zhaowan.

Wei Weizhi was dressed very formally. Upon seeing Xi Zhaowan, she flashed a wide smile, removed her sunglasses with a flourish, and presented the flowers to the beauty.

Xi Zhaowan did not take them. Yan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like a thief lurking in the shadows across the street.

Xi Zhaowan seemed to sense her gaze, her eyes flickered with confusion as she scanned the surroundings before returning her gaze to Wei Weizhi with a hint of disappointment.

She had coldly rejected Wei Weizhi’s flowers. Since the other woman had used the excuse of cooperation to invite her to discuss the joint development of the R7 reagent, she couldn’t easily refuse. They had dined together a few times, and Wei Weizhi had been polite and respectful, never crossing any lines.

Because of that politeness, she agreed to this invitation, stepping into Wei Weizhi’s car as they headed toward the Four Seasons Restaurant.

Yan Qing was fuming. Just moments ago, Sister Wan said she was in a meeting, yet in the blink of an eye, she was with Wei Weizhi.

When Wei Weizhi invites her, the meeting can be skipped. But when Yan Qing waits expectantly, the meeting is the priority.

When the arrow of Xi Zhaowan’s “double standards” finally struck Yan Qing, she felt an unprecedented pang of hurt.

She returned to school in low spirits, rarely paying such close attention to the afternoon lessons. She tried to hear every sentence and word the teacher said, but it went in one ear and out the other.

Her mind was filled with thoughts: What are they talking about at lunch? What is Wei Weizhi trying to do? Will Sister Wan be easily swayed?

Zhang Siyu, no longer feeling the stare on the back of her head, turned around to see Yan Qing’s state. It was like seeing the sun rise from the west. “Qinghe, you’re actually listening to the lecture?”

“Did you get some kind of shock? Or did someone give you the cold shoulder?” As expected, love makes one progress, Zhang Siyu thought, Qinghe must have made up her mind.

“Roll off!” (Go away!) Stung by the truth, Yan Qing cursed a rarity for her. She was only using the lecture as a distraction.

Zhang Siyu turned her gossiping face back around; she’d better not provoke her. Qinghe’s face was as dark as a storm cloud, ready to pour buckets of rain.

By the end of class, Yan Qing’s mood seemed to have stabilized slightly. She tapped Zhang Siyu’s back with her pen.

Zhang Siyu turned. Yan Qing’s handsome face held a trace of confusion. She rested her cheek on her left hand, spinning a pen with her right.

“If… if an elder at home ignores you and refuses to see you, what do you do?”

“I knew it! No wonder you were listening today. You were scolded for bad grades, weren’t you?” Zhang Siyu reached a sudden realization.

“No. It’s just… we can’t even meet now, and she won’t forgive me.”

The two were talking past each other, like a chicken talking to a duck. However, Zhang Siyu’s final comment finally gave Yan Qing an idea.

Zhang Siyu said, “The midterms are coming up in two days. Just do well, aim for an extraordinary performance. Then, when your elder comes for the parent-teacher meeting, they’ll be happy.”

She added as if it were obvious, “That way, they’ll forgive your lack of progress!”

A parent-teacher meeting? Yan Qing’s eyes lit up. As for “extraordinary performance”..well, that was debatable, but a certain kind of performance was definitely required. A plan began to form in Yan Qing’s mind.

Yan sat in Xi Zhaowan’s office. Dressed in a grey checked suit under an elegant coat and white wide-legged trousers, she looked both capable and sensual. Behind her gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes held a deep smile as she looked at Xi Zhaowan, who sat behind the desk.

“I heard you went on a date with Wei Weizhi?” Yan Manxing stood up and pulled a bottle of red wine from the office storage rack.

She blew the dust off the bottle, Xi Zhaowan hardly ever touched the wine here.

“No, it was just to discuss cooperation.” Xi Zhaowan was strictly professional. Her slender, pale fingers pressed against her temples. She hadn’t been sleeping well lately, and after discussing business with Wei Weizhi at lunch and working all afternoon, she felt exhausted.

Ever since the day Yan Qing left, her sleep had become unstable.

“I thought so. The entire social circle is saying that the ‘High Mountain Flower’ is about to be plucked by the Young Head of the Wei family.” Yan Manxing’s teasing sounded casual as she poured the wine into a crystal glass. “And then… you’ll become that Alpha’s prize.”

“You know it’s not like that.” Xi Zhaowan’s voice was helpless. Thinking of Yan Manxing’s daughter, she sighed again.

“Mm, I know.” Yan Manxing drained the glass in one go. “None of us can forget that day.”

“Thank you, Manxing.”

They both knew what that “thank you” was for. Although Xi Zhaowan rarely mentioned it, she did so occasionally. Over the years, Yan Manxing had started by enjoying the gratitude, but eventually, she grew to be thankful for what had happened that day.

A distorted mindset had begun to grow in the dark.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed. As Xi Zhaowan thanked her, Yan Manxing’s thoughts drifted back to the days after Xi Zhaowan was first brought to the Yan manor. It had been a stormy day, much like the day Yan Manxing’s mother passed away. Yan Jue, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, saw Xi Zhaowan coming downstairs for water.

Overcome by lust and seeing a face that resembled Yan Manxing’s late Omega mother, Yan Jue had lost control. He lunged forward and grabbed Xi Zhaowan’s hand.

The stench of alcohol and the suffocating pheromones of a red-eyed Alpha left a terrible trauma on the 14-year-old Xi Zhaowan. She realized then that he hadn’t brought her back out of kindness, but to keep her as a caged bird because of her resemblance to another.

Fear and loathing filled Xi Zhaowan’s heart. Fortunately, Yan Manxing had come downstairs to stop it. With Yan Manxing’s deliberate protection, and because Yan Jue’s health later declined, Xi Zhaowan was spared further violation.

Because of this protection, Xi Zhaowan kept this gratitude in her heart. Not only did she help extensively with the company, but she also took care of Yan Qinghe personally.

Recalling this, Yan Manxing looked at Xi Zhaowan’s increasingly elegant and stunning face. That hidden, burgeoning white flower continued to grow in the murky shadows.

“Was it difficult for you to talk to Wei Weizhi for the sake of the company project?” Yan Manxing felt slightly comforted knowing it was just for business. “I know you hate Alphas.”

Xi Zhaowan said calmly, “Business is business, private is private. I can’t refuse to meet every Alpha just because they are Alphas.”

“Wan’er, you have the right to do so,” Yan Manxing said considerately. She set down her glass and placed a hand on Xi Zhaowan’s shoulder.

“Manxing, that’s in the past… we’ve all grown up.” Xi Zhaowan could sometimes feel Yan Manxing’s overprotectiveness. It had shifted from childhood gratitude to adulthood pressure. To repay her, she had dedicated herself to the Yan family and to Qinghe.

Now, that dedication had turned into affection and for Yan Manxing’s daughter, no less. It was a headache, guilt and an inescapable love sat on opposite sides of a scale, impossible to balance.

Now, facing Yan Manxing, she felt not only gratitude but a hidden sense of guilt.

“Wan’er, you still hate Alphas, right?” Yan Manxing didn’t believe Xi Zhaowan could ever face an Alpha normally after that incident. Over the years, she had watched Xi Zhaowan coldly reject every Alpha suitor.

But now, she couldn’t be sure.

“Yes… I hate them,” Xi Zhaowan replied unnaturally. She lowered her head, revealing her pale neck. Her fingers brushed against the red string on her wrist.

It was the other half of the pair, one she had given to Yan Qing, and the other she kept for herself.

“I knew it.” Yan Manxing sighed in relief. Yan Jue’s failing health had been perfectly timed, she had put in no small amount of effort for that.

But Xi Zhaowan’s next words made her heart tighten.

“However, I want to try to stop resisting.” Xi Zhaowan’s eyes gazed deeply at her. “One cannot live in the past forever, can they?”

Just like your daughter… she is an Alpha, too. But she is a wonderful one, exceeding all my perceptions, an Alpha unlike any other in this world.

The one she held in her heart. The one she wanted to see while standing downstairs, yet forced herself not to. The most special person.

And also, the person she was trying to let go of the one she was preparing to give up.