The Female CEO Becomes Pregnant with a Poor Alpha's Child - Chapter 2

“Don’t look at our eye cream and think just because it is cheap, it is inferior to the big brands on the market.”

The livestream was still playing on the tablet. Xia Tingwang set aside the wine she had not yet sipped and turned her head to look at the broadcast. It was a very young woman, appearing to be around twenty years old.

She was beautiful, with her long, center-parted hair tied into a low ponytail. She had a high nose bridge and a smile that revealed eight straight teeth.

“When applying eye cream, gently push it from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner,” the female streamer taught. “Be careful to use a light touch. The skin around our eyes is extremely delicate, so you must treat it gently and carefully.”

Xia Tingwang straightened her posture, her blood rushing. In her twenty-nine years of life, this was the first time she had heard a voice other than the mechanical male and female voices she was accustomed to.

It was as if a colorful flower had suddenly bloomed in her black-and-white world. She bit down on her lower lip.

It hurt. This was not a dream; she had truly heard a third type of voice.

Excited beyond measure, Xia Tingwang clicked the follow button for the livestream.

The streamer noticed the new follower and smiled. “Thank you, Yinyin77, for the follow!”

Yinyin77 was Xia Tingwang’s nickname.

The livestream channel was called “Qingdeng Brand,” and it only had 15 or 16 viewers. As someone who frequently watched livestreams, Xia Tingwang knew this viewership was truly dismal.

The live chat below only scrolled with comments from two or three people back and forth.

Xia Tingwang lost her interest in the bath. She hurriedly stood under the shower, rinsed off, and then sat before her vanity mirror holding her tablet, applying body lotion to herself.

As if on cue, the stream began talking about body lotion. “It comes in various scents, such as lemon, lavender, and blueberry. The scent is very subtle, so it will not cover up an Omega’s natural pheromones. A 240ml bottle is usually 90 yuan, but if you buy through the link in the livestream, it is only 75 yuan per bottle.”

Xia Tingwang picked up her moisturizing toner. The stream immediately shifted to the toner. “Don’t let the plain packaging fool you; its moisturizing effect is top-tier. We have two versions. The green cap is for dry skin, and the white cap is for oily skin. A 100ml bottle is 150 yuan, but buy one in the livestream and get one free.”

Xia Tingwang looked at the moisturizing toner in her hand, which the VW Laboratory had custom-made for her specific skin type. Since she was the only one with this custom formula, it was a non-commercial product. Even if it were for sale, the mere 30ml in her hand would cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Everything she could see on her vanity table was custom-made by the lab. She did not know the exact value of each item, but they were never anything that could be bought for a few dozen or a hundred yuan like the products in the livestream.

These things were meant for one’s face; could something so cheap actually be safe to use? She remained skeptical.

Xia Tingwang clicked on a few product links to check them. Some had only two monthly sales, while others had none at all. The shop’s opening date was displayed as the 16th of last month. As of today, the store had only been open for 22 days; it was a completely new brand.

No wonder sales were so poor. Xia Tingwang put down the tablet and went downstairs to eat. When she returned to her bedroom after dinner, the livestream’s popularity had dropped even further; the viewer count was down to eleven.

There were only fourteen products in total, and the young streamer repeated her explanations over and over. By late night, the audience had dwindled to only three people.

At midnight, the little streamer waved goodbye to the camera. “Goodnight for today. We will see you tomorrow at 7 PM.”

After turning off the camera, Sang Ying picked up her water cup and gulped it down. Every night, she livestreamed for five hours, and by the end, her throat was always dry and tight.

“Sigh.” Ding Han, her classmate from high school through university and co-founder of Qingdeng, sighed from the side. “We streamed all night, and only two people bought anything: one body lotion and one face mask. The total sales were 215 yuan.”

The five-hour stream had drained Sang Ying’s energy. She sat there blankly for a moment, then felt refreshed again after a few minutes. She stretched and stood up to tidy things away. “It is okay. Every beginning is hard; it will get better.”

Ding Han helped clean up, arranging the samples on the table with a depressed expression. “In the last half hour, there were only three viewers, and one was my phone and one was yours. So, only one real person was watching.”

They were in a low-rent apartment near the university, which they had decorated to serve as their studio. It was a tiny space with one table, two chairs, a fill light, a shelf for their products, and a camera they had spent a lot of money on.

The two had started their business full of confidence, but after twenty days, Ding Han was nearly losing her motivation.

They turned off the lights, locked the door, and walked side-by-side toward the university. Sang Ying patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t be discouraged. There was still one person watching who stayed until the end. What did we say when we decided to start this?”

“Even if there is only one audience member, we must persist for them.” Sang Ying’s shoulders slumped. “But if we keep going like this, we will not even make enough to cover the rent, let alone have the capital to continue producing our products.”

Ding Han was truly disheartened. Sang Ying glanced at her and cleared her throat. “Look, my throat is hoarse from streaming and I am not complaining. Ding’er, listen to this. Cough, cough, cough!”

Sang Ying coughed at Ding Han, who poked her in the arm. “Stop it. You were born with that raspy voice; what does that have to do with the livestream?”

Sang Ying blocked her arm and captured it with a counter-move. “Try streaming for five hours tomorrow and see.”

Sang Ying had always been skilled at combat. This simple move made Ding Han’s elbow twist in pain, and she quickly surrendered. “I am wrong, I am wrong.”

“Still feeling gloomy?”

“Not anymore, not anymore.”

Sang Ying let her go. Ding Han rubbed her wrist. “You should be the one to stream. I am not as good-looking as you. If I go up there, we might end up with zero viewers.”

Talking as they went, they entered the female Alpha dormitory building. The Alpha dorms had no curfew. Once back in their room, Sang Ying took a shower, popped a throat lozenge, and climbed into bed to study videos of other streamers.

Gradually, sleep overcame her.

The next day was Saturday. Xia Tingwang woke up at 8 AM and went for a run in the basement gym. She had her tablet on the treadmill, playing the replay of last night’s Qingdeng livestream.

She kept her eyes closed while running. She could not describe this special voice, but surrounded by the mechanical male and female voices of her everyday life, this third type of voice was something Xia Tingwang found addictive.

She wished the owner of this voice were right beside her so she could talk to her at any time.

After her run, she carried her tablet to the first floor. Butler Xu promptly handed her a towel. “Miss, would you like breakfast first, or would you like to shower?”

Xia Tingwang wiped off her sweat, the voice from the tablet still speaking incessantly.

She held up the tablet and asked, “Butler Xu, describe this person’s voice.”

“Huh?” Butler Xu looked troubled, unable to grasp Xia Tingwang’s intent. Voices were a sensitive subject for her, but she had to obey her command. She looked at the streamer on the tablet, who was selling her goods enthusiastically, and said, “Her voice is indeed quite different; it is very raspy, which makes it easy to remember.”

She did not know which word struck a chord with Xia Tingwang, but she smiled. “Is that so?”

So, it was “raspy.” So, normal people would also think it sounded different. It seemed her ears were capable of discovering a gem.

Xia Tingwang chose to eat first. She paused the video and laid the tablet face down. It was a rule of the Xia family that one did not do other things while eating, and Xia Tingwang, the eldest daughter, followed the rules well.

She ate alone at the long table, with servants standing on both sides and Butler Xu behind her, waiting for orders at any moment.

She ate slowly and elegantly. After finishing, she used the napkin on her lap to wipe her mouth and took the tablet into the bathroom.

After showering and changing into black-and-white casual wear, she got into the car to head out.

The livestream was still playing in the car. She did not look at it; she just kept the tablet beside her, closed her eyes, and listened. The driver and bodyguard in the front could not help but look back several times; what was wrong with their mistress? Had she fallen in love with livestream shopping?

By the time she reached the West Mountain Golf Course, the tablet had run out of battery. Before getting out of the car, she handed it to the driver. “Get it fully charged.”

The driver received it with both hands.

Playing golf in the dead of winter was something only Xia Tingwang’s uncle would do. Upon entering the clubhouse, she saw her uncle, Li Shaoyong, sitting on a sofa with a young male Alpha in black casual wear sitting beside him.

“Uncle.” Xia Tingwang walked over and sat directly opposite Li Shaoyong.

“Ah!” Li Shaoyong smiled when he saw her. “Yinyin, come, let me introduce you.”

Li Shaoyong patted the man beside him. “This is Ouyang Yi. He is the same age as you, the second son of your Uncle Ouyang. He has been studying abroad and just finished his PhD.”

With that introduction, Xia Tingwang understood what this was.

A blind date.

“This is my niece, Xia Tingwang. She manages VW at such a young age,” Li Shaoyong said. “Her nickname is Yinyin; you can just call her Yinyin.”

Xia Tingwang had met Uncle Ouyang many times; his looks could only be described as part of the kind-looking crowd. This Ouyang Yi likely took after his mother; he looked quite refined and carried a strong scholarly air.

Ouyang Yi smiled at her. “Yinyin.”

The bland, common mechanical-sounding male voice made Xia Tingwang shudder. She clicked her tongue. “Just call me Xia Tingwang.”

Xia Tingwang stood up and turned to the clubhouse staff. “Where are my clubs?”

The staff quickly brought over hers and Li Shaoyong’s clubs.

Playing golf was a way for Xia Tingwang to decompress. Her skills had improved significantly under her uncle’s constant accompanying; otherwise, she would not have been able to tolerate Li Shaoyong’s frequent invitations.

But the atmosphere was off today.

Ouyang Yi stayed right by her side, the scent of his Alpha pheromones lingering around her nose, causing her to sneeze several times.

“What is wrong?” Ouyang Yi asked.

Xia Tingwang swung her club, and the golf ball disappeared into the highlands with a beautiful arc. Shortly after, someone reported the result.

Naturally, it did not go in the hole. Xia Tingwang lost interest, turned around, and tossed the club to the staff behind her. “I am done. It is too cold.”

She turned and headed toward the lounge. Seeing this, Li Shaoyong, who had been swinging his club elsewhere, quickly hurried over. “What is wrong, Yinyin?”

“She said it is too cold.”

Li Shaoyong looked up at the midday sun. Although it was winter, the sun was bright, there was no wind, and it was quite warm.

“It is not too early; let us go have lunch. Let us go.”

When the two arrived at the lounge, Xia Tingwang had already changed her clothes. Upon hearing that they were all having lunch together, she wanted to refuse directly, but seeing her uncle’s face, she could not bring herself to be disrespectful, so she reluctantly agreed.

The restaurant was right near the golf course; it was a Western-style establishment that only served those at the course.

Every time Xia Tingwang visited the course, she ate at this restaurant. The interior was luxurious and upscale, and each private room had a piano.

Ouyang Yi, whose golf skills were not much to speak of, saw the piano and his eyes lit up. He wanted to perform well in front of Xia Tingwang to turn around her impression of him.

Ouyang Yi sat down at the piano alone and asked, “Does Uncle Li or Yinyin have any requests?”