After an Alluring Alpha Provokes an Unhinged Omega 86

Chapter 86: Invitation

The street scene outside the car window was slightly blurry in the twilight. Yan Wei was leaning against the soft seat of the nanny van, her eyes closed, resting.

The high-intensity work of the past few days had almost exhausted her. Every day, she could only snatch a few moments of rest on the way to the next work location. In the silence, it seemed that only her light breathing could be heard.

The car door was gently pulled open, bringing in a hint of the lively coolness from outside.

The manager, Surui, sat down in the seat opposite Yan Wei with a careful movement. She glanced at her watch and said in a very low voice, “We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

Her gaze landed on Yan Wei’s face. Even with makeup, it was hard to hide the faint grayish-blue under her eyelids. Actually, this wasn’t the most important thing. The most important thing was that Yan Wei had been in a low pressure state, both emotionally and physically, these past few days, and had returned to her familiar, unapproachable state.

After a few seconds of silence, Surui had to speak, “Is your phone on silent? President Tan just called me. She said it’s urgent and asked you to call her back.”

Yan Wei’s eyelids didn’t even lift. Her lips moved slightly, and her voice was hoarse with fatigue. “What is it?”

Surui hesitated slightly, as if she were choosing her words. “It’s about a work arrangement for Teacher Jiang. Before, a variety show had invited her. The type is… a love observation show.”

After she finished speaking, she observed Yan Wei’s reaction.

Yan Wei, who had been closing her eyes, her eyelashes moved almost imperceptibly.

She slowly opened her eyes and didn’t immediately look at Surui, but instead cast her gaze on the somewhat glaring neon lights outside the window. Her fingertips unconsciously tapped the armrest of the seat.

“A dating show?” These two words came from her mouth, and it was hard to tell what emotion they held.

She turned her head and looked at Surui calmly. “Did Tan Zhaoxin specifically look for me for this?”

Surui nodded. “President Tan said… for Teacher Jiang, this is a good opportunity to increase her popularity. She wanted to ask for your opinion.”

Yan Wei leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. But this time, her brow was slightly furrowed, and the brief tranquility from just now had been completely broken.

A few seconds later, she let out an annoyed breath, as if she couldn’t take it anymore. “Is she out of her mind?”

Surui said, “I checked. The contract was signed early on, and the team was negligent in following up. Now the program team has directly contacted Teacher Jiang’s side, and Zhao Jia has asked the company, saying that we should see how to negotiate, but it hasn’t been finalized yet. President Tan said she didn’t know either, so she called to ask you.”

Yan Wei’s eyes were bloodshot from staying up late for days. She was silent for a moment, her voice low and obviously harsh. “Ask what?”

Her tone was clearly impatient.

“Ask for my opinion?” The corners of Yan Wei’s lips curved into a cold arc. “Then you can reply to her and say that I agree for Jiang Mi to go. It would be best if Jiang Mi could find a suitable partner on the show, stir up some hype, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a relationship.”

The last few words, she bit them out very lightly, but they carried a bone-chilling coldness.

Surui: “…”

She coughed lightly, hiding the emotion in her eyes, and replied in a business-like manner, “Then I understand how to reply.”

Well, she’s really angry.

She was like a sandwich cookie. Who could be more miserable than her?

But she could also understand. Yan Wei’s workload was really not something a human could handle. To be able to not go crazy under such high pressure was already the limit of a human.

Surui sighed in her heart. “Also, next Wednesday… is Teacher Jiang’s mother’s birthday. Do you want me to prepare a gift for you in advance? Or… adjust your schedule for that day?”

She asked implicitly, not directly asking if Yan Wei wanted to attend.

After all, Yan Wei had never participated in this kind of private occasion with a “family” meaning.

She wasn’t very sure if Yan Wei and Jiang Mi had reached the “meeting the parents” stage.

A car light lit up, and the street was instantly like an overexposed film.

Yan Wei’s hand was on the cold edge of her phone. Regarding Surui’s question, she couldn’t give an answer.

She opened her phone screen. On it were Tan Zhaoxin’s missed calls and two WeChat messages. She swiped past them, skipped the missed calls, and opened the pinned WeChat conversation. Her fingertips paused on the empty conversation list—there were no new messages from Jiang Mi.

An inexplicable sense of anxiety welled up. She turned off the screen, and her eyes once again sank into the darkness.

But her fingers long-pressed and unmuted.

In her memory, Jiang Mi had casually mentioned that every year on her mother Jiang Youshu’s birthday, she would rush back no matter how busy she was.

What about this year? She probably would, right?

It was just that Jiang Mi hadn’t mentioned it yet.

She suddenly had some emotions, and the scene from the set that day uncontrollably appeared in her mind—at this moment, Jiang Mi should be on the set. So now, what kind of scene was Jiang Mi acting with that actor?

Was it restraint, or an intimate embrace? Or a kissing scene?

Yan Wei suddenly opened her eyes and said to Surui, who was still at the side, “I want to be alone for a while.”

The car door closed gently, cutting off the outside noise.

After the person left, Yan Wei took a shallow breath and dialed Jiang Mi’s number. However, the waiting tone in the receiver rang for a long time and finally turned into a cold busy tone.

After a moment, Yan Wei hung up the phone, her knuckles tightening slightly. After a brief silence, she turned to dial Tan Zhaoxin’s number.

The moment the call was connected, a somewhat familiar female voice could be vaguely heard in the background, but she didn’t remember who it was.

Tan Zhaoxin’s usual teasing voice came through, “Oh, a rare guest. Is Teacher Yan here to vent her anger on me?”

Yan Wei’s voice showed no emotion.

“I have no objection.”

“What?” Tan Zhaoxin deliberately dragged out her tone. “I can smell your sarcasm through the phone line. Surui has already told me. I say, what are you twisting yourself into knots about? I’m considering it from Jiang Mi’s development perspective. She needs exposure now. Going on a variety show to show her face is not the same as really falling in love.”

“I said I have no objection,” Yan Wei repeated, her tone flat.

Tan Zhaoxin let out a soft laugh on the other end, with a hint of a knowing helplessness. “Alright, you have no objection.”

Yan Wei didn’t say anything more and directly hung up the phone.

Her profile was reflected in the car window, and it overlapped with the flickering lights outside the window, her expression unclear.

**

On Tuesday morning, just as the light of day had broken through, the first thing Jiang Mi did when she woke up was to grab her phone and send a message to Yan Wei.

[Morning~]

The message was almost instantly replied to, which surprised Jiang Mi a little. She smiled and typed, [Didn’t you work late yesterday? Why are you up so early?]

The other end of the screen paused for a moment before a line of text popped up: [I didn’t sleep much.]

[Why? What’s wrong?]—Jiang Mi pressed on.

This time, the wait was even longer.

The top of the dialog box showed “The other party is typing…”, but no new message came in.

Jiang Mi held her phone and lay on the bed, her swinging feet pausing. She felt a little unsure. She remembered that for the past two days, she had been so busy she was on her feet all day. Twice, she had only seen Yan Wei’s missed calls late at night. When she had called back, both of them had been exhausted, and the conversation had ended abruptly. She wasn’t sure if Yan Wei was angry about this.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Mi directly made a video call.

The video request notification sound continued to ring in the silence. It seemed like a long time before the other end picked up. The moment the screen lit up, Jiang Mi’s breath hitched slightly.

The Yan Wei in the picture was standing on a well-lit balcony. She was wearing a dark green silk nightgown, loosely draped over her body. The collar was slightly open, revealing a clear and beautiful collarbone.

The texture of the nightgown was extremely smooth. A breeze passed by, and it would occasionally lift a dangerous corner, round, fair, and making one panic.

Yan Wei’s hair was a little messy, and a few strands were blown across her face by the wind, but she didn’t seem to care and just looked at the camera faintly.

Jiang Mi’s heart suddenly beat a little faster. She looked away from that corner and pursed her lips. “Be careful not to catch a cold.”

Yan Wei hummed in response. “Just getting some air.”

A thought flashed through her mind, and Jiang Mi blurted out, “You’re not smoking, are you?”

Yan Wei clearly paused.

“It’s so early in the morning. Why are you smoking?” Jiang Mi pressed on.

Yan Wei hadn’t touched a cigarette in a long time, especially after they had gotten together. She looked at the person on the screen carefully and asked softly, “You haven’t been smoking a lot lately, have you?”

“No.”

Yan Wei denied it, her gaze sweeping over the hotel room background behind Jiang Mi, and she changed the subject, “You’re not busy today?”

“I’ll be fine after a promotional shoot in a bit,” Jiang Mi said, then paused, her tone a little more relaxed. “I’ve taken leave.”

“Mmm, is that so?”

Yan Wei’s reaction was always very calm.

Jiang Mi said, “You’re not even going to ask me what I’m taking leave for?”

She was almost certain that Yan Wei was angry.

“Then why are you taking leave?” Yan Wei asked, going with the flow.

Jiang Mi said as she carefully observed Yan Wei’s expression, “It’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow. I have to go back to Jincheng.”

Yan Wei just nodded and didn’t say anything.

Jiang Mi said, “You don’t want to talk to me?”

Yan Wei’s expression softened slightly. “No.”

“Then don’t you have anything to say to me?” Jiang Mi continued.

“Say what?” Yan Wei asked in return.

Jiang Mi pouted slightly, with a hint of a pouting meaning. “Alright, then forget it. I’m hanging up, okay?”

She saw Yan Wei’s brow furrow almost imperceptibly, but she didn’t respond. But she hadn’t expected the other party to not wait for her to speak and to really press the hang-up button.

Yan Wei: “…”

Just as Yan Wei was staring at the screen in silence, and was thinking about what reaction she should have in this situation, Jiang Mi’s call suddenly came again.

She lowered her eyes, her face so cold it had no warmth.

She answered, but before she could speak, Jiang Mi’s voice came through her ear, “Yan Wei, if I invite you to go home with me, would you be willing?”

Yan Wei heard the faint breathing on the other end.

Jiang Mi continued in the silence, her voice becoming gentle, “Then I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll arrive in Jincheng at six-thirty in the evening. After we meet there, we’ll go home together.”

She didn’t give Yan Wei any chance to speak.

She just smiled triumphantly, “Mmm… actually, I’ve already asked Surui. You’ve cleared your schedule for these two days. You’re just angry that I didn’t take the initiative to tell you, right? Don’t be angry. I was just worried that you wouldn’t want to go. Now that I know, I’m relieved. Weiwei, I really want my mom to meet you soon. She’ll definitely like you very much!”

The crackling sound, like thunder, landed on Yan Wei’s heart, and the gloom of the past few days had mostly dissipated.

After a few seconds, Yan Wei finally asked, “What if she doesn’t like me?”

Jiang Mi said firmly, “She’ll definitely like you.”

Yan Wei had long since thrown away the cigarette in her hand. She hadn’t smoked this thing in a long time. It was just that last night, she had had a bold and absurd dream with Jiang Mi, and after that, she hadn’t been able to sleep, and she was just annoyed.

She sat on the sofa and took a wet wipe to wipe the smell of smoke from her hands. She remembered another woman, “And Jiang Hu?”

Jiang Mi was slightly surprised. “Her?”

Yan Wei actually didn’t care about this person, but she wanted to hear Jiang Mi’s attitude towards this. She asked leisurely, “What if she hates me? What will you do?”

“Then let her get lost.”

***

Author’s Notes:

Jiang Hu: ???