She surveyed the office area, and her gaze settled on the edge of the room. She paused.
Liang Shi raised her hand in greeting.
Xu Qingzhu smiled softly.
The corner of her lips curved upward.
Just a small smile, but it shattered the icy facade at once.
She walked toward Liang Shi in her heels, and the receptionist breathed a sigh of relief. Good. She hadn’t brought the wrong person.
“How come you’re here?” Xu Qingzhu asked.
“You weren’t picking up your phone, so I had to come in person,” Liang Shi said.
“Sorry, I was in a meeting.” Xu Qingzhu took her phone from her pocket and tapped it a few times. The screen wouldn’t light up. Dead.
“Zhao Xuning says Weiwei’s awake and we can visit,” Liang Shi said in a low voice. “Are you done here?”
“Not yet,” Xu Qingzhu said. “But I can leave.”
Bai Weiwei was the priority now.
Liang Shi asked, “Is your department working overtime tonight?”
“Yes. The new product launch is coming up, and a few designs haven’t been finalized yet.” Though it was only her first day, Xu Qingzhu already had the whole department mapped out and had integrated into the workflow.
“I ordered everyone some late-night snacks,” Liang Shi said.
Xu Qingzhu raised an eyebrow and gave her a thumbs-up.
Liang Shi: “…”
Not bad.
Xu Qingzhu turned around and clapped her hands. Every eye in the room turned to her at once.
Xu Qingzhu’s clear, crisp voice rang out. “Everyone’s worked hard today. If you’ve finished your tasks, you can head home. If not, you can take them home and finish on time. Overtime is voluntary and comes with double pay. Latest end time is midnight. I…”
She paused. “My wife has ordered everyone some late-night snacks. When you get tired from overtime, feel free to help yourselves. Thank you all for your hard work.”
With that, she bowed to the room.
Everyone in the office froze.
Design teams working overtime was the norm, after all.
Before Xu Qingzhu arrived, they’d often worked late too. But when had they ever gotten treatment like this?
Late-night snacks? Double pay? And being told they’d worked hard?
The old department head only ever said, “That’s what you’re being paid for.”
Everyone instantly understood. This was the eldest miss’s magnanimity.
Someone started clapping, and the design department erupted in applause.
One brave soul called out with a grin, “Thanks, Sister-in-Law!”
Another shouted, “Sister-in-Law is beautiful and kind!”
“Wishing Sister-in-Law and the eldest miss a lifetime together!”
“…”
The room descended into cheerful chaos.
Liang Shi drove while Xu Qingzhu sat in the passenger seat.
Even in the car, she was still working on the new proposal.
Liang Shi drove as smoothly as she could.
They arrived at the hospital at 9:10. Xu Qingzhu hadn’t fully recovered and had been carrying a heavy workload. She’d just finished the proposal, and before she could even save it, she fell asleep leaning against the window.
The car stopped in the underground parking lot. The moment it settled, Xu Qingzhu opened her eyes, her voice groggy and hoarse. “Are we here?”
Liang Shi nodded. “Mm. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Xu Qingzhu yawned, saved the proposal, sent it off, tossed the laptop in the back, unclipped her seatbelt, and got out. “Let’s go see Weiwei first.”
They went upstairs together.
Thanks to Zhao Xuning’s connections, Bai Weiwei had been placed in a VIP suite on the top floor, equipped with full security in case she tried anything again.
When they arrived, an argument was already in full swing on the floor.
Zhao Xuning’s voice, normally cold as ice, was lowered as far as it could go but still thick with anger. “You’ve already driven her to jump off a building. Isn’t that enough? Does she have to die for you to be satisfied?”
“This is between the two of us. It’s none of your business.” Another female voice, hard and cold. “You need to give me a clear explanation about that night. I refuse to wear these horns without knowing why.”
“I’ve already explained it to you,” Zhao Xuning said. “When I found her, she hadn’t been violated. I brought her back as a friend and gave her a suppressant. She was already emotionally fragile. If you keep pushing like this, are you trying to drive her to her death?”
“I’m trying to drive her to her death? She’s driving me to mine!” The woman’s voice grew more furious. “Everyone knows she used to have a thing for you! She must be thrilled, cuckolding me like this. Damn it, Bai Weiwei, I really loved the wrong person!”
“Can’t this wait?” Zhao Xuning was struggling to keep her temper in check. “She’s a patient, fresh off the operating table. Let’s discuss relationship issues later, can we?”
“Hah. Of course you’d say that. You’re the one who gave me horns, not the other way around! Naturally you can afford to be so calm!”
“…”
“Zhao Xuning.” Liang Shi called out, and the argument stopped abruptly.
Xu Qingzhu jogged over and stood beside Zhao Xuning, studying the person across from them with a frown. “Chen Liuying?”
Chen Liuying looked at her, stunned for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. “Xu Qingzhu?”
“Yes,” Xu Qingzhu said. “This is a hospital ward. Could you keep it down? Arguing won’t solve anything. If you’ve got the energy, use it to contact your studio and suppress the negative press swirling around you. That way, when Weiwei recovers, her work situation will be a little easier.”
Chen Liuying froze. She didn’t argue with Xu Qingzhu the way she’d been arguing with Zhao Xuning. Instead, she muttered with impatience, “Fine.”
Then she sat down on a bench in the corridor and fished a cigarette from her pocket.
Zhao Xuning offered a friendly reminder. “Excuse me. No smoking here.”
Chen Liuying: “…”
Xu Qingzhu and Liang Shi went into the ward to see Bai Weiwei while Zhao Xuning waited outside.
Bai Weiwei was already awake.
She had jumped from a window. It wasn’t as dramatic as the internet made it sound. She and Chen Liuying had gotten into an argument, and she’d jumped straight from the fifth floor. She’d landed on soft grass and only injured her leg, which had been operated on and was now suspended in the air.
She had light scrapes on her face, nothing serious.
She sat on the hospital bed with vacant eyes, an apple clutched in her hand.
The moment Xu Qingzhu saw her like this, she couldn’t hold back tears. She rushed forward and hugged her tightly. “Weiwei.”
Bai Weiwei’s rigid body stirred slightly. She turned slowly, a tear rolling down her cheek, and called out in a hoarse voice, “A-Zhu.”
As if releasing all the pain she’d endured since waking up, her soft whimpering grew into quiet sobs, then broke into full wailing.
Xu Qingzhu comforted her again and again. “It’s okay. I’m here. Nothing happened that night. Don’t be sad. None of this is our fault.”
Bai Weiwei just cried.
Liang Shi had always been terrible with scenes like this. It was making her want to cry too.
She handed a pack of tissues to the two Omegas clinging to each other in tears, then stepped out of the ward, leaving the space for the two best friends.
Then she went to find Zhao Xuning for the full story.
Zhao Xuning didn’t hold anything back and told her the whole thing.
It was actually quite simple. Bai Weiwei and her own artist were together, but they’d kept it under wraps. Chen Liuying, hailed as the entertainment circle’s number one dominant Alpha, had a volatile temper, was petty, and was extremely jealous. The persona was one Bai Weiwei had crafted for her.
When Zhao Xuning brought Bai Weiwei back to the hospital that night, they happened to run into Chen Liuying, who had come in with a sprained ankle.
Bai Weiwei had been naked at the time, and Zhao Xuning had wrapped her in her own clothes. Omegas in heat are drawn to Alpha pheromones. Zhao Xuning had always kept her pheromones carefully concealed, but she couldn’t suppress Bai Weiwei’s.
When they met Chen Liuying, the latter was furious at seeing Bai Weiwei being carried by Zhao Xuning, and jealous that Bai Weiwei was wrapped in her clothes. In a fit of rage, she tore off Bai Weiwei’s outer garment, only to discover Bai Weiwei was stark naked underneath.
She flew into a rage on the spot and insisted Bai Weiwei had cheated.
After Bai Weiwei received her suppressant and fell asleep, Chen Liuying demanded an explanation from Zhao Xuning.
Zhao Xuning explained. Chen Liuying didn’t believe her.
Bai Weiwei’s constitution was slightly stronger than Xu Qingzhu’s, and she woke up after a day of rest. But on the day she woke, Chen Liuying picked a huge fight with her.
The argument escalated until Bai Weiwei became so distressed that the suppressant lost its effect.
Zhao Xuning administered another suppressant and warned Chen Liuying over and over not to agitate her again.
But the next day, when Bai Weiwei woke up, Chen Liuying fought with her again.
This time Bai Weiwei couldn’t bear it. She pushed open the window and jumped from the fifth floor. Onlookers saw it happen, recorded it, and posted the video online.
And so the online circus began.
Liang Shi, having heard the whole story: …
What a mess.
She hadn’t expected that Bai Weiwei, who’d been so free with her tongue about the original host, would turn out to be just as bad at judging character, picking a partner like that.
Maybe… those caught in the middle can’t see clearly, while outsiders can?
Liang Shi couldn’t really judge.
She asked Zhao Xuning, “So what are you going to do?”
Zhao Xuning leaned against the wall and shook her head. “Let it be.”
Her calm voice carried a thread of fatigue. “The truth speaks for itself.”
The tricky part was Bai Weiwei.
Liang Shi suddenly got gossipy. “You and Bai Weiwei… you’re really not a thing?”
Zhao Xuning: “…”
A long silence. Just as Liang Shi assumed Zhao Xuning wouldn’t answer, she shrugged and admitted candidly, “When we used to game together, there was something of a… flirtation.”
“Then why didn’t you get together?”
Zhao Xuning fell silent again.
After a moment, she gave a bitter smile. “I haven’t gotten over my ex.”
Liang Shi: “…”
Didn’t see that coming. What a hopeless romantic she is.
But now that they’d shared something personal, Liang Shi felt the distance between them shrink considerably.
And Zhao Xuning seemed to have warmed up to her, the earlier aloofness and wariness largely gone.
They sat quietly in the corridor for a while.
Then someone outside said, “You can’t go in. Dr. Zhao isn’t on shift today.”
“Move.” A voice cold as winter.
Zhao Xuning’s ear twitched. She recognized the voice almost instantly.
Liang Shi gave a sympathetic, rueful smile. “Looking for you again. Want me to go out and handle it for you?”
Zhao Xuning slid her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat and turned to walk out. “This one, you can’t handle.”
Liang Shi: “…”
She patted Zhao Xuning’s shoulder. “Good luck, then.”
