The meeting was paused, and employees who supported the male lead from the original novel began whispering among themselves—
“As expected of Secretary Song. Starting off with such an intimidating show of force.”
“Secretary Song did not even speak, yet he already has the Second Young Master dancing in the palm of his hand.”
“If you want to mess with President Jian, you will have to step over Secretary Song’s dead body first. Hmph.”
Song Ruocheng: …
Did I say you were allowed to step over me?
Also, why are you NPCs whispering so loudly? Is this whispering? This is a loud conspiracy.
Jian Yuheng finally withdrew his casual gaze and seriously examined the person in front of him.
Song Ruocheng did not answer his question. He simply lowered his eyelashes coldly, as if Jian Yuheng did not exist at all.
Provoking him like this right from the start—and not even afraid?
Was he really that capable?
With such a beautiful appearance, yet secretly dark inside… dealing with someone like that might be more interesting than dealing with his usual opponents.
Meanwhile, Song Ruocheng’s inner thoughts were screaming.
“He is glaring at me. Hurry, hurry—hurry up, hurry up,” Song Ruocheng muttered. “Reload, reload.”
[Ultimate ability is currently on cooldown.]
[Refresh at midnight.]
Song Ruòchén: “……”
【Why not just behave and beg to be let off?】
With no regret medicine to undo what had happened, Song Ruòchén could only raise his head nervously.
“Sorry, Second Young Master,” he said. “It wasn’t directed at you. It was a misunderstanding.”
Even though the misunderstanding really did not give you any face at all.
“As long as it’s a misunderstanding.” Jiǎn Yùhéng turned to look at Jiǎn Fēng. “No matter how different our opinions are, we’re all thinking about Xiāoshí Group. It would be best not to hurt the harmony between us. What do you think, brother?”
“Yes,” said Jiǎn Fēng, the original novel’s male lead gong. “That’s true. It’s all for the company’s good.”
“How about this,” Jiǎn Yùhéng said. “Empty talk is useless. Your team and mine will each produce a proposal. Then we’ll hold another meeting and compare them item by item to see which one is more feasible. What do you think, brother?”
“Fine,” Jiǎn Fēng said.
Jiǎn Yùhéng tapped his fingers. The assistant handed him a fountain pen. He quickly wrote a simple schedule on an A4 sheet and passed it to Jiǎn Fēng.
Jiǎn Fēng’s fingers moved. After moving for half a minute without receiving a pen, he glanced at Secretary Song, who was currently in standby mode. He picked up Jiǎn Yùhéng’s pen, marked a few lines on the paper, and wrote something.
“Let’s gather the leadership again at this time next week and reopen the meeting,” Jiǎn Yùhéng said.
That meeting felt like taking an exam with questions far beyond the syllabus—unable to answer anything, yet still forced to sit there until it was time to hand in the paper. After finally enduring the meeting to the end, Song Ruòchén bolted out, went to the cafeteria to pack several small desserts, and returned to his little office to fill his stomach.
“The desserts in this ABO world are actually pretty good.” Song Ruòchén munch munch munch.
Oh right. Since he transmigrated into an ABO setting—and he was an omega—then there should be pheromones, right?
“System, what do I smell like?” Song Ruòchén sniffed at his wrist over and over.
【I don’t have a nose.】
Song Ruòchén: “.”
【There should be a faint pheromone scent from the gland at the back of your neck. Want to try?】
“Try it or die trying?” Song Ruòchén asked. “You said it’s behind the neck. Should I remove my head to smell it?”
【……】
Clang. A knife dropped onto the desk.
“Silencing me?” Song Ruòchén asked.
【……Blood also has a smell!】
Because his curiosity about pheromones was simply too strong, Song Ruòchén took the knife and lightly cut his fingertip.
Ring ring ring. The internal line in the secretary’s office rang.
“President Jiǎn, what is it?” he asked.
“Secretary Song,” the other party said, “we’re getting ready to depart for tonight’s banquet.”
Song Ruòchén opened his mouth to refuse. “I won’t—”
【Secretary Song attending one banquet earns a reward of 10,000 yuan.】
“I won’t be sleepy anymore, that’s what you meant,” Song Ruòchén said. “I’ll be there right away.”
He grabbed a tissue, casually wiped his fingertip, pushed the door open, and dashed toward the elevator.
The mirror inside the elevator reflected his face and figure, which were no different from his original appearance.
As for the additional attribute of being an omega, he had not felt any particular impact from it yet.
It was just transmigrating into a book. In front of a resilient male college student, it was not a problem at all. As long as the main characters—the gong and the shou—got along peacefully and did not argue, he would not die taking a knife for the kidnapped protagonist shou like cannon fodder.
As long as he kept a low profile and stayed cautious, Jiǎn Yùhéng would not target him either.
Just a few minor difficulties. Nothing he could not overcome.
—
Xiāoshí Group underground parking lot.
“I’m riding in the same car as Jiǎn Yùhéng?”
“I’m driving?”
Song Ruòchén turned to stone.
“Assistant Gōng has something to do tonight and cannot attend the banquet,” said the original novel’s male lead gong, Jiǎn Fēng, over the phone. “I’m driving Yàn Cí over first. You drive my younger brother.”
Jiǎn Fēng: “Any problem?”
Jiǎn Fēng: “Secretary Song, my younger brother just has strong opinions. He is not unfriendly toward me. Since he has parachuted into Xiāoshí Group, he also counts as your superior.”
“I’ll add another two thousand for you,” Jiǎn Fēng said. “That’s it. I have to meet a friend.”
“Let’s go, Secretary Song.” The passenger-side window rolled down, revealing Jiǎn Yùhéng’s face. “Drive steadily. I’m going to take a nap.”
Jiǎn Yùhéng: “Or is it that you really do have some prejudice against me?”
“Actually…” Song Ruòchén said, “we could also take a taxi.”
“Drive,” Jiǎn Yùhéng said.
The evening wind brushed through the omega’s bangs. Song Ruòchén lowered his head slightly. The wind lifted his white shirt, making him appear even more slender. He pressed his lips until they turned pale before silently pulling open the car door and sitting in the driver’s seat.
The corner of Jiǎn Yùhéng’s mouth lifted slightly. He did not consider himself someone with a perverse enjoyment of forcing others, but he had to admit that the usually aloof Secretary Song, now frowning faintly, was quite pleasing to the eye.
The omega’s pale fingertips pulled the black seatbelt across his chest and clicked it into place.
The slight loss of face from the meeting that afternoon could now be considered repaid. Jiǎn Yùhéng lowered the air-conditioning temperature a little.
“Drive,” he said. “I’ll close my eyes for a bit.”
Song Ruòchén: “……”
First, he got his driver’s license at eighteen, and after getting it he had not touched a car for an entire year.
Second, the cars in this ABO world seemed to look different from the ones he had learned on.
Third, driving was something he was much better suited to doing inside a document.
Fourth…
Forget it. Just drive.
He tapped the horn (probably), shifted gears (probably), and stepped on the accelerator (probably).
Jiǎn Yùhéng’s seat clicked, tipping backward toward the rear. The man ended up lying flat as the car began reversing out.
Jiǎn Yùhéng: “?”
Song Ruòchén: “……”
The alpha reacted with lightning speed. In just a few seconds, Jiǎn Yùhéng unfastened his seatbelt, sat upright, and hit the emergency automatic brake.
“Second Young Master Jiǎn, are you all right?” Song Ruòchén asked politely.
Jiǎn Yùhéng: “Not dead.”
“I said I wanted to close my eyes for a bit,” Jiǎn Yùhéng said. “Not close them forever.”
“Get out,” Jiǎn Yùhéng said. “I’ll drive.”
This secretary—cool in appearance and fierce in temperament. Just asking him to be a driver, and he almost launched an assassination attempt?
Song Ruocheng sat in the passenger seat with a very apologetic expression.
“System,” he asked in his mind, “can the save-reload only be used once per day?”
【Not exactly.】
【The system grows with its host. If you work hard, I can level up too.】
“For example?” Song Ruocheng asked.
【If the revenue of Xiaoshi Group increases by ten percent.】
Song Ruocheng: “So you want the kid to become a dragon?”
【.】
【…The relationship value between the original novel’s male lead and love interest increasing would work too!】
“Song Ruocheng.” Jian Yuheng suddenly spoke.
“Hm?” Song Ruocheng exited the mental chat with the system.
“Did you cut your hand?” Jian Yuheng asked.
“Does that count as a workplace injury?” Song Ruocheng brightened. “Is there compensation for nutrition?”
Jian Yuheng was silent for two seconds. “…No.”
Song Ruocheng: “Oh. Then it’s not cut.”
Then why are you asking.
Thinking of it, he glanced down at the knife wound on his fingertip. It had already formed a scab. He secretly sniffed it—there was a very faint smell, too faint to tell what it was.
The car stopped near the hotel. Before getting out, Song Ruocheng saw the original novel’s love interest standing by the roadside through the car window.
Yan Ci wore a luxurious coat and stood in the wind, shivering slightly from the cold.
“Madam,” Secretary Song went online, “why aren’t you going inside?”
Yan Ci pressed his lips together and shook his head awkwardly.
Song Ruocheng remembered that in the original novel their marriage had been an accident. Their family backgrounds were worlds apart. In front of the male lead’s upper-class friends, Yan Ci would easily become sensitive and insecure, constantly feeling that he was not worthy of the male lead and emotionally tormenting himself.
Faced with the group of admirers chasing the male lead, Yan Ci was even more at a loss.
“It’s cold outside,” Song Ruocheng said. “I’ll take Madam inside.”
After parking the car, Jian Yuheng turned his head and saw Secretary Song pushing his sister-in-law toward the banquet hall.
There was a little red on the steering wheel—probably blood from Secretary Song’s cut fingertip. His own fingertip had gotten some on it too. He pulled out a tissue and wiped it away.
Clink.
It sounded like a coin dropping to the ground.
Jian Yuheng did not see any coin. He locked the car and closed the door.
Inside the banquet hall, the sensitive and insecure love interest was having an emotional breakdown.
“They said I’m not worthy of him.” Yan Ci’s eyes reddened slightly. “They said I don’t deserve to marry him.”
For some reason, the current Secretary Song made him feel like opening up.
Secretary Song was eyeing the small cakes. Hearing that, he pulled a stack of papers from his bag and stuffed them into Yan Ci’s hands.
“I’m going to eat some cake,” he said. “If anyone talks about you, give them one.”
Yan Ci: “?”
What is this?
“Photocopies of your marriage certificate,” Song Ruocheng said. “Trust me—obsessive fans only break down when facing the real sister-in-law.”
The banquet offered free food and drinks and also paid him, so Song Ruocheng grabbed a plate and started picking small cakes one by one.
When Jian Yuheng walked over, he happened to see Secretary Song standing beside the sofa where Yan Ci sat, being approached by an alpha man trying to strike up a conversation.
“Secretary Song.” The alpha man asked in an affected breathy voice, “Care for a drink?”
The man was a business partner of Xiaoshi Group. He had seen Secretary Song a few times before, but this was the first time he had the urge to flirt.
“Secretary Song is an omega—what does your pheromone smell like?” the alpha asked. “Are you planning to get married?”
Song Ruocheng was eating cake and felt annoyed at being interrupted.
Without thinking, he answered directly, “Formaldehyde.”
Alpha man: “……”
Yan Ci: “……”
Jian Yuheng: “……”
Jian Yuheng’s lips twitched slightly.
Clearly it was grape.