After Becoming an Alpha, I Became a Charmer (GL) - Chapter 26.1

Ruan Wu’s mood fluctuated with Xia Zhiyu’s words. After hearing the last sentence, her initially annoyed expression suddenly became a little awkward, but she did not refute Xia Zhiyu.

The vacation always passed quickly. At 5 p.m., everyone gathered in the resort parking lot. When Ruan Wu and Xia Zhiyu arrived, everyone was already seated on the large bus.

The employees on the bus saw Xia Zhiyu’s figure from afar through the window. Those by the window immediately opened the glass pane, poked their heads out, and greeted Xia Zhiyu: “Secretary Xia—”

“Secretary Xia, you’re finally here—”

“Secretary Xia, we have an empty seat on our bus!”

Xia Zhiyu smiled and waved at everyone, which was met with another round of cheers.

But immediately after, Ruan Wu’s figure emerged from behind Xia Zhiyu, coming into everyone’s view. The noisy cheers and clamor were abruptly paused, coming to a sudden halt.

Xia Zhiyu turned back to Ruan Wu and said, “Ms. Ruan truly has authority. They’re incredibly well-behaved in front of you. Truly worthy of being a national idol.”

Ruan Wu’s face was cold, and she wasn’t pleased by Xia Zhiyu’s flattery.

When she woke up this morning, she flipped through the group chat history and found that people were still @-ing Xia Zhiyu to chat with her until past 1 a.m.

She had thought everyone was only enthusiastic online, and it might not be the same in person, but she didn’t expect their real-life behavior to be equally enthusiastic.

What’s worse is that Xia Zhiyu seemed oblivious. If she hadn’t appeared, who knows if someone would have actually rushed off the bus and dragged Xia Zhiyu onto theirs.

Ruan Wu’s face grew colder. Xia Zhiyu only thought she was impatient waiting for the bus, so she made another phone call to hurry the driver. The driver finally drove the car to Ruan Wu.

Ruan Wu got into the car, but Xia Zhiyu didn’t immediately follow.

Her gaze searched the parking lot, and she quickly spotted the bus carrying her suitcase.

Xia Zhiyu quickly went to retrieve her suitcase. Because she was in a hurry, she forgot to say anything to Ruan Wu.

Ruan Wu saw her suddenly walk away and her eyes darkened.

Her hand clenched involuntarily.

She knew Xia Zhiyu definitely had something to do, but she still couldn’t stop herself from imagining the scene of Xia Zhiyu boarding another bus and chatting and laughing with others all the way.

Ruan Wu was alarmed by her own possessiveness over Xia Zhiyu. It’s only been half a month since I started paying attention to her, hasn’t it?

Xia Zhiyu had walked quite a distance before realizing she hadn’t said goodbye to Ruan Wu. She wondered if Ruan Wu would be angry.

The driver was waving at her in front of the bus. Xia Zhiyu walked over, and the driver was clearly bursting with things to say. “Secretary Xia, you don’t know how I’ve been these two days…”

Xia Zhiyu quickly stopped him. “Ms. Ruan is waiting for me. I’ll head back to Ms. Ruan’s car first. We can chat on WeChat if you have something to discuss.”

The moment the driver heard “Ms. Ruan,” he immediately stopped talking and handed the suitcase to Xia Zhiyu. “Hurry up, Secretary Xia. Don’t make Ms. Ruan wait impatiently.”

Xia Zhiyu took the suitcase and rushed back. When she reached the car, she found that the driver had already opened the trunk for her. She lifted the suitcase and put it inside, closed the trunk, and walked around to the other side of Ruan Wu’s car to get in.

Xia Zhiyu had a relaxed smile, clearly in a good mood. After closing the car door, she said to Ruan Wu, “Ms. Ruan, we have such a mutual understanding. I forgot to tell you I was going to get my suitcase, but you had already asked the driver to open the trunk for me.”

Ruan Wu glanced at Xia Zhiyu. “Why did you come back so quickly? Didn’t you chat with the people on that bus for a bit?”

Xia Zhiyu said, “I didn’t want to make you wait, Ms. Ruan. I even turned down the driver of that bus who wanted to chat. Ms. Ruan, you are the most important person in my heart. How could I make you wait just to chat?”

Ruan Wu acted indifferent on the surface, but the slight displeasure in her heart instantly vanished.

On the way back, Ruan Wu was busy with work, and Xia Zhiyu was busy chatting.

She first listened to the bus driver complain about staying in an outside hotel for the past two days and not being able to enjoy the resort like everyone else, and after comforting him, she received a private message from Minister Li.

Minister Li seemed very curious about her alternate account. Even though the group admin, Sister Zhou, had already explained in the group that it was Xia Zhiyu’s private alternate account, Minister Li was still skeptical.

MinisterLi: Secretary Xia, allow me to take a guess. Regardless of whether I’m right or wrong, just take it as a joke.

XiaZhiyu: Then go ahead, Minister Li, tell me your guess.

She didn’t believe that anyone other than her and Ruan Wu could know the true identity of the owner of that alternate account.

MinisterLi: I guess… that alternate account belongs to Ms. Ruan, hahahahaha. Am I being too fantastical?

XiaZhiyu: …

Xia Zhiyu replied with an ambiguous “…” and looked at Ruan Wu in surprise. “Ms. Ruan, how did Minister Li know the alternate account is yours?”

“Minister Li? The married Beta who often chats with you?”

“That’s him. I have never mentioned this to anyone. Even though he strongly insists he was just taking a wild guess, I can tell that he was already basically certain that the alternate account was yours before he came to test me.”

Ruan Wu raised an eyebrow. “What does he want?”

Xia Zhiyu asked, “Ms. Ruan, have you kept both copies of our contract safe?”

Ruan Wu said, “The contract has always been kept in my safe at home. No one else has had a chance to see it.”

“What about your copy?”

Xia Zhiyu said strangely, “My copy is also safely kept at home. How exactly did Minister Li guess it?”

Ruan Wu put down her laptop and held out her hand to Xia Zhiyu. “Give me your phone. I’ll talk to him.”

Ruan Wu decided to test Minister Li.

Xia Zhiyu gave Ruan Wu her phone. Ruan Wu quickly scanned the conversation they had just had. Xia Zhiyu’s earlier guess was correct; Minister Li was probing.

After Xia Zhiyu’s reply of an ellipsis, Minister Li hadn’t sent any more messages.

XiaZhiyu: Is that so?

Minister Li immediately replied: Yes, yes, yes, Ms. Ruan.

He probably typed quickly and didn’t notice his form of address, sending it out directly. After realizing the mistake, he quickly recalled the message.

MinisterLi: I’m sorry, Secretary Xia, I didn’t call you Ms. Ruan just now. I didn’t finish typing a sentence. What I meant was, how could Ms. Ruan, busy with work and managing ten thousand affairs a day, possibly have time to join a company group chat?

XiaZhiyu: Okay.

Ruan Wu handed the phone back to Xia Zhiyu. Xia Zhiyu read their conversation and said in surprise, “Minister Li recognized you immediately.”

“Set up a time with him. I need to talk to him.” Minister Li knew her too well, which made Ruan Wu suspicious.

Xia Zhiyu had been with her for several years and couldn’t say with 100% certainty that she could quickly recognize her just from a sentence. Ruan Wu hadn’t interacted much with Minister Li. How did Minister Li manage it?

“Yes, Ms. Ruan.”

Xia Zhiyu searched Ruan Wu’s schedule for tomorrow and found a free period in the afternoon. She sent a message to Minister Li.

XiaZhiyu: Minister Li, are you free tomorrow at 3 p.m.?

MinisterLi: Can I say no? (Carefully)

XiaZhiyu: (Smiling)

MinisterLi: Okay, please tell Ms. Ruan I understand. (Dejected)

Minister Li had only intended to tease Xia Zhiyu but ended up completely failing.

Who could understand? He really just wanted to be a quiet, loyal fan of Ms. Ruan.

Aside from the small incident with Minister Li, nothing else happened in between.

That evening, upon arriving back in A City, the driver asked Xia Zhiyu, “Secretary Xia, where do you live? I’ll drop you off first.”

Xia Zhiyu was about to give the address of her rental apartment when Ruan Wu suddenly said, “Go straight to my house.”

The driver looked at Xia Zhiyu in surprise through the rearview mirror, but when he met Ruan Wu’s eyes as he looked back, he quickly straightened up. “Yes, yes, Ms. Ruan.”

Xia Zhiyu said, “Ms. Ruan, although we agreed to be inseparable, isn’t starting today a little too rushed? I haven’t even packed my things.”

Ruan Wu said faintly, “Didn’t you just get your suitcase? The things inside haven’t even been used yet. That’s enough for tonight. If you need anything else, I’ll take you to get it after work tomorrow.”

Xia Zhiyu thought Ruan Wu made a valid point. “Alright, Ms. Ruan.”

An hour later, Xia Zhiyu pulled her suitcase and followed Ruan Wu through the front door of her house.

Xia Zhiyu put down her suitcase and asked Ruan Wu, “Ms. Ruan, may I look around?”

After getting Ruan Wu’s permission, Xia Zhiyu casually looked around by herself.

The style of Ruan Wu’s home décor, like Ruan Wu herself, was sharp and noticeable everywhere, with the only exception being the kitchen.

Xia Zhiyu came out of the kitchen and asked curiously, “Ms. Ruan, your kitchenware is so complete. Do you cook yourself?”

Ruan Wu was currently handling an urgent email from a branch company. She didn’t look up but replied, “Occasionally.”

Xia Zhiyu praised her. “No wonder everyone loves you. Ms. Ruan, you are practically ten-talented.”

Ruan Wu neither confirmed nor denied it, thinking Xia Zhiyu was indirectly confessing to her again.

Ruan Wu pretended not to hear the deeper meaning behind Xia Zhiyu’s words—everyone loves you, and I love you too. She said, “The bedroom is to your right. Feel free to use the closet. Go and unpack your luggage first.”

Xia Zhiyu said, “Okay.”

She wondered what kind of bedroom Ruan Wu had prepared for her, but whatever it was, it would certainly be better than her current rental apartment.

Xia Zhiyu pulled her suitcase into the room Ruan Wu mentioned. As she walked in, her eyes lit up. The bedroom was incredibly large, almost unbelievably so, and didn’t seem like a guest room. Then, Xia Zhiyu quickly noticed signs of someone living there. It was clearly not a guest room but Ruan Wu’s own master bedroom.

Xia Zhiyu thought Ruan Wu, busy with work, had pointed to the wrong place. She quickly retreated from the master bedroom with her suitcase and entered a clearly unused guest room diagonally across the hall to put her luggage away.

Ruan Wu finished the email and, seeing that Xia Zhiyu hadn’t come out yet, decided to go check on the situation.

Does it really take this long to unpack a suitcase?

Ruan Wu returned to the bedroom and found Xia Zhiyu was not there, nor was her suitcase.

She frowned slightly, left the master bedroom, and called out to Xia Zhiyu.

“I’m here, Ms. Ruan.” Xia Zhiyu walked out of the room diagonally across the hall when she heard the sound.

Ruan Wu frowned and asked, “I thought I pointed to the room behind me.”

Xia Zhiyu was surprised. “You did. I went in and saw it was the master bedroom, so I thought you had pointed to the wrong room… So, I’m supposed to sleep in the master bedroom?”

That’s impossible, right? Ruan Wu didn’t even want to sleep with her for a third time, so how could she want to sleep in the same room?