After Becoming an Alpha, I Became a Charmer (GL) - Chapter 31.1

Zhao Sheng’s hand, clenched behind his back, pinched himself hard. His mind, which had been clouded by Xia Zhiyu’s smile, finally regained its composure.

He strictly kept his purpose for meeting Xia Zhiyu in mind. He smiled and sat across from Xia Zhiyu, watching her lovingly examine the ruby bracelet on her wrist. He tentatively asked, “Little Xia, is Ms. Ruan still focused on her work as usual these days?”

Xia Zhiyu lifted her eyes and glanced at Zhao Sheng. Zhao Sheng was afraid of being enchanted by her again. He quickly lowered his gaze, pretending to examine the water glass on the table, not daring to meet her eyes.

“Why are you asking about Ms. Ruan, Brother Zhao?” Xia Zhiyu played with the ruby bracelet and asked carelessly, clearly not fully invested in their conversation.

“Haha, I’m just asking casually. After all, only when Ms. Ruan is well are we all well, right? Hahaha.” This was the first time Zhao Sheng had done anything like this. He was inexperienced, and Xia Zhiyu was too captivating, making it impossible for many of his planned topics to unfold smoothly.

“To be honest with you, I’m a devout admirer of Ms. Ruan. Ms. Ruan is like a goddess to me. It’s just that I used to not see Ms. Ruan even once a year, so I had no way to get to know her.” Zhao Sheng sighed dejectedly at this point and gave Xia Zhiyu a shy smile. “Don’t laugh at me for being an Alpha who’s also a fan.”

“Fortunately, I know you now, Little Xia. If there’s ever any problem with Ms. Ruan, you must let me know. I’m ready to rush to the front lines for Ms. Ruan at any time.”

Xia Zhiyu’s eyes darted around. “So that’s it.”

“No wonder you and Sister Ke hang out together, Brother Zhao. It turns out you both like Ms. Ruan.”

Zhao Sheng was caught off guard by Xia Zhiyu’s words. He quickly said, “You can’t say that casually. It’s not ‘like’; it’s ‘worship’.”

“Alright, let’s say it’s worship,” Xia Zhiyu smiled. “Everyone in our group worships Ms. Ruan.”

“By the way, what were you asking me about, Brother Zhao?” Xia Zhiyu asked.

Zhao Sheng’s slightly contorted face, which had been twisted by jealousy from her previous sentence, instantly broke into a smile. “Brother was asking if Ms. Ruan has been busy lately, and if she’s in a good mood.”

Xia Zhiyu finished admiring the ruby bracelet. She carefully put it back in the box and zipped the box into her backpack.

Zhao Sheng despised her impoverished behavior but had to be patient since he needed something from her. He waited for her to finish before asking his question again.

“Ms. Ruan’s recent state…” Xia Zhiyu paused. Just when she had piqued Zhao Sheng’s curiosity, Xia Zhiyu suddenly clutched her stomach. “Oh no, my stomach is rumbling! Brother Zhao, shouldn’t we order now? We can chat while we eat? To be honest, I’m so hungry right now that my mind is blank, and I suddenly can’t remember anything.”

Zhao Sheng looked at her face and barely managed to suppress his anger. “Right, right, right. We should order first. Brother was so excited to see you that I momentarily forgot.”

Zhao Sheng stood up to call a waiter in to order. When the waiter handed him the menu, he immediately said, “Give it to this young lady. She’s the guest of honor today.”

“Guest of honor or not, Brother Zhao, this is just a regular brother-and-sister dinner today.” Xia Zhiyu said, eagerly taking the menu.

“This one, this one, and this one,” Xia Zhiyu flipped through two pages and named three dishes in a row. She looked up at the waiter and smiled. “Don’t get the three I just mentioned. Bring one serving of everything else.”

She completely played the part of an ignorant person greedy for small advantages.

Zhao Sheng’s face almost turned green. The food at Haoting was as luxurious as its name suggested. Every dish cost over four figures. The menu had at least fifty or sixty dishes. If Xia Zhiyu ordered all of them, it would cost him nearly 100,000 yuan.

And that didn’t include drinks.

The waiter realized Zhao Sheng was the one paying and instinctively looked at him, asking for clarification.

Zhao Sheng said to Xia Zhiyu, “Little Xia, if you want to try all the dishes here, we can come back more often. If we order so many dishes all at once, won’t we two be unable to finish it, leading to waste? It’s not that Brother is unwilling to spend; Brother isn’t short on that kind of money, but waste is bad. So many people out there are starving.” He wouldn’t have believed he could say something so positive before.

To be honest, 100,000 yuan wasn’t a lot for him. He wouldn’t bat an eye if he spent it on Ruan Wu, but he felt Xia Zhiyu wasn’t worthy of it.

Zhao Sheng never thought sitting next to another Alpha would make him feel so uneasy.

Xia Zhiyu was truly an eye-opener for him today.

Xia Zhiyu reluctantly let Zhao Sheng persuade her. She picked and chose for twenty minutes, finally settling on the twenty most expensive dishes at Haoting, which amounted to five or six figures.

At least I saved half. Zhao Sheng comforted himself mentally.

“Serve the food quickly,” Zhao Sheng specifically instructed the waiter before he left.

Xia Zhiyu wouldn’t talk until she saw the goods. Zhao Sheng was sure Xia Zhiyu wouldn’t reveal a single word about Ruan Wu until all the dishes were served.

This was also because their purpose for approaching Xia Zhiyu was too obvious. Otherwise, who would casually send her a watch worth over 100,000 yuan?

Xia Zhiyu knew through the watch that she was valuable in their eyes. The price had already been inflated, and it would be difficult to bring it down now.

Zhao Sheng felt a pang of blame toward Ke Miao. She shouldn’t have given away that watch so easily in the first place.

After another thirty minutes, the dishes were finally served one after another. Zhao Sheng tried to chat with Xia Zhiyu in between, but Xia Zhiyu, as expected, remained silent.

With all the dishes served, Zhao Sheng was no longer in a hurry. Xia Zhiyu was here and wouldn’t run off. He specifically waited for her to eat her fill before starting his questions.

“Brother Zhao, I can tell you’re very sincere. Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll treat you like my own brother and tell you everything I know.” Xia Zhiyu wiped her mouth clean and smiled.

Her face was pale, and her lips were rosy and moist from the water. The slight upturn of her lips made his heart race.

Zhao Sheng’s thigh was almost bruised from pinching himself to stay calm. He replied, “Brother treats you like a little sister, too. A real brother would never hurt his little sister. Don’t worry. Brother will never ask questions I shouldn’t.”

Zhao Sheng asked his initial question again. This time, Xia Zhiyu finally stopped making excuses and answered directly. “Ms. Ruan’s mood has indeed been a bit off lately, but it’s not obvious. She hides it well. Only by staying by her side can I notice it. No one else has noticed anything.”

Xia Zhiyu both answered Zhao Sheng’s question and emphasized her value.

No one else except her, the secretary by Ruan Wu’s side, has the chance to notice Ruan Wu’s abnormal emotions.

“Is there anything specific that shows Ms. Ruan is unhappy?” Zhao Sheng continued to ask.

Xia Zhiyu thought for a moment. “Ms. Ruan has been talking to someone for five minutes every day around noon. She only eats after the call ends. Perhaps due to the content of the calls, Ms. Ruan’s appetite has decreased recently.”

Zhao Sheng’s heart tightened. Ruan Wu is indeed investigating him.

He was only aware of the problem because of the faint clues of his assistant’s regular phone calls around noon. After all, a person doesn’t look startled and immediately hangs up when he appears during a normal call.

Zhao Sheng still felt a chill down his spine recalling the incident. If the person Ruan Wu sent to investigate him had been experienced, he would probably be in jail now without knowing why he was arrested.

Fortunately, he was usually careful. His assistant could only find minor financial issues, but couldn’t access other documents.

Zhao Sheng immediately put on a worried expression. “I wonder what’s bothering Ms. Ruan. I wish I could help her. The last thing I want is to see Ms. Ruan worried about things outside of work.”

Xia Zhiyu said, “Even if you knew, what help could you be from a branch company, Brother Zhao?”

Zhao Sheng said, “How could I not help? Although your Brother Zhao may not be very capable, my family has connections in the political and military sectors. I only regret not knowing what Ms. Ruan is worried about. If I knew, I would secretly help her resolve the problem without disturbing her.”

Zhao Sheng sounded sincere. Xia Zhiyu seemed to believe him. “That’s true. Ms. Ruan is unhappy, and I’m with her every day, afraid to even smile. Are you really willing to solve Ms. Ruan’s problems without her knowing, Brother Zhao?”

Zhao Sheng sensed an opportunity and immediately said, “Of course. I told you, I only worship Ms. Ruan and have no other intentions. As long as she can be happy, it doesn’t matter if she knows I helped her.”

Xia Zhiyu glanced at Zhao Sheng, with a look that seemed to say he was a huge sucker.

Zhao Sheng pretended not to notice, looking at Xia Zhiyu expectantly. “Little Xia, do you have any way of finding out what’s bothering Ms. Ruan?”

Xia Zhiyu frowned. “I can only try. I can’t guarantee success.”

Zhao Sheng was excited. “Whether you succeed or not, your words are enough, Little Xia. Brother trusts you. Come, Brother will toast you with tea instead of wine.”

Xia Zhiyu picked up the delicate teacup in front of her. She clinked it against Zhao Sheng’s and was about to drink when she suddenly said, “This set of teacups is quite beautiful.”

Zhao Sheng’s smile froze. He knew Xia Zhiyu was asking for another gift.

“Oh, Little Xia, you like this kind of thing. Brother happens to know a master who specializes in teaware. His work is priceless. I’ll bring you a set the next time I invite you to Haoting.”

“Oh, I just said that casually. Brother Zhao, you’re too serious. You really don’t have to spend any money.”

If the smile on Xia Zhiyu’s face hadn’t been as bright as the September sun, he might have believed her.

Greedy, shameless, and no bottom line. Yet, this person had a surprisingly beautiful appearance.

Zhao Sheng looked regretfully at Xia Zhiyu’s face. He met Xia Zhiyu’s smiling black eyes. His heart jumped, and he immediately looked away, trying to recall Ruan Wu’s face to forget the eyes that seemed determined to be etched into his memory.

At 9:30 p.m., Xia Zhiyu stood up and said, “It’s late, Brother Zhao. Let’s call it a day.”

Zhao Sheng quickly said, “Little Xia, where do you live? Brother will drive you home.”

He was only being polite and didn’t actually want to drive an Alpha he disliked home. But Xia Zhiyu didn’t immediately refuse and just smiled at him.