Chapter 25
“Let me see who dares defy my Omega.”
Along with that cold voice, a series of steady, crisp footsteps approached.
Around the corner, a female Alpha in a burgundy suit and high heels walked toward them.
Her long hair lifted slightly as she walked, the ends curving in a beautiful arc.
Her bright, striking features were not at all inferior to the two Film Queens present. She carried a natural aura of authority and pressure that entertainers in the industry found difficult to possess.
Her steady yet sharp presence added an even more elegant color to her unique beauty.
“President Ji, President Ji…!”
Liu Fan rushed forward in one step to complain.
“These people are pestering Sister Bo. After being dismissed, they still won’t stop bothering her and even want to stand on moral high ground to condemn Sister Bo.”
Ji Congyan raised a hand to show she understood, her voice cool and faint. “Cen Sang, check how these people who don’t belong to Anji Entertainment were able to barge into the company building so confidently.”
Cen Sang nodded from the side, took out her phone, and directly contacted Anji Entertainment’s executive vice president.
The vice president had only just started work when a phone call from the main company president’s assistant frightened her into hurrying over.
“President Ji, Madam, I’m sorry. This was negligence on the part of the lobby staff. Film Queen Bo’s work team had come to the building before, and they didn’t receive the latest update, so they mistakenly thought these people were Film Queen Bo’s assistants.”
She signaled the building security to step forward and restrain all those assistants.
The assistants cried out that they were wronged. “President Ji, Sister Bo, why can Xiao Yi follow you, but we can’t?”
Before Bo Shuang could speak, Ji Congyan stood in front of her, her expression cold.
“Xiao Yi? Are you talking about Huang Xiaoyi? That person listened to her boss and did something she shouldn’t have. My people have already notified her to pack up and get lost. It’s impossible for her to stay. As for you…”
Ji Congyan smiled.
“You were just cleared out along the way.”
The assistants’ faces filled with horror. Immediately after, anger toward Xiao Yi rose in their hearts.
They had completely forgotten that back then, they had also followed Yue Hong’s orders to watch Bo Shuang. They were no different from Xiao Yi.
Security dragged all of them away.
The vice president had not been in office for long and did not dare linger in front of President Ji for fear of being implicated.
She followed the security guards and left.
As the guards walked, they asked the vice president in low voices.
“Doesn’t Film Queen Bo have bodyguards President Ji assigned to her?”
“Why didn’t Madam let the bodyguards drive them away?”
“Exactly. We were planning to watch the gossip.”
The vice president’s temple twitched. “Those are bodyguards President Ji hired for Madam. They serve Madam specifically. A few clowns aren’t worthy of making them leave Madam’s side to handle things personally. Madam is their key protection target. Unless there’s a special situation, they can’t leave her.”
Their voices came intermittently, until Bo Shuang could no longer hear any of the conversation.
“Congyan, why did you come?”
Bo Shuang stepped forward and stood before Ji Congyan, faint gentleness held in her peach-blossom eyes.
Ji Congyan said carelessly, “This is my company. Can’t I come?”
Liu Fan felt that sentence sounded a little strange.
Until Yu Chen, whose mouth had never had a filter, loudly complained, “Is it that hard for you to just say you came to see Madam?”
Ji Congyan gave her a dangerous look that seemed ready to deduct her pay.
Yu Chen shrank her neck back and turned into a quail.
Yu Chen was the first to enter the meeting room for the audition.
Cen Sang sat at the entrance of the meeting room opposite, and Anji’s employees curiously glanced over.
Ji Congyan and Bo Shuang were inside that room.
“I came to inspect Anji’s work and happened to reach this floor.”
Ji Congyan’s tone was a little unnatural.
“The director and producer inside are Alphas and Omegas. Even if they wear suppressant patches, their scents will inevitably be a little mixed. You’re still pregnant, and the child can’t withstand such chaotic pheromones. I suggest you inhale some of my pheromones first.”
During pregnancy, the more pheromones from the Alpha mother of the Omega’s child there were, the more secure the Omega’s body would be.
Bo Shuang took out a small bottle from the pocket she carried with her.
“I still have some.”
Ji Congyan stared at the hazy snow-colored gland fluid in that bottle and said unhurriedly, “It’s been sitting too long. It isn’t fresh anymore.”
As long as gland fluid was extracted and properly stored, it could be kept for three months at room temperature.
It had only been a few days since Ji Congyan had extracted that gland fluid. How could it not be fresh?
However, the Alpha’s tone was so normal and serious.
For a moment, doubt arose in the beauty’s heart.
Could it be that directly smelling fresh pheromones from the Alpha’s gland really was better for the body?
Thinking of how food in nature worked the same way, she did not overthink it and nodded.
Ji Congyan lifted her suppressant patch and consciously walked in front of Bo Shuang. The rich Alpha fragrance filled Bo Shuang’s nose and traveled through her body.
Her limbs gradually warmed, and even her breathing became lighter.
Ten minutes later, Bo Shuang entered the meeting room for her audition.
The pheromones in this meeting room had long since been purified by the air system, and Ji Congyan had also sprayed herself with a lot of scent purifier.
Yu Chen came out of the meeting room and glanced at Bo Shuang.
Holding a deck of playing cards, she sat opposite Ji Congyan gloomily.
Ji Congyan wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and was carefully reading a document.
Holding a fountain pen, she occasionally wrote a comment, completely failing to notice that her own leading actress was in an extremely bad mood.
Only when a series of clattering sounds rang out did Ji Congyan wake from her state of total immersion in work.
She stared at Yu Chen unhappily, her tone cool. “Get out.”
Yu Chen had long been used to the way President Ji spoke and did not have much emotional fluctuation. She listlessly played with the cards in her hand, making them snap and clatter.
“President Ji, you really married a good wife.”
“Of course.” Ji Congyan laughed softly. “My wife is a dragon and phoenix among people. You can’t even compare to a single hair on her body.”
Even though Yu Chen was long used to President Ji’s sharp tongue, she still choked slightly.
She was very unconvinced.
However, what had happened in the meeting room just now had made her concede defeat completely. She had no room to argue at all.
Her voice was muffled as she poured out all her emotions at once.
“Bo Shuang has been filming Dawn during this period. As for me, I originally thought that while she was busy, I could overtake her on a curve, so I crammed a lot of skills related to the protagonist of A Thousand Temptations.
“In my view, I had also studied the script almost thoroughly, and my performance just now was pretty good. To be honest, if it had been a role that fit my character type, I would have one hundred percent secured this part…”
“But I’m an actress. Looking at the director’s and producer’s faces, I could more or less guess what they were thinking.”
“Ah, perhaps they just felt that I was completely unsuitable for this role.”
Yu Chen smiled and did not expect President Ji to comfort her.
Not being poisoned by her sharp tongue was already a great blessing.
“President Ji, how about playing a little game with me?”
Ji Congyan looked at her faintly. Yu Chen understood that when President Ji did not use her sharp tongue, that was tacit agreement.
“This card, the ace of hearts, is the card you want.”
She showed Ji Congyan the deck in her hand, drew out one card, and then put it back.
It was a standard deck of playing cards with the two jokers included. The cards were clean and had not been tampered with.
After Yu Chen finished displaying them, she performed a flourish shuffle. Her movements were so fast that almost every card between the two stacks in her hands seemed to have exchanged places once. Finally, she spread the cards flat across the table.
“Watch closely.”
Her fingertips hovered over the cards, sweeping past them, and finally stopped at one position.
It looked perfectly ordinary, with no markings at all.
Ji Congyan also could not tell what the card would be.
Until Yu Chen flipped it over.
The ace of hearts.
Ji Congyan glanced at it, then returned her gaze to the document, completely uninterested.
Yu Chen smiled bitterly. “I specially went to the Special Administrative Region to find someone to learn this. When I knew there was this top-tier project, I went to learn it. Just now, I showed it to the director, and what I showed was the full extent of my skill. Guess… how did the director react?”
Ji Congyan still did not raise her head. Even the frequency of her eye movements did not change as she quietly read the document.
Yu Chen and her boss had always gotten along this way. Either she spoke directly about the main point, and President Ji would arrange her work.
Or she would be ignored.
Yu Chen took a deep breath. “The director’s reaction was completely ordinary. She even earnestly told me that this little trick of mine couldn’t be shown on stage at all in front of Bo Shuang.”
Catching the key name, Ji Congyan slowly raised her head.
Yu Chen sighed deeply. “It’s because I don’t understand my opponent well enough. I completely forgot that Bo Shuang had once filmed such an obscure movie.”
This time, Ji Congyan’s gaze did not return to the document. She asked faintly, “What movie?”
“The Croupier,” Yu Chen said.
“That movie should have been filmed when she signed with Yueyu Entertainment at sixteen. I only just remembered it.
“Speaking of it, the quality was actually decent. I watched it back then. Unfortunately, on the day it was released, the two fairly famous leads were exposed in all kinds of scandals. The circumstances were absurd, and they were ultimately banned by the authorities. This movie had only aired for two days before it was forcibly taken down, and the buzz was also forcibly cooled.”
“Ha, I was wondering why the production team favored Bo Shuang from the very beginning instead of looking for someone from our own company.
“Other than the fact that her face especially fits the character design, more importantly, Bo Shuang learned a large number of croupier skills in that movie. She already knows them…”
A Thousand Temptations told the story of an Omega from a tragic family who accidentally came into contact with the profession of “croupier,” after which her life changed along the way.
The script described many scenes in detail, including the croupier shuffling, dealing cards, and controlling the room.
That was why Yu Chen had deliberately gone to learn.
But she had missed one piece of knowledge.
Her strongest competitor had already mastered all kinds of techniques when she first entered the entertainment industry at sixteen.
“The director said that what I can do is find the card we anchored at the beginning among all these cards, but Bo Shuang—”
Yu Chen wore a pained expression. Her eyes carried the pain of being crushed by ability, along with an extremely pure appreciation.
“Bo Shuang can point out the exact face of every single card from beginning to end.”
Damn it. How was she supposed to compete with that?
In terms of acting, she could still persuade the director by saying her appearance was sexier than Bo Shuang’s.
But what if the main character herself had already been immersed in this industry?
That was why Yu Chen had come out looking as if she had lost her parents.
·
“Shuang ah, after you finish filming your current project and rest for a while, we’ll start production.”
The director shook hands with Bo Shuang.
“We’re working together again. Ah Shuang is now Anji’s young madam. There will be many opportunities to work together in the future. Young Madam, please support us more.”
The director and producer both stepped forward to shake hands with Bo Shuang.
Even though Bo Shuang was a Film Queen, her position in the entertainment industry was still not as high as that of directors and producers.
Now that the director and producer stepped forward, their smiles faintly carried a trace of respect that had not been there before.
Bo Shuang responded to each handshake one by one.
However, what she was thinking of was Ji Congyan, who had brought her infinite convenience and privilege.
After leaving the audition meeting room, the staff had just pushed open the door when Bo Shuang saw the Alpha standing outside.
The Alpha held a document, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Her smooth long hair fell in front of her body. The top two buttons of her burgundy shirt were undone, faintly revealing her collarbone.
Hearing the sound, she raised her head.
Bo Shuang’s heart skipped a beat.
“It seems my wife successfully secured the role.”
Ji Congyan raised her head from the document and saw the unconcealed joy in Bo Shuang’s expression.
The Omega wore a dress, unlike her usual plain and simple style. It was a dress set bought specifically for this role.
A large area of collarbone was exposed, yet it did not appear revealing. Instead, it faintly made one want to glimpse even more.
The material was visibly cheap polyester fiber, and the stitching was rough. Yet supported by that top-tier gentle face and temperament, it made people ignore the crudeness of the outfit.
Ji Congyan tightened her fingers around the document, wrinkling the paper.
“Mm.” Bo Shuang walked up to her.
Yu Chen said sourly from the side, “President Ji, you really aren’t kind. Back then, I didn’t expect that the person trying to use the casting couch on Bo Shuang was you… You really are a beast.”
Yu Chen was famous in the industry for speaking without restraint.
Her excellent online reputation relied entirely on Anji’s PR team buying down countless pieces of black material.
It was not that she envied Bo Shuang for marrying well.
It was purely because she and Bo Shuang had been fighting fiercely for so many years. Their fans had big arguments every three days and small arguments every day. Their acting skills were evenly matched, and the situation had originally been a balanced confrontation.
Who would have known that her rival would transform overnight into her boss’s wife?
Tell her, was that infuriating or not?
From now on, aside from acting and works, all kinds of comparisons would no longer be on the same level at all.
Yu Chen drooped and left.
·
Bo Shuang watched her back.
“Sister Bo, Chairwoman Yue is calling.”
Liu Fan handed over the phone.
Bo Shuang had her own manager. If it were not for matters regarding her parents, Yue Hong would not call her.
Bo Shuang accepted the phone and walked into an empty meeting room. Behind her, Ji Congyan followed step by step.
The beauty lightly bit her lower lip.
“President Ji, can you wait outside for me for a while?”
Ji Congyan’s tone was unfriendly. “Bo Shuang, I’m warning you. You absolutely cannot turn your elbow outward. I am your Alpha. Yue Hong is only your boss.”
Yu Chen, the director, and the producer had all already left. Only three people remained in the corridor. After handing over the phone, Liu Fan silently walked farther away.
Ji Congyan’s lowered voice was not heard by anyone.
Bo Shuang nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Congyan.”
Her gentle smile dazzled Ji Congyan’s eyes. Ji Congyan froze in place, watching the meeting room door slowly close without reacting.
Inside the meeting room, the voice call interface changed into a video call interface.
In the image, a woman’s face was pale. Looking carefully, her features seemed somewhat similar to Bo Shuang’s.
“Mom…”
Her scallion-white fingertip lightly touched the middle-aged woman lying on the screen.
The woman’s mouth moved.
“…Shuang…”
“I’m here, Mom.”
Tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes.
However, even after exhausting all her strength, the middle-aged woman could only intermittently say that one simple word.
Bo Shuang covered her lips, and more tears gradually gathered at the corners of her eyes.
At this moment, the image moved from the ICU ward to outside the door.
The screen no longer showed the woman lying weakly on the hospital bed, but a face wearing a mask.
She removed the mask.
“Ah Shuang.” The voice of a middle-aged female Omega came from the receiver.
Yue Hong smiled as she looked at the camera.
“Your mother was awake for a while, but she couldn’t open her eyes. She could only keep murmuring your name.”
Bo Shuang lowered her eyes. “Thank you, Chairwoman Yue.”
“We have a life-and-death friendship between us. Saying such things is too distant. How are you getting along with President Ji?”
“Acceptably.”
Bo Shuang’s voice was faint.
Yue Hong therefore knew that her days in the Ji family were also not easy.
But—
“Ah Shuang, did you say something to President Ji?”
“Chairwoman Yue, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Yue Hong stared at her expression and said, “Early this morning, President Ji sent an administrative assistant to Xiao Yi’s door to dismiss Xiao Yi. It really frightened Xiao Yi.”
“Xiao Yi… is she all right?”
“She’s fine. I had her go back to her hometown. Speaking of which, it’s a pity. You have so many fewer assistants around you now. With no one to take care of your daily life, will you be unused to it?”
Bo Shuang said, “The bodyguards Congyan assigned are all very reliable.”
Yue Hong laughed. “All right. You now have an Alpha family, so you really should listen more to your Alpha.”
Bo Shuang did not respond to that sentence, her lashes trembling slightly.
Yue Hong was very satisfied with her reaction.
“Since you have enough assistants around you, I won’t arrange any more, so as not to annoy President Ji.
“I called you today about another matter. Your father’s foot, wasn’t it cut before? The previous treatment results were good, but it has been raining in the south recently. He waded through rainwater to go to the casino, and the amputated area has gone a little bad.”
Bo Shuang said, “Put all the bills under my name. I’ll trouble Chairwoman Yue to take good care of my father.”
Yue Hong agreed readily.
·
When they left Anji’s building, they ran into a group of artists who had come for a building promo visit.
The artist was also an actress Anji Entertainment often worked with, a certain first-line young actress.
Behind her followed several livestream cameras.
The cameraman’s precise instinct made the lens turn toward the Film Queen. The cameras were raised and pointed directly at Bo Shuang.
The young actress stepped forward with a face full of surprise. “Film Queen Bo.”
At this moment, the bullet comments were mostly filled with the young actress’s fans. Seeing that their artist could connect with a mountain in the film and television world, they hurriedly cheered in the comments about the friendship between the two.
“Could I ask you to sign an autograph for me?”
The young actress’s eyes sparkled.
Bo Shuang smiled gently and nodded. She accepted the notebook the other woman handed over and signed her elegant name in a few strokes.
The young actress held the notebook up to the camera.
With great delight, she said, “This is Film Queen Bo’s autograph given to me personally. Everyone, help me record this!”
Her personality was lively, and she began chatting with fans in front of the camera.
“…Oh my god, President Ji is here too!”
The moment her words fell, Bo Shuang and Ji Congyan were walking out of the building. Outside the door, a crowd of the young actress’s fans had gathered.
Bo Shuang was a household-name Film Queen. Anyone who watched dramas knew her.
The fans cried out “Film Queen Bo” and surged forward.
There were too many people, all crowding toward the middle.
Ji Congyan was in front, while the bodyguards were at the middle and rear, forming a protective formation around Bo Shuang so she would not be struck by the fans.
“Oh my god, look! The one in the burgundy shirt at the front is President Ji. She’s opening the way for Sister Bo in front. Wuwuwu, I’m dying from shipping them!”
The young actress’s mouth did not stop as she introduced Bo Shuang and Ji Congyan to the livestream.
Ji Congyan protecting Bo Shuang into the nanny van—ship it.
Ji Congyan’s long hand bracing against the top of the car door—ship it.
Ji Congyan closing the car door and walking around to the other side herself—also ship it!
#BoShuangJiCongyan
The topic, which had been hot for a while before slightly cooling down, once again parachuted to the top of the trending list.
·
There were many fans at Anji’s entrance, and the scene was chaotic.
But the instant the crowd surged forward, Ji Congyan stood in front of Bo Shuang.
With furrowed brows and gloves on, she still firmly protected Bo Shuang in front of her.
Amid the fans’ pushing, her beautiful long hair was accidentally touched several times. Her brows only furrowed more tightly, but she did not move away.
Bo Shuang saw all of it.
Ji Congyan looked at her own body with disgust.
Her back and long hair had basically been touched all over by strangers.
Her heart felt extremely uncomfortable. She wished there were a shower room in the car so she could go in and wash away all those messy bacteria completely.
This discomfort continued until the car arrived at the filming base for Dawn.
“Thank you for sending me to the set, Congyan,” Bo Shuang thanked her gently.
Ji Congyan rolled her eyes. “I was squeezed into the car by the fans.”
She had not planned to go to the set at all.
Originally, she also had not planned to inspect the Anji Entertainment building.
Hearing this, the beauty’s smile became even gentler and more sincere. “Then thank you too, for protecting me so thoroughly.”
Ji Congyan waved her hand. “You’re still carrying my child in your stomach. I was only protecting my child. She’s still a child. What if she got squeezed in the embryo?”
Bo Shuang lowered her eyes.
Ji Congyan walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door.
Bo Shuang got out from that side.
She was still wearing the shoes for this morning’s role, which had a slight heel. Her foot did not land steadily, and she suddenly twisted it.
Seeing that she was about to fall, in that critical instant, Ji Congyan’s eyelid trembled violently, and she subconsciously reached out to support Bo Shuang.
It was extremely close, but she happened to catch her.
Her hand landed on the Omega’s waist. Her gloved palm completely fit the slender waist and happened to hold it.
The orchid-and-sandalwood scent surrounded her nose, and Ji Congyan’s breathing froze.
Bo Shuang leaned in her arms, the shock in her eyes not yet faded.
Ji Congyan’s five fingers felt as if they had been scorched by fire. They were also like fingers on piano keys, with nowhere to settle.
In the distance came the sounds of crew members moving around. Wu Langli came over after hearing the commotion, ready to welcome the two great deities.
“President Ji, Shuang—”
All the words she was about to say were blocked back in her throat.
Wu Langli looked at the two people embracing each other and froze in place.
The loud sounds outside woke the two from their gaze.
Ji Congyan abruptly withdrew her hand and leaned against the car door as if nothing had happened.
Bo Shuang lowered her eyes, her long, crow-black lashes trembling frequently.
Alpha and Omega had different yet normal reactions.
However, as one of the top directors internationally, Wu Langli naturally noticed the abnormality between the two.
The area connecting President Ji’s neck to her cheek had reddened slightly.
And as for Bo Shuang, because one side of her black hair had been lifted, the redness at the roots of her ears was fully exposed.
This was…?
For a moment, Wu Langli did not dare step forward, afraid of displeasing this ancestor surnamed Ji.
The blazing sun was scorching, and sweat had begun to seep from her back before Wu Langli finally heard Bo Shuang speak.
“Director Wu, filming is about to begin. Let’s go.”
Bo Shuang took two steps forward, then turned back and once again gently thanked her. “Thank you for bringing me here, Congyan.”
Bo Shuang left.
Ji Congyan still leaned coolly against the extended sedan. Her long hair lifted in the wind, her gaze continuing to track the departing Bo Shuang, the corners of her lips curved in a bright smile.
Cen Sang looked at her nose and then her heart, waiting until filming started on the crew’s side before speaking. “President Ji, should we go take a look around?”
Ji Congyan nodded her noble head.
She did not deliberately move closer to the filming area, instead walking toward the lounge.
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