After Being Marked by the Popular Female Lead O (GL) - Chapter 14

Zhou Que casually drafted a message and sent it. While waiting, she glanced through the previous messages. It was mostly as she had expected, but when she saw the attempts to determine whether she was truly an Omega, her expression paused.

Was she not O enough?

“Sister Que, I was just out of my mind. It wasn’t my intention at all! It was that person, he forced me!” Liang Nuo was completely panicked. Her lips were chewed until they bled from the forced pressure, filled with regret, and she spoke without thinking.

“Please let me go. I can help you find him! He’s been making me monitor you.”

This was her biggest bargaining chip. It didn’t make sense for Zhou Que not to care. But when she looked up at Zhou Que’s face, she saw a half-smile, utterly unmoved. It was as if Zhou Que didn’t even see her.

“I know who he is.” Zhou Que didn’t retract her pheromones. The brighter her smile, the fiercer the pheromones she released.

Liang Nuo couldn’t support herself and fell to her knees, her terror looking genuine.

[Good.]

A long time later, a text message finally arrived from the other side.

Zhou Que merely glanced at it. Using this method, it could only be her suspicious father, or perhaps no one else.

Wasn’t my mother forcibly marked like this, never escaping the control of these people?

Thinking of this, Zhou Que’s face suddenly darkened.

Returning to the room, Xie Qingshu, having come to a conclusion, looked much calmer. She cleared her throat and called Song Mei.

“What’s wrong? Do you need something?” Song Mei asked. She was negotiating another collaboration and hadn’t come for this shoot.

“Who arranged Zhou Que’s assistant?”

Song Mei was stunned, confirming she was asking about Zhou Que, but still answered, “I’m not sure. She was suddenly assigned, but someone upstairs gave the nod.”

Xie Qingshu immediately realized. The company system was clear, requiring several shareholders’ approval. Although arranging an assistant was a small matter, it wouldn’t be agreed to so easily. The person with this authority must be the company’s new executive.

Xie Qingshu couldn’t think of anyone else besides the one who agreed to upgrade The Ruined Path to an S-level project.

Song Mei didn’t confirm directly, but her silent attitude indicated everything. She had already heard about what happened today from Xiao Zhu and knew this assistant had hit Xie Qingshu’s bottom line. Liang Nuo wouldn’t have a good outcome.

Normally, Xie Qingshu was cold, but those who knew her realized that as long as you didn’t cross her line, she was easy to talk to. Many actors of similar stature couldn’t maintain her composure.

“That person was parachuted in. Few people know about them. They’re supposedly a high-quality Alpha. Don’t be impulsive. What if you provoke someone…”

Xie Qingshu hummed faintly, not really listening. High-quality Alpha? She suspected it was just another scum Alpha she hadn’t noticed in the original book.

“Forget it, I have their contact information here. Talk to them yourself,” Song Mei knew Xie Qingshu’s personality well. It was better to give her the information directly than to conceal it.

Xie Qingshu quickly received the account number. While waiting for it to be accepted, she said, “I’m filming now. Could you help me look into Zhong Shan, a design major in the Capital?”

Song Mei paused. She had never seen Xie Qingshu inquire about anyone before. Could this be… a sign that the ice is melting?

The thought only lasted a second before vanishing. Whether she was warming up or not, Song Mei had never heard of this person. After a moment’s hesitation, Song Mei agreed. If anyone else had said this, she might have been suspicious, jumping to conclusions, but it was Xie Qingshu.

“Okay, I understand. You focus on filming.”

Xie Qingshu hung up. The account she added was accepted quickly, much faster than she expected.

[Yes?]

Assuming an Alpha’s tone, it was somewhat cold.

Xie Qingshu raised an eyebrow. She paused her typing. She didn’t seem to know how to address the person on the other side.

[Xie Qingshu, S-level contract artist. I know you.]

[Just call me Z. I’m a female A.]

The account page was bare, with no information left behind.

But a figure she had seen and remembered in the original book flashed quickly through Xie Qingshu’s mind. It truly matched someone perfectly.

However, this person wasn’t a scum Alpha, but a behind-the-scenes manipulator with very little description, whose identity was definitely no less significant than the other Alphas. Her existence was a mystery in itself, no less formidable than any Alpha. Song Mei called her ‘high-quality,’ but that might be an understatement.

If Xie Qingshu hadn’t stopped reading halfway, she would have thought Z was the true protagonist’s Alpha, but the two never met afterward, developing separately, effectively ruling out any possibility of them being together.

Xie Qingshu had dismissed the thought and gradually forgotten about Z. But now, thinking back, many events in the novel were vaguely connected to this Z. It was a very subtle thread that was easy to overlook.

Xie Qingshu suddenly wanted to read the rest of the plot. Unfortunately, she had missed it because the Xie family’s incident was too impulsive.

Could it be that this person also likes… Zhou Que?

Xie Qingshu felt it was highly likely.

[Hello, Ms. Z. I’m contacting you about Zhou Que’s situation.]

Xie Qingshu wasn’t interested in any of this; she just wanted Zhou Que to stay away from those scum Alphas, the farther the better. Her consulting the company was out of respect and notification. If the other party didn’t agree, she wouldn’t mind achieving the same result using her own methods.

A hint of coldness appeared in Xie Qingshu’s eyes.

The person on the other side seemed caught up in something. After a long pause, they sent a single, dry word: Who?

Xie Qingshu patiently explained what had happened today. The dialogue box constantly showed the other party was typing, but nothing was ever sent.

After five minutes, the message finally arrived late.

[Understood.]

Xie Qingshu frowned slightly. That’s all you could squeeze out after all that time?

But before she could decipher anything from those three words, a light knock came from outside the door. If the room hadn’t been quiet, she might not have noticed.

It wouldn’t be Xiao Zhu at this hour. Xie Qingshu opened the door and was surprised to see it was Zhou Que.

She looked like she had just showered, her skin fair with a rosy tint. Her shoulder was slightly exposed, like a peach full of juice. When she looked up, her phoenix eyes were damp, her gaze clear and profound.

Xie Qingshu could finally understand the feelings of those scum Alphas, but she only admired her beauty, sweeping her gaze over her before looking away.

If Song Mei were here, she would definitely be heartbroken.

“Director Deng asked me to come and communicate with you.” Even her voice carried a clear, water-soaked crispness.

Zhou Que suppressed the strange look in her eyes and lifted her phone as if afraid Xie Qingshu wouldn’t believe her.

She wasn’t lying. Deng Yue had indeed expressed his concerns.

Xie Qingshu hadn’t thought the other party would lie, but before she could question why Deng Yue would allow an Omega to come to an Alpha’s room late at night, she was quickly drawn to something else.

“What’s wrong with your phone?”

Although the other party quickly hid it, Xie Qingshu’s sharp eyes caught sight of a very deep crack.

Zhou Que didn’t seem to care and smiled. “I just found out something surprising and accidentally dropped it.”

The phone was hidden behind her back.

What kind of news could be that surprising?

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything, Xie Qingshu didn’t press. They did have a scene together the next day, and it would be troublesome if she was easily distracted again. But trouble or not, just as she was about to say something.

Zhou Que seemed to remember something. “I used an inhibitor.” But it’s the kind used by Alphas.

Xie Qingshu subtly sniffed. Perhaps because of this, the scent of blue water lily was much fainter. Although she could still smell a trace, the effect on her was minimal.

“Come in.”

Zhou Que nodded vigorously.

The room was tidy, nothing like a room that had just been moved into, but Xie Qingshu had never let anyone else in. Zhou Que subtly retracted her gaze, and Xie Qingshu had already taken out the script.

“Sit down,” Xie Qingshu said casually. “You can look at the script freely.”

She wasn’t secretive. Now that she had thought things through, she genuinely saw Zhou Que as a potential junior and hoped the drama would achieve the best result.

Zhou Que was stunned for a moment, and her eyes instantly curved into crescents. “Okay, thank you, Sister.”

She was exceptionally obedient.

Xie Qingshu was momentarily distracted by her smile and didn’t think much of it. But since they were an Alpha and an Omega, they still maintained a certain distance, sitting in positions slightly further apart.

The scripts were spread across the table but neatly organized. She didn’t need to exert much effort to find the scenes they were about to film.

“Sister is very diligent.”

Zhou Que casually picked up the leftmost booklet, thinking it was a script. However, the pages were filled with densely packed writing. The strokes were both bold and elegant.

The handwriting matched the person; it was no surprise that Xie Qingshu wrote it.

“This is the character biography. It helps a lot with character analysis, but it probably won’t help you. I don’t want to…” Xie Qingshu used Method Acting, which helped her greatly, but Zhou Que was different. She seemed to possess an intuitive understanding of roles that surpassed intellectual comprehension.

Simply put, it was pure talent. Being overly academic would only ruin her.

Despite the warning, Zhou Que didn’t seem worried. She read two pages, an appreciative look on her face. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Sister, you’re so good at analyzing characters. Have you analyzed people… like me?”

The sudden question made Xie Qingshu silent for a moment. She was about to deny it, but meeting Zhou Que’s bottomless eyes, she paused. The words reached her throat, but she ultimately admitted it.

“Yes.”

Actually, her curiosity about people wasn’t that strong. She barely remembered the names of her collaborators from years ago.

Zhou Que’s eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. She curved her lips self-mockingly, sounding disappointed. “Then Sister’s analysis of me must be worse than your analysis of Qin Yun.”

“Why do you say that?” Xie Qingshu was amused. This was the first time she had seen someone compare herself to a character. Her facial expression didn’t change much, but her mountain-like eyebrows relaxed.

The melting of an ice glacier is nothing compared to this.

A flash of mischief crossed Zhou Que’s eyes, but she didn’t show it on her face. Anyone who didn’t know the situation would assume Xie Qingshu had been bullying her.

“The last time I saw Sister, I almost marked you, and I even smelled Sister’s pheromones…”

The habitually aloof Xie Qingshu actually smelled like milk candy. She was surprised for days. Unfortunately, Zhou Que hadn’t smelled it since. The milk candy bought on the market was filled with industrial sweeteners.

Xie Qingshu’s scent was heavily milk-based, with only a trace of sweetness detectable in the aftertaste.

The smile in the corner of Zhou Que’s eye deepened, looking slightly more genuine.

Hearing this, Xie Qingshu immediately recalled that experience. Her scent gland felt inexplicably itchy. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was hard to ignore. She pursed her lips, the thin line stained red, as if she had been bitten. She laboriously managed to utter a phrase.

“I knew Sister wouldn’t like me.” The mumble “just happened” to fall clearly into both their ears.

“I don’t dislike you,” Xie Qingshu quickly realized the ambiguity in her words and clarified. “From a physiological perspective, an Omega cannot mark an Alpha.”

“…Then what if…” I was an Alpha?

Zhou Que shook her head. The thought in her heart was momentarily burned, but it quickly became dull.

It’s fine that it was only interest.

Fortunately, the volume was low. Xie Qingshu didn’t know how shocking the unfinished second half of the sentence was. Zhou Que no longer looked as passionate, as if a jar of wine hidden for many years had been unsealed, and all the fragrance had dissipated. Drinking it now felt like drinking plain water.

She glanced at the time. It was indeed getting late. The guesthouse conditions weren’t great, and the water would get cold if she waited too long. If she didn’t want to catch a cold and miss filming the next day, she had to shower now.

“You look through the script. I’m going to take a shower.”

Zhou Que quietly hummed, slowly turning a page of the script in front of her. A hint of sarcasm flashed in her eyes. Is she already revealing her true nature?

I thought… never mind.