After Being Marked by the Popular Female Lead O (GL) - Chapter 27

In the end, Xie Qingshu didn’t say anything more and steered the topic away. In her eyes, Zhou Que was just a kid, regardless of gender—even if she was likely a bit different from what she appeared to be on the surface.

“I accidentally spilled my perfume; I just bought the scent at random.”

Zhou Que gave an “Oh,” dragging the syllable out. She tactfully refrained from exposing Xie Qingshu’s lie. She knew exactly what kind of person she was in the other woman’s eyes—a delicate “white flower,” a pitiful character—but now, she felt a trace of dissatisfaction.

The claws and teeth hidden deep in her heart were itching to come out in front of Xie Qingshu and show their true colors.

However, this was a long-term game. Zhou Que believed that if she made a move without laying the groundwork first, she would definitely scare Sister Xie away.

Once the prey becomes guarded, it’s difficult to chase them down again.

Zhou Que understood this principle well, so she didn’t want to frighten her. She would stop after tasting a little sweetness, moving back and forth with ease.

Zhou Que went back to her room, but she left the entire suite filled with her pheromones, constantly reminding Xie Qingshu of her presence.

In her dazed state, Xie Qingshu felt as if Zhou Que was still there.

She probably couldn’t stay in this room tonight. Although the film crew had extra rooms, Xie Qingshu didn’t know how much controversy she would stir up by asking to change rooms in the middle of the night. Besides, anyone with a nose would know exactly what had happened once they smelled the room full of pheromones.

What if the rumors spread elsewhere…?

She knew all too well how much her close inner circle disliked Zhou Que.

Xie Qingshu sighed. For a split second, she actually felt it didn’t matter—if they knew, they knew.

She waved her hand to toss the dangerous thoughts out of her head. Under the influence of the intense pheromones, the strange physical reactions in her body were unexpectedly calmed down.

Originally, Xie Qingshu thought that if she couldn’t settle down, she would inject another inhibitor. Now it seemed lucky she hadn’t taken it out. For some reason, she didn’t want to tell Zhou Que about her differentiation into an Omega yet.

Because she had stood so close to Zhou Que, her pajamas were heavily stained with the scent. Xie Qingshu quietly took a sniff, then felt her face burn with shame at the behavior. She bit her lip and wanted to change clothes, but in the end, she fell asleep accompanied by the pheromones.

No one will know anyway, Xie Qingshu thought.

But suddenly, a question occurred to her. Since Zhou Que was also an Omega, would she one day react this way to another Alpha’s pheromones…?

Likely so. After all, no Omega could escape this biological constitution.

Xie Qingshu understood the logic, but it left a sour taste in her mouth. Before she could figure out why, she received a call from her mother.

“You went to the hospital and didn’t even think to come home. I had to squeeze the information out of Song Mei. Is your Omega differentiation going okay?” Mother Xie’s tone carried a hint of blame, but mostly heartache. She was also an Omega and knew how difficult a heat could be.

Xie Qingshu was afraid of this topic. She paused. “I’m fine.”

This wasn’t just a brave face; she had just taken a satisfying sniff of the pheromones on her clothes.

Mother Xie assumed she was just putting on a strong front and sighed deeply.

“I’m really fine,” Xie Qingshu added. “Actually, it doesn’t matter if I differentiated or not.”

Aside from becoming even more obsessed with Zhou Que’s pheromones, nothing much had changed. She had even specially sniffed Xiao Zhu’s pheromones and felt absolutely no special reaction.

“You… forget it…” Mother Xie hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s best not to let Alphas smell your pheromones. You must use inhibitors during your heat. If the compatibility is high, it could trigger an Alpha’s rut, and a forced marking could occur… such things have happened before. And of course, the reverse is also true.”

This was advice not found in the doctor’s orders. Xie Qingshu seriously noted that she had remembered it, though so far, very few people knew her pheromone scent.

Mother Xie spent a lot of time talking, and seeing that Xie Qingshu was indeed fine, she tentatively accepted the fact. Then she remembered something and added a reminder, “By the way, Su Hui is joining the crew tomorrow.”

“What?” Xie Qingshu frowned immediately, almost thinking she’d misheard. Only after her mother repeated it did she confirm it. She clenched her palms to hide her emotions.

“I’ll have Xiao Zhu pick her up tomorrow.”

Mother Xie, satisfied with the answer, hung up.

Xie Qingshu, however, looked solemn.

Su Hui. An Omega whose fan base was half-comprised of Alphas. A legitimate “Dream Omega” for Alphas. She wasn’t at the same company as Xie Qingshu but was signed to a rival agency. Her acting was mediocre, but she survived purely on her sweet looks and traffic.

Normally, Xie Qingshu wouldn’t be unable to tolerate such an actress, except for the fact that the two had grown up together, and Su Hui had confessed her feelings to Xie Qingshu many times.

The thought of it gave Xie Qingshu a headache. Subconsciously, she really didn’t want Su Hui and Zhou Que to cross paths.

But she still had to pick her up.

The next day, Zhou Que had just finished communicating with Hu Li and was looking for Xie Qingshu. Unexpectedly, there were an unusual amount of people on set today, gathered together as if watching someone.

Compared to Zhou Que’s own arrival, the spectacle was slightly less grand, but compared to average stars, it was quite significant.

“Su Hui is even prettier in person than in photos or on camera!”

“Even as an O, I’m charmed by her sweetness. I feel like she radiates pink bubbles.”

“I have a bold thought. What if she and Zhou Que stood together…?”

The mindless question received a unified response.

“Zhou Que, obviously,” one person said with certainty. “She has more scandals, but I am an unshakeable ‘Que-Shu’ shipper.”

Her answer was met with repeated nods and silent agreement from her companions.

“I didn’t leave when they cleared the set that day. The intimate scene was truly… incredible. I totally couldn’t tell Zhou Que was an O; she was so aggressive. And Teacher Xie was terrifyingly seductive. If I were an Alpha, I’d go for it too.”

“Mhm, mhm… I really didn’t expect Xie Qingshu to have that side. I really want to experience Zhou Que’s happiness.”

Their voices were full of longing and secret envy.

Zhou Que raised an eyebrow and gave a polite smile. It truly is quite happy.

But none of you will ever get to experience it in this lifetime.

“But Xie Qingshu is an A. I think she’d prefer someone like Su Hui. After all, they’ve known each other for a long time.”

That single sentence appeared out of nowhere and effortlessly tore the “Que-Shu” ship apart. The air went silent for a moment. It seemed no one thought anything was wrong; as an Alpha, the probability of choosing Su Hui was indeed higher.

Saying it was “higher” was actually giving Zhou Que face.

Zhou Que’s smile stiffened. A trace of something terrifying flickered in her unreadable expression, but it vanished in the next second, making one doubt if it was just an illusion.

Far away at the company, Hu Li had just finished processing a mountain of paperwork when she suddenly received a message. After a long silence, she asked her assistant, “…Did the sun rise from the west today?”

Assistant: “??? President Hu, do you need to take a break?”

Hu Li rubbed the bridge of her nose. It seemed more realistic that she was going blind. The message Zhou Que had just sent was glowing on her phone screen:

[Do I have too much negative public opinion?]

Actually, scrolling up, the discussions were all about company matters and not much else. Unlike Deng Yue, Hu Li could joke around, but she knew exactly where the bottom line was and never crossed it. This message was completely out of character.

Pained at heart, Hu Li typed out a long paragraph to give Zhou Que a clear understanding. Of course, she didn’t want to lose her job, so she was relatively tactful; otherwise, she would have sent a full dossier.

Deng Yue had been worried about this for ages, but Zhou Que had never bothered to clarify. It turned out she simply hadn’t cared.

There was no immediate reply, as if the other side was in deep thought.

Hu Li scoffed inwardly. She’d never seen Zhou Que consider things for this long when they were discussing business.

[Oh, well, do what you think is best. Give me a ‘Virtuous and Charming Little O’ persona.]

VIRTUOUS! CHARMING! LITTLE! O!

The nerve of her to even say that.

Hu Li looked numb. She was now certain Zhou Que had suffered some kind of shock; otherwise, she wouldn’t have come over to trigger her like this. She turned to her assistant.

“You saw wrong. The sun did rise from the west.”

Assistant: Life is hard.