After Saving My Cannon Fodder Omega - Chapter 3

Watching the white car’s rear disappear, Chi Wei stood wearily in front of the glass wall at the entrance to tidy up her coat collar.

She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, and if she sniffed closely, there was still a lingering scent of tomato hotpot broth. Fortunately, it was winter; neither her mock-neck cashmere base layer nor her overcoat wrinkled easily, but they were certainly magnets for smells.

Thinking of her elder sister’s strict dress code for employees, Chi Wei’s heart skipped a beat.

Sigh, how did I manage to step on every single landmine like this?

She let out a long sigh and was about to mutter a few more discouraging words when a security guard in a crisp uniform suddenly snapped a salute at her. Startled, Chi Wei choked back her words, forced a smile, and marched inside with her head held high, trying to look spirited.

Chi Wei already had access permissions. She looked into the camera, and after the facial recognition went through, she walked in unobstructed.

She took the elevator up, but before she could even step out onto the floor, she saw Li Sheng, her elder sister’s assistant, waiting for her.

In her past life, she remembered the person waiting here to give her directions was a girl from the front desk.

Having started life over, it seemed even the person waiting for her had changed.

Evidently, there was a stark difference between being ten minutes late and an hour late.

Chi Wei stared expressionlessly at the tall, serious-faced special assistant. A “good morning” got stuck in her throat, unable to come out.

Li Sheng, ever the professional, gave a sincere nod and smile to the third young miss of the Chi family: “Good morning. CEO Chi is waiting for you in her office.”

The company morning meeting had ended nearly twenty minutes ago, which meant that CEO Chi Yu—who was swamped with business where every minute was worth hundreds of thousands—had already been waiting for Chi Wei for twenty minutes.

Realizing the severity of the situation, Chi Wei’s ears began to ring. Daring not to delay a second longer, she bolted toward her sister’s office.

Inside the CEO’s office, warm sunlight spilled across the floor, making the already well-heated room feel even toastier.

An elegantly made-up female Alpha sat coldly at her desk. Her ink-black curls were draped over her shoulders, and a pair of gold-rimmed rimless glasses sat on her high nose bridge. Her eyes behind the lenses were sharp, reflecting the emails scrolling rapidly across the screen in front of her.

Because the indoor temperature was high, she was dressed lightly; her shirt collar was intentionally left unbuttoned at the top.

The buttons at her wrists, however, were fastened tight. On her fair, slender left wrist, she wore a Franck Muller watch with a red crocodile leather strap.

Not far from her, a male Alpha sat on a leather sofa with his legs crossed. He was also dressed lightly in a white shirt and black suit trousers, staring at his phone with a deep frown.

Unlike the female Alpha at the desk, those eagle-like, deep-set eyes were not reflecting work emails, but a colorful screen with occasional special effects—it looked like he was playing some sort of puzzle game.

When a breathless Chi Wei knocked and entered, this was the scene that met her eyes.

Suppressing her guilt, she glanced back at the office door as it slid shut automatically. She took a long breath and stood still: “B-Big Sister, I’m late.”

Hearing this weak admission of fault, the man on the sofa suddenly put down his phone, his face breaking into a grin. He let out a whistle at the straight-backed Chi Wei: “Little Sister has grown up. Such a sincere attitude in admitting a mistake deserves praise.”

Chi Wei twitched the corners of her mouth awkwardly and looked at the man: “Brother.”

Having heard this title for over twenty years, the man still enjoyed it immensely. His eyes curled into a smile: “Good girl.”

“Chi Tu.” Chi Yu, whose gaze was as sharp as a blade, finally stopped staring at the screen. She shot a cold glance at her younger brother, Chi Tu, before looking at her sister, who was as well-behaved as a little chick. She leaned back in her chair, her voice icy: “This is a company. We deal with matters, not people—you should know that, right?”

Chi Tu glanced sideways, knowing his sister was talking to him. He shrugged nonchalantly and looked at his little sister, who had her head bowed.

Chi Wei was used to being bossy and overbearing outside; she had seen plenty of people bow their heads and apologize to her, but she wasn’t very good at it when it was her turn.

Listening to her sister’s cold voice, she slowly lowered her head, not daring to make a sound.

Chi Yu still had many documents to handle and had no time to waste. Seeing that Chi Wei’s performance was acceptable, she casually pointed to a plaque hanging on the wall and resumed her work.

Seeing her sister’s gesture, Chi Wei’s racing heart slowed down. She knew Big Sister didn’t have time to settle the score in detail. Obediently, she walked over to the plaque that read “Heaven Rewards Diligence,” stood before it, and began her “wall-facing reflection.”

Compared to their busy elder sister, her brother Chi Tu seemed incredibly idle. He hadn’t stopped moving since Chi Wei entered. He glanced at his hardworking superior, then got up from the sofa and walked over to his little sister.

Chi Wei was wearing more layers than the others; after standing for just a moment, a thin layer of sweat broke out on her forehead.

The “good brother,” who was a full ten centimeters taller than her, was quite considerate. He tugged at her sleeve to help her take off her coat, hung it on the rack in the corner, then fished out her phone—which was undoubtedly dead—and plugged it into a data cable.

The two siblings didn’t dare speak the whole time, offering comfort and gratitude only through the telepathy of their shared bloodline.

Chi Yu was long accustomed to their antics. After finishing an email, she checked her watch and stood up: “Two hours. There’s a security camera. If you’re short by even a minute, you start over.”

Chi Wei: “…”

She didn’t show it on her face, but she was screaming internally: She even put a camera in her own office? As expected of Big Sister!

Chi Tu, responsible for the supervision, nodded repeatedly: “Didn’t you have a 10:30 appointment? They’re already here.”

Chi Yu glanced at him without a word and walked straight out of the office toward the reception room.

As the sound of footsteps faded, the CEO’s office door closed automatically again. Chi Wei, who had been holding her back straight for ages, let out a sigh and relaxed completely.

Chi Tu pulled a chair over and sat next to his sister, smiling gently: “Count yourself lucky. Big Sister threw a huge fit this morning, so she’s already let off steam. Otherwise, she would have chewed you out until you couldn’t lift your head in front of your colleagues.”

Chi Wei’s eyes lit up. So being scolded like that in my past life was just a case of bad timing?

Good grief, she had been so scared she thought she was going to be flayed alive in public again.

Seeing that his sister still didn’t dare speak, Chi Tu clicked his tongue: “Alright, no need to be that scared. Big Sister has a meeting with a client for a big deal. Once they’re done, she’ll probably go straight to lunch with them. She won’t come back to give you trouble.”

Having lived through this day before, Chi Wei pursed her lips, thinking to herself: That’s not necessarily true.

Receiving no response, Chi Tu didn’t bother explaining further. He picked up his phone and went back to his puzzle game.

After standing for a while longer, Chi Wei looked up boredly at the four characters above her and couldn’t help but start recalling the book from last night’s dream.

Back in middle school, she had read her fair share of novels, dabbling in everything from ghost stories to fan fiction. So, even though she hadn’t finished that melodramatic, logic-defying book Love is Not Love, she could fill in the blanks with her imagination if she wanted to.

What made her feel regretful and annoyed was that her own role in it was far too small. Aside from the days she had personally experienced in her past life, she couldn’t find a single shred of valuable information in that trashy book.

Well, that was a bit an absolute statement. It was at least somewhat valuable regarding Xuan Nian. For example… right!

The book said that the Alpha lead and Xuan Nian met on the night after Christmas!

Isn’t that tonight?

In her past life, the first time Chi Wei saw Xuan Nian was on New Year’s Eve. She had fallen in love at first sight but hadn’t managed to get her contact information. Afterward, she had used many methods and searched for a long time before seeing her again on Lunar New Year’s Eve.

Since God had given her a chance to do it over, she was definitely going to seize it. She had originally planned to endure today, clean herself up properly, and then go see the sister she longed for. Now it seemed like there was no time like the present—she had to go tonight!

Thinking of that face, which had become slightly blurred in her memory, Chi Wei—still facing the wall—couldn’t help but feel a surge of nervous excitement.

Chi Tu, who was multitasking between his game and peeking at his sister, heard the sudden, erratic breathing next to him. He put down his phone in confusion: “What’s wrong? Need to pee? The restroom is over there…”

Chi Wei, hearing her brother’s concern, finally responded. She turned toward the person in the chair, her eyes practically sparkling: “Brother, do we have someone with the surname Chu in the design department?”

What a coincidence; the Alpha lead in the book, Chu Shirong, was right here in the Chi family’s company, working under her brother who managed the design department.

In her past life, because Chi Wei didn’t actually want to be a working stiff, she had chosen the marketing department, which had the most flexible hours. Later, because her work attitude was too poor, she was forced by her sister into the design department under Chi Tu. Under her brother’s “sugar-coated bullets,” she had eventually been forced to produce a few decent design drafts for the company.

At that time, Chu Shirong had already been promoted from design assistant to designer, and Chi Wei’s grievances with her only began after that.

There were dozens of people in the design department Chi Tu managed. Though he was the department head and had held the position for three years, he really didn’t know much about his staff.

He tilted his head and thought for a moment. Looking at the expectant Chi Wei, he felt too embarrassed to say “I don’t know,” so he hit the home button on his phone and dialed his assistant’s number.

Chi Wei: “?”

Chi Tu saw his sister’s confusion and pressed his large hand down gently, signaling her to stay calm.

When the call connected, Chi Tu went straight to the point: “Xiao Chen, do we have anyone with the surname Chu in our department?”

The person on the other end was stunned, clearly not understanding the meaning behind the boss’s call. After a three-second pause, they replied: “Yes, Chu Shirong. A fresh graduate who joined this summer. Director Tu, you…”

Chi Tu looked up at Chi Wei: “Should I call her over?”

Chi Wei waved her hands frantically: “No, no, no!”

She didn’t even know that Chu person yet; what would be the point of suddenly calling her over?

Chi Tu looked puzzled, but he respected his sister’s choice: “Never mind, just asking.”

Hanging up the phone, Chi Tu returned to his game interface, his fingers becoming busy again. He didn’t stop talking, though: “A fresh graduate? A classmate of yours? Need me to take care of her? How come I’ve never heard you mention her before?”

“No,” Chi Wei denied. She was about to say it was an enemy when the electric office door opened again—Chi Yu was back after finishing her meeting.

Chi Wei immediately stood facing the wall again. Chi Tu couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “Big Sister, look at you—you’ve got Little Sister scared like a mouse seeing a cat.”

Chi Yu didn’t bother with her brother, who was useless at everything except being exceptionally gifted at producing design work. She sat on the leather sofa directly opposite them and looked at Chi Wei’s back: “Ming Rui just called me and said you were in the hospital last night? What happened?”

Chi Tu was shocked: “What? Little Sister, you were in the hospital last night?”

Chi Wei’s whole body jolted. She was instantly filled with regret. She had been mentally cursing Ming Rui for being disloyal—they had all eaten hotpot together last night, yet Ming Rui had ditched halfway through and hadn’t even visited her in the hospital. She never expected Ming Rui would call her elder sister directly. She was suddenly incredibly touched.

Chi Yu watched Chi Wei’s shoulders tremble. Lowering her eyes to the empty sofa in front of her, she finally softened and relented: “Come over, sit down, and tell me about it.”