Giving You Dawn And Dusk - Chapter 26.1
It could be considered a skill.
At least Liang Shi did not have it.
When she drank too much, she would occasionally do things out of line too, but after sobering up, she would remember them. In fact, her memories would be even clearer than usual.
She and Xu Qingzhu could be considered two extremes, so Liang Shi rarely let herself get drunk.
After spending so many years in the entertainment industry, she had also trained plenty of skills for avoiding alcohol.
Now, she could basically withdraw unharmed from drinking parties of all sizes.
Since Xu Qingzhu had forgotten, Liang Shi did not maliciously remind her either.
Those things from last night could not be considered good memories.
If Xu Qingzhu found out that after getting drunk, she had also been drugged with an aphrodisiac, had nearly been seen naked, and had almost lost herself to someone, she would probably be unable to sleep all night.
Still, Liang Shi spoke up to remind her, “Don’t go out drinking anymore in the future.”
Xu Qingzhu frowned. Her clear, cold voice sounded extremely indifferent, but the final note lifted. “You’re controlling me?”
“No.” Liang Shi was also lying on the bed, only occupying the width of one and a half bodies. She was still very far from Xu Qingzhu, and she did not even look at her. She only said gently, “It’s just a suggestion. If you get drunk outside alone and your blocker fails, it’ll cause pheromone disorder. I can’t always arrive by your side in time.”
There might even be times when she would be so powerless that she would not know what to do.
The original owner had been too much of a bastard and had offended too many people.
This time, Cheng Ran had shown mercy at the last moment. But what about next time?
Not every time would one be able to escape unscathed from a bad person’s hands.
“So, you’re concerned about me?” Xu Qingzhu asked openly, without the slightest trace of ambiguity.
It was clearly an ambiguous question. It could even progress a step further into: Are you worried about me? Do you like me?
But when it was asked in her cool, detached voice, all fantasies were cut off.
It sounded especially like she was asking, Do you think the weather is good today?
Liang Shi nodded. “Mm.”
Mainly because if you die, I’ll have to die with you.
“Mm?” Xu Qingzhu expressed doubt toward her answer. “Why?”
Liang Shi smiled awkwardly. “You’re my wife. Isn’t it normal for me to care about you?”
Xu Qingzhu stared closely at her. Liang Shi lowered her lashes and reached out to turn off the brightest light in the room, leaving only the bedside lamp.
After a long while, Xu Qingzhu scoffed. “How rare.”
“Then what are you concerned about?” Xu Qingzhu asked again.
Liang Shi: “……”
After thinking for a moment, she said, “I’m concerned about your health, and I’m also worried about your emotions.”
As long as you’re unhappy, the system will increase my bad luck value.
Xu Qingzhu looked at her, as if wanting to see something from her face, but Liang Shi disguised herself very well.
Her expression was calm. After a while, she said to Xu Qingzhu, “If there’s any occasion where you absolutely have to drink, you can ask me to go with you.”
Xu Qingzhu raised an eyebrow. “You can drink for me?”
“I can block drinks for you,” Liang Shi said, then added, “If necessary, I can drink too. After all, as you know, my alcohol tolerance is very good.”
Liang Shi was not too sure about this body’s tolerance. In any case, her alcohol tolerance had been decent before.
But the original owner had always been a party girl, so her tolerance should not be worse than Liang Shi’s had been.
Xu Qingzhu closed her eyes, her voice faint. “I probably won’t have any occasions where I need to drink. Yesterday was only an accident.”
“Mm-hm.” Liang Shi said, “Then in the future, if you’re discussing business, don’t go to Huayue International. The Liang family has quite a few restaurants under its name too. You can go directly there.”
“Me, discussing business?” Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “That probably won’t happen.”
Liang Shi: “……”
It very much could, okay?
In the future, you’re going to rise from the ashes and become an Omega respected by everyone in Haizhou City!
In this world, Alphas were naturally more advantaged than Omegas, especially in the workplace. Most industry elites were Alphas, because Alphas did not need to give birth. Once a family had children, Alphas would even shoulder the burden of supporting the family, and leaders preferred Alphas more.
Therefore, it was quite difficult for an Omega to stand out in the workplace.
But Xu Qingzhu could do it.
However…
Liang Shi suddenly thought that in the original book, it was because Xu Qingzhu’s gland had been dug out by the original owner, and after meeting one of her admirers, the later official Alpha Lu Jiayi, she brought Minghui Jewelry back to life with Lu Jiayi’s help. She even expanded it all the way, successfully listed it after obtaining angel-round financing, and turned it into Minghui Group.
As for the original owner’s gland, it had been dug out by another one of Xu Qingzhu’s admirers, Chen Liuying.
But now, Xu Qingzhu’s gland had not been dug out.
If Liang Shi’s body remained in this world, it would mean that Xu Qingzhu would never suffer that kind of harm from now on. Then would she still rise from the ashes?
For the first time, Liang Shi realized that her arrival might bring a butterfly effect to this world.
Would Xu Qingzhu still meet Lu Jiayi in the future?
Suddenly, a mechanical voice rang out: [Don’t worry. The main plot of the book won’t change.]
Liang Shi: “You’re monitoring me?”
System: [I suddenly heard it and replied to you.]
Liang Shi: “……Then reply to me while you’re at it. Will Xu Qingzhu revive the company and become the person in power at Minghui Group?”
The system was silent for two seconds. [That is confidential. I cannot disclose it.]
Liang Shi: “?”
Then what was the point of saying anything?
Liang Shi still wanted to ask more, but the system immediately said: [Host, good luck! The 10,000-yuan reward issued by the system has already been deposited. Please spend it as soon as possible. Friendly reminder: If you spend all this money on Xu Qingzhu, your luck points may increase.]
Liang Shi: “Why is it only ‘may’?”
System: [Because it’s probability-based. Whether luck points randomly drop depends on your luck.]
Liang Shi gave up.
Her luck had always been rather bad.
She had never won the lottery, but when her assistant bought tickets with her, the assistant could win twenty thousand.
In prize draws she participated in, even if only two people reposted and the probability was one in two, she still would not win.
But she did seem to bring luck to the people around her.
People who had bought lottery tickets with her had basically all won prizes, and all of them were five-digit prizes.
As for her, nothing.
After knowing this, she asked, “Fine. Can I save this money instead of spending it?”
Liang Shi wanted to save it so that after leaving the Liang family in the future, she would have it for emergencies.
System: [Yes. P.S. But if you have money and don’t spend it, are you stupid?]
Liang Shi: “……?”
Before she could retort, the system had already swiftly knelt and apologized: [I’m sorry. Little System spoke without thinking. Host, please don’t be angry. Little System knows it was wrong.]
Liang Shi: “……”
Could this system have even a little backbone?
“Let’s discuss something,” Liang Shi said. “Can you stop using cutesy sentence endings in the future?”
System: [Ah? Why?]
Liang Shi: “……It’s kind of disgusting.”
System: [Oh.]
Liang Shi was merciless. “Like when you first came, just be a cold, emotionless AI. Don’t imitate human tones to disgust me.”
System: […]
From then on, her mind became quiet.
Xu Qingzhu reached out and waved a hand in front of her eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
Liang Shi abruptly returned to herself and shook her head. “Nothing…”
“You’ve maintained that posture for a full minute,” Xu Qingzhu said. “It’s very strange.”
Just now, Liang Shi had been conversing with the system in her mind. To outsiders, she looked like she was spacing out, but when she talked to the system, she would shut out all external interference.
It seemed that from now on, she could not communicate with the system in front of others. It would easily cause trouble.
If she suddenly acted like this on the street, others would think she had gone stupid.
Liang Shi pressed her brow and explained, “I suddenly felt a little tired, so I emptied my mind for a moment.”
Xu Qingzhu asked, “What did you do today?”
Liang Shi said, “Went back to the old residence.”
Xu Qingzhu did not speak further.
Inside the enclosed room, on the same bed, although they were under two separate blankets, as long as neither of them spoke and let the room quiet down, they could hear each other’s breathing and heartbeat.
Liang Shi guessed Xu Qingzhu was also afraid of the awkwardness, which was why she kept looking for topics.
And now, Liang Shi no longer knew what topic to bring up.
Xu Qingzhu was the same.
Liang Shi usually had more than enough composure, but at this moment, she also felt that it was far too awkward. She could only yawn and pretend sleepiness had risen. “I’m so sleepy. I’ll sleep first.”
Xu Qingzhu nodded. “Mm.”
After Liang Shi finished speaking, she turned over, leaving only her back to Xu Qingzhu, and took the opportunity to turn off the table lamp on her side.
Xu Qingzhu also turned off the lamp on her side, and the room instantly fell into darkness.
In the dark, a person’s senses would be magnified infinitely.
Especially since an Alpha’s perception was sharper than other people’s, Liang Shi could now hear every one of Xu Qingzhu’s breaths very clearly. There was no other way. She could only follow Xu Qingzhu’s breathing and adjust her own breathing accordingly.
In five minutes, Xu Qingzhu turned over twice and sighed three times.
Liang Shi could not sleep either.
When Xu Qingzhu turned over for the third time, Liang Shi switched on the lamp on her side.
Xu Qingzhu’s breathing hitched, then she sat up. “Sorry. I disturbed you.”
“It’s fine,” Liang Shi said. “I can’t sleep either.”
Xu Qingzhu opened the bedside drawer and took out a novel entirely in English. “I’ll go downstairs to read. You rest.”
Liang Shi immediately said, “Wait.”
Xu Qingzhu stopped. “Mm?”
“How about we watch a movie?” Liang Shi said. “Maybe after watching a movie, we’ll fall asleep.”
There was a projector in the room, which would also let Liang Shi complete that passive mission.
Xu Qingzhu raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Watch downstairs?”
Liang Shi smiled. “No need. Watching downstairs will disturb Yaya. Isn’t there a projector in the room? We’ll use that.”
Xu Qingzhu pressed her lips together and hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Liang Shi asked. “Do you want to read more?”
“No,” Xu Qingzhu said. “Either is fine with me.”
“Then…” As Liang Shi spoke, she opened the drawer to take the remote control, but just as her hand wrapped around the drawer handle, Xu Qingzhu said, “The projector in the room is broken.”
Liang Shi: “…Ah. All right.”
The disappointment in her tone was hard to conceal, making people unable to resist teasing her.
So Xu Qingzhu looked at her and said calmly, “Did you forget?”
Liang Shi: “Ah? Forget what?”
Xu Qingzhu smiled. “Last time, I was watching a movie in the room, and Liang Shi came in and smashed the box directly.”
Liang Shi: “……”
“Sleep early.” Xu Qingzhu said, “I’m going downstairs to read.”
Liang Shi: “……”
Even after Xu Qingzhu left, she still looked bewildered.
Was it her?
No, it was the original owner?
Someone was just watching a movie. Was there any need to smash their projector?
That lunatic original owner.
No, wait.
Why did Xu Qingzhu say “Liang Shi”?
She was right across from her. Why did Xu Qingzhu not say “you”?
Had Xu Qingzhu already discovered something?
Or was she deliberately testing her?
…
Could that also count as a test?
Liang Shi did not know. In any case, Xu Qingzhu had definitely noticed something.
The way Xu Qingzhu spoke to her was far gentler than before. Of course, Liang Shi did not believe it was because she had recently changed and treated Xu Qingzhu a little better that she had earned such an attitude in return.
What a joke. If someone had treated her the way the original owner treated Xu Qingzhu, she would never forgive that person in this life. She might even wish that person would die as miserably as possible.
How could forgiveness come so easily?
There were only two possibilities.
First, Xu Qingzhu deeply loved the original owner. As long as the original owner changed even a little, she would immediately turn back and smile at her.
But this possibility was extremely small and could be dismissed without hesitation.
Xu Qingzhu did not seem like that kind of love-brained person.
Perhaps at a certain moment, she had once had a good impression of the original owner. But after being hurt, she would definitely wrap her heart tightly and would no longer give the original owner another chance to hurt her.
So there was only the second possibility.
Xu Qingzhu had discovered that she was not the former Liang Shi, but also did not know where she had come from.
Science could not explain this abnormal phenomenon, and as an outstanding student, Xu Qingzhu was extremely cautious. So in daily life, she kept testing her.
After thinking all this through, Liang Shi inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, she did not need to keep pretending in front of Xu Qingzhu. From now on, if she did not remember something, then she did not remember it. If she did not know something, then she did not know. There was no need to hide everything so carefully.
Given Xu Qingzhu’s caution, without absolute certainty, she would not expose her.
Liang Shi lay back down on the bed. When she had said she was not sleepy earlier, that had been false. She was actually exhausted. She had not slept well last night, and today she had gone to the Liang family, leaving her physically and mentally worn out.
It was only that someone had been lying beside her, so she could not sleep.
Now that only she was left on the bed, although the air was still faintly filled with Xu Qingzhu’s scent, the effect was not too great.
Before sleeping, she still remembered to set an alarm, and soon fell asleep.
//
Xu Qingzhu curled up on the downstairs sofa and read her novel.
She had slept for a day and a night, so she was not very sleepy to begin with.
But her body was weak. After reading for less than two hours, her eyes became dry and sore. After that, she could no longer focus on reading.
She could only close the book and rub her eyes downstairs. Guessing that Liang Shi had already fallen asleep, she then went upstairs at an unhurried pace.
Her movements as she opened the door were also very light, afraid she might disturb the sleeping person.
There was a lamp on in the room, just enough to illuminate the doorway.
When she left, the lamp near Liang Shi’s side had clearly been the one left on, close to the balcony. Yet when she returned, the lamp on her side was the one that was on, just enough to light her path back to the bed.
Liang Shi’s sleeping posture was very proper. She lay flat, her hands resting on her lower abdomen, her breathing light and shallow.
Xu Qingzhu walked over and sat on the bed. One side of the mattress sank slightly.
Liang Shi did not react, so she was probably deeply asleep.
Xu Qingzhu placed the book into the drawer, then slowly moved onto the bed, leaning against it as she looked sideways.
Liang Shi had not been wearing makeup recently. Or rather, she had been wearing only light makeup.
The former Liang Shi, no matter how late she came back, would always have makeup on her face, and it would be very heavy.
She liked colors that were neither one thing nor another, especially lipstick. She was basically a collector of unsellable shades, blindly messing around only because she was good-looking.
A few times, Xu Qingzhu had seen her sleeping on the sofa with makeup still on.
But the current Liang Shi, although she had the same face as before, had completely different eyes.
Some people said that to judge a person’s character, one should look at whether their eyes were bright.
If their eyes shone brightly like stars, then they must be someone with upright character.
But in the former Liang Shi’s eyes, there had been no light. There had only been deep disgust toward this world. Sometimes, her face would even show an expression that seemed to wish everyone would die.
But in the current Liang Shi’s eyes, there was always a warm, gentle light.
Xu Qingzhu was someone skilled at observing details, just as the current Liang Shi seemed to hide all her actions in the details.
It seemed that aside from when they had been in the hospital, when she had recklessly carried strawberries into the ward and boldly said that she would change, hoping Xu Qingzhu could believe her, she was calm and gentle the rest of the time.
A faint white tea fragrance always seemed to drift from her.
It made people feel very at ease.
During the period after her maternal grandfather passed away, there would always be a pot of white tea brewed in Xu Qingzhu’s room.
She had been used to falling asleep while smelling that scent, as if her maternal grandfather had never left.
She had once again smelled a reassuring scent.
But she truly could not confirm who exactly Liang Shi was.
Where had she come from?
She sat there, her gaze tracing the other woman’s brows and eyes inch by inch.
She still felt that Liang Shi looked more pleasing without makeup.
But…
What did that have to do with her?
In the end, she was going to divorce Liang Shi.
She did not want to obey her father’s words and use marriage as a bargaining chip in exchange for the company’s struggling survival. Nor did she want her maternal grandfather’s life’s work to go down the drain.
She had to enter the company, even if her father objected.
Speaking of which, the last message she had sent her father had only received two words in reply: Not allowed.
Her father felt that if she married into a good family and married an Alpha who treated her well, then that would be the best thing for her life.
But he had forgotten that from childhood to adulthood, she had always been number one. She had been admitted to Qingyi University with high scores and had also obtained an MBA degree.
If she had not been unwilling to go too far from home back then, she probably would have gone abroad for further study.
It was also for the sake of the company, and for a tiny bit of her own selfishness, that she had chosen marriage.
But what had this marriage brought her?
Only endless pain and endless fear.
Xu Qingzhu let out a soft breath. In the middle of the night, she always could not help thinking about these things and exhausting herself over them.
She decided not to listen to her father’s decision anymore. Instead, she sent a message to her maternal cousin-uncle, who also worked at the company, saying that she planned to work there and needed him to arrange a position for her. She did not need to be parachuted in and squeeze out an existing employee. She only needed an opportunity to work at the company. It would be best if it were in one of the company’s core departments. The design department or exhibition department would both work.
For a jewelry company, the design department was the core. Without designs excellent enough to surpass competitors, it would never be able to establish a foothold in the industry.
The exhibition department was responsible for the shows held every year when new products were released, from hiring models to defining each piece of jewelry. It indirectly affected the sales of every new product.
Equally important were the advertising department and the marketing department.
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