How Long Are You Going to Keep Acting Like A Beta? ABO - Chapter 26

Qi Qing wasn’t in a good mood, but she still controlled her impatience during the routine meeting.

During the meeting, CEO Qi constantly exuded a cold aura. Only Xu Yuxi guessed it was because Shu Qian had taken a day off. The other department heads who were in the dark were trembling, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Qi Qing was ruthless with her subordinates who made mistakes, chewing them out until they were unable to recover. Just because her temper had improved recently didn’t mean that her usual strictness was gone.

Finally, the meeting was over, and no one dared to linger. Qi Qing leaned back in her chair and asked Xu Yuxi, “What were your thoughts just now?” After asking, she remembered that this was Xu Yuxi, not Shu Qian.

Xu Yuxi had been by her side for a long time. The two of them had a deep understanding of each other’s work and didn’t need to say much. But ever since she had brought Shu Qian along to learn, Qi Qing always had to guide her step-by-step.

Xu Yuxi was also taken aback for a moment before she answered, “The food research and development department has invested a lot this year, but the new product’s reception isn’t very good. The marketing team’s plan doesn’t align with this year’s theme of ‘Sincerity’.”

Xu Yuxi’s thought process was similar to Qi Qing’s. The problems she brought up were also the ones Qi Qing had noted down after the meeting. If Shu Qian were here…

When she first started, she would cautiously offer safe suggestions, afraid of saying the wrong thing and being refuted by Qi Qing. After they got used to each other, it was as if she realized that Qi Qing wouldn’t do anything to her. Her opinions became more lively. She might say, “This flavor is so bizarre. Who came up with this?” or “This packaging… might need to be changed.” She would even draw her ideas out.

This often gave Qi Qing an unexpected sense of freshness.

Shu Qian was different from them. Because she had no chance of inheriting the company, she didn’t study finance or management. Instead, she followed her interest and studied science and information. However, she had also learned art since she was a child. Logic and romance coexisted in her in a contradictory yet harmonious way.

“Do as you said. Have each department re-evaluate and submit their findings by next Monday,” Qi Qing said simply. She knew Xu Yuxi would handle it.

On the way back to her office, she took out her phone. She had over a dozen notifications, but none of them were from Shu Qian. She glanced at them, but didn’t read any of them before putting her phone back in her pocket. When she got to her office door, she suddenly stopped. She had a keen sense that someone was inside. Before she could react, the person inside opened the door.

“Sister Qi.” A handsome man in a sharp suit stood by the door. When he saw her, the coldness in his eyes instantly melted into a smile.

“Fu Zhao?” Qi Qing held back the displeasure in her tone. “Why are you here?”

Fu Zhao acted as if he didn’t hear her unwelcome tone. He took a step forward and said in a familiar manner, “I heard you got a new pet, Sister. I came to see.”

When Xu Yuxi returned to the secretary’s office, she happened to see Fu Zhao and Qi Qing in an intimate embrace. Her heart skipped a beat. Qi Qing didn’t notice her, but the strange man gave her a somewhat cold look.

Having worked for so long, Xu Yuxi had seen it all. She wasn’t scared by his threatening gaze. She entered the secretary’s office, deep in thought.

Qi Qing’s expression was indifferent. “I don’t think this has anything to do with you. Are you getting a little too nosy?” She took a big step into her office, increasing the distance between them.

Fu Zhao’s unconcealed pheromones made her uncomfortable. She picked up the remote control and increased the ventilation system.

Fu Zhao watched her every move. He was so angry he could have gnawed his teeth off. He remembered his purpose and held back. He put on a sunny and handsome smile that he was so good at and said, “Auntie told me to come see you. She said you’ve been so busy you haven’t been back in a long time.”

“Is that so?” At the mention of her parents, Qi Qing’s face softened for a moment, but it quickly returned to normal. Thinking that Shu Qian probably wouldn’t be back too early, she thought for a moment and said, “It has been a while. Let’s go home today.”

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Fu Zhao smiled and said, “Then I’ll wait here for you to get off work, and we can go together. Uncle asked us to go together.”

Qi Qing was silent for a moment. Thinking about how the other person’s parents and her own were so close, she had to save face. She had no choice but to hold back her impatience and agree.

Xu Yuxi was restless. She never expected that on the one day Shu Qian was gone, a man would show up, and he was an Omega? Before Shu Qian, there was no intimate Omega by Qi Qing’s side. She got through her heat cycle with inhibitors. She had never heard of any family arrangements either…

Xu Yuxi suddenly remembered that she had once heard from someone that Qi Qing’s family had arranged for her to marry an Omega from a prominent family. But she had never seen him, and Qi Qing had never mentioned it. She had thought it was just a rumor. So, was the person showing up now? What about Shu Qian?

“Your condition is even better than the first time,” Qu Zhou said, unable to hide his joy. If the drug worked so well on Shu Qian, it meant that the results were very positive. “The pheromone imbalance factor is almost stable.”

“Is that so? That’s great,” Shu Qian said with a half-hearted smile. Her mind was still on the message Xu Yuxi had sent her.

She probably had an idea who the man who was looking for Qi Qing was. If she wasn’t mistaken, it should be the youngest son of the Fu family. The Fu family had a deep presence in supermarkets and shopping malls and was a leader in the industry. It was only natural for the Shu family, who was in food retail, to have business with them. But their relationship wasn’t as deep as the Qi and Fu families. And Fu Zhao was also her senior in school. In school, he always claimed to be Qi Qing’s fiancee.

That’s why she was so surprised when she found out that her matched partner at the health center was Qi Qing. An Alpha who already had an Omega would still have a pheromone imbalance…

However, the lives of the rich, which seemed enviable, also had their limitations.

But why was she feeling for them? Qi Qing was at least the heir of a company. It didn’t matter if she married an Omega she didn’t like. But she, who had no money or power, was even more pitiful, having to be sent off for a marriage alliance.

Qi Qing having an engaged Omega had nothing to do with her. They were only using each other for their own needs. Once her pheromone imbalance was resolved, Shu Qian would leave, and this episode would be a thing of the past.

When she returned to Qi Qing’s house, the villa was completely dark. Shu Qian was alone inside. She suppressed the urge to send a message. She went to the guest room, took a shower, threw her clothes into the washing machine, and then went to the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles for dinner.

No one returned even after ten o’clock. Shu Qian turned off the TV and slept in the guest room for the first time. Because her mind was preoccupied, she didn’t sleep well. In the middle of the night, she was suddenly startled awake and found Qi Qing lying on top of her, looking at her with a blank expression.

Qi Qing and Fu Zhao returned home and had dinner with their parents. At the table, everyone praised Fu Zhao, implicitly trying to set them up.

In the past, Qi Qing could manage to say a few words, but today, she was already in a bad mood. The dinner conversation was not to her liking, so she kept a cold face and said nothing the entire time. After dinner, she stayed for a while to chat. She felt that she had spent enough time with her parents. She pretended not to understand her parents’ hint to stay and accompany Fu Zhao. She turned around and drove home.

When she stepped in and found that Shu Qian had returned, her anxious heart was slightly soothed. However, when she couldn’t find anyone in the master bedroom and found Shu Qian sleeping in the guest room, her anger from the day completely erupted.

She kneeled on the bed, releasing her pheromones and waiting for Shu Qian to wake up.

“You, you’re back?” Shu Qian frowned hazily.

“Why are you sleeping here?” The bedroom lights were off. Qi Qing’s elegant voice was particularly seductive at this moment.

Shu Qian was silent. She lowered her eyes and said nothing.

That submissive expression made Qi Qing’s heart feel heavy, and her anger burned even brighter. It was her fault, so why was she putting on this pitiful act? She wanted to question her but didn’t know where to start.

Qi Qing couldn’t bring herself to say, “Why didn’t you look for me all day?” or “Why didn’t you ask me where I went?”

A thousand thoughts swirled in her mind. In the end, she said, “Shu Qian, what are we?” She stubbornly waited for an answer.

After a long time, she heard Shu Qian say softly, “Didn’t we agree from the start that this was all just to treat a pheromone imbalance?”

“It’s best if you think that way,” Qi Qing said, taking a deep breath and lowering her voice. She reached out and grabbed her nightshirt, pulling it apart with force. The sound of tearing fabric was exceptionally clear in the quiet bedroom.

“We haven’t done it today. My pheromones are about to get out of control,” Qi Qing said, lowering her head to kiss the back of her neck.

Shu Qian looked at the ceiling, ignoring the feelings that were growing inside her. She closed her eyes and raised her hands to wrap them around the Alpha on top of her, submissively letting her do as she pleased.