The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 13

“That sounds so wonderful.”

Xie Ying propped up her face and teased, “Were you filming an idol drama?”

Jin Sique tilted her head and smiled. She curled a finger beneath her chin and scratched it, the corners of her lips curving slightly.

“What happened afterward?” Xie Ying pressed.

Jin Sique glanced at the sky.

The night had grown deep. Twilight stretched endlessly, leaving only a heavy expanse of darkness along the horizon.

Farther away, the glittering lights of the bustling city several kilometers distant resembled the edge of a galaxy, radiating a multitude of colors.

—

“We’re here.”

The car stopped in an area where the city met the countryside.

The moment they stepped out, they were greeted by scraps of paper and cigarette butts scattered everywhere, advertising flyers pasted across the walls, and roadside barbecue stalls that remained open all night, pouring thick black smoke into the air.

Jin Sique stood beside the road, still looking at Lü Zhongcai with cautious unease.

“Would… would you like to come upstairs and sit for a while?”

Lü Zhongcai lit a cigarette beside the road and took a drag with it held between her fingers.

Wind and smoke enveloped her, shrouding her in a vast, misty haze.

Jin Sique waited patiently where she stood.

Humiliated tears glittered faintly in her eyes. She struggled to look up at Lü Zhongcai, carefully conveying the trace of hope in her gaze.

Lü Zhongcai did not appear to mind the surroundings.

She calmly smoked before suddenly pulling a faint smile from the corner of her lips.

“Because of you, A-Du may lose an important project.”

Jin Sique froze.

Her flushed face still showed traces of having been affected by the Alpha earlier.

Lü Zhongcai’s suit jacket was tied around her waist. Beneath it were two straight, pale legs that seemed almost translucent beneath the light.

Lü Zhongcai suddenly crouched down.

Startled by the unexpected movement, Jin Sique instinctively stepped backward and pressed one hand against the corner of the jacket.

Looking embarrassed, she said, “I…”

Lü Zhongcai bent forward and pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of the suit jacket.

She handed it to Jin Sique, indicating that she should wipe the sweat from her forehead.

“I happened to be looking for a reason to reject him. I’m sorry.”

“She used you.”

Xie Ying clicked her tongue, then looked at Jin Sique ambiguously.

“What would you have done if you had actually been marked?”

Jin Sique smiled, raised her glass, and clinked it against Xie Ying’s.

“Mm.”

—

“Don’t you want to know what the black lotus is doing right now?” 052 asked.

The assistant pushed Lü Zhongcai out of the financial tower.

Lü Zhongcai watched the endless stream of people while completely ignoring 052’s voice inside her head. She quietly waited for the next traffic light.

052’s familiar voice sounded again.

It resembled a considerably noisier Lü Zhongcai with an entirely opposite personality.

“You’re always so quiet. Is communicating with me truly that difficult?”

The crowd began moving.

Lü Zhongcai wore an ivory-colored suit. Her black hair had been combed neatly behind her head, without even a single fine strand out of place.

052 continued chattering.

“After the kind of night the two of you spent together, what do you think the black lotus is thinking?”

“You never trust me. I told you that she’ll harm you in the future. You already saw the ending in the book. What must I do before you’ll believe me?”

052 continued talking without pause.

Lü Zhongcai remained silent.

Only when they reached the rehabilitation center and the receptionist came forward to welcome her did she finally speak, thanking the woman.

The rehabilitation equipment had been fitted with a reading device.

Lü Zhongcai changed into athletic clothing and climbed onto a machine beside the floor-to-ceiling windows on an upper floor.

After dismissing her executive assistant, she opened a novel Lu Baimei had recommended, selected the audio function, and began listening.

Only a few people occupied the private rehabilitation area reserved for premium VIP clients.

There was only one employee cleaning the exercise area.

052 kindly reminded her, “I suggest wearing earphones.”

Lü Zhongcai began warming up.

The player announced:

“After Transmigrating into a Novel, My Ex-Wife Began Pursuing Me, Chapter One: The First Night.

“In the morning, sunlight poured through the window and fell across the two naked, intertwined bodies upon the bed. Last night…”

The employee was holding a cloth and wiping down the machine beside Lü Zhongcai.

Her movements visibly paused.

She cautiously raised her eyes and glanced quickly at Lü Zhongcai, doing her best to pretend that nothing had happened.

Lü Zhongcai: “…”

She switched off the audio reader, changed to text mode, adjusted the reading speed to three times normal, and began reading while performing upward rehabilitation exercises with one leg.

052 complained repeatedly.

“It’s too fast, President Lü…”

Lü Zhongcai ignored her and increased the machine’s speed, mobilizing the strength throughout her entire body to exercise.

Two hours later, Lü Zhongcai finished reading the three-hundred-thousand-word transmigration novel and turned off the machine.

A rehabilitation therapist walked over to help her up.

052 said, “It was actually rather well written.”

Lü Zhongcai frowned.

“It had no substance.”

052 immediately replied, “I was only saying that casually.”

Lü Zhongcai switched off the reader, stepped down from the treadmill, and took the towel hanging nearby to wipe the sweat from her body.

A faint scent of Alpha pheromones emanated from her.

Sweat had soaked through the front and back of her shirt, forming large dark patches. Beneath the damp fabric, the perfect lines of her collarbones, chest, and well-defined muscles were faintly visible.

052 said, “Please believe me. I understand the black lotus better than anyone else. I can see through every intention and motive hidden beneath her false appearance.”

“As long as you trust me, we’ll definitely succeed in knocking out both the black lotus and her unforgettable first love!”

Lü Zhongcai began weighted anaerobic exercises.

She still said nothing, behaving as though 052 did not exist.

“I know everything…” 052 declared.

“How can I destroy you?”

Lü Zhongcai suddenly asked, pausing in the middle of her movement.

The middle-aged woman cleaning the equipment nearby curiously glanced at Lü Zhongcai, who appeared to be talking to herself.

052: “…”

“We need a method of communication,” 052 said. “You can’t torture me by reading documents or attempt to destroy me every time I speak.”

“There isn’t much time left, President Lü. We must first resolve the immediate crisis!”

Lü Zhongcai released the resistance ball.

“What immediate crisis?”

052 screamed in alarm, “You don’t know?”

Lü Zhongcai remained expressionless.

“I suffered a concussion and lost some of my memories.”

052: “…”

052 finally said, “It’s like this. According to the original book’s plot, at this point, the romantic rumors surrounding the black lotus at her university have become increasingly serious, causing the administration to summon her for questioning…”

Lü Zhongcai opened a bottle of mineral water and finished it in one drink.

“I already had someone handle that matter.”

“Yes, but because it wasn’t handled properly, the situation developed in an even worse direction,” 052 said.

“We only need to add a little more fuel to the fire, and Jin Sique can be suspended from classes…”

052 could not resist laughing wildly, her tone evil and arrogant.

“Hahahaha! Even the heavens are helping us!”

Lü Zhongcai crushed the mineral water bottle in her hand.

She tossed it with one arm, sending it into a trash can three meters away.

—

A taxi stopped beside the road.

Jin Sique opened the door and stepped out.

The late-spring wind poured through her collar, causing her thin clothes to billow and collapse. Her slender, supple waist appeared and disappeared beneath the moving fabric.

The night was already completely dark.

Jin Sique tightened her collar and approached the dormitory entrance with a puzzled expression.

The room beyond the door was brightly illuminated, and the sound of an argument came from inside.

“Jin Sique still hasn’t returned?”

“Director, she… she’ll be back soon.”

Zhu Wanqing’s voice came from inside.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Lü Zhongcai asked with a frown.

The driver bowed respectfully and opened the car door for Lü Zhongcai.