The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 21

“What was that noise?”

Xiaobai ran out holding a sheet of drawing paper. She rounded the corner and looked inside.

Dirty water had splashed all over the floor and wall, leaving the corridor in complete disarray, yet there was no one there.

Zhu Wanqing stepped out.

“What happened?”

Xiaobai shook her head.

“I don’t know. I only heard a really loud crash. Who spilled the water? Where did they go?”

The two looked at each other in confusion.

The orphanage bell rang for class.

Jin Sique came running up the corridor like the leader of a group of children, with a long chain of them trailing behind her like a bunch of grapes.

“It’s time for class!” Jin Sique said with a smile.

The children raised their arms and shouted after her, “It’s time for class!”

Then they charged past Jin Sique like bouncing balls and rushed into the classroom.

Fang Xiaohe called for everyone to stand at the lectern.

The children rose in a commotion and greeted her in unison.

“Hello, Teacher!”

Xiaobai and Zhu Wanqing entered through the back door, sat in the last row, and loudly joined them.

“Hello, Teacher!”

Jin Sique brushed the grass from her clothes and smiled at the scene.

Zhu Wanqing waved at her through the window, gesturing for her to come inside.

Jin Sique shook her head and pointed outside, indicating that she still had something to do.

The orphanage abruptly became quiet once again.

For a moment, only Fang Xiaohe’s gentle, smiling voice could be heard throughout the grounds.

The reproductive health lesson explained the differences among Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. The content was basic rather than in-depth, intended primarily to establish a fundamental understanding of secondary genders among children who had not yet differentiated.

Jin Sique rolled a blade of grass between her fingers as she walked beneath a tree in the courtyard and stared blankly at her phone.

In the distance, the Omegas from another dormitory were wearing aprons and headscarves as they trimmed the lawn. Their deliberately suppressed laughter drifted toward her.

Director Lu emerged from her office with candies tucked into her pockets and distributed them among the Omegas.

Jin Sique smiled and waved as the director approached her.

“Tired, girl?” Director Lu asked.

Jin Sique played with the blade of grass and rubbed the tip of her nose.

“Director Mom.”

“You aren’t working?”

Director Lu looked kind and benevolent as she smiled and patted Jin Sique’s head.

Jin Sique wrapped her arms around Director Lu’s arm.

“I’m tired.”

Director Lu gave her a fondly reproachful look.

“Have you found—”

“Director Lu!”

A soaking-wet Alpha waved a brush and called to her from a distance.

“The water pipe broke! How do we fix it? Is there a replacement anywhere?”

“Oh dear.”

Director Lu looked at the Alpha, then at Jin Sique.

“I’ll go take a look first.”

Jin Sique took out her phone again.

The blade of grass between her long fingers had already been crushed into a soft mess. Green juice stained her fingertips, carrying the faint raw scent of soil and fresh grass.

“The number you have dialed is currently busy…”

Jin Sique stared at her phone, failing to notice the shadow gradually approaching from behind.

“The number you have dialed is currently busy…”

She switched off the screen and retreated two steps before looking toward the newcomer.

For an instant, she had not yet managed to conceal the vigilance in her eyes.

“What is it?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Lu Baimei shrugged.

She pushed Lü Zhongcai’s wheelchair and stopped approximately one meter away from Jin Sique.

“Did we frighten you?”

Jin Sique’s brow twitched.

She immediately forced out a smile.

“I saw a shadow approaching. When did you and President Lu arrive, Zhongcai? I didn’t hear anything.”

Lü Zhongcai indicated that she should look down at the wheelchair.

Lu Baimei explained with a smile, “Didn’t the president get stuck in the elevator a few days ago? She replaced the wheelchair with a new one.”

“The tires received special treatment. They’re nonslip and noise-reducing, and there’s even an alarm if they become stuck.”

Jin Sique’s eyes curved as she laughed.

Afterward, she lowered her gaze and met the slightly meaningful look in Lü Zhongcai’s eyes.

She asked naturally, “Why are you here, Zhongcai?”

“I was nearby and happened to see you,” Lü Zhongcai replied.

“Obviously, you came here to investigate her!” 052 howled inside her mind. “President Lü, hurry and ask why she never told you about the orphanage!”

Lü Zhongcai did not speak, but Lu Baimei asked before she could.

“Your university organizes activities like this?”

“Mm.”

Jin Sique smiled and reached up to tuck the hair beside her ear behind it.

Only then did she remember that she was still holding the blade of grass.

She looked around casually but could not find anywhere to throw it, so she continued holding it.

Unexpectedly, Lü Zhongcai extended her hand.

Jin Sique froze and inexplicably offered her own hand.

Lü Zhongcai took the broken blade of grass from her and enclosed it in her palm.

“The university has been organizing this event for…”

Jin Sique looked somewhat dazedly at Lü Zhongcai.

“For many years. This orphanage was my first home.”

Guilt appeared in Lu Baimei’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“You never mentioned it,” Lü Zhongcai suddenly said. “Do you come here often?”

“No.”

Jin Sique shook her head, looking slightly disappointed.

“I visit every few months. Occasionally, I mail a few things to Director Mom.”

“They’re only minor matters. I didn’t want to trouble you, so there was nothing worth mentioning.”

Lu Baimei clicked her tongue and poked Lü Zhongcai from behind, as though saying, Look at yourself.

After chatting briefly, Jin Sique pushed Lü Zhongcai from behind and took her around the orphanage.

The surrounding students looked over, examining Lü Zhongcai with curiosity.

The children attending class also gradually became restless, repeatedly glancing toward Lü Zhongcai as she passed through the corridor.

“They’ll think you’re a wealthy person who came here to adopt a child,” Jin Sique said with a smile.

“I can make a donation,” Lü Zhongcai replied.

052 said, “What she means is that because you’re sitting in a wheelchair, the children will assume your body is incapable of carrying a child, which is why you need to come to an orphanage.”

“Do you like children?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique smiled.

From this angle, Lü Zhongcai could not turn around and carefully observe her expression.

052 snorted.

“She must be feeling extremely contemptuous right now. She despises you for having nothing except money and no emotions.”

“President Lü, I swear she’s looking down on you!”

Lü Zhongcai frowned and turned her head slightly to look behind her.

Jin Sique had been observing her every movement.

The moment Lü Zhongcai turned around, she leaned down.

“President Lu went to the restroom. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lü Zhongcai said.

They passed through the long corridor and strolled into the rear courtyard.

Looking out from the children’s classroom, one could see the brilliant afternoon sunlight falling upon the two beautiful figures.

“Sique,” someone called. “Who is this?”

Jin Sique introduced her openly.

“She’s my Sister.”

052 sighed.

“I already told you this was a terrible idea. Look at her! She’s using your identity to intimidate everyone!”

“Damn it!” 052 spat.

“Why aren’t you smiling?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique answered with a smile, “Hmm? I am smiling.”

Lü Zhongcai said nothing more.

She rolled the broken blade of grass she had received from Jin Sique between her fingers, turning its stem before bringing it beneath her nose and gently sniffing it.

Her movements were elegant and held no obvious intimacy.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, Jin Sique felt as though Lü Zhongcai were smelling her gland.

Jin Sique pressed her lips together and instinctively raised a hand to rub the back of her neck.

Her fingertips touched warm metal—the necklace carrying her wedding ring.

She abruptly returned to her senses a moment later.

“Well, well.”

Chen Gang passed by and set down a bucket of dirty water.

He raised his head and examined Lü Zhongcai and Jin Sique.

“What’s this? You came to volunteer at an orphanage and still needed to bring someone to protect you?”

Jin Sique frowned slightly.

“Chen Gang, we can discuss our situation in a few days.”

“You’re already waiting for the court to send documents so you can sue me, and you want me to wait a few days to talk?”

Chen Gang finally exploded.

He violently threw the plastic gloves in his hands into the bucket of dirty water.

The murky water splashed everywhere.

Several droplets landed on Lü Zhongcai’s pure-white suit.

052 screamed, “Ahhhhhhh! The president’s favorite German handmade spring suit, one of only eight custom sets produced this year—Moonlight in the Dark!”

“The weather has turned cold, brat. Your life is over!”

Several steps away, Lu Baimei had just returned from the restroom after retrieving Chen Han, who had nearly become lost.

She curiously looked toward Chen Han, who appeared to have completely petrified.

Suddenly, Lü Zhongcai smiled.

Jin Sique’s expression became worried.

She looked at Chen Gang with pity.