The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 44

That night, the auditorium was packed with people, and thunderous applause echoed throughout the hall.

“We’re almost up, Sique. Are your Sister and sister-in-law coming or not?”

Wearing an old European-style hoop skirt, Zhu Wanqing stood backstage and repeatedly peeked toward the audience.

“There’s no one there!”

The seats in the center of the third row remained empty.

Jin Sique withdrew her gaze and smiled faintly, a hint of disappointment crossing her expression.

“They probably didn’t have time.”

Xiaobai hurried over while struggling to lift her skirt.

“Oh, forget about them. Hurry and check my dress! I’m Elizabeth, the leading lady this time!”

“I’m so nervous. What if I ruin the performance?”

Zhu Wanqing, playing Maid Number One, placed both hands on her hips.

“If you ruin it, you ruin it. At worst, you’ll take a makeup exam.”

Jin Sique, playing Maid Number Two, lifted Xiaobai’s skirt and smoothed out her wig.

“You won’t ruin it. Just perform properly, all right?”

The class representative walked over.

“Xiaobai.”

Xiaobai turned and gestured toward her.

“I’m going to run through my lines once more. I’ll come back in a while.”

“There’s no hurry. Two more performances still come before ours.”

Zhu Wanqing waved a hand and continued peeking at the audience from behind a pillar.

“Hey, Sique. Is your Sister really not coming?”

“Let’s go back,” Jin Sique said.

“All right.”

Zhu Wanqing sighed and gave the audience one final look.

“Oh!”

Jin Sique looked at her in confusion, only to be dragged back toward the viewing position.

“Look! Hurry, look! Who is that?”

Jin Sique focused on the audience.

A performance was underway onstage. Long water sleeves flew through the air like ribbons, dazzling the eye.

“Someone arrived,” Zhu Wanqing said. “Is it your Sister or your sister-in-law?”

“I can’t see clearly…”

Jin Sique pressed her lips together.

She suddenly remembered that Lü Zhongcai had never properly watched her perform.

Her fingers tightened, digging into the curtain beside her.

The host walked over.

“You’re still peeking? Be careful the teachers don’t catch you.”

Zhu Wanqing and Jin Sique simultaneously pressed their palms together and bowed three times.

“Please, please.”

The host was a tall Alpha.

She could not maintain a serious expression upon seeing them and laughed.

“Forget it. Your class is next after this performance. Go prepare.”

“All right, all right. We’re going.”

Jin Sique nodded.

She looked back at the audience every few steps.

Suddenly, her gaze stopped.

The hopeful light in her eyes dimmed, gradually becoming cold.

“Sique?”

Zhu Wanqing turned around.

“Come back and prepare to go onstage.”

Jin Sique tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“All right.”

—

In the audience, Xie Ying entered with her seaweed-like curls and a small handbag, taking one of the empty seats in the center of the third row.

She yawned.

As she walked through the auditorium, nearly every Alpha’s gaze became fixed upon her.

She appeared languid and voluptuous, with endless allure between her brows.

“She smells wonderful…”

“She’s an Omega. Her pheromones are leaking.”

Xie Ying looked lazily toward the stage.

Finding herself bored, she took out lipstick and began touching up her makeup.

She swept aside her curled hair, revealing one corner of the scent-blocking patch on the back of her neck.

Several sharp breaths sounded nearby.

Delighted, Xie Ying winked at herself in the mirror.

“Excuse me.”

A cold voice abruptly sounded.

Xie Ying raised her head, the corner of her mouth twitching.

She pulled back her legs to clear a path.

—

“Sique!”

From across backstage, the class representative called, “Are you ready?”

Facing the mirror, Jin Sique lightly wiped away the overly bright lipstick and eye makeup.

“Almost.”

“Why are you removing your makeup?”

Zhu Wanqing leaned closer.

“Stage makeup is different from everyday makeup. If it isn’t heavy enough, the audience won’t even see your face!”

“Here, make the shadows beneath my eyes larger.”

“Are you ready? Are you ready?”

Xiaobai floated over in her luxurious gown.

“Sique! Why did you wipe it off?”

Jin Sique smiled awkwardly.

“It smudged. I’m applying it again.”

Xiaobai clicked her tongue.

“We’re about to go onstage. Where will you find time?”

The class representative continued calling out instructions.

The twenty or so students in the theater class were ordered to form a line according to their entrance sequence and remain prepared.

Xiaobai, the female lead, and the male lead had already begun their performance.

While they waited, Zhu Wanqing leaned close to Jin Sique’s ear and whispered, “Are you afraid of stealing Xiaobai’s spotlight?”

“Hmm?”

Zhu Wanqing linked arms with Jin Sique and rested against her shoulder.

“My dear Sique, you’re far too kindhearted.”

“Honestly, you’re more suited to playing the lead than anyone else.”

Jin Sique smiled helplessly.

“I can still fix my makeup now.”

“Forget it. The dressing room has already been given to Class Seven.”

Zhu Wanqing grinned at her.

“Why pretend to be tough when you’re softhearted?”

Jin Sique: “…”

Onstage, the host wore a suit and bowed elegantly toward the audience, concluding a long introduction.

“Adapted from a classic dramatic scene: Pride and Prejudice—”

The curtains opened.

The quiet conversations throughout the hall gradually faded.

—

“Why is President Lü here?”

Xie Ying drew back her legs.

Lü Zhongcai placed her cane aside and loosely interlaced her fingers over her knees.

“I had time, so I came to take a look.”

Xie Ying clicked her tongue.

“I thought this empty seat had been reserved for Sique herself.”

“So did I,” Lü Zhongcai replied indifferently.

052 said, “I thought this was a signal that the cold war had ended. It turns out the black lotus still had another trick hidden away!”

Xie Ying smiled awkwardly and began watching the performance seriously.

“What play is this?”

“Pride and Prejudice.”

“What is it about?”

Lü Zhongcai raised a hand toward the stage, indicating that Xie Ying should watch for herself.

“Excuse me. I need to answer a work message.”

Xie Ying: “…”

The stage play was lengthy.

Most of the audience consisted of teachers and students from the department, and the performance lasted nearly ninety minutes.

As supporting characters with very few scenes, Zhu Wanqing and Jin Sique waited near the end while playing games on their phones.

“Sique! I died! I died again!”

“All right. I avenged you. I avenged you…”

“It’s time for the closing dance! Hurry, hurry!”

The class representative directed them.

“Go idle, go idle…”

Zhu Wanqing tossed aside her phone and grabbed Jin Sique’s wrist.

They hurried backstage, took several forceful breaths to adjust their emotions, then put on smiles, picked up the props, and walked onto the stage.

Xiaobai, playing Elizabeth, declared, “If you had not wounded my vanity, perhaps I might have forgiven your arrogant pride—”

Jin Sique and Zhu Wanqing entered dressed as servants.

“You arrogant—” Xiaobai continued.

“Sique, Sique!”

Zhu Wanqing carefully poked Jin Sique.

“Look! Hurry and look at the audience!”

Jin Sique’s gaze shifted toward the seats.

She froze instantly.

Lü Zhongcai…

“Is the woman beside her your sister-in-law?”

Zhu Wanqing whispered.

“She’s so beautiful. So sexy. Fuck, I lost. I completely lost. Boohoo…”

Bending at the waist, Zhu Wanqing and Jin Sique lifted the heroine’s skirt together.

Zhu Wanqing lowered her head and hid beneath her wide sleeve.

“Boohoo…”

Hundreds of people filled the audience.

Amid the crowd, that pair of cool eyes seemed especially dazzling.

“You are arrogant, selfish, and look down on others!” Xiaobai cried.

“Even if every Alpha in the world died, I would never marry you!”

Xiaobai angrily lifted her skirt and turned away.

Her foot caught, and she nearly fell.

Laughter erupted from the audience.

Zhu Wanqing’s face nearly turned green with fright.

“Sique!”

“I’m sorry…”

Jin Sique returned to her senses, lifted the skirt, and followed Xiaobai’s blocking backstage.

In the final scene, the male lead stood desolately beneath artificial rain, watching the heroine leave.

The other performers emerged.

The girls’ skirts swept around the male lead like a tide, submerging her, then flowed backward like retreating waves, completing the final dance of the ending.

Jin Sique turned and spun like a flower, desperately spreading her petals.

When did she arrive?

Will she recognize me with this makeup?

During every turn, Jin Sique’s gaze searched for Lü Zhongcai.

Lü Zhongcai sat with her knees crossed and her fingers tightly interlaced.

Xie Ying held up her phone and recorded the stage.

“Why isn’t Jin Sique the lead?”

“Exactly. We waited so long…”

“She was the lead last year. They have to take turns, don’t they? Xiaobai is cute too.”

“She’s slightly inferior, though. The campus beauty seems to have more stage presence.”

Xie Ying laughed secretly and turned to speak with the students gossiping behind her.

“Of course. Our Sique—”

The students’ faces reddened.

None dared continue talking to Xie Ying.

When the dance ended, the performers joined hands and bowed.

Lü Zhongcai checked her watch and picked up her cane.

“Miss Xie, I’ll leave first.”

“Sique?”

Zhu Wanqing exclaimed.

Jin Sique looked toward the audience.

After hurriedly completing the curtain call, she ran backstage.

“I’m leaving first!”

The class representative chased after her for several steps.

“Jin Sique, your costume—”

Jin Sique’s voice came from far away.

“I’ll wash it and return it later!”

—

“Zhongcai!”

Jin Sique ran out of the auditorium.

Night had deepened, though the university remained brightly illuminated.

The streetlights resembled tightly clustered bouquets of flowers.

“Zhongcai!”

Lü Zhongcai turned around.

A Bluetooth earpiece hung from one ear.

She raised her brows slightly and gave Jin Sique a faint smile.

Jin Sique calmed herself.

Her steps slowed as she approached, and she stopped before Lü Zhongcai with an awkward smile.

“Did I interrupt you?”

Lü Zhongcai shook her head and ended the call.

“No.”

“Mm.”

The darkness seemed to stretch time.

Jin Sique felt helpless and did not know what to say.

Audience members who had left early continued emerging from the auditorium, curiously examining Jin Sique and Lü Zhongcai as they passed.

“Sique? Aren’t you going back?”

Jin Sique smiled at them.

“In a moment.”

“You’re very popular.”

Lü Zhongcai pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.

Jin Sique looked slightly embarrassed.

“Did you watch the performance just now? Has my makeup smudged?”

“It’s my first time seeing you in stage makeup.”

Lü Zhongcai tilted her head and studied Jin Sique gently.

The warmth of her gaze burned Jin Sique.

She lowered her head and abruptly crushed the tissue in her palm.

“What’s wrong?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Her phone vibrated.

“Wait a moment,” Jin Sique said.

The caller ID displayed three words:

Fang Zhiming

Lü Zhongcai and Jin Sique both looked toward the screen and froze.

“I…”

“Answer it,” Lü Zhongcai said.

Jin Sique: “…”

Lü Zhongcai gave a faint, derisive smile.

“I said, answer it.”

Jin Sique accepted the call.

“Mr. Fang.”

“Miss Jin, I’ve already sent you the address,” Fang Zhiming said.

Jin Sique froze and turned slightly away.

“Mr. Fang, it’s already very late.”

“Miss Jin said you would be available at any time.”

Amusement filled Fang Zhiming’s voice.

Several people could be heard talking in the background.

Fang Zhiming seemed to move his phone aside and said to someone nearby, “She’s a young girl. I’m inviting her over to sing a few lines from Mount Dingjun for my old friend.”

He returned to the call.

“Miss Jin, we’re waiting only for you. Don’t disappoint this group of old men.”

The call ended.

Jin Sique turned and looked helplessly at Lü Zhongcai.

052 said, “She’s becoming increasingly outrageous. She no longer even pretends in front of you!”

“Can you tolerate this?”

“Let her go. I want to see what happens when an Omega attends a gathering filled entirely with Alphas!”

“Wait until she comes back crying and begging for you, President—”

Lü Zhongcai looked at Jin Sique, her expression revealing neither happiness nor anger.

Jin Sique lowered her head.

Her brows twitched with anger, but she concealed her expression and said softly, “I’m sorry, Zhongcai. I’ll call him immediately and refuse—”

“I’ll take you there,” Lü Zhongcai said.

Jin Sique abruptly raised her head.

“What?”

052: “What?”

“You’re still taking her there?” 052 shouted furiously.

“Oh, fuck you!”