The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 45

“You can drive again?”

Jin Sique examined Lü Zhongcai’s leg.

“Mm.”

Lü Zhongcai leaned over to pull the seat belt across Jin Sique.

Jin Sique instinctively leaned backward.

Lü Zhongcai paused, then handed her the buckle.

“Fasten it.”

Jin Sique lowered her eyes.

“Mm.”

Lü Zhongcai handed her a handkerchief.

“There’s water in the glove compartment.”

“All right.”

Jin Sique accepted the handkerchief and carefully wiped away her makeup while looking in the mirror.

Neither spoke throughout the journey.

The address Fang Zhiming had sent was in a villa complex near the outskirts of the city.

Lü Zhongcai turned off the engine and tapped her fingertips against the steering wheel, thinking briefly.

Jin Sique watched her uneasily.

After several seconds of silence, she said, “Then I’ll go inside.”

Lü Zhongcai acknowledged her.

“I’ll wait here.”

Jin Sique hesitated.

Before closing the door, she bent down and asked, “Would you like to come in with me?”

Lü Zhongcai turned her head.

Her thumb pressed against the knuckle of her middle finger, her fingertip rubbing it repeatedly.

“There’s no need.”

Jin Sique slowly forced out a smile.

The car door closed.

She stepped away.

Not far from them, a Filipina maid in uniform emerged from the villa entrance.

She bowed to Jin Sique and raised one hand toward the doorway.

Jin Sique inclined her body slightly and followed the attendant inside.

Lü Zhongcai’s fingertips continued tapping the steering wheel.

Once.

Twice.

Three times…

“What are you anxious about, President?” 052 asked lazily.

Lü Zhongcai did not respond.

She frowned slightly as she looked out the window.

“If you want to see what’s happening, simply go inside. Would Fang Zhiming dare throw you out?”

If 052 had possessed a physical body, she would undoubtedly have been sitting with one leg crossed over the other.

“Oh dear. You refused to listen when I told you what to do. What else can I possibly say?”

Lü Zhongcai: “…”

She took out her phone and began reading EA’s project proposal.

“Invest in it,” 052 said. “It’s a good company.”

“EA’s funding chain has collapsed, and it is facing bankruptcy and liquidation.”

Lü Zhongcai finally spoke.

“It is a technology company that has made no progress in ten years. I find it difficult to justify investing in it and personally guaranteeing the company.”

“However, it cannot be denied that artificial intelligence may trigger a technological revolution across the world.”

She frowned while reviewing the reports.

—

“Mr. Fang…”

“She’s here.”

The living room was brightly illuminated.

Several elderly men in their fifties and sixties were gathered around a mahjong table, enthusiastically playing and arguing.

“I clearly declared this tile!”

“You declared the wrong one! Not this tile! You completed the wrong hand—this is the tile I wanted to claim!”

“Stop arguing. Oh, it isn’t worth much money anyway…”

The Filipina maid smiled helplessly and gestured toward the sofa, inviting Jin Sique to sit and wait.

Then she went to pour her some tea.

Jin Sique raised her head and examined the room.

The villa’s decorations were simple and leaned toward traditional Chinese style. They did not appear excessively extravagant.

She smiled at the maid, accepted the cup, and placed it on the coffee table before her.

Then she looked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In the distance, the faint glow of headlights seemed to flicker.

“Miss Jin is here,” Fang Zhiming said.

Jin Sique stood.

“Mr. Fang.”

The arguing had given Fang Zhiming a severe headache.

When his old friends saw Jin Sique, they gradually quieted down.

“She looks only eighteen or nineteen. Can such a young girl truly sing Mount Dingjun?”

Jin Sique smiled shyly and unconsciously glanced toward the window.

“I haven’t heard her sing either,” Fang Zhiming said, nodding repeatedly.

“But merely hearing the girl speak feels pleasant. She has an excellent voice.”

“Sing.”

Jin Sique curved her lips.

She neither concealed her ability nor displayed any timidity.

Her graceful hand lifted into a proper pose.

“All right. Mount Dingjun!”

—

Lü Zhongcai removed her jacket.

Wearing a pale shirt, she leaned against the side of the car and lowered her eyes toward her watch.

This was the fourth time she had checked it within an hour.

“Go inside?” 052 suggested.

The light before her suddenly disappeared.

Lü Zhongcai looked up.

The young Filipina maid from the villa had brought her a cup of hot tea.

In halting Chinese, she said, “For you.”

“Thank you.”

Lü Zhongcai inclined her head.

The maid gestured with her hands, apparently asking whether Lü Zhongcai wanted to sit in the servants’ quarters.

“No, thank you. I’m waiting for my young lady.”

Lü Zhongcai politely declined.

The maid smiled.

“You are… Alpha?”

“Mm.”

Lü Zhongcai took a sip of tea.

The maid’s smile widened.

She had an extremely full figure, and despite their different complexions, she possessed a confident, striking beauty.

She placed one hand against the car window beside Lü Zhongcai.

“Baby…”

Lü Zhongcai: “…”

052 burst into wild laughter.

“Hahahaha! A romantic opportunity has arrived!”

The maid’s smile continued widening.

She braced both hands on either side of Lü Zhongcai, her breath nearly touching Lü Zhongcai’s face.

Lü Zhongcai frowned slightly and leaned backward to avoid the enthusiastic woman.

“Miss…”

“What are you doing?”

Hurried footsteps approached.

Jin Sique crossed the distance in several strides and shoved the woman away from Lü Zhongcai.

The maid screamed, then looked at Jin Sique.

Realizing that she was a guest of her employer, the maid immediately appeared apologetic.

“Miss, I’m sorry. I…”

“Get in the car.”

Jin Sique turned toward Lü Zhongcai.

Her breathing was rapid and filled with anger. Even her smile had become somewhat rigid.

“We’re going home.”

Jin Sique opened the rear door for Lü Zhongcai, took the car keys from her, and sat in the driver’s seat.

“Please tell Mr. Fang that I thank him. Goodbye.”

The maid stood frozen, still shocked that an honored guest had opened the car door for someone she had assumed was the driver.

—

“Why didn’t you push her away?”

The car traveled toward the city center.

At a traffic light, Jin Sique glanced outside and lowered the window, allowing the wind to pour in so she could remain clearheaded.

“Are you angry?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

“Woohoo!”

Two convertible sports cars passed them.

The girls inside screamed loudly as the cars charged through the intersection and drifted around the corner, leaving exhaust behind.

Jin Sique struck the steering wheel.

The horn sounded.

“I’m not angry,” she said stiffly.

“That’s good,” Lü Zhongcai replied.

Jin Sique: “…”

052 burst into laughter.

“Pfft—hahahahaha!”

Lü Zhongcai adjusted her position and met Jin Sique’s gaze through the rearview mirror.

“I’m not angry either.”

Jin Sique froze.

Only when the vehicle behind them honked did she return to her senses and begin driving again.

“You… You can be angry.”

After a long time, Jin Sique tightened her hands around the steering wheel.

Lü Zhongcai looked toward the dense trees and flowing lights receding outside.

“Anger affects a person’s judgment. We can discuss this properly.”

“Then let’s talk properly.”

Jin Sique compromised.

She stopped the car beside the river in City A.

The headlights remained on like two enormous searchlights, cutting a narrow opening through the darkness.

Jin Sique opened the door for Lü Zhongcai and helped her out.

“Does your leg hurt?”

“No.”

Lü Zhongcai picked up her jacket from the seat and handed it to Jin Sique.

“Put this on if you’re cold.”

Jin Sique gathered the jacket against her chest.

“I…”

“Have you reached an answer?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique glanced sideways.

“What about you? Do you want a divorce?”

“My condition is already under control.”

Lü Zhongcai stood straight.

The night wind loosened several strands of hair from her bun, and she tucked them behind her ear.

“I can manage on my own—”

“So it doesn’t matter to you, does it?”

Jin Sique abruptly turned toward her.

At that moment, a violent wind rose along the riverbank.

Both women’s hair became disordered, tangled strands obscuring their eyes.

052 asked, “Is it going to rain?”

Lü Zhongcai stepped forward and approached Jin Sique, attempting to take hold of her.

“It’s going to rain.”

Jin Sique avoided her by moving backward.

“Get back into the car.”

Without allowing refusal, Lü Zhongcai wrapped an arm around Jin Sique.

Their hair tangled together as they looked at each other.

Dull thunder rumbled.

Jin Sique gritted her teeth and stared at Lü Zhongcai.

“If you didn’t have this illness, we would never have had anything to do with each other.”

“You and I have always belonged to two different worlds!”

Lü Zhongcai stared at her in stunned silence.

“Isn’t that true?” Jin Sique demanded loudly.

Lü Zhongcai frowned.

“Yes.”

“When the three years end, we’ll separate and follow the paths our lives were supposed to take. Isn’t that right?” Jin Sique asked.

“Yes…”

Jin Sique raised her head and looked at her.

“Then let’s separate.”

Lü Zhongcai froze.

“What?”

The wind swept up fallen leaves along the river.

Long willow branches were blown sideways.

A raindrop landed beneath Jin Sique’s lashes and slid down her face.

“The wind is too strong. I… I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Lü Zhongcai frowned and looked toward the river.

After a moment, she turned back and met Jin Sique’s gaze.

“Say it again.”

Jin Sique breathed rapidly.

Both hands were clenched tightly, her fingernails digging into the soft flesh of her palms.

“I… I said…”

“Let’s live separately for a while.”

“Because of Du Mengzhen?”

In that instant, Lü Zhongcai voiced the question in her heart.

Jin Sique looked at her.

Her gaze was stubborn and restrained.

She repeatedly reminded herself that this ending had been decided long ago.

She knew.

She had always known.

Lü Zhongcai ought to choose an Omega from a family of equal social standing.

Someone raised with the advantages created by wealth, education, and status would inevitably possess foresight and ambitions different from those of an ordinary person.

A suitable partner could discuss finance with her.

Politics.

The stocks and philosophy Lü Zhongcai enjoyed.

And many other things…

Jin Sique retreated two steps.

She wiped the raindrops from her face and smiled.

“I may need some time to calm down.”

“Let’s separate for now. In a couple of days, I’ll move out.”

Lü Zhongcai: “…”

“You mean you’ve decided to divorce, haven’t you?”

Lü Zhongcai stopped Jin Sique as she turned toward the car.

“Sique?”

With her back to Lü Zhongcai, Jin Sique said, “I don’t know…”

“But I feel that day won’t be far away.”

“It’s like my shadow. It’s always there, constantly reminding me.”

“Reminding me that three years can be both brief and unbearably long.”

“Long enough that two years have already passed.”

“Yet so brief that those two years disappeared this quickly…”

“I…”

“What did Fang Zhiming tell you?”

Lü Zhongcai suddenly approached her.

She removed a photograph from the inner pocket of the jacket held in Jin Sique’s arms and handed it to her.

“Did he tell you that Du Mengzhen will return to China once she finishes her studies?”

Jin Sique froze and lowered her gaze toward the photograph.

It was recent.

In it, Du Mengzhen sat in a corner of a library, spirited and confident as she gazed through the window at the falling leaves outside.

“I found her for you,” Lü Zhongcai said gently.

Jin Sique abruptly tightened her grip on the photograph.

She kept her head lowered and stared at the image, not daring to look at Lü Zhongcai.

She was afraid…

Afraid that Lü Zhongcai’s noble, restrained face would still remain as calm and undisturbed as an ancient well.

052 whispered, “See? She truly cannot let go of Du Mengzhen.”

“One photograph was enough to throw her heart into chaos.”

“How could there possibly be any room left for you?”