The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 7

Qin Ming’s words seemed to echo in her ears again.

The warm spring sun poured in through the large French windows. Lü Zhongcai sat in her wheelchair, clutching the medical report, bathed in the entire expanse of light.

Qin Ming: “Therefore, your calmness is somewhat abnormal.”

Lü Zhongcai remained silent.

Qin Ming: “Then I’ll ask directly: do you have any particular desire for control over your Omega during intimate moments?”

Lü Zhongcai: “No.”

Qin Ming: “What about nesting behavior?”

Alpha nesting behavior specifically refers to all actions during an Alpha’s susceptibility period where they collect the Omega’s belongings into their own ‘nest.’ During this time, a considerable number of Alphas will even confine the Omega to a place they deem safe to spend the nesting period together.

This situation varies from person to person, but generally, the higher the Alpha’s rank, the more severe the situation becomes. Gender bestows Alphas with superhuman intelligence and physique but also weakens something else to achieve a certain balance.

The most significant difference is the ability to control emotions during the susceptibility period. Alpha emotional control has always been a topic in need of strengthening.

There are not many S-rank Alphas in the country, but specialized research shows that S-rank Alphas, in addition to emotional issues, also exhibit various physical health problems.

“There was once an S-rank Alpha physics genius who only lived to be twenty. And another Alpha musicologist who chose suicide due to disappointment with human art,” Qin Ming said. “Of course, some live longer. Two were imprisoned for abusing Omegas, and after serving their sentences, they became research subjects.”

Qin Ming: “I cannot define your situation yet, but we can start with a hypothesis: this might be a form of emotional disorder.”

Lü Zhongcai stated, “No.”

Qin Ming: “Nothing?”

Lü Zhongcai: “Nesting behavior. I have never exhibited it. I deeply respect my partner. She is an independent individual, and I should not control her.”

Qin Ming suddenly asked, “What is your 250 System saying?”

052, like a madwoman who had abandoned human decency, kept whispering to Lü Zhongcai: “No, you should lock her up, confine her in a pitch-black basement, tame her, enslave her…”

Lü Zhongcai remained silently composed.

Qin Ming chuckled: “I can guess what it’s saying. The dark side is something that exists in everyone’s heart, especially Alphas. Think about it, a powerful Alpha facing a fragile Omega, it’s hard not to…”

“Pity makes people loveable. That’s how Omegas are, aren’t they?” Qin Ming smiled.

Lü Zhongcai slightly turned her head: “She is a person. I should respect her, not treat her as a plaything.”

052 said ominously in Lü Zhongcai’s brain: “She is an Omega. What equality is there between an Alpha and an Omega? She is a plaything. She can only survive by depending on an Alpha.”

Qin Ming: “I believe you love her.”

Lü Zhongcai: “Ours is a contract marriage for three years. She deals with my family for me, and I pay off her debts for her. Long-term intimacy might create some affection, but I believe that after we separate, time will erode all of it.”

Qin Ming said, “Oh? Did you permanently mark her? If you did, it’s hard to say… Although discrimination is a bad habit, people still care.”

Lü Zhongcai: “No. Our relationship is not widely public, except to necessary people, and I wouldn’t permanently mark her casually.”

“Is your contract marriage confidential?” Qin Ming asked.

Lü Zhongcai: “Yes.”

052 said: “You’re wrong. Only the Black Lotus never publicly discloses your relationship. Is her secrecy truly for your sake, or so she can freely look for her White Moonlight when the three years are up?”

Qin Ming said seriously, “I’m surprised, as many Alphas, after acquiring a partner, are eager to announce their ownership to the world as the first thing they do.”

Lü Zhongcai looked out the window. Under the spring sun, pedestrians hurried by. She watched for a while, then said coldly, “No, I do not love her.”

---

Zhu Wanqing opened the door after showering, and the sunflower pheromones immediately sprayed out of the bathroom, filling the entire dorm room.

Someone complained: “Wanqing, you didn’t turn on the ventilation again? The whole dorm smells of you!”

“Oh, come on,” Zhu Wanqing waved her hand. “I’m not in heat, so what are you scared of? I’ll close the door, alright?”

No one could do anything about Zhu Wanqing, so they turned to Jin Sique on the other side. “Sique, please control her.”

Jin Sique smiled and said to Zhu Wanqing, “Wanqing, remember to turn on the ventilation next time, okay?”

Jin Sique’s voice was soft and husky, not a clear stream, but like the gravel gently flowing at the bottom of a spring, with a hint of sexy hoarseness.

Zhu Wanqing leaned closer to Jin Sique: “Something’s not right.”

Jin Sique looked at her laptop, continuing to write her final paper. “What is it?”

“Your voice seems husky. Have you been staying up late recently?” Zhu Wanqing asked.

Jin Sique paused, raised her hand to touch her throat, and said, “I went to sing a few performances of The Drunken Concubine. I might have overused my voice.”

Zhu Wanqing was shocked: “My goodness! Why don’t you protect your voice! That’s a golden voice! What if something happens to it?”

Jin Sique laughed: “It won’t. I know my limits.”

Zhu Wanqing dragged a chair over and sat next to Jin Sique, asking, “Where did you sing? Why didn’t you invite me to listen?”

“Hmm.” Jin Sique turned around, her lips pursed in a smile, slightly tilting her head to gauge Zhu Wanqing’s curious expression. She said, “I won’t tell you!”

Zhu Wanqing: “…”

Zhu Wanqing paused, then blushed, burying her face in her hands.

Jin Sique: “What’s wrong, Wanqing?”

Zhu Wanqing shrugged, lay down on the desk, striking a corpse pose.

Jin Sique anxiously nudged Zhu Wanqing: “I’m sorry, I, I really can’t say… You know why.”

“Nothing,” Zhu Wanqing mumbled twice, secretly looking up at Jin Sique. “I just think you’re too cute, and it’s making me embarrassed.”

Jin Sique was surprised, pursed her lips in a smile, and two spots of redness appeared on her face.

“I can’t take it anymore,” a roommate wailed on the side. “I’m begging you two, can you stop acting like a couple?”

Zhu Wanqing chuckled, stood up, smacked the roommate’s shoulder, then suddenly leaned in and pecked the roommate’s cheek: “Xiaobai, are you jealous?”

Xiaobai screamed, jumped up, squatted on her chair, covered her cheeks, and glared at Zhu Wanqing: “Zhu Wanqing! Today, I’m going to show you why flowers are so bright!”

Jin Sique burst into laughter, checked the time, and began tidying her desk. “I’m not staying in the dorm tonight.”

The two squabbling individuals stopped, turned to look at Jin Sique. Xiaobai asked, “Going home?”

Jin Sique zipped up her backpack and smiled: “Mm, a family member is being discharged today. I’m going to pick her up.”

The dorm door was closed from the outside. Xiaobai and Zhu Wanqing exchanged a look, released their grip simultaneously, and rolled their eyes at each other.

“She went back again. You and Sique are so close, who exactly is the family member she’s talking about?” Xiaobai adjusted the wrinkled inhibitor patch on her neck in the mirror, which Zhu Wanqing had creased.

Zhu Wanqing shrugged: “I don’t know. She doesn’t tell me these things.”

Xiaobai awkwardly “erred” and said, “Isn’t she an orphan?”

Zhu Wanqing: “A girlfriend or a boyfriend, maybe.”

The two exchanged a look and both sighed.

---

“Why did Sique come? No classes today?” Outside the hospital, Aunt Guo was putting Lü Zhongcai’s personal belongings into the trunk.

Jin Sique opened the car door and helped Lü Zhongcai sit inside. “No classes. I was worried about A-cai being discharged.”

Lü Zhongcai said thank you. Jin Sique nodded with a smile and went to help Aunt Guo organize the things.

“Home or where?” Jin Sique closed the door and sat beside Lü Zhongcai. Aunt Guo, sitting in the passenger seat, turned her head to listen.

Lü Zhongcai: “Take me to the company first.”

Jin Sique quietly asked, “Don’t you want to rest for another two days?”

Lü Zhongcai shook her head. She reached out and gently smoothed the stray hair at Jin Sique’s temple, saying, “You go back first. I’ll be home after work.”

Jin Sique pursed her lips and smiled, sitting up straight and creating some distance from Lü Zhongcai. She took out her phone, started listening to music, and took out one earbud to give to Lü Zhongcai.

They sat side by side, listening to music, one cold and one warm, one taciturn and one articulate.

The Alpha wore a suit and tie, looking aloof and reserved. The Omega wore a short-sleeved shirt paired with a knee-length pleated skirt, like a tender new sprout on a branch, lusciously green.

The Omega leaned against the Alpha. The two of them, nestled together, selecting songs on the phone, created a beautiful and harmonious picture.

Aunt Guo withdrew her gaze and smiled with contentment. Although Jin Sique came from an ordinary background, she was personally flawless.

“Do you like this?” Lü Zhongcai looked at the popular song playlist in Jin Sique’s hand. Jin Sique had already played the same song on a loop three times.

Jin Sique: “Yes, I do.”

Lü Zhongcai: “You’ve listened to it several times.”

“Mm,” Jin Sique said absentmindedly. The faint grass scent drifted into the Alpha’s nostrils. “Until I get sick of it.”

“Are you sick of it?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique looked at Lü Zhongcai in confusion, her chin slightly raised, blinking innocently like a simple little animal: “I’ve been listening to this song for many years.”

Lü Zhongcai mumbled an acknowledgement, then stopped talking and looked out the window.

Jin Sique lowered her eyes, subtly glanced at Lü Zhongcai, and asked, “Are the auditory hallucination symptoms still there?”

“Almost recovered,” Lü Zhongcai said, then added, “It doesn’t affect work or life.”

But in fact, 052 was chattering non-stop in her mind like a motor mouth: “Oh, oh, oh, the Black Lotus is getting close! She’s smiling. She’s secretly sniffing your pheromones… It’s been half a month since the last mark. She’s hinting to you: it’s time to pay the conjugal dues.”

---

The car stopped downstairs at the Fengyue Tower in the A City Financial Center. Five floors of this office building, from the 23rd to the 27th, housed LE’s Chinese office.

Lü Zhongcai had been away from her work environment for almost a month. After the car accident, all work was sent to the hospital by her secretary. Lü Zhongcai worked remotely, and the company had barely managed to function until now, thanks to a few capable assistants.

“Want to come up and sit for a bit?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique shook her head. She was still a student, and facing the bright, clean, luxurious office building made her feel a sense of timidness: “I won’t go up. You come home early tonight.”

052: “If you insist, she’ll have no reason to refuse.”

Lü Zhongcai nodded at Jin Sique, braced herself to get out of the car. Aunt Guo and the driver had already unloaded the wheelchair from the trunk. The CEO’s office secretary had come downstairs to wait for Lü Zhongcai and was standing by the car.

“See you later.” Jin Sique lowered the car window and cautiously waved at Lü Zhongcai.

Lü Zhongcai smiled: “See you later.”

“If she wants to, I don’t need to say more,” Lü Zhongcai finally responded to 052 in her mind.

052: “CEO, you are a little too silent. Don’t you realize? From the moment you got out of the car until you sat in the wheelchair, you became the focus of the entire scene.”

The Chief Assistant pressed the elevator button. The elevator descended, the door opened. Lü Zhongcai maneuvered the wheelchair in. Only when the door closed were the scrutinizing, curious, and pitying gazes cut off.

No.

There was still one gaze.

The elevator chimed, the door opened. The Chief Assistant carefully pushed the wheelchair, wishing she could stop breathing for fear of disturbing the atmosphere of the office.

The 27th floor housed the CEO’s office, the headquarters administrative area, and the finance department, distributed across different areas.

Today, the entire LE office was remarkably quiet.

052: “They are lowering their sense of presence, trying to show they aren’t looking around by focusing on work, lest they accidentally show a look of pity upon seeing their disabled CEO and be fired the next day for walking into the office with their left foot first.”

“Do I look like that kind of person?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

The Chief Assistant was shocked, whispering, “President Lü, do you have any instructions?”

052: “Ahaha.”

Lü Zhongcai instructed: “Schedule a meeting.”

Chief Assistant: “Yes!”

“The office must be bustling right now. Everyone must be discussing how President Lü is paralyzed in the lower body at such a young age, not even twenty-six…”

Lü Zhongcai opened her laptop, logged into the company system, and began reading the senior management meeting minutes she had missed over the past month.

052: “Don’t you believe me? I’m 100% sure, because rumors only spread faster and faster. Someone must already be discussing that President Lü doesn’t have long to live.”

“Of course, S-rank Alphas always have a strong presence, and the hiring rate for people of all genders at LE is about the same. In other words, a considerable number of Omegas in the company would still be willing to be with you, even if you are disabled.”

“So, the Black Lotus is simply ungrateful…”

Lü Zhongcai paused, thought for a moment, and replied to the first part of 052’s statement, “So, what do I need to do to prove my health?”

This was the first time Lü Zhongcai had asked 052 for help. 052 was energized: “You need a grand party.”

Lü Zhongcai twitched her lips, expressionless.

The meeting was set for half an hour later. Lü Zhongcai’s wheelchair was custom-ordered from Germany by Aunt Guo and had basic lift functions, allowing her to maintain her aloofness and height, which kept people away, even during her leg discomfort.

As a result, employees were afraid that their already decisive boss would become even more twisted due to her serious injury, and they were all extremely careful when reporting on work.

[I’m home.] Jin Sique sent a message.

Lü Zhongcai lightly tapped the conference table. The Human Resources Manager who was giving a work report paused, looking at Lü Zhongcai in fear.

[Mm.] Lü Zhongcai replied simply, then motioned for the HR manager to continue.

The HR Manager stumbled: “Yes…”

Lü Zhongcai listened to the report, and her brow slightly lifted. The HR manager held his breath in tension, instantly freezing in place.

“Have they been hired?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

The HR manager said, “We are still in discussion. Headquarters’ intention is…”

Lü Zhongcai: “Send their resumes to my email.”

HR: “…Yes.”

“Next question,” Lü Zhongcai said.

The meeting did not conclude until the afternoon.

After the meeting, Lü Zhongcai lingered in the conference room for a moment. As she maneuvered her wheelchair out, she happened to run into a few employees going to the hot water dispenser to fetch water.

“She’s becoming less and less approachable. It seems the car accident caused President Lü considerable trauma.”

Lü Zhongcai happened to hear this sentence. She remained silent, deliberately waiting for the employees to leave the water dispenser before returning to her office.

“You actually zoned out during today’s meeting?” Lu Baimei carried a cup of coffee in one hand and chopsticks in the other, searching for her favorite dishes in the lunch box sent by the Lü family.

“Your wife’s cooking is excellent,” Lu Baimei said.

A look of appreciation appeared in Lü Zhongcai’s eyes: “Mm, she has been learning to cook.”

052 interjected: “But that doesn’t mean she likes it. It’s possible she forced herself to learn it because of ‘the standard for a wife.’”

Lü Zhongcai’s smile disappeared. She began focusing on her documents. 052 cried out, complaining that her mind was spinning.

Lu Baimei looked up, smiling wryly at Lü Zhongcai: “Sigh, I really think that Dr. Qin’s theory makes a lot of sense.”

Lü Zhongcai finally looked up from the pile of documents.

Outside the window, the moon and stars were sparse.

Unknowingly, it was already eleven o’clock at night.

Lü Zhongcai rubbed her temples, looked at the lunch box, and realized it had been delivered by the villa’s driver in the evening. It must have been prepared by Jin Sique.

When the front desk delivered the lunch box, they specifically instructed her to eat it promptly.

052: “Are you thinking that this is food made by Jin Sique, and not only did you not eat it, but you also forgot your promise to go home early?”

Lu Baimei: “Your lunch box must be cold. Let me have it as a late-night snack.”

Lü Zhongcai said coldly: “No.”

“Oh—” Lu Baimei drew out the tone meaningfully. “Didn’t you say you don’t love her? That kind of romantic possessiveness over a single lunch box wouldn’t happen to the real President Lü, would it?”

Lü Zhongcai raised her hand, signaling to Lu Baimei to do as she pleased. Lu Baimei happily took the lunch box. After heating it up, she ate with great relish in front of Lü Zhongcai.

Lu Baimei praised while eating: “Excellent, excellent.”

The aroma of the food filled the entire CEO’s office. Lü Zhongcai rubbed her temples with slight irritation, swept her finger across the desktop keyboard, and sent the two resumes back to LE Capital Headquarters across the ocean.

Lu Baimei: “Seriously, are you not considering finding an Executive VP? The company almost imploded in the month you were away.”

Lü Zhongcai: “I had you.”

Lu Baimei: “Sorry, you severely overestimate me. Without you running the show, I couldn’t even see the financial reports, and aside from being arranged to visit you frequently, I was blissfully idle.”

Lü Zhongcai smiled faintly: “I apologize for wronging the CFO. I can compensate you.”

“It’s pretty good,” Lu Baimei teased. “How many people want a job like mine, where they get paid without having to work? It’s the stuff of dreams.”

052: “I don’t think I have the function for dreaming.”

With a ten-hour time difference, the Financial Street company was still closed. Lü Zhongcai shut down her laptop, maneuvered her luggage, and left the company with Lu Baimei.

“Want to grab a drink?” Lu Baimei said, handing her phone to Lü Zhongcai to show her the bar’s location two kilometers away.

052: “Go, go, go!”

Lu Baimei: “Is the CEO rushing home to dote on his wife?”

Lü Zhongcai said, “Places like that have mixed pheromones.”

Lu Baimei: “It’s alright. How can the CEO know if she likes the flower at home if she doesn’t smell the wild ones?”

“I’ll accompany you,” Lü Zhongcai said.

Lu Baimei: “Consider it your apology.”

052: “The Black Lotus’s pheromones are wild grass. That’s not a very good metaphor.”

---

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the bar. Lu Baimei occupied a bar stool, and Lü Zhongcai’s height in the wheelchair was just right to match the effect of the high stools.

People in the bar turned to look, many trying hard to stifle their laughter.

Lu Baimei: “This wheelchair is really nice.”

Lü Zhongcai said coldly: “If you need one, I can get you one.”

Lu Baimei laughed hysterically, clutching her wine glass.

Lü Zhongcai: “A glass of whiskey.”

The bartender handed her a glass of whiskey, his gaze kindly sweeping over Lü Zhongcai, and asked, “Alpha?”

Lü Zhongcai nodded.

“Many Omegas are looking at you,” the bartender said with a smile.

Lü Zhongcai: “I’m afraid I cannot respond.”

The bartender smiled and walked away. A few Omegas exchanged glances with the bartender, seemingly confirming from the latter’s look that this was an Alpha not to be messed with, and they left disappointed.

“A wheelchair is a kind of fetish, too,” Lu Baimei said. “There’s no need to feel inferior about it.”

052: “See? You’re still very popular. So many Omegas are looking at you.”

“You misunderstand me deeply,” Lü Zhongcai said. Then, her phone vibrated softly in her palm. It was a message from Jin Sique, saying she was back at school and getting ready to sleep.

It was almost midnight.

She must have waited for her very late at home. Lü Zhongcai held her phone, contemplating how to reply.

“Hey, a gem just walked in,” a female Omega sat down, squeezing through the people on the sofa to create a space, and crossed her long legs to smoke.

“What kind of gem?”

“The one in the wheelchair,” the female Omega said. “The aura suggests an Alpha. Is anyone interested?”

“A wheelchair?”

Everyone burst into laughter.

“Crippled but still ambitious, huh?”

In a small booth next to the U-shaped sofa, Chen Xiaoyue, with her ears perked up, teased the Omega who was quietly watching the lights on the dance floor: “That wheelchair, couldn’t that be your long-suffering spouse?”

Jin Sique smiled slightly, pulling her gaze back: “She should still be working overtime.”

Chen Xiaoyue said “Oh,” and added, “I want to dance.”

“Go ahead,” Jin Sique smiled. “I’ll take you back to the hotel after you’re done.”

“Don’t be like that,” Chen Xiaoyue wailed. “You promised to pick me up at the airport and still made me wait an extra minute. Can’t you keep me company? Oh, do you want to go back and accompany your contract wife?”

“She’s a Scum Alpha. She’d be cleanest if she died.” Chen Xiaoyue complained, kicking Jin Sique’s chair from below. “Don’t you get tired of acting every day? When can you be yourself again? I barely recognize you.”

Jin Sique was dressed like a student. Her smile and minimalist makeup contrasted sharply with the chaotic and crowded atmosphere of the bar.

“Whatever you want is fine. I don’t mind. I’m just afraid that if you want an Alpha, my presence will bother you.” Jin Sique said.

Chen Xiaoyue laughed loudly: “No way! It’s just too late, so I can only hang out at the bar!”

Jin Sique remained noncommittal, continuing to wait for Lü Zhongcai’s message. In the past, even if she didn’t get a reply, she would always leave a final “Good night” in their chat interface.

Chen Xiaoyue leaned in, looking over, almost sighing to the sky: “You shouldn’t even talk to her! Sique!”

Jin Sique: “It’s nothing.”

“It’s nothing?” Chen Xiaoyue leaned closer, carefully scrutinizing Jin Sique’s face. “Then were those injuries I saw on you before all fake? Sique, she abused you…”

Jin Sique’s expression changed, her eyes carrying a dangerous look. Just as she was about to say something, her phone buzzed with a vibration.

[Lü – Incoming Call]

Chen Xiaoyue pointed at Jin Sique’s phone, puzzled: “She’s actually calling you? She didn’t find out you weren’t home and is checking up on you, is she?”

Jin Sique shook her head, indicating she didn’t know, and stood up to leave the booth: “I’ll take it outside.”

“Alright,” Chen Xiaoyue stood up too, stepping into the dance floor. “Call me if anything happens. Don’t go too far.”

“Got it.” Lu Baimei was defeated by Lü Zhongcai and had to plead for surrender, requesting to smoke a cigarette outside and then leave. “President, have we been here for half an hour? You said you wanted to leave right after we arrived. Can you try not to be a killjoy?”

The mix of pheromones in the bar was too chaotic. Lü Zhongcai’s gland still felt uncomfortably swollen. She sat in her wheelchair, her expression aloof: “I apologize, but I haven’t fully recovered from my illness.”

“She didn’t answer?” Lu Baimei asked.

Lü Zhongcai nodded.

052 asked: “I bet the Black Lotus is out fooling around, just like you.”

Lü Zhongcai frowned: “I won’t stop her from normal socializing.”

“The bar is a single person’s palace,” 052 said. “Look at Lu Baimei.”

On the roadside, Lu Baimei was already striking up a conversation with a female Omega.

Not too far away, some Omegas or unknowing Alphas were still looking at Lü Zhongcai.

Lü Zhongcai met their gaze. Those secretly observing eyes immediately felt the pressure and turned their heads away.

Suddenly, Lü Zhongcai saw an unfamiliar figure that stood out.

She was wearing a simple hoodie and jeans. The blue and black colors made her look very obedient. Her slightly inwardly curled hair was tied into a high ponytail. A notebook-sized backpack, with a patch of embroidered leaves, was facing Lü Zhongcai.

Sique?

Lü Zhongcai frowned, looking at the phone in her hand, which had automatically hung up due to no answer for a long time.

Jin Sique leaned against an electrical pole, her five fingers reaching into her hair roots, lazily loosening her ponytail. She was expressionless, just looking at the night sky, waiting quietly for two minutes, and then dialed Lü Zhongcai’s number back.

The phone vibrated with a buzz.

052: “She lied.”

Lü Zhongcai answered the call, giving a soft “Hello.”

Jin Sique’s low, obedient voice came through the receiver: “A-cai? Are you done working?”

Lü Zhongcai hummed in affirmation. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she didn’t seem to know Jin Sique very well. “Where are you?”

Jin Sique let out a silent, sarcastic laugh, and said, “I’m back at school. I left you a late-night snack in the pot. If you’re hungry, you can…”

“Sique,” Lü Zhongcai’s voice, coming through the receiver, had a husky, electric quality, seemingly mixed with a chilling coldness that made the Omega’s body hair stand on end. “Where are you?”

Jin Sique was silent for a second, then stood straight. “I’m at school.”

“Turn around,” Lü Zhongcai said.

Jin Sique subconsciously turned around. In that moment, before she could adjust her expression, her beautiful, fair-skinned face, with crimson lips, was framed by a pair of cold, emotionless peach-blossom eyes.