Alpha, Straight To The Crematorium - Chapter 2
2: Friend
After returning to the office, Si Rong called out to Secretary Chen, “Secretary Chen, clear my schedule for the afternoon the day after tomorrow.”
“Understood, President Si.” Secretary Chen nodded, jotting it down. “Then I’ll reschedule your meeting with that artist for four days from now.”
Si Rong nodded, then waved her hand to dismiss him. She sat in her office chair, slumping as if all energy had drained from her body, motionless.
The address for the meeting the day after tomorrow had already been sent to her phone by her dear mother. How considerate— it was at a café near her home.
After resting for a while, Si Rong finally sat up and began tackling the pile of work that had accumulated during her business trip.
Si Rong worked for a company called KN, short for King of Network. It was a company that had rapidly risen in the internet industry in recent years, growing into the KN Group it was today.
Si Rong oversaw KN’s gaming division. Recently, their new game Enchantment had performed exceptionally well in its public beta, earning significant acclaim and ranking among the top in gaming history.
Enchantment was the result of countless people’s hard work, so Si Rong couldn’t afford to take this matter lightly. The artist they were meeting was, in her opinion, the most suitable candidate she’d come across, and she needed to meet them in person.
Around noon, Si Rong’s office door swung open. Without even looking up, she caught a whiff of a cloyingly sweet milk scent that made her frown.
“Tone down that flashy pheromone of yours, it’s polluting my nose.” Si Rong quipped, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Chou Annan, seemingly used to this, strolled into the office with a grin, teasing Si Rong as she approached. “Only a straight-laced Alpha like you would call my milk-scented pheromone ‘flashy.’”
Si Rong smirked coldly. “Using that soft, syrupy pheromone to charm those tender-hearted Omegas—what are you if not flashy?”
Chou Annan was momentarily speechless, but since Si Rong was speaking the truth, she wisely chose not to argue.
“Lunch? To welcome you back and celebrate Enchantment’s success.”
“Lunch is fine, but skip the celebration. If you’ve got that kind of energy, how about giving me a raise instead?”
“A raise? If your salary goes up any more, it might surpass mine!”
“Isn’t that what I deserve?” Si Rong shot her a cool glance.
“Alright, alright, you’re the boss! I’ll give you the raise!” Chou Annan conceded.
Si Rong raised an eyebrow, finally showing her first smile since returning to work. She signed the last contract on her desk, stood up, grabbed her coat from the chair, and headed out. “Well, thank you, President Chou. Let’s go eat.”
Chou Annan was left speechless by Si Rong’s lightning-fast mood switch, but what could she do? Si Rong was her cash cow.
On the surface, Chou Annan was KN’s founder, but only she knew that without Si Rong’s critical support back then, she might have gone bankrupt.
Chou Annan glanced at Si Rong’s back, a faint trace of gratitude in her eyes. She and Si Rong were college classmates and roommates, with similar family backgrounds. But Chou Annan’s life was far less peaceful than Si Rong’s.
When she broke away from her family to start her own business, Si Rong wasn’t the first to join her, but she was the first to offer substantial help in a time of crisis.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to add flowers to a crown, but hard to send charcoal in the snow. Even now, Chou Annan vividly remembered that moment. When the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, Si Rong returned from overseas, immediately injected funds, and brought in a major deal, saving KN from collapse.
It could be said that KN’s success today was inseparable from Si Rong.
Lost in her memories, Chou Annan didn’t notice Si Rong turning around until she spoke, looking at her like she was an idiot. “What’s wrong, President Chou? Regretting already? Not even treating me to lunch?”
Snapping out of it, Chou Annan jogged to catch up, looping her arm through Si Rong’s. “You, with all the money your family has, why are you so obsessed with cash?”
At this, Chou Annan felt a pang of envy. Si Rong still received pocket money from her older brother every month.
“Who ever complains about having too much money?” Si Rong retorted, wrinkling her nose and pushing Chou Annan’s shoulder to keep her at a distance. “I told you to rein in that scent!”
“Nope, nope, nope!” Chou Annan deliberately leaned closer. “It’s so weird—your brother loves sweets, but you can’t stand even a hint of sweetness. I seriously wonder if you two are even related!”
“If you’ve got questions, go ask my mom. She’s got plenty of free time.” Si Rong said, her mood souring at the mention of her mother.
As they stepped into the elevator, Chou Annan keenly picked up on Si Rong’s shift in mood. Curious, she asked, “What’s up? Did Auntie do something to upset you again?”
Si Rong closed her eyes, unwilling to speak. Her friend had no other talents, but her big mouth was infamous across the entire school back in the day. If Si Rong told her that her mom was forcing her to go on a blind date, the news would be all over the company’s internal forum by the next day.
Seeing Si Rong’s silence, Chou Annan grew even more intrigued, sensing a juicy story. She pestered Si Rong the entire way, so much so that even Chou Annan’s driver couldn’t help sneaking glances at them through the rearview mirror.
His boss and President Si were such an odd pair!
Si Rong caught the driver’s strange looks, her face flushing with embarrassment. She was starting to worry—if this fool kept this up at the restaurant, she’d die of public humiliation.
“Behave yourself! I’ll tell you over lunch!” Si Rong hissed, unconsciously releasing a bit of her pheromone to suppress Chou Annan.
Chou Annan looked shocked. “What’s the big deal that you’re using your pheromone to suppress me?!”
“Speak properly! Who’s suppressing you? Can you even call it suppression between Alphas?” Si Rong snapped, manually silencing Chou Annan with a hand over her mouth.
Once they reached the private room Chou Annan had reserved, Si Rong finally let her go. Before Chou Annan could go wild, Si Rong spoke first. “It’s no big deal. My mom’s making me go on a blind date the day after tomorrow.”
“A blind date?!”
Si Rong nodded approvingly at Chou Annan’s reaction. Good, at least she wasn’t the only one who thought a blind date at 26 was absurd.
Taking a sip of tea, she said, “Right? You also think it’s ridiculous to go on a blind date at 26.”
“No, no,” Chou Annan replied, looking stunned as she blurted out the truth. “I just think it’s even more ridiculous that someone actually agreed to go on a blind date with a straight-laced Alpha like you!”
“Get lost!”