Her Little Mute Omega [Rebirth] - Chapter 4

After working non-stop for a week, Lu Chan treated her team to afternoon tea from Mu’s Sweets every day.

By the end of the week, everyone had developed an aversion to sweets and never dared complain about the lack of afternoon perks again.

Having finished her urgent tasks, Lu Chan left work unusually early.

“President Lu, should we postpone tomorrow’s meeting?” Wen Rou asked, standing before the president’s desk with the schedule in hand.

“I’m taking the next two days off. Postpone everything,” Lu Chan said coldly as she stood up. After taking a few steps, she turned back to ask, “Are my gym memberships still valid?”

“All three of your gym memberships are valid, President Lu. They’re all top-tier VIP memberships,” Wen Rou replied quickly, her professional smile in place. “The cards are in the bottom drawer of the cabinet on your left.”

“Good, I know,” Lu Chan said, turning back to open the cabinet. She picked up the three cards, examined them briefly, and took one as she left.

Wen Rou stood behind, her eyes wide with surprise. Once Lu Chan’s figure disappeared, she couldn’t resist gossiping with her colleagues. “President Lu actually left work early today and isn’t working this weekend either! That’s unheard of!”

“President Lu isn’t coming to work tomorrow? That’s fantastic!” a colleague cheered excitedly.

The moment those words were spoken, the entire office atmosphere instantly lightened.

Lu Chan was notorious for her workaholic tendencies. She rarely took a break, working almost every day of the year except for the Lunar New Year.

Staying late at the office until dawn or even sunrise was a common occurrence for her. When working on major projects, she would often go days without sleep.

Her colleagues frequently worried she would collapse from exhaustion, but her S-Class Alpha mental and physical resilience repeatedly shattered their expectations.

While they staggered around like they were about to collapse after two consecutive all-nighters, Lu Chan remained as sharp and composed as ever.

Having such a relentlessly driven boss inspired both admiration and a sense of urgency. Everyone strove to perfect their work, pushing themselves to the limit.

As a result, their department consistently achieved the highest monthly performance within the Lu Group.

Naturally, they also received the largest monthly bonuses and year-end bonuses.

Lu Chan drove, but she wasn’t heading home.

After five kilometers, she parked around the corner from a dessert shop.

From her vantage point, she could clearly see people entering and exiting the shop. However, she could only glimpse a corner of the interior.

She observed silently for a while, but the person she wanted to see didn’t emerge.

Lu Chan stared at the “Mu’s Sweets” sign, torn between getting out and going inside. She worried that her sudden, unannounced visit would seem contrived.

Her usually decisive and efficient work style now seemed hesitant and cautious.

In the past, she rarely visited this dessert shop, perhaps only a handful of times. When Mu Jin wanted to return home, the family chauffeur usually picked her up.

Mu Jin had never asked Lu Chan for a ride, and Lu Chan, oblivious to this, always let Mu Jin return alone.

Their marriage had been a whirlwind, lacking any emotional foundation.

In daily life, Mu Jin was often understanding and virtuous, adhering to the Lu Family’s customs and never causing Lu Chan any trouble.

Every day, Lu Chan dutifully fulfilled her wifely duties, seeing Mu Jin off in the morning and welcoming her home in the evening.

Mu Jin’s adorable face always wore a gentle, considerate smile, and she would softly call Lu Chan “Qingqing.”

For a time, Lu Chan had thought her wife’s obedient and well-behaved nature was ideal, requiring no effort on her part.

But after her rebirth, seeing Mu Jin’s sweet smile unburdened by the Lu Family’s strict rules, Lu Chan selfishly hoped that after their marriage, Mu Jin would be more willful, even spoiled.

Lost in thought, Lu Chan even began planning for the possibility of having children.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was her mother calling.

Lu Chan frowned, reluctant to answer. But when she glanced up and spotted a familiar figure in Mu’s Sweets, she immediately picked up.

Before she could speak, a middle-aged woman’s voice came through the line: “Chanchan, Mommy’s at Mu’s Sweets—the dessert shop you’ve been ordering from all week.”

Hearing her mother’s childishly sweet tone, Lu Chan felt a shiver of goosebumps.

Though she was used to her mother’s baby-talk-like way of speaking to her, Lu Chan still disliked it.

From childhood, Lu Chan had been raised under the Lu Family’s strict code of etiquette. Every word and gesture was meticulously refined, leaving no room for any breach of decorum.

Her mother, however, was an anomaly.

Born into the wealthy Ye Family, she had never adhered to the Lu Family’s rules after marrying into the family.

Her daily attire leaned toward the provocative, and she often spent nights away from home alone.

In Lu Chan’s memory, before her father’s death, her mother had been less familiar to her than the household servants.

The only thing she remembered was a woman who always spoke to her in a saccharine, cooing tone.

Those perpetually smiling eyes held a sorrow and resentment Lu Chan couldn’t comprehend.

“I understand,” Lu Chan said coldly before hanging up.

Immediately, the familiar voice in her peripheral vision seemed to be cooing at a woman.

If she hadn’t seen the photos, she would have assumed it was Mu Jin’s mother—the younger sister of the Yan Group’s Chairman.

For reasons unknown, Mu Jin’s mother had severed ties with the Yan Family and married an ordinary Beta man.

Mu Jin resembled her mother more, especially after marriage. The gentle melancholy between her brows bore a striking resemblance to her mother’s.

But for now, that radiant, smiling face remained untouched by sorrow.

There was still time.

Ye Xian’s call was abruptly cut off, and a girlish sorrow clouded her meticulously maintained face. She sighed, “I must be the only poor mother who keeps getting hung up on by her own daughter.”

Before anyone could offer comfort, her expression brightened into a cheerful smile. “But at least she agreed to pick me up. A mother shouldn’t hold grudges against her child.”

Yan Zhu swallowed her comforting words, continuing her work while saying, “Then you should sit here a while longer and wait for President Lu to come for you.”

“Xiao Zhu is always so considerate,” Ye Xian said, pouting slightly, her voice rising in a coquettish lilt.

With her beautiful features, sweet voice, and elegant, refined attire, even when she adopted girlish mannerisms, she never seemed out of place or off-putting. Instead, she exuded a playful charm and endearing warmth.

Yan Zhu often thought that Mu Jin’s lively and clever personality owed much to Ye Xian’s influence.

“Aunt Ye, standing here must be tiring. Why don’t you sit over there? Miss Lu probably won’t be here for a while,” Mu Jin typed, her chubby cheeks dimpling with a sweet, cheerful smile.

“Xiao Jin is always so thoughtful. Unlike Lu Chan… sigh, let’s not talk about her,” Ye Xian said, raising her delicate eyebrows as she gracefully settled into a chair by the window.

Mu Jin continued organizing the ingredients for tomorrow’s purchase.

She bustled in and out, checking each display case and occasionally jotting down notes on her paper. Throughout the process, a faint smile played on her lips.

Even amidst her own tasks, Yan Zhu couldn’t help but glance at Mu Jin and the woman by the window from time to time. Both of them were a source of worry.

“Xiao Jin, focus on your work and stop looking around. If you make a mistake, we’ll be in a panic later,” Yan Zhu said gently but firmly.

Normally, Mu Jin was meticulous and diligent in her work. But since earlier, the smile on her face hadn’t faded, and her bright, dark eyes kept drifting toward the window.

What could she be looking at?

Mu Jin blinked, nodding with a hint of grievance.

A moment later, her gaze drifted back outside.

After finishing her tasks with a touch of impatience, Mu Jin placed the organization notebook on the cashier’s counter, bent down, and retrieved a box of cat food from the cabinet.

Meeting Yan Zhu’s puzzled gaze, she tilted her head and smiled brightly, typing, “I need to go feed Xiao Hua and Xiao Hu now.”

Xiao Hua and Xiao Hu were two stray cats from the neighborhood. Once, while being chased, they had panicked and darted into Mu’s Sweets.

Mu Jin had rescued the strays and regularly fed them, naming them based on their appearances.

Xiao Hua was a calico cat with four distinct colors, while Xiao Hu was black and white. His fierce demeanor, resembling a young tiger, earned him his name.

“Xiao Jin, you’re so kind,” Ye Xian said, resting her chin on her hand, the corners of her eyes tilting upward with a playful glint. “Hurry back! Aunt Ye wants to introduce you to Lu Chan.”

Mu Jin, clutching a bag of cat food, blushed and smiled, then hurried out the door.

The two stray cats usually lingered at the street corner, occasionally crossing to the opposite side.

Mu Jin stood at the corner, scanning the area until she spotted them dozing in a small flowerbed.

Smiling, she approached.

Hearing footsteps, the cats immediately arched their backs defensively. But when they recognized Mu Jin, the hostility in their amber eyes softened slightly.

Xiao Hua approached first, rubbing against Mu Jin’s wrist, while Xiao Hu licked his paw and continued napping.

Mu Jin chuckled and poured the cat food into the flowerbed.

Xiao Hua ate for a while before Xiao Hu sauntered over.

Suddenly, both cats darted into the flowerbed, as if startled.

Mu Jin looked up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a stranger—a young man in his twenties, an Alpha.

His rank was indiscernible.

The man was dressed casually, holding a high-end camera in his hand, and approaching her with a bright, cheerful smile.

Mu Jin frowned slightly, put away the remaining cat food, and turned to leave.

Before she reached the corner, the man had already hurried over and blocked her path.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Mu Jin?” the man asked with a smile, his polite tone conveying absolute certainty.

Though his words were friendly, his posture made it clear he wasn’t about to let her go.

Mu Jin glanced at the man’s probing gaze and the camera in his hand, immediately understanding his intentions.

“Don’t be afraid, Miss Mu Jin,” the man said with a smile, snapping several photos of her. “I heard you’re twenty-one and still haven’t differentiated, so I came to interview you and see if our newspaper can offer any assistance.”

Mu Jin instinctively shielded her face.

Nearby, a woman as cold as ice emerged from a luxury car, radiating the aura of an S-Class Alpha.