I Woke Up and Became an Alpha (GL) - Chapter 8
“Are you afraid of me?”
These words caught Song Yuran off guard. She took a careful look at Huo Qingzhi. The person in front of her was strikingly different from the impression of a cold, fierce Alpha she had from the book. She was remarkably gentle, lacking the sharp edges she had imagined. She didn’t seem like a tough Alpha, but more like an ordinary woman.
But… it’s your protagonist’s halo I’m afraid of!
The air seemed to solidify at that moment. Song Yuran’s words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t tell Huo Qingzhi that she was from another world and knew the hardships she would face in the future. Saying that would be tantamount to personally sending herself to a mental hospital.
After a stalemate, Huo Qingzhi let out a soft sigh, seemingly giving up on the topic.
She glanced at the resignation application on the desk again and then asked, “How’s your head?”
“Ah?” Song Yuran didn’t quite follow, instinctively thinking Huo Qingzhi was going to twist her head off. Damn, the image of a fierce Alpha is too deeply ingrained.
Huo Qingzhi pointed to the side of her head, just above her ear. Song Yuran, bewildered, also pointed to her own head.
“Hiss.” Only then did she remember hitting her head on the hand dryer in the restroom. The long-ignored pain immediately asserted itself, and a careful touch revealed a slight bump.
“What were you doing in the restroom just now?” Huo Qingzhi asked.
Song Yuran’s memory instantly brought up the scene. She could see her own strange and awkward squatting and twisting posture in the mirror, and the non-existent embarrassment made her face flush.
“I’m not an idiot!” Song Yuran hurriedly explained, “My clothes got wet from the rain, and I thought I’d dry them.” As she spoke, she scratched her head, accidentally touching the bumped spot, and winced in pain again.
This comical sight made Huo Qingzhi chuckle, but only for a moment. She brought a curved finger to her lips, then said, “There are clothes over there; you can pick one to change into.”
Due to her profession, Song Yuran was somewhat curious about those racks of clothes. After weighing her options, she accepted Huo Qingzhi’s suggestion.
She walked to the movable rack, brushing her fingertips over various garments, finally settling on one.
She took out the item: a V-neck T-shirt with a two-tone spliced design and large open cut-outs at the elbows, giving it a somewhat modern Hong Kong style.
Compared to the commonly plain-colored or tacky landscape and floral graffiti designs prevalent in this world, it was quite innovative. It was as fashionable as President Huo herself.
Song Yuran held up the garment and asked Huo Qingzhi, “Can I choose this one?”
Huo Qingzhi looked up. After seeing the shirt in Song Yuran’s hand, her expression froze for a moment. “Suit yourself.” Then she lowered her head to continue working.
Seeing that she was busy, Song Yuran didn’t disturb her. She thanked her for the clothes and left the office.
The moment the door closed, she suddenly remembered, wasn’t she here to resign?!
Just as she was about to go back and confirm her resignation, Huo Qingzhi’s secretary saw her come out and approached. Song Yuran couldn’t very well turn back now, so she just nodded to the secretary as a greeting.
“Oh, why are you holding that shirt?” The secretary was about to open the door, her hand already on the doorknob, when she belatedly turned and asked.
Song Yuran stopped, turned, and held up the shirt in her hand. “You mean this one? My clothes got wet, and President Huo told me to pick one, so I took this. Is there a problem?”
“No, nothing.” The secretary shook her head. “That one’s a discarded sample because the design wasn’t up to par.”
“…” Song Yuran was speechless.
Before she could react, the secretary mumbled another sentence: “It was designed by President Huo herself.”
You say that, and suddenly I’m not sleepy anymore! Song Yuran took three steps in two and walked up to the secretary, grabbing her arm. Her face full of curiosity, she asked, “Why wasn’t it up to par? I think this shirt looks quite good; it would surely sell well if mass-produced.”
The secretary shook her head, a little helpless. Thinking it wasn’t a secret, she told her.
Every piece of clothing designed by President Huo, after the sample came out, would be taken to the design department to ask for the designers’ opinions. If it was rejected, she would abandon the design without hesitation. It could be said that the designers’ opinions outweighed Huo Qingzhi’s personal ideas.
The secretary didn’t understand, but Song Yuran quickly grasped the reason with a little thought.
Huo Qingzhi’s parents passed away in a car accident when she was twenty, leaving behind the developing Huason. To inherit her parents’ wishes, Huo Qingzhi, who originally studied music, switched to business administration halfway through and also taught herself fashion design.
After all, being non-professionally trained, Huo Qingzhi wasn’t confident in her own designs. Even if she thought a design was good, if it was rejected by professional designers, she wouldn’t even hesitate to give up on it directly.
Song Yuran somewhat understood why Huo Qingzhi would be so terribly manipulated later on… Design emphasizes innovation, and sometimes a unique style can be strikingly refreshing. It was simply that she trusted these conservatives too much and lacked her own ideas.
No wonder this world’s fashion aesthetic was still twenty years behind.
Watching Song Yuran’s retreating back, the secretary withdrew her gaze and pressed the doorknob, opening the President’s office door.
Huo Qingzhi was still looking at the design drafts submitted by the design department. Song Yuran’s resignation letter was still placed to the side. The secretary walked over and said, “President Huo, there’s something I’d like to tell you.”
“Speak,” Huo Qingzhi put down the design drafts, gesturing for her to continue.
The secretary placed her hands in front of her, a little shyly, “As I told you before, I’m getting married, and after marriage, I plan to move back home with my husband to develop my career.”
Huo Qingzhi nodded. “I know. Just make sure to complete the handover before you resign. Have you found a new secretary?”
“Still looking.” The secretary shook her head. “There aren’t many Beta applicants in the talent market. It might take a while to find a suitable one.”
Other president would prioritize Alphas, then Omegas, only considering Betas if they couldn’t find anyone else.
But Huo Qingzhi was different. Her primary requirement was a Beta, followed by professional ability. Even an Alpha with outstanding business capabilities wouldn’t catch her eye.
This puzzled the secretary, even though she herself was a Beta.
The secretary couldn’t resist asking, “President Huo, why do you insist on choosing a Beta as your assistant?”
Huo Qingzhi didn’t speak, but narrowed her eyes slightly. The secretary immediately felt an invisible pressure, a chilling aura entering her nostrils. If not for Betas being insensitive to pheromones, any other gender would have been unable to stand under such strong pheromone suppression.
The secretary realized she had spoken too much. She immediately lowered her head and said, “President Huo, I will continue to keep an eye out. I’ll arrange interviews for suitable candidates as soon as possible.”
“Mm, go get busy.”
Just as the secretary was about to leave, she saw the documents on the desk and asked, “President Huo, how should we handle Song Yuran’s resignation?”
Huo Qingzhi glanced at the resignation letter, remembering the person’s evasiveness regarding the reason for resigning. She gave a humorless smile and said, “Leave it be for now.”
“Okay.” The secretary nodded and quickly left. Huo Qingzhi was once again alone in the office.
It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Huo Qingzhi lowered her head, supporting it with one hand, and rubbed her temple, briefly pulling herself away from the stack of design drafts.
Although each drawing was different, the styles were remarkably similar, completely lacking in novelty. How could they stand out in the market with these?
She officially took over the company from her uncle, Huo Yuandong, at the age of twenty-three. She had been full of ambition, ready to make a big splash, but after taking over, she realized that in just three years, Huason, which was originally in a period of growth, had missed opportunities to dominate the market under Huo Yuandong’s management, and Jian Ai, which was almost a national brand, became a lukewarm one.
In the three years since she took over, despite Huo Qingzhi’s efforts, there hadn’t been much progress in the company’s development. If there was no progress this year, she might have no choice but to close some branches and scale down.
A heavy sigh echoed in the office. Huo Qingzhi opened her eyes and saw Song Yuran’s resignation letter still on the desk.
She reached out and picked up the report, muttering the name on it: “Song, Yuran…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Song Yuran’s face involuntarily appeared before her eyes.
What struck Huo Qingzhi about that face was the other person’s clean and pure gaze. Even though she was an Alpha, she seemed completely oblivious to her pheromones, unlike other Alphas whose instinctive reactions to pheromones made Huo Qingzhi uncomfortable, even disgusted.
Finally, the resignation letter was placed in Huo Qingzhi’s drawer.
Song Yuran went downstairs and stopped by the HR department. She probed the colleague who handled resignations yesterday, but the clear message she got was: “To Be Determined” means President Huo needs to handle it personally. In short, to resign, she needed President Huo’s approval.
“…” She thought about it, decided she could work for a few more days, and that President Huo would naturally let her go when she was in a better mood.
Before returning to the office, Song Yuran changed into the shirt Huo Qingzhi designed. Accepting a gift makes one feel indebted, and after the scene in the President’s office, Song Yuran felt that Huo Qingzhi wasn’t as terrifying as she was in the original novel.
After all, she even asked if she had hit her head.
It seemed that President Huo, who hadn’t evolved into Niohuru Huo Qingzhi yet, still had a bit of humanity.