It’s Not Okay to Kiss Me as Soon as We Meet (ABO) - Chapter 6

Lin Huaiyi woke up to the smell of disinfectant, and the glaring fluorescent lights on the ceiling made her close her eyes again.

The hospital emergency room had several temporary beds, and simple blue cloth curtains divided the different beds into relatively independent narrow spaces. Lin Huaiyi lay on one of the beds, and she heard voices talking outside the curtain. Special Assistant Yang was explaining to the doctor how Lin Huaiyi had fainted.

Lin Huaiyi’s mind raced as she recalled that she seemed to have passed out at the icebreaker party. She instantly felt a bit embarrassed. On her first day at work, she had discovered in the morning that her direct superior was the Omega she had accidentally marked not long before. Then, at the new employees’ icebreaker party in the evening, she had lost at games all night. She had passed out after just one drink, and in the middle of the night, she had to trouble a colleague to send her to the hospital. What a chaotic day it had been.

Special Assistant Yang noticed that Lin Huaiyi had woken up and immediately asked about her condition.

Special Assistant Yang: “Xiao Lin, you’re awake? Does your body still feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

Lin Huaiyi quickly sat up from the hospital bed and replied, “I’m fine now. I’m really sorry. I troubled you today.”

Lin Huaiyi looked around and did not see Shen Li. Only Special Assistant Yang and the on-duty doctor were there, so she felt relieved.

Hearing Lin Huaiyi say she was fine, Special Assistant Yang also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, at the company’s icebreaker party, if a new employee ended up in the hospital because of drinking and something big happened, it could cause a public relations issue.

Special Assistant Yang: “That’s good, that’s good.”

Special Assistant Yang turned to the on-duty doctor, and the doctor said to Lin Huaiyi, “If your body feels no abnormalities, you can go back after finishing this bottle of glucose and observing for another half hour.” Lin Huaiyi nodded and thanked the doctor.

The doctor then said to Special Assistant Yang, “Don’t worry. She is an Alpha, and her physical fitness is very good.”

After seeing the doctor off, Special Assistant Yang came back and said to Lin Huaiyi, “Xiao Lin, I contacted your emergency contact earlier. He said he would be here soon. I might have to go back to the company first. There are some things on President Li’s side that I need to handle.”

Lin Huaiyi had already troubled Special Assistant Yang twice today because of the drinking incident, so she was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. Special Assistant Yang maintained his usual professional courtesy, expressed concern for Lin Huaiyi a couple of times, and then left the hospital.

Shen Li got a phone call in the middle of the night that summoned her to Shen Jun’s office.

Shen Jun was over fifty, but he already had half a head of silver hair. Even though it was late at night, Shen Jun’s suit was still neat and straight, and he sat upright in the office chair with a serious expression.

As soon as Shen Li stepped into the office, she saw Shen Yan sitting on the sofa. She had to admit that Shen Yan was one of the few people she truly disliked, and calling him her “archenemy” would not be an overstatement.

Looking at Shen Yan’s lazy and carefree attitude, Shen Li could not help but snort coldly. She looked up and saw Shen Jun sitting behind the desk with a complicated expression, so Shen Li changed to a concerned tone and asked, “Dad, why are you still in the office so late?”

Shen Yan let out a strange laugh. “Yo, sister, did I hear that right? You snorted at me? There’s an order of seniority. At least greet me when you see me and call me brother.”

Shen Yan, who was a few years older than Shen Li, had bullied her since childhood. It had been even worse in the years right after Shen Li differentiated into an Omega. Shen Yan would tell everyone, “An Omega only needs to wait to get married. Unlike me, who differentiated into an Alpha and has to work hard to support the whole family,” and things like that.

In front of the elders, Shen Yan pretended to be obedient and sensible, but as soon as he turned around, he used his status as the Shen family’s Alpha to party and drink outside. Just from what Shen Li had heard, several Omegas had accidentally gotten pregnant because of Shen Yan’s irresponsibility.

Shen Jun coughed dryly, stopping the verbal sparring between the two.

Shen Jun looked at his only daughter, with affection in his eyes as well as worry.

Shen Li’s mother had passed away early, and they had only Shen Li as their child. Shen Jun had always kept the promise he made to Shen Li’s mother of “one lifetime, one person, one partner,” and he had not remarried afterward.

In this society, everyone was used to seeing Alphas earning money to support the family while Omegas managed the home. This model had been running for a long time, and when Shen Li differentiated into an Omega, Shen Jun’s expectation for her had also been to find a good match and build a happy family. As for the heir to Shen Corporation, he would pick a promising Alpha from the nephews and nieces. Having his own nephews and nieces manage Shen Corporation would still allow them to help him look after Shen Li, and such an arrangement would let Shen Jun feel at ease.

But perhaps because her mother had passed away early, Shen Li had matured much earlier than ordinary children. She was exceptionally talented, had excellent grades, and even during school, she had shown outstanding organizational and leadership abilities.

One day, Shen Li found Shen Jun, looked straight into his eyes, and said firmly, “Dad, I think I am equally qualified to be the heir to Shen Corporation.”

Shen Jun was so proud. His daughter, even though she was an Omega, had abilities and ambitions that did not lose to any Alpha.

However, he was still very worried deep down. His daughter was an Omega after all. If she did not take the path of supporting her husband and raising children but competed in business with a bunch of Alphas instead, was he helping his daughter or harming her?

In the end, Shen Jun convinced himself and also convinced the board of directors to let Shen Li enter the company and compete with Shen Yan and the other Shen family Alphas for the position of heir to Shen Corporation.

In the office, Shen Jun spoke up. “Xiao Yan, you explain it.”

Shen Yan cleared his throat pretentiously and said, “Alright, Uncle, it’s like this. Our sales department received a complaint saying that our X1 water purifier equipment involves a Japanese patent infringement issue. Because it’s a major matter, I had to come find you in the middle of the night. If I remember correctly, Shen Corporation’s product department is responsible for reviewing all product line patent authorizations, right?”

Shen Jun replied, “Li Li just took office as the product department director today, so she may not be clear on the authorization issues for previously released products.”

Shen Li heard the protective intent in Shen Jun’s words toward her. She thought for a moment and said, “Dad, since I am now the product department director, I have the responsibility to investigate this matter thoroughly. Give me three days, and I will definitely give you a response.”

She looked straight at Shen Yan. “If it really is a patent infringement, then the impact on Shen Corporation’s reputation and finances is something that even if I don’t say it, Director Yan knows. I hope that during these three days, the sales department can cooperate with our product department to investigate this matter together.”

Shen Jun did not wait for Shen Yan to speak. “Good, three days’ limit. It’s a major matter, so your two departments must work together to try to minimize the impact of this issue.”

It was already past three in the morning when Shen Li got home. She could not stop replaying in her mind every single thing that had happened in the product department before the release of the X1 water purifier equipment.

After graduating with her master’s degree, Shen Li had entered Shen Corporation as a management trainee and had rotated through various departments. This time, she had been promoted to product department director because the previous director, Zhang Luming, had moved his family abroad to settle there. Actually, thinking about it carefully, there was something a bit strange about it. Zhang Luming still had two years until retirement, and Shen Corporation’s benefits and retirement pay were very good. Why would he choose to resign at this time?

Shen Li searched for Zhang Luming’s name on the industry association website but found no clues. He had not taken a job at any company in the same industry after resigning.

Shen Li let out a long sigh. On her first day in office, facing this sudden situation, she had no leads at all. With only three days, could she figure out the thread of this matter, come up with a solution, and get through the current crisis?

Crisis meant opportunity in crisis.

If she did not handle it well, it would give Shen Yan a legitimate reason to lobby those old guys to squeeze her out of the company. But if she handled it well, it would be a good chance to let others see her abilities.

Lin Huaiyi scratched her head as she looked at Butler Tuo Shu, who had elegantly rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night dressed in a tailcoat. She said, “Sorry, Uncle Tuo. It’s the middle of the night, and I troubled you to come all this way. I’m fine now.”

Uncle Tuo had a face full of concern. “Young Miss, how do you feel now? I just asked the doctor, and he said you suddenly fainted because you were a bit stimulated. Young Miss, you just differentiated in the past two days, so your body is still very fragile.”

Lin Huaiyi suddenly understood. She had been completely puzzled before about why she had passed out after just one drink.

An Alpha’s constitution was already very good, let alone her being an SSS-level Alpha. Just one glass of whiskey should not have made her pass out directly in theory.

Lin Huaiyi nodded obediently and said, “By the way, Uncle Tuo, you didn’t tell my mom and dad, right? You know my mom’s personality. If she found out, she would definitely make a big fuss over nothing.”

Uncle Tuo’s face was full of smiles, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes also revealed elegance. He comforted Lin Huaiyi. “I haven’t reported to Madam yet, but I will report your hospitalization to the master truthfully tomorrow.”

Lin Huaiyi felt helpless, but she could not make things difficult for Uncle Tuo. After all, complete loyalty to the family head was one of the professional virtues of a butler.

Uncle Tuo led Lin Huaiyi to the Bentley sedan waiting in the underground parking lot and instructed the driver to take Lin Huaiyi back to the apartment where she currently lived alone.

Lin Huaiyi leaned back in the rear seat with her eyes closed to rest. Since rebirth, every day had been intense and stimulating, and she had not had time to properly sort through the original body’s original memories.

Before, when Lin’s father had asked her to join Shen Corporation, she had not thought much about it. At the time, she had just wanted to stay as far away from the Lin family as possible. Now that she thought about it, Lin Corporation and Shen Corporation were fierce rivals. If people at the company found out, how could she continue to mix in? What a headache.

But things had already come to this point, and regretting it now would not help. Anyway, she would have little contact with Lin Corporation in the future. Out of professional ethics, Lin Huaiyi would not leak Shen Corporation’s secrets to Lin Corporation, and for other matters, she would just take it one step at a time.

July dawned especially early, and under the effect of the alcohol, Lin Huaiyi did not sleep soundly. As soon as it got light, she got out of bed.

In her previous life, Lin Huaiyi had the habit of morning runs. She used half an hour of exercise to awaken her sleeping body, then ate breakfast on the way home, drank a cup of coffee, and felt full of passion for the whole day.

Shen Corporation’s working hours were nine in the morning to six in the evening, and Lin Huaiyi entered the company at eight thirty.

The product department’s office was on the 28th floor of the Shen Corporation building. As soon as Lin Huaiyi stepped into the office, she found that the entire office was filled with a tense atmosphere. The people sitting at their workstations were either talking loudly on the phone or frowning tightly as they typed on the keyboard. Several people who looked like secretaries were holding bundles of documents and quickly shuttling through the office in fine high heels. Everyone was extremely busy.

In the world where Lin Huaiyi had been in her previous life, everyone was a workaholic. She had not expected that coming to the ABO world, it would still be the same. It was just that in her previous life’s place, everyone worked late to get off work. Was it that here, they worked early to get to work?

Lin Huaiyi saw Yang Qiang, who had been the host all night at the KTV last night, walking toward the door, so she pulled him aside and asked with a hint of suspicion, “Morning, Brother Yang. Um, does our company start work at nine? I didn’t arrive late, did I?”

Yang Qiang pulled Lin Huaiyi to the side and whispered to her, “Xiao Lin, be careful with what you say and do in the department these two days. Our company’s product got complained about for infringement, and it seems like it’s our product department’s responsibility. Now, any employee who is even slightly senior has been called to a meeting in the director’s office.”