The party went on almost all night. At five or six in the morning, Zuo Chi could still hear the noisy voices outside. He turned off the bedroom light, enveloping himself in darkness. If possible, he wanted to escape from here, find a quiet place to sleep properly. But because his eyes were swollen from crying, he couldn’t shield himself from the gaze of others as he walked from here to the door as if nothing had happened.
After not sleeping well all night, Zuo Chi took half a day off and didn’t go to the company the next morning.
By noon, he finally walked out of the bedroom door and went to the kitchen to get a packet of toast. People had left, but the living room was a mess, empty and unfinished bottles strewn on the floor, even Omega’s scent blockers were found in the crevices of the sofa, the air filled with a mixture of Alpha and Omega pheromones.
Where was Sheng Li? Zuo Chi didn’t dare to think about this question too much. He looked towards Sheng Li’s closed bedroom door, feeling fortunate that he couldn’t see what was inside.
Struggling to swallow a piece of toast with plain water, the phone on the table rang.
The abrupt ringtone pierced the silence, and he immediately answered it, then belatedly looked at the caller ID, realizing it was Zuo Yi.
“Why weren’t you at the office this morning?”
Ah. Zuo Chi thought, he rarely missed work in the past year, but he happened to be caught by Zuo Yi.
“I didn’t sleep well yesterday.” His voice was hoarse, confirming this fact.
“Can you come to work on time this afternoon?”
Zuo Chi answered flatly, “Yes, no problem.”
In the afternoon, Zuo Chi arrived at the office and saw Zuo Lie sitting on his small sofa, understanding the meaning behind that phone call.
All the bad things came together, and he found it difficult to cope, feeling very tired.
Zuo Lie smiled triumphantly at him. “Ge, you’re here.”
Ignoring him, Zuo Chi looked at Zuo Yi. “Father.”
Zuo Yi, being both courteous and forceful, affirmed Zuo Chi’s work before mentioning the fact that he was an Omega. “In this position, every decision you make is important. Omegas have three days of heat every month. If important work is delayed because of heat, it won’t be good. Moreover, now that you’re engaged, you should spend more time focusing on your Alpha. How do you feel about that?”
Zuo Chi didn’t argue for himself. “I’ll follow Father’s arrangement.”
Zuo Yi was very satisfied with his tactfulness and nodded. “Your brother needs an opportunity to develop himself. I’ll let him follow you for two weeks to learn, then you can hand over your work.”
Since Zuo Lie stepped into the Zuo family’s door, Zuo Chi knew this day would come.
Sheng Li said he was foolish, knowing that the future belonged to Zuo Lie, yet still working hard for the Zuo family. Actually, it wasn’t like that. After realizing the thinness of family affection, he changed his view of himself.
He wasn’t some damn heir, just a laborer for the Zuo family. Work, then receive his reward, there was nothing wrong with it. Which one of his subordinates wasn’t like this?
He looked around the office, feeling a bit regretful. He had spent many overtime days here, spending more time here than at home. Perhaps this was his temporary home, after all, whether in the Zuo family or in Sheng Li’s family, he felt like a guest.
But besides this, he felt lighter than he had imagined, even feeling a sense of relief: “Okay.”
Zuo Lie followed Zuo Chi to learn, and everyone in the company knew what was going on. Zuo Chi received many sympathetic looks, but he pretended not to see them and continued to do what he needed to do.
Zuo Lie didn’t have a head for business, nor could he focus on learning. But all of this had nothing to do with Zuo Chi. He explained the situation of each project and the responsibilities of the direct subordinates to Zuo Lie, fulfilling his own duties.
In the same company, everyone had heard of Zuo Lie’s work ability. Some people sympathized with Zuo Chi, some felt it was unfair for him, and two subordinates secretly found Zuo Chi, wanting to apply for a transfer under him.
Naturally, Zuo Chi didn’t agree. His future career plans were not clear, and there was no reason to let others take risks.
Two weeks passed quickly, and Zuo Chi officially handed over the position of general manager to Zuo Lie. Zuo Yi intended for him to lead a branch company, but Zuo Chi declined, saying he wanted to apply for a two to three-month vacation to travel.
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty towards his son, Zuo Yi agreed to hi’s request.
It had been a long time since Zuo Chi had traveled. He had traveled to many places for work, but most of them were three to five days, with the longest being only half a month. It was difficult to fully immerse himself in enjoyment with work on his mind. This time, he could finally relax completely.
However, as a result, the rehabilitation treatment of his glands would be interrupted. At the recommendation of the doctor, Zuo Chi bought an expensive home treatment device, planning to put it in his suitcase during the trip. The effect would certainly not be as good as receiving treatment in the hospital, but it was still a method.
He took a lot of travel guides online, took notes seriously, planned his travel route, booked flights in advance, reserved accommodation, and prepared common items needed for the trip.
On an ordinary Wednesday, he took a taxi to the airport with his suitcase. After checking in his luggage, he passed through security and sat in the departure lounge, feeling unusually calm, even playing a couple of games.
He flew to Paris, checked into the reserved hotel, took a nap, and then followed the guide to visit the Louvre. The Louvre was crowded, but he had plenty of time and wasn’t in a hurry. He went to the service desk to get a Chinese map and an audio guide, and looked at the famous paintings and sculptures on display one by one.
He had been to the Louvre once before, but that was as a student participating in activities in France, and he only had time to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.
After leaving the Louvre, he went to the Seine River and happened to catch the sunset. The sunset was sprinkled on the flowing water, gentle and romantic. He sat on the inclined stone embankment next to the central garden, holding a cup of coffee, lazily squinting his eyes, letting the breeze blow through his hair.
In such an environment, his mind expanded, and he rarely took out his phone to take a photo and post it on his friends’ circle.
Zuo Chi clicked into his own friends’ circle, scrolling down, all he saw were forwarded real estate and finance-related news, without a trace of life, how boring.
Perhaps because he lacked an adventurous spirit towards this world, most of his life revolved around work and Sheng Li.
A dead end, no matter how you walk, it’s still a dead end. Zuo Chi thought, he had tried his best, it’s not regrettable.
Zuo Chi was low-key, but he was also competitive. Unknowingly, he often became the center of attention in other people’s conversations.
Like when he differentiated into an Omega in high school, the news of Zuo Lie taking over as the general manager of the headquarters also spread widely in the circle.
Sheng Li heard about it and felt frustrated, thinking Zuo Chi was really a big fool, willingly paving the way for others. But this anger had nowhere to vent, because he and Zuo Chi seemed to be in a cold war.
Bringing a young model to his birthday party was his attempt to make Zuo Chi angry. After all, they were engaged, and someone as concerned about dignity as Zuo Chi would definitely feel embarrassed.
It seemed that his goal had been achieved. After inviting the young model to dance, Zuo Chi went back to the bedroom. An Alpha stood outside Zuo Chi’s door, seemingly saying something to Zuo Chi. It was too far away for Sheng Li to hear clearly.
The face of that Alpha seemed somewhat familiar to Sheng Li, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember who he was. Although it was his birthday party, he didn’t know everyone who came. It was normal for friends to bring other friends to a party.
He danced absentmindedly, paying attention to the movements upstairs. After a while, the Alpha came down, looking somewhat depressed, and went to a corner to drink.
As the birthday boy, Sheng Li didn’t drink much. He was more sober than most people at the party, so he knew Zuo Chi hadn’t left his bedroom all night.
He also knew Zuo Chi slept lightly and couldn’t sleep through such a commotion outside.
Playing the whole act, in the early hours of the next morning, he sent the young model back to the company dormitory before returning home to catch up on sleep in the bedroom. He slept until past three in the afternoon. Shen Changyu called to ask why he was absent from work, so he got up and went to the company to sign in.
After that day, it seemed like Zuo Chi was avoiding him, but he couldn’t find any evidence. After all, they didn’t spend much time together at home, so it wasn’t strange that they didn’t meet.
It was like someone scratching at the itch in his heart. Sheng Li felt a bit bored and uncomfortable, but he couldn’t find a reason.
He didn’t expect Zuo Chi to be avoiding him to the extent of going abroad, and what made him most angry was that he found out about Zuo Chi going abroad from someone else.
“Are you and Zuo Chi going on a honeymoon in advance? When are you going to get married officially?”
Sheng Li asked, “Honeymoon? I’m in S City.”
“Oh, I saw Zuo Chi went to Paris, I thought you went together.”
“When did Zuo Chi go to Paris?”
“Don’t you know? [Screenshot] He posted it on his friends’ circle, and there’s a location.”
Sheng Li clicked into Zuo Chi’s friends’ circle, but it was all blank. Zuo Chi had blocked him!
Why did Zuo Chi block him?
He pushed open the door to Zuo Chi’s bedroom, and the suitcase that was placed by the door was gone. He angrily kicked the door and grabbed his phone to call Zuo Chi.
In any case, they lived together, so shouldn’t they at least inform each other before going abroad?
Whether it was early or late to go abroad, it happened at this time. Was it because of Zuo Lie?
The call was answered, and Sheng Li suddenly felt a bit nervous. “Hello?”
“Yeah.” There was a time difference between France and China, and Zuo Chi had just woken up.
Sheng Li hurriedly asked, “Why did you go to Paris? When did you leave?”
Zuo Chi replied succinctly, “For a vacation.”
“Who did you go with?”
“I went alone.”
“Oh, when are you coming back?”
“In two months.”
“Two months?!” Sheng Li was shocked. He thought Zuo Chi would be gone for at most one or two weeks. “That’s too long. You don’t have any friends over there, what’s there to enjoy alone?”
“Is there a problem with staying longer?” Zuo Chi smiled, and his last sentence was said lightly, “You’re free now.”
