Back then, Zuo Yi used Zuo Chi’s status as an Omega to justify giving the position of General Manager to Zuo Lie. Now, Zuo Chi used the same reason to refuse Zuo Lie’s job.
“My heat period is approaching, and I haven’t been feeling well lately. I might need to rest at home and can’t handle the responsibilities.”
Zuo Yi was furious at his defiance: “Haven’t you always managed to work through this in recent years? This isn’t an excuse to shirk your duties!”
Zuo Chi calmly replied, “An Omega should focus more on family. I’m engaged to Qin Xu and need more time to spend with him.”
These were Zuo Yi’s own words thrown back at him, and Zuo Chi felt a surge of satisfaction.
It felt good to rebel.
Shu Qingyu’s voice was sharp: “Zuo Chi! Think carefully before you answer!”
Zuo Chi turned to her and smiled, “I went to the hospital recently, and the doctor said my glands have some issues, so I shouldn’t overwork.”
Shu Qingyu was taken aback, “What’s wrong with your glands?”
Zuo Chi didn’t answer, fearing he would burst into an uncontrollable tirade of complaints and resentment.
“Fine, very well.” Zuo Yi’s eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s. “Take care and rest. You don’t need to worry about your current job either!”
“No! What do you mean by this!” Shu Qingyu tried to push Zuo Yi’s arm, wanting him to change his mind.
Zuo Chi pretended not to understand the threat in Zuo Yi’s words, “Thank you, Father. I’ll take my leave then.”
Shu Qingyu, furious, shouted, “You’re not allowed to leave!”
Zuo Chi ignored her. Before he had even left the house, he heard Zuo Yi and Shu Qingyu arguing loudly. He quickened his pace, leaving the Zuo family home.
He got into his car and immediately called someone to investigate Tang Liao’s case. The next morning, he made arrangements to visit Tang Liao with a lawyer. Speaking to Tang Liao under the Zuo family name, Tang Liao did not suspect anything.
Zuo Chi had thought Zuo Lie was just incompetent, but it turned out he was beyond hope. After gathering evidence of Zuo Lie’s misconduct, Zuo Chi spent two days compiling a report on Zuo Lie’s negligence and the Zuo family’s asset investigation, and sent it from his own email to Zuo Yi.
Zuo Yi quickly called him, furiously demanding what he intended to do.
Lying on the sofa in his study, Zuo Chi felt no waves of emotion. “Father, I have no objections if everything in the Zuo family is to be Zuo Lie’s in the future. I consider myself just an employee for the Zuo family. But if I’m just an employee, my surname shouldn’t deprive me of the right to choose my own life.”
Zuo Yi’s voice was stern, “Are you unhappy with the arranged marriage? Qin Xu is an excellent Alpha, tall and polite, and he doesn’t mind your previous engagement to Sheng Li. What are you dissatisfied with?”
Zuo Chi said, “It’s not about Qin Xu. I’m dissatisfied with everything you’ve arranged for me.”
Zuo Yi: “I know you think it’s unfair, but there’s never been an Omega head of the Zuo family! Your children won’t carry the Zuo surname either. Should the Zuo family be handed over to outsiders? If you were an Alpha…”
If he were an Alpha.
Zuo Chi had heard too many such suppositions since his secondary gender emerged. Everyone around him felt pity for him; he had even fallen into this trap himself. But in reality, whether he was an Alpha or an Omega, he was still himself. His secondary gender shouldn’t influence any of his choices or be a reason for anyone to look down on him.
“I don’t care.” Zuo Chi interrupted, “I don’t care what you think, nor what anyone else in the Zuo family thinks.”
Zuo Yi: “Didn’t you send me that email to get the General Manager position back?”
“Father, I already said I don’t want it. I won’t manage any affairs of the Zuo Group anymore.” Zuo Chi took a deep breath, “I have only one request, to develop independently. My success or failure has nothing to do with the Zuo family, and I won’t use a single penny of the Zuo family’s money.”
Heavy breathing was heard on the other end of the line as Zuo Yi remained silent for a full half-minute before hanging up.
Half an hour later, Shu Qingyu called, bombarding him with questions.
“Are you spreading your wings to fly now? Since when have you been planning this? Zuo Chi, are you out of your mind? What have I been cultivating you for all these years?”
Zuo Chi said, “You want the Zuo family’s assets, but I don’t. I can stand on my own in society.”
Shu Qingyu gritted her teeth, “Can your company compare to the Zuo Group? Can’t you see which pie is bigger?”
“My company can’t compare to the Zuo Group now, but in ten or twenty years, who knows? Mother, I’ve already said, I don’t care about the big pie. You’ve lived your whole life for these shares, but I’m different. I’m not another you.”
Shu Qingyu threatened, “If you dare to start your own company, you won’t have me as your mother anymore!”
Zuo Chi quickly responded with a “hmm.”
Shu Qingyu, unsure if she heard correctly, asked, “Zuo Chi?”
Zuo Chi: “I said okay.”
Shu Qingyu, raising her voice unlike her usual elegance, exclaimed, “What’s wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?”
Zuo Chi moved the phone away from his ear: “If you say so. Just stop bothering me. I can’t handle this kind of family bond.”
Zuo Chi once longed for familial love, but it had been ground down to almost nothing by repeated control and suppression.
What kind of normal mother would delay her son’s differentiation?
Obedience and compliance didn’t bring him the so-called mother-son bond. Why should he trap himself in this for life?
Just as he could give up on Sheng Li, he could also give up on Zuo Yi and Shu Qingyu. Not every relationship is worth it.
On Monday, Zuo Chi went to Zuo Group and took all his personal belongings from his office.
Many subordinates, unaware of what had happened, looked at him in surprise.
Zuo Chi ignored the murmurs around him, bidding farewell to familiar subordinates one by one and wishing them great success in their careers without mentioning his own plans.
As he left the company, he felt a twinge of emotion. He had poured countless efforts into Zuo Group, never expecting to leave so soon.
That evening, Sheng Li messaged him, asking if he had confronted Zuo Yi.
Zuo Chi didn’t reply, so Sheng Li continued: Are you at home? I’ll come find you.
Zuo Chi: Don’t you already know whether I’m home or not?
Sheng Li: ?
Sheng Li: I’m not tracking you.
He had driven past Zuo Group intending to drop something off for Zuo Chi, only to hear from the receptionist that he had resigned.
Zuo Chi asked: What do you want?
Sheng Li: Can’t I visit without a reason?
Zuo Chi coldly replied: No.
Sheng Li sent a sad emoji: I had a friend bring some nutritional supplements from overseas. I wanted to give them to you.
Zuo Chi: Not needed.
Sheng Li: They said this supplement is sold out in the country. Aren’t you nearing your heat period? You need the extra energy.
Zuo Chi: Fine, leave the supplements at the door and then leave, okay?
Sheng Li didn’t respond.
About twenty minutes later, the familiar doorbell rang.
Through the peephole, Zuo Chi saw Sheng Li in a dark gray suit, his hair slicked back. He probably just finished a meeting. He held a gift bag and looked like an abandoned dog, staring dejectedly at the door.
Just when Zuo Chi thought he would keep ringing the bell, Sheng Li placed the gift bag on the ground.
“Ah Chi, I’ll go now. Remember to pick this up.”
Zuo Chi waited two minutes before opening the door, suspecting Sheng Li might not have really left.
When he opened the door, Sheng Li was gone. Zuo Chi found it amusing how they had reached a point of mutual distrust.
Besides the nutritional supplements, the gift box also contained a beautifully packaged diffuser. Sheng Li had stuck a note on the wrapping: It can help relieve pain.
One glance and Zuo Chi knew it was Sheng Li’s handwriting. However, this act seemed so out of character for him.
He tore off the note and threw it in the trash.
From his car downstairs, Sheng Li could see the light on in Zuo Chi’s apartment.
Zuo Chi didn’t want to see him.
This reality tore at his nerves, making him bend over in pain. He desperately wanted to see Zuo Chi, to hold him, to be close to him, to share the same space.
They had once lived under the same roof, but he hadn’t cherished it, and now even a meeting was a luxury.
A few days ago, Sheng Li visited the house they were supposed to move into together. It was their “wedding house,” decorated according to Zuo Chi’s chosen design—white, green, and natural wood tones, cozy and beautiful.
Sheng Li walked through every corner, imagining them living there, eating together, playing games, watching movies.
Why did he only realize now that living with Zuo Chi was his dream?
And when Zuo Chi had asked for his opinion on the design, he had only said his one requirement was separate bedrooms.
He was such a bastard.
Sheng Li lay against the steering wheel, unmoving, until his phone rang.
He jerked up, seeing the caller ID: Xiang Yiqun.
Not Zuo Chi.
He answered with little enthusiasm: “Hello?”
Xiang Yiqun: “Did you get the email from the school? The centennial celebration is in two weeks. Are you going?”
Sheng Li: “No, I don’t have time.”
Xiang Yiqun protested: “What’s wrong? You sound off… Shit! Are you crying?”
Sheng Li sniffed, denying: “No.”
“Oh, I thought it wasn’t your heat period.” Xiang Yiqun didn’t dwell on it. “You’ve been so busy lately, you can’t even spare time for the celebration? It’ll be lively, lots of classmates will be there, some you haven’t seen in ages. Our class’s math rep even asked if you were going. Man, he still remembers you after all these years.”
“I don’t remember.”
Xiang Yiqun: “I figured. Remember when he was harassed by some vocational school punks and you beat them up?”
Sheng Li: “I’ve beaten up a lot of people.”
“True, back in high school everyone knew your name.” Xiang Yiqun teased, “The math rep is now a PhD student…”
Sheng Li interrupted: “I’m not interested.”
“Oh.” Not unusual, but Sheng Li was rarely this quiet. Xiang Yiqun probed, “You feeling down?”
“Yeah.”
Concerned, Xiang Yiqun asked: “What happened? Talk to me.”
Sheng Li leaned back in his seat, covering his face. He hadn’t cried, just felt a pang in his nose. Now, as he spoke, his voice trembled uncontrollably: “Zuo Chi really doesn’t want me anymore.”
Xiang Yiqun: “…He doesn’t want to be friends with you anymore?”
Sheng Li felt embarrassed. He hadn’t dared to tell his buddies that he liked Zuo Chi. Previously, he thought being troubled by love was stupid and had always claimed to see Zuo Chi only as a friend. Now he felt humiliated.
Xu Hui and Tai Xingyu might have guessed it, but Xiang Yiqun was still in the dark. Sooner or later, they would all know. Sheng Li quietly said, “I like him.”
Xiang Yiqun cursed for a good ten seconds, then rebuked him harshly: “Since when?! Damn, is this how you like someone? With the way you treated Zuo Chi before, anyone would think he was your enemy! No wonder he left! Serves you right! This is your karma!”
