Chapter 71: The Healing Alpha
That ineffective inhibitor was like an unexpectedly fallen domino tripping stone on Shou Jiaxun’s life path; then one unlucky thing followed another, and the more he tried to fix it, the more he couldn’t.
“Sorry—”
The office glass door was suddenly pushed open a crack. Liang Bo showed half his face through the gap. “President Shou, there’s an important document for you to sign.”
As he spoke, he handed in a stack of papers and waved them in front of Shou Jiaxun.
Shou Jiaxun was so dizzy and blurry-eyed from being angered by Yong Ming that he couldn’t even see what Liang Bo was holding, and he didn’t even hear clearly what he said.
But Liang Bo then pulled the document back from the door crack and pushed the door open to walk in, smiling politely at Yong Ming. “Sorry, Director Ming. Internal company matter, it’s urgent.
Excuse me… I’ve reserved the conference room next door for you. Please go over and sit for two minutes.”
Yong Ming’s face changed through two rounds after he entered. The first round was shock and disbelief as he glared fiercely at the tall young man.
In the second round, after a few seconds, it changed to an indignant cold laugh as he rolled his eyes at Liang Bo. “Heh, so it was you, kid.”
Liang Bo raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips in a smile, appearing somewhat indifferent, and urged again: “Excuse me… let President Shou handle the urgent work first.”
With a dark face, Yong Ming lifted his foot, opened the door beside them, and walked out.
Liang Bo put the so-called urgent document to be signed behind his back and explained in a low voice to Shou Jiaxun: “I didn’t leave just now; I heard a bit outside… I think he might not necessarily have any ill intent, but his mouth is really too foul.
Can you just relax and listen to me for a few words?”
Shou Jiaxun subconsciously took a deep breath, and then lifted his eyes to look at Liang Bo. “You didn’t take your inhibitor today?”
“I did…” Liang Bo’s expression was a bit sheepish. Then he pinched half a bag of mixed nuts from his pocket to show Shou Jiaxun. “It’s this, right? I’ve been eating it all morning; maybe there’s a smell in my mouth…”
His pheromones were a warm, woody scent with a bit of oiliness and bitterness, very much like the smell of crushed walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds mixed together.
Since it was very approachable, he occasionally used nuts to confuse the senses, and ordinary people couldn’t tell the difference.
Shou Jiaxun shrugged awkwardly. “Alright… what do you want to say?”
Liang Bo lightly supported his back and let President Shou sit in the office chair first.
He knelt down in front of Shou Jiaxun and smiled slightly. “I have three news headlines. Listen to them and tell me your feeling—which one do you think would have a higher click rate if they appeared in the social section?”
Shou Jiaxun didn’t understand what he wanted to say, so he could only nod and let him continue.
Liang Bo gave the topics: “One: ‘Adult A and O break up due to personality incompatibility after being in a relationship’; Two: ‘Rich Omega breaks up with poor Alpha boyfriend’; Three: ‘Fresh graduate Alpha’s marriage proposal is rejected, then he is dumped’.”
Shou Jiaxun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What the hell…?”
Liang Bo’s expression was very serious. “I’ve already tried my best to be a ‘headline act.’ You think it’s not ‘explosive’ enough?”
“It’s a good thing you’re not a news major.” Shou Jiaxun sighed with a hand on his forehead. “‘Headline act’ refers to excessively highlighting irrational elements of information to attract public attention by being sensational; but look at these of yours, every single one is as reasonable as can be.”
Liang Bo curled his lip in a look of disdain and shook his head. “It’s because the matter is too small, and there really are no irrational elements. Even a ‘headline act’ can’t save it.”
Shou Jiaxun was stunned for a moment, and his mind seemed to suddenly become less messy.
Liang Bo said: “Look, even if we ‘have everything,’ and now decide to break up, it’s not a big deal. It’s not even worth a couple of words of nonsense after dinner for outsiders.
Let alone that we have nothing.
I remember you taught me before: if something we don’t want to happen has happened, and if there’s no way to remedy it, we just treat it as if it never happened.”
Liang Bo paused, then took a deep breath. “Shou Jiaxun, repeat this sentence after me—
‘I dislike Liang Bo. Nothing has ever happened between Liang Bo and me.’
Believe me, you can ‘recover’ just by saying it out loud.”
Shou Jiaxun’s eyebrows, which had gradually smoothed out, squeezed together again. He explained in a small but serious voice: “I don’t dislike you. I just can’t give you the kind of liking you want.”
Liang Bo smirked and jumped the topic himself. “Alright then, that means I don’t have to worry about losing my job, right?”
Shou Jiaxun sighed. “You’re right. Even if I had liked you and then broken up, it’s not a big deal.”
Liang Bo nodded quickly in agreement. “Even if the situation was more serious, for example, if I continued to pester you after being dumped… you’d only need to call the security guards up and have them fork me out.”
Shou Jiaxun was amused by the scene he described, and his mood also relaxed a bit.
And the nutty smell made him… actually feel a bit hungry as he smelled it.
Shou Jiaxun spread out a hand and used his gaze to signal his subordinate to share the snacks.
Liang Bo deliberately was stingy and only poured two pieces of walnut kernels for him.
Shou Jiaxun finished the walnut kernels and reached out again: “Some more.”
This time Liang Bo put the whole package in his hand. “Good for hunger and brain. I’ll buy a box for you next time I buy them.”
Shou Jiaxun nodded. “Mhm, how much?”
“Two hundred and eighty.”
This unscrupulous merchant asked for a sky-high price without even blinking.
President Shou exposed him on the spot: “Nonsense. I saw in the supermarket that none of them even cost over a hundred.”
Liang Bo lowered his head and acted like a rogue. “Then just give whatever you feel like.” It was as if he was the one who was wronged.
Shou Jiaxun smiled and didn’t continue to dwell on the matter of giving money.
He finished the nuts in his hand comfortably, turned around, and flipped through the “document” Liang Bo had brought. As expected, it was a stack of waste papers.
“Thanks for coming to tell me these things. Actually, I’m fine. I got up late this morning and didn’t eat; maybe I was a bit hypoglycemic and had some palpitations; I’m much better now.”
Liang Bo looked at him with a smile. “I know. I also know that you’ve had many troubling things lately and your performance is unstable. You might not be able to win an argument against Director Ming, so I came to help.”
Shou Jiaxun gradually recovered his energy and gave him a smile of appreciation. “It’s a real pity you’re not willing to continue being my assistant, but the Advertising Department has more training opportunities and a better future. Keep it up.”
But the words he spoke were a bit shameless—it was clearly him who had kicked the person out like a dead fish. If Liang Bo’s psychological quality were slightly worse, he would have resigned by now.
After Shou Jiaxun finished speaking, he got up, closed Yong Ming’s laptop, and carried it with his own to the conference room.
Liang Bo left the office with him. Secretary Luo, whose workstation was close by, waited until President Shou turned into the conference room and called Liang Bo in a low voice: “Xiao Liang, come here.”
Liang Bo turned around with a smile. “Luo, something up?”
Luo Yi looked up and scrutinized him for two seconds, then sniffed his nose, showing a meaningful expression. “You’re not a Beta, are you? Good heavens, you’re not even hiding your pheromones. Is there something going on between you and President Shou?”
Liang Bo curled his lip nonchalantly. “If there were something going on, I wouldn’t have had to transfer. Not many people in the company know I’ve pretended to be a Beta. Please don’t tell others.”
Luo Yi also curled his lip. “You’ve got real guts.” Then he waved his hand to Liang Bo: “Nothing else. You go back.”
Although Shou Jiaxun frequently changed assistants, not many of them didn’t even work for a full month; one who “lost their job” so quickly but wasn’t fired was even more unheard of.
Fortunately, Liang Bo hadn’t been in the office for long. Except for the colleagues in the Brand Department he had worked with, hardly anyone in the company knew him.
But this didn’t mean that his matter with President Shou wasn’t discussed, because the HR had reported to his new leader, and the workstations of the Brand Department and the Advertising Department weren’t far apart.
Facing an Alpha who dared to flaunt pheromones in front of an Omega boss, whatever everyone conjectured was reasonable.
When Yong Ming and Shou Jiaxun met in the conference room, President Shou had already roughly recovered his usual state.
On the contrary, Yong Ming’s state of mind was out of balance, and he accused indignantly: “Are you out of your mind? Of all the people you could choose, you chose that thing.
Even if we don’t talk about being a good match in terms of social status, at least find someone whose strength is comparable to yours. I’m afraid he’s ten years younger than you, isn’t he? And he’s a fresh graduate.
Man, I really have to hand it to you. What do you see in him? His big, dumb frame? I really suspect if you were raped by him.”
“We’ve already broken up, a peaceful breakup.” Shou Jiaxun’s expression was calm, a world of difference from the way he was in his office just now.
And he seamlessly switched the work content: “For the reception of ‘Huancheng,’ Imperial Capital is mine, and the rest is yours.”
“Impossible.” Director Yong shook his head firmly. “At most, you’re only sub-contractors for the Imperial Capital area. The products and services ‘Dengshi’ provides are much more than yours.”
Shou Jiaxun smirked, and his attitude was also very persistent. “That’s exactly where the problem lies. We are the Imperial Capital area sub-contractors. When people come to Imperial Capital for inspection, what do you think they are here to inspect?”
Director Yong sneered. “They are not specifically here to inspect Imperial Capital, okay? It just so happens that the first stop is in Imperial Capital. You don’t have such a big head; don’t always put such a big hat on yourself. You’re great at selling fruit, but how many years have you been in the advertising circle?”
The two temporarily reached a deadlock. Shou Jiaxun lifted his hand to look at his watch. “It’s almost twelve. How about we go eat first? We can chat while we eat.”
“Is this a problem that can be solved by a meal?” Yong Ming sat where he was without moving, his arms crossed, his demeanor cold and hard. “‘Huancheng’s’ first launch in China only covers three fronts. Hucheng belongs to East China, and Yangcheng belongs to South China; only Imperial Capital is my territory.
If they can’t sign an agency with me in Imperial Capital immediately, and I give the reception rights to you, it’s equivalent to giving my performance for the second half of the year to you.
Do you think ‘a meal’ is enough?”
Once things involved performance profit, bonuses, and dividends, everyone would be calculating down to the penny.
Shou Jiaxun took a large breath and slowly nodded. “The conflict is sharp; that would indeed be unfair to you. If ‘a meal’ can’t finish the talk, then we’ll come back and continue talking. We can always find a balance point from a suitable angle, right?”
“Do you know how other companies would talk to me if they encountered this kind of situation?” Director Yong was both asking and giving a hint.
President Shou said expressionlessly: “I don’t know.” It was both an answer and a refusal.
But his refusal didn’t stop Yong Ming from conveying his hint.
“After eating, they would also invite me to a nightclub, and then a more eye-catching Omega would come forward and try their best to force me to drink. Once I’m dizzy and disoriented, they would take me home, or come home with me, and develop a close relationship that makes me unable to stop.
Only to this extent would it be possible for me to be willing to help them.”
Shou Jiaxun chuckled and nodded. “A very pertinent opinion.”
He first expressed his agreement, but immediately changed his tone: “But I believe that if you were such an easy person to be bribed, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be in this position today.”
Yong Ming gazed at Shou Jiaxun’s soft face without changing his expression. “How would you know it wouldn’t work if you don’t try?”
Shou Jiaxun raised his eyebrows at him. “If I were that kind of person, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you properly today.
Yong Ming, you are a colleague I admire very much. I believe we still have a long way to go and many opportunities for cooperation in the future.”
“But if you feel that my current expression is not sincere enough, or you insist that I am a person who takes shortcuts… then I think you should also be very clear that you are definitely not my most convenient choice to reach my goal.”
Translator’s Note: “The Healing Alpha” (治愈的Alpha): Liang Bo uses his presence and even his pheromones (hidden as a snack scent) to help stabilize Jiaxun’s panicked state.
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