The Cold Alpha's Black Lotus O Strategy Plan (GL) - Chapter 1

“How could this have happened so suddenly… When they notified me, I… I…”

Outside the operating room, a slender young woman with long, black curls cascading over her shoulders was sobbing in the arms of a woman around sixty years old.

The older woman restrained her own grief and did her best to comfort the young woman who had just arrived at the hospital.

“Sique, don’t be too upset… It was an accident…”

“Aunt Guo…”

The young woman choked out the words before burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders trembled faintly as she nodded with difficulty.

“Mrs. Jin.”

A nurse hurried over.

“Mrs. Jin, the surgery requires a family member’s signature.”

Aunt Guo quickly helped Jin Sique stand.

Jin Sique froze, but only for an instant. She swiftly wiped her eyes and cheeks, then turned around with reddened eyes. Taking the surgical consent form, she quickly signed her name and looked at the nurse with sincere sorrow.

“Please, I’m entrusting her to you.”

“We’ll do everything we can. It’s our duty.”

The nurse nodded before hurrying away.

Jin Sique bowed slightly toward the nurse’s retreating figure. The gesture was so moving that Aunt Guo could not help sighing. She wiped away the streams of tears on her face and continued lamenting.

Aunt Guo was the Lü family’s housekeeper. She had taken care of Lü Zhongcai’s daily needs for many years, and Lü Zhongcai had always treated her well. Naturally, some affection had developed between them.

That long sigh was filled with worry, fear, and helplessness.

Yet when it reached Jin Sique’s ears, it failed to stir even the slightest ripple in her heart.

She straightened, her pale face displaying precisely the right amount of frailty and distress.

Jin Sique’s skin was extremely fair—so fair that the bluish veins concealed beneath it were almost visible.

She was an Omega. Like one of society’s many stereotypes concerning Omegas, she appeared beautiful and delicate.

However, because she was exceptionally beautiful and possessed a unique temperament surpassing that of most Omegas, that softness was adorned with a sensual allure too embarrassing to put into words.

She resembled a blade of grass beaten down by the rain on a stormy night, drooping weakly beside the road. A crystalline drop of dew clung to the tip of its slender green leaf, reflecting a pure, translucent gleam.

It swayed and trembled faintly, making people’s hearts itch as they wondered when that drop of dew would finally fall—when it would seep into the soil and become stained with dust and mud.

The operating room doors opened and closed again.

The glaring red characters reading IN SURGERY lit up.

Jin Sique knitted her brows and tilted her head slightly, carefully contemplating those words. At the same time, she gently pressed her fingers against the corners of her eyes so that the area would remain flushed, making her appear as though she had only just finished crying.

Aunt Guo finally managed to compose herself. She gently put an arm around Jin Sique and said softly, “Sique, let’s sit down for a while.”

Jin Sique smiled faintly.

She looked so frail that even when she smiled, she seemed exhausted from forcing herself to remain strong.

“You should sit and rest for a while.”

Aunt Guo sighed.

She had sighed far too many times today. Jin Sique’s brows creased almost imperceptibly, though she ensured that nothing revealing appeared on her face.

Aunt Guo said anxiously, “Her tibia is fractured. I heard the nurse say that if it’s serious, there might be lasting damage… Will she have to use crutches for the rest of her life?”

“How could this happen? How did she get into a car accident?”

Aunt Guo’s voice was filled with anguish.

Jin Sique’s voice was slightly hoarse as she asked, “Did you notify Zhongcai’s family back home about the accident?”

Aunt Guo shook her head.

Lü Zhongcai had still been conscious when she was transported from the accident scene to the hospital. She had specifically instructed them not to inform her family.

The Lü family’s ancestral home was far away in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Lü Zhongcai did not want her family to worry. Her father and mother both had their own jobs, so there was no need for them to make such a long, exhausting journey.

There had originally been no need to inform Jin Sique either. Lü Zhongcai had specifically given instructions about that beforehand.

However, the surgery required a family member’s signature. Before Aunt Guo arrived, the hospital had already contacted Lü Zhongcai’s legal spouse through the police.

Jin Sique’s long eyelashes fluttered and lowered, casting a small shadow over her face.

—

Lü Zhongcai discovered herself standing beneath a torrential downpour.

It was nighttime. Against the pitch-black sky and earth, the indistinct sound of noisy conversations echoed around her.

“The surgery has begun. The patient’s family members should wait patiently.”

The heavy doors closed tightly. The commotion faded into the distance, replaced by several disdainful chuckles.

“She used to be so impressive, yet now she can’t even find anyone to sign her surgical consent form?”

“Shh, keep your voice down. What if she suddenly wakes up and hears you?”

A trace of bewilderment appeared on Lü Zhongcai’s face.

She lowered her head and discovered that she was holding a book. Using the dim streetlight, she managed to make out its title:

The Canary.

A canary?

A gust of wind swept over her, causing the pages to rustle and turn rapidly.

Lü Zhongcai frowned and looked around, uneasily examining the pitch-black surroundings beneath the rain.

The sounds between heaven and earth seemed to distort. Everything before her began to take on a tangible form.

The sound of the rain abruptly broke through the restraints of the heavens. Water poured down like a massive pillar, nearly knocking Lü Zhongcai to the ground.

She raised an arm in an attempt to shield herself from the rain, only to suddenly realize that the water was striking a glass window in front of her.

Her dim reflection appeared in the glass. Behind her was a scene resembling a stage play beneath a spotlight.

The distant, hollow voices became clear.

Behind her, doctors and nurses stood around an operating table, discussing the patient.

“The gland has been severely damaged… We need to remove it immediately…”

“There are old injuries in her lower limbs. I’m afraid she may spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair…”

“Fortunately, she’s divorced. Otherwise, imagine how miserable her Omega wife would be.”

Lü Zhongcai turned and walked closer to the operating table.

The people around her seemed unable to see her.

This time, she saw everything clearly.

An Alpha was undergoing surgery to have her gland removed.

The Alpha lay on the operating table with her eyes closed, an oxygen mask covering her face. Blood and sweat drenched her forehead and temples.

She looked both familiar and strangely foreign.

“Should we arrange postoperative rehabilitation and an artificial gland transplant?”

“She’s already bankrupt. She can’t afford the enormous cost of an artificial gland.”

Lü Zhongcai noticed a short length of silver chain beneath the patient’s open collar.

Her confusion deepened.

The woman on the operating table abruptly opened her eyes.

Her gaze met Lü Zhongcai’s across the empty space.

Lü Zhongcai’s heart instantly began pounding like thunder.

“The patient has regained consciousness during surgery! Administer the anesthetic!”

“Quickly!”

A nurse hurried toward them.

Lü Zhongcai stumbled backward in panic.

The next instant, an excruciating pain spread from the back of her neck. It felt as though something had been brutally carved out of her body, causing her entire body to convulse in agony.

She instinctively raised a hand to touch the gland at the back of her neck.

Then she froze.

Her palm was covered in blood, which was quickly washed away by the rain. The gland that had been cut from her body seemed to dissolve like water and flow through the gaps between her fingers.

The scene before her gradually faded and blurred, replaced by another.

Lü Zhongcai stood within darkness.

A streetlight illuminated the area nearby, and she saw a tall, slender figure in the distance.

It was a woman. She seemed to be holding another person in her arms, though that person’s face was indistinct.

The woman was Jin Sique.

Why was she here?

That figure…

Lü Zhongcai stepped forward to chase after them, only to step into empty air.

She fell heavily to the ground. As the world spun around her, she tumbled into a ballroom.

The curtain-like rain retreated like a tide of spectators leaving after the final curtain call, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

Lü Zhongcai stood in a corner of the ballroom, staring in astonishment at the familiar figure ahead of her.

The woman reeked of alcohol and looked utterly wretched.

Around her, the spectators bared their chillingly white teeth as they mocked and insulted her without restraint.

Lü Zhongcai stood frozen.

The clamorous voices faded away until only “Lü Zhongcai” remained at the center of the scene.

An elegant figure appeared and poured an entire glass of wine over Lü Zhongcai’s head.

“…”

“Jin Sique!”

Lü Zhongcai recognized her.

Jin Sique slowly smiled, then turned and walked away.

Lü Zhongcai lunged forward, but her legs suddenly gave out beneath her. She collapsed at a filthy, muddy intersection.

She stared at her powerless legs in shock.

The banquet scene collapsed with a thunderous crash, crumbling like peeling plaster. Once again, she found herself in the original rain-soaked alley.

Beside her, a wheelchair that she had overlooked was rolling backward from its own momentum, silently revealing her current circumstances.

Her legs were crippled?

Lü Zhongcai stared at the sight in panic.

Why?

Was this a dream or reality?

If it was a dream, why had she not awakened after realizing that she was dreaming?

At that moment, the person whose arm Jin Sique was holding in the distance suddenly turned around.

Lü Zhongcai was abruptly startled.

That person clearly had her face.

At the same time, Jin Sique turned her face slightly, revealing cheeks that still appeared young and immature as she curiously examined Lü Zhongcai.

A chill swept through Lü Zhongcai’s entire body.

Her head began to ache violently. She desperately endured the dull pain in her brain and shook her head frantically.

When she opened her eyes again, everything around her had changed from blurry to clear and from illusory to real.

The noise of a bustling crowd immediately engulfed her.

“What should we have for dinner?”

The conversation at the intersection sounded clear and genuine.

“Let’s go to the supermarket and cook something at home.”

Lü Zhongcai was swept along by the crowd and blindly followed it for several steps.

Only after reaching the opposite side of the road did she regain her senses. She turned her head and looked at her trembling fingertips and the cigarette that had burned nearly to its end.

A glowing red ember scorched the pad of her finger.

Lü Zhongcai frowned and casually extinguished the cigarette beside her.

She then discovered that she was still holding the book titled The Canary in her other hand.

The protagonist of the book was named Jin Sique.

Lü Zhongcai froze slightly.

Once again, she realized that she was inside a dream. However, the dream was chaotic and disorderly, making it impossible to grasp its true nature.

Her destination appeared to be Wangchun Street ahead.

Wangchun Street had once been the site of a traditional Peking Opera troupe.

The troupe master had passed away six months earlier. Even before that, Wangchun Pavilion had already stopped staging performances for a long time because of the impending demolition.

Once the troupe master died, the final shred of Wangchun Pavilion’s persistence also collapsed.

The already fragmented troupe completely dispersed.

Its old painted beams and lacquered wood were crushed beneath the thunderous blades of enormous excavators, transforming the area into the overcrowded commercial food street it was today.

Lü Zhongcai quietly observed it for a while.

Just as she turned to leave, a thin, frail figure brushed past her.

She raised an eyebrow slightly. As she was about to open the book, that petite, fragile figure passed beside her again.

Seventeen-year-old Jin Sique looked somewhat malnourished.

Her cheeks were sunken, her complexion pale, and heavy bluish-purple shadows lay beneath her eyes.

Aside from her exquisitely delicate features, a profound air of despondency clung to her body.

She wore a simple white T-shirt and black trousers, with her hair tied in a single ponytail. Four or five disorderly scent-blocking patches were layered over the gland at the back of her neck.

The edges of those patches were curled and misshapen, with loose, fraying fibers visible along them.

At that time, Jin Sique resembled those scent-blocking patches that had been repeatedly reused because she could not bear to throw them away.

Every part of her carried the air of something that had been worn down too often or used far beyond its limits.

A faint, refreshing fragrance entered the Alpha’s sensitive nose.

It could not be considered strong or extraordinary, but it keenly stirred the relaxed nerves of an Alpha who had been drinking.

She was an Omega.

So frail and petite.

Even though she had been the one to bump into Lü Zhongcai—and had only brushed against one of her shoulders—she had nearly fallen to the ground.

Lü Zhongcai looked at Jin Sique coldly.

The Omega seemed to sense something immediately.

During that brief moment when they brushed past each other, she had probably also detected the Alpha’s extremely aggressive pheromones.

Jin Sique quickly turned to glance at Lü Zhongcai. Panic and fear appeared in her eyes.

She picked up the novel Lü Zhongcai had dropped and anxiously held it out to her.

“Your book.”

Lü Zhongcai watched the petite figure disappear at the end of the alley and tried to remember where she had seen her before.

She seemed to have encountered her at Wangchun Pavilion.

During one of Lü Zhongcai’s brief visits, Jin Sique might have served her tea.

She was apparently an adopted daughter whom the elderly troupe master of Wangchun Pavilion had found and taken in.

Lü Zhongcai raised a hand and pressed it against the back of her neck.

Her Alpha gland throbbed repeatedly, as though that faint fragrance had awakened a restless desire within her.

She looked down at her feet.

Because of her slight shift in position, she had stepped onto the edge of a landscaped strip. Several sparse blades of grass rebelliously protruded above the broad green lawn.

They had already been trampled by countless pedestrians.

Now Lü Zhongcai was stepping on them as well.

She breathed faintly and recalled the fragrance from earlier.

It seemed to be the scent of grass.

The fresh fragrance of grass…

—

A burst of wild laughter erupted from the other end of the phone.

“Oh, villains truly are punished by other villains! So? You must be absolutely delighted, aren’t you?”

Jin Sique stood at the end of the corridor with one arm folded across her chest and her phone in her other hand.

Hearing this, she raised an eyebrow slightly. Her slow voice carried a hint of reproach.

“What are you talking about? She is my legal spouse.”

“Oh?”

The person on the other end lowered her voice and asked mysteriously, “Does your contract include a clause about becoming a widow? What if…”

Jin Sique pressed one hand against her brow and stepped aside to avoid a nurse hurrying along the corridor.

She answered softly, “She has a fracture and a moderate concussion. Her life isn’t in any danger.”

A disappointed wail came through the phone.

At that moment, a commotion broke out in the corridor.

Jin Sique stood in the sheltered corner behind a massive round pillar that perfectly concealed her figure.

A deranged, barely restrained laugh interrupted her conversation with her friend.

“She’s dead. Wonderful.”

“I waited ten years. I finally outlived that wretched woman!”

“Yes, I’m free… I’m finally free.”

Wearing a pure white dress that fell to her knees, Jin Sique stepped out from behind the pillar.

She silently passed the hysterical person, discreetly examining him as she did.

A scent-blocking patch was attached to the back of his neck. Judging from his soft features, he was probably an Omega.

Unfortunately, he appeared somewhat old.

A roar of laughter erupted from the phone.

“Hahaha! The three greatest joys of middle age: getting promoted, becoming rich, and having your wife die! Even if President Lü is still relatively healthy, you’ll at least enjoy some peace and quiet for a while, won’t you?”

Jin Sique ended the call.

She gently brushed a finger over her earlobe and smiled.

When she smiled, she resembled a withered flower suddenly bursting into bloom—radiant and crimson, with two trembling drops of dew adorning its branches against fresh green leaves.