“Going up to the stage to accept the award in a moment, I think Miss Yu is missing a suitable hat,” Meng Yueyu said, pulling her hand back.
Yu Sheng didn’t look at her. Instead, she took off the top hat and handed it back to Meng Yueyu.
“I don’t need it, President Meng,” Yu Sheng said, curling her lips into a polite smile.
Meng Yueyu didn’t insist either. She handed the hat to the assistant beside her, then bent down slightly, leaning in a half-inch closer, and whispered.
“If you are willing to give up now, I will keep the invitation I extended to you two years ago. You are welcome to come to me anytime.”
With that, Meng Yueyu stood up straight, turned, and walked away, giving Yu Sheng no chance to speak again.
“Next, let us welcome the actual controller of the Scent Group, President Meng, to the stage to receive the award.”
Yu Sheng raised her head. Meng Yueyu maintained her poise, accepting the trophy with a faint smile and beginning her acceptance speech.
It was nothing more than announcing her upcoming plans to enter the Lihua City market, but her gaze fell upon Yu Sheng from time to time, seemingly intentionally or otherwise. The Omega noticed it after only listening to a few sentences. She tried to withdraw her gaze and look away to feign ignorance, but when she subconsciously looked beside her, she realized that Jiang Qiu’s gaze had followed Meng Yueyu’s direction and landed right on her.
Only for a second or two, before quickly looking away.
Yu Sheng opened her mouth, but at this moment, she couldn’t make a sound.
What should she say? Explain?
But what could she explain, and in what capacity? Moreover, Jiang Qiu might not necessarily misunderstand their relationship because of this.
But the Omega didn’t want Jiang Qiu to think that her recent interaction with Meng Yueyu was because Meng Yueyu had now become powerful and influential, making her a shiny new target. But the matter of using someone two years ago would not happen to Meng Yueyu a second time.
Yu Sheng’s reputation had long become wretched in the Alpha’s eyes, such a thing truly seemed like something she would do.
Meng Yueyu said she was driven by profit and stopped at nothing and she wasn’t wrong.
A version of her that was this bad probably really couldn’t compare to Wen Yan.
When she left New York back then, she returned to the country to develop her career, learning from Yu Kunian’s example to start her own business, and achieved some small success. However, it was much easier for bio R&D companies in Lihua City to obtain resources. After all, the city’s development was far ahead, and it was backed by the committee.
Therefore, no matter what Yu Sheng did on her end, she could not achieve the same results as Zhaoming Biotech. In fact, she began to stagnate. Whether it was restructuring departments or innovating, her company’s progress appeared sluggish.
Looking at it now, in terms of status, position, and achievements, Yu Sheng had nothing to show for it. And the mistakes she made in the past weighed on her, making it even harder to breathe.
Yu Sheng was in a daze for a long while. She had sweated without realizing it, and the edges of the scent blocking patch on her nape had been soaked with sweat without her noticing. By the time she snapped out of it, Meng Yueyu had already finished speaking, come down from the stage, and sat back down opposite her.
Yu Sheng kept her eyes down, calming her breathing for a few moments before pursing her lips to adjust her state, restoring her usual composure, and looking back at the stage. The more she recalled things about herself, the more Yu Sheng felt unable to want to replace Wen Yan as Jiang Qiu’s Omega with the self-perceived eligibility she had felt a few days ago.
She used to think Wen Yan was just an Omega whose family background couldn’t even match hers, and felt that since this Omega could become Jiang Qiu’s fiancée, why couldn’t she…
The recent attempts to win her back flashed through her mind, making Yu Sheng’s fingertips tremble slightly.
When it was her turn to go on stage to represent Zhaoming Biotech to receive the award, Yu Sheng only stood up after being reminded. She forced herself to put away the thoughts in her mind, feigning calmness as she walked onto the stage.
The moment she took the trophy handed over by the usher, Yu Sheng’s brow instantly furrowed.
Because the person approaching was tainted with the pheromones produced by another Omega during their heat cycle, Yu Sheng subconsciously took half a step back. To a fellow Omega, she found the scent exceptionally pungent.
The natural conflict between the scents made Yu Sheng actively distance herself. Although the other person’s pheromones weren’t strong enough to spread very far, and the audience downstairs might not even be affected because of the distance, for some reason, Yu Sheng’s reaction was remarkably obvious.
Yet the other person seemed unaware and even took a step closer to Yu Sheng.
The Omega immediately covered her nape, “Don’t come over.”
Finally, another Omega noticed it as well, and the usher hurriedly backed away in panic, while other Beta staff members stepped forward to offer assistance.
“I’m sorry, Miss Yu, my colleague is a Beta, and she accidentally got tainted with another Omega’s scent but didn’t notice…”
Before the speaker could finish, Yu Sheng backed away again. She staggered a bit, and her cheeks suddenly heated up.
A moment later, she felt that the scent blocking patch on her nape was about to fall off, and the faint, subtle fragrance of red sandalwood drifted past the tip of her nose.
That was her pheromone.
“I’m sorry…” Yu Sheng took a deep breath and said, “I feel a bit unwell, I’ll…”
She was only halfway through her sentence when, due to her continuous backward movement, her foot had already stopped at the edge of the steps, though she herself was entirely unaware. It wasn’t until she moved her step once more, seeing that she was about to step into empty air, that a hand firmly supported her back.
Yu Sheng turned her head. Jiang Qiu was standing right behind her.
The Alpha looked down at her, naturally smelling that familiar pheromone scent as well.
Then, a new scent blocking patch specifically for Omegas was handed over, and Jiang Qiu said, “Xiao Yan gave it.”
With that, Jiang Qiu withdrew her hand and stepped back a few paces. Although Wen Yan, also being an Omega, couldn’t easily come close to help, her own self-control as an Alpha wasn’t that invincible either, especially when facing pheromones she was once very familiar with.
Yu Sheng’s voice carried a hint of trembling, “Thank you.”
Yu Sheng wanted to go upstairs to find a room to change her blocking patch. Since she was now covered in pheromones, she naturally couldn’t stay with everyone else. Stepping out with urgent paces, the Omega first bowed sincerely to apologize to the other corporate representatives, and then hurriedly went upstairs.
Wen Yan stopped beside Jiang Qiu, “Don’t you plan to… go up and take a look?”
“No need,” Jiang Qiu said.
Wen Yan said, “I’m a bit worried that something might happen to Little Miss Yu’s body, why don’t we go up and take a look anyway.”
Having said that, Wen Yan rarely insisted stubbornly on having Jiang Qiu go up with her.
When they reached the second floor, the door to the room where Yu Sheng was located wasn’t tightly shut, leaving a crack. Wen Yan stopped at the door, and feeling no conflict of pheromones, she spoke up and asked:
“Little Miss Yu, are you alright? Do you need me to find a doctor to come take a look?”
Yu Sheng remained silent for a while before replying to her, “I’m fine, thank you.”
She sounded unsure, as if she might be forcing herself to hold on. Unassured, Wen Yan spoke again, “Is it convenient to come in?”
There was another long silence in the room before Yu Sheng said in a low voice, “Miss Wen, could you help me buy a suppressant?”
Wen Yan was somewhat surprised, “Are you… are you in your heat cycle?”
“Her heat cycle isn’t during these few days,” Jiang Qiu blurted out.