Sixteenth Day of Pretending to Be an Alpha

“Occupy my weekend?” Chu Mo looked at Zhou Ming, puzzled. “Does President Zhou have some big business deal to introduce to me?”

Zhou Ming smiled with a hint of ulterior motive. “You’re flattering me, President Chu. I just want to make friends with you.”

Chu Mo found Zhou Ming rather odd. The last time they met, Chu Mo had grabbed Zhou Ming by the collar and even slapped his face twice. Yet Zhou Ming still wanted to be friends with him? Somehow, Chu Mo recalled Xie Songchen’s words: “You’re rewarding him by doing this.”

Just as Chu Mo was about to say he had no time over the weekend, a cold voice came from beside him.

“I’ll play with you.”

Zhou Ming turned to look at Xie Songchen. It seemed he had anticipated Xie Songchen’s intervention and was ready with a response.

“I want to be friends with President Chu, so of course, I want to play with him.”

The implication was clear: Xie Songchen isn’t qualified.

Chu Mo hadn’t expected Xie Songchen to suddenly get involved. Was it because Zhou Ming’s attitude was too arrogant, and as a fellow Alpha, Xie Songchen couldn’t stand it?

“President Chu doesn’t seem very willing,” Xie Songchen raised an eyebrow, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Can’t you see that?”

Zhou Ming’s face darkened. He sneered, “I invited Chu Mo first. If you want to compete, you can do it with me later.”

Many people present were watching the drama unfold. Xie Songchen looked at Zhou Ming expressionlessly, making the latter feel uneasy and frown.

After a long silence—

“1v2,” Xie Songchen broke the silence. “I’ll team up with Chu Mo.”

Chu Mo was filled with disbelief. He hadn’t expected Xie Songchen to team up with him.

The crowd was surprised.

“Xie Songchen wants to team up with President Chu?”

“How will this work?”

“Aren’t they not on good terms? President Chu probably won’t agree…”

Zhou Ming frowned. “I said this is a game between Chu Mo and me, don’t—”

“What,” Xie Songchen smirked, eyes full of disdain, “are you afraid of losing?”

Those few words put Zhou Ming in a tough spot. Agreeing or refusing would both make him look bad. With so many employees watching, if Zhou Ming continued to refuse, it would make him look like a sore loser.

Zhou Ming could only hope Chu Mo would refuse.

He looked at Chu Mo and asked, “President Chu, can you accept this?”

To Zhou Ming’s surprise, Chu Mo agreed without hesitation.

Chu Mo’s task was to complete the plot task. Now, with Xie Songchen teaming up to face Zhou Ming, winning the match would humiliate Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming gritted his teeth. “Fine. Let’s do it as Xie Songchen suggested.”

Though Zhou Ming appeared displeased, he was still confident inside. His archery skills were well known to be excellent.

Dingming’s employees commented:

“Even two against one, they might not beat President Zhou.”

“It would be less embarrassing to let President Chu compete alone.”

“Yeah, losing two against one would be awkward.”

Soon, the staff brought archery gear for the three of them. Zhou Ming skillfully donned his gear and looked at Chu Mo with a meaningful tone.

“Let’s see if President Chu can still slap my face.”

Chu Mo detected a hint of anticipation in Zhou Ming’s words about being “slapped in the face.”

Beside him, Xie Songchen frowned. Before Chu Mo could speak, the sound of an arrow slicing through the air suddenly came from beside him.

With a swift whoosh, Xie Songchen had already released an arrow. It hit the bullseye with precision and force. The arrow quivered on the target, as if retaliating against Zhou Ming.

“Regarding face-slapping,” Xie Songchen said to Zhou Ming, his tone polite yet cold, “there’s no need to trouble our boss.”

Right from the start, Xie Songchen delivered a blow to Zhou Ming. Zhou Ming’s expression soured, but he quickly regained his composure. He drew his bow and shot an arrow with perfect form, hitting the bullseye just like Xie Songchen.

The 1v2 rule meant that Xie Songchen and Chu Mo’s scores would be averaged. Facing two bullseyes on the target, Chu Mo couldn’t deny feeling the pressure. Fortunately, the Chu family had always groomed him as an heir, so he had some experience with archery.

After aiming for several seconds, Chu Mo released the string. He hit the eighth ring. Averaging their scores, they got nine points—trailing Zhou Ming’s ten by one point.

Chu Mo glanced at Xie Songchen and said, “I’m not very good at archery.” He meant for Xie Songchen to try hard and score more bullseyes.

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo, paused for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’ve got this.”

Those simple words left Chu Mo stunned. In the next second, Xie Songchen swiftly drew his bow. Before Chu Mo could react, the arrow was already in flight.

Another bullseye.

Zhou Ming, not to be outdone, hit the ninth ring. This time, Chu Mo got lucky—after aiming for a while, he hit the ninth ring too. Averaging with Xie Songchen’s score, they were now 0.5 points ahead of Zhou Ming.

In the following rounds, Xie Songchen consistently hit tens. He didn’t say much throughout, like a medieval archer, quickly securing bullseye after bullseye. With him leading, Chu Mo felt much less pressure. He finally understood what Xie Songchen meant by “I’ve got this.”

The scores were neck and neck. After nine rounds, Xie Songchen and Chu Mo had accumulated a three-point lead. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final round to begin.

Just as Xie Songchen picked up his bow and got into position, Zhou Ming, standing next to him, suddenly spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Do you really think this will make Chu Mo like you, this Alpha?”

Zhou Ming’s tone was full of mockery.

Whoosh—

The arrow was nocked and had to be released. Even with Zhou Ming’s interference, Xie Songchen decisively shot the final arrow. As he let go, his expression turned sour.

When the result was revealed, the crowd gasped.

“Only six rings?”

“What did President Zhou say to him?”

“President Zhou interfered with Xie Songchen. That’s unfair!”

People voiced their discontent for Xie Songchen, but this wasn’t an official competition, and there was no referee.

Chu Mo frowned and asked Xie Songchen, “What did he say to you just now?”

Xie Songchen’s lips were tightly pressed, his jawline tense. His fingers gripped the bow tightly, his expression chillingly cold. Chu Mo repeated the question, but Xie Songchen refused to answer.

Zhou Ming seized the opportunity and hit the bullseye.

With that, the advantage Chu Mo and Xie Songchen had built vanished instantly. Zhou Ming smiled smugly at Chu Mo.

“President Chu, you might want to check your calendar and arrange a free day.”

“President Zhou, whispering during archery is unsportsmanlike, isn’t it?” Chu Mo said coldly.

“The key to archery is focus,” Zhou Ming arrogantly replied. “I just said a word, and Xie Songchen got so shaky he only hit six rings?”

Chu Mo wanted to say more, but suddenly, Xie Songchen’s voice came through.

“I trust you.”

Chu Mo was taken aback.

The expression on Xie Songchen’s face was serious. In Chu Mo’s memory, he had never heard Xie Songchen say those four words. Even in the original novel, this sentence never came from his mouth.

At this moment, Chu Mo felt a sense of unreality.

Did Xie Songchen really say “I trust you” to him?

Xie Songchen looked directly at Chu Mo, not joking.

With things as they were, Chu Mo could only brace himself and draw the bow. Zhou Ming wore an expression of assured victory. Chu Mo took a deep breath, thinking that for the sake of completing the plot, he had to give it his all.

Under the gaze of those who were either nervous, expectant, or gloating, Chu Mo’s arrow shot through the air.

It flew straight—and cleanly hit the center of the target.

Chu Mo hit the bullseye.

Averaging with Xie Songchen’s six rings, the final round score was eight points—just two points shy of Zhou Ming. Adding the three-point advantage they had accumulated earlier, Zhou Ming lost by one point.

Zhou Ming stared at the arrow in the bullseye, dumbfounded. “This can’t be possible!”

Dingming’s employees couldn’t believe it either—Zhou Ming had actually lost!

It took Chu Mo a few seconds to realize—he had actually hit the bullseye in the decisive round. Chu Mo instinctively looked at Xie Songchen.

“Did you see that? It was a bullseye!”

His tone was filled with undeniable joy.

Xie Songchen was stunned, staring at the well-dressed man in front of him. The man was happy because he won the match, his eyes bright, completely unlike the usually stern-faced boss.

Of course, Xie Songchen didn’t know that Chu Mo was happy because he completed the face-slapping plot.

Xie Songchen stared at Chu Mo for a while. Suddenly, he softly said, “You tricked me again.”

Chu Mo was puzzled. “What?”

“You said you couldn’t shoot,” Xie Songchen said expressionlessly, “but you’re pretty good.”

Chu Mo finally understood what he meant. He frowned and asked, “What do you mean by ‘tricked you again’? Do I often trick you?”

Xie Songchen looked at him and said three words.

“What do you think?”

Chu Mo began to recall when he had ever tricked Xie Songchen. At this moment, Xie Songchen lowered his long eyes. There was a subtle emotion in his gaze.

After a long silence, Xie Songchen’s voice turned slightly hoarse, and he quietly asked—

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”

Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Chu Mo’s eyes. Xie Songchen’s tone sounded… like he was sulking?

Chu Mo had always thought that Xie Songchen was sulking over the unanswered message these past two days. He even felt that Xie Songchen was making a fuss over nothing. He hadn’t expected it to be because of this?

Chu Mo was suddenly filled with question marks: Why does he care about me being sick?

Xie Songchen looked up, meeting Chu Mo’s eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he dryly asked—

“Is it because… you trust Chi Cheng more than me?”

Chu Mo was taken aback by the question.

He seemed to detect a hint of… jealousy in Xie Songchen’s tone?