Extra: The Liar 05 (Wolf & Rabbit) — Unless he gives me 10% of the company, then maybe I’ll consider staying
Shen Wenlang didn’t know that day, Gao Tu had actually brought a resignation letter with him to work.
But later, because Shen Wenlang’s attitude softened slightly, he couldn’t bear to hand it in.
Gao Tu hated his own hesitation, hated his indecisiveness. But that’s the strange thing about “liking” someone — it was like magic. Even someone as thin-skinned as him could become shameless, a kind of pitifully brave.
He didn’t bring it up again until a few months later.
“What if your Omega ends up having a baby one day?!”
“Obviously, get rid of it! What else?”
“—During working hours, don’t ask me stupid questions like that. You already know, I hate Omegas! Do you have any other business? If not, get out.”
“But forcing an Omega to abort…”
“Stop saying Omega, Omega — don’t you find yourself disgusting?”
“President Shen, please stop making insulting remarks about Omegas! That violates the ABO Equal Rights Agreement!”
“What, Gao Tu? You’re a Beta — are you going to sue me on behalf of the Omegas?”
…
Of course, Gao Tu wouldn’t sue Shen Wenlang on behalf of an Omega.
But when he saw Shen Wenlang speak those cruel words, as if it were perfectly natural — to him, and to the little life in his belly — in that moment, Gao Tu’s heart truly died.
To this day, Shen Wenlang still couldn’t understand why the always-submissive Gao Tu suddenly resigned.
That mild Beta suddenly showed a stubbornness no force on earth could drag him back from.
Shen Wenlang didn’t understand why Gao Tu left, just as he had never understood why, back then, his Omega father had been willing to so easily let go of the Alpha he’d clung to with his life — and simply died.
His feelings toward the Omega who’d borne him after enduring so much were complicated. Over the years, he’d often thought, “If only that person were still alive…”
As for Gao Tu, Shen Wenlang was even more conflicted. On the one hand, he refused to lower himself to plead with an unremarkable subordinate. On the other hand, he really didn’t want him to leave.
For this, Shen Wenlang battled himself endlessly. He drafted hundreds of speeches, even practicing them while washing up in the morning.
But those few words of persuasion made him more nervous than any ten-thousand-word speech at an industry summit.
Faced with the resolute, determined-to-leave Gao Tu, the eloquent Shen Wenlang turned into a stammering fool.
“You… could you, could you not… not…”
“—Fuck!” Shen Wenlang slapped the mirror in frustration at the bumbling idiot reflected in it.
The loser in the mirror, unable to even string a sentence together, made him feel both embarrassed and angry.
In his shame and rage, he once again misplaced his anger on Gao Tu — why the hell was he resigning over some Omega who couldn’t stop going into heat?
Since their school days, Gao Tu had always been by Shen Wenlang’s side.
That Beta, who wasn’t even good at socializing, still awkwardly helped him deal with all those letters that reeked of Omega pheromones.
Shen Wenlang’s hatred of Omegas was something Gao Tu understood better than anyone.
And beyond that, he knew countless little things about Shen Wenlang:
That he didn’t like coffee but preferred tea, especially white tea, and it had to be brewed, not steeped. That this proud Alpha had a pickier palate than any Omega, able to nitpick Gao Tu’s control of the water temperature and steeping time every time he made tea.
Gao Tu knew so much about him.
But what he didn’t know was that on their graduation day, when he couldn’t attend the ceremony because of his father, Shen Wenlang — unaware of the reason — had stood outside the classroom door until late, waiting until everyone else had left before storming off alone.
Damn pauper! Already graduating from university and still didn’t even have a cell phone. Wouldn’t even accept one when I tried to give it to him. Great — now that he’s graduated, how the hell am I supposed to keep in touch with him?
One year after they lost contact, Shen Wenlang saw Gao Tu’s photo on the “Outstanding Employees” wall in the HR department of his own company — and for a moment, his mind went completely blank.
“Transfer this man to the secretary’s office,” Shen Wenlang said. “I want to see him in my office every day.”
No matter how unwilling he was to admit it, he had long since become incapable of adjusting to life without Gao Tu around.
To avoid making himself miserable, after Gao Tu submitted his resignation, Shen Wenlang, clinging to the philosophy of out of sight, out of mind, swiftly transferred him out of the chairman’s office.
Though he regretted it the very second the transfer order went out, he forced himself not to rescind it — just so he wouldn’t slap himself in the face.
He even gave up the private bathroom in his office and started using the public restroom downstairs more often, just to keep his distance.
But Shen Wenlang noticed that lately, Gao Tu had been going to the restroom a lot more.
At first, he cynically assumed Gao Tu was just slacking off before leaving, sneaking away under the pretense of bathroom breaks to line up another job.
But after secretly tailing him a few times, he realized that wasn’t it.
Gao Tu seemed to have gastroenteritis. He was often in there vomiting.
His sickness made Shen Wenlang anxious — like a fire burning in his chest.
Shen Wenlang wasn’t someone who got anxious easily; he had plenty of ways to keep a capable subordinate.
But no matter how many methods he knew, he simply didn’t know how to keep a Gao Tu who was determined to leave.
He’d always thought Gao Tu was different from everyone else.
Until that day — pretending to go to the restroom, secretly following him in — Shen Wenlang overheard the following conversation.
“Once I leave, you all have to keep working hard, okay?”
Shen Wenlang saw him smile ambiguously at a delicate-looking Omega:
“Eric, from now on you can handle making tea for President Shen. But don’t bring it into the office yourself — better to have Secretary Hua deliver it. He seems to like him.”
Idiot! Who the hell likes that fake-weak Enigma!
If it weren’t for the massive favor he owed that little maniac from his startup days, Shen Wenlang would never have created that “domineering CEO love” farce for him!
“Huh?” The Omega named Eric was shocked, his face twisting like he’d just swallowed a bug — but even so, he batted his eyes and asked, “Secretary Gao, have you really decided to leave?”
“Yeah.” Gao Tu even smiled at him again.
That smile — after so long without a kind word from him — sent Shen Wenlang’s anger skyrocketing.
Damn it! Smiling and smiling at all those other Omegas all day long! No wonder he got tangled up with some knocked-up Omega!
Damn it! This shameless, spineless, rotten Beta!
Shen Wenlang almost stormed off right then and there — but he wanted to hear what came next, so he forced himself to stay and listen.
“But what if President Shen personally asked you to stay?” Eric asked. “It’s obvious he really values you, Secretary Gao.”
Gao Tu kept his head down. Shen Wenlang couldn’t see his face — only heard him pause for a long time before saying softly:
“He wouldn’t.”
Who the hell says I wouldn’t?!
Shen Wenlang stiffened against the wall, the urge to rush out and roar at him overwhelming — but he held back and kept listening.
“He’s never lacked capable people around him,” Gao Tu continued, his voice quiet. “Compared to them, I’m really quite average. Keeping up with them has always been exhausting.”
Please! Even elementary school kids know money’s hard to earn and shit’s hard to swallow!
You think it’s just you? I’m exhausted too!
Shen Wenlang was howling inside.
“Ah? But what about his personal life?” Eric said, sounding truly regretful. “Feels like without you, no one in the secretary’s office could really handle it.”
“It’ll be fine.”
Gao Tu finally looked up, his expression strange.
It was as if he smiled, yet not quite — his lips somewhere between flat and upturned, as if it was hard to hold even that much — and after a pause, he added:
“Don’t worry. He has Secretary Hua. He’ll be fine.”
Fine? You’re sure about that?
Shen Wenlang ground his teeth.
Secretary Hua, Secretary Hua! How could Hua Yong possibly handle it? He’s the biggest problem of them all!
What, does Gao Tu really expect that love-obsessed lunatic to be his lifelong secretary? If Hua Yong keeps bothering me like this, I might as well shut down the company and go home to inherit the family business — better than being used forever as some “romantic prop” for that maniac!
“Secretary Hua isn’t like you,” Eric — apparently not completely brainless — frowned and said to Gao Tu: “I feel like President Shen relies on you more emotionally. With Secretary Hua… well… I’m not sure. But compared to him, I think President Shen likes you more.”
Gao Tu let out a bitter smile again.
Likes?
He sighed faintly.
His heart clenched, spasmed like it had been shocked. He felt nauseous again.
Forcing himself to act casual, Gao Tu shrugged and joked to the worried, frowning Eric:
“What good is ‘liking’? I didn’t come to this company because of that. Unless he gives me 10% of the company — then maybe I’d consider staying.”
Eric blinked, surprised for a second — then suddenly let out a helpless laugh.
“I didn’t expect Secretary Gao to know how to joke too.”