Father Chen sent someone to clean Chen Songyan’s room. Chen Songyan had a locked cabinet, so he found the spare key. When he opened it, he discovered an almost brand-new collar and a note with a phone number.
The phone number belonged to Chen Songyan, and it was written in his handwriting. Father Chen didn’t suspect much, but he found it strange why Chen Songyan would lock away a collar.
Due to the continuous rain, their mission was suspended. Everyone returned to school for theory classes. Everything went back to normal, yet things weren’t quite the same.
Xu Jiu saw Chen Songyan in a new light. The seemingly perfect rival straight-A student1学霸 (xué bà) – (slang) straight-A student; academic prodigy wasn’t so perfect after all.
Moreover, Chen Songyan wasn’t as bad as he had thought.
While smoking with his buddies at the back gate, one of his Alpha friends, remembering the friction between Xu Jiu and Chen Songyan, casually asked, “Did Chen Songyan give you a hard time during the military exercise?”
The mark on Xu Jiu’s nape throbbed with pain. Chen Songyan’s bite nearly killed him, but it did feel good during his heat.
But he kept remembering Chen Songyan’s inner thoughts at that time. Chen Songyan said,
“Xu Jiu, it’s been ten years.”
Xu Jiu still couldn’t understand what that meant. He couldn’t remember what he did ten years ago. Wasn’t he just playing around as a kid?
Xu Jiu shook his head and asked his Alpha friend, “What were you doing ten years ago?”
The Alpha friend looked puzzled but answered honestly, “Ten years ago? That’s quite far back. We were seven or eight, probably at the Alpha training camp.”
“Who remembers the stupid things they did when they were losing baby teeth?”
The Alpha friend belatedly realized something was off.
“Shit, did Chen Songyan hit you so hard you got memory loss? Why else would you ask about ten years ago?”
Xu Jiu calmly took one last drag of his cigarette. He dropped the butt and crushed it under his foot, frowning in dissatisfaction.
“Stop thinking so badly of Chen Songyan. He’s actually quite good to me.”
Xu Jiu waved goodbye and left. He wouldn’t get any useful information anyway.
But he was the only one who could hear Chen Songyan’s inner thoughts, and he couldn’t just openly ask Chen Songyan about what happened ten years ago. Otherwise, his ability to hear Chen Songyan’s thoughts would be exposed.
On his way back, he ran into Ranran. He greeted him as usual. Although Ranran had always coldly ignored him, this time he actually stopped and smiled at him.
Xu Jiu was happy, but his heart didn’t pound like it used to.
“Hi, Classmate Xu,” Ranran linked his arm with Xu Jiu’s. “Could I ask you for a favor?”
“There’s this Alpha who’s been harassing me online. I arranged to meet him on Wednesday night. Could you pretend to be me and beat him up?”
Xu Jiu was dizzy with joy but also confused.
“Why do I need to pretend to be you? I could just beat him up directly.”
“But you’re an Alpha. He’d definitely notice we’re different. What if he comes after you later? If you pretend to be me, he’ll think I’m the one who tricked him.”
“You’re so thoughtful, Ranran. You’re still thinking of my safety. I’ll definitely take care of him properly.”
Ranran smiled and waved goodbye. “Don’t forget. Wednesday at 9 PM, back gate.”
Xu Jiu took it to heart. He would definitely handle this task from the little Omega well. When he went back for evening self-study, Chen Songyan was at his seat, surrounded by several Omegas asking questions. They had even taken over Xu Jiu’s spot.
A hint of sourness grew in Xu Jiu’s chest, like eating unripe dates, but he didn’t show it.
He had always respected Omegas. He wandered outside the classroom for several rounds, waiting for them to finish asking questions before returning to his seat. But just as he reached it, another Omega came to ask questions.
Xu Jiu could only sit on half the chair, with half his body hanging off the desk, separated from Chen Songyan by the Omega asking questions.
He wanted to say something but couldn’t find an opening, so he just opened his workbook and stared blankly at the last problem.
That’s when he heard Chen Songyan’s thoughts:
[Can’t solve the last problem?]
Xu Jiu pretended to look at the scenery outside while secretly glancing at Chen Songyan’s expression. Chen Songyan’s face remained unchanged, but his gaze flickered slightly.
Xu Jiu’s eyes darted around before he turned his head and started sighing. He slumped over the desk, seemingly listless, and muttered softly, “What should I do? This is so hard.”
Being an Alpha himself, Xu Jiu knew Alphas had excellent hearing. Chen Songyan would definitely hear him.
Sure enough, Chen Songyan’s thoughts changed:
[Can’t you talk faster? Xiao Jiu is going to ask me any minute.]
Xu Jiu knew Chen Songyan was anxious, but he deliberately got up to ask his Alpha friend Gu Ji instead. Seeing Xu Jiu coming from far away, Gu Ji started getting restless.
Seeing Xu Jiu stand up, Chen Songyan spoke up, “Xu Jiu, why don’t you just ask me? Gu Ji is too far away.”
Xu Jiu sat back down, eyes wide open, looking completely innocent.
“Isn’t that too much? You’re so busy.”
Chen Songyan: [This is perfectly fine.]
Chen Songyan’s expression remained flawless as he said, “It’s fine, I just finished.”
Watching Xu Jiu sit back down to talk with Chen Songyan, Gu Ji cursed under his breath, “What’s wrong with him.”
Still unsatisfied with Chen Songyan’s serious demeanor, Xu Jiu said, “Maybe you should rest for a bit.”
Seeing Xu Jiu about to stand up again, Chen Songyan blurted out, his ears turning red, “I want to teach you.”
As soon as he said it, a playful smile appeared on Xu Jiu’s face, like a rogue teasing a virtuous lady.
He stared straight into Chen Songyan’s restrained eyes, mocking how his self-control crumbled to dust before Xu Jiu, ridiculing his cool composure.
Looking at Xu Jiu’s smug expression, Chen Songyan belatedly realized this brat was playing tricks.
He gripped his pen tightly, feeling like his secret crush had spilled out like sesame filling from an overcooked tangyuan. He wanted to cover it up, but Xu Jiu’s eyes seemed to see right through him.
Not satisfied with how hot the fire was burning, Xu Jiu added more fuel, “Chen Songyan, are you having an allergic reaction? Why is your neck so red?”
Without a word, Chen Songyan undid Xu Jiu’s collar with one hand. Before Xu Jiu realized what was happening, Chen Songyan had also removed his own collar.
Chen Songyan just took a breath, and a massive wave of pheromones hit Xu Jiu directly. The mark on Xu Jiu’s gland hadn’t faded yet, and the cedar pheromones immediately invaded through the mark, stirring inside his body.
Xu Jiu was both angry and panicked, hurriedly releasing his white camellia scent.
The others wearing their collars couldn’t sense the pheromone fluctuations between the two.
Chen Songyan’s face remained as calm as ever. His cedar scent instantly overwhelmed the white camellia fragrance. He smirked and touched Xu Jiu’s forehead, saying, “Xu Jiu, do you have a fever? Your face is so red.”
TL Notes
- 1学霸 (xué bà) – (slang) straight-A student; academic prodigy
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