YPSSS Chapter 02

The sound of “knock knock” echoed as Xia Shiruan began another round of intense studying. He was mentally substituting data into a formula and comparing the result with the one automatically calculated by his phone’s calculator.

A decimal point didn’t match up, making Xia Shiruan’s brows furrow slightly.

Then, the knocking stopped, and the door was opened directly. A middle-aged woman with a delicate makeup peeked in, her face showing a hint of happiness. “Xiao Ruan, don’t keep reading all the time. It’s bad for your eyes. Come out and have some fruit.”

Xia Shiruan, still trying to figure out what went wrong with the decimal point, replied without turning his head, “Wait a moment, Mom. I’ll come down later.”

Usually, when he said this, Gao Qiuyun would considerately close the door for him and then quietly go downstairs. Today, however, not only did she not leave, but she walked right in.

She first patted Xia Shiruan’s head, glanced at the content of the book he was reading, which she couldn’t understand at all, and then looked at her son’s profile with satisfaction.

Xia Shiruan couldn’t concentrate with her watching him. He turned to face her and said helplessly, “Mom, what do you want?”

“After you finish this page, come downstairs for a bit,” Gao Qiuyun said gently. “Xiao Ji is here. How long has it been since you two last met?”

After ruffling Xia Shiruan’s hair one more time, she hurried downstairs to attend to their guest.

Xia Shiruan sat dazed at his desk. His brain, which could operate at high speed while calculating, took a while to process who “Xiao Ji” referred to.

There was only one person his mom would call that: their next-door neighbors, Professors Yang’s grandson, Xie Ji.

Professor Yang and his wife both worked at the Science University, teaching modern physics and history, respectively.

Although both were Betas, they had an Omega daughter. She married into the Xie family and became a military officer’s wife, and then they had Xie Ji.

In a way, Xia Shiruan and Xie Ji could barely be considered childhood friends.

After all, they often played together when they were very young.

Xie Ji was four years younger than Xia Shiruan. Every summer, his busy parents would send him to stay with the Yang professors.

The Yang professors were quite free during the summer and had plenty of time to spend with their grandson, although the grandson clearly wasn’t interested in playing with them.

From age three or four, Xie Ji already showed signs of being a little troublemaker. Soon after arriving, he managed to antagonize every kid his age in the neighborhood. One day he scratched a chubby kid’s face, the next day he tore a new kid’s pants. Within a week, many parents came to complain to Professor Yang, leading their children and educating them to stay away from Xie Ji.

After apologizing and smoothing things over, Professor Yang looked at the unrepentant little brat sitting on the couch and felt a headache coming on.

Xie Ji was eventually sent next door to the Xia family and spent the rest of his vacation with Xia Shiruan, whom Professor Yang described as “quiet, well-behaved, and someone Xiao Ji should learn from.”

Back then, Xia Shiruan wasn’t even ten years old, but he was already shaping up to be a little bookworm.

During holidays, while other kids begged their parents to take them to the spaceship park, underwater drifting, or overseas trips, Xia Shiruan was different. He loved nothing more than burying himself in books, reading from dawn till dusk. Except for meals and bathroom breaks, his eyes were practically glued to the pages.

At first, Xie Ji pestered him just like he did with other kids, secretly kicking his chair and pulling his hair from behind.

But Xia Shiruan never fought back. He would just quietly move his chair back or remove Xie Ji’s hand. At worst, he would just stare at Xie Ji with his big eyes, completely lacking any intimidation.

After a while, Xie Ji got bored with the lack of response and gradually quieted down. He started to find things to do on his own – going through all the books in Xia Shiruan’s room that he could understand.

Once, Professor Yang came for a surprise inspection and found his grandson sitting by the bay window, frowning while seemingly absorbed in a book. He was overjoyed and went home to praise Xia Shiruan to Mrs. Yang, saying this child wasn’t just quiet and studious himself, but could also motivate others to study, which was very remarkable!

And so, Xie Ji was forced to spend every following summer vacation with the “remarkable” Xia Shiruan.

They were still young, after all, and after a few days of staying together, they gradually became familiar.

They no longer confined themselves to a small room – Xie Ji was the instigator, of course.

At first, Xia Shiruan firmly refused, but somehow later on, Xie Ji managed to coax him into going out together.

In Xia Shiruan’s memory, the summers of his childhood were filled with many different colors.

When did these colors fade away?

Thinking carefully, Xia Shiruan recalled it was when he turned fourteen.

After that year, they never spent summer vacations together again.

A year later, Xie Ji, as expected, presented as an Alpha.

Once someone presents as an Alpha, their gender awareness and territorial instincts become very strong.

Perhaps because of this, no matter how much Professor Yang tried to persuade him, Xie Ji firmly refused to enter Xia Shiruan’s small room during subsequent summer breaks. Even when visiting the Xia family with adults, he would only stay briefly in the downstairs living room.

With such obvious disdain from the other party, Xia Shiruan’s young pride naturally wouldn’t allow him to take the initiative anymore.

Later on, Xia Shiruan became increasingly busy with his studies. His summer breaks in high school and university were filled with various learning activities and internships. He was often away from home, so even if Xie Ji returned to C City, they might not run into each other.

Counting like this, they hadn’t seen each other for four or five years.

Coming back from his thoughts, realized his pen tip had already touched the electronic screen he was using for calculations, drawing a mess of lines.

He quickly pressed the undo button several times to clear the lines, revealing the original formula underneath.

The formula was still there. Xia Shiruan sighed in relief, clicked save, tidied up his desk, and went downstairs.

–

Gao Qiuyun bustled around in the kitchen before bringing out a plate of fruit and a dish of snacks to the living room.

A young man sat on the living room sofa.

He wore a simple T-shirt and sweatpants, his hair cut very short with a hint of dark stubble near his temples.

The Xia family’s sofa was a simple fabric style of moderate size, but somehow when this person sat on it, it seemed too small for him.

It was hard to tell if this was because of his tall build, with his long legs slightly bent, or because of his presence.

Gao Qiuyun placed the fruit and snacks on the coffee table, smiling as she said, “Xiao Ji, have some fruit first. That child Xiao Ruan, he only knows how to study. I just called him, he should be down soon.”

Xie Ji leaned forward slightly, politely smiling as he said, “It’s fine, I’ll be leaving shortly anyway. No need to call him specially.”

After saying that, he picked up a small fork and ate a piece of cut watermelon, graciously commenting that it was “sweet.”

No one could dislike a handsome and polite young man. Although Gao Qiuyun couldn’t take credit for how sweet the watermelon was, her eyes still crinkled with pleasure as she said, “Have more if you like it.”

After speaking, she sat down in the single sofa across from him, glancing toward the stairs.

“Auntie.” Xie Ji finished one piece of watermelon but didn’t take another one. Instead, he put down the fork and said, “Is… is Xia Shiruan on summer break?”

“Ah,” Gao Qiuyun turned back, saying, “He’s been on break for a while. But Xiao Ruan will start his doctorate next year, so the break isn’t very long.”

Xie Ji “oh”ed and raised an eyebrow.

Gao Qiuyun looked at Xie Ji, feeling quite emotional.

Due to her work, she often interacted with various elite individuals.

More than ninety percent of the elite population were Alphas, with different appearances and varying temperaments.

In this era, scent blockers were highly effective, and since Gao Qiuyun was a Beta who couldn’t smell pheromones at all, strictly speaking, whether someone was an A, B, or O made no difference to her.

But years of reading people had taught her to easily discern someone’s danger level from their presence, or in more technical terms: their Alpha pheromone concentration.

Modern medical statistics showed a strong correlation between an Alpha’s presentation age and their pheromone concentration.

In other words, the earlier an Alpha presented, the higher their likelihood of having high concentrations of pheromones, with corresponding enhancements in intelligence, physical strength, and other attributes.

As an Alpha who presented at just twelve years old, Xie Ji perfectly proved this statistical pattern.

However, having seen less of him in recent years, Gao Qiuyun’s impression was still stuck on that scowling kid who used to tug at Xia Shiruan’s clothes, making it hard to reconcile with the handsome young Alpha in front of her.

Gao Qiuyun was about to ask exactly what Xie Ji’s father had said, when she noticed his gaze drift behind her and suddenly freeze.

In that moment, Xie Ji’s expression turned strange. It was hard to tell if it was happy, mocking, or indifferent.

Xia Shiruan had come downstairs.

Because it was a hot summer, the living room’s air conditioning was set at a constant temperature for guests, making it much cooler than Xia Shiruan’s room.

Xia Shiruan was somewhat sensitive to cold, and goosebumps immediately rose on his skin.

He hunched his shoulders and shivered slightly, then looked up to meet Xie Ji’s gaze.

Xia Shiruan froze for a moment.

Then, his mind was filled with only one thought: After so many years, Xie Ji had grown even more handsome.

Anyone who laid eyes on this young man would marvel at his beauty.

Xie Ji’s features seemed drawn by the most skilled artist, stroke by stroke, without a single imperfect or discordant element. Yet he didn’t appear feminine – rather, he exuded a masculine presence. This was probably due to that cold, dominating aura unique to young Alphas.

“Xia Shiruan, long time no see,” Xie Ji greeted him first, watching him.

Xia Shiruan paused for two seconds, avoiding his gaze as he slowly relaxed his shoulders, giving a faint “mm” in response.

Then, he walked over and sat in a single sofa some distance from Xie Ji before saying, “Long time no see.”