Chu Tao was awakened by the first rays of sunlight in the morning.

The curtains had a small gap, about the size of a palm. Because he had gone to bed in a hurry the night before, he had pulled the curtains carelessly without checking if they were properly closed, and just fell asleep like that.

As a result, the morning light streamed right through the gap, forming a straight line of light that left an orange-red mark on Chu Tao’s face.

He rubbed his eyes and struggled to turn over.

But after turning over, the sleepiness gradually faded away.

Chu Tao opened his eyes, his eyes slightly gritty from lack of sleep.

Another day had started. In a while, it would be time to eat and go to school.

He felt a bit reluctant to go to school.

It felt a bit scary.

If he backed down now, he was afraid that, as Yang Liu had said, he might develop psychological issues.

Jiang She is an alpha, and he’s an alpha too. Actually, most of what he knew about Jiang She had come from others. Jiang She still hadn’t planned to take any action against him.

If he was scared now, that would be really pathetic.

Chu Tao sat up abruptly. The sound of dishes clanging and being washed came from outside the door.

Song Mian wiped his hands on his apron, threw the pot in the sink, and while running water, he yelled into the room, “Get up! Chu Xingning, Chu Tao!”

Chu Tao quickly jumped out of bed, rubbed his face hard, and rushed into the bathroom, his hair all messy.

After he finished washing up and applying the inhibator, Chu Xingning finally tiredly came out of the room, looking dispirited.

Chu Xingning yawned and squatted down in the bathroom.

Chu Tao packed his bag and then went to the kitchen.

There were two bowls of fried rice on the table, still emitting a slow, lingering steam.

Chu Tao silently walked to the bowl with less food and sat down after pulling out a chair.

Song Mian, while washing the pot, glanced over and asked, “Where’s your brother?”

Chu Tao scooped a mouthful of rice with chopsticks and, chewing the rice, mumbled, “Bathroom.”

Song Mian sighed. “You’re up so late. I’ve got something to take care of at work, so I’ll leave first. You two eat and wash the dishes.”

Chu Tao nodded. “Where’s Dad?”

Song Mian replied, “Your dad went on a business trip to another province. He won’t be back for two weeks.”

Chu Tao lowered his head, took another big mouthful of rice, and said, “Oh.”

Chu Jiangmin was a programmer. He had done well in the early years and earned a good salary, but when the company suddenly went bankrupt in his middle age and terminated all employee contracts, Chu Jiangmin didn’t get much compensation. At his age, it was difficult to find a decent job again.

He used to be a project manager, but after the company closed, it was impossible to find another project manager position. The industry was changing rapidly, and young people were more flexible and worked longer hours, so he lost his advantage in the market. After hitting several walls, he had no choice but to join a smaller private company, and not as a leader—just an ordinary programmer. Like the younger employees, he had to work overtime and travel for business, stuck in the most awkward stage of his life.

Even so, Chu Jiangmin couldn’t guarantee that this job would still be his in a few years.

Song Mian didn’t have it easy either. She worked in the community, a job among government employees that involved little power but a lot of responsibility.

The salary was low, and there was little opportunity for promotion. After having two children, she focused entirely on her family and gave up fighting for career advancement, which meant that colleagues who started working at the same time had already been promoted, while she remained in the same position.

Her only consolation was that her colleagues, who had children later at 30, didn’t have time to manage their kids’ studies, and now their children couldn’t even get into a top junior high school, just going through the motions at an ordinary one.

Song Mian, however, was different. Both her sons were doing well in school. Chu Xingning was even better, possibly aiming for the top 2.

As for Chu Tao, he was a little behind his brother, but he could still get into a good 985 university.^[1]“985 Project” is a project aimed to increasing the development speed and gaining more reputation for China’s universities. The 985 project was announced by Chinese President Jiang … Continue reading

She finished washing the pot, took off her apron, draped on her camel-colored coat, slipped into high heels, and called out to the bathroom, “Xingning, I’m leaving now!”

Chu Xingning responded in a muffled voice from the bathroom, and Song Mian then left after pushing the door open.

By the time Chu Tao had finished his meal, Chu Xingning came out after brushing his teeth.

He glanced at the fried rice and frowned. “So oily, I’m not really hungry.”

Chu Tao looked up and examined Chu Xingning’s face. “What’s wrong with you? You look so out of it.”

Chu Xingning shook his head and plopped down into the chair. He picked up his chopsticks and poked around in the bowl. “It’s nothing, I’ll give you some. I can’t eat it.”

Chu Tao had chosen the bowl with less food. After finishing it, he felt that it was just enough to fill him up, and he was planning to grab a sandwich at the supermarket on his way to school.

He hesitated. “You don’t have much left, and if you don’t eat now, you’ll be hungry by lunchtime.”

Chu Xingning shook his head. “I really can’t eat. Just take it.”

Chu Tao reluctantly pushed the bowl toward him.

Chu Xingning took out more than half of it and put it into Chu Tao’s bowl.

Chu Tao quickly stopped his hand, scolding him lightly. “What’s this? There’s only one bite left, are you feeding it to the cat? No, I’m giving it back to you.”

Chu Xingning immediately covered the bowl, not letting Chu Tao return the food.

“I really can’t eat it. Even this little, I don’t want to eat.”

Chu Tao scrutinized Chu Xingning, noticing that his eyelids were drooping, his lips slightly pale, and there were faint indentations from the pillow on his otherwise fair and delicate face.

“You’re not feeling well again, are you?”

It was common for Chu Xingning to feel unwell, though it had improved as he got older. Still, he was a fragile person prone to health problems.

Chu Xingning ate two grains of rice. “No, maybe I just didn’t sleep well. I had some nightmares last night.”

Chu Tao licked his lower lip and cautiously asked, “Mom said someone confessed to you again yesterday? I should’ve stayed with you.”

Chu Xingning tiredly replied, “It doesn’t matter, luckily…”

“Luckily, what?”

Chu Xingning composed himself. “Luckily, a junior high school kid helped me out and got them off my back.”

“Oh, how’s the new class for you?”

Chu Xingning chuckled lightly, swallowed the rice, and set down his chopsticks. “What can it be? A lot of people are jealous that I have so many admirers, but they don’t know that I’m only interested in them. Being surrounded by an entire class of Omegas really tests my self-control.”

Chu Tao felt relieved. “As long as no one’s bullying you.” He quickly continued eating his rice.

After eating most of the food Chu Xingning gave him, Chu Tao felt quite full—perhaps too full.

Chu Xingning eyed him suspiciously, concerned. “Did someone bully you? Damn, who was it? Was it that guy from your class, Jiang She?”

Chu Tao paused, then replied, “You’ve heard of him? No, no one bullied me. They don’t even know my name.”

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Outside the school, by the breakfast stall, Jiang She bit into a pancake and leaned against the wall, murmuring to himself, “Chu Tao?”

Xu Yuan nodded. “I heard he’s the dream guy of all the Alphas in school—Chu Xingning’s little brother. Damn, if I had known he was related to Chu Xingning, I should’ve punched Fang Sheng yesterday.”

Fang Sheng rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you heartless fool.”

Xu Yuan clicked his tongue and lightly kicked him. “If you knew he was Chu Xingning’s brother, would you still mess with him?”

Fang Sheng paused and grinned slyly. “Definitely not!”

Xu Yuan: “I’ve seen through your true nature a long time ago!”

Fang Sheng quickly responded, “That’s not for me, I’m doing it for Ah She. I plan to help Ah She pursue Chu Xingning, the dream of all the Alphas in school. It’s definitely going to be our She Ge’s^[2]Ge or Gege in chinese means brother, right?”

Jiang She glanced at him without expression and said, “Who is Chu Xingning?”

Fang Sheng looked helpless. “I mean, you can’t possibly be serious about Su Jingtong, can you? You don’t even know who Chu Xingning is. Su Jingtong may be a bit cute with his delicate personality, but he’s a jerk, secretly flirting with others. How can he compare to Chu Xingning? Chu Xingning is a once-in-a-lifetime, god-like beauty.”

Jiang She scoffed lightly. “Is he more handsome than Chu Tao?”

Fang Sheng paused. “Uh…”

To be fair, Chu Tao was also good-looking.

After all, he and Chu Xingning were twins, so their looks couldn’t be that different.

But Chu Tao was an Alpha, and Fang Sheng only cared about comparing things like masculinity and which Alpha’s pheromones could attract Omega attention. He never really thought about whether Chu Tao was good-looking.

But now that Jiang She mentioned it, Fang Sheng felt a bit uncomfortable.

Why compare Chu Tao with Chu Xingning?

One’s an Alpha, the other’s an Omega. What’s there to compare?

Xu Yuan, bewildered, said, “Ah She, you think Chu Tao is good-looking? You’re not…”

Jiang She slapped his head lightly. “Get lost.”

Xu Yuan grinned, “Hey, it’s fine, who says Alphas can’t do it? My She Ge is so awesome, what’s wrong with liking an Alpha?”

He was just joking, because Omega’s sexual attraction to Alphas was natural.

The probability of an Alpha liking another Alpha is extremely low, and with the same aggressive pheromones, they’d clash with each other—how could that be harmonious?

Jiang She gave him a slap on the head, turned, and walked towards the school, saying in a low voice, “Like your foot.”

Xu Yuan and Fang Sheng quickly jogged to catch up. “Don’t be mad, She Ge, we’re just joking.”

Jiang She took two steps, then turned to Fang Sheng. “You and Chu Tao handle your own problems, stop bothering me.”

Fang Sheng was unconcerned. “What’s there to handle? It’s over, as long as he doesn’t mess with me, I’ll let it go.”

Jiang She suddenly stopped and looked coldly at Fang Sheng.

He remembered the red mark on Chu Tao’s neck, clear and raised on his thin skin, gently pulsing with his heartbeat, fragile yet stubborn.

It looked strangely heart-wrenching.

Fang Sheng felt uneasy under his gaze and blinked rapidly. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang She curled the corner of his lips, shifted his gaze, and said, “I’ll tell you how to handle it. Apologize first, and then don’t mess with him.”

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The author’s note: Is anyone still reading…?