The results of the weekly practice test were released quickly, and Guo Zhen posted them at the back of the classroom.

Ning Xi still didn’t go to check his scores himself.

Because this time, the student committee happened to have an extra copy of the results, but he didn’t seem interested in keeping it, so he handed it to Ning Xi.

Ning Xi glanced at the scores, last in the class, with a total score of 377, ranked 738th in the entire school.

He looked at the report card and frowned.

Why was the score so high?

Science subjects were relatively easier to control in terms of scoring since they were based on standard answers. What was right was right, what was wrong was wrong. Because of this, Ning Xi had managed to keep his math and science scores within his intended range.

But Chinese and English had a lot of subjective elements, especially when it came to grading compositions. It was nearly impossible to predict how a teacher would score them.

Yet somehow, he had scored 92 in English… He had deliberately mismarked his machine-readable answer sheet to lose over 50 points—just how high was his composition score ah?

Maybe it was the heat. Even with the air conditioning running, the classroom didn’t feel particularly cool. Ning Xi felt a bit stifled, and for some reason, the back of his neck was burning.

His head felt swollen too. He stuffed the results into his desk drawer, rubbed his temples, and placed a palm over his eyes.

English was a subject that Ning Xi had never been bad at since he was a child.

There were only two types of people who were good at English.

The first were the hardworking achievers who memorized grammar rules and vocabulary thoroughly, able to explain the reasoning behind every answer in detail.

The second was those with an innate linguistic intuition. They could instinctively pick the correct answer after reading a sentence once, never actively studying grammar or doing extra exercises, yet consistently scoring high.

Ning Xi belonged to the second type.

That was why he couldn’t write a low-scoring composition at all.

The cicadas outside chirped incessantly, and the scorching sun had driven away the wind, leaving an invisible heat lingering in the air.

Ning Xi felt like he might be suffering from a bit of heatstroke, but it wasn’t a big deal.

He glanced at the report card again and noticed someone ranked second to last in the class, 698th in the grade.

Their English score was actually only 69.

Tracing the score with his finger, he found the corresponding name, then poked Hu Yangcai and asked, “Which one is Wang Qiuxia ah?”

“Wang Qiuxia?” Hu Yangcai replied, “Oh, over there, second seat in the fourth group.”

“Oh, thank you ha.”

After asking, Ning Xi stood up and walked through the desks to Wang Qiuxia’s big group.

In the second row, he saw a girl sitting there. She didn’t wear glasses, slim and delicate, with a few faint freckles on her face. She was holding her test paper and sighing.

Ning Xi knocked on her desk and asked, “Excuse me, are you Wang Qiuxia?”

Wang Qiuxia looked up, and when she saw Ning Xi standing over her and looking at her, she instinctively leaned back.

It had to be said that Ning Xi was really good-looking.

Moreover, when he wasn’t smiling, pretending, or messing around, he had a kind of cool and languid aura, a natural looseness in his demeanor that made him especially appealing to girls.

Wang Qiuxia was then surprised by Ning Xi’s face value for a moment, “I am… Do you need something?”

Ning Xi smiled slightly and asked, “Can I ask you how to write an English composition?”

“Huh?” Wang Qiuxia hadn’t expected him to ask that. She lowered her head and said softly, “I, I’m not good at English ah. There are so many people in the class who are great at it, you should ask them instead…”

“How can you say that?” Ning Xi cut her off. “Your ranking is higher than mine. My score is really terrible—I just need a little bit of improvement. Those xueba in English write compositions that are way too advanced for me to learn from. I figured yours would be more foundational, so I wanted to borrow your templates.”

After speaking, he lifted his eyelashes slightly. “Can you help me a little?”

Wang Qiuxia was practically mesmerized by this Omega. How did he switch so effortlessly between being handsome and adorable?

“Ah, sure. I’ll find the templates for you.” A faint blush spread across Wang Qiuxia’s face as she hurriedly took out her composition templates and handed them to Ning Xi. “My handwriting isn’t great, don’t mind it ah…”

“How could I? I think your English handwriting is super clear.” Ning Xi smiled as he took the templates, then added, “Ai, I lost my English test paper from the weekly practice. Could I borrow yours for a quick look? I’ll return it right away.”

“Ah can can.” Wang Qiuxia handed over the paper.

Ning Xi flipped through it.

Her listening section was actually decent, but her multiple-choice and English composition sections dragged her score down significantly. Out of 25 points for the composition, she had barely scored 7—full of grammatical errors.

“Thank you ya.” Ning Xi said and quickly skimmed through her composition.

Although it wasn’t exactly the most honorable thing to do, he did need to learn how to write a low-scoring English composition.

The morning was mostly spent reviewing the weekly test papers.

As noon approached, the scorching sun grew even fiercer, its heat penetrating through the glass and baking the people in the classroom.

The sweltering air, combined with the endless cicada calls and the rustling plane tree leaves, made everything feel unbearably stifling.

Ning Xi felt awful, though he couldn’t quite describe what was wrong.

Lately, he had been like this a lot—dizzy and weak for no apparent reason, sometimes even feeling as if his entire body was being pricked by needles.

It was only when he made it to lunch that Hu Yangcai came and asked Ning Xi, “Classmate Ning, I’m going to go eat the stir-fried noodles in the cafeteria, do you want to join me?”

Ning Xi wasn’t feeling well. He lay sprawled on his desk and replied breathlessly, “No, I’m a bit sleepy. I’ll just nap for a while. Could you bring me back a sandwich later?”

“Oh, of course,” Hu Yangcai said. “I’ll head out then. Get some rest, there’s the second mock exam this afternoon.”

Ning Xi buried his head in his arms and waved at him.

Time passed by, and Ning Xi was the only one left in the classroom.

The air conditioner was still blowing cool air, but the longer it ran, the hotter Ning Xi felt.　　

He was once again in that situation, wanting to move but unable to get up.

Everyone had basically gone to eat lunch at this hour, and the hallway was relatively empty.

Song Yize hadn’t attended the test review that morning. Instead, Teacher Xu from the competition team had pulled him aside to work through competition problems for the entire morning.

After finishing the practice, Song Yize left the study room and realized it was already lunchtime.

He thought about just grabbing something from a small shop nearby.

As he walked down the hallway, he passed Class Seven of the senior year and instinctively glanced inside.

Ning Xi’s entire body was paralyzed on the table as if he were sleeping.

He didn’t go to lunch?

He barely ate anything at breakfast too. Did he think he was some kind of a god ah?

Song Yize stopped and moved a little further in the direction Ning Xi was sitting.

Ning Xi wasn’t wearing his jacket, revealing his cold, pale, slender arms. The air conditioner was blowing directly at him, causing his hair to lift slightly in the breeze, swaying lightly—strangely eye-catching.

Seriously, he was going to catch a cold.

Song Yize felt like he was worrying too much, but out of basic concern for a classmate, he still walked into the classroom, intending to wake Ning Xi up.

At the very least, he should put on his jacket.

But as soon as he stepped into Class Seven, he sensed that something was off.

The air was filled with the scent of mint and white tea pheromones. Unlike usual, the pheromones were much sweeter and more concentrated—spreading uncontrollably, or rather, self-soothing.

Ning Xi sat frozen at his desk, his eyes tightly shut, lips slightly parted as he breathed unevenly. A faint layer of sweat covered his forehead, making him look visibly uncomfortable.

Song Yize hurriedly walked over, his tone a bit anxious. “Ning Xi, Ning Xi? Are you alright?”

Ning Xi didn’t respond at first. After a long moment, he finally opened his eyes slowly. Seeing Song Yize in front of him, he muttered, “Why are you here ah?”

The thick scent of his pheromones made Song Yize feel uncomfortably warm. He suppressed his instinctive reaction and spoke calmly, “Are you feeling unwell? Your pheromones are out of control. Why aren’t you wearing a suppressant patch? Didn’t I tell you to remember to wear one?”

Ning Xi weakly curled his lips. “Studying, busy, forgot.”

As he spoke, he buried his head into his desk drawer to find a suppressant patch. “Wait a minute, I’ll put one on right now…”

Ning Xi pulled out a patch, and just as Song Yize was about to take it and help him apply it, Ning Xi suddenly said, “Oh, right. You said Alphas aren’t supposed to put suppressant patches on Omegas. I’ll do it myself.”

Then, he peeled off the backing and pressed the patch onto his own back.

Song Yize’s hand froze in midair.

Just now… he had actually been about to help Ning Xi put on a suppressant patch.

What kind of thought was that?

It had to be the Omega’s pheromones affecting him.

Song Yize took a deep breath, repeatedly suppressing his instincts. “I’ll take you to the infirmary. You’re really not in good shape.”

Ning Xi lazily muttered, but his voice trembled slightly, “The infirmary again? Is there even a single day I haven’t gone since coming here? It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine in a bit. There’s still an exam in the afternoon.”

He moved his neck slightly, but the discomfort persisted, to the point that he started speaking nonsense. “If you really pity me, you might as well let me hug you.”

Pity…

How can you use such a word ah?

Song Yize had taken physiology class before, but his understanding of Omegas wasn’t particularly detailed.

He knew that Ning Xi wasn’t in heat, but this was probably his Omega’s differentiation period. Differentiating at this age could be dangerous.

It would definitely hurt.

Song Yize hadn’t fully sorted out his thoughts when he suddenly felt Ning Xi leaning against him, resting his head on his chest.

The scent of ebony wood and citrus was calming. Ning Xi was already rambling nonsense, curling up against Song Yize’s chest as he murmured softly,

“Song Yize, you smell really good ah.”

The moment those words landed, the tips of Song Yize’s ears flushed red. He pressed a hand against his lips, feeling like his heart was starting to lose control.

Ning Xi, sensing an opportunity to attack, noticed that Song Yize hadn’t pushed him away. He reached out, grabbing Song Yize’s arm while muttering, “What’s wrong with a hug? We’re all men. What, is it still the ancient times of no direct contact…”

We’re both guys—what, is it improper or something…”

Song Yize was really choking. But when he saw Ning Xi with his eyes closed, sweat beading on his forehead, he let out a long sigh.

He was really uncomfortable.

Inside his heart, gongs and drums were beating wildly.

Song Yize compromised.

The physiology class had mentioned that an Alpha’s pheromones could have a calming effect on an Omega.

He helplessly reached out and patted Ning Xi’s back, slowly releasing his own pheromones in an attempt to soothe him.

The pheromone from the ebony wood and citrus acted like a sedative. Ning Xi immediately felt much better, and with the suppressant patch starting to take effect, the smell of his pheromones also faded a bit.

Ning Xi’s tense expression eased, and his whole demeanor softened.

Song Yize breathed a sigh of relief.

But as soon as he regained his senses, he realized the situation he was in—he was half-kneeling in front of Ning Xi’s desk, with Ning Xi curled up in his arms, his fair hands gripping Song Yize’s wrist tightly as if clinging to him.

Help…

Song Yize thought, if this scene was seen by someone, there’d be no way to explain it.

Just then, the front door of Class Seven was suddenly pushed open.

A Beta rushed in, muttering to himself as he ran, “Shit, I actually forgot to bring my meal card!”