“What are you all standing here for? Jiang She, are you late again?”

The long-overdue Teacher Yang Liu finally arrived. She wore a stern expression, her eyelids drooping and her eyes unblinking. Her eyebrows were deliberately shaped to point upward at an odd angle, making her look as if she’d just lost her entire life savings in a collapsed investment.

Actually, Chu Tao could totally understand why the homeroom teacher looked like that.

If he had to manage this class, he wouldn’t want to come to work either.

But clearly, Jiang She wasn’t afraid of teachers. Just in the first year alone, three homeroom teachers had quit due to the antics of Class 3.

The school had likely chosen Teacher Yang Liu, known as the “Iron Lady” across campus, thinking that these spoiled kids wouldn’t dare bully a female teacher. And halfway through the semester, it seemed to be working.

No more rumors had surfaced about students pranking teachers to the point of tears. In fact, Teacher Yang Liu had adapted to her class’s attitude, and she too was now happily arriving late and leaving early.

Jiang She smirked. “Weren’t you just arriving, too? I think I even beat you by a minute.”

Yang Liu’s face flushed with anger as she retorted defensively, “Do you think I wanted to be late? Even if I came early, would there even be ten people here?”

Jiang She shrugged. “And that’s somehow my fault?”

While it wasn’t his fault the teacher was late, Jiang She did play a significant role in the class’s lax attitude.

Instead of dealing with resentment over unequal treatment, the students chose to emulate the “bad influence and moral paragon” Jiang She, happily disregarding the school rules.

Yang Liu took a few deep breaths, searching for a comeback, but she could only glare before clutching her stack of test papers and stomping to the podium in her ten-centimeter heels.

From her lofty platform, she surveyed the students. “Why are you all blocking the door? Get back to your seats!”

Chu Tao had been completely ignored by Teacher Yang Liu this whole time.

He wasn’t wrong; Yang Liu didn’t even know who was in her class.

Even if she saw them on the street, they’d be nothing more than vaguely familiar faces to her.

Fine, he thought. This class was already at rock bottom, so it couldn’t get much worse.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Tao raised his hand, keeping his tone steady. “Teacher Yang, I just transferred from a regular class today. My name is Chu Tao.”

Only now did Yang Liu notice him.

Chu Tao had been quiet the entire time, standing by the water dispenser so calmly that she’d assumed he was just another one of Jiang She’s lackeys.

After a moment of reflection, she remembered the grade director mentioning a student who’d undergone differentiation would be joining her class from a regular section.

Honestly, she hadn’t wanted him, especially since Chu Tao’s grades were pretty good.

Sending a high-performing student here felt like setting him up for failure.

But the director said it was a random selection, so she just saw it as this kid’s bad luck.

She waved a hand. “Alright, alright, find a seat and get ready for class.”

Chu Tao was stunned. That was it?

Jiang She looked at him with a faint smile. “Come on, let’s go.”

Chu Tao steeled himself and headed toward the unappealing seat he’d chosen.

Fang Sheng and Xu Yuan walked ahead of Jiang She. Fang Sheng shared a desk with Jiang She, sitting on the inside while Jiang She took the outer seat.

Seeing that the space had shrunk, Fang Sheng grumbled, “Seriously, this is ridiculous.”

Chu Tao’s face turned slightly sour. While Jiang She and Fang Sheng might have been overbearing, he had moved their desk without asking.

With the teacher nearby, Chu Tao didn’t want to argue about splitting space. He tried pulling his chair forward, leaving just enough space for himself.

Fang Sheng immediately pushed his desk right up against Chu Tao’s chair, muttering, “It’s still cramped as hell.”

Hearing that, Chu Tao clenched his fists.

He might be mild-mannered, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate bullying.

No matter how this played out, Fang Sheng was clearly in the wrong.

But Jiang She intervened, giving Fang Sheng a nudge. “Enough complaining. Get inside.”

Once Jiang She spoke, Fang Sheng stopped grumbling. He muttered under his breath as he squeezed into his seat, sliding down until he hit the wall. The chair’s legs made a loud, grating sound against the floor.

Yang Liu tapped the blackboard. “Quiet down, everyone. First row, pass the test papers back, and bring any extras to me.”

Chu Tao slowly unclenched his fists, closed the lid on his thermos, and placed it on his desk. He then looked at the narrow space he’d managed to claim, pressing his lips together.

Chu Tao was thin and had just recently differentiated, so his body hadn’t fully developed yet.

Even so, fitting into the cramped space was no easy feat.

He carefully raised one leg, using the height difference between the chair and desk to wedge himself in, and then slowly bent over to sit down.

As he bent, his back faced Jiang She.

The oversized uniform stretched taut, revealing the slender shape of his waist.

Unlike other, softer Omegas, Chu Tao’s build was slim but strong, with a quiet flexibility and underlying strength.

When he finally sat down, his slight movement stirred a faint breeze, lifting his collar slightly and wafting the pine-scented fragrance of his suppressants.

Jiang She’s gaze deepened as he took in the scene.