The eleven-day holiday ended, and before everyone could adjust to the stressful atmosphere of school, the mock exam had already been scheduled.

Since the mock exam was designed to simulate the college entrance exam (Gaokao) as much as possible, even the seating arrangement was different this time. Unlike before, where seats were simply assigned based on grades, the order was randomized. In one exam room, both high and low scores were mixed.

As the class monitor, Chu Tao went to the academic office to pick up the seating arrangement.

On the way upstairs, he unexpectedly ran into Mo Xi.

Mo Xi hadn’t changed much. He still had his sweet little dimples, delicate features, and was chatting and laughing with the class monitor of another class as they walked up the stairs.

Chu Tao couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Mo Xi. Ever since he left the broadcasting station, even though they were in the same school, they hadn’t run into each other again.

Chu Tao was visibly stunned for a moment, unsure whether to say hello.

Mo Xi glanced at him quickly, hesitated for a second, and then continued chatting with his classmate as if nothing had happened.

Chu Tao smiled faintly and deliberately slowed down his pace to distance himself from him.

It was good that Mo Xi had completely given up on him. He had been worried that his relationship with Jiang She might have been too much of a blow to Mo Xi, but looking back, it seemed like he had overthought it.

The seating arrangement for the whole third year was posted on the wall outside the academic office. Each class just had to find their own and take it.

Chu Tao started from the left and searched in order, with two students from other classes also looking for their own.

They chatted while they searched.

“This time they’ve mixed up all the seating, so annoying. I’ve gotten used to sitting in Room 2.”

“Isn’t this to simulate the Gaokao? The Gaokao won’t seat all the top students together.”

“Our teacher said, don’t talk about your rank in the exam room, or the lower-ranked students will latch onto you.”

“Yeah, the same for the Gaokao. We can’t wear our school uniforms from our high school, and we’d better buy transparent bags ourselves. Otherwise, students from the third and seventeenth high schools will cling to ours and affect our exam results.”

Chu Tao recognized them. He had seen them in the exam room before, but after he moved from the 50th to the 20th rank and was assigned to the first exam room, he hadn’t seen them again.

He didn’t intend to start a conversation. When he found the seating arrangement for Class 3, he took it down and was about to leave.

“Chu Tao?”

“You’re the Chu Tao from Class 3, right?”

Called out by someone, Chu Tao had no choice but to stop. He smiled politely: “Long time no see.”

“How’s your studying going, Chu Tao? I heard this exam is a provincial-wide mock, and the questions are much harder than the Gaokao. The third mock will be closer to the real exam difficulty.”

Chu Tao paused for a moment, then said, “I’m okay, hope I can perform well.”

“Do you want to check who you’ll be sitting next to? You’d better be careful, there are quite a few people who know you. Besides the lower-ranked students from Class 3, you should be cautious of the entire grade.”

Chu Tao raised an eyebrow in confusion: “I don’t think many people know me. I’m not like my brother.”

Chu Xingning was indeed famous for her beauty. Even people from different grades and schools had heard of “the dream of all alphas at First High.” But Chu Tao’s fame was far from that, and many didn’t even know that the Chu family had twins.

“You don’t know, do you?”

Chu Tao smiled: “Know what?”

“Sujing posted a comment under the Weibo of a famous emotional blogger, saying that if he gets 10,000 likes, he’ll confess to you. He even posted your photo. That Weibo post went viral, and he already has almost 100,000 likes. People who know you have shared your name and school, and the forums are full of it. Now everyone knows that you’ve trended, and Sujing wants to pursue you.”

Chu Tao: “…”

“Mostly because you’re good-looking. Once the photo was posted, it quickly went viral, and the school found out. They’ve even been asking the forums to delete the posts.”

Chu Tao furrowed his brows deeply, unsure: “Is it really that serious? Isn’t trending something that quickly fades away?”

The internet has no memory. Every day, new topics are there to capture people’s attention. Who would remember an ordinary high school student?

“It might fade quickly on a public level, but not in our school. It’s rare for someone to trend, and since Su Jingtong also said he’d confess after the exams, there are definitely a lot of people who know you now.”

Chu Tao hadn’t expected Su Jingtong to cause such a stir. It had been two weeks since he last saw him, and he was almost starting to forget about Su Jingtong.

“Thanks for telling me. I get it.”

“Have you seen your position on the seating chart?”

Chu Tao looked down and glanced at the ranking chart. His name was at the top, with the following written:

[11 Exam Room, Seat 06]

“11 Exam Room, I remember. Hold on.”

The two students eagerly started looking through the remaining seating charts.

“Sun Qingyuan is in Seat 09 in the 11 Exam Room, right next to you. We don’t know him, but he’s from Class 6, so it should be fine.”

“Wow, Fu Kaiyi is in Seat 05 in the 11 Exam Room! He sits in front of you. 666, two academic gods sitting together.”

“Woah! Liang Yitian is in Seat 07 in the 11 Exam Room! He sits… behind you.”

The two students exchanged complicated looks with Chu Tao.

Liang Yitian was Su Jingtong’s ex-boyfriend. Later, after finding an Omega that matched better, he broke up with Su Jingtong. But he had been with Su Jingtong for a while, and he had relentlessly pursued him.

Now that Chu Tao had become Su Jingtong’s target, seeing the two of them together would inevitably make people think of something else.

Chu Tao knew who Liang Yitian was and had seen him before, but he had no interest in him and didn’t believe Liang Yitian would have any interest in him either.

“Alright, stop worrying about it. It doesn’t matter who I sit next to.”

With that, Chu Tao casually took the seating chart and walked away.

On the way back, he noticed that Jiang She had been assigned to the 10 Exam Room, which was next door to his.

But Jiang She was luckier than him—he was seated first and would get the exam paper the earliest.

When Chu Tao returned to the classroom, he stuck the seating chart to the blackboard with a magnet.

The classmates crowded around to take a look, and Chu Tao slowly walked down from the podium, returning to his seat.

Jiang She didn’t rush to the front to check the seating arrangement. Instead, he casually leaned back in his chair and asked, “Which exam room are you in?”

“11 Exam Room, Seat 06.”

“What about me?”

Chu Tao instinctively answered, “10 Exam Room, Seat 14, first row.”

Jiang She curled his lips and nodded, “Oh.”

Fang Sheng was sitting inside, unable to go out, so he asked Chu Tao, “Class monitor, class monitor, which exam room am I in?”

Chu Tao paused slightly: “Uh…”

He had only paid attention to Jiang She’s seating position. His glance swept over Fang Sheng, but he hadn’t made an effort to remember.

Seeing Chu Tao hesitate, Fang Sheng immediately complained, “No way, this is such obvious preferential treatment. I’m gonna make a fuss! Is the class monitor still the class monitor for everyone?”

Jiang She grabbed the hat from the table and placed it on Chu Tao’s head, speaking confidently, “Who said the class monitor belongs to everyone?”

Fang Sheng grumbled, “Jiang She, you’re using the emperor to control the ministers! You’re a traitor, taking control of the class monitor!”

Jiang She: “I want to, what are you gonna do about it?”

Chu Tao watched the two of them joking around, helplessly smiling, before turning back to do his homework.

Exams felt so ordinary to them that he didn’t even feel excited anymore.

On the day of the mock exam.

Chu Tao purposely slept for an extra half hour at home to rest, then leisurely made his way to the exam room.

When he arrived at the 11th exam room, quite a few people were already seated.

There were always people chatting, joking around, some silently reviewing their Chinese poetry, and others lying on the desks, sleeping.

His gaze turned to his own seat.

It was by the window, and right next to him was a potted Clivia plant. The balcony tiles had a small patch of moisture, clearly from being watered earlier in the morning.

The leaves of the Clivia somewhat blocked the early morning lemon-yellow sunlight, leaving a dappled shadow on the desk.

If this weren’t such a critical exam, Chu Tao would have thought the scene in front of him was quite peaceful.

He walked to his seat, holding the transparent bag, and couldn’t help but glance at Fu Kaiyi, who was sitting in front of him.

Fu Kaiyi was the top student in the grade most of the time, though sometimes someone would surpass him. Chu Xingning considered him a rival, but very few had actually beaten him.

Chu Tao wasn’t very familiar with Fu Kaiyi, he just knew that Fu Kaiyi was really good at studying.

Fu Kaiyi was holding a thermos cup, his head lowered, calmly blowing on the steam rising from it, as if the surrounding chaos and tension had nothing to do with him.

Chu Tao raised an eyebrow. Maybe this was the confidence that came with being the top student.

He returned to his seat. Sun Qingyuan, to his right, was sleeping, and Liang Yitian hadn’t arrived yet.

Chu Tao had always been a meticulous person and never overestimated himself, so he casually flipped through the Chinese poetry that he had once gotten wrong in dictation.

After a while, Fu Kaiyi suddenly turned around and spoke to Chu Tao, “Let’s help each other out later, Chu Tao.”

Chu Tao smiled: “Do you still need help from others?”

There was a special way academic top students greeted each other. They both knew the other was good at studying, but to break the ice and get closer, they would downplay themselves and say something ridiculous that no one would believe.

The atmosphere relaxed, and that was when they could continue the conversation.

Fu Kaiyi laughed, “I’m really nervous, after all, it’s the mock exam.”

Chu Tao nodded, “Me too.”

In reality, both of them knew they weren’t nervous. Saying they were just helped with the small talk.

After a pause, Fu Kaiyi suddenly asked, “How’s your brother’s review going?”

Chu Tao thought for a few seconds, “Pretty good, I guess.”

“Mm.” Fu Kaiyi’s gaze flickered slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, “Can you give me your brother’s WeChat? I want to add him.”

Chu Tao raised his eyes, keenly asking, “Why?”

Fu Kaiyi looked away, “I know he’s been competing with me for years, but we’ve never really talked. I want to get to know him.”

Chu Tao tapped the tip of his pencil with his index finger, leaving a small round dent in the soft lead.

He casually said, “You can ask him yourself, he goes to school every day.”

Fu Kaiyi fell silent.

Both of them were very smart, and Chu Tao knew that he couldn’t fool him.

Fu Kaiyi decided to be straightforward: “I think your brother is quite outstanding, he’s also good-looking, and we’ll probably end up at the same university. So, I want to get to know him better, so that when we’re in college, we’ll have each other’s back.”

Fu Kaiyi had been paying attention to Chu Xingning for many years, and he knew that Chu Xingning was the dream of every alpha in the school, with many people interested in him.

However, Fu Kaiyi saw himself as different from ordinary people. He was the top student in the grade, praised by all the teachers and parents, the “other people’s child” everyone admired. He couldn’t lower himself to court Chu Xingning the way others did.

He also believed that he was different to Chu Xingning.

Every time Fu Kaiyi heard classmates mention that Chu Xingning had inquired about his grades, he would smile to himself, vaguely feeling a sense of sweetness.

He thought that only Chu Xingning’s intelligence could match his own, and only he could meet Chu Xingning at the top.

If they were together, it would be a legendary tale for Huainan No. 1 High School.

Moreover, Fu Kaiyi imagined studying together with Chu Xingning, sharing experiences, and progressing together.

They would have plenty of common topics to talk about, and their time together would never be boring.

Chu Xingning would be able to keep up with his pace, understand his points, and not need him to explain or help much.

He also anticipated that Chu Xingning would always shine brightly, whether in middle school, high school, or college.

After they got into the same university, Chu Xingning would still be the dream alpha everyone admired, but once they entered the top universities, Fu Kaiyi knew that he couldn’t be sure that he would still be the best.

That was why he wanted to make Chu Xingning familiar with him and fall for him as early as possible. After the mock exam, his grades would be more or less stabilized, and it wouldn’t take much time away from learning new knowledge.

Chu Tao lightly chuckled, lowered his head, and casually flipped through the Chinese poetry booklet in his hand. “You want to chase my brother?”

Fu Kaiyi furrowed his brows, a bit dissatisfied with the wording, and emphasized, “I’m not chasing him, I’m just getting to know him better, and we’re mutually attracted. There’s no chasing involved.”

Chu Tao lightly exhaled, his fingers interlacing, looking at Fu Kaiyi with a half-smile. “Do you know how many people have tried their best, depriving themselves of sleep and food, and still got nothing?”

Fu Kaiyi’s expression stiffened: “I’m different from those people.”

Chu Tao blinked. “My brother doesn’t like guys like you. He likes clingy, coquettish types. Human-shaped koalas.”

Fu Kaiyi frowned, disbelief on his face. “How do you know?”

He had never seen an alpha like that—was that really still an alpha?

Chu Tao nonchalantly said, “Oh, because his current boyfriend is like that. My brother seems to spoil him a lot.”

Fu Kaiyi: “…”

Fu Kaiyi: “He has a boyfriend?”

Chu Tao reached out and patted his shoulder. “Since you’re my brother’s rival, I’ll tell you, but don’t tell anyone else. Don’t waste time thinking about it. Focus on studying and be a real challenge for my brother. If you’re not around, I’m afraid my brother might end up thinking, ‘The night is short, and the emperor no longer attends morning court,’ ha, look, I’m even applying classical poetry in real life.”

Chu Tao happened to flip to the part of the Song of Everlasting Regret and glanced at the exact line.

Fu Kaiyi stiffly turned back around, clearly struggling to process this information.

The bell for the start of the exam rang, and the invigilator entered the room with the exam papers.

“Please place all your revision materials at the front. Only pens are allowed on your desks.”

Chu Tao closed his poetry booklet, put it into the transparent bag, and placed it at the front.

As soon as all the students in the exam room settled down, the door was arrogantly pushed open.

Liang Yitian rushed in like a whirlwind.

He walked straight to his seat without a care.

The invigilator frowned and glanced at him with distaste. “The exam starts in five minutes. Please put your revision materials at the front.”

Liang Yitian didn’t bring any revision materials and ignored the invigilator’s words. He tossed his crumpled transparent bag onto the balcony and opened the window to let the wind in.

The autumn wind wasn’t light, and as soon as the window opened, a strong gust rushed in, messing up the hair of several students and blowing the 2B pencils of the student sitting next to him onto the floor, breaking the leads.

Fortunately, that classmate had brought more than one pencil, but still complained, “Can you close the window? The papers will get blown off in a minute.”

Liang Yitian didn’t care at all and, noticing Chu Tao, his interest was piqued.

“Hey, hey, hey, you’re the new crush of Su Jingtong, right?”

Liang Yitian reached out and poked Chu Tao’s back, poking him three times in a row.

Except for Jiang She, Chu Tao couldn’t tolerate anyone else poking him in the back.

His right side, from his ear down to his waist, was particularly sensitive, and being touched by strangers made him very irritated.

Chu Tao pushed his chair forward slightly, completely ignoring Liang Yitian and not turning around to respond.

Liang Yitian was rarely ignored like this. He was always a cheeky person, never reasoning with others, and only dared to back down when facing someone like Jiang She.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, can’t you hear me? Hey!”

He said this and was about to poke Chu Tao again, not thinking there was anything wrong with his actions.

Chu Tao squinted slightly, lightly pressing on his finger joints.

This was an exam room, and no matter what, he couldn’t get into a quarrel here. No matter who was right, both would be asked to leave and wouldn’t be able to take the exam.

Chu Tao turned around, gave Liang Yitian a disgusted look, and said coldly, “Don’t touch me.”

Liang Yitian shook his chair and smirked, “I know you, Chu Tao. You’re pretty good at studying, right? Let me copy your answers during the exam. I’ll tell you how to deal with Su Jingtong. He’s such an idiot, super easy to fool.”

Su Jingtong was good-looking, and since Liang Yitian didn’t mind taking advantage of opportunities, he thought he was being generous by offering advice to Chu Tao.

Chu Tao raised his eyes and sneered, “Play? Have you forgotten how you chased him relentlessly?”

Liang Yitian’s words showed no respect for Su Jingtong, mocking and belittling him at every turn.

No matter how Su Jingtong acted, it wasn’t a reason for others to insult him. Moreover, Chu Tao didn’t actually think Su Jingtong was that bad now.

When someone likes another person, they would make cakes, confess boldly, and be straightforward.

Su Jingtong knew how to show gratitude to those who helped him, even though the idea of offering himself in return was a bit much.

Even if rejected, he would simply storm off angrily, without lingering or being dramatic.

Liang Yitian was shocked: “Wait, are you crazy? You’re actually defending Su Jingtong? You really like him?”

There were only three minutes left until the exam started, and Liang Yitian’s window was still wide open. More and more classmates started complaining.

The invigilator, however, was busy opening the exam papers and didn’t pay attention to what was happening in the classroom.

Suddenly, Chu Tao stood up, walked over to Liang Yitian, and forcefully closed the wide-open window.

The whole class turned to look at him.

Although everyone was complaining about Liang Yitian, no one wanted to be the one to speak up. With the exam so close, no one wanted to deal with such a person, worried it might affect their performance.

Chu Tao stood over Liang Yitian and, using this opportunity, lowered his voice and casually said, “You probably still don’t understand me, or else you wouldn’t be causing trouble in front of me.”

Liang Yitian froze.

He didn’t expect Chu Tao to close the window on him, let alone threaten him like that.

Liang Yitian slammed his hand on the desk and was about to stand up, but Chu Tao pressed his hand on his shoulder.

The force was so strong that Liang Yitian couldn’t stand up.

Chu Tao casually said, “You haven’t heard about the fight with the vocational school, have you? I was the one who handled it.”

Liang Yitian was stunned.

He vaguely knew that Jiang She had led a group to negotiate with the vocational school, but ever since being dealt with by Jiang She, he instinctively avoided anything related to him. So he had never looked into the details of this incident.

All he knew was that the vocational school had lost, and after that, they hadn’t dared provoke any of the Omega students from their school. The insults in the forums and on the message boards were also deleted, and Jiang She had once again made his presence known.

What did Chu Tao mean by “I handled it”?

Wasn’t that something Jiang She did?

And besides, wasn’t Chu Tao good at studying? How could a student from a good school be involved in fights?

He had never heard of a top student and a school bully being the same person.

Chu Tao’s eyes curved into a smile, and he shook his head in disbelief. “Looks like you really didn’t know.”

Liang Yitian’s facial muscles twitched. “You’re bluffing. Jiang She was there, how could it have been your business?”

Chu Tao released his grip, the smile fading from his face, leaving it cold. “Maybe Jiang She couldn’t beat me.”

His expression was so confident that Liang Yitian didn’t sense any insecurity or forced bravado.

Liang Yitian was afraid of Jiang She, but seeing Chu Tao, he felt like Jiang She was no longer a threat.

Liang Yitian knew that Chu Tao was from Class Three, the same class as Jiang She. A good student transferring to Class Three, becoming the class monitor—if he didn’t have some real abilities, he wouldn’t have lasted.

Liang Yitian was unsure and realized he didn’t dare provoke Chu Tao anymore.

The bell for the exam suddenly rang, the sharp sound piercing through the air, echoing throughout the room.

Liang Yitian was startled and reluctantly settled down.

The papers were handed out, and Chu Tao calmly answered all the questions.

He could feel Liang Yitian glancing at his answer sheet, but Liang Yitian didn’t dare poke his back again.

Chu Tao didn’t intentionally oppose him, just treating it as if nothing had happened. He casually placed his answer sheet aside and focused on the exam.

After the Chinese exam, Liang Yitian had copied almost all of Chu Tao’s multiple-choice answers. It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t intend to argue with Chu Tao anymore.

There was a fifteen-minute break before the next math exam.

Jiang She came over from Exam Room 10 to talk to Chu Tao.

He walked straight to Chu Tao’s seat and Chu Tao smiled gently.

“How did the exam go?”

Jiang She naturally took Chu Tao’s hand, squeezing his palm, which was slightly warm from holding a pen.

“Not bad, I managed to finish the questions.”

Jiang She’s Chinese was his weak subject, and Chu Tao was a bit worried about him.

“As long as you finished it.”

As soon as Liang Yitian saw Jiang She, he felt nervous and wanted to bury his head in the desk.

Fortunately, Jiang She completely ignored him and kept talking to Chu Tao.

Chu Tao tried to stand up. “I’m going to get some water.”

Jiang She eagerly said, “I’ll go, you stay seated.”

So, Chu Tao comfortably sat back down.

Jiang She went to the water dispenser, filled a paper cup with cold water, and added some hot water before bringing it back to Chu Tao.

Chu Tao hadn’t had any water for two hours, so he was quite thirsty. He drank quickly, and some water droplets slid from the corner of his lips to his chin.

“Take it slow, don’t choke.” Jiang She naturally lifted his sleeve to wipe the water off Chu Tao’s chin, showing no sign of reluctance.

Liang Yitian was hiding behind, his pupils shaking in shock.

At this point, he believed what Chu Tao had said.

It must have been that Chu Tao went to Class Three, defeated Jiang She, took his position as the class leader, and made Jiang She his subordinate.

Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine why Jiang She would treat Chu Tao so kindly.

The more Liang Yitian watched, the more he felt fearful. The image of Chu Tao in his mind instantly grew taller and more imposing.

Damn it.

He was glad he hadn’t caused trouble earlier.