Recently, the basketball team has had an unspoken rule—treasure life, stay away from Wei Xiaochi.

Ever since half a month ago, when the tutoring sessions moved from Li Suilin’s house to the school, Wei Xiaochi has been staying after school every day, doing homework while waiting for Jiang Zhan and the others to finish their training.

The other team members gradually became familiar with this quiet academic overachiever. At that time, they began to sense that Jiang Zhan’s attitude towards this little beta was different.

Now it’s confirmed!

Anyone who isn’t blind can clearly see Jiang Zhan’s blatant one-way arrow.

Of course, some people, with filters a few meters thick, stubbornly insist that it’s the green tea beta who led Jiang Zhan astray, and only later did he fall into the trap, becoming a love-struck puppy.

In the past couple of days, whenever Jiang Zhan is near Wei Xiaochi, the surrounding atmosphere becomes sticky and full of the sour smell of romance.

Yet, the two people involved remain completely unaware, especially Jiang Zhan. He clearly likes him a lot but still tries to act aloof in front of the omega.

He’s like a high-bred cat, who, during mating season, desperately wants others to stroke his fur but refuses to ask for it, waiting for the other person to do it voluntarily.

But the other person doesn’t pick up on the signal. Jiang Zhan can’t bring himself to lower his pride, but eventually, he has no choice but to lower his head, nudging past with his chin raised.

His arrogant and frustrated look is both ridiculous and infuriating.

The training ended at 7:10 PM, and the sunset threw large patches of rosy light, staining the basketball court red.

The omega was leaning against the lamp post, doing homework. The light above created a beautiful halo, and his side profile was soft and graceful.

The aloof alpha squeezed beside him, his long legs crossed, his body gradually leaning in, brushing against the omega’s shoulder.

Wei Xiaochi suddenly felt a tickling sensation in his ear. He looked up at Jiang Zhan.

The alpha had a cold expression, his gaze fixed straight ahead, his thin lips pursed, as if nothing had happened.

Wei Xiaochi scratched the itchy spot curiously, not paying much attention, and went back to his homework.

Soon, the sensation returned—a tickling in his ear, almost like hot breath brushing against it.

Wei Xiaochi paused his pen for a moment. Nothing seemed to happen, so he resumed.

Jiang Zhan, with his sharp peripheral vision, saw that Wei Xiaochi was focused on his homework and quickly leaned in to sniff his hair.

Every so often, Jiang Zhan would lean in close to sniff Wei Xiaochi, then sit back down, looking completely indifferent as he stared ahead.

Li Suilin couldn’t bear to watch. He pressed his slender fingers to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Yesterday, he had a talk with Jiang Zhan, but it didn’t go well. The other stubbornly insisted that he could handle things and told Li Suilin to mind his own business.

Li Suilin knew Jiang Zhan too well. He had been like this since childhood—arrogant to the extreme. As long as he liked someone, he thought that person must like him back too.

So, in Jiang Zhan’s eyes, Wei Xiaochi must definitely have a huge crush on him, unable to resist.

After the training, according to the basketball team’s rules, the first-year newcomers had to stay behind to clean up. They had to collect all the basketballs and pick up the trash on the court.

A first-year new teammate, oblivious to the situation, tried to go near the AO pair to clean.

A few older team members who knew Jiang Zhan’s temper twitched their eyelids. Two of them exchanged a glance, sighed, and walked over to the clueless new teammate.

As they passed by him, they quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

The newcomer, legs flailing, panicked and asked, “Let go of me.”

“Don’t go near them, it’s for your own good.”

“Trust us, oh, it’s all lessons learned the hard way.”

The newcomer, with a confused expression, was dragged off.

Their situation was still better than the other three members of the “academic underachiever” group.

Back when Jiang Zhan and Wei Xiaochi’s secret affair was still hidden, everyone’s life was pretty peaceful. As long as no one actively provoked Wei Xiaochi, everything was calm and fine.

But these past few days, Jiang Zhan seemed to have gone mad, and his obsessive possessiveness as an alpha was fully on display.

Forget about teasing Wei Xiaochi or hitting him—now, just calling him “Xiao Chi” could get you into trouble. It had to be “Wei Xiaochi.”

But who would’ve known that even calling someone by their name had to follow certain rules.

When saying “Wei Xiaochi,” the tone must be gentle—not too affectionate, but not too cold either.

If it’s too affectionate, the alpha would get jealous. If it’s too cold, he would think the other person is bullying Wei Xiaochi.

Jiang Rui thought Jiang Zhan had gone crazy, while Han Ziyang believed that Wei Xiaochi had cast some kind of spell on Zhan Ge.

The honest Zhao Zifeng said he understood, “His tutoring style is much gentler than Suilin’s. Especially when he first started tutoring us, we really did look down on him a bit.”

The classroom discipline had drastically changed compared to when Li Suilin supervised them.

To put it bluntly, it was because they thought Wei Xiaochi was easy to push around. Otherwise, why didn’t Han Ziyang and Jiang Rui dare to mess around when Li Suilin was there?

Later, their poor test scores got them scolded by Li Suilin, and that’s when they straightened up.

Zhao Zifeng continued, “Later, you guys used the excuse of getting him to work out, but you hung him up on the basketball hoop.”

Of course, he had to self-reflect too, because he didn’t stop them. Eventually, it was Jiang Zhan who came over and got him down.

The idea had been Han Ziyang’s, and he defended himself, “How could that count as bullying? It was just normal teasing between classmates. When I mess around with you guys, I’m way worse than that.”

Jiang Rui chimed in, “I don’t think we need to make a big deal out of this.”

Zhao Zifeng was blunt, “You might think it’s not bullying, but he was really scared at that time, and has anyone ever threatened him like that before?”

Han Ziyang and Jiang Rui immediately fell silent.

When they thought about it carefully, they realized they might have teased Wei Xiaochi just because he was too good-natured, watching him panic in distress.

Jiang Rui reflected for a moment, then turned his criticism on Han Ziyang. “Especially you, always coming up with those lousy ideas and giving him a nickname, ‘Little Four Eyes.’”

Zhao Zifeng gave Han Ziyang a disapproving look.

Han Ziyang muttered, “Why are you all looking at me like that, like I’m the enemy?”

Zhao Zifeng took control of the situation at the crucial moment. “No more random nicknames. As for names, I think… I can’t gauge the tone properly. Let’s come up with another title.”

The three of them discussed and finally decided to call Wei Xiaochi “Teacher Wei,” respectful yet maintaining some distance.

Han Ziyang laughed out loud, “This is perfect! With the ban on teacher-student relationships now, who would think of a teacher-student romance? Who would?”

His loud voice attracted Jiang Zhan’s gaze.

Jiang Rui hurriedly covered Han Ziyang’s mouth, glaring at him. “Shut up, you ancestor.”

Han Ziyang looked embarrassed and made a zipper motion across his lips to show he wouldn’t speak recklessly anymore.

On Wednesday, during the mock exam, the class teacher introduced an unspoken rule to prevent cheating—those sitting on the left side had to bring a small stool on the exam day and sit in the aisle.

Last time during the exam, Wei Xiaochi had sat with his small stool, using it as a cushion while he wrote his test. This time, it was Zhang Mingyang’s turn.

In the morning, they had two subjects to take, with a 15-minute break in between.

As soon as the bell rang for the break, a tall, handsome alpha appeared at the entrance of Class 1, waving for Wei Xiaochi to follow him. The two of them disappeared without a trace.

Wei Xiaochi came back running just as the next class started. Li Suilin, with sharp eyes, saw him wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, raising his eyebrow without showing any expression.

After the exam, Jiang Zhan came to pick him up and take him to the cafeteria. Li Suilin couldn’t help but click his tongue.

In early May, the school had adjusted the schedule, giving a two-hour lunch break. Jiang Zhan was a picky eater, and in the past, he would go home to eat during the summer, while in winter, he made do with cafeteria food.

Now, even though he still disliked the food, he hadn’t gone home to eat.

Tsk.

Li Suilin got up and slowly walked out of the classroom, greeting people on the way to the cafeteria.

Since he checked on the morning reading sessions for all grades, many people, including the cafeteria staff, knew him.

As he reached the food counter, the staff quickly gave him a generous serving, a portion much larger than anyone else’s.

Li Suilin thanked them, then glanced around the cafeteria. His eyes quickly found the tall alpha.

He smiled, walked over, and asked, “Can I sit here?”

Jiang Zhan shot him a cold glance, “No!”

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t help but feel that recently, Jiang Zhan’s attitude toward Li Suilin had been a little rude, bordering on harsh.

“Alright, then I’ll sit next to Xiao Chi,” Li Suilin casually said as he sat next to Wei Xiaochi.

Wei Xiaochi felt the atmosphere shift. He dared not say anything and quietly ate his food.

Noticing that Wei Xiaochi’s plate had almost the same food as Jiang Zhan’s, Li Suilin smiled knowingly.

Actually, he rarely sat with Jiang Zhan during lunch. Most of the time, he ate with the other students from Class 1, using the opportunity to solve any class-related conflicts.

Li Suilin ate with an elegant demeanor, casually asking, “How did the test go?”

Wei Xiaochi, who had been silently eating, paused when he heard the question. Since Jiang Zhan hadn’t answered, he couldn’t help but speak up, “It was alright.”

“Were the questions difficult?”

Wei Xiaochi thought for a moment before answering honestly, “The last math question was pretty hard. I’m not sure if I got it right.”

Li Suilin smiled, his eyes full of warmth, “Want to compare answers after class?”

Wei Xiaochi nodded eagerly.

Jiang Zhan slapped his chopsticks onto his plate, “Are you done eating?”

Wei Xiaochi quickly sensed the alpha’s displeasure, lowering his head immediately.

Li Suilin didn’t speak any further, continuing to eat gracefully. After a long pause, he suddenly asked, “Are you two together?”

Wei Xiaochi almost choked on a piece of pork rib. He looked up, stunned, “Huh?”

Li Suilin smiled and looked at him, “I’ve noticed you two have been hanging out a lot lately. Are you dating?”

Jiang Zhan raised an eyebrow, snorting, “None of your business.”

His tone was smug, and Li Suilin, knowing Jiang Zhan well, could tell that if Jiang Zhan had a tail, it would probably be wagging by now.

Wei Xiaochi, stunned, quickly thought to himself, Does Li Suilin think I like Jiang Zhan too? This can’t be cleared up now!

He hurriedly tried to explain, “The doctor said my hormones might be a bit out of balance for a while, so sometimes my pheromones…”

Jiang Zhan shot him a glare, “Eat.”

Wei Xiaochi immediately shut up and quietly continued his meal.

When hormone levels are imbalanced, omega pheromones might become uncontrollable, emitting a slight scent, but this doesn’t affect any alpha.

During the omega’s differentiation or estrus period, the pheromones are rich in sexual scent, which causes alphas to go into heat as well.

Since Wei Xiaochi had already completed his differentiation, even if he couldn’t hide his pheromones, it didn’t matter, as they didn’t contain a high concentration of sexual scent.

Jiang Zhan’s view was that better safe than sorry, so he kept Wei Xiaochi away from others after every class.

As a result, Li Suilin had mistakenly assumed they were in a relationship.

Under Jiang Zhan’s watchful eyes, Wei Xiaochi finished his lunch quickly, and they left the cafeteria ahead of Li Suilin.

Looking at Li Suilin’s expression, it seemed like there was no major fallout between him and Jiang Zhan, but not waiting for him was a bit rude.

If this had happened back home, Wei Xiaochi would have gotten an earful.

Even though he thought this in his mind, he didn’t say anything out loud. He had a feeling that if he did, Jiang Zhan would get angry.

The broad-shouldered, long-legged alpha walked ahead with a fast pace, clearly in a bad mood.

Wei Xiaochi, slow and steady by nature, walked leisurely, as if he were an old man in retirement. But he had no choice but to quicken his pace to catch up with Jiang Zhan.

He didn’t feel the need to follow so closely, but by the time Wei Xiaochi realized, he was already at the top floor of the science building with Jiang Zhan.

This was their usual spot during breaks, meant to avoid the alpha crowd. Their breaks were only ten minutes long, and Jiang Zhan typically brought him here to stroll around.

The science building had five floors. After climbing them all in one go, Wei Xiaochi was out of breath, his chest rising and falling.

On the other hand, Jiang Zhan, with his strong physique, seemed unaffected. His expression was normal, his breathing calm.

In a bad mood, Jiang Zhan’s brows furrowed, and his lips were pressed tightly together in a straight line. He walked into the shade, found a clean spot, and sat down silently.

Wei Xiaochi stood still, confused by the sudden drop in Jiang Zhan’s mood.

Jiang Zhan had a direct temper. He never held back when something annoyed him. If his mood was bad, he’d make sure the other person was equally miserable.

This time, he held it in but showed it on his face. Wei Xiaochi, unsure of Jiang Zhan’s mood, hesitated and walked closer.

Sitting next to Jiang Zhan, Wei Xiaochi sneaked a glance at him, sitting up straight and pressing his knees together.

Jiang Zhan closed his eyes and smoothly leaned onto Wei Xiaochi’s lap, his hand resting over his eyes as if he were about to nap.

Wei Xiaochi wasn’t sure if he should read to him, but Jiang Zhan hadn’t said anything. So, he quietly flipped to the bookmarked page.

The book was a fantasy novel from a website, not really a proper extracurricular book, but it was still quite interesting.

Wei Xiaochi hadn’t read many web novels before, and since he hadn’t read it from the beginning, he didn’t quite understand all the settings. Jiang Zhan had already read part of it and asked him to start reading from the middle.

Despite not knowing much about cultivation, it didn’t affect his enjoyment of the story. The plot was still clear.

As Wei Xiaochi read, completely engrossed in the book, he didn’t notice that the alpha on his lap had already opened his eyes.

Jiang Zhan stared at Wei Xiaochi, who was completely relaxed, looking content, almost like a poor child who had found an old toy in the trash—able to satisfy his spiritual needs with it.

The omega’s long lashes were half-closed, casting a lovely shadow, and the shape of his eyes was delicate, with a faint crease at the corner.

Something in the book made Wei Xiaochi smile lightly, and the crease at the corner of his eyes curved upwards like a crescent moon, the tip of a willow leaf, or a peach blossom’s stamen.

Jiang Zhan felt an overwhelming, itchy, restless sensation in his chest, as though thousands of ants were crawling over his skin. His irritation quickly flared up.

He suddenly slapped the book out of Wei Xiaochi’s hands, grabbed his collar, and yanked him down. Their bodies were almost pressed together.

Wei Xiaochi’s eyes widened in shock. The hot breath from Jiang Zhan’s nose hit his neck, and he couldn’t help but shrink a little.

Jiang Zhan pulled him into an embrace, sniffing his neck. He didn’t even know where the anger came from, his face was full of frustration.

“Why do you still smell like pheromones!”

Wei Xiaochi froze at the sudden outburst, as Jiang Zhan pressed even closer, sniffing his neck, muttering complaints like ‘stinky’ and ‘annoying’.

After venting his anger, Jiang Zhan suddenly went quiet, retreating back into a brooding silence, curling up in Wei Xiaochi’s lap again, completely ignoring him.

Wei Xiaochi fluttered his eyelashes a couple of times, pressed his lips together, and stayed silent.

After lunch break, Wei Xiaochi returned to the classroom.

Li Suilin was rallying the class to participate in a tree-planting event over the weekend. Although Arbor Day had already passed, the school leadership thought the area in front of the dormitory buildings was too empty and wanted to plant a few trees.

Normally, this would be the student council’s responsibility, but due to a lack of manpower, Li Suilin was relying on his reputation to encourage the class.

Wei Xiaochi slouched into his seat and rested his face on his arms.

Noticing his tired look, Li Suilin was a bit surprised.

“Class monitor, are you coming on the weekend?”

Li Suilin smiled and responded, “Yes.”

“I’ll join too.”

“Me too!”

“Me, me, me!”

When they heard Li Suilin join, the rest of the class eagerly signed up.

The afternoon exams were more of the same, with two subjects and a tight schedule. The day’s testing ended with all subjects covered.

Once the exams were done, Wei Xiaochi no longer needed to tutor the “academic underachiever” group. He was free to go home after school, as there was no more tutoring to do.

It was rare for him to be home this early. When he arrived, Fang Yuan was surprised, even a little awkward.

The twins loved pasta, and Fang Yuan had cooked it for dinner. There wasn’t enough for everyone, as she hadn’t known Wei Xiaochi would be home for dinner. He had forgotten to tell her.

Fang Yuan stood up to cook something else for him, but Wei Xiaochi quickly said, “Aunt Fang, you eat. I’ll cook for myself, or the pasta will get soggy.”

It was well known that pasta didn’t easily get soggy unless overcooked.

The pasta was from the supermarket, where Fang Yuan had bought three packs. Wei Xiaochi made himself a bowl of tomato and egg noodles.

Perhaps feeling embarrassed, Fang Yuan tried to make small talk as she went on about how Wei Dongjian had just finished unloading some cargo earlier in the day, but had to leave again, not knowing when he would be back.

Wei Xiaochi absentmindedly responded with “Oh, oh, yeah,” and while turning off the stove, accidentally burned his finger on the edge of the iron pan.

It didn’t blister, just a small red spot, but Wei Xiaochi didn’t pay it much attention.

After cleaning the dishes, Wei Xiaochi began tidying up the kitchen. It had gotten dirty while he had been away. Fang Yuan, when she came back from work, was busy looking after the twins’ homework, so Wei Xiaochi always cleaned up afterward.

She was more than happy to have him home for dinner, as it just meant a little extra soup and some extra vegetables—having him around was still a help.

Returning to his room, Wei Xiaochi automatically opened his backpack, zipping it up before realizing that he didn’t have any homework to do.

He took out his phone and saw over twenty missed calls and thirty-plus WeChat messages.

All of them were from Jiang Zhan.

Wei Xiaochi had set his phone to silent, and since it was in his bag and the twins were noisy in the living room, he hadn’t heard the notifications.

Seeing so many missed calls and messages, Wei Xiaochi felt like he had stirred up a hornet’s nest. He didn’t dare call back and checked the messages first.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“Answer the phone.”

“Answer it.”

“Damn it, pick up!”

Each message more impatient than the last, Wei Xiaochi could practically feel Jiang Zhan’s fury through the screen.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated again as Jiang Zhan called.

Wei Xiaochi’s heart raced as he scrambled to answer, “Sorry, I didn’t hear it.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t respond to the excuse, his voice seething with anger, “Where are you?”

“I-I’m at home.”

“Come out.”

“Huh?”

“I’m at the entrance of your neighborhood. You have one minute,” Jiang Zhan hung up.

Wei Xiaochi was terrified. Was Jiang Zhan really coming to yell at him? With no time to think, he rushed out the door without even changing his shoes.

Last time Jiang Zhan had given him two minutes. This time, it was only one minute.

In a panic, Wei Xiaochi dashed to the neighborhood entrance, feeling like his lungs would burst like a balloon.

Sure enough, Jiang Zhan was there, standing by a taxi. As soon as Wei Xiaochi approached, Jiang Zhan demanded, “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Out of breath, Wei Xiaochi struggled to explain, “I put my phone on silent, didn’t hear it, sorry.”

Jiang Zhan could never forgive this, and his anger flared up even more. He yelled at Wei Xiaochi relentlessly.

“You’re always causing trouble. Either your phone’s messed up or you didn’t hear it.”

“I called you over twenty times. Are you deaf? Didn’t hear any of them?”

“Why the hell did you rush home today? You didn’t even tell me. I spent half the day looking for you at school!”

At that moment, Wei Xiaochi timidly reminded him, “The exams are over. I don’t need to tutor anymore.”

Jiang Zhan seemed taken aback for a moment. He swallowed hard, glaring at Wei Xiaochi as though he wanted to peel his skin off.

Wei Xiaochi felt a chill down his spine, hanging his head and remaining silent.

Just then, Jiang Zhan’s phone rang. It was the basketball team, reminding him to come back because the coach was angry.

Jiang Zhan simply said “I know,” hung up, and continued glaring at Wei Xiaochi.

“Wait for it.”

With that, Jiang Zhan left, the taxi speeding off in a hurry.

As he vanished quickly, Wei Xiaochi stood frozen, unsure of what Jiang Zhan had come for.

He couldn’t help but admire Jiang Zhan’s prideful personality, the kind that couldn’t stand to be slighted and would make sure to settle scores—no matter what, even if it meant rushing to his neighborhood just to vent.

After hearing Jiang Zhan’s parting threat, Wei Xiaochi spent the whole night restless, unsure of what would await him the next day.

The next day, Wei Xiaochi walked to school with a sigh, hoping Jiang Zhan would forget about what had happened last night.

The bell signaling the end of the first class rang, and the teacher said, “That’s it for today,” but before the words even left her mouth, someone from the second row jumped up and sprinted out, looking like they were about to burst.

Math Teacher: ???

If it had been any other student, the math teacher might have thought more about it, but seeing it was Wei Xiaochi, she immediately figured it was just him urgently needing to pee.

Well, young people’s bladders are like Schrödinger’s bladder—completely unpredictable.

During the break after the first class, Wei Xiaochi successfully avoided the situation, but when the bell rang for the second class, the alpha blocked the door.

The English teacher passed by the door, gave the tall and handsome alpha a quick look, hugged her book, and continued on her way.

Jiang Zhan walked in as though no one else was around, elegantly grabbing a small O and escorting them out of the classroom, pushing them all the way to the rooftop of the experimental building.

Wei Xiaochi was like a rebel general whose sharp edges had been worn down. Before he could even try to resist, his courage was already shattered by the overwhelming intimidation.

Jiang Zhan had a cold expression, arms crossed, his aura commanding. “Who was it that kept pestering me, saying they’d tutor me for an extra half hour after class?”

Wei Xiaochi, caught off guard by the mention of this, froze for a moment. “I… it was me.”

Jiang Zhan’s cold, emotionless mask suddenly disappeared, and a storm seemed to rage in his eyes. “Then when you go home after school, shouldn’t you be telling me about it?”

“…”

“Answer me!”

“Y-yes, I should have.”

Jiang Zhan poked Wei Xiaochi’s face. “This is the last time. If I call you this many times again and you don’t pick up, you’d better try me then.”

Wei Xiaochi quickly nodded.

Jiang Zhan controlled his anger and, like a master of dramatic face-changing, returned to his usual cold and aloof demeanor. “So, you were avoiding me in the first class this morning?”

“No,” Wei Xiaochi nervously twisted the hem of his shirt. After a brief pause, he told the truth, “I was afraid you’d be mad.”

He quickly added, “I was wrong yesterday. I won’t do it again.”

Jiang Zhan seemed to like this response. “Good that you know you were wrong.”

Seeing that this was finally over, Wei Xiaochi let out a relieved sigh.

Jiang Zhan shoved the book Wei Xiaochi had been reading the day before into his hands, raising an eyebrow in a manner that made his intentions clear.

Wei Xiaochi knew exactly what he meant. He obediently sat in his spot from yesterday and offered up his lap for Jiang Zhan to use as a pillow.

Once the alpha lay down, Wei Xiaochi opened the book and began to read the previous pages aloud.

Suddenly, Jiang Zhan spoke. “I looked at a few pages yesterday. Flip forward five pages.”

Wei Xiaochi, following the command, flipped five pages ahead, landing right where he had stopped yesterday.

Looking at Wei Xiaochi’s lips as they parted and closed, the color so faint it was almost imperceptible, like soft cherry blossoms, Jiang Zhan’s restlessness flared up again.

These past few days, it had been like this. Whenever he was near Wei Xiaochi, his emotions would swing unpredictably, and his heartbeat would race or slow down.

And now, Wei Xiaochi seemed even more pleasing to his eye. He had always looked good, but now it felt like he had grown right into Jiang Zhan’s heart.

Wei Xiaochi had just read two pages when Jiang Zhan knocked the book out of his hands. Without warning, his collar was grabbed, and Jiang Zhan’s nose was pressed up against him.

Hearing the alpha complain about his own unpleasant smell, Wei Xiaochi froze, not knowing what to say.

But when he stayed silent, the alpha grew more intense, grumbling in a disgusted tone about how bad it smelled, repeating it several times.

Wei Xiaochi had always been unlucky. No matter how many times he entered a lottery, he never won. He had been through all kinds of misfortunes throughout his life.

He hadn’t expected the omega transformation to be like this too. His gender transformation sheet said his pheromone was valerian.

Wei Xiaochi wasn’t sensitive to his own pheromone, and didn’t know what valerian smelled like. After looking it up online, he found out that it had a strong, unpleasant smell.

But Jiang Zhan had smelled his pheromone before. During their two days in the hospital, he never said anything, and Wei Xiaochi thought maybe this valerian wasn’t the same as the one he’d read about.

Now, hearing Jiang Zhan complain that it smelled bad, Wei Xiaochi felt his ears burning, just like when Fang Zhixin had, in front of the whole class, pretended to sniff him and called him a trash heap that deserved to be thrown into a trash can.

Back then, Wei Xiaochi had thought Fang Zhixin was bullying him, but now, it seemed as though what was once bullying had transformed into a painful premonition.

Wei Xiaochi’s face turned pale, and his hands trembled as he pushed Jiang Zhan away.

The alpha, caught off guard, nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, his quick reflexes kept him from losing balance.

Jiang Zhan, shocked by Wei Xiaochi pushing him, was filled with disbelief, anger, and a hint of grievance. “You pushed me?”

Wei Xiaochi lowered his head, muttering something in a barely audible voice.

Jiang Zhan didn’t catch it. “What did you say? Speak louder.”

“Bad smell, and it wasn’t for you to smell,” Wei Xiaochi’s voice was barely a whisper, like he was talking to himself. He was scratching the area on his finger where he had been burned last night. “Someone will like it.”

He tried to comfort himself.

Someone would like him.

During his three years of middle school, Fang Zhixin would often call him trash, and he had long become numb to it. But for some reason, hearing it again from Jiang Zhan’s mouth, it stung sharply.

Author’s Note:

This time, the dog really stirred up a hornet’s nest. Next chapter, a small chase for the wife.

Lucky Draw: 66 red envelopes to be given out.