“What happened……” Luo Zhiyu fished his school uniform out of the washing machine drum. “Why did it turn out like this?”
“I don’t know……” Jing Ximing hugged his newly purchased white shirt, looking utterly miserable. “How did the color bleed? What kind of quality is this?”
Luo Zhiyu decided to actively defend his consumer rights.
[Not Zhizhi]: You there?
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: What’s up? Fairy Frowning.jpg
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: I’m in evening self-study.
[Not Zhizhi]: Can I file a complaint if the military training uniforms are poor quality? Groundhog Breathing Fire.jpg
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: Sure. Luo, tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll report it for you.
Luo Zhiyu took two photos of the washing machine from different angles.
[Not Zhizhi]: Look, the color bled! [Image] [Image]
The other person remained stuck on “typing” for a long time. After waiting for quite a while, Luo Zhiyu finally received Xiao Yan’s reply.
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: Holy crap, don’t you have any common sense? You washed dark-colored clothes together with white clothes???
[Not Zhizhi]: ? Isn’t that okay?
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: No. No. 1 High School’s military training uniforms only care about looking good, not quality. Your problem isn’t covered by the student council’s after-sales service.
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: Stop bothering me. I’m going back to class.
[Not Zhizhi]: Really? I don’t feel like you’re that fond of attending class.
Outstanding Senior Two Student Representative: Depends on what class it is.
“What did he say?” Jing Ximing asked.
“Nothing useful.” Luo Zhiyu turned his school uniform over and over, inspecting it. “What am I supposed to do? Something happened this evening, and now this is the only school uniform I have left.”
The “something” was lying on Luo Zhiyu’s chair. A large tear caused by tree branches ran across it, with several small burrs from plants still stuck to the fabric. It clearly wasn’t wearable anymore. Getting a replacement school uniform custom-made was troublesome and would take a week.
“I have a speech under the national flag on Monday.” Luo Zhiyu was worried. “Can I wear yours?”
No. 1 High School had strict academic standards and strict rules in every aspect. Appearance and etiquette were taken seriously, and students could easily lose points over such matters, which was closely related to evaluations for outstanding students. Luo Zhiyu wasn’t particularly fond of studying, but his parents were. The results of his evaluations determined his future allowance.
“You’re taller than me, and the student number and name tag don’t match. They’re not easy to remove either.” Jing Ximing held his own school uniform against Luo Zhiyu to compare the sizes. “You wouldn’t pass the appearance inspection. You can’t wear mine.”
Luo Zhiyu asked around in Class 3’s group chat. Among all the omega students, surprisingly, only he and Jing Ximing had brought a spare school uniform.
“Don’t they change theirs?” Luo Zhiyu seemed to understand something.
“Why don’t you bleach it?” Jing Ximing suggested. “Use disinfectant to bleach it. Maybe it can still be saved.”
Half an hour later, the white parts of the school uniform were still blue, while the red parts had been bleached white by the powerful disinfectant.
One uniform was ruined, the other was destroyed. Luo Zhiyu had completely lost his school uniform.
“Can I wear only the uniform pants for the speech under the national flag?” Luo Zhiyu asked seriously. “My speech topic happens to be about students’ appearance and attire.”
“Borrow one. You’ll have to wait until next weekend to get a new one. Everyone in our grade needs to change into clean uniforms. You’d better borrow from a senior in Grade 11 or 12, but I don’t know if they’ve kept their uniforms from Grade 10.” Jing Ximing pinched his nose and picked up Luo Zhiyu’s uniform jacket, tossing it into the trash. “This is difficult.”
“Grade 11 or 12?” This gave Luo Zhiyu a new idea. “There really is someone!”
“Who?” Jing Ximing looked up.
“My absolutely pure schoolmate.”
At eight o’clock that night, darkness became Luo Zhiyu’s protective camouflage. He tied his tattered school uniform around his waist, dodged teachers along the way, sneaked into the teaching building, and slipped toward Class 3 of Grade 11.
Class 3 was having evening class. Luo Zhiyu immediately spotted that one unique “difference” among a sea of blue school uniforms. Xiao Yan was sitting by the window, posture upright and listening attentively. From time to time, he even jotted something down in his notebook.
[Not Zhizhi]: Can’t tell from before, but you’re surprisingly serious in class. Sweating Panda Head.jpg
No reply.
Luo Zhiyu waited ten minutes before taking a piece of chalk from his pocket and breaking it into several small pieces.
Xiao Yan’s deskmate, Fan Yue, was secretly browsing No. 1 High School’s campus forum—
【Anonymous Voting Post! Who Is This Year’s Most Popular New Student?】
1L: Come vote! The OP likes Luo Zhiyu. Here is an enhanced photo from the opening ceremony to start things off. [Image]
2L: Ah, the campus heartthrob in the photo is still as handsome as ever. Seriously, who doesn’t like our school heartthrob?
3L: I’m voting for Yan Zihan from Class 6. I heard his pheromones smell like spicy snack strips. That’s way too delicious, I’m drooling. Drooling.jpg
4L: ……Damn, discussing this is making me hungry too.
5L: The two above, calm down a little. Don’t openly discuss someone else’s pheromones like that.
5L: Luo Zhiyu! No need to beat around the bush—I’ve got a high-definition photo of him beating someone with a broom.
6L: I walked past the sports field that day. Class 3 generally has a high level of attractiveness.
7L: Borrowing the thread—date me! I’m super sweet. I’m an alpha with rock sugar pear-flavored pheromones.
Xiao Yan suddenly stopped writing. He touched the back of his head and turned toward Fan Yue with a puzzled expression.
Fan Yue was startled, thinking the teacher had caught him, and hurriedly put down his phone.
“Nothing.” Xiao Yan shook his head and continued listening to the lecture.
Then another piece of chalk struck the back of his head.
Xiao Yan turned around and saw a familiar figure appearing and disappearing by the back door.
Xiao Yan: “……”
When Fan Yue looked up again, Xiao Yan’s notes were still on the desk beside him, but his deskmate was gone.
At the staircase beside Class 3’s back door, Xiao Yan found the sneaky Luo Zhiyu.
“Looking for me?” Xiao Yan leaned against the staircase, looking at Luo Zhiyu, whom he had only seen a few hours ago. “Here to fight again?”
“Looking for you. Not here to fight.” Before leaving, Luo Zhiyu had already made up his mind to borrow a school uniform. But now that the person was standing right in front of him, he hesitated when the words reached his lips.
“I’m in class.” Xiao Yan glanced down at his watch. “Grade 11 is busy studying. You’ve got one minute.”
“Please. You don’t look like someone who loves studying either.” Luo Zhiyu asked, “What class is so interesting?”
“Physiology. Getting to know myself.” The workload at No. 1 High School was heavy, but high school students were required to attend physiology classes, so they had been moved to evening self-study.
“Oh.” Luo Zhiyu wasn’t interested, but he still remembered why he had come and spoke somewhat awkwardly. “Student Xiao, can I… borrow your school uniform?”
“Borrow my school uniform?” Xiao Yan was very surprised.
Inside Class 3, the teacher’s voice could be heard lecturing:
“Students who have differentiated into alphas need to pay attention to your own isolation period. During this time, your pheromone levels are unstable. Pay attention to isolation, inject the correct inhibitors, regulate your emotions, and do not hurt others, much less affect your studies or daily life.”
“Next, we’ll introduce some physiological knowledge related to secondary genders and teach everyone how to maintain an appropriate distance between alphas and omegas, preserving pure friendship……”
Outside the classroom, Xiao Yan sized up Luo Zhiyu for two seconds. He quickly connected Luo Zhiyu’s “better safe than sorry” argument from earlier that evening with the blue-filled washing machine in the photo, and confidently reached a conclusion.
“Got it. You don’t have a school uniform anymore, do you?”
The schadenfreude in his voice was so obvious that Luo Zhiyu wanted to hit him again.
“Yes.” Since he needed a favor, he suppressed the urge and lowered his head in reluctant acknowledgment.
“Luo Zhiyu, are we really that close?” Xiao Yan looked at him with a hint of amusement. “It’s been less than three days since school started. You swiped my card, drank my soda, and now you want to wear my school uniform. What exactly do you take me for?”
What did he take him for? Luo Zhiyu didn’t know, nor had he ever thought about it. Right now, his eyes were fixed entirely on the school uniform—the one Xiao Yan was wearing.
“I’ve decided not to be angry about you luring me with watermelon and soda.” Luo Zhiyu’s attitude was exceptionally good. “Really. I don’t hold grudges over this matter. Let’s call it even.”
“You chased me with a broom at noon.” Xiao Yan took the opportunity to settle accounts. “Don’t you think you should reflect on that?”
Luo Zhiyu: “I’ll reflect.” The broom had been a little heavy. Tree branches were still more useful.
“Your attitude is acceptable.” Xiao Yan nodded.
“Are you lending it to me? Your uniform will be dry tomorrow, but mine is gone. Everyone has to wear one, and among the Grade 11 and 12 students, you’re the only one who brought your old uniform.” Luo Zhiyu’s gaze remained firmly fixed on the jacket Xiao Yan was wearing. “The director said we should unite and love one another.”
“Since excellence is what brought us together here.” Luo Zhiyu gave the conversation a profound conclusion. “I think we should cherish it.”
Inside the classroom, the teacher’s lecture continued without interruption—
The teacher became increasingly animated. “Therefore, in conclusion, alphas and omegas can have pure friendship, but they must pay attention to the distance they maintain when interacting.”
“Forget it.” Since today’s events had ultimately started because of Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan decided to take some responsibility. “I’ll lend it to you.”
Inside the classroom, the teacher reached an important point and raised his voice.
“Considering that high school is the peak period for secondary gender differentiation, there are certain behaviors everyone must pay attention to. First of all, alphas must not casually stare at an omega’s neck. This is an extremely impolite behavior, and touching is also prohibited. Playing around is not an excuse.”
“Pheromones are very important to both alphas and omegas……”
“Private belongings that may come into contact with pheromones also require attention……”
Xiao Yan took Luo Zhiyu’s battered school uniform jacket, unzipped his own uniform jacket, and removed it, preparing to place it in Luo Zhiyu’s hands.
For one fleeting moment, Luo Zhiyu felt moved by this brief display of schoolmate affection.
“Don’t remove the name tag, don’t throw it into the washing machine together with the military training uniform, and return it to me in two weeks.” Xiao Yan emphasized several points. “Borrow it properly and return it properly. Got it?”
“I……” Luo Zhiyu was just about to agree when the teacher in Class 3 had apparently reached another important point. He knocked on the blackboard, and his voice suddenly rose, his lecture becoming even more expressive—
“……Therefore, to summarize, omega students, pay attention! You must remember this: in school, if an alpha student says he wants to lend you his school uniform, then we can most likely assume that this alpha student is being a pervert.”
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
Xiao Yan: “？？？”