In the Grade One office, several teachers who had participated in marking the exams were chatting.
“We can finally take a break.” After the monthly exams were over, the tense atmosphere had eased somewhat, and even the teachers had relaxed considerably. “Forget the students—we don’t like exams either. We can’t rest on weekends, and we still have to mark papers.”
“Luckily, the Grade Two students are willing to help.”
“Have all of you handed out the test papers to your classes?” the homeroom teacher of Class 3 asked. “We already handed out all the papers to our class during the long break. It’s just right for them to look at their scores and calm down a little.”
“Oh, right, Teacher Qiu.” The homeroom teacher of Class 4 said, “I took a look at Luo Zhiyu’s history paper just now. I was the one who marked it. He answered very well. You can tell that he’s very familiar with the key points, and his answers met the requirements. It’s just his handwriting, and that habit of improvising on the test paper. Those things need to be corrected.”
Teacher Qiu: “I deducted a few extra points from his presentation score. Remember to talk to him and tell him not to get upset. He needs to guard against complacency and impatience and reflect properly. Every point is important in the college entrance examination. He needs to keep his test paper neat. It’s better to lose points now than to lose them during the college entrance examination.”
“It’s all for his own good.” Teacher Qiu said with a smile. “Luo Zhiyu will understand.”
Teacher Qiu planned to go to the classroom to check on Luo Zhiyu. He pushed open the office door and headed to his class.
Luo Zhiyu’s seat was empty. No one knew where he had gone.
“Is Luo Zhiyu in Class 3?” the homeroom teacher asked Jing Ximing, who happened to be passing through the corridor.
“He is.” Jing Ximing answered hesitantly, his eyes darting away. His guilty conscience was written all over his face.
The homeroom teacher looked around but really couldn’t find him. “Where?”
Jing Ximing braced himself and pointed at the classroom ceiling.
“…Class 3 upstairs.”
Homeroom teacher: “?”
Xiao Yan saw Zhang Shu hurrying around outside the restroom.
Xiao Yan: “What’s the rush?”
“? I’m not in a hurry. You’re the one who’s in a hurry.” Zhang Shu didn’t even have time to catch his breath. “What did you do this time? Luo Zhiyu came looking for you with a broom. He’s blocking the entrance to our classroom.”
Xiao Yan: “?”
I didn’t do anything.
Just yesterday evening, he and Luo Zhiyu had been sitting side by side on the stands, seemingly getting along peacefully. Luo Zhiyu had even said he wasn’t a scummy Alpha. What happened?
“I think… this is probably a misunderstanding.” The moment Xiao Yan finished speaking, he saw a little broom slowly rising behind Zhang Shu. “I haven’t even had time to provoke him today.”
Why had the retribution come first?
“You scoundrel.” Luo Zhiyu charged over. “Bring me your head.”
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Come on, calm down.” Xiao Yan grabbed the broom from Luo Zhiyu’s hand and tossed it to Zhang Shu behind him. Then he covered Luo Zhiyu’s eyes and pushed him away from the restroom entrance. “Come on, let’s go outside and talk. Don’t block the entrance to the Alpha boys’ restroom.”
There was a lot of foot traffic here. If they didn’t leave now, the incident of Luo Zhiyu charging into the restroom with a broom to beat him up would spread across every corner of the school forum.
Xiao Yan led Luo Zhiyu all the way to the end of the corridor.
Luo Zhiyu looked Xiao Yan up and down with an expression that clearly said, So you’re this kind of person? Then he unfolded a test paper right in front of Xiao Yan.
“Explain this?” Luo Zhiyu shook the test paper in his hand. “Teacher Xiao Yan? Smuggling in personal grudges?”
There was no need for Luo Zhiyu to say anything else. The two casually written characters “Xiao Yan” in the assistant-marker signature box were enough to describe the entire course of events.
Xiao Yan: “Pfft.”
When he had signed it earlier, he had been too casual with his signature. He had never imagined that the Class 4 teacher would do something bad without leaving his own name, deduct so many presentation points from someone else, and use Xiao Yan’s name instead.
“Laugh again.” Luo Zhiyu wanted to go back and pick up the broom. “You’re still laughing.”
“Come here.” Xiao Yan reached out and placed a hand on Luo Zhiyu’s shoulder, pulling him slightly closer. He didn’t immediately let go, keeping Luo Zhiyu restrained while pointing at the score section on the paper with his other hand. “I guarantee you, I didn’t do this.”
“What do you mean?” Luo Zhiyu slapped the railing. “You’re already thinking about doing it next time?”
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Zhizhi, think about it this way. If I had deducted the points, would I have deducted only this little?” Xiao Yan desperately tried to salvage his image.
“…That makes some sense.” Luo Zhiyu felt that the few sparse numbers on the test paper didn’t really seem like Xiao Yan’s style. “You’re right.”
“?” Xiao Yan had only been giving an example. “Am I really that terrible in your eyes?”
Luo Zhiyu: “? Weren’t you the one who brought it up first? Do you even care about the image you have in my eyes?”
Just as the two of them were about to get into another physical altercation, someone arrived at the scene in time—
“You two students, we meet again.”
Director Wu, who was on his way to the Class 5 classroom, spotted the two familiar students at the end of the corridor. He was still rather worried.
“You two are in different grades and different classes. Why do you keep ending up together lately?”
“Good morning, Director.” Luo Zhiyu was a polite and well-mannered student. The moment he saw Director Wu, he more or less guessed what question was coming next. “We’re not fighting. I’m asking him about a question. Xiao Yan is in Grade Two, so he knows more.”
Luo Zhiyu shook the test paper in his hand.
“If I were really here to fight him, would I have come all the way up here with only a test paper? Right, Director?”
Xiao Yan: “…”
He had grabbed the broom too early. Otherwise, Director Wu would definitely have caught Luo Zhiyu red-handed.
“That does make sense. Huh?” Director Wu recognized the test paper in his hand. “This paper belongs to you, Luo Zhiyu?”
“It’s mine.” Luo Zhiyu nodded.
“I saw it when we were marking the papers that day, so it left quite an impression.” Director Wu said, “At first, it was assigned to Xiao Yan to mark. Later, he probably thought he might be biased, so he switched it to the teacher from Class 4. So it really is yours.”
Luo Zhiyu: “The Class 4 homeroom teacher…”
Then that explained everything.
“You two carry on. Take your time discussing it.” Having achieved his goal of stopping a fight, and seeing that the relationship between the two students seemed to be getting better and better, Director Wu was in a very good mood. “I’ll go teach my class first.”
The moment Director Wu had walked far enough away, the two people who had been stuck together immediately separated.
Luo Zhiyu sneered. “You’re biased toward me?”
Xiao Yan scoffed. “Keep dreaming.”
But the matter of the presentation points really had been a misunderstanding. Xiao Yan hadn’t done anything wrong. Luo Zhiyu even felt that his Brother Yan was actually a little unfairly accused this time.
“Brother Yan, come a little closer.” Luo Zhiyu said. “Quick.”
Xiao Yan moved one step toward Luo Zhiyu. “What are you trying to do again?”
Based on his experience interacting with Luo Zhiyu, Luo Zhiyu’s thoughts couldn’t exactly be measured by an ordinary person’s way of thinking.
Luo Zhiyu said innocently, “You look pretty wronged. I’m comforting you.”
Xiao Yan was actually in a pretty good mood. He had provoked Luo Zhiyu as part of his daily routine (1/1), so he had completed today’s task ahead of schedule. It could even be considered a pleasant surprise.
Luo Zhiyu seemed a little conflicted. He looked around several times and, after confirming that there was no one nearby, pressed his lips together as though he had made a decision.
He rose slightly onto his toes, wrapped his left arm around Xiao Yan’s neck, raised his right hand, and gently rubbed Xiao Yan’s hair.
Apart from that one time in the student council when they had measured each other for clothing sizes, Luo Zhiyu had never gotten this close to Xiao Yan.
At such a distance, he was inexplicably tempted to move even closer, just so he could capture a little of the orange-scented pheromones that the other person kept hidden so carefully.
The thought had come rather suddenly, without reason or planning, and it didn’t make any sense at all. Even Luo Zhiyu himself found it difficult to understand.
So before Xiao Yan could react, he patted Xiao Yan’s head, turned, and ran away.
Xiao Yan was left standing there alone, slightly dazed. He slowly raised his hand and watched the figure of someone who looked like he was fleeing in panic.
He touched his hair, which Luo Zhiyu had messed up.
When Luo Zhiyu had raised his hand, Xiao Yan seemed to have caught another faint trace of the sweet peach scent on him.
The lake that had originally been calm inside his heart seemed to have once again been disturbed by a mischievous peach blossom petal falling from the flowering tree along the shore, sending out gentle ripples one circle after another.
Smoke Everywhere: Fairy Frowning.jpg
Smoke Everywhere: Were you expressing your apology just now?
[Zhizhi]: Pretty much.
[Zhizhi]: I’ve expressed it, so let’s pretend nothing happened. Let’s consider the matter closed.
Smoke Everywhere: Then I must have an incredibly forgiving heart.
Smoke Everywhere: Tell me, where did you learn that?
[Zhizhi]: From a TV drama my sister watches.
[Zhizhi]: Got a problem?
Smoke Everywhere: Luo Zhiyu, you’re such a little hooligan.
“Smoke Everywhere” withdrew a message.
[Zhizhi]: Going to class. If you happen to mark my test paper again next time, just keep it yourself. Don’t give it to that teacher from Class 4 again. Evil Grin.jpg
That evening during self-study, Luo Zhiyu received his new physiology textbook.
After finishing that day’s homework, he planned to preview the physiology textbook first.
“Finished your homework?” His deskmate Jing Ximing saw him open another book. “Look at you, so free.”
“Finished. I’m just previewing tomorrow night’s lesson.” The classroom was very quiet, so Luo Zhiyu spoke softly. “It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”
“What’s there to preview in physiology? Everyone can pass this exam.” Jing Ximing took off his glasses and lowered his head to continue working on a math problem on his scratch paper. “You can just look at the exercises. Then you’ll know how easy it is.”
The textbook wasn’t very thick. It was divided into two sections: ABO physiological knowledge and common knowledge about interactions between students on campus.
The material covered was very basic. Luo Zhiyu already knew at least a little about many of the concepts, such as hiding pheromones, how AOs couldn’t borrow each other’s clothes, how to deal with heat periods, and the differences between temporary marking and final marking.
Luo Zhiyu didn’t consider himself a top student, but he was still quite clear about these theoretical concepts.
So Luo Zhiyu directly flipped to the exercises at the back and tried doing the true-or-false questions.
Exercise Book — Part Two: Situational Judgment Questions
Please use the knowledge learned in this course to determine whether the following behaviors are correct or incorrect. Put a checkmark or an X in the parentheses.
1. Student Xiao Hong is an unmarked omega, while Xiao Lan is an alpha. Xiao Hong and Xiao Lan are merely classmates. Xiao Hong frequently puts her arm around Xiao Lan’s shoulders in order to express her friendliness at the time. (√)
2. Student Xiao Lan is in a bad mood today. In order to comfort Xiao Lan, Xiao Hong pats Xiao Lan on the head and then gives Xiao Lan a big hug. (√)
3. Student Xiao Lan personally feeds Xiao Hong food. Xiao Hong accepts the feeding and looks forward happily to being fed again next time. (√)
4. Student Xiao Hong lost her school uniform. In order to avoid losing academic points, Xiao Hong borrowed Xiao Lan’s uniform, cleverly protecting her eligibility points for awards. (√)
5. Student Xiao Hong thinks Xiao Lan’s pheromones smell very good, so she praises his pheromones to his face multiple times. (√)
6. While on duty, Student Xiao Lan discovers that Xiao Hong has violated school rules. Despite Xiao Hong’s pleas, Xiao Lan ruthlessly deducts her academic points. (×)
7. Student Xiao Lan is an alpha. One day, he notices that Xiao Hong’s clothes aren’t properly arranged, so he casually helps Xiao Hong straighten them. (√)
There was nothing difficult about them. The questions were based on everyday life, and they could be answered simply with common sense.
Luo Zhiyu answered the first few questions, then opened the answer booklet included with the textbook to check his answers.
All wrong.
Luo Zhiyu: “? The answer key is wrong, right?”