The class upstairs, Senior Two, Class Three, was handing out homework too, white-covered workbooks being passed from student to student.
“The homework you just got last week—how did it get this torn up already?” Fan Yue placed Xiao Yan’s workbook on the corner of his desk. “This doesn’t look like you. What did you do to this workbook?”
“There was a little accident. It’s a long story.” Xiao Yan flipped to the page where the homework had been marked. “Luckily, I noticed in time and managed to fix it.”
Teacher Xu had a hard time finding a blank spot on his homework and squeezed in a comment:
“Everything is correct, but with all these corrections, were you really that conflicted about it, Student Xiao Yan? Your grasp of the material still isn’t solid enough.”
Xiao Yan: “……”
Even the most solid grasp of the material couldn’t withstand someone taking the wrong homework home and scribbling all over it.
Fortunately, he had redone it during class that morning and barely managed to get through this homework assignment. If he had handed in Luo Zhiyu’s version, he would definitely have been made to stand outside again.
Luo Zhiyu knew absolutely nothing about alphas.
Senior One, Class Three, was making a huge fuss, insisting on sending Luo Zhiyu upstairs to Xiao Yan, and they had even decided what kind of betrothal gifts they wanted. They were practically ready to kick him out.
“Are you people serious?” Luo Zhiyu joined in with the heckling. “If you send me away, who’s going to buy you sunflower seeds and soda at the next sports meet?”
“Luo Zhiyu is at least the face of our class.” Jing Ximing and his roommates stood firmly on his side. “Why would we send him anywhere?”
“Don’t worry. By this time next year, we’ll be Senior Two, Class Three too.” Luo Zhiyu’s reasoning was perfectly sound, but his eyes never left his phone screen.
[Not Cicada]: [Picture] You bastard, how did I become part of your class?!
[Not Cicada]: How did I suddenly become a second-year student?! You just made me skip a grade out of nowhere.
[Stinky Orange]: This……
[Stinky Orange]: I’ve gotten so used to writing ‘Class Three’ that I wrote Senior Two without even thinking.
[Not Cicada]: They’re insisting on sending me to your class now.
[Stinky Orange]: Come on. You’re very welcome. Kick Fan Yue out, and you can sit with me.
[Not Cicada]: Get lost, get lost, get lost.
[Not Cicada]: But everything you wrote is correct. You’re really amazing. And you said you had no experience.
[Stinky Orange]: ???
[Stinky Orange]: It’s all in the textbook. You’re the one who thinks you’re too good for it and refuses to read the textbook. Who else are you going to blame?
[Stinky Orange]: Come upstairs. I’ll personally teach you what experience is.
[Not Cicada]: Have you noticed that you’ve been corrupted by me? Evil grin.jpg
[Stinky Orange]: What are you thinking about??? I’m telling you to bring your book upstairs so I can mark the important parts for you. I’m so wronged.
[Not Cicada]: Gahaha.
No. 1 High School’s autumn sports meet was held late this year. Once it was over, December arrived, and the temperature dropped rapidly. The school suddenly had a large population of students who found getting out of bed extremely difficult.
The Student Union had work to do again, specifically assigning people to wait downstairs by the teaching building and catch students who were late for morning classes because they couldn’t get out of bed.
“Where are you, Luo Zhiyu? You and I are on duty today.” Luo Zhiyu answered Xiao Yan’s call from under his blanket. “The warning bell for morning self-study has already rung. As a member of the Student Union, are you planning to lead by example and be late?”
“I’m almost there,” Luo Zhiyu lied without hesitation. “I’ve left the dormitory. I’m at the sports field. I can see the teaching building. I can see you. You’re wearing a blue uniform and holding an English book.”
Yet Xiao Yan could still hear the sleepiness hidden in his voice.
“Luo Zhiyu, you haven’t even gotten out of bed. Do you think I don’t know what you’re like?” Xiao Yan’s call was abruptly cut off by Luo Zhiyu. “Keep making things up…”
Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Yan, with two duty badges hanging around his neck, finally saw Luo Zhiyu at the east stairwell.
“Should I deduct your points first?” Xiao Yan leaned against the wall and asked. “Student Luo Zhiyu, who’s more than ten minutes late.”
“I don’t count, I don’t count. Give me my duty badge. How can I deduct my own points?” Luo Zhiyu reached up and took his own duty badge from Xiao Yan’s neck by its strap. His freezing fingers brushed against Xiao Yan’s neck.
Xiao Yan: “……”
In winter, even the air was cold. Luo Zhiyu had come all the way over shivering, and after finally getting a bit of warmth from Xiao Yan’s neck, he greedily clung to it and refused to take his hand away.
But the way he was warming himself looked almost exactly like he was wrapping his arms around the other person’s neck. He had long since crossed the appropriate safe distance without realizing it, even half-closing his eyes and letting out a satisfied sigh.
“I’ll hit you. Let go.” Xiao Yan used his rolled-up English book to press against the name tag on Luo Zhiyu’s uniform and gently pushed him away, stopping him from getting any closer.
Luo Zhiyu knew when to quit. While the strap of the duty badge still retained Xiao Yan’s warmth, he put it around his own neck.
Xiao Yan leaned against the wall of the stairwell and studied his English. Luo Zhiyu also pulled his Chinese textbook out of his schoolbag and started memorizing.
“Did you eat breakfast?” Xiao Yan asked while standing.
“Didn’t have time.” Luo Zhiyu huddled behind Xiao Yan, using him to block the wind.
Xiao Yan tossed him a small bread roll. “I bought one extra just now. Here.”
“It’s too cold.” Luo Zhiyu’s fingers were almost frozen stiff, making it difficult to turn the pages of his Chinese textbook. “Is there really any need for us to be on duty? Apart from me, I haven’t seen a single person who’s late.”
“You’ve got some nerve saying that. But there really are people who are late.” Xiao Yan came over and sat down. The two of them blocked the stairwell entrance together. “Last year, we caught more than ten people at the west stairwell. The Student Affairs Office is up the east stairwell, so students who are late usually won’t come this way. We’ll only do this for a week when winter starts. Next week, they won’t bother anymore.”
“Oh, I see.” Luo Zhiyu seemed to be calculating something.
Xiao Yan: “……”
While he was talking, Luo Zhiyu slipped his freezing hand into Xiao Yan’s sleeve and grabbed his wrist. The cold wind whistled straight into Xiao Yan’s sleeve.
“Why are your hands so cold?” This time, he didn’t chase Luo Zhiyu away. He rested his English book on the stair between them and simply let Luo Zhiyu hold onto him. “Are you not wearing enough?”
“Let me see.” With one free hand, Xiao Yan gently flipped open Luo Zhiyu’s collar and counted the layers underneath. “……You’re only wearing one sweater under your school uniform?”
“It’s a thick sweater,” Luo Zhiyu corrected him. “I used to dress like this in December.”
“This year the weather got cold much faster. It’s almost below zero. You can’t dress like this, understand?” Xiao Yan withdrew his hand and patted Luo Zhiyu twice on the cheek.
After secondary-gender differentiation, it was normal for omegas to be somewhat sensitive to the cold. Luo Zhiyu simply hadn’t gotten used to it yet.
Luo Zhiyu gave an obedient little “Oh,” then pushed his hand farther into Xiao Yan’s sleeve, clearly intending to continue using him as a human hand warmer.
“I’ve never lived at school before. I wore too little today, and tomorrow I’ll have to wear too much. What a hassle. Look at my roommates—they went out today wearing nothing but a shirt and their school uniform over it. And the washing machine in our dorm is broken too. We haven’t had time to get it fixed.”
“The washing machine is broken?” Xiao Yan asked. “How did that happen?”
“Yeah.” Luo Zhiyu nodded. “Wall Grass threw his eight-kilo winter comforter into the washing machine. The comforter won.”
Xiao Yan: “……”
“At this temperature, it might snow next week, so you’d better wear more.” The sky outside the teaching building was somewhat gloomy. The sunlight was cold and gave off almost no warmth.
Luo Zhiyu was just about to speak when he accidentally bumped Xiao Yan’s English book, which was sitting on the stair. The book rolled down the steps. Trying to help, Luo Zhiyu stepped on the falling textbook.
The book stopped on the next step, but a footprint was now stamped across its pages.
“Uh……”
Luo Zhiyu picked up his Chinese textbook and ran down the stairs before Xiao Yan could beat him up.
It really was going to snow. It just didn’t wait until the following week.
On Friday evening, tiny snowflakes began drifting lazily from the sky. Luo Zhiyu was going home that weekend, so he dragged his suitcase to the school gate and waited for his driver to pick him up.
“You stuffed way too much into that suitcase.” Jing Ximing nudged Luo Zhiyu’s little carry-on with his foot. “Aren’t you afraid the latches are going to burst open?”
“It should be fine, right? It’s just bedsheets and clothes I need to take home to wash, plus a thin blanket. The washing machine is broken, so there’s nothing I can do. I’ll take everything home and wash it this week.” Luo Zhiyu slapped his suitcase. “I’ll be getting in the car soon anyway. It’s sturdy. I’ll be careful. It won’t burst.”
The students standing around the entrance in little groups of two or three were all, like him, waiting for their families to come pick them up.
“You go ahead.” Luo Zhiyu waved at Jing Ximing. “I’m going to mooch off someone’s umbrella.”
Luo Zhiyu had left the dormitory without an umbrella, and quite a few crystalline snowflakes had already landed in his hair. He often went upstairs to Class Three to cause trouble and had become familiar with everyone in Xiao Yan’s class. He spotted Xiao Yan among the group at a glance, so without the slightest hesitation, he dragged his suitcase over and shamelessly joined him under the umbrella.
A group of students from Senior Two, Class Three, were gathered at the doorway listening to Tang Yuan tell a story. Luo Zhiyu suddenly appeared beside Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan glanced at him and tilted the umbrella halfway toward him.
Luo Zhiyu joined the group listening to Tang Yuan’s story, thoroughly engrossed.
“What are you guys talking about?” Luo Zhiyu asked. “Your class can really talk.”
“Someone getting caught cheating in bed. I think it happened on a university forum next door. Tang Yuan loves browsing those forums.” Fan Yue gave him a little background. “There’s so much gossip at that university. Tang Yuan is always bringing us the latest tea.”
“Actually, they weren’t caught in the act, so it doesn’t technically count as catching someone cheating in bed. But there really was an affair, and the evidence is conclusive. Now the whole of T University knows about it.” Tang Yuan glanced around to make sure there were no teachers nearby, then lowered his voice mysteriously. “There were clothes belonging to another alpha in that omega’s suitcase. You could tell at a glance.”
“Wow.” Luo Zhiyu played along. “Juicy!”
Luo Zhiyu absolutely loved gossip.
Tang Yuan loved having an audience for his stories even more. He immediately added a little more atmosphere and continued, “Want to know how they found out? Like they say, if you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it. Heaven is watching everything people do. Who would’ve thought that when the two of them went out together, the suitcase latches would suddenly burst? Some coincidences are just that terrifying!”
“Who knows what they were thinking? Having an affair is one thing, but they even kept each other’s clothes.”
“If they were a little couple, then fine. But they weren’t a couple. If that’s not cheating, then what is it?!”
“Wow.” Luo Zhiyu continued encouraging him. “Exactly, exactly.”
Standing was getting tiring, so he wanted to find somewhere to sit. Without thinking, he plopped himself down on his own suitcase. He even used the wheels to slide himself along the ground for a couple of steps.
Finding it rather fun, the carefree Luo Zhiyu used the suitcase to scoot a little closer to Xiao Yan.
Then both Luo Zhiyu and Xiao Yan heard a crisp sound—
Crack.
Luo Zhiyu’s already dangerously overstuffed little suitcase had finally been defeated by him.
Xiao Yan reacted quickly and reached out to grab Luo Zhiyu, preventing him from falling onto the ground. But he couldn’t save the suitcase. A gap had split open, and the bedsheets and duvet covers spilled all over the ground.
Class Three was full of kindhearted people. They immediately reassured Luo Zhiyu that it was fine, squatting down one after another to help him clean everything up and neatly stuff it back into the suitcase.
Until someone from Class Three suddenly cried out in shock—
“Why is Brother Yan’s nap blanket in your suitcase?!”
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
Xiao Yan: “……”