ABMSI Chapter 2

Under Duan Wei’s surprised and bewildered gaze, Fu Duqiu, standing at the doorway, slowly withdrew his eyes and let his gaze fall on the blackboard at the back of the classroom.

Next month would usher in a new year, so the decorations on the board were naturally full of yellow and green fireworks and firecrackers. Clearly, it was break time, yet the classroom was packed—no one had left. Instead, everyone sat properly at their desks, eyes constantly drifting toward Fu Duqiu.

Homeroom teacher Lao Qin looked rather surprised at the door, then slowly walked up to the podium and cleared his throat:
“Students, today our class welcomes a new classmate. Please give him a warm round of applause!”

Lao Qin was a new transfer teacher this semester, only in charge of this class for a few months. With his black-rimmed glasses and zero awareness, he naturally didn’t know about the “unwritten rule” that had always governed this class.

The source of that rule was none other than Duan Wei.

As the school bully of No. 1 High School, his presence left no grass growing wherever he went. His crush on Xu Jianian was an open secret, so he never cared about gain or loss—anyone who had the slightest chance of stealing his spotlight would be made to disappear right away.

Just last month, Class 8 happened to get a pretty good-looking Beta. Barely a week later, Duan Wei’s underhanded tricks forced him to leave in humiliation and switch to a different class. At the time, Lao Qin thought that poor Beta had simply been dissatisfied with his teaching style, and he spent ages sulking about it.

And now here was this new transfer student—an Alpha who from head to toe was leagues better than the previous one. Who knew how long he’d survive? Everyone looked at Fu Duqiu on the podium and silently offered their condolences.

Up on the podium, Lao Qin glanced at the deathly silent classroom and pushed his glasses up in mild embarrassment. Just as he was about to speak, the school tyrant who gave the whole grade headaches suddenly stood up:
“Hahahahahahaha! Welcome, welcome!”

Clapping loudly, Duan Wei grinned up at Fu Duqiu on the podium, his eyes narrowing to thin slits, a tiny black mole at the corner of one eye. The classroom was so quiet that his laughter rang out all the more clearly.

Fu Duqiu: “…”
Lao Qin: “…”
The whole class: “…”

Even Xu Jianian, who had buried his entire face in a test paper booklet, lifted his head to give Duan Wei a puzzled look.

But this kind of joy—only Duan Wei himself could truly understand.

Who was standing at the door? Fu Duqiu!

The male lead destined to save the bad ending! His ticket back to the modern world! Who wouldn’t be thrilled???

Thanks to Duan Wei’s impromptu outburst, the classroom that had felt like a morgue suddenly loosened up.

Fu Duqiu was handsome, and he had already caught the attention of most of the Omegas—and even some of the Betas—in class. Seeing Duan Wei’s reaction, the students quickly lost their hesitation, joining in applause and even letting out a few loud whistles.

Lao Qin’s expression shifted rapidly. He raised his hand to quiet them, but it was useless. With a helpless sigh, he finally turned to Fu Duqiu, who was still standing silently at the door.
“Come, give a little introduction?”

Instantly, the classroom fell silent again, all eyes fixed on Fu Duqiu. From the moment he’d entered the room, he had barely made a sound. If not for the aura that made him impossible to ignore, everyone would have forgotten he was there.

He took a few steps forward, his long legs carrying him up onto the podium. Facing the class, under the glare of the white fluorescent lights, his features were clearer than at the doorway. Slowly, everyone realized this guy wasn’t just strikingly handsome—he was the kind of handsome that lasted, the kind built into bone rather than mere surface looks.

Fu Duqiu let his gaze sweep across the classroom, finally brushing lightly over Duan Wei. Just a brief touch, and then he pulled his eyes away, speaking in a low voice:
“Hello everyone, I’m Fu Duqiu.”

As soon as he finished, Duan Wei nodded in satisfaction from his seat.

Concise. Cool. Truly worthy of being the male lead.

The moment Fu Duqiu finished speaking, the bell rang. The first period was English. Probably because his enrollment paperwork wasn’t finished, Lao Qin took Fu Duqiu out of the classroom, and moments later a female teacher walked in.

The English teacher was an old fox at No. 1 High—so strict that even Duan Wei never dared skip her classes. As soon as she entered, the room fell quiet, students hastily pulling books from their desks.

“Duan Wei! Put whatever’s in your ears on the podium!”

Skipping the usual “stand and greet the teacher,” Teacher Mrs. Tong slammed her book on the desk with a loud crack, her eyes bulging furiously.

The class instantly fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Duan Wei. This scene had played out countless times, usually ending with the school bully flipping desks and storming out, cursing the whole way.

Students clenched their hands tighter on their desks, praying the tyrant would at least avoid smashing theirs in the chaos.

But today, for some reason—whether in a good mood or still excited about the new classmate—Duan Wei, neat in his school uniform, actually stood up cheerfully and placed his earbuds and tablet on the podium.

Even the battle-hardened Mrs. Tong frowned in surprise.

As for the protagonist, Duan Wei, he leaned back in his seat afterward, utterly nonchalant, resting against the wall and staring out the window.

Next door to Class 8 was the grade office. At that moment, Lao Qin was standing at its doorway. Across from him stood two people: the newly transferred Fu Duqiu and a woman.

The woman looked young, dressed with intelligence and elegance. But Duan Wei could tell from her name-brand clothing and aura that she came from a wealthy family. She stood beside Fu Duqiu, her hands lightly resting on his arm, smiling and nodding as she chatted with Lao Qin.

She should be Fu Duqiu’s mother.

Though it wasn’t far, Duan Wei couldn’t hear what they were saying. He could only see their lips moving. After a moment, he gave up and simply let his gaze rest on Fu Duqiu.

The male lead had no expression. In fact, from the moment he’d appeared, he had shown hardly any expression at all. Lao Qin was shorter, so Fu Duqiu’s eyes were slightly lowered, his long lashes casting shadows across his lids. Duan Wei couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Finally, after a long while, Lao Qin finished his nagging and walked off down the corridor. The woman turned to go the other way, her heels clicking softly. After a few steps, she murmured something under her breath and headed down the opposite hall, leaving Fu Duqiu alone, standing there in the corridor.

At the other end of the corridor was the restroom. Naturally, Duan Wei nodded—he couldn’t possibly drag him along to keep him company there.

It was class time now, and not just this corridor but the entire teaching building was almost deserted. Fu Duqiu stood alone at the office door, his back to Duan Wei. For some inexplicable reason, from that solitary back view, Duan Wei sensed a faint loneliness.

The novel never spent much ink describing the male lead’s family background. What Duan Wei remembered was only that Fu Duqiu had grown up in a single-parent household. Later, after his mother remarried, he lived on his own.

The boy had just turned eighteen, yet he was silent, withdrawn, carrying himself with the gravity of someone ten years older.

At the moment Duan Wei withdrew his gaze, Fu Duqiu seemed to sense it. He turned, only to catch sight of a sliver of profile through the classroom window.

Though the sun was out, the wind in the corridor still carried winter’s unique chill. He stood there for a moment, until the click of high heels sounded behind him.

Ye Qiong was returning from the other end of the hallway. She tossed the tissue in her hand into a trash can. Casting Fu Duqiu a glance as though she wanted to say something but didn’t, she pulled out a set of keys from her bag and handed them over. “Then I’ll be heading off.”

As she spoke, the fur brushing against her jaw trembled slightly with her breath. Fu Duqiu answered, took the keys.

“This place may be worse than your last school, but it’s still a provincial key school. Study hard. Don’t slack off.” Ye Qiong spoke in her usual measured tone, steady and flat. Spotting Lao Qin coming down the stairwell, she cleared her throat softly and lowered her voice: “If anything comes up, call me. If Fu Chengping comes looking for you, just ignore him.”

“Mm.”

Fu Duqiu answered again, his voice so soft it was broken up and carried off by the wind, barely audible.

By then Lao Qin had come forward, carrying a thick stack of books and a set of school uniforms. Ye Qiong greeted him politely with a smile, then turned into the stairwell, pulling out her phone from her coat—looking busy as ever.

Once she was gone, Lao Qin frowned slightly and said to Fu Duqiu, “Here, these are the books you’ll need this term, along with some of our school’s materials.”

The pile was heavy. Lao Qin gave Fu Duqiu only part of it, keeping the rest himself. Leading Fu Duqiu down the hall, he said, “I had a quick word with the principal earlier—your grades are excellent, you’ve always been first in your year, right? Our class progresses a bit fast. I don’t know if your previous school covered the same material, but transfers often face such problems. If you run into any difficulties, just let me know…”

Before he could finish, Fu Duqiu, walking behind him, said softly, “It’s fine, Teacher Qin. I’ve already previewed the lessons. I’ll do my best to keep up.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Lao Qin replied, smiling kindly. After all, which teacher wouldn’t be pleased to have such a top student transferred into their class? They reached the back door of Class 8. Half the lesson had already passed. Lao Qin continued, “I only just took over this class. The seating chart is still from last semester. For now, you can sit next to Duan Wei. After a while, I’ll rearrange the seats.”

Because the original Duan Wei drew too much attention, hardly anyone wanted to share a desk with him, and he wasn’t willing to squeeze in with others either. Naturally, he ended up the only student in Class 8 without a desk mate.

Perhaps thinking Fu Duqiu didn’t yet know Duan Wei, Lao Qin pointed toward the group by the windows and said, “You should’ve more or less met him just now—that boy, third from the back.”

Following the direction of his finger, Fu Duqiu saw the boy at the window, who at some point had dozed off, face buried in his jacket, only the curve of his hair visible.

Then Lao Qin heard Fu Duqiu say, clear and distinct:

“Alright.”