ABMSI Chapter 25

The grading speed at No. 1 High School was famously fast. In just a few days, the entire senior year’s ranking list was posted on the announcement board downstairs.

And that’s when everyone witnessed a miracle no one had ever seen before.

From the bustling crowd squeezed out none other than the school’s notorious troublemaker, Duan Wei, who actually came up to the front to look for his name.

Out of habit, he started counting from the top—then paused, slapped his own forehead, and decided it made more sense to start from the bottom. But just as he turned his eyes back to the list, his gaze landed on the very first name—

Class 8, Senior year 3 – Fu Duqiu.

His eyes shifted right. “Holy crap, 690 points?!”

For a moment Duan Wei’s brain froze. He turned to the student beside him.
“Hey, buddy, what’s the total score again?”

“750 points” the classmate replied, looking confused.

“…”

Damn. Impressive.

Duan Wei thought to himself, as expected of the male lead, and started hunting for his own name.

Since the original Duan Wei had always been scraping the bottom of the rankings, there was plenty of room to rise—so he wasn’t too worried about not jumping at least a hundred spots this time.

Besides, he had the “study god” sponsoring his grades now—nothing could stop him. Sure enough, he found his name somewhere in the lower-middle range and went back to class perfectly content.

Peng Yan was stunned. “No way, Duan-ge—wait, no, not Duan-ge anymore—you’re Niuhulu Duan^[1] Wei now!”

“Pfft, you little brat.” Duan Wei flipped his hair smugly as he sat down. “It’s all because your brother here is a natural genius—”

Before he could finish bragging, someone walked in through the door.

The weather had dropped sharply these past few days; Duan Wei had gone from baring his neck like a sumo wrestler to wrapping himself up like a ninja with only his eyes showing. Peng Yan had nearly failed to recognize him several times.

Fu Duqiu, however, looked as effortlessly composed as ever—dressed in a dark down jacket, scarf draped loosely over his shoulders, exposing his long, elegant neck.

Show-off, Duan Wei thought.

Seeing him walk over, Duan Wei immediately perked up, standing by like a waiter ready to serve. “Plus, I’ve got the school genius backing me up—how could my rank not rise?”

Fu Duqiu turned his head slightly—and there was Duan Wei, eyes crinkled in a grin, scarf off, the gland at his neck faintly visible beneath his sweater.

Over the past several days, Duan Wei had gradually learned to control his leaking pheromones—no more overwhelming scent of sweet orange clinging to him.

But today, for some reason, as soon as he came close, Fu Duqiu caught a faint, milky sweetness in the air.

“What did you spray on yourself?” Fu Duqiu frowned.

“You could tell that? Impressive.” Duan Wei looked surprised. “Just some Omega scent blockers a few of them were using—I thought I’d try a few sprays. So, what do you think? You can’t smell the pheromones anymore, right?”

As he spoke, he leaned in a little, as if to let Fu Duqiu test it more clearly. The milky scent grew stronger—unlike his natural pheromone’s fresh, airy sweetness, this artificial fragrance was heavy and cloying, like cotton candy doused in too much syrup.

Fu Duqiu turned his face aside after a brief sniff. “You’re right, I can’t smell it anymore,” he said quietly. “But this scent doesn’t suit you.”

“I think so too. It smells a little too sweet,” Duan Wei agreed, sitting down as he continued, “I heard there are a lot of scents to choose from. I’ll pick one later. Hey, what kind of scent do you think would suit me?”

Sitting beside them, Peng Yan had been watching the whole exchange in utter confusion—sniffing here, sniffing there—and now, hearing that question, he nearly spat out the water he’d just drunk.

Discussing what scent of suppressant to use with an Alpha—wasn’t that basically the same as discussing what brand of underwear to wear??

Since when had those two become so close?

But Duan Wei didn’t seem to realize how weird it sounded. He just looked at Fu Duqiu curiously, like he was asking about a math problem.

Under that gaze, Fu Duqiu’s hand, which had been tidying his desk, paused for a moment. He glanced at Duan Wei, hesitated, and finally sighed. “If I’m not mistaken, there should be an unscented suppressant.”

“For real?” Duan Wei’s eyes lit up. “That’s so considerate.”

Then, as if his thoughts had jumped tracks, he wandered off to ask other Omegas about their suppressants—leaving Fu Duqiu alone, looking for all the world like a guy who’d just been flirted with and abandoned.

Fu Duqiu watched his retreating figure, turned his head away, and said nothing more.

As soon as the first class ended, the familiar march music blared from the loudspeakers, followed by the chaos of voices all around the classroom.

“My school badge, where’s my school badge?! … Damn it, I don’t want Old Tong to drag me out again!”

“I’ve seen you looking for it since class started. Give up already—real men face the storm head-on.”

No sooner had that been said than a panicked wail followed: “Shit! Where are my school pants?!”

“How the hell do you lose your pants during class???”

After a round of chaos, the students finally managed to line up in the hallway—sloppy, but technically a line—and shuffled downstairs.

The field was crowded, filled with the mingling scents of pheromones. Duan Wei frowned and covered his nose, clearly uncomfortable.

Now that he thought about it, his heat period must be coming soon. The Alpha doctor had warned him before—since his differentiation was still unstable, he needed to inject a small dose of inhibitor before the heat started.

But the inhibitor was… in his backpack. In the classroom.

He shook his head. He could bear it. Probably.

The group eventually reached the area assigned to Class 8. Duan Wei stood in the back row. No sooner had he stopped moving than Fu Duqiu’s voice came from behind him.

“You don’t look well.”

“Yeah, a little dizzy. Too many people here,” Duan Wei waved it off. “I’m fine, I’ll just stand a bit.”

“Put my jacket on,” Fu Duqiu said, unzipping his uniform and pulling off the dark-colored jacket underneath. “It’ll help suppress it temporarily.”

People were walking by, glancing curiously their way. Duan Wei knew that a high-quality Alpha’s pheromones could calm an Omega for a short time, so he didn’t refuse. He took off his own jacket and slipped into Fu Duqiu’s.

In that instant, the white pine scent wrapped around him, washing away his discomfort like mist in the sun. His muddled thoughts cleared. The jacket was still warm from Fu Duqiu’s body heat, and when Duan Wei zipped it up, a gentle warmth spread through him.

He looked at Fu Duqiu—who now had only a thin sweater and school uniform shirt left—and hesitated. The school’s flag-raising ceremony tended to drag on forever.

“Want to wear my jacket in the meantime?” Duan Wei asked.

His jacket was a little big and would fit Fu Duqiu fine—except for the tiny white pom-poms on the hood. Qiao Ying had bought it for him, claiming, ‘Omegas look cutest in clothes like this!’

He thought Fu Duqiu would refuse, but the other boy just glanced at it and calmly put it on.

Right then, the loudspeakers came alive again. The flag-raising ceremony began, followed by the monthly exam summary.

No.1 High School was famous for its old-school traditions. Every summary meeting meant a full recital of all the top students in every subject.

After the usual long-winded speech came the announcements for first-year and second-year students. Everyone half-listened, bored, as unfamiliar names and faces were read aloud.

But when it reached the third-year list—the show began.

The teacher at the broadcast station cleared his throat and declared, loud and clear:

“First place in Chinese—Fu Duqiu.”

“First place in Math—Fu Duqiu.”

“First place in English—Fu Duqiu.”

Fu Duqiu’s name echoed again and again through the speakers, reverberating around the entire schoolyard, drilling into everyone’s ears.

The campus erupted. Even those who hadn’t known who Fu Duqiu was before were now forcibly educated.

Finally, the teacher, clearly tired of repeating, just said: “Overall first place in the third year—Fu Duqiu.”

Standing proudly in the front row, Teacher Qin folded his arms with the smug air of a man about to be promoted to principal.

The chatter spread quickly. Fu Duqiu, already a minor legend on the school forums, had now cemented his position as the top student across every subject.

Then they saw him—the man of the hour—walk gracefully up the podium, bow politely to the teachers, adjust the microphone, and begin his speech with calm eloquence.

Students who had been half-asleep were now wide awake, eyes fixed on the stage like he was a celebrity.

His speech was logical, smooth, and confident—by the end, several students looked like they were about to faint from excitement.

Duan Wei didn’t doubt that if there weren’t teachers standing guard, the whole field would’ve turned into a shrieking fan concert.

When Fu Duqiu finished, he stepped back, holding his certificates. Then the teacher’s tone abruptly changed.

“Last week, a few students were involved in a fight off campus, causing a disturbance. The school is issuing serious warnings. Today, these students will deliver their self-criticisms before everyone.”

And there he was. Duan Wei—who’d been out of sight for weeks—swaggered up the podium with a self-reflection paper in hand.

Well, well. Duan Wei was fighting again.

The legend is back!!

A whole group of them lined up on stage, but Fu Duqiu was still standing there, right beside them.

The top student and the school delinquent, side by side, whispering to each other. The audience collectively lost their minds.

No way, no way, are they actually whispering to each other on stage?!

School idol, get off that stage right now! Mommy said you’re not allowed to hang around Duan Wei!

Meanwhile, Peng Yan, standing nearby, could hear every word.

Duan Wei: “When did you even write that speech? How did I not know about it?”

Fu Duqiu: “Improvised.”

Duan Wei: “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have written your reflection for you. You could’ve improvised that too.”

Fu Duqiu: “I have experience in public speaking, not in impromptu self-criticisms. I lack your expertise.”

Duan Wei: “You little—”

Peng Yan: “…”

Are these two five years old combined??

As they stood there, whispers spread: why was Fu Duqiu still on stage after receiving his awards?

Then, to everyone’s shock, Fu Duqiu calmly took a sheet of paper from his pocket. People assumed he’d forgotten something from his speech.

Until he began to speak again.

“Self-reflection. Hello teachers, hello classmates. I’m Fu Duqiu from Class 8, Grade 12.”

The students: ???

Standing straight in his perfectly neat uniform, eyes clear and composed—even reading a reflection paper, he looked like he was hosting a competition.

“What the hell? The school idol got into a fight??” someone whispered.

“I didn’t hear about that!”

“They say he and Duan Wei beat up Li Shao from Grade 12.”

“What the—weren’t Duan Wei and Li Shao always neutral? Why fight? And why drag Fu Duqiu into it?”

“No idea,” someone else said conspiratorially, lowering their voice. “Rumor has it Li Shao tried to take advantage of Duan Wei during his differentiation—and Fu Duqiu beat the crap out of him.”

Eyes widened all around. “No way. That’s straight out of a novel!”

“Wait—am I the only one who noticed they swapped jackets?”

“…”

At that, everyone turned to the stage.

Fu Duqiu finished reading, holding both certificates and reflection paper, and stepped back beside Duan Wei.

The stage was narrow, and with the whole group standing there, they were shoulder to shoulder.

From below, it was obvious: Fu Duqiu’s fluffy pompom jacket didn’t fit his usual style at all.

Then Duan Wei, apparently bothered by something, reached over and pulled the hoodie strings out from under Fu Duqiu’s uniform collar—like he was fixing his outfit.

From the audience’s angle, it looked exactly like a doting lover fussing over their partner.

The crowd collectively gasped.

Was this… a joint self-criticism or a public relationship announcement?!

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