PSWHNC CH15

Chapter 15 Was I a Scumbag All Along?

Jin Ximing had just finished packing up and was walking out of the classroom when he saw the scene unfold.

Jin Ximing: “?”

The other students standing in punishment had never seen anything this bold. Everyone went silent, distancing themselves from the situation.

To bravely admit mistakes was a good thing, and the self-reflection was clear and comprehensive enough. But a student this eager to get points deducted? This was a first for Teacher Zhang since arriving at No. 1 High School.

“Teacher Zhang, I’ll admit to everything else,” Xiao Yan said, raising his hand and offering up the workbook. “But Xiao Yan’s handwriting is definitely not that ugly.”

On the inside cover of the workbook was Xiao Yan’s name, written in neat semi-cursive script. The writing throughout the book was also clean and well-formed. It clearly wasn’t on the same level as the sloppy scrawl the other student had copied.

“Why did you step on my foot?” Xiao Yan asked slowly, word by word.

Luo Zhiyu: “……”

“What’s going on here?” Teacher Qiu pushed through the crowd. “You two again?”

“Again?” Teacher Zhang felt like she’d missed quite a bit.

“Did they get into a fight?” Qiu Yi spotted the broom Luo Zhiyu was hiding behind his back. After attending a talk on student development today, he was especially concerned about the dynamic between these two.

Luo Zhiyu: “Didn’t get the chance.”

Homeroom Teacher: “……”

“Forget it, forget it.” The homeroom teacher, wanting to mediate, waved his hand to dismiss them. “It’s already late. You still have laundry and homework to do. Go on, all of you.”

Since the teacher had spoken, the students who had gathered to watch quickly dispersed. The two at the center of it all also slung their bags over their shoulders and walked off, not in a rush, heading down the same staircase.

They blended into the stream of students, keeping a casual distance between them until they crossed the sports field and reached the dormitory area. The alpha and omega dorms were on opposite sides of the complex. On the football field nearby, a few alpha boys were still kicking a ball under the night sky. Teenagers never really cared about calling it a day just because the sun had set.

Evening self-study had long ended, and there weren’t many students around near the dorm area. The streetlights threw soft halos into the darkness, and the shadows of the trees overlapped on the ground, scattering under the feet of passing students.

Luo Zhiyu amused himself by stepping on Xiao Yan’s shadow, making up for the regret of not having been able to hit him with the broom earlier.

“Which place was the takeout from?” They were already near the omega dorms when Luo Zhiyu stopped and tugged at the strap of Xiao Yan’s backpack.

“I’ll send you the link on WeChat,” Xiao Yan replied. “Just go back.”

“Alright.” Luo Zhiyu licked the corner of his lips, as if still savoring it. “Tasted pretty good.”

The door to Xiao Yan’s dorm was ajar. When he pushed it open and entered, his three roommates were engrossed in reviewing for the placement exam that weekend. Seeing him come in, Fan Yue looked up with a pencil between his teeth and an expression full of dread.

“I think I’m doomed,” Fan Yue said, sounding deflated. “I slacked off too much over the break. I’ve already forgotten all the vocab from first year.”

“It’s not that bad,” Xiao Yan said, setting his backpack down beside the desk. “The exam will probably be a bit harder, even designed to lower scores to hit students’ confidence. The goal is to make us work harder in the new semester. Once you see through it, it’s no big deal.”

“We still have student council stuff tomorrow,” Fan Yue wailed, unable to see through it, and buried his head back in his books.

It was still early for lights out. Xiao Yan planned to study a bit too. He placed his workbook on the desk, turned to pull out his fountain pen, and as he lowered his head, he caught a faint sweet scent of peach.

It was then that he realized Luo Zhiyu’s worn-out school uniform had been draped over his chair for several days. The pheromone scent was very faint, barely noticeable unless up close.

Luo Zhiyu had told him that day to just throw it away, but Xiao Yan had completely forgotten about it.

He picked the uniform off the back of the chair. Perhaps it was due to the pheromones, but the image of the vast Milky Way above the rooftop appeared before his eyes, along with Luo Zhiyu, holding a bamboo skewer, wolfing down food, sneaking glances at him.

At that moment, Luo Zhiyu’s eyes held him, and the corners of his lips curved into a beautiful arc, as if he had used earthly delights to coax a star from the heavens.

“Luo Zhiyu!” Jin Ximing shouted from the bathroom, “Your phone!”

“Coming, coming.” Luo Zhiyu had just finished showering. Wrapped in a towel, he pushed open the door and dove straight into bed. “Who’s calling me at this hour?”

The call was from the city’s central hospital. The assistant dean took their 0% AO pheromone compatibility seriously and hoped they would cooperate with further research by coming in for another test this weekend.

“Didn’t you say next weekend?” Luo Zhiyu asked. “Guess it was moved up. That’s fine. School just started and I’m free this weekend anyway.

“Our relationship? You probably don’t know, but we’ve never gotten along. Not since we were kids. Our families don’t get along either. Basically, we can’t stand the sight of each other.

“We’ve fought before, more than once.

“Alright, since I agreed, I’ll definitely go. I won’t bail. As for Xiao Yan… he has placement exams this weekend, but I doubt he’ll forget. How about I’ll go to his class during the morning break tomorrow and ask him. I’ll give you an update by noon.

“No trouble at all. I’m happy to support scientific research.”

“Another test?” Jing Ximing had listened to Luo Zhiyu’s entire phone conversation. “They want to test again?”

“They seem quite curious,” Luo Zhiyu said, sitting on his bed and rushing to finish homework. “I don’t mind. I’ll just cooperate with scientific research. It should still be zero after the test. This kind of test can’t be wrong, unless the pheromones themselves are very special.”

“You can’t leave school this weekend,” Jing Ximing said, flipping through the calendar on the desk to remind him. “You two will have to ask the director for a leave together.”

“I’ll go find him tomorrow,” Luo Zhiyu said. “By the way, I really don’t want to trouble my family’s driver, so I’ll probably have to hitch a ride in Xiao Yan’s car.“

“You’re hitching a ride in his car? Since you’re asking a favor, be more polite,” Jing Ximing suggested. “Anyway, whenever you two have an issue, you just argue on the spot and then move on. So, you can still talk nicely to each other.”

“I know how to handle it,” Luo Zhiyu nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m not stupid. I’ll be tactful, keep a low profile, and stay humble.”

Students at No. 1 High always liked rainy days. When it rained during the morning break, there was no need to do calisthenics on the field, which meant more time to relax and chat in the classroom. Despite the upcoming placement exams, Class 2-3 was still buzzing with conversation during the break.

The class monitor turned on the multimedia system, logged into the homeroom teacher’s music account, and picked a playlist from the ‘Recently Played’ list. The music was soft, just loud enough to serve as background noise. The students by the windows pulled the curtains shut, and the ones near the door closed it, clearly wanting to discuss their own topics without being overheard by teachers.

“Has the campus heartthrob gotten any love letters lately?” a girl from the back row started off the conversation.

“He always does,” Zhang Shu, Xiao Yan’s roommate, replied. “And now that the first-years have just started, even more are showing up. But Yan-ge turns them all down.”

“I’m envious,” an alpha in the room said. “A winner at life. Top grades and admirers to boot.”

“The face of our dorm has always keeps his distance,” Fan Yue said, routinely praising his roommate. “He never leads anyone on. If he’s not interested, he turns them down on the spot.”

“That’s actually really nice,” an omega girl said. “Have you guys seen the forums from M University?”

“About that scumbag? Yeah, everyone on Weibo is flaming him.”

“You mean the one where the guy messed with someone’s feelings?” Fan Yue, a regular on the forums, nodded. “I remember. It was a scummy alpha. Took advantage of a sweet, innocent little omega, got them pregnant, and then bailed. Didn’t even go with them to the hospital. Completely irresponsible.”

“Scumbag alphas must die.”

“No wonder everyone online’s tearing him apart. I joined in too. To run off after it’s done and make the omega go to the hospital alone is truly the ultimate scumbag.”

“Same kind of thing happened over at No. 2 High. Lied to someone about feelings again. I really think people need to be careful when it comes to dating.”

“Let me tell you something.” Tang Yuan, who knew quite a bit, leaned in. “Pro tip from a seasoned A: the signs of a scummy A can start showing in middle or even elementary school. They’re usually easy to spot. These guys often look perfect on the surface. Good-looking, good grades, popular with both students and teachers. But beneath their splendid exterior lies their scumbag nature that’s hard for ordinary people to discover.”

Just then, the classroom door swung open from the outside. The students in the middle of the conversation all thought it was a teacher and immediately went quiet. Only the soft music from the speakers kept playing—

[Be careful, one kiss could bring the world to its knees. One kiss could save a life. The warmth you used to save someone will end up given to someone else~~~]

“Sorry to interrupt,” a first-year omega boy poked his head in through the door, “Is Xiao Yan here?”

Over twenty pairs of eyes turned toward Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan: “?”

“Well, um…” Luo Zhiyu didn’t sound like his usual self. He seemed a little embarrassed. He looked at Xiao Yan, then down at his own toes, appearing hesitant. Finally, he looked back up at Xiao Yan, cautiously putting on a somewhat sheepish smile. “Xiao Yan, could you… take me to the hospital this weekend?”

Xiao Yan: “???”