PSWHNC CH5

Chapter 5 Do You Like Peaches?

“Damn it, how many times do I have to tell you? Why’d you keep provoking him?” Fan Yue rubbed his sore butt and shouted in the direction the two had dashed off.

Xiao Yan even waved at him while running away.

“Students these days are really something…” The drill instructor, still shaken, muttered as he walked off.

“Come on, come on, the soda and melon are all for you guys. Consider it a welcome gift.” Fan Yue, always adept at mixing the water into the mud^[1] and borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha^[2], tried to do something nice to help his deskmate save a bit of face. “They’re all fresh and untouched. Pick what you like.”

The group of first-year students had been eyeing the melon slices and soda for a while. They rushed over at once, divided everything up in seconds, and happily dispersed.

In the office building, a few teachers were chatting with the director of general affairs.

“If you ask me, I should just stick with Class 3 from now on,” Director Wu joked. “It’s a good number. Class 2-3 has Xiao Yan, and Class 1-3 has Luo Zhiyu. Both are good, self-motivated students who are easy to teach.”

“Xiao Yan has his own ideas and doesn’t always listen to everything teachers say,” said Teacher Li, the homeroom teacher for Class 2-3, with a modest smile. “Luo Zhiyu seems more obedient. He’s easygoing.”

“He sounded very polite on the phone,” said the Class 1-3 homeroom teacher. “Seems like a well-mannered omega. Shouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Our No. 1 High School is a prestigious institution, and our student quality has always been excellent,” Director Wu said proudly, standing up with his teacup in hand. He took a sip and looked out the window.

“Did any of you see that news report about the rare pheromone compatibility case?” A teacher shared a long article from the X City Morning Post’s official account. “It’s quite interesting.”

Teacher Li was just about to reply when he noticed he noticed the subtle trembling of Director Wu’s hand.

“Wh-what is that…” Director Wu stared in disbelief at the path outside the school building.

A chase was unfolding there, and the two model students the teachers had just been praising were now the protagonists of this battle.

“What the fuck are you running for!” Luo Zhiyu pursued him relentlessly, the large broom in his hand wielded with the ferocity of a forty-meter broadsword.

“I’ll let you… let you run thirty-nine meters first!” Luo Zhiyu’s broom swept down, landing right where Xiao Yan had been standing just a moment ago. Xiao Yan dodged with a quick sidestep.

It was clear this wasn’t Xiao Yan’s first offense, nor was it Luo Zhiyu’s first time retaliating. Both moved quickly, with Xiao Yan dodging everywhere and Luo Zhiyu frantically chasing with the broom. In no time, they had sprinted past the end of the path.

The entire office fell silent.

“Aren’t you tired, Luo Zhiyu?” Xiao Yan called out as he ran, glancing back.

“Mind your own business,” Luo Zhiyu replied, swinging the broom again.

“I’ve been thinking about your proposal from last night,” Xiao Yan paused for half a second at the canteen entrance. “We’ll be schoolmates from now on. How about we get along?”

Luo Zhiyu didn’t believe a word of it and smacked him on the calf with the broom.

The students and teachers eating lunch in the cafeteria: “……”

Everyone put down their chopsticks and, as if by telepathy, secretly pulled out their phones to look for a thread that had appeared on the campus forum a few days ago. Sure enough, the post that had gone mostly unnoticed was now a hot topic.

【Did you see the news? I’m a bit curious what 0% pheromone compatibility feels like.】

The replies from a day ago looked like this—

1L: 0%, does that mean absolutely pure and absolutely impossible to fall in love? Talking about the student surnamed Luo and the one surnamed Xiao.

2L: What a pity. I took screenshots of the two of them during the opening ceremony. They’re both so good-looking, and good-looking people should be together. Plus, one’s an alpha and the other’s an omega!

3L: Slightly off-topic, but does Luo Zhiyu have a boyfriend?

4L: What’s up, 3L? Thinking of making a move? laughing.jpg. I went to the same middle school as him. My advice? Think twice.

A day later, the once-cold post had gained a bunch of new replies—

98L: …This is 3L. Forget what I said yesterday.

99L: 0% compatibility, lol. I feel like there’s something wrong with both of them.

100L: Slightly off-topic again. Does anyone have the campus heartthrob’s QQ or WeChat? I saw him sitting on the lawn today and he looked so good. Also, does anyone know his dorm number?

101L: The campus heartthrob is getting beaten up right now. I’m a freshman, and honestly, this is kind of satisfying. All I want to say is NICE HIT!

The early September heat was still intense. It wasn’t long before both of them were soaked in sweat. Hearing Luo Zhiyu’s heavy breathing behind him, Xiao Yan turned a corner and slipped through a doorway.

“No more, no more,” he said, slowing down noticeably once inside. He waved a hand at Luo Zhiyu and headed deeper into the building.

Luo Zhiyu was hungry too, but he still hadn’t fully cooled down. With Xiao Yan right there in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to let it go. Without even checking where Xiao Yan was going, he grabbed his broom and chased after him a few more steps, swinging it again in his direction.

Xiao Yan stopped in the hallway on the first floor of the alpha dormitory building and knocked on a door. Footsteps sounded from inside almost immediately.

“You made it back alive?” Fan Yue opened the door wearing nothing but boxers, a bottle of medicated oil in hand. “You—”

He trailed off mid-sentence when he spotted the large broom slowly rising behind Xiao Yan.

Fan Yue: “……”

Xiao Yan kicked the door shut, shoving Fan Yue back into the room before Luo Zhiyu could see him. But he didn’t manage to avoid Luo Zhiyu himself and took a full broom hit squarely across the back.

“What’s going on? What happened here?” the dorm manager auntie rushed over at the sound of the commotion. The first thing she saw was the giant broom in Luo Zhiyu’s hand, and a small leaf stuck to Xiao Yan’s head.

In the middle of the day, no one in the entire alpha dorm building was taking a nap. They were all leaning out of their balconies, watching the two students being made to stand outside the dorm gate.

In the group chat for Building 1, Room 101 of the alpha dorms:

[Tang Yuan]: Who is it? Who dared to charge into our fierce A dorm area? (><)

[Fan Yue Wants to Be Student Council President]: First-year Luo Zhiyu.

[Tang Yuan]: Damn, what kind of grudge do they have? They’re already fighting like this on the very first day of school.

[Fan Yue Wants to Be Student Council President]: It’s a long story.

[Fan Yue Wants to Be Student Council President]: A combination of a family feud and childhood beef. The grudge just keeps multiplying as they get older. Plus, Yan-ge can’t sit still and loves provoking him.

[Fan Yue Wants to Be Student Council President]: They used to fight even when they only saw each other once a month. How more so now that they’re on the same campus?

[Zhang Shu]: Brought it on himself.

[Zhang Shu]: It’s hot out there. Who’s going to take an umbrella out for them? They won’t look good if they get too tanned. Xiao Yan is the face of our dorm, after all.

[Fan Yue Wants to Be Student Council President]: Uh, thoughtful of you, but only Tang Yuan has a parasol in our dorm. We fierce alphas generally don’t bother with sun protection.

[Tang Yuan]: A refined fierce alpha. (><)

At the dorm entrance, the two of them stood facing the wall, each holding a broom for their punishment. Avoiding the dorm manager’s line of sight, Fan Yue quietly handed Xiao Yan an umbrella.

“Have you two eaten yet?” Fan Yue asked.

“Didn’t have time.” All Xiao Yan had left in his hand was a can of peach soda. He’d been clutching it the whole time he was running.

“I’ll go buy something,” Fan Yue said, holding out his hand for their meal cards. “At this hour, you’ll be lucky to get anything warm, so don’t be picky, you two”

“Meal card?” Luo Zhiyu tilted his head. He vaguely remembered stuffing it into his drawing board bag after lunch yesterday. “I didn’t bring it. I’ll skip.”

After standing in the sun all morning and chasing Xiao Yan across three streets, he was starting to feel sleepy.

“I’ll just use Xiao Yan’s card,” Fan Yue said, taking it from Xiao Yan. “He deserves it.”

While Fan Yue went to the cafeteria to grab lunch, Xiao Yan looked around, saw no one nearby, and opened Tang Yuan’s pink umbrella.

“Come here,” Xiao Yan said to the wall.

Luo Zhiyu stepped to the left, into the shade of the umbrella. He let out a small huff and went back to facing the wall.

Concerned about his students, Director Wu had asked around the school until he finally found his two excellent student representatives in the corner of the alpha dorm area, along with a broom from the sports field.

The two boys stood facing the wall, sharing a delicate little parasol, neither speaking to the other. One of them, dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform, had a clearly visible broom mark across his back.

How much animosity could high school students in their teens possibly have? Especially when both were considered promising students at No. 1 High School. Director Wu decided it was worth trying to mediate.

“You two got punished by standing?”

“Hello, Director,” the two excellent student representatives greeted politely as soon as they saw him.

Director Wu felt a twinge in his chest. Good students, he thought, were always polite. All they needed was a little proper guidance, and they’d surely grow up united and well-rounded.

“Many of the people you meet during your school years become lifelong memories,” Director Wu said, hoping to reach their hearts through his own life experiences. “You’re still young. What kind of serious conflict could you two possibly have? Make up, go get some rest. Luo Zhiyu, you can skip military training. Xiao Yan, don’t you have class this afternoon?”

Director Wu was quite pleased with himself, convinced that his little speech had made an impact. After all, the two students were no longer staring at the wall but at each other.

Spotting the soda in Xiao Yan’s hand, he decided to push a little further.

“Student Luo, have you had anything to drink after all that morning training?” Director Wu asked.

“Luo Zhiyu.” Xiao Yan had always planned to give him the soda as a peace offering after provoking him, but he’d barely had the chance with all the chasing. Hearing Director Wu’s comment, he set the umbrella aside and, with rare sincerity, handed over the soda with both hands. “Here. Let’s call it even.”

Luo Zhiyu was truly thirsty. After all the chaos that morning, he’d been eyeing the peach soda in Xiao Yan’s hand more than once.

Slowly, he reached out, ready to take it.

Director Wu felt this was his most successful moral education moment since becoming the director of general affairs. It was worthy of being written up as a case study.

Luo Zhiyu pressed his lips together and pulled the tab on the can.

Director Wu was waiting to witness a moment of pure student camaraderie. Luo Zhiyu was impatient to drink. Xiao Yan was waiting for Luo Zhiyu to cool down.

No one remembered that this was a can of soda, and Xiao Yan had been running with it for three blocks, shaken to its absolute limit.

As the tab popped open, the peach soda burst out in a fizzy spray. Luo Zhiyu froze for only a second before reacting. Just as the first bubble shot out, he tilted the can toward Xiao Yan.

The peach soda exploded in a full-on spray.