PSWHNC CH7

Chapter 7 Borrow Your Uniform for a Bit

“What happened here…” Luo Zhiyu fished his uniform out of the washing machine. “Why does it look like this?”

“No idea…” Jing Ximing hugged his brand-new white shirt, face full of despair. “Why did it bleed? What kind of quality is this?”

Luo Zhiyu decided to file a formal complaint.

[Not Zhile]: Are you there?

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: What’s up? frowning fairy.jpg

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: I’m in evening self-study.

[Not Zhile]: Can we complain about the quality of the training uniforms? groundhog breathing fire.jpg

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Yes. Tell me what the issue is, Student Luo, and I’ll report it.

Luo Zhiyu angled his phone and took a couple of photos of the washing machine.

[Not Zhile]: Look, the color ran! [photo][photo]

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: ……

The typing indicator showed for a long time. Luo Zhiyu waited a while before finally getting a reply from Xiao Yan.

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Seriously? Do you have any common sense? You washed dark clothes together with whites ones???

[Not Zhile]: ? Is that not allowed?

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Our school’s training uniforms are all about looks, not quality. Your issue isn’t covered under the student council’s after-sales support.

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Don’t bug me. I’m going back to class.

[Not Zhile]: Really? I feel like you don’t love going to class that much.

[Excellent Second-Year Student Representative]: Depends on the subject.

“So, what did they say?” Jing Ximing asked.

“Nothing useful.” Luo Zhiyu flipped his uniform over, inspecting it from every angle. “What now? There was a little accident earlier, and this is the only uniform I have left.”

The ‘accident’ was lying on Luo Zhiyu’s chair. His other uniform had a large tear from a tree branch, with a few sticky burrs still clinging to the fabric. It clearly wasn’t wearable. Ordering a new uniform would take at least a week.

“I have to give a speech at the flag-raising ceremony on Monday,” Luo Zhiyu said, troubled. “Can I wear yours?”

No. 1 High was strict about discipline and appearance. Even minor infractions could result in point deductions, which affected eligibility for student honors. Luo Zhiyu wasn’t particularly interested in academics, but his parents were, and the evaluation results directly determined his future allowance.

“You’re taller than me, and the nameplate with the student number doesn’t match. It’s not easy to take off either.” Jing Ximing held his uniform up against Luo Zhiyu to compare sizes. “You won’t pass the appearance check. Mine won’t work for you.”

Luo Zhiyu asked around in the Class 1-3 GC. Out of all the omega students, only he and Jing Ximing had brought a spare uniform.

“None of them brought a change?” Luo Zhiyu seemed to understand something.

“Why don’t we try bleaching it?” Jing Ximing suggested. “Use disinfectant. Maybe we can still save it.”

Half an hour later, the white parts of the uniform were still stained blue, while the red areas had been bleached completely white by the strong disinfectant.

One uniform was damaged, the other was ruined. Luo Zhiyu was officially out of uniforms.

“Can I just wear school uniform pants for my speech under the national flag?” Luo Zhiyu asked seriously. “The topic is student grooming and dress code.”

“You’ll have to borrow one,” Jing Ximing said. “You won’t get a new set until next weekend. Everyone in our year is rotating theirs for washing, so your best bet is someone from second or third year. But who knows if they kept their old first-year uniforms.” He pinched his nose and tossed Luo Zhiyu’s uniform jacket into the trash. “It’s a tough situation.”

“Second or third year?” That gave Luo Zhiyu an idea. “I actually know someone!”

“Who?” Jing Ximing looked up.

“My absolutely pure schoolmate.”

At 8 PM, the darkness of night became Luo Zhiyu’s cover. He tied his tattered uniform around his waist, slipped past teachers while keeping to the shadows, and snuck into the academic building, heading toward Class 2–3.

Evening classes were in session. From the sea of blue-and-white uniforms, Luo Zhiyu instantly spotted the one student who stood out. Xiao Yan. He sat by the window, posture straight, listening intently, occasionally jotting down notes in his notebook.

[Not Zhile]: I didn’t expect that you actually take class pretty seriously. sweating panda head.jpg

No reply.

Luo Zhiyu waited ten minutes, then pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and broke it into smaller bits.

Fan Yue, Xiao Yan’s deskmate, was secretly browsing the school forum on his phone.

【Anonymous poll post! Who’s this year’s most popular new student?】

1L: Come and vote! The OP likes Luo Zhiyu. Here’s a high-resolution pic from the opening ceremony to kick things off. [photo]

2L: Ahh, our campus heartthrob looks as handsome as ever in that pic. Honestly, who doesn’t like him?

3L: I vote for Yan Zi from Class 6. I heard his pheromone smells like spicy strips. So fragrant, I’m practically drooling. drooling.jpg

4L: …Damn, this thread’s making me hungry.

5L: The two above, tone it down! Don’t openly discuss other people’s pheromones.

5L: Luo Zhiyu! Let’s be frank, I even have high-definition photos of him hitting someone with a broom.

6L: Walked past the field that day. Class 3 is full of good-looking people.

7L: Hijacking the thread. Pick me for your campus romance, I’m super sweet. I’m a rock sugar pear-flavored alpha.

Xiao Yan suddenly stopped writing, reached up to rub the back of his head, and turned to Fan Yue with a puzzled look.

Fan Yue panicked, thinking a teacher had caught him, and quickly put down his phone.

“It’s nothing,” Xiao Yan said, shaking his head and turning his attention back to the lesson, only for another piece of chalk to hit the back of his head. He looked behind him and saw a familiar figure faintly visible at the rear door.

Xiao Yan: “……”

When Fan Yue looked up again, Xiao Yan’s notes were still on the desk, but his deskmate himself was gone.

At the stairwell near the back door of Class 2-3, Xiao Yan found a lurking Luo Zhiyu.

“Looking for me?” Xiao Yan leaned against the railing, glancing at the person he’d just seen a few hours earlier. “Are you here to fight again?”

“I am looking for you. Not to fight,” Luo Zhiyu said. He had made up his mind to borrow a uniform before leaving his dorm, but now that Xiao Yan was standing right in front of him, the words caught in his throat.

“I’m in class,” Xiao Yan said, checking his watch. “Second-year students are busy. You’ve got one minute.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t seem like the type who loves studying,” Luo Zhiyu said. “What class is it, anyway? You seem pretty into it.”

“Physiology class. Learning about myself.” No. 1 High School’s curriculum was packed, but high school students had to take physiology, so it was moved to evening study.

“Oh.” Luo Zhiyu wasn’t interested, but the reason he came here popped back into his mind. He spoke a bit vaguely. “Student Xiao, could I… borrow your uniform?”

“Borrow my uniform?” Xiao Yan looked genuinely surprised.

From inside Class 2-3’s classroom came the teacher’s voice: “Students who have differentiated into alphas must pay attention to their isolation period. Your pheromone levels may be unstable during this time. Make sure to isolate properly, use the right suppressants, and regulate your emotions. Don’t harm others, and don’t let it interfere with your academics or daily life.

“Next, we’ll go over some physiological knowledge related to secondary genders, how to maintain appropriate distance between A and O individuals, and how to preserve healthy, platonic friendships…”

Outside the classroom, Xiao Yan studied Luo Zhiyu for a couple of seconds, then quickly connected his earlier comment about ‘being prepared for anything’ with that photo of the blue-tinged washing machine. He came to a confident conclusion. “Got it. You’re out of uniforms, huh?”

The gloating in his voice was so obvious that Luo Zhiyu felt an urge to punch him again.

“Yeah.” But since he needed a favor, Luo Zhiyu held back and admitted defeat with a lowered head.

“Luo Zhiyu, are we really that close?” Xiao Yan looked at him with a hint of teasing in his eyes. “It’s been less than three days since school started. You’ve used my meal card, drank my soda, and now you want my uniform? What exactly do you take me for?”

What did he take him for? Luo Zhiyu didn’t know, and he hadn’t thought about it. Right now, all he saw was the school uniform that Xiao Yan was wearing.

“I’m not mad about you tempting me with melon and soda anymore,” Luo Zhiyu said sincerely. “Really, I’m letting it go. We’re even now.”

“You chased me around with a broom at lunch,” Xiao Yan pointed out. “Shouldn’t you reflect on that a little?”

Luo Zhiyu: “I’ve reflected.” The broom was a bit heavy. Tree branches were more effective.

“Your attitude’s acceptable,” Xiao Yan said with a nod.

“So, will you lend it or not? Your uniform will be dry by tomorrow, but mine’s ruined. We all have to wear one, and out of everyone in second and third year, you’re the only one who still brought your old first-year uniform.” Luo Zhiyu’s eyes were locked on the jacket Xiao Yan was wearing. “The director talked about unity and friendship.”

Luo Zhiyu added, giving the conversation a grander tone, “Since excellence brought us together, I think we should treasure it.”

In the classroom, the teacher’s lecture hadn’t stopped.

The teacher grew more impassioned. “A and O students can have pure friendships, but you must maintain proper distance!”

“Fine.” After all, this whole situation had started because of him. Xiao Yan decided to take some responsibility. “I’ll lend it to you.”

Inside the classroom, the teacher raised his voice as he reached a key point. “Since high school is the peak period for secondary gender differentiation, there are certain behaviors everyone must be mindful of. First, alphas must not stare at an omega’s neck. It’s considered very inappropriate. And no touching either. Horseplay is no excuse.

“Pheromones are important for both alphas and omegas…

“Also, be careful with personal items that might carry pheromone traces…”

Xiao Yan took Luo Zhiyu’s tattered uniform jacket, unzipped his own, took it off, and got ready to hand it over.

For a brief moment, Luo Zhiyu felt oddly touched by this fleeting display of schoolmate solidarity.

“Don’t remove the name tag. Don’t toss it in the washer with your training uniform. Give it back in two weeks,” Xiao Yan said firmly. “Return it properly. Got it?”

“I…” Luo Zhiyu was about to agree when the Class 2-3 teacher, clearly reaching a climax in his lecture, knocked on the board and raised his voice even more, lecturing with increasing emphasis—

“—In short, omega students, please remember! In school, if an alpha offers to lend you his uniform, it is very likely that this alpha student is acting like a scoundrel.”

Luo Zhiyu: “……”

Xiao Yan: “???”