The Marked Alpha Is Extremely Hard to Coax - Chapter 17

When Jiang Yunbian returned to the dormitory, Zhou Die had already taken a shower and was sitting at the desk, flipping through a book. He seemed to habitually use his index finger to turn the pages, causing the corners of the book to flutter slightly.

 

Jiang Yunbian suddenly felt a bit of itchiness in his ankle.

 

“You’re getting bold, skipping senior year evening study sessions,” Jiang Yunbian said, then realized he didn’t really have the standing to criticize him.

 

Zhou Die did not lift his gaze, keeping his eyes fixed on the book.

 

Jiang Yunbian, who was used to teasing cats and dogs since childhood, found it difficult to accept that Zhou Die had acted like a younger brother helping him with medicine yesterday but now had reverted to his high and mighty self.

 

So he placed the cat-shaped mooncakes on Zhou Die’s desk. “Hurry up and eat, they won’t last long.”

 

After placing them, Jiang Yunbian went to find clothes and take a shower. When he came out of the bathroom, the box of cat mooncakes was already opened and finished, but the dormitory was empty.

 

Where had this friend gone off to?

 

Just as Jiang Yunbian thought this, Zhou Die came in from outside, holding half a cat mooncake.

 

Jiang Yunbian had just showered; his hair was still damp, and his eyes had a slightly hazy look, softening his usual arrogance and making him seem a bit obedient.

 

He was wearing a loose white T-shirt with a cute Corgi printed on it. The neckline was slightly off-center, revealing his collarbone. The continuous lines of his neck and shoulders made it hard to look away.

 

Zhou Die, expressionless, finished the remaining half of the mooncake and then his gaze fell on Jiang Yunbian’s ankle.

 

Jiang Yunbian did not like bandages and had only applied ointment.

 

Though Jiang Yunbian had not yet eaten his bully dog mooncake, he was confident in his cooking skills and suddenly wanted to ask Zhou Die how it tasted.

 

But when the question was on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed it.

 

He couldn’t very well tell Zhou Die that his mooncake had been replaced with a new one, could he?

 

“The mooncakes were made by you, right?” Zhou Die said as he closed the door behind him.

 

“Hm?” Jiang Yunbian suddenly felt a chill. Could Zhou Die read minds?

 

Zhou Die lowered his gaze, licking the red bean paste off his thumb, seeming a bit dissatisfied. “I didn’t make the filling so scant.”

 

“……” Jiang Yunbian was resigned to this sweet tooth.

 

“Well then, I’m sorry. I should have saved the skin and just given you more bean paste,” Jiang Yunbian said, pulling out a chair to sit down.

 

Zhou Die went to wash his hands and then noticed the bully dog mooncake on his desk.

 

Jiang Yunbian’s desk was covered with practice books. He rested his chin on one hand and spun a pen with the other, not looking in Zhou Die’s direction.

 

“When I left that day, I accidentally broke your cat mooncake, so I’m giving you a replacement,” Jiang Yunbian said.

 

Zhou Die’s lowered eyelashes fluttered slightly. His mother had already called yesterday to apologize for accidentally breaking his mooncake.

 

Jiang Yunbian had made a replacement, and now he was giving him a bully dog mooncake as well.

 

Was this an attempt to make up for the lack of bean paste, or… compensate him?

 

Zhou Die hid his smile and said softly, “Thank you.”

 

Jiang Yunbian snorted.

 

**Monday**

 

The results of the preliminary test had already started to leak out. A few teachers called the class leaders to the office before morning reading to help input the scores.

 

“Wei Chu’s chemistry exam was a disaster, hahaha, I’m dying laughing!” Xu Zhan came back from the office laughing and reporting to the class, “He used to hover in the top twenty, but now his chemistry score dropped straight to fifty-third!”

 

Immediately, he was surrounded.

 

“What about the first place?”

 

“Brother Jiang still maintains it, right?”

 

“Xu Zhan, tell us quickly, or I’ll throw you to the sharks!”

 

“For other subjects, I don’t know, but in chemistry, Jiang Yunbian is as steady as an old dog. First place remains unchanged!”

 

Xu Zhan answered the few scores he remembered honestly and finally slipped over to Jiang Yunbian before the class bell rang. “Have you figured out how to deal with Wei Chu?”

 

Jiang Yunbian leaned back with a smirk that was neither a smile nor a frown. “Has he not embarrassed himself enough?”

 

Zhou Die, who had finally shown some interest and was working on physics problems, lost all focus when Jiang Yunbian leaned in from behind.

 

Those familiar with physiological knowledge know that during adolescence, an Alpha, after experiencing a temporary marking, will unconsciously follow an Omega whose pheromones they have been exposed to. The higher the rank, the stronger the possessiveness, and extreme Alphas might need pharmacological intervention due to their inability to control themselves.

 

As an Enigma with a high pheromone level and strong self-control, Zhou Die had an unusual possessiveness towards Alphas he had marked in the past.

 

Since the marking, he had deliberately maintained distance from Jiang Yunbian. Yet, Jiang Yunbian, with no guard, kept sending things that Enigma craved right to him.

 

The light coming through the window illuminated the back of Jiang Yunbian’s head. His slightly longer hair caught the light and traced along his spine and collar, his fair skin tinged with a coldness that unconsciously reminded Zhou Die of the peppermint scent.

 

Coincidentally, he liked the scent of peppermint, and this person’s pheromone was peppermint.

 

The class bell rang, and the noisy classroom quieted down as the math teacher walked in with test papers.

 

Some couldn’t contain their impatience and asked about the results. The math teacher said, “In such a hurry? Where were you before the exam?”

 

The class began to wail, and the math teacher said slowly, “Well, we barely managed to keep the average score at first in the grade, but it’s still far from my expectations.”

 

“Don’t mess with our mindset, teacher! It’s still first place!” The questioner sighed in relief.

 

“There’s one more thing that might make you happy,” the math teacher adjusted his glasses, “The only full score in math this time is in our class.”

 

Eyes turned unanimously to Jiang Yunbian, who seemed to be the strongest and had become a well-known secret in the class.

 

But Jiang Yunbian’s fingers on the desk paused. He remembered he had missed a number in the last major problem, so this full score couldn’t be his.

 

“Learn from this person, Zhou Die. Come up and get your test paper.”

 

The class fell silent for a moment before bursting into a commotion.

 

Jiang Yunbian felt the person behind him slowly standing up, the rustling of fabric as they moved by made his ears itch slightly.

 

Zhou Die, expressionless, walked up to the front of the class. The teacher glanced at the slightly stiff Jiang Yunbian and handed him two test papers.

 

The whole class saw the new top student walk to Jiang Yunbian and place a paper with a score of 131 on his desk.

 

“Teacher says, if you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

 

—

 

In the office, the homeroom teacher who had just received the grade rankings sighed as the math teacher walked in.

 

“Hey, Xiao Zhuo, did you get the results?” the math teacher asked.

 

The homeroom teacher nodded. “Just finished the statistics.”

 

“Our wild Jiang Yunbian will probably have a tough time this time,” the math teacher said with a laugh, remembering Jiang Yunbian’s expression during the whole class. “This rascal, finally someone has surpassed him.”

 

Just then, a class officer came into the office. The homeroom teacher waved them over. “Here, this is the grade ranking sheet. Go distribute it in the class for them to see.”

 

The academic system updated in real-time, and the comprehensive results of the monthly exam came out quickly.

 

Xu Zhan quickly pulled up the first page of the ranking sheet. The first and second places had a gap of 21 points.

 

Even when Jiang Yunbian was first before, the gap between him and the second place was never more than ten points.

 

“The first place in the grade is… Zhou Die! Damn!”

 

Jiang Yunbian was in second place with a 21-point gap, and the third place was 7 points behind.

 

Class Six was silent for a moment. Looking up Wei Chu, he had fallen to 16th place in the grade.

 

This was a victory, but no one dared to cheer.

 

The top spot, held for two years… had changed.

 

When everyone turned back, Jiang Yunbian’s seat was empty, while Zhou Die was, as usual, looking out the window.

 

The same thought surged in everyone’s minds: The winds have changed.

 

—

 

Before this monthly exam, Jiang Yunbian actually didn’t pay much attention to rankings and scores, as they were just a measure of progress.

 

But he really couldn’t accept the fact that Zhou Die, whom he had underestimated, had easily surpassed him.

 

It wasn’t that he was dissatisfied, but he felt like a joke. Before today, how was he any different from Wei Chu?

 

Judging people by their appearances, arrogance and pride.

 

“Damn it!” A male voice suddenly swore loudly outside the partition. Jiang Yunbian recognized it as Wei Chu after hearing a series of curses.

 

“What’s Zhou Die playing at? He’s been skipping class for a year and now he’s first in the grade? He must have relied on his family’s money to get the test questions in advance. I don’t believe it. I’m going to check the academic system…”

 

Bang.

 

The partition door was kicked open, and Wei Chu, along with two classmates, looked stiffly at Jiang Yunbian as he emotionlessly walked out of the partition.

 

He seemed to treat the people in front of him as if they were air, walking straight to the sink to wash his hands without glancing sideways.

 

Wei Chu gritted his teeth. “Jiang Yunbian, aren’t you pissed off too? There must have been a leak. How could that young master possibly…”

 

“Wei Chu, is it so hard to admit you’re trash?” Jiang Yunbian looked at his reflection in the mirror, slightly brushing his bangs. “If someone is better than you, it’s either due to talent or underhanded means. Why is your mind so narrow?”

 

Wei Chu seemed to have hit a nerve, his face turning red. “Did you, did you also take Zhou Die’s benefits? Right, you’re in the same dorm as him. Maybe he got the questions…”

 

Ah!

 

Wei Chu was grabbed by the collar and pulled close, and Jiang Yunbian splashed a hand of water on his face.

 

“Have you come to your senses?” Jiang Yunbian’s eyelashes lowered slightly. “If you keep babbling nonsense, I’ll push your head into the sink.”

 

“You…” Wei Chu’s voice was trembling. “Jiang Yunbian, don’t you understand? We both lost, didn’t we?”

 

“Huh?” Jiang Yunbian raised an eyebrow. “You silly fool, did you get confused during the exam? It was a bet between the two of us, not among the three of us. If you came in first, we’d praise you. Since you lost, you’re the one who’s supposed to praise us. Got it?”

 

Looking at Wei Chu’s embarrassed state, Jiang Yunbian suddenly felt he was different from him.

 

At least he accepted his second place with composure and dignity, while this person remained unrepentant.

 

“Focusing solely on that little bit of score and ranking, doesn’t it make you miserable? Or do you have nothing else to do?” Jiang Yunbian released him and cast a sideways glance at the other two, “Whoever makes the claim should provide evidence. If I find out you’re spreading rumors about my roommate again, you’ll regret it.”

 

Having vented his pent-up frustration, Jiang Yunbian put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the restroom, only to see Zhou Die standing at the door.