The Marked Alpha Is Extremely Hard to Coax - Chapter 2

There was a small murmur among the girls in the class.

The mysterious classmate looked nothing like the frail image people had imagined. His tall, slender figure was enhanced by the school uniform, and his appearance and demeanor were several notches above the high-level A standard. He was pleasing to the eye no matter where he was placed.

… Who would dare to say he was a fragile sprout!

Zhou Die’s gaze first swept over the head lying on the desk, then slowly fell on the face of the boy speaking to him.

“Thank you.”

The classmate in front quickly shook his head: “No, no, it’s nothing.”

Zhou Die walked to his seat, pulled out the chair, and sat down, glancing out the window.

The Third Middle School had a well-developed internal information network, especially the Weibo account called “Third Middle School Bodhisattva Bot,” which updated daily with pictures of handsome boys within an 800-mile radius for students to unwind.

As soon as Zhou Die stepped into the school, the beauty hunter hidden among the students had already posted him on the bot.

In just five minutes, that Weibo post exploded.

The latest update was—today’s handsome guy has arrived in Class Six, reportedly the mysterious Zhou Shao himself.

Class Six, where Jiang Yunbian is, the Class Six where all the top-level A students are!

Who wouldn’t want to know what rank a handsome guy of this level could achieve in Class A Six!

Many students on the opposite side were watching. Some bold Omegas held up their phones to take pictures, but Zhou Die’s glance made them blush and panic.

Zhou Die frowned and curtly drew the curtains.

The classmate in front was momentarily stunned: “Zhou, Zhou Die, what’s wrong?”

Zhou Die lowered his eyes: “A classmate sleeping in the sunlight.”

The dismissive intent was obvious, and the classmate in front felt a bit embarrassed: “It’s cloudy outside.”

Zhou Die slowly lifted his eyes.

The classmate’s discomfort disappeared, and he became obedient.

The mysterious Zhou Shao genuinely cared about his classmates.

The restless gazes and eyes in the classroom were suppressed by the start-of-class bell, and the rapidly spreading information on phones was forced back into desks and bags.

In the first period of the third year, the homeroom teacher went through routine business and then smiled: “You all should have noticed that Zhou Die, who was on leave, has returned to class. Zhou Die’s health hasn’t been great, so he hadn’t met everyone before. We hope everyone can get along well this year.”

The students in the classroom clapped in response, and Jiang Yunbian, who was deeply asleep on the desk, stood out distinctly.

The homeroom teacher looked at Zhou Die’s half-smiling, half-not expression, then walked over to Jiang Yunbian’s side, tapping his desk with a Chinese book.

“Jiang.”

Jiang Yunbian waved his hand dismissively, indicating not to bother him.

Someone next door was stifling a laugh.

The homeroom teacher leaned down and whispered, “Are you sick? Not feeling well? Do you need to go to the school infirmary? I’ll have your classmate in front…”

Jiang Yunbian, who dreaded the homeroom teacher’s gentle nagging, sat up with a mark on his forehead: “I’m awake.”

The homeroom teacher smiled triumphantly and pinched his face: “Look at how you slept; did you not adjust to the time difference after the summer vacation?”

His disheveled look, being roughed up, caused another round of low laughter from around.

Jiang Yunbian’s eyelids drooped as he sleepily responded, feeling a chill in the back of his neck and unconsciously reaching out.

Zhou Die, just coming out of a daze, saw his classmate in front reaching to adjust the back of his collar, his slender, fair hand brushing his neck.

The slender, fair neck and hand looked like they were covered in a layer of white frost in the light from outside.

Zhou Die lifted his gaze and looked away without further scrutiny.

At the podium, the homeroom teacher began distributing homework. The test papers were passed from the front to the back, and when they reached Jiang Yunbian, he habitually stuffed them into his desk.

The classmate in front awkwardly looked at the remaining students and quietly reminded, “There are two papers for you; give the back one to the person behind.”

Jiang Yunbian finally vaguely remembered that the sickly student had returned to class. He mumbled an acknowledgment, took out a paper, and turned around.

“Your…” Jiang Yunbian, suddenly clear-headed from his sleepiness, pressed down on the test paper: “Is that you!?”

Zhou Die, who had been leaning back to receive the paper with no particular emotion, also had his expression turn sharp when he saw who was in front of him.

The atmosphere turned tense and spread across the entire class like an avalanche.

This time, there was no numbness in his right hand. Jiang Yunbian seemed ignited, grabbing Zhou Die by the collar.

Then a girl screamed: “Teacher! Zhou Die and Jiang Yunbian are fighting!”

*

In less than ten minutes of the first period, Jiang Yunbian and Zhou Die were taken to the teacher’s office.

Zhou Die’s lip was split, and he was escorted to the school clinic to treat his wound. Jiang Yunbian also had a split lip and got a good scolding all by himself.

The homeroom teacher was furious: “Why did you hit him?”

Jiang Yunbian gritted his teeth and spat out three words: “Woke up angry.”

“Don’t give me that nonsense,” the homeroom teacher was so angry that it took a while for her to catch her breath. “I know your temper and personality. There’s no reason you’d just hit someone.”

Jiang Yunbian thought to himself that there was indeed a reason, and a good one at that.

“If it weren’t for the fact that you have to give a speech later, I’d be lecturing you for half an hour.” The teacher glanced at her watch, “Now go to the auditorium, and I’ll deal with you later!”

During the break for morning exercises, the opening ceremony, relocated to the auditorium, was held as scheduled. Jiang Yunbian, who didn’t look at all like a grade representative, shoved his hands in his pockets and headed downstairs.

As he passed the second floor, he caught sight of Zhou Die in the school clinic.

The pampered young master with the split lip was lounging lazily on the clinic’s sofa, his eyes gazing out the window with a cold and uninterested look, not at all like someone who had just been in a fight with him.

The grade director, homeroom teacher, and several subject teachers were all fussing over him. Those who knew saw that his lip was split; those who didn’t might think he’d lost a chunk of flesh.

Jiang Yunbian’s thoughts drifted back to yesterday.

He was rushing home to see Jiang Yiyi after finishing his part-time job when he encountered a stalker, and then this young master ran into him. Thinking about that arrogant attitude made Jiang Yunbian’s teeth itch.

The opening ceremony was about to begin. The students lined up, with the first-year students entering, followed by the second-year students, and then the third-year students.

The principal gave a smiling speech, followed by the teacher representative and the student representatives from each grade.

“Finally, let’s welcome the representative of the third-year students, Jiang Yunbian.”

When it was his turn, the applause was particularly loud, and there was even a light-hearted whistle from somewhere in the crowd, causing the grade directors to frown and scold.

As usual, Jiang Yunbian didn’t bring a script, which made the principal’s face darken.

But Jiang Yunbian was consistently the top student in the grade, and it would be truly unfair to revoke his speaking privileges just because of his laid-back attitude. Besides, the teachers knew that while Jiang Yunbian was wild, the positive influence he brought far outweighed the negative.

Walking to the podium, Jiang Yunbian’s gloomy gaze locked onto the tall new figure in the last row of Class 6.

He couldn’t help but look—Zhou Die’s proportions were just too good, his height and striking appearance made him stand out like a crane among chickens.

Zhou Die slightly lifted his tilted head and strangely met Jiang Yunbian’s gaze. The instant their eyes connected, it was like sparks flew with a crackling sound.

The suppressed anger within Jiang Yunbian began to slowly build up again, and when he spoke, his split lip still throbbed faintly with pain.

Jiang Yunbian tilted his head, and unlike the nervous and rigid underclassmen in front of him, he half-smiled at the microphone, staring at Zhou Die.

He said, “Don’t mess with me.”

Jiang Yunbian’s ambiguous “Don’t mess with me” quickly went viral on the school forum, overshadowing all the posts fawning over Zhou Die’s looks. The fanboys and fangirls kept switching sides, crying out on the forum, declaring that Jiang Yunbian truly lived up to his reputation as the alpha male of the school—wild and arrogant. Who else would dare say something like that in such a setting?

So handsome, brother!

As a result, Jiang Yunbian ended up with a 3,000-word self-reflection essay for his moment of recklessness, due before the Chinese class tomorrow.

When Jiang Yunbian left the auditorium with a sullen expression, he received a message:

“Can you come out this afternoon? I have work tonight.”

Jiang Yunbian pondered for a moment, realizing that going back to class would just lead to a standoff, so he might as well let the young master cool down by himself.

He replied “okay” and made his way around the teaching building, casually drafting a fake sick leave note about a stomachache to send to his homeroom teacher.

The security bars on the wall behind the equipment room at the sports field had been broken for a while, and he often sneaked out through there, sometimes scaring a couple of lovebirds in the process.

But when luck is against you, trouble comes in droves. If Jiang Yunbian had known it was Zhou Die who was sneaking out there, he wouldn’t have come even if you broke his legs.

Jiang Yunbian was just about to reach the wall and was checking the spot when he heard that voice that made his teeth itch.

It seemed like Zhou Die was talking about something, his voice low and raspy, a voice you could recognize instantly.

There was also a girl next to him: “I don’t know about that. Your grandfather…”

Crack.

Jiang Yunbian stepped on a dry branch, interrupting their private conversation.

The so-called “fiancée,” Xu Zhaoruo, looked at him with surprise.

After all, the news of the current school heartthrob and the new contender having a fight had spread throughout the school by the end of the opening ceremony.

She stared at the similar wound on Jiang Yunbian’s lip and tried to ease the tension by saying, “Oh my, Jiang Ge, how did you get a cut on the first day of school?”

Jiang Yunbian: “…”

He looked up to see the aristocratic young master standing by the door of the equipment room, looking not at all like someone here to “do something bad.”

Xu Zhaoruo, realizing what Jiang Yunbian was up to, blinked: “By the rules, should I remind you not to skip class?”

Jiang Yunbian remembered she was the student council president.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and gave a smile.

Xu Zhaoruo unconsciously took a step back, feeling that his smile was a bit creepy.

“None of us are good students, so don’t talk about rules.” He kindly reminded her, “President, is he your boyfriend?”

Xu Zhaoruo smiled, “…No.”

Zhou Die ignored her hidden teasing, but his gaze lingered on Jiang Yunbian.

The guy gave him a mocking glance: “Tsk, what are you afraid of? I’m not going to tell the teachers.”

Zhou Die unconsciously touched the wound on his lip with his tongue, as if tasting a piece of cool candy.

Just a little, and it melted before he could even get the flavor.

When he was about to say something, Jiang Yunbian had already walked far away.

“Your grade’s top student is pretty wild.” Zhou Die slowly took out a mint candy from his pocket and unwrapped it carefully.

Zhou Die liked this flavor, and Xu Zhaoruo blinked and whispered in a tattletale tone: “Zhou Ge, although it’s not quite appropriate, I should remind you… your grade’s top student’s pheromones also have a minty scent.”