Jiang Wei hurried back to the dormitory first. He stuffed the contents of the box into his suitcase and tossed the box and the bag into the dorm’s trash can before returning to the classroom, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Brother Jiang, you’re finally back," Tang Wanbai said, looking up and putting her phone away. "I was just about to start a second round of my game."
"Sorry for the wait," Jiang Wei said with a grin. "Since exams are finally over today, how about we all go out for a meal?"
Xia Shan was the first to raise his hand in agreement. "I was just about to suggest we get something good outside. The school cafeteria food really isn't something a normal person can endure for long."
"My boyfriend happens to be coming over today. If you guys don't mind, he can join us," Shen Yannan said, his fingers flying across his screen as he chatted. "That way, you guys can even score a free meal."
Yang Xiangtong nodded. "I'm down. We’re all familiar with him anyway, but... Jiang Wei probably hasn't met him yet, right?"
"He has." Shen Yannan gave Jiang Wei a meaningful smile. Seeing that Tang Zihe and Ding Banfan had no objections, he asked, "So, it's settled?"
"Yeah," Tang Zihe agreed. "What are we eating?"
"There's a BBQ place at the very end of the street behind the back gate. It's amazing!" Ding Banfan blurted out, raising his hand.
"Damn, this guy has been chanting about BBQ in the dorm for at least three days. He’s clearly starving for it," Xia Shan exposed him ruthlessly.
Ding Banfan flipped Xia Shan off but emphasized to the group, "But the BBQ really is great."
The group burst into laughter.
Since no one had any objections, Shen Yannan called his boyfriend.
"Your boyfriend is almost at the back gate. Aren't you going out to meet him?" Lu Zisheng’s voice came through the phone with a laugh.
Shen Yannan tutted, though the smile on his face was impossible to hide. "Wait a few minutes then. We’re all coming to greet you together."
The group packed up their things, leaving their backpacks in the classroom and taking only their essentials as they headed out of the school.
"That was fast. I thought I’d have to wait at least half an hour," Lu Zisheng said, ruffling Shen Yannan’s hair before greeting the group. "Good afternoon, everyone. Long time no see."
"Good afternoon!"
"Why waste time with such polite greetings?" Shen Yannan tugged at Lu Zisheng’s sleeve. Despite his complaining, anyone could see how happy he was.
Xia Shan chimed in from the side, "Exactly! Getting to the food is the priority right now, otherwise our 'Half-Immortal' here is going to waste away from hunger."
Ding Banfan couldn't cover Xia Shan’s mouth in time, so he just scratched his head awkwardly while cursing the idiot a thousand times in his head.
The BBQ shop was called "Ordinary Family BBQ," a name that sounded like it would easily get lost in a crowd but carried a certain unique charm.
At the entrance sat a middle-aged man fanning himself with a cattail leaf fan and cracking sunflower seeds despite it being autumn. He wore flip-flops and sat with one leg shaking casually, only shouting out when Jiang Wei and the group walked in.
"Table for eight!"
A waiter suddenly appeared from somewhere inside, forming a sharp contrast with the uncle outside. He had tanned skin and looked very clean-cut; if not for the black-and-red apron he wore, no one would have guessed he was a server.
The waiter led them to a large round table in a corner on the first floor, set down a menu and a ballpoint pen, and then, without saying a single word the entire time, turned and vanished back through the tables.
Lu Zisheng pushed the menu to Shen Yannan, who pushed it to the girls. The girls, plagued by indecision, declined repeatedly until the menu finally landed in Tang Zihe’s hands.
Tang Zihe scanned the group, and seeing no one else to pass it to, he resigned himself to the task. He picked up the pen and began checking off items with incredible speed.
Watching that inhuman pace from beside him made Jiang Wei’s teeth ache.
Then, Tang Zihe simply said, "You get what you get," and handed the menu to the waiter before anyone could even look at it.
"It’s fine, we’re not picky," Xia Shan said. They had eaten together many times and knew each other's dietary restrictions well—which basically meant they didn't have any.
"Maybe get some non-spicy stuff? I’m afraid of breaking out," Yang Xiangtong added as an afterthought.
Tang Zihe nodded. "I already did. I ordered a portion of non-spicy items."
Jiang Wei suddenly gained a new appreciation for the attentiveness of the person beside him and couldn't help but steal a glance at him.
The waiter double-checked the order with them before taking the menu and pen back to the kitchen.
The food arrived surprisingly fast. Within minutes, the relatively small table was covered in a feast, leaving everyone unsure of where to start.
Tang Zihe had also ordered a large serving of the shop’s specialty wine, which arrived quickly as well. A faint floral scent wafted from the mouth of the pitcher. Xia Shan, who craved this sort of thing the most, immediately poured himself a small cup.
Shen Yannan was the first to dig in, grabbing a lamb skewer without hesitation. He blew on it briefly before taking a large bite.
"Careful, it's hot," Lu Zisheng reminded him softly.
Jiang Wei stood up to grab a skewer of potatoes. Using his chopsticks, he slid the potato slices off the skewer and into his bowl before setting the stick aside and slowly picking up a slice to eat.
"How is it?" Tang Zihe asked at the right moment.
"Pretty good. But if you don't start on that plate of meat skewers soon, they’re going to be snatched up by the others." Jiang Wei patted Tang Zihe’s shoulder. Seeing that the other was actually listening and reaching out, he added, "Grab one for me too."
Tang Zihe uncharacteristically didn't bicker with him and obediently handed one over.
Jiang Wei followed his usual routine, sliding all the meat into his bowl before he started eating.
"When you're eating with them, you should tone down your refined habits," Tang Zihe said, handing Jiang Wei another potato skewer. "Otherwise, you'll end up eating nothing and going hungry in the middle of the night."
Jiang Wei wagged a finger, disagreeing. "This is a simple and joyful sense of ritual. You wouldn't understand."
"Right, I wouldn't." Tang Zihe looked at Jiang Wei’s mock-profound posture with amusement. At the same time, he swiftly snatched the last lamb skewer from the table and held it out to him. "Here’s a new target for you. Stop messing with the potatoes and look at this last piece of meat."
"Oh." Jiang Wei reached out to take it. It took a few seconds for the weight of Tang Zihe’s words to sink in, and he suddenly looked up at the table.
The large plate of meat skewers was already empty, leaving behind only a few small puddles of grease and a pile of bare sticks.
*Are these people all reincarnated hungry ghosts?!*
It wasn't just the meat; even the potatoes and lotus roots had been mostly devoured.
Noticing Jiang Wei’s silence, Tang Zihe asked, "What's wrong?"
"Their combat power..." *is way higher than I imagined.* Jiang Wei thought better of finishing the sentence.
"You'll get used to it," Tang Zihe said calmly.
Once they were mostly full, the conversation began to flow. As a thank-you for Tang Zihe’s generous gift of the last meat skewer, Jiang Wei poured him a cup of wine.
"Since I can't get much food, I might as well drink. After all, if you drink enough liquid, it creates the illusion of being full." Jiang Wei leaned back lazily against his chair and took a sip.
The taste was dominated by the refreshing scent of osmanthus, with a hint of sweetness hitting the back of his throat. It was hard to even taste the alcohol.
"This is good."
Jiang Wei squinted his eyes and smacked his lips, looking exactly like a cat that had successfully stolen a treat.
Based on that "This is good," Tang Wanbai—who had previously declared with great solemnity that as a weak female Omega eating with a bunch of Alphas, she would absolutely not touch a drop of alcohol for her own safety—couldn't help but take a small sip to try it.
Although the shop was at the end of the street, a single turn revealed a bustling night market that was usually hidden by buildings.
Since exams were finally over, this restless bunch wasn't willing to head back to school so early. Since Shen Yannan wanted to walk around with his boyfriend, everyone decided to join in for a post-dinner stroll.
Aside from food and drinks, the night market was filled with small accessory shops that easily caught the girls' attention.
Jiang Wei and Tang Zihe walked at the very back. As the two who had eaten the least at dinner, they agreed that there wasn't much on this street to attract them, so they decided to "forage" along the way.
New things always held a great attraction for Jiang Wei. By the third time he stopped, Tang Zihe could no longer see Xia Shan and the others.
Jiang Wei bought two servings of pan-fried buns and smilingly handed one to Tang Zihe.
The paper bowl couldn't block the heat, and Jiang Wei’s palms, which had grown cold in the winter wind, instantly became warm again.
As they walked side-by-side, Jiang Wei, who was only wearing his short-sleeved school shirt, shivered as a gust of wind hit him. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and sneezed.
"It's not even October yet. Why did the weather turn cold so fast?" Jiang Wei muttered.
"Hold this."
"Huh?" Jiang Wei instinctively took the paper bowl Tang Zihe handed him; there was still one bun left inside. "Are you done?"
Tang Zihe didn't answer. He took off his jacket and then took the paper bowl back.
"You—"
Before Jiang Wei could say a word, Tang Zihe had already draped the jacket over his head.
"Wear it," Tang Zihe said firmly, taking the other paper bowl from Jiang Wei’s hand as well.
"I don't—" *need it.* Jiang Wei was about to refuse, but Tang Zihe cut him off.
"Don't let your already meager brain cells freeze into stupidity."
Jiang Wei: "..."
*That was unnecessary.*
Jiang Wei sniffled from the cold and whispered as he put on the jacket, "The Alpha who dates you in the future is going to be so miserable..."
"What was that?"
Jiang Wei smiled. "Just cursing the weather."
The street grew more crowded and the streetlights flickered on, signaling the arrival of night. Having eaten and drunk their fill, neither wanted to stay out in the cold wind any longer, so they turned back toward the school.
"Aren't you cold?"
Jiang Wei looked at Tang Zihe, who was only in a short-sleeved shirt, and then at himself, wearing the other’s jacket and holding a cup of hot milk tea. He felt a late pang of guilt.
Tang Zihe simply asked back, "Are you cold now?"
Jiang Wei shook his head.
Tang Zihe smiled and said nonchalantly, "I am an Alpha who spends all year in the gym strengthening my body, after all."
Jiang Wei took a sip of his milk tea and smiled around the straw.
*If you say so.*
In the end, by the time they reached the dorms, Jiang Wei had forgotten to return the jacket.
He hung it in his wardrobe and collapsed into bed.
*Whatever, I'll just bring it to class for him tomorrow.*
***
The next morning, Jiang Wei ran into Xia Shan coming out of the bathroom and greeted him.
"Morning..." Xia Shan’s face was still wet with water droplets, and he rubbed his eyes listlessly.
"What's with you?" Jiang Wei asked, puzzled. Why did this guy look like he hadn't slept all night and was on the verge of sudden death?
"Last night, a shop was doing a promotion with free wine samples. He got greedy and tried them all, mixing everything, and ended up getting himself trashed," Ding Banfan said gleefully. He even leaned in close to Xia Shan’s face and asked mockingly, "Do you even recognize who I am?"
"Go away... let me sleep a bit more. My head feels like it's going to explode," Xia Shan waved him off like a fly before collapsing onto his desk.
Yang Xiangtong and Tang Wanbai were nearby, stifling their laughter.
Jiang Wei shook his head and hung his backpack by his desk.
Tang Zihe was in his seat as usual, quietly working on problems, only raising an eyebrow when Jiang Wei sat down.
"Morning." Seeing him reminded Jiang Wei that he had left in a hurry and forgotten to bring the jacket.
Fortunately, the school issued two sets of uniforms for every season.
So he added, "Remind me to go to the dorm and get your jacket this afternoon."
Tang Zihe only gave a faint "Mm."
Jiang Wei looked at him a few more times, but he needed to rush through last night's homework and didn't have time to wonder why the guy was being so unusually silent this morning.
"Did you do the homework? If so, let me copy a few problems." Jiang Wei didn't stand on ceremony. Seeing Tang Zihe lean back slightly in a gesture of consent, he reached directly into the other’s drawer.
Tang Zihe’s drawer was organized perfectly—there wasn't even a single stray scrap of paper, making it very easy to find things.
Jiang Wei raced against time to copy a few steps and then pulled out the English worksheet to copy some multiple-choice answers, barely managing to hand in the assignment before the class representative left for the office.
Fu Cong’an, the Chinese class rep, had specifically waited a bit longer for Jiang Wei while holding the stack of notebooks.
"No need to rush so much," Fu Cong’an said with a smile as Jiang Wei ran over. "As long as Ms. Jiang doesn't ask, I won't tell her."
Jiang Wei smiled back.
When he sat back down and pulled out his phone to check his messages, he saw that Tang Zihe had sent him a "Sure."
The message had been sent a few minutes ago.
He quickly realized it was a reply to his request for Tang Zihe to remind him about the jacket.
He couldn't help but want to laugh.
What was with this guy today? It was like he’d taken a vow of silence. Not only was he not speaking, but he was even using text messages to reply.
*Something is definitely up.*
The bell rang, and Ms. Jiang walked in carrying her Chinese textbook.
"The Chinese exams have been graded. Some people in this class are still missing 'gimme' questions! How many times have I explained them? Still wrong! I honestly don't know if you people are just cursed when it comes to easy points!" Ms. Jiang was clearly in a bad mood; her voice was higher than usual. She cleared her throat and continued, "Shen Yannan, recite 'Encouraging Learning' in its entirety."
Anyone with eyes could tell who her anger was directed at. As the most prominent slacker in the group, Shen Yannan naturally became the target.
Shen Yannan stood up.
"If you can't recite it, go stand at the back."
Regardless of how dark Ms. Jiang’s expression was, Shen Yannan didn't hesitate. Without looking back, he walked toward the back wall of the classroom.
"We’ve reached this point, and you still can't remember something so simple! Are you planning to just throw these points away during the Gaokao?" Ms. Jiang was indeed angry. To her, a student with top-tier science grades who couldn't even bother to memorize classical poetry was clearly someone who had the ability but refused to put in the effort. Any Chinese teacher would be fuming.
"I'm sorry, Teacher," Shen Yannan said, his attitude in admitting fault being quite good. "I'll definitely memorize it more before the next exam."
Ms. Jiang sighed. She didn't actually want to lose her temper with her students, but she couldn't help it. Seeing Shen Yannan submissively admit his mistake, she stopped pursuing it and turned her gaze to the rest of the class.
"The highest score in Chinese for our class is still Tang Zihe," Ms. Jiang’s brow smoothed out slightly. "Tang Zihe, come and recite 'Encouraging Learning' in its entirety to set an example for the class."
Tang Zihe stood up, but instead of starting his usual fluent recitation, he didn't say a word. He just stood by his seat.
Jiang Wei found it even stranger: *Is he really planning to ignore the teacher when she calls on him?*
A few seconds later, Shen Yannan watched in shock as Tang Zihe picked up his book from the desk and walked over to stand beside him.
A faint collective gasp rippled through the classroom.
***
