At the start of the evening self-study session, Teacher Shi made a rare appearance. The students struggled to recall if there was any major event recently that would warrant a visit from him.
"I have an announcement."
Even Jiang Wei, who had only been there for a little over a month, was already well-acquainted with this opening line.
"Your PE teacher asked me to give you a heads-up. There will be physical fitness testing during this week's PE classes. The specific events haven't been finalized yet, but he wants you to get some practice in over the next two days. Don't just sit in the classroom all day like unmoving statues."
"That’s all. If there are no questions, get back to your work."
Teacher Shi left as soon as he finished, clearly in a hurry to get home and rest.
"Why is Teacher Shi running off so fast?" Jiang Wei watched his hurried pace. If he didn't know better, he’d think a wolf was nipping at the man's heels.
"You don't know?" Yang Xiangtong leaned over sneakily, holding a physics paper as a prop. "I heard when I went to ask a question earlier. His wife is making wontons tonight, and she's waiting for him to come home and eat."
"A bowl of wontons can make him panic like that? Is that the power of a wife?" Shen Yannan arched an eyebrow and couldn't help but chuckle.
Listening to their chatter, Jiang Wei suddenly turned to the person beside him. "I haven't had wontons in a long time either."
Tang Zihe understood his intent instantly.
"There's a shop on the street behind the back gate. Want to go now?"
Jiang Wei gave a thin-lipped smile, his face practically screaming the words: *You really do know me best.*
The two were packing their things to head out when they noticed Xia Shan looking miserable, muttering to himself incessantly.
"It's over. It's over, over, over."
"What's wrong? It's just a fitness test, it shouldn't be that hard, right?" Jiang Wei looked at the boy in confusion. A minute ago, Xia Shan had been all smiles; now, he looked like the hope had been sucked out of his life.
Shen Yannan, who evidently didn't plan on staying for self-study either, was also packing his bag. He took a moment to reply, "It's more than 'not hard'—it's not hard at all."
"You're an Omega. The passing threshold for Omegas is way easier than for us Alphas," Xia Shan argued, his face flushing.
Shen Yannan slung his bag over his shoulder and let out a mocking snort. "That's because Omegas are generally physically weaker than Alphas. Last year, you Alphas only had to run two hundred meters more than us, plus a few more push-ups and pull-ups."
"That's because you people are freaks! There are guys in our grade who can do nearly twenty pull-ups without even breaking a sweat!" Xia Shan felt deeply wronged. It just so happened that these "freaks" were mostly concentrated around him, making him lose face and giving him a massive complex about the fitness test.
Jiang Wei’s gaze bounced between them, unsure of who to believe. But seeing Xia Shan’s expression, he felt that if someone didn't comfort him soon, the boy might actually burst into tears. As for comforting people... given the current situation, he clearly couldn't rely on the others. He’d have to be the Good Samaritan himself.
"It's fine," Jiang Wei thought for a few seconds before clapping Xia Shan on the shoulder with an air of martyrdom. "Look at my stamina—I'm always complaining about being tired when we play ball. I'm probably... about the same as you. I'll be right there with you when the time comes."
Before Xia Shan could react, Jiang Wei spotted Tang Zihe already waiting by the door. He immediately forgot about the teary-eyed Xia Shan and scurried over.
As they neared the back gate, Tang Zihe watched Jiang Wei vault over the wall with practiced ease before finally picking up the conversation from the classroom. "Only an idiot like Xia Shan would believe that playing ball for five minutes during lunch is your physical limit. You'll pass the fitness test easily."
"I know. I'm not worried about myself." Jiang Wei shrugged. Who actually went all out during casual ball games? Besides, to keep his anomaly from being discovered, he usually used thirty percent of his strength at most.
However, there was a detail in that sentence worth noting.
"But... I remember you usually head straight upstairs after we eat. What? Were you watching me play from the window?" Jiang Wei smiled slyly, his eyes shining like bright stars in the dark as he looked directly into the other's gaze.
Tang Zihe remained silent for a few seconds, ultimately choosing not to answer.
***
"Boss, two bowls of pork wontons. One with no green onions."
"Coming right up!"
The wontons arrived quickly, the rising steam mingling with the fragrance of dried seaweed soup, creating a sense of pure bliss.
Jiang Wei exhaled a long breath and rubbed his hands together. "This smells amazing. Knowing we snuck out of self-study to eat this makes it smell even better."
Tang Zihe let out a soft laugh.
Jiang Wei scooped up a wonton with a small plastic spoon, blew on it for a few seconds, and bit down, heedless of the heat.
The result, of course, was him huffing out hot air while still insisting it was delicious.
Tang Zihe was about to tease him when a voice came from behind them.
"Oh? So even the top students from Class One skip evening self-study?"
Jiang Wei didn't even look up; he knew who it was just by the voice. "Who told you people from Class One only know how to stay cooped up in the classroom studying? That's just class prejudice, you know?"
Ye Feiyang didn't get angry. Instead, he pulled over a chair and sat down next to Jiang Wei. "There are no empty tables. Mind if I join you?"
Tang Zihe frowned, only to see Jiang Wei push his bowl a few centimeters toward himself and move his chair closer, clearly agreeing to the shared table.
"It's fine. He's not a bad guy," Jiang Wei whispered into Tang Zihe's ear while Ye Feiyang was ordering his food.
Truth be told, he and Ye Feiyang had become "acquaintances through conflict" after the milk tea incident. Originally, he thought they would go back to being strangers with no overlap—provided Ye Feiyang didn't get bored and come looking for trouble. Things hadn't gone exactly as Jiang Wei hoped, but the main reason wasn't Ye Feiyang; it was the school. The campus was only so big, and there were only so many basketball courts. When divided among three grades, it was perfectly normal for students of the same grade to end up on the same court.
After a few games, they had become somewhat familiar. Jiang Wei felt that this legendary "school bully" wasn't much different from any other Alpha on the court—just another high schooler who liked to talk trash and strike poses.
He was so ordinary that Jiang Wei sometimes wondered if the guy's reputation as a bully was bought rather than earned.
"Why are you here for wontons tonight?" Jiang Wei scooped up another one. The paper bowl cooled quickly, so the wontons weren't as scalding as when they first arrived.
"Had PE last period. Got carried away playing ball and missed dinner." Ye Feiyang's temper seemed much milder than before. He answered Jiang Wei’s questions readily, completely ignoring Tang Zihe’s sour expression.
"Oh." Jiang Wei nodded and stopped talking.
Tang Zihe couldn't be bothered with Ye Feiyang at all and lowered his head to eat his wontons.
Ye Feiyang curled his lip, ignored the slightly awkward atmosphere, and waited expectantly for his own bowl to arrive.
This street had a different "sleep schedule" than most bustling roads. It only gradually came to life after the sun set and the moon rose. Some shops placed speakers out front, letting music or sales pitches flow out to catch a customer's attention for a fleeting moment. But mostly, it was the sound of laughter and chatter from the bustling crowds.
"That girl's skirt just now... I should've flipped it higher..."
"Those legs... I almost couldn't stop myself from reaching out to feel them. I'm telling you, that chick was really something..."
"Two more drinks! Two more! I wasn't finished yet..."
"Hey! Little girl, don't block the way, you hear me?"
The girl being called out was likely a high schooler. She was hunched over, trembling as she moved her chair, apologizing repeatedly. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
Jiang Wei was slurping his wontons when he felt several voices suddenly erupt behind him, noisy and unpleasant. At the same time, he caught the scent of several offensive pheromones. Just as he was about to ask what was happening at the next table, he looked up and saw Ye Feiyang’s brow furrowed deeply. He instinctively turned around.
The girl was backing away repeatedly to avoid the hands being thrust toward her by several men. In the process, she nearly tripped over a pebble and fell.
The girl sitting at the table with her hadn't left. Instead, she was gripping the first girl's hand tightly, looking as if she were ready to bolt at any second.
And this girl was someone Jiang Wei recognized—it was Yu Xin.
The world really was a small circle.
"What do you think you're doing!"
Taking advantage of Ye Feiyang being the first to lose his patience and roar, Jiang Wei stuffed the last bite of wonton into his mouth—his intuition told him that his bowl of wontons was about to be sacrificed.
The shout clearly worked, shifting the attention of the drunken thugs from the girls to them.
"Brats should go home, wash up, and go to sleep! Mind your own business!"
"Stop fucking acting like a hero and ruining my fun!"
"Are your pubes even grown in yet? Trying to play the hero here?"
Ye Feiyang stood up and rubbed his ear. He casually picked up an empty beer bottle from the ground—it was unclear which table it belonged to—and smashed it in front of the drunks.
The sound of shattering glass was like a strange alarm. Customers at the surrounding tables instinctively stood up or left, clearing a space for them. At the same time, Jiang Wei stood up and gave a subtle hand gesture to the two bewildered girls, telling them to run.
Tang Zihe looked left and right, estimated the combat power of both sides, and then slowly stood up, still holding his bowl of wontons.
The scene instantly became tense and volatile.
A few seconds later, Ye Feiyang spoke again, making Jiang Wei realize that his earlier thought about the guy's temper improving was perhaps his biggest misunderstanding of the person currently picking up another bottle.
"Shit tolerance for alcohol, and you talk too much."
"Getting drunk and harassing girls on the street at night... what kind of mother raises a piece of trash like you? You think you're tough? People treat you like social scum, and since you can't understand human speech, you insist on talking back to your grandpa? You've really lost your damn mind."
"If you've really got the balls, come harass me, you dumbass."
