Take a Whiff: The Alpha's Hidden Scent | Chapter 33 | Another Exam Already | Novela.app

Jiang Wei stuffed a box of cold medicine into his backpack and sprayed himself from head to toe with scent blocker. Only after ensuring not a single trace of his scent remained did he lock his dorm room and head out. Though he hadn't fully recovered from his cold, his right eyelid wouldn't stop twitching. A sense of unease gnawed at him, and after some thought, he decided it was better to get to class early. It was possible Teacher Shi had announced something important yesterday, and he needed to ask around. "Brother Jiang, is your cold any better?" Xia Shan, who always arrived early, greeted Jiang Wei from his seat. "Almost there," Jiang Wei replied with a smile. Unfortunately, before he could finish his sentence, his smile froze on his face. "What is all this?!" "Oh, this is your homework from yesterday." Xia Shan produced a carton of milk from somewhere and was about to open it. Seeing Jiang Wei’s shocked expression, he added out of pity, "It’s actually not as much as it looks. Just one sheet per subject—the usual amount." "And they aren't difficult." Tang Zihe entered the classroom right behind Jiang Wei. "If you're willing to focus, you should be able to finish and hand them in by the end of the morning." "I have to make them up?!" Jiang Wei felt as if the sky were falling. "Didn't Old Tang tell you?" Xia Shan looked at Tang Zihe with a hint of confusion. "Teacher Shi told us to notify you. He wants them all finished and handed in by the end of the day, the earlier the better." Jiang Wei: ... *Is there still a chance for me to go back to the dorm and pretend none of this happened?* "So you knew about this, yet you 'forgot' to tell me yesterday?!" He glared fiercely at Tang Zihe. "I didn't forget." Tang Zihe wasn't intimidated in the least; he even gave a casual shrug. "I just didn't expect your fever to break so quickly. I thought you wouldn't be back on your feet until tonight." In his prediction, it would have been impossible for Jiang Wei to work on practice papers yesterday. Therefore, he wasn't to blame. "Then where's your homework?" Jiang Wei reached out his hand, clearly having no intention of putting in the effort himself. Tang Zihe hesitated, holding his papers back. "I wouldn't suggest copying last night's assignment. There are at least seven problems where we would definitely use different methods." If he copied it, the evidence would be far too obvious. Jiang Wei was clearly fuming, but he could only concede. He dropped his bag on the floor, pulled out his pencil case, and buried his head in the worksheets. Shen Yannan happened to step into the classroom just as the bell rang. "What's going on here?" He was startled by the sight before him. "Is he possessed?" Usually, during morning self-study, Jiang Wei would only sit and study properly for the last five minutes. Most of the time, he’d be chatting idly with Tang Zihe or Shen Yannan. Now, the guy was hunched over his desk, scribbling away so intensely that he only spared a glance upward when he heard Shen Yannan's voice. He looked more like he was being driven by a vengeful spirit. "You definitely forgot what Teacher Shi told us yesterday," Xia Shan said, pointing at Jiang Wei with absolute certainty. Shen Yannan finally remembered and sighed, "He looks truly miserable." Jiang Wei felt those words spoke directly from his soul. *I'm still a poor, sick patient!* *Is there no beauty or love left in this world!* "Can't you lot bring a little more positivity into my life? Instead, every time I see your answer sheets, I feel like I need a bottle of nitroglycerin just to keep my heart beating!" Teacher Jiang slammed her hand on the lectern, venting her frustration. A few of the bolder students couldn't help but let out muffled snickers. "Class reps, come and hand back the papers." "I usually think you're all diligently memorizing what I assign. But after that quiz the day before yesterday, I realized it was all just a front for my benefit! Look at what you wrote on these papers! They're so full of holes I can't even bear to look at them!" Teacher Jiang grew visibly angrier as she spoke, slapping the lectern again for emphasis. Xia Shan muttered under his breath, "But the lectern is innocent..." Shen Yannan struggled to keep his face neutral, not daring to laugh out loud. Fu Cong'an was indeed fast at distributing the papers. While Teacher Jiang was busy scolding the class, she had already finished most of them and reached Jiang Wei’s row. "Another perfect score," Fu Cong'an said with a polite smile, placing the paper gently on Tang Zihe’s desk. "That's amazing." Tang Zihe hadn't looked up at her once, but he paused upon hearing the blunt praise and nodded. "Thanks." The smile on Fu Cong'an's face stiffened for a moment. Jiang Wei, seemingly oblivious, looked up with a bright grin as he took his own paper. In a tone identical to Tang Zihe's yet somehow sounding more sincere, he said, "Thanks." Fu Cong'an nodded back and walked past them as if nothing had happened. Jiang Wei tapped his chin with a finger, pondering for a few seconds. He glanced at his still expressionless seatmate, looking like he wanted to say something, but ultimately let out a soft sigh. Forget it. No gossip was more important than finishing these problems to save his own life. "In this quiz, aside from Tang Zihe and Fu Cong'an who got everything right, only Jiang Wei and Gu Renwen had fewer than three mistakes." Teacher Jiang looked at the register in her hand and sighed. "I made it very clear that my requirement for this class is for everyone to get a perfect score. You're all students capable of scoring over 600; is memorizing a text really that hard? How is it that you're so much better at memorizing things for Math, Physics, and Chemistry?" Jiang Wei clearly tuned out the latter half of Teacher Jiang's lecture, lost in his own thoughts. "So... does this mean I'm in the top three of the class?" Gu Renwen silently glanced over toward them. "Yeah." Tang Zihe looked at Jiang Wei's paper and gave a very objective evaluation. "Not bad." Jiang Wei was the type to let praise go straight to his head. Hearing this, he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. "You know, I finally understand why you always have to be number one." Tang Zihe: ? "That feeling of standing at the peak, looking down on everyone else... you get it, right?" It was nothing short of exhilarating! Tang Zihe: "...I think you're overthinking it." "Really?" Jiang Wei didn't quite believe him, a smile he couldn't hide spreading across his face. "But I really am quite happy right now." Tang Zihe: ... *As long as you're happy.* "Jiang Wei! You seem to be having a grand old time chatting with Tang Zihe in the back row. What's so funny? He got a perfect score, did you? You're constantly dragging others into your conversations." Teacher Jiang's voice boomed from the lectern, drawing the gazes of countless students from the front rows. Jiang "Instantly-Unable-to-Smile" Wei: ... Tang Zihe: ...Pfft. *Laugh my ass,* Jiang Wei thought. He hadn't expected the karma to hit so fast. For the rest of the period, he didn't dare act out. He kept his head down, looking for all the world like a model student listening intently. In reality, he was working furiously to catch up on yesterday's homework. After everything he had endured this morning, Jiang Wei felt he could easily be voted one of the "Top Ten Most Tragic Figures of the Year" at No. 4 High School. If the school actually held such a contest, he would definitely sign himself up. Regardless, the efficiency of rushing through homework while pretending to pay attention in class was remarkably high. Just as the bell rang for the end of the third period, Jiang Wei tossed his pen onto the desk, grabbed the stack of worksheets, and dashed toward the teachers' office at the end of the hallway like a whirlwind. "Holy crap, what just blew past us?" Xia Shan was about to stand up and stretch, but the shock sent him stumbling back into his seat. "It was Jiang Wei, going to hand in his homework," Shen Yannan said, looking toward the classroom door. "That fast?!" Xia Shan cried out. Only three periods had passed—rounding up, that was only 170 minutes! Six worksheets! That averaged out to less than thirty minutes per sheet! Even if some of them were just topical review sheets that he also found quite simple, this was still insanely fast! It was practically a display of contempt toward the homework! Xia Shan clutched his chest, his expression growing increasingly dramatic. *** The moment Jiang Wei stepped into the office, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Though the sounds of teachers chatting and laughing occasionally drifted through the air, this was the first time he had come here for something other than helping to carry assignments. Furthermore, Teacher Shi’s desk was located further inside. The teachers sitting in that area were all unfamiliar faces, likely homeroom teachers for other classes. "Teacher, here is yesterday's homework." Jiang Wei placed the final worksheet on Teacher Shi's desk. Teacher Shi adjusted his glasses, scanned the paper in his hand, and then set it aside with a smile. "Not bad. You finished much faster than I expected." Jiang Wei didn't dare mention that he had been rushing through it during class, but looking at Teacher Shi's eyes, the man had probably guessed as much. *If I'd known, I wouldn't have handed it in so early.* "If you keep up this momentum, you shouldn't have any problem breaking into the top ten of the grade for the mid-terms next week," Teacher Shi said, patting Jiang Wei on the shoulder. "Maybe there's even hope for you to make the top five later on, completing Class One's total monopoly." "What are you saying?" A male teacher sitting across from Teacher Shi tsked. "We in Class Two only have this one precious seedling in the top five. Why are you always dreaming of wiping out the competition?" "The mid-terms are next week?!" Jiang Wei couldn't help it; the words burst out of him in shock. Teacher Shi was also taken aback for a moment before remembering. "Oh, I announced it in class yesterday. After next week, it'll be time for the annual mid-term exams. This time it's an Eight-School Joint Exam. There will be an eight-school ranking alongside the grade ranking to help you accurately gauge your level. It's quite important." After that, Teacher Shi and the refined-looking male teacher said a few more things, but Jiang Wei didn't hear a word of it. The news, which felt like a bolt from the blue, kept swirling in his mind. He didn't even remember how he walked back to the classroom. But as he reached the door, he found himself bellowing with a voice like a great bell: "How could you guys forget to tell me something this important!"