When Tang Zihe knocked and entered Jiang Wei’s room, he found the other boy staring blankly at a small bowl of fruit on the desk. He looked like he wanted to eat it but didn't quite dare to reach out.
Looking at the neatly sliced fruit, Tang Zihe didn't even need to ask to know it was his father’s handiwork—for as long as he could remember, Ms. Tang had never personally peeled fruit for anyone other than Mr. Tang.
It seemed he had been too late with his explanation, Tang Zihe thought wryly.
Hearing the movement at the door, Jiang Wei turned his head. From the expression on his face, he had clearly recovered from his initial shock. His mind was sharp again, and his intuition was on point—one look at Tang Zihe’s subtle movements and he had already guessed most of what had happened downstairs. "You told your mom?"
The blunt question caught Tang Zihe off guard for a moment. "Told her what?"
*Don't play dumb.* "That I’m an Omega."
Tang Zihe rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a bit awkward.
He knew Jiang Wei wanted as few people as possible to know, but the situation earlier had left him with no choice—if he hadn't cleared things up, he would never have been able to wash away the misunderstanding, even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
"Forget it," Jiang Wei said after a moment of silence, giving a casual shrug. "They were going to find out sooner or later anyway."
***
"Are you sure what our son said is true?" The moment Mr. Tang came downstairs, he was pulled aside by Ms. Tang. After hearing her explanation, he stood there in a daze.
Ms. Tang felt strangely deflated. "From the look on his face, it seems to be the truth."
Unlike Ms. Tang, Mr. Tang’s mind was much more agile in these matters. It only took him a few minutes to fully digest the information and piece together the logic of the situation.
"Should I... go up and ask again?" Ms. Tang pointed upstairs, sounding hesitant.
"Shh, don't ask," Mr. Tang said, pulling her back. "Zihe made it very clear. Let’s not disturb them right now."
Ms. Tang blinked. "Wait, he made it clear?"
"Very clear," Mr. Tang said, finding his wife’s confusion somewhat amusing. "Think about it. Our son is an Alpha, yet he’s wearing an Omega-specific scent-blocker patch just to accompany Jiang Wei. If they were just ordinary childhood friends, would he go that far?"
Ms. Tang put herself in that position and realized she certainly wouldn't.
"So, between those two kids... there’s definitely something going on. It’s probably just not convenient for them to tell us yet." Mr. Tang arched an eyebrow, a hint of playfulness in his eyes.
Ms. Tang suddenly saw the light.
In fact, the signs had been there for a long time, but she had always remained skeptical.
During the early orientation week of their freshman year, Tang Zihe had been exceptionally excited. It had been an entire summer since Jiang Wei had disappeared. Tang Zihe had scoured every place in the city where Jiang Wei might have appeared and even had Ms. Tang call Jiang Wei’s father, only to see nothing and receive a single sentence in return: "No need for concern."
He knew those words individually, and he understood their literal meaning when put together, but he had spent every day and night of that summer unable to fathom *why* there was no need for concern. He had spent more time with Jiang Wei than anyone else; why was such a major event none of his business?
Fortunately, they had filled out their high school applications together. As long as Jiang Wei showed up to report, he would definitely see him again. He could wait until then to frown and be angry for a while.
So, when he walked into the school full of excitement and found both his and Jiang Wei’s names on the Class 1 roster, his heart soared.
But he waited until Boss Shi entered the classroom, and the seat beside him remained empty—the only empty seat in the class. It was obvious who was missing.
When he walked out of the school later, his new homeroom teacher’s words were still ringing in his head: "Oh, you mean Jiang Wei? He’s taken a leave of absence."
A leave of absence...
Tang Zihe couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, yet it also felt absurdly funny. All his long waiting had come to nothing once again because of those few short words.
The month that followed was the most decadent period Ms. Tang had ever seen her son go through—not in terms of his studies, but in his daily life.
His desk, which was usually spotless, was often cluttered with empty drink bottles that hadn't been thrown away. He preferred staying in his room doing who-knows-what instead of going out for his usual exercise. Dirty clothes and socks were strewn by the bed. He looked like a completely different person.
But Tang Zihe was naturally fastidious. This state only lasted for a little over a month. Before Ms. Tang could even find a way to ask him about it, he seemed to "snap out of it" one weekend. He spent the entire day thoroughly cleaning his room, even using disinfectant where it wasn't strictly necessary—as if he were determined to scrub away some non-existent scent.
"Sigh..."
Mr. Tang looked at his wife, who was leaning half her weight against him on the sofa, and asked with a chuckle, "What are you sighing for?"
"I had actually set aside a fund for the 'Double Alpha Marriage Fine' for the two of them," Ms. Tang said with a hint of regret. "I guess that was unnecessary."
"That kind of 'unnecessary'... isn't a bad thing."
***
"We get to go into the lab today? Sister Yang, you're the best!"
"Sister Yang, you're my goddess!"
"Yeah!!"
"Everyone, calm down! Quiet!" Sister Yang slapped the lectern forcefully. "Listen to the lab rules first. If anyone breaks them next period, I’ll kick you out of the lab and make you stand in the hall."
"Okay—"
"There are brand-new lab coats hanging on both walls and goggles on the tables for each of you. You must be fully suited up before starting. Then, come to the front to get disposable gloves that fit your size. Only then are you allowed to begin the experiment..."
"Alright, clear your desks. For the next period, just bring a pen and the worksheet I gave you into the lab."
No one had noticed before that the physics and chemistry labs were actually on the upper floor of the school cafeteria building. At the back of the cafeteria, there was an inconspicuous white staircase leading to the second floor. However, the stairs had clearly been unused for a long time, as most of the steps were covered in neglected fallen leaves.
Sister Yang led them to the end of the second-floor corridor. The lab door was slightly ajar. Pushing it open, they saw rows of dark green tabletops, each about the length of four or five desks. Various solutions were laid out, and in the center of each table was a black sink with a square, deep-blue cloth hanging from every faucet handle. On the walls, two neat rows of white lab coats hung, so clean they almost reflected light.
Xia Shan looked around, his eyes shining. "Whoa, this looks pretty high-tech. Much better than I expected."
"Alright, students, don't waste time. Find a seat, get dressed, and you can start the experiment according to the steps I gave you. Safety first—be careful not to break the test tubes or damage any other equipment," Sister Yang stood at the front and clapped her her hands to get everyone's attention. "Once you finish the experiment, there are two more reagents at the front for you to test. It all depends on how fast you work."
As soon as she finished, Shen Yannan took a seat in the very last row, following the principle of proximity.
Jiang Wei sat in front of him, in the second-to-last row, and Tang Zihe walked a few steps further to sit beside him.
"Jiang Wei, is this seat in front of you taken?" Fu Cong'an asked with a smile as he leaned over to sit down.
"No." Jiang Wei smiled back but didn't say anything more.
The experiment Sister Yang had prepared was called "Ion Detection." They were given several solutions containing different ions and had to add various reagents, observing the reactions in the test tubes to draw conclusions.
"Seems simple enough." Jiang Wei glanced at the worksheet. The parts they needed to fill in were arranged in a table; they just had to follow the instructions and observe.
Tang Zihe had already taken a clean test tube from the rack and added about a centimeter of the solution labeled "No. 1."
The experiment proceeded smoothly. Aside from the slightly noisy chatter, there was no sound of breaking glass, which had been Sister Yang’s main concern.
"Bubbles! I've got bubbles!" Xia Shan held up his test tube excitedly. The colorless solution inside was churning with a large amount of bubbles, as if it might splash out at any second.
"Bubbles mean gas is being produced; you have to test it!" Shen Yannan shouted at Xia Shan from the side. "Quick, find something to plug the tube and test it!"
Unfortunately, by the time Xia Shan heard him, the bubbles in the test tube had almost completely vanished.
Xia Shan held the tube up sadly. "Too late..."
"Then do it again," Shen Yannan said unsympathetically. "Prepare everything you need for the test *before* you add the reagents."
"What should I use to test it?" Xia Shan washed the test tube and refilled it with the solution. "Limewater or litmus paper?"
"You don't know what gas it is, so of course you use everything—and the wooden splints," Shen Yannan looked at Xia Shan with amusement. "Did you feed all the theory from chemistry class to the dogs? How can you not remember anything now?"
When he was doing his own tests, he had browsed through all the materials provided. There were only three things for gas detection: limewater, which was bubbled through a tube to see if it turned cloudy; litmus paper, placed at the mouth of the tube to check for acidity or alkalinity; and wooden splints, which could be used as glowing splints to see if they relit, or lit splints to listen for a "pop" sound.
Each table was equipped with a small blowtorch.
"No, no, I'm scared of fire," Xia Shan shook his head like a rattle. "When I was a kid, I played with matches and almost burned the curtains down. My dad gave me a beating, and I haven't touched fire since. I'm traumatized. I definitely can't do it."
Though it felt a bit mean, Shen Yannan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Learn from your Brother Jiang. You're a grown man, yet you need an Omega like me to help you light a fire? Aren't you embarrassed?" Shen Yannan teased, glancing at Jiang Wei, who was playing with a wooden splint in front of them without a care in the world.
***
Chinese | English | Notes
--- | --- | ---
小杨姐 | Sister Yang | A friendly way to address a young female teacher or lab assistant.
施总 | Boss Shi | A nickname for their homeroom teacher, Teacher Shi.
阻隔贴 | Scent-blocker patch | A patch used to hide pheromones.
双A结婚 | Double Alpha marriage | A marriage between two Alphas.
离子检测 | Ion detection | A chemistry experiment to identify ions.
回魂 | Snapped out of it | Literally "soul returning," meaning to recover from a daze or depression.
狗肚子 | Fed to the dogs | An idiom meaning to have completely forgotten what one learned.
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