Actually, it wasn’t all that cold today. After getting out of the car, Xu Fei didn’t touch her scarf once, keeping it exactly the way the Omega had wrapped it around her as she walked upstairs. Her robber like appearance drew quite a few looks.
Only when she returned to her room did she take the scarf off. Its soft texture traveled from her fingertips straight to her heart. Her movements grew increasingly gentle, as if she were afraid of hurting the fabric by squeezing too hard.
She took it off, folded it neatly, and cupped it in her hands, gazing at it for a few seconds.
Unable to resist, Xu Fei buried her face in it and took a deep breath.
The elegant scent of roses filled her lungs. The Alpha’s face, already flushed from being bundled up, grew redder with a touch of bashful shyness. The core of her heart turned soft and sweet.
Zhu Nianxi had given this to her.
Zhu Nianxi was worried she would be cold.
The Omega was thoughtful and had snipped off the price tag early on. However, having lived a life of luxury for over a decade, Xu Fei recognized the logo instantly. She borrowed Mei Qia’s computer to log onto the official website.
Just as she thought, there were many zeros at the end.
She had to give Zhu Nianxi a return gift.
Thinking about the snacks and gifts that were constantly being refreshed at the Omega’s seat, Xu Fei let out a soft huff in her mind.
Her gift wouldn’t be a one sided attempt to curry favor; it was different from those other people.
Xu Fei began to fret over what to send.
With such a major issue weighing on her mind, she tended to zone out easily when doing other things.
“Feifei, are you listening?”
Zhu Nianxi’s voice was beautiful to begin with, and after being processed through the electric current, it gained a touch of magnetic allure.
Xu Fei looked up, coming face to face with a section of snow-white wrist on the phone screen.
The wrist bone was delicate, hidden beneath thin, soft flesh. The skin on the back of her hand was a translucent white, and the faint blue veins underneath were barely visible, adding a few hints of fragile nobility.
Having gone without a reply for a while, the young miss tapped her knuckles impatiently against the desk.
“Xu Fei, answer me.”
Only then did her consciousness drift away from that branch-like wrist. Xu Fei blinked rapidly. “Sorry, Nianxi, the connection on my end isn’t great… It just lagged.”
Zhu Nianxi gave a soft huff. “That’s why I said I should have Yan Fu pick you up and bring you to my house. It’s much more effective to explain things offline.”
The midterm exams were coming up, and their tutoring sessions had extended into the weekend.
Xu Fei’s gaze remained fixed on the Omega’s wrist. “Nianxi, go rest after you finish explaining this problem. It’s getting late.”
It was already almost 23:00.
Alone in the study, Zhu Nianxi pursed her lips.
That was exactly why she should have had Yan Fu pick her up. Then she could have just slept over at her house tonight.
“Listen carefully to the next part.”
Zhu Nianxi continued to explain the reaction patterns of metals. Holding the pen in her right hand and steadying the paper with her left, she wrote down another string of chemical formulas.
She only wore a watch on her left wrist; her right wrist was bare.
Xu Fei watched very intently.
Her gaze climbed from the pages of paper to the knuckles, and then slid from the knuckles to that snow-white wrist.
Then, she gave it some serious thought.
She should be able to wrap her hand around it with just one hand.
Her eyes swept over the Omega’s other hand resting on the table.
Mm, two hands.
After explaining the example problem, Xu Fei started working on the exercise and got it completely right on her first try.
She was very happy.
Because she knew what to give her now.
A bracelet.
After deciding on the category, Xu Fei began scouting for styles.
The process was much harder than she thought. It didn’t just have to look good; it also had to match Zhu Nianxi’s… wrist.
After agonizing over it for a few more days, she finalized the style.
It was a new arrival from a light luxury brand, inspired by roses. It chained together a complete rose around the wrist, noble, elegant, and incredibly romantic.
The price also carried quite a sense of distance.
Xu Fei had savings, but that portion was set aside for her grandmother’s medical treatments in the future and couldn’t be touched.
The next day, she proactively approached Mei Qia.
“So you want to earn some extra money…”
Mei Qia wiped a wine glass, helping her think of two methods.
The first was to increase her daily working hours.
But the bar opened in the afternoon. If Xu Fei wanted to work more, she could only delay her clock-out time.
Mei Qia glanced at the dark circles under Xu Fei’s eyes and looked thoroughly disapproving:
“Your current clock-out time is already late enough, and you still have to keep studying when you go back. Don’t make it any later. If you doze off during class, the losses will outweigh the gains.”
The second was to do sales and earn commissions.
Xu Fei had the physical qualifications, but her personality wasn’t suited for it, she couldn’t handle work that required being slick and smooth tongued.
The young Alpha’s eyes flashed with stubbornness.
“Sister Mei, I want to give it a try.”
With that, she walked toward the customers by the bar with plenty of confidence.
Five minutes later, Xu Fei returned, her face flushed red from holding it in. Mei Qia looked at her teasingly, and she stumbled over her words to spit out a sentence: “I’ll think of another way.”
Mei Qia advised her. “Think about what you’re good at.”
The next day was Monday, and there was PE class. After marking her attendance, Xu Fei followed Jian Zhixing’s example and escaped to a place where no one was around, to do her homework.
Qin Weiran stopped playing badminton during PE. Her class shared the same PE slot as Luo Feng’s Class 3, so the little couple was busy being lovey-dovey, leaving Xu Fei with free time.
The midterm exams were approaching.
She had performed well during the last monthly exam, and Xu Fei wanted to make more progress.
Her current state had improved significantly compared to September. She could understand the questions, solve them correctly, and no longer felt completely lost during class; she was beginning to gain positive feedback through learning.
It didn’t matter if she got stuck temporarily. Zhu Nianxi was there.
Unknowingly, the Omega had already become the anchor of her life.
Xu Fei found an empty bench, spread out her test paper, and began contemplating a major problem on conic sections.
Mm, the teacher had explained this question in class.
The sound of footsteps came from nearby. Someone walked to the open area opposite the bench and started practicing tennis.
Without even raising her head, Xu Fei wrote down the formulas on her scratch paper.
Bang! Bang!
The ball hit the ground, bounced once, and was struck out again.
Xu Fei crossed out the incorrectly substituted numbers and continued solving the problem.
The sound of the ball hitting the ground grew heavier, and the frequency became faster. The person practicing had lost their rhythm, and their footwork had grown messy too.
Bam!
The ball slammed into the wire fence, setting off a sharp yet muffled metallic vibration that buzzed and echoed through the empty court.
The tip of her pen suddenly ripped through the scratch paper.
An Yao hurriedly ran over to pick up the tennis ball from the ground. She hadn’t expected someone to be nearby and apologized repeatedly.
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t control my strength well.”
The person in front of her was staring at her racket. Feeling a bit baffled, An Yao quickly walked back.
She served with a forehand again, and the ball went out of bounds once more.
An Yao gritted her teeth. She refused to believe it. Bending down to pick up another ball, she was just about to strike it when a clear voice came from her side.
“Your contact point is too far back. Step forward half a step, and press the racket face down just a little bit.”
An Yao turned her head in surprise. “You know tennis?”
Xu Fei stared at her and didn’t speak further.
Skeptical, An Yao gave it a try, and the ball actually didn’t go out of bounds, though it wasn’t stable.
“Wait a moment.”
The person stuffed the pen and test paper into her bag, trotted around the wire fence, and came up to her.
Xu Fei reached out. “Let me borrow the racket for a moment.”
An Yao froze for a second before handing it to her.
Xu Fei gripped the racket, spacing out for a brief moment. A ball was stuffed into her hand again. She gathered her focus and swung the racket easily, sending a low, deep forehand that landed right on the line.
Xu Fei couldn’t help but smile slightly.
It was alright, she hadn’t forgotten too much.
An Yao was shocked.
If her coach saw this serve, there was no telling how much praise they would heap upon it.
An Yao glanced at the test paper peeking out of Xu Fei’s pocket, and her smile instantly became respectful, with a hint of flattery.
“Senior, could you give me a few more pointers?”
Xu Fei watched her serve once.
“When you swing your racket, don’t raise your elbow. Bring the racket face down gently.”
An Yao did as instructed, and the ball successfully landed inside the court. The next few balls didn’t fly out either.
“It actually works!” An Yao was both surprised and delighted.
Seeing that Xu Fei was still staring at the racket, she handed it over again, begging, “Senior, please demonstrate one more time.”
Xu Fei hit another one.