At the hospital, Zhang Mingming was awake and sobbing in bed, “My neck is so purple, how can I ever face anyone!”
“You brought it on yourself,” You Tian leaned against the wall, speaking in a casual, flippant tone.
“You should worry about how you’ll face people if the news gets out that you used pheromones to tempt Lin Xi,” Gao Lan added, twisting the knife.
“Who says I tempted her? Do you have any evidence?” Zhang Mingming craned his neck, kicking the blanket off the bed, looking like he was about to throw a tantrum. “She was clearly trying to force a mark on me.”
“Force a mark on you? Who do you think you are, a top-tier O? Or maybe Shen Zhi Qiu?” Kicking the blanket back onto the bed, You Tian rolled his eyes. This guy usually acted decent, but his true nature was that of a shrew.
The careless words hit Zhang Mingming hard. He absolutely did not want to hear the name Shen Zhi Qiu. The Omega’s face crumpled. “She was trying to force a mark on me.”
Just then, Lin Xi and Zhong Xiu walked in.
“Say that again,” You Tian secretly gestured towards Lin Xi with his fingers under his armpit, egging him on.
The moment their eyes met, Zhang Mingming trembled all over. The fear of being brought to the brink of death by the Alpha rushed back. He instinctively leaned towards You Tian. Even though he intensely disliked the other Alpha, it was better than meeting Lin Xi’s cold eyes.
“I’ll wait outside.”
Lin Xi didn’t want to be in the same space as him. She sat on a chair in the waiting room.
She was alone outside. She reached up and touched her lips, then buried her face in her hands, murmuring,
“How could I bite a Beta.”
“How are you feeling?” Zhong Xiu walked over to ask the Omega, still worried that Lin Xi might have caused him some lasting injury.
“I don’t feel good here, and I don’t feel good there, my whole body doesn’t feel good!” Zhang Mingming was about to cry again, clutching his neck.
“He’s fine. His thyroid cartilage isn’t broken, just a slight soft tissue contusion,” Gao Lan said, holding his diagnosis report. “Lin Xi might have been given an anesthetic, so her strength wasn’t that great.”
“That’s good,” Zhong Xiu was slightly relieved, although the Alpha’s strength wasn’t insignificant when she was restraining her.
“Hey, you call that a slight contusion? It hurts like hell!” Zhang Mingming was emotional, but didn’t dare raise his voice. His hand was on his neck, and his eyes darted towards the door. “She wanted to kill me!”
“Shouldn’t you be killed?”
Surrounded by two Alphas and one Beta, Zhang Mingming knew he had no means of redress, so he just kept wiping away tears, trying to appeal to their conscience.
“The one who wanted to kill you was Lin Yu Cheng,” Zhong Xiu stared into his eyes.
“Impossible!”
“Then why did he abandon you? You should know what happens when an Omega and an Alpha are alone together,” Gao Lan held the cigarette butt up in front of his eyes.
Yes, what happens when an Omega and an Alpha are alone together? Zhong Xiu controlled the urge to touch the back of her neck. If she hadn’t arrived in time, would Lin Xi have really done something to Zhang Mingming? Or, what if another Omega had appeared, like Shen Zhi Qiu?
“This was just an accident, don’t try to sow discord between me and Cheng Ge,” Zhang Mingming’s face was flushed.
“Hmph,” You Tian looked at him as if he were dirt. “I don’t care what you and your Cheng Ge do. But Dad here has your embarrassing photos. If you dare tell anyone about this, you can look forward to getting calls from old scumbag Alphas on adult websites in the middle of the night.”
“You took secret photos of me!” Zhang Mingming was mortified, covering his face with a pillow. “What did you take pictures of!”
“Whatever you think it is,” You Tian said with a wicked smile.
“…” Zhong Xiu felt a bit guilty, but, “Are you in charge of the school forum?”
“What are you trying to do?” Zhang Mingming backed up until he hit the tiled wall behind the bed, with nowhere else to retreat.
“What? Of course, our class representative needs to write something on your forum. We’re borrowing your administrator privileges,” You Tian took out his phone. “What do you call it? Making your shabby little site flourish.”
“…”
While Zhong Xiu and You Tian were negotiating with Zhang Mingming, Gao Lan quietly slipped out of the ward.
A tall figure sat quietly outside, seemingly lost in thought.
“Hey,” Gao Lan patted her shoulder. “How does it feel to bite a Beta?”
Lin Xi quickly turned her head, her gaze sharp.
“She didn’t tell me. I figured it out,” Gao Lan sat down on the chair next to her, pointing to Lin Xi’s less-than-clean school uniform. “Her uniform is like yours.”
“What are you trying to say?” Lin Xi glanced at her own uniform, particularly the collar area, which was clean.
“Nothing, just, I’m a little envious of you,” Gao Lan smiled.
Lin Xi didn’t know what to say.
“We got it! We got it!” You Tian excitedly ran out holding a piece of paper with the forum administrator account and password on it.
“You’re amazing,” Gao Lan playfully punched his shoulder.
Lin Xi could have gotten the information on that paper with a few keystrokes on her computer. The school forum website wasn’t very secure. But just like the words people spoke, she wasn’t very interested.
Even if they blocked their keyboards, they couldn’t block their mouths and thoughts.
However, the smiles of her few classmates stopped her from speaking.
“Do you want to go check it out?” Lin Xi looked at Zhong Xiu. The bite she gave wasn’t light. Zhong Xiu wasn’t an Omega and didn’t have a scent gland on the back of her neck, just nerve endings and capillaries.
“Check what? What’s wrong with Zhong Xiu?” You Tian looked her over curiously.
“No need, I’m fine,” Zhong Xiu didn’t really want to see an Alpha/Omega Gland specialist. After all, she was a Beta.
“Don’t pry into what you shouldn’t know,” Gao Lan pulled on You Tian’s backpack and walked ahead.
It was already late, and it had been dark outside for a while. None of them had eaten dinner.
“Let’s go grab some barbecue!” You Tian rubbed his hands together. The barbecue street wasn’t far from the hospital, and the aroma drifted all over the city.
Zhong Xiu and Gao Lan both looked at Lin Xi. The young miss probably hadn’t eaten street-side barbecue before.
Lin Xi nodded.
C City’s barbecue street was famous, not only a must-visit spot for tourists but also a place where many wealthy people reportedly loved to eat skewers because the food was so delicious.
This time was the peak of the late-night snack rush. The narrow alley was covered with large red tents and packed with people. Several popular internet-famous shops had plastic stools lined up outside and were filled with queuing customers.
The crowd was overwhelming, much worse than the back alley. But You Tian and the others were used to it. They carried their school bags and navigated the street as skillfully as they did the school campus. Lin Xi clearly wasn’t used to so many people. Furthermore, because of her height, she could see the dense crowd of heads, and she was almost squeezed out of the flow.
Afraid she’d get lost, Zhong Xiu quietly held onto her sleeve.
“Do we need to queue?” The naive Lin Xi didn’t realize that getting barbecue also involved a bit of under-the-table maneuvering.
Zhong Xiu lightly pointed her chin. You Tian had already run into a barbecue shop with a couplet posted on the door. It also had a long line outside, but no plastic chairs and no free snacks.
“Boss, give us a seafood set meal, the usual.”
“Alright, there are still seats on the second floor.” The boss was a middle-aged Beta couple. Seeing a familiar face, they immediately greeted them.
“Maybe two sets,” Zhong Xiu said, slightly embarrassed, to the proprietress.
“Two sets?” The boss, who was dipping sauces, turned around. “There are four of you, right? Can you finish it?”
“Yeah, the three of us usually only eat one set. We probably don’t need that much,” Gao Lan didn’t quite believe it either.
“Just order it,” Zhong Xiu said helplessly.
See, no one believed that a top Alpha could eat so much.
The interior decor was a bit old, and the chairs were the bright red plastic stools found outside, but the hygiene was decent. The tables were covered with clean disposable tablecloths.
Lin Xi, whose school uniform still had some dust on it, put a napkin on her stool before sitting down.
No one paid attention to her.
The little squad was still discussing how to help Lin Xi get rid of the “unlucky” label. Lin Xi sat by herself, quietly eating grilled squid.
“Oh my god, at least leave some for us!” You Tian’s eyes darted over and he discovered that only half of the large seafood set he ordered was left. He quickly grabbed a skewer and shoved it into his mouth.
Zhong Xiu shook her head, glad she had ordered an extra set.
“What’s wrong?” Zhong Xiu was surprised to see her eyes looking a little wet.
“Spicy,” the Alpha sniffled, her innocent eyes welling up with tears.
“Of course it’s spicy. Barbecue has to be spicy. I ordered the insanely spicy one,” You Tian proudly slurped a crayfish. Snot quickly dripped from his nostrils.
“Why are you eating so fast, and your mouth is still so clean?” Gao Lan was studying her eating style. You Tian had only eaten a little, and his mouth was already covered in oil.
Lin Xi opened her left fist. There was a used napkin that was already soaked with oil.
“If you were afraid of the spice, you should have said so earlier,” Zhong Xiu was slightly amused and took a clean napkin to wipe her tears.
“Tsk tsk, Lin Xi, you really look like an Omega,” You Tian finally couldn’t help himself and spoke his mind. He had lost $3.80 betting on this, after all.
Lin Xi didn’t refute. Maybe she couldn’t speak because it was still spicy. Zhong Xiu poured her a glass of iced lemon tea.
“Be careful. Haven’t you had enough of the pheromones yet? Who was it that had to hold onto a tree to avoid kneeling?” Gao Lan picked up a skewer of grilled gluten and said slowly.
“Hey, why did you say that!” You Tian shoved her. “You almost knelt, too!”
“If it’s too spicy, you can rinse it in the clear soup,” Zhong Xiu dipped the squid in the bone broth, then placed it on a clean plate for her. Her original plate was covered in red oil.
“Tsk tsk, Zhong Xiu, I need my mouth wiped too,” You Tian pouted and leaned closer.
“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” Gao Lan disdainfully moved her chair to the side.
“I didn’t… wipe her mouth,” Zhong Xiu’s face reddened slightly. She stood up and tossed the napkin to him.
“Hmph, you’re so biased—” Just as he was about to call her biased, You Tian suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Why did Lin Xi’s gaze feel so strange when she looked at him?
Lin Xi withdrew her gaze. To be honest, she also felt strange about herself.
“Rinsing the barbecue ruins the fun,” Gao Lan looked at Lin Xi mischievously. “Don’t you agree?”
“Mm,” Lin Xi actually nodded.
The barbecue, washed in the bone broth, was less crispy, and much of the cumin flavor was gone, even though it wasn’t as spicy anymore.
“You usually eat bland food. Eating like this might give you diarrhea,” Zhong Xiu was a little worried.
“Oh,” Lin Xi buried her head, eating the rinsed grilled chicken wings.
The two people across from them stared at them, whispering and smiling with ill intent. Zhong Xiu had no choice but to remain silent.
Overall, they had a very enjoyable barbecue. For Lin Xi, she got to know two more classmates, even though they had been classmates for two years. For Gao Lan and You Tian, they learned that the aloof academic ace also loved street barbecue and could be moved to tears by chili peppers.
After parting ways at the intersection, Gao Lan and You Tian took Zhang Mingming home. Lin Xi accompanied Zhong Xiu to the milk tea shop to retrieve her school bag.
There was a pharmacy on the way, and Lin Xi insisted that Zhong Xiu go in to have the bite mark on the back of her neck treated. Zhong Xiu couldn’t refuse.
“That’s quite a bite. Does it hurt?” The Beta doctor at the pharmacy rubbed ointment on Zhong Xiu with a look of pity, then frowned at Lin Xi standing nearby. “Did your girlfriend bite you?”
Zhong Xiu didn’t dare answer her directly, only softly saying, “It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt now.”
“Apply this cream twice a day, morning and evening. It’s probably hard to do it yourself.”
“Give it to me.” Even Lin Xi, slow as she was, understood the implication of the doctor’s words.
The doctor naturally handed it to her, not forgetting to add,
“Don’t bite her again. She’s not an Omega. This scar won’t disappear for at least a few weeks.”
Lin Xi lowered her head and tucked the medication into her black school bag.
“Mm.”