“Lin Xi, have you seen that brown notebook in my desk?” Zhong Xiu fumbled inside her desk for a long time, bending down to look inside, but couldn’t find any trace of a brown item.
Taking advantage of the lunch break, Zhong Xiu planned to return Zhai Yong’s notebook, lest she forget after a long time. The content Lin Xi taught her was enough for her to handle high school physics.
“How can I not find it? I’m sure I put it here,” Zhong Xiu tucked a few strands of stray hair behind her ear.
“No,” Lin Xi knew she was referring to Zhai Yong’s notebook. Zhong Xiu had casually stuffed it into her desk and hadn’t taken it out since.
“That’s strange,” since it wasn’t in the desk, Zhong Xiu started searching through the stacks of books on top of the desk, flipping through them one by one.
Seeing her search back and forth three times with absolutely no sign of the notebook, Lin Xi thought for a moment. “Could Zhai Yong have needed it urgently and taken it back?”
To maximize study time, Zhai Yong hadn’t gone home for the weekend. If he had done some physics during this time, he might have just taken the notebook back to jot down notes and forgotten to tell Zhong Xiu.
“Alright, I’ll ask him later,” Zhong Xiu also felt this was the only possibility. After all, her other things were still there. Discipline was very strict at the Experimental High School, and students rarely experienced lost items.
Besides, if someone really intentionally took a notebook, why wouldn’t they take Lin Xi’s, but Zhai Yong’s instead?
Zhong Xiu flipped through Lin Xi’s notes. The handwriting was neat, the layout clear, and it was prettier than revision materials bought outside. It couldn’t possibly be because she kept Lin Xi’s notes at the bottom, could it?
Thinking of this, she felt a second of guilt. Subconsciously, she definitely cared more about Lin Xi’s notes. Every time she finished using them, she would place them at the very bottom, covering them with textbooks, afraid of getting them dirty or losing them.
Just before the bell rang, Zhai Yong and a few Beta male classmates came up the stairs from the stairwell, holding a basketball as usual, looking like they had played basketball for the entire lunch break without resting.
As he passed the window, Zhai Yong glanced towards Zhong Xiu. Zhong Xiu was just about to open her mouth to ask him about the notebook.
When the group of Beta boys saw the back window open, perhaps their post-basketball adrenaline hadn’t faded. One of the bolder ones directly called out to Zhong Xiu, “Sister-in-law,” which completely extinguished Zhong Xiu’s urge to ask her question.
It wasn’t the right time, so Zhong Xiu had to retract her gaze and focus on her exercises. The others encouraged their class monitor, saying she was shy and telling Zhai Yong to hurry up, as pretty Beta girls were rare.
“The school doesn’t allow dating, stop talking,” although he said this, it was a superficial remark. Zhai Yong didn’t really object to them, seeming to tacitly agree with the statement. The group entered the classroom with laughter and playful shoving.
“Zhong Xiu, the class monitor is so cool when he plays basketball. Could you come to the basketball court to cheer us on during P.E. this Friday?” a boy walked to the back row and spoke to Zhong Xiu over Lin Xi.
“We have to practice badminton; the teacher won’t let us leave,” Zhong Xiu said softly. Lin Xi was doing her exercises and didn’t like to be disturbed.
“Then next time? We have a few more matches with the boys from Class Five.”
“We’ll see next time,” Zhong Xiu offered an apologetic look. She wasn’t actually very interested in basketball.
The classroom fell silent again. Lin Xi stared at the extra ink dot on her scratch paper, a mark left by her pen tip lingering in the same spot for too long.
After school, Zhong Xiu followed behind her, slightly nervous, “Is it today?”
“Mhm.”
The birthday banquet was being held at the company and would be a formal event. It was scheduled for next week, and Zhong Xiu didn’t have a dress, so Lin Xi planned to take her to pick one out.
The downtown shopping mall was a bit far from the school. Lin Xi’s family driver had already been subtly dismissed by Lin Keqin. The two stood at the intersection for more than ten minutes, and not a single taxi stopped; all were occupied.
“It might be rush hour now,” Zhong Xiu checked her phone occasionally. The ride-hailing app also hadn’t found a driver to accept their request.
“Should we take the bus?” There was a bus stop nearby, and Lin Xi saw a route that went directly downtown.
Zhong Xiu was fine with it; she often took the bus when going out by herself. She was only worried that Lin Xi wasn’t used to it. Crowding was normal on buses, and if the driver drove poorly, it would be shaky, and sometimes there would be strange odors.
Just then, a not-too-crowded special bus line approached, and Lin Xi waved her hand towards the bus like others did.
The first few stops went smoothly. The Alpha held onto the strap and examined the design of the bus, even discussing with Zhong Xiu why there were holes in the plastic seats when people got off.
— Perhaps to withstand pressure and accommodate the thermal expansion and contraction of the plastic.
— Or maybe it’s for convenience when cleaning, so water doesn’t pool.
To avoid bothering others, Lin Xi used her phone to type.
Since promising to help Zhong Xiu improve her physics grade, the Alpha had tried every means to discuss phenomena in daily life that could be explained by physics knowledge. Zhong Xiu was touched by her meticulousness.
After about ten minutes, Lin Xi’s face began to turn pale. The bus driver was impatient, driving the brakes and acceleration like a race car, making everyone in the carriage sway back and forth with his maneuvers.
Every time the bus stopped, Zhong Xiu and Lin Xi swayed with the hanging straps on the handrails. After so many rounds, the Alpha covered her lower abdomen, feeling slightly unwell.
“Are you okay? Should we just take a taxi?” Zhong Xiu was very worried about her, wrapping one arm around her waist and grabbing the handrail, afraid she might fall.
“I’m fine,” it was truly difficult for someone raised in luxury to suddenly adapt to ordinary people’s lives. Lin Xi remembered Lin Keqin telling the family doctor when she was differentiating and unconscious that she was a hothouse flower and that even differentiating into an Alpha couldn’t change that.
Her parents had also said that she would never need to change.
Zhong Xiu looked around. The people standing on the bus were mostly young people like them, while the seated passengers were elderly and children. She couldn’t ask them to give up their seats for Lin Xi. It was still nearly an hour’s drive to the city center, and Lin Xi would surely vomit by then.
“If you feel dizzy, you can press your arm here,” a gentle female voice sounded from behind them.
Zhong Xiu turned around. It was a tall female Alpha, with delicate features and a gentle expression, wearing a pair of neat, gold-rimmed glasses and a white, unwrinkled shirt, with the buttons all neatly fastened. She didn’t look like someone who would commute by crowded bus.
“Here,” she pointed to a spot on Lin Xi’s forearm and explained to them, “It’s on the inner side of the forearm, between the palmaris longus tendon and the flexor carpi radialis tendon—that is, between these two prominent tendons, 2 inches above the wrist crease. It’s called the Neiguan acupoint. It’s very effective for motion sickness. You can try pressing it yourself.”
After she helped Lin Xi find the spot, Zhong Xiu pressed it firmly for a while, leaving a red mark on Lin Xi’s wrist. Lin Xi’s complexion genuinely improved slightly.
“Thank you, I don’t feel so bad now,” after calming down, Lin Xi pressed the spot herself. Zhong Xiu retracted her hand, feeling quite amazed.
“You’re welcome,” the woman nodded, standing quietly behind them.
Zhong Xiu scrutinized her profile. The woman looked quite young but carried a sense of tranquil composure. Standing there, she inexplicably gave people a feeling of security. Zhong Xiu wondered if she was a doctor; if so, she must be a very gentle one.
Suddenly recalling what You Tian had said about Lin Xi looking like an Omega, Zhong Xiu had never felt that way, but this woman truly resembled an Omega. Aside from her height, her whole being exuded an approachable, soft atmosphere, devoid of the sharp aura of an Alpha.
Mature and intellectual women always piqued people’s curiosity, and the most crucial point was whether she had a partner or was married.
Many passengers on the bus were looking at her. An adult male Omega directly crossed the bus from the other end to approach her, asking her outright if she had an Omega.
That was too direct, Zhong Xiu thought it was a bit abrupt. The woman also frowned slightly, not saying anything, but simply extending her left hand, on which the ring finger bore a silver-black ring with a blue sheen.
She’s married.
The Omega looked quite disappointed, as did the other passengers on the bus who had been watching.
It seemed that level didn’t matter in the face of gentleness.
This Alpha was not a top-tier one, yet both Omegas and Betas were drawn to her. In fact, Lin Xi had garnered many glances when she first got on the bus, but after this Alpha boarded, not many people focused their attention on Lin Xi anymore.
It might also be because Lin Xi was still young and wearing a high school uniform.
“I’m not small,” Lin Xi wasn’t very happy with that statement. She hadn’t told Zhong Xiu about the time she was harassed by the Omega male nurse at the hospital.
The woman seemed to have heard her, smiled lightly, and was about to say something.
A white car behind the bus honked its horn. A little girl leaned out of the passenger seat window. She looked four or five years younger than Zhong Xiu and Lin Xi, wearing a red hat, with a slightly chubby, exceptionally cute face. She was holding a Golden Retriever and called out “Mommy” through the window in a somewhat childish voice.
“I’m sorry, I thought they had already left, which is why I got on the bus,” the woman specially explained to the driver, smiling and asking him to pull over.
Although the driver was impatient, he was kind enough to let her off when they reached a safe place to stop.
She has a child that old, Zhong Xiu was a bit surprised.
What kind of Omega could have such a beautiful and gentle Alpha? Everyone on the bus shared the same confusion as Zhong Xiu, craning their necks to look, but the anti-peeping glass on the driver’s side was thick, making it impossible to see the driver’s appearance from the side.
The car wasn’t a luxury one, just a very ordinary Buick.
Zhong Xiu didn’t pay much attention to this small interlude, thinking she might have just run into an Alpha doctor who usually didn’t take the bus.
However, Lin Xi took another look. Top-tier Alphas have a higher sensitivity to pheromones than others.
The woman just now, despite being a gentle, milk-scented Alpha, had the faint, intangible scent of another Alpha’s pheromones subtly surrounding her. Moreover, that clear cedar scent was somewhat domineering, giving even Lin Xi, a top-tier Alpha, a sense of warning.
The person driving was highly likely also a top-tier Alpha.
Two Alphas, together? Lin Xi didn’t miss that the little girl had called the Alpha “Mommy.” This indicated at least two things:
First, the little girl should also have a mother, the woman herself.
Second, the woman’s family status was higher than the other’s.
Either the other person was an Alpha of an even higher rank, or an Omega with a particularly prominent family background, to have the child call the Alpha “Mommy.” Judging by the pheromones Lin Xi had sensed, the former was clearly more likely.
It took another hour to reach the shopping mall.
Lin Xi’s steps were still a bit unsteady as she got off the bus. It was her first time taking such a long bus ride, and even with the acupoint massage, she was somewhat unaccustomed to it.
“Are you feeling very unwell?” Zhong Xiu linked arms with her, concerned.
“Mhm.” Lin Xi felt like vomiting even smelling gasoline now.
Her vestibular nerves, which hadn’t experienced much jolting stimulation, were overly sensitive, amplifying the chaotic signals in her head.
Zhong Xiu accompanied her to sit at the bus stop for a while until her motion sickness slowly subsided.
There were several stores specializing in custom formal wear here, places frequented by the upper class and wealthy gentry. The price tags alone, starting at five figures, were enough to deter most people, making the area quite quiet compared to other bustling shops.
“Uncle asked us to go, so he should be paying the bill.” Lin Xi said this to her before entering, perhaps worried that Zhong Xiu might feel financially burdened.
“Okay,” Zhong Xiu nodded.
Actually, after she told her father about this last time, he had given her a credit card. Her mother used to have many, many formal dresses for various events, but her father had always been reluctant to give them away or sell them, keeping them all hung in the bedroom closet. Every change of season, her father would meticulously take care of them one by one.
“Young President Lin, is that you?”
The two sales assistants standing by the counter had initially seen them in school uniforms and thought they were children who had walked into the wrong place, so they hadn’t intended to greet them. However, one of them recognized Lin Xi.
“I need to order two formal dresses,” Lin Xi went straight to the point.
“Alright,” this sales assistant seemed quite familiar with her and led the two of them directly to the mannequin area to choose dress styles.
“Wasn’t Young President Lin the handsome Alpha guy from last time?” the other sales assistant whispered.
“Shh, that’s not for us to talk about.”
Their voices reached Lin Xi and Zhong Xiu’s ears. Zhong Xiu guessed that the “handsome guy” was likely referring to Lin Yucheng.
Recalling how the dean of students had been so solicitous toward Lin Yucheng on the sports field last time, Zhong Xiu felt a chill. She had always thought their favor towards Lin Xi was because of her excellence, but it turned out to be merely because of Lin Xi’s family background.
No wonder so many people fought tooth and nail to climb into high society.
It was absurd, yet realistic.
Lin Xi had long been accustomed to all of this.
Leading Zhong Xiu past a section of mannequins, they arrived in front of a simple, elegant red cocktail dress.
It was a dress that reached just above the knee. The shoulders and hem had hollowed-out lace trim, with a silky satin slip dress underneath. The chest and back weren’t overly exposed, and the style wasn’t complicated, making it suitable for their age.
“This one?” The clothes she chose made Zhong Xiu especially nervous, afraid it wouldn’t suit her.
Lin Xi nodded and asked the assistant to take the dress down.
Guided by the sales assistant, Zhong Xiu entered the fitting room.
There were two backpacks placed on the sofa. Lin Xi wasn’t in a hurry to choose her own dress, sitting on the sofa and flipping through the dresses not hung in the display cabinets, perhaps looking for others that might suit Zhong Xiu.
It was hard to imagine what she would look like in these dresses. In Lin Xi’s memory, she had only ever seen her in a school uniform, over and over again.
Suddenly thinking of something, Lin Xi picked up another template magazine from the coffee table, pointed to a picture, and said, “Please bring me this one.”
The sales assistant glanced at it and looked a bit troubled. “This pair of shoes is specially designed for Omegas.”
“Bring it over.” The Alpha’s tone was cool and powerful, brooking no refusal.
Gathering her courage, Zhong Xiu pulled back the fitting room curtain and slowly stepped out.
Lin Xi’s eyes lit up.
The dress fit her perfectly. Her straight shoulders and elegant neck were no longer hidden by the strict collar of her school uniform, like a precious jade buried in stone, revealing its dazzling inner radiance.
The casual shoes on her feet were unsuitable, so Zhong Xiu had taken them off and was now standing barefoot on the carpet. Her delicate toes were clean and white, her smooth instep faintly revealed a few subtle veins, and her exquisite ankle was so slender it could be easily grasped.
Even the sales assistants, who had seen many wealthy Omega young ladies, were stunned by her striking appearance. The assistant who had gone to fetch the shoes didn’t say anything further.
Taking out a pair of similarly simple white high heels from the shoe box, with a heel that wasn’t too high, Lin Xi motioned for her to sit down.
“I… I’ll do it myself.” Seeing her squat down, Zhong Xiu’s toes curled up.
The sales assistant beside them also widened her eyes, wildly speculating about Zhong Xiu’s identity—a Beta actually had a top-tier Alpha personally bend down for her.
“Don’t move,” the Alpha ignored her protests, gently slipping the shoes onto her feet. The strap buckled right around her ankle.
Sure enough, one hand could easily hold it. Lin Xi felt a dryness in her throat.
This wasn’t the first time Zhong Xiu had worn shoes with a slight heel; the dance shoes she used to practice in had even higher heels than these.
“Stand up and let me see,” Lin Xi helped her up.
The formal dress seemed to possess a magical power, like the witch’s pumpkin carriage at midnight, instantly transforming a girl into an esteemed princess.
In the mirror, Zhong Xiu saw her face flush from her neck down to her toes, especially the ankle that Lin Xi had just touched. Thankfully, the dress was red, making her shyness less obvious.
“What about you?”
She was still wearing her school uniform, and standing next to Zhong Xiu, she looked a little subdued.
“I’ll wear this one,” Lin Xi pointed to a set of white shirt and black trousers in the magazine. This set of formal wear didn’t have a sample yet. “I’ll have someone deliver it together later.”
“Alright,” Zhong Xiu was a little disappointed not to see her try it on.
— I really want to see you in formal wear, too. It must be beautiful. I wonder when I’ll get the chance.
Lion was very good at talking and making people happy. Zhong Xiu replied with a smile:
— I wear a school uniform every day, don’t I?
She was talking about the character in the game.
— You’re definitely prettier than the character in the game.
The time they spent chatting in the game was longer than the time they spent playing. In real life, Zhong Xiu confided her anxiety and fear, which she had no one else to talk to, to Lion. Lion did the same.
She clearly remembered what Lin Yucheng had said behind her last time. She always felt uneasy, wondering what unpredictable things would happen at Lin Xi’s birthday banquet.
— I really want to come over and back you up.
This sentence made Zhong Xiu laugh.
— Come on, then.
— Not yet. The timing is just a little bit off.
She spoke as if she really would “meet up” with Zhong Xiu in real life. Zhong Xiu just took it as a joke, although she had already told Lion about the forum incident last time, so Lion should know her school and class.
After playing a round of dual-player combat with Lion, Zhong Xiu was about to turn off her tablet to study for a while when an unfamiliar chat window suddenly popped up.
— Meet me tomorrow after school by the water dispenser corner on the third floor?
The signature was Brother Cheng.
— Why should I meet you?
Zhong Xiu, who was on high alert, sat up from her bed, staring at the window that showed the other party typing, her brows furrowing unconsciously.
— Do you want everyone to see the photo of Lin Xi biting you?
Immediately after, he sent a blurry picture. It was taken on the back hill, showing an Alpha girl in a school uniform pressing down on another person.
It looked very much like Lin Xi, but it was definitely not Lin Xi.
Zhong Xiu could tell instantly; the Alpha in the photo had particularly rough movements and a slight hunch.
But she could tell, while others might not be able to.
What exactly did he want to do?
As soon as the class bell rang, Lin Xi saw Zhong Xiu rush out of the classroom with her phone. She seemed preoccupied all day, constantly looking at her phone.
“Old Yu didn’t call her out, though,” You Tian said casually. “He just collected the Chinese test papers; he can’t be that heartless.”
The senior high building had an L-shape structure. The long side contained the classrooms, and the short side held the restrooms. The hot water dispenser room was right at the corner.
Before Zhong Xiu even got close to the water dispenser room on the third floor, she smelled a heavy, particularly choking scent of smoke.
“You can’t even stand this small amount of smell, you’re really delicate. It’s a pity you’re not an Omega.”
Lin Yucheng stubbed out his cigarette in the sink and shook his head.
“What do you want?” Zhong Xiu stood two meters away from him, forcing herself to suppress the urge to cover her nose and mouth.
“Don’t you like Lin Xi? I’m just helping you get Lin Xi. How about it?” Lin Yucheng curved his lips in a smile. His deep, magnetic voice and the mole near the corner of his eye added a touch of mystery to him.
“How will you help?” Hearing him say this, Zhong Xiu calmed down instead. This was what she had expected.
He just wanted to ruin Lin Xi, whether by using Zhang Mingming, that unfortunate Omega, or herself, this Beta.
“Isn’t her birthday banquet at the end of the month? All you have to do is subtly reveal your engagement then, and everyone will know she belongs to you.”
He wore a smile on his face, but couldn’t hide the contempt and disdain. He clearly felt completely confident in Zhong Xiu’s choice.
“If I don’t reveal it, won’t you all publicly announce it anyway?”
Wasn’t the so-called “engagement” meant to achieve this purpose from the start?
Zhong Xiu was completely different from Zhang Mingming. She understood Lin Yucheng’s intention too clearly. The most fundamental difference between them was that Zhang Mingming liked Lin Yucheng’s pheromones, while Zhong Xiu liked Lin Xi.
Lin Yucheng’s smile slowly disappeared. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the Beta who dared to confront him. A dangerous aura spread through the air.
School was not a good place to make a move, especially after seeing the figure at the doorway of the fifth-floor classroom. The person’s gaze was fixed in this direction.
Zhong Xiu had her back to that side and couldn’t see behind her. Lin Yucheng quickly walked over, clamped her shoulder, and leaned in to say softly, “Do you want to know what Lin Xi’s pheromones smell like?”
Pain radiated from her left shoulder. The blatant smell of the Alpha’s smoke filled her senses. Zhong Xiu pushed him away forcefully.
“You wouldn’t dare ask anyone else this question, would you?” Pushed by her, and noticing that the Alpha across the way seemed unable to hold back and had already reached the fourth-floor stairwell, Lin Yucheng was unusually not angry and smiled again.
“Then, see you at the birthday banquet.”
In the air, a faint scent of mint pheromones silently spread. The unaware Beta covered her shoulder and walked towards the classroom.
“Why did you come out?” Zhong Xiu ran into Lin Xi at the fourth-floor corner, caught off guard, and felt a surge of panic.
“You were taking too long to come back,” sensing the scent of another Alpha on her, the Alpha’s tone instantly dropped to freezing point.
The figure who had walked down to the first floor seemed to have a telepathic sense, looking back up to the fifth floor, placing his index and middle fingers together near his ear, and waving a greeting to Lin Xi.
“I’m sorry, I… went to the restroom.” Zhong Xiu still didn’t have the courage to tell her the truth, afraid of misunderstanding.
“Do you like it?” Lin Xi stared into her eyes, her gaze deep.
“What?”
Her question was very sudden and disjointed. Zhong Xiu didn’t quite understand what she was asking.
“Mint scent.”
Zhong Xiu froze in place. Could it be that she had overheard their conversation?
Could Lin Xi’s pheromones be mint-scented?
Zhong Xiu, who intensely disliked mint, completely panicked.
“I like it.” Zhong Xiu lowered her eyes. She heard that Alphas were very sensitive about the smell of their pheromones; even if it wasn’t a partner, they would get angry if someone said their pheromones smelled bad.
If she really was mint-scented… then starting today to accept this scent should be enough time, right?
Lin Xi stared at her for a long time.
From childhood until now, she had never paid Lin Yucheng any mind, but after Zhong Xiu said that sentence, she actually started to resent Lin Yucheng.
“What’s wrong?” Her reaction was strange. Zhong Xiu didn’t know which part of her speech was wrong.
“Nothing, let’s go back.”
The Alpha whose chest was filled with inexplicable emotions, the Alpha who wanted to wash away the mint scent with rosemary, felt like a popped balloon, losing the right to release her pheromones.
After dinner, Zhong Xiu saw Lin Xi off. The first thing she did after closing her bedroom door was to open her phone.
‘Do cats like mint?’
Most answers online were affirmative.
“Is she really mint-scented?” Zhong Xiu hugged Sherlock, shaking the cat’s body non-stop.
She didn’t know whether to be happy that she knew her pheromone scent or to be sad that her pheromone scent was mint.
“Meow!” Sherlock struggled in dissatisfaction, trying to escape her clutches.
— Not necessarily. Mint and catnip are two different things. Many cats don’t like the smell of mint.
Perhaps trying to comfort her, Lion sent her this message.
— After I said I liked the mint scent, she’s been acting weird, barely talking to me and keeping her distance.
When she tutored her, Lin Xi sat as if there was another person separating them, and the same went for dinner. She only talked to her grandparents and barely spoke to Zhong Xiu. This sense of distance was too obvious.
She felt like Lin Xi was angry.
Sitting on the bed, Zhong Xiu’s mood was conflicted as she added a series of items to her shopping cart—mint-scented shampoo, mint-scented body wash, mint-scented body lotion…
— Why don’t you confirm again? You don’t have to force yourself to accept something you dislike, since you can’t smell her pheromones anyway.
Lion’s words calmed Zhong Xiu down, stopping the hand that was about to pay.
That was true. Even if she couldn’t directly ask Lin Xi, she could start with Sherlock.
“Mint? What do you need that for?” Zhong Ruilin glanced at the wall clock. It was already ten o’clock at night.
“To tease Sherlock,” Zhong Xiu said, holding the cat, regardless of the black cat detective’s strong resistance. “It seems to be addicted to mint recently.”
“I’ll buy it for you tomorrow. It’s too late today, and we haven’t needed that ingredient recently, so the kitchen doesn’t have any,” Zhong Ruilin didn’t know what to do with her.
At the same time, the computer in Lin Xi’s bedroom was on. The cursor on the editor had been blinking for half an hour without moving.
Until the screen automatically switched to the screensaver, cycling through several repeating images.
The sound of the computer shutting down echoed in the quiet room, and the notebook was closed with a snap.
The Alpha in pajamas ruffled her hair, took a magazine out of her backpack. You Tian had forced it upon her.
In this regard, Lin Xi was considered a pure and innocent soul. During the class break, You Tian squinted his eyes and secretly slipped a magazine of young models under her desk. The Omegas in it, regardless of gender, were all top-tier in looks and figure, appearing fragile and easily arousing a desire for conquest and a wish to bite.
Lin Xi hadn’t initially wanted to look. The pose of the male Omega on the cover was a little provocative, but You Tian said:
Which Alpha doesn’t look at sexy magazines! Don’t tell me you’re a top-tier one!
“Does Zhong Xiu look?” Lin Xi asked him, as Zhong Xiu wasn’t in the classroom at the time.
“She’s a Beta, of course, she’s different from us!” You Tian said this while constantly glancing out the window, clearly feeling guilty.
Didn’t Lin Xi realize he deliberately brought out the magazine only when Zhong Xiu wasn’t around? The academic genius seemed to lack common sense in this area.
He even dragged Gao Lan into the conspiracy, “Ask her if she looks.”
“Yes,” Gao Lan twitched his mouth, forced to nod in agreement, like an emotionless robot.
So Lin Xi accepted it.
“This is the door to your new world,” You Tian winked at her, smiling meaningfully.
Anyway, she had already finished her revisions, and she couldn’t concentrate on programming.
The glandular doctor that day had told her to have more contact with Omegas, especially when she was in a bad mood. Lin Xi leaned on the bed and opened the magazine.
Looking at the heavily made-up Omega half-kneeling on the car hood, wearing only underwear, she thought of the Omega nurse at the hospital again and expressionlessly turned the page.
The next page was uniform temptation. The Omega, with her hair in a ponytail, sat upright in the genuine leather back seat, fully dressed. Her posture was proper, her expression a little bewildered, but the desire in the depths of her eyes was undeniable.
It was probably a pure route to satisfy Alphas with different tastes.
No ripples appeared in the brown lake of Lin Xi’s eyes. She quickly flipped through the entire magazine. The new world remained closed, its door firmly shut.
Zhong Xiu’s voice still occasionally echoed in her mind: I like the mint scent.
Throwing back the covers, the Alpha got out of bed, patiently searching out every item in the house related to mint and tossing them all into the trash can.
— It looks like I’ll have to bring out my ultimate move.
Hearing that Lin Xi felt nothing towards these Omegas, You Tian was indignant. He instantly sent several gigabytes of electronic data to Lin Xi.
Don’t overthink it; it wasn’t videos.
It was his personally compiled, high-definition electronic condensed version of out-of-print magazines—legitimate beauty pageant model magazines, legally printed, okay?
The pictures were mostly Omegas, but one of them was mixed with Alphas and Betas, from a previous year’s Asian beauty pageant finals, irrespective of nationality and gender.
This all-gender magazine seemed more normal. The clothing was no longer mainly revealing, and the poses were much more elegant, appropriately showcasing beauty.
Lin Xi, who had long been visually fatigued, developed a little interest and opened this magazine to admire.
When she flipped to one picture, Lin Xi’s eyes suddenly widened. She dragged the mouse to zoom in to the maximum.
She stared closely at the model on the screen for a long time, closed her eyes to confirm something, and immediately picked up her phone next to her to make a voice call to You Tian.
You Tian and Gao Lan were the only new student contacts in Lin Xi’s list besides Zhong Xiu.
It connected quickly, and she heard You Tian’s voice humming a tune while showering.
“How is it? Has the door opened this time?”
“Do you have past issues of this magazine? I want all of them.”
“Wow, you’re not one to make a sound until you stun everyone! Tell me, which Omega has caught your eye?” You Tian’s gossipy tone instantly flared up. He wished he could crawl out of the phone’s receiver to see clearly.
“I want the physical copies too,” Lin Xi ignored him, her eyes still fixed on the screen.
These electronic materials only contained pictures. The covers, contents, and text of the original magazines were mostly cropped out. It was clear that the creator was only interested in beautiful people and nothing else.
“Ah,” You Tian sounded troubled. “The physical copies are already out of print, though. I’m keeping them as a treasured collection, and I only have one set.”
“For the next year, I’ll buy your magazines for you.”
“No problem! I’ll bring them to you next week.”
The two Alphas immediately reached an agreement.
But there was still one thing Lin Xi hadn’t figured out. She stood by the window, looking down at the quiet courtyard, letting the cool night air brush against her.
Why did she care about the scent Lin Yucheng left on Zhong Xiu? Why did she care more about Zhong Xiu’s feeling towards the mint scent?
Most importantly, why did she feel the urge to lose her temper after Zhong Xiu said she liked the mint scent?
The next morning, Zhong Ruilin bought a large bundle of mint for Zhong Xiu.
Zhong Xiu was eating breakfast, and the cool scent immediately made her want to run away.
Sherlock, who was lying at her feet, reacted exactly the same way.
But as soon as it ran to the balcony, Zhong Xiu, holding her breath, caught it back.
“Meow!” Sherlock’s black cat face visibly contorted. It used its claws to shred the green leaves.
“Are you subjecting it to the ten great tortures? Be careful; it might never speak to you again,” Zhong Ruilin was delighted, watching their mutual expression of suffering.
How could this be? Doesn’t it like this smell?
Zhong Xiu stared at the furious, sulking Sherlock, unable to understand.