A Stand-in Alpha Awakens - Chapter 16

At 9:24 PM, Jiang Lu returned to the door of Room 601, clutching her hot water kettle and breathing heavily.

Liang Shuang was just about to head downstairs to pick her up. Opening the door to see Jiang Lu’s flushed face, she stepped aside in surprise and asked, “Why are you panting like that?”

“I was afraid you’d be waiting anxiously, so I ran a bit fast,” Jiang Lu said, placing the full kettle against the wall. She slipped past into the bathroom to wash her hands.

“No rush, I—” Liang Shuang’s voice cut off. She sniffed the air curiously, then pulled the door back open to look outside, inhaling deeply with a puzzled expression. There was a faint scent of an Omega—it seemed lighter than the scents usually found indoors.

Huh? Did Jiang Lu bring that back with her?

No way, right?

Thinking this, Liang Shuang frowned and followed her into the bathroom, but there wasn’t a trace of a similar scent on Jiang Lu’s person.

…Was she hallucinating?

Jiang Lu caught the confused eyes in the mirror, calmly arched an eyebrow, and turned around. “What’s with that face?”

“Oh, nothing,” Liang Shuang shook her head. “I thought I smelled a very faint Omega pheromone scent. I thought you’d picked it up on your clothes, just verifying.”

Jiang Lu walked past her without hesitation, her tone level. “It’s possible. When I was coming out after getting the water, I bumped into an Omega junior. I probably picked it up then.”

Liang Shuang was about to say that shouldn’t happen—the school’s Omegas, like them, were supposed to change their suppressant patches regularly. Then she realized Jiang Lu mentioned a “junior,” one of the freshmen currently in military training who sweated through several shirts a day. She nodded understandingly.

“That must be it, then.”

Lin Tingting and Chen Xueyao had also returned. After living together for a few days, Liang Shuang’s impression of them was quite good.

Coming out of the bathroom, Liang Shuang dragged the shared long table from the wall to the center of the room. She fished four cups of instant noodles out of a large plastic bag hanging on the wardrobe door.

Jiang Lu knew she wanted to treat the roommates to a snack. She smiled, turned around, and pulled a whole unopened pack of sausages from another bag, tossing them onto the table.

Sure enough, a second later, Liang Shuang walked over to the opposite desks and tapped the bed frames. “Are you guys hungry? Want a snack?”

Lin Tingting and Chen Xueyao had returned late because they had also gone to the supermarket. Unfortunately, due to their quiet and reserved personalities, they hadn’t been able to outcompete the packs of “hungry wolves” and had returned with only a few bags of wafers and fruit candies.

Hearing Liang Shuang’s invitation, the two exchanged a look and immediately stood up.

Lin Tingting said, “Is it okay? How much were the noodles? We’ll transfer the money to you.”

Chen Xueyao echoed, “Mhm, we’ll buy them from you.”

“No need, it’s just a cup of noodles. Don’t be so polite, it’s my treat,” Liang Shuang said, returning to the long table to unwrap her spicy beef noodles. Her slender, bright eyes flicked toward Jiang Lu.

Jiang Lu caught her gaze. Recalling the scenes that used to happen when she lived with Song Wushuang, she pursed her lips and said, “There are other flavors in the bag. If you don’t like the ones on the table, you can swap them out.”

Chen Xueyao waved her hands repeatedly. “No, this one is great.” After saying that, she pulled out her own hard fruit candies and put them on the table. Lin Tingting also contributed various flavors of filled bread.

In the blink of an eye, the empty long table was covered in various snacks. One kettle of hot water was just enough to brew four cups of noodles.

By 9:30 PM, the four girls finished eating, opened the dorm doors and windows to ventilate, and took turns washing up. When the lights-out bell rang, Jiang Lu, the last to finish, happened to walk out, turn off the light, and climb into bed.

Lying there, Jiang Lu’s nose was filled with the scent of body wash. She let out a satisfied, soft laugh.

Liang Shuang, sleeping head-to-head with her, looked up curiously and whispered, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, just thought of something happy,” Jiang Lu whispered back.

Liang Shuang said softly, “Alright then. Sleep early. There will be more and more happy things in the future.”

Jiang Lu froze. She had expected Liang Shuang to press for details, but hearing a response like that, the curl of her lips widened instantly.

“Okay. Goodnight.”

Liang Shuang responded, “Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

The light from the window silently died. Jiang Lu closed her eyes. The events of ten minutes ago flickered through her mind, and her heart felt as light as if she had just finished a fitness test. Her body relaxed as she turned toward the wall, her breathing gradually becoming slow and even.

At the same time, outside the school walls, Su Mengrui walked toward a lit small pharmacy with a dark face. She emerged a few minutes later wearing a blue medical mask.

The private car she had called arrived just then. She swept a cold gaze over the license plate and got in. Through the car window, she glared at the pitch-black No. 1 High dormitory building. Her hands were clenched so tight that the veins on her fair skin bulged.

In her eighteen years of being pampered and doted on, when had she ever suffered such an insult?!

That blind Jiang Lu actually dared to hit her! How did she dare!

Su Mengrui closed her eyes. The Alpha’s indifferent face and ice-cold voice replayed in her mind: “I’ve already hit you, so what can you do? Call the police? Or find the school leaders to give me a demerit?”

Dammit! She bet on the fact that I wouldn’t dare make a scene!

How can such a hateful person exist in this world!

Su Mengrui punched the car door, startling the driver. “Hey! Kid, what are you doing?”

Su Mengrui wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. She pulled out her phone, its screen now cracked, and scanned the QR code stand in front. Following the chime of a 500-yuan payment, the driver’s annoyance vanished.

Su Mengrui sneered, her eyes falling on the cracks on the screen. It was as if she were back in the moment where the Alpha had her by the throat, pinning her to the ground. The panic of being completely unable to fight back washed over her again. So this was the true power of an Alpha…

Su Mengrui lifted her gaze to the flickering streetlights outside. The fire in her heart spread silently. No wonder Jiang Lu said those things—from the very first meeting, she probably never respected her!

Su Mengrui’s thoughts spiraled. After getting out of the car, she kicked a roadside decorative tree and went to find the electric scooter she had hidden earlier, cursing all the while.

The next morning at 6:00 AM sharp, Jiang Lu woke up on time to begin a new day of study.

The disciplined routine caused time to be swallowed by a sea of practice problems. By the time she snapped out of it, only the last period of evening self-study remained.

Liang Shuang nudged the back of her hand and whispered, “Jiang Lu, Old Yan is calling you.”

“What?” Jiang Lu looked up blankly. Following Liang Shuang’s finger, she met the homeroom teacher’s eyes. Startled, she stood up immediately.

During lunch, they had chatted about how the school leaders would likely arrange for an outstanding student representative to speak at the annual welcoming ceremony after the freshmen finished military training. She hadn’t expected it to come so soon.

Yan Ge stood in the corridor, his gaze sweeping over the students doing problems in the classroom. Seeing Jiang Lu approach, his stern expression softened. “Every year when freshman military training ends, No. 1 High has a brief welcoming ceremony. You went on stage as a freshman representative last year, so you should have experience. This time…”

Jiang Lu listened silently. Having received the expected request, she gave the cooperative response Old Yan wanted: “No problem.”

“Good. Go back and prepare, but remember to manage your time reasonably,” Yan Ge nodded, his eyes full of praise. He had taught for many years and seen many good students, but those as steady and humble as Jiang Lu were rare. The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. As he turned away, a rare smile of appreciation appeared on his usually stiff face.

Returning to the classroom, Jiang Lu saw Liang Shuang questioning her with a raised eyebrow. Jiang Lu tilted her head, giving a smiling nod: Yes, you guessed right.

Liang Shuang gave a thumbs-up and lowered her head to continue the essay she had started. Jiang Lu had finished half of hers during a break; the rest wouldn’t take long. Once finished, she could prepare the speech. Having been a student representative for four years, writing a speech was easier for her than writing an essay.

As she drew the final period, there were five minutes left before class ended. Jiang Lu put down her pen and rubbed her aching fingers. Thinking she might as well be productive, she turned toward the window and began memorizing the new text they were to study in Chinese class tomorrow.

Unlike the quiet Class 1 of the sophomores, the fifth-floor classroom for the seniors was experiencing a thunderstorm.

Chu Ziyan’s face was flushed red. She stood at her desk with her head hung low, not daring to make a sound.

The math teacher on the podium looked even angrier than she did. “Chu Ziyan, look at your test paper. Is this the level you should have? These are such simple, fundamental questions! I can’t believe anyone in this class could lose points on questions like these!”

Chu Ziyan’s head dropped even lower.

Beside her, Gu Wenjing sighed silently, her heart full of resentment toward Su Mengrui. See? Look! What did I say? Falling in love at a time like this is pure suicide!

“Come on, tell me. What were you thinking about while doing these problems? Hmm?” The math teacher grew angrier as she spoke, slamming the test paper onto the podium with a bang. “Chu Ziyan, speak!”

Chu Ziyan: “…”

“Not talking, I see? Fine. Deskmate, stand up and answer. Yes, Gu Wenjing, you tell me.”

Gu Wenjing stood up hesitantly. “T-Teacher?”

“Tell me, is your deskmate in a relationship?”

As the words fell, a collective gasp echoed through the silent classroom. Gu Wenjing was also stunned, stammering, “N-No.”

“No? Then you tell me why she’s in such a soul-absent state?”

Gu Wenjing: “M-Maybe because she’s not feeling well?”

“Not feeling well?!” The middle-aged woman, who looked ready to devour someone, softened her expression slightly. Her sharp eyes fell back on Chu Ziyan. “Chu Ziyan, is that it?”

Chu Ziyan looked up. At some point, her eyes had turned red. She nodded stiffly. “A little. My head is a bit dizzy…”

The bell rang. The woman let out a breath, picked up the crumpled test, and pointed at her. “You better actually be dizzy… next time you’re unwell, remember to report it and go to the infirmary immediately! Class dismissed!”

None of the students dared to move until the angry footsteps faded into the distance. Gu Wenjing slumped back into her chair and hugged Chu Ziyan’s arm. “Ziyan, can we please stop contacting Su Mengrui until after the College Entrance Exam? You’re being way too scary like this!”

Chu Ziyan stared at the test paper that had dropped thirty points. She bit her lower lip until it turned white. Her watch hadn’t vibrated all day. The messages she sent last night still hadn’t received a reply.

Su Mengrui—had she really changed her mind?