A Stand-in Alpha Awakens - Chapter 8

The daily schedule at No. 1 High did not change with the seasons; the lunch break was fixed at one hour.

Back at the dormitory, with over ten minutes left before the bell, Liang Shuang sat at her desk beneath her bunk, flipping through handmade flashcards. By the fifth card, she caught Jiang Lu staring blankly into space out of the corner of her eye and gave her a nudge.

Jiang Lu snapped out of it: “Huh?”

Liang Shuang leaned her elbow on the back of her chair, cards in hand, and casually picked a word she’d just memorized. Hearing Jiang Lu spell it out flawlessly, she nodded in defeat: “Fair enough.”

Jiang Lu looked bewildered: “What?”

Liang Shuang sighed: “Nothing. You were just sitting there like a statue, so I thought you were spacing out.”

Jiang Lu had indeed been lost in thought. Hearing this, she lowered her head and rubbed the corners of her eyes firmly. “I was distracted.”

Since the day she ran into Su Mengrui in the freshman building, her focus had been slipping whenever she wasn’t paying attention. Her mind felt hollow, yet her heart was scorched with anxiety—it felt exactly like being hunted by a man-eating beast.

Liang Shuang, assuming she was brooding over the pile of things Song Wushuang had returned, suggested: “If you don’t know what to do with that stuff, I can help you toss it.”

Jiang Lu followed Liang Shuang’s gaze to the canvas bag by her feet. “No need,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I plan to get my phone back this weekend and list them on a second-hand app.”

She had scrimped and saved to buy those things; they represented hard-earned money and shouldn’t be wasted.

Thinking of this, Jiang Lu picked up the bag and pulled out the necklace and the white ceramic watch. As she pinched the simply designed pendant with her left hand, the soft flesh of her fingertip was met by an abrupt, hard edge.

Noticing Jiang Lu’s expression change, Liang Shuang leaned in curiously: “What’s wrong?”

“The texture feels off. Help me check it,” Jiang Lu said, handing the necklace to Liang Shuang.

Liang Shuang took it skeptically. Realizing the pendant was the “Wheel of Fortune” released by the brand Borken the year before last, her brow furrowed slightly. “So this is what you gave her back then.”

In the past, she rarely gave Song Wushuang a second glance, let alone looked at her neck. She hadn’t realized Jiang Lu had been so generous—giving an 18,000-yuan necklace just to congratulate her on getting into No. 1 High. Tsk.

Jiang Lu blinked and remained silent.

“She definitely put a hex on you,” Liang Shuang grumbled, her slender eyes dropping to scan the side of the small bead. When she spoke again, she was gnashing her teeth in anger. “The setting of the pavé diamonds is wrong. This is a fake.”

Jiang Lu’s gaze shifted to the white ceramic watch. It felt as if a plug had been pulled somewhere in her heart with a faint pop.

Liang Shuang took it upon herself to check the remaining items. Perhaps because their individual prices didn’t exceed two thousand yuan and they were highly functional, they were genuine, showing only normal signs of wear.

“Jiang Lu, you can’t just let the necklace thing slide. Borken pieces hold their value well; even at half-price, it’s worth nearly ten thousand. You…” Liang Shuang stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jiang Lu leaning back with her hands behind her head, staring up at the wall. A wave of distress washed over her.

They had known each other a long time; she knew Jiang Lu was actually a free-spirited person who never entangled herself with toxic people or trivial drama.

Hearing Jiang Lu wanted to reclaim the gifts had already surprised her, but seeing Jiang Lu looking so dejected now made her heart sting, as if it had been doused in chili sauce.

Sigh… that Song Wushuang really is a curse.

Liang Shuang put the bag back, leaning against her chair to sit quietly with Jiang Lu until their new roommates returned.

At the sound of the door opening, Jiang Lu seemed to startle awake. She tossed the bag into the storage cabinet under her desk and scrambled up to her top bunk.

Liang Shuang no longer had the heart to memorize words. Seeing her lie down, she pursed her lips and followed suit, lying head-to-head with her.

The moment their hair hit the pillows, Jiang Lu’s voice drifted through the guardrails into Liang Shuang’s ear: “Thank you.”

Thank you for supporting me, no matter what I decide to do.

Liang Shuang turned to face the wall, her voice even softer than the one that had drifted over: “I told you back in sixth grade—you don’t need to thank me.”

The stiff corners of Jiang Lu’s mouth slowly curled upward. Her eyes, fixed on the plain ceiling, gradually grew moist.

The melodious bell rang from outside. The sound of turning pages in the dorm ceased, and the breathing of the four girls on their beds steadied into sleep.

Jiang Lu’s unease retreated alongside the rhythmic breathing above her. She closed her eyes, and her last conscious thought vanished as her body grew heavy with sleep.

One hour later, upbeat music woke every sleeper on schedule.

Jiang Lu was the first to get up, wash her face, and leave the dorm with the necklace in her pocket.

When Liang Shuang came out of the bathroom and found her gone, their new roommate Lin Tingting hopped down from her bed. “Jiang Lu asked me to tell you she headed out first.”

Liang Shuang gave a muffled “Oh” and sat down to change her shoes. While tying her laces, she noticed Jiang Lu’s cabinet wasn’t fully closed. She pulled it open to check: the canvas bag was slightly open. Inside, the watch and e-reader were still there, but the necklace was gone.

Jiang Lu returned to the Xiuyuan Building but didn’t go up immediately. She waited on the ground-floor corridor in front of Class 17.

Song Wushuang arrived quickly.

She had been in a foul mood lately and had no interest in making new friends. The three Alphas in her dorm were clearly close, and she couldn’t—and didn’t want to—fit in. To avoid wasting energy on fake smiles, she headed straight to the classroom the moment she got up.

No. 1 High mandated that students wear uniforms. Looking across the campus, everyone looked the same, but Song Wushuang recognized Jiang Lu instantly from a distance.

Her withered heart felt as though it had finally received long-awaited rain; she felt a surge of new life with every breath.

As Jiang Lu saw Song Wushuang running toward her with a face full of joy, the hands she had shoved in her pockets clenched silently.

“Jiang Lu, were you waiting for me?” The marks on Song Wushuang’s mouth had faded significantly. Compared to her rudeness two days ago, the joy in her tone felt incredibly ironic.

Jiang Lu took a step back to avoid her reaching hand. She pulled the necklace from her pocket and tossed it into her arms, her tone flat and cold despite the sunlight: “This necklace is a fake.”

“Fake?” Song Wushuang’s right hand froze in mid-air, her heart thumping. “Impossible! I’ve worn this necklace constantly; I never took it off except for baths in the winter. This is the one you gave me!”

Jiang Lu had only looked at the pendant before her nap, but on the way here, she had noticed there wasn’t even a hallmark behind the spring clasp.

“The one I gave you was bought at the boutique—Borken’s Wheel of Fortune, 17,600 yuan. Look at the one in your hand and tell me if it’s the same.”

Having said her piece, Jiang Lu turned and walked toward the stairs without looking back.

Song Wushuang stared at the chain in her palm, shocked and bewildered. She had assumed it was a piece of K-gold worth one or two thousand at most… was it really that expensive?

Then why had Jiang Lu never told her?

Song Wushuang stumbled back two steps against a pillar, her intentionally straight back slowly slumping.

Liang Shuang saw Song Wushuang’s soul-crushed appearance from a distance. She looked away and slowed her pace. Jiang Lu probably needs a moment alone; I shouldn’t cling too much.

Jiang Lu did indeed need peace. She stood by her seat, staring at the Zhaixing Building outside the window for a long time.

These past few days, whenever her mind went idle, it became a mess. Descriptions from the book about “her” experiences and feelings during this period flashed constantly before her eyes.

As a cannon-fodder character, Jiang Lu didn’t have many detailed descriptions, but even those few lines held her in a vice-like grip, like a curse. She couldn’t ignore them.

The initial fear in her heart had long since evolved into hatred, then into rage.

Jiang Lu appeared to be standing calmly, but only she knew the terrible changes currently coursing through her limbs. In the reflection of the glass, her reddened eyes shifted to the back of her hand, where veins were bulging. The Alpha felt as if her entire body was burning.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Jiang Lu suspected these physical changes were largely related to her scent glands. Frequent restlessness and unstable mood swings were, according to biology textbooks, the typical prelude to an Alpha reaching maturity.

It seemed that during the next break, she really needed to go to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up.

Having planned her break, Jiang Lu unscrewed a bottle of cold soda, sat back in her chair, and opened her textbook for the next class.

That afternoon, all the students of Class 1 finished meeting the rest of their teachers. During the evening self-study, they were put straight to work on tests for the new curriculum.

To save time, the students graded each other’s papers. The teacher didn’t even leave them time to correct their mistakes, diving into new lessons the very next day.

Time flew by. When Jiang Lu finally got her phone back from Liang Shuang, she realized with a start that it was already Sunday afternoon—free activity time.

The phone, which had been off for two days, still had over 60% battery.

She checked her filtered messages and saw a reminder sent by Song Wushuang an hour ago asking her to accept the friend request. She first replied to a WeChat message from the nickname “Yu,” then clicked on the pending request.

Song Wushuang reacted instantly. As soon as the request was accepted, a transfer notification popped up in the chat window.

The amount was more than the half she had promised. Jiang Lu clicked to receive it, tossed her phone aside, and continued with her problems.

In the key classes, free activity time came with homework. Not a single person from Class 1 had gone out; everyone was writing frantically.

After about half a period, people finally started leaving the classroom.

Liang Shuang had also finished. Seeing Jiang Lu put down her pen, she pointed over her shoulder toward the corridor. “The freshmen are still in military training. I heard there’s a very beautiful Omega instructor this time. Want to go see?”

Jiang Lu wasn’t interested. She fished two candies from her desk and gave one to Liang Shuang.

The rich watermelon flavor exploded in her mouth. Jiang Lu stretched her neck. “Do you want to see? If so, I’ll go with you.”

Just as Liang Shuang was about to say it wasn’t necessary, a person holding a notebook stopped by their desk and looked at Jiang Lu with her chin raised: “Jiang Lu, do you dare compare answers with me?”

“…” Jiang Lu looked up at that tilted chin. After hesitating for two seconds, she fished out another candy and handed it to Chu Zishan. “Not today. Have a candy. We have things to do, so please excuse us.”

Jiang Lu urged Liang Shuang out of the classroom, heading down to the first floor without stopping.

Once they left the building, Liang Shuang burst out laughing. “Jiang Lu, why do I feel like you’re actually afraid of her?”

Jiang Lu looked up helplessly toward the fifth floor. “It’s a rare break; I don’t want to waste such a beautiful time with her.”

In just three days of being classmates, Jiang Lu had personally experienced how difficult Chu Zishan was.

She wanted to compete over who raised their hand first in class, who wrote on the board faster, and who finished homework sooner. Competing on speed was one thing, but she even competed on accuracy.

The problem was that Chu Zishan was a stubborn mule who wouldn’t admit when she was wrong. Every time they had different answers, she would drag Jiang Lu into a debate for ages. Though it had only happened twice so far, those two problems had effectively consumed four of Jiang Lu’s breaks.

Liang Shuang recalled the scene of Chu Zishan indignantly chasing Jiang Lu into the restroom after last night’s self-study. Her smile faded slightly. “She is a bit annoying.”

The placement exam rankings were still posted behind the front door. It clearly showed Chu Zishan ranked 36th in the grade, but for some reason, her eyes were locked onto Jiang Lu, ignoring everyone else.

The mere thought that Jiang Lu had once wanted to become her “teammate” made her face ache. She must have been mad to have that thought.

“Let’s go back to the dorm. Since we don’t have classes this afternoon, I’m going to handle that pile of stuff,” Jiang Lu said as she walked toward the dorms. Her smartwatch showed it was exactly 2:00 PM; she had over four hours of free time before evening study.

Liang Shuang followed with a neutral expression, her tone curious: “Are you selling them at a pawn shop? The shops on South Street outside the school usually take them. Why not check there? It’s less hassle.”

Jiang Lu had considered this. During free activity time, one only needed to report to the homeroom teacher to leave the gates. She hesitated but thought it made sense. If Su Mengrui really planned to use force, she had to consider the environment. With how busy it was outside right now, it was unlikely she’d do anything reckless.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Lu left No. 1 High with the canvas bag, Liang Shuang, and their two new roommates.

As expected, there were many students in uniform outside. The four girls from Room 601 crossed the wide road and split up at the curb.

Jiang Lu and Liang Shuang walked with purpose into “Xiao Er Electronics” on South Street. The boss was young, likely in his early twenties. After a brief check of the e-reader, he gave a decent price.

Three shops down was a place selling low-end phones for seniors and various watches. Surprisingly, the boss there was also young. Dressed like a student, the small boss’s eyes lit up when he saw the white ceramic watch Jiang Lu produced, but he only offered a third of the original price.

Jiang Lu didn’t hesitate. She hadn’t expected much anyway; whether it was a little more or a little less didn’t matter to her as long as someone took it.

In less than half an hour, she was left with nothing but the empty canvas bag.

Under the plane trees, Liang Shuang—dressed in her white uniform and wearing light-brown sunglasses Jiang Lu had just given her—tilted her chin up. “What’s next?”

Jiang Lu uncomfortably adjusted her own newly bought light-pink sunglasses and looked toward the ice cream shop diagonally across from them. Just as she was about to offer to treat her, the ear-numbing roar of an engine came from behind.

A black-and-pink heavy motorcycle skidded to a stop in front of them. The rider, Su Mengrui, deftly removed her matching helmet and shook out her flattened hair.

Before leaving the house, she had been wondering if she’d run into this “Frozen Strawberry.” She hadn’t expected to actually get lucky.

Su Mengrui dismounted and walked toward the Alpha girl. The pink sunglasses had softened Jiang Lu’s coldness, making her look a bit more like a typical student. “It must be fate, Junior Jiang Lu.”