After Differentiation, I Marked My Arch-nemesis - Chapter 78

Jiang Youli wasn’t worried at all about whether her head would swell up. She never wanted to make things difficult for Pei Jingning, so she said, “I got it. I’m really fine, you don’t have to be so nervous.”

Pei Jingning still felt very apologetic. “Then I… I’ll go back and practice.”

Jiang Youli: “Mhm.”

Pei Jingning then ran to pick up the volleyball and went back to her class.

Jiang Youli rubbed the back of her head, getting ready to continue practicing.

Chen Huaian suddenly jogged over with a volleyball in his arms. He glanced at Pei Jingning, who had already returned to Class 2, and said, “Boss, do you think your luck with romance is here?”

Jiang Youli was a little confused. “What romance luck?”

Chen Huaian: “Your luck with romance with Pei Jingning.”

Jiang Youli: “?”

“Not only did Pei Jingning hit you with her serve, but she also touched your head just now,” Chen Huaian said with a sly smile. “Don’t you think you two were fated to meet?”

Jiang Youli: “…”

She glared at Chen Huaian. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Chen Huaian smiled. “Don’t be angry, boss…”

Jiang Youli: “Practice well and don’t talk to me about irrelevant things.”

Chen Huaian: “Okay.”

Jiang Youli sighed silently.

“But Pei Jingning is indeed very beautiful and has a great personality, and she’s an Omega,” Chen Huaian said, then looked back at Pei Jingning. “Boss, if you want to be with Pei Jingning in the future, I promise I’ll support you with both hands and feet.”

Jiang Youli: “…”

A little speechless.

Just as she was about to speak, something hit her head hard again.

She stumbled.

She frowned in pain and covered the back of her head again.

Just then, she heard Cen Ziqin’s loud laughter from behind.

And the laughter of others.

“Pei Jingning, you’ve hit A-You with your serve twice now,” Cen Ziqin said, laughing loudly as she looked at Jiang Youli, who was hit on the head for the second time. “And you say you didn’t do it on purpose. I think you’re trying to get A-You’s attention, aren’t you?”

Pei Jingning was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

She ran to Jiang Youli again and apologized repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, Jiang Youli… I… my serve wasn’t good again…”

“I… I really didn’t mean to hit you with this ball…”

“Don’t listen to Cen Ziqin talking nonsense…”

“…”

Jiang Youli, holding the back of her head, felt speechless and amused.

This was really a headache.

After school in the evening,

Jiang Youli and Chen Huaian went to the bike shed together to get their bikes and go home.

The breeze scattered the dark hair on her shoulders.

Jiang Youli’s face was dark, and she looked to be in a very bad mood. She pushed her bike out of the shed without saying a word, and a familiar figure suddenly entered her sight.

It was Lu Yaoyi.

And Jin Rubing and the two Alphas from Class 3.

The few of them looked at each other.

The atmosphere seemed a little tense for a moment.

Jiang Youli’s mood got even worse when she saw Lu Yaoyi walking with Luo Jiashu.

Her sharp gaze swept over Luo Jiashu coldly like a blade.

The competition between the Alphas silently surged in the air like flashes of knives and swords.

Luo Jiashu immediately felt a strong hostility from Jiang Youli’s eyes.

The powerful presence of an S-class Alpha made it hard for him to breathe.

Clearly,

Jiang Youli considered him an enemy.

He was very surprised.

He didn’t understand why Jiang Youli had so much hostility toward him.

Jiang Youli’s face was cold, and she quickly looked away. She deliberately pretended not to have seen Lu Yaoyi, then got on her bike and rode toward the school gate.

Chen Huaian quickly chased after her.

“Boss, wait for me.”

Lu Yaoyi looked at Jiang Youli’s retreating back on the bike, her feelings very complicated.

She seemed to be able to feel that Jiang Youli was very unhappy.

Even very angry.

Maybe… she was overthinking it.

The sunset glowed over Jiangcheng, covering the path home.

As soon as Jiang Youli arrived home and parked her bike, she received a message from Cen Ziqin.

—A-You.

—Reply to me when you get this.

Jiang Youli replied.

—What’s wrong?

Cen Ziqin replied.

—Our class’s beautiful girl, Pei Jingning, hit you with her serve twice today, right?

—She feels very guilty, so she wants to treat you to a meal this weekend.

—She’s too embarrassed to ask you herself, so she asked me to tell you.

Jiang Youli replied.

—Tell her I don’t blame her and she doesn’t have to treat me to a meal.

Cen Ziqin replied.

—Maybe she just wants to treat you to a meal to make herself feel better.

—She also invited me and Huaian, as well as a few other people from our class.

—How about we all go eat together this weekend?

—Just say yes, and Huaian and I can get a free meal.

Jiang Youli thought about it and still agreed.

—Okay.

It was just a meal, after all.

Then let Cen Ziqin and Chen Huaian get a free meal together.

In the evening,

Jiang Youli held her phone and hesitated for a long time about whether to ask Lu Yaoyi why she was playing badminton with Luo Jiashu and He Suixun from Class 3. Later, she thought that she and Lu Yaoyi were only in a partnership, and she had no standing to ask Lu Yaoyi.

Lu Yaoyi could play badminton with whoever she wanted.

What right did she have to control her?

So she gave up.

Friday.

The last class in the afternoon for Class 1, Grade 1, was changed back to the previous physical education class.

They could do whatever they wanted after the assembly.

Besides Class 1, Grade 1, other classes also had P.E. The field and every court were filled with athletes from each class who were participating in the sports meet. The scene was very loud and lively.

Jiang Youli finished practicing on the volleyball court and sat on a long bench on the side to rest.

She had been telling herself not to pay attention to Lu Yaoyi, but her gaze always uncontrollably looked toward the badminton court. Since she found out that Lu Yaoyi was playing badminton with Luo Jiashu and He Suixun from Class 3, her mood had been very bad these past few days.

Her eyes were as if they were glued to Lu Yaoyi, who was far away on the badminton court.

She kept watching.

Chen Huaian sat on the side and watched Jiang Youli for a long time.

After observing for the past few days,

He noticed that Jiang Youli always looked at Lu Yaoyi. This made him feel that Jiang Youli was very strange and not right. The old Jiang Youli would have rather not seen Lu Yaoyi at all.

Ever since the lucky incident,

He knew that Jiang Youli no longer disliked Lu Yaoyi.

But…

He now felt that Jiang Youli’s feelings for Lu Yaoyi were more than just not disliking her. He even suspected that Jiang Youli might have…

“Huaian.”

Jiang Youli looked at the people on the badminton court and finally couldn’t help but speak.

Chen Huaian almost didn’t react. “Huh?”

Jiang Youli: “Did you see Luo Jiashu, who’s playing badminton with Lu Yaoyi?”

Chen Huaian: “I did.”

Jiang Youli: “Do you think he likes Lu Yaoyi?”

Chen Huaian seemed to have guessed that Jiang Youli would ask him and wasn’t very surprised.

He looked at Luo Jiashu on the badminton court and thought for a moment. “There are a lot of people in our school who like Lu Yaoyi. I think Luo Jiashu probably likes Lu Yaoyi, too.”

Jiang Youli: “Then do you think Lu Yaoyi would like Luo Jiashu?”

Chen Huaian shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Jiang Youli was so angry that her teeth itched just thinking that Luo Jiashu might like Lu Yaoyi. “Huaian, go find someone to ask Luo Jiashu later.”

Chen Huaian: “Ask Luo Jiashu if he likes Lu Yaoyi?”

Jiang Youli: “Mhm.”

Chen Huaian looked at Jiang Youli, a little surprised. “Why?”

Jiang Youli: “Because…”

Because she wanted to know.

But the last four words didn’t come out.

Chen Huaian: “Boss, don’t you think you’ve been acting very strange lately?”

Jiang Youli: “How am I strange?”

“You’ve been staring at Lu Yaoyi for the past few days, and you want me to find someone to ask Luo Jiashu if he likes Lu Yaoyi,” Chen Huaian slowly said what he had been holding back for days. “Why do you suddenly care so much about Lu Yaoyi?”

Jiang Youli was speechless.

She suddenly didn’t know what excuse to use to refute Chen Huaian.

Chen Huaian dragged out his words and asked, one word at a time.

“Boss… don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Lu Yaoyi?”

Jiang Youli was stunned.

She…

Chen Huaian actually said that she had fallen for Lu Yaoyi?

“Boss, look. You wanted me to get the registration form from Jiang Yunxiao to see if Lu Yaoyi had signed up for the sports meet. For the past few days, you’ve always been looking in the direction of the badminton court when you practice volleyball,” Chen Huaian carefully observed Jiang Youli’s expression and slowly said. “And today you want me to ask Luo Jiashu if he likes Lu Yaoyi.”

“All these actions clearly show that you’ve fallen for Lu Yaoyi…”

Jiang Youli’s heart trembled, and her face instantly changed.

She stared blankly at Chen Huaian, who was listing out the facts to her, unable to speak.

“You haven’t really fallen for Lu Yaoyi, have you? You told me before that you would never like Lu Yaoyi, and you would never mark her,” Chen Huaian continued. “And you also tore up the pheromone detection report in front of Lu Yaoyi…”

When Jiang Youli heard this, it was as if she had woken up from a nightmare.

She pulled a long face and said fiercely, “How could I possibly like Lu Yaoyi?”

“Chen Huaian, would you stop talking nonsense?”

Her attitude was very bad.

Chen Huaian saw that Jiang Youli was angry and immediately shut his mouth.

Jiang Youli suddenly got up, grabbed her jacket, and walked toward the outside of the volleyball court.

Chen Huaian got up and followed her. “Boss, where are you going? Aren’t you going to practice anymore?”

Jiang Youli: “Not today.”

Chen Huaian looked at Jiang Youli’s retreating back and scratched his head.

He felt like he might have said the wrong thing.

Jiang Youli left Jiangcheng No. 1 High School half an hour early.

She didn’t ride her bike home.

Instead, she aimlessly walked on the street, lost in thought.

Later, she went to a bus stop and got on a bus without even knowing what route it was.

She sat in the last row, staring blankly out the window.

From sunset to nightfall,

The sky turned dark.

The tall buildings outside the bus window lit up with brilliant and dazzling lights.

Jiang Youli remained in the last row of the bus, traveling through this bustling city without getting off. Her mind was in a mess, and her mood was terrible.

Chen Huaian actually said that her actions showed that she had fallen for Lu Yaoyi.

She looked out the window, and the fleeting streetlights reflected in her eyes. The things Chen Huaian said seemed to have awakened her, making her fall into self-doubt.

Slowly,

The memories of her and Lu Yaoyi these past few days kept replaying in her mind.

She had never thought that those memories…

They were all beautiful memories.

She clearly…

She clearly disliked Lu Yaoyi a lot before.

Why were they all beautiful memories?

Those intimate scenes replayed in her mind like a movie. The vow she had once made in front of her friends that she would never like Lu Yaoyi echoed in her ears like an alarm. It turned out she had once so solemnly sworn that she would never like Lu Yaoyi.

If she fell for Lu Yaoyi, wouldn’t that mean…

That kind of fear that she couldn’t even understand herself came surging back.

If she fell for Lu Yaoyi,

Wouldn’t her friends make fun of her and ridicule her?

Lu Yaoyi…

Lu Yaoyi would definitely laugh at her, too, right?

No.

She couldn’t accept it.

She didn’t like Lu Yaoyi.

It must be because she had been too close to Lu Yaoyi recently that she had this strange illusion. It must be because her partnership with Lu Yaoyi had messed with her mind. She shouldn’t have agreed to the partnership with Lu Yaoyi and shouldn’t have been so close to her.

She should stay away from Lu Yaoyi…

She should stay away…

Jiang Youli stayed at home, feeling lost all day long.

Finally, on Saturday night, she made up her mind to go find Lu Yaoyi and make things clear.

She held her phone and looked at Lu Yaoyi’s chat interface. Her finger was on the screen, but she didn’t move it. At this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words to Lu Yaoyi. She gritted her teeth and stared at the chat interface, her eyes silently turning red.

No, she wouldn’t allow herself to feel this way.

After a moment of silence,

She finally hardened her heart and sent a message to Lu Yaoyi.

—Lu Yaoyi, let’s end our partnership.

Soon,

Lu Yaoyi’s call came in.

Jiang Youli looked at the incoming call and hesitated for a long time before she composed herself and answered.

“Jiang Youli, why do you suddenly want to end our partnership?”

Lu Yaoyi’s anxious and nervous voice came through the phone.

Jiang Youli frowned.

She really couldn’t bear to tell Lu Yaoyi that she wanted to end their partnership.

But she still spoke in a cold tone, “No reason.”

The other side of the phone suddenly went silent.

It was a little terrifyingly quiet.

After about a minute, Lu Yaoyi’s muffled voice came.

“Did you… find another Omega you like?”

To make Lu Yaoyi willingly accept her request to end their partnership, Jiang Youli went along with what Lu Yaoyi said. “Yes, I have an Omega I like now.”

“So let’s end our partnership.”