Chapter 24.1

Several major pieces of news appeared at school today, instantly spreading through the entire campus:

Cheng Lingxue and Xie Shuyun finally did not get out of the back seat of the car together. Even when walking, they kept a distance of more than three meters between them. Suspected emotional rupture. — passed on by a certain gossipmonger

Love-Saint Senior Xie Shuyun has entered her rut and is actually wearing a bite-prevention device. So handsome! — passed on by a certain lovestruck admirer

The cold school beauty has faint red bruises on her neck and arms, suspected to have been left by Senior Xie Shuyun. — passed on by a certain sharp-eyed person

The moment Shang Yan arrived at school, she was stunned by these revelations. She immediately ran toward the classroom like a gust of wind, only to find that the classroom was once again filled with a strange atmosphere…

As for the reason, it was naturally Xie Shuyun, who was at the center of everything.

Originally, because Cheng Lingxue and Xie Shuyun had both taken leave on the same day, everyone had been discussing it. Xie Shuyun’s reason for taking leave was her rut, which was like adding explosive fuel to the fire. Add to that…

Cheng Lingxue had also taken leave.

That made it impossible for people not to let their imaginations run wild.

All kinds of rumors came one after another. Shang Yan alone had heard more than three versions. Although they were all nonsense, they undoubtedly satisfied her gossip-loving heart.

She glanced at Xie Shuyun, who was sitting in her seat, and could not help clicking her tongue.

At this moment, Xie Shuyun had a black, curved bite-prevention device on her face. It tightly covered her mouth and nose. The straps on both sides of her cheeks connected behind her head, while another strap wrapped around the back of her neck. At the very top, read the original at bailiantales.com a thumb-sized shallow groove happened to press against Xie Shuyun’s gland, suppressing most of her uncontrolled pheromones.

The girl had already looked heroic and dashing to begin with, but now, with the bite-prevention device added, she had gained a wild air that made people want to conquer her.

In addition, the main function of a bite-prevention device was to prevent alphas from marking others recklessly. Its suppression of pheromones was not complete, so a few traces would more or less still leak out, making her aura fluctuate even more clearly.

This made the omegas present look at Xie Shuyun from time to time with spring-like longing and desire in their eyes.

There were also alphas of unclear orientation who licked their lips, looking at Xie Shuyun with a trace of desire to conquer.

As for normal alphas, such as Shang Yan, the moment she came within three meters of Xie Shuyun, she frowned, wrinkled her nose, and jumped away.

“Oh, this smell is really…”

Shang Yan did not dare say the rest of her evaluation.

After all, that would be too hurtful.

But alpha scents really did clash with each other. Just like how Xie Shuyun had once thought that another alpha’s pheromones smelled like rotten apples, her scent was not much better to other alphas’ noses. And the higher the rank, the stronger the intimidation. That only made people keep even farther away.

Fortunately, the scent was not too strong. It was still within a tolerable range.

Otherwise, there might have been alphas who could not endure it and released their own pheromones to fight back, causing a disturbance.

Shang Yan wrinkled her nose and sat down in her seat with a foul expression. Thinking that she would have to spend the next few days surrounded by this smell, she felt as if the future had become dark and hopeless.

“Do my pheromones smell that bad?”

Xie Shuyun was somewhat confused.

Actually, she was quite curious about her own pheromone scent, but Qin Yu and the servants were all betas and could not smell pheromones. It was not as if she could go ask Cheng Lingxue, right?

“This… you can’t ask me. You should ask an omega. Don’t you know that alphas repel each other?”

Shang Yan spoke weakly.

Those words immediately made Xie Shuyun think of her experience with the rotten apple scent last time. She could only helplessly touch the bite-prevention device on her face.

She had better not ask, in case she heard some piercing comment from Shang Yan’s mouth.

“But those marks on Cheng Lingxue’s body…”

Shang Yan gestured suggestively at her own neck and arms. That expression of discomfort while still wanting to gossip truly left Xie Shuyun speechless.

But when she thought about how the marks on Cheng Lingxue’s body had indeed been caused by her, and how fair and tender the other girl’s skin was, the kind where even a light touch seemed as if it could leave a mark…

Just how much strength had she used back then for the red marks to still be so distinct after an entire day?

Just thinking about it made her feel guilty.

Xie Shuyun could not help sighing. Her head was almost drooping onto the desk.

If Shang Yan had not carefully perked up her ears, she would not have heard Xie Shuyun’s mosquito-like “Mm—”

Shang Yan’s gossiping smile almost stretched to her ears. She even forgot the annoying smell Xie Shuyun was giving off and quickly pressed further.

“Then did you two… Wait, that’s not right. The school beauty is still wearing her bite-prevention collar. If you marked—pfft…”

Before Shang Yan could finish, Xie Shuyun quickly covered her mouth.

“Shang Yan, don’t talk nonsense. Otherwise, even stranger rumors will spread. Nothing happened between us. I only accidentally caused those…”

Xie Shuyun helplessly explained.

However, although Shang Yan seemed to be nodding, the disbelief in her eyes was practically unconcealed, making Xie Shuyun feel even more powerless.

Then Shang Yan pried her hand away and coughed uncomfortably a few times before throwing Xie Shuyun’s hand aside.

“Cough, cough. You’re suffocating me with that smell. I feel like I’m about to stop breathing.”

“Does it really smell that bad?”

Xie Shuyun could not help sniffing herself, but still could not smell anything.

“Think of it this way. To an omega right now, you’re a sweet and delicious fruit.”

As she spoke, Shang Yan even gave the surroundings an ambiguous glance.

After the other girl said this, Xie Shuyun finally noticed the looks around her and could not help rubbing her arms.

She felt that right now, she was not a person, but a piece of meat. And a particularly fragrant one at that.

She could only smile bitterly.

“Then this is too scary.”

“Just wait and see.”

Shang Yan shrugged.

Xie Shuyun inwardly hoped that the other party was joking.

Unfortunately, just as Shang Yan had said, the moment class ended, several bolder omegas came over.

She could not chase them away either, because they all came holding questions from class. Helpless, Xie Shuyun could only lower her head and quickly explain the problems to them.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they had not brought their bite-prevention collars. When they moved around beside Xie Shuyun, they would sometimes release a trace of pheromone scent.

There were not many omegas in the rocket class, only about ten or so. The lowest rank among them was B-rank. Those who dared to surround her were basically all A-rank, and there was even one S-rank omega.

During rut, Xie Shuyun’s sense of smell was already especially sharp.

Even if these omegas only released a tiny trace of pheromones, Xie Shuyun still caught it. In an instant, she smelled all kinds of scents: strawberry, cherry blossom, milk candy…

Although these pheromone scents were all quite nice, none of them could compare to the warm, gentle, sweet coconut milk scent in Xie Shuyun’s heart.

Thinking this, Xie Shuyun could not help glancing in Cheng Lingxue’s direction.

She did not know whether it was a coincidence, but she happened to meet Cheng Lingxue’s gaze.

From those black eyes, Xie Shuyun saw a trace of darkness. She could not help shivering.

For some reason, she felt as though Cheng Lingxue was a little angry.

A little baffled, she wondered if she had done something to upset her.

In the next second, she suddenly realized the cluster of beauties around her. Perhaps she had made herself look like a scumbag A in Cheng Lingxue’s eyes.

Immediately sensing the seriousness of the situation, after finishing explaining the problems to those omegas, Xie Shuyun reminded them with righteous seriousness,

“Omegas must remember to wear ​stolen content​bite-prevention collars. Otherwise, it’s very dangerous. You have to protect yourselves properly.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she was met with several strange gazes from the omegas.

They nodded at her, then turned and left.

At this, Xie Shuyun became even more confused. She did not understand what she had said wrong and could not help turning her head to look at Shang Yan.

What she did not know was that Shang Yan looked even more speechless than those omegas. She covered her eyes as if she could not bear to watch, then leaned close to Xie Shuyun’s ear and whispered,

“Although reminding them to wear bite-prevention collars is a good thing, they already delivered themselves to your mouth. Saying that hurts their hearts, you know? You might as well pretend you didn’t notice.”

“…Huh?”

Xie Shuyun listened in confusion, not quite understanding what Shang Yan meant.

But because of this little incident, the omegas no longer continued approaching her. The failure of the high-ranked omegas had only discouraged the others.

Finally obtaining peace and quiet, Xie Shuyun let out a breath of relief.

However, because she relaxed too much, she nearly got surrounded by omegas while washing her hands. She was so frightened that she could only stay in the restroom until the class bell rang, then slip back to the classroom in defeat.

After that, she no longer dared go out…

After finally enduring until noon, Xie Shuyun asked Shang Yan to bring lunch back for her.

Once everyone had left the classroom in twos and threes, she wilted completely and rested her face on the desk.

“Sigh…”

She truly had not expected rut to be this tiring.

If this came once every month…

Well, it was like having her period before. But alphas did not seem to have periods. That was actually something worth celebrating.

Lying there, Xie Shuyun touched the back of her neck and felt that the temperature seemed to have risen a little. There was also a slight itch around her gland.

She reached into her bag and fumbled around, taking out the inhibitor Qin Yu had specially prepared for her. After pulling it out, she injected it into her arm.

As the cold liquid entered her body, her slightly rough, uneven breathing gradually calmed, making Xie Shuyun feel somewhat drowsy.

At that moment, footsteps came by her ear, moving from far to near.

Xie Shuyun perked up her ears, feeling somewhat strange.

Were Shang Yan’s footsteps that light?

But thinking that probably no one else would return to the classroom at this time, and feeling the stolen content familiar plastic bag from the cafeteria being placed on her arm, Xie Shuyun did not think too much.

She happily raised her head.

“Shang Yan, tha—”

Before she could finish speaking, what entered her eyes was a beautiful figure.

Then came an extremely faint, fresh coconut milk fragrance.

It was Cheng Lingxue!

She stared blankly at the other girl, then looked at the lunch box on her arm.

The slender jade-like hand holding the bag above it really did belong to her!

Cheng Lingxue had actually brought lunch back for her?

Seeing that this person was still staring blankly without moving, Cheng Lingxue raised her brow slightly. She tapped the heavy lunch box in her hand and asked,

“Not hungry?”

“I’m starving… But Shang Yan…”

Xie Shuyun wanted to say that she had already asked Shang Yan to bring food for her, but under Cheng Lingxue’s deep gaze, her voice grew smaller and smaller. The [stolen content]words seemed to get stuck in her mouth, unable to come out.

“If you’re hungry, then hurry and eat.”

Cheng Lingxue placed the lunch box on the desk that had been cleared because Xie Shuyun had sat up. Then she was about to turn around and walk out of the classroom again.

Seeing the other girl come lightly and leave just as lightly, completely different from those other passionate omegas, Xie Shuyun felt relieved, but also faintly disappointed.

Suddenly, she noticed that Cheng Lingxue was holding only a small piece of bread again!

Then she looked at her own lunch box.

It had color, fragrance, and taste, with rich dishes. Compared to the lunch box she had packed last time, which had already been flipped through, this one was far, far better.

But Cheng Lingxue had brought her a lunch box while eating bread herself?

How could that be allowed?

Xie Shuyun immediately threw the fact that she already had lunch and needed to inform Shang Yan to the back of her mind. She quickly carried the lunch box and chased after Cheng Lingxue.

“Why are you only eating bread again? I told you before that you’re still growing. How can you eat only this?”

Xie Shuyun did not know that although Cheng Lingxue seemed to be walking forward, she had actually been watching her from the corner of her eye the entire time.

The instant Xie Shuyun caught up, a trace of joy that even [unauthorized copy]Cheng Lingxue herself did not notice flashed through her eyes.

She spoke lightly.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“How could it not matter? Anyway, you packed a lot of food for me. Let’s split it.”

Xie Shuyun thought for a moment, then continued speaking. After that, she carefully looked at Cheng Lingxue’s side profile.

After waiting for a while, she found that although the other girl had not expressed agreement, she had not denied the suggestion either. Xie Shuyun smiled happily.

Just like that, the two of them came to an empty pavilion in the garden.

After carefully placing the lunch box on the table, Xie Shuyun finally remembered that she was in rut and probably should not be too close to Cheng Lingxue.

Before the other girl sat down, Xie Shuyun shifted seats with a swish and moved directly across from her. She looked left and right, felt that there was no major problem, and nodded in satisfaction.

Unfortunately, she was satisfied, but Cheng Lingxue did not cooperate.

Although Cheng Lingxue did not come sit beside Xie Shuyun, she still sat down only one seat away.

This made Xie Shuyun’s eyes widen slightly. Before she could speak, Cheng Lingxue had already said,

“I saw you use an inhibitor just now.”

Uh…

That was true.

But when they usually ate at home, didn’t Cheng Lingxue always sit diagonally across from her?

As if she wished she could stay as far away from Xie Shuyun as possible…

Wait…

It seemed that recently, she had gotten a little closer…

She was sitting directly across from her now…

Xie Shuyun blinked, wanting to think more deeply about this question. But from the corner of her eye, she saw Cheng Lingxue slowly opening the plastic packaging around the bread in her hand.

Before Cheng Lingxue could put it into her mouth, Xie Shuyun swiftly stopped her.

Taking advantage of Cheng Lingxue’s moment of distraction, Xie Shuyun took the bread into her own hand. With her other hand, she quickly arranged the dishes, placing the foods Cheng Lingxue liked according to her memory while nagging,

“Don’t eat that. If there’s rice and dishes, then eat a proper meal. Bread is fine as a snack, but it shouldn’t replace a meal. Here, there are the fresh seasonal vegetables you like, cream-baked mushrooms, and little lamb ribs. With so many delicious things, why insist on eating bread?”

As she spoke, to prevent Cheng Lingxue from still thinking about it, stolen contentXie Shuyun reached back and lightly pressed the strap behind her head.

The strap instantly loosened, and the bite-prevention device fell from her mouth to hang in front of her chest. Then she immediately opened her mouth and stuffed the bread into it.

Chewing, she said unclearly,

“I’ll eat this for you. If you get hungry this afternoon, I’ll buy you another one. For now, eat a proper meal. Here, eat.”

There was only one pair of chopsticks. Xie Shuyun was just about to hand the chopsticks in her hand to Cheng Lingxue, thinking that she could just run to the cafeteria and get another pair.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Lingxue took out a new pair of chopsticks from who knew where.

This made Xie Shuyun freeze slightly.

For some reason…

She felt as if she had been tricked.

Was she overthinking it?

The growl of her stomach pulled Xie Shuyun’s thoughts back. She no longer investigated the matter and instead lowered her head to slowly eat.

As she ate, she finally could not help sighing and complaining to Cheng Lingxue about her tragic experiences today.

“Today, no matter where I went, I got surrounded by omegas. Don’t they usually wear bite-prevention collars? I don’t know what special day it is today, but one after ​bailiantales.com​another, none of them wore one. They even released pheromones randomly. They don’t know how to protect themselves at all…”

As she spoke, Xie Shuyun could not help recalling the most “passionate” omega from when she had just stepped out of the restroom.

The others had only released faint traces or tiny wisps of pheromones, but that person had directly enveloped her without any restraint. It nearly made goosebumps rise all over her body.

Only later did she find out that the omega had accidentally entered heat. Fortunately, it had only just begun, and a teacher had rushed over quickly. Otherwise, it might have caused a huge mess.

After she complained about this matter to Cheng Lingxue, she did not know if it was her imagination, but she felt that the temperature in the pavilion dropped quite a bit, becoming even cooler.

Then she saw Cheng Lingxue glance at her with a bit of disdain and slowly ask,

“Did the pheromones smell good?”

Without realizing that Cheng Lingxue’s tone was a little strange, Xie Shuyun had already blurted out,

“Don’t even mention it. I think it was lavender? It was too strong. I felt like my nose was about to fall off. It was like having an entire bottle of lavender laundry detergent spilled all over me…”

Halfway through speaking, Xie Shuyun even shivered and shook her chopsticks, expressing that she did not want to experience it again.

But after that, she shook her head slightly.

“But I feel like none of those omega scents can compare to yours—cough, cough, cough…”

Xie Shuyun immediately sealed her mouth shut and stuffed several pieces of food ​bailiantales.com​into it, chewing and swallowing the words that had nearly slipped out along with the food.

She did not dare raise her head anymore.

What had she been about to say just now?

It felt as if she had walked through a flower field and then compared them all to Cheng Lingxue, only to realize that Cheng Lingxue was still the best…

What a scumbag feeling!

This thought made Xie Shuyun’s face turn bitter.

She really did not mean it that way!

Just like that, after several minutes of silence, Xie Shuyun finally could not help secretly glancing at Cheng Lingxue.

Uh…

Why did it feel like Cheng Lingxue’s mood had gotten a little better?

She could not understand Cheng Lingxue’s thoughts, but if her mood had improved, that meant Xie Shuyun had escaped disaster, right?

After finally finishing all the food, Xie Shuyun comfortably rubbed her stomach. She took a tissue from her pocket and held it in her hand first, then pulled out another tissue from the layer underneath and gave it to Cheng Lingxue to wipe her mouth and hands.

As for herself, she casually wiped her bailiantales.commouth and began cleaning up the table. After throwing all the trash into a nearby trash can, she returned to the pavilion.

The cool breeze was gentle.

Because the garden was covered by trees, it was already quite cool. With the breeze, it became even more refreshing, making Xie Shuyun feel lazy all over. She leaned against the back of the chair and yawned.

Resting her chin on her hand, her gaze fell on Cheng Lingxue, who was quietly flipping through a book.

The other girl really liked reading. She basically carried a book with her at all times.

The sunlight was already blocked by the leaves, turning into scattered fragments of light. Above their heads, the pavilion blocked most of it as well, so only a little fell onto them. Aside from a trace of warmth, it did not feel scorching.

The cold young girl lowered her head slightly, her long and slender fingertips gently pinching the corner of the book.

No one knew what she had read, but the sense of distance at the corners of her eyes faded slightly, making her appear a little softer.

Her dark, long hair swayed gently in the breeze. With the scattered sunlight shining over it, it looked even blacker and glossier.

A few stray strands were more mischievous. Riding the wind, they kept brushing against or hooking onto the corner of the girl’s lips.

No one knew whether they were trying to attract the girl’s attention or deliberately disturb her mood while she wanted to read.

The girl lightly raised her hand and used her fingertips to lift those naughty strands, tucking them behind her ear.

Only then did they settle obediently, revealing a snow-white ear tinged with faint pink.

It just so happened to be illuminated by the fragmented sunlight, making it appear even more dazzling and adorable.

Suddenly, the girl’s eyes lifted.

Under the sunlight, her dark pupils seemed to shed their usual coldness. Instead, they carried a warmth touched by sunshine, making Xie Shuyun’s eyes blur for a moment.

“What are you looking at…?”