Chapter 3

After Jing Qingxia added Zhong Mingxue, she did not put her phone away. Instead, she quickly skimmed through her WeChat messages.

Among them was a three-person group chat that had already reached 99+ unread messages. They were currently discussing summer homework.

Ah, the youthful days of making up homework together. One had to cherish them.

She opened the group chat.

Jing Qingxia: I can be in charge of math.

Yuan Leshan: Whoa, Boss, you’re actually planning to do summer homework with us in the final week? Your account hasn’t been hacked, has it?

Yuan Leshan and the little cannon fodder were sworn buddies. They had been classmates since elementary school, and their friendship was practically a karmic entanglement.

Logically speaking, Jing Qingxia should be most likely to expose herself in front of her.

But Yuan Leshan was just a silly, cheerful girl without many schemes in her head, so she was no problem at all.

Jing Qingxia: If my account had been hacked, I’d [unauthorized copy]be asking you guys to top up my phone credit, not do summer homework.

Yuan Leshan: Hahahahaha!!!! Boss, you’re too funny. Are you preparing to run a telecom scam?

Duan Yajie: Let’s hurry and divide up the tasks! Otherwise, we might not finish in time. Having one more person share the load isn’t bad.

Duan Yajie was their high school classmate. Among the three of them, she could be considered the strategist, but all of her strategy was spent entirely on gossip.

Because all three of them were girls whose physical examination reports showed they were prospective Alphas, they often went in and out together for many things, and so they became good friends.

Yuan Leshan was an A-rank Alpha and had already successfully differentiated during summer vacation.

Duan Yajie was a B-rank Alpha, and her expected differentiation period was at the end of this semester.

Duan Yajie: I heard a new student will transfer to our school when classes start. She’s even an S-rank Omega beauty. She’s probably going to stir up quite a storm.

They had only just finished dividing the tasks, yet not one of the three had the self-awareness to start doing homework first. Instead, they began chatting again.

Yuan Leshan: I heard from my dad that she’s the Zhong family’s daughter, called Zhong Mingxue. She’s pretty pitiful. The Zhong family had originally grown bigger and stronger and was about to squeeze into the ranks of major families, but then this accident suddenly happened. Among her uncles and aunts, only one uncle abroad is helping her, and he can’t hold everything up at all. The family business split apart straight away. bear sighing.jpg

Duan Yajie: Whoa, Little Le, you’re well-informed. You know quite a lot.

Yuan Leshan: Not really. It’s just that my dad originally had business dealings with the Zhong family, so he knows a bit more. bear smug.jpg

Duan Yajie: In that case, Sister Xia should know even more, right? Her family is huge, and they have business ties with pretty much everyone.

Jing Qingxia fell silent for a moment as she held her phone.

In the original work, the little cannon fodder had improper intentions toward the female lead, and in that process, her friends had helped quite a bit too. Those Friend A and Friend B did not even have names. They were even more cannon fodder than cannon fodder.

Thinking about it, those friends were probably the two of them.

Jing Qingxia considered it for a few seconds.

Yuan Leshan and Duan Yajie had already changed the topic and started chatting about what snacks to buy for the first day of school.

Jing Qingxia: I have something to say about Zhong Mingxue.

Yuan Leshan: Hahaha, Boss, if you want to say something, just say it. Why make it so formal? People who don’t know better might think you’re about to announce your claim over this Omega!

Yuan Leshan’s words made Jing Qingxia’s brow twitch.

Jing Qingxia: Leshan, don’t spout random nonsense. I really do have something serious to say.

Duan Yajie: Sister Xia, go ahead. Tell us what you need us to cooperate with.

As expected, Duan Yajie was very smart.

Jing Qingxia: The Zhong family doesn’t just have business dealings with my family. Her father and my father were classmates, and her mother and my mother were also good friends. The two of us have known each other and met often since we were little.

Yuan Leshan: Aiyo, childhood sweethearts!

Jing Qingxia ignored Yuan Leshan’s attempt to chime in. Her family used to be developing well, so they didn’t hide her identity as an S-rank Omega. But now the Zhong family has declined, and she has no protection. My mom asked me to look after her more. You understand, right?

In the background setting of this novel world, gland science was already very advanced. Society had long since moved away from the primitive instincts of a primitive age.

The special traits and rights of Alphas and Omegas were both protected.

Take the most special heats and ruts, for example. There were highly effective suppressants.

In daily life, in order to reduce pheromone interference, the Read on BaiLianTales country would also distribute free blocking patches.

In schools, there were even free collection boxes placed everywhere. Suppressants were also kept in the infirmary, and Beta school doctors were always on standby.

With the country’s welfare system developed to this extent, every Alpha and Omega could hide their rank if necessary.

But the children of major families never hid these things, because they were not afraid of being bullied, coveted, or used.

Not to mention that high-rank Alphas and Omegas were practically existences akin to family glory.

Even low-rank ones dared to say it openly. Everyone could exchange resources and share suitable training camps together.

That was why Zhong Mingxue’s current situation appeared rather special.

Yuan Leshan: Understood! I was already very interested in this S-rank Omega beauty anyway. If we can become friends while we’re at it, then protecting her naturally won’t be a problem!

Duan Yajie: And since Sister Xia has spoken, we must also remember that a friend’s wife must not be coveted. We’ll maintain a friendly distance.

Yuan Leshan: Oh, right, right, right. We have to consider that side of things too. Friendship protection.

“……”

For a moment, Jing Qingxia did not know how to refute that.

The nearly perfect face the Creator had shaped for Zhong Mingxue flashed through her mind.

What Duan Yajie said was not wrong either.

For a girl like that, if one approached without making any mental preparations, who could guarantee they would not fall for her?

If, because of Jing Qingxia, these two friends got too close to the female lead and were dragged into some whirlpool of fate, that would be a loss not worth the gain.

For the sake of these two friends’ lives and safety, she would not refute it for now.

In any case, it was just a joke. As long as they did not go around saying it publicly, there was no need to take it seriously.

Seeing that the group had started chatting about snacks again, Jing Qingxia put down her phone and began doing her math homework.

……

Knock, knock, knock—

“It’s time to eat.”

Zhong Mingxue’s voice was cool and faint, without any of the urgency one would expect from someone calling another person to dinner.

Jing Qingxia’s attention was still occupied by the math problem.

“You go down and eat first. I’ll come down after I finish this question.”

Standing outside the door, Zhong Mingxue looked at Jing Qingxia in front of the desk and furrowed her brows.

Although they had only met three times since she came back, Zhong Mingxue had already noticed the changes in Jing Qingxia.

That ugly face from childhood, twisted with laughter because of her pranks, had now been replaced by this focused side profile.

Had the child who used to strike without knowing her own strength finally grown up?

Although they saw each other every year, Zhong Mingxue had not properly looked at her in a very long time.

Her valiant brows and eyes did indeed look a little more mature.

Her eyes had become larger, but the amber color of her pupils had not changed.

Her nose bridge was a little higher. The shallow scar left from when she had accidentally fallen out of a tree as a child was still hidden in the shadow along her nose bridge.

The lines of her face had become more defined, and her baby fat had faded.

She had changed, but not too much.

Or perhaps she had simply learned how to hide herself?

Because of that, Zhong Mingxue’s eyes turned colder.

What she had experienced over the past few months made it very difficult for her to trust others easily.

Jing Qingxia was still thinking through the final step of the math problem when she suddenly felt a hostile gaze. At the same time, an unfamiliar faint fragrance slipped into her nose.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of slender, beautiful legs standing very close.

There was no need to think to know who those excellent legs belonged to.

Realizing that the female lead had approached with hostility, Jing Qingxia’s entire body tensed.

That reaction, in turn, made Zhong Mingxue pause.

Was it her imagination? Was Jing Qingxia afraid of her?

Only after Jing Qingxia realized that the female lead made no further move did she relax.

No, no, it couldn’t be.

This was just a young girl. Surely she would not suddenly get ruthless and come take revenge on Jing Qingxia over those petty things from childhood.

Although Jing Qingxia had not yet begun raising her favorability, Zhong Mingxue only disliked her. It had not reached the level of fighting to the death.

Jing Qingxia quickly wrote an answer with no steps on the last page of the test paper and stood up. “I’m hungry. Let’s go. Time to eat.”

Zhong Mingxue still looked at Jing Qingxia.

The latter merely stretched lazily before walking around Zhong Mingxue. She did not even ask why Zhong Mingxue had not stolen contentgone downstairs first, but had instead entered her room.

Zhong Mingxue had already prepared the answer to that question: Because Auntie Lin hopes we’ll go downstairs together.

The actual answer was: I need to test you first while Uncle Jing and Auntie Lin are both here.

Unfortunately, neither answer had any chance to be used.

Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, Zhong Mingxue followed behind Jing Qingxia.

“Oh, right. When I was chatting with my classmates this afternoon, I only found out then that quite a few people should already know you’re transferring to our school. When school starts, you should be care— Mm… just pay a little more attention. If you need anything, you can come to me. My parents should also speak to the school about it,” Jing Qingxia said. She was giving Zhong Mingxue a warning in advance.

According to the original plot, the two of them would become desk mates in the last row of the classroom. That situation would change after another one-sided, crushing conflict.

She would absolutely not let that conflict happen.

Although Jing Qingxia would no longer treat Zhong Mingxue as her own forbidden possession the way the little cannon fodder had, there should be no problem with protecting her, right?

“Xiaxia, Xiao Xue, come eat!” Lin Chanjuan called them over with a smile. Then she said to the man sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, “Old Jing, stop reading. Come over.”

“Mm, coming.” A steady voice answered.

This was Jing Qingxia’s father, Jing Guangyao.

An adult male Alpha, with a tall figure and an aura that commanded respect even when he was not angry. Outside, he was stern and unsmiling, but at home, he always wore the same warm smile as Lin Chanjuan.

Jing Qingxia took a deep breath.

Having parents like this was truly wonderful.

She really could not understand how the little cannon fodder had managed to grow crooked in a family environment like this! What would happen to someone without parents?

Thinking of this, she could not help glancing at Zhong Mingxue.

Wasn’t this girl now someone without parents? Just like Jing Qingxia in her previous life.

No. Jing Qingxia had never had parents from the start. Zhong Mingxue had lost hers.

Jing Qingxia sighed.

Aside from getting along with the female lead and seeking a chance to survive, Jing Qingxia felt a trace of heartache and a sense of mission toward this cold, aloof girl.

“Xiaxia, I heard you took the initiative to tell your mother that you wanted to get nutritional fluid injections and join physical training?” Jing Guangyao sat down and was the first to restate the matter.

Jing Qingxia became serious. She put down her chopsticks and said, “Yes, I’ve decided. Is there some problem now?”

Seeing Jing Qingxia suddenly become so earnest, Jing Guangyao froze for a moment, then could not help laughing. “My fault, my fault. I sounded too solemn just now. There’s no problem. I can have it arranged for you this afternoon. For the next week, you’ll attend training continuously. After school starts, it’ll be arranged for weekends and holidays. The instructor at the training camp also told me that after injecting nutritional fluid, you’ll probably have excess energy, so you can exercise appropriately on your own in daily life.”

When Jing Guangyao said this, Jing Qingxia suddenly remembered something.

In the original work, in order to avoid contact with the little cannon fodder, Zhong Mingxue rode a bicycle to and from school. Because of that, she had encountered several unexpected plot incidents on the road.

Before the male lead appeared, it was uncertain whether anything unfavorable to Zhong Mingxue would happen during the novel’s blank period. Just in case, Jing Qingxia said, “Then how about this? Buy me a bicycle, and I’ll ride to and from school?”

Zhong Mingxue’s movement of picking up food paused.

“That works perfectly! This afternoon, Xiao Xue also told me that she wanted to ride to and from school and didn’t need the driver to pick her up or drop her off. This way, the two of you can travel together, and I’ll feel more at ease too,” Lin Chanjuan said happily.

Jing Qingxia hurriedly glanced at Zhong Mingxue, afraid that she would disagree.

But a moment later, she felt that Zhong Mingxue probably would not refuse.

Although the main reason Zhong Mingxue refused a driver was that she did not want to be alone with the little cannon fodder, with her personality of not wanting to trouble others, she definitely would not let the driver pick her up and drop her off alone either.

After a long while, only the sound of eating remained at the dining table.

Heh. As expected, this cold little kitten in distress did not voice any objection!