The Mad Beauty Professor Forced Me to Mark Her - Chapter 8

The street Qi Si rode through was filled with bright lights and nightlife. Teenagers gathered by the roadside to smoke, play billiards, and kick and punch at broken-down arcade machines. Beside them, burly men with bare torsos crowded around barbecue stalls, smashing beer bottles and loudly telling vulgar jokes. At the entrances of KTVs and foot massage parlors, women wearing heavy makeup to conceal their age solicited business. Those who had been inside knew that most of the workers were plain-looking Beta women. Male Omegas were rare, and female Omegas were even more of a premium rarity.

The poor gathered here. The houses were old and shabby. Broken streetlights went unrepaired, piled-up garbage went uncleared, and beneath the graffiti-covered walls were the homes of vagrants. Farther in, the area became desolate and silent. Even a plastic bag drifting across the road could startle someone.

Qi Si had only turned into a place like this because she had gotten lost, but Boss Zhou’s friend was either rich or noble. Why would she appear here?!

What did it mean for a lone Omega to appear in an alley like this?

Qi Si counted them. There were three adult male Alphas in total. The tall, thin one was closest to the Omega. His back was facing Qi Si, one hand propped against the wall, his posture looking like he was pinning her there. The second was tall and strong, standing sideways while watching them. The third had dyed yellow hair and stood the farthest away, seemingly keeping watch. The three of them had an average height of 185 centimeters, were strong and muscular, and gave off an intense Alpha pheromone presence. They looked highly aggressive.

She definitely could not beat them in a fight, but she could scare them.

Qi Si stopped the bicycle, flicked the bell sharply, and at the same time shouted, “What are you doing?!”

The voice startled them solidly. Yellow Hair sucked in a breath, as if he had been struck over the head with a club. He suddenly snapped back to his senses, turned, and ran.

The moment he turned around, Qi Si had already braced herself, only for that tall Yellow Hair to not even look at her. He tucked his tail and fled in a panic.

Phew.

Two left.

These two looked like there might be something wrong with their brains. They were still maintaining their previous postures and were even too stingy to spare Qi Si a glance.

Qi Si decided to let them experience the power of a law-based society. She steadied the bicycle, clenched both fists until her knuckles cracked, and in the darkness, failed to notice the slightly disgusted look in Lin Ye’s narrowed eyes. She strode toward the two male Alphas and placed one hand on the tall, thin Alpha’s shoulder.

“Hey! Keep this up and I’m calling the police!”

The man had his back to Qi Si. After she grabbed his shoulder, he actually staggered half a step back, then turned around mechanically. His eyes seemed unable to focus, and he looked somewhat dazed.

Qi Si: “?”

In a corner she had not noticed, Lin Ye threw away a syringe, grabbed Qi Si’s hand, and said, “This place is too dangerous. Hurry up and leave!”

The sweet scent of Omega made her dazed for an instant. When she came back to herself, she had already been dragged out of the alley by the older woman.

Her strength was even greater than that male Alpha’s just now. She moved swiftly in high heels as if the ground itself gave way beneath her. Combined with the reactions of those people just now, Qi Si even developed an absurd suspicion: could it be that the one in danger earlier had not been this older sister, but those unlucky male Alphas?

Impossible.

When they reached a more crowded place, the two slowed down, but their hands were still linked.

Qi Si’s hand had sweated a little from being pulled. Afraid of dirtying the older woman’s hand, she awkwardly pulled her hand free.

Lin Ye stopped and looked her over, asking coldly, “Why are you here?”

Qi Si looked straight ahead while answering distractedly, “My home is near here.”

Lin Ye said, “It isn’t safe to live in a place like this.”

“It isn’t very safe. There’s no other choice.” Qi Si thought of her family’s situation in the apartment. Jiang Mingzhu was an Omega, and her two younger sisters had not differentiated yet, but they would most likely be Omegas too. If someone targeted them, that place was not safe at all.

Lin Ye had no interest in the helplessness hidden in the second half of her sentence. She only cared about one thing: had this meddlesome fool suspected anything just now?

After they walked a little farther, Qi Si did not ask Lin Ye a single question. She warily looked around and, only after confirming the area nearby was safe, said, “Can you take a taxi home by yourself?”

Lin Ye: “…?” What did she mean? Was this how a student talked to a teacher?

“We left too quickly just now. My bicycle is still over there. I have to go back and get it. It should be easy for you to get a taxi back to Shuxiang Garden from here. Or you can call a friend to pick you up.”

After all, Qi Si’s only asset was that secondhand bicycle. She had spent eighty yuan to buy it from a graduating senior and had only ridden it for a week. After searching her conscience, she felt she really could not abandon her newly bought bike just for a rich older sister.

Lin Ye only heard the first half. “You’re still going back?”

Qi Si said, “Mm.”

Lin Ye could not understand her even more. “You still want that piece of junk?”

Qi Si: “…”

Are you being polite, Sister?

Throwing away the syringe just now had been a little careless. The drug residue inside could still be tested for its components. Lin Ye was truly afraid that this student would go back and catch evidence against her, so she grabbed her hand. “No!”

Qi Si: “Mm.”

…Were all Omegas this strong?

“Headache. Heartache. I’m about to die from the pain,” Lin Ye said without changing expression. “Take me home, and I’ll compensate you with a bicycle.”

Qi Si’s eyebrow twitched.

Why don’t you first look at how much strength you used to grab me before saying that?

Qi Si pried Lin Ye’s hand off and said awkwardly, “If it hurts that badly, I suggest you find someone to take you to the hospital.”

Lin Ye said, “Am I not looking at a person?”

“I am, but that bike is my wife. I can’t just replace her casually.”

Lin Ye sneered. “Then your taste in wives is quite casual.”

Qi Si choked. She glanced at this beautiful older woman. At this moment, she deeply realized that her language ability was too poor. She was no match for her at all.

Since she could not win the argument, Qi Si decided to ignore her and silently turned back to look for the bike.

“Stop right there!” Lin Ye snapped.

Qi Si felt her body go out of control. She really did stop in place like a dog being punished.

The sound of high heels slowly tapped forward a few steps. Qi Si sensed the sweet fragrance on the Omega’s body, as if a bottle of aged fine wine had been opened. The aroma of fruit wine was distilled within a rose garden, beautiful like the Eden of myth.

Lin Ye slightly rested her chin on Qi Si’s shoulder and parted her lips. “I’ll go with you.”

Qi Si heard the dense, drumlike pounding of a heartbeat.

She remembered that she was also an Alpha. Although she was sexually dysfunctional, she was still naturally attracted to Omega pheromones. It was like how even a eunuch might still have the desire to visit a brothel.

The five-hundred-meter stretch of road was one Qi Si walked back over with this older sister. When they retrieved the bike, never mind this older sister feeling disgusted—even Qi Si herself felt disgusted.

The frame was mottled with rust. The front brake was basically decorative. The rear brake only worked a little when twisted to the end. A layer of skin had peeled off the handlebars, and who knew how many people’s youth the storage basket on the back seat had carried.

This bike had been bought by a senior from another senior, used for three years, and then sold to Qi Si. Its quality was far worse than the shared bicycles on the street. Even if it were left by the roadside, no one would steal it.

Lin Ye told her to put the broken bicycle into the trunk of her Porsche. Qi Si wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it, especially when the paint on the broken bicycle frame scraped off in flakes and fell with a rustling sound into Lin Ye’s spotless car.

“I’m sorry, I… I’ll wipe it clean for you later…” Qi Si wiped the paint while wiping her tears.

She had not cried when she left the apartment. She had not cried when she was ostracized and her phone was smashed. But now, moving a broken bicycle into someone else’s luxury car, Qi Si felt that her dignity had shattered all over the ground like the chipped paint on that damaged bicycle—poor and laughable.

This actually amused Lin Ye. She had never seen such a strange scene before. The one whose car had been dirtied was clearly her, and she had not even said anything, so why did this girl look so distressed?

“Hey, hey, are you sick?” Lin Ye hesitantly raised one hand, seemingly wanting to comfort her. But because her skill at comforting people was terribly barren, she froze for a long while, not knowing how to do it. In the end, she pressed her hand onto the top of Qi Si’s head and randomly scratched hard, like Zhou Zhiruo using the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, scratching Qi Si’s skull until she was stunned.

Qi Si froze in place, unsure how to describe her feelings. In any case, her head hurt quite a lot, and tears were still hanging on her face.

Lin Ye mocked her. “I told you earlier to throw that junk away.”

Qi Si apologized pitifully. “I’m sorry.”

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow, somewhat shaken by Qi Si’s pitiful appearance. She swallowed the pile of insults in her vocabulary and lightly tossed out one sentence. “Next time, you’ll know to listen to me.”

Qi Si lowered her head and wiped her tears clean.

Thanks to these rich older sisters, Qi Si drove a Porsche at a young age. After starting the car, she asked the person in the back seat, “Sister, can you navigate?”

Lin Ye rested in the back seat with her eyes narrowed and did not even lift her eyelids. “You don’t have navigation?”

Qi Si said, “I don’t have a phone.”

Lin Ye’s temper ignited instantly. Thinking this stupid Alpha was teasing her, she sat up straight and nearly bumped into Qi Si’s innocent face. Lin Ye revised her words just in time. “Did you transmigrate here from ancient times? Why don’t you have a phone?”

Qi Si said, “I don’t really need one.”

Lin Ye said, “Idiot.”

Qi Si said politely, “Please point the way.”

Lin Ye felt her intolerance for stupidity starting to flare up. She pressed her temple impatiently, unlocked her phone, and threw it to Qi Si.

Other than running into traffic police checking for drunk driving midway, the journey went smoothly. Qi Si did not dare bother her again and drove the car straight into the underground garage.

Before she left, Lin Ye called her. “Qi Si.”

Very few people could call her name accurately, so Qi Si was even a little surprised.

Lin Ye patted her shoulder. “You can’t tell anyone about what happened today.”

Without thinking, Qi Si said, “Okay.”

She did not even know who she could tell about this.

During the National Day holiday, Qi Si was the only one left in her dorm. In the mornings, she went to the laboratory to work as a research assistant, feeding the white mice on time and cleaning up experimental waste. In the afternoons, she went to a high-end residential complex to tutor a middle school student. At night, she studied in the library, finishing Fundamentals of Computer Science before learning a programming language and practicing programming on her newly acquired MacBook.

On the way to the library, people often greeted her. Once, she ran into a female Alpha who chatted with her the entire way. The other person casually asked, “How has your programming study been recently?”

Qi Si looked at her strangely and probed, “You’re… studying programming too?”

The female Alpha was stunned. “I’m not. Aren’t you the one self-studying it? We only talked about it yesterday.”

Qi Si said, “Oh, you’re the one from yesterday…”

The female Alpha was speechless. “I’m Ji Min.”

Qi Si’s eyes widened slightly as she calmed the shock in her heart.

Oh no. If Ji Min was not standing with the people from Dorm 601, Qi Si could not recognize her at all.

Ji Min noticed something and said with disgust, “Don’t tell me you’re face-blind?”

Qi Si said, “Haha, you found out.”

“I’m going to throw up. No wonder you’re weird sometimes, so cold and indifferent, never greeting people first.” Ji Min pursed her lips and looked over this high-IQ talent. “Face blindness to this degree is really something rare to see.”

Her weakness was determined by genetics, and Qi Si could not change it. She stiffly changed the topic. “You’re not going home for the National Day holiday either? Where is your home?”

Ji Min said, “My hometown is in the south. No one’s at home, so I don’t want to go back.”

Qi Si nodded and mentally recorded the traits related to Ji Min. Although she was face-blind, she was serious about making friends.

“What about you? Yixuan said you’ve been working at Su Moxiao’s laboratory recently. How does it feel? Is it hard?”

Qi Si said, “It’s all right. They’re short-staffed during the holiday. I’m just doing odd jobs.”

“Do you know what their laboratory is researching?”

“Not sure.”

Ji Min nodded. “No wonder. So you went there without knowing anything. The person in charge of their laboratory is Lin Ye. The Lin from Lulin Biopharmaceuticals. Vertically, their lab is supported by University A’s medical school. Horizontally, it cooperates with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. I heard they’ve recently been researching a drug that can make Alpha glands lose function, and they’re close to producing results. Usually, when Alphas hear about their research results, they don’t dare enter their laboratory, afraid they’ll be infected. I was wondering why you were so brave. Turns out you were tricked.”

Qi Si’s lips parted in surprise. “You’re amazing. How do you know everything?”

Ji Min adjusted her glasses. “It’s all public information online. You just find it by searching.”

Qi Si nodded. “Shen Yixuan probably doesn’t know this either.”

“She’s thick-nerved. She probably wouldn’t trick you on purpose.” Ji Min advised like someone with experience, “Find an excuse and quit this assistant job quickly. Otherwise, you might get dragged into trouble.”

Qi Si said, “Okay. I’ll stop once the holiday ends.”

Before the holiday ended, Qi Si started using her new phone. After inserting her original SIM card and turning it on, she immediately received several debt collection messages.

The person in charge of one of the online loans, Shang Xin, had been unable to contact her these past few days. His final message said that he would come to her dormitory at school to find her.

Qi Si did not want anyone to know about the online loan, so she hurriedly called him back.

The moment the call connected, Shang Xin cursed at her. “Fuck your mother, where the hell have you been these past few days? Your loan has been overdue for a week, and you don’t answer calls. The bar owner said you quit. Where the fuck did you go?!”

Cold sweat broke out over Qi Si. She apologized while explaining, “I’ve been working part-time at school during the holiday. I’ll be able to get paid soon. I should be able to settle the money tomorrow. I can repay it tomorrow. Just one day. Please be lenient.”

Shang Xin said, “Tomorrow, I’m going to your school to find you!”

Qi Si swallowed. “I still have part-time work to finish tomorrow. You won’t be able to find me. It’s better to wait until I get the money and deliver it to you.”

“We can find your school dormitory,” Shang Xin sneered. “If I can’t find you, I’ll go to your dorm, then to your counselor. Don’t think turning your phone off makes everything fine. We can even find your family’s address!”

Qi Si had indeed carried a trace of wishful thinking. These past few days, she had been delaying buying a phone partly because she did not want to face this issue and wanted to spend the holiday in peace. She had not believed the other party would really come looking for her.

When she borrowed the money, she had originally planned to only leave her name and phone number. The home address had been filled in randomly. But because the other party said university students could get reduced interest, Qi Si had used her University A student ID.

Only when the stone fully collapsed did Qi Si realize that avoiding the problem was meaningless. It would only make things more severe.

“I can get the money tomorrow, enough to settle the bill,” Qi Si said, working hard to stay calm. “You don’t need to come to the school. Ruining me won’t benefit my later repayment plan at all.”

The other party cursed fiercely for a while before finally hanging up.

Qi Si came out of the bathroom after the call and heard her roommates talking about where they had gone during the holiday. She was distracted and felt as if she were sitting on needles.

She had already received the money she earned tutoring at Boss Zhou’s friend’s house in advance. Part of it had been given to Jiang Mingzhu, another part used to buy a phone and repay an old friend, leaving about two thousand yuan. She had planned to wait for Su Moxiao to pay her, then gather five thousand yuan to repay the online loan. But during this period, Su Moxiao had not contacted her first and did not seem to intend to pay her.

Qi Si tapped on Su Moxiao’s WeChat profile picture. The latest chat message was from a year ago. Back then, when Qi Si sent her a message, it showed “message failed to send,” and only then did she realize she had been blocked.

Perhaps because the friend had been deleted, she could still view Su Moxiao’s ten most recent Moments posts and saw the photos Su Moxiao had recently updated from her trip to Japan.

Nine images were not enough for her Moments post, so each photo was a long stitched collage: wearing a white dress and posing by the sea, wearing a princess dress at Tokyo Disneyland, soaking in a hot spring at the foot of Mount Fuji, and sightseeing by helicopter.

Qi Si typed two words in the chat box: “Pay me.”

The prompt appeared: “Message failed to send. The other party has not added you as a friend.”

Forget it. School would start tomorrow. She would ask her in person.

At nine in the morning on October 7, Qi Si arrived downstairs at Su Moxiao’s laboratory and pressed the doorbell, waiting to be let in.

This time, the wait was a little longer. After she entered, the corridor was packed with students in white lab coats. It seemed like they were holding a group meeting.

However, things were not as she imagined. The moment Qi Si appeared, these people stopped whispering among themselves and looked at her with eyes full of suspicion, anger, and disgust.

Qi Si could not recognize people, but she could recognize their emotions clearly.

Liu Peng shouted, “My god, you’re finally here!”

Qi Si asked, “What happened?”

“You still have the nerve to ask?”

The voice that answered her belonged to Su Moxiao. She stepped out from the crowd in high heels and threw a bag of biological waste at Qi Si’s feet. A dead mouse corpse rolled out from inside.

Qi Si: “!”

“How did you do your work? Is this how you handle things?!” Su Moxiao strode up to Qi Si. Without waiting for Qi Si to ask what had happened, she scolded her in front of everyone. “With your level, how did you get into medical school? You couldn’t even handle such a small task. Do you know that you’ve affected Senior Brother Liu Peng and other people’s graduation prospects?! How are you going to take responsibility for this?”

Qi Si’s mind buzzed. She stared at the bag of corpses on the ground and said faintly, “Su Moxiao, biological waste can’t be disposed of like this.”

Su Moxiao was so furious she lost control. She raised her hand and slapped toward Qi Si.

Her hand was caught midair by Qi Si.