Chapter 1

April 18, 2021

“I heard Xia Huai from the honors class is transferring to Class 13.”

“Isn’t that the worst class in Wanchun? What is he thinking?”

“They say he broke up with Jiang Chuxing, and his grades have tanked.”

The streets of Wanchun were bustling with traffic. Across the road, nestled between a row of student eateries, tutoring centers, and a cluster of internet cafes, was a small dessert shop called “Starlight.”

A few male students, all hamsters, were sitting in the shop, wearing their Wanchun No. 1 High School uniforms and whispering about the latest gossip.

Thud.

A plate of green cake was slammed down in front of them. The impact was so heavy that the flower-shaped cream on top collapsed, hanging precariously off the edge.

“Your cake,” Jiang Chuxing said, placing the tray on the table with a smile. “And your coffee.”

Hearing his voice, the hamster boys looked up.

Jiang Chuxing was lean and slender, with facial features that set him apart from other Betas. His “phoenix eyes” long and deep at the corners gave him a refined, elegant look. His irises were a rare, stunning amber, though a sharp, cold edge often hid in their depths. Yet, when he smiled, his slightly prominent under-eye bags made him look just like an angel.

At that impressionable age, the boys felt their faces flush instinctively.

“We didn’t break up,” Jiang Chuxing said, his voice gentle yet chilling enough to send shivers down their spines. “Stop spreading rumors.”

He had no idea who started such nonsense. They weren’t even together to begin with, so how could there be a breakup?

Jiang Chuxing swept a glance over them, and the boys immediately lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.

One boy boldly snuck a peek at Jiang Chuxing. He couldn’t help but think: he really was the best-looking Beta in the school even most Omegas paled in comparison.

Yet, for someone who looked so harmless, this Beta was notoriously violent. Every Alpha who had ever dared to confess to him ended up either in the hospital or dropped out the very next day, without exception.

Because of this, the students of Wanchun secretly nicknamed him the “Angel-faced Iron-fisted Beta.”

Suddenly, the shop door was pushed open with a bang.

A slender figure stumbled in, looking around frantically until his eyes locked onto Jiang Chuxing. Because he had been running so hard, his little deer antlers were visible. He was panting heavily.

“Bad news, Brother Chuxing! Xia Huai is in a fight!”

Jiang Chuxing’s expression changed instantly. “Where?”

“The gym,” Gu An said urgently. “It’s one against five. They’re all athletes.”

Jiang Chuxing clicked his tongue and bolted out the door.

Gu An stood there, stunned, and yelled at the doorway, “Hey, wait for me, Brother Chuxing!”

The boys in the shop looked at each other in silence.

“Seeing how worried he is, they must not have broken up.”

“Yeah, maybe he dropped a class for love.”

“The nerve… Damn, Xia Huai is so cool.”

In the gym.

“Protecting him that much?” The tall guy in the black T-shirt bared his wolf ears, trying to assert his dominance. “So what if I’m chasing him? He’s not your wife. Are you just bitter because you can’t have him, so you won’t let anyone else even catch a scent?”

Xia Huai raised his eyes slowly, a fierce, murderous aura radiating from his brow.

The tall guy froze for a second, then licked his fangs, looking at him mockingly. “How about this? Let’s not use pheromones…”

Before he could finish, Xia Huai swung his fist into the guy’s nose.

The tall guy let out a howl.

Since entering high school, Xia Huai has grown at an incredible speed. He was now several centimeters taller than these basketball players.

The sound of fighting and fists hitting skin echoed through the gym.

His opponents were no match for him. Xia Huai didn’t even need to show his true form to shut them all down.

Xia Huai bent down to pick up his jacket. With his long lashes lowered, he looked down at the guys moaning in pain on the floor.

The gap in skill was too large. After the fight, just one cold look from Xia Huai made the boys shrink back, their ears drooping instinctively.

“I might not be ‘eating’ him,” Xia Huai said, his voice slow, lazy, and provocative. “But it’s not your turn to try. If you dare to set your sights on him again, believe me…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the boys nodded as if they understood perfectly.

Xia Huai had broken into a sweat from the physical exertion, and his pheromones began to leak out. He headed toward the back door to wash his face.

Just as he finished, a series of pained cries came from the gym.

Recognizing the voice, he paused and walked back to push the door open.

When he saw that familiar figure, a spark of light flickered in his dark, gloomy eyes.

“Enough with the nonsense. You guys definitely started this.”

Jiang Chuxing’s hits landed heavier and heavier with every word.

“Ganging up on people? Specifically picking on a ‘good kid’? Is that fun for you?”

The contrast between Jiang Chuxing’s calm face and his brutal actions was striking. Just looking at his expression, one might think he was simply trying to reason with them.

Xia Huai stood with his hands lazily stuffed in his pockets, watching the person who had come to defend him. A genuine smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

But after a moment, the smile slowly faded.

So, the “good kid” has to act out for his older brother to finally give him a glance, a bit of concern.

Xia Huai lowered his eyes, lost in thought.

A few minutes later, Xia Huai leaned against the wall outside, watching the boys stumble out, supporting each other as if fleeing for their lives.

He stood up straight, hesitated for a moment while holding the door handle, and then pulled it open.

In the center of the vast gymnasium, a boy stood with his jacket draped over his shoulder, held by one finger.

Jiang Chuxing turned at the sound of the door and froze upon seeing the boy in the doorway. He clearly hadn’t expected him to still be there.

Xia Huai stood still, meeting his gaze calmly.

The gym was still thick with the mixed pheromones of several Alphas. Jiang Chuxing smelled it and felt nauseated, disgusted, and ready to vomit.

He had forgotten his medication that morning, and a wave of nausea surged in his stomach.

Jiang Chuxing looked away, trying to regain his composure, but the urge to retch hit his throat. He covered his mouth and bolted out of the gym, rushing to the nearest trash can to dry heave.

Xia Huai quickly followed him, wanting to reach out to steady him, but ultimately pulled his hand back. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Chuxing felt his strength fading. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the familiar scent of the Alpha in the air.

After a moment, he didn’t look at Xia Huai and simply started to walk forward.

When he reached the street, he stopped and said in a low voice, “Don’t follow me.”

“I’ll walk you back to the shop,” Xia Huai said, his tone brooking no argument as he stared at Jiang Chuxing’s back.

“No need,” Jiang Chuxing said, his voice cold and steady. He turned to look Xia Huai in the eyes. “Go away.”

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

Xia Huai’s eyes gradually grew calm. When he looked at Jiang Chuxing again, it was as if he were looking at a stranger detached and indifferent. “Fine.”

Jiang Chuxing clenched his hands.

Xia Huai watched him for a second, his gaze lingering on the boy’s reddened, moist lips. He fished around in his pocket, then reached out.

Out of reflex, Jiang Chuxing stepped back and slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

With the sharp sound of the slap, something fell to the ground.

Jiang Chuxing froze, his eyes landing on the back of Xia Huai’s hand. It had turned bright red.

“I’m sorry, I…” Jiang Chuxing raised his hand to touch it, but then remembered Xia Huai was an Alpha, and his hand stopped mid-air.

Xia Huai didn’t answer; he seemed used to it. He calmly crouched down, picked up the wet wipe that had fallen, and handed it over again.

This time, Jiang Chuxing didn’t slap his hand away, but he didn’t take it either.

Xia Huai said coldly, “If you’re not feeling well, remember to take your medicine.”

Jiang Chuxing pinched the hem of his pants. Before he could respond, Xia Huai stuffed the wet wipe into his hand.

Then, he heard Xia Huai’s footsteps walking away.

He looked up at the boy’s receding back. Since when has the little kid who used to call him “brother” every other sentence grown to be half a head taller than him?

Gu An happened to arrive just in time to see them parting ways.

He caught up to Xia Huai. “Wait for me!”

Seeing Xia Huai’s darkened expression and the fierce glint in his eyes, Gu An knew he shouldn’t speak, but he couldn’t help himself. “What exactly is going on between you and Brother Chuxing?”

“Weren’t you two very close before?” Gu An blurted out the question that had been weighing on his mind.

“Did you do something to make him angry? I saw how nervous he was about you just now the moment he heard you were in trouble, he ran faster than anyone. If you made him mad, just go and apologize.”

Xia Huai stopped. His eyes were so dark that any emotion within them was impossible to read. “I’d like to know that, too. What did I do to upset him?”

“Huh?”

His voice was so low that Gu An barely heard him.

“Maybe you don’t need a reason to hate someone.”

Jiang Chuxing stood there for a long time. He looked down at the wet wipe in his hand and finally tucked it into his pocket.

He took a few steps when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

It was a WeChat message from Xia Mo.

Xia Mo and Xia Huai were twins, but they were complete opposites in both personality and looks.

[CuteBunny]: Get to the internet cafe, fast! Help me rank up!

[CuteBunny]: The usual spot.

Jiang Chuxing shook his head and replied with a simple “Okay.”

Behind Wanchun No. 1 High School was a row of old streets. The inconspicuous dark alley was a popular hangout for local middle and high school students, especially the “Qingbei” internet cafe.

Jiang Chuxing was a regular. He pushed open the glass door and walked straight to his usual seat.

As he pulled out the chair, Xia Mo saw him and tore off his headphones, lunging at him. “You finally arrived, my star! I’m getting crushed!”

Jiang Chuxing couldn’t help but smile, reaching out to ruffle Xia Mo’s hair. “Don’t worry, Dad is here. I’ll help you win it back.”

As they were waiting to select their characters, Jiang Chuxing felt a tingling, itchy sensation at the back of his neck. He reached up to scratch it.

For some reason, he felt like the air in the internet cafe was heavier today, making him feel dizzy.

Probably because I didn’t take my medicine, he thought.

He pulled a black disposable mask from his pocket and put it on, which made him feel slightly better.

The game started.

“Fish, fish, fish! The tail, the tail!!!” Xia Mo wailed. “Teach him a lesson!”

“This idiot is hurting me so much, damn it!”

“How is this guy ‘Sun Maomao’ so jumpy?” Xia Mo shouting while playing was his daily routine. “Watch how I take you down!”

After a few rounds, Xia Mo, who had been at rock bottom, finally regained his strength under Jiang Chuxing’s leadership.

Before the next round started, the phone on Xia Mo’s desk rang.

He picked it up, scrambled to pull out his math workbook from under his mousepad, flipped to a random page, and shoved it into Jiang Chuxing’s arms.

“Emergency! Emergency! My mom’s calling!”

Jiang Chuxing was already used to Xia Mo’s unconventional tactics.

Xia Mo answered the phone and skillfully lied, “Mom, I’ll be back in a bit. I’m at Chuxing’s place, discussing math problems with him.”

Jiang Chuxing cooperated by glancing at the workbook and immediately started explaining a problem.

“Let’s look at this one. Given that when m is a real number, the function f(x) = m(x²-1) + x – a always has a zero point. What is the range of values for the real number a?”

“Xia Mo, write this down: first, when m = 0, by f(x) = x – a = 0…”

The person on the other end heard Jiang Chuxing’s voice and said something. Xia Mo nodded. “Don’t worry, if you don’t believe me, you have to believe in Chuxing. Okay, I’ll be back once we finish these two pages. Yes, okay Mom.”

After hanging up, Xia Mo let out a long breath. “You’re a lifesaver. I would have been doomed.”

“How do you manage to be so loved by parents?” Xia Mo sighed with deep emotion. “If you were my parents’ son, I think they’d smile in their sleep.”

Jiang Chuxing rolled his eyes at his nonsense and threw the workbook back at him. “You’re seriously damaging my reputation in front of your mother. Don’t let it happen again.”

“It’s summer vacation, after all,” Xia Mo chuckled. “I don’t have time for this during the school term, you know that.”

Jiang Chuxing felt his stomach churning. Although his seat was near a window, the internet cafe was reaching its peak hours, and the air was thick with a messy mix of pheromones.

Xia Mo saw his pale face and suggested, “How about we go out for some fresh air?”

Jiang Chuxing agreed; the back of his neck felt too tight, and he figured he had been sitting for too long anyway.

“Fine, let’s go.”

As they stepped outside, they ran into five or six boys huddled together.

Jiang Chuxing glanced at their secondary genders, a group of dogs. The leader was a wolf Alpha, likely from the nearby vocational school.

Through a gap in the group, Jiang Chuxing saw a scrawny boy sitting on the ground. He was a fellow Beta, a house cat.

The boy had a split lip and stuttered, “…I really don’t have any more. That’s all the money I have.”

The red-haired leader kicked the boy in the stomach. “You’re from Second Private High, and you only have this much? Who are you trying to fool? Looking for a beating?”

There were many schools in this area, and all kinds of people around.

Usually, Jiang Chuxing wouldn’t bother with such trouble.

He was about to walk toward the alley entrance when a sweet, honey-like scent of an Omega drifted toward him. Normally, as a Beta, he shouldn’t have been sensitive to pheromones, but this was followed by a revolting, chaotic blend of Alpha pheromones.

Jiang Chuxing’s stomach churned with a sense of disgust more intense than ever before.

A cry of pain hit his ears. The overwhelming nausea made him irritable, and the fact that an Omega was being bullied triggered his protective instinct. He turned around and walked back.

When the red-haired boy moved to kick again, Jiang Chuxing grabbed him by the collar, yanked him backward, and flung him away.

The guy stumbled a few steps, nearly falling. He was about to shout, but when he looked up and saw it was Jiang Chuxing, he froze and bowed respectfully. “Star… Brother Chuxing, what are you doing here?”

Information spreads fast in these parts, especially with the internet. Everyone knew who everyone was.

Especially Jiang Chuxing from Wanchun No. 1 High School, the legendary “Angel-faced Iron-fisted Beta.” Top-tier Alphas and rare Alphas alike had been humbled by him, let alone these small-time bullies.

Jiang Chuxing’s features were soft, and he didn’t look like the type to fight. His translucent amber eyes made him appear completely harmless, but the cold, sharp, and aggressive aura behind them was impossible to ignore.

“Give the money back,” Jiang Chuxing said, squinting at the redhead. His gaze was indifferent, yet it felt unusually threatening to outsiders.

The redhead, unnerved by that look, hurriedly handed over the wallet.

Because the guy had released his pheromones, the air nearby was stifling. Jiang Chuxing frowned, repulsed by the wallet. He glanced down at the boy on the floor.

The boy, sensing Jiang Chuxing’s disdain, immediately stood up to take the wallet himself.

Jiang Chuxing endured the discomfort and stepped back, his voice cold and warning. “Stop releasing your pheromones. You’re polluting the public space.”

The boys nodded repeatedly, apologized, and scrambled out of the alley.

Xia Mo, wondering why Jiang Chuxing was taking so long, came out and caught the tail end of the scene.

Look at that, he thought. That tone and presence really embody the word ‘delinquent’ perfectly.

He walked over and threw an arm around Jiang Chuxing’s shoulder. “A straight-A student acting like a school tyrant all day… honestly, you should just go ahead and become the school boss.”

Jiang Chuxing nudged him with his elbow, finding the label funny. He curled his lip. “You’re so childish.”

The boy who had been bullied walked up, trembling slightly. “Um… Thank you for that.”

Jiang Chuxing glanced at him and said indifferently, “Don’t take this shortcut again in the future. It’s not safe.”

With that, he turned and walked toward the end of the alley.

Xia Mo waved at the boy and hurried to keep up with Jiang Chuxing.

It was already dark outside. As they walked under the streetlights toward the intersection, just as Jiang Chuxing was about to part ways with Xia Mo, his vision caught a glimpse of a young man walking toward them, carrying a guitar case.

There was only that one person on the road. Even though it was dark and too far to see his face clearly, Jiang Chuxing recognized him immediately.

It was the little brother he had once cherished and pampered in the palm of his hand.