53: Xiao Yiheng bit the back of his neck, and tasted blood on the tip of his tongue

This was entrapment! This was obviously entrapment!

Li Cheng irritatedly paced in the art classroom, glancing at the mysterious painting easel uncontrollably.

The cunning hunter dug a trap and laid out the most tempting bait. The curious little wildcat circled the trap, unable to resist reaching out its paw to taste the bait.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Two voices buzzed in Li Cheng's ears.

One was his rational angel, shaking his collar and roaring: "Li Cheng, see it clearly! This is obviously Xiao Yiheng's trap. If you really uncover the painting, he'll definitely mock you mercilessly!"

The other was his demon partner, whispering in his ear: "Hey, Li-ge, you're the awesome school tyrant. Xiao Yiheng won't let you do it, and you're just going to listen to him like that? Besides, he's not here right now. You can just lift a corner for a peek and then quickly put it back. He won't know~"

Two voices clashed in his ears, and the final result was not unexpected - the little devil won an overwhelming victory.

Li Cheng pretentiously cleared his throat, put his hands behind his back, and strolled slowly to the painting like a leader inspecting work.

A soft gray felt cloth was draped over the easel, covering the entire painting. Li Cheng couldn't guess what kind of landscape it was.

Maybe there was nothing under the felt cloth; it was a deliberate empty city strategy.

Li Cheng's palms felt slightly hot. He composed himself, finally stopped hesitating, and grabbed a corner of the felt cloth.

Then lightly pulled—

—The soft fabric slipped off the easel, and Li Cheng lost himself inside a brilliant blue.

Those were waves, clear blue waters, with the sea surface composed of countless shades of blue.

The seawater divided the sunlight into countless bright color blocks, which gently enveloped a honey-colored figure.

That figure belonged to a young boy.

He was swimming - no, it was more like he was dancing on the crest of a wave.

He was naked, but his nakedness did not give the painting any sense of lasciviousness. He did not need to wear a piece of cloth, because he was already draped in sunlight, water waves, and bubbles.

The youth's shoulder blades were covered with well-defined back muscles, and his back dimples connected to the rounded lines of his hips. He stretched every inch of his muscles, his two long arms parted the water, his feet made waves, and his golden, tousled hair slowly swayed in the sea.

Although the painting did not depict the boy's appearance, Li Cheng knew clearly that he was the person in the painting the moment he saw it.

Xiao Yiheng painted him.

Blue water, golden hair, honey-colored skin, orange light.

In Xiao Yiheng's eyes, Li Cheng was composed of these colors.

But Li Cheng was not merely these colors.

Li Cheng stood frozen before the painting, as if his soul had been "captured" by it. He lost all ability to move; he forgot how to speak or control his body. Only his mind was still racing, which made him uncontrollably imagine Xiao Yiheng painting the image with a brush.

Did Xiao Yiheng come to the art classroom by himself every night and paint him secretly? When Xiao Yiheng was painting him, what was he thinking, and what was the expression in his eyes? Did Xiao Yiheng wear a dirty apron just like today, with even his fingertips dyed with paint?

Xiao Yiheng... Xiao Yiheng... Xiao Yiheng...

Countless voices gathered together as Li Cheng stared at the painting in a daze. A surge of intense emotion bubbled up in his heart, and raced along his pulse to his limbs.

Art would forever be the best bridge to convey emotions. The moment Li Cheng understood this painting, he also understood Xiao Yiheng.

Feelings more turbulent than the sea; gentler and softer than a paintbrush was Xiao Yiheng's gaze as he silently watched Li Cheng.

Li Cheng didn't know how long he had stood in front of this painting. The passage of time no longer made any sense to him.

Until—

"ChengCheng," Xiao Yiheng's voice exploded in his ears. Li Cheng had no idea when the alpha returned to the classroom. He simply appeared behind Li Cheng, stretched out his arms, one hand around his slender waist, the other covering his eyes, and enveloping him into his arms. "You've broken the rule."

Li Cheng's whole body trembled. Before he could resist, his back had already hit the alpha's chest.

Deprived of his sight, he plunged into darkness. It wasn't until then that he realized how dry his eyes were, and he didn't know how long he had been staring at the painting, or even that he had forgotten o blink.

Xiao Yiheng was five centimeters taller than him, and could easily hold him in his arms.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
The alpha lowered his head slightly and whispered a sentence in the ear of the person in his arms: "Naughty children need to be punished."

Li Cheng felt himself a shiver run down his spine. He wanted to resist, but somehow he had lost the strength to do so.

Perhaps from the moment he saw the painting, he could no longer refuse any request from Xiao Yiheng.

Very soon, he knew what Xiao Yiheng meant by punishment–

The omega's collar was pulled down, and the alpha's lips pressed a burning kiss on the back of his neck, his sharp teeth like those of a wild beast piercing the tender flesh of his nape.

"—Ah!" Li Cheng couldn't help but let out a plaintive whine.

He was a special omega; there were no traces of glands on the back of his neck. According to common sense, even if an alpha bit the back of his neck, he would only experience pain. However, he felt a different kind of pleasure within that pain.

Blood rushed from the heart to the femoral artery, and the real glands hidden deep in the root of the left thigh became hot instantly. The strong and fresh orange scent was like a fluffy bomb, exploding in the air.

Li Cheng opened his eyes desperately, looking for a little light through the gaps in the fingers that were blocking his vision.

Xiao Yiheng bit the back of his neck, and tasted blood on the tip of his tongue.

The cedar-scented pheromones spread out like a giant net, tightly enveloping the two of them, blending with the sweet orange scent, creating an intense yet touching embrace.

Even though Li Cheng wasn't in estrus yet, his legs were so weak that he was unable to keep standing and could only lean all his weight on Xiao Yiheng.

The brief punishment soon ended. Xiao Yiheng loosened his teeth and instead licked the swollen wound on the back of Li Cheng's neck with the tip of his tongue, while showering him with countless small kisses.

"Li Cheng... Li Cheng... ChengCheng..." He repeatedly called out Li Cheng's name, the emotion in his voice increasing with each call.

He removed the hand covering Li Cheng's eyes, and the omega, now able to see again, blinked uncomfortably, his gaze returning to the painting on the easel.

Li Cheng felt as if he were looking in a mirror. He saw himself swimming in the waves in the painting, and behind him, a hand held a paintbrush, adding waves around him.

"ChengCheng." Xiao Yiheng called his name again, turning him around to face him.

Li Cheng's face was burning hot, his nape prickled, and his sweat-dampened blond hair stuck to his forehead. He was extremely flurried, like a leader of wildcats forced into a dead end. He could not tell whether the human who reached out to him wanted to hurt him or give him a warm home.

He dared not look into the alpha's eyes, but only stared at the bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.

"...My glands are not on the back of my neck." He clearly wanted to question the other, but blurted out such a sentence.

Xiao Yiheng was stunned, then immediately laughed: "I know. We all know."

He leaned back against the easel with one arm around Li Cheng's body and the other gently stroking the still-bleeding nape.

"This time it's just a little punishment for your disobedience." The alpha's voice seemed to have a small hook in it. "If I'd bitten you somewhere else, it wouldn't have been a punishment, but a reward."

"Why are you so shameless?" Li Cheng changed the subject, "It was clearly you who set me up, deliberately tempting me into making a mistake! And... and don't tell me you haven't made a mistake?"

"What did I do wrong?"

Li Cheng finally raised his eyes and met his gaze: "Why are you pretending to be stupid?" The omega pointed to the painting, even the tips of his ears red, "Who allowed you to paint me? And it's a painting of laozi naked...naked..."

He was unable to speak the last word. He had never swum in the nude before. During training, he always wore swimming trunks that reached the knees. But in Xiao Yiheng's painting, he didn't have a stitch of clothing.

"Is this a mistake?" Xiao Yiheng spoke slowly and softly, as if he were reciting a poem. "Li Cheng, I like you, so I fantasize about your naked body. Is that a mistake?"

"What—" Although Li Cheng had already guessed that Xiao Yiheng liked him, he didn't expect Xiao Yiheng to say it in this way.

"—I said, I like you." Xiao Yiheng clenched his hands, and his true personality hidden under his indifference finally revealed a tip of the iceberg.

The alpha confined his beloved omega in his arms, pressed their foreheads together, the tips of their noses touching each other.

"I like you, so I fantasize about your naked body." Xiao Yiheng's phoenix eyes were filled with Li Cheng's reflection. "I not only think about it during the day, but I also think about it at night - and I'll paint all of these fantasies one by one. One day, I'll fill an art museum with these countless fantasies, which will only be open to you for life."

"..."

"You are my only muse, and my only audience."

"..."

"I'll say it as many times as you want." Xiao Yiheng gently leaned in, just shy of kissing those soft red lips. "I like you, Li Cheng, I like you."

However, just as their four lips were about to overlap, Xiao Yiheng stopped.

Because Li Cheng was trembling.

This lawless school tyrant had never been scared by anything before, but now he was trembling.

Li Cheng's eyes were wide open, seemingly dazed. He was obviously looking at Xiao Yiheng, but his gaze was unfocused.

He was frightened by the alpha.

Even skilled swimmers are frightened by the swift undercurrents hidden beneath the calm surface of a lake.

Before he knew it, a thin layer of mist rose from Li Cheng's eyes, but he stared at Xiao Yiheng in front of him, refusing to admit that he was scared.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Xiao Yiheng's heart softened, and he suddenly let go.

Li Cheng broke free from his arms in an instant, and at the same time, the tears that had been hanging on the boy's eyelashes finally fell.

"You..." Li Cheng forgot all the swear words he had learned and could only use the weakest language to accuse, "...Xiao Yiheng, you're a big pervert!"

Then, he kicked over the nude swimming painting and rushed out of the art classroom without looking back.

He didn't even take his finished homework.

As the easel fell to the ground, Xiao Yiheng lowered his eyes to look at the painting that its owner had ignored, and sighed deeply.

"...It seems like I've gone a bit too far with the bullying."

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

52: After-school Private Tutoring.avi

After borrowing Xiao Yiheng's major assignment, Li Cheng felt like he had turned on a plug-in, and even walked a lot lighter. He had a perfect plan. As soon as he got back to his dorm, he would work hard to finish that awful homework... However, he forgot that the essence of humans is that of a pigeon. [In 2018, this phrase and others were used to discuss "modern philosophy" by netizens to satirize human behavior. There are 3/4 spirits. First: repeater = blind follower of trends; second: so fragrant = opposer one sec, super supporter the next; third: pigeon spirit = procrastinators and ditchers; fourth: lemon spirit = jealous of others. The things you learn translating...]

On Monday, Li Cheng played PUBG all day and didn't write anything.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
On Tuesday, Li Cheng and his little brothers climbed over the wall to fight and didn't write anything.

On Wednesday, Li Cheng was too tired from training and didn't write anything.

On Thursday, Li Cheng ate too much and didn't write anything.

On Friday, Li Cheng...

Damn it, it was Friday already and Li Cheng couldn't skip writing anymore!!!!!

The assignment had to be handed in on Saturday, but the 1200-word essay had only a title on it so far. Li Cheng stared at the blank paper and couldn't remember how he wasted the past few days.

He could only cram at the eleventh hour, hurriedly glancing over Xiao Yiheng's lengthy essay and reading it from beginning to end twice. He selected a few passages, rephrased some parts, and barely managed to write a few hundred words – and at this time, there were still twelve hours left until the end of Friday.

Uh, since there were still twelve hours left, he could take a break and play a few games to relax, right?

So, Li Cheng took it easy again. The difference was that before, he loafed on the job very leisurely, but now he was slacking very stressfully.

You see, he was shaking his legs anxiously while playing games. Wasn't this enough to show how much importance he attached to his unfinished homework?

In this way, he spread out his homework on his desk, only a third of which was complete, and secretly started playing mobile games under the desk. One moment he lowered his head, the next he looked up again - eh, eh, eh?? What's going on? Why is school already over? Where did the last few hours go??

The instant the school bell rang, the surrounding students got up and packed up their schoolbags. Regarding students at a boarding school, the school bell every Friday was definitely the most beautiful music in the world. Only Li Cheng sat blankly in his seat and cried pigeon tears staring at his unfinished homework.

"Li-ge, if you really can't come up with anything, then there's only one way." Huang Yelun, that terrible advisor, came once again to offer his suggestion. "Why don't you just find a gunman? After the gunman finishes writing it, just copy it yourself and make sure there are no mistakes."

"But who do I find as a gunman?" [a gunman is a kind of ghostwriter.]

Huang Yelun winked at him: "Who else? Find my sister-in-law... Ahem, I mean, Xiao Yiheng. He's first in the grade, won't writing this kind of essay be effortless for him?"

"Impossible!" Li Cheng curled his lip. "He's the TA for this course. Am I crazy to let the TA be a gunman for me?"

Huang Yelun thought his Li-ge and sister-in-law were role-playing and they were really into it. He, Dahuang, had seen a lot of porn with teacher-student roleplay. Close the door, turn off the lights, and you've got a whole film like "After-school Private Tutoring.avi."

Huang Yelun reminded him vaguely: "You don't need to ask him to be your gunman. Didn't you say he's the teaching assistant and you're the temporary class monitor? Isn't it only natural for the teaching assistant to help the class monitor? Li-ge, if you just say a few soft words, will Xiao Yiheng be willing to let you fail the course?"

"...Why do I fell like something's weird about what you're saying?"

But Li Cheng had to admit that Huang Yelun's suggestion had truly convinced his heart.

The "National Health Education Class" female beta teacher was too strict. If Li Cheng didn't finish his homework, she would definitely not let him go. If he didn't submit his assignment, he wouldn't pass the exam and get his diploma, and he wouldn't be able to go to university in advance for preparatory courses...

Li Cheng shuddered at the thought and immediately picked up his phone, tapping on Xiao Yiheng's profile pic.

Small Round Orange: Xiao Yiheng, are you there?

Small Round Orange: Don't leave after school!!

Pursue Unremittingly: ...

Pursue Unremittingly: Why, Li-ge wants to challenge me to a fight in the alley?

Small Round Orange: [Embarrassed]

Small Round Orange: No fighting, I have a serious matter to discuss with you.

Pursue Unremittingly: First tell me what it is, then I'll judge whether it's serious or not.

Small Round Orange: ...

Small Round Orange: I can't finish my assignment, can you help me?

Pursue Unremittingly: You're cutting it close. How many words do you still need to write?

Small Round Orange: Uh, it's still a thousand short.

Xiao Yiheng did not reply for a long time.

Li Cheng also felt quite ashamed. His 1200-word essay was due tomorrow, but he had only written 200 words. Now he even wanted to ask Xiao Yiheng to be his gunman. If it were anyone else, they might have committed suicide out of shame.

But who was Li-ge? On such critical issues, he was still quite "flexible and adaptable."

Thinking of this, Li Cheng pressed the voice recording button, cleared his throat, and then said in the most pretentious voice he had ever used: "Teacher Xiao, I want an appointment for after-school tutoring with you tonight. Can I?"

His hand relaxed, and the voice message was sent out with a "swish."

Li Cheng got goosebumps all over. He himself was too embarrassed to listen to it again, so he threw his phone on the table as if it were a hot potato, and then covered it up as if trying to hide his shame.

A minute later, the phone dinged with a crisp sound.

Li Cheng stretched out his arm, carefully flipped the phone over, and squinted one eye at the screen...

Pursue Unremittingly: Come to the art classroom right away.

Pursue Unremittingly: I'm waiting for you.
...

In the empty teaching building, only Li Cheng's footsteps echoed in the corridor.

He stopped in front of the art classroom, his hand almost knocking several times, but inexplicably retracting it.

The assignment papers in his hand were almost crumpled by him. He stared at the title on the paper, wishing that the words on it were his forte, so that he could write a whole page of the assignment by himself.

Li Cheng raised his hand in mid-air for the fourth time. This time, his hand paused in front of the door for several seconds. The moment he finally made up his mind to knock, the door of the art classroom suddenly opened.

Li Cheng's hand was still raised in the air stupidly, staring blankly at Xiao Yiheng who appeared behind the door.

The strong smell of paint rushed over his face. Xiao Yiheng was wearing an apron, which looked dirty with a lot of paint rubbed on it. Even his fingertips were stained with some color.

Slovenly and sloppy.

Li Cheng blinked at a very slow speed. Today he had "unlocked" a side of Xiao Yiheng he had never seen before.

"So you really know how to paint?" Li Cheng blurted out, then promptly realized that this sentence was pure nonsense.

If Xiao Yiheng couldn't paint, Teacher Qiu Xian wouldn't treat him differently, and would not specially give him the key to the art classroom.

Xiao Yiheng didn't answer this obvious question. He stepped aside and gestured for Li Cheng to enter the room.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Li Cheng closed the door lightly. The art classroom was the same as when he came last time. A dozen easels were stacked in the corner, and some easels held completed paintings. Even Li Cheng, a layman, could tell at a glance that those paintings had a strong personal style and were all made by the same person.

"Xiao Yiheng, are all of these your paintings?!" Li Cheng exclaimed in surprise.

"Mn." Xiao Yiheng didn't explain further. He threw his paintbrush into the brush-pot, took off his apron, and moved the half-done painting to the corner. When doing these things, his movements were neither hurried nor slow, with an indescribable elegance.

Li Cheng asked: "You come here to paint for a while every day after school?"

"If there is no accident, I will paint."

"Accident?"

Xiao Yiheng pulled down his rolled-up sleeves and glanced at him faintly: "Just like you are an accident."

Li Cheng thought to himself, he was more than just an accident, he was obviously an accident x2.

"Do you only paint landscapes?" Li Cheng looked at the paintings one by one; there were five or six paintings in the classroom, depicting an empty and quiet campuses, busy streets, pastoral paths, and romantic castles. "Why don't you paint any people?"

Xiao Yiheng didn't answer this question.

However, Li Cheng didn't need to hear his answer. His attention had already shifted to the next topic: "Why have I never heard of you being a painter before? Based on our principal's pompous style, your persona as a study god and a talented artist are enough for him to brag about for years."

"He doesn't know." Xiao Yiheng's answer was beyond his expectation. "The fact that I can paint is a secret. Very few people know about it. You are the third one."

"The third one?" Li Cheng suddenly became unhappy when he heard this. Xiao Yiheng was the first alpha to know the secret of his glands; how come when it was Xiao Yiheng's secret, he, Li Cheng, became the third person to know?

Li Cheng's face was ferocious like a tiger and swollen like a pufferfish: "Who are the first two?"

Xiao Yiheng raised an eyebrow: "It's Teacher Qiu and her lover."

"...Oh." The little pufferfish touched his nose and let out a sigh of relief silently. "That's right, that's right."

Teacher Qiu was Xiao Yiheng's mentor, and Xu Jun was Teacher Qiu's lover. Excluding them, Li Cheng was still the first person to know Xiao Yiheng's secret.

Upon realizing that they had exchanged a precious secret, the omega boy was in a good mood. If he were really a kitten, he would have proudly wagged his tail side-to-side like an antenna.

"Come on, there's no time to chat." Xiao Yiheng looked at his watch and urged him. "You don't have much time left and you still have a full thousand words to complete. What were you doing this week?"

The mention of the assignment promptly dampened Li Cheng's good mood. He slowly pulled out a chair, spread out the assignment paper on the table, and stared at the title sadly.

Xiao Yiheng wanted to know what he was busy with this week? There was too much to tell. He was busy saving Azeroth, learning to parachute from planes, guarding his team's crystal... He just didn't have time to study. [Li Cheng played Warcraft, PUBG, LoL]

Xiao Yiheng also pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. He took the crumpled paper from under his hand, frowning as tried to read Li Cheng's bold cursive handwriting.

The one-on-one after-school tutoring was finally about to officially begin.
...

"F*CK! ME!" Li Cheng gave a long sigh and threw himself on the table. "Laozi is really exhausted!"

The assignment paper under his slumped body was already densely packed with letters, a total of 1201 words – the extra word was considered as giving face to the examiner.

God knows what kind of inhuman insult(?) and torment(?) he had suffered in these few hours after school. Xiao Yiheng was totally a trembling S. A trembling S with a poisonous and mean mouth, criticizing Li Cheng's essay as utterly worthless.

From conception to theme, he completely overthrew and then completely rebuilt, and he even ridiculed him at every turn saying: "You can't even copy homework."

But it had to be said that the grade topper was indeed the grade topper. With Xiao Yiheng the gunman (cough cough cough) helping him outline the topic, Li Cheng's writing had never been so easy. He absolutely resembled a printing machine with no emotions. He held the pen and wrote freely without stopping.

The whole article was neatly structured and rigorous in wording. If Li Cheng had such a powerful plug-in during exams, he wouldn't have gotten the lowest score in the grade for Chinese.

Teacher Xiao's after-school tutoring was really effective. Li Cheng lay on the table and turned his head to look at the alpha boy next to him.

"Hey, Xiao Yiheng," Li Cheng asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Not hungry," Xiao Yiheng said coldly. "I'm already full from being angered by you."

Li Cheng put his head on his arm, using a spoiled tone to persuade him: "But I'm hungry."

"..." Xiao Yiheng looked away, then turned back after a while, asking in a helpless tone, "What do you want to eat? At this hour, the school cafeteria should be closed."

Li Cheng grinned as he took out his phone and pushed it in front of Xiao Yiheng: "Actually, I called Xiao Hu before the tutoring session and asked him to send over a fried chicken family bucket. He should be at the school gate by now."

Their school campus was huge, and he was a delicate and weak omega (Hu-ge: ?), so he didn't want to go to the school gate to get the takeaway, and naturally wanted to pass it on to the strong alpha.

What could the alpha say? The alpha could only stand up, put on his jacket, and prepare to go out to pick up the takeout.

"Wait a minute!" Li Cheng sat up and stopped Xiao Yiheng.

Xiao Yiheng looked back at him: "What's wrong?"

Li Cheng rested his chin on one hand and swung his toes back and forth: "Remember to bring your wallet, I haven't paid Xiao Hu for the fried chicken yet."

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

Ancestor! He was really a small ancestor!

Xiao Yiheng could only come back to get his wallet. Li Cheng, the little ancestor, took up the personal time of the teaching assistant to request one-on-one tutoring, and then refused to even pay for the fried chicken afterwards. There was really no spoiled student in the world who was more cunning than him.

Was Xiao Yiheng the kind of person who swallowed his anger?

Naturally not.

Before he walked out of the art classroom, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at Li Cheng.

"I'm going to pick up the takeaway. You can take a break here. You can see all the paintings in the art classroom, but," Xiao Yiheng drew a circle with his finger in the classroom, finally pointing to a painting in the corner, which was covered with a felt cloth. "—that painting, don't touch it."

Li Cheng was startled and followed Xiao Yiheng's finger to the inconspicuous easel in the corner. The easel looked no different from the surrounding ones, except that it was covered with a cloth. Li Cheng had seen it several times before but hadn't cared about it.

However, Xiao Yiheng deliberately "reminded" Li Cheng not to look at it before he left–this precisely tickled Li Cheng's curiosity, making him scratch his head, dying to know what was hidden under the cover.

Li Cheng complained: "Xiao Yiheng, you're too cunning! You're deliberately trying to tempt me into lifting that cover, aren't you?"

"You can try," Xiao Yiheng said with a meaningful smile. "If you are disobedient, just remember–bad students will be punished by their teachers."
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Then, he closed the door coolly and left.

The door clicked shut, and Li Cheng jumped up from his seat and rushed to the felt cloth in an instant.

He was a person who was contrary from head to toe, and his curiosity was strong enough to kill eighty cats.

He reached out to remove the felt cloth, but hesitated when he thought of the "punishment" Xiao Yiheng had mentioned.

What kind of painting was hidden under the felt cloth?

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

51: Fuck u money

Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts was the pinnacle that all art students yearned for. It not only ranked first among the eight major art academies in China, but also enjoyed a high international reputation.

Qiu Xian's teacher, surnamed Lin, was 75 years old this year. When he was young, he went abroad on government scholarship and studied single-mindedly for more than ten years in America before returning to China to teach. He was now the honorary dean of the Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts and people called him "Lin Taoli." No matter who met him, they addressed him deferentially as "Teacher Lin."
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Qiu Xian: "Teacher Lin has stopped teaching undergraduates along time ago. I was in the last class of graduate students he mentored. Now he has only two PhD students under him. Yiheng, I think you must know that Teacher Lin writing a letter of recommendation for you is a great honor."

Xiao Yiheng was really talented in painting. Qiu Xian cherished his talent and was unwilling to let it go to waste. But Qiu Xian also knew that Xiao Yiheng's academic performance had always ranked first in his grade, and he had won countless awards in academic competitions. No matter which university he applied to, he would get a full scholarship.

Making a child who was among the best academically abandon what ordinary people considered a "bright road" and choose a thorny and winding path of art... If others knew this, they would definitely think she was crazy.

"In fact, the key point of this matter is not just 'talent,' but whether you truly like painting. Talent is important, but your heart is even more important. If you prefer physics or mathematics to painting, then certainly I support you going to Huaqing university. But if you feel that painting is more important, then I sincerely hope that you can become my junior brother." Qiu Xian looked at the silent Xiao Yiheng and said this from the bottom of her heart.

"...Thank you, teacher." Xiao Yiheng nodded, the expression on his face solemn and serious. "I'll consider this matter carefully."

"It's okay, you can think about it as long as you want." Qiu Xian folded the letter of recommendation and put it back in the envelope. "This winter break, Huaguo will also be holding a winter camp. As long as you have this letter of recommendation, the winter camp will reserve a spot for you. Even if you have not signed up, you can still join the camp with other students just by showing this letter of recommendation when you report for camp."
...

In the living room, Xu Jun held the baby in her arms and awkwardly patted the baby's back, but no matter how she did it, she couldn't get the baby to burp.

As an alpha, she had more than enough stamina to stay up late for work. She could stay up late for two or three days in a row without sleeping while rushing to finish architectural drawings, and still be in good spirits; but as a novice mother, she was overwhelmed by a little guy weighing only a few pounds. When the child cried in the middle of the night, she had to get up to feed him and change his diapers.

Xu Jun fumbled around for a long time and finally couldn't help but ask for help from the other person in the room.

"Student Li Cheng, do you know how to look after children?"

Li Cheng was sitting on the sofa idly playing on his phone. Hearing this, his hand shook and he looked at Xu Jun in shock.

He pointed to his blond hair and asked incredulously, "Look at my appearance. I scare kids to tears when I go out, as if I have 'Brat Killer' plastered on my forehead. Why on earth do you think I can take care of children??"

"...Uh, because you're an omega?"

"...Then aren't you a woman?"

The omega boy and the alpha woman looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

Li Cheng put away his phone, walked through the pillows and toys scattered all over the floor, and went to the cradle, wanting to see how he could help. Xu Jun was sitting on the small sofa next to the cradle, holding the baby in her arms and gently patting his back.

When Youyou was born, Li Cheng was only eight years old. His parents were still alive at that time, so they naturally wouldn't let an eight-year-old take care of a baby. Therefore, in the eyes of eight-year-old Li Cheng, Youyou was just a cute little doll. His parents took care of all her needs, and he only needed to play with his baby sister.

But now Li Cheng was seventeen years old and almost an adult. In his eyes at this age, the chubby month-old baby was like a time bomb, both fragile and terrifying.

Li Cheng couldn't help asking: "Aren't there many baby care centers now? I saw in the news that babies born in artificial wombs are raised in childcare centers until they are three months old before going home. Why don't you send him to a baby care center? It would be so worry free!"

Xu Jun shook her head while patting the baby's back: "The baby was born naturally, and the childcare center won't take him. And even if they do, Qiu Xian is reluctant to send him there. No golden or silver house is as good as the hut she built with her own hands. Every single plush toy was chosen by her and every blanket was knitted by her."

As she said this, Xu Jun pointed to the baby's swaddling clothes: "Look at this corner of the cloth, doesn't it look old? This is one of my shirts. Qiu Xian tore off a corner and sewed it onto the swaddling clothes because she said it would have my scent. Actually, undifferentiated children can't smell pheromones at all, but Qiu Xian can. Building a nest isn't only for the child, but also for the omega themself."

Li Cheng listened, seemingly understanding but not quite. Nesting behavior wasn't common to every omega; at least, he hadn't experienced it yet. According to the book, after marking, an omega would yearn for the alpha's pheromones and might even actively collect things used by the alpha to build a nest.

It was really baffling. He had also been marked (cough), but he didn't think Xiao Yiheng's pheromones had any special attraction.

Just as Li Cheng's thoughts went wandering, Xu Jun finally managed to lull the baby to sleep. She gently put the baby back into the cradle.

Seeing this scene, Li Cheng felt even more strongly that it was not easy to raise a child. When he married in the future, he would never have a baby! It was terrifying; raising a baby was much more difficult than raising a duck...

Just as they were watching the baby sleep in the cradle, the door of the study was opened. Qiu Xian and Xiao Yiheng walked out one after the other, both looking calm, as if their private conversation had ended.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Li Cheng suspected that he must have been killed by curiosity in his previous life. He badly wanted to know what they had talked about, but he was unwilling to ask Xiao Yiheng directly, because that would make him seem like he cared about him.

It was noon in the blink of an eye.

Qiu Xian had the two boys stay for lunch. Xu Jun and she cooked the meal together. They were swift, and made five dishes and a soup in forty minutes. Although they were all simple dishes, Li Cheng was particularly enthusiastic and ate without raising his head, praising them as delicious again and again. He even ate three bowls of rice.

Xiao Yiheng couldn't help reminding him: "Aren't you afraid to eating away your abs?"

"It's fine. I'll go back and swim three kilometers, and my abs will be back." Li Cheng, having had his fill, finally put down his chopsticks and started drinking the soup. "If I were on the scale now, I'd surely be two kilograms heavier than this morning!"

Qiu Xian suppressed her laughter: "You're exaggerating too much. Both of us have ordinary cooking skills; this is just ordinary everyday food."

"The food tastes so delicious because it's home-cooked!" Li Cheng said seriously. "It's been seven... no, almost eight years since I had this kind of home-cooked food!"

Xu Jun asked curiously, "Don't your parents usually cook?"

Qiu Xian winked at her quickly and kicked her several times under the table. The female alpha was totally confused by her partner's kicks, having no idea what she had said wrong.

Li Cheng saw what was happening between them and joked: "Teacher Qiu, please stop kicking her! The table is shaking because of your kicks; it's going to collapse in a bit."

"..." Qiu Xian mumbled, "Where do I have so much strength?!"

The school staff all knew that Li Cheng was an orphan. Qiu Xian had never mentioned this to her lover before, but she never expected that Xu Jun would accidentally touch on Li Cheng's wound.

"My parents left early, so you don't have to feel sorry for me. It's been so many years, I accepted it a long time ago." Li Cheng smiled, his tone quite relaxed. "And she didn't mean it. She didn't even know about it. Don't worry, I'm not that fragile, and I..."

"Li Cheng, eat some fish." Xiao Yiheng, who was sitting next to him, suddenly picked out a piece of fish for him, and it was the tenderest and most intact piece of fish from the tail. All the fish bones were removed in advance, and what fell in Li Cheng's bowl was a clean and white piece of fish. "Eat fish and swim fast."

Li Cheng was taken aback: "What kind of feudal superstition is this?"

"This is not feudal superstition, it's a good omen."

With his interruption, the conversation about Li Cheng's parents unconsciously closed. Li Cheng concentrated on eating the fish, while Xiao Yiheng concentrated on picking out fish for him. For a while, the atmosphere was unexpectedly good.

Xu Jun's eyes fell on the two children, and she vaguely guessed something.

In order to celebrate the birth of Qiu Xian's baby, Li Cheng proposed a toast. They didn't drink alcohol; instead, they drank ice-cold coke that had just been taken from the refrigerator.

There were crystal water droplets condensed on the outer wall of the can. One sip of the cold drink made the scalp numb. Li Cheng drank too fast and choked, accidentally spilling some on his T-shirt.

He was wearing a light-colored T-shirt today, and when the coke spilled on it, a large black patch instantly appeared.

Xiao Yiheng took out a tissue and handed it to him: "How old are you? You still spill coke on yourself while drinking?"

Li Cheng hmphed, "You don't know how old your venerable father is? If you're filial, hurry up and take off your clothes and let me wear them."

He originally wanted to take verbal advantage of Xiao Yiheng's words, but he didn't expect Xiao Yiheng to actually take off his T-shirt and give it to him without saying a word.

Li Cheng was taken aback and subconsciously pressed down on his clothes, squeaking: "Xiao Yiheng, don't act like a hoodlum! And...and...and there are outsiders here! My own clothes are good enough, why would I wear yours?"

Xiao Yiheng raised his eyebrows: "Don't you think your clothes are dirty?"

"I think your stinky clothes smell worse!"

Of course Xiao Yiheng's clothes weren't smelly. Not only were they not smelly, if you smelled carefully, you could faintly detect the refreshing scent of alpine cedar. As for Li Cheng's T-shirt, besides smelling like coke, it also carried a smell of baby milk. It was probably from playing with the baby.

Li Cheng was 1.83 meters tall. Qiu Xian took out the longest T-shirt in the house, but it looked like a tight-fitting crop top on him. There was no other way; Li Cheng had to continue wearing his dirty T-shirt with a bitter face.

"How about this?" Xiao Yiheng thought for a minute, "Aren't you coming to my house to get homework later? I'll find you a coat. You can just wear it on the T-shirt, and no one will notice."

Since they needed to reach Xiao Yiheng's house as soon as possible to get the coat, they didn't continue to bother Qiu Xian's family.

Qiu Xian stayed home to take care of the baby, while Xu Jun sent the two children all the way to the outside of the community.

Along the way, Li Cheng kept trying to cover the coke stain on his chest with both hands, looking stupid, as if he was always worried that others would see him.

Xiao Yiheng said helplessly, "I told you to switch clothes with me."

Li Cheng whistled, letting his words go in one ear and right out the other, acting as if he didn't hear anything.

Xu Jun, who had been a silent background figure for a long time, suddenly said: "...Actually, you two are in love, right?"

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

Li Cheng: "??? No, no, it's not like that."

Xu Jun: "I guessed it already. You two came out alone today because you're on a date, aren't you."

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

Li Cheng: "??? Really no, really no, you don't know what you're talking about!!"

Xu Jun nodded: "Don't worry, I won't tell your Teacher Qiu about this. After all, it's best to keep puppy love out of the teacher's sight."

She showed an auntie smile, patted Xiao Yiheng on the shoulder, then patted Li Cheng on the shoulder, her eyes filled with blessings and gratification.

Li Cheng: "It's really not like that. You've seriously misunderstood something."
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
What was wrong with this world? Why did the Little Tigers think he and Xiao Yiheng were deeply in love? Coach Wu thought he and Xiao Yiheng were a perfect match, Huang Yelun thought he and Xiao Yiheng had marital harmony, and now even Xu Jun thought he and Xiao Yiheng were dating!

What the hell were they on about! Love! Dating! What's going on?!
...

The taxi stopped downstairs at Xiao's house. Xiao Yiheng went upstairs to get his jacket and homework, while Li Cheng could only wait in the lobby on the first floor.

The Xiao family resided in Briiliant Community, a splendid neighborhood with elaborately decorated, high-end houses. The interior of the lobby on the first floor was a dazzling sight and there were even sofas for rest. The coke stain on Li Cheng's T-shirt had been blown dry, leaving only a brown stain.

Li Cheng always felt that the people coming and going in the lobby were staring at his chest.

He asked, "Can't I come upstairs with you? Didn't you say your parents are not at home?"

He had a bad impression of Mrs. Xiao, and always felt that she looked down her nose at people. If she were home, he would never want to step foot into the Xiao family home.

Xiao Yiheng didn't answer directly, but only shook his head.

Fortunately, Xiao Yiheng moved quickly. Li Cheng only waited three or four minutes downstairs before Xiao Yiheng walked out of the elevator with his old homework and a neatly folded school uniform jacket.

"Why is it school uniform again... I really doubt if you have any clothes in your closet that an ordinary high school boy would wear." Although Li Cheng complained, his body was very honest. He put on Xiao Yiheng's school uniform jacket and quickly pulled the zipper to the top, wrapping himself up tightly.

The freshly washed school uniform jacket still had the clean fragrance of the washing powder, along with a faint pheromone smell.

When Li Cheng put on this jacket, he seemed to be held in Xiao Yiheng's arms.

Li Cheng suddenly felt a little hot, so he pulled the zipper down a bit to let some air in.

Xiao Yiheng didn't notice Li Cheng's uneasiness. He handed the homework to Li Cheng: "This is the homework for the National Health Education Course. Although it was required to write 600 words, I wrote 800 words at the time, which should be enough for you to refer to."

As expected of a study god. Even his elective course homework was so excellent. The handwriting on the assignment papers was neat and distinct, with each stroke structured and beautiful. Li Cheng's handwriting was out and out "ant style," densely packed in small groups. Compared to Xiao Yiheng, it was truly heaven and hell.

Li Cheng secretly compared the handwriting of the two people in his heart, and the more he compared, the more frustrated he became.

Forget it, even if Xiao Yiheng was good at everything else, put him in the swimming pool, and he couldn't compare to this Li-ge.

Li Cheng borrowed the homework and left in high spirits. He wanted to hurry back to his dorm to finish his assignment, a 1200-word monstrosity, which he had to write asap.

The warm school uniform jacket hugged his body, and the smell of alpine cedar surrounded him. Li Cheng walked briskly, his mood somehow becoming especially bright.

Xiao Yiheng stood at the entrance of the apartment building, looking at Li Cheng's receding back, as if the sun itself was also fading away with him. It wasn't until the boy's figure had completely disappeared that Xiao Yiheng let out a sigh and slowly turned to walk towards the elevator.

The elevator stopped at the floor where the Xiaos lived. The visual electronic doorbell on the Xiaos' house door accurately recorded Xiao Yiheng's time of entry and exit.

With today's advanced technology, almost every household used electronic doorbells, and everyone who appeared outside the house would be recorded by the camera. For other people's homes, this electronic doorbell was used to guard against theft, but for the Xiao family, it served another important function.

Xiao Yiheng returned home and changed into his slippers in the hallway.

A camera placed in the hallway suddenly made a mechanical buzzing sound and turned towards Xiao Yiheng.

After a beep from the camera, Mother Xiao's voice came through.

"Yiheng, why are you coming home so late today?" The camera moving left and right exuded a red light, similar to Mother Xiao's eyes. "I said long ago, you shouldn't have become a teaching assistant. Can becoming a teaching assistant give you extra credits or get you a recommendation to university? More importantly, you just came home, why did you suddenly go out again? What did you go out for?"

The questions were intensely bombarded, but Xiao Yiheng's expression remained unchanged. Pretending that the network was bad and the sound was inaudible, he changed into his slippers and went back to his bedroom.

Fortunately, Mother Xiao had not become so frenzied as to install a camera in his bedroom, which gave Xiao Yiheng a chance to breathe.

The young alpha threw himself onto the bed, took out his phone, and after some taps, opened a private bank account.

Every cent in the account was money he saved over the past three years after entrusting Teacher Qiu Xian to help him consign his artworks for sale.

Now, this money had accumulated to a very impressive figure. If Li Cheng saw it, he would definitely make a big fuss about it.

And this account was straightforwardly named "FXXK U MONEY" by Xiao Yiheng.

Xiao Yiheng clicked on another account book, which was filled with every single expenditure the Xiao family's parents had paid for him.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
New Year's money, food, clothing, housing and transportation expenses, cram school money, medical expenses...it costs a lot of money to raise children, and the Xiao family had been always pursued elite education. In the past 17 years, they had spent a lot of money on Xiao Yiheng, just to have him realize their unfulfilled dreams.

Every cent they spend on Xiao Yiheng, Xiao Yiheng would pay them back.

After three years of accumulation, "FXXK U MONEY" was about to catch up with the total expenditure recorded in the account book.

Just a bit more, and he would save enough.

Just a bit more, and he would be free.

---

The author has something to say:

The concept of "fxxk u money" comes from an interview with Liu Yuling.

A solid economic foundation is always the cornerstone of freedom. Only when you have enough money to settle down can you confidently tell your boss, "fxxk u! I quit!"

In the comments, I saw everyone discussing how Xiao Yiheng should tell his parents and get them to accept his choice of an art career after he and Li Cheng got together.

But Xiao Yiheng has no intention of changing his parents' minds; he plans to elope directly, hahaha.

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

50: "Idiot, stay where you are, I'll come get you."

Almost subconsciously, Li Cheng jumped back vigilantly and blurted out: "I'm not going to your house!"

Damn it! A and O all alone in the house with no parents around, two senior high school students in the bedroom... This plot was too familiar. Yes, he's seen this yellow relationship five, six, seven, or eight times in the island nation(Japanese) adult films shared by Huang Yelun.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Li Cheng touched his face: Mn, devastatingly beautiful; then he felt his abdominal muscles: Mn, sublimely beautiful. Xiao Yiheng had invited him over; who could guarantee that he wouldn't covet his beauty and do something considered taboo by the《Code of Conduct for Senior High School Students.》

Unexpectedly, Xiao Yiheng frowned slightly and asked, "When did I invite you to my house?"

"?"

"My parents are away, and it's the housekeeping auntie's day off too, so there's nothing to be done. I can't bring the assignment over. You can wait for me downstairs, and I'll come down to give it to you as soon as I find it."

"Uh..." Li Cheng thought embarrassed: So you just dare to let me wait downstairs, without even inviting me upstairs for a glass of water.

Seeing Li Cheng unable to say anything, Xiao Yiheng gave a low laugh and deliberately added fuel to the fire: "...Or maybe you really wish to enter the door of my house?" ['enter the door' also means marriage. hehehe]

"..." If Li Cheng wasn't still thinking about copying Xiao Yiheng's homework, he would have punched him by now.

"By the way, I have some personal matters to deal with later, so I can't go home right away." Xiao Yiheng glanced at his watch, "Let's meet at two o'clock this afternoon. You can wait for me downstairs at my house."

Li Cheng thought he would get the homework soon, but unexpectedly he had to wait for a few hours.

"Alright." Li Cheng shrugged indifferently. "Then I'll find an internet cafe to play for a while. See you at two o'clock this afternoon."
...

The two agreed on a time to meet and walked out of the affiliated junior high school gate in tandem.

Although the junior high school was close to the senior high school, its surrounding area was much more bustling than that of the senior high school. Huacheng No. 1 High School was quiet in the middle of noise, and even its school gate opened in a very hidden street. But the affiliated junior high school was right next to a large commercial street, with bus stations extending in all directions. No matter where one wanted to go from there, it was very convenient.

Li Cheng stood on the bus stop, sipping an iced coke while texting Huang Yelun, telling him to stop dating and come out to play games.

Small Round Orange: How long has it been since our last league fight? If we keep skipping this, I think our guild might as well just disband.

Prodigal Froggy of the Pool: Dage, you'll be struck by lightning if you disturb someone's love life. My girlfriend and I are watching a movie, and we're going shopping later.

Small Round Orange: ...

Small Round Orange: Shit, can a girlfriend be more interesting than a game?

Prodigal Froggy of the Pool: [shy]

Prodigal Froggy of the Pool: There's only one way to play the game, but there are several ways to play with my girlfriend.

Li Cheng put away his phone with a dark face. The straw in his cup was bitten by him into an oblate shape.

Going to an internet cafe to play games with friends was fun, but it was a bit lonely to be on your own. He wanted to find someone to play a dungeon. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he looked at a familiar figure on the other side of the street.

He saw Xiao Yiheng walking out of a florist's shop with a bouquet of brightly colored flowers in his arms. Then he turned and hurriedly walked into a jewelry shop not far away.

Li Cheng was puzzled. Didn't Xiao Yiheng say he had some private affairs to deal with? Why was he buying flowers and jewelry? What kind of private affairs were these?

He couldn't help but send a message to Huang Yelun.

Small Round Orange: Hey Dahuang, let me ask you something.

Small Round Orange: If an alpha buys flowers and jewelry, what is he going to do?

Prodigal Froggy of the Pool: Dage, do you even need to ask?

Prodigal Froggy of the Pool: Flowers and jewelry, isn't this obviously going a date?

Small Round Orange: ...

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Li Cheng bit into the ice cubes in his drink.

He squatted behind the bushes with a gloomy expression, glaring at the jewelry store's entrance.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Very good! So when Xiao Yiheng said he had a private matter, he meant dating some unknown wild flower, huh? For that wild flower, he actually dared to leave this dignified Li-ge hanging for several hours. He was really not abiding the A virtues!

The more Li Cheng thought about it, the angrier he became. In addition to anger, there was also an indescribable sourness.

Five minutes later, Xiao Yiheng walked out of the jewelry store. In addition to the bouquet in his hand, he was now carrying a beautifully wrapped small box. He stood by the side of the road for a while and soon stopped a taxi.

Fifty meters away from him, Li Cheng threw away his empty cup and also waved to stop a taxi.

"Mr. Driver," Li Cheng opened the car door and got into the passenger seat with murder in his eyes. "do you see that alpha carrying flowers and a gift in front of you? Follow his car closely."

The driver glanced at the omega boy sitting next to him and stepped on the accelerator skillfully.

Wasn't it just a small case of catching someone cheating?
...

Twenty minutes later, both taxis stopped at the same time. Li Cheng originally thought that Xiao Yiheng was going to a park, a movie theater, or maybe a coffee shop. He never imagined that the address given by Xiao Yiheng was actually an ordinary-looking community.

The residential area looked quite new. There were many children running and playing in the community, creating a strong family atmosphere.

After Xiao Yiheng got out of the car, he walked towards a residential building. Li Cheng followed him at a distance, his heart filled with more doubts by the second.

Although Li Cheng had never dated before, he still had basic common sense. It was impossible for anyone to meet in a community for a date.

Seeing Xiao Yiheng walking past a corner in front, Li Cheng wanted to catch up, but his pace became slower and slower until he finally stopped.

Shit, what was he doing? Sneaking behind Xiao Yiheng, just to know who he was dating?

It was none of his business. He and Xiao Yiheng were two individuals who had nothing to do with each other. Why should he be so concerned about Xiao Yiheng's relationships?

It seemed as if some answer was hidden in the fog. Li Cheng wanted to find it, but didn't know where to reach out.

He stood at the crossroads, but Xiao Yiheng's figure had already disappeared from his sight.

He hesitated for a while, and finally forced himself to turn around and return. —Xiao Yiheng could date anyone he liked, Li-ge didn't care!

But he barely took two steps when his phone rang.

Li Cheng never expected that it would be a message from Xiao Yiheng.

Pursue Unremittingly: Idiot, you can lose track of someone this close?

Pursue Unremittingly: Turn right at the intersection, it's the second building.

Pursue Unremittingly: Forget it. Stay where you are, I'll come get you.

Li Cheng: "..."

A string of footsteps rang out behind him.

Li Cheng looked back blankly and saw Xiao Yiheng holding flowers in his arms, crossing the intersection with a helpless expression, and walking towards him quickly.

Seeing the alpha's figure getting closer and closer, Li Cheng licked his lips helplessly.

"How did you know I was following you?"

Xiao Yiheng replied, "Because I'm smarter than you."

"..."

The little tyrant's blond hair was brighter than the sun in the sky. If Xiao Yiheng couldn't see such a golden head following him, he would have to be blind.

Xiao Yiheng didn't ask Li Cheng why he was following him. Given Li Cheng's righteous duplicitous character, asking him would be pointless; he would never tell the truth.

Anyway, Xiao Yiheng could guess it.

Xiao Yiheng thought for a moment, then handed the beautifully wrapped bouquet to Li Cheng. Li Cheng was taken aback and stammered, "Why...why are you giving me flowers?"

Xiao Yiheng said with a faint smile: "They are not for you; they are for you to hold."

"Huh?"

"Since you're going to visit, you can't just go empty-handed without bringing any gifts, can you?" Xiao Yiheng pointed to the gift box in his other hand. "I'll give the gift, and you can give the flowers. That way, we won't be rude."

Li Cheng was totally stumped. What visit? What gift? So Xiao Yiheng wasn't going on a date, but rather visiting someone?

Without waiting for Li Cheng to figure out the situation, Xiao Yiheng pulled him into a residential building. They took the elevator to the 8th floor and knocked on a door at the end of the corridor.

In the center of the security door hung a mini teddy bear in a small blue suit. There was also a cardboard box in front of the door with some wedding candy scattered inside.

This was a local custom. When a family had a baby, a small toy symbolizing the baby's gender would be hung on the door and some candy would be left in front of the door for the neighbors to take at will.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
So... the flowers Xiao Yiheng bought, and the gift in his hands, were all for a newborn baby?

Before Li Cheng could ask anything, the door opened, and an unfamiliar smiling face appeared behind the door. It was a middle-aged woman with short hair, no makeup, and an alpha aura about her.

"You must be Little Xiao?" The middle-aged woman nodded to Xiao Yiheng, then moved her gaze to Li Cheng next to him, "And this is...?"

"This is Li Cheng, a sophomore in senior high school. He's also Teacher Qiu's student." Xiao Yiheng nudged Li Cheng's side with his elbow, signaling him to give the flowers in his hand. "Congratulations to you and Teacher Qiu on the birth of your son. We've come together today to visit her and the baby."

Hearing this, Li Cheng finally understood.

It turned out that this was the home of art teacher Qiu Xian. She had just given birth and was still in her postpartum period at home. The gifts Xiao Yiheng bought were all for her. Li Cheng looked down at the flowers in his arms and belatedly realized that they were not roses, but blossoming red carnations.

Qiu Xian's spouse was Xu Jun, an architect. When Qiu Xian was on maternity leave, Xu Jun took all the work home so she could take good care of her.

Xu Jun took the two youngsters into the living room. When Li Cheng saw the living room packed full of stuff, he couldn't close his mouth due to surprise.

Everywhere he looked, there were brightly colored pillows, blankets, and countless plush toys. The entire living room was filled with these soft things. There was hardly any place left to set a foot.

"Sorry for the mess," Xu Jun said helplessly. "Qiu Xian's nesting behavior was particularly serious during her pregnancy. She frantically collected these things. If I hadn't stopped her, even the bedroom would be full of these."

Li Cheng had learned about omega nesting behavior in class, but this was the first time he had ever seen another omega nesting with his own eyes.

... This is way too exaggerated, right?

"Actually, this is not so bad," Xu Jun explained. "Qiu Xian just likes to collect soft things. She has an omega friend who likes to collect shiny things during nesting. There is glassware everywhere in the house, and she doesn't even spare the glass marbles that elementary school students play with."

The couple's wedding photo hung on a wall of the living room. At first, Li Cheng thought it was a photo, but when he approached, he realized it was an oil painting drawn stroke by stroke.

Li Cheng sighed: "Teacher Qiu's painting is so beautiful!"

"Thank you," Xu Jun said with a smile. "Actually, she has never been quite satisfied with this painting. She even said that if Xiao Yiheng were willing to paint portraits, she would definitely ask him to paint one for our family of three."

"...What?" Li Cheng looked at Xiao Yiheng curiously, "You can paint?"

Xiao Yiheng said calmly, "Everyone can paint. Art classes start in elementary school."

Li Cheng's thoughts were almost diverted by him.

It was true that every student took art classes from elementary school, but if a professional art teacher praised Xiao Yiheng, then he must be more than just someone who "can paint."

Li Cheng wanted to ask something else, but just then, the bedroom door opened.

Teacher Qiu, wearing a long maternity dress, walked out of the bedroom with her baby in her arms. Compared to when she was pregnant, she had lost a lot of weight and her chin had become much sharper, but she looked very healthy.

The baby had just finished drinking milk. There were only three things in the life of a baby who was less than a month old: eating, sleeping, and pooping. He ate till his small belly bulged and gave a yawn, his whole body emitting the sweet smell of milk.

Teacher Qiu handed the baby to Xu Jun and asked her to pat the baby's back to make him burp, while she took over entertaining the two children who came to visit her.

"Thank you for coming to see me." Teacher Qiu's beautiful eyes circled between the two of them. "But how did you two come together?"

She had no idea how many important plot points she had missed during her maternity leave. After all, in her eyes, Xiao Yiheng was a top student in his third year of senior high school, and Li Cheng was a swimming star in the second year. There should not have been any interaction between the two.

Before she left school, she entrusted Xiao Yiheng with the key to the art classroom. Her intention was to let him have a place to paint after class. She could have never guessed what had happened between these two seemingly incompatible boys in the art classroom.

"Cough..." Li Cheng was too embarrassed to admit that he had surreptitiously followed Xiao Yiheng here, so he could only tell half the truth. "Recently, I've been attending the National Physiological Health Course where Xiao Yiheng is the teaching assistant. He mentioned visiting you today, so I came along."

The naive Teacher Qiu believed it and even went to the kitchen to cut some fruit for the two of them to eat.

"Li Cheng, I'm sorry, could you please sit here for a while, or you could go with my partner to look at the baby? I need to talk to Xiao Yiheng alone," Teacher Qiu said apologetically.

"It's okay, it's okay," Li Cheng said quickly. "I'll be alright alone."

But he was actually quite curious. Qiu Xian was an art teacher; what did she want to talk to Xiao Yiheng about alone?
...

Qiu Xian closed the study door and looked at Xiao Yiheng sitting on the sofa.

Xiao Yiheng's visit was actually at her invitation. If she hadn't just given birth, she would definitely directly found Xiao Yiheng for a face-to-face chat.

"Teacher Qiu, may I ask why you called me here today?" Xiao Yiheng asked. "Why can't you just say it over the phone?"

Qiu Xian did not answer, but turned around and pulled out a recommendation letter from the shelf, pushing it in front of Xiao Yiheng.

Xiao Yiheng looked down and saw that the recommendation letter was signed with a red seal, which belonged to a famous oil painting master.

He was taken aback and looked up at Qiu Xian sitting opposite him.

"Teacher Qiu, this is...?"

"Yiheng, I'm sorry I acted on my own initiative," Qiu Xian said. "The artwork you handed to me last time, I did not send it to the gallery on consignment but instead to my mentor." She tapped on the bright red signature and smiled shyly.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
"To my shame, although I was his student, I failed to achieve the same level of artistic accomplishment as my mentor, and ended up just becoming an ordinary high school teacher. But it's fortunate that I became a high school teacher, otherwise I wouldn't have met you." Qiu Xian recounted, "After seeing your work, my teacher was full of praise for you. He said that you have amazing talent in painting and you were born with an excellent perception of color. Of course, because you've only studied painting for three short years, compared to children who have built a foundation since childhood, you have less systematic training, but it doesn't matter. These minor flaws can be made up for in training."

Xiao Yiheng sat frozen.

He didn't speak, didn't blink, and didn't even breathe.

But Qiu Xian knew that he must have heard her words clearly.

"This is a letter of recommendation I asked my mentor to write for you." Qiu Xian stared into his eyes, speaking very slowly and solemnly, "Xiao Yiheng, would you like to apply to the Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts?"

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

49: Xiao Yiheng: "I'll be home alone this weekend."

After Xiao Yiheng was transferred to the last row by the teacher, Li Cheng was left unattended and immediately slumped on the desk like a boneless person.

He had finished all the snacks he brought and now had nothing to do. He tore a paper and folded a little frog, then used a steel ruler as a diving platform, and let his "finger figure" dive... But the feeling of self-entertainment was really lonely.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Taking advantage of the teacher's inattention, he secretly looked back and accurately caught the he li ji qun figure in the last row. No, he li ji qun was not enough to describe Xiao Yiheng; it should be he li... uh, he li... Li Cheng scratched his head and thought for a while, and could only admit that he was uncultured. [hè lì jī qún: a crane in a flock of chicken (idiom); way above the common; manifestly superior.]

Bother! As long as Xiao Yiheng was the "crane," then everyone else around him couldn't even dredge a "chicken" and could only become background.

Li Cheng saw Xiao Yiheng put the unfolded roster on his lap, looking down. He wondered what he was writing down to look so absorbed... humph! He didn't seem to care about the seat transfer at all.

Li Cheng pursed his lips, took out his phone, and pinged Xiao Yiheng.

Sure enough, Xiao Yiheng, who was working with his head lowered, paused, seeming to feel his phone vibrate. But instead of taking his phone out, he reached into his trouser pocket and fumbled to turn off the vibration.

After doing all this, Xiao Yiheng looked up in the direction of Li Cheng, and the eyes of the two "stuck" together even though separated by the whole class.

Xiao Yiheng raised his eyebrows to ask him what he was doing and why he was texting during class.

Li Cheng grimaced back, meaning, "It makes me happy to harass you when I'm bored."

The two communicated with their eyes, and they obviously didn't say a word, but the atmosphere between them got better and better.

Witnessing all this, Wei Huohuo's eyes spun around, and he immersed himself in making up fake material in his observation notes.

The female teacher, standing in the middle of the classroom, smiled coldly and called out: "Li Cheng, what are you doing looking back? Do you want to read the text aloud to the whole class?"

Li Cheng: "..." F*ck, does this teacher have six eyes? How come she can catch everything I do?!

Li Cheng could only get up reluctantly, grab his textbook, and hurriedly flip to the unit for today's class with a prompt from a school girl in the back row, intending to finish reading it as quickly as possible. As a result, he was stuck before he could even utter the first sentence.

"Er..."

The female teacher urged: "Read it! Don't make the whole class wait for you."

Li Cheng could only bite the bullet and read on stumblingly.

"Chapter Three,《Marking Behavior》" After reading the title, he paused for a full three seconds. He desperately told himself not to think about it, but the words seemed to pour themselves into his eyes as if they had self-consciousness, scrambling to get into his memories.

"...Marking is the oldest and most primitive form of communication between alphas and omegas."

"When omegas' estrus arrives, the psychology and physiology of omegas will be greatly affected, and they will become more sensitive and irritable. At the same time, their pheromones escape their bodies uncontrollably."

"Once an alpha senses an omega's pheromones, the marking can be carried out at once, thus establishing a relationship between the two parties."

Fortunately, the next content was much more serious.

"In the past, 'marking' was regarded as an act by which an alpha claimed sovereignty. After marking, the alpha will leave some their pheromones in the omega's body, which can keep the omega away from harassment by other alphas."

"Because marking only occurs between alphas and omegas, betas cannot marry either of these two genders, aggravating inequality among the three genders."

"However, with the development of science and technology and the progress of the times, this inequality has been gradually broken."

"Alphas, omegas, and betas can all freely choose their partners[see Chapter 5《Freedom of Love and Freedom of Marriage》for details.]"

"Even if an alpha and an omega are together, there is no real need for marking behavior. [For details, see Chapter 4《Temporary Suppression Patches, Short-term Inhibitors, and Long-term Suppression Surgery》]"

"Marking behavior must follow three principles: first, both parties must be willing; second, it should happen in a private and quiet place; and third, it should distinguish between temporary marking and permanent marking."

After reading the last word on this page, Li Cheng's courage was finally exhausted. Blood rushed to his head, but fortunately he was sitting in the first row, so no one could see the bright red tips of his ears.

To be honest, this "National Health Education" textbook was indeed very well written, clearly explaining the relationships between the three sexes, which was suitable for children's early education.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
However, Li Cheng was a big boy. He was also an omega who had actually experienced estrus and had a temporary mark. Asking him to read this chapter aloud in public was simply putting his shame and roasting it on fire. He not only felt the temperature of his cheeks rise linearly, but even the glands located at the femoral artery were getting hotter and hotter.

He tensed his body subconsciously, trying to resist the rising heat. But his glands were located on the most sensitive inner thigh, where the rough jeans cloth rubbed against them, making him even more restless.

He sat back in his chair and stared at the overlapping and staggered word "mark" on the page, his thoughts involuntarily returning to everything he had experienced in the art classroom that day. He also remembered how Xiao Yiheng's alpha pheromones had protected him in the provincial games' lounge the other day...

Suddenly, Li Cheng's phone, hidden in his sleeve, vibrated.

He seemed to feel something and turned around to look at Xiao Yiheng, who was sitting in the last row of the classroom.

Xiao Yiheng's gaze had already been fixed there.

The eyes of the alpha boy and the omega boy entangled again.

Bang, bang, bang.

Li Cheng suspected that the whole class could hear his heartbeat.
...

During the rest of the class, Li Cheng's mind was completely wandering and didn't listen to anything.

His only came back to himself when the bell rang to signal end of class.

The female teacher returned to the podium at some point, her lips drooped down, and her tone of voice was as if everyone owed her a lot of money.

"Okay, did everyone hear the assignment? Don't think that "National Health Education" is not important just because it's an elective! This course is linked to your graduation certificate. Let me be clear; besides the final exam score, this assignment will also count towards your total grade." The female teacher knocked on the table with her pointer, which whooshed through the air. She warned, "Don't even think about copying from the internet. I've checked a huge number of assignments, and I'll know exactly which sentence you copied. You must write it yourself! Do you hear me?!"

"We hear you~" the youngsters, who were scared like little quails, dragged their words to answer in the classroom.

Only Li Cheng was totally confused, having no idea what the teacher was talking about.

What assignment? What homework? How come no one ever told him that this course still had homework?

"Also, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education, all junior high school students under 15 years old who have differentiated should write a 600-word major assignment, while senior high school students over 15 years old who have differentiated should write a 1200-word major assignment." The female teacher looked at Li Cheng, who was sitting near the podium, and added, "Student Li Cheng, don't forget to hand in your 1200-word major assignment next Saturday in class!"

Li Cheng: "..."

Hateful! He didn't even know what the so-called "major assignment" was yet, and now he was suddenly hit with this bad news, being told that he had to write something twice as long as the others'.

He usually struggled to write even a 600-word essay, so the hell would he find a 1200-word assignment?

After class, Li Cheng wanted to ask the girl sitting in the back what the homework was, but he was too embarrassed to ask. After all, asking a child who was five years younger than him about his homework was just too shameful.

The class quickly emptied out. Even that small gas tank Wei Huohuo rolled away grunting. For a while, he was the only one dawdling along with Xiao Yiheng, who was tidying up the lesson plans, in the classroom.

The same empty classroom, the same two people... in a daze, Li Cheng thought he was back to that day.

He shook his head quickly, tossed away those unrealistic bad ideas in his mind, coughed, and asked, "...Xiao Yiheng, what is the homework the teacher gave?"

Xiao Yiheng stopped what he was doing and looked up: "Didn't you take notes in class?"

Li Cheng raised his chin confidently and boldly: "Isn't it because of you!"

If Li Cheng's language proficiency were better, he would think of an idiom associated with his own behavior – to rely on favor and be proud.

Xiao Yiheng lost his temper and readily told him the topic of the assignment.

It turns out that the homework assigned by the teacher was about self-gender cognition. Each student had to write an essay with at least the specified number of words about their second gender. The subject matter was not limited; it could be a narrative, an argumentative essay, or something else entirely.

The broad regulations actually made this type of assignment more difficult to write.

Li Cheng's scalp went numb when he heard the topic.

"How am I supposed to write this stuff?" he muttered. "Forget it, I'll go look for Huang Yelun and see how he wrote it before. I'll refer it."

"..." Xiao Yiheng paused for a few seconds after hearing this. His words were cold for some reason, "Why are you looking for him? I remember he's a beta. How do you plan to refer what he wrote?"

"Why can't I refer to it?" Li Cheng also heard the coldness in his tone and frowned as he asked, "He's my little brother. If I don't refer to him, who else can I refer to? Can I refer to you?"

"Yes."

"I knew it was impossible... Huh?????"

Xiao Yiheng looked away and glanced at the "Code of Conduct for Teaching Assistants" in his hand. The first rule was "No favoritism or cheating allowed." He quietly closed the book. "I'm first in my grade, he's second-to-last. Whose assignment is more worthy of reference, do I need to explain?"
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
The cunning hunter only needed to throw out a bait, and sure enough, the dull little lion foolishly walked into the trap.

Damn, although he had often copied homework since he was a kid, he hadn't ever copied a top scorer's homework!

"Where's your homework?"

"At my house of course." Xiao Yiheng looked at him, a glint of light hidden in his phoenix eyes. "My parents are out of town for a seminar this weekend, so I'll be home alone."

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

48: Ate snacks during class, tried to bribe the teaching assistant; class performance points -2

Shit...they were done for!

Li Cheng had misbehaved many times in class over the years. At his most daring, he had secretly made instant noodles during class. He didn't know if the teacher really didn't smell it or was simply too lazy to care about it. Anyway, he had never been called out by a teacher for sneaking food during class.

But today, he just passed a half-eaten dried fish to his deskmate Xiao Yiheng and he was caught by the teacher!
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
Their hands were still overlapped, the package of dried fish held between their hands at the same time.

Li Cheng mentally collapsed, his eyes darting around, his palms sweating due to nervousness, afraid that this strictly impartial and incorruptible teaching assistant would spill the beans about his snacking during class.

There was silence in the classroom. All the little beans who had received Li Cheng's snacks held their breath. Even the air seemed to have stagnated.

Wei Huohuo, who was sitting in the last row, craned his neck, his face full of anticipation as he waited to see how big the funeral procession would be. The "Observation Diary of Li O (and Xiao A)" was ready in his hand and opened to a new page. He was prepared to record the latest gossip.

Everyone was waiting for Xiao Yiheng's response.

At this critical moment, Xiao Yiheng remained absolutely calm. He coolly stood up from his seat, turned around, and frankly looked at the teacher standing in the back row of the classroom.

"Teacher," he said calmly, without any panic of being caught, "I slept too late yesterday because of my homework, and my head is a little groggy today. Classmate Li Cheng saw that I couldn't concentrate in class, so he wanted to help me wake up."

Li Cheng: "..." emmmmm, it was truly a tough job to be a study god. Although the dried fish was really spicy and refreshing, being able to make secretly eating snacks during class so high-sounding, he really admired his ability to adapt to the situation.

The beta teacher's probing eyes fell on the hands of the duo.

Li Cheng didn't realize until then that they had been holding hands the whole time (although there were snacks hidden in his hands). He wanted to cover it up and quickly pulled his hand back, hiding the packet of snacks in his sleeve as well.

The beta teacher's gaze had a hint of profound mystery as she tapped the pointer against her palm. She weighed Xiao Yiheng's words in her heart, which were somewhat credible.

Emotionally, she wanted to trust her teaching assistant. Before the course started, she had heard that Xiao Yiheng held first place among the third graders and was an alpha of overall excellence. He had strict self-discipline and never took a wrong step.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
But intellectually, she believed more in what she saw — she had just seen Li Cheng and Xiao Yiheng pulling and tugging at each other under the desk, and even after she called him out, they held hands and were reluctant to separate. What made her even more disappointed was that Xiao Yiheng actually wanted to fool her with lies.

She was a teacher of "National Physiology and Health Course," and knew very well that children of this age were the most vulnerable to emotional attraction. But they were still students and should focus on their studies. It was dismaying to see them have secret puppy love and openly holding hands in class!

Thinking of this, she warned them seriously: "I said before that I have been teaching for many years. Your little tricks and schemes may fool others, but they'll never fool me."

She help up two fingers and pointed to her own eyes first, then to Xiao Yiheng and Li Cheng, making a "Big Sister is watching you" gesture.

"Forget it. I will consider this matter finished and won't continue talking in front of everyone. You are both seniors, so you must pay attention to your behavior. Abide by the AO's bottom line, and don't set a bad example for your junior schoolmates."

Li Cheng: "Eh?"

How weird; why did he feel that the female teacher's words were implying something, as if she was suggesting something? What was the relationship between eating a few snacks during class and "paying attention to propriety" and "abiding by AO's bottom line"?

The female teacher gave the final word: "Xiao Yiheng, Li Cheng, based on the current situation, I don't think it's appropriate for the two of you to sit together." She paused and looked down at the group of students next to her. "How about this, Xiao Yiheng, you move to sit next to Wei Huohuo. Watch him for me and don't let him play Gomoku during class."

Wei Huohuo, inexplicably suffering once again from an absurd calamity: "...???"

Just like that, the matter was lightly closed. The class could not tell what was wrong, only that something felt off.

Xiao Yiheng moved his chair across the classroom and sat down next to Wei Huohuo, becoming Wei Huohuo's new deskmate.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
As per the teacher's orders, Xiao Yiheng stared at Wei Huohuo with a cold face throughout the class. Even when Wei Huohuo wanted to draw a doodle on the page, he had to stealthily glance at Xiao Yiheng.

He was really scared by Xiao Yiheng's stare and wanted to have a good relationship with this cold alpha senior.

So Wei Huohuo secretly took out a packet of chewing gum from his schoolbag and asked fawningly, "Teaching assistant, aren't you a little sleepy? Do you want to have mint gum?"

Xiao Yiheng glanced at him indifferently and took out the roster he carried with him. He found Wei Huohuo's name and wrote a string of words in the "Classroom Performance" column.

[Wei Huohuo ate snacks during class, tried to bribe the teaching assistant; class performance points -2.]

Wei Huohuo: Excuse me???

---

The author has something to say:

Xiao Yiheng: Blatant double standards.

Author: Blatant shortness.

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next

47: Bad student teaches good student to snack in class

On Sunday morning, as soon as the alarm rang, Li Cheng grumpily jumped out of bed. His hair was thick and coarse, and after waking up, it looked like a bird's nest. He put a hot towel on his head and went to the closet to look for clothes to put on.

He tiptoed around for fear of waking up Little Lemon, who was sleeping in its duck nest.
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
The duckling was molting recently. Its original bright yellow down had fallen out and was being replaced with new white feathers. At first glance, it looked like a cracked boiled duck egg, which was really unsightly. Li Cheng couldn't say it was beautiful in all conscience, and didn't want to take it out to meet people. So, he simply left it in the dorm room every day. Fortunately, Little Lemon was very obedient. There was a large balcony in their dormitory, and it wandered around there every day, eating duck food, drinking water, additionally eating some fruits, vegetables and shrimp skins, waiting for the awkward molting period to pass.

Li Cheng didn't wake up Little Lemon, but he did wake up his roommate.

Midterm exams would be held next month, and in order to prepare for the exams and cram to get a good score, his roommates decided not to go home for the weekend and stayed in the dormitory. At such times, Li Cheng was always grateful that he was a sports student and didn't have to compete on grades.

The little fatty sleeping opposite him turned over in bed in a daze, and asked with heavy sleepiness in his voice: "Li Cheng...why are you up so early again?"

Li Cheng whispered back to him: "You forgot, I have to go to the junior high school for a physiology and health class."

"Oh, yes..." mumbled the little fatty. When he spoke, his eyelids were still glued together, as if he could asleep again at any time, "You're usually late for your regular classes, but you're so active in this class..."

Li Cheng touched his nose and didn't answer. He got dressed, picked up his schoolbag, and prepared to go out.

His schoolbag was used as a decoration all year round. It was empty except for a textbook on physiology and health and two pens. He didn't even have a pencil case.

The schoolbag hung deflated on his shoulder and swayed lightly. He paused as he was going out and looked at Little Fatty's desk.

"Little Fatty, hey, Little Fatty?" Li Cheng stepped back, putting his hands on the little fatty's bedside railing. "I'm taking a few bags of snacks from your table and return them to you tomorrow, alright?"

Little Fatty was so nicknamed because he couldn't stop his mouth. Each time there was evening self-study, he would go to the cafeteria to get snacks. This weekend, he stayed in the dormitory to review and cram, and his table was heaped with snacks.

Little Fatty usually protected his food fiercely, so Li Cheng talked to him while he was asleep. Little Fatty grunted, but it was uncertain whether he had heard Li Cheng.

Li Cheng assumed he had heard it.

Li Cheng pulled open his schoolbag, and with a sweep of his arm, unceremoniously swept half of the snacks off the table.

Little Fatty had bought small, delicate packets of snacks; the kind that can fit two in your hand. Pickled peppers, clear solidified jelly, appetizing spicy dried fish, and mini sausages, in addition to dried meat, crispy seaweed, spicy dried tofu, and sweet plums... all especially suitable for hiding in your sleeve and secretly eating during class.

As Li Cheng packed snacks into his schoolbag, he thought: Since good student Xiao Yiheng has never even played origami Gomoku, he must have never sneaked snacks during class!

No, he had to let him have this novel experience. Xiao Yiheng must break discipline and know what it's like to sneak snacks right under the teacher's nose today!

Thinking of this, Li Cheng, who didn't have the habit of snacking at all, collected snacks even faster.
...

Li Cheng walked into the classroom at a brisk pace. Just like the previous day, Xiao Yiheng's chair was placed next to his desk, and the female beta teacher was standing on the podium in the middle. Other than that... Wei Huohuo was also standing on the podium with a flushed face!

Li Cheng: ?

He saw Wei Huohuo holding a piece of paper packed with words in both hands. He looked as if he wanted to plunge his head into the paper as he began to read the contents in a stammering voice.

"...Self-reflection report." Wei Huohuo was extremely ashamed, the blush extending till his neck, "Yesterday, I shouldn't have played Gomoku during class..."

When Li Cheng heard about Gomoku in class, he didn't feel guilty at all. He didn't have the consciousness of 'the fox grieves for the rabbit' or the awareness of 'killing the chicken to warn the monkey.' In this world, there really wasn't another person with a thicker nerve than him.

On the contrary, Xiao Yiheng's eyebrows jumped, and he glanced at Li Cheng without a trace.

Wei Huohuo stumblingly finished reading the self-reflection essay in his hand under the attention of the entire class, his voice almost choked in his throat.

Before stepping down from the stage, he cast a resentful glance at Li Cheng and Xiao Yiheng. He swore that he would dig out big news from these two people. If there was no news, he would make up the news! He would never let his grievances today be in vain!

—Many years later, whenever editor-in-chief Wei of the No. 1 gossip magazine in the entertainment industry gave an interview and was asked about the reason he embarked on this road of no return as a paparazzi, he would always grit his teeth and go bonkers.

After Wei Huohuo finished reading his self-reflection essay, the female teacher nodded in satisfaction and walked back to the center of the podium.

She looked down at the little immature faces in the audience, and struck the blackboard hard with her pointer: "I have been a teacher for more than 20 years, and I have seen all the things you secretly do in class! Playing games, reading novels, talking, and some of you even secretly dating!... Stand on the podium and take a look. You'll realize I can see everything you're doing down there."

Xiao Yiheng sat below the podium with a calm and serious expression. As a teaching assistant sent by grade three of senior high school, he was the most valued right-hand man of the teacher.

Unexpectedly, Li Cheng, who was sitting next to him, was restless. He actually committed an offence right under the teacher's nose, reaching out a hand to poke his thigh and pushing the textbook in front of him.

Xiao Yiheng opened the textbook and saw a brand-new checkerboard sandwiched between the pages.

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

Xiao Yiheng closed the book and pushed it back.

Li Cheng pushed it over, Xiao Yiheng pushed it back, Li Cheng pushed it over again, Xiao Yiheng pushed it back again... This repeated a few times until Li Cheng gave up, thinking to himself, "Xiao Yiheng, what kind of a serious person are you pretending to be? Laozi condescending to play chess with you is giving you face. Yesterday you played so happily with me, but today you turn your back on me as if I'm a stranger, so you can continue to pretend to be a good student?"
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
When the formal lecture began, the female teacher continued the style of the previous day, pacing back and forth in the back of the classroom while reading from the textbook. Occasionally, she called on a few unlucky children to stand up and read aloud.

Li Cheng spread his textbook out and leaned forward. Under cover of his body, he stealthily took out a handful of snacks from his schoolbag. Li Cheng's original intention in bringing the snacks was to share them with Xiao Yiheng, but now... heh, Daddy will eat them all himself. Wily Xiao, you won't even get to touch the plum candy!

Xiao Yiheng saw him hiding the small snacks one by one in his sleeves like a hamster storing food for winter, then tearing open a bag every minute and burying his head in eating them.

While he ate, he deliberately made comments. First he said, "This jelly is so refreshing and elastic!" then "This spicy fish is so hot!" It seemed he really couldn't shut up even while eating.

Xiao Yiheng was really surprised by his behavior. Although sometimes students in the rocket class would also eat during morning self-study because they didn't have time to eat breakfast while rushing to school, most of them ate bread and sausages that were tasteless but easy to fill their stomachs. No one was like Li Cheng, who was eating purely to satisfy his cravings. Before unpacking, he even deliberately shook the packets in front of his eyes.

Xiao Yiheng frowned: "Playing chess is one thing, but eating in class is too disrespectful to the teacher."

Li Cheng spoke forcefully and with justice: "The fact that I'm not eating melon seeds during class is already the greatest respect I could show her!"

This stinky little brother really had a bellyful of stubborn temper.

Li Cheng not only ate the snacks himself, but also brazenly grabbed a small handful and threw it onto the table of the little omega sitting behind him.

The little omega, her hair combed into a neat ponytail, looked like a startled little rabbit, her eyes slightly widened as she stared at the snacks that had fallen from the sky onto her table.

Li Cheng winked at her and whispered, "Take it. Thank you for lending me that fairy wand...cough, no, that pen last time."

The little omega didn't dare to take it, nervously peeking at Xiao Yiheng sitting next to Li Cheng.

Li Cheng said in a nonchalant tone: "Just eat it if you want, don't worry about him. If he dares to deduct your points, Li-ge will take responsibility for getting them back."

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

He was about to remind Li Cheng not to lead the first-year of junior high school kids astray when the little girl quickly grabbed the handful of snacks and, under the guise of handing an eraser to the classmate next to her, passed most of the snacks to her deskmate. Immediately afterwards, that deskmate, under the pretext of handing over a correction marker, shared some snacks with the student behind them.

In this way, a handful of snacks quickly spread throughout the classroom. Xiao Yiheng watched as the spicy strips, dried tofu, and pork jerky were passed around the students. Almost in the blink of an eye, everyone in the first column of the classroom got a share.

Xiao Yiheng: "..."

He blinked at a very slow speed. Theis top student, who had been a model student from childhood to adulthood, really couldn't understand how they managed to pass snacks in front of the teacher and then secretly eat them.

He had been a good student for more than ten years. His class was always in a state of tension. Not to mention daydreaming in class, there were very few people who chatted even during breaks. Playing Gomoku or sneaking food in class were things that had never happened in his rigid life.

It was Li Cheng who showed him another kind of campus life.

Soon, Li Cheng opened another packet of spicy dried fish. After the foil package was torn open, a strong scent of seasoning mixed with the smell of dried fish floated out of the package. Li Cheng gasped for cold air from the spiciness, but was reluctant to stop eating.

He was like a greedy little wildcat. He first gently held the tail of the fish with his teeth, then hooked the tip of his tongue and deftly swallowed the dried fish into his mouth. The boy's lips were swollen red from the spiciness, with a ring of light red marks around them.

Xiao Yiheng was entranced as he watched him eat on the sly, and then spoke as if possessed: "Li Cheng, do you have any more? Give me one."

Li Cheng looked up at him: "Yo, so you want to join me in being naughty?"

Xiao Yiheng didn't speak. He just stared at the tip of his tongue, which was faintly visible as he spoke. The tip of his tongue was also a little swollen, no longer its usual pale pink, and his words were a little vague.

Li Cheng didn't notice Xiao Yiheng's sight. He opened his schoolbag and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Xiao Yiheng said, "The one in your hand."

"But I only brought one bag of dried fish...tch." Li Cheng squeezed the half-empty bag of snacks in his hand, somewhat unwilling, but still said, "Forget it, you can take it."

Xiao Yiheng paused for three seconds: "You mean, you want me to eat the bag in your hand?"

The packet was just between Li Cheng's lips and teeth. But now, Li Cheng didn't care at all and let Xiao Yiheng continue to taste it.

"Why, you dislike my saliva?" Li Cheng snorted, "Do you want to eat it or not? If not, I'll eat it myself."
Work stolen from https://chipoholictranslations.blogspot.com
With that, he was about to withdraw his hand. How could Xiao Yiheng miss the opportunity to share a bag of snacks with him? He hurriedly reached out to grab it.

Their fingertips touched, and they openly overlapped over a bag of dried fish.

At the same time, the beta teacher's voice rang out from the back of the classroom-

-"Assistant Xiao, what are you doing?"

Previous ┃ TOC ┃ Next