Chapter 11: Engaged in an AA Romance
What kind of person makes someone do exam papers at a time like this? The professor’s unique hobby was truly beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.
“It’s probably not great to do problems in the middle of the street,” Jiang Chenyan suggested. “How about we wait until we’re back at school?”
Ariel frowned. Who said anything about doing them in the street? After a moment of silence, his gaze lingered on Jiang Chenyan’s face for a few seconds. “Fine. I want to see if you actually have ability or if you’re just full of hot air. My shuttle is parked nearby. Follow me.”
“Alright.” Jiang Chenyan nodded and reached out to support Shen Shiyue.
The professor’s footsteps paused. He turned back abruptly, his brow slightly knit. “Why are you supporting him?”
“He still has injuries—”
“It’s not like his legs are injured.” Ariel’s face darkened. “Don’t forget, you are students of the Alliance Military Academy.”
Shen Shiyue’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly. He instinctively pulled his hand from Jiang Chenyan’s grasp, retreating slightly. His voice was lower than usual. “Apologies, Professor.”
Jiang Chenyan’s brow furrowed tightly. He didn’t feel great about this. He reached out and gently gripped Shen Shiyue’s wrist, offering a silent reassurance. “Let’s go.”
Their relationship is actually quite good.
Ariel took in the scene and clicked his tongue, saying no more as he turned and led them toward the shuttle.
Once they boarded, the silence in the cabin felt like a thin veil, making Jiang Chenyan feel completely out of place.
Ariel glanced at the restless Jiang Chenyan, his gaze icy. “The ones I sent you are all multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank. You can just read the answers directly to me.”
Jiang Chenyan opened his mouth, but the words got stuck. “…”
This is pure torture.
Ariel rubbed the bridge of his nose. He shouldn’t have meddled in tonight’s business. “First, tell me how you hacked the forum.”
“I first checked the forum server and discovered a legacy vulnerability in the backend permission management…”
Jiang Chenyan paused for a few seconds. Seeing that Ariel didn’t stop him, he continued, “I intercepted a signal port from a Star Network maintenance robot, disguised myself as a fault-detection program to blend into the edge nodes, and inserted a virus to completely…”
Before he could finish the words “hack the forum,” Ariel raised a hand to interrupt him. His tone lacked its previous sharpness, replaced by a hint of realization. “No need to say more. I have the gist of it.”
He looked at Jiang Chenyan, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly in what looked like praise. “Quite clever. You truly have some real skill.”
Jiang Chenyan didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so he simply nodded. There was no refuting it; he did indeed have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Seeing this, Ariel leaned back into his seat, his posture languid yet scrutinizing. “You’re certainly confident.” He let out a low laugh, his tone suddenly shifting. “However, I’d like to ask: what are the levels of your pheromones?”
Jiang Chenyan’s expression changed instantly. He instinctively looked at Shen Shiyue beside him.
Shen Shiyue’s expression remained normal. The hand hanging at his side didn’t tremble in the slightest, as if Ariel’s question had nothing to do with him.
Jiang Chenyan truly admired this psychological fortitude.
He explained, “We haven’t been tested yet. Last time it was our turn, an Omega’s estrus suddenly broke out and the scene turned into a mess. The testing was temporarily suspended after that…”
“Mm, I recall that incident.” Ariel showed no ripples of emotion after hearing this. “So you two just missed it.”
He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, as if making a snap decision. He looked up at them. “How about this? I’ll take you to get tested now. You’d have to go in a few days anyway; might as well save the wait.”
The two: “…”
This time, even Shen Shiyue couldn’t sit still. “There’s no need to trouble you.”
Jiang Chenyan hurriedly nodded to coordinate with Shen Shiyue. “That’s right, we can’t take up your time.” Why does this professor just do whatever comes to mind? Is he playing with our heart rates?
Ariel raised an eyebrow. Compared to a pheromone level test, wouldn’t saving them have been the real trouble?
He sat up slightly straighter. “Give me a reason.”
Just as Shen Shiyue was about to respond, Jiang Chenyan grabbed his wrist. He cut in before him, his voice pressed very low, sounding like a forced attempt at being nonchalant. “It’s… it’s because we’re afraid the tested level will be too low and we’ll lose face in front of you.”
“Is that so?” A low chuckle escaped Ariel’s throat. His gaze swept over their faces, carrying a deep, probing meaning. “How low can it be? Surely it won’t fail to even reach C-level?”
Jiang Chenyan joked internally: Hard to say, might not even be C-level…
He didn’t know if the pheromone converter was effective. As long as he didn’t get exposed, it was good enough—he didn’t care about the level.
Alpha pheromone levels were divided into 6 ranks. From highest to lowest, they were: SS, S, A, B, C, and D.
Among them, SS-level was the pinnacle. Their pheromone suppression and influence were the strongest. They were talents the entire galaxy lacked; saying they were the “stars surrounding the moon” was no exaggeration. D-level was the exact opposite—the lowest rank. Their pheromone intensity was so faint it could almost be ignored. In common perception, they were no different from “trash.”
Among Alpha pheromone levels, S-level was already a one-in-a-hundred standard. Ariel himself was S-level. Reaching this rank was already quite excellent.
The Alliance Military Academy had always spent a fortune cultivating students. Before entering the school, students underwent brain testing, so in Ariel’s mind, no matter how low they were, they wouldn’t be below C-level.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually C-level.”
The light in Ariel’s eyes dimmed. A chilly gaze fell on Jiang Chenyan, without any softening. “Don’t think I’m discriminating against levels, but the capability of a C-level is right there—they are truly weak. Military academy students are basically B-level and up. The impressive ones reached A or S-level long ago.”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
Then if I said I’m not an Alpha at all, but an Omega, wouldn’t he explode?
The atmosphere became awkward. Jiang Chenyan opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.
Ariel grew a bit impatient. “And here I thought you would offer some kind of promise…”
Jiang Chenyan was stunned for a moment. What was there to promise? Waiting to be slapped in the face?
“Hiss.”
A faint sound caused the two to quiet down completely. Two gazes fell simultaneously on the person who made the sound. Jiang Chenyan leaned in close to Shen Shiyue, his brow slightly knit as he pressed, “Is the wound starting to hurt?”
Shen Shiyue’s face was much paler than before. “I’m fine.” As he said this, he tilted his body, imperceptibly leaning toward Jiang Chenyan before turning to Ariel. “Professor, do you have a medical kit here?”
Ariel looked at him and didn’t respond immediately.
He finally couldn’t help but sneer, “What are you putting on an act for? One would think you’re an Omega.”
Jiang Chenyan’s brow instantly tightened. “Professor, how can you say that? Is showing a weak side only for Omegas? ‘Omega’ isn’t an adjective. Whether one is an O or an A, everyone has the right to shed tears or be hurt.”
Ariel: “…”
He clicked his tongue. He really wanted to ask Jiang Chenyan if he wanted to be the professor instead. This was the first time in his life someone dared to speak to him like this. Without a word, he turned to fish out a medical kit, his finger hooking a portable treatment device inside. His tone was unreadable. “Sweep this thing over the injury, then apply some ointment. It’ll heal quickly.” As he spoke, he handed the device over, adding, “Where is the injury? I’ll do it.”
Shen Shiyue dodged. Ariel’s hand hung in mid-air. “What do you mean?”
His gaze fell on Jiang Chenyan. “I want him to help me.” Ariel raised an eyebrow, moved to an angry laugh by these blunt words. He twitched his lips, squeezing a single word through his teeth: “Fine.”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
Taking the device, the moment he pressed the switch, a pale blue light swept over Shen Shiyue’s cheek. The originally obvious wound gradually faded.
He unscrewed the ointment bottle and used a cotton swab to gently apply the cream to the other’s injury. It was only when he leaned in that he suddenly noticed Shen Shiyue’s eyelashes were quite long. Unconsciously, his movements slowed, and he took a few extra glances.
After putting the ointment and treatment device back into the kit, Jiang Chenyan asked Shen Shiyue, “Do you feel better now?”
The corner of Shen Shiyue’s lip hooked up. “Mm.”
Ariel truly couldn’t watch any longer. He let out a cold laugh. “Alright, you two. It’s time to get off the shuttle.” As he spoke, he used his optical computer to send Jiang Chenyan another set of exam papers. He said beyond any doubt, “Twenty minutes. Report all the answers to me.”
Thinking it over, he added with a smile, “If you don’t finish, you don’t have to go back today. Don’t even think about sleeping.”
Jiang Chenyan had heard of Professor Ariel’s methods. His questions were tricky; even passing was difficult. Now, sending him an extra-difficult version was clearly a deliberate provocation.
Jiang Chenyan was a bit speechless. Is Professor Ariel bound to some proctoring system? He keeps wanting me to do papers.
Shen Shiyue’s brow was tightly knit. He leaned in and whispered to Jiang Chenyan, “Answering in twenty minutes… can you do it?”
Jiang Chenyan clicked open his optical computer. His gaze swept over the densely packed questions. After a moment, he slowly spoke: “I can…”
Hearing this, Ariel couldn’t help but cast a side-glance at Jiang Chenyan. He had buried several obscure exam points in these questions; they were extremely tricky. Even those with a good foundation would have to put in some effort.
Thus, he didn’t believe Jiang Chenyan could get a passing grade. “Then let’s begin…”
Jiang Chenyan took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the screen. “Then, Professor, keep an eye on the time and the process.”
“Mm.”
Shen Shiyue knew Jiang Chenyan had ability, but Professor Ariel’s questions were always designed with traps everywhere. No matter how impressive Jiang Chenyan was, twenty minutes was too short.
Furthermore, Star Network courses had always been relatively difficult.
Jiang Chenyan’s fingers fell on the device, scanning the first two questions. The angles were indeed tricky. But he had studied in the relevant field for nearly ten years; these twists and turns were already etched into his mind. To him, they were just routine operations.
His fingers tapped incessantly. Without even looking up, he spoke: “Professor, I’m not going to read the answers aloud. Reporting questions to a person always feels awkward. I’ll just type the answers out and send them to you.”
Watching his fluid operations, Ariel’s eyes darkened. “Fine.”
Time passed minute by minute. Jiang Chenyan remained focused on the screen, typing rapidly…
In just over ten minutes, the answers to more than half the paper were clearly displayed on the screen.
Ariel’s expression gradually changed. There was confusion, but also shock. “Jiang Chenyan, who exactly are you?”
Wasn’t this question just a case of “left brain fighting right brain”? Jiang Chenyan hesitated for a moment before speaking, “You already said I’m Jiang Chenyan. Who else could I be?”
Ariel: “…”
How could he believe this? The person before him looked no different from an ordinary student. He had even specifically checked the other’s background; there were no traces of him ever contacting this kind of knowledge. Thinking it over, there was only one possibility: Jiang Chenyan was hiding his brilliance.
Ariel’s dark eyes grew deep, as if he wanted to see through Jiang Chenyan completely. He commented, “You aren’t simple.”
Jiang Chenyan: “?”
He silently submitted the paper.
Ariel’s fingers slid across his optical computer, checking line by line. The more he looked, the darker his expression became. The answers were almost all correct, with only one or two minor errors.
Jiang Chenyan knew Shen Shiyue had been watching him. With a lingering smile in his eyes, he asked him, “Am I impressive?”
The corner of Shen Shiyue’s mouth turned up. “Impressive.”
Ariel: “…”
…
The shuttle hatch slowly opened. They had arrived at the campus landing pad. Ariel, full of impatience, waved his hand to urge them: “You two, hurry up and get down.”
The two: “…”
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Scram, quickly.”
“…”
The two had no choice but to follow the ramp down. Just as their feet touched the ground, the sound of Ariel clicking his optical computer came from behind. His tone carried a complex emotion that hadn’t yet settled. “I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news for you.”
“The good news is that our school is hiding an interstellar network genius.”
“And the bad news?”
“The bad news is… he seems to be engaged in an AA romance.”
Jiang Chenyan was stunned. “?”
“What does the professor mean by that?”
Translator’s Note: “AA romance” (AA恋) refers to a romantic relationship between two Alphas. Since Ariel believes they are both Alphas, he’s basically calling them out for dating within their own gender category! Also, Jiang Chenyan’s line about “Omega” not being an adjective is a great clapback against the rigid gender roles in the ABO world.
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