Chapter 12: Surprise Test
Jiang Chenyan felt a bit awkward. Wait? What’s the situation?
He looked up at Shen Shiyue. “It seems the professor misunderstood something.”
The corner of Shen Shiyue’s mouth turned up almost imperceptibly. “It’s fine. Let’s go.”
“Oh…” Jiang Chenyan responded. Was it really fine?
The two walked unhurriedly back to the dormitory. A few students were scattered in the corridor. When they saw Jiang Chenyan, their expressions turned subtle.
An unfamiliar Alpha suddenly approached Jiang Chenyan quickly, speaking with a hint of probing: “How about it, Classmate Jiang? Could you fix the forum?”
As soon as he finished, another Alpha beside him clicked his tongue in impatience. He reached out to grab the first one’s arm and pulled him back. His voice wasn’t low, just enough for Jiang Chenyan to hear: “The school will handle this. Why beg him?”
He forcibly pulled the person away.
The atmosphere in the corridor suddenly congealed. The students who were standing around earlier quietly shifted their steps away, their gazes evasive. Watching the direction the two Alphas left, Shen Shiyue’s voice carried a hint of imperceptible coldness. “Some of them will probably never realize their mistake.”
Jiang Chenyan followed his gaze for a moment and nodded slightly. “I know that.”
Shen Shiyue was indeed right.
Some prejudices and stubbornness were etched into their genes; they were never easy to change.
The two returned to the dorm. As soon as the door was locked, Jiang Chenyan collapsed powerlessly onto the soft bed, his cheek buried in the pillow. He let out a muffled groan: “So tired.”
He rolled over, staring at the ceiling in a daze. At the thought of having to deal with Xie Huaijin and Mu Si’an in the future, his temples throbbed faintly, and the strength in his body dissipated.
While he was feeling annoyed, a faint electronic buzz sounded in his head. The System’s voice followed: [Host, I’ve been a bit busy lately, so I haven’t had time to talk to you.]
Jiang Chenyan didn’t have much emotional fluctuation. He responded flatly: “Oh.”
The System seemed dissatisfied with his coldness and pressed further: [Don’t you miss me?]
Jiang Chenyan was silent for a moment. “Should I miss you?”
System: […]
Seeing that Jiang Chenyan was too lazy to pay it any mind, it could only bring out its trump card: [Let me help you check the task bar and the subsequent plot, so you don’t accidentally die.]
Jiang Chenyan lay on his side, his fingers unconsciously pinching the bedsheet. He nodded slightly.
[Host, there’s a surprise pheromone level test tomorrow afternoon. Be careful!]
Jiang Chenyan suddenly propped himself up from the bed, quite surprised. “What? The school didn’t give any notice at all.”
[That’s why it’s called a ‘surprise test’.] The System was also a bit confused. [As for why it was suddenly arranged, I haven’t received the specific reason here either…]
Jiang Chenyan sat up on the bed, frowning.
This surprise test came too suspiciously. How could there be no advance notice for something so major? Had someone proposed it at the last minute? But who had such authority to make the school break convention and leave students no time to prepare?
[Host, this is as much as I can help. I’m truly a bit busy lately…]
Jiang Chenyan’s fingers paused. He didn’t ask more. “Mm, I got it.”
The host is too cold. My heart is broken.
The System didn’t waste more words. It silently cut the connection and went offline.
…
After a moment, Jiang Chenyan remembered something. The corners of his mouth turned up secretly as he turned to look at Shen Shiyue, who was tidying his things. “Do you have the dormitory group chat?”
Hearing this, Shen Shiyue paused. A flash of very faint confusion crossed his eyes, followed by a nod. “I can push it to you, but I’ve never entered the chat.”
“Alright.”
…
Inside the dorm group chat, the conversation was exceptionally heated.
[So, when exactly is that Jiang Chenyan going to fix the forum? We can’t let it stay in such a mess, can we?]
[I already said the school will handle it. Why beg him? Does he really think he’s a big deal?]
Following that, several mocking “Hahaha”s filled the screen, accompanied by constant echoes of agreement.
[Wait, aren’t you guys scared? What if he’s also in this group and sees these words…]
[What’s there to be afraid of?] someone immediately retorted. [No one invited him to the group at all. How could he be here?]
The messages in the group kept jumping. Someone suddenly threw out a question: [I wasn’t on the front lines of the drama. I want to ask, how did Jiang Chenyan and Shen Shiyue suddenly pop up?]
Someone below replied: [What else? They offended Young Master Xie. Isn’t that just pure suicide?]
As soon as the message was sent, a string of “eating melon” emojis filled the screen, mixed with a few schadenfreude comments.
Until the system notification “Jiang Chenyan has joined the group” popped up on the screen, the flood of messages in the group suddenly stopped for half a second.
Someone saw the notification first. His fingers paused over the input box, and he was stunned for a good while before reacting. Someone must have intentionally changed their nickname to Jiang Chenyan’s to join the group and play a joke on everyone, right? He was about to send a message to ask when his hand paused.
[Hello everyone, I’m Jiang Chenyan.]
As soon as this message was sent, the group chat—which was just a moment ago buzzing with activity—instantly went dead.
Only a deathly silence remained. Not a single new message popped up.
Jiang Chenyan stared at the screen, a smile secretly hooking the corners of his mouth. His fingers tapped a line of text onto the keyboard and slowly sent it: [I’ve been watching you all.]
“…”
“…”
Can we talk about how ‘cursed’ this is?
In a dorm at the other end of the corridor, someone stared at the group notification and practically exploded. “He actually joined the group!”
“Then what do we do now? How about we stop talking and see what he says next?” Someone grabbed their hair in anxiety, then suddenly remembered something. “Right, can the group owner kick him out?”
“Kick him?” The person beside him rolled his eyes. “The group owner is Senior Qi Bai. He’s busy in the lab all day and can’t even touch the ground. When would he have time to look at this group?”
Jiang Chenyan stared at the completely quiet group chat interface. A flash of laughter crossed his eyes as his fingers tapped out a line of text: “I’m waiting for your apologies. I want to say…”
After sending half the message, he stopped. He neither explained nor followed up, simply leaving the people in the group hanging.
He casually turned off the optical computer and rolled over to lie back on the bed. A faint smile still lingered on Jiang Chenyan’s lips, and the fatigue in his body dissipated somewhat.
After a thought, he took screenshots of the chat one by one.
At this time, the bathroom door opened. Shen Shiyue had just finished his shower and walked out, his lower body loosely wrapped in a towel. Water droplets slid down the lines of his neck, all the way down until they vanished into the edge of the towel.
Clear abdominal muscles smoothly connected to his waistline, outlining a tight silhouette under the light.
He held a towel in his hand to dry his hair. The muscle lines in his arms were taut in smooth arcs. The wet hair hanging over his forehead couldn’t hide the coolness in his eyes—it was exceptionally alluring.
Jiang Chenyan’s Adam’s apple rolled unconsciously. His gaze paused for half a second on those tight abdominal muscles.
His figure is really good—tight but not exaggerated.
Realizing he had been staring for too long, Jiang Chenyan silently shifted his gaze, pretending to look out the window, unaware of how obvious the move was.
Shen Shiyue’s hand drying his hair paused. A flash of imperceptible laughter crossed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up secretly.
By the time Jiang Chenyan looked back, Shen Shiyue had already changed into loose white pajamas.
Jiang Chenyan propped himself up from the mattress, preparing to get his change of clothes. Remembering the System’s reminder, he stopped and turned to look at Shen Shiyue. “There’s a pheromone test tomorrow afternoon. Prepare yourself in advance.”
Hearing “pheromone test,” Shen Shiyue’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. A flash of confusion crossed his eyes; he hadn’t received any notification. “How did you know?”
Jiang Chenyan lied through his teeth. “Professor Ariel sent me a message to tell me.”
Hearing this, Shen Shiyue nodded slightly. There was no obvious change on his face. However, Jiang Chenyan felt a faint chill emanate from him, making him shiver.
He shook his head, secretly thinking he was overthinking things, and turned to enter the bathroom.
When he finished his shower and came out, only a small lamp was lit in the dorm. Shen Shiyue was already in bed.
Jiang Chenyan let out a yawn and stepped lightly to his own bed. Before long, he also drifted into sleep along with the drowsiness.
In the dorm group chat, someone finally couldn’t hold back. With a nervous heart, they @Jiang Chenyan: [Can you stop speaking in halves?] He had waited for half a day, wanting to see what Jiang Chenyan would say next, only to get nothing.
Someone in the group replied: [Hilarious. Someone actually waited all day for Jiang Chenyan’s reply.]
[…]
Was it possible their whole dorm was waiting?
…
Early the next morning, Jiang Chenyan stuffed the pheromone converter into his uniform pocket before rushing to class with Shen Shiyue.
The entire morning was far too calm. There were no strange looks from classmates, nor was there any private gossip. The silence was unutterably eerie.
Until noon, Jiang Chenyan found an empty toilet stall and quickly injected the converter into his wrist and the side of his neck. The cool liquid seeped into his skin without causing any stinging or burning sensation; it should be fine.
Staring at the empty converter in his palm, he reached out to tear off the label, stuffed it into a black plastic bag, and tied it tight. He quickly threw it into the trash can in the corner.
The trash would be destroyed every night; no traces would be left.
Just as he stepped out of the stall, he froze.
Shen Shiyue, who was supposed to be waiting at the door, was gone. In his place was Qi Bai. The Alpha was leaning against the corridor wall, his long figure hidden in the shadows. His gaze was fixed directly on Jiang Chenyan.
“What happened? Where’s Shen Shiyue?”
Qi Bai straightened up. He nonchalantly brushed his sleeve and spoke flatly: “He was called away.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chenyan immediately pulled out his optical computer. Indeed, there was an unread message from Shen Shiyue. The content was simple: “I was temporarily called to the office by a mentor. I’ll find you when it’s over.”
His heart settled a bit, then he looked up at Qi Bai. “I’m a bit curious, Senior Qi. Why are you here?” It’s like he was deliberately waiting.
Qi Bai lowered his eyes, his face looking dark in the shadows of the corridor. He only replied coldly: “Just a coincidence.”
Before Jiang Chenyan could press further, he shifted the topic. “The school gave a temporary notice. The pheromone test has been moved up. Follow me there now.”
Jiang Chenyan went silent instantly. The System was right—a surprise test.
He silently followed Qi Bai’s footsteps. The two walked to the testing center, where a relatively long line had already formed.
While Jiang Chenyan was staring at the line and calculating, Qi Bai suddenly stopped and turned his head toward him. “I’m quite looking forward to your test result.”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
Totally unnecessary.
As soon as Qi Bai entered, the noisy line went quiet. The students in line lowered their heads. “Hello, Senior Qi.”
After Qi Bai led Jiang Chenyan forward a few steps, whispered discussions broke out in the crowd:
“How did Jiang Chenyan come here with Senior Qi? When did they get to know each other?”
“Honestly, I’m really curious about Jiang Chenyan’s pheromone level.”
“I bet the level isn’t high. Look at him—he looks quite weak. He doesn’t even have any obvious muscles. How could he have a high-level pheromone?”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
Is it popular now to ‘cricket’ (gossip about) someone to their face? Is it possible I haven’t walked far enough yet?
Qi Bai was quite busy and didn’t stay long. After briefly explaining things to the teacher in charge, he left.
Watching his back disappear at the door, Jiang Chenyan found a line that wasn’t too crowded and joined it.
He instinctively looked around. Students were coming and going, but he never saw a trace of Shen Shiyue.
He used his optical computer to send Shen Shiyue a message: “Is it over on your side? I’m already in line.”
After waiting for a long while, no new message popped up. Shen Shiyue didn’t reply.
The System acted as his mouthpiece: [Did something happen?]
Jiang Chenyan frowned. “Aren’t you very busy?”
The System twitched: [Is that the point?]
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