He is not my Alpha! - Chapter 32

After helping Lin Daiya move books, Ji Yifei exited through the back door but ran into Shang Yan, who should have been in the office.

“Hey, you’re back from the office?” Ji Yifei sped up and walked over, taking a stack of books from the large pile Shang Yan was carrying.

“Yeah, the teacher talked to me about the Physics competition.” Shang Yan’s originally tense face relaxed when he saw Ji Yifei speed over and help him carry books.

“That’s great. Your physics grades have always been excellent,” Ji Yifei chimed in.

“Mhm,” he replied.

Ji Yifei walked a bit faster, moving ahead of the Alpha. Shang Yan noticed that the bite mark on the back of his neck was gone.

Indeed, Ji Yifei had shown no signs of an episode during this time.

The hallway was just a few steps. The two returned to the class and started cleaning up their desks.

“It’s too clean. This is definitely the tidiest my desk has ever been,” Li Jiang said after cleaning his own desk, feeling so overwhelmed by the neatness that he wanted to kneel and take a picture.

“Look at it and cherish it,” Zhou Tian scoffed.

Ji Yifei was also mostly done tidying up. Seeing Shang Yan still cleaning, he went up to help him. In the process, a blue leather notebook fell out of Shang Yan’s bag.

Ji Yifei picked it up, saw there was nowhere to put it, and casually placed it on his own desk for the time being.

Shang Yan’s books were all categorized, and he finished tidying up in a few minutes. The two sat down. Shang Yan double-checked his things but felt something was off.

He turned his head to look at the person next to him and saw the blue notebook he was looking for on Ji Yifei’s desk.

He looked at Ji Yifei. Ji Yifei noticed the gaze and also turned to meet his eyes.

Shang Yan looked at him and pointed to the notebook on Ji Yifei’s desk. Ji Yifei understood, quickly handed the notebook back to him, and explained, “I had no place to put it while tidying up, so I put it here.”

He immediately added, “I didn’t look at it.”

Shang Yan smiled at his nervous expression, feeling a warmth in his heart, and wanted to reach out and pinch the face of the person in front of him.

“This is my diary,” Shang Yan explained, putting the notebook into his desk drawer.

“Oh, oh, oh,” Ji Yifei replied.

The homeroom teacher entered, interrupting their conversation. Everyone in the class sat properly, waiting for instructions.

A bolder student in the back shouted, “Play a movie!” The homeroom teacher merely glanced at them and ignored it, projecting the answers onto the screen.

“Chen Ken, come up and check the answers for each subject.” With that, he took the books from the desk and left.

At this time, the teachers all went to the office for a meeting to grade the papers. Some students in the class started pulling out their phones to play games, and some began sleeping on their desks.

Ji Yifei and Shang Yan, sitting in the front row, naturally began checking the answers with the computer. Although the students in the back were wailing and begging not to check the answers, they resigned themselves to picking up their pens when the answers were displayed.

Ji Yifei didn’t pick up his pen immediately. Seeing Shang Yan hadn’t picked up his, he didn’t move either.

Shang Yan glanced at the person next to him, who wasn’t writing. He sensed that Ji Yifei was very resistant to checking the answers, only doing so when the teacher explicitly required it.

It was the same during the last monthly exam.

Shang Yan noticed Ji Yifei’s gaze on him and resignedly took a pen from his pencil case to start checking the answers.

They were currently checking Chinese. They could only check the dictation and multiple-choice questions. He got three out of eight multiple-choice questions wrong, and the dictation was all correct.

He put down his pen and glanced at the person next to him, finding Ji Yifei still secretly looking at him. He proactively turned his head and reported, “Three multiple-choice questions wrong, dictation is fine.”

Seeing Ji Yifei’s guilty look from being “caught,” he added, “What about you?”

Ji Yifei took a deep breath, preparing to pick up his pen and start checking.

Drawing an ‘X’ or a checkmark on the paper was a test of his inner fortitude.

The first question was wrong… He could only utter one sentence: “A good start!” (A playful way to say a bad start).

The self-comfort worked, and he continued checking the rest.

He put down his pen and heavily exhaled, turning to glance at Shang Yan, who raised an eyebrow, asking for the result.

“Got five multiple-choice questions wrong…” Ji Yifei looked distraught, now wanting to cry but without tears.

Shang Yan suppressed the urge to laugh and comforted him, “It’s okay. You can’t predict this kind of thing. We’re a science class, so a slightly weaker Chinese score is fine.”

Just as he finished speaking, Li Jiang behind him suddenly stood up and started shouting, “Ah ah ah ah ah! Zhou Tian, you son of a gun, you got all the Chinese multiple-choice questions right!”

This shout attracted the attention of the whole class, including Wei Zhiheng and Wen Xinxin in the back.

“Holy crap, you son of a gun, you even lied to me that you did badly and wanted to switch test papers with me!” Li Jiang was so angry he turned red from his neck to his face, utterly speechless with rage.

Zhou Tian pulled him back onto the stool and punched him hard on the back.

“How many did I get wrong?” Li Jiang asked anxiously.

“Seven,” Zhou Tian calmly replied.

“Ah ah ah ah!” Another round of howling laughter erupted, and the surrounding classmates burst into laughter.

Except for Ji Yifei and Shang Yan.

Ji Yifei looked at Shang Yan speechlessly. The “science class weak in Chinese” stereotype from a second ago was shattered by Zhou Tian.

“Alas, forget it. Not skilled enough, not skilled enough,” Ji Yifei reassured himself. Shang Yan also nodded.

Chen Ken went up to switch to the next subject, which was English.

Ji Yifei swallowed hard. He still didn’t move, watching the person next to him check.

Shang Yan noticed his gaze, understood Ji Yifei’s meaning, and started checking the answers with his pen.

Listening… three wrong.

Reading… three wrong.

Cloze test… two wrong.

Discourse cloze… three wrong.

Ji Yifei closed his eyes, almost fainting. He really couldn’t understand why he was suffering by watching the school’s top student check his answers.

He had no choice but to reach out and grab Shang Yan’s hands, muttering earnestly and devoutly, “Pass it on! Pass it on! Pass it on!”

His actions startled Shang Yan, but the hand being held reminded him of the situation, and his face started to blush.

He didn’t speak, only hoping in his heart that he could transfer good luck to Ji Yifei.

Ji Yifei finished his prayer, released his grip, and took Shang Yan’s red pen to start checking the answers.

Listening… all correct.

Ji Yifei couldn’t help but shout, “Yes!”

Reading… ah ah ah ah ah, only got two right out of seven options.

Ji Yifei closed his eyes again, on the verge of fainting. Checking answers was practically the same as riding a rollercoaster.

Indeed, the terror of checking answers was comparable to riding a rollercoaster and then going into a haunted house.

After finishing the English answers, Ji Yifei wanted to hang himself. He simply didn’t have the courage to continue checking.

Shang Yan saw his embarrassment, took the remaining papers, and asked, “Shall I check them for you?”

Ji Yifei nodded, said thanks, and lowered his head to sleep on the desk.

Hearing Chen Ken switch to another subject, he couldn’t help but secretly lift his head to see how Shang Yan was grading his paper.

Before, he used to put books between them, creating a “fortress” barrier. Now, because their relationship had advanced, he no longer placed books in the middle to block the “bridge between brothers.”

He could only secretly glance over, and finding that Shang Yan hadn’t noticed him, he stealthily moved closer.

They were now checking Physics. He saw checkmarks on his experiment questions, and the stone in his heart was again hung high.

Shang Yan had noticed the person’s movements long ago. He was tactful enough not to expose him, but the focused gaze made it impossible to ignore.

While checking the answers, he paid attention to the person’s movements next to him. The person moved closer and closer as he checked the answers.

Finally, he gave up the pretense and simply leaned over Shang Yan to look at the results.

Perhaps it was the “God of Study” buff from Shang Yan helping him check, but he definitely got more correct than when he checked himself.

After checking the last subject, Chemistry, Ji Yifei’s face broke into a smile along with the checkmarks on the paper.

His performance this exam, perhaps due to psychological factors, was indeed much better. From the current situation, it was much improved compared to before.

Ji Yifei desperately wanted to hold up the paper and pounce on Shang Yan, but he maintained his basic identity as an Omega. In the end, he just excitedly patted Shang Yan’s shoulder.

Shang Yan smiled, receiving the affirmation. Just then, the dismissal bell rang, and the students scattered to the cafeteria.

Lin Ling and Jiang Jie were on a diet during this time and skipped dinner. Despite Ji Yifei repeatedly persuading them that they were already skinny as sticks, the two still refused to eat.

Chen Ken went to eat with his good friend from another class. Ji Yifei looked at Han Dongjun, but found that Han Dongjun, who usually waited for him, had rushed to the cafeteria first.

Only four people remained in the class: him, Shang Yan, Wei Zhiheng, and Wen Xinxin.

Ji Yifei knew Wei Zhiheng and Wen Xinxin would eat together, so he could only turn his gaze to his good deskmate and good brother.

“Let’s go,” Shang Yan received his meaning and gestured to go together. The two walked side-by-side to the cafeteria.

The evening sunset stretched their figures, reflecting youth.

Ji Yifei returned home over the weekend and smelled cooking. Sure enough, his dad was stir-frying in the kitchen.

“Dad! You’re back!” He excitedly dropped his backpack and rushed to the kitchen. Ji’s father was stir-frying his favorite, Coke Chicken Wings.

“Yifei, you’re back!” Ji’s father heard his son’s movement, put down the spatula, and turned to give him a hug.

The father and son hadn’t seen each other for two weeks and missed each other dearly.

They hugged for about three minutes. The Coke Chicken Wings were almost burning at the bottom before he finally let go and left the kitchen. Perhaps the forum incident had indeed affected his mood; his nose felt a little sore when he hugged his dad just now.

He ran out to the living room and found that Ji’s mother, who wasn’t there earlier, was now sitting on the sofa, watching the news broadcast.

“Hello, Mom.” Ji Yifei’s movements were quieter. He greeted her and tried to slip into his room, but as expected, he was stopped.

“Did you practice dancing this week?” the person on the sofa asked.

“Mmm… I was focused on studying for the midterm exam this week, so I didn’t practice much,” Ji Yifei explained, feeling a little guilty.

His mother glanced at him and said sternly, “You promised you would continue dancing even after you got in.”

Ji Yifei sensed that his mother was starting to get angry. Dancing had always been a taboo topic in their family.

He lowered his tone, attempting to reason, “I did promise, but because of the midterm exam this week, I had something important I needed to do well…” Before he could finish, she interrupted again.

“You never keep your own promises.”

Ji Yifei lowered his head, his fists constantly clenching. It’s like this again, he thought.

“No… I just this week…” He knew that continuing to speak would only lead to a worse outcome and more arguments. He turned and continued walking toward his room.

“Did I agree to let you leave?” the person on the sofa continued to nag.

“I don’t need your permission to do anything,” he replied, heading back to his room without looking back.

He heard the person outside continue to nag and scold him. He had no choice but to put on his headphones and pretend not to hear.

He stared blankly at the wall. After some unknown time, he felt someone knocking on the door. It must be his dad.

He didn’t want his mood to affect his dad, so he went and opened the door. His dad was holding two bowls: one with food and one with rice.

He understood that his mother didn’t agree to let him eat at the table again. He fought back the tears in his eyes, took the bowls, and closed the door.

Ji’s father looked at the door that opened and closed in front of him, and felt helpless seeing the tears welling up in his child’s eyes. He looked toward the Alpha behind him.

Ji’s mother: “If he doesn’t want to eat, then don’t eat. Take the bowls and go starve. No one cares.”

Ji’s father had no choice but to return to the table to continue eating. No one enjoyed this meal.

Ji Yifei ate in his room while scrolling through his WeChat Moments. He noticed Li Jiang could post over a dozen times a day and had to like and comment on each one.

Does Shang Yan never post on Moments?

He clicked on Shang Yan’s profile and saw that Shang Yan’s Moments were visible for only the last six months. The few posts he could see seemed to be related to his family, perhaps posted to cooperate with them.

Quite mysterious. Ji Yifei smiled.

He sent a private message to Shang Yan’s chat window, planning to “harass” him a bit.

Shang Yan had just finished eating, politely declined his father’s invitation to tend to the flowers, and returned to his room. He opened his phone and received a message from Ji Three-Year-Old.

Ji Three-Year-Old: [Grand Entrance.jpg]

Shang Ten-Year-Old: [Welcome.jpg]

Ji Three-Year-Old: [Don’t Bow Down Yet.jpg]

Shang Ten-Year-Old: [Bowing.jpg]

…The two exchanged emojis for ten minutes.

Finally, Ji Yifei interrupted the childish antics.

Ji Three-Year-Old: stop, what are you doing right now?

Shang Ten-Year-Old: Just finished eating and saw your message. What about you?

Ji Three-Year-Old: [Image]

Ji Three-Year-Old: Eating right now.

Shang Ten-Year-Old: Looks delicious.

Ji Three-Year-Old: Yeah, my dad made it. My dad makes the best food.

Shang Ten-Year-Old: What a coincidence, my dad cooks at my house too.

Shang Yan’s father, who never lifted a finger in the kitchen, was currently unaware that his son had just crowned him a chef.

The two continued their awkward chat for a few minutes. Ji Yifei noticed his mood had improved significantly. Shang Yan seemed to possess some magical ability; whenever he chatted with him, his mood would get much better.

While chatting, Ji Yifei received a text message from Zhang Huan. Ji Yifei simply called Shang Yan, and the two looked at Zhang Huan’s message together.

Huan Huan: [Image]

Huan Huan: The Omega Association’s certificate is ready. Do you need me to post the clarification with you?

Ji Three-Year-Old: No need, I’ll save it for now. I’ll tell you when I need to use it.

Huan Huan: [ok.jpg]

Ji Yifei told Shang Yan that the certificate was obtained, and now they just had to wait for the exam results to debunk the forum rumors.

Ji Yifei rubbed his palms and said into the phone, “I’m a little excited.”

A sound of laughter seemed to come from Shang Yan’s end: “Looking forward to seeing the School Bully show off his skills.”

Ji Yifei: “Thanks for the support, God of Study.”