Mark Me, Okay? - Chapter 10

When Luan Li returned from the podium, Qi Xiangxing’s face had already cooled down from its earlier flush. She was fanning herself with a makeshift fan folded from stiff paper when Luan Li approached her in full view of everyone.

Qi Xiangxing had noticed her long before, but pretended to just see her now. Still fanning herself weakly from the heat, she asked, “What?”

Luan Li’s slender white neck bore a medal, and she handed another one to Qi Xiangxing.

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes lit up as she took it, only to read the inscription: “Shot Put Gold Medal.”

Qi Xiangxing: ???

If Luan Li had just given her own medal away, what was she wearing around her neck?

Seeing Qi Xiangxing’s confusion, Luan Li chuckled and pointed at her own medal. “Does this look familiar?”

Squinting for a better look, Qi Xiangxing huffed, “Why would your medal look familiar to me?”

“Here, read with me—” Luan Li lowered her head, pointing at the inscription with a teasing smile. “Women’s 400-meter Gold—”

“That’s mine!” Qi Xiangxing’s eyes widened as she made a grab for it, deliberately holding back while Luan Li stepped away easily. Crossing her arms, Qi Xiangxing adopted an exaggerated air of indifference.

Clutching the shot put gold medal, she glanced up at Luan Li. “Fine, we’ve swapped. You can go now.”

Ignoring her, Luan Li turned to Du Ziheng sitting beside Qi Xiangxing and asked softly, “Mind if I sit here?”

Du Ziheng’s eyes bulged as he scooted over obsequiously. “Of course! Right this way!”

“Traitor!” Qi Xiangxing glared at him, though inwardly praising his quick thinking.

After thanking Du Ziheng, Luan Li leaned close to Qi Xiangxing’s ear and whispered, “Take me home after school tonight.”

The featherlight words, accompanied by Luan Li’s warm breath, sent a shiver down Qi Xiangxing’s spine. Her ears burned crimson as she stammered, “Y-you can ride your own bike!”

Luan Li’s voice turned even softer, almost coquettish. “But I’m not very good at it.”

Straightening up proudly, Qi Xiangxing declared, “See? I told you my biking skills were great!”

Luan Li simply smiled. “Exactly!”

Nearby, eavesdropping Du Ziheng gaped in disbelief—Wait, the class monitor? Good at biking?

He suddenly recalled encountering Qi Xiangxing on the road—her wobbling bicycle holding up a line of angry electric scooter riders behind her. Spotting him, she’d enthusiastically waved: “Du Ziheng! Hop on! I’ll take you to school!”

Taking one look at the backed-up traffic behind her, Du Ziheng had paled. “N-no thanks, monitor! I need to buy pens! You go ahead!”

Qi Xiangxing had sighed regretfully. “Too bad you’ll miss witnessing my transcendent biking skills.”

Du Ziheng: Just… just suddenly bald… Thanks for sparing my life.

Now he regarded Luan Li with newfound reverence: The girlfriend truly was extraordinary, fearlessly embracing mortal danger beyond ordinary comprehension.

“Speaking of which, I heard Qi Xiangxing has differentiated into an omega,” Qin Qing picked up her thermos and took a sip. “Is she coping well psychologically?”

Yue Qiu glanced at the goji berries in Qin Qing’s thermos before answering, teasing instead: “Teacher Qin, starting your health regimen so early?”

Qin Qing sighed: “If I don’t start now, I’ll age even faster.”

Yue Qiu paused: “But you’re still very young now.”

Qin Qing simply smiled at her, finally murmuring in a voice too soft for Yue Qiu to clearly hear: “But there’s still that age gap between us…”

After the sports meet, Qi Xiangxing rode her bike home with Luan Li. As they neared home, Luan Li suddenly asked: “Did you also buy a book yesterday?”

Qi Xiangxing’s hands trembled, nearly losing grip of the handlebars. She steadied herself and feigned calm: “Yes, I did.”

“What book did you buy?” Luan Li tried to make conversation.

Qi Xiangxing recalled the turquoise-covered “The Self-Cultivation of a Dominant Alpha” that had occupied her thoughts for two days, suddenly remembering another book stuffed in her desk. Pressing her lips together, she resolved to dispose of it as soon as possible.

“Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests.”

Luan Li raised an eyebrow: “Since when did you become so studious?”

Qi Xiangxing lifted her chin without shame: “Exactly!”

Luan Li coldly exposed her: “Weren’t you ranked 250th in the grade last time?”

Qi Xiangxing: ???

“Luan Li! Don’t bring up sore points!!”

“Isn’t that just stating facts?”

“But facts can be hurtful too!”

“Alright alright!”

“Stop reminding me of my failures!”

“Fine!”

The following Monday.

During morning assembly, the principal passionately summarized the sports meet from the podium. Class 3 and Class 4 stood adjacent, their students glaring at each other in rivalry.

“We took first place!”

“Nonsense! Our class won!”

“You guys are nothing! We have four first-place winners!”

“Four? Big deal! We have five!”

“All you’ve got is first place – our class placed in other events too!”

Qin Qing and Yue Qiu whispered at the back of their classes.

Watching the quietly arguing students, Qin Qing murmured: “I wonder if this competition is good or bad.”

Yue Qiu also lowered her voice: “I think it’s fine, as long as nothing major happens.”

The grade director coughed behind them: “Some teachers should pay attention to assembly discipline. As educators, you should lead by example.”

Qin Qing immediately straightened up, feigning innocence.

Yue Qiu awkwardly shrunk her neck.

“Who do you think won?” Qi Xiangxing poked Luan Li without moving her lips at all, standing at the front of the line.

Luan Li had always admired this peculiar skill of Qi Xiangxing’s, while she could only whisper behind her hand: “Don’t know.”

Qi Xiangxing subtly challenged her: “I think it’s our class. I calculated – we’re five points ahead.”

Luan Li simply said “Oh.”

“You don’t believe me?” Qi Xiangxing widened her eyes, muttering: “This is intel I gathered everywhere! You doubt me?”

Luan Li nudged her without saying a word.

“Luan Li, why don’t you believe me? You—”

Just as Qi Xiangxing looked up, she locked eyes with the supervising dean patrolling the area.

The dean raised an eyebrow: You, what are you doing?

Qi Xiangxing shrank back: I wasn’t doing anything, I’m being perfectly well-behaved.

Luan Li nearly burst out laughing.

“For this sports meet! Our sophomore students strived for excellence, with every class achieving outstanding results.” The principal cleared his throat and continued reading from his prepared script: “Third place for sophomores goes to Class 1 and Class 5.”

“Second place to Class 2 and Class 6.”

“And first place to Class 3 and Class 4.”

The principal smiled warmly: “Special recognition goes to Class 3 and Class 4 of sophomore year. Through healthy competition, these two classes tied for first place with remarkable achievements.”

“Representatives from these classes, please collect your certificates during the long break after second period.”

Well, a tie for first.

Qi Xiangxing whispered: “You knew this already?”

“The principal’s script,” Luan Li slightly raised her chin toward the red folder in the principal’s hands, speaking naturally: “I wrote it.”

Qi Xiangxing: ???

After the morning assembly dispersed, Qi Xiangxing followed beside Luan Li when she suddenly realized something was off.

“Wait a minute?” Qi Xiangxing pondered for a long moment before speaking: “I remember our class was definitely five points ahead of yours? Did I miscalculate? Or was my intel wrong.”

“I broke the shot put record.” Luan Li held up one finger, “Record break, extra five points.”

Qi Xiangxing: !!!

After all that scheming, to be tripped up here.

The moment second period ended, Qi Xiangxing dashed to the PE department. Class 3 sent their sports committee member. The PE teacher looked disappointed seeing him: “Why did they send you?”

Being familiar with the teacher, the Class 3 rep protested: “Teacher, you can’t discriminate based on gender!”

“No, it’s not that.” The PE teacher peered behind him: “I heard there’s a girl in your class who broke the school shot put record? I wanted to see what she looks like.”

“Even if she’s an alpha, our class president is still a girl!” The Class 3 rep collected his class’s certificate and prize, “Don’t even think about recruiting her for sports!”

Qi Xiangxing trailed slowly behind. After collecting her class’s certificate, she ran into Class 7’s class president on her way back. The Class 7 leader was a male beta who’d already presented, someone who’d always clashed with Qi Xiangxing. Now hearing Qi Xiangxing had presented as an omega, he came looking to kick her while she was down.

“Well, if it isn’t Class 4’s fierce alpha class president?” Wu Zhi swaggered up to Qi Xiangxing, deliberately speaking in a mocking tone. Then he slapped his forehead theatrically: “Oh dear! How could I forget—you’re just a delicate little omega now! Didn’t you always claim to be some tough alpha before?”

Qi Xiangxing’s expression remained neutral as she retorted: “I seem to recall Class 7 didn’t place at all in the sports meet? What are you doing at the PE department?” She raised an eyebrow: “Class President Wu Zhi, you didn’t come here specifically to ambush me, did you?”

Wu Zhi hated it when people called him by his full name. He rolled his eyes and said, “I’m not like Class Monitor Qi, staying in the advanced class with such poor grades.”

Qi Xiangxing sneered, “What’s wrong? Never seen someone perform well in a placement test?” She deliberately looked Wu Zhi up and down and added, “Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised—you are pretty ignorant.”

Wu Zhi clenched his teeth. “Who knows how you got your grades? It’s not like cheating is uncommon.”

Qi Xiangxing smirked. “Do you know who proctored my placement exam? The grade-level director.”

The grade-level director was notoriously strict—not only did he conduct body searches before exams, but he also activated signal jammers and surveillance cameras to eliminate any possibility of cheating.

“What’s so special about the grade-level director? Your family’s rich—who knows if you bought your way in?” Wu Zhi scoffed.

Qi Xiangxing waved her certificate dismissively without even looking at him. “If I remember correctly, you ranked at the bottom last time, didn’t you? The last ten? And you’re mocking me?”

Wu Zhi taunted, “I know you were in the same exam room as Luan Li last time. Everyone knows you two are close. If you’re so confident, why not prove it next time? Worthless Omega!”

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes widened. She could tolerate insults against herself, but not against Luan Li. Wu Zhi was blatantly insinuating that Luan Li had helped her cheat. Furious, she laughed coldly. “Fine, Wu Zhi, let’s make a bet. If I rank in the top 100 next time, you’ll apologize in front of the whole school and admit you’re trash!”

Wu Zhi seized the opportunity. “Deal. But if you don’t make it, you’ll confess in front of everyone that you cheated on the placement exam—and that Luan Li helped you last time too!”

“That’s slander!”

“Scared?”

“So… Class Monitor, you agreed to his bet?” Du Ziheng asked cautiously, watching Qi Xiangxing’s flushed face.

Qi Xiangxing slammed the table. “He can insult me, but he can’t insult Luan Li!”

A lover’s fury for their beloved?

Du Ziheng’s eyes sparkled—his ship was about to deliver some sweet moments!

Go for it, Xingxing! Mama will always support you!

Another shipper nearby glared at Du Ziheng: No “mama” energy allowed!

Du Ziheng puffed out his chest defiantly: So what?

“I’m going out to clear my head at noon,” Qi Xiangxing muttered after brooding for a while. “If Old Yue asks, tell him I went to the infirmary.”

Du Ziheng nodded.

After lunch, Qi Xiangxing went to the rooftop of the teaching building to unwind. The rooftop only had a small storage shed, which she didn’t have the key for. Dust covered everything, and after searching for a while, she couldn’t find a clean spot to sit. Sighing, she pulled a tissue from her pocket, laid it on the ground in front of the shed, and sat down.

Damn it, she shouldn’t have impulsively agreed to that idiot’s bet.

But he insulted Luan Li! And called her a worthless Omega!

Qi Xiangxing took a deep breath, still convinced she couldn’t just swallow the insult—so what if it was studying? So what if it was the top 100? She’d just have to work for it!

After all, there was still a month until the next exam, but… she couldn’t just study alone like an idiot, right? She needed to find a top student who could help her.

A top student who was both willing to help and patient—

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes lit up. At the same moment, the door to the small storage room behind her creaked open, and Luan Li stepped out, looking at Qi Xiangxing in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“Ahhhh!” Qi Xiangxing jumped in fright, scrambling to her feet in a panic.

Luan Li couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Qi Xiangxing, covered in dust. “Why did you come here?”

Qi Xiangxing rushed forward, grabbing Luan Li’s hand excitedly. “President Luan! Save my life!”

Luan Li’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

As soon as she spoke, the distance between them closed, and Qi Xiangxing’s nose tingled. After a few violent sneezes, tears streamed down her face.

Luan Li panicked, quickly stepping forward to grab Qi Xiangxing’s arm. “Qi Xiangxing? Are you okay?”

Qi Xiangxing had intended to steady herself against Luan Li’s arm, but the moment Luan Li held her, her legs completely gave out, and she collapsed into Luan Li’s embrace.

“Luan Li! I… I’ve been meaning to ask you something!” Qi Xiangxing sobbed between tears, accusingly. “Is—is your pheromone wasabi-flavored?!”

Damn it! I don’t want to cry! Seriously!!!