Mark Me, Okay? - Chapter 23

The next morning,

Yue Qiu arrived at the classroom and broke into a cold sweat upon hearing about Qi Xiangxing and Luan Li’s estrus incident the night before.

A student going into heat at school could be a minor or major issue, especially since Qi Xiangxing was an S-class omega. Without an alpha of equivalent level to suppress it, her heat cycle could easily cause unrest among all the alphas in the school.

Fortunately though,

Luan Li was there.

Qin Qing placed a comforting hand on Yue Qiu’s shoulder. Yue Qiu glanced sideways and caught sight of Qin Qing’s fair, slender fingers in her peripheral vision.

Yue Qiu thought to herself, with hands as beautiful as Qin Qing’s, it’s a shame she wasn’t an alpha.

With a sigh, she casually rested her hand over Qin Qing’s and said in a low voice, “Thankfully nothing serious happened.” Still, those two brats should have at least called to let her know.

Having taken advantage of Teacher Qin, Yue Qiu secretly pouted, resolving to corner that little troublemaker for a proper explanation later.

At six in the morning, Qi Xiangxing had already woken up once according to her unreliable biological clock. When she opened her eyes, Luan Li was lying on her side, smiling at her.

She had slept in Luan Li’s room last night. The curtains weren’t fully drawn, allowing faint sunlight to stream in and illuminate Luan Li’s face.

The golden light caught in her beautiful pupils, making her normally obsidian-black eyes sparkle like precious gemstones.

Luan Li stared unblinkingly at Qi Xiangxing, but when she saw her wake up, her gaze faltered uncertainly.

Whimper, why did Xingxing wake up so early? Her plan to secretly watch her had been foiled.

Qi Xiangxing’s mind was still foggy, but she instinctively snuggled closer into Luan Li’s embrace until her ear pressed against Luan Li’s chest, listening to her steady, strong heartbeat before finally settling down.

“Awake?” Luan Li asked with a smile, one hand resting on Qi Xiangxing’s waist. “Why not sleep a little longer?”

Qi Xiangxing nuzzled against her chest contentedly. “Don’t want to.”

Luan Li raised an eyebrow, amusement coloring her voice. “Then let’s get up. Perfect time to memorize some vocabulary.”

Horrified, Qi Xiangxing secretly pouted and quickly said, “I’m sleeping, I’m sleeping! So tired!” She turned over, facing away from Luan Li, and muttered, “It’s all Lili’s fault.”

Luan Li had kept kissing her over and over last night—she could still feel her lips tingling!

Seeing Qi Xiangxing close her eyes, Luan Li kissed her hair and closed her eyes as well.

Half-asleep, Luan Li heard Qi Xiangxing whisper breathily:

“Good morning, girlfriend.”

Luan Li smiled.

Morning, my girlfriend.

Thus, after blissfully enjoying a rare late morning, a refreshed Qi Xiangxing arrived at school only to find Yue Qiu sitting on the podium, giving her a knowing smirk.

Yue Qiu’s lips curled in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. When Qi Xiangxing entered the classroom, she straightened from her previously slouched posture, her gaze locking onto her intently.

Qi Xiangxing shrank her neck slightly and instinctively reached for the back of her head, only for her fingers to brush against the scent gland there. Her mood instantly brightened—even Yue Qiu’s forced smile from the teacher’s podium didn’t seem so intimidating anymore.

Settling happily into her seat, she was met with stares from all directions. The piercing gazes made her raise an eyebrow as she swept a suspicious look at her deskmate. Following Du Ziheng’s line of sight downward, her expression darkened. “What’s wrong with you?” she snapped. “Why are you staring at my neck?”

Du Ziheng had been desperately searching for any trace evidence from Qi Xiangxing’s appearance that might confirm his OTP’s “consummation” last night. But whether due to her expert concealment or Luan Li’s natural restraint, even this fan club president couldn’t find a single clue.

Could our sister-in-law… be incompetent?

Withdrawing his gaze from her neck, Du Ziheng fell into deep contemplation—Where were the hickeys? Those adorable red marks he’d been eagerly anticipating?

Qi Xiangxing rolled her eyes and kicked his chair.

Du Ziheng quieted down, thinking he’d have to check Luan Li’s reaction through their allies in Class 3 later. Honestly, even as a mated omega, their class monitor remained as brash as ever.

As she pulled out yesterday’s textbooks from her bag (unused, though the packing had been Luan Li’s doing), Qi Xiangxing glanced at Yue Qiu on the podium and whispered, “What’s up with Old Yue today? She seems so…” She paused, struggling for the right word. “Awkward?”

Du Ziheng whispered back, “Shouldn’t she be happy? Didn’t she have that date with Teacher Qin from the next class yesterday? Maybe she got rejected?”

Qi Xiangxing arched an eyebrow with a knowing smirk.

How pathetic—an alpha who can’t even win over her desired omega. Tsk tsk, truly tragic.

Her gaze toward Yue Qiu unconsciously gained new layers of sympathy.

Yue Qiu, waiting on the podium for Qi Xiangxing to confess her mistakes: ???

Hey! Brat! What’s with that look???

Qi Xiangxing mentally: Sucks to be single when I’ve got a partner.

Yue Qiu: ??? I’m your homeroom teacher, what kind of bullshit are you spouting?

Yue Qiu fumed silently—if only she’d succeeded with Qin Qing, she wouldn’t have to endure Qi Xiangxing’s insolence like this.

Finally losing patience as she watched Qi Xiangxing prepare for morning reading, Yue Qiu cleared her throat. “Come with me,” she said, standing up.

Qi Xiangxing: “Huh???”

She shot a glance at Du Ziheng, who shrank like a quail. Surely this was just about yesterday’s heat incident… right?

Having reached his own conclusions, Du Ziheng gave her an encouraging look: Don’t worry, Monitor! You’ve got this!

This only made her more nervous. Exiting through the back door, she approached Yue Qiu.

Seeing Qi Xiangxing’s radiant glow, Yue Qiu maintained her stern expression though privately feeling both envy and relief.

Well, a heat’s just a heat, and leaving early is leaving early—at least nothing bad happened.

The two arrived at the stairwell, just as Yue Qiu was about to speak, when they saw Qin Qing and Luan Li descending the stairs.

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes lit up: !!! Girlfriend!

Luan Li also gave her a playful wink, to which Qi Xiangxing responded with a blown kiss.

At the sight of Qin Qing, the last remnants of anger in Yue Qiu’s heart dissipated. She maintained a flawless smile on her face: “Teacher Qin.”

Qin Qing nodded with an equally warm smile, her gaze sweeping over Qi Xiangxing as she lightly parted her lips: “Scolding students again, Teacher Yue?”

Qin Qing quite admired Qi Xiangxing and naturally didn’t mind speaking up for her in front of Yue Qiu. But these words stirred a hint of jealousy in Yue Qiu’s heart—

What’s this? What’s this? So what if I scolded your favorite student? It’s not like I had any ill intentions! That big meanie Qin Qing only knows how to spoil Qi Xiangxing. Go ahead, spoil her all you want!

Yue Qiu stiffly nodded: “That’s right.” She glared at Qi Xiangxing: “After such a big incident yesterday, you didn’t even think to call me? What if something had happened?”

Qi Xiangxing shrunk her head slightly.

Qin Qing looked at Yue Qiu with some confusion. She had sensed Yue Qiu’s displeasure after her remark but never considered that it might be due to jealousy. Instead, she thought Yue Qiu simply didn’t want her interfering in class matters.

With a sigh, she shrugged at Qi Xiangxing, offering an apologetic smile.

Then, she and Luan Li passed by Qi Xiangxing and Yue Qiu.

As they passed, Qin Qing blinked at Yue Qiu in a pleading manner, while Luan Li secretly squeezed Qi Xiangxing’s palm.

Qi Xiangxing’s heart immediately raced like a drum, her fair and handsome face flushing crimson in an instant.

Luan Li is so annoying, what’s she doing! This—this—right in front of two teachers! Isn’t this too bold? Hehehehe.

The two golden retrievers, now simultaneously appeased, exchanged a glance. Yue Qiu pursed her lips awkwardly: “Alright, next time something happens, give me a call to keep me in the loop. That’s all, go back to morning reading.”

Qi Xiangxing grinned and quickly admitted her mistake: “Understood, teacher. This time was my fault, and I promise it won’t happen again!”

Wu Zhi, who had been keeping an eye on Class Four, was delighted to see the class monitor being scolded by the homeroom teacher—

So much for Class Four’s good discipline and unity. How strong can a class be when its monitor gets chewed out by the teacher first thing in the morning?

Wu Zhi, who had always been wary of Class Four’s solidarity, now felt relieved. It seemed the rumors were just hot air. As if any class could be as united as the legendary Class Four!

He turned to look at his own class, where no one paid him any attention, and thought, This is how it should be. After all, we’re all strangers here—why should they listen to me?

But they would have to listen to him, whether they liked it or not.

The student council’s vice president, Zeng Yu, was also in Class Seven. He had long disliked Wu Zhi, but for some inexplicable reason, Cao Nannan had once considered making him Wu Zhi’s deputy monitor.

Zeng Yu thought, Screw that. I’d rather die than be Wu Zhi’s subordinate.

At the moment, Zeng Yu was standing outside Class Three’s door, waiting to deliver materials to Luan Li. He scanned the classroom but couldn’t find her.

Zeng Yu thought to himself, “That’s odd. How come the Student Council President disappeared right after class?”

“Looking for our class monitor?” A student from Class Three, recognizing Zeng Yu, poked his head out to chat.

Standing by the window in Class Three’s hallway, Zeng Yu nodded. “Yeah, where’s our President?”

The Class Three student grinned and pointed toward two figures at the end of the corridor enjoying the view. “There they are! But you might want to hold off for now.”

Zeng Yu stared blankly at the intimate scene before him.

Holy sh1t.

HOLY SHIT!!!