Mark Me, Okay? - Chapter 32

Before Qi Xiangxing could speak,

Du Ziheng appeared cheerfully holding a large banner that read: “Class President is Fierce O!”

Qi Xiangxing’s lips twitched at the sight, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Where on earth did you get these weird banners?”

Du Ziheng lifted his chin proudly,

“Because my family owns an advertising shop!”

Qi Xiangxing: “…No wonder.”

“Huh? The results are out?” Yue Qiu felt her phone vibrate. She freed one hand to check it, only to find a message from the grade office. After glancing at it,

she muttered in confusion, “Why are the results out so quickly this time?”

Qin Qing chuckled. “This is just the usual speed. It gets even more intense in senior year—results come out in a single day.” Remembering how teachers could choose whether to teach senior year, she glanced at Yue Qiu and casually asked, “Speaking of which, are you going to teach senior year?”

Yue Qiu didn’t answer directly. Instead, she countered, “Are you going, Teacher Qin?”

Qin Qing gave an evasive reply, “We’ll see later.” She hadn’t decided yet—just like she hadn’t figured out how to confess to Yue Qiu.

“How did Qi Xiangxing do?” Qin Qing suddenly remembered the bet between Qi Xiangxing and Wu Zhi. Turning the steering wheel, she asked.

Yue Qiu huffed inwardly, annoyed. All you care about is Qi Xiangxing, Qi Xiangxing! Of course, she’s your star student! She had no intention of answering and simply said, “I don’t have a free hand. Check it yourself if you’re curious.”

Qin Qing smiled to herself. So easily jealous, huh?

“Fine, I’ll just ask Qi Xiangxing myself then,” Qin Qing teased, knowing full well Yue Qiu would bristle.

Sure enough, Yue Qiu puffed up like an angry pufferfish, grumbling, “Qi Xiangxing is my student!” Why are you so obsessed with her?!

She was furious, jealous—the kind of mad that wouldn’t be easily soothed.

“Alright, alright, I won’t ask,” Qin Qing relented, amused by how Yue Qiu resembled a puffed-up pufferfish, her cheeks slightly chubby and irresistibly pinchable. Though, unlike her softer high school self, Yue Qiu now carried herself like a mature alpha.

A dependable alpha.

But still very pinchable.

Qin Qing thought it—and then acted on it. She reached out and pinched Yue Qiu’s cheek, eliciting a yelp. Yue Qiu didn’t even try to block her. “What the hell, Qin Qing?!”

Qin Qing withdrew her hand, expression perfectly calm. “Nothing. Just wanted to pinch you.”

Yue Qiu clutched her stinging cheek, eyes watering. “???”

Qin Qing: “Good texture.” Still soft—more like an omega than an alpha.

Yue Qiu: “…”

Qin Qing, your aloof omega persona is crumbling. You know that, right?

Meanwhile, Wu Zhi, suspended at home, had also seen the school forum updates. After checking Qi Xiangxing’s results, he shot up and roared, “This is impossible!”

“What the hell do you mean ‘impossible’?!” His father kicked the door open, furious. “I sent you to school to study, and you nearly got yourself expelled?!”

Wu Zhi’s father had been involved in underground circles before and still carried that gangster aura. He had long been divorced from Wu Zhi’s mother, so under his influence, Wu Zhi wasn’t exactly the merciful type either.

Especially after his complete and utter defeat at the hands of Qi Xiangxing.

—If it had just been a simple loss, he might have let it go. But he had gone out of his way to get answers from Cao Nannan to boost his own scores.

Who knew where Cao Nannan had even gotten those answers from.

Wu Zhi didn’t see anything wrong with distributing the answers to his classmates. To this day, he still believed the one who exposed him was a traitor—he was just trying to help his class beat Class Four, what was so wrong about that? The snitch was the real idiot.

“I was just—” Wu Zhi didn’t get to finish before his father kicked him.

“Shut the hell up! You think getting expelled is a joke?” His father pointed at the solid wooden stick propped in the corner. Wu Zhi knew that stick well—his father had used it to beat him plenty of times before.

“…I got it.” After a long silence, Wu Zhi lowered his head and muttered. His hatred for Qi Xiangxing burned in his chest—not only had she humiliated him, she had nearly gotten him expelled.

She had to pay for this!

Wu Zhi gritted his teeth.

Who’s to say she hadn’t cheated this time too?

Yue Qiu strode briskly up to the podium, shooting Qi Xiangxing a glance before suppressing the jealousy in her heart, repeating to herself:

They’re both omegas, they’re both omegas, they’re both omegas.

Omegas and omegas can’t be happy together.

With that thought, Yue Qiu finally relaxed a little. Clearing her throat, she looked at the celebratory banner hung across the classroom and twitched her lips. Scanning the room, she spotted Du Ziheng stretching his neck eagerly to look at her and mentally scoffed—

Of course it was you again!

What, your family owns an ad shop or something?

So tacky.

Yue Qiu spoke up, “Everyone’s seen the results, right?”

The class’s eyes sparkled, and Yue Qiu swore their voices had never been louder:

“YES!!!”

Yue Qiu: …My ears, my ears are going to burst!

“You all did amazing this time.” A smile crept into Yue Qiu’s eyes—especially since they had thoroughly crushed Cao Nannan’s arrogance. It was such a win for her!

“So, this afternoon, I’m treating everyone to bubble tea.” She dropped the announcement casually before turning to Qi Xiangxing. “Class monitor, take everyone’s orders and report them to me after class.”

Hmph! Make her do the work! Make her run the errands! Hmph!

While Class Four was in high spirits, Class Seven, just a short distance away, was shrouded in gloom. Not a single word had been spoken all morning. The students glanced at Wu Zhi’s empty seat and then at Liu Baoshan, Class Eight’s homeroom teacher standing at the podium, already piecing things together.

“Your homeroom teacher had an urgent matter and took leave. For the next two days, I’ll be acting as your substitute. English classes will temporarily be taught by Teacher Hu from Classes One and Two.” Liu Baoshan paused, eyeing the whispering students before adding:

“Don’t speculate wildly. Don’t spread unnecessary rumors.”

After saying this, he hurriedly left.

Although Liu Baoshan had put it that way, everyone in Class Seven knew it was just an official excuse. The reality was far from it. What capabilities did Wu Zhi have? How could he possibly get the answers? Wasn’t it all because of Cao Nannan?

Cao Nannan was a teacher. If she wanted the answers, it would obviously be much easier for her than for Wu Zhi.

Zeng Yu sighed. He had done fairly well on the exam, mainly because he had swallowed his pride and asked Luan Li for help with some problems before the test—and those exact types of questions had appeared on the exam.

“What should we do?” Zeng Yu’s deskmate asked him.

Zeng Yu shrugged. “What else can we do? Keep studying. What does what happened with the teachers have to do with us?”

“Lili Lili!” After the first class in the morning, Qi Xiangxing had already finished compiling the list of milk tea orders. She dashed to the door of Class Three to find Luan Li.

The teacher who had just finished teaching Class Three and was packing up was already used to Qi Xiangxing’s antics. She pretended not to see her, tapped her books on the desk to straighten them, and left. Before walking away, she gave Qi Xiangxing a meaningful glance.

Completely oblivious to the teacher’s lingering gaze, Qi Xiangxing waved at Luan Li, who blinked at her and stepped out.

“We’re getting milk tea!” Qi Xiangxing affectionately grabbed her hand. “What do you want? I’ll bring you a cup!”

“Are you going off-campus at noon?” Luan Li ruffled her hair.

Qi Xiangxing nodded. “Yeah, Old Yue is treating us. I’ll sneakily buy you one.”

Luan Li chuckled. “I’ll go with you. You won’t be able to carry it all back alone.” After a pause, she added, “I think I have the milk tea shop’s number. We could just have them deliver it.”

Qi Xiangxing’s eyes lit up. “Then don’t tell Old Yue! Let’s go out for lunch together!”

Yue Qiu held the leave slips, eyeing Qi Xiangxing’s earnest expression skeptically. “Why do you need two slips?”

Qi Xiangxing put on her most sincere face. “Teacher, I can’t carry everything back alone!”

Yue Qiu raised an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe that?” She smirked knowingly. “You’re going with Luan Li, aren’t you?”

Qi Xiangxing straightened up with righteous dignity. “Yes, Teacher! I can’t carry it all by myself, so of course I need an alpha to help!”

Yue Qiu rolled her eyes and impatiently handed her two slips—

Go on, get out of here. Stop flaunting your relationship in front of me. Just because Qin Qing isn’t here, huh?

Before she could voice her thoughts, Qin Qing pushed the door open. She paused when she saw Qi Xiangxing standing beside Yue Qiu, then smiled warmly. “What’s going on? Did you mess up again?”

Qi Xiangxing grinned. “Nope! Teacher Yue is treating us to milk tea!”

Understanding flashed in Qin Qing’s eyes. After a moment, she said to Qi Xiangxing, “Since our classes are sister classes, it wouldn’t be fair if only yours gets milk tea, right?” She smiled. “Tell Luan Li to order some for our class too. I’ll transfer you the money. Wait a second—I’ll write you a leave slip—”

“Hmph, this kid already got two slips from me earlier!”

Yue Qiu snorted, stopping Qin Qing and shooting Qi Xiangxing a look. “Go on, go! I’ll transfer you the money!” The unspoken message was clear: Don’t take Teacher Qin’s money.

Qi Xiangxing froze for a moment before responding, “Received!” She flashed a quick smile at the two teachers and hurried away from the scene.

“What was that about?” Qin Qing chided.

Yue Qiu rubbed his nose. “My treat—it’s a happy occasion for our class. Next time it’s on you.”

Qin Qing could only smile helplessly.