Chapter 27 Part 1

It wasn’t until inexplicable screams erupted around her that Zhu Lexing snapped out of her daze over the phrase “Submitted by: Yan Mian.”

Was it really Yan Mian? She could hardly believe it, instinctively suspecting it was some ploy by those scheming CP fans—faking a submission under Yan Mian’s name just to make it look legit.

But if that were the case, given Yan Mian’s clear aversion to her, they wouldn’t have bothered reading it aloud, right?

The more Zhu Lexing thought about it, the more shocked she became.

It was only when someone tapped her shoulder from behind that she heard Qiao Qiao giggling, “Submitted by: Yan Mian.”

Zhu Lexing shot back without thinking. “Why? Why?”

Qiao Qiao’s expression darkened in an instant. “Don’t let me find out who submitted that thing.”

Zhu Lexing replied, “Just check out the long jump tomorrow.”

Song Yingying had been waiting at the finish line for Zhu Lexing, but she’d given up after hearing Yan Mian’s voice. It wasn’t until Qiao Qiao approached that she came over with a bottle of water. “Thanks.”

Zhu Lexing finally came back to herself and shook her head. “No big deal.”

Song Yingying gazed at her, looking like she wanted to say something more, but in the end she just smiled faintly. “I still have to thank you.”

While the two of them talked, Qiao Qiao watched from the side, casually twisting open a bottle cap. “Have you both caught the Yan Mian thank-you virus or something? You’re saying it nonstop.”

Zhu Lexing casually snatched the water from her hand and took a sip. “Yeah, thanks.”

Qiao Qiao stared. “…Zhu Lexing, the day you get dragged on hot search for getting cursed out—”

Zhu Lexing cut her off. “We’ll talk when I’m actually on hot search. Didn’t you go meet up with Xu He? Where is she?”

Xu He had her event tomorrow and was currently chatting idly by the sports field. Spotting the group, she waved and started yelling from over ten meters away. “Zhu Lexing—was that Yan Mian talking just now—”

Her shout immediately drew everyone’s eyes. Zhu Lexing waved frantically to shush her, but Xu He only yelled louder, repeating it word for word.

Oh god.

Zhu Lexing squeezed her eyes shut, silently praying for some divine intervention to spirit away Xu He and Qiao Qiao.

Those two loved playing matchmaker so much—after graduation, they could just head up to the Heavenly Court and pull red strings for a living.

Turning their hobby into a job? They’d be motivated for life.

The moment they met up, Xu He thrust the forum thread replies in Zhu Lexing’s face.

Ten minutes ago, the Forum OP had posted an ecstatic reply: 【Aaaah, my ship is feeding sweets! Second chapter dropping tonight!】

A cascade of nested replies followed below it, mostly 【Can’t wait!】.

Zhu Lexing felt like she’d been struck by lightning right there on the spot.

A second chapter? No way! For the sake of her own life, she hoped the OP had some sense and deleted the post immediately.

Xu He looked absolutely thrilled—if her account hadn’t been different from the OP’s, Zhu Lexing would’ve sworn she’d written it herself.

Qiao Qiao, meanwhile, wasn’t all that invested but still couldn’t resist teasing Zhu Lexing. “Actually, getting her to delete it isn’t totally impossible.”

Zhu Lexing blinked. ?

“You reply on the thread,” Qiao Qiao said. “Say you’re Zhu Lexing, that the OP’s infringing on your reputation, and you’ll sue if she doesn’t take it down.”

The idea conjured instant visions of lawyer-letter drama for Zhu Lexing. She sighed. “Nah, that’s overkill.”

Qiao Qiao shot her a sidelong glance. “What you should really be worried about isn’t that. It’s your name, right—Mianmian’s Fan?”

Song Yingying hadn’t been part of the conversation last time, so this was the first she’d heard about the Mianmian Fan business. She picked up on the weirdness right away. “Huh?”

Xu He immediately launched into an animated explanation, gesticulating wildly. “I knew it! There’s no way Unspoken Tenderness could be you. I even followed her later—all her replies are about score-improvement tips. Like you could teach any of that!”

Zhu Lexing felt a vein throb in her forehead. “Can you respect my 300-something rank for a second? Why couldn’t I—”

Qiao Qiao was thoroughly enjoying the show, but Song Yingying quickly snapped out of her daze. “Don’t we still need to practice running?”

That pulled Xu He’s attention right back.

They spent the entire afternoon holed up in the Sports Room. They called it “running practice,” but it was really just hiding from the sun and slacking off.

School let out at four that day. Song Yingying took third in the 800m in the end, getting overtaken on the bend by the runner behind her. But she was Class 7’s sole honoree of the day, and Zhu Xing spent a full five minutes praising her in class.

After the bell, Song Yingying let out a long breath and thanked Zhu Lexing yet again.

Zhu Lexing felt like the girl had already blown past her daily “thanks” quota.

After holding back for a bit, she finally asked tactfully, “Do you have some kind of trouble? Need my help or something?”

How else to explain the constant gratitude?

Song Yingying met her eyes but just said, “No. I just… really appreciate it.”

Without Zhu Lexing, she never would’ve been picked as flag bearer. No one would’ve noticed her at all.

It was only by standing in Zhu Lexing’s shadow that she’d caught a sliver of the spotlight.

Song Yingying didn’t spell it out, but Zhu Lexing could guess. She waved it off casually. “You’re already great and talented. Whether you lead the flag or snag awards doesn’t change that one bit.”

Song Yingying froze in place, a little stunned. Zhu Lexing, meanwhile, slung her bag over her shoulder with a grin. “C’mon. Xu He just texted asking when we’re hitting the sports field.”

Song Yingying finally murmured agreement and trailed after her.

After slacking off all afternoon, Xu He finally steeled herself right before dismissal. She was going to grind running practice hard and blow everyone away tomorrow.

But after struggling through a few grueling laps, she abandoned any dreams of becoming Bolt. Under the rosy glow of the setting sun, she collapsed onto the grass after just one circuit, letting out a long sigh. “Ugh, why did I talk myself into this self-torture?”

The Sports Meet was set to continue tomorrow, and the sports field still bore the remnants of class flags and scattered confetti. The grass was dyed a deep crimson by the setting sun. Qiao Qiao sat beside her, unwrapping a lollipop and holding it to her lips. “You don’t mind just lying there all dirty?”

Xu He opened her mouth to take it, but Qiao Qiao lifted her hand and popped it into her own mouth instead.

Xu He said, “…I swear, you—”

Qiao Qiao replied, “I know I’m good-looking and have a great personality. No need to flatter me.”

Xu He promptly emptied Qiao Qiao’s pockets of all the candy, handing one to each of them. She flipped over and lay on her other side, repeating the same line to Song Yingying.

Song Yingying laughed. “Exercise keeps you healthy.”

Xu He said, “But I already feel pretty healthy.”

Qiao Qiao tied her hair back and stretched lazily. “Does staying up all night every day count as healthy?”

Seeing Xu He sprawled out like that made Zhu Lexing want to lie down too, but it felt a bit silly. Instead, she idly plucked at the grass. “You talk too much,” she interjected carelessly.

Xu He shot back, “See? Even Zhu Lexing has more sense than you—”

Zhu Lexing added, “Not to mention staring at your phone all day.”

As she listened to their bickering, Zhu Lexing pressed her hands together like she was praying, feeling a surge of positive energy in her heart.

She thought that being an ordinary high schooler wouldn’t be so bad. Just a Beta, steering clear of all the Alpha-Omega drama—days filled with joking around with classmates, trading barbs or taking them in stride.

But no sooner had the thought surfaced than Yan Mian came to mind. Sometimes, Zhu Lexing even felt that “saving the world” would be easier than saving one person. Saving the world meant not overthinking—just act. Saving a person? Impossible. They shared meals and lived together every day, yet she couldn’t directly express her feelings.

It was a total contradiction.

“You’re gonna pluck that grass bald,” Qiao Qiao said suddenly. Zhu Lexing was about to snap back at her when Qiao Qiao pointed toward the supermarket. “Isn’t that Yan Mian?”

Zhu Lexing narrowed her eyes.

Even with her pre-Differentiation Alpha body giving her sharper senses than most, the distance was too great to make out details—just silhouettes emerging side by side from the supermarket. But Yan Mian’s outfit was distinctive. While everyone else had shed their jackets in the heat, hers was buttoned right to the top.

Someone was walking beside her, talking animatedly.

Qiao Qiao whipped out her phone. Zhu Lexing blinked in confusion. “What’re you doing? Posting about it?”

It was only that afternoon that Xu He had explained it to her: post on the forum, rack up enough replies, and you earned Prestige Value to exchange for stuff. Hit a certain threshold, and you could even become an Intern Moderator.

Qiao Qiao was always lurking on the forum, forwarding posts to Zhu Lexing for that very reason.

Qiao Qiao huffed, “Do you really think I’m busting my ass just to snag a moderator spot?”

She zoomed in with the camera, and they all crowded around to look. Standing next to Yan Mian was Shi Ruofeng.

“Whoa!” Xu He exclaimed. “Where’s Li Nian?”

Qiao Qiao snapped the photo, switched to the forum app, and started hyping it up. She didn’t forget to assign Zhu Lexing her role: “Do I even need to say? She must’ve bailed. Now we’ve got two Omegas crossing paths—go on, Zhu Lexing! Save Yan Mian from the awkwardness!”

Qiao Qiao hauled Zhu Lexing to her feet and dragged her along.

As they jogged toward the pair, Zhu Lexing genuinely thought that if Qiao Qiao ever got jumped by some anonymous assailant, she wouldn’t be surprised.

There was an eighty percent chance she’d done the hiring herself.

After finishing the script for the Broadcast Station, Yan Mian had stopped by the supermarket.

She’d lately noticed her pheromones acting up a bit and decided to switch brands of Pheromone Suppression Spray. At checkout, she found herself wishing pheromones didn’t exist at all.

Differentiating into a Beta would solve everything, once and for all.

As she scanned her items, a few more things appeared on the counter—mostly snacks.

A faint cedar scent wafted by. Yan Mian glanced sideways to see Shi Ruofeng standing behind her. Shi Ruofeng nodded at the puzzled cashier, who seemed wary of any trouble. “Ring these up together.”