Chapter 90

After leaving the consultation room, Jiang Zhihuo conveyed the doctor’s words to Yan Mu.

“Soulmate?” Yan Mu accepted the report sheet, carefully reading through its contents before commenting, “The name sounds a bit foolish.”

“Even if it sounds foolish, you shouldn’t say it aloud.” Jiang Zhihuo laughed and gave Yan Mu a gentle punch.

Ultimately, whether it was the complete pheromone compatibility or the perfect compatibility of secondary gender, the idea that these could alleviate symptoms of pheromone rejection was still only a theory. Even though their blood had been drawn, it would be quite some time before the doctor’s research yielded any results. For now, only one thing could truly be confirmed.

—It felt exceptionally comfortable.

That night, Jiang Zhihuo leaned over the edge of the bed and said, “Yan-ge, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Jiang Zhihuo scooted a little closer to Yan Mu. “About that… did you feel good the last two times?”

Yan Mu froze for a moment.

Discussing such topics was somewhat embarrassing. Jiang Zhihuo cleared his throat and suppressed the warmth spreading behind his ears. “They say with complete pheromone compatibility, it feels very good. Yan-ge, did you… feel anything?”

Yan Mu still had one leg crossed and remained silent for a long while. The page of his book flipped to the next one.

“What about you?” Yan Mu did not answer directly.

“I forgot.” Once the heat behind his ears had faded, Jiang Zhihuo shamelessly sat down beside Yan Mu, their arms pressed together. “I passed out both times afterwards, so I can hardly remember how it felt.”

“Mhm.” Without the slightest change in expression, Yan Mu flipped the book back to the page he had just been reading. “Next time you don’t faint, I’ll ask you again.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “?”

“Aren’t I the one asking you?” Now that the question had been asked and his pride was lost, Jiang Zhihuo was not about to let Yan Mu gloss over it. Since he had chosen to be bold, he would see it through to the end.

So he reached out and took the book from Yan Mu’s hands, tossing it onto the bed. Then he swung himself onto Yan Mu’s lap, wrapped his arms around Yan Mu’s neck, and affectionately nuzzled his cheek. “Yan-ge, do you want to try it now?”

His face was burning, and the warmth of his body could be felt even through the thin layer of clothing.

Yan Mu’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, yet his expression remained unchanged.

He circled his arms around Jiang Zhihuo’s waist, and with his other hand, touched a spot a bit lower.

What happened during the estrus and susceptibility periods had been too intense for either of them to control. Although they had applied ointment, it was still red and swollen, and any touch brought pain.

The unfamiliar pain instantly jolted his nerves. Jiang Zhihuo straightened his back at once, drawing in a sharp breath.

Yan Mu looked at him with deep, dark eyes and asked, “How do we try it?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “……”

“Sh*t.” Jiang Zhihuo was so annoyed that he wanted to leave. “I can’t talk to you. Goodbye, Yan-ge.”

As he spoke, he pushed himself up to move away, but Yan Mu did not release him. Instead, Yan Mu smoothed his hair, placed a gentle kiss at the center of his forehead, and softly said, “I’ll wait until you’re better.”

The next day, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the senior year students at Lincheng No. 1 High School began their semester.

Although the winter vacation had lasted only two weeks, far from enough to disturb his biological clock, Jiang Zhihuo still felt a bit lost when the alarm went off.

Outside, dawn had just broken. The red lanterns hanging from the balcony across the street hadn’t yet been taken down, and traces of the New Year’s festivities still lingered in the air. But the hapless seniors at Lincheng No. 1 were already back in their classrooms, backpacks stuffed full of worksheets.

Even the top students hadn’t shaken off the holiday mood; the whole class sat at their desks eating breakfast, still caught in a daze.

This scene continued until Ding Jianhui walked in, hauling a large bag over his shoulder.

“Class, everyone did well on the final exams last semester! Most of you accomplished the goals you set for yourselves!” Ding Jianhui tore open the bag, revealing the gifts he had promised earlier, and began handing them out desk by desk.

The gifts were different for boys and girls. The girls received pens and notebooks with a distinctly girlish touch, while the boys got figurines of the main character from a currently trending anime.

“Wow, this is so cute!!” One of the girls exclaimed as she received her notebook. “Thank you, Teacher Ding!”

“My daughter picked them out.” Ding Jianhui took the chance to brag a little about his precious girl.

As he continued handing out the gifts, he made an announcement. “Now, for some good news! This time, our class’s average score on the final exam surpassed Class 4’s! And especially classmate Jiang Zhihuo has a massive improvement! He said he’d get a hundred, and he truly got a hundred. Five hundred thirty-one points, not a single one missing!”

“!!!!!!”

The whole class was stunned for a split second, then suddenly burst into a round of wild desk-slapping.

“Huo-ge is awesome!!”

“That’s a huge leap!”

“530 and 430 are not on the same level at all! Huo-ge, if you keep this up, a top university is guaranteed!!”

“This is incredible! Only one semester and you jumped from the three-hundreds to over five hundred? Huo-ge, what’s your secret?!”

Ding Jianhui happened to stop in front of Jiang Zhihuo’s desk, placing a figurine on it. “Zhihuo, would you share your methods for making such progress?”

“What methods? Talking about study skills in front of a group of top students would just be embarrassing myself,” Jiang Zhihuo said with a grin. “But, there is one crucial prerequisite if you want to improve.”

“What is it?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “First, your grades have to be bad enough. Otherwise, where’s the room to improve?”

That self-deprecating joke was too funny; the mood in the class relaxed instantly, with waves of laughter echoing throughout.

Ding Jianhui smiled and looked back at him. “Then, how about sharing your daily schedule?”

Jiang Zhihuo: “I don’t have a set schedule. But can I share the God of Learning’s schedule instead?”

“!!!”

“The God of Learning’s schedule? Quick, I’ve got my pen and notebook ready!”

“Him, ah…” Jiang Zhihuo pinched his chin, pretending to think deeply, then put on a mysterious air. “The God of Learning’s schedule? It’s simple and ruthless: as long as he’s breathing, he’s doing practice papers.”

That single remark brought the class to life again. The God of Learning’s scores had always been an obstacle that no one could overcome. Only because he did not attend the final exam this time did Class 1 have a chance to surpass Class 4. Even someone so remarkable kept working tirelessly on practice papers. Everyone felt the intense pressure.

The classroom was filled with lively chatter.

Ding Jianhui allowed them to continue their conversation. The atmosphere in Class 1 had always been relaxed. After distributing the gifts, he returned to the podium and said, “That is all for the good news. There is still one very important matter.”

“The final exam last semester, the city-level quality assessment, was indeed somewhat challenging. Our school maintained its usual standard, but this time, the top scorer did not come from our school.”

The classroom gradually grew quiet.

The top scorer was not from No. 1 High School?

How could that be possible?

All the participating schools were top-tier, yet for years, regardless of the exam, No. 1 High School had never let go of the top spot.

Even if the God of Learning Yan did not attend the finals, the eternal second-place always achieved a high score. Still, they could not secure first place?

Ding Jianhui: “This time, the top scorer in the city assessment came from Lincheng No. 3 High School, with a score 1.5 higher than our year’s highest. Everyone must work hard. For the upcoming city and provincial assessments, let us strive to reclaim first place.”

Ding Jianhui understood the art of timing. Before the class could recover from the shock of losing the top spot to No. 3 High School, or from hearing that the eternal runner-up remained unchanged, he took out a thick stack of test papers from his bag, leaving no chance for complaints or excuses. “And now, the third item. After two weeks of happiness, students, the exam begins—!!”

Everyone: “??”

This unexpected exam consumed the entire day. With not a hint of mental preparation, they were thrown straight into testing before they even had a chance to submit their winter break homework from their bags. When the bell finally rang for the last subject, everyone was utterly exhausted.

It was simply too difficult.

What drained everyone was not only this exam. The pace of senior year moved swiftly; each day was spent either working on exam papers or reviewing them. After all, only examinations could truly temper the mind. Every moment of intense focus became a test of mental endurance.

“So tired…”

After he finished his shower, Jiang Zhihuo sat cross-legged on the floor while Yan Mu helped dry his hair.

“Yan-ge, when will your results be out?” Jiang Zhihuo asked.

“Next week,” Yan Mu replied.

Jiang Zhihuo nodded.

“That’s it?” Yan Mu turned off the hair dryer.

“What?” Jiang Zhihuo turned his head. Yan Mu placed the hair dryer, its cord neatly wrapped, on the bedside table. Reaching out, he stretched, his shirt hem lifting slightly. The waistband of his pants rested against his hip bone, the line of his waist vanishing into it.

Jiang Zhihuo poked lightly at the dip of Yan Mu’s waist. “What do you want me to say, Yan-ge?”

Getting poked there so suddenly would make anyone feel ticklish. Yan Mu straightened his back, and Jiang Zhihuo seized the moment to wrap his arms around Yan Mu’s neck.

His lips brushed against Yan Mu’s Adam’s apple. Then, tilting his head back, Jiang Zhihuo touched Yan Mu’s lips lightly. “I didn’t faint. I’m fine now.”

Those words, pauses and all, were a hint.

Both of them had just showered; the scent of body wash lingered on their skin, mingling together.

If two hot-blooded young men who burn like the sun share the same bed every night yet do nothing, then either they were saints or they were monks.

Clearly, they were neither.

After more than two weeks, the discomfort from before had completely healed.

Unable to hold back any longer, there was no need to hold back.

Yan Mu gripped the back of Jiang Zhihuo’s neck and lowered his head.

It was unbearably hot; his entire body felt aflame, and every place his fingers touched seemed to burn.

Yan Mu loved touching Jiang Zhihuo’s glands most of all, his thumb moving over them again and again. The wound beside the gland had long since scabbed, with the edge especially pale. Yan Mu would trace his touch over that spot as if it were a genuine mark, then make Jiang Zhihuo turn around so he could bite that place again.

Between their lips and teeth, faint and fragmented sounds would occasionally escape, scattered by their movements.

Yan Mu would watch Jiang Zhihuo’s face.

A mist formed in Jiang Zhihuo’s eyes, his lashes trembling. When his eyes closed, his chin tilted upward, collar askew, the line from his collarbone, Adam’s apple, to his jaw forming a strikingly beautiful arc.

The corners of his eyes were red, his neck was red, and even his Adam’s apple bore a flush.

Yan Mu was not always silent. At a certain moment, a deep, weighty sound fell by his ear like tumbling stones, mixing with searing breaths that left half his body numb.

Clothes lay scattered in a heap beside the bed. The shower from moments before had been completely in vain.

After showering a second time, Jiang Zhihuo lay face down on the bed.

He couldn’t lie on his back—it hurt.

Earlier, he had been bold and shameless, but now he was at a loss for words; the pain forgotten as soon as it healed.

Still, Jiang Zhihuo realized one thing: it had been genuinely satisfying.

—Comfort beyond words.

Yan Mu’s national competition results were about to be released. He had already prepared the necessary forms. If he were placed, he could be admitted directly into a top university in the capital through independent recruitment. Even if he didn’t place, it wouldn’t be a loss; his previous first place in the provincial competition was enough to secure him a recommendation to other prestigious universities.

In the blink of an eye, another week went by. On Friday and Saturday, the senior class had their routine exams.

When Jiang Zhihuo entered the classroom, he saw a group of girls crowded together. A phone was propped up in the middle of the desk, and each one leaned in close, as if desperate to climb into the screen.

“What are you all watching?” Jiang Zhihuo asked.

“Huo-ge!!” The girls all turned toward him as soon as they heard his voice.

One of them held up her phone, showing him the screen. “Huo-ge, isn’t this you and God Yan?!”

On the phone, they were watching a trailer that Pick U 101 had released the previous night. It revealed the first team-building event for the top 100-ranked trainees. The boys were split into different groups, each sent to various locations around Lincheng for a photography challenge.

One of those locations was the provincial library.

On screen, Yun Xiaoxu and two other teammates looked miserable, huddled around a study desk with a stack of math problems in front of them.

“What is this thing?”

“Why can’t we understand it again?”

“Heavens, is there anyone who can save us?”

After their bout of frustration, Yun Xiaoxu suddenly glanced in a certain direction. The camera followed his gaze, panning to a group of people studying in the library.

Among them, two handsome guys stood out from the crowd, eye-catching even while sitting quietly.

The author has something to say:

The parts about competition admissions are made up! If there are any inaccuracies compared to real life, it’s because I made them up!!!