Chapter 96

The competition between No. 1 High School and No. 3 High School didn’t just start recently.

No. 1 High School and No.   3 High School in Lincheng have a long-standing rivalry. They were founded in the same year, achieved the same top-tier status, and compete in every event. Whenever No. 1 High School enters, No. 3 High School follows, especially in senior-year exams. But No. 1 High School always wins first, while No. 3 High School is stuck as the eternal second-place.

Year after year, the feud grows, and by now it’s a custom between them. Since No. 3 High School seized first place in the previous city exam, No. 1 High School will stop at nothing to snatch it back.

In recent days, most discussions on No.1 High School’s forum have revolved around the city exam.

[Ahhh! Didn’t get first place last time. This time, rush and win it!]

[By the way, who was it at No. 3 High School that took first place in the last exam?]

[I think his name was Long Hui, wasn’t it?]

[Yeah, that’s right, it was Long Hui. His score wasn’t all that insane, was it? Last time our God of Learning wasn’t around, and he only beat our eternal second-place by 1.5 points.]

[Will the God of Learning take the city exam this time?]

[Probably not. The city exam happens to overlap with B University’s examination, and the God of Learning will most likely be in B City at that time.]

[Oh my god, the God of Learning isn’t taking the exam again? Then the eternal second-place has a really tough job this time!]

[Come on, everyone! Let’s leave the fight for first place to the eternal second-place, and we’ll all work to raise the average scores together!]

The No.1 High School forum always has a positive vibe. Students encourage each other, top students never miss a single exam, and many open threads to track and log their study progress.

It wasn’t until three days later that someone dropped a long screenshot in the forum.

[Damn, I was bored and went to look at No. 3 High School’s forum. You won’t believe what I saw. I’m seriously fuming. What the hell is wrong with those people?!]

The long screenshot showed No. 3 High School’s forum page, where they were also talking about the upcoming city exam.

37th comment: No. 1 failed to hold first place last time, right? This time might not be so sure either.

38th comment: Hard to say. The gap between first and second last time was just 1.5 points, wasn’t it?

39th comment: Yeah, the stronger the top students, the harder it is to widen the score gap. 1.5 points is already a lot. This time, the result isn’t certain. No.1 High School is only that dominant because they’ve got the God of Learning, who’s ridiculously overpowered.

40th comment: But the God of Learning already got guaranteed admission, right? He won’t be joining this exam. Without him, No. 1 High School’s scores aren’t all that strong.

The first few posts were still normal, but starting from a certain comment, the discussion went completely off track.

51st comment: Speaking of which, I heard No. 1 High School’s God of Learning is dating a guy?

52nd comment: Are you kidding me? A boyfriend? Oh shit, so he’s gay?

53rd comment: That’s not all, I heard he’s actually an omega too.

60th comment: I asked someone at No.1 High School. It turned out to be true, they’re really dating, and everybody knows. They’re super high-profile, always eating breakfast, and stuck together after class. There is a rumor saying that the male omega is ridiculously handsome, like a campus-bully-level figure, but his grades are trash. Damn, he even once scored just over 300 points? If I stomped on my answer sheet, I’d probably still get more than that, hahahaha.

61st comment: No way, the God of Learning’s really dating a boyfriend like that? An omega? Is he even good enough? Well, whatever, study or not, it doesn’t matter. What future could an omega possibly have?

Yan Mu was so overwhelmed with exam preparation these past days, he barely had time to breathe, and since Jiang Zhihuo hardly ever browsed the forum, neither of them knew what was going on. It wasn’t until Zong Bei stormed over to find Jiang Zhihuo that he realized No.1 High School’s forum had blown up again.

Zong Bei was fuming. “What? Are those people out of their minds? Whether he’s omega or alpha, what’s it to them?”

Jiang Zhihuo ignored him and continued scrolling through a few more pages.

The forum’s anonymous, and since people from No.3 don’t really know the details, they’re throwing out all kinds of wild guesses. Most comments are pretty normal, but one user, Xxx786, keeps jumping in to stir things up, constantly dragging the discussion off track.

Xxx786: I asked one of this omega’s old junior high school classmates, and they said he was always at the bottom. How the hell did he even get into No. 1 High School? Was it cheating, or some strong backdoor connections?

Xxx786: A typical omega with a pretty face, and even the God of Learning couldn’t hold out? I wonder what his pheromones smell like.

Xxx786: People are asking why a perfectly fine God of Learning would end up bent? Well, first off, he’s an omega. Once those pheromones kick in, which alpha could resist?

Jiang Zhihuo was at a loss for words. He said in exasperation, “How did it go from grades to talking about omegas?”

“How would I know?” Zong Bei was even angrier than Jiang Zhihuo, not holding back at all as he cursed out loud. “A straight A cancer, his brain’s full of holes.”

“Alright.” Jiang Zhihuo wasn’t about to waste time on this; he better to spend that energy doing more practice questions. After all, the college entrance exam isn’t decided by who argues best, but by results. His real focus now was on aiming for the provincial top scorer title; nothing else mattered.

Jiang Zhihuo was unfazed. He handed the phone back to Zong Bei and asked evenly, “Do you want to do some practice? The set of test papers Sun Liyu got a couple of days ago was pretty good.”

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t care about any of it. He spent the whole day going to class and doing practice problems like usual, and was untouched by it all. Back home, he took a fresh, relaxing shower.

As soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Yan Mu on the sofa with his laptop, biting his right index finger, his face absorbed in serious concentration.

—When lost in thought, Yan Mu often bit down on his knuckle, leaving behind two clear hollow marks.

His focus was so intense that he didn’t realize the sound behind him at all. Jiang Zhihuo stepped lightly and turned into the room in a hush, pulling out the candy he had bought to keep himself recharged.

When he came out once more, Yan Mu lowered his head and began typing on the keyboard again. After a bit, he paused and lifted his hand out of habit.

Jiang Zhihuo hurriedly stuffed the candy into his mouth before Yan Mu could bite on his own knuckle again.

The fresh sweetness of the strawberry spread in his mouth, and only then did Yan Mu realize that Jiang Zhihuo had, at some unknown point, leaped to his side. His hair was still damp, not completely dried, strands hanging over his forehead, with his body carrying the scent of shower gel.

“Yan-ge, what are you doing?” Jiang Zhihuo asked.

“I’m mad.” Yan Mu said.

The candy was stuffed into his mouth, creating a slight bulge on his cheek, and along with such a blunt way of expressing his feelings, he was super cute.

Jiang Zhihuo poked Yan Mu’s cheek and coaxed, “What are you mad about? Who made my Yan-ge not happy?”

Yan Mu turned the computer screen toward Jiang Zhihuo, and it was the forum of No. 3 High School. A familiar ID, Xxx786, had been active on the forum all afternoon, every so often tossing out slanderous words about Jiang Zhihuo. It was nearly the same as what Jiang Zhihuo had seen at noon, with a few similar lines repeated back and forth.

Yan Mu started typing once more, his fingers pressed against the keyboard, and two small hollow marks appeared on the knuckle of his right hand.

“Xxx786, your login times are 12:05, 13:40, 14:10, and 16:55. The second and third logins were only thirty minutes apart. Excluding other factors, we can at least deduce that the first class was one where you could use a phone, such as PE or music appreciation.”

“The interval between the third and fourth logins was more than two hours. Based on your earlier login frequency, it’s unlikely you forgot or deliberately didn’t go online. Therefore, there is only one possibility that you were taking an exam at the time. That afternoon in No. 3 High School, the first period was PE, and during the second and third periods, the classes taking the exam were the third senior year: Class 5, Class 7, and Class 9.”

“Your profile once displayed a photo of the school building, and by calculating through the horizontal angle and vertical distance, the photographer’s height is estimated to be between 172 and 178 cm. Your username ends with 768. At first, I couldn’t tell if that was meaningful, but if taken as a significant number, it could relate to something like a birthdate or student ID. So I checked the school’s website for student ID data from the year of your enrollment. Across the three classes, three people had IDs ending in 768, and interestingly, two of them were not in the 172–178 cm height range.”

“So, third senior year, Class 9, height 175, student ID number 3224768—”

“Long Hui, if you’ve got something to say, say it directly. Why are you sneaking around behind an alt account, or are you trying to get noticed in your useless senior year?”

*

The dormitory building of No. 3 High School.

The people in the four-person room had divided into two sides.

Three boys huddled together in one spot, and the other sat alone on the desk placed in the corner.

He had only started the exam paper, carefully writing his name stroke by stroke at the very top—Long Hui.

The other three boys were together on their phones. They didn’t like Long Hui so much that even when playing on their phones, they wouldn’t sit near him. The three of them usually came and went side by side, never once saying a word to Long Hui.

The explanation was straightforward, since one boy among them was an omega.

On the first day in the dorm, Long Hui saw him, gave his suitcase a hard kick, and his face filled with contempt. “An omega living in a regular dorm? Get away from me, you wretched thing.”

Long Hui’s character wasn’t the least bit likable. He was quiet and rarely said a word, not from natural aloofness, but from a self-important sense of superiority. Whoever he looked at, there was always that trace of disdain in his expression that couldn’t be ignored.

—For the reason that his results were excellent, and that he was always first, he despised anyone weaker than himself, especially weak omegas.

“So it really was him?”

The three roommates whispered among themselves.

“It’s pretty obvious. He spent the whole afternoon going on about that omega boy. Who else would act all high and mighty while still looking down on omegas?”

“He’s only good at studying. What’s so great about that?”

“If the God of Learning from No.1 High School hadn’t left through early admission, he wouldn’t have gotten first at all. He used to get completely crushed. I honestly don’t know where his confidence comes from.”

Their voices weren’t loud, but sharing the same dorm room, Long Hui could still hear them clearly.

He gave a cold, mocking laugh.

Since the other side had already exposed his alt account, there was no reason to be polite anymore.

Xxx768: Yeah, it’s me. So what?

I work hard, do practice papers, and get top scores—so I can’t say a word about an omega? What are omegas, anyway? You think you can beat me? With the God of Learning gone, No.1 isn’t all that. All you bootlickers defending omegas—shut up already.

That line sparked outrage. No.1’s students swarmed into No.3’s forum and quickly exposed Long Hui’s account.

Xxx786 was only one of his burner accounts. His main account was even worse, directly launching personal attacks on omegas everywhere.

Omegas don’t deserve a thing.

Omegas shouldn’t exist in this world at all.

Omegas should just stay the hell home and have babies—what else is that reproductive cavity even for?!

A walking, talking alpha‑male chauvinist straight‑A cancer.

Remarks like these were dug up and posted all over the forum.

Not just No.1—even students from No.3 were condemning him.

[Holy crap, what’s wrong with this guy?!]

[This just proves that good grades don’t mean good character.]

[I can’t believe I actually admired him. What’s the damn point of good grades?]

[I can barely believe this guy’s from No.3 High…]

Long Hui couldn’t care less about the backlash. Living entirely in his own world, he even replied with righteous confidence.

Mhm? So you found out? Yeah, I can’t stand omegas—or anyone beneath me. What of it?

As long as my scores are high, won’t those top schools still be lining up for me?

My grades are great; I’m in first place. When the time comes, won’t the school still hang my photo on the honor board? Won’t they still plaster my name and score on a banner at the gate?

After seeing that string of idiotic comments, Jiang Zhihuo’s expression turned speechless. “No way, isn’t this just plainly stupid?”

Yan Mu: “……”

Jiang Zhihuo closed the laptop for Yan Mu. “Thanks, Yan-ge, for unmasking his alt account. People like that should get a brutal dose of reality.”

He thought the guy was some awesome, but turned out he was not even qualified to be an opponent.

All show and no substance—blinded by his own confidence.

People who act grand and wear their emotions on the surface can’t stand any setback.

Since Long Hui is so proud of his grades and treats them as his pride, that makes things simple.

Then just take first place back.

—And No.1, taking back first place in the city exam, was only a matter of time.

After mouthing off in the forum, Long Hui didn’t hold back at all. He even went straight into No.1’s forum, boasting shamelessly: Without your study god, you’re nothing. If you’ve got guts, try to beat me!

The students of Class 1, after reading that post: “……”

“What am I even supposed to say to that?”

“No idea.”

“Maybe…his IQ is not that high?”

Chang Luo glanced again at Jiang Zhihuo’s top-tier score, his throat tightening. “Probably he just doesn’t realize who his real opponent is…”

The guy was so full of himself that he ended up igniting No.1 High’s enthusiasm for studying. The top students were already cramming day and night—now they pushed even harder, studying nonstop, as if sleep were optional.

At the start of the new week, during the flag-raising ceremony, the eternal second-place student went on stage as the student representative to give a speech.

With Yan Mu gone, the one left to fight for first was the eternal second-place.

Faced with Long Hui’s provocation, he was pushed straight to the front lines—after all, he’d only been 1.5 points behind last time. His speech flowed like water and stirred everyone’s hearts, ending with a firm promise. “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll bring those points back—I’m confident! This time, let’s all charge ahead together!!”

Still stirred, the top students raised their fists in unison. What began as scattered shouting turned into a wave of cheers when someone with a booming voice yelled, “Come on!” Soon, more classes joined in one after another, until the entire field roared with chants. The scene was grand and full of energy, leaving the discipline director at the flag ceremony completely stunned.

The crowd’s emotions surged, the atmosphere boiling with energy—yet Class 1’s students found themselves conflicted.

“Should we be shouting too…?”

“If we don’t cheer, won’t it seem like we’re not part of the group?”

“They don’t know about Huo-ge yet… do they?”

“Mhm… if we do cheer, won’t it come off as sarcastic?”

“Stop overthinking—it won’t!” The class monitor jumped in first, shouting with the crowd. Then he turned to rally Class 1, waving them over. “They’re cheering for the second place, we’re cheering for Huo-ge—it’s all the same! Come on, Huo-ge! Come on, Huo-ge, ahhhh!!”

As No.1 High buzzed with excitement for the upcoming city exam, the latest episode of Pick U premiered as scheduled.

In this episode, Yun Xiaoxu’s solo performance went viral for his godlike moves. The production team had lined up over a dozen trending tags, and the top five were all about him.

With charm, looks, and genuine talent, Yun Xiaoxu’s fan appeal was strong. In the early episodes, most of his votes came from casual viewers, and his support team wasn’t fully formed yet. But after his first public stage, a fan club was set up, his voting power soared, and his vote count skyrocketed—by the end, he’d broken straight into debut rank.

But in the early hours of that same day, another trending topic about Yun Xiaoxu quietly climbed the rankings.

#YunXiaoxuScandal #DisgracedIdolYunXiaoxu #YunXiaoxuDetained#

Why are there still people who like this kind of scandal-tainted idol? Has the idol industry really become a free-for-all? What, just change your name, and your dirty past disappears?

Fans dug through all of Yun Xiaoxu’s accounts, yet none of them found out he’d once been detained for theft?

The author has something to say:

Mhm… It’s time to start writing about Xiao Huo and Professor Yun~