Zhou Yan and the others had not stood in the corridor long before their homeroom teachers called them away. Xia Siqiao put on his earphones, randomly played a song, and listened without paying much attention. With one elbow resting on the windowsill, he stared boredly at the sky outside.
More than an hour passed. Two separate groups of students serving as sentries had already come during breaks to provide fresh intelligence before Zhao Zhihuan was finally barely satisfied with the questions. He came out and called Xia Siqiao inside.
Xia Siqiao did not say anything when he saw the test paper. He pulled the cap off a pen, tilted his head, and began answering the questions.
When He Pei and several other class monitors came in, they saw Xia Siqiao propping his head up with one hand, eyelashes flickering and expression loose and lazy, while his pen moved rapidly across the paper.
Teacher Liu motioned for them to find seats, briefly explained what had happened, then said, "You're all class monitors. Stay and serve as witnesses. No matter what the final result is, having all of you here will make it easier for everyone to accept."
Zhao Zhihuan had not expected the matter to grow this large. He awkwardly stole a glance at He Pei and only quietly relaxed when he saw that He Pei's expression remained calm and showed no special reaction.
He was only a beta whose grades were the one respectable thing he had, while He Pei was an exceptionally rare alpha. Zhao Zhihuan knew nothing could ever happen between them, so he had always been extremely cautious, not daring to let He Pei or his friends discover his feelings.
But Xia Siqiao–a useless piece of trash with nothing to recommend him–how did he dare pull the unattainable He Pei down from his pedestal and let He Pei's name become tied to someone like Xia Siqiao, giving everyone a reason to tease and mock them together? What Zhao Zhihuan found even more intolerable was that Xia Siqiao had actually beaten the school bully and his group and had even cut off that ridiculous hair.
He felt Xia Siqiao was beginning to deviate from his original path. No. Xia Siqiao did not deserve to like He Pei. He did not deserve any of He Pei's attention, whether good or bad.
This was all Xia Siqiao's fault.
Xia Siqiao was bent over the paper, his complexion so porcelain-pale it was nearly translucent. His long lashes fluttered, making him look exceptionally docile. Yet he deliberately held the pen cap carelessly between his teeth, as though he could not be satisfied without forcing a little unruliness into the picture.
Several girls beside He Pei could not resist whispering, "He's so pale. How is he that pretty? Do you think he'll present as an omega?"
Another girl shook her head uncertainly and whispered back, "I don't know. Keep your voice down. Maybe don't talk about him in front of He Pei. But when he was fighting he was seriously alpha-like. I think he might present as an alpha too."
"I still think omega would suit him better. If he becomes an alpha, I wonder which lucky little omega will end up with him."
"Still, he hadn't even presented and he already dared chase He Pei. He really was a brave man."
As a top-tier alpha, He Pei heard every word of their conversation clearly.
He Pei lifted his eyelids and glanced over.
As for his looks…
They were nothing special.
Xia Siqiao handed in the paper very quickly.
Teachers from several different subjects sat together to mark it. Xia Siqiao somehow produced an eraser from nowhere and sat in a chair with one leg crossed, boredly picking at it. The originally neat block of rubber was soon mangled beyond recognition under his fingers, practically rubbed bald.
It did not take long for the paper to be graded.
Although they had already concluded that Xia Siqiao probably had not cheated on the monthly exam, watching him answer the questions in person and then grading them immediately still made the enormous contrast difficult for them to process.
Teacher Liu looked at Xia Siqiao with a complicated mixture of emotions, then called Zhao Zhihuan and the others over. "Come look together."
The moment Zhao Zhihuan saw their expressions, his heart dropped. Forcing himself to remain calm, he took the paper. The instant he saw the score, his pupils contracted violently and he screamed in disbelief, "Impossible!"
The others had no personal grudge against Xia Siqiao, but after seeing the questions and the score, they too could not help looking at him in astonishment.
Several of the girls often used the forum and knew the private speculation circulating there, so they accepted the paper even more readily than the teachers did. "Could Xia Siqiao really have been pretending to be a bad student all this time because of his family? If his grades are exposed now, won't things become difficult for him later?"
"It's possible. Otherwise this reversal is way too unbelievable. But if things get difficult for him, he brought it on himself. If he hadn't gone after He Pei, none of this mess would have happened." Another girl was extremely disdainful of Xia Siqiao's previous behavior and spoke with a cold snort.
"That's true, but now that he says he doesn't like He Pei anymore, the part of me that worships pretty faces suddenly feels weirdly sad."
Compared with Zhao Zhihuan's devastated state and the girls' runaway imaginations, He Pei merely reached up expressionlessly with his well-defined fingers and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. Refined and handsome, he looked completely unconcerned and detached from the entire affair.
Xia Siqiao's answers were excellent. Apart from one careless mistake, there were no errors at all.
"Zhao Zhihuan, do you have any objections to this result now?" Teacher Liu picked up his cup and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.
Zhao Zhihuan stared fixedly at the paper. The glaring score sat openly on the page, silently and viciously mocking him. Only after a long time did he finally accept defeat and look away. His body trembled in tiny, rapid shivers. At last, he lowered his pale face deeply and nodded.
Teacher Liu sighed. He held the lid of his teacup and lightly scraped it around the rim, blew away a few tea leaves, then looked up at Xia Siqiao. "Xia Siqiao, to be honest, I've heard about the bet between you and Zhao Zhihuan. Normally, we teachers shouldn't interfere in something between students. But in our eyes, you're both exceptionally good children. If you do something irreversible because of a moment of anger, as someone older who's been through more of life, I would find that rather regrettable. What do you think?"
His gaze slowly traveled downward from Xia Siqiao. The moment he saw the entire desk covered in eraser crumbs, his teacup shook and his usual steady, diplomatic expression nearly cracked.
How could one child make such a mess out of an eraser?
The blue-and-white floor tiles were a little old but kept very clean. Xia Siqiao stared at the patterns and absentmindedly wondered whether the floor tiles in every school looked like this.
This conversation was entirely within Xia Siqiao's expectations. These teachers were all experienced and shrewd. Zhao Zhihuan might not be as outstanding as He Pei, but he was still far ahead of everyone else. No. 3 High was one of the city's top key schools. They would not stand by and watch such a strong student leave.
Hearing this, Zhao Zhihuan did not dare raise his head and clenched his fists tightly. He had proposed such a bet only because he had thought victory was certain. Now that the consequences were genuinely about to fall on him, fear finally set in. He did not want to transfer schools.
Better to stop while he was ahead. In any case, his own situation was already changing for the better. Xia Siqiao pulled himself out of his wandering thoughts, calmly cleaned up the mess covering the desk, and stood. "I can agree not to make Zhao Zhihuan transfer."
Zhao Zhihuan abruptly looked at him. The other class monitors also raised their heads in surprise.
Teacher Liu narrowed his eyes and smiled. "All right. The grade office can post an official notice confirming that your score this time is genuine."
Xia Siqiao nodded, then added, "But Zhao Zhihuan has to apologize to me in front of the entire school for every word he said before."
The dehumidifier automatically shut off after running for a while. Xia Siqiao had not spoken particularly loudly, but everyone still heard him clearly.
Teacher Liu neither agreed nor objected. He shifted his gaze to Zhao Zhihuan. "Zhao Zhihuan, what do you think?"
Zhao Zhihuan opened his mouth, then finally said hoarsely, "Fine."
"Good. Then we'll consider this matter finished here." Teacher Liu nodded and looked at the other class monitors. "You're all leaders in your classes. You should have some idea what kinds of rumors are circulating. You also witnessed how everything started today. If necessary, speak up and explain things. Don't let this keep fermenting."
The others nodded. He Pei stood tall and straight beside a bookcase, casually picked up a book, and read with complete indifference. Teacher Liu did not bother calling him out for it. Instead, he suddenly looked at Xia Siqiao with a lovingly benevolent gleam in his eyes.
Seeing that smile, which clearly meant he wanted something, a chill swiftly climbed Xia Siqiao's spine.