Chapter 2
【Lin Mo: Have you seen the new instructor yet?】
【Chu Yunmiao: Mm.】
【Lin Mo: Just “mm”? How is the new instructor?】
Chu Yunmiao tore her gaze away from the light-brain screen and glanced up at Yu Changning, who was standing right in front of her.
Huaqi University had strict internal management; without special approval, no private vehicle was allowed on campus. Whether students or instructors, everyone had to commute on foot or by the university’s well-developed public transit network. After leaving the administrative building, the two of them boarded a public hover car bound for the first-year district. At this hour there were neither too many nor too few passengers; by chance, there was only one seat left. Chu Yunmiao didn’t stand on ceremony. She went straight over and sat down. The standing room in the car was spacious, and Yu Changning followed without the slightest hesitation, stopping right beside her.
Since the last remaining seat faced inward rather than toward the front, Chu Yunmiao would see only Yu Changning whenever she looked up, whether she wanted to or not.
Utterly, unbearably annoying!
So Chu Yunmiao deliberately straightened her right leg, intending to make Yu Changning “back off after seeing how hard it was.”
Yu Changning didn’t seem to catch on to what she was doing.
Normally, if someone saw a person stretch out a leg toward them, they would instinctively dodge it to avoid getting the dirt on the sole of the other person’s shoe on themselves. But Yu Changning went the other way and simply stepped forward a little. As a result, Chu Yunmiao’s boot slid past the side of her leg.
Chu Yunmiao didn’t give up and prepared to draw her foot back and try again.
But the plan didn’t go smoothly. Halfway through pulling back her leg, Chu Yunmiao felt resistance. She looked down and saw Yu Changning’s calves pressed together, trapping her ankle and refusing to let her withdraw.
By rights, this was a case of being caught red-handed, but Chu Yunmiao felt no guilt at all. Instead, she looked up and glared at Yu Changning with an expression that said, “What are you doing?”; she looked every inch the one trying to beat the other to the punch and accuse first.
Yu Changning lifted one hand, then paused in midair. Her gaze fell on Chu Yunmiao’s fluffy long hair; two seconds later, she curled her fingers twice and withdrew her arm.
“Yunmiao,” she said softly, “don’t make a scene here.”
Chu Yunmiao came back to herself and turned away in annoyance.
She wasn’t “making a scene”; it was just that this really wasn’t the place to create any disturbance. Thinking of that, Chu Yunmiao drew her leg back again. This time Yu Changning cooperated and let go. The Imperial Crown Princess finally sat properly in her seat.
She took out her light-brain again.
In the short time she’d been away, Lin Mo’s questions had already filled the screen. Chu Yunmiao scanned them quickly, then typed a reply.
【Chu Yunmiao: Not good.】
The other side replied very quickly, clearly having been waiting in front of the light-brain screen all along.
【Lin Mo: I knew it! My friend told me their school had the same situation. The substitute they got later was a senior from their own school. His level was limited; after he’d taught their class for just over a month, their overall performance dropped three or four places in the year rank.】
【Lin Mo: I thought Huaqi would be different. The school really dares to brush us off like this? What kind of background does that new instructor even have? Does he think he can just show up? I’ll smash his head for him!】
Chu Yunmiao had been rather listless, but seeing Lin Mo’s complaints about the new instructor inexplicably made the corners of her lips lift.
【Chu Yunmiao: You guessed right.】
【Chu Yunmiao: The new instructor is a fourth-year student.】
【Lin Mo: ???】
【Lin Mo: I refuse! I absolutely refuse!】
【Lin Mo: Class monitor, hold the line. Don’t give in no matter what; I’m going to find people and protest right now!】
Chu Yunmiao exited her private chat with Lin Mo and, as expected, saw the class chat group beginning to explode under Lin Mo’s agitation.
Her finger absentmindedly tapped the light-brain twice, but in the end she still didn’t go in to explain anything.
If she could really use this chance to get Yu Changning replaced, that would be a good thing for her. After all, if she had been a little more careful in the director of studies’ office, she wouldn’t have agreed to let Yu Changning teach their class.
Chu Yunmiao pressed her lips together silently, set down her light-brain, and looked up again, only to meet Yu Changning’s gaze head-on.
Yu Changning said, “What are you looking at?”
Chu Yunmiao shook her head. “Nothing.”
Yu Changning said, “Something related to me.”
She hadn’t used a question.
Chu Yunmiao: “……”
Yu Changning: “Looks like it isn’t something very nice.”
When she said this, the corners of her mouth dipped a little, making her seem somewhat helpless, but there was amusement in the depths of her eyes.
Chu Yunmiao took two deep breaths and forced down her irritation, keeping her lips tightly pressed together without speaking.
The more she said, the more likely she was to make a mistake.
She wasn’t surprised by Yu Changning’s eerily accurate judgment. Years ago, over those more than ten years they had spent together, as long as she gave the slightest look, Yu Changning could guess what she was thinking. Feelings were thin; with the passage of time, they had dried up and worn away at extraordinary speed, but some bodily habits and instincts still hadn’t completely faded.
Thinking about it now, she only regretted that she understood the other person far less well than the other person understood her. But that couldn’t be entirely blamed on her. She was a full five years younger than Yu Changning. Perhaps in Yu Changning’s eyes, she was transparent as a sheet of white paper, readable at a glance from beginning to end. Yet until the moment Yu Changning had unilaterally cut ties with her, she hadn’t known what on earth the other woman had been thinking.
Chu Yunmiao lowered her head and stared blankly at the fist she’d clenched.
“C-cough, are you, are you Classmate Chu Yunmiao?”
At the sound, Chu Yunmiao looked up to the side and, under the other girl’s delighted gaze, gave a slight nod.
She wore a mask in public, but the girl who had spoken was sitting right beside her; at such close range, it was hard not to be recognized.
“C-Classmate Chu, hello!” The girl looked extraordinarily excited, her almond eyes wide like a kitten’s. Fortunately, she understood that Chu Yunmiao did not want to attract attention and intentionally lowered her voice. “Long Princess, I, I really like you.”
Chu Yunmiao smiled politely through her mask. “Thank you.”
She’d encountered this sort of thing many times and was already adept at handling it.
But the girl was especially nervous, pouring out her joy in a rush. “I, I’ve been watching you for quite a while. I finally gathered the courage to talk to you. Oh, my name is Qiao Mi; I’m also a first-year student, in Omega Class Two. We, we met in last week’s public class. Do you remember?”
Chu Yunmiao nodded. “Mm. The teacher called on you to answer a question; you did very well.”
The girl’s eyes lit up at once. “Really? I, I was really nervous then; I even forgot what I’d said. Hearing you say that, I feel relieved.”
As she spoke, she took out a small pale-blue package from her backpack. “Th-then, this is the milk candy I made myself. If you don’t mind, would you like to, to try some?”
Chu Yunmiao instinctively raised a hand in front of herself, making a polite gesture of refusal, but she hadn’t even finished forming the words of rejection in her mind.
In the Space Age, humans had an additional gender besides male and female: Alpha, Beta, and Omega.
A secondary sex would only differentiate after adulthood at 18. Of these, Betas accounted for 80 percent of the population and were no different from ordinary people. Alphas and Omegas were more special. In general, Alphas had stronger physical capabilities, while Omegas tended to be physically weaker but had a higher degree of brain development. In addition, both Alphas and Omegas secreted pheromones. After adulthood, Omegas would enter their heat cycle at irregular intervals and needed suppressants or pheromones belonging to an Alpha to calm them down.
All in all, Omegas were clever and delicate, but they needed protection. Especially to Alphas, who were born with the awareness that they ought to care for Omegas.
That was why Chu Yunmiao had stalled. If the person opposite her had been an Alpha or a Beta, she would have refused outright. But facing a small, cute Omega, she wanted to be as polite as possible.
Qiao Mi was staring at her intently. Chu Yunmiao’s unfinished words caught in her throat, and for a moment she didn’t know how to respond. But suddenly Qiao Mi turned her head and looked upward between the two of them. Chu Yunmiao subconsciously followed her gaze, only to realize that Yu Changning, standing beside them, was looking at the adorable candy bag in Qiao Mi’s hands.
To be precise, her gaze was fixed on the left hand Chu Yunmiao had lifted in refusal.
The two of them were sitting side by side, and the space between them was limited. If Chu Yunmiao’s raised hand had moved a centimeter or two farther, it would have touched the hand holding the candy bag in Qiao Mi’s.
Although Yu Changning was also wearing a mask, making it impossible to read her exact expression, her presence was very strong. Even a slow Omega could feel that the atmosphere had gone wrong.
Qiao Mi’s hand trembled, and she asked, “D-do you want to try some too?”
Yu Changning looked at her.
The tension eased a little. Qiao Mi suddenly realized that the only exposed part of the other woman’s face was those eyes; they were very beautiful, extraordinarily beautiful, with a mesmerizing allure.
Being looked at so seriously by those eyes, her cheeks began to heat. She had a strange sense that the other woman looked familiar, yet she couldn’t quite say where she’d seen her.
Yu Changning followed her words and asked, “May I?”
Qiao Mi came back to herself and glanced at Chu Yunmiao again. After struggling internally for two seconds, she said, “Sorry, I didn’t expect today to… I only brought this one small bag. I, I wanted to give it to Classmate Chu.”
Yu Changning looked regretful. “…I see.”
She turned to Chu Yunmiao again.
The next moment, the hand that had been expressing refusal reached out and directly took the cute little bag of candy from Qiao Mi’s hands.
Chu Yunmiao took a deep breath and sincerely said to the adorable Omega, “Thank you. I, I really like it.”
Yu Changning narrowed her eyes and looked out the window at the scenery flashing past without much interest. Then, suddenly, she glanced downward at the blue candy bag clasped in Chu Yunmiao’s slender fingers. She repeated the motion several times, and only stopped when Chu Yunmiao had put the candy into her coat pocket.
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Author’s note:
Yu Changning looking at the window: Don’t bicker with the Omega.
Yu Changning looking at the candy: What an ugly thing.
Yu Changning looking at the window: I don’t care at all.
Yu Changning looking at the candy: Why is she still holding it?
Yu Changning looking at the window: We’re not there yet?
Yu Changning looking at the candy: She actually put it away?!