Until Lu Jingran walked away, Zhou Le was still in a daze.
What on earth?!
The class rep actually brought him medicine? And personally delivered it?
If the main character had been Liu Yanyan, how much would that have been worth?
At least ten thousand?
Smack—
Lin Xiaoxiao slapped her hand down on his desk. “Explain! How did you get that injury? And why did the class rep bring you medicine?”
Her tone was a perfect mix of envy, heartbreak, and baffled frustration.
Across the desk, Xia Linchuan folded his arms, squinting at Zhou Le, “Well, well, never thought you’d be involved with the class rep.”
Hey, hey, watch your words!
What do you mean, “involved”?
Did I ask for this?
Isn’t this just something forced on me?
Sob.
Poor Zhou Le, so misunderstood.
Lin Xiaoxiao persisted, “What exactly happened? Spill! Now!!”
Zhou Le could only tell her the whole story.
When Lin Xiaoxiao finished listening, she was overwhelmed with envy, tugging at Zhou Le’s hair in excitement. “Ahhh! When will I ever have such luck?!”
Zhou Le whimpered as Lin Xiaoxiao tugged on his hair.
“Would you like this kind of encounter?” he joked.
“Silence!”
At the front, Lu Jingran stood up, restoring order with a word.
His gaze swept briefly over the playful Zhou Le and Lin Xiaoxiao, and then lingered.
Zhou Le and Lin Xiaoxiao were still busy tugging each other’s hair, oblivious.
Sensing something, Xia Linchuan tapped the two of them.
Zhou Le and Lin Xiaoxiao realized and quickly exchanged a glance before sitting up straight and behaving.
When Zhou Le looked up, he met Lu Jingran’s deep, dark eyes. He quickly lowered his head, startled.
The room gradually quieted, and the bell for morning classes rang. Their homeroom teacher, Xu Yue, entered, dressed in sportswear and holding a Chinese textbook.
“So, you went to the pharmacy last night just to buy him medicine?” Sheng Qian teased from behind. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”
Lu Jingran didn’t respond and turned a page of his book.
Sheng Qian continued, “Too bad he’s a Beta; it would be even more interesting otherwise.”
—
Zhou Le sneezed.
He wondered if someone was talking about him behind his back.
His injured hand did hurt a bit when he held his pen, making it awkward to move.
He glanced at the items Lu Jingran had given him, figuring that applying the ointment and wrapping it might relieve the pain. But he wasn’t sure how to do it and didn’t want to try in the middle of class.
He planned to wait until the break.
But when the break came, he got busy taking orders to earn some money and completely forgot. By the time he got back, class had started again.
Finally, during the long break for morning exercises, Zhou Le was excused from the activity since he was on duty.
Another student noticed his hand was injured and let him do some basic tasks without getting his hand wet.
When he finished, Zhou Le began fiddling with the gauze and ointment, trying to wrap his hand but failing to get it right. He was sweating from frustration.
At that moment, a shadow fell beside him.
Before he could look, a pair of hands reached over to help.
They took the gauze and tape from him and started wrapping his hand.
Those hands were beautiful—elegantly shaped, with long, slender fingers yet strong.
“Did you apply the ointment?” a voice asked.
Zhou Le was momentarily stunned, then quickly replied, “Oh…yes, yes, I put on a lot.”
The person didn’t say anything, just leaned in and carefully wrapped his hand.
A faint scent emanated from Lu Jingran as he worked.
Zhou Le didn’t know what it was, but it was calming and smelled wonderful.
So, this was what an Alpha’s scent was like?
Lu Jingran said, “Try not to get it wet. It won’t heal well otherwise.”
Zhou Le nodded, “Mm-hmm.”
He’d smelled Xia Linchuan’s scent before, but it hadn’t felt the same. It was fine but didn’t draw him in.
But Lu Jingran’s scent was different—it was hard not to keep wanting to smell it… Maybe this was the allure of a top Alpha.
Embarrassed, Zhou Le rubbed his nose, feeling guilty for thinking like Lin Xiaoxiao.
“All done.” Lu Jingran straightened up.
Zhou Le’s right hand was now neatly wrapped, covering the wound perfectly, and the gauze felt light and comfortable—so much better than his initial attempts.
“Thank you, Class Rep.” Zhou Le smiled and squinted at him in gratitude.
Lu Jingran’s gaze lingered on his upturned lips.
“You’re welcome,” he replied.
—
With his hand all wrapped up, it almost felt like it wasn’t even injured; he felt so much more comfortable that he finished his math problems quickly.
After the exercise break, everyone flopped onto their desks.
“When will they cancel morning exercises?” someone groaned.
“I want to know that too.”
“Apparently, if you’re on the student council, you don’t have to do them. Instead, you just go around checking if other classes are doing it. Lucky, huh?”
“Not just any student council member—it has to be the student council president.”
“No, it has to be Lu Jingran specifically.”
“True that!”
Lin Xiaoxiao laid on her desk for a while, then sat up, her hair a mess. “Obviously! He’s our male god; of course, he can skip.”
Then she turned and noticed Zhou Le’s wrapped hand, asking, “Is that the gauze the Class Rep gave you?”
Zhou Le: “Yep~”
Lin Xiaoxiao: “Who wrapped it? It looks so nice.”
Without looking up from his work, Zhou Le replied, “The Class Rep.”
Lin Xiaoxiao, mid-yawn, froze, mouth hanging open as if ready to eat someone.
“?” Xia Linchuan, who’d been exhausted, perked up instantly at this, his eyes lighting up.
Zhou Le was startled by their reactions. “What’s with the look… on your faces?”
Lin Xiaoxiao grabbed his injured hand, examining the spot that Lu Jingran had so carefully wrapped, looking at it from every angle.
“Wowww, I knew it! Even his bandaging looks good,” she sighed dreamily, brushing her cheek against the spot.
Zhou Le: …
Let go of me! That’s creepy, okay? You’re a girl! Sure, Alphas are amazing, but show some restraint!
Xia Linchuan commented, “Wait a second… Is Lu Jingran really that helpful? That doesn’t quite fit his character.”
Lin Xiaoxiao glared. “Don’t you dare insult the Class Rep! He’s always been amazing!”
Xia Linchuan backed down, “Okay, okay, whatever you say.”
Lin Xiaoxiao clutched Zhou Le’s hand and sniffed it. “Hmm…I think I can smell a hint of his pheromones on it.”
Zhou Le: It’s not that serious, is it?
But honestly, it really does smell good. It has a light, frosty scent that’s hard to describe, but just smelling it lifts his spirits.
—
Zhou Le’s hand healed in a few days, and the stinging pain was completely gone.
He figured half of the credit went to the medicine Lu Jingran bought for him—it looked expensive.
He asked at the pharmacy, hoping to repay Lu Jingran, only to find out the cost was way beyond what he could afford.
The few boxes of medicine and bandages nearly equaled half a month’s worth of his food expenses, and Zhou Le couldn’t help but feel dismayed.
But no matter what, he felt he had to return the favor.
The next day, he approached Lu Jingran and mentioned it, asking if he could repay him someday.
Lu Jingran was silent for a moment before saying, “Are you an idiot?”
Zhou Le: “Huh?”
Lu Jingran: “That day, it was our car that hit you, and that’s why you got hurt. You even broke your scooter.”
Zhou Le waved it off. “Oh, that’s no big deal. I already got it fixed, and it didn’t cost much.”
Lu Jingran looked down slightly. “And what about your hand?”
Zhou Le smiled. “It’s fine now. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Lu Jingran nodded, giving a quiet “mm.”
The air grew silent.
“Anything else?” Lu Jingran asked.
Zhou Le shook his head.
Lu Jingran smirked. “Then can I leave?”
It was only then that Zhou Le realized he’d accidentally blocked Lu Jingran’s path after school, making it look like he was stopping him for something serious.
“Of course, you can!” Zhou Le quickly stepped aside.
Lu Jingran took a step and walked away.
After a moment, Zhou Le called out to his back, “Class Rep, I’ll bring you something tasty tomorrow!”
Lu Jingran didn’t reply but smiled slightly.
—
After much consideration, Zhou Le realized he didn’t have anything special to offer Lu Jingran, except for his mom’s homemade seaweed rice rolls, which were at least presentable.
When his mom, Cheng Ying, heard about it, she asked, “Is it for Xiaoxiao or Little Chuan? They both like different flavors, so maybe I should make a mix.”
Zhou Le replied, “It’s for another friend.”
Cheng Ying’s eyes lit up—she was thrilled her son was making new friends.
Zhou Le thought out loud, “Make it look fancy, Mom. Like it’s something really high-end.”
He felt that would suit the Class Rep’s image.
Cheng Ying asked, “Don’t you know what he likes to eat?”
Zhou Le replied, “I’m not sure… I think he might like beef.”
Cheng Ying sighed. “Isn’t he a close friend of yours?”
Zhou Le: “Not yet.”
He didn’t consider himself close friends with the Class Rep yet—just ordinary friends.
But…
Zhou Le smiled. “He’s a really nice person.”
Zhou Le is so cute ;A;