Chapter 5: Hail to Being Askewed, Gossiping is Innocent
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No one saw what Gu Liyu had just done because the English teacher was in the way.
An Lan returned to his seat, staring at Gu Liyu’s fingertips several times, making sure there was still a trace of chalk dust.
But why did Gu Liyu help him?
Could it be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder? Must he correct words that are misspelled?
The teacher stood on the podium, checking off one by one, explaining the part of speech and providing common examples in essays, finally saying, “If everyone could have the handwriting proficiency of student Gu Liyu, the examiners might give one or two extra points just for presentation.”
It wasn’t until then that An Lan paid attention to Gu Liyu’s chalkboard writing.
If it were described as calligraphy, it didn’t have the seductive feeling of regular calligraphy but rather exuded a restrained aristocratic air. Every letter was almost the same size. An Lan suspected that Gu Liyu might have used a ruler for each letter while practicing.
After early self-study, it was directly English class. Once English class was over, An Lan’s stomach made a gurgling sound.
He was hungry, but the break between the first class was only ten minutes, not enough for him to go to the convenience store to buy something to eat. The emptiness in his stomach made him uncomfortable, and soon the second period of math class arrived.
His desk mate, Qiao Chuluo, nudged him with his elbow. “Hey… did you skip breakfast?”
“I did.”
“How much did you eat? Why are you hungry?”
“A bowl of mixed noodles, a fried dough stick, and a cup of soy milk,” An Lan whispered.
“That’s not little.” Qiao Chuluo said, but his hand still went into his backpack, searching for a while until he found half a box of Oreos.
“Thanks.” An Lan quietly took it, deliberately dropping his pen on the floor, pretending to bend down to pick it up, and then stuffing the Oreos into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. An Lan, who used to not like sweet things, couldn’t believe how delicious Oreos could be.
After eating one piece, he couldn’t resist stuffing more into his mouth.
An Lan had been feeling hungry easily lately, and he connected it to what the doctor mentioned during the check-up. It should be because he was differentiating into an alpha and was experiencing a growth spurt, requiring more nutrition.
As the cookies were almost finished, where did he throw that pen?
An Lan looked back and found out that his pen had rolled over to… Xiao Chen’s place.
D*mn… that was his favorite pen. Asking Xiao Chen to pass it back to him was impossible unless he didn’t want to live.
He could only wait for Xiao God to wake up and leave his seat. If he hadn’t crushed the pen, An Lan would pick it up himself…
An Lan stared at Xiao Chen’s position, watching a hand pick up the pen – wasn’t Xiao Chen supposed to be asleep? Whose hand was it?
Of course, it was Xiao Chen, who else could it be?
The math genius was crouching under the table, looking at An Lan with a hooked mouth. Strands of hair fell down from his forehead, a little less arrogant than usual. His gaze was like that of a cat catching someone eating stolen dried fish.
Qiao Chuluo poked An Lan under the table because the math teacher found it strange that An Lan had been under the table for so long. The teacher was approaching.
At that moment, Xiao Chen stood up from under the table. His legs were long, and when he straightened them, the table made a creaking sound, attracting the attention of the entire class.
He poked the student in the front with his pen, indicating the direction of An Lan. The front student, scared to hold his breath, was still wondering if he had disturbed Xiao Chen’s sleep. Xiao Chen said, “Give it to An Lan,” and the student immediately passed the pen to An Lan’s seat.
The math teacher thought that An Lan had spent so much time under the table because his pen had fallen too far to be found. He cleared his throat and said sternly, “Focus on the class. If your pen falls, you can look for it after class. Missing the train of thought during problem-solving won’t be helped by anyone.”
“Yes, teacher,” An Lan took the pen, lowered his head, and dared not look back.
After the math class, the class monitor would go to pick up the nutritious meal. Thinking that he would have something to eat, An Lan licked the corner of his mouth and realized that there were Oreo crumbs there.
Someone walked past him, tall enough that their shadow seemed to cast over An Lan.
“Are Oreos delicious?” a teasing voice sounded.
An Lan raised his head and saw Xiao Chen tilting his head down, smiling as he walked past.
Several seconds passed, and An Lan still hadn’t recovered.
“Oh my god… Xiao Chen talked to you! He even smiled at you! His smile looks so A!” Qiao Chuluo exclaimed enviously.
“…Aren’t you supposed to like Class Monitor Xu Xingran….” An Lan asked.
“But… don’t you think Xiao Chen’s smile just now was gentle?”
“I don’t think so.”
Qiao Chuluo showed a very disappointed expression at An Lan’s answer.
Then he took out his phone again and tapped An Lan, “Do you know that the school-wide vote for ‘the alpha most wanted to be hugged by’ is out?”
“Oh, really. But why does it concern me?”
An Lan thought, I’m a beta, not like other omega classmates who have expectations for the alphas or are concerned about their popularity among the omegas.
“Why doesn’t it concern you? Have you forgotten that you’re a potential Alpha?” Qiao Chuluo seemed a bit impatient and nudged him.
According to what Qiao Chuluo said, all the omega students in the school have a large group. In this group, what they discuss the most, of course, is—studying. Just kidding!
The real focus is the alphas.
If anyone thinks they created the group to fawn over someone, then you’re wrong.
There are many discussions about omega rights, social news, various school activities, and, of course, the most popular topic is the outstanding alphas in the school. If a beta student is very friendly, they might also be invited to join.
Qiao Chuluo had invited An Lan before. An Lan found that the group had messages popping up almost every second, which was too distracting for studying. So, he set the group to receive messages silently without notifications. Over time, An Lan almost forgot that he had joined that group.
Every one or two weeks, the group would organize a voting activity about the alphas. Although it was gossip, An Lan could understand. As the academic pressure increased, everyone needed some entertainment that involved the whole group to relieve the stress.
“Being Askewed is innocent, Long live gossiping!” This was the essence of the group.
After Qiao Chuluo mentioned it, An Lan opened the group, casually scanned through it, and realized that the theme of the first voting last semester was “the alpha NO1 most wanted to be marked by.”
Looking at the results, An Lan was stunned and nudged Qiao Chuluo with his elbow, “Hey, why do all of you want to be marked by Xiao Chen? Isn’t he very fierce? Aren’t you afraid of being beaten by him?”
An Lan still remembered the oppressive feeling of Xiao Chen stepping on his shoulder.
Qiao Chuluo glanced at An Lan, disdainfully saying, “Which time were you looking at? And what’s the problem with wanting to be marked by Xiao Chen?”
“There is a problem… why Xiao Chen?” An Lan really couldn’t understand. “Aren’t you all supposed to want to marry Class Monitor Xu Xingran?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, you really don’t understand. The soul and the body are separate. Being marked by Xiao Chen, just thinking about it is thrilling, right? An unrestrained and indifferent alpha who doesn’t care about anyone, biting down on your nape, the pain rushing into your brain, breathing and heartbeat no longer matter, that absolute possession…”
“Stop, stop! I roughly understand what’s going on,” An Lan said, feeling goosebumps all over.
“Roughly understand? What do you roughly understand?” Qiao Chuluo asked with a smile.
“Isn’t it about you all pursuing Xiao Chen for romance and choosing Xu Xingran for marriage?”
Qiao Chuluo laughed, “Hehe, yes. Isn’t it sweet and exciting to date the school bully?”
“Hehe. I just feel like Xu Xingran is being mistreated by you all.”
An Lan turned his head and looked at Xiao Chen’s position. He remembered that Xiao Chen had left his seat before. Why did he suddenly come back?
Indeed, he sleeps during class and wakes up after class. At this moment, Xiao Chen was lazily playing with his phone, supporting his chin. An Lan suspected that he might have heard Qiao Chuluo’s words because… alpha’s hearing is very sensitive.
Xiao Chen’s phone tilted slightly, and his seemingly casual and lazy gaze met with Xiao Chen’s left eye. The distinctive and proud look made An Lan immediately turn his head back, awkwardly continuing to browse his own phone.
Probably due to his ongoing differentiation into an alpha, everyone’s view of alphas sparked An Lan’s strong curiosity.
Scrolling down, another voting caught An Lan’s eye—Most Elegant Alpha NO1.
Surprisingly, Gu Liyu was in the first place?
An Lan couldn’t help asking, “Shouldn’t it be Xu Xingran?”
Qiao Chuluo, as if finding an ally, slapped his thigh, “You think our class monitor has good elegance! Come on, describe it? A bit artistic. Next time there’s such a vote, I’ll create a slogan for our class monitor!”
An Lan touched his head, closed his eyes, tried to recall, and remembered Xu Xingran accompanying him in the hospital.
“Like the sunlight filtered through the dense leaves in the flourishing woods of spring, gently falling.”
After saying it, An Lan felt a bit cheesy and pretentious.
Elegance is something to be appreciated, not easily expressed.
Qiao Chuluo laughed and whispered to An Lan’s ear, “I also voted for the class monitor. But others think Gu Liyu is more elegant because it’s a luxury to look at him for more than three seconds.”
An Lan didn’t dare to say that he had looked at Gu Liyu for more than three seconds before.
If you want a luxury, then look at Gu Liyu.
“Everyone says that Gu Liyu is like the icy and unattainable snow on the top of an elegant mountain, and his back comes with a high and lonely aura.”
“He’s not as indifferent as you think.” An Lan recalled that Gu Liyu had protected him from hot water this morning.
Qiao Chuluo covered his mouth and laughed, lowering his voice, “Then look at the next vote.”
An Lan looked down and was almost choked—Most Aloof Alpha NO1.
Gu Liyu’s votes were overwhelmingly ahead.
Or should it be said… other options had no votes at all.
He covered his eyes and said helplessly, “Isn’t this vote too discordant?”
“Why be harmonious? Being happy is good.” Qiao Chuluo replied nonchalantly.
“You haven’t tried it, how do you know that he is aloof?” An Lan retorted.
“Tsk tsk, we’ve been classmates with Gu Liyu for two years. Have you seen him talk to anyone for more than three sentences?”
“Yes, with the class monitor.”
“…”
“You didn’t notice that Gu Liyu seems to have no interest in socializing. In all school activities, unless it’s mandatory, he has no interest. Like the sports meet, other alphas signed up for events, but he didn’t show up. And the New Year’s Eve party, while the seniors were dancing and enjoying our cheers, do you know what Gu Liyu was doing?”
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