He Yanqing seemed to have discovered some big secret.

He rubbed his chin, finding the way those two interacted extremely amusing.

As time went on, he ignored every hint from Zhou Shiyi to leave the two of them behind, and instead dragged Gu Sheng and the other two to act together.

Zhou Shiyi found it very strange — with the protagonist top and bottom sandwiching a cannon fodder in the middle, it shouldn’t affect the two of them getting along, right.

Gu Sheng lifted his eyelids, finding it not so bad: “Are you avoiding us?”

What Gu Sheng wanted to ask was, are you avoiding me?

Is it because he’s here, that the two of them lost their private time, so she wanted to shake him off?

Zhou Shiyi wouldn’t really think He Yanqing was a beta, would he? Thinking that, Gu Sheng felt a little gleeful.

Then he definitely couldn’t leave; he wanted to stay behind and watch Zhou Shiyi make a fool of himself.

“No.” Zhou Shiyi could only give in.

So the whole Grade 2 Class 1 noticed that the three most attractive students in class were always together, moving like conjoined triplets.

To be precise, Gu Sheng was following Zhou Shiyi, but Zhou Shiyi dragged He Yanqing along every time, and He Yanqing, wanting front-row gossip, happily agreed.

As they spent more time together, the three of them had reached the point where they could regularly invite each other out to eat.

“What should we eat later?” He Yanqing looked up from his homework and glanced out the window — it was getting late. He rubbed his hollow stomach and asked.

Gu Sheng took out his phone to order takeout and noticed Zhou Shiyi was already starting to pack his things.

He frowned and, displeased, asked, “Where are you going again?”

Zhou Shiyi’s hand paused for a moment; he didn’t know what had offended him.

“Go do some tutoring.”

Gu Sheng released his phone and checked the time; it was already half past five in the afternoon. They’d stayed in the classroom after school to do homework, and it was about time for Zhou Shiyi to go to his part-time job.

He lowered his voice and asked, “Didn’t I say I’d pay you?”

Why is he still doing that crappy part-time job?

Zhou Shiyi also lowered his voice: “I’ve already promised someone else, I have to excuse myself for now.”

His reason was too legitimate, and Gu Sheng couldn’t force him to stay.

Before leaving, Zhou Shiyi even assigned Gu Sheng a few pieces of homework.

After he left, Gu Sheng rubbed his tingling ear, feeling a bit displeased, but at least he hadn’t said anything.

He Yanqing, having watched the interaction between the two of them, kept thinking holy shit.

That was Gu Sheng, after all—the legendary S-rank alpha said to have been born holding a golden key. When had anyone ever seen him come off second best?

And Gu Sheng actually just let him walk away like that.

Neither of them happened to notice anything wrong with this way of interacting.

After Zhou Shiyi left, Gu Sheng began packing up his things, and He Yanqing followed behind.

This stretch of road was the mandatory path out of the school, and there was no need for the two to keep such strict distance, so they walked neither too close nor too far.

Halfway there, Gu Sheng noticed He Yanqing had slowed down; he was looking down, sending a message to someone on his phone.

He said casually, “Watch the road—don’t play on your phone while walking.”

“Oh.” He Yanqing replied, then turned off his phone screen and hurried after him in a few quick steps. “Zhou Shiyi messaged me, said he got on the bus.”

Gu Sheng abruptly stopped and looked at He Yanqing—more precisely, at the phone in He Yanqing’s hand.

He Yanqing seemed to realize and asked in surprise, “You haven’t added Zhou Shiyi?”

Gu Sheng withdrew his gaze coolly: “Didn’t I not add you either?”

“That’s different.” Seeing Gu Sheng staring at him expressionlessly, He Yanqing’s genetically ingrained fear of alphas made him realize the danger.

“Nothing different.” Gu Sheng said, then took a long stride and left first.

He Yanqing paused for a moment, then slowly walked out of the school gate. Seeing his family’s car at the entrance, he smiled and waved to the driver.

But he found Gu Sheng had appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his backpack.

The people around them scattered, and the He family’s driver saw what was happening and was about to get out to see what was going on.

He Yanqing hurriedly waved to the driver, signaling that it was fine; only then did the driver stay in the car, ready to get out at any moment.

Gu Sheng’s appearance was honestly chilling.

He looked as if he’d been soaked in black water, a cold, grim aura radiating from him. He didn’t seem like someone who’d come to talk things through with He Yanqing—he looked more like someone coming to collect a debt.

He Yanqing wrenched free of his hand and asked warily, “What do you want?”

Gu Sheng lowered his head to look at him. After a long moment, he heard him say, “Give me his contact information.”

He Yanqing suddenly realized who “he” was referring to, and felt a bit speechless—who acts like they’re collecting a debt when asking for contact info?

This person had just been acting indifferent, but now he clearly looked seriously rattled.

After a while, He Yanqing said, “Alright, add me first, then I’ll pass his contact info to you.”

After adding He Yanqing, He Yanqing sent over Zhou Shiyi’s contact information.

Gu Sheng fiddled with his phone in the car. He opened Zhou Shiyi’s profile; Zhou’s avatar was the default system image, never changed, and his display name was just a capital “Z.”, very easy to recognize.

Looking at that default avatar, he tapped it, as if through it he could see the person behind it.

He had almost reached home and still hadn’t sent a message.

It wasn’t until he was about to walk in the door that he finally sent the friend request.

After sending it, Gu Sheng’s mind went completely blank and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Anyone could tell something was wrong. When Nian Meilan saw him like that, she quickly took his backpack and helped him sit on the sofa.

“Shengsheng, what’s wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Gu Sheng hurriedly declined, “I’m fine, just overheated. I’ll rest a bit and I’ll be okay.”

After sending it, Gu Sheng immediately regretted it, but it was too late now.

He unlocked his phone; Zhou Shiyi still hadn’t accepted.

He was a bit absent-minded all evening; at dinner, Zhou Shiyi still hadn’t accepted, and Gu Sheng suddenly grew a little upset.

When the Gu family ate, there wasn’t a strict rule against talking during meals, but it was still rude to pull out your phone at the table.

“Ahem.” Gu Jinyan cleared his throat. Gu Sheng glanced at his second sister, then at his father’s sour expression, and hurriedly put his phone away.

“Keep talking, go on—do you have some national crisis waiting for you?” Gu’s father wiped his mouth.

Seeing the rest of the family trying to stifle their laughter, Gu Sheng hurriedly said, “No. Let’s eat.”

After finishing his tutoring, Zhou Shiyi went straight to the alley with the row-house.

The path was full of potholes, with some unpleasant puddles.

Zhou Shiyi avoided the puddles and went into a mahjong parlor.

When he arrived, the parlor was still lively. He was looking for Brother Chen; after asking the owner’s wife, she chewed sunflower seeds and pointed inside: “There—left-hand table at the very back.”

Inside, smoke curled and swirled as Zhou Shiyi frowned and walked further in.

Brother Chen is the local boss around here and has some work he gives out to the people under him. He was told by a neighbor to come and find Brother Chen to ask if there was any work available.

Grandma Zhou’s condition was still serious; she would very likely need surgery, and he needed to save up some money for a rainy day.

Brother Chen was playing mahjong, several people gathered around the table with cigarettes in their mouths, smoke swirling, ash from the burnt cigarettes not even having time to fall.

After winning a round, Brother Chen was in a good mood. While shuffling the tiles, Zhou Shiyi stood beside him and called, “Brother Chen.”

Brother Chen glanced up from the mahjong table when he had a moment, and when he saw Zhou Shiyi’s face his eyes lit up: “Oh, you’re that kid from the Zhou family, huh? You’re really handsome.”

Brother Chen flicked the ash from his cigarette, letting the white ash fall.

Watching the cigarette was almost burned down.

Zhou Shiyi astutely handed over a pack of good cigarettes. When Brother Chen saw the brand, he took it with satisfaction, tore open the pack, and pulled one out.

Lighting the cigarette, Brother Chen lounged back and said, “Alright, it’s you. What’s your name?”

“Zhou Shiyi.”

“You know what to do, right? Come find me Saturday morning and I’ll show you something.”

Zhou Shiyi quickly agreed.

A skinny, sharp-featured young man watching the game nearby said, “Wasn’t it supposed to be hiring servers? How could it end up being something like this?”

Chen ge glanced at him: “There are differences even among waitstaff. Do you know what that place is for? It’s all upper-class alphas and omegas in there, and that’s the number for one night.”

Chen ge held up his fingers and indicated a number.

The young man brightened: “Chen ge, it’s my mistake for not recognizing your worth. Can you introduce me in too?”

“Go on,” Chen ge waved his hand. “Look at yourself—do you think you fit? They specifically ask for betas who look good, sleek and well-proportioned, with regular features. You’re a beta, sure, but what else about you meets their requirements?”

……

By the time he got home it was already half past nine.

Zhou Shiyi made himself a bowl of noodles; only then did he have the headspace to deal with his own affairs.

He ate while reading the notes Brother Chen had sent him. When he finished and exited, he noticed a few little red dots on his messaging app.

He tapped them open and saw that He Yanqing, a few hours earlier, had said he would give Zhou’s contact information to Gu Sheng.

He clicked into the friends list and, sure enough, saw a friend request—several hours had already passed.

Gu Sheng’s friend request had his own style too — it simply read “Gu Sheng.”

At school, of course he could find people without using his phone, but once off campus they could meet at the agreed time, so he had been deliberately and unintentionally not adding Gu Sheng as a friend.

Zhou Shiyi clicked accept, and the system automatically sent a message to Gu Sheng, notifying him that they were now friends.

Gu Sheng had just been scolded by his father, then dragged by Nian Meilan to be measured for a new suit.

He sat off to the side, fiddling with his phone out of boredom, watching Nian Meilan and Gu Jinyan try on clothes.

Every time someone came out, he glanced over and said they looked good, so suitable.

Then he suddenly saw that Zhou Shiyi had accepted his friend request.

He jumped up from his chair, startling Nian Meilan: “You kid, always so jumpy, you scared me.”

Gu Sheng hurriedly apologized and, holding his phone, said he was going back to his room.

Gu Jinyan had just changed into a new dress when she saw Gu Sheng leave with his phone.

“Little brother is in a relationship, isn’t he?” She had a hunch she’d uncovered his secret early romance.

Nian Meilan said, “That can’t be right. Your dad didn’t say he was dating anyone.”

“Did you and Dad even send people to spy on him?” Gu Jinyan covered her mouth and feigned exaggeration.

Nian Meilan pushed her sharply in annoyance; the push didn’t move her.

She realized she had to look up to see her daughter; no one in this family was like her—every child born was an alpha.

Now Gu Jingyan had already grown to 183 cm; no wonder he couldn’t be pushed over.

Thinking that, Nian Meilan glared at her again.

Gu Jingyan inexplicably received another look of disdain from Nian Meilan, pouted and, feeling wronged, rested her head on Nian Meilan’s shoulder to act coy.

“We’re worried about him. Look at how jumpy he still is, and his moods swing without warning. Someone who didn’t know him might think we raised a child like this.”

Gu Jinyan also straightened her expression; she knew the Gu family had sent people to the school to look into Gu Sheng’s whereabouts.

The day Gu Sheng suddenly ran off, Dr. Li had tactfully asked them whether Gu Sheng had ever had any psychological treatment, for example prolonged exposure to hypnosis, which might have left him now with a strong subconscious resistance to being hypnotized.

“Still nothing found?”

Nian Meilan sighed worriedly, “It’s precisely because there’s nothing at all that it’s worrisome.”

📘 The complete novel is available for download in PDF via the link below.