Mingde High School’s cafeteria had always been good; after all, the students who attended were either wealthy or from influential families, and many of them were rare alphas and omegas.

Previously, Mingde High had trended online after a graduated senior appeared on a stand-up show and joked that he had met more alphas and omegas in high school than in his job afterward.

Of course it was just teasing, but it also proved the prestige of Mingde High.

Alphas and Omegas make up only twenty percent of the total population; the remaining eighty percent are betas, yet that twenty percent controls sixty percent of society’s resources.

Their unique constitutions gave them extraordinary senses.

So they had standards for ingredients and cooking techniques; after previous students’ tweaks and instruction, the cafeteria became one of Mingde High’s hallmarks.

Zhou Shiyi had no special requirements for food—anything that filled his stomach would do.

It was said the cafeteria cooks prepared the meals with care, but he couldn’t tell any difference in taste.

Of course, it could also have been a problem with the cafeteria that Zhou Shiyi went to.

The cafeteria has three levels; the higher you go, the more upscale it is. The third floor accepts meal orders, and naturally it’s more expensive.

Zhou Shiyi grabbed a plate of food and the free egg drop soup, hurriedly ate, and then went to the library.

He is now very interested in the six genders of this world.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, Zhou Shiyi borrowed two popular science books and sat by the window to leaf through them.

In the ABO world, male and female are the primary genders, and abo are the secondary genders, so there are six genders in total. People here know their gender at birth; only a few will differentiate into a different gender under special circumstances.

Among them, alpha and omega are the least common, each making up ten percent. Unlike betas, alphas and omegas will, around eighteen years old, experience their first susceptibility period or heat—this marks their bodies reaching full maturity.

They have a gland under the skin at the back of the neck that emits pheromones. During lifetime pair-bonding, the alpha will bite the omega’s gland, injecting pheromones through the canine teeth to complete the mark.

In the popular science book, the example diagram showed an alpha’s gland. Zhou Shiyi paused for a moment over the gland area in the picture and reached back to feel the nape of his own neck—there was nothing there.

Betas, like in the world he originally came from, are more like ordinary people.

They have no glands, no pheromones, and no heat or susceptibility periods; betas cannot be marked.

Compared to alphas, who are stronger and more domineering, or precious omegas who need to be cared for, Zhou Shiyi accepted his beta gender quite comfortably.

He couldn’t imagine what it would be like for reason to be overridden by physiology.

For the rest of it, Zhou Shiyi turned the pages with keen interest, more like reading a popular science piece.

People in this world really are something—no idea how alphas’ and omegas’ bodies work.

In the afternoon class, Zhou Shiyi still studied at his own pace.

By the third period it was P.E.

Zhou Shiyi put his glasses down and, out of habit, rubbed the bridge of his nose, but his long bangs got in the way — looks like he’ll have to find time to get a haircut.

The workload in second year of high school wasn’t that heavy yet, so the P.E. teacher came to class looking fit and energetic.

He had the students run two laps around the track, then dismissed them to free time.

Anyone who wanted to play ball could go with the sports monitor to borrow one; those who didn’t could sit in the shade and watch them play, then gather here before the end of class.

Zhou Shiyi brought a textbook, planning to find a shady spot and finish the last three chapters.

He read fast; the original body had been pure science, so when it came to scientific concepts in the textbook he could recall a lot, leaving only the exercises to do.

Huang Cheng and his crew saw Zhou Shiyi slip alone into the nearby garden; with his boys and carrying a black backpack, he followed.

Gu Sheng looked at the bag Huang Cheng was holding, a somewhat vague impression stirring in his mind.

“Sheng-ge, snap out of it, what are you looking at?” Qin Shu called him to play ball together. Normally Gu Sheng was the most eager to play and also the one who showed off most on the court.

Unexpectedly this time, he refused.

“You guys go on without me, I have something to do, I’m leaving.” Gu Sheng leisurely followed behind Huang Cheng and the others, leaving the group completely baffled.

“Where’s Sheng-ge going? He’s not playing?” The teammate holding the ball came over, dumbfounded.

“You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?” Qin Shu sounded a bit vexed. “Hey, have you noticed? Since Sheng Ge came back sick, something about him seems off, but I can’t say exactly what’s wrong.”

“Really? I don’t feel it—still as handsome as ever, I have a crush all over.” The boy asked looked smitten, eyes full of springtime longing.

Qin Shu felt disgusted and scooted a step away in distaste.

Once the boy changed the subject like that, that odd sense of unease was tossed to the back of his mind.

The sound of a basketball hitting the floor in the distance, and the squeak of sneakers against the smooth surface, gradually faded away.

Zhou Shiyi had just sat down and opened his book when he saw Huang Cheng coming up with a group of people, carrying a black bag, his face full of ill intent.

Zhou Shiyi’s gaze paused for a moment on the bag in Huang Cheng’s hand — it was his. That morning he had only swapped desks and textbooks; he hadn’t had time to deal with the bag.

After what fell out of the desk during this morning’s early study, he didn’t really want the bag anymore; he hadn’t touched it for a day.

But he noticed that Huang Cheng really had no memory—he kept repeating the same mistakes.

It had only been quiet for a few hours; now he had no idea what he was doing here.

Huang Cheng saw Zhou Shiyi’s gaze cool, which was pretty intimidating. The side of his leg that Zhou Shiyi had kicked was still throbbing.

The thugs behind him were also deeply impressed by the beating earlier today; now they trailed behind Huang Cheng, not daring to meet Zhou Shiyi’s eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Zhou Shiyi closed the book and stood up from the stone bench.

Huang Cheng looked as if he’d found some leverage over Zhou Shiyi and exaggeratedly said, “What, you still want to hit me? You’re a thief—how do you even have the nerve to ask me what I’m doing?”

Saying that, Huang Cheng unzipped the black bag and emptied everything out.

A pile of things clattered down onto the ground, and Zhou Shiyi’s gaze grew even colder.

Huang Cheng picked a white box out of the pile, held it up and waved it in front of him.

“You tell me what this is — how did Li Shu’s watch end up in your bag? If you didn’t steal it, then who did?” He said, pushing Li Shu forward from behind.

Li Shu came from a fairly well-off family, but it didn’t compare to Huang Cheng’s. On top of that, he was one of the few betas at Mingde High, timid by nature — otherwise he wouldn’t have been Huang Cheng’s lackey. He usually didn’t take part in those violent acts, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of them.

Li Shu said timidly, “This is mine. How could it be in your hands?”

“That’s something you should be asking.” Zhou Shiyi said expressionlessly, though his eyes were on Huang Cheng.

Behind Huang Cheng, a figure seemed to flicker through the bushes; Zhou Shiyi assumed they were part of the same group and didn’t pay it any mind.

He seemed displeased with his attitude; Huang Cheng’s arrogance grew even more outrageous: “Do you know how much Li Shu’s watch costs? And you still dare to steal!”

Saying that, he took the watch out of the box and hurled the empty box at Zhou Shiyi’s face. Zhou Shiyi dodged and it missed him.

Zhou Shiyi glanced at the logo on the box on the ground; from the original person’s impression, this was indeed a luxury brand.

“When did your watch go missing?” Zhou Shiyi asked Li Shu calmly and collectedly.

Li Shu lowered his head, not daring to look at him: “Y- yesterday afternoon.”

“What time in the afternoon?”

Li Shu almost cried from being questioned: “By the second period in the afternoon he was gone. You were the only one in the classroom then — if it wasn’t you, who else could it be?”

“Are you sure it’s just me here?” Zhou Shiyi thought for a moment — yesterday was Wednesday, and the third period in the afternoon was the school’s cleaning time.

Section 2 After class, they went to get the tools and prepared for a thorough cleaning; indeed, there was a period when the classroom was mostly empty.

But mostly empty didn’t mean no one. Li Shu was now adamant that there had been no one in the classroom at the time because he knew no one would be willing to come forward and testify for Zhou Shiyi.

Zhou Shiyi nodded. “Alright, I understand. Go ahead and call the police.”

Huang Cheng remembered the camera in the classroom that had caused him trouble and felt a pang of unease. He hadn’t had anyone erase the footage yet—there was no way he could actually let him call the police.

Li Shu was really about to cry now. He had snuck this watch from home just to show off to his classmates; if they actually called the police, his family would find out he’d brought it to school.

“Calling the cops to arrest you? Zhou Shiyi, this is the first time I’ve seen someone so shameless—steal someone else’s stuff and act like this,” Huang Cheng said. He was young, and his eyes flitted nervously, barely able to hide it.

But at the thought of Gu Sheng, Huang Cheng calmed down again.

This was what Gu Sheng meant: when the time came, even if the Gu family didn’t take his side, out of respect for Gu Sheng they couldn’t just ignore him. He went on, “For the sake of being classmates, you apologize to us right now. Say sorry and it’ll be over, Li Shu won’t press it—otherwise, you can start packing for expulsion!”

Zhou Shiyi almost laughed at them from anger: “Didn’t you say you found it in my bag? So now you’re accusing me of being a thief. I can call the police—what are you afraid of? Don’t you feel any shame saying that?”

Seeing that Zhou Shiyi wouldn’t yield, Huang Cheng grew a little irritated.

Normally, Huang Cheng would have started roughing him up by now; instead he deliberately spoke some polite words, as if trying to coax Zhou Shiyi into apologizing.

If Zhou Shiyi yielded to Huang Cheng’s force and the power backing him, or truly believed that an apology would settle everything, then…

If he really apologized to Li Shu, what would happen then?

Zhou Shiyi glanced over Huang Cheng, then suddenly reached out and yanked the right hand Huang Cheng had tucked into his school uniform pocket.

Startled, Huang Cheng struggled and the two began to wrestle, but he had already experienced Zhou Shiyi’s freakish strength that morning and clearly wasn’t a match this time either.

Huang Cheng’s hand and the thing he was holding were both pulled out by Zhou Shiyi.

Seeing the voice recorder clenched in Huang Cheng’s hand, Zhou Shiyi was furious beyond words.

Zhou Shiyi couldn’t imagine that a high school student would stoop to such dirty tricks.

If it had been the original person here, what would he have done? Would he have apologized out of desperation, or denied it and then been beaten up by Huang Cheng?

Huang Cheng hadn’t expected so many people to be present now; Zhou Shiyi still wasted no time and just started to act.

The surrounding cronies wanted to step in to help, but Zhou Shiyi paid them no heed; he had fixed his sights on only one person.

Huang Cheng was kicked in the abdomen and stumbled backward several steps, then left the garden just as the head of discipline and the vice principal were making their rounds.

“What are you lot doing? Huang Cheng! It’s you again—always causing trouble. Look at your hair; do you still think you’re a student?”

The head of discipline immediately recognized that swaggering, rebellious blond and, seeing the students scattering like startled birds in the garden, didn’t need any more explanation.

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