Zhou Shiyi lowered his head expressionlessly to pick up the books, and as he picked up a textbook, he suddenly felt that something was off from behind.

He cautiously picked up the textbook from the top, revealing what was underneath.

The animal carcass behind the textbook had fermented overnight and was now emitting a foul odor.

The young men and women who had been watching his movements made gestures of covering their noses and retching.

They looked at him with utter contempt.

The blonde guy in front was laughing the loudest. When Zhou Shiyi looked over, he even gave him a provocative stare. Clearly, this was the blonde guy’s doing.

Zhou Shiyi held his breath, used a few sheets of scrap paper to pick up the unknown object, and flung it hard into the blonde guy’s face.

The smug expression on the blonde guy’s face froze. He felt something fall from his face, but before he could see what it was, the crowd surrounding him immediately screamed and scattered.

Looking down, he almost vomited his breakfast in disgust.

Having been publicly embarrassed by Zhou Shiyi like this, the blonde-haired guy’s face flushed red, feeling he couldn’t save face.

“Zhou Shiyi! You goddamn…” The blonde-haired guy slammed the table, standing up from his seat, veins bulging on his forehead, clearly about to start a fight with Zhou Shiyi.

“Bang!” The classroom door was abruptly pushed open from the outside, the person clearly not holding back their strength. The sound of the door hitting the wall drew the attention of everyone in the classroom.

The young man standing at the classroom doorway was one meter eighty tall, with the unique slender build of a teenager. The school uniform hung loosely on him, yet somehow he managed to wear it with an unruly and rebellious aura.

“What’s all the noise? I’ve been hearing you two arguing since early in the morning.” The teenager looked displeased, clearly in a bad mood.

“Brother Sheng, you’re back!”

The classmates surrounding the blond-haired guy immediately rushed over to the teenager, asking him why he hadn’t come to school and whether he was sick. The teenager responded indifferently.

“Class is about to start. Why aren’t you all seated yet? What are you standing around for?” Gu Sheng coldly glanced around the classroom. When his gaze fell on Zhou Shiyi, who was teaching, and the mess at his feet, he paused briefly before quickly looking away.

As if in response to Gu Sheng’s words, the classroom’s warning bell rang, and the classmates promptly and obediently returned to their seats to sit down.

As for the blonde guy, the spectators had already left, and his anger was cut off halfway. Now, he stood there awkwardly, unsure whether he should continue or not.

He indeed wanted to continue, but in front of Gu Sheng, he had to give him face no matter what.

His family background is decent, but everyone knows that in H City, it’s the Gu family who calls the shots. Even his father has to bow and scrape in front of the Gu family.

Knowing he was in the same class as the young master of the Gu family, his father repeatedly reminded him to make sure to maintain a good relationship with Gu Sheng.

“Huang Cheng, what are you doing here? Hurry up and sit down.”

This morning’s self-study session was supervised by the English teacher. Seeing Huang Cheng still standing there, she impatiently told him to return to his seat.

The blond-haired boy stiffened his face, went back to his seat, and pointed a finger at Zhou Shiyi from a distance, indicating that this matter wasn’t over.

The English teacher noticed that one person was still standing in place and unwilling to sit down. She instructed Gu Sheng to come up and oversee the morning self-study session, then went down to see what was going on with the student.

Upon seeing Zhou Shiyi’s seat in disarray, she quietly asked Zhou Shiyi what had happened.

The English teacher was petite, standing in front of Zhou Shiyi and coming up only half a head shorter.

Seeing the genuine concern on the teacher’s face, Zhou Shiyi explained that Huang Cheng had placed something in his desk.

The upturned desktop and the loose screws on the chair clearly indicated that Zhou Shiyi was not lying.

Seeing that the seat was truly unoccupiable, the teacher instructed him to report to the academic affairs office and request a new set of desks and chairs from the academic affairs director.

Zhou Shiyi nodded, speaking from the heart, “Thank you, teacher.”

The English teacher was slightly taken aback by the earnestness of his thank-you.

She was aware of this student’s circumstances—their family background wasn’t as affluent as their classmates’, and they started learning English later than others, but they made up for it with diligence, and their English performance was quite commendable.

She wanted to say more, but noticing the students’ eyes darting to the back, the English teacher swept a sharp glance around, and wherever her eyes landed, the students obediently lowered their heads to start their morning reading.

During school days, regardless of family background, students still hold a sense of awe towards their teachers.

Zhou Shiyi packed up his things, placed the broken desk and chair against the back wall, and waited for school to end to move them away.

Zhou Shiyi exited through the back door, instinctively sensing a piercing gaze fixated on him—one that was impossible to ignore.

He looked back but found nothing, only to see Huang Cheng being called out of the classroom by the English teacher.

Huang Cheng glared fiercely in his direction.

Zhou Shiyi turned his head without responding and first went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Zhou Shiyi washed his hands several times under the faucet and used a few disinfectant wipes before heading to the academic affairs office.

By the end of the morning self-study session, Zhou Shiyi had not only moved a new set of desks and chairs, but also brought back a set of new books.

He returned to the classroom, causing quite a stir.

Huang Cheng had been called out by the academic director earlier and had not returned yet.

He wrote his name on the new textbook and set it aside.

He remembered the gaze from the morning self-study and glanced around the classroom, his eyes settling on the young man sleeping by the window.

Zhou Shiyi paused for a moment, looking at him. If he wasn’t mistaken, this “Brother Sheng” should be one of the protagonists in the novel.

However, what did this have to do with him?

Zhou Shiyi withdrew his gaze, opened the textbook, and began reading from the table of contents.

It had been too long since he left high school. With midterm exams coming up next week, if he didn’t do well, the scholarship would be gone.

During the lesson, Zhou Shiyi tried to listen for a moment, but the teacher had already moved on to later content. What he was hearing now was only partially comprehensible; it would be better to first catch up on the earlier material.

The teacher also noticed Zhou Shiyi in the back, who had been flipping through the textbook down below, and felt a bit displeased. This student wasn’t even paying proper attention in class anymore.

However, the teacher didn’t come down to scold him either, after all, it wouldn’t be fair to delay the teaching progress for all the other students just because of him alone.

Huang Cheng only returned during the third class break. He was called by the dean and asked if he had bullied any classmates.

Naturally, he flatly denied it, but the dean pulled up the surveillance footage—it was from yesterday when he took advantage of an empty classroom to put something in Zhou Shiyi’s desk.

He gritted his teeth and still refused to talk.

The dean doesn’t care how many buildings his family donated to the school; when it affects other students, the dean called his father anyway.

Huang Cheng heard the voice of his father’s secretary on the phone, saying that Chairman Huang was not available. It wasn’t until the secretary heard that the academic dean’s surname was Gu that someone else picked up the call on the other end of the line.

His father had a very good attitude, saying that everything should be handled according to the school’s regulations. However, considering his face, Huang Cheng also guaranteed that he would never offend again, so they only made Huang Cheng write a self-criticism.

Huang Cheng was kept in the academic affairs office to write a self-criticism before being allowed to leave, but he was boiling with anger with nowhere to vent.

He behaved himself all morning, waiting until school was over.

The students around them had already gone to the cafeteria in small groups.

Huang Cheng knew that Zhou Shiyi always went last to save money, so he hid near the stairwell in advance, waiting for Zhou Shiyi to come out.

This time, he learned his lesson. As soon as he saw Zhou Shiyi leaving the classroom, he brought along his lackeys and shoved Zhou Shiyi into the restroom just to avoid the surveillance cameras.

Zhou Shiyi also had that intention, so he obediently entered the restroom.

As soon as the bathroom door closed, Huang Cheng took the lead in attacking, and Zhou Shiyi did not back down either. Inside the bathroom, they were tangled in a chaotic brawl, the sound of their scuffle echoing loudly.

Huang Cheng was pinned down from behind by Zhou Shiyi and pressed to the ground. He couldn’t fathom how this beta could have such immense strength.

A few of his lackeys were still lying on the ground nearby, groaning in pain as they clutched their legs.

Zhou Shiyi wasn’t as relaxed as he appeared to be either.

He was malnourished in this body, and relying solely on his fighting skills was still somewhat inadequate.

especially since Huang Cheng’s strength and reaction speed were not lacking, and there were several times when he nearly couldn’t hold on.

Huang Cheng was an alpha, and not a low-level one at that. Compared to his peers, he was naturally much more formidable.

Zhou Shiyi pressed his cheek against the inside of his mouth, feeling the pain there. For the first time, he realized just how troublesome the setup of this ABO world could be.

He let go of Huang Cheng, who was still muttering complaints, brushed off the dust on his clothes, stepped over the person on the floor, and left the restroom.

As he stepped out of the restroom, he unexpectedly ran into someone he hadn’t expected to see.

Gu Sheng was standing by the door, having been there for who knows how long.

Seeing him walk out from inside, Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Noticing the injury still lingering at the corner of Zhou Shiyi’s mouth, Gu Sheng’s eyes flickered with a twisted sense of pleasure.

Wondering what the protagonist meant to accomplish by standing here, Zhou Shiyi didn’t want to deal with him and simply said from the side, “Excuse me.”

Gu Sheng’s gaze lingered on the injury at his mouth for a moment before stepping aside.

Zhou Shiyi felt that this person must have some issues, which only strengthened his resolve to stay as far away from the protagonist gong and shou as possible.

It wasn’t until Zhou Shiyi disappeared at the staircase that Huang Cheng, limping, was helped out of the restroom by others.

Seeing Gu Sheng standing at the door with a dark, unreadable expression, Huang Cheng restrained his own hostility and called out respectfully, “Brother Sheng.”

When Gu Sheng saw Huang Cheng, he remembered the way he had prostrated himself on the floor, weeping and begging Zhou Shiyi for mercy.

He confessed that he shouldn’t have bullied him in high school, pleading with Zhou Shiyi to let him go. But Zhou Shiyi remained expressionless as he ordered the dosage increased, and the scene of injecting the drug into the alpha’s gland.

An alpha’s gland must not be touched by others. Injecting anything into the gland is nothing short of agonizing torture.

Even the strongest individuals would be reduced to tears, wishing they could die on the spot.

Being held down, unable to move, and forced to endure the pain of the injection while wailing in agony on the floor.

What was Huang Cheng thinking at that time?

Was he regretting having hurt Zhou Shiyi earlier, or was he wondering why he didn’t break Zhou’s spine in high school so he could never stand before them again, looking down at them like mere objects?

“Brother Sheng?”

One of the underlings holding up Blondie called out, pulling Gu Sheng back from his memories and helping him regain his composure.

“You guys are…” Gu Sheng hesitated for a moment, as if searching for a better reason for them, “here to use the bathroom?”

The group exchanged glances, quickly nodding in agreement.

“Oh,” Gu Sheng uttered, uncertain whether to believe it or not, only to hear him add another sentence, “Do you guys usually use the beta restroom?”

Huang Cheng felt a bit awkward; they had only intended to teach Zhou Shiyi a lesson. Most alphas have a hot temper, and if they happened to encounter someone in their rut, they might end up fighting in the alpha restroom.

The restroom for omegas is on the other side. If an alpha intentionally enters an omega’s restroom, regardless of their family background, they will be subject to legal penalties.

Now, after being called out by Gusheng, they all lowered their heads in embarrassment.

This was especially true for Huang Cheng. Knowing that Gusheng had once stood up for a special admission student, and now that he had caught them bullying a beta, Huang Cheng feared that if Gusheng mentioned this incident to his family, the project his father was currently working on might fall through.

“Next time, don’t do this here. Leave school and go home earlier after classes.”

Gu Sheng left behind a sentence with an unclear meaning.

Huang Cheng mulled it over in the back—just now, when Zhou Shiyi took action, he had targeted places they couldn’t see. His methods were underhanded and vicious, yet the injuries on Zhou Shiyi’s face were unmistakable, something Gu Sheng couldn’t possibly have missed.

Now that he hasn’t explicitly stopped it, it means Gu Sheng is also annoyed with this guy and has no intention of standing up for Zhou Shiyi.

Huang Cheng thought he had grasped Gu Sheng’s meaning.

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