Chapter 9: Wei Qingyu’s Eyes Were Unclear
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
The slightly chilly breeze passed through the corridor, noticeably pausing as it reached the back door of the experimental class.
Wei Qingyu looked at the three Alphas gathered at the door without any expression on her face, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes.
She had heard the conversation between Ji Xiao and Qi Qi* just now.
T/N: Correction on the name, it's not Yuan Qi but Qi Qi (亓琪) (Chi Chi not Ki Ki) ocr read 亓 (Qi) as 元 (Yuan) 🙏
Wei Qingyu: “Excuse me, please move aside."
Ji Xiao forcefully maintained her own image, even though she realized Wei Qingyu might have overheard. Without any guilt, she casually said, "Oh," and stepped aside, opening the door for Wei Qingyu.
However, as she gripped the doorframe, a few pieces of white wall paint emerged from under her fingernails.
There's hardly anything more embarrassing than being caught gossiping about the heroine in front of her.
Ji Xiao could even imagine the level of disgust towards her rising rapidly in Wei Qingyu's heart.
Qi Qi and Fang Yiming hid behind Ji Xiao, with “COWARD" in bold letters prominently displayed on their faces.
Two esteemed A-level Alphas were simultaneously unnerved by an Omega, causing their legs to go weak. It was Ji Xiao's first encounter with such a situation.
"Sister Xiao, we trust you."
“Mm, this situation is too complex; it's beyond our control."
"Good luck to you."
Qi Qi and Fang Yiming hastily dropped these three sentences and swiftly fled the scene as if they were flying away from a crime scene.
Ji Xiao watched the two deserters and then glanced toward the classroom.
All the classmates had arrived, with thirty-five desks and chairs, not a single seat empty.
Wei Qingyu retrieved her textbook from her personal bookcase in the back row and walked towards her seat, right in the middle of the second row in the classroom.
Her back always remained perfectly straight, accentuated by the crisp half-sleeved shirt adorning her slender arms. A brand-new textbook touched her pale, cool skin, basking in a faint pink hue under the sunlight.
Her slender fingers, resembling spring onions, delicately gripped a black pen, smooth like jade.
It would be even better if these hands could refrain from wielding a small knife to cut out her glands in the end.
Ji Xiao shrank her neck, feeling the corridor's breeze growing chillier. She lifted her feet and walked back to the classroom.
The cicadas' chirping outside the classroom gradually faded, and the wind brushed over the lush green trees, carrying down a few yellowish-green leaves.
In this manner, Ji Xiao, armed with an almost perfect math test paper and a single-digit biology grade, entered the experimental class, becoming one of the specially nurtured top students.
During Ji Xiao's high school days in the original world, she was also a top student in an experimental class. Leveraging the strong foundation she laid in the original world, within just a few days, she became familiar with the accelerated pace in the class, faster than the regular classes, and adapted to the much higher homework difficulty.
Except for her biology class, which sounded like an incomprehensible book from the heavens.
Despite no changes in the macro sciences in this world, even the historical progress aligning closely with the original world, this darn biology was entirely different.
Moreover, this semester had comprehensive exams in both science and humanities. Therefore, she had already studied three and a half mandatory biology textbooks in her first year, and now, she was wrapping up the final half-book. Next month, she will already be diving into systematic review sessions.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Ji Xiao was pressed for time, with a heavy workload. Unfortunately, the original owner had not left a single note. The biology book from her first year was cleaner than her face. The textbook had "Ji Xiao" written on the cover in sprawling letters, followed by an entirely new section. One might mistake it for a newly purchased book from a bookstore.
Ji Xiao felt like she was exploring a new world, starting from scratch to learn biology.
In the quiet classroom, a soft sigh escaped from the back row.
The girl in front was staring at the daunting biology questions, her face filled with worry.
Tired. Let it be destroyed.
No wonder there were only two major questions on genetic inheritance back then. After adding the ABO blood group attributes, just arranging the genes would take quite a while of reasoning.
Ji Xiao rubbed her temples and glanced towards the courtyard outside the door.
A gentle breeze brushed past, willow branches hanging like green threads, portraying a tranquil scene.
She put down her pen, and picked up her tumbler from the edge of the desk, intending to go out to get some water and relax.
—This was a privilege their experimental class enjoyed in the school's division.
The sound of teachers lecturing in various subjects echoed in the teaching building, each classroom seeming like a small world as one passed by.
Ji Xiao walked slowly, and from afar, she heard a crisp sound coming from the water supply room between the girls' A and O restrooms: beep—indicating that the hot water supply, which had been depleted during the break, was now ready.
Ji Xiao smiled, feeling lucky for a change.
With billowing steam, the hot water poured into Ji Xiao's tumbler creating bubbles.
She moved the tumbler to the side and added some cold water, then leisurely leaned against the doorway, gulping it down, relishing this rare break amidst her busy schedule.
"What? Alphas are much better than Omegas! Didn't you see the senior Alpha playing basketball just now? So cool! Much more handsome than those Omega seniors."
Suddenly, a young girl's arrogant voice came from the neighboring Omega restroom.
Ji Xiao heard it clearly but had little interest in eavesdropping on others' conversations. She turned and filled her tumbler with some more hot water, ready to head back.
"Actually, I think both attributes are quite good..."
"How can you even compare Omegas to Alphas?! They're not even as good as Betas who can't smell pheromones! They're clearly slaves to pheromones, don't you understand?"
"Now that there are suppressants, Omega has already..."
"Already what? Suppressants might not necessarily be very effective, you know?”
Alphas only need to release pheromones. Even if Omegas injects lots of suppressants, it won't work. Don't you know that?
But, against Ji Xiao's wishes, the conversation between these two people reached her.
The owner of the previous voice was aggressively refuting their companion's views, causing Ji Xiao to involuntarily furrow her brow.
"They crave being marked, they crave being conquered! They are useless inferior beings!"
The voice rose in intensity, and Ji Xiao's anger followed suit. She retracted her stepping foot and stood at the entrance of the girls' Omega restroom, holding her tumbler.
Two students in military training attire stood outside, clearly not yet differentiated freshmen.
The taller girl was still confidently expressing her opinions, which Ji Xiao found amusing. With arms crossed, she leaned against the door frame and remarked, "I mean, if you look down on Omegas so much, why bother coming to the Omega restroom?"
The voice carried a hint of depth, sounding particularly contemptuous in the quiet space.
The two girls were startled and immediately looked towards Ji Xiao. The taller girl appeared displeased with Ji Xiao and asked loudly, “Who are you?”
“Why should you care who I am?” Ji Xiao responded.
“Then why should I care about you?” The girl retorted, showing no sign of backing down. “I was not wrong in what I said!”
Ji Xiao looked at the girl in front of her and softened her tone a bit, saying, "Little sister, are you a specially chosen student* for this school?"
*In many cases, students in China are assigned to schools based on their residential area. The local government often allocates students to nearby public schools. This may limit the choice of students in terms of the schools they can attend. Sometimes, influential and wealthy families work their connections and money to get their children to their school of choice, especially if it's a prestigious school. (This setting is also applied to the novel)
Thinking Ji Xiao acknowledged her wealthy family background and couldn't afford to offend her, the girl nodded in agreement. “At least you understand!”
Suddenly, a chuckle was heard.
With a smile in her eyes, Ji Xiao looked at the girl and said, “I knew it. You lack even this bit of common sense. How else could you enter without spending money?”
Ji Xiao felt the original owner's temperament, apart from dealing with Wei Qingyu, was quite effective in any other situation, such as now.
“What nonsense are you saying?!” The girl was irritated by Ji Xiao's mocking, her face flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"Did I say nonsense?" Ji Xiao raised an eyebrow teasingly, "Isn't the relationship between Alpha, Beta, and Omega an inseparable, equal coexistence—a topic covered in mandatory political studies? If you don't even know this, how could you qualify to enter the Affiliated High School? We're in modern times now; the Omega civil rights movement passed eight hundred years ago. Are you still here guarding the past glory of Alphas, feeling uneasy when Omegas gain freedom? Were you dug up from the ground like Madame Lalaurie*?
*Delphine LaLaurie, a historical figure known for her torture and murder of slaves in her household in New Orleans in the 19th century. American Horror Stories: Coven was based on her story.
The girl, reprimanded by this unknown senior schoolmate, felt particularly resistant and countered, "But Omegas are indeed easily controlled by Alpha's pheromones; this is an ironclad fact!"
Ji Xiao coldly snorted, displaying some disdain and scorn as she retorted, "Are Alphas not affected by pheromones? Every year, there are countless incidents of injuries and fatalities among Alphas due to pheromone-triggered fights, to the extent that even police suppression guns fail to work."
The girl opened her mouth but found herself silenced by Ji Xiao's words.
Observing her reaction, Ji Xiao lazily leaned back against the door frame and continued, "No attribute is superior to another; everyone influences each other. You can't negate their other outstanding aspects just because Omegas may have relatively weaker physical strength compared to Alphas.”
"Their contributions and achievements in human society cannot be ignored. Due to the past humiliations you mention and the colored lenses and disdain of people like you, I even find Omegas more admirable."
"Omegas are not prey to Alphas, nor are they destined to be slaves conquered by Alphas. They belong only to themselves, as independent-thinking humans, unlike primitive barbarians like you who gauge superiority based on pheromones."
The girl was made nervous by Ji Xiao's lengthy lecture, and in a furious and anxious tone, she said, "Are you sick? Why are you lecturing me here while I'm talking to someone else?! Eavesdropping on others' conversations shows no respect at all!"
As if still angry, she seemed to have some lingering fury, raising her hand as if to teach Ji Xiao a lesson.
Ji Xiao stared at the girl and, driven by an Alpha's primal impulse, at the very next moment when the girl raised her hand, she firmly clasped her hand onto the nearby sink.
Ji Xiao: "Don't fucking touch me!"
A touch of displeasure flashed in her golden-orange eyes, burning fiercely into the girl's sight.
While feeling a sharp pain, her heart hammered fiercely in her chest.
The girl became somewhat scared and helplessly threatened Ji Xiao, "You, you let go of me! Do you know who my father is?!"
Ji Xiao looked indifferently at the girl in front of her and coldly said, "I don't care who your father is, but if you want others to respect you, please respect others first."
Her intention was merely to teach this second-generation ancestor* who doesn't know the expanse of heaven and earth** a lesson, so she let go of her hand after saying that.
*spoiled brat
**不知天高地厚 (bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu) - arrogant and ignorant, having exaggerated opinion about oneself.
"Qiao Ni, let's go, we're about to gather soon," a girl beside her intervened, embracing the girl hurriedly.
The girl called Qiao Ni by her companion glared fiercely at Ji Xiao, her eyes showing a hint of defiance, slightly reddening.
It seems she was really frightened.
The girl beside her pulled her a couple of times, and then Qiao Ni, feeling extremely stifled, shook off her hand and left with her companion. Ji Xiao watched the two girls leave, disdainfully "tch”, and lifted her foot to walk towards the classroom.
The early autumn breeze blew refreshingly across the girl's face, lifting the stray strands of hair near her temples, and adding a touch of elegance. Unnoticed by Ji Xiao, in the restroom's inner compartment, a door was gently pushed open from the inside, and Wei Qingyu, with a cryptic and unclear expression in her eyes, walked out.
Author's Note:
Our Qingyu is also changing views on Xiao* Ji little by little.
The "Madame LaLaurie" meme comes from the third season of American Horror Story: Coven.
*Little Ji
