When Teacher Wu stepped onto the stone steps outside his house, he wasn’t in a bad mood.
What he was thinking about was the last shot tonight—if his legs hadn’t gone weak, it probably would’ve gone in.
That would mean he had beaten Zhao Shu by twenty-one points.
Even if it felt a bit like bullying a high school student, beating an Alpha that badly was the kind of satisfaction that made your toes curl.
His good mood lasted until he opened the door.
Then he saw his parents sitting on the sofa like judges, staring at him.
Wu Qie paused.
His eyes reflexively moved to the grandfather clock in the living room.
It was 8:43 p.m.
Teacher Wu suddenly felt something was wrong.
For example—he didn’t remember when twenty-three-year-old him had once again become subject to the “must be home by seven” curfew from when he was sixteen.
Standing in the entryway, taking off his shoes, he asked innocently,
“What’s wrong?”
“Was that a Zhao family car that dropped you off just now?”
Li Junbi spoke first.
Wu Qie had just said “Oh” and was about to answer when he suddenly sensed something strange.
In the past, whenever Li Junbi mentioned the Zhao family, her tone had always been affectionate.
She was extremely satisfied with Zhao Shu.
Extremely satisfied with his Rolls-Royce too.
She had never used the cold phrase “Zhao family car.”
“We were playing basketball at school,” Wu Qie said.
“Afterward I was too tired to drive, so Zhao Shu brought me home… what’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you say I should spend more time with him?”
Before he finished speaking—
Someone twisted his ear.
Li Junbi looked furious.
“You smell like sweat!”
She scolded him while dragging him to the sofa.
“You act like I’m torturing you when I say to get close to Zhao Shu—and now look at this situation and you’re the one sticking to him?!”
“What situation?”
The moment Wu Qie said that, Li Junbi slapped his chest twice.
“Wu Qie!”
She raised her voice.
“Tell your mother honestly—did Zhao Shu mark that Lin family Omega brat and make it public to everyone?!”
“….”
So that was the reason.
Wu Qie’s previously confused eyes finally focused.
Looking at his parents’ worried expressions, he smiled calmly.
“It was just a temporary mark.”
Immediately—
The same scene from the morning teachers’ gossip repeated itself.
But while Teacher Wang had merely refused to refill Wu Qie’s water bottle, Li Junbi had hands.
She smacked his back repeatedly.
“You learned nothing in biology class or ethics class!”
“Are you a transmigrator?!”
“Did you just arrive in an ABO world yesterday?!”
She grabbed his ear again.
“‘Just a temporary mark’? Listen to yourself!”
“That’s a marking between an Alpha and an Omega!”
“Everyone outside thinks Zhao Shu and Lin Zuwen are a couple!”
“This afternoon Mrs. Lin asked me if your engagement with Zhao Shu was real—acting all embarrassed like her son got there first!”
“I was humiliated!”
So that was the real reason she was angry.
She had lost face during her afternoon mahjong game.
Wu Qie laughed helplessly.
“But I don’t mind.”
Li Junbi became even angrier and grabbed her phone to demand an explanation from Zhao Guipu.
Both Wu Qie and his father immediately stopped her.
Wu Wenxiong asked Wu Qie carefully about what happened.
After hearing everything, his expression improved.
“If Lin Zuwen really had an allergic reaction to inhibitors during differentiation,” he said gently,
“And if Zhao Shu’s pheromones were compatible, helping him is understandable.”
“You can’t just let someone die.”
Li Junbi rolled her eyes dramatically.
Now both father and son became targets.
She grabbed a luxury catalogue on the sofa and smacked Wu Wenxiong with it.
“You idiot!”
“You actually believe a hospital of that level wouldn’t stock special inhibitors for allergic Omegas?!”
Both men fell silent.
Li Junbi looked ready to kick them both.
“Your moral standards are so low—don’t tell me you’ve also helped Omegas with temporary marks!”
“If I find out you did, I’ll divorce you!”
Wu Wenxiong loudly denied the accusation.
Li Junbi moved to another sofa in frustration.
“These Lin family people…”
“If this were still Penang…”
She stopped mid-sentence.
Then she looked at Wu Qie with concern.
“Zai-zai, maybe you should keep some distance from Zhao Shu for now.”
“Everyone thinks Zhao Shu and Lin Zuwen are together.”
“You’re in an awkward position.”
They had been the ones arranged first.
Now it looked like they were the ones stealing someone else’s lover.
Wu Qie sighed.
“I told you on the first day you arranged this engagement.”
“But it’s already like this now.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m a Beta. I can’t expect an Alpha to stay faithful to me.”
Li Junbi immediately waved her hand irritably.
She hated hearing him talk like that.
She began angrily insulting the Lin family instead.
Saying they were shamelessly trying to secure Zhao Shu first through the temporary mark.
When Li Junbi angrily suggested canceling the engagement, Wu Qie knew he should agree.
But just as he opened his mouth, his father gave him a look.
Meaning: your mother doesn’t really mean that.
So Wu Qie changed tactics.
Repeating:
“He didn’t mean it.”
“He’s still young.”
He even found himself defending Zhao Shu.
Which surprised him.
Because earlier, Zhao Shu had confidently explained the temporary mark situation.
Only now did Wu Qie realize—
Back in the basketball gym that day, Zhao Shu had actually been trying to explain himself.
“Zai-zai,” Li Junbi suddenly asked.
“Is it really that bad between you and Zhao Shu?”
“…We do misunderstand each other sometimes,” Wu Qie admitted honestly.
“But it’s not that bad.”
***
Even though Wu Qie didn’t care much about the marking incident—
Plenty of other people did.
That same night, while the Wu family was eating cassava dessert, a car engine roared outside.
The family looked at each other.
At this hour, only someone asking to borrow money would visit.
But someone had come.
It was Zhao Guipu.
The current head of the Zhao family.
Still wearing his business suit.
His tie was gone and two buttons were undone.
His neatly styled hair had loosened slightly after a long day.
His sharp eyes looked tired.
Zhao Guipu had come personally to apologize for his younger brother’s behavior.
He spoke politely and avoided discussing whether Lin Zuwen’s actions were reasonable.
He presented Wu Qie with a wooden box.
Lowering his eyes sincerely, he said,
“A-Qie, I’m sorry.”
Zhao Guipu was taller than Zhao Shu, though slimmer.
His tailored suit made him look even more elegant.
Whenever facing him, Wu Qie felt strangely awkward.
Almost like speaking to an elder.
But not exactly.
Normally opening gifts in front of the giver was rude.
But this wooden box had no wrapping.
Wu Qie understood the intention.
He opened it.
Inside was a watch.
The dial was decorated with sapphire and diamonds.
It was antique.
It had once appeared at a Hong Kong charity auction.
Sold for an astonishing price.
Wu Qie remembered seeing photos of it.
And now—
It was in front of him.
Wu Qie blinked.
He didn’t know what to say.
Even Li Junbi and Wu Wenxiong looked confused.
Why was Zhao Guipu personally delivering an eight-figure antique watch as an apology?
But Zhao Guipu remained calm.
“Don’t you like it?”
His tone suggested he would simply give another gift if not.
Wu Qie closed the box calmly.
“You didn’t need to come personally.”
“Zhao Shu and I aren’t really suitable anyway.”
“Maybe we should—”
Zhao Guipu smiled gently.
“A-Qie, are you still angry?”
His voice was soft.
But it made goosebumps rise on Wu Qie’s neck.
“…No.”
“That’s good.”
“If A-Shu were half as sensible as you, I’d have fewer gray hairs.”
Wu Qie instinctively glanced at his temples.
There were none.
Yet somehow—
He could no longer say the words about canceling the engagement.
So he remained quiet.
And accepted the watch.
After Zhao Guipu left, the tension in the house disappeared.
“See?”
“I told you the Zhao family is still respectable.”
Li Junbi said proudly before bed.
***
The next day—
The world flipped upside down.
Wu Qie suspected all the elites of Jiangcheng shared a secret group chat.
And last night Zhao Guipu had posted an 800-word announcement in it.
Because from the moment Wu Qie stepped out of his small car that morning—
Everyone stared at him.
Two facts had spread throughout the school:
“Teacher Wu, I’m sorry about yesterday!”
Teacher Wang apologized sincerely and ran away with Wu Qie’s thermos.
Leaving him stunned in the hallway.
Students stared everywhere.
Teacher Wu, once invisible, suddenly felt like he was standing under spotlights.
He returned stiffly to the office.
Later he carried homework to distribute.
And realized the chaos wasn’t ending anytime soon.
In Class A—
His geography class representative eagerly helped carry the books.
Then she asked bluntly,
“Teacher Wu, how did you fall for Zhao Shu?”
Wu Qie nearly had a heart attack.
“This wasn’t my decision,” he said gently.
“Oh, family marriage.”
“Everyone thought Zhao Shu and Lin Zuwen were together yesterday.”
Wu Qie hesitated.
“We’re not officially engaged.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“What’s strange?” the girl asked.
“He’s my student.”
The girl stared at him like an ancient artifact had started talking.
“You care about that?”
“…Shouldn’t I?”
“That’s… unique.”
She muttered.
“I was actually planning to confess to you at the Mid-Autumn festival performance.”
“Luckily I didn’t.”
Wu Qie froze.
“Please don’t joke like that.”
“I’m not joking.”
She sighed regretfully.
“If you were ordinary, I could just kidnap you.”
Wu Qie fled the classroom immediately.
But the moment he stepped outside—
He bumped into someone.
Students around them whistled.
The heavy stack of homework suddenly disappeared from his arms.
Zhao Shu was holding them.
Staring down at him.
“Watch where you’re going.”
His tone was rude.
But since he was carrying the books, Wu Qie forgave him.
“Why are you here?”
“Passing by.”
“Skipping class again?”
“You ask too many questions.”
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
Zhao Shu paused.
Then jerked his chin toward the classroom behind Wu Qie.
“I was here when that short Alpha inside loudly declared she wanted to pursue you.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Pretty popular, Teacher Wu.”
“Looks can be deceiving.”
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂