A Blind Date That Wasn’t Meant to Be

The next morning, Wu Qie arrived at his office early.

After setting down his bag, he ate breakfast while glancing at his phone.

A message from home told him to go to a certain restaurant at noon.

They were going to formally introduce him to his fiancé.

Wu Qie pinched his phone and fell speechless for a long moment.

He regretted not taking on some club advisor role.

At least then he could have used a club activity as an excuse to skip lunch.

Now there was no excuse left.

He could only tell the truth.

[Wu Qie: Oh. Not going.]

[Shi Junbi Ya: ?]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Wait, what? Wu Qie? Why are you being shy?]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Don’t always think we’re randomly matchmaking. Mom saw Zhao Shu’s photo. He looks very reassuring, and he’s grown up handsome now too. He’s worthy of our precious boy!]

[Wu Qie: …]

[Wu Qie: What do you mean “reassuring after seeing a photo”? Seeing a photo means it’s not random matchmaking?]

[Wu Qie: You said he’s my student. Why do you need to remind me what he looks like?!]

[Shi Junbi Ya: So you also think he’s handsome, right?]

Wu Qie: “……………………………………”

People cannot, at the very least should not, only see what they want to see.

[Wu Qie: I mean, going on a blind date with my own student? Is that even legal?]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Did I dig you out of some ancient tomb? How did I give birth to such an old-fashioned fossil?]

[Wu Qie: ?]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Sixteen years old. Second gender already differentiated.]

[Shi Junbi Ya: ↑]

[Shi Junbi Ya: The law clearly states that any citizen who meets either of the above conditions has the legal right to register a marriage.]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Consider yourself educated.]

[Shi Junbi Ya: Satisfied now? Illiterate in law.]

Wu Qie threw his head back and sighed at the sky.

It felt like white hair might sprout on the spot.

…

At noon, Wu Qie dragged his exhausted body to the restaurant.

His face looked like someone about to be marched to the execution ground.

He pushed open the private room door and was delighted to find Zhao Shu absent.

Only Zhao Guipu was there, looking apologetic.

He explained that Zhao Shu had an important club activity and couldn’t make it.

Zhao Shu was on the school basketball team.

They were in the middle of preparing for the Autumn National College League, so extra training would be normal.

But Wu Qie had just passed by the gymnasium earlier.

The doors were locked.

There was no one inside.

He smiled.

He did not expose the lie.

He simply sat down.

The seafood at this restaurant was excellent.

With the blind date absent, Wu Qie’s appetite returned.

He went from reluctant to slightly overstuffed.

Perhaps feeling guilty about his younger brother’s absence, Zhao Guipu offered to drop Wu Qie off.

He said he had business at a nearby company anyway.

The ride was quiet.

Only the radio reported traffic conditions.

It was obvious Zhao Guipu was not much of a talker.

That was how domineering CEOs always were.

It wasn’t that they were born silent or liked to show off.

Everyone has a daily quota of words.

As a domineering CEO, most of theirs gets used up scolding people at the company.

So once work is over, if they can keep quiet, they absolutely will.

The white Bentley slowly approached the school.

Wu Qie mentally rehearsed how to thank him politely and make a quick escape.

Before he could get his opening line out, the smoothly moving car suddenly screeched to a halt.

They hadn’t reached the school yet.

The black-haired young man lifted his head in confusion.

He saw the man in the driver’s seat gripping the steering wheel, turning his head.

The black eyes that had held a gentle smile all noon were now calm and cold.

He was staring straight ahead.

Following his gaze, Wu Qie saw Zhao Shu standing in front of a cold drink shop near the school gate.

The teenage Alpha stood there lazily staring at a bird’s nest in a tree.

After a while, the shop door opened from inside.

Lin Zuwen came out holding an ice cream.

Zhao Shu turned his head.

Lin Zuwen raised the ice cream to his lips.

Zhao Shu tried to dodge but failed.

He reached out, took it, and bit into it.

Lin Zuwen stood beside him, looking up at the impatient-faced boy, smiling brightly.

The picture was beautiful and harmonious.

Wu Qie: “Uh.”

Yes.

That’s exactly what it is.

Brother, you’ve seen it.

Your younger brother has someone else as his destined match.

Wu Qie shifted his gaze away from the young couple.

He looked hopefully at the man in the driver’s seat.

From this angle, the man in a suit looked even more handsome in profile.

His nose bridge was sharp and straight.

Zhao Guipu and Zhao Shu were biological brothers.

Although their temperaments were completely different, their facial features were at least sixty percent similar.

Especially their eyes.

At this moment, the man’s gaze was frosted.

He carried a natural authority without anger.

It made people afraid to approach.

Inside the car, the scent of rain-drenched agarwood grew stronger.

An Alpha’s pheromone concentration shifts with their emotions.

In a confined space, it becomes even more obvious.

If it were another Alpha or Omega sitting here, they might feel restless and pressured.

But for a Beta like Wu Qie, it had no effect at all.

“There are several traffic lights ahead, and it usually gets congested before afternoon classes. Brother, just pull over. I’ll walk back myself.”

Wu Qie spoke gently.

His voice forcibly pulled Zhao Guipu’s gaze away from the couple outside.

He turned back and looked at the person sitting in the passenger seat.

Zhao Guipu frowned slowly.

After a moment, he suddenly reached out.

Wu Qie blinked and stiffened for a second.

But the man only unbuckled his seatbelt.

Then he withdrew his hand.

“….”

Wu Qie smiled awkwardly.

He fumbled open the door.

Just as he stepped out, he heard the man’s low voice behind him.

“Sorry.”

His hand paused on the door.

Through the half-open window, their eyes met.

“A Shu was inappropriate and very rude,” Zhao Guipu said.

“I didn’t teach him well.”

Wu Qie waved his hand.

He said it wasn’t necessary.

And please don’t scold him.

“Why?” Zhao Guipu looked puzzled.

Wu Qie smiled awkwardly.

“I have their class this afternoon. If an elder disciplines him over something like this, it might be a bit awkward.”

Zhao Guipu didn’t answer immediately.

He looked through the car door at the Beta standing by the street.

Tree shadows swayed over his head in the breeze.

Sunlight illuminated every fine hair on his face.

He looked mild and gentle.

After a while, the man responded with a quiet “Mm.”

Wu Qie let out a breath of relief.

The tension on his face finally eased.

He smiled at Zhao Guipu, waved goodbye, and walked toward the school.

…

That afternoon, Wu Qie indeed had a class with Zhao Shu’s class.

He left the office early to return graded exercise books along the way.

In the corridor, he overheard some student gossip.

“What’s up with Zhao Shu today? I saw him at the cold drink shop just now. He looked like he’d eaten something disgusting.”

“Yeah, he’s been like that since yesterday.”

“When you ask him, he won’t say anything.”

Wu Qie carried a thick stack of exercise books.

He wobbled as he walked.

The rich young masters in the hallway, delicate as princesses, showed no intention of helping.

They treated him like air.

A few boys leaning against the railing laughed and greeted him lazily, “Hello, teacher.”

Wu Qie responded vaguely and continued on.

At the classroom door, he looked up at the sign.

Grade Three (A) Class.

He swallowed.

He entered.

Finally, someone helped him.

A petite girl rushed over.

She was the geography class representative of A Class, personally appointed by Wu Qie.

When she saw the two legs sticking out from behind the mountain of exercise books, she shouted, “Teacher Wu!”

With great momentum, she charged forward and took all the books from his arms.

Petite.

But an Alpha.

Wu Qie’s hands suddenly felt light.

His vision cleared.

And without warning, he saw the boy sitting toward the back of the classroom.

He wore a white school uniform shirt.

The sleeves were neatly folded to his wrists.

A beam of sunlight from the window formed a small patch of light on his dark hair.

A gel pen spun lightly between his fingers.

The sunlight made the bridge of his nose appear almost translucent.

The whole classroom seemed filled with the scent of pine forest and snow.

As if, in the late summer heat, a heavy snowfall had just passed through.

Wu Qie twitched his nose.

He reminded himself not to stare.

He turned away and instructed the class representative to distribute the graded books.

They would go over them next class.

The class rep smiled and agreed.

Then she scolded him lightly, “Teacher Wu, next time just message me to get them from the office, okay?”

Wu Qie rubbed his nose.

He could not withstand an Alpha’s protective instinct that transcended basic gender and size.

He raised his hands in surrender.

“I’m not that fragile. I’m a perfectly fine male Beta.”

The class burst into laughter.

But the boy by the window did not laugh.

Because at that moment, someone pushed open the window beside him.

The gossiping students from outside reached in and tugged at his paper.

The pen stopped spinning.

The boy lifted his head.

His eyes under the fringe were calm and expressionless.

“Class monitor, tell us,” the student leaning on the windowsill grinned.

“Aren’t you close with Brother Shu? What’s up with him? Why’s he like he swallowed gunpowder?”

The boy brushed the hand off his paper.

“Who’s close with that idiot from Class F?” he asked flatly.

The student outside fell silent.

But he stubbornly kept pressing the paper.

As if he would stay like that until the bell rang.

A trace of impatience flashed across the boy’s face.

“Zhao Shu’s brother told him he has a fiancé.”

“He even made him go eat a beheading banquet blind date at noon.”

One sentence.

Three seconds of silence.

The whole class exploded.

No one noticed the black-haired young man at the podium tremble slightly.

A book slipped from his hand to the floor.

He bent down, picked it up, and dusted off imaginary dirt.

He read the name on it.

“Pei Qingyu.”

The boy who had just caused a small earthquake looked up at the podium.

Wu Qie placed the book neatly on the edge of the desk.

The named student stood and walked forward.

As he approached, it felt like ice and snow swept in with him.

The lingering summer heat eased.

Wu Qie blinked.

Just as the boy touched the book, Wu Qie suddenly said, “Sorry, student. I accidentally dropped your exercise book just now.”

“….”

Pei Qingyu picked it up.

His gaze skimmed lightly over the ordinary-looking Beta teacher before him.

“It’s fine.”

The Alpha nodded.

Then he turned and returned to his seat.