After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 1

Blue Star is the most habitable planet in the Fourth Star Realm, with four distinct seasons.

It was the beginning of the new semester. In the capital during March, the spring air carried a trace of biting chill. Spring had not yet fully arrived; the trees were still huddled with tender, shrinking leaves. Only the circle of bright yellow winter jasmine outside the walls of No. 1 Middle School bloomed brilliantly.

Shu Youzhan was in the last row of the classroom, struggling desperately against drowsiness. Her head nodded rhythmically, yet she simply couldn’t succeed in joining the God of Sleep—

The student assigned near the window happened to have differentiated into an Alpha a few days ago.

Acting like a “walking little furnace” oblivious to external temperatures, he now had the window pulled wide open. The surrounding circle of physically weak Omegas were shivering like quails, huddled in their thick clothes.

The culprit was completely unaware, dragging his deskmate into a gossipy conversation: “Did you hear? That person surnamed Zhao seems to be coming to our class today?”

“Why? Didn’t she fail to differentiate before and couldn’t come to school? She didn’t even take the placement exam at the end of last semester. How can she get directly into Class 1 this year?”

“Heh, can the Zhao family be the same? Even without pheromones, she’s still an Alpha. As long as she’s an Alpha, she has inheritance rights…”

Shu Youzhan was lazy and had always placed her desk in the very last row of the class to enjoy the air of freedom.

However, she was now too cold to sleep and was being subjected to the continuous output of gossipy buzzing like flies. Her brow twitched, and a surge of irritability rose in her heart.

Now completely wide awake, she opened her eyes and slowly sat up straight in her seat, looking toward her diagonal front with an expressionless face.

The Alpha sitting on the inner side noticed her first and initiated a smile, his eyes filled with a questioning desire to please.

Shu Youzhan looked at the students in the front row who were busy wiping their runny noses with tissues. She pursed her lips and was about to speak when she caught a glimpse of a figure stopping in front of her desk out of the corner of her eye.

She straightened her head and lifted her gaze slightly. Before her was a gentle face, wearing the same silver-white school uniform. The other person had neatly fastened every button up to the very top of the collar. He looked refined and carried a charming softness.

It was the Vice President of the Student Council, Wen Bai, who had held the title of “Male Omega Most Liked by Female Alphas” in the school forum’s strange polls for two consecutive years.

Shu Youzhan retracted her irritation and curled her lips into a lukewarm smile. “Senior…”

The other party leaned forward slightly, bowing gentlemanly. While his gaze met hers at eye level, he offered a gentle smile: “I just went to the teachers’ office to help out. They said the scholarships from last semester have been released and asked me to notify the top student of each grade to collect them.”

Shu Youzhan nodded. “Okay, I’ll go in a bit.”

At that moment, the other party suddenly pulled a piece of chocolate from his uniform pocket and placed it on Shu Youzhan’s desk. Before she could refuse or say thank you, he left a light remark—”I passed by the shop this morning; this brand of chocolate tastes good, you should try it”—and turned to leave, leaving only a slight breeze behind.

Shu Youzhan unconsciously stared at the chocolate on the desk.

“Pfft…”

Across the aisle, her friend Pei Yi, who had been stifling a laugh for a long time, slapped her desk. She dragged her chair over to observe Shu Youzhan’s expression. Seeing that Shu didn’t show the slightest bit of surprise or secret joy, she couldn’t help but stir the pot: “It’s Wen Bai’s chocolate?”

“When we first entered school last year, weren’t you and that person tied as the strongest Alpha alumni ever to appear in our Nancheng No. 1 Middle School’s history? I remember this Senior Wen was appearing in front of that person rain or shine last semester. Now that the news is out that that person had an accident during differentiation and has no Alpha pheromones, Senior Wen has finally ‘abandoned darkness for light’ this semester. Do you feel a sense of gratification?”

“Once you differentiate, Nancheng No. 1 Middle School will be your world. Your name will never have to be mentioned alongside someone else’s again. You’ll be the only most desirable marriage partner for all Omegas. Isn’t that a super cool thought?”

Shu Youzhan calmly crossed her arms and waited for her to finish the exaggerated praise before correcting her: “Zhao Qinglan…”

Pei Yi didn’t react: “Huh?”

Shu Youzhan patiently corrected: “Her name is Zhao Qinglan. Please address her by her name in front of me, otherwise, I’ll get this unpleasant feeling that her ‘coolness factor’ exceeds mine.”

Pei Yi couldn’t help but laugh again, giving her an “OK” gesture. “Fine, fine, no problem.”

Laughing, she started to lean against Shu Youzhan. Shu Youzhan instinctively tried to dodge but was grabbed by the arm. “It’s so cold. You Alpha-types really have an enviable constitution. You can wear short sleeves in the middle of winter. Let me warm up a bit, Sister Xiao Shu. As the future master of the Star Realm, you must learn to benefit your subjects from a young age. I’m just a Beta, don’t worry, I won’t seduce you—”

Hearing her description, the corners of Shu Youzhan’s lips quirked up. She suppressed the urge to look at the goosebumps rising on her arm and simply said, “It’s not that exaggerated.”

“Heh, someone whose birthday banquet was broadcast on TV last year has no right to use the word ‘exaggerated’!”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

She stayed silent for a moment, then remembered the previous matter. She lightly tapped the back of the front-row student’s chair with her fingertip and said politely, “Could you please close the window a bit? Thank you.”

The other party was somewhat flattered by her politeness and went to discuss it with the Alpha deskmate sitting inside. That boy impatiently looked around as if he wanted to ask who exactly was cold.

However, meeting Shu Youzhan’s sidelong glance, his emotions paused for a moment, and he silently pulled the window shut with great force.

Pei Yi gave Shu Youzhan a thumbs up.

Then, she saw Shu Youzhan get up and walk toward the classroom exit. “Where are you going?”

Shu Youzhan drawled “The office,” took two steps, then turned back to toss the chocolate on the desk into Pei Yi’s arms. “You eat this.”

Pei Yi: “Ah? Isn’t this the fruit of victory from using your charm to defeat Zhao Qinglan?”

Shu Youzhan lowered her head, a shadow falling over the bridge of her nose. She spoke with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, as if it were a light matter: “I hate being a backup.”

Especially being used as Zhao Qinglan’s alternative.

Before entering the office, Shu Youzhan rubbed her arms, rubbing away the chill gathered from the long hallway. She idly recalled the physical test reports she’d had since birth. They said she would differentiate in her fifteenth year, and the probability of becoming an Alpha was 99.9%.

Now that her fifteenth birthday was more than halfway past, it should be happening soon, right?

She felt a trace of urgency she couldn’t quite explain. She paused at the office door and raised her arm, intending to knock on the open door, when she heard the voices of the teachers discussing inside.

“Old Fang, that kid from the Shu family is in your class again this year? Hah, both ‘Princes’ of Blue Star are in your small temple. I heard their two families have never gotten along…”

“They’re just children coming to school to study. I’ll just teach them well. Besides, Shu Youzhan’s grades are good, and she’s the type who respects teachers and loves her classmates. She took the first-class scholarship last semester…”

Teacher Fang’s voice carried the honesty of a simple middle-aged man. Just hearing him, one could imagine him holding a thermos, dropping goji berries in one by one, and wearing a kind smile while talking about his students.

“Sigh… Zhao Qinglan’s grades were originally very good too, but then that big accident happened at school. If Director Zhao hadn’t chosen not to pursue it, I thought we were going to be shut down… I used to teach her; although her personality is a bit cold, she’s a very good kid. If she could have participated at the end of last semester, who knows who the top of the grade would be!”

A soft voice sounded at the door: “Report…”

The heated discussion in the office stopped instantly. Teacher Fang was the first to look over, his forehead reflecting more light than the rim of his stainless-steel thermos.

“Oh, perfect timing. The scholarships from last semester are ready. I need to confirm your account information with you.”

Shu Youzhan walked toward him and took the pen Old Fang handed over. As if she didn’t notice the scrutinizing gazes from the surrounding teachers, she carefully checked the information and signed her name stroke by stroke in the box at the end of the line.

Then, she stood up straight and capped the pen. She wanted to leave but was stopped by Old Fang. “Student Shu…”

Old Fang thought of his colleagues’ reminders and remembered Zhao Qinglan’s overly silent appearance when she came by earlier. He had a heart to improve their relationship.

So, he took the initiative: “Starting today, Student Zhao Qinglan will be joining our Class 1. Your family situations are similar. She missed some courses last semester, so, if possible, I hope you can look after her regarding her studies.”

Shu Youzhan’s fake student mask almost cracked for a moment.

Look after who?

Zhao Qinglan?

She looked at the “Grade No. 1” scholarship confirmation form in front of her—this was the first “first place” she had taken since entering the same school as Zhao Qinglan. And that chocolate from Wen Bai earlier was also a rare signal from a popular Omega.

—Yet all of this was built on the foundation of Zhao Qinglan’s differentiation accident.

It was as if from the moment she was born until now, every teacher and classmate she met was collectively blind, only able to see the light radiating from a person named “Zhao Qinglan.”

Old Fang, waiting a long time without an answer, thought she was having some difficulty: “Of course, if it’s inconvenient, you can refuse.”

Shu Youzhan suddenly snapped back to reality, still maintaining her “good student” appearance: “No, I am the study representative after all, I should set an example. Don’t worry, Teacher, I will definitely look. after. her. well.”

The heavy emphasis on the last few words carried a teeth-gritting meaning that only she understood.

Unfortunately, the kind Old Fang didn’t hear it and let her go back to study with a beaming face.

The classroom was so quiet it felt like a collective funeral.

On her way back, Shu Youzhan’s mind was filled with a thousand and one ways to mock Zhao Qinglan.

Consequently, by the time she realized the atmosphere in the class was wrong, she happened to be walking across the podium.

She stopped and looked down with a bit of confusion.

Her gaze moved past the familiar faces in the first row and pushed back, stopping abruptly at the last row. Beside her usually solitary desk, a “deskmate” had suddenly appeared—another old acquaintance.

Zhao Qinglan…

In her neatly tied, soft black hair was a pale gold hair accessory shaped like a tasseled iris. Even from this distance, Shu Youzhan could see that the exquisite accessory was shaped like an iris about to take flight.

The silver-white school uniform made her aura seem like a snowy mountain. The whole person was both pale and cold, with only the gold in her hair carrying a bit of vivid, worldly nobility.

The other person seemed to sense the gaze. From behind her propped-up book, she lifted her eyes. A calm, lake-black gaze met hers—clear and undisturbed.

She looked steady, but it was all a facade.

Shu Youzhan knew all too well what kind of character this person had. Cold personality? Aloof from the world? Heh.

Realizing the person looking at her was Shu Youzhan, Zhao Qinglan’s gaze stayed for only a short moment before she indifferently—as if uninterested—moved it away.

Just this one reaction…

Shu Youzhan felt all the pent-up fire from the break surge up.

Wearing a cold smirk, she stepped down from the podium and walked toward the back of the classroom step by step. The surrounding students had been paying close attention to that corner ever since Zhao Qinglan arrived.

Now seeing Shu Youzhan clearly heading over with a “looking for trouble” expression, they immediately grew tense.

Students’ eyes met, signaling each other frantically: “They’re going to fight!”

“As expected, the rumors outside are true!”

“But between an Alpha with no pheromones and an ordinary person who hasn’t differentiated yet, who would win?”

Someone secretly pulled out their phone to message friends in other classes: “Report! Zhao Qinglan vs. Shu Youzhan, the first round of the new semester is starting! Live broadcast!”

The atmosphere reached its peak tension when Shu Youzhan’s shoe tip hit the leg of Zhao Qinglan’s desk!

The students of Class 1 instinctively held their breath.

Pei Yi opened her mouth as if to mediate but felt inexplicably unable to speak.

The classroom was so quiet the sound of a page turning could be clearly heard.

Rustle…

Zhao Qinglan turned a page. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as her pitch-black pupils looked at the person in front of her. She didn’t say a word, yet her eyes already expressed her thought: Something wrong?

Shu Youzhan laughed from anger. She vaguely felt this person’s punchable aura had increased several-fold. Grinding her back teeth, she gave a thin smile: “Who told you to sit here?”

Zhao Qinglan’s brow moved. she laid her propped-up book flat on the desk. Her gaze became a fraction more playful. She crossed her arms, met Shu Youzhan’s gaze, and tilted her chin up, signaling her to continue.

Shu Youzhan couldn’t stand this high-status posture—as if she were still issuing orders while sitting down. She dropped her polite mask.

Moving her toe, she gave the desk a light kick, pushing it back toward Zhao Qinglan. She said impatiently: “Here. I was here first. Please have some awareness and roll away gracefully. Understand?”

Zhao Qinglan’s right hand spread open. Her hand beneath the snow-colored sleeve was pale, almost bloodless, with faint blue veins visible. She steadily pressed down on the desk. She heard a student gasp in tension and then quickly cover their mouth.

They all saw Zhao Qinglan stand up.

Shu Youzhan realized that while she wanted to continue using force to push the desk away, because of the other’s light action, the desk remained as steady as a rock regardless of how much force she used with her foot.

This was the benefit of differentiating into an Alpha first.

Zhao Qinglan slowly leaned closer to her, looking as if she might flip the desk onto the other’s face the next second. A smile appeared on her face—the first since entering the class. It was like a nameless candy fallen on the ground; the wrapper was colorful and bright, making one wonder if it was poisonous.

Shu Youzhan stared at her intently. Then she heard Zhao Qinglan speak softly, with the slight rasp of a voice change period and a hook-like mockery: “Sure…”

She agreed readily, being quite easy to talk to. Shu Youzhan didn’t relax, and as expected, she saw the other’s thin lips curl as she asked lazily:

“If I don’t sit here, how about on your lap?”