After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 11

“I’ve eaten at this place before! Their late-night snacks are amazing. The stir-fried river snails are an absolute masterpiece—the snails are washed perfectly clean, and after adding sour bamboo shoots and chili, I don’t know what secret recipe they use, but the aroma travels for miles—”

“Sour bamboo shoots? Isn’t that stuff really stinky?”

On the way home from school, Pei Yi was excitedly describing the signature dishes of the food stall to Shu Youzhan and Shu Mi. Because the stir-fry was so good, the shop would be packed from six or seven in the evening until the early hours of the morning; the later it got, the livelier it became.

As Shu Mi tilted her head curiously to ask a question, a particularly disgruntled voice rang out from the other side:

“Why do we have to go out with them?”

Zhao Qinglan glanced at Shu Youzhan, who was surrounded by her friends. She saw Shu Youzhan raise her brow slightly, casting a haughty glance back as she answered in a drawn-out tone:

“You’ll have to ask your boss. She’s the one who begged me to grace her with my presence. Since we see each other every day, I figured I should give her some face.”

Sun Yue: “Impossible!”

A flash of amusement crossed Zhao Qinglan’s dark eyes. She unhurriedly fished her phone out of her school uniform pants. Under Sun Yue’s questioning gaze, she spoke slowly, reminding her “selectively amnesiac” desk mate.

“I just remembered that I received a voice message this morning. I happened to save it just in case. It seems now is the time to play it so everyone can help judge who’s right.”

Shu Youzhan: “…”

Shu Youzhan: “!!!”

Her pupils trembled. She hadn’t expected that even though her recall speed was fast, it was no match for Zhao Qinglan’s speed in plotting against her. She subconsciously licked her lips, feigning a calm voice:

“Oh, it seems my family has made some delicious soup and is waiting for me at home. Maybe you guys should go ahead and eat first—”

Zhao Qinglan moved her fingertips across the screen. The golden iris headpiece with its fine chain shimmered against her black hair, swaying gently as she lowered her head.

Just as Shu Youzhan was about to grease her soles and bolt, Zhao Qinglan added sluggishly:

“Huh?”

“How come I can’t find it?”

Shu Youzhan’s urges to leave wavered. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to keep going or retreat. She could only grit her teeth and threaten: “Zhao Qinglan, act like a human being, alright?”

The person being threatened couldn’t help but laugh. She put her phone away and stopped teasing. The friends nearby guessed from their interaction that the process of organizing this “gathering” might have involved some unknown twists and turns. But who cared!

As long as there was food!

Sun Jue unknowingly walked up to Pei Yi’s side and friendly-like handed over a freshly opened bag of cucumber-flavored potato chips. Pei Yi was a bit startled by the tall girl’s sudden approach, but seeing the open bag, she whispered: “…Uh, thanks?”

The tall girl’s eyes were full of sincerity. “Besides the stir-fried snails, what else is good here? Can you introduce some?”

Pei Yi rarely met an Alpha who carried no sense of aggression or dominance. After the other’s proactive gesture of goodwill, she quickly reciprocated with friendliness, answering with a smile: “There’s also the salt and pepper duck frames, they are marinated so well…”

The group walked through the winding alleys behind the school, laughing and bickering. Their silver-white No. 1 Middle School uniforms stood out as a bright scenery against the gray tones of the streets.

The rain had stopped around noon.

The sun had come out for a bit in the afternoon, and many of the damp patches on the ground had dried up, leaving only a few puddles in uneven spots that splashed under the tires of passing bicycles and cars.

When they arrived at the small restaurant, Zhao Qinglan casually found an outdoor round table and sat down. Shu Youzhan sat right next to her, ignoring Sun Yue’s glare from the other side, and leaned in to whisper a threat:

“Hand over the phone.”

Zhao Qinglan glanced at the menu on the table, checked a few items on the ordering pad, and pushed both items to Shu Youzhan. Shu Youzhan didn’t even look at them, pushing them instead to Shu Mi and the others. Ignoring the three of them huddling to look at the menu, she continued to stare wide-eyed at Zhao Qinglan.

Leaning back against the plastic chair, Zhao Qinglan pretended not to understand, her deep eyes filled with an innocent, flickering smile.

“Why?” she asked.

Shu Youzhan: “…You don’t have to hand it over, but delete that voice message.”

Zhao Qinglan extended her right index finger, her slender white finger wagging. The smile moved from the corners of her eyes to her lips: “No can do. My happiness for the year depends on it. Whenever I’m unhappy, I’ll take it out and listen to it…”

This demonic statement confirmed once again to Shu Youzhan just how wicked this person was. Seeing that Zhao Qinglan had no intention of deleting it, her gaze swept over her as if sizing her up.

Zhao Qinglan watched her and reminded her leisurely: “Robbery is illegal.”

Shu Youzhan: “…” Defeated.

She moodily rested her chin in her hands, watching Pei Yi and Sun Jue tick off items on the menu. When they finished, she indignantly grabbed the sheet and drew a large checkmark next to the most expensive beer!

That irritating voice rang out again, coolly: “Minors aren’t allowed to drink.”

Shu Youzhan looked at her provocatively: “Are you an Alpha or not? Don’t tell me you only drink yogurt when you go out for barbecue and skewers.”

Zhao Qinglan laughed, tapping her fingers on the table: “Everyone here is a minor. Even if you wanted to drink, the shop wouldn’t sell it to us.”

Sun Jue chimed in at the right time: “Cola is good! Sparkling water is happiness!”

Sun Yue: “…Your pheromone is already that embarrassing cola scent, can you stop spreading that hobby?”

“What’s embarrassing about cola? It matches perfectly with a potato-chip-scented Omega, you just don’t understand.”

Seeing the topic veer into strange territory, Shu Youzhan remained silent for a while. Once the grilled oysters arrived, she turned her frustration into motivation, determined to eat Zhao Qinglan into poverty tonight!

Looking at the girl who had dived into the pile of food, her cheeks stuffed like a little squirrel, Zhao Qinglan picked up her iced cola and sipped it elegantly. In front of her was a small bowl of pigeon porridge; despite her young age, she was a health enthusiast just like Old Fang.

Shu Youzhan stole a glance at her. Upon discovering her dietary preferences, she showed a subtle expression:

This Alpha really is as “incapable” as the rumors say.

Otherwise, why start health preservation so early?

“That look in your eyes is a bit strange.” Zhao Qinglan picked up a spoonful of porridge and blew on it, her gaze slanting to stare at the grease on the corner of Shu Youzhan’s lips.

Shu Youzhan gnawed on a savory duck frame and brushed her off: “You’re seeing things.”

Midway through, Shu Mi went to the restroom.

Shu Youzhan took a moment to wipe her fingers, which had been battling duck frames and snails, with a tissue. She sniffed the lingering scent and felt uncomfortable. Just as Zhao Qinglan was about to hand her a wet wipe, she heard her ask Pei Yi:

“Is the restroom far from here?”

“I noticed Mi-mi hasn’t come back for a while.”

Pei Yi, huffing from the spicy skewers, pointed in a direction: “If you go around the back of that road, it’s right there. It’s very close. I just saw her go that way; it might be a bit of a detour. Why don’t you go find her and come back together?”

“Alright.”

Shu Youzhan stood up and walked that way, disappearing around the white wall corner of the restaurant.

Zhao Qinglan stared at the mountain of snail shells beside her plate and the numerous skewers covered in chili powder. She hadn’t expected Shu Youzhan to be able to handle spice so well.

By the time Zhao Qinglan finished her porridge, ate two oysters, and picked up the large bottle of cola at her feet to refill her glass, she estimated the time and put the bottle back down.

Her tall figure rose from the chair: “It’s been almost ten minutes. They’ve been gone too long…”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw Shu Mi running over, out of breath. Her face was pale, and she looked so weak she was almost kneeling. Leaning against the wall to catch her breath, she gasped:

“Sister… is about to get into a fight!”

Sun Yue had just let out a “Huh?” when a figure vanished from her field of vision. Like a gale of wind, someone swept past her. By the time she blinked, Zhao Qinglan was already gone.

In the darkened alleyway.

Shu Youzhan shielded an Omega who was slightly smaller than herself, staring down several ill-intentioned thugs. She comforted the girl in a low voice: “Don’t be afraid.”

The Omega was trembling behind her. Though her face was flushed and her body felt weak, she stood rigid with fear, clutching Shu Youzhan’s hem as if it were a life-saving straw. She explained incoherently: “I didn’t… I wasn’t on purpose… I didn’t seduce them… it was them…”

Opposite Shu Youzhan, three tall men scanned the person behind her with malicious eyes, talking loudly and brazenly: “Cut the act. It’s clearly because you’re a slut. If you didn’t release your pheromones first, why would we even look at you?”

“Exactly. These Omegas, always acting pure while being dirty…”

“Hey, wait, there’s a new scent, very sweet—damn! The one in front is also an Omega! I smell it! I wonder if the one who ran away was also… if I’d known, I would have stopped her. Then there’d be one for each of us three.”

“But don’t you think this one looks a bit familiar?”

“All pretty girls look the same! Who doesn’t look familiar to you?”

Being in an environment with a high concentration of Alpha and Omega pheromones, the barrier patch on the back of Shu Youzhan’s neck began to fail. As if in resonance, her own pheromones began to leak uncontrollably.

Hearing the men’s conversation, she took a deep breath. She felt the pain at her scent gland ease slightly; after all, dealing with such complex and malicious Alpha pheromones was a burden for her.

However.

She could still fight.

She moved her limbs slightly and whispered to the girl behind her: “Wait here for me. If you have the strength, call the police first. Try to control your pheromones, understood?”

The girl looked at her in fear, neither daring to let go for fear of what might happen to her, nor able to resist the sense of reliability Shu Youzhan projected. She hesitated.

Shu Youzhan flashed a smile and patted her shoulder. “It’s fine. It’ll be over soon.”

With that, her expression changed. She looked at the three approaching Alphas, her brown eyes turning cold. In an instant, logic overrode all emotion, forcing her to channel all her anger into calculation—calculating how to survive this desperate situation.

When Zhao Qinglan arrived—

She saw Shu Youzhan dodge a man’s reaching arm, only to be inches away from being kicked in the lower back by another. In that split second, without missing a beat, she released her pheromones toward everyone present without reservation!

Shu Youzhan’s movements slowed by half a heartbeat.

She vaguely felt a gust of wind sweep past her side.

Blinking, she realized the environment had changed. The sky above had somehow turned into an upside-down red, and the ground beneath her had become soft soil that seemed to ooze dark liquid.

The three men who had been surrounding her were now suspended in mid-air by green vines covered in thorns, being strangled tightly!

She blinked again.

She smelled a very faint, very delicate fragrance.

Before she could even find the words to describe it, the visions vanished. The world returned to peace—the concrete road, the high walls, the alleyway. The only difference was that the three Alphas were now kneeling on the ground in agony, their knees making a terrifying sound upon impact.

Shu Youzhan looked in the direction of the wind and noticed Zhao Qinglan appearing from around the corner. Her chest heaved for a moment. She hadn’t even noticed that the iris on her headpiece and the golden chain was slightly tangled together. After standing still, she gave a faint smile:

“You took so long to go to the bathroom, I didn’t know whether to call the police or an ambulance for you.”

Shu Youzhan breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to snap back, but she realized that once she relaxed, her strength vanished. She began to collapse toward the ground, but before she hit it, she was caught.

Being held close, she smelled the faint lingering scent on the other woman. Since she was being hugged, she leaned in like a little puppy to sniff it. Then, remembering something, she whispered:

“Wait a second. Before we call the police, let me go kick those bastards a few more times.”

“…It hurts so much,” she grumbled softly, her voice trailing into Zhao Qinglan’s ear.