After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 17

“Excuse me…”

“Zhao Qinglan, I’m talking to you.”

Inside the chilly air-conditioned bus, a girl with long black hair sat in the middle of the back row. She was staring at her phone, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.

It wasn’t until the speaker’s tone sharpened and her name was called again that she finally snapped out of it. She looked up toward the source of the voice, reacting a beat late. As she stood up, she heard a soft huff from the other girl, and the rest of the chatter in the bus flooded into her ears.

“Why are we going to a museum? Museums are so boring. If the school really appreciated how hard we work, wouldn’t it be cooler to just give us a collective day off?”

“This counts toward extracurricular practice credits. Just be grateful. I heard the second-year students have it worse—their ‘practice’ is military training! Military training in high school? That’s just insane.”

Shu Youzhan originally intended to move further inside, but she slowed down slightly upon hearing about the second-year military training. Pei Yi slipped past her from behind and took the window seat, sticking her tongue out at her.

Shu Youzhan: “?”

She pointed to the seat next to Zhao Qinglan and said to Pei Yi, “You sit here…”

Pei Yi pretended not to understand: “Aren’t you two desk-mates?”

“Exactly because we’re desk-mates…” Shu Youzhan sighed. “I just want a little bit of free time.”

Zhao Qinglan had been looking at materials on her phone, not intending to eavesdrop. However, when she heard that sentence, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The golden chain in her hair swayed slightly, and her voice carried a hint of a smile: “I don’t recall ever forcing you to do anything. Why does being my desk-mate sound like such a burden for you?”

Just as Shu Youzhan was about to retort, the voice of Lao Fang, the homeroom teacher, crackled over the speakers from the front: “The driver is ready to go. Shu Youzhan in the back row, have you lost your way to a seat?”

Before the teacher could finish, the driver started the bus and suddenly slammed on the brakes. Shu Youzhan’s body swayed violently as the bus jolted. Fortunately, she managed to grab the back of the seat in front of her in time.

Simultaneously, Zhao Qinglan reacted quickly, gripping Shu Youzhan’s another wrist. Her grip was so tight it caused a momentary flash of pain.

“Scared me to death! What’s wrong with the driver?”

“Who’s going to pay if I chip my front teeth?”

“Hahaha!”

The driver shouted from the front: “There was a student in the way just now…”

It was a false alarm. Once Shu Youzhan regained her footing and Zhao Qinglan let go, she didn’t bother arguing with Pei Yi about the seating anymore. She sat down directly next to Zhao Qinglan, buckled her seatbelt, and shook her wrist. She thrust it in front of the other girl so she could see the red marks.

“Were you just taking out a personal grudge on me?”

Looking at the slight redness on that milky-white wrist, Zhao Qinglan’s gaze deepened. After two seconds, she gave a light scoff: “I mainly wanted to prevent a certain someone from using a ‘fall’ as an excuse to pounce on me and take advantage.”

Pei Yi nudged Shu Youzhan with her elbow, shifting the topic: “Hey, this museum today is the largest on the Blue Planet. I heard there’s a special hall that collects all the pheromone scents from past to present. You haven’t differentiated yet, right? Why don’t we go check it out later? I’m curious to know what kind of scents people like you might give off.”

“I’ve already—” Shu Youzhan reflexively started to mention the fact of her differentiation.

“Hmm?”

Facing Pei Yi’s curious gaze, she forced herself to swallow the rest of the sentence. Instead, she tilted her chin toward the person next to her: “Don’t ask me about the museum, ask her. If I remember correctly, the place we’re visiting today was someone’s birthday gift a few years ago?”

Pei Yi took one look at Zhao Qinglan’s imposing profile and didn’t dare be too bold. She looked over and then quickly turned back to Shu Youzhan, whispering to herself: “One gets a planet for their birthday, the other gets a museum…”

Why did she suddenly want to ship them as a perfect match? Was it because she was overstimulated by the world of the wealthy?

“From now on, you have three hours of free time. Gather in the first-floor lobby at 12:00 PM. I’ll be waiting there. Watch the time; don’t make me come looking for you one by one.”

“Only this building of the museum is open today. The first floor is the military exhibition, the second is history and culture, and the third is astronomical exploration…”

“Explore what interests you. Everyone must submit a reflection essay after we get back today.”

Lao Fang clapped his hands. After getting off the bus at the museum entrance, he emphasized the rules to the Class 1 students. However, at the end, predictably, a chorus of groans erupted: “What? Lao Fang, why are you handling Chinese assignments too?”

The middle-aged man with a shiny forehead clutched his thermos and sipped his hot tea, pretending not to hear the protests. After finishing his announcement, he strolled away toward the military hall.

The students scattered in groups of twos and threes. Pei Yi grabbed Shu Youzhan’s arm and called out with a smile: “Sister Xiao Shu…”

Shu Youzhan didn’t have much interest anyway, so she followed her lead: “Alright, alright, let’s go where you want to go.”

Thinking of this, she looked to her side. She saw Zhao Qinglan wearing headphones, listening to something unknown. She reached out and gently removed the earphone from the other girl’s right ear. “Hey, which floor is the Pheromone Hall?”

Zhao Qinglan: “…”

Seeing her speechless expression, Shu Youzhan pinched the thin headphone wire, ready to plug it back in. “Oh, you don’t know either.”

Zhao Qinglan good-naturedly leaned slightly toward her, even tilting her head: “It’s not that… if someone said something nice, I might be able to remember.”

Shu Youzhan rolled her eyes, pressed the earphone back in, and turned to find the floor index with Pei Yi. After staring at it for a long time, Pei Yi spoke up dejectedly:

“The Pheromone Hall seems to be in another building. Didn’t Lao Fang say it wasn’t open? We came for nothing…”

“Then see if anything else interests you.”

“History and culture? I remember there are some cultural treasures from the last century—textiles, porcelain, things like that.”

“Sure…”

Glancing at the two figures walking away and seeing Shu Youzhan’s generous smile directed at her friend, Zhao Qinglan stood up straight. She rubbed her ear, let out a long breath, and dialed a number on her phone: “Hello, this is Zhao Qinglan. I’m at the Nancheng Museum…”

Shu Youzhan stepped back slightly in front of a protective glass case, staring at a dizzying, intricate peacock pattern on a long piece of fabric. She watched as the colors transitioned from light to deep green, then slowly into a profound sapphire blue, her eyes full of wonder.

After slowly walking from the left to the right, she toured the small gallery again. Just as she was about to take out her phone and turn off the flash to record these artistic traces, she saw Pei Yi pop up out of nowhere. Pei Yi approached her excitedly and whispered: “The building next door is open too!”

She tilted her head: “Huh?”

“The Pheromone Hall I told you I wanted to go to! I just heard from someone in the other class that it’s really interesting. Lots of people are in there trying to find their ‘dream lover’s’ scent… Hurry, let’s go now.”

Shu Youzhan was stunned for a moment before being pulled away by the persistent Pei Yi.

When they arrived, a distinct voice was surrounded by a crowd: “This is the most powerful Alpha pheromone scent recorded in the history of the Fourth Galaxy, belonging to the first-generation commanders of the Fourth and Sixth Armies—”

“Rose and Iris. Both are leaders among floral-scented pheromones, breaking the long-standing stereotype of what powerful pheromones should smell like. Later, these two flowers became the family emblems of the Shu and Zhao families.”

“It smells good, but does this kind of floral scent have any killing power? I can’t imagine it,” someone asked, leaning in to sniff the simulated pheromone scent next to the guide, sounding somewhat unimpressed.

The guide gave a mysterious smile. “The pheromones of these two were of an ancestral level of power. It is said that when humans were troubled by the Zerg in space, the two commanders fought side-by-side to compete for the outer mineral stars of the Fourth Galaxy. Soldiers who participated in that battle described the scene…”

“When their pheromones merged, it caused the entire desolate planet to bloom with flowers, as if planting an entire spring. Where the roses and irises bloomed, it became a forbidden zone that the enemy could not step into.”

“Because that victory was so beautiful, some unofficial histories joked that if there were ever two Alphas in this world who should marry, it would have to be these two original commanders.”

The gossipy story successfully piqued the interest of the onlookers.

“Wow…”

“Then why didn’t they end up together?”

“Wait, I remember the Empire modified the marriage law to allow relationships between AA and OO during that era. Could it be those two really…”

Pei Yi couldn’t help but want to ask Shu Youzhan for more details. However, when she turned around, she found Shu Youzhan wandering near the display of thousands of glass bottles of simulated scents. She had stopped near the floral section, occasionally bowing her head to pick up a scent strip to smell different pheromones.

Pei Yi hurried over and nudged Shu Youzhan with her shoulder: “Is what that person said true? You don’t seem surprised at all.”

Shu Youzhan stared at the bottle labeled “Lycoris” (Spider Lily) and leaned down to sniff it. Her gaze drifted over the label: Pheromone Owner: Confidential.

Tapping the glass with her fingertip, she replied absently: “I don’t know. After all, those are stories of my ancestors. I’ve heard even more ridiculous ones.”

“Like what?”

Smoothing her soft black hair behind her ear, Shu Youzhan picked up the Lycoris scent strip again. she looked around to see if this mysterious person had any simple fragrance cards available for visitors to take as a keepsake.

Before she could answer, a slightly husky voice sounded nearby, calm and self-possessed as usual: “Later, the Shu and Zhao families never produced floral-scented pheromones again, and the relationship between the families grew colder with each generation.”

“So, there is a rumor that if both families ever produce floral-scented leaders again, they would certainly be a match made in heaven.”

Shu Youzhan looked up and saw Zhao Qinglan. She realized a beat late that Zhao Qinglan was answering Pei Yi’s question. She added absently, “Right…”

Zhao Qinglan walked closer and saw the simulated fragrance in front of her. She couldn’t help but ask, “Do you like this scent that much?”

Shu Youzhan looked at her playfully, her dark brown eyes reflecting the tiny lights from the museum ceiling like a sky full of stars. “Yeah. If you know the person, you can introduce me.”

Zhao Qinglan looked at her with clear, dark eyes.

In her mind, her mother’s question from yesterday echoed: “Even though your experiment failed, she miraculously became an Omega. Even heaven is helping you. So you feel lucky, don’t you, Zhao Qinglan?”

No…

She thought. She didn’t feel lucky that her rival had differentiated into an Omega. It was just that hearing the story from before and seeing the Shu Youzhan who was smiling at her now, Zhao Qinglan suddenly felt—

It seemed that, no matter what, she would fall and find her heart racing for that look in her eyes.