After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 36

Finals arrived as scheduled.

When Shu Youzhan received her exam papers, her pen flew across the spaces for her name and class. Her eyes had already scanned ahead to the questions, glancing through the tested knowledge points and mentally estimating the difficulty of the problems.

After flipping the paper back and forth and getting a general idea, Shu Youzhan began solving the problems at a high pace. It felt as if there were an invisible whip behind her, silently urging her forward, as if someone might overtake her if she didn’t turn in her paper quickly—

The thought had just emerged.

Shu Youzhan’s pen tip hovered over option A of the first question for a long time, leaving a small ink blot. She belatedly remembered that the only person who could possibly answer faster than her hadn’t participated in these finals.

It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth. Not a trace of her could be found even in the news. Even once, when she happened to run into the two sisters from the Sun family and overheard them talking about Zhao Qinglan, they didn’t seem to know much about her current situation either.

Those thoughts were scattered by the warm breeze blowing in from the window. Shu Youzhan snapped back to reality, focused her attention on the questions in front of her, and relaxed her grip on the pen slightly.

…

“Ring— Ring— Ring—”

The final session of the exam.

The bell that usually signaled the end of class rang according to its usual rhythm. However, in every classroom, there was only the sound of rhythmic rustling from students buried in their work. The proctor checked the time from the podium and announced:

“There are thirty minutes left until the end of the exam. Everyone, please hurry.”

As soon as the words fell, someone in the back row of the classroom stood up. The chair made a slight scraping sound against the floor. Even though they were used to this sound, students still reflexively turned their heads to look. Seeing that it was Shu Youzhan turning in her paper early again, they sighed and went back to scratching their heads over the problems they couldn’t solve.

Shu Youzhan was unaware of the others’ feelings. After handing in her paper, she went out and grabbed her backpack from the row of desks outside. She took out her phone, turned it on, and sent text messages to Pei Yi and Shu Mi in turn. Then, she called her family driver and walked slowly toward the school gate.

It was now midsummer.

Stepping away from the air conditioning of the classroom, even though the sun was setting, the heat from midday still lingered on the floor tiles. The silver-white school uniforms were only seen when it was too cold in the classrooms. Walking outside, even Omegas found themselves breaking into a light sweat through the short-sleeved fabric.

Shu Youzhan’s hair was now at a medium length, just reaching her shoulders. It was too short to tie all of it up without strands falling out, so she only pulled the top half into a small bun. It actually looked somewhat similar to Zhao Qinglan’s previous hairstyle.

After showing her school ID and walking out the gate, Shu Youzhan waited by the roadside for a while before spotting her family’s car.

…

“You’re back?”

“Yeah, Mom… are you cooking today too?” Shu Youzhan put down her backpack and naturally walked toward the kitchen. Her expression was so calm it didn’t look like she had just finished a major exam.

Wei Shuangchi, seeing that she was taking exams these past two days, thought she would prefer her own cooking. So, she had been cooking personally. Noticing that Shu Youzhan didn’t proactively mention anything about the exam after returning—unlike her usual self who would excitedly brag or annoyedly mention missing a knowledge point—Wei Shuangchi paused her movements of marinating meat while wearing disposable gloves.

Her gaze swept up and down Shu Youzhan, then glanced at the wall clock in the living room.

“I remember you guys didn’t finish until 5:50? Did you turn in your paper early?”

“Yeah,” Shu Youzhan looked at the potatoes that hadn’t been processed yet, rinsed them under the tap, and then sat down by the kitchen trash can to peel them slowly. She replied casually, “The questions this time were part of a unified exam, so they focused on some key knowledge points. The difficulty wasn’t high in general, and the advanced parts weren’t particularly hard either. It was quite simple.”

When she said “simple,” she didn’t even bat an eyelid.

It was as if this exam wasn’t very important to her at all. This gave Wei Shuangchi a vague intuition that her daughter had changed somewhat. She seemed to have suddenly settled down from her old jumpy, lively, and noisy self, becoming the type who remained unperturbed by favor or humiliation.

It was miraculous. Her daughter seemed to have grown up overnight. And Wei Shuangchi didn’t know the reason behind these changes.

“Then… are you confident about getting first place?” Wei Shuangchi asked lightly, in a joking tone that carried no pressure.

As expected, instead of jumping up to guarantee it confidently like before, she just stopped her hand, held the half-peeled potato, thought seriously for a moment, and nodded:

“Yeah.”

Wei Shuangchi had no more questions, though her eyes still held a gentle light.

The soup that had been heating on the stove began to boil. Along with the thick aroma, fine bubbles broke through the lid like soap suds, spilling out and making a sizzling sound as they hit the fire beneath the pot. Wei Shuangchi hurried over to lift the lid and turned down the heat. She ladled out a small bowl and turned around, wanting Shu Youzhan to taste it.

“Mom,” Shu Youzhan called out to her first.

“Yes?” Wei Shuangchi held the bowl and looked at her patiently.

Shu Youzhan briskly peeled the layer of dirt off the potatoes. She placed the two clean potatoes on the cutting board and tried to speak: “During summer vacation, I want to go to Mother’s military camp to train for a bit…”

Wei Shuangchi thought it was something serious given her solemnity. Hearing this, she breathed a sigh of relief. “No problem. Come and taste this soup; is it seasoned enough?”

Shu Youzhan took the bowl, her finger lightly brushing the rim, but she didn’t rush to drink. Instead, she continued: “Well… Mother is going to other planets to inspect border defenses in a couple of days, so following her this time might mean going quite far. I won’t be able to come home every day like before.”

Only then did Wei Shuangchi realize why she was so hesitant.

Because of the nature of Shu Yu’s work, even though it was a time of peace and she could spend more than half the year as an office worker on Earth, there were always things at the front line that required her personal presence. Occasionally, when new energy sources were discovered in other star systems, she had to race against Zhao Xi’s time to lead the army there first. During the journey, she might even encounter unknown dangers.

Wei Shuangchi’s health was relatively poor. Aside from going on vacations, Shu Yu was never willing to let her suffer. Thus, the two often faced separations. It used to be fine because even if Shu Yu left, there was still the “happy pill” Shu Youzhan at home to accompany her.

Now, even Shu Youzhan was leaving for a long time. She felt that Wei Shuangchi, left at home, would be very lonely.

However, to her surprise, Wei Shuangchi just looked at her and then smiled: “Sure, our Youyou has grown up and should go out to train… It’s good that both of you are leaving. It saves me from worrying every day about whether one of you is eating well at school and the other at the military base. Once you two leave for the summer, I’ll go meet up with my old friends, go shopping, and get beauty treatments—”

“I’m finally liberated.”

Her tone was exceptionally relaxed, which made Shu Youzhan instinctively breathe a sigh of relief as well.

So she reflexively replied: “Really? Mom isn’t worried about me at all? I thought you’d be very reluctant to let me go.”

Wei Shuangchi pinched her nose and asked with a smile: “I’ve figured it out. You’re just like your mother. No matter how well-behaved you act normally, your heart is always longing for the outside world. I can’t control you two wild cats anyway.”

“Just remember to protect yourself and eat well.”

By saying this, she completely agreed to Shu Youzhan’s plan to follow Shu Yu to the military camp for the summer.

Shu Youzhan drank the soup happily, nearly swearing that she would come back ten pounds heavier. However, she forgot that the small bowl of soup had just been scooped from the hot pot, and it suddenly scalded the tip of her tongue.

Inhaling cold air, she bit her tongue and mumbled: “Good.”

Wei Shuangchi looked at her helplessly: “Be careful. There’s no rush. I just thought you had become a bit more mature recently, so how did you start being clumsy again? Did you burn yourself? Should I take a look?”

Shu Youzhan put down the bowl and hopped in place, feeling the slight stinging pain on the tip of her tongue, then shook her head: “No, it’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

…

By the time Pei Yi sent the final grades to Shu Youzhan—

She was no longer on Earth.

Following Shu Yu’s team and truly mixing with a group of Alphas, she realized just how much Omegas lagged behind in terms of physical constitution. This wasn’t like fighting those thugs at school; they hadn’t even reached the point of comparing strength and endurance.

Now in the military camp…

Her ten-plus kilometer pre-breakfast run every morning put her at the very bottom of the team. On the first day, she relied entirely on her instinct to keep up with the squad just to stay moving. Her mind held only the thought of not falling behind. By the time she reached the finish line, she felt as if her soul had left her body.

What was more terrifying was.

This was only the start of the day.

Every day, Shu Youzhan felt like she was dying and being revived, hovering repeatedly at the threshold of hell with only one breath left. It wasn’t until the first month had passed that she barely adapted to the rhythm. At least during meals, she could use a large spoon to join the crowd grabbing food for herself, rather than trembling like a Parkinson’s patient under the pitying gazes of the Alphas—who looked at her like a kindergartner—while experiencing the “love” of the team.

“Do you want us to feed you?”

“No, no, no, no need.”

Shu Youzhan swore she saw a bunch of disappointed gazes when she refused.

Although the entire camp knew she was Shu Yu’s daughter and belonged to the category that couldn’t be touched, it didn’t stop these Alphas—who rarely saw soft Omegas—from projecting their beautiful fantasies onto her—

Until the second week, when the training content changed. On the field, the team members saw this little Omega carrying a rifle and dragging them out of their hiding spots one by one to eliminate them.

When Shu Youzhan finally leaned on her rifle to tally the results, the way the surrounding Alphas looked at her changed. Their expressions were full of disillusionment. Finally, the squad leader patted her shoulder and sighed heavily:

“As expected of Commander Shu’s kid.”

They were too naive.

How could they think a brat who could come to the military camp to crawl through the mud with them would be the kind of soft and gentle Omega from outside? Impossible. This was a monster who could harvest them all as long as you gave her a weapon.

The kind of monster with a genetic mutation.

Shu Youzhan rubbed her nose sheepishly. She was just about to ask the squad leader how many points her results would add to her performance when she heard a whistle not far away.

Everyone’s attention was drawn over—

Two people walked over and called the squad leaders of each team aside, whispering a few instructions. Then, that group of people looked around and called out several names from their own squads. People began to step out of the formation.

While Shu Youzhan was still looking around, she saw the gazes from over there gathering on her. Some people looked doubtful, but the squad leader who had just patted her shoulder moved his lips to say something else, then turned around and called her name loudly:

“Shu Youzhan, step out.”

Her face showed some confusion, but her pace was not slow. When she reached them, she saw the squad leader patting her shoulder: “People from the Sixth Army are here to challenge us. Perform well, show them what you’ve got, and I’ll give you an extra meal tonight.”

Shu Youzhan: “!”

She was already starting to look forward to dinner!

…

With eyes shining, she followed the others from the different squads. Shu Youzhan followed the group to the other side of the training ground, listening to the people beside her explain who the Sixth Army had sent this time.

“There’s an Alpha who’s quite something, looks soft and weak…”

“How is she weak? Hasn’t she already become the heir? Don’t you usually watch the news?”

“Huh? Didn’t the people over there say these were all troops from the previous border rotation? How is there a ‘crown prince’ like that?”

As Shu Youzhan listened, she instinctively leaned closer to them.

She was just about to ask something when an order came first. Her body reacted faster than her brain, and she followed the surrounding Alphas to form a line. Due to her height, she—the shortest—stood at the very front.

The training ground, which had been surrounded by people, opened up a path wide enough for them to pass through after the command was given.

Shu Youzhan’s vision cleared—

What entered her sight was a figure rising nimbly from the grass. The black, smoke-emitting rifle barrel contrasted with the sweat on her white skin, inexplicably giving off the illusion of “guns and roses.”

It wasn’t until that person, wearing a faint smile, turned her head nonchalantly that her pure black eyes—like unsheathed blades—sent a cold glare from a distance.

Shu Youzhan was frozen in place by that gaze.

At the same time, the smile on the other person’s face also paused.

A wind blew from afar. The two people, facing each other across the crowd, locked eyes and did not look away for a long time.