After the Nerd Marked the Top Omega - Chapter 23.2

“You have to be watched when you have a fever,” Fang Xu picked up the cup nearby and asked, “Is there anything you want to eat right now?”

Pei Yunci had originally wanted her to go rest, but thinking of something, she still answered, “Something simple will be fine.”

If nothing else, the girl probably hadn’t eaten dinner since the marking.

Fang Xu: “Okay, I’ll cook some porridge.”

Pei Yunci reminded her: “Cook a lot, don’t forget your own.”

Fang Xu’s nerves, which had been tense for several hours, finally relaxed: “I know.”

The girl left the master bedroom. Pei Yunci took a moment to recover, then checked the unread emails and messages.

There were people from the social event asking about her health, a message from the assistant, and two messages from Fang Xu, showing her concern and worry.

Pei Yunci pressed the screen off and looked beside her. There was a laptop and several pictures.

They were chibi figures, but there were already over a dozen versions drawn. Without a close look, it was hard to tell the subtle differences between the versions.

At four in the morning, it was pitch black outside.

Pei Yunci left the bedroom, drank the medicine, and went to the kitchen.

“Do you need any help?” she asked.

Pei Yunci didn’t like to cook herself, but she didn’t mind helping on the side.

“No need, I’ve already put the porridge on to cook,” Fang Xu replied.

Pei Yunci watched her take out another pot: “Are you making anything else?”

Fang Xu nodded: “Shrimp paste and egg pancakes. Do you have any dietary restrictions?”

Hearing this, Pei Yunci dropped the thought of helping: “No.”

She really couldn’t help with making pancakes.

Fang Xu still remembered she was sick: “Have you taken your medicine? You can wait outside for a bit; it will be ready soon.”

“…Okay.”

This was the first time Pei Yunci had been cared for so meticulously. Even after the food was ready, Fang Xu helped bring her the bowl and chopsticks.

Pei Yunci looked at the person opposite her and said, “I’m almost completely recovered.”

Fang Xu disagreed: “Fever can easily relapse. Be sure to keep warm during this time.”

She felt that Pei Yunci was wearing a bit too little, but she felt awkward commanding the other party to put on more clothes, so she could only suggest it subtly.

“Okay,” Pei Yunci also realized that the Alpha had an obsession with this matter and didn’t argue further.

She brought up another topic: “I’ve been quite busy lately and haven’t had time to check my messages, that’s why I didn’t reply to you.”

She had been busy with the acquisition of the Du family’s gaming company, working non-stop for three or four days, barely squeezing out any rest time, let alone checking messages.

This sickness was probably due to being too tired and having too little sleep, which led her to fall asleep right after the marking.

Hearing the explanation, Fang Xu quickly shook her head: “It’s alright, as long as you’re okay.”

She was only worried about Pei Yunci, and now that she saw the other party safe and sound, her heart was at ease.

Pei Yunci slightly curved her lips: “Good.”

After finishing the meal, she said, “Leave the dishes, I’ll have the housekeeper clean them up. You go and rest for a while first.”

There was no need to guess; the other person hadn’t slept all night and was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep by her bed.

Fang Xu started to speak, but Pei Yunci reminded her: “Or you can take tomorrow off from your internship?”

“No need,” Fang Xu stopped talking further. “I’ll go rest for a bit, that’s all.”

She was used to pulling all-nighters; two or three hours of sleep would be enough.

Pei Yunci nodded: “Go ahead.”

She had slept enough, so she went back to her bedroom to take a shower and then started dealing with work matters.

When the sky outside brightened, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Pei Yunci said.

There were only two people in the apartment, so there was no need to guess who it was.

Fang Xu had slept for three hours, and her spirit had mostly recovered. She said, “I’m here to get my things.”

Her laptop and game drafts were still in the master bedroom, which she had forgotten to bring to the guest bedroom.

Pei Yunci nodded, moving slightly to make room.

She saw the person pick up the drafts and asked, “Are these the characters for your game?”

“Mhm, the protagonists,” Fang Xu nodded, “but I haven’t completely decided yet.”

With the script finished, she was now facing the difficult task of drawing, which had stalled her for two days.

Pei Yunci: “Shall I try?”

She wasn’t a game enthusiast, but due to her company’s business involvement, she was familiar with all the games on the market in the last decade.

Before Fang Xu could react, her hand had already handed over the paper with the chibi character designs.

Pei Yunci looked down and said, “A pen.”

Fang Xu quickly handed her a pen as well.

When taking the pen, Pei Yunci didn’t look up and accidentally touched her fingertip.

Fang Xu blinked, then hid her hand behind her back, concentrating on watching her revise the drawing.

Pei Yunci asked: “An assassin and a princess?”

Fang Xu hummed.

“What type of game is it?”

“A management-style casual game.”

“What are the personalities of these two people?”

Fang Xu briefly described the most core and fundamental personalities of the two game characters, and also simply narrated the story outline.

Pei Yunci nodded, then started drawing. She didn’t directly edit the picture but drew a new version next to it. The general appearance remained the same, with only changes in certain details, making the two chibi figures show some differences.

“Is this okay?” Pei Yunci handed the paper back to her.

Fang Xu’s eyes lit up, “It’s perfect!”

Not many changes were made, but the chibi figures were much more lively, making people instantly like them.

Pei Yunci rarely joked: “If it’s not perfect, I can’t do anything else.”

She had been trained as the successor of the Pei family since childhood, learning musical instruments, drawing, and chess, but she had been too busy with work these years and hadn’t drawn in a while.

“It is perfect!” Fang Xu immediately said.

She had initially thought she was being a perfectionist and that the drawing had no issues. But after Pei Yunci’s simple revisions, the liveliness and personality traits of the characters became much more obvious.

Pei Yunci: “That’s good then.”

Fang Xu nodded, her lips curled in a genuine smile, exceptionally happy. With the drawings, her game could continue to progress.

After tidying up, they ate breakfast together.

Pei Yunci also had to go to the company, so she gave Fang Xu a ride.

The car stopped two streets away from the company. Fang Xu said, “I’ll head to the company now.”

“Okay.”

“Have a good day at work.”

“You too.”

After speaking, Fang Xu opened the car door and merged into the crowd.

She ran even faster than a rabbit.

Near the end of the semester, the advisor took the group out for a meal. Fang Xu was grateful for the advisor’s help and didn’t decline, joining them.

Seeing everyone present, the advisor asked the waiter to start serving the dishes.

“Some of you are graduating and will be doing your graduation project with me next semester. This meal is a blessing for you all. I hope those who are graduating will have a good future, and those who aren’t can graduate smoothly!”

A senior student of Fang Xu, who was about to graduate, instantly got teary-eyed: “Thank you, advisor! Although you often scold me, your scolding is correct. Without you, I might not have cried so many times in the middle of the night, nor would I be where I am today.”

The advisor looked at her and asked with a smile, “How come I feel like there’s a hidden meaning in your words?”

Since the group had a good relationship, others also chimed in: “I think so too. Senior, you have to explain yourself properly, or the advisor won’t let you touch your chopsticks tonight.”

The senior was amused and cried and laughed at the same time: “Advisor, I didn’t mean anything else. I just feel that the university years were so short and passed in the blink of an eye.”

“Yes,” another person who was graduating also sighed, “This might be the last meal we eat together.”

Once they each had jobs, it would be difficult to even coordinate their time.

The atmosphere became subdued for a moment. Fang Xu also took a sip of water, feeling the reality of her impending senior year.

The advisor spoke up: “Why are you all so sentimental all of a sudden? You can come back anytime you want. I always have time for a meal. But, if you get into trouble, don’t mention my name.”

“Advisor, didn’t you say that wrong? If we get into trouble, shouldn’t we ask you for help even more?”

Advisor: “What, are you really planning to cause trouble?”

Everyone laughed in unison, and Fang Xu also curved her lips.

During the meal, the person next to Fang Xu leaned in and whispered, “Xiao Xu, are you really not pursuing a graduate degree?”

They had participated in competitions together and were familiar with each other.

Fang Xu gently shook her head: “I’ve made up my mind.”

The senior smiled: “I thought you’d agonize over it for a while. I didn’t expect you to be so decisive.”

The senior had asked her parents, teachers, and classmates about this matter and finally decided after struggling for more than half a month.

Fang Xu said, “Even after graduating from a master’s program, you still have to work.”

The senior asked with a smile, “Don’t you like research?”

Fang Xu thought for a moment and said, “It’s alright; I neither dislike nor like it.”

Since her mother’s car accident and passing, her wish had been to earn money.

Achieving good grades and being admitted to the Computer Science department at Jiangcheng University were all for the purpose of making money. As for research, she only did it with the idea of being eligible for scholarships.

The senior looked at her and said, “Xiao Xu, no matter what you do, you will succeed.”

Fang Xu didn’t know why she would suddenly say this, but she still sincerely replied, “Thank you.”

After the meal, they went to a KTV. The advisor loved to sing and monopolized the microphone the entire time, but the level of singing… to put it delicately, it was barely listenable.

The rest of the people exchanged glances. One of them suggested, “Should we play a game?”

“Yes, yes.” Everyone immediately agreed.

Playing a game would shift their attention and might even spare their ears.

Fang Xu wanted to say she wouldn’t participate, but before she could speak, the senior pulled her: “Come play with us.”

“Let’s play Truth or Dare.”

“Such an old-fashioned game. Can we switch to a different one? Besides, the advisor is right next to us,” the last sentence was said in a lowered voice.

“It’s old-fashioned but fun! We have to play Truth or Dare. We’re about to graduate, so everyone be a little bolder. The advisor won’t mind.”

Perhaps the phrase “about to graduate” resonated with everyone, and no one raised any further objections.

“I’ll order some more beer. Does anyone want anything else?”

“Bring some fruit platters and other snacks too.”

“Advisor, you keep singing. We’ll play a game for a bit.”

“…”

After ten minutes of busy preparation, they finally found their seats, with a wine bottle placed in the center.

“The rules are simple: whoever the bottle points to has to choose between Truth or Dare, and the person spinning the bottle is responsible for asking the question.”

“Hurry up and start, I’m a little excited. I already have questions prepared.”

“You’re not planning something wicked, are you? I’m a little scared.”

“Then I’ll start praying now that when I spin the bottle, it points to you.”

Sitting there, Fang Xu suddenly regretted coming. Even singing along with the advisor would be better than this.

“I’m starting to spin now.”

The bottle spun in place, gradually slowing down, and finally stopped, with the opening pointing straight at the person opposite her, a second-year graduate student, an Alpha.

The person spinning asked, “Senior, are you choosing Truth or Dare?”

“Truth, I guess.”

“Let me think what to ask,” the spinner pondered for a moment, then asked, “Senior, when was your first kiss?”

The senior paused for a moment before answering, “Seventeen.”

“Seventeen! That means in high school, either sophomore or junior year?”

“I thought the senior was busy writing and publishing papers all day and didn’t have time to date!”

“I never knew about this either. Are you still with the person you kissed?”

The senior smiled: “No comment. That’s a separate question.”

Halfway through the gossip, everyone was itching to know more, wishing the bottle would point to the senior again in the next round so they could get a clear answer.

Except for Fang Xu.

She looked at the glass bottle surrounded in the center, thinking if she could find an excuse to escape. This game was truly not friendly to her, a socially introverted person.

Fang Xu was struggling, but the game continued.

This time, the bottle pointed to an Alpha student from Fang Xu’s own class, who also chose Truth.

“My question is, out of everyone here, who do you like the most? Note: you can’t say the advisor. You must choose from the people playing the game.”

With the added limitation, the person’s face was slightly red, and she kept looking up at the Omega opposite her.

At this moment, the senior leaned close to Fang Xu’s ear and quietly asked, “Xiao Xu, do you think those two will get together tonight?”

Fang Xu understood every word in that sentence, but together, they left her somewhat confused: “Who and who? What about getting together?”

Senior: “…”

She was silent for a moment, then quietly pointed to the two people nearby: “Them! You can tell they like each other. Everyone in the group has noticed. Xiao Xu, you mean you never knew?”

At this point, the Alpha also revealed the name, which was indeed the Omega opposite her. Both their faces were extremely red, and the crowd’s cheers nearly drowned out the singing.

Fang Xu: “…”

She genuinely didn’t know.

In the silence, the senior also got her answer. She patted Fang Xu’s shoulder: “It’s okay.”

She knew her junior focused on her studies, but she didn’t expect her to be this focused.

She just wondered if Fang Xu would be this slow-witted regarding her own romantic life.

Four rounds were played, and the game was in full swing. Everyone’s thirst for gossip and curiosity was unprecedented.

For the fifth round, the bottle spun.

Fang Xu continued to silently pray that it wouldn’t point to her.

But this time, she wasn’t so lucky; the bottle opening pointed perfectly at her, with no deviation.

“Choose Truth or Dare?”

Fang Xu thought about it and chose Dare.

She usually didn’t talk much in the group but was very reliable. The person spinning the bottle thought for a moment but didn’t let her off the hook: “Send a message to the second person on your chat list. The content is ‘I like you.'”

Fang Xu paused. She currently only had two pinned chats. The first was her sister, and the second was Pei Yunci.

She parted her lips and said, “Can I… drink instead?”

When she said this, everyone’s eyes lit up a little.

“?”

“Something’s fishy, something’s fishy. Xiao Xu has something going on?”

“Xiao Xu, you have to drink a whole can of beer. Why don’t you just send the message? You don’t have to tell us who you sent it to.”

“Exactly! Xiao Xu didn’t even look at her chat list and immediately wanted to drink. That means she knows who it is, and she can’t send that message!”

When it came to gossip, everyone was more astute than a detective.

Fang Xu felt that if she let them talk any longer, she wouldn’t be able to keep anything a secret.

She interrupted: “I’ll just drink.”

After speaking, Fang Xu opened a new can of beer.

She rarely drank and wasn’t used to the taste of beer, but she slowly finished it anyway.

“Something’s not right. Everyone, try to spin it towards Xiao Xu next.”

Even the senior next to her chimed in: “You’re right, you’re right. I’m genuinely curious.”

Fang Xu: “…”

Was it okay to openly plot against her right in front of her?

Fortunately, after not playing for long, her phone suddenly rang.

Fang Xu immediately sighed in relief. Finally, a reason to escape. She excused herself to the senior next to her and left the room.

Only when she was about to answer the phone did she see the name on the screen.

“Yunci?”

“Are you busy right now?” Pei Yunci asked.

She had Fang Xu’s class schedule and a general idea of what she was doing. Normally, at this time, the other party should be free.

Fang Xu replied: “No, I’m not busy. My advisor took me and other classmates out for a meal. We were playing a game just now, and it was a bit noisy, so it was inconvenient to answer the phone.”

“What game?” It was rare for the good student to go out and have fun, so Pei Yunci was a little curious.

“Truth or Dare.”

It was quiet outside, and Fang Xu relaxed, no longer as nervous as before, so she added: “Thanks to your call, I was able to get out.”

Pei Yunci curved her lips: “Did they make things difficult for you?”

Good students looked easy to bully and were prone to trouble in games like that.

“They didn’t make things difficult,” Fang Xu said, looking down and chatting with her, “It’s just that I was asked to do a Dare that was a bit inconvenient for me.”

Pei Yunci: “What kind of Dare?”

Fang Xu’s breathing caught for a moment. She suddenly regretted being too detailed.

She also regretted that she should have stayed inside a little longer, perhaps remembering some other Dares, so her mind wouldn’t be completely blank right now.

“Xiao Xu?” Pei Yunci said.

There was a streak of dominance in her nature. She could conceal things from others and keep them curious, but she couldn’t accept that herself. She didn’t want to only know half of anything.

Fang Xu pursed her lips and still obediently replied, “To send a message to the second person on my list.”

This request wasn’t difficult; the difficult part must be the content of the message.

Pei Yunci thought this and asked out loud: “What message could make Xiao Xu so troubled?”

At this point, Fang Xu had no way out. If she strongly refused, it would only lead to awkwardness between them.

She held the phone to her ear, feeling like she could hear the other party’s breathing.

Fang Xu whispered, “I like you.”

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