My Desk Mate is My Fiancée - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Alphas Wouldn’t Be Interested in…

When Zhong Xiu arrived at the classroom, there was an exquisite black, hollow-out, rectangular gift box on Lin Xi’s desk. There was no note, no message, and no information about the sender.

However, Zhong Xiu knew who sent it and what was inside:

A fountain pen.

She had already given Lin Xi a pen of the same brand on Lin Xi’s birthday. It was probably still sitting on the desk in Lin Xi’s bedroom.

It was a limited-edition fountain pen from Lin Xi’s usual stationery brand, which Zhong Xiu had pre-ordered a month in advance and waited in line for three hours in the city center to buy.

She had secretly noted down the birthday date when she offered to submit Lin Xi’s ID card along with hers.

If Shen Zhi Qiu were sending a gift, it wouldn’t need to be so complicated.

Seeing the unique black-and-gold VIP logo on the gift box, Zhong Xiu thought that perhaps her only advantage was delivering this gift at the right time.

During the exam, Zhong Xiu’s attention was easily scattered, even though the first subject was Chinese, her best subject.

The seating for the monthly exam at Experimental High School was arranged by grade. Lin Xi was on the top floor, and Zhong Xiu was on the third floor from the bottom, separated by two full floors. With five hundred and twenty-one science students, Zhong Xiu felt she would never catch up to her in this lifetime.

Unless Lin Xi didn’t show up for the exam this time, and she also turned in a blank paper, then they might meet.

After a series of distracted thoughts, she still had to pick up her pen and write the essay. There was no other reason: she didn’t dare turn in a blank paper. As the Chinese class representative, she would be drowned in Old Yu’s spit.

Coming out of the examination room, Zhong Xiu felt like her brain had been completely consumed. She couldn’t even recall whether she had written her name or not.

It was lively outside. Everyone was gathering in groups of two or three, discussing something. It definitely wasn’t related to the Chinese exam, but Zhong Xiu had no appetite for it. She just wanted to go back to the classroom to catch up on some sleep, so she didn’t listen closely.

“Zhong Xiu,” someone called her name near the stairs.

“What is it?” It was a Beta girl who lived in the same residential complex as her, named Ye Shuwen.

“Could you please take this to Zhai Yong for me?” The girl handed her a cup of milk tea, looking a little embarrassed.

“I can’t, really. He should be in the classroom right now. Why don’t you come up with me?” Zhong Xiu was cautious about the slightly ambiguous act of delivering milk tea. It wouldn’t be good if Zhai Yong misunderstood.

Besides, she had never given Lin Xi milk tea.

“Why can’t you? Aren’t you in the same class?” Ye Shuwen looked up at the classrooms above. “Just give it to him for me. You don’t have to say anything.”

“It’s easily misunderstood,” Zhong Xiu rubbed her dizzy head and promptly refused.

“Are you afraid that Lin Xi will misunderstand?” Ye Shuwen immediately replied. “No, she won’t. Lin Xi has presented as an Alpha. She probably wouldn’t…”

She didn’t finish the rest of her sentence, but Zhong Xiu understood the gist: Alphas wouldn’t be interested in Betas.

She knew Zhong Xiu had a crush and had even guessed that Zhong Xiu’s crush was Lin Xi, even though Zhong Xiu hadn’t admitted it. But sometimes, not denying it is the best admission.

“That’s not what I meant. Wait, how do you know Lin Xi presented as an Alpha?”

“You don’t know, do you?” She looked at Zhong Xiu with pity, as if Zhong Xiu were the last poor soul in the world to know the news. “The whole school knows! Lin Xi presented as an Alpha, a top-tier Alpha.”

Zhong Xiu clutched her backpack and remained silent. Could this news have come from Shen Zhi Qiu? She seemed to be the only one qualified to reveal it, and the only one with that kind of influence.

Then she saw Ye Shuwen put on a look of surprise.

“Zhong Xiu,” the person calling her name had a voice that was all too familiar.

Zhong Xiu immediately turned around, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Lin Xi, why are you here?”

Wearing the same blue-and-white high school uniform, the Alpha’s figure was slender. The uniform looked casual on her, and her delicate wrists and ankles were subtly revealed as she walked—the graceful frame unique to girls.

The small patch of skin exposed at the collar was like a handful of white snow in winter, and when the soft black hair was gently stirred by the wind, she looked like everyone’s image of a first love.

However, while all the students could blurt out that Lin Xi was their dream first love, only Zhong Xiu dared not voice it publicly. This was her deepest secret, an unspeakable girl’s crush.

Starting from a summer evening in the first year of high school, perhaps when the rain-washed, fresh air arrived, or perhaps when the last glow of the sunset faded, Lin Xi, for Zhong Xiu, had transformed from an ordinary speck among countless stars into an indispensable, bright moonlight.

“For Old Tang’s bonus,” Lin Xi walked up to her.

Zhong Xiu suddenly realized, she had grown taller again.

The salary of the homeroom teachers at Experimental High School was closely related to student performance, especially the position of the top student in the entire school, which all homeroom teachers coveted.

So, with Lin Xi taking leave this time, besides Zhong Xiu’s panic, Old Tang was probably pulling his hair out in worry.

Zhong Xiu smiled so brightly that she didn’t even notice when Ye Shuwen left.

“Then where are you going to eat lunch?”

Normally, Lin Xi’s maid would specially come to deliver her lunch.

“The cafeteria.” If the school didn’t forbid students from leaving at noon, Lin Xi would have wanted to check out the street behind the school.

“Then let’s hurry! If we go late, there won’t be any food left.” Hearing this, Zhong Xiu quickly grabbed Lin Xi’s school uniform and rushed toward the cafeteria, almost completely forgetting that her original destination was the classroom.

Based on the Alpha’s performance last night, one cafeteria meal would definitely not be enough. This was the first time Zhong Xiu had rushed to the cafeteria so hastily.

It was also Lin Xi’s first time being dragged by her Beta deskmate to run wild, heading toward the cafeteria with so many people, like tens of thousands of blue ants.

Finding a window seat, Zhong Xiu tossed her backpack onto it, telling Lin Xi to wait there.

“I want to go too.” Lin Xi was full of curiosity about getting food. In junior high, she used to watch classmates flocking to the cafeteria in groups, knocking their bowls as they lined up, which looked like fun, but she never had the chance to participate.

Her father’s Mercedes-Benz was her only dining location at school.

“Alright, then go directly to the innermost counter. The food there is usually better and the portions are bigger.” Zhong Xiu was a little helpless with the eager Alpha.

While getting the food, Zhong Xiu, feeling uneasy, got an extra serving. Cafeteria food was supposed to be filling, but the aunties serving the dishes always had shaky hands like they had Parkinson’s, as if the students were eating their family’s pork, and one extra slice was unacceptable.

A large spoonful of food would end up as less than half a spoon in the bowl.

Although for her, a Beta, it was enough.

“Why is there only this much?” Lin Xi used her chopsticks to count the pieces in the plate of potato and pork ribs, utterly confused.

She had already said this three times. Zhong Xiu found it funny. “How much did you think there would be?”

Lin Xi shook her head. She didn’t know how much there should be, but this was far too little. The cafeteria auntie said “next student,” and she didn’t react, still waiting for the auntie to add more until the student behind her passed their bowl in. Only then did she realize it was over.

“This is actually pretty good. If you come late, you won’t even get this. You’ll only have cabbage and tofu.” Zhong Xiu smiled and pushed the other portion of food she had gotten toward her.

“What if I’m not full?”

Not full with this? Zhong Xiu blinked. If she hadn’t witnessed it last night, she would suspect Lin Xi wasn’t from Earth.

“Well, why don’t you start eating first.”

But as Lin Xi ate, the rice was visibly running out. Not just Zhong Xiu, but the surrounding students who were already paying attention to the Alpha also cast incredulous glances.

Today, because of a certain person’s arrival, students who usually didn’t come to the cafeteria rushed there as well. The seats around the two of them were full. Zhong Xiu was used to it. Even before Lin Xi presented, she was the center of attention. The hallway outside Science Class 1 was never empty after class, so it was no surprise that things had intensified now that she had presented as a top-tier Alpha.

Lin Xi naturally looked up and scanned the area. Everyone immediately lowered their heads, pulled back their gazes, and focused on eating. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, just like when they hid novels and magazines under their books when a teacher entered the classroom.

Zhong Xiu was secretly smiling, but the person opposite her quickly fixed their eyes on her.

To be precise, her gaze fell on the unfinished plate in front of Zhong Xiu.

At this hour, the cafeteria aunties were already wiping tables and collecting bowls. There was no line at the counter, so there was definitely no more food to be served.

“I’ve eaten from this,” Zhong Xiu said in a faint, slightly disbelieving voice. She was afraid someone else might hear and that she might become a public enemy of the entire school the next day.

“I know,” Lin Xi pointed to Zhong Xiu’s plate, looking somewhat perplexed. “I’m just curious, what exactly did you eat?”

The food on the plate seemed only to have been moved, from the left side to the right, and the quantity had not decreased.

“Ah,” Zhong Xiu suddenly felt a little guilty. She couldn’t admit that she had been secretly watching the person opposite her eat. “I did eat some.”

“Are you a picky eater?” Lin Xi began to count the dishes on her plate. “Cilantro, carrots, ginger, garlic… You only ate the spinach and pumpkin.”

“A little bit,” How does this person have such a good memory? Zhong Xiu’s ears were slightly red. Her father also often told her she was a picky eater.

Lin Xi didn’t say anything more. She didn’t understand why Zhong Xiu, whose father was a great chef and whose cooking was so delicious, would still be a picky eater.

“It’s genetic, you know. My mom was picky too,” Zhong Xiu tried to defend herself.

An image of an extremely elegant but deathly pale and weak woman appeared in Lin Xi’s mind. Zhong Xiu’s mother was one of the very few people who had left a deep impression on her.

“Are you still hungry? Why don’t I take you to eat behind the school after the exam? You seemed to like those egg waffles.” The longer Lin Xi stayed silent, the more uneasy Zhong Xiu felt, so she tried to change the subject.

“Okay,” even though she realized the other person was trying to change the subject, the Alpha’s goal of eating egg waffles on the back street was indirectly achieved.

The two of them carried their finished plates, ready to put them in the recycling area, getting up and slinging their backpacks on their backs.

“Well, well, isn’t this Lin Xi? Why are you eating in the school cafeteria, and you finished it all? I remember the pigs raised at my grandpa’s house love potatoes the most. They always lick the plate clean.”