Seduced By My Omega Stepsister - Chapter 13

Now, it recognizes you.

In the end, Fu Zhou was dragged off to take a shower.

Chu Xiyu stood by the bathroom door, listening to the pitter-patter of the water inside.

On the table sat a pile of burgers and rice bowls, still unopened. Fu Zhou had insisted on waiting until all the delivery orders arrived before she would agree to shower. By the time they did, an hour had passed, and her clothes had long since dried.

Lowering her gaze, Chu Xiyu waited ten minutes until Fu Zhou emerged from the bathroom to hand her a glass of warm water.

“Thank you.” The girl’s dark eyes curved into a smile. Chu Xiyu nodded in response.

Fu Zhou ate quickly, practically shoveling food into her mouth, swallowing large bites without much chewing.

During a break in the meal, Chu Xiyu glanced up at the Alpha across from her. It might have been a delusion, but after that single look, Fu Zhou’s eating speed slowed down slightly, if one didn’t look too closely, it almost gave the illusion of “slow and careful” chewing.

After dinner and freshening up, Chu Xiyu didn’t return to her room. Instead, she stayed in her pajamas, working on practice problems at the living room table.

Fu Zhou wandered back in after a lap around the house, her gaze landing on the “Complete Handbook of Mathematics Competition Problems” sitting by Chu Xiyu’s hand.

“Chu Xiyu, it’s the weekend. There are so many people walking around downstairs. Do you want to go outside with me and take a look?”

“Not interested.”

“Chu Xiyu, has anyone ever told you you’re very dull? Like a little old lady.”

In the end, Chu Xiyu followed Fu Zhou out. At the latter’s strong insistence, she wore only her pajamas with a thin coat thrown over them.

The streetlights fell brightly on both sides of the road. While the villa district was quiet during the day, it was surprisingly crowded at night.

“Everyone works during the day, and they’re usually tired at night. But since today is the weekend, they’ve rested during the day, so they come out at night to walk their dogs or take their kids for a stroll.”

Walking to Chu Xiyu’s left, Fu Zhou led the way with a smile.

“I’ll tell you, when I was a kid living at my grandmother’s place, I’d go out every night. All the dogs in that neighborhood knew me, they’d wag their tails the moment they saw me.”

Chu Xiyu glanced sideways, seeing the boyish, carefree tilt of the other girl’s lips.

“And now?” Chu Xiyu asked out of the blue. “Do the dogs here recognize you?”

Fu Zhou’s pace was light, and her tone followed suit, trailing behind like a long shadow cast by the streetlights. “Huh? The dogs here… they don’t seem to know me. Since I moved here, I rarely come out.”

The seventeen-year-old was buoyant, all her darkness seemed condensed into that tiny patch of shadow beneath her feet. It was only in those accidental flashes of bitterness that one could tell she had suffered.

Seeing the fleeting pain in Fu Zhou’s eyes, Chu Xiyu didn’t press further. She curled her lips slightly and walked toward a nearby vending machine.

“Where are you going?”

“To buy something.”

Fu Zhou followed her and watched as she bought a grilled sausage. She watched as Chu Xiyu crouched down; within seconds, a small dog came trotting over, tail wagging.

Chu Xiyu fed a bit to the dog, then gestured for Fu Zhou to crouch down, handing the sausage to her.

Enveloped in the glow of the streetlights, Fu Zhou froze. In her line of sight, the girl’s eyes were gentle, holding a faint, lingering smile.

“Fu Zhou, now this little dog recognizes you.”

A strange numbness sprouted in the depths of Fu Zhou’s heart, growing hotter as it rose. Her breath hitched for a moment. She couldn’t help but turn her head away, dodging Chu Xiyu’s tender gaze.

Yet, having avoided it, she felt a wave of inexplicable guilt and forced her head back.

Chu Xiyu didn’t look at her again, simply remaining crouched to watch the dog.

Fu Zhou started to feel a twinge of jealousy.

“Chu Xiyu, next time you buy a sausage for a dog, can you buy one for me too?” Chu Xiyu’s gaze shifted back to her.

“You’re actually competing with a dog over this?”

“No, it’s just… doing that makes it seem like I’m not as important as the dog.” As the words left her mouth, Fu Zhou felt her face flush with embarrassment. It was the first time she had ever been so unreasonable.

But the girl before her only gave a light laugh.

“Fine. Next time, I’ll buy yours first.”

Fu Zhou didn’t speak. She looked at the two shadows intertwined on the ground and thought. Why is the moonlight so gentle tonight?

It was only the first period of the morning, the time when students were at their sleepiest.

Zhou Heyu’s note hit her again. Fu Zhou struggled to open her heavy eyes and unfolded the poorly crumpled scrap of paper.

“Fu Zhou, what’s up with you today? You look terrible.”

Fu Zhou rolled her eyes and was about to give Zhou Heyu a “I’m fine” hand signal when a shadow stopped by her desk.

This was English class. The teacher, “Sister Tan,” was small and cute, and very kind after class but she was famously fierce during it. The “High-Intensity Foundation” Class A was notoriously bad at English compared to other subjects, and Fu Zhou was the worst of the lot. Consequently, Fu Zhou usually listened intently during English.

Even if she didn’t understand, she would listen. This was the first time she had been caught red-handed.

Fu Zhou stiffened as she looked up, revealing a face that was excessively pale.

Sister Tan’s fierce expression faltered, replaced by a clear look of worry.

“You… why do you look so pale? Are you sick?”

Fu Zhou shook her head. “My head hurts a bit, but everything else is fine.”

“Come to my office after class.”

“Okay.”

The class was supposed to be working on a mock exam, but at seventeen, any tiny disturbance is enough to wake everyone up, even the elite students of Class A were no exception. Especially since Fu Zhou was quite popular both in class and across the school.

While they were talking, several heads had already started peeking over.

“Alright, the rest of you mind your own business. I don’t even want to talk about your class. I teach both Foundation Class A and B. Class B’s average is a full three points higher than yours. Even General Class 1 is only 0.7 points behind you. If it’s this low next time, the whole class will be memorizing essays.”

A long groan echoed through the classroom.

“Teacher, General Class 1 is full of Alphas and Omegas; it’s normal for them to be strong. Is the school going to turn them into Foundation Class C next year?” Someone started the conversation, and the room quickly grew noisy.

“Yeah, exactly! And many of our teachers are shared with them…”

The school’s classes were ranked by intensity. A, B, C and 1, 2, 3 were just labels. Class A was the strongest, and Class 10 was the last. A class could be General Class 9 today and jump to General Class 7 after the next exam; the classroom plaques were constantly being swapped.

Foundation Classes A and B, however, had always been in their own league of competition. Their class was slightly stronger in science than the neighboring class, and since the Physics-Chemistry-Biology track carried a lot of weight, they had remained at Level A since the start of the semester.

“That’s enough. Foundation classes aren’t just about the faculty. This floor only has two classrooms; it’s impossible to add more.”

Hearing Sister Tan’s words, many students breathed a sigh of relief. They were still teenagers, after all; if a general class actually moved up, they would be unhappy about it.

“However, the neighboring class’s grades have been skyrocketing lately. If you don’t step it up, after the midterms, you’ll be Class B.”

“Fine, fine, we get it, Sister Tan.”

Fu Zhou’s temples throbbed even harder. She felt several unfriendly gazes lingering on her side like fine needles, not painful enough to sting deep, but irritating.

In Foundation Class A, she was the only one who had been forced in through “connections.” Although Chu Xiyu next door had also used connections, word had already spread that her actual strength was legitimate. Thus, Fu Zhou was the only one suspected of dragging the team down. Usually, it was fine because their class was over two points ahead of the next, but now that there was a crisis, she had become a thorn in the side of some classmates.

Everyone was competitive. Even if Fu Zhou had a good reputation, there were always a few who disliked her.

After class, she followed Sister Tan to the office and was handed a thermometer.

“Measure your temperature and see if you have a fever.”

Fu Zhou nodded and sat quietly in the office. A few minutes later, she pulled out the thermometer, the mercury had climbed clearly to 37.8

A bit of a high fever.

Sister Tan frowned slightly, stood up, and mixed her a cup of fever reducing medicine.

“Drink this, then go find your homeroom teacher to ask for leave. Go to the hospital, this fever isn’t low.”

Fu Zhou nodded obediently.

She wasn’t worried at all.

Besides, asking the “Mediterranean” (balding) old man for leave was always a huge hassle. He insisted on calling parents and always had something to nag about.

After drinking the medicine, she decided she would just rest at school.