Senior, Stop Pretending to be an Alpha - Chapter 20

Cheng Yeli sat before the computer with his arms crossed, eyes glued to the screen. As a young master who had never so much as dipped his fingers into spring water, he didn’t have much of a clue about the average salary for a tutor, so he just pulled a high number out of thin air.

Regardless of the amount, his only goal was to tempt Yu Qiao.

Ten minutes ago, while Cheng Yeli was still fretting over losing Curry, Xie Bufei had suddenly called, offering him a chance to atone for his “crimes.”

Xie Bufei asked, “Isn’t your little cousin about to take his high school entrance exams? How are his grades?”

Cheng Yeli sighed and said helplessly, “Don’t even get me started. It’s a complete mess. His parents worry every day about how to improve his scores, but that little ancestor only thinks about skipping class to play video games.”

“Sounds pretty bad.” Xie Bufei smiled and said lazily, “Have you considered getting him a tutor?”

“Probably wouldn’t work, right?” Cheng Yeli thought about it, feeling a bit tempted but hesitant. “I’m afraid a normal teacher wouldn’t be able to handle him…”

“A tutor, plus me,” Xie Bufei said. “That should be enough to keep him in line, right?”

Cheng Yeli was confused. “What do you mean? You’re going to be the tutor?”

Xie Bufei replied, “Not me—Yu Qiao. She’s been looking for a part-time job lately, so I thought of you.”

Cheng Yeli suddenly saw the light and cursed with a laugh, “Holy crap, so that’s your angle! Doing all this for that ‘little girlfriend’ again?! You’ve really put a lot of thought into this.”

Xie Bufei gave a soft “Mm,” her eyes shimmering with a smile. Recalling the number noted on the sticky note on Yu Qiao’s desk, she said, “Join the school’s part-time job group, find Yu Qiao, and tell her you need a tutor.”

“…The part-time group?”

Cheng Yeli was completely bewildered. “Why go through all that trouble? Why not just introduce her directly? That way she’d be grateful to you—wouldn’t that be better? Why go through me?”

Xie Bufei clicked her tongue, pressing her slender fingers to her forehead as she let out a light sigh. “You don’t understand. She’s the type who hates owing people favors. If I suggest it, she’ll probably spend all her energy trying to figure out how to pay me back.”

Cheng Yeli crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, snickering. “Isn’t that even better? You two keep owing each other until you can’t pay it back, then you might as well just marry each other.”

Xie Bufei: “…”

Cheng Yeli quickly stopped laughing and said seriously, “Just a joke. Don’t worry, I guarantee the mission will be completed.”

“Fine. If you pull this off, I’ll let the matter with Curry go,” Xie Bufei’s voice grew stern. “But if you fail…”

Cheng Yeli shuddered. Recalling the way the “Eldest Miss” looked when she was angry, his hair stood on end. “I’ll definitely do it this time!”

After hanging up, he began asking around for Yu Qiao’s number and finally found his target. To prevent his identity from being exposed, he specifically used a burner account he had just registered.

What was this called? This was called being meticulous!

Cheng Yeli was very satisfied with his maneuvers, unaware that in Yu Qiao’s eyes, he was already teetering on the edge of being a fool.

For an ordinary university student to work as a tutor—even one from a prestigious university—it was impossible to earn as much as nine thousand a month.

Yu Qiao didn’t overthink it, eventually leaving a polite closing remark: “Thank you. These conditions are very good. I will consider it seriously and get back to you later.”

What is there to consider?!

Cheng Yeli was shocked. Was the money not enough? This person’s appetite was truly huge; she really was the person Xie Bufei had her eye on—this “lion opening its mouth” style was exactly like hers.

He clattered away at the keyboard, quickly trying to keep her: “Don’t consider it. Ten thousand a month. Come to Wandong Community this weekend, and I can pay you in advance.”

Yu Qiao: “…”

It was 2021; even a scammer wouldn’t use such a blunt method to lure someone in. She was starting to suspect that the person was simply “more money than brains.”

After pondering for a long while, she replied: “Okay. I’m busy this Saturday, so I’ll find you on Sunday. Is that okay?”

Cheng Yeli, who had been waiting as if years were passing by, agreed immediately. The two hit it off and set a meeting time. After the conversation ended, Yu Qiao checked the specific location of Wandong Community and found that it was a high-end neighborhood where the residents were either wealthy or noble.

This cleared her suspicions slightly. After all, a scammer wouldn’t likely live in a luxury community to carry out a scam.

Unless scammers were that “internally competitive” these days…

The part-time job issue had been solved so suddenly that Yu Qiao felt a bit dazed; it all felt very unreal. A salary of nine thousand a month was equivalent to working three or four jobs at the same time.

She sat in her chair staring blankly until Lu Yun asked, “Qiaoqiao, weren’t you going to find a part-time job? How did it go?”

Yu Qiao snapped out of it and said slowly, “Found one. Going for an interview this weekend.”

Yao Rudong looked up from beside the cat bed and smiled. “That’s great! Congratulations! So you don’t have to head out this afternoon?”

Yu Qiao nodded. “That’s right.”

Yao Rudong: “Then you can get some rest.”

She had been teasing Curry for a while. The kitten lay lazily on the old clothes like a spread-out white cat-pancake, still ignoring her. Yao Rudong could only keep testing the waters on the verge of being bitten.

She casually brought up some gossip: “By the way, did you guys know? A new student moved into the dorm next door.”

Lu Yun: “A new student? It’s already been several weeks since school started.”

“Supposedly it’s because of poor health. She’s been on leave at home and hasn’t attended classes,” Yao Rudong said. “And she seems to be an Alpha. Quite pretty, too.”

Because Betas cannot smell pheromones and aren’t affected by them, the school arranged for Alphas and Betas to live together. Several dorm buildings in Area A were mixed housing for Alphas and Betas, while Omegas lived separately in Area B.

Lu Yun, who was reading, looked up at her. “Pretty? You’ve seen her?”

Yao Rudong said airily, “Haven’t seen her face clearly, but I caught a glimpse from a distance. Her vibe is quite good.”

Yu Qiao paused, suddenly asking, “Is her name Xie Ke?”

Yao Rudong asked in surprise, “I’m not sure about that… Qiaoqiao, do you know her?”

Lu Yun also looked over curiously, only to see Yu Qiao shake her head and say, “Not well.”

Yu Qiao looked down at her phone, wondering if she should tell Xie Bufei this news. After a moment of hesitation, she clicked send.

“Xie Ke seems to have moved into our dorm building. Please be careful, Senior.”

On the other side, Xie Bufei was listening to Cheng Yeli report on his mission progress. When she saw Yu Qiao’s message, she couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

Cheng Yeli, who was in the middle of talking, heard her laugh and asked in confusion, “What are you laughing at? Is there something wrong with my approach?”

“Nothing.” Xie Bufei curled her lips and said casually, “You did well. I’m hanging up.”

Before he could respond, the call was disconnected. Cheng Yeli stared at his phone. “Hanging up just like that? It hasn’t even been three minutes.”

In the middle of the night, Yu Qiao was woken up by the heat.

She opened her eyes to a pitch-black dormitory. The entire campus was deep in sleep. Silvery moonlight flooded into the room, sliced into irregular geometric shapes by the window frames.

Her temples throbbed with a stabbing pain, and her throat felt as if it were on fire. Every breath was scorching hot, making her vision go dark. She curled up on the bed, her limbs trembling, biting down hard on her quilt to keep herself from crying out in pain.

…It hurt. It hurt too much.

It felt as if a void had opened deep within her body, instinctively making her crave something. She clenched her knuckles, the bones making a creaking sound. Closing her eyes, sweat dripped down her dark hair, soaking the fabric on her back.

The bone-deep pain was continuous, burning away her reason until she could see and hear nothing. For a moment, she felt as if she might die.

It wasn’t until the horizon began to turn gray—five or six hours later—that the pain finally eased. She had endured the entire night.

The alarm clock beside her rang on time. Lu Yun sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes, and began her routine of waking Yao Rudong: “Wake up, wake up, time for class…”

She looked around and noticed that Yu Qiao, who usually woke up earliest, wasn’t at the sink. Lu Yun looked toward the top bunk and asked with a smile, “Qiaoqiao, did you oversleep today too?”

The bedding on the top bunk moved, and Yu Qiao slowly sat up. Her face was terrifyingly pale, her hair was a mess, and her eyes weren’t as bright as usual. Her expression even seemed somewhat dark.

Lu Yun was startled. “Qiaoqiao? Are you okay?”

Yu Qiao lowered her head and climbed down from the bed slowly, her voice dry and raspy. “I’m fine.”

She staggered into the bathroom, stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, and began to wash up.

When she returned to the dorm, Yao Rudong saw her face and her expression changed as well. “Qiaoqiao, you look so haggard today. What happened? Did your cold get worse?”

Yu Qiao answered somewhat numbly, “Maybe.”

She was shrouded in a suffocatingly low atmosphere. Yao Rudong and Lu Yun looked at each other, and the former asked cautiously, “Do you want to take the day off?”

Yu Qiao picked up her cup and took a sip of water, biting her lip to clear her head. She shook her head. “No.”

Curry looked up at her from the cat bed, instinctively trembled, and shrank back.

Yao Rudong didn’t dare say anything more. After finishing their morning routine, the three of them walked out of the dorm.

In the early morning, people were scattered in the corridor, walking hurriedly. Yu Qiao turned back to close the dorm door when she suddenly heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

A voice full of surprise rang out: “Are you sister’s friend?”

She turned around and saw that delicate, pale face. Those beautiful large eyes were gazing at her. With her hands behind her back, the girl smiled innocently.

The girl blinked at her and asked, “Do you still remember me?”

Yu Qiao looked down at her and said, “Xie Ke?”

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