The Green Tea Omega Has Turned Bad - Chapter 1

It was a July afternoon in math class.

The air was sweltering and heavy. The teacher’s incessant lecturing was hypnotic, and Jiang He propped her chin on her hand, drifting on the edge of sleep. In her half-dreaming state, a strange scratching sound had been buzzing in her ear.

Jiang He forced her eyelids open and glanced over, questioning her seatmate, “Yan Xia, what are you writing?”

Yan Xia held a pencil, her elbow resting on a sheet of scratch paper. She didn’t even look up as she replied, “Nothing.”

Jiang He narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her. “You seem a bit weird today.”

Yan Xia’s pencil paused. “You’re overthinking it.”

She looked no different than usual a thin, pale frame swallowed by her red and white school uniform. Heavy, blunt bangs covered her eyebrows, and a pair of dowdy black rimmed glasses sat on her small nose, making her look dull and frail.

Jiang He leaned closer and, without warning, reached out to press down on her scratch paper. “Let me see.”

Yan Xia’s reaction was unexpectedly faster. Her elbow dropped sharply, pinning Jiang He’s hand against the desk with precision.

Jiang He gasped, her sleepiness vanishing instantly.

Yan Xia stared at her blankly.

The back of Jiang He’s hand was pinned tight; a sharp pain radiated through her skin. She tried to pull away a few times but couldn’t budge it. Hissing through her teeth, she snapped, “Get your arm off me!”

As if only just realizing what she’d done, Yan Xia’s lips trembled, and her voice was as faint as a mosquito. “I’m sorry, you just startled me.” She quickly lifted her elbow and lowered her head anxiously.

Jiang He pulled her hand back; the skin was flushed red and throbbing with a dull ache. Her expression darkened immediately.

Since when did Yan Xia have such strength? When she had tried to pull her hand away just now, it had felt like being held down by a vice.

And she was supposed to be a weak, fragile Omega.

Indignant, Jiang He’s tone became aggressive. “Why won’t you let me see it?”

Yan Xia looked up. Her dark, bright eyes were visible through the glass lenses, her gaze clear. “Because it’s nothing important.”

Jiang He stared at her. “Not important? Then why hide it from me?”

In the past, no matter what Jiang He demanded from Yan Xia, the girl had never resisted. Not wanting to lose face, Jiang He suppressed her irritation and lowered her voice to a coaxing whisper, just as she always did. “Xia-Xia, aren’t we friends?”

Yan Xia looked at her, pursing her lips in silence.

Seeing her resolve waver, Jiang He felt a surge of triumph. Suddenly, a sharp voice cut through the air above them: “Jiang He! What are you two whispering about back there? Why don’t you come up and give the lecture for me?”

All eyes snapped toward them. Jiang He turned pale and stood up as a reflex.

At the front of the room, Ms. Zhang was glaring at her.

Under the collective gaze of the class eyes like blades piercing her nerves Jiang He felt a wave of stinging humiliation. The dull ache in her hand served as a reminder of the struggle.

Her mind went blank, and she blurted out, “I didn’t mean to. It was Yan Xia; she wanted to talk to me.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a few whistles echoed through the room.

Several students in the front row turned around, mouthing to their friends with mocking expressions: Here comes the show!

Class 11-F was the notorious “tail-end” class. According to the other grades, this room was a collection of “rotten apples” delinquents, slackers, and rich kids just killing time. Consequently, the atmosphere was terrible, and their exam rankings were perpetually at the bottom.

The math teacher, Zhang Ying, had graduated from normal school only a few years ago. Despite her lack of seniority, she loved to put on airs and was notoriously biased toward high-achieving students.

Jiang He usually performed okay and had a decent attitude. Yan Xia, however, was a different story. Her grades were perpetually at the bottom; no matter the exam, she was guaranteed a spot in the bottom five of the entire grade.

If it had been anyone else, Zhang Ying might have been skeptical, but Yan Xia’s reputation was special. Few teachers had a kind word for her. In Zhang Ying’s eyes, failing students simply didn’t deserve a voice.

Sure enough, Zhang Ying turned her fury on Yan Xia, berating her. “What were you pulling Jiang He into a conversation for? If you don’t want to learn, don’t drag other students down with you!”

Amidst a wave of snickers, Yan Xia slowly stood up.

As if uncomfortable with the attention, her cheeks flushed a deep red. Her slender fingers gripped her sleeves so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Under Zhang Ying’s glare, Yan Xia took a deep breath and answered in a small but firm voice: “It… it was Jiang He who spoke to me first.”

Jiang He’s hand tightened into a fist. She shot a threatening glare at Yan Xia, who trembled but didn’t look back, keeping her thin frame as upright as possible.

Zhang Ying had heard plenty of excuses from failing students. She gave a cold laugh, not bothering to argue. “Fine, I don’t care who started it.”

“Since you’re so eager to talk, why don’t you come up and solve this problem?” She paused deliberately. “If you can’t do it, get out of my classroom!”

The sleepy students perked up, watching with a mix of schadenfreude and morbid curiosity. Dozens of eyes landed on Yan Xia some mocking, some pitying, some cold.

Under the spotlight, Yan Xia didn’t argue further. She lowered her head, tucked her scratch paper into her notebook, and walked toward the podium with small steps.

She stopped in front of the blackboard. From behind, she looked tiny and pale, like a sheet of paper that might blow away in the wind. Normally, her posture was poor shoulders hunched and back curved giving her a cowering, timid look that people found irritating.

Yan Xia looked up, seriously studying the problem on the board. She was short, and the problem was written quite high, making it a strain to look at.

Zhang Ying stood to the side with her arms crossed and a dark expression.

This function problem wasn’t easy. She knew perfectly well that with Yan Xia’s grades, there was no way she could solve it. Calling her up was merely a way to wake the class up and make an example out of her.

After a few seconds of silence while Yan Xia stared at the board, someone in the audience lost patience. “If you can’t do it, just come down! Stop wasting everyone’s time!”

The room erupted into laughter.

Most people disliked Yan Xia. She was plain, had terrible grades, a cowardly personality, and zero presence and she was an Omega. Her only “saving grace” was that her family had money.

Jiang He curled her lip into a mocking smile.

Zhang Ying didn’t stop the laughter. She said impatiently to Yan Xia, “If you can’t do it, then leave.”

Before she could finish, Yan Xia reached out and picked up a piece of chalk.

The laughter died instantly. A strange silence fell over the room, filled only by the rhythmic scritch scratch of chalk against the board.

In less than a minute, elegant chalk handwriting was neatly arranged beneath the problem.

Looking at the rows of perfect calculations, Zhang Ying’s expression shifted through several shades of discomfort.

Yan Xia pushed her glasses up her nose and said timidly, “Teacher, is there a problem with my answer?”

Zhang Ying looked pained. She scanned the board several times, looking for an error, but found none.

She coughed awkwardly and waved her hand. ” It’s correct. You may sit down.”

Yan Xia nodded, brushed the chalk dust off her hands, and returned to her seat.

What just happened?!

The students exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes eventually converging on Yan Xia in a collective stare of inquiry.

As if overwhelmed by the attention, Yan Xia curled back into her shell like a startled hedgehog, her eyes darting away.

Simultaneously, a crisp mechanical voice echoed in her mind: Ding! Positive Points +20.

Yan Xia stretched her stiff neck and picked up her mechanical pencil. With a flick of her wrist, her fingers danced, spinning the pencil in a flawless, professional flourish.

“Only +20? Isn’t that a bit low?” Casting off her timid facade, she asked lazily in her mind, “System, didn’t you say there was a double-points week for new users? That’s it? For real?”

Support The Green Tea Omega Has Turned Bad