Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 17

The two stood at the door in a stalemate one wanting to leave, the other refusing to let go. The wind passing through the corridor seemed to slow as it brushed past them.

Ye Shuyi looked at her profile, her tone uncertain. “Are you avoiding me?”

“No.” Yi Qian turned her head to meet her gaze, her eyes devoid of any emotion. “Why would I avoid you? I just don’t want to see you.”

With that, she tried to leave, but unexpectedly, Ye Shuyi’s hand not only remained in place but also wrapped around her waist, fingers clutching the fabric at her side. In a tone hard to decipher, Ye Shuyi murmured, “So… you hate me?”

Yi Qian glanced at her but didn’t answer the question. Instead, she pried Ye Shuyi’s hand away and left.

After finishing the morning shoot and taking a short break at noon, the crew moved to the school campus to film the scenes featuring the two leads.

Standing at the school gate, Ye Shuyi surveyed the campus that held her entire youth, suddenly entangled in an indescribable emotion.

Two crew members carrying props walked past her, chatting excitedly. One of them, a woman in a blue shirt, said, “Hey, did you know? Rumor has it this school is Yi Qian’s alma mater.”

“Really?” the other crew member exclaimed. “What a coincidence!”

The woman in blue nudged her meaningfully, her voice brimming with excitement. “You call it a coincidence, but who knows? Maybe it was all arranged on purpose.”

It was indeed a coincidence, Ye Shuyi thought but surely, just a coincidence.

Her gaze drifted to the convenience store she used to frequent during her school days. Just then, two girls walked out of it. The moment they stepped outside, the girl with straight-cut bangs snatched the ice cream from the hands of the girl wearing a knitted hat, her tone stern. “I knew you’d sneak off to buy ice cream. Your period’s coming in a couple of days have you forgotten how you were rolling around in pain last time?”

The girl in the knitted hat pouted, lowering her head slightly in embarrassment as she fiddled with her fingers. “But I really wanted some today. I promise this is the last time. Just let me have it, okay?” She reached out to grab it, but the straight-banged girl anticipated the move, swiftly pulling her hand behind her back.

“This is already your first, second, third, fourth, fifth… umpteenth ‘last time’ promise. I’m not indulging you this time.” Seeing the knitted-hat girl cling to her, trying to snatch the ice cream, the straight-banged girl said firmly, “Shi Wei, if you insist on eating this ice cream today, I won’t care about you anymore.”

The knitted-hat girl froze at that, then wrapped her arms around the other girl’s waist, looking up with a pleading expression. “Fine, I won’t eat it. But you should have it then don’t let it go to waste.”

Without hesitation, the straight-banged girl tore open the wrapper and took a bite, devouring a third of the ice cream in one go.

The knitted-hat girl clung to her, staring longingly at the treat in her hand and swallowing hard. “A-Yi, can I just have a tiny taste? Just a little lick to see how it is, I swear I won’t have more than that. It won’t hurt me.”

Noticing the hesitation in A-Yi’s expression, the knitted-hat girl tugged at her arm, turning up the charm. “Please? A-Yi, you’re the best to me.”

The girl with straight bangs looked at her, her heart melting with tenderness, but she still spoke sternly, “You can only lick it to taste the flavor, okay? If you eat it, I won’t take care of you anymore.”

The girl in the knit cap nodded frantically, then clasped the other’s hands with both of hers. Her lips cautiously approached the ice cream, but in the blink of an eye as if sensing the other girl was staring at her in a daze, she suddenly took a big bite and swiftly fled the scene.

The straight-banged girl stood frozen for a moment before snapping back to reality and chasing after her, shouting, “Shi Wei, you can’t eat that! Spit it out!”

By then, the knit-cap girl had already swallowed the ice cream. She turned around and stuck out her tongue playfully, calling back without fear, “Stinky A-Yi, you’re always scaring me. I know you’d never really ignore me. And let me tell you, this is the sweetest ice cream I’ve ever had!”

Watching the two girls run off into the distance, Ye Shuyi’s faint smile slowly faded.

“I know you’d never really ignore me.” A younger Ye Shuyi had once said those words with the same carefree confidence, occasionally acting spoiled.

And just as she’d expected, Yi Qian would always pull her into an embrace, pinch her cheeks, and pretend to scold her, “If you know I can’t bear to ignore you, then why don’t you spare me some worry? You’re always making me anxious.”

But now…

Ye Shuyi shook her head helplessly as she watched the two girls roughhousing. Just as she was about to head into the school, a car horn sounded behind her.

She stepped aside and glanced toward the source, Yi Qian sat in the driver’s seat, the wind tousling her hair and revealing her sharp jawline. She looked breathtaking.

Noticing her gaze, Yi Qian turned her head slightly. Their eyes met amidst the swirling snowflakes, but Yi Qian quickly averted her gaze. The car window rolled up, obscuring her profile behind dark-tinted glass.

“Action!”

After wandering halfway around the campus, Ye Shuyi arrived at the filming set just as they began shooting the first scene.

In the scene, Yi Qian stood in the classroom, obediently listening to the teacher’s reprimand: “Qin Le, you’ve ranked last in the grade again. Aren’t you even a little ashamed? You single-handedly dragged down the entire class’s average.”

The teacher scanned the room before continuing, “Yan Yi, as class president and the top student, would you be willing to tutor Qin Le when you have time?”

Jiang Shiluo, playing Yan Yi, glanced at Qin Le and replied, “Of course, teacher. I’d be happy to.”

After school ended in the afternoon, Qin Le packed her things and was about to leave when she felt a tug on her sleeve. Turning around, she saw Yan Yi holding a stack of study materials. Meeting Qin Le’s gaze, Yan Yi lowered her head slightly and said softly, “The teacher asked me to tutor you.”

Qin Le coldly pulled her sleeve free. “Just tell the teacher you already did. That’ll be enough.”

She turned to leave, but Yan Yi grabbed her sleeve again, mustering her courage. “No, I can’t lie to the teacher. And… I want to take responsibility for you.”

Watching this scene from outside the window, Ye Shuyi couldn’t help but smile.

During high school, she had also tutored Yi Qian before not because the teacher asked, nor out of any sense of duty as class president, but purely for her own personal reasons.

Ding ling ling… Ding ling ling.

The bell signaling the end of the school day rang, and classmates quickly dashed out of the classroom, eager to embrace their brief moment of freedom.

Ye Shuyi turned to look at Yi Qian, who was seated by the window in the second-to-last row, only to find her still sprawled across the desk, fast asleep, completely undisturbed by the ringing bell or the excited chatter of their classmates.

Glancing at the few students still dawdling as they packed up, Ye Shuyi’s knees bounced slightly with nervous energy. She kept stealing glances at Yi Qian’s seat, worried the other girl might wake up and leave before the classroom emptied.

When the last few students finally exited, Ye Shuyi took several deep breaths, mentally psyching herself up countless times before standing. As she walked toward Yi Qian’s seat, she continued breathing deeply to steady her nerves.

She reached the desk, but the sleeping girl showed no signs of stirring. The setting sun streamed through the window, casting a warm glow over her peaceful face. Moving closer, Ye Shuyi could even see the fine, soft down on her fair skin.

She always seemed so unapproachable when awake, but asleep, she looked unexpectedly soft and cute.

Lost in thought, Ye Shuyi reached out, intending to poke her cheek, but just then, the sleeping girl slowly opened her eyes.

Their gazes locked, the atmosphere instantly freezing over, thick with awkwardness.

“Class President, should I close my eyes?” The words carried a faint trace of amusement.

Ye Shuyi froze momentarily before quickly straightening up. She cleared her throat lightly, fingers brushing her neck as her ears gradually burned red.

Yi Qian glanced at her, then pushed herself up with a stretch before swiftly gathering her things. Slinging her backpack over her left shoulder, she stood and said, “Thanks for waking me, Class President. I’ll head out now.”

“No.”

Hearing her intent to leave, Ye Shuyi immediately stepped in front of her, one hand braced on Yi Qian’s desk and the other on the desk behind her, blocking her path and effectively trapping her in the seat.

The trapped girl watched her with mild interest, her tone lazy. “If you won’t let me leave, then what do you want me to do? Go back to pretending to sleep so you can keep staring?”

Ye Shuyi grabbed the study materials on the desk, her voice firm but slightly shaky. “I… I’m tutoring you.”

“While I appreciate the thought, I don’t need it,” Yi Qian refused.

“Who… said I’m doing this for you? It’s for the class! You’re always ranked last in the grade, dragging down our class average. As class president, it’s my duty to help improve your grades. So even if you don’t want—”

“What if I don’t?” Yi Qian leaned in close to her ear, though her gaze was fixed on Cui Cui and the others loitering in the hallway outside. Silently, she mouthed the word, “Scram.”

The moment the word formed on her lips, Yi Qian was abruptly shoved back into her chair without warning. The culprit didn’t even spare her a glance, instead pulling a nearby desk over to join theirs before sitting down beside her all in one fluid motion. With a small, determined smile, Ye Shuyi met her gaze, her deer-like eyes earnest yet resolute. “Sorry, but ‘not wanting to’ isn’t an option here.”

Ye Shuyi finished speaking and was about to pull off her backpack when the other girl quickly grabbed her hand, indicating she’d do it herself.

Yi Qian slowly took out her materials, occasionally glancing at the person organizing the files beside her. Her voice was lazy as she remarked, “Class President, have you always been this domineering? You were like this last time at the noodle shop too.”

Ye Shuyi arranged the subject materials on the table and crossed her arms, feigning nonchalance. “No, I’m actually quite democratic. Which subject do you want to tackle first? The choice is yours.”

Yi Qian studied the neatly prepared materials spread across the table, then glanced at the person sitting stiffly upright beside her. Leaning in close to her ear, she murmured casually, “Class President, with all these materials so thoroughly prepared… this doesn’t seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision at all.”

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