TAO | Chapter 109

On the way back from lunch, Jiang Zhan held tightly onto Wei Xiaochi’s hand the whole time. He only let go once they reached the school gate.

Noticing that Wei Xiaochi’s gaze was fixed somewhere else, Jiang Zhan followed his line of sight—and spotted an Omega with handsome features and a bright smile walking over.

Xie Chi greeted them cheerfully, “We meet again.”

Wei Xiaochi had always found people who were too enthusiastic hard to handle. He responded half a beat slower, “Hi.”

Xie Chi walked up, and his gaze naturally drifted from Wei Xiaochi to Jiang Zhan. His eyes sparkled with a kind of pure, innocent curiosity.

“I’m Xie Chi.” He extended a hand to Jiang Zhan with a friendly smile. “You’re Jiang Zhan, right? I’d already heard of you at my old school—I used to study at Deyu.”

Jiang Zhan glanced at the outstretched hand, then turned to Wei Xiaochi. “He your friend?”

Wei Xiaochi was just about to reply, but Xie Chi cut in first, “Not really friends, but it’s kind of fate—we both have ‘Chi’ in our names.”

Wei Xiaochi looked at him in surprise. As far as he could remember, he hadn’t told Xie Chi his name. How did he know?

Jiang Zhan wasn’t the type to shake hands with strangers, and hearing that they weren’t even acquaintances, he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Xie Chi just smiled and withdrew his hand naturally. Then he pulled out his phone and asked, “Can I add you on WeChat?”

Jiang Zhan replied coldly, “Not interested.”

Xie Chi raised an eyebrow, giving Wei Xiaochi a glance full of ambiguous meaning before smiling again at Jiang Zhan. “It’s just adding WeChat. Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

Jiang Zhan couldn’t even be bothered to answer. He just said to Wei Xiaochi, “Let’s go.”

Wei Xiaochi let out an “oh” and quickly stepped past Xie Chi to walk into the school with Jiang Zhan.

After a few steps, Wei Xiaochi couldn’t help glancing back.

Xie Chi was still standing there, not looking the least bit awkward after being rejected. On the contrary, when he noticed Wei Xiaochi looking, he smiled at him.

Those cat-like eyes shimmered with something unreadable—a mischievous kind of wickedness.

Wei Xiaochi froze for a moment before quickly turning his head back.

Xie Chi’s smile deepened as he stared at Wei Xiaochi’s retreating back.

Panting from running, Yan Minmin rushed over, visibly upset. “If you keep doing this, I really won’t talk to you anymore.”

Xie Chi didn’t respond, just yawned lazily, “Let’s go.”

Yan Minmin tried to reason with him again. “Can’t you just behave and study properly? You always stir things up and end up with nothing but trouble. What’s the point? Seriously.”

She’d said this same thing to him probably a hundred times. Right in front of her, Xie Chi even dug at his ear like he was blocking out the noise.

His carefree attitude pissed Yan Minmin off so much she stomped her foot. “Whatever! I’m done with you.”

Xie Chi: “Okay, okay, let’s go, Princess.”

Yan Minmin refused to talk to him, storming into the school first. Xie Chi followed behind her, all lazy and unhurried.

–

Once they were inside the academic building, Jiang Zhan finally asked, “So how do you know that guy?”

Wei Xiaochi shook his head. “I don’t.”

Jiang Zhan shot him a deadpan glance. “Then why’d he ask for my WeChat?”

Wei Xiaochi looked up at him. “Maybe… he’s trying to hit on you?”

Jiang Zhan stopped walking, lips curling into a sarcastic smirk. “Then why didn’t you say anything just now?”

Seeing that the alpha was angry, Wei Xiaochi blinked in confusion. “Say what?”

That single line was like poking a hornet’s nest. Jiang Zhan glared at him and roared, “Didn’t you see that guy was making a move on me?!”

It was lunchtime, and the alpha’s thunderous voice echoed through the stairwell. Wei Xiaochi’s scalp tingled. He quickly rushed over and clamped a hand over Jiang Zhan’s mouth, cutting off any more outrageous outbursts.

He looked around nervously. “Keep it down.”

Jiang Zhan’s eyes were still burning with rage, but thankfully, he didn’t shout again. He just glared daggers at Wei Xiaochi.

Realizing Jiang Zhan was upset about what had just happened, Wei Xiaochi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Didn’t you already reject him? What more was I supposed to say?”

Jiang Zhan shoved Wei Xiaochi’s hand away, his voice low but still seething, “I said no, but you didn’t say anything!”

What he really wanted was for Wei Xiaochi to step up and say, This is my man. Back off.

Huh?

What difference did that even make?

Wei Xiaochi’s super-rational brain just couldn’t grasp Jiang Zhan’s jealous alpha logic.

If this had happened two months ago—if Xie Chi suddenly came out and confessed to Jiang Zhan—Wei Xiaochi would’ve believed Jiang Zhan would probably say yes. Xie Chi was objectively good-looking, and unless someone was blind, they’d probably choose him.

But now, Wei Xiaochi completely trusted Jiang Zhan. Not to mention one Xie Chi—even ten Xie Chis tied together wouldn’t shake his faith that Jiang Zhan would turn them all down.

Still, since Jiang Zhan clearly cared about this, Wei Xiaochi said, “Alright, if there’s a next time, I’ll tell them.”

Jiang Zhan still wasn’t happy. He turned around and faced the wall by the stairs. “Forget it. If I have to ask for it, it doesn’t count.”

Wei Xiaochi circled around him, racking his brain for ways to coax him. “It’s not asking. I want to. Next time I’ll definitely say something. Don’t be mad, okay?”

Jiang Zhan spun around to argue, “Who’s mad? I’m not mad. I don’t have a bad temper or anything!”

Wei Xiaochi quickly corrected himself, “…Right, you’re not mad. I said the wrong thing.”

Jiang Zhan let out a cold “hmph.”

“…”

–

Although Jiang Zhan had a temper and refused to admit he had a temper, the upside was that he was easy to calm down. This time just took a little longer ‘cause the situation was different.

After coaxing Jiang Zhan back to the classroom, Wei Xiaochi quietly worked on a couple of questions during the lunch break—only then did he finally start getting annoyed.

What was up with that Xie Chi guy?

He knew he and Jiang Zhan were dating. Why still ask for his WeChat?

Wei Xiaochi thought back to Xie Chi’s final smile. It felt deliberate—like he was doing it on purpose in front of him. To be honest, he didn’t get the vibe that Xie Chi was really into Jiang Zhan that way.

Maybe it was just a provocation?

But as far as he remembered, he hadn’t done anything to Xie Chi. Where was this coming from?

No matter what Xie Chi was trying to pull, Wei Xiaochi didn’t like him using Jiang Zhan as a prop in his little game.

Annoyed, Wei Xiaochi scribbled Xie Chi’s name on a piece of paper and furiously blacked it out with his pen until it was completely gone. That made him feel a little better, and he went back to studying.

–

The next day during the big break between classes, Jiang Zhan came to Class One as usual to bring lunch to Wei Xiaochi—and casually knocked out half a worksheet while he was there.

At first, everyone in Class One was shocked to see him all the time, but now they were totally used to Jiang Zhan being their unofficial classmate. When Wei Minzhen finally gave up spying on the two of them, the whole class had been confused for days.

Jiang Zhan tapped his pen on the desk a couple of times, and Wei Xiaochi immediately leaned over and asked, “Which problem?”

Jiang Zhan pointed to one on the worksheet.

Wei Xiaochi set down his lunch box, just about to explain when suddenly a familiar voice came from the doorway—

“I went to your class to find you, but they said you came to Class One. Knew I’d find you here.”

Wei Xiaochi looked up—Xie Chi was standing at the door.

He was wearing a white T-shirt and indigo jeans, hands clasped behind his back. His eyes were smiling, brows relaxed, nose straight and delicate, lips curved in a grin. He looked like the classic bright, wholesome junior from a teen drama.

Jiang Zhan was immediately annoyed that Wei Xiaochi’s attention had shifted, and angrily tapped his pen harder on the desk while throwing Xie Chi a glare sharp enough to kill.

Xie Chi didn’t flinch at all. Still smiling, he walked in and asked Jiang Zhan, “So, have you thought about it?”

Realizing he was being spoken to, Jiang Zhan frowned. “Who the hell are you?”

Xie Chi blinked, then smiled again. “Didn’t we talk yesterday?”

Jiang Zhan gave him a quick once-over. “When did I see you yesterday?”

Wei Xiaochi had almost forgotten—Jiang Zhan had mild face blindness. Just seeing someone’s face wasn’t enough for him to remember them.

And right now, he looked genuinely confused, like he honestly had no idea who this was. Xie Chi didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed. He just reintroduced himself with a smile, “I’m Xie Chi.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t recognize the face, but the name “Chi” did ring a bell—because it was the same character as in Wei Xiaochi’s name.

So this guy was the one who’d asked for his WeChat yesterday.

Jiang Zhan slowly turned to look at Wei Xiaochi, lifting his chin with that usual arrogant tilt.

Wei Xiaochi instantly got it.

Yesterday, Jiang Zhan had said—if something like this happened again, you need to handle it.

But now, in front of a whole classroom… how the heck was he supposed to say that?