TAO | Chapter 115

The final year of high school came to an end amidst Jiang Zhan’s intense studying.

Six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school—twelve years of hard work all paid off for Wei Xiaochi in the form of a proud and shiny report card.

Jiang Zhan also fulfilled the promise he once made. During the first semester of senior year, he squeezed into the top 200 of his grade. In the second semester, he played it steady and safe, and in the college entrance exam, he totally outdid himself, surprisingly surpassing the minimum cutoff for Tier 1 universities.

But the cutoff score changes every year, and Jiang Zhan, who just barely made it, might still get bumped off the list.

As soon as the scores were out, Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan huddled together in bed, checking out all the colleges near J University. From majors to teaching quality to future job prospects, they analyzed every angle to figure out which university and major Jiang Zhan should pick.

At the end of June, graduates went back to school to fill out their applications. Wei Xiaochi wrote down the J University he had long dreamed of, while Jiang Zhan chose two Tier 2 universities near J University.

Even though they might come back to school in the future, it still felt like submitting the college application was the final goodbye to this place. No matter how close the classmates were now, everyone was going to scatter in different directions.

Back when teachers kept a tight leash on them, they all wanted to break free. But now that they were really about to leave school and step onto a new journey, everyone had a faint cloud of sadness hanging over them.

Many hugged each other and swore to the sky that even if they were leaving school, their hearts wouldn’t part. No matter how far apart they ended up, as long as one person called, the others would come running—through fire and water if they had to.

That day, some cried, some laughed, some confessed their feelings, and even sworn enemies reconciled.

The whole crowd turned into a chaotic mess of emotions.

Even Wei Minzhen seemed kind and approachable now. Mischievous students like Han Ziyang and Jiang Rui surrounded him, saying they’d miss his yelling and scolding.

Wei Minzhen had a stack of college application forms in hand, which he rolled up and smacked onto their heads.

“You brats, do you even know how to talk? That wasn’t scolding, it was guidance—straightening out your crooked backs with some righteous force.”

Jiang Rui smacked his mouth a couple times. “Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue.”

Han Ziyang chimed in, “Exactly. Our head of discipline is basically the Bethune of the education world, or Edward Scissorhands—specializing in bone-setting and trimming our unnecessary branches.”

Jiang Rui started singing, “Ah, teacher, you are the engineer of the human soul.”

Han Ziyang threw an arm around him and joined in, “Ah, teacher, your heartfelt love awakened the confusion in our souls.”

Jiang Rui: “Ah, teacher—”

Wei Minzhen rolled his eyes at them, “Get lost, you little punks.”

Han Ziyang grinned, “We just can’t contain our admiration and love for you! Without your patient teachings, we’d be all messed up by now.”

Though Wei Minzhen sounded annoyed, his expression showed the affection of an elder. “Then study hard. Don’t waste your days anymore. You guys are half-adults now—no one’s going to look after you like kids anymore.”

Han Ziyang immediately snapped into a salute, back straight. “Yes, sir!”

Jiang Rui also stood at attention and saluted. “Promise to study hard, be a good person, and reform myself thoroughly!”

Wei Minzhen gave each of these two clowns a solid knock on the back, then walked off with his hands behind his back.

“Teacher.”

“Teacher.”

“Teacher.”

As Wei Minzhen walked through the noisy crowd, lots of students greeted him. He nodded in return, occasionally stopping to say a few words.

When he stepped past the bustling hallway and arrived at the quiet school store, he spotted an A and an O standing there. Wei Minzhen gave a heavy cough.

Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan were in the middle of dismantling a surveillance camera off a trash can.

Now that they’d graduated, their side hustle of reselling recyclables was over, so they decided to contribute to their alma mater—by leaving behind the trash cans.

The moment they heard Wei Minzhen’s voice, Wei Xiaochi reflexively took two large steps back, quickly putting distance between him and Jiang Zhan.

Their early romance was school-wide gossip. To avoid bad influence, Wei Minzhen had always been strict with them. Whenever he saw them together, he’d come over to lecture them.

Of course, if they were quietly studying in class, Wei Minzhen wouldn’t interfere—maybe just drop in for a surprise inspection or two.

Hands clasped behind his back, Wei Minzhen strolled over slowly. “Not to be nosy, but aren’t you guys being a bit stingy? Even taking the trash cans?”

Wei Xiaochi explained, “We’re not taking them—just dismantling the cameras on top.”

Wei Minzhen nodded with satisfaction. “At least you have a conscience.”

Thanks to Jiang Zhan’s year-long efforts, the students at No. 2 High were already used to sorting their trash. Taking the bins away was minor—the real deal was garbage classification.

Under Wei Minzhen’s watchful eye, the Omega stood there a bit stiff and respectful, while the alpha acted like nothing happened and kept taking apart the camera.

Wei Minzhen cleared his throat. “I saw your grades. Not bad. Keep that attitude up.”

Wei Xiaochi nodded with a sincere little-student face. “Got it. Thanks, teacher.”

Jiang Zhan lazily replied, “Oh.”

Wei Minzhen paced around the trash can a couple of times, watching Jiang Zhan at work, then suddenly said, “Hey.”

He didn’t look at them—just stared straight at the trash can. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think he was talking to it.

“Cough, when you two get married, remember to invite me.” Wei Minzhen spoke fast and mumbled.

As if realizing how awkward it sounded, he quickly added, “But don’t think about scamming me—I’m just a humble teacher. I can only afford six hundred for the wedding red envelope.”

Neither of them expected that the strict, scolding-to-death Wei Minzhen would say something like this. Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan turned to look at him together.

“What are you looking at? Got words on my face or a camera?” Wei Minzhen barked, pretending to be stern and holding onto his head disciplinarian pose.

Jiang Zhan got it now, and snuck a glance at Wei Xiaochi. His eyes began to brighten with a smile, and he said, “Got it.”

“Take good care of him,” Wei Minzhen said, like a protective family member. “This is a good kid you’ve snagged.”

Jiang Zhan brushed his fingers against Wei Xiaochi’s. “I know.”

Wei Xiaochi scratched his forehead a little awkwardly—after all, Wei Minzhen was right there.

This time, Wei Minzhen didn’t scold them for the little gesture. Pretending not to see anything, he walked away with his hands behind his back.

For the first time, Wei Xiaochi clearly realized—they had graduated. Wei Minzhen would no longer watch them for early romance.

The blazing summer sun shone through the thick leaves, casting mottled shadows across this century-old campus.

Jiang Zhan, ignoring the world around them, boldly held Wei Xiaochi’s hand and planted a kiss on the Omega’s lips.

He had fulfilled all his promises. He and Wei Xiaochi could finally be together in the open.

—

Twelve years of burning the midnight oil finally came to a close today. Whether this period ended perfectly or not, it still marked the first major milestone in life.

After submitting their college choices, everyone said their goodbyes with lingering reluctance.

That sense of farewell was faint, a bit wistful, laced with the carefree naivety of youth.

Han Ziyang was the textbook example of this—his college entrance exam results were trash, but he didn’t care at all. Even saying goodbye to close friends, he felt like they’d meet again another day.

Only when he stepped out of the school gate did a sudden wave of melancholy hit him, and he couldn’t help but glance back at No. 2 High.

“Goodbye, my youth,” he muttered.

Waving at his alma mater one last time, he turned his head only to see Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan already walking far ahead. The moody teen instantly flipped into goofball mode.

“Hey, hey! Wait for me! Zhan-ge, you gotta give me a ride—I don’t wanna take a cab!”

Han Ziyang quickly ran up to them and noticed Wei Xiaochi carrying a big stack of something. “What’s that?”

Wei Xiaochi: “Test papers.”

“No way, boss.” Han Ziyang pulled out a paper and looked horrified. “You came back to fill out college applications and still did a whole set of test papers? That’s way too hardcore!”

“I didn’t do them.” Wei Xiaochi explained, “I left them in the classroom before the exam. My classmate saw them and saved them for me. Gave them back today.”

“What kind of godly classmate is that? If I found these, I would’ve ripped them up and freed you for good.”

Han Ziyang complained as he flipped through the papers. Suddenly, a letter fluttered out. Quick as lightning, he caught it mid-air.

“What’s this? A love letter?” Han Ziyang started opening it.

At the mention of a love letter, Jiang Zhan sharply turned to Wei Xiaochi. “What love letter?”

Wei Xiaochi looked just as confused. “I have no idea. What love letter?”

Han Ziyang unfolded it and started reading, stumbling a bit on the words. “There are over two trillion galaxies in the universe. Our Milky Way alone has 400 billion planets.”

“You and I are just tiny grains of sand in this vast cosmos. But when we stood on that great Möbius strip, walking along its surface, the moment we met, our destinies became extraordinary. We became luminous bodies in this universe…”

Han Ziyang only got through two lines before he gave up, blinking with the confused look of a hopeless student. “Wait—what is this stuff?”

It kinda seemed like a love letter… but also kinda not. At least, he couldn’t understand a thing.

Wei Xiaochi, on the other hand, got it.

The Möbius strip—it was often called the mathematician’s romantic love story, a symbol of eternity, of destined encounters, of a journey that never ends.

“No way.” Wei Xiaochi stepped up and snatched the letter out of Han Ziyang’s hand, his eyes scanning the rest of the text as he was hit with shock. “Th-this can’t be real.”

That handwriting—definitely Zhang Mingyang’s. After sitting next to him for so long, Wei Xiaochi could recognize his handwriting anywhere.

And that test paper, it really had been given to him by Zhang Mingyang earlier today. Said it was something Wei Xiaochi had forgotten to take home.

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t believe Zhang Mingyang’s writing had gotten so good. He used to be totally average at essays!

It didn’t make sense at all.

Reading through Zhang Mingyang’s increasingly poetic lines, Wei Xiaochi uneasily pushed up his glasses.

No wonder his Chinese score this time was much higher than his own. Turned out it was the composition that made all the difference. When did Zhang Mingyang even start putting this much effort into essays?

Jiang Zhan suddenly reached out to grab the letter, face filled with irritation. “Who wrote this?!”

Wei Xiaochi quickly hid the letter behind his back and forced a stiff smile. “N-no one.”

Jiang Zhan was fuming. “What do you mean no one? Someone clearly wants to go after you!”

Staring at the alpha bubbling over with jealousy, Wei Xiaochi finally realized—this really was a love letter. And it was from Zhang Mingyang.

Was there anything more surreal in the world than this?

Jiang Zhan held out his hand. “Give it.”

Wei Xiaochi swallowed hard. “It’s… not a love letter.”

Jiang Zhan gritted his teeth. “You think I’m stupid? You think I don’t know what a Möbius strip is?”

“…”
Right. He forgot. Jiang Zhan wasn’t that failing student anymore.

—

Wei Xiaochi had never received a love letter in his entire life. He never imagined his first one would be from Zhang Mingyang. Honestly, he even suspected the guy had sent it to the wrong person.

The letter was confiscated by Jiang Zhan, who stared at it with a sneer on his face.

Every time he laughed, Wei Xiaochi shivered a little. This situation clearly wasn’t going to be let off the hook so easily.

After reading it, Jiang Zhan gave a full-on critique, face still dark. “What nonsense. If I wrote one, it’d be way better than his.”

Wei Xiaochi nodded frantically. “Totally. For sure.”

But Jiang Zhan quickly caught himself. “What do you mean ‘for sure’? You’re the one who likes me. If there’s gonna be a love letter, it’s you writing to me. Starting now, one every day.”

Wei Xiaochi slapped on a pained expression. “I… I don’t know how to write that kind of stuff.”

Jiang Zhan: “How could you not? You’ve got all that overflowing love for me. Just write your feelings down—that’s a love letter.”

The second-hand embarrassment from that line made Wei Xiaochi’s ears want to fold into themselves.

Even Han Ziyang got a full-body wave of goosebumps from Jiang Zhan’s “overflowing love”. He hugged his arms and rubbed them like crazy.

These two were really too much. Handing out public displays of affection like freebies, without caring if others could handle it or not.

In this matter, the alpha was 100% the boss. Wei Xiaochi was forced into a daily love-letter quota. Each one had to be over a hundred words. A thousand words was best.

The worst part?

He had to read it out loud to Jiang Zhan with full emotion after writing it. And Jiang Zhan would record the whole thing, saying it was material for their future wedding.

For the wedding.

This was the ultimate social-death scenario. Just kill him now ahhhhhhh—

—

Although Jiang Zhan confiscated the letter, feelings couldn’t be confiscated. The whole thing was like a Damocles sword hanging over Wei Xiaochi’s head.

He wasn’t good at dealing with this kind of thing, so after receiving the love letter, he just went full-on pretend-it-doesn’t-exist mode. He hoped Zhang Mingyang was just venting some poetic vibes and wouldn’t actually come looking for an answer.

But hope… was just hope.

A week after college applications were submitted, Zhang Mingyang pinged Wei Xiaochi on WeChat.

[Hexagonal Prism Status]: You there?

Seeing Zhang Mingyang’s message, Wei Xiaochi sneakily took his phone to the bathroom, sat on the closed toilet lid, and hesitated for a long time before replying:
[Wei Xiaochi]: Yeah.

[Hexagonal Prism Status]: Did you see what was in the test papers?

Now certain that the letter really was from Zhang Mingyang, Wei Xiaochi started toe-curling from secondhand embarrassment.

He didn’t even know why he felt so awkward. It just… really was. Like he was the one confessing.

Even Xu Yang never made him feel this embarrassed.

He and Zhang Mingyang had been deskmates since the second half of sophomore year. They’d always been on bad terms, nearly coming to blows over fighting for second place in the grade. And now the guy suddenly confessed to him?

The more he thought about it, the weirder it got.

Zhang Mingyang, a guy who was narcissistic and full of himself, actually liked someone else?

Truly, this world was full of miracles.

Thankfully, they weren’t talking face-to-face. The screen made it easier to say no.

Wei Xiaochi put down his phone, wiped the sweat from his palms, then picked it up again and started typing furiously.

When it came to rejection, it was best to rip the band-aid off.

[Wei Xiaochi]: I saw it.
[Wei Xiaochi]: But sorry, I can’t accept it.
[Wei Xiaochi]: I hope you’ll meet someone in the future who’s even more worth your feelings.

He edited that last line a few times—trying to make it polite but still warm and decent. It was the only part he could think of that sounded kind and humane.

But just as he hit send, a red exclamation mark popped up next to the message. Below it was a line of gray text:

[Hexagonal Prism Status has enabled friend verification. You are not their friend. Please send a friend request before you can chat.]

Wei Xiaochi stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds before realizing—

Zhang Mingyang had deleted him.

Totally Zhang Mingyang style. Wei Xiaochi wasn’t even surprised. If anything, he felt relieved.

The sword of Damocles had vanished. He let out a long sigh of relief, stood up, and opened the bathroom door—

Only to find the alpha standing right there, face expressionless.

Wei Xiaochi jumped. “Y-you… why are you standing here?”

Jiang Zhan’s face was stone. “You didn’t flush.”

Wei Xiaochi blinked. “…Sorry, I forgot.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t say anything, just walked right past him into the bathroom. He looked into the toilet. “You didn’t even go. What were you doing in here?”

Alpha instincts were on full alert—like a hound with laser-sharp senses. His eyes locked on Wei Xiaochi’s phone, and his expression immediately tensed up.

“I knew something was off with your expression earlier. Spill. What were you doing in here?”

“…”

Jiang Zhan apparently had detective potential. Wei Xiaochi’s brain briefly short-circuited, and the phone was confiscated as evidence.

The alpha fully embodied the saying: “A dog at home—outsiders beware. Whoever dares to touch, gets bit.”

Busted red-handed, Wei Xiaochi didn’t dare to lie and confessed the whole thing honestly.

But that didn’t earn him any leniency.

Jiang Zhan pinned down Wei Xiaochi’s legs and forced him to do fifty sit-ups, followed by fifty push-ups.

With a cold face, the alpha declared, “If you hide anything from me again, it’s a hundred next time. A hundred sit-ups and push-ups. Got it?”

Omega, panting like crazy: “G-got it…”

Jiang Zhan wasn’t done. “You really blocked him?”

Wei Xiaochi nodded like a chicken pecking rice. “Blocked him.”

Jiang Zhan said, “You’re not allowed to contact him ever again.”

Wei Xiaochi shook his head like mad. “No contact, no contact.”

If he did, he’d probably die halfway through another round of push-ups or sit-ups.

–

During the two-month summer break, Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan picked up a job as caddies at a golf course. The pay was 5,000 yuan per month, and with meal subsidies and high-temperature bonuses, they could pull in about 5,600 total.

In the first month, they were guided by senior employees. Their main tasks included fixing damaged turf, repairing divots and ball marks on the green, cleaning used golf clubs, and driving electric golf carts.

It was Jiang Tang who helped them land the job, though the golf course manager had no idea Jiang Zhan was her younger brother.

Jiang Tang originally wanted Wei Xiaochi to intern at her studio and sent her spoiled little brother to the golf course instead—to let him taste how tough working life really was.

Though she doted on Jiang Zhan, she didn’t want to raise him into a useless prince.

When Jiang Tang had just graduated college, she’d worked as an intern assistant at a legit magazine company for a whole year, doing all kinds of tasks, pulling late nights every single day.

If you want to be someone who stands out, you have to suffer first.

Jiang Tang wanted to toughen Jiang Zhan up a bit. As for Wei Xiaochi, he didn’t really need that, but in the end, he chose to go with Jiang Zhan to the golf course.

In the first half of the month, the two of them were only allowed to do grunt work—picking up cigarette butts, cleaning up trash on the course, maintaining golf carts and stuff. In the second half, their mentors took them around to get familiar with each fairway and hole.

By the second month, they could start helping with guests—but only as the guys who carry golf bags. Not even the ball-picking job was within their reach yet.

Rich folks loved to talk business on the golf course. Jiang Tang had told them to watch and listen, but not to talk. A good caddie doesn’t have a mouth.

Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan weren’t placed on the same course—probably to avoid the two newbies chatting too much—so the manager assigned a different senior employee to each of them.

In summer, people preferred to play early from 6 to 8 a.m., or later in the afternoon around 3 p.m. Guests would trickle in then, and the course stayed open until night.

But today was unusual. At 10 in the morning, someone came to play—under the blazing sun.

Wei Xiaochi was in the equipment room wiping golf clubs when his mentor came in, picked out a golf bag, and handed it to him. “There’s a guest outside. You’re on this one.”

Wei Xiaochi slung the heavy bag over his shoulder. Seeing that his mentor had no intention of going with him, he nervously asked, “I’m going alone?”

“Mm. Remember: less talk, more action. Hole number two.”

Wei Xiaochi wanted to say something more, but the guy was already shooing him out.

He hadn’t graduated from training yet and wasn’t very familiar with the course. With his heart pounding, he carried the bag and headed to get the cart.

The guest was waiting in the VIP area. Wei Xiaochi parked the cart at the entrance and radioed the staff inside.

Before long, the course manager personally opened the door, walking out with a tall, imposing man.

The man was obviously an alpha, around forty years old, with deep-set eyes and strong, handsome features. Time had given him a composed and unshakable air.

The manager smiled and said, “Xiaowei, make sure you take good care of this guest.”

Wei Xiaochi quickly nodded.

The man glanced at him and got into the cart.

He carried an aura of authority—no need to speak, and the pressure was there. Wei Xiaochi felt the weight instantly and sat up straight, tense all the way to hole two.

Most people brought friends or business partners to play. It was rare to see someone play solo like this.

It was Wei Xiaochi’s first time handling a guest alone. He carefully drove the cart in total silence.

Once they arrived at the course, Wei Xiaochi parked the cart, got out with the bag, and respectfully said, “Hello, please come this way.”

The man gave a simple “Mm.” Noticing how much effort it took for Wei Xiaochi to carry the heavy bag, he reached over and took it off his shoulder.

Startled, Wei Xiaochi hurried to say, “It’s okay! I can carry it.”

The man asked, “How old are you?”

Wei Xiaochi hesitated before answering, “Nineteen.”

“You getting used to the work here?”

“It’s…” Wei Xiaochi was about to say “okay,” but quickly corrected himself. “It’s good. The benefits here are really nice.”

“Is it tough?”

“Not really.” Wei Xiaochi followed behind him and added, “I should carry the bag though. It’s really heavy.”

⸻

Author’s Note:

Anyone wanna guess who this is? Hahaha~