TAO | Chapter 74

Jiang Zhan had always been a hot topic at No. 2 High School.

To the students, he was the campus tyrant. To the teachers, he was a troublemaker—unruly, rebellious, and totally ungovernable. On top of all that, he was a walking fashion icon.

Most of the boys at school copied Jiang Zhan’s style. The red wristbands he wore when playing basketball had basically become standard gear—practically every guy had a pair.

Wei Minzhen quickly sniffed out something fishy. Worried that a culture of unhealthy competition was brewing among the students, he started lurking at the school gates every day, ready to pounce.

During that time, Jiang Zhan was often paraded around as a cautionary tale—a classic example of “kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.” Slowly, this put a lid on the spreading trend.

Now Jiang Zhan had finally faded into the crowd, showing up to school obediently in his uniform, no longer going out of his way to be edgy or dabble in weird antics.

Just as Wei Minzhen finally let his guard down… the guy started acting out again.

One of the male teachers, after getting a call from Wei Minzhen, dropped everything he was doing and rushed over with the keys to the broadcast room.

Wei Minzhen grabbed the key, unlocked the door like a SWAT officer busting a criminal hideout, and stormed inside with a loud slam as he shut off the broadcast mic, glaring furiously at Jiang Zhan.

“Who told you to buy trash cans, huh? Who gave you permission to bring your own into school?”

“Don’t you know the school broadcast room is off-limits to regular students?”

“Do school rules mean anything to you at all?”

Everyone knew that the head of discipline, Wei Minzhen, had trained in Lion’s Roar Technique back in his younger days. He was naturally gifted with a booming voice, and once he opened his mouth, the result was practically nuclear-level damage.

He was yelling from outside, but the mic in the broadcast room picked up every word loud and clear. That was the power of his voice. Terrifying.

Inside, a second-year girl had been about to play some relaxing instrumental music for the post-lunch break wake-up session when Jiang Zhan walked in and said he wanted to borrow the mic.

Then the head of discipline had barged in. The girl felt like a poor innocent bystander caught between two titans. She curled up in the corner, just trying to survive.

Alpha Jiang Zhan had one hand in his pocket, broad shoulders, long legs, and a calmness that totally contrasted with Wei Minzhen’s rage.

Jiang Zhan said, “Right now the country’s promoting garbage sorting. I’m just doing my part to support the policy—what’s wrong with that?”

Wei Minzhen slapped the doorframe so hard it rattled. “Don’t try that nonsense with me!”

Jiang Zhan had a completely deadpan face, that “whatever, say what you want” vibe just radiating off him.

Wei Minzhen was practically fuming, grinding his teeth. “You can’t go a single day without causing a scene, huh?”

Jiang Zhan denied it. “I wasn’t trying to make a scene.”

“Not trying to make a scene?” Wei Minzhen was so mad he actually laughed. “If this is you not trying, should we just go ahead and book you a top ten spot on Zhala’s trending list?”

Jiang Zhan shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “You’re selling me short. Just Zhala? What about Douyin, Kuaishou, Zhihu, Bilibili? Gotta hit all of them.”

Listening to Wei Minzhen rattle off all those social media and video platforms, the girl hiding in the corner let out a mental wow.

Who would’ve thought the head of discipline wasn’t some old-fashioned fossil—he was actually a 5G-speed old boy.

Wei Minzhen took a deep breath, slipping back into his cold and strict teacher mode. “The two trash cans you bought—consider them confiscated.”

Jiang Zhan frowned. “You can’t just confiscate them.”

Wei Minzhen said, “If you don’t want them confiscated, then take them back home. On campus, any trash cans are considered school property by default.”

Jiang Zhan tried to bargain. “You can have the trash cans, but the stuff inside is mine.”

Wei Minzhen gave him a surprised look, curiosity piqued. “What are you even doing with all those empty bottles?”

Jiang Zhan answered like it was obvious. “Selling them, of course.”

Wei Minzhen: …

Yeah, like I’m buying that.

—

The broadcast was cut off, so everyone missed the live battle between the school’s top student delinquent and the head of discipline. What a shame.

As the classroom buzzed with heated discussion, Wei Xiaochi quietly slipped out and headed to the broadcast room.

It was one building over, past the science labs. As he jogged over, he just so happened to catch sight of an angry Wei Minzhen storming out.

Wei Xiaochi panicked and quickly turned his back.

He was the honest, quiet, goody-two-shoes type—totally invisible on Wei Minzhen’s radar. Not even a glance as the man stomped past.

Wei Xiaochi let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t go in. Instead, he waited right where he was for Jiang Zhan to come out.

Usually, the teacher scolds the student and leaves in a huff. It’s rare for it to be the other way around. So it made sense that Jiang Zhan was probably still inside.

Sure enough, a tall, handsome boy strolled out a few moments later.

Unlike Wei Minzhen, Jiang Zhan immediately spotted the omega standing beside the greenery.

Wei Xiaochi looked around like a sneaky little thief, making sure Wei Minzhen was completely out of sight before hurrying up to Jiang Zhan.

Jiang Zhan kept up his usual aloof act. “You—why are you here?”

“I just saw the head of discipline come out,” Wei Xiaochi said, a little worried. “Did you get scolded?”

Jiang Zhan casually said, “It was whatever.”

Wei Minzhen had actually called Jiang Tang just now, but Jiang Zhan didn’t want Wei Xiaochi to know that he was still getting his parents called at eighteen.

Jiang Zhan’s parents were both super busy. Normally, Wei Minzhen wouldn’t want to bother them either—not because he was trying to curry favor, but out of genuine respect. He didn’t want to waste their time over Jiang Zhan’s little screw-ups.

But when it came to serious matters, Wei Minzhen never held back. If Jiang Zhan ever broke the law or caused real trouble, it wouldn’t matter who his parents were—none of that would fly.

Wei Xiaochi didn’t really get what “whatever” meant, and since Jiang Zhan clearly didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t push.

Wei Xiaochi asked, “Why did you suddenly decide to buy trash cans and collect bottles?”

Jiang Zhan answered like it was the most natural thing ever, “Didn’t you say they could be sold for money?”

Wei Xiaochi opened his mouth, hesitated, then mumbled, “They… they can be sold, yeah, but why did you broadcast it at school?”

Jiang Zhan, still dead serious, replied, “If I don’t say anything, how would people know?”

Wei Xiaochi… had no comeback.

Jiang Zhan muttered to himself, “Let’s see how it goes first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll figure out something else.”

Wei Xiaochi’s eyes went wide—he didn’t expect Jiang Zhan to actually treat this like some serious mission. He’d thought it was just a random whim.

—

The two green trash bins were placed right outside the broadcast room. Jiang Zhan grabbed one in each hand and started hauling them forward.

There were two black wheels on the bottom of each bin, with locks that could fix them in place.

Wei Xiaochi, being sharp-eyed and considerate, took one bin from Jiang Zhan’s hand without being asked. He had no clue where Jiang Zhan planned to take them, but he followed along in a daze.

Jiang Zhan left one bin at the front of the teaching building and placed the other near the school’s snack shop.

“You wait here a sec.”

After saying that to Wei Xiaochi, Jiang Zhan walked into the snack shop. When he came back out, he was holding a black marker.

“Your handwriting’s nice. Help me write something on the trash bin,” Jiang Zhan said, handing the marker to Wei Xiaochi.

Wei Xiaochi blinked in confusion. “What do you want me to write?”

Jiang Zhan said, “Write my name on the side. On the front, write: ‘Empty bottles only.’”

Wei Xiaochi pursed his lips, uncapped the marker, gave it a little shake, then bent down and carefully wrote—Jiang Zhan.

The snack shop auntie, seeing the boys pushing over a big trash bin, wandered over curiously and leaned in to see what Wei Xiaochi was writing.

As he wrote each word, she read it aloud: “Empty bottles only.”

When he finished, she let out a chuckle, then pointed at the name and asked, “Who’s Jiang Zhan?”

Jiang Zhan replied, “Me.”

The auntie’s eyes darted around, clearly scheming. She asked, “So this trash bin—did the school ask you to put it here, or are you doing this on your own?”

Jiang Zhan answered, “On my own.”

The auntie’s smile instantly dropped, and her tone turned sour. “Then move it. You can’t put that here.”

Jiang Zhan shot her a sideways look. “Why not?”

The auntie snapped, “Putting it at my shop entrance—doesn’t that get in the way of my business?”

Jiang Zhan didn’t have the patience to take this lying down. “How is this your entrance? Your place got that big a front yard?”

The auntie planted her hands on her hips. “Eh? What kind of attitude is that, young man? It’s scorching hot out here, and you park a huge trash bin at my door—what about the flies and mosquitoes? How am I supposed to do business like this?”

Seeing they were about to argue, Wei Xiaochi hurriedly tugged on Jiang Zhan’s sleeve.

“Don’t fight,” he whispered. “Let’s just move it somewhere else.”

Jiang Zhan frowned. “Why should we move it? This spot’s perfect—we’ll collect more bottles here.”

The auntie immediately barked, “No way!”

Her loud voice drew a crowd. Wei Xiaochi felt his face burning with embarrassment.

Jiang Zhan stared right at her. “I’m putting it here today. What are you gonna do about it?”

The auntie didn’t hesitate—she reached out to push the trash bin away, but Jiang Zhan blocked her just in time.

Alpha. Broad shoulders, long legs. The moment he stood there, the pressure was real.

The auntie swallowed nervously and took two steps back. She pointed at Jiang Zhan, trying to sound fierce but clearly unsure. “What, you wanna hit me? Come on, I dare you—hit me if you’ve got the guts.”

Jiang Zhan’s eyes were icy. “Try touching it.”

Faced with Jiang Zhan’s sharp, intimidating presence, the auntie didn’t dare make a move—but she wasn’t going down quietly either.

“This is a school. You’re here to study, not pick up trash!”

“You’re fighting over some worthless bottles—what, you broke now?”

“Everyone come look! This student’s not studying, he’s out here collecting bottles. Must be really desperate, huh!”

Wei Xiaochi’s mind buzzed. His vision blurred, everything spinning—it felt just like that day in his first year, when Fang Zhixin had screamed at him like this.

His face went pale. Despite all the people watching, he reached out to grab Jiang Zhan’s hand, trying to pull him away. But Jiang Zhan blocked the move and instead pulled Wei Xiaochi behind him, shielding him completely.

“What’s wrong with collecting bottles? I study and I hustle—what’s it got to do with you?”

“I’m collecting bottles right here from now on.”

“This trash bin stays. Let’s see who dares move it!”

Jiang Zhan’s gaze swept across the surrounding crowd like a knife, then landed back on the auntie. His eyes were cold and sharp.

She instantly deflated.

—

Jiang Zhan won the first battle, and left with Wei Xiaochi.

On the way back to class, the omega stayed completely silent. Jiang Zhan thought he was mad about being pushed aside earlier.

He glanced at Wei Xiaochi and dryly explained, “That spot’s next to the rubber track and the indoor gym. I’ve watched—lots of people buy water, finish it, and throw the bottles in that bin.”

“And just because she said we can’t put it there, we’re supposed to move it? Who does she think she is?”

“I saw she had a whole pile of cans and bottles stacked beside the shop. She stopped us because she didn’t want us cutting into her side hustle.”

“Think about it—there’s over a thousand people in the school. At least four classes have PE every day. Say we collect just thirty bottles a day, that’s three hundred in ten days, nine hundred in a month, over ten thousand in a year.”

Jiang Zhan let out a snort. “That’s a lot of profit. No wonder she’s pressed.”

Wei Xiaochi didn’t want to shatter his dream, but he had to say something. “Actually… selling recyclables isn’t that profitable. Water bottles are really cheap.”

Jiang Zhan’s eyes swept over. “How much?”

“One yuan… forty.”

“One yuan forty per bottle? That’s not bad.”

“1.4 yuan per jin. A 550ml bottle weighs around 17 or 18 grams, so you’d need about 26 bottles to make up one jin.”

So thirty water bottles would only get you about 1.8 yuan. Even over a whole year, that’s just a little over six hundred.

Jiang Zhan fell into deep thought. “That’s kinda low… If it’s so little, why do you even bother collecting them?”

Wei Xiaochi mumbled, “Little things add up. And I never expected to make big money—it’s just, anything’s better than nothing.”

Jiang Zhan didn’t mind at all. “Exactly. Anything is better than nothing. Just leave the trash bins there and let ‘em pile up. It’s not like it takes time or effort.”

Looking at this carefree alpha, Wei Xiaochi felt both helpless and amused.

Anyone who could say that was either super stingy like himself, or like Jiang Zhan—someone who had no real concept of money.

—

When Jiang Zhan said it didn’t waste their time, what he meant was—they didn’t have to go around collecting bottles themselves. The bottles would come to the trash bins on their own.

Still, Young Master Jiang would stroll over between classes to the trash bins in front of the teaching building and by the snack shop like some medieval landowner, inspecting his “harvest.”

The guys at No. 2 High had a weird thing about Jiang Zhan. They envied him, and also kinda hated him.

At this age where everyone wanted to stand out, who didn’t dream of being unique and doing whatever they wanted?

But the moment someone like that actually showed up, the crowd would instantly band together to call him out for showing off.

Wei Xiaochi overheard two boys in class bragging about how they were gonna dump Jiang Zhan’s trash bins and even write “idiot” under his name.

They weren’t the only ones with this idea either, which meant Wei Xiaochi had to go check on the bins every single class break.

Luckily, they all just talked big—so far, no one had dared act on it.

Wei Xiaochi ran into “local tycoon” Jiang Zhan during the last break of the afternoon.

Seeing him, Jiang Zhan looked pretty pleased. He waved and called out, “Pretty good haul today. I counted—already made two yuan. Come look.”

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t believe it. “Really? That fast?”

Two yuan meant nearly forty bottles.

He walked over, and Jiang Zhan started showing off. “This bin already has eighteen, and the one by the snack shop has twenty-two. That’s forty in one afternoon. That’s eighty a day. In a year that’d be…”

Jiang Zhan whipped out his phone and did the math. “29,200 bottles. Now let me see how much money that is. One point four divided by…”

Wei Xiaochi quickly said, “Twenty-six bottles.”

Jiang Zhan poked at the calculator. “One point four divided by twenty-six, then multiply by… what was it again?”

“19,200.”

Students walking by started slowing down, watching this bizarre scene unfold.

No. 2 High’s legendary school tyrant, standing next to a trash bin, calculating something on his phone and mumbling numbers.

People whispered as they stared—

“See? I told you, he’s doing some kind of experiment.”

“Yeah, but what kind of experiment?”

“Who knows? Who’s that guy next to him? They seem pretty close.”

“How would I know?”

Jiang Zhan finally finished the calculation. “1,572.”

It wasn’t even as expensive as one of his sneakers, but he still looked bizarrely happy. He turned to Wei Xiaochi, grinning. “Not bad, huh? Over a thousand.”

Today’s “good harvest” was mainly because everyone was curious what Jiang Zhan was up to. Tomorrow, there probably wouldn’t be nearly as many bottles.

Seeing how hyped the alpha was, Wei Xiaochi didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble. He nodded. “Yeah. That’s a lot.”

—

The last class was supposed to be self-study, but the English teacher hijacked it for a pop quiz, triggering a round of groaning from the entire class.

The test paper was one page, and just as the last bell rang, most people were finishing up.

Xu Yang came around to collect papers from the back row. Wei Xiaochi pretended to organize his bag and didn’t even lift his head.

Xu Yang didn’t linger. He scooped up the paper and walked off, and Wei Xiaochi felt a genuine wave of relief inside.

As soon as the teacher left, Wei Xiaochi grabbed his bag and stood up, ready to bounce. Just as he did, he noticed Zhang Mingyang looking at him with a strange expression.

It gave him the creeps. “What are you staring at?”

Zhang Mingyang opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something—but in the end, said nothing.

Wei Xiaochi didn’t have time to play twenty questions with him. Jiang Zhan was waiting at the school gate. He couldn’t let that drama king wait too long, or he’d throw a fit.

He wheeled his bike out from the shed and passed by the brand-new trash bin, pausing just slightly to peek inside.

When he glanced in, he only saw seven or eight plastic bottles at the bottom.

Wei Xiaochi felt a little puzzled as he pushed his bike out of the school.

Alpha was leaning against the outer wall, hands empty—not even a backpack, let alone bottles.

Wei Xiaochi’s doubt grew stronger. As he walked up, he asked, “Did you take the bottles out of the bin?”

Jiang Zhan: “No. Why?”

“I just checked the one in front of the teaching building—there’s only seven or eight bottles left.”

As soon as he said that, Jiang Zhan’s face changed. He turned straight around and started walking into the school, against the heavy flow of students leaving.

Wei Xiaochi was half a beat behind. When he realized something was wrong, he hurriedly pushed his bike and squeezed into the crowd.

Jiang Zhan strode right up to the trash bin. Sure enough, just like Wei Xiaochi had said—only a handful of bottles left. His face darkened, and he headed toward the snack shop like a storm.

Wei Xiaochi trailed behind, but with his shorter legs and having to drag his bike, he couldn’t keep up.

By the time he reached the shop, Jiang Zhan had already gone in.

Wei Xiaochi’s eyelids twitched hard. He quickly propped up his bike, hoping to stop Jiang Zhan—but it was too late.

Just as he got near the green trash bin, he heard the snack shop auntie’s booming voice.

“Accuse someone of stealing? Where’s your proof? Show me. If not, I’ll sue you for slander.”

Jiang Zhan’s voice came back cold, “I don’t have proof, but you’d better be glad I don’t—because if I did, this wouldn’t end here.”

Hearing he had no proof, the auntie got even cockier. “No proof, huh? I could say you’re smearing my name—”

Before she could finish, Jiang Zhan cut in, “So what if I don’t have proof? I’m not the cops. I don’t need evidence to come question you. I’ll come whenever the hell I want.”

Using his signature bullheadedness, Jiang Zhan almost managed to overpower the snack shop auntie by sheer force of will.

The snack shop auntie probably had never met anyone who could be even more unreasonable than her. “Which class are you from? Believe it or not, I’ll go find your homeroom teacher! Nobody can rein you in?”

Jiang Zhan shot her a glance and sneered, “Before you try managing me, how about you manage your own hands first? At least I didn’t steal someone else’s bottles.”

The auntie was so mad she practically got a tension headache. She exploded, “Which of your eyes saw me take your damn bottles? You’re the one broke enough to not survive without some empty plastic—don’t think I’m as poor as you!”

Jiang Zhan: “You are poor. So poor you steal other people’s bottles.”

“You—”

“You steal people’s bottles.”

“You steal people’s bottles.”

“You steal people’s bottles.”

Every time the auntie opened her mouth to speak, Jiang Zhan would fire back with “You steal people’s bottles.”

She was so mad she nearly passed out on the spot. Whatever she tried to say got stuck in her throat, choking her halfway—she looked like she was about to keel over, her chest tight with frustration.

The auntie banged her fists on her chest and wheezed, “Can’t you say something else for once?”

Jiang Zhan: “Nope. Because you steal people’s bottles!”

Auntie: …

—

Round two: Jiang Zhan, once again, total victory. Before leaving the shop, he tossed out a, “Just you wait till tomorrow,” then stepped outside—only to be greeted by the stunned, blank look of a certain Omega.

Wei Xiaochi had meant to step in and stop the fight. He was worried Jiang Zhan might get physical in the heat of the moment—but instead, he was completely floored by the alpha’s mouth-on-fire performance.

Two battles, two wins. Every time, Jiang Zhan left his opponent speechless.

Wei Xiaochi used to think Jiang Zhan was just always “kinda right,” like no matter what the situation, it somehow always ended up being his fault.

But now he realized: Jiang Zhan was “kinda right” everywhere. He could use his unbeatable “Jiang-Zhan-logic” to crush absolutely anyone.

What a terrifying skill.

The fight was over, and there wasn’t much point in lingering.

Wei Xiaochi turned to leave. “Let’s go.”

But Jiang Zhan, being super perceptive, caught up with him and leaned in slightly, studying his face.

Wei Xiaochi dropped his gaze, not looking at him.

After a few seconds of watching, Jiang Zhan suddenly said, “You’re laughing.”

Wei Xiaochi ducked his head even lower, tilting slightly to the left, and mumbled, “I—I’m not.”

Jiang Zhan was adamant. “You totally are.”

Wei Xiaochi stiffly looked up and went “Ah—” before glancing at Jiang Zhan and quickly looking away again, turning his head. “I didn’t laugh.”

Jiang Zhan grabbed his face and turned it straight. “You did!”

Forced to look at him, Wei Xiaochi’s eyes were filled with barely hidden amusement—completely exposed to the alpha.

Because honestly… it was hilarious.

Jiang Zhan wasn’t the type to ever let himself take a loss. He wouldn’t even yield to a toddler like Song Langlang, let alone some random snack shop auntie.

If Fang Zhixin had dared to talk to Jiang Zhan like that back then, he’d probably have been shoved head-first into a trash can.

How could someone like Jiang Zhan exist?

Blatantly unreasonable, but the moment he was in the right, he’d fight tooth and nail to prove it. He never cared what other people thought—just did whatever he wanted, freely and without hesitation.

Now Wei Xiaochi’s brain was full of images of Jiang Zhan being over-the-top and unreasonable, and the more he thought about it, the funnier it got. He couldn’t stop imagining it.

Worried about making Jiang Zhan mad, Wei Xiaochi tried his best to hold back his smile. He lowered his head and mumbled, “I really didn’t…”

He didn’t even get to the word “laugh” before breaking again.

Honestly, Jiang Zhan could probably win any argument with anyone. He could twist even the dumbest point into a win, didn’t care about logic, and no one could stop him.

Wei Xiaochi turned away, the corners of his lips rising completely out of his control.

—

The omega’s long lashes were lowered, and his eyes curved with soft laughter, like a gentle pool of warm water rippling outward, quietly washing over Jiang Zhan, softening something deep inside him.

Jiang Zhan leaned in slowly.

Like a romantic scene straight out of a movie, time seemed to slow down. Everything around them went quiet, and the two of them drifted closer in the dim, golden twilight.

Wei Xiaochi stared at Jiang Zhan, who was practically nose-to-nose with him. His shoulders froze, eyes darting everywhere, brain in total chaos.

It looked like Jiang Zhan wanted to kiss him. But he kept adjusting his angle, moving in just a bit, then changing position again, then moving closer, then changing again—

To Wei Xiaochi, it felt like an eternity, but really it was just a few seconds.

Jiang Zhan’s eyes stayed locked on him, their noses nearly touching.

Wei Xiaochi clutched the hem of his shirt, fingers curling tightly, throat bobbing with tension.

Jiang Zhan seemed to hesitate, holding back for some reason. He didn’t kiss him—instead, he stared for a few more seconds, then his nose twitched slightly. He tilted his head and sniffed at Wei Xiaochi’s neck.

He picked up a faint trace of scent, barely noticeable, carrying just a hint of pheromones. Jiang Zhan swallowed hard.

Wei Xiaochi’s special time… was coming.

⸻

Author’s Note:

Tomorrow the dog boy’s gonna keep up the chaos, hahaha.