TAO | Chapter 93

Midday break hadn’t ended yet. Each classroom was quiet—most students had their heads down napping on their desks, others were secretly reading novels or hyped-up shounen manga.

When Wei Xiaochi saw Jiang Zhan standing at the classroom door, he was startled. Grabbing his water bottle, he quickly stood up and dashed out.

Zhang Mingyang, who’d been lying low on his desk, sat up when he saw the two of them leave together. His expression turned sour as he stared at the empty doorway.

Degenerate.

If you get fooled, you deserve it.

—

Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan met up at the first-floor water room. There were hardly any people around during this time—only a female teacher was there when they arrived.

Wei Xiaochi’s heart nearly jumped to his throat. Thankfully, the teacher didn’t scold them. She just filled her bottle and left.

School rules stated that students weren’t allowed to leave the classroom during lunch break. Even fetching water was supposed to wait until after the bell.

Once the teacher was gone, Jiang Zhan reluctantly stepped into the water room and tilted his chin at Wei Xiaochi. “You wanted to find Jiang Zhan—what for?”

“Huh?” Wei Xiaochi was thrown off by his phrasing.

Jiang Zhan stared at him, voice heavy and brooding. “You said you were looking for Jiang Zhan. What do you want him for?”

It wasn’t really anything serious. It’s just that lately, Alpha had been acting suspicious. Wei Xiaochi was worried he might be secretly cooking up some weird new way to make money again, so he’d asked Han Ziyang about it.

Not that his suspicion came out of nowhere—last time when Jiang Zhan went to clean the swimming pool at that club, he’d also been evasive about where he was going. These past few days, it had felt the same.

Ever since Wei Xiaochi moved out of his home, Jiang Zhan had clearly become a lot more serious about earning money.

Sensing Jiang Zhan was in a bad mood, Wei Xiaochi wasn’t sure what had upset him. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at him cautiously.

Whatever Jiang Zhan was doing, if he didn’t want to say, then he must have his reasons. After thinking about it, Wei Xiaochi decided not to push.

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. I was just asking.”

Jiang Zhan let out a single grunt from his nose and turned away sulkily, refusing to look at him.

It was obvious he was upset. Wei Xiaochi peeked at him again, nervously asking, “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Jiang Zhan didn’t reply. He just turned his back to Wei Xiaochi and started picking at the tiles on the wall.

Wei Xiaochi wasn’t great at comforting people. Watching Jiang Zhan scratch at the wall for a while—so hard he even scraped off a chunk of grout—he awkwardly scratched his own ear.

“…Want some water?” Wei Xiaochi held out his bottle and offered with a dry voice.

Jiang Zhan didn’t turn around. He twisted his arm to grab the bottle, took two swigs, then screwed the cap back on and stuffed it into Wei Xiaochi’s arms. Still ignoring him.

Wei Xiaochi scratched his ear again and fished around in his pocket. “…Want some candy?”

The candy was actually something Jiang Zhan had bought for him. After the “selling chocolate for cash” incident, Jiang Zhan stopped gifting chocolate—it was too easy to melt in the summer. Candy was a better option.

He’d bought Wei Xiaochi a whole bunch of random candies. Lots of flavors, just a few pieces of each, tossed together in a big glass jar, all colorful and mixed.

Jiang Zhan stopped picking at the wall and took the candy from Wei Xiaochi’s hand.

Water: ✅

Candy: ✅

His mood eased a little. He turned to look at Wei Xiaochi, though his face still looked a bit moody.

Out of nowhere, he muttered, “Even Han Ziyang calls me Brother Zhan.”

Wei Xiaochi blinked, not quite following. He opened his mouth and squeezed out, “Then… I’ll call you Brother Zhan too?”

Jiang Zhan frowned. “Who said I wanted you to call me the same as him?”

“Brother Zhan” didn’t sound like something lovers called each other—it was more like sworn brothers.

Wei Xiaochi looked even more confused, staring blankly at Jiang Zhan, waiting for him to give a clearer instruction. But the Alpha just turned back around and kept picking at the tiles.

Worried he might actually dig the tile off, Wei Xiaochi reminded gently, “You already scraped the grout off.”

Jiang Zhan obediently moved to another spot and started scratching there.

Wei Xiaochi stood there with his water bottle for a while before slowly catching on. “Do you… have a nickname? What do your parents call you at home?”

Jiang Zhan paused his destructive behavior. “They just call me Jiang Zhan.”

His parents had never given him a nickname. It was always “Jiang Zhan”—not even something soft like “Zhan-zhan.” Unlike Jiang Tang…

Thinking of Jiang Tang, Jiang Zhan took a deep breath and turned to Wei Xiaochi, muttering, “Forget it. Just call me Jiang Zhan.”

Compared to those cheesy nicknames, he still preferred the sound of “Jiang Zhan.”

Wei Xiaochi, though sensitive, didn’t have Jiang Zhan’s ultra-refined and dramatic romantic braincells. He still had no idea why Jiang Zhan had been upset or why he suddenly let it go.

He let out a small “Oh,” then pulled out another candy. “Want one more?”

Jiang Zhan glanced at the candy in his hand, took it, and muttered, “I’m not a kid. Why are you always trying to bribe me with candy?”

Just as Wei Xiaochi was about to respond, Jiang Zhan unwrapped the candy and popped it straight into his mouth.

The sweet flavor melted on his tongue. Wei Xiaochi used the tip of his tongue to nudge the candy to the side and self-consciously pushed up his glasses.

Then—

A voice rang out. “What are you two doing?”

Wei Xiaochi flinched hard. He looked up—and there stood the no-nonsense discipline director, Wei Minzhen.

Wei Minzhen scanned the two of them, eyes filled with suspicion, judgment, and a hint of conflicted restraint.

Then he dropped a bomb.

“You two are dating, aren’t you!”

He’d started suspecting them last week. And after days of observation, he’d noticed all sorts of subtle behavior. But he hadn’t caught any solid evidence, so he’d been holding back.

Wei Xiaochi froze like a deer in headlights. Under Wei Minzhen’s intense stare, he shrank so far in on himself his chin nearly touched his chest, legs trembling like boiled noodles.

Jiang Zhan, on the other hand, had nerves of steel. He looked right back at Wei Minzhen, face calm and collected. “Think whatever you want.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the water room, hands in his pockets.

Wei Minzhen ground his teeth in anger and stormed after him. “You! Stop right there! Who said you could leave?!”

Jiang Zhan turned on the steps. “Is there something else?”

His cocky attitude redirected all of Wei Minzhen’s fury. Just then, the lunch bell rang, and the school building stirred to life again. Amid the chaos, Jiang Zhan shot Wei Xiaochi a look—run.

Wei Xiaochi’s nerves were trash. He knew if he stayed, Wei Minzhen would absolutely sniff out something, so he bolted while he had the chance.

Later, Wei Minzhen went to Class 1 looking for Wei Xiaochi. That brat Jiang Zhan was impossible to deal with, so he had no choice but to go through the other boy.

Problem was—Wei Xiaochi wasn’t much easier.

He didn’t have Jiang Zhan’s thick skin, but he was still tough to crack. No matter what Wei Minzhen asked, he just stayed quiet, lips sealed like they’d been welded shut.

If Wei Minzhen so much as raised his voice, the kid would flinch.

And it wasn’t an act—he was genuinely scared. But that only made him harder to deal with. There was no way to threaten him without proof. You couldn’t exactly force a confession.

In the end, the matter was dropped… for now.

But from then on, Wei Minzhen kept a close eye on both of them, which annoyed Jiang Zhan to no end. He couldn’t even go visit Wei Xiaochi’s classroom anymore.

—

Thursday, third period. Chemistry class.

Out of nowhere, Wei Minzhen showed up at the door of Class 1. He looked at the chemistry teacher, who nodded and stepped out to speak with him in the hallway.

When the teacher returned, he walked straight over to Wei Xiaochi’s desk and tapped lightly.

“Teacher Wei wants to see you. Go with him for now. Whatever you miss, come to my office later and I’ll go over it with you—or ask Suilin to help you.”

All the students turned to look. Wei Xiaochi’s stomach dropped, and he nodded blankly. As he stood up, he tripped over the desk leg.

The chemistry teacher caught him. “Careful.”

Wei Xiaochi, voice shaky, “Thank you, teacher.”

“Go on.”

“Mm.” Wei Xiaochi walked out, steps unsteady.

The moment he came out, Wei Minzhen shot him a deep, stern look. His face was serious, and his first sentence hit like a thunderclap.

“Your dad is here.”

Wei Xiaochi felt his blood rush straight to his head. Everything in his vision turned into a swirl of black and white. His limbs went ice-cold, trembling.

Wei Minzhen said, “He’s in the principal’s office. Let’s go.”

Panicked and helpless, Wei Xiaochi followed him downstairs, heading toward the administration building.

As soon as they stepped outside, it felt like the sunlight burned his skin. Every ray of light felt like fire—his entire body on edge.

Noticing his pale face and the sweat gathering on his temples, Wei Minzhen hesitated, then handed him a tissue.

After a brief pause, he said, “Your dad says Jiang Zhan tricked you into running away from home. The principal already called Jiang Zhan’s parents. His mother will be here soon.”

Wei Xiaochi’s pupils shrank. He turned to look at Wei Minzhen, utterly horrified. All the color drained from his face.