A Spare for Emergencies

The National Day holiday ended, and the new principal, Gu Tianqing, officially took office.

During the Monday flag-raising ceremony, Principal Gu delivered a speech.

Standing tall on the podium in a well-tailored black suit, her powerful Alpha aura made everyone hold their breath and listen intently.

Her solemn voice echoed through the microphone into everyone's ears.

"I want to emphasize one thing: all eleventh and twelfth graders must attend evening self-study. Starting tomorrow, no truancy will be tolerated. If there are special circumstances, homeroom teachers must report to the school administration for approval. The school is establishing a dedicated department, so you don't need to worry about the approval speed."

"The remaining regulations will be distributed by your homeroom teachers in class. All of you must commit them to memory!"

Ji Yue, with his long legs, always stood in the back row. Behind him was his homeroom teacher.

Mr. Li, wearing a suit and looking more serious than usual, patted Ji Yue's shoulder. "Remember the principal's words!"

Ji Yue: "..."

After the speech concluded, the students dispersed back to their classrooms, with Mr. Li following behind.

"You all heard what the principal said just now. Next, I want to emphasize a few things."

"First, attendance for both morning and evening self-study is mandatory and must be punctual. There will be dedicated teachers and the red flag team taking turns to inspect and record."

"Second, classroom discipline and cleanliness must be maintained. Phones and other devices are strictly prohibited. There will be surprise inspections soon."

"Third, we are approaching the midterm exams. The school will rearrange seating based on these results."

"These," Mr. Li swept his gaze over the students, "are the main points of our meeting. Detailed information will be posted on the bulletin board at the back of the class later. Check it yourselves. If you have any questions, you can discuss them with me."

Mr. Li's class meetings were always short and concise, ending in just a few sentences.

Ji Yue clicked his tongue. Starting tomorrow, he had to attend evening self-study. What a pain.

But what could he do? It was a school rule, and Ji Yue could only comply.

Unable to play on his phone and unwilling to read, Ji Yue resorted to staring blankly out the window.

"Can't you study properly?" His old man, having found out about Ji Yue's academic performance today, was utterly speechless.

"With this attitude of yours, how are you going to inherit my two measly companies?"

Ji Yue sneered. "When the time comes, I'll just sell them off. It'll be enough for me to live in luxury for the rest of my life."

The old man was so angry he could barely breathe.

Ji Yue stopped joking and obediently bowed his head to apologize. "I'll try my best."

Though he said so, Ji Yue remained exactly the same, without the slightest change.

During morning self-study, Ji Yue rubbed his temples, his eyes vacant.

"Sun Hou."

Sun Hou, sitting in front of him, immediately turned around. "Brother Ji, what are your orders?"

Ji Yue raised his eyes, gesturing toward the door. "Keep watch."

Sun Hou nodded. "Yes, mission guaranteed."

Ji Yue's lips twitched as he pulled out his phone and lowered his head to play a game.

The game on the screen was very popular, the famous time-killer Anipop. Just as he was about to clear the level...

*Tap, tap...*

His heart leaped. He instinctively hid his phone in his desk drawer and looked up, only to meet Mr. Li's gaze.

Sun Hou was very loyal, shielding Ji Yue well, but unexpectedly, Mr. Li walked straight toward him.

"Phone."

Ji Yue played dumb. "Huh?"

Mr. Li smiled warmly. "Don't hide it. Hand it over."

Ji Yue shook his head, looking innocent. "I wasn't playing."

Mr. Li pointed to the upper right corner of the wall. "There's a camera."

Ji Yue: "...Damn."

Ji Yue suppressed his heartache and handed his phone to Mr. Li.

After Mr. Li left, Sun Hou was about to offer some words of comfort to solidify his position as the trusted underling when he saw Ji Yue signal another Alpha, Chen Chen—Sun Hou's heavy rival.

"Block the camera."

Sun Hou watched blankly as Chen Chen blocked the camera's view, while he himself shielded the front of Ji Yue's desk.

Right after that, Ji Yue pulled another phone out of his desk drawer.

"A spare for emergencies."

His tone was smug.

The other Alphas secretly admired Brother Ji. Truly a mastermind.

Jiang You, sitting in the row ahead, pursed his lips, a trace of amusement flashing in his eyes.

However, Ji Yue didn't play for long. Though he didn't have the best temper, he wasn't someone who liked to boss his underlings around. He only played for one class period before stopping.

"Brother Ji! Wanna play some ball?"

The bell rang, and everyone returned from the cafeteria. There was still a while before the next class, so Sun Hou turned around to ask Ji Yue.

In their class, the number of Alphas who knew how to play basketball wasn't large, but they could barely scrape together a team. Ji Yue thought about it, nodded, and pulled a gym bag from his desk.

In Ji Yue's desk drawer, there was everything except textbooks.

"I'll go call Lan Yunjie!" Chen Chen volunteered and ran to the neighboring classroom.

Hearing that Ji Yue wanted to play ball, over a dozen Alphas trickled onto the sports field.

Ji Yue threw his uniform jacket and gym bag onto a bench.

"Brother Ji, I'm on your team!" Lan Yunjie said excitedly.

Ji Yue gave an "Mm."

"I want to be on Brother Ji's team too!"

"Damn it, are you fighting me for it?!"

After a brief commotion, they quickly divided into teams.

The game was intense from the very start. Ji Yue executed a feint to bypass his opponent, caught Sun Hou's pass, drove the ball up, leaned back, and shot. The ball went cleanly through the hoop. The moment it hit the ground, someone immediately rushed to contest it.

On the basketball court under the sunset, the youths fought relentlessly. Some were skilled, others clumsy, but none backed down.

The game flew by in what felt like an instant.

Ji Yue was drenched in sweat, his t-shirt soaked. Sweat dripped from his forehead, down his face and the bridge of his nose, before splashing onto the ground.

Ji Yue waved his hand, and the group walked to the side to rest, leaving the court for others.

He turned to grab a tissue from his pocket, wiped his face casually, and threw it in the trash, ignoring the lively chatter of the other Alphas.

Lan Yunjie, standing closest, sniffed the air. A sharp, smoky scent seemed to linger, causing him to instinctively step back.

"Brother Ji, dry your sweat quickly. It's too strong!"

Ji Yue frowned, pulled a suppressor spray from his pocket, and sprayed himself.

Lan Yunjie breathed a sigh of relief. After exercising, an Alpha's sweat glands would secrete pheromones, which was generally understandable.

But Ji Yue's rank was too high. Standing far away was fine, but up close like this, even a tiny leak of his pheromones was unbearable.

"Brother, spray first before wiping next time. Luckily, it's only Alphas around, and they're pretty far away. If there were an Omega here, what if they got triggered into heat?" Lan Yunjie mumbled.

Everyone knew that only during their heat would Omegas accidentally release pheromones that attracted Alphas, which easily led to accidents.

Ji Yue hearing this, stuffed the suppressor spray back into his pocket, stepped forward, and kicked Lan Yunjie. His eyes showed his displeasure. "If you can't say anything nice, shut up. What kind of joke is that?"

Before the kick could land, Lan Yunjie clutched his leg and cried out, "I get it, I get it! No more nonsense."

Ji Yue snorted and tossed the suppressor spray to Lan Yunjie.

Lan Yunjie caught it and sprayed himself haphazardly.

"Evening self-study doesn't end until nine-thirty. Brother Ji, Jiang He and I are heading home first."

Ji Yue nodded and instructed Lan Yunjie, "Make sure to get Jiang He home safely."

Lan Yunjie made an "OK" sign, slung an arm around Jiang He's shoulders, and smiled. "Little He is my brother. Don't worry, Brother Ji, no one will bully him."

Although Lan Yunjie didn't understand why Ji Yue cared so much about the safety of an Alpha like Jiang He to that extent, considering Jiang He's gentle personality and easily bullied appearance, he could somewhat understand.

Jiang He was the shy, studious type, a prime target for street thugs.

Not only was Brother Ji worried, but Lan Yunjie was also concerned. Maybe Jiang He had been bullied terribly, which was why he transferred to this school.

*Sigh, poor Little He.*

Not knowing what Lan Yunjie was imagining, Ji Yue glanced at him. It probably wasn't an issue.

No need to explain further.

Ji Yue waved his hand. "Go back to class."