A Stand-in Alpha Awakens - Chapter 24

Bai Yue had a gentle appearance, the polar opposite of Liang Shuang, whose face looked grumpy whenever she wasn’t smiling. She didn’t need to force an expression; just standing there, she radiated a constant aura of friendliness and comfort. When she smiled, it truly felt like a breath of fresh spring air.

Standing before her, Jiang Lu found it impossible to keep her face cold.

Taking advantage of her position, Liang Shuang scrutinized the two as they conversed happily, feeling a stir of doubt in her heart. Not long ago, Jiang Lu had told Chu Zishan that she liked people who “made her feel comfortable.” At the time, Liang Shuang thought it was just a perfunctory excuse.

Could something actually be going on?

Jiang Lu, the person in question, hadn’t realized this yet. After finishing her small talk with Bai Yue, she watched her leave while warily scanning the path they had come from. Only after confirming that no one who shouldn’t be there had appeared did she continue watching the long dress drift away.

The more Liang Shuang thought about it, the more she felt Jiang Lu was acting strange. She let go of Shao Shuyi—who was desperate to dive into the cafeteria—and walked down the steps, nursing her red nose. “Aren’t you going in? What are you looking at?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.” Jiang Lu turned around, but her gaze caught a figure frozen a few meters away. Her heart skipped a beat, and she reflexively stuffed the bag in her hand into Liang Shuang’s arms.

Liang Shuang: “?”

The person Jiang Lu had been guarding against, Chu Zishan, had finally appeared.

Before seeing Bai Yue again, Jiang Lu had indeed considered the idea of exposing to Chu Zishan that her “dream goddess” was actually Bai Yue. But after seeing Bai Yue in person just now, she suddenly changed her mind.

A girl as wonderful as Bai Yue shouldn’t be entangled by a “sticky candy” like Chu Zishan. Being pestered by her would surely be unpleasant. Nothing negative should ever touch Bai Yue.

Predicting Chu Zishan’s next move, Jiang Lu immediately stepped forward to intercept her.

Chu Zishan was staring intently in the direction the figure had left. Feeling a hand suddenly drop onto her shoulder, she tried to shrug it off and push it away, only to have her wrist seized.

“Who the hell is it!” She withdrew her gaze and glared irritably at the person who had suddenly latched onto her.

Jiang Lu smiled. “I just remembered something. You got the last calculation in the math homework wrong. Want to head back to the classroom after lunch and discuss it?”

Chu Zishan froze. Remembering Liang Shuang’s “death-stare” question before PE, half of her attention was instantly diverted. She glared at Jiang Lu, her tone still unfriendly, though the ferocity in her eyes receded like a tide. “I got it wrong? On what grounds do you say that?!”

“On what grounds? Haven’t you gained enough experience from losing so many times?” Jiang Lu laughed and patted her shoulder. “Whenever our answers are different, you’re the one who’s wrong.”

“Fuck, Jiang Lu, where do you get this confidence?!”

“If you don’t believe me, wait and see.” Jiang Lu withdrew her hand and took a step back. “See you in the classroom.”

Chu Zishan snapped, “Fine, see you there!”

Jiang Lu made a gesture and backed away toward Liang Shuang. Under Liang Shuang’s suspicious gaze, she reclaimed the paper bag. “Let’s go. Time to eat.”

Liang Shuang: “…” Confirmed. Jiang Lu is acting very weird.

—It’s like she’s been possessed by a master of face-changing.

Could she have been driven mad by that freshman’s dark chocolate? No! She’d rather believe this was Bai Yue’s doing…

Distracted by Jiang Lu, Chu Zishan looked back only to find no trace of the “Goddess in the long dress.” She returned to the cafeteria entrance dejectedly.

By now, the bell had rung, and the paths leading to the cafeteria were flooded with people. She walked forward in disappointment, her ears feeling like they had a mute filter on—she couldn’t hear a thing.

When a hand landed on her shoulder, she remembered how Jiang Lu’s slap had ruined her “good timing” earlier. Enraged, she grabbed the wrist, intending to teach the person a lesson.

Chu Ziyan cried out in surprise, “Zishan! Stop!”

Chu Zishan realized it was her sister’s voice. “Sis.”

“Why are you so out of it? What are you thinking about?” Chu Ziyan stepped onto the steps beside her.

Chu Zishan listlessly scanned Chu Ziyan’s red and swollen eyes, perfunctorily making an excuse. “Just tired from PE. What about you? What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Chu Ziyan blinked her sore eyes and looked down at the steps. “Some foam got into them while I was washing my hair at noon.”

“I see.” Chu Zishan wasn’t in the mood to dig deeper; she took her sister at her word.

At a small table for four in the cafeteria, Jiang Lu finished her dinner and pulled the sliced cakes out of the bag one by one.

Shao Shuyi rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Thank you, thank you!”

Since it was hot and cake doesn’t keep well, Jiang Lu offered generously, “One for each of us. Pick whatever flavor you like.”

Liang Shuang’s eyes swept over the mint leaf on the green cake, and she reached out while watching Jiang Lu’s expression. She was wondering why Jiang Lu had no reaction, but then the purple blueberry cake was placed in front of her by Shao Shuyi.

“I love all yellow-toned fruits. Here, Liang Shuang, the blueberry you like.”

Liang Shuang pulled her hand back. “Jiang Lu likes blueberry too.”

“It’s fine, I like this one as well,” Jiang Lu said, opening her own box and giving no one else a chance to swap.

In that moment, although there was no proof, Liang Shuang felt like Jiang Lu was secretly delighted.

Was she overthinking it?

After finishing the cake, Jiang Lu folded the empty paper bag along its original creases, rolled it up, and carried it back to the classroom.

Chu Zishan had no appetite. After grabbing a quick bite with her sister, she returned to the classroom ready to take her frustration out on Jiang Lu. If Jiang Lu were actually wrong, great; but if Jiang Lu were right, she’d show her!

The result was predictable: she lost again.

She had overlooked a value while solving the problem. When Jiang Lu pointed to that number, all of Zishan’s resentment transformed. If her feeling toward Jiang Lu was just jealousy before, from this moment on, it became “jealous-hatred.” Hate!

Argh—how can such an infuriating person exist in this world!

Jiang Lu was prepared. Meeting that hateful gaze, she gave a consoling smile. “Pay more attention to the question next time.”

“Damn it!” Chu Zishan continued her parting threat. “Jiang Lu, you just wait!”

Not just Jiang Lu, but everyone around her was getting tired of hearing that. Liang Shuang stifled a laugh, her shoulders shaking. Jiang Lu patted her arm. “You too.”

Liang Shuang stopped laughing.

That night was another weekly quiz. After the papers were reviewed the next morning, the afternoon was free activity time.

With no homework, Class 1 was unusually empty. Those who remained were mostly just correcting their mistakes. Jiang Lu, remembering Song Wushuang and that off-campus gang, didn’t want to go out. She dragged Liang Shuang into playing logic games in the dorm.

After clearing over twenty levels in a row, the two looked at each other with boredom and went back to fiddling with their phones.

Liang Shuang was in a school gossip group. Usually, she didn’t open it, but being bored, she scrolled through a few pages of chat history. Coincidentally, her eyes caught something related to Song Wushuang, so she kept reading.

Jiang Lu’s phone was quiet. During school days, besides Jiang Wen leaving her messages, few people reached out. As she scrolled through her contacts, her finger suddenly paused as those two friend requests surfaced in her mind.

“A White Cat?” Jiang Lu murmured.

“?” Liang Shuang asked while busy with her phone. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Lu said, clicking back into the “New Friends” tab. The request hadn’t expired yet. The square profile frame showed a white cat with blue eyes.

Jiang Lu tapped the avatar. Her brow twitched slightly. What a beautiful cat. It looks just like… wait? Like who?

Jiang Lu’s slightly slumped back suddenly straightened. Realizing she had overreacted, a faint flush appeared on her pale face.

Liang Shuang didn’t notice. Her finger swiped across her screen. Seeing a post about Song Wushuang leaving the school after breakfast yesterday, she snorted. “Serves her right.”

Jiang Lu, who had been blankly tapping her screen out of embarrassment, replied guiltily, “Huh?”

Liang Shuang quickly skimmed the chat records. “Song Wushuang was suspended for reflection. She left after breakfast yesterday.”

“Oh.” Jiang Lu nodded, not surprised. Climbing the wall was already a violation; being beaten outside and refusing to explain upon return would inevitably raise the school’s suspicions. Even if she didn’t cooperate, a demerit was unavoidable.

After finishing the gossip, Liang Shuang rubbed her sore eyes. Just as she was about to put her phone down, it rang. It wasn’t a WeChat call, but a standard phone call… from Shao Shuyi?

Didn’t she say she hated phone calls? Did she lose her phone?

Curious, Liang Shuang swiped to answer, prepared to hear a stranger’s voice. However, the voice that came through the receiver was indeed Shao Shuyi’s.

“Liang Shuang, are you and Jiang Lu together? A new shop opened on North Street selling all kinds of snacks. Why don’t you guys come check it out? I want to buy so much that I can’t carry it all.”

“A new shop? Where?” Liang Shuang’s brow furrowed.

Shao Shuyi said, “Just at the far north end. It just opened.”

“Oh, wait a sec, I’ll tell Jiang Lu.” Liang Shuang hung up, pulled a black hair tie from a hook on her bed, and started tying her hair.

Jiang Lu: “What’s up?”

“I suspect Shao Shuyi is in trouble. She sounds very off.” Liang Shuang played the recording of the call.

Jiang Lu shot up from her chair, her heart pounding. She had only been thinking about Liang Shuang; she had forgotten that Shao Shuyi was also likely within Song Wushuang’s circle of revenge.

Leaving the school, Jiang Lu and Liang Shuang sprinted to the sports shop diagonally across the street, each buying a pink baseball bat. Liang Shuang, having been frequently intercepted by hoodlums in middle school because of her “grumpy face,” was never afraid of a fight. Jiang Lu was less experienced but was no pushover either.

The two Alpha girls, faces grim, reached the place Shao Shuyi mentioned. As they turned the corner, they saw the “very off” Shao Shuyi squeezing out of a shop with a curtained doorway, clutching two massive, overflowing bags of food.

Liang Shuang: “…”

Jiang Lu: “…”

Their eyes met, and the pink baseball bats hit the ground with a clang.

Liang Shuang covered her face in disappointment. “A false alarm. Glad she’s okay.”

Jiang Lu glanced at her and bent over to pick up the bat with a wry smile. Just as she was about to stand up, a jarring splash of yellow caught her peripheral vision.

A man with hair dyed like a lemon-turned-human stood at the mouth of the alley. He leaned his head down to light the cigarette in his mouth, squinting as he blew a cloud of smoke. Jiang Lu looked behind him; there were two other Alphas in the alley.

The “Lemon Spirit” held his cigarette and said, “Let’s have a private chat, little students.”