Yin Che didn't know how to react.
Unlike the last time when their hands touched, Jiang Yao was touching him intentionally this time.
With an alpha's strength and aggressiveness, he'd broken through his last line of defense.
Yin Che had only just now discovered that his self-proclaimed indestructible line of defense was actually so fragile. Any alpha stronger than him could easily break through and touch him with a mere thought.
No different from ten years ago.
"Why'd you go so pale, do you not feel well?" Jiang Yao saw that his expression was off and immediately withdrew his hand.
Partway through the motion, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"What are you doing?!"
Had it not been for Jiang Yao's quick response, quickly standing up, turning around, and withdrawing his hand, his arm might've already been broken at this moment.
"I'm chatting with your ge, what gives?"
Yin Ze was stunned silent for a moment, not able to understand how he'd escaped his grip so easily. When he heard those words though, he asked in reply, "Does chatting involve pawing at him?"
Jiang Yao answered, "I know it was improper, I was about to apologize to him. But it's none of your business, right?"
"How is it none of my business? I'm his——" Yin Ze suddenly choked on his words, likely because he remembered that he hated to be seen as Yin Che's younger brother.
"Cut out the noise." Yin Che frowned. He kneaded his temple, his expression losing a bit of the tension from a moment before, "I'm fine."
Most of the students in Class 1 had been leaning over the railing outside the classroom to enjoy the snow, but Yin Ze had attracted some people's attention when he came in through the back door and then made a racket by raising his voice in the classroom.
Many students outside had heard it and were curious now, coming back into the classroom to check things out.
"Why is it you again." Han Meng came over, "Bullying our class monitor last time and this time bullying our class pet?"
"......class pet?" Yin Ze sneered, "How fake, don't you all keep yourselves distant from him?"
Han Meng replied, "That was in the past. Just ask any of us tongxue right now, which of us doesn't treat him like our treasure?"
Yang YiLe, who had been studying silently in the front row, suddenly turned his head and said boldly even though his face was flushed red, "That's right! I-I like Yin Che very much......" As he spoke, he began to feel embarrassed, so his voice grew softer and softer.
Yin Che was a little surprised. He nodded at him, "Thanks."
"It-it's nothing......" Yang YiLe's face flushed even more and he quickly turned back around.
Zhang Ke followed up right after him and said, "That's right, Che Ge really is my treasure and Che Ge's notes are the treasure of my treasure!"
Zhou HaoLiang said, "Che Ge really is a treasure boy. Yesterday he went over the lecture with me and his train of thought was very clear!"
Guo ZhiXiong added, "Che Ge is our class treasure. When I was playing basketball with another class and I said that Che Ge and I are friends, that we went out to eat and also went to an escape room, they all thought I was really awesome, heehee. "
Even Chen YingYing also interjected, "To be honest, in terms of attractiveness rating, the gege is better to look at."
Han Meng was shocked, "Class monitor? Are you not a love-struck fool anymore?"
Chen YingYing replied, "Never mention that again, I was blind before."
Yin Ze: "......"
He was a student from another class, wholeheartedly united against in this fight by outside enemies from this other class, so he was totally unable to answer back.
Yin Che laughed. Though it was soft, the sound made all the surrounding classmates fall silent instantly.
Fuck, the sight of this school tyrant's smile is even better than the snow.
"Thank you all, but my di wasn't bullying me, don't worry."
Chen YingYing waved her hand, "It's no big deal, tongxue helping each other is how it should be."
When the others in the classroom scattered again, Yin Che fixed his gaze on Yin Ze once more, "Were you looking for me because of a problem?"
Yin Ze had originally wanted to take advantage of the small number of people in the Class 1 classroom to talk to him about something, but now there were too many people so it was a bit awkward to talk about it. "Forget it, we can talk about it after school. Mom wants you to go home this weekend."
"What's wrong? Didn't I just go back last week?"
Since Qiao WanYun had agreed to make him return just once a month, she normally wouldn't go back on her word.
"Doctor Feng said......" Yin Ze glanced around and lowered his voice, "he might have found a solution."
Yin Che was startled.
"What solution?" Jiang Yao originally had been leaning on the cabinet on the back wall, giving the two brothers private space, but he walked over when he heard this. "Can your ge's unmentionable illness be cured?"
"How the fuck could you still hear that standing so far away......" Yin Ze paused halfway through the scolding, his eyes suddenly going wide. He looked at Yin Che in astonishment, "You told him everything?"
Yin Che was still a little shocked, but said, "Ah......yeah."
The anger inside Yin Ze that had just been extinguished ignited again, "Fuck me! Who is he to you? He's even worthy enough to know that much?
I didn't even know about it until last year and that's because Mom and Dad told me. Hasn't he only known you for a few months? Yet you've already told him everything?"
Jiang Yao scolded him, "Hey, hey, howling at your ge again, do you know not how to respect your elder brother?" (t/n: term for elder brother here is specifically one implying respect)
Yin Ze replied, "This is our household business right now, outsiders should shut up!"
Jiang Yao smiled, "No way. I should thank you, Didi. If it weren't for you, I'd have no idea I was so special to your ge."
Yin Che replied, "I didn't say anything like that about you."
"Not listening, not listening, the tortoise is chanting sutras¹."
"......"
Yin Ze snapped, "I've never seen anyone as shameless as you!"
"Being shameless has its uses. Why don't you just admit that your ge likes me a little?"
Yin Che cut in, "I don't......"
Yin Ze replied, "Heh heh, hilarious, why would he like such a worthless² alpha as you?"
"Because I'm amazing." Jiang Yao narrowed his eyes, "Ask your ge, am I stronger than you or not?"
Yin Ze acted like he'd heard the biggest joke in the world, "Ha? Ge, you hear what he just said? He's delusional, right?"
Yin Che didn't reply for a moment.
"......Ge?" Yin Ze asked in disbelief, "You don't actually agree with what he said, right?"
"Jiang Yao, he......is really strong, but you're also......"
Yin Ze couldn't listen anymore when he heard the first half of his reply, "Just because of strength, a guy like him? He's stronger than me? Ge, has he brainwashed you?"
"I don't............"
"Didn't he just break my record last time? It was just one time, who knows if it was just a coincidence, right?"
Jiang Yao's smile didn't falter one bit, "Then how about we race? The long-distance running test next week, let's see if it was a coincidence or not."
"Let's race!"
"If you lose, you have to show respect to your ge, got it?"
"Hmm, have you already thought of something equal for you to do if you lose?"
"That's up to you."
"Alright, then if you lose, you aren't allowed to ever touch my ge again!"
"Alright." Jiang Yao walked over to stand in front of him and clapped him on the shoulder, then he lowered his voice, "But only in the case that your ge doesn't agree. If your ge allows me to touch him, I'll have no choice but to respect my superior's wishes."
Yin Ze suspected that this guy had been born with the exact right personality to enrage him.
"Dream on!"
In order to win this bet between men, when Yin Ze went home to eat dinner that night, for the first time ever he didn't go back to the room afterwards, putting on exercise gear and running out into the winter night.
Qiao WanYun was shocked, "Have you all been under too much pressure from studying recently? Does Xioa Ze need to decompress?"
Yin Che didn't know how to explain this mess to his mother, so he just didn't answer at all.
So childish, these two guys.
He thought that Jiang Yao would also be training himself up a bit, but on the day of the long-distance race, he found out that this guy wasn't taking it seriously at all.
"What's that? Ah, I would've forgotten if you didn't mention it." Jiang Yao casually asked, "Has your di's class already been tested? What was his time?"
Class 1 and Class 3 were in the same physical education class. The boys in Class 3 had just finished being timed and loud shouts had broken out on the other side of the athletic field, since the students in Class 1 had all gone over to watch. Yin Che felt speechless in the face of Jiang Yao's unreliable listening skills.
"3:07."
The perfect score for a thousand meter run was 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Yin Ze usually was only ten seconds faster than that, but this time he'd trained hard and as a result, was ten seconds faster than his own baseline.
He'd broken the school record he himself had set last year and was currently basking in the feverish screams of all his male and female fans.
But Yin Che knew that Jiang Yao would definitely be faster.
"If you win, don't mock him. He's proud and arrogant, so I'm afraid he'll get upset."
Jiang Yao smiled, "As long as I beat him, he will definitely feel upset."
Yin Che opened his mouth, but said nothing in the end.
What he meant to say was obvious.
"You really are biased......" Jiang Yao stretched out his hand to ruffle the hair on his head, but before he extended it partway, he pulled back.
"You want me to lose on purpose? Have you ever thought about whether I'd feel upset?"
"You know?"
"How could I not, do you really think that I'm that thoughtless?"
Yin Che remained silent for a moment, then retreated back to his first request, "Then don't mock him, okay? Especially don't say your my......you know what."
Jiang Yao took a step closer, "What am I?"
"Don't ask when you already know. My di is my...... most important person, I owe him so much."
Jiang Yao looked at him for a long time, "Then you have to remember, you'll also owe me a favor, I'll come back for it someday."
The Class 1 PE teacher blew his whistle, "Male students, come gather up!"
The girls who'd just finished the 800-meter test sat in the grass to rest. Those with poor physical strength were short of breath, but they all raised their heads to watch when they heard the boys were about to be timed.
"Can Jiang Yao win?"
"I think......Yin Ze was too fast this time."
"Didn't he break Yin Ze's record at the sports meet last time? Maybe he can do it again this time?"
......
The bet between the two guys had already spread between the two classes long ago. There was nothing else amusing going on before the exams, so tons of students were joining in the fun.
Han Meng stood on the starting line and clapped Jiang Yao on the back, "Bring an end to the domineering strength of that stinky didi, make him realize that there are still other people outside the peak of his mountain."
Jiang Yao smiled, pushed up his glasses, and said nothing in reply.
As soon as the whistle sounded, the pack of guys at the starting line rushed forward. Even before they reached the half-lap point, an obvious gap had widened between them.
From beginning to end, Jiang Yao led the pack.
"3:19!"
When the result was called, Chen YingYing slapped her thigh, "Ai! Such a small difference!"
The girl next to her commented, "The school grass really is the school grass."
"Yeah, seems like what happened at the sports meet last time was just a coincidence......"
Chen YingYing countered, "What are you talking about? 3 minutes, 19 seconds is still really amazing, okay?! It's also a perfect score!"
Although the final results on the test record were both 'full marks', everyone knew that Jiang Yao had lost.
Yin Ze had also come over to hear the results. Chin almost pointed to the sky, he said, "Overestimated your capabilities."
Jiang Yao shifted the bangs that had been blown out of their place back down, then turned to walk towards him. He shrugged nonchalantly, "If you agree to bet, you must agree to admit defeat³."
"Did you see, Ge, he's so inferior, how could he be stronger than me? If you associate with this kind of guy, you'll be brainwashed by him."
After waiting for the two classes of students who were watching the excitement to scatter again, Yin Che studied Jiang Yao with a complicated expression, then finally decided to give him a kick, "Who made you lose on purpose? I said you shouldn't mock him, did you not understand what you heard?"
Jiang Yao didn't dodge away, bearing through the pain of the kick, "If I'd won, he would've definitely been upset. If he got upset, he'd get angry at you and you'd be in a bad mood too. I don't want to make you unhappy."
"But what about you?" Yin Che looked at him, "Aren't you unhappy?"
"That fact that you care if I'm unhappy or not makes me incredibly happy. Plus now you'll owe me a favor." Jiang Yao winked slyly, "This Friday night, got it?"
"......"
Turns out he planned this all along.
Yin Che clenched his jaw, "I got it, I'll go."
"Good." Jiang Yao felt relieved, "Can I ask you one more little thing?"
"Ask."
"If your stinky didi is your most important person, then am I the second most important person?"
"......no."
"The third?"
"No."
"Then what number am I?"
Yin Che put a hand to his forehead, feeling like a headache was coming on, "I don't know."
"Then just treat me as the hundredth." Jiang Yao suddenly drew near. He bent down, propping his knees, and looked up at his face from below a bit.
He smiled brightly, "You have to know that I can run really fast, so even if I'm currently in the hundredth place right now, I can definitely catch up to first place. Your di should watch out.
"Ah, but you're actually the one who should watch out.
"Because when I win first place......you'll be my prize."
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The author has something to say:
Have you changed your mind about Xiao Jiang a little bit?
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Footnotes:
1. Not listening... (不听不听，王八念经): internet slang/meme from a 80s nursery rhyme (usually with pic of a psyduck covering its ears), means if someone doesn't agree, they cover their ears and pretend not to hear it ↩
2. Worthless (一无是处): lacking a single good point ↩
3. Agree to a bet... (愿赌服输): idiom, if one participates in a gamble willingly, one has to bear the consequences of losing ↩
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😦 I wanted him to win....