Chapter 11: Being Targeted
For an Omega, that question was essentially asking about his sex organs, while pheromones were equivalent to menstruation for women in this world—an implicit hint about whether intimate things could be done. Since He Siming had already slept with him, he was naturally equivalent to an “Alpha.”
Jiang Rong’s face burned.
An Alpha caring about an Omega’s pheromones—this was like the intimacy between lovers.
Jiang Rong bit his lower lip. Seeing He Siming looking at him, waiting for an answer, he said awkwardly, “After that… you won’t be able to smell any pheromones.”
He Siming smiled faintly. “Pheromones are that magical?” He had only asked casually, not expecting Jiang Rong to seriously fill in the entire worldview.
Jiang Rong felt his smile looked a bit improper. “That’s how it is.”
He couldn’t very well get angry at He Siming for not knowing.
Jiang Rong quickened his pace and slipped into the classroom. After sitting down, he covered his burning cheeks with his slightly cool hands.
He Siming: “……” Was Jiang Rong shy?
After the morning classes ended, He Siming was called away by Ding Yan. Jiang Rong went to the cafeteria with Yao Shule and Li Yizhou.
Their attitudes toward him had changed as well—they were willing to include him in conversations now. Still, thinking that “Jiang Rong” was sensitive about being an orphan, they avoided bringing it up.
After lunch, Li Yizhou went to play basketball with students from the neighboring dorm. Yao Shule and Jiang Rong returned to the dorm.
Both chose to take a nap.
Just as Jiang Rong lay down, he noticed that his usually quiet WeChat had a new friend request—the other party had added him through the class group chat.
Remark: I’m Yao Yin.
Jiang Rong knew this girl. She was very pretty, wore makeup to class every day, had fair skin, dressed exquisitely—a refined little lady. In their world, such a gentle Omega would receive plenty of Alpha attention.
He accepted the request, unsure what important matter she might have.
After adding him, she sent a message first.
Yao Yin: Jiang Rong, can I discuss something with you?
Jiang Rong: Go ahead.
Yao Yin: You and He Siming haven’t started your project yet, right? Could I swap with you?
Jiang Rong: What do you mean?
What was she trying to do?
Yao Yin: My project is already finished. If you swap with me, I’ll just put your name into my group.
Jiang Rong: What do you mean?
Was she giving him a completed group assignment for free?
Yao Yin: I want to do the group project with He Siming. I’m pursuing him.
Jiang Rong froze.
He knew there were many people pursuing He Siming. Just last week in the library he’d heard other girls talking about a junior confessing to him, and now another girl was chasing him.
Jiang Rong felt stifled inside; his good mood from the morning vanished.
Objectively speaking, Yao Yin was offering him a completed assignment—he wouldn’t have to hide his unfamiliarity with the major in front of He Siming. It was a very good option.
But he didn’t want to go against his own feelings.
He wasn’t interested in Yao Yin’s pursuit of He Siming, nor did he want to ask more. He replied to her the same way He Siming had replied to Yao Shule and Li Yizhou that morning.
Jiang Rong: Sorry, can’t swap. He Siming and I have already started our assignment.
Yao Yin: Oh.
Noticing her attitude suddenly turn cold, Jiang Rong didn’t reply further.
In the afternoon, they had a large English lecture.
Jiang Rong sat in a row with Yao Shule and Li Yizhou. He Siming and Ding Yan sat in the back rows with others, two rows behind them.
Jiang Rong casually noticed a very beautiful girl sitting next to He Siming—waist-length hair, a light purple short skirt, light makeup. She had an aggressive kind of beauty that was hard to look away from. Sitting together, she and He Siming looked like a perfect pair.
He lowered his head and flipped through the English textbook absentmindedly. The class was a bit boring; he felt like skipping it.
Halfway through the lecture, the English teacher suddenly called on students to practice speaking. She called on Yao Yin.
“Please choose a classmate to debate with you on whether artificial intelligence will replace humans. You may choose the affirmative or the negative. The affirmative says it will not affect humans; the negative says it will.”
Yao Yin had attended bilingual schools since childhood, so her English was naturally excellent. She was confident about the topic of artificial intelligence—after all, they were computer science majors, and AI was one of the future research directions of their field.
She stood up and deliberately looked around. “Then I’ll choose Jiang Rong, who’s sitting closer to me.”
The entire class’s gaze shifted to Jiang Rong—a student who had always hovered on the margins of their class group.
Jiang Rong knew he was being targeted by Yao Yin.
Still, he stood up.
Jiang Rong’s English was quite good. His parents had thought he would grow up to differentiate as an Omega, so from a young age they raised him with the idea of marrying into a wealthy family—he had never missed any foreign language training classes and could speak fluent English.
At this moment, in the back row, He Siming glanced at Yao Yin, his eyes somewhat cold.
The girl next to him smiled lightly. “He Siming, you’ve been looking at Yao Yin for more than three seconds. Do you like her?”
He Siming didn’t answer. He was looking at Jiang Rong, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.
When he had just entered his freshman year, the school didn’t allow freshmen to live off campus yet.
He Siming had been a well-known figure from the very beginning. He was the top scorer of the college entrance exam, admitted with the highest score in the department. Even his student ID number was the first in their class—whenever teachers called roll by ID number, he was always first.
As soon as school started, the student union and various clubs tried hard to recruit him. He performed on stage as the student representative at the opening ceremony, and after military training, the student union recruited him again. Once he joined, he immediately became vice president.
His life was full and busy—aside from sleeping, he spent almost all his time out and about. Even counselors had to ask around in multiple group chats to find him.
One weekend, he returned to the dorm.
Yao Shule went to his partner’s school, Li Yizhou went home, and only Jiang Rong was left in the dorm.
He had returned urgently to retrieve a tablet he’d forgotten. Ding Yan happened to follow him into the dorm. As soon as they pushed the door open, they heard someone practicing spoken English on the balcony.
It was a kind of “mute” English—pronunciation not very accurate, with an accent, halting and stumbling.
Hearing He Siming return, Jiang Rong was startled and immediately stopped practicing.
He Siming pretended not to hear, but Ding Yan couldn’t help commenting, “Wow, you really need to practice your spoken English more.”
Jiang Rong’s face darkened immediately. He lowered his head, shot Ding Yan a heavy look, and snapped back sharply, “What’s it got to do with you!”
Ding Yan had meant well and wanted to say he could help him find someone to practice with, but Jiang Rong’s sharp words set him off.
“It’s none of my business, sure—but with English like that, when you’re job hunting and need to introduce yourself in English, they won’t understand a word.”
He Siming immediately scolded Ding Yan. “Ding Yan, shut up and get out.”
Turning back, he apologized to Jiang Rong on Ding Yan’s behalf. “Sorry. He has a loose mouth—don’t mind him.”
Jiang Rong sneered. “You rich people are all like this—rude and uncultured. Just lucky to be born well. Why should we poor people have to endure your spoiled tempers!”
He Siming was momentarily speechless. “I’ll have him come back and apologize to you.”
Jiang Rong glared at him gloomily. “No need. I can’t afford it! Who knows, you might even make things hard for me later!”
From that day on, He Siming became Jiang Rong’s class enemy; by extension, Jiang Rong didn’t like the other roommates either.
Later, Ding Yan tried to apologize privately, but got rebuffed—Jiang Rong completely ignored him.
He Siming knew Jiang Rong was insecure and had a very strong sense of pride.
His background might indeed be poor, but no one looked down on him. Some classmates had even considered helping him, but he refused. Later, everyone respected his pride and stopped bringing it up.
Now, Yao Yin suddenly called Jiang Rong up in front of hundreds of classmates to debate with her. He Siming felt like tearing her apart.
Jiang Rong was different now than before. He didn’t want the sensitive Jiang Rong to be hurt. He had finally become a bit more cheerful—one public embarrassment and ridicule could cast a shadow that might take a lifetime to heal.
Just as He Siming was about to stand up to help Jiang Rong out, the present-day Jiang Rong spoke without the slightest hesitation.
“I don’t think…”
As the opposing side, his argument was that “artificial intelligence will affect human life.” His spoken English was extremely fluent—like his native language. The entire class listened in stunned silence. His reasoning was clear, every sentence well-founded.
The moment he opened his mouth in fluent English, he seemed to glow.
Even Ding Yan was shocked and whispered to He Siming, “Did he mutate or something? That much improvement in just a year—even his accent’s gone.”
He still remembered how terrible Jiang Rong’s spoken English used to be. Had he been pumped full of hormones or what? Such a huge change!
He Siming, however, quietly let out a breath of relief and praised him sincerely: “He did really well.”
