SCOM - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Although the person had already left the classroom, the impact of what just happened was far from gone.
The students still inside quietly observed Ji Yuezhi. Any Alpha about to differentiate, if pinned against a wall by another Alpha, would probably find it hard to stomach, especially when the one suppressed was the Head of the Disciplinary Committee. It was practically trampling the Disciplinary Committee underfoot.
However, in everyone's eyes, Ji Yuezhi didn't lose his composure. He simply lowered his head, tidied his military uniform, and left the classroom expressionlessly.
The moment he left, the classroom instantly erupted. Some felt Zuo Luohuan was indeed powerful, leaving Ji Yuezhi unable to even resist. But more people felt indignant for Ji Yuezhi, thinking Zuo Luohuan was too arrogant.
After this class, within half a day, the forum was flooded with posts about the incident, mostly condemning Zuo Luohuan's actions. As an Alpha who had differentiated long ago, her behavior was excessive.
[I was right there in the classroom. Ji Yuezhi wouldn't fight her, so Zuo Luohuan just physically slammed him against the wall.]
[That outrageous?]
[That's not all. Before leaving, she provoked Ji Yuezhi, touched his neck, I estimate she touched the gland behind it.]
Omegas have the most obvious gland feature, a slightly soft protrusion at the nape of the neck, the place for an Alpha's mark. Alphas barely have one, essentially non-existent, but everyone knows the importance of the neck gland area. Unless it's someone intimate, people generally don't touch it. Touching the nape of someone of the same secondary gender is definitely a blatant provocation, often used by the toucher to mock the one being touched.
[Hiss— What was Ji Yuezhi's reaction?]
[No reaction, just left directly. Probably waiting until after he differentiates, then we'll see.]
[Hope Senior differentiates into an Alpha and teaches her a lesson! Students like her who don't follow school rules will just end up like Ren Pingbo.]
[Becoming Ren Pingbo probably won't happen, right? After all, she's from the Zuo family. But for Ji Yuezhi to differentiate into an Alpha stronger than Zuo Luohuan might be a bit difficult.]
[At least he won't be weak.]
...
The anonymous forum was ablaze with arguments, but the person involved wasn't as angry as imagined. He simply returned to his single room, lowered his eyes, raised his hand, and sat quietly.
—A red mark on his slender wrist, stark against his cold-white skin, was extremely jarring.
Ji Yuezhi raised his other hand, his fingertip gently touching the red finger marks. When she grabbed him, she hadn't held back, clearly already seeing him as an Alpha about to differentiate. If not for that, she wouldn't have... touched him there today.
Ji Yuezhi's fingertip left his wrist, then rose to touch his neck, his lips pressed into a straight line: Zuo Luohuan would never touch an Omega like that.
Ji Yuezhi didn't attend the subsequent classes. Perhaps the emotional turmoil stirred up that day was too great, or perhaps the time had finally come. He began showing signs of differentiation: headache, weakness in his limbs.
A normal differentiation period, from start to finish, generally lasts two to three months. The body needs sufficient time to adapt to the changes. The last few days are when the symptoms are most severe; other times manifest as mild discomfort, allowing for normal life and study.
Perhaps because this was Ji Yuezhi's second time experiencing differentiation, his physical discomfort was slightly more pronounced. To prevent any accidents, Ji Xixiu personally came to the school to pick him up.
...
"Took leave?" Hearing this news, Zuo Luohuan was momentarily stunned. "Because of yesterday?"
Jiang Hong shook his head, leaning closer to whisper, "My mom said doctors went to the Ji residence overnight. He might be starting to differentiate."
Differentiate?
She had touched him yesterday, and today he might be starting to differentiate. Zuo Luohuan inexplicably felt a bit guilty, but her face remained nonchalant. "Wonder if he can successfully differentiate before his coming-of-age ceremony."
"The differentiation period is so long, it should probably end after he comes of age." Jiang Hong quietly glanced at Zuo Luohuan. She didn't seem the least bit concerned about his post-differentiation rank; her attention was actually on the timing of the differentiation.
"I'm skipping the next class, you go yourself," Zuo Luohuan said casually.
"Skipping class again?"
"Can't I?"
"You can."
After leaving the teaching building, Zuo Luohuan hadn't walked far before she couldn't hold on anymore. She had to turn and lean against the back wall of the building, using the trees to hide her figure. She tilted her head back against the not-so-clean wall, her face pale as paper, the feeling of an electric drill attacking her brain relentless.
After so long, the side effects were still so strong.
Zuo Luohuan's hand trembled slightly as she fumbled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, taking several attempts to light one.
However, even nicotine couldn't numb the pain. Within minutes, Zuo Luohuan's inner shirt was almost soaked through, clinging stickily to her body. At this point, the wound on her abdomen didn't hurt as much anymore. She held the cigarette between her fingers, exhaling white smoke, trying to think of other things to distract herself.
She wondered what symptoms Ji Yuezhi had during differentiation. When she differentiated, she had a continuous high fever, relying on cooling equipment to avoid trouble.
Zuo Dihong and Yi Tong were both S-rank. From Zuo Luohuan's birth, they were prepared; their daughter would likely be among the earliest to differentiate, but they hadn't expected her to start at fifteen.
Fifteen-year-old Zuo Luohuan was always out running wild, covered in bumps and bruises. She paid no attention to the early signs of differentiation. When the final stage truly hit, she collapsed in bed, unable to get up. If she hadn't been discovered early, she might have burned into an idiot.
Zuo Luohuan tilted her head back, squinting. Due to the pain, her vision was already somewhat blurry. Speaking of which... the person who found her back then was Ji Yuezhi.
That time, it must have been a banquet celebrating her father's promotion, but only the Ji family was invited. Rumor had it, it was to spite Ji Xixiu, as everyone originally thought the position was his. Zuo Luohuan had only heard bits and pieces at the time, paid it no mind, and didn't plan to attend, even planning to go out and play on the day of the banquet.
Who could have predicted Zuo Luohuan wouldn't be able to get up that morning? No one at home noticed either, assuming she wasn't there.
Zuo Luohuan didn't remember much about that day, vaguely hearing someone call her name. She was drowsy for several days. When she woke up, the differentiation was over. Her parents stood before her, worried, saying Ji Yuezhi had found her collapsed at home. That was his first and last time visiting the Zuo residence. After all, they weren't familiar, and had no contact afterwards.
She had actually thanked Ji Yuezhi, in person at school. However, he didn't seem to appreciate it, just nodded slightly in acknowledgement before brushing past her and leaving.
Zuo Luohuan had no interest in dealing with someone's cold shoulder. At that time, they were always in the same school but different classes, so they had no further interaction.
However, differentiating too early or too late was a burden on the body. Hopefully, he wouldn't suffer too much, Zuo Luohuan thought hazily, quite sincere and honest about this point.
...
Ji Yuezhi, recuperating at home, was doing relatively well. After returning, he only experienced dizziness and limb weakness, no other symptoms. But the family doctor checked him every twelve hours, and even Ji Xixiu came home early these past few days, fearing something might go wrong.
Ji Yuezhi leaned against the headboard, looking at Ji Xixiu. "Father, I want to go back to class."
"The differentiation period is no small matter." Ji Xixiu frowned, a rare occurrence. "You know very well what happened to Zuo Luohuan, who almost died in the hospital back then."
Ji Yuezhi looked up at the doctor. "There's nothing wrong with my physical condition, it's just the early stage of differentiation."
The doctor carefully compared the data from the past few days, looked between the father and son, and nodded. "All vital signs are trending steadily upward. It might still take some time to fully differentiate, but there are no major issues."
Ji Xixiu stared at his son for a long time before reluctantly agreeing. "Take precautions first, in case of unexpected incidents. But I'll send someone to pick you up from school every evening."
The differentiation period was special; the school would provide maximum convenience to help students.
After coming out, Ji Xixiu glanced back at the doctor, who seemed hesitant to speak. "Is there anything else to pay attention to?"
The doctor looked at Ji Xixiu, recalling the rampant rumors about the Zuo and Ji families, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Finally, he said, "Young Master Ji's differentiation trend might... differ from what you imagine."
Ji Xixiu's expression remained calm. He didn't ask about the trend, only asking, "Will his body be affected?"
The doctor, having prepared several possible responses, was caught off guard. He paused for a moment before saying, "Young Master Ji's body is fine; he's in a normal differentiation period."
After leaving the Ji residence, the wind hit his face, and the doctor finally sobered up: Why wasn't the head of the Ji family surprised at all? Could he have known it would turn out like this?
...
After several days of leave, Ji Yuezhi returned to class as usual. But a protective patch on the back of his neck seemed to announce to everyone that he had entered the differentiation period.
The most excited people at school were undoubtedly the hardcore fans of Ji Yuezhi's support club. They seemed to finally see hope – the hope of trampling Zuo Luohuan underfoot.
[Waaaaah, our Head of the Disciplinary Committee is finally differentiating!!!]
[Tears of emotion flow. After differentiation, let's see who dares bully our senior! What is Zuo Luohuan!]
[Senior Ji looks so Alpha with the protective patch on. Does anyone know the brand? I want to use this one during my differentiation period too.]
...
Within a day at the First Military Academy, a cheerful atmosphere seemed to permeate everywhere. Zuo Luohuan, walking down the road, received several glares – from Alphas, Betas, and Omegas alike.
Zuo Luohuan still didn't know what had happened. Jiang Hong wasn't walking with her today, so there was no one to gossip with. Amidst a sense of inexplicable confusion, she entered the classroom through the back door. Jiang Hong, sitting in his seat, nudged his chin towards the front.
Zuo Luohuan looked up and saw the figure, her gaze falling on the protective patch at the nape of his neck. Zuo Luohuan subconsciously raised an eyebrow. He actually started differentiating. Her gaze lingered on it for a few moments before she looked away, lowering her head and idly flipping through a book.
The classroom was very noisy today, mostly people whispering about Ji Yuezhi's differentiation. Even after the teacher arrived, some were still secretly sending messages on their optical computers.
Perhaps sensing the restlessness of the crowd in the classroom, Zuo Luohuan also felt somewhat irritated. She raised her hand to press her neck, then suddenly looked up. Just now, she seemed to have smelled someone's pheromones, extremely faint. When she looked up, the scent vanished, undetectable, and the classroom was perfectly normal.
"Did someone release pheromones just now?" Zuo Luohuan asked Jiang Hong beside her.
"What?" Jiang Hong turned to look at her. "Alpha or Omega?"
As someone who had differentiated into a top-tier Alpha, Zuo Luohuan had passively smelled the pheromones of all the already differentiated classmates. Sometimes, when they couldn't control it well, or their clothes were contaminated with lingering pheromones they hadn't cleared, she could smell it.
"Forget it." Zuo Luohuan recalled the scent from just now; it was very unfamiliar, and the only person in their class yet to differentiate was...
She looked up at Ji Yuezhi's nape, at the white protective patch snugly covering the area, claiming to block 100% of pheromone leakage during differentiation.
Zuo Luohuan clicked her tongue: This guy couldn't have been tricked again and bought a counterfeit, right?
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