10: Class Rep, We’re Fated~
Xie Ling had seen Qian Kun once many years ago, at a militarized, fully closed-off school.
The students there were mostly troublemakers who’d caused serious incidents and couldn’t be controlled by regular schools, so their families had sent them away.
The Xie family had long cooperated with the local education department. When Xie Ling accompanied his grandfather on an inspection, he happened to witness a still-teenage Qian Kun beating his instructor with fists flying. Military combat techniques, taekwondo, traditional martial arts, all mashed together into a chaotic yet relentless assault, like someone pounding a sandbag.
When the situation escalated, it came out that the instructor had been suppressing and abusing students for years, even secretly photographing them nude as leverage. The students endured it in silence, their resentment festering with nowhere to go.
Qian Kun’s attack that day came without warning.
After the initial shock, the other students didn’t try to break it up. Instead, they cheered, shouted encouragement, even blocked teachers who tried to intervene.
Afterward, Xie Ling heard his grandfather evaluate a younger person for the first time: “A force to be reckoned with.”
Thinking it through, Xie Ling guessed Qian Kun had deliberately waited for leadership inspection day to expose everything, forcing all parties to take it seriously.
He’d heard Qian Kun was the only one who’d asked to be sent to that school himself.
The reason given was that he couldn’t control his temper.
Xie Ling didn’t know how bad Qian Kun’s temper actually was, but he remembered how methodical he’d been while beating someone.
A kind of madness that bordered on calm.
Earlier, Xie Ling had noticed Qian Kun’s gaze lingering on Shen Jin and assumed they knew each other.
“Him?” Shen Jin asked. “Who are you referring to?”
Seeing that Shen Jin hadn’t spared Qian Kun a second thought, Xie Ling realized he’d worried unnecessarily. There was no need to warn Shen Jin about someone not worth noticing.
The farther Shen Jin stayed from that guy, the better.
“I misread it,” Xie Ling said, smoothly changing the subject.
When they arrived at the Ke residence, only Madam Ke and the lawyer were present. Shen Jin quietly exhaled in relief since he didn’t want to face a crowd today.
Madam Ke was surprised to see Xie Ling. “Xie Ling, what a rare guest. I heard you’ve just taken over Xie Group headquarters and achieved impressive results. Congratulations.”
She’d assumed Shen Jin would come alone, or at most with his parents.
In her mind, Shen Jin’s position in the Shen family was awkward. Back then, when she’d searched for a marriage partner for her youngest son, she’d invested considerable effort.
Shen Jin wasn’t valued by his family, and the Shen family depended on the Ke family. That almost guaranteed Shen Jin’s future would revolve around his fiancé.
So Shen Jin himself had little room to choose. Most importantly, Ke Minghuai didn’t resist him.
“You flatter me,” Xie Ling replied.
With Xie Ling present, Madam Ke’s attitude toward Shen Jin grew even more courteous.
Yet she couldn’t wrap her head around it. Shen Jin had living parents, since when did a distant cousin get to step in?
Shen Jin took the annulment agreement. The terms were exactly as the lawyer had said, extremely generous, and written as though the engagement were being terminated at Shen Jin’s request.
“Have you discussed this with Minghuai?” Shen Jin asked. “Since we’re ending it, both parties should be informed.”
“We contacted him. He knows,” Madam Ke said.
She planned to wait until her son returned home. After all, Ke Minghuai had always treated Shen Jin like a child. The engagement was neither here nor there.
Shen Jin’s hand paused and his lashes trembled.
Madam Ke pointed to a clause. “I’ve filled in the compensation as 1.2 million for now. If it’s insufficient, you can revise it and print another copy.”
Ordinarily, when engagements ended, the Alpha’s family provided compensation. Omegas were precious. Thus, lost youth warranted recompense. Unspoken norms placed it between fifty to two hundred thousand.
This was already far more than customary, yet Shen Jin didn’t want it.
Before he could speak, a large hand covered the signature line.
Xie Ling, who’d been minimizing his presence since entering, suddenly pulled a gold card from his pocket. He spoke, “This contains the New Year’s money I’ve been saving in Xiao Jin's name. Though it’s not much.”
Everyone's attention gathered on him. How much was “not much”?
“Just twelve million.”
The statement was delivered calmly, sounding completely casual, yet the effect was immediate.
Xie Ling had only taken over the family business a few short years ago. There was no way he could touch company funds. So this card contained his own personal money. If only he had more liquid assets, the effect would be even better.
The lawyer: “...”
Ke’s mother: “...”
Shen Jin: “...”
Shen Jin struggled to suppress his amusement. He’d discovered his cousin’s habit of throwing money at problems had never changed.
At five, the moment Xie Ling took him home, he’d been handed a stack of cash and told to buy food if he was hungry.
How Xie Ling believed a five-year-old could manage money responsibly remained a mystery.
Seeing Madam Ke’s fleeting embarrassment, Shen Jin felt an inappropriate spark of satisfaction.
Ahem. He shouldn’t think so badly of people.
The heaviness in Shen Jin’s gaze slowly warmed.
He’d expected a battle today. Instead, it turned into an absurd farce.
“Xie Ling, you’ve misunderstood. We never intended to belittle Xiao Jin,” Madam Ke said.
“Whether you did or didn’t isn’t for me to judge,” Xie Ling replied evenly. “Xiao Jin isn’t short on pocket money. He’s ending the engagement because he wants to.”
His eyes clearly conveyed disdain.
“As for this,” he added, “consider it candy money.”
1.2 million for snacks.
Madam Ke maintained her composure with difficulty.
Xie Ling’s eyes signaled to Shen Jin. Shen Jin understood and stopped dwelling on the compensation.
He signed, pressed his fingerprint, and ended the engagement that had lasted nearly nine years.
Ke’s mother took the annulment document and added her signature on behalf of her son. Looking at Shen Jin again, her face showed a trace of melancholy and relief, but absolutely no regret.
Shen Jin hadn’t clung to the engagement or schemed to keep it. That at least reassured her.
If only he hadn’t differentiated.
Shen Jin remained dazed even after getting into the car. It wasn’t lingering affection. It was habit.
After knowing for years who his future partner would be, letting go couldn’t be painless. Even a plant nurtured daily formed attachment.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell.
He pulled up Ke Minghuai’s contact.
“Reluctant?” Xie Ling asked.
Xie Ling thought of Ke Minghuai’s gentle, amorous peach blossom eyes. He was indeed very attractive.
Shen Jin shook his head. He only wondered if cutting ties so cleanly was necessary, but leaving room for misunderstanding would be worse. He deleted everything related to Ke Minghuai.
“I made you accept the compensation to prevent regret later,” Xie Ling said.
“Taking it puts their minds at ease.”
Shen Jin returned the gold card.
“I don’t take things back,” Xie Ling said. “Password’s your birthday.”
If Shen Jin was uneasy, Xie Ling would invest it for him.
As a child, Shen Jin's life had been like a hermit crab’s, transferred between multiple foster families, so he drew very clear boundaries with others in every aspect. Not greedy and never taking what didn’t belong to him.
Xie Ling convinced him in three sentences.
After being dropped off, Shen Jin thanked him repeatedly.
Xie Ling watched him leave, then opened the glove box. “Throw these out.”
The assistant in the driver’s seat saw a stack of books. The top few titles read: How to Get Along Better with Your Brother, Today Is Also a Harmonious Day, What to Do When Your Brother Hits His Rebellious Phase...
The assistant still remembered he’d been the one who picked these books and grew nervous. “Were they no good?”
“They’re useless,” Xie Ling said.
He didn’t feel Shen Jin had been any warmer today.
Suddenly, Shen Jin, who’d left, came back. He opened the rear car door and before Xie Ling could react, lunged forward.
He threw his arms around the cold, rigid man before him in a bear hug. Xie Ling’s entire body went stiff, like a wooden carving.
Neither he nor Shen Jin were warm-natured people. As Shen Jin had grown increasingly distant over the years, this kind of intimate familial gesture had become virtually nonexistent. In their decade-plus acquaintance, this was the first time Xie Ling saw this hedgehog who kept himself so carefully guarded temporarily retract his quills.
“Thanks ge,” Shen Jin whispered.
Xie Ling made a sound of acknowledgment.
After driving a while, the assistant heard Xie Ling’s voice from the back seat, “Get them back.”
“?”
“The books.”
Shen Jin walked home slowly, ears burning. His family didn’t know yet that he’d officially annulled the engagement today, wanting to find the right time to tell them after it was a done deal. Given his parents’ previous attitude, he suspected there might still be complications with this annulment.
Shen Jin pulled out two more practice tests and started working through them. Actually, he wasn’t particularly diligent normally. His good scores relied entirely on how quickly his brain worked.
Today in class, he and Qian Kun’s tests had been used as examples and passed around for the whole class to review. Shen Jin’s math points were deducted on the final major problem, which was beyond the curriculum. In the entire class, only Qian Kun had solved it.
Shen Jin followed Qian Kun’s logic and thought through it once but still didn't understand some parts. Asking Qian Kun though? Couldn’t do it, didn’t want to, impossible.
Shen Jin rarely disliked anyone. However if he had to name names, Qian Kun would definitely make the list.
If he asked Qian Kun, he could directly foresee that guy’s smug, teasing expression. Forget it, why court trouble for himself?
Besides, if Qian Kun could perfectly solve the final problem, having a lower math score than him was very strange. Shen Jin suspected Qian Kun hadn’t given it his full effort. His rising competitive spirit made Shen Jin absolutely refuse to bow his head to Qian Kun.
The next day was the weekend holiday. Quite a few Class 9 students had signed up for cram school, so by seven in the morning, the group chat was already full of “good morning” messages. Shen Jin was woken by the vibration sounds. He was still drowsy. He’d dreamed all night, seemingly about Ke Minghuai, but forgot upon waking.
The dreams were too chaotic and his head ached. He staggered out of bed. By this time, his parents had already left for work. Shen Jin drifted to his brother’s bedroom door, wanting to ask what he wanted for breakfast so he could make it.
No response from inside. Opening the door, the usually lazy Shen Xie’an had actually made his bed. A note sat on the desk: “Ge, a classmate invited me out. I’ll be back late today~”
It felt like since starting middle school, his brother’s outings had increased exponentially. However, Shen Jin was an understanding older brother and didn’t want to overly restrict Shen Xie’an. Seeing that several pheromone suppressants were missing from the desk, he headed downstairs to make his own breakfast.
Shen Jin discovered there weren’t many vegetables in the fridge. The housekeeper didn’t work weekends, so after eating breakfast, he simply biked to the nearby supermarket to buy groceries. He didn’t buy much, only enough for him and Shen Xie’an. Vegetables were better eaten fresh anyway. On the way back, he passed a basketball court where high school and college students often came to play.
However today, several tall, imposing Alphas had gathered here, making it impossible for anyone else to play. This group seemed to be surrounding someone. A few of them looked familiar to Shen Jin, they were some of the school bullies from the specialty class.
The specialty class, as the name suggested, was for students relying on special talents for extra college entrance exam points. These few had outstanding athletic achievements but frequently got into fights.
When school had just started in their first year, quite a few Alphas in the grade had entertained ideas about Shen Jin, including several from the specialty class. If it had just been normal pursuit, that would be one thing, but what they did was stalk and follow him, making threats and using force.
Shen Jin had been decisive, going straight for the root of the problem. He’d put on gloves and, with a teacher witnessing, retrieved hidden cameras from inside the bathroom ventilation opening and from above his locker, then had professional forensic experts identify the fingerprints.
After fingerprint comparison, the evidence was conclusive. Spying on and harassing an Omega was a serious crime. If the cameras hadn’t just been placed and hadn’t captured anything, the perpetrators wouldn't have gotten off with just a few days in detention.
Maybe Shen Jin’s move had been too ruthless, this group temporarily didn’t dare touch him. During one chance encounter though, the group’s leader had smiled and said, “We’re minors, understand? Going in for a few days is like a vacation. Even if you can get Young Master Ke to back you up, what can you really do to us?”
Shen Jin had a very poor impression of them, so he hit the brakes and quietly walked over. He discovered the person they'd surrounded was a classmate named Zheng Zhepeng. He remembered that this classmate had overheard this group planning to spy on him, which was how he’d discovered it so quickly.
Apparently, right after second year started, this group had been beaten into the hospital by Liu Qimai and others and had needed time to recover. Now that they were out, they didn't dare seek revenge on Qian Kun and company, so they picked on soft targets instead.
Watching them surround Zheng Zhepeng with mocking threats, Shen Jin grew anxious. Their leader was named Zhao Haotian. Because his name was similar to the “dragon overlord” types in novels, Nanhu students jokingly called him Brother Aotian.
Zhao Haotian threw a peeled banana on the ground and told Zheng Zhepeng to pick it up and eat it.
“Come on, lick it clean.”
“Your classmates call you Little Yueyue, right? A male Beta with such a girly name, how can you face your parents?”
“Bark like a dog!”
“Get down and lick it! You want me to invite you personally?”
“Move it!”
How could Zheng Zhepeng be willing? But how could he, alone, dare to go head-to-head with this group of tall, imposing Alphas? He glanced intentionally or unintentionally toward a spot diagonally above the fence.
“Coercing people like this is a crime!”
“What a joke. Who saw anything?”
“Didn't you kneel down yourself?”
“Did we lay a finger on you?”
Zhao Haotian knew what Zheng Zhepeng was looking at and pointed at the security camera on the court. “That's just for show, idiot.” They had learned their lesson from Shen Jin and wouldn’t easily leave evidence.
With that, a slap struck out. Soon one side of Zheng Zhepeng’s face swelled up.
Just as Zheng Zhepeng was about to kneel, a police siren suddenly blared repeatedly. This group had just gotten out of the hospital and had spent time in detention last year. They were very wary of siren sounds. In moments, they’d scattered without a trace.
Only then did Shen Jin appear. He pulled the still-stunned Zheng Zhepeng away and came to the roadside, saying, “You sit in back.”
Zheng Zhepeng: “J-J-J-J—”
He saw Shen Jin’s exasperated expression. Zheng Zhepeng immediately corrected himself: “G-Ge—Shen Jin! Don’t worry about me!”
He’d only happened to overhear that group’s plans back then and thought they were scum. He never imagined Shen Jin would still remember this small favor and extend a helping hand at such an inappropriate time. He felt if Shen Jin got caught, it would definitely be more dangerous than for himself since that group had been coveting Shen Jin all along.
The moment Zheng Zhepeng’s butt touched the back seat, the bike shot out like an arrow released from a bow. For a moment, he felt he wasn’t sitting on a bicycle but a four-wheel drive! Looking at Shen Jin’s serious profile, he thought inappropriately. Shen Jin is really so handsome!
Shen Jin knew they couldn’t delay. Once this group realized they'd been tricked, they'd definitely come chasing in a rage.
This was near his home, Shen Jin knew the routes well and headed specifically for small alleys. After seven or eight turns, even Zheng Zhepeng on the back was dizzy.
When they burst onto the main road, they nearly collided with a car.
“Screech—”
After the braking sound, that car made an emergency stop. Qian Kun, sitting inside, steadied himself and heard the driver’s apology. He looked toward the windshield.
The coldness in his amber eyes melted away. He opened the window and stuck his head out. “Class rep, we’re fated~”
During last night’s evening self-study, homeroom teacher Old Hu hadn’t been able to find Shen Jin and had a Chinese test to give him. Qian Kun had volunteered, saying it was on his way, and took the task.
Today was the weekend with nothing better to do anyway, he’d just come by the Shen residence. Besides, the Alpha who’d picked up Shen Jin yesterday had a very strong presence. He felt like he’d seen him somewhere before.
Shen Jin: “...” When will your mouth seal shut?
Qian Kun acted as though he hadn’t noticed Shen Jin’s expression and chuckled lightly. “What do they call this in ancient times? ‘Destined lovers meeting across a thousand miles’?”
Shen Jin: “Your ‘fate’ seems rather indiscriminate.”
Shen Jin’s words carried pointed meaning.
A timid head poked out from behind Shen Jin, greeting stiffly, “Hi, Kun-ge!”
Hi your head. Qian Kun vaguely recalled this ordinary face seemed to be from Class 9. How did you two end up together, and what’s the situation? But Qian Kun didn’t ask. Even if he did, Shen Jin might not answer.
Qian Kun couldn’t keep smiling either, seeing Zheng Zhepeng’s half-swollen face and how he needed Shen Jin’s support to get off the bike, as though frightened weak.
Zheng Zhepeng asked cautiously, “Kun-ge, can we get in your car?”
Their class would trade barbs with Liu Qimai, but Qian Kun, who seemed gentle, actually inspired a kind of wariness. No one provoked him.
Qian Kun glanced at the slightly breathless Shen Jin and said, “Sure.”
Qian Kun then noticed Zheng Zhepeng’s restlessness, as if something were chasing them.
Once in the car, Zheng Zhepeng kept looking out the window, gripping the sleeve on Shen Jin’s forearm tightly. Qian Kun glanced over. What, tadpoles looking for mama?
Qian Kun opened the car refrigerator, took out ice for Zheng Zhepeng, and told the driver to start. Only then did Zheng Zhepeng release Shen Jin and accept the ice to press against his face. “Thank you, Kun-ge.”
Qian Kun made an acknowledging sound. When Zheng Zhepeng had calmed down, he asked, “Who hit you?”
Zheng Zhepeng roughly recounted today’s events but didn’t mention what had happened to Shen Jin in first year. That was Shen Jin’s private business and not many people knew about it. The school had kept it confidential to protect Shen Jin’s reputation.
After hearing it, Qian Kun directly told the driver to stop. Seeing Qian Kun opening the car door, Shen Jin's eyelid twitched lightly. “Wait, you...”
Qian Kun smiled and glanced at him. "Class rep, what are you thinking?”
Seeing he looked normal, Shen Jin thought he’d been overthinking.
That was a group of Alphas, seven or eight of them, and athletic specialty students at that. No matter how strong Qian Kun was, how could he possibly take them on? Qian Kun shouldn’t be planning to throw an egg at a rock.
“I’m going to get some iodine and buy some candy while I’m at it. What flavor do you want?”
“...Orange.”
Qian Kun’s smile deepened. It was the same flavor he’d given Shen Jin at the morning assembly last time.
“Watch this scaredy-cat for me. I’ll be right back.”
Zheng Zhepeng was angry but didn’t dare speak. Who’s scared?! Make yourself clear! Forget it, forget it, take your time, boss.
Looking closer, Shen Jin indeed noticed blood at the corner of Zheng Zhepeng’s mouth. He’d bitten through his lip when he got slapped. Shen Jin had him hold another piece of ice in his mouth to stop the bleeding first.
The group of Alphas led by Zhao Haotian realized they’d been fooled and were still searching the streets and alleys. Zhao Haotian was eager to restore his former status and authority and charged ahead.
Suddenly, he felt an irresistible oppressive force descend on him. He could barely help kneeling, his hands struggling to brace against the ground. This was the absolute mental pressure of a top-tier Alpha, pain rushed out from every pore.
Trembling, he looked up and saw only someone walking toward him, backlit.
Author’s Note:
Kun-kun: He likes orange flavor. Round it up and it means I’m special.
Jin-jin: …
*
Answering some readers’ questions, new readers can ignore this:
Some sweethearts asked why the Ke family wasn’t mentioned among the four families. That’s because I was already planning to write this book.
Xie Ling is still the same Xie Ling. In this world, Dajing didn't time-travel~
The world lines have some connection, but you can read them as two independent stories~
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