21: At Least This Body Is Still Nice to Look At
Shen Jin had just come back from the office. He hadn’t even gotten to sit down when Zheng Zhepeng came sprinting in through the back door, grabbed the doorframe, and shouted breathlessly, “Something happened, Brother Kun got into a fight with some third-years!”
Liu Qimai and the others were still laughing around, but the second they heard that, the carefree expressions vanished from their faces. They rushed out.
A few Alphas from the class followed too. Without anyone noticing, Class Nine had started to accept the transfers as part of them.
The classroom erupted into chatter.
“Last time Liu Qimai beat up Zhao Haotian, Brother Kun was the one who went to fish him out.”
“I always thought Kun-ge was the type who wouldn’t bother throwing hands.”
“Yeah. The Dean of Discipline even said back then, ‘Why can’t you learn from Qian Kun? Look at him, then look at you. How can you be so far apart?’”
“I just wanna know if the dean’s face hurts now. The role model he thought he had, when he rebels, he’s a wild horse off the reins.”
“Xiao Yueyue, tell us what happened!”
Qian Kun didn’t talk much in class, but whenever people needed help, he never seemed to refuse.
Class Nine figured someone that smart, even if he did beat someone up, wouldn’t choose to do it out in the open.
Zheng Zhepeng was still panting. He patted his chest. “Why are they running so fast, I wasn’t done talking! Brother Kun flipped that whole group of Alphas in like three moves, okay? The dean’s probably already at the scene!”
He just happened to pass by. From far away he’d seen Qian Kun’s movements. No restraint, vicious and clean. Just hearing it made you feel the pain.
“How’d he even clash with third-years? We’re on totally different floors, we don’t even know them!”
“And if you’ve seen his past record, you’d know Qian Kun almost never beats people up personally. If he wants someone hit, he’s got plenty of people who’ll do it for him. Why do it himself?”
Zheng Zhepeng said, “Those guys’ mouths were too filthy. It sounded like they were talking about differentiation, about conquering a high-grade Omega as a trophy. They were saying it loud enough that a lot of people heard. Then you blink and Brother Kun didn’t even say a word, he just started swinging.”
Shen Jin’s page-flip froze.
“Those third-year guys. What are their names?”
Zheng Zhepeng only recognized one of them. That one knew Zhao Haotian from before. He remembered. “Yang Junbi. I think his level is really high! If it weren’t for Brother Kun this time, this would’ve definitely gotten covered up for him.”
There were barely any Alphas in the whole school above A-rank. Yang Junbi happened to be A+, so the name stuck.
Before he even finished, Shen Jin’s expression changed.
“Help me ask next period’s teacher for leave.”
Then he was already gone out the back door.
Near the sinks, the students involved had already been separated because teachers had arrived.
A few third-years had just staggered up from the ground, still yelping, but after the teachers checked them over, there were basically no visible injuries.
Yang Junbi had gotten it the worst. Qian Kun was a real bastard. He knew exactly where to hit, always avoiding the face, so Yang Junbi looked like he was faking it.
He clutched his stomach. There wasn’t even an obvious mark, but he was grimacing so hard it looked like his organs had been crushed into paste.
This Qian Kun, usually he looked so refined. He was definitely trained, wasn’t he?
“Dean… we just came over to rinse our hands after playing ball, we didn’t even touch him. I swear my bones are broken!”
Normally loud and booming, the Alpha’s voice was slurred now. Anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought he was seriously injured.
This time Yang Junbi wasn’t acting. He really did get hurt. If there hadn’t been so many students watching, he’d have rolled on the ground on the spot.
In Yang Junbi’s mind, as long as what he did wasn’t too serious, teachers usually let it slide.
Because his mental strength rank was high, he was “valuable talent.”
With that natural advantage, even universities would loosen standards for him when it came to admissions.
The Dean of Discipline glanced at him. He didn’t seem hurt. That exaggerated expression did look like real pain though. Pretty convincing. The dean told him to wait.
Then he turned to Qian Kun, who stood there with his head lowered, silent.
This one already had a big background. He was also the type who didn’t stir trouble. His grades were even excellent. When he transferred to the main campus, the dean had thought his career luck had arrived.
The dean drew in a breath like he was about to deliver a heartfelt lecture, face heavy with disappointment. “What is going on with you? At the start of the term I was praising you as a model student, and now you show me your true colors? Are you the same as trash like him who’s just waiting to coast into some random university? You can get into a top-tier school. Why are you picking fights, huh?”
Yang Junbi’s face almost turned into a dye vat.
So you’re the dean, and you can just insult people like that?
Yang Junbi’s body hurt. His heart hurt even more.
He couldn’t refute it. The tiny bit of luck he’d been clinging to, it turned out the teachers had always known.
People around them almost laughed. Dean, you didn’t have to step on one person just to lift another.
Qian Kun’s profile was calm. Even though he was half a head taller than the dean, his presence wasn’t arrogant at all.
He didn’t try to argue a single word for himself.
The viciousness from earlier had faded. Now he was just a boy who was almost unfairly clean and handsome.
With him not defending himself at all, he looked so wronged it was hard to bear.
An Omega couldn’t take it and stepped forward. “Dean, it was Yang Junbi. He said we Omegas are merchandise, that the higher the level, the better it feels to mark! He insulted Omegas and sorted us into categories. Lots of people heard it!”
“He openly treats Omegas like objects. He has no morals, no standards. His existence stains Nanhu School’s good atmosphere!”
Once one person spoke up, a second and third followed.
That was how the dean learned why Qian Kun had fought.
Yang Junbi and the other Alphas stared, dumbstruck.
They got beaten up and no one stood up for them, that was fine, but now they were being condemned?
Are you all just letting your faces decide your morals?
Is there any justice left in this world?
Yang Junbi was a high-level Alpha. In all three years of high school, he’d never been humiliated like this.
They’d wanted to go to the infirmary. The pain was honestly unbearable, but now they could endure it a little longer.
The dean saw the scene turning into a pot of boiling porridge and directly hauled everyone to the office.
In the office, people were still arguing back and forth, each with their own logic.
When Liu Qimai and the others arrived, it became a standoff. Hu Shengqiang immediately kicked them out. “What do you think you’re doing, huh? This is an office, not a wet market. All of you, out!”
Now the irrelevant onlookers were gone, and the office finally quieted again.
The dean didn’t want to blow this up. The Qian family’s influence was tangled deep. Besides, Qian Kun hadn’t really “caused trouble,” he was just… a little too full of justice.
The dean was discussing with several teachers how to handle it.
Seeing the teachers clearly leaning toward Qian Kun, Yang Junbi gritted his teeth and actually admitted they’d gotten carried away and said a few things, but insisted it didn’t mean they deserved to be beaten.
He argued that Alphas were impulsive and easily angered. Saying a few things wasn’t a capital crime, was it?
They only had one demand: Qian Kun had to apologize. Not just any apology, either. He had to go onstage at Monday’s morning assembly and apologize publicly.
They’d all gotten effortlessly crushed by Qian Kun, right in front of a crowd. The humiliation was too much.
Qian Kun, who hadn’t spoken once until now, flicked Yang Junbi a glance. Yang Junbi instantly felt pressure slam down on him. Even his pheromones had the urge to submit.
Qian Kun said flatly, “You don’t deserve it.”
It was too insulting.
Yang Junbi’s anger flared, but for some reason, he was so suppressed by the other’s presence that he couldn’t even move.
Qian Kun didn’t know which Omega Yang Junbi had been talking about, but Shen Jin matched the description disturbingly well. A fifty-fifty chance.
Whether it was him or not, the moment he pictured that proud little iceberg being mocked and made into a joke behind his back… he felt…
A little heartache.
Even if it was only a little.
Qian Kun rarely acted on impulse, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t.
He looked up at the overwhelmed dean. “Whatever punishment the school gives, I’ll accept. Medical fees, emotional damages, I’ll pay it all, but if you want me to apologize, then…”
He paused. “I suggest they hire a lawyer and use the law to protect their rights.”
He even added a smile at the end.
Calm, like he’d already thought through the consequences before he ever threw the first punch.
The teachers hadn’t expected him to be this hardline. One apology could’ve ended it, and he refused.
From his tone, it was obvious. Qian Kun had been calm the whole time. He knew exactly what he was doing.
The Omegas who’d stayed to testify blushed slightly, their eyes flicking toward the boy in the crowd. Yang Junbi suddenly remembered the rumors about the Qian family. He’d never taken them seriously before, thinking it was exaggerated.
The Qian family was massive. They had their own legal team, and in the industry they even had a record of never losing.
Qian Kun… wasn’t afraid of trouble at all.
The air went weirdly, unnaturally quiet.
That was when Shen Jin arrived. Fine sweat beaded on his forehead. He steadied his breathing and said, “Reporting in.”
He’d gone to the spot Zheng Zhepeng mentioned, only to hear from passing students that they’d been brought up to the dean’s office instead. It was on the top floor of the main building, close to the principal’s office.
Shen Jin had run all the way here. On the stairs he’d even run into Liu Qimai and the others getting chased out.
There were a lot of people inside. The Dean of Discipline, the homeroom teacher, several subject teachers, and a few students who’d witnessed everything.
Shen Jin was exactly the kind of top student teachers loved. When the dean saw him, his expression softened by several degrees.
Qian Kun looked a little surprised. Shen Jin didn’t look at him. He walked straight to the dean, took out his phone, and openly played an audio recording he’d saved.
Back when Shen Jin was a first-year and had just enrolled, he’d been one of the targets lots of Alphas chased. At the time, Yang Junbi had pursued him loudly and aggressively.
The recording Shen Jin played was Yang Junbi trying to force him to go to a bar after school, with a group of Alphas blocking him. Coincidentally, those same Alphas were right here in the office today, so it saved everyone the trouble of tracking them down again.
They hadn’t succeeded. They also hadn’t realized Shen Jin had his phone in his pocket, secretly recording.
Shen Jin had never made these recordings public before. Because when he’d gone home back then to talk about it, he’d found his parents begging the Yang family for help with something.
After hesitating for a long time, Shen Jin had kept the audio stored away instead of making things difficult for his parents.
Shen Jin said, “Student Yang Junbi harassed me after school. At the time, I was an Omega. I was always afraid they’d retaliate, so I didn’t dare speak the truth. Now however, I think tolerance doesn’t necessarily bring justice. I hope the school can give me a fair answer.”
The Omegas present glared at Yang Junbi and his group, furious. So they were repeat offenders. Disgusting.
Yang Junbi, who’d been yelling that Qian Kun had to apologize, fell silent. He hadn’t expected Shen Jin to have a recording, or to pull it out a year later.
Shen Jin’s scheming was too deep, wasn’t it?
Had he been waiting for this moment on purpose?
Did he have more evidence too? Yang Junbi panicked for real. He couldn’t read Shen Jin at all.
Shen Jin noticed Qian Kun looking at him with a half-smile and shifted his gaze away.
On Shen Jin’s face there wasn’t a shred of fear of retaliation. He looked more like he wanted to hammer these assholes into the ground.
His arrival was like a gulp of iced drink in summer, cold and exhilarating.
Worthy of being their Omega beacon. When Shen Jin moved, he never missed!
The situation instantly escalated from “a fight” to “harassment of an Omega,” plus an underage bar issue on top of it. Several charges at once. The school took it more seriously.
They sent the Omegas who had testified out first. Then they separately questioned Shen Jin and Yang Junbi’s group. By the time everything was sorted out, half a class period had passed before Shen Jin was allowed to return to class.
“Dean, can Qian Kun come with me? Our class has an in-class test this period.” Shen Jin asked.
The dean could only wave his hand. They could go first.
Qian Kun had made it clear. He’d pay anything, but he wouldn’t apologize. And the Qian family would never let their most favored junior be wronged at school.
Yang Junbi looked like that, and now they still had to investigate what else he’d done.
Once they were out of the office, Shen Jin successfully pulled Qian Kun with him.
Shen Jin kept his face cold. He silently wiped the sweat off his forehead.
That was terrifying, seriously terrifying. The dean usually smiled like a kindly little old man, but when he stared, it was terrifying, like a goral about to charge.
Yang Junbi couldn’t believe the school was this blind. What he’d done to Shen Jin was one thing, but today’s beating was just… free?
Why did Qian Kun get to walk?
Teachers, are you blind?
Couldn’t you see them performing together, covering for each other, birds of a feather?
They’re clearly in the same gang!
On the stairs down, Shen Jin looked at Qian Kun behind him, still looking completely relaxed. For some reason, anger rose in Shen Jin’s chest.
“Why did you even fight him?”
Qian Kun’s eyes were softened with something gentle. He said two words. “His mouth.”
Shen Jin looked at him, speechless.
You really have the nerve to say that about someone else? With you around, who can compete with you for a filthy mouth?
Shen Jin took a few deep breaths and decided not to lower himself to this idiot’s level.
When they were almost down to the third floor where Class Nine was, Qian Kun caught up to walk beside Shen Jin and called his name. “Shen Jin. You came specifically to fish me out?”
Shen Jin said, “I happen to have a grudge with Yang Junbi too. It was convenient.”
Even though Qian Kun didn’t know the Omega Yang Junbi had been talking about was him, Shen Jin couldn’t exactly pretend he didn’t know.
Qian Kun chuckled. “Convenient is still a favor. I’ve got nothing to offer. At least this body is still nice to look at, so I can only repay a drop of kindness with my bod—”
Before he could finish, Shen Jin quickened his pace. The tips of his ears were a little red.
Liu Qimai and the others were still waiting in the hallway. When they saw Qian Kun’s wicked grin, then saw Shen Jin up ahead with his aura in full-on rage mode, even Liu Qimai felt embarrassed. “Bro, Shen Ice Block already had your back. Why do you keep pissing him off?”
“Don’t you think… when he’s mad—” he stopped.
He finally isn’t so lonely and cold.
*
After school, Qian Kun slung his backpack on and told Zhou You to take the others out to eat. He was going back to the dorm tonight.
Walking along the campus path, Qian Kun called a number he’d only just removed from his blacklist.
The receptionist was already very familiar with his number. With how many people Qian Kun could match, the office routinely called to ask if he wanted to “earn some pocket money.”
During the period when he’d blocked them, they’d even sighed about it in their work group. For a while they’d been curious what a top-tier Alpha looked like in real life. Later, they’d been even more curious if he’d ever match with someone, with how picky he seemed, like no one was good enough.
Outside work hours, they had normal lives too. They honestly thought Qian Kun blocking them made sense. It saved everyone the trouble. Every time he rejected them, they still had to log it anyway.
Qian Kun saw Shen Jin in the distance standing with a student council senior. He glanced once, then looked away. “Customer ID 203427*****578. Is that one of your clients? What’s his real name?”
He’d only seen part of the number once on a text, but he’d already memorized the digits.
The receptionist jumped, thinking she’d remembered wrong, and checked the record book again.
This ID was the one from earlier. The one she’d called, and he’d rejected instantly, with obvious disgust, and then blocked them.
However, professionalism was professionalism. “We can’t disclose client personal information.”
Qian Kun changed the angle. “Since he registered, he’s looking for an Alpha for temporary marking, right? That isn’t private information, is it?”
That wasn’t considered private. The receptionist answered truthfully, “Yes. He requested matching not long ago.”
Qian Kun asked, “Can I match with him?”
He wasn’t blindly arrogant. He’d never done this himself and didn’t know the process. He only knew he had a lot of possible matches.
The receptionist: “...”
Uh… sir. Do you remember telling us to stop harassing you?
Ten times over, and you really blocked us. Are you having memory loss now?
She fell silent for a moment before saying, “So… this is the situation. That client actually withdrew their matching request at noon today.”
Qian Kun: “??”
Author’s Note:
Kun-kun: Are you messing with me?
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