Feng Ling didn’t have time to inquire about Yun Chuji’s mental state in detail before Gu Qing walked in. From her solemn expression, it was clear that today’s lesson was of the utmost importance.
Gu Qing scanned the room, then said coolly, “Today, we will learn the art of getting along with omegas.”
Everyone perked up, including Yun Chuji.
This class, she thought, was finally going to teach her something she didn’t know.
In her past life, her mother had told her that she was destined to be the matriarch of a household and must maintain her composure, lest she lose her dignity and become a laughingstock. But both her mother and the Precepts for Women said that she must still learn to please her husband. After her coming-of-age ceremony, her mother had taught her a few techniques for pleasing men. What puzzled Yun Chuji, however, was that she had never seen her mother use any of these techniques on her father. When she asked about it, her mother offered no explanation and simply punished her by making her kneel for six hours.
When her mother finally helped her up, she whispered, “Because they’re useless, of course.”
“These techniques only work on men who can fall in love with you.”
Yun Chuji never brought it up again after that. Recalling it now, she suddenly realized her mother’s face had been exceedingly pale, like oak that had been waterlogged for years.
And now, Yun Chuji truly did want to please Tang Jianxi. But Miss Tang was not a man, nor were they husband and wife. Even calling them friends didn’t feel quite right—it was a relationship Yun Chuji had yet to learn about from any book. As a result, she had no idea how to please her and could only clumsily avoid doing things she disliked.
But what did Miss Tang like?
Yun Chuji suddenly realized that Tang Jianxi seemed to have never revealed her preferences in front of her, aside from that long list of movies. Beyond that, Tang Jianxi was like someone shrouded in mist. Tang Jianxi would often pull her into the mist to tease her, but she never once stepped out of it herself.
Yun Chuji nervously pursed her lips, her gaze fixed on the instructor with growing intensity.
At the very least, Miss Tang was an omega. Just as she herself had certain feminine interests, like a fondness for beautiful and delicate things, Miss Tang must have some omega interests as well.
Gu Qing stood at the front of the class, her tone as condescending as ever toward this group of alphas. “What do you think omegas like?”
The alphas below, accustomed to her verbal beatings, were now too timid to speak. They cast hopeful glances at the class’s only “star student,” Yun Chuji. But Yun Chuji herself was just as eager for an answer. Facing Gu Qing’s smiling expression, she shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
“Good!” Gu Qing shouted, accompanied by an overly enthusiastic round of applause that made Yun Chuji jump. She looked up in confusion, only to see Gu Qing’s attitude toward her change completely as she began to shower her with praise. “Student Yun grasped the key point right away. The first thing I want to tell you today about getting along with omegas is this: never presumptuously think you know an omega better than they know themselves.”
Feng Ling muttered under his breath, “What are you talking about? We can’t even pamper them enough.”
That one sentence encapsulated all the bitterness of a single old alpha.
It was a mystery whether Gu Qing’s ears had been modified, but she heard him clearly from that distance. She smiled faintly and said, “Oh? Then let me ask a simple question.”
“Do you think all omegas want to be marked?”
Other questions could be answered vaguely, but this one touched upon an alpha’s dignity. Many of the alphas voiced their agreement.
Only Yun Chuji, who had not received the standard education of the AO era, didn’t fully understand omega physiology, and had little faith in the notion that they were dominated by pheromones, remained silent and still. In her mind, however, a negative answer couldn’t help but surface.
Miss Tang seemed to enjoy being marked, but after every time, her expression would turn gloomy.
Gu Qing let out a scoff. She asked, “Do you like your ruts?”
“Of course not! Ruts are absolute torture.”
“Then why are you so certain that omegas like their heats?”
“Heats and marking aren’t the same thing.”
“But how many omegas have you seen who are willing to be marked when they’re not in heat?”
“……”
The room fell silent. Gu Qing smiled. “Alphas, I’ll say it again: don’t be so arrogant.”
After the class ended, many alphas looked as if they had undergone a life-altering experience, their worldviews shattered. A few of the more assertive ones were already shouting for a refund.
Their intense reaction was hardly surprising.
Just look at what Gu Qing had said in class—
Respect omegas. Respect them as you would an alpha. When they get angry, find out the reason; don’t just assume their emotions are being disrupted by pheromones and that a marking will fix everything. And the most shocking point of all: be a self-respecting alpha. Because not only do alphas become uncontrollably furious when they smell another alpha’s pheromones, but omegas also feel dejected when they smell another omega’s pheromones on their alpha. While they might not fly into a rage and smash the house like an alpha would, they will grieve in secret for a very long time.
What was this?
If they actually did all that, wouldn’t it be like living as an omega themselves?
These alphas, who had been coddled since childhood, couldn’t stomach it. If Gu Qing’s profile didn’t clearly state she was a beta—and the Empire strictly forbade alpha violence against betas—she probably wouldn’t have made it out the door safely today if she were an alpha.
And if she were an omega, it would have been even worse. She might have been immediately arrested as a member of the underground omega freedom group that had been the subject of wild rumors across the Empire and handed over to the police.
Yun Chuji, however, remained calm. She quietly put away her notes, feeling that she finally had some direction. These things weren’t difficult to do, much simpler than pleasing a man. She didn’t have to pretend to be a contradictory woman who was both charming and gentle; she just had to keep the other person in her heart and treat them well.
She was suddenly filled with confidence!
Yun Chuji walked out of the classroom with newfound confidence, followed by her usual long tail of admirers—a group of infatuated old alphas captivated by Tang Jianxi’s beauty. The combined muscle mass of these men was greater than all the cunning in Yun Chuji’s mind. The sight of them terrified her, and of course, she didn’t dare shoo them away. She simply walked her own path, assuming they would leave once they realized Miss Tang hadn’t come.
As Yun Chuji expected, they gradually drifted away. A few even darkly speculated that she had been dumped by her rich sugar mama. Yun Chuji pretended not to hear. But just as she was about to board the maglev train, a small tail was still trailing behind her.
Feng Ling.
Yun Chuji turned around helplessly and asked, “Brother Feng, is something the matter?”
Feng Ling fidgeted, hesitating several times. If it had been any other alpha, they might have stormed off in frustration. Thanks to Yun Chuji’s good temper (or rather, her timidity), she waited patiently.
Finally, Feng Ling managed to speak. “Well, I wanted to ask, are omegas really that sensitive to the scent of other omegas?”
“Ah.” Yun Chuji looked completely clueless. “I wouldn’t know. I only know three omegas.”
“One of them must have been in that situation!” Feng Ling thought. It’s not like I know many omegas either.
“One is my mother, one is my teacher, and the other is Miss Tang.”
“……”
Feng Ling was at a loss for words. He could only conclude that Yun Chuji was just naturally appealing to rich omegas.
“However, Brother Feng, I believe one should not impose on others what one does not desire for oneself. If an alpha wouldn’t want to smell another alpha’s scent on their omega, then an omega probably feels the same.”
Yun Chuji felt she had explained it quite thoroughly, but Feng Ling, a native of the ABO era, was completely bewildered. “What desire? What person?”
Sigh, what a place of moral decay, ignorant of the sages!
“It means, don’t force others to endure things you yourself dislike.”
Feng Ling was stunned for a moment, then said with a wry smile, “Now I know how I lost my first love.”
The day before a date with an omega, he had gone to a bar with his alpha buddies. He hadn’t done anything out of line, just put his arms around a few young omegas, had some drinks, and played a few drinking games.
The next day, he was dumped.
The worst part was, they hadn’t even held hands.
Every time he thought about this short-lived first love, Feng Ling would sigh with regret. He had genuinely liked her and truly couldn’t understand why she had left.
He hadn’t even marked anyone else.
And he had been completely devoted to her.
He was just like the affectionate alpha type from the TV dramas that young omegas adored.
Eventually, with his buddies’ constant persuasion, Feng Ling had gradually attributed it all to omegas being strange, emotionally unstable creatures, and to his own lack of alpha charm, which prevented him from making an omega completely devoted to him.
But today, an alpha who had achieved success in life at such a young age told him that he just needed to treat the other person as an equal.
If he found his partner smelling of another alpha… Feng Ling considered his likely reaction and realized that his first love breaking up with him so calmly had actually been quite gentle.
If it had been him, well, it would have been impossible not to raise hell.
It had taken Feng Ling five years to understand this principle with someone else’s guidance. But looking at the alpha in front of him, who had such insight at such a young age—the rich omega had deservedly fallen for her!
He wasn’t one of those extremist young alphas who believed alphas should conquer the universe, so he accepted Yun Chuji’s idea without much difficulty. After resolving this long-standing confusion, out of gratitude and a certain sense of obligation, Feng Ling put on a pained expression and said, “Little sis, you helped me out big time today. You have to let me treat you to a meal!”
“We’ve known each other for so long, but we’ve never had a proper meal together. You even call me ‘brother,’ how can you not let me treat you?”
Yun Chuji broke out in a sweat. There was a huge difference between “Brother Feng” and “brother”!
Her fear of men had yet to dissipate. No matter how pitifully Feng Ling acted, her only thought was to refuse. Eating alone in a room with a tall, brawny man—the very thought made Yun Chuji’s scalp tingle. She could suppress her nervousness around a man like Teacher Chu, who was slender and had delicate, almost feminine features. But with a male alpha like Feng Ling, whose arms were thicker than her own thighs had been in her past life, Yun Chuji’s only instinct was to flee.
Yun Chuji took a step back, waving her hands, and was about to refuse sternly when a few words suddenly popped into her head again: Tall and brawny?
The refusal died on her lips. Yun Chuji changed her tune. “Brother Feng, if you truly wish to thank me, could you tell me where I can learn to fight?”
Feng Ling’s eyes instantly lit up. “You’ve come to the right person for that!”
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