Nothing serious, just a broken rib

Of everyone seated there, only Ye Qiunian, apart from Xu Can, did not move.

The others silently folded down a finger with varying expressions, then raised their drinks together to accept the penalty.

Ye Qiunian's gaze fell on Pei Du.

Pei Du hurried to explain, "I've never dated. I've only filmed kissing scenes. I'd just debuted back then and was lucky enough to land a role in a big director's film. I wasn't in any position to make demands."

Only then did Ye Qiunian look away.

Watching Jiang Lan drink, Xu Can was a little surprised and a little curious.

"Everyone in and outside the industry says Lan-ge has never dated. And I don't think you've ever filmed a kissing scene either..."

Unlike Pei Du, Jiang Lan had not debuted as an actor. He had only started receiving so many scripts because his popularity remained consistently high.

A little fame came from promotion; great fame came down to fate.

Jiang Lan was fated to become a huge star. He drew an audience all on his own, so making a few demands was hardly unreasonable.

Everyone in the industry knew he did not film kissing scenes. There was nothing for him to argue about, so he simply said:

"I'm almost thirty. It's normal to have dated. I just haven't dated since my debut."

This was inside information that even industry sleuths struggled to dig up. Now that Jiang Lan had volunteered it himself, Yu Nan immediately started fishing for gossip.

"A campus-heartthrob type like you, Lan-ge, the ultimate omega dreamboat-you must've had plenty of people chasing you, right? How many relationships have you had?"

Jiang Lan noticed Wen Zhiyan's gaze on the side of his face. Though he did not want to give Wen Zhiyan the satisfaction, he had no intention of causing him any misunderstanding over something like this.

So he told the truth. "Just one."

Human nature was gossip.

The moment Jiang Lan finished speaking, questions came pouring in.

"How long were you together?"

"Why did you break up?"

"Were they really pretty?"

"Are you still in touch?"

Jiang Lan held up a hand to stop them. "We're playing 'You have, I haven't,' not truth or dare. I refuse to answer."

Only then did everyone laugh and quiet down. Going clockwise, Jiang Lan was next.

Jiang Lan said:

"I've been in a car accident."

At that, everyone exchanged glances, then folded down a finger and picked up their bottles.

Wen Zhiyan looked at Jiang Lan, his pupils trembling slightly. "When?"

Jiang Lan did not meet Wen Zhiyan's eyes. He gave a soft laugh and said lightly, "A long time ago. Just after graduation, I think. I don't remember."

Xu Can frowned. "Was it serious?"

Jiang Lan shook his head, his tone relaxed.

"Nothing serious, just a broken rib. I didn't feel any pain at the time, so I remember even less of it now."

He had no intention of saying more. He tapped the table, signaling for Wen Zhiyan to take his turn.

But Wen Zhiyan seemed not to have heard Jiang Lan's cue. "If a broken rib doesn't count as serious, what does?"

Jiang Lan said carelessly, "If I didn't die, it wasn't serious. All right, stop dragging this out. Next."

That was what he said aloud, but out of everyone's sight, he slipped his hand beneath the table and hooked his fingers around Wen Zhiyan's hand resting on his leg.

Wen Zhiyan drew a deep breath and closed his slightly cool hand around Jiang Lan's burning fingertips.

Then, as though he had moved on completely from the subject of Jiang Lan's accident, he squeezed Jiang Lan's hand and said:

"My secondary differentiation happened after I reached adulthood. Before that, people often mistook me for an omega."

First gender was apparent at birth.

Second gender gradually differentiated after puberty.

For most people, their likely second gender could be determined before puberty through physical characteristics and genetic and hormone testing.

But those predictions were only eighty percent accurate.

If both parents were betas, their children could only be betas.

If one parent was an A and the other a B, their children could only be As or Bs.

The same applied to OB pairings.

If the parents were an AO pair, a match made in heaven, their children could be any of the three: A, B, or O.

It involved dominant and recessive genes and came down to probability.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of people differentiated into their second gender before adulthood.

Delayed differentiation like Wen Zhiyan's was medically uncommon.

So everyone present except Wen Zhiyan silently folded down another finger.

At this point, everyone's curiosity was piqued once again.

Tan Duoduo looked at Wen Zhiyan and said with a smile:

"President Wen, you would've been in college when you first reached adulthood, right? With your looks, did your college have a campus beauty contest? Did you come first?"

Wen Zhiyan denied it. "I never heard of one."

It was late now. Beneath the canopy, the somewhat dim light mingled with the moonlight on the side of Wen Zhiyan's face, lending him a little more softness than in daylight, and making him seem a little more out of reach.

Looking at Wen Zhiyan's beautiful face, which rivaled even an omega like Lin Ziyou's, Ye Qiunian could not help asking:

"Then you must've had a lot of alphas chasing you, right?"

It was a rather pointed question.

After all, interactions between alphas were different from those between omegas. Omegas were all like gentle little lambs, fond of gathering together and doing everything in groups.

Alphas, on the other hand, were aggressive and possessive, more like fierce beasts that marked out territory and refused to let anyone encroach upon it.

An alpha being pursued by another alpha-who knew what a chaotic, bloody mess that would be.

Everyone's eyes settled on Wen Zhiyan's face.

Wen Zhiyan's grip had left Jiang Lan's fingertips numb. Whether out of guilt or something else, Jiang Lan quietly withdrew his hand, picked up his beer bottle, and took a straight swig.

Wen Zhiyan rubbed his fingers, which still held a trace of warmth, his peripheral gaze falling on Jiang Lan's profile.

He said, "No. Just one."

At that, Jiang Lan immediately put down his bottle and turned to Wen Zhiyan.

"What do you mean, just one? There was that Wang in computer science, Zhao who played basketball in the sports department, Du who played tennis, Xu who played volleyball, that Xu on the swim team, and that Yan-something who held a guitar and sang love songs outside the cafeteria. And those two in the student council, the one who always wore glasses and the one with the middle part-they even had a fight in secret over you. How was there only one?"

Silence fell over the table.

After a long moment, Xu Can finally closed his mouth, then opened it again and asked quietly:

"Lan-ge, you and President Wen knew each other before?"

Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan spoke in unison.

"No."

"Yes."

Jiang Lan fell silent.

Wen Zhiyan gave a light cough. "Lan-ge was my senior."

Qiao Xin looked at Wen Zhiyan and Jiang Lan.

"Jiang Lan remembers it all so clearly. You two must've been pretty close back then?"

Jiang Lan still refused to admit it.

"Not at all. We just lived on neighboring dorm floors."

"Then how do you know so much?" Qiao Xin did not believe him.

Wen Zhiyan was also left speechless, then said with some amusement, "I only remember one."

Propping his chin on one hand, Lin Ziyou looked at Wen Zhiyan and joked:

"Then it sounds like that one was pretty special to you, President Wen?"

He was not probing with that remark. He really was joking.

After all, no one would imagine that an alpha, a creature so easily ruled by pheromones, would go against his nature and develop anything with another alpha.

But Wen Zhiyan's reaction was a little strange. He showed no aversion, nor did he deny it.

He merely raised an eyebrow, sidestepped the subject, and looked at Lin Ziyou.

"Next."