Lin Ziyou shrugged. "I've won the National Mathematics Competition."
After he finished, Ye Qiunian asked, "Does it have to be math, or do other subjects count?"
Everyone exchanged glances. Pei Du said, "Any academic subject should count, right?"
Lin Ziyou nodded.
So, in this round, besides Lin Ziyou, Ye Qiunian and Qiao Xin kept their fingers up. Surprisingly, so did Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan.
Pei Du was speechless.
"So out of the four alphas, I'm the only academic underachiever?"
He looked at Qiao Xin indignantly. "You've won a championship too?"
Qiao Xin took it for granted.
"My grandmother's native language is English. It's hardly surprising that I won an English competition back in school, is it?"
Everyone knew Qiao Xin was one-quarter foreign.
Pei Du looked at Jiang Lan. "What about you?"
Jiang Lan grinned at Pei Du. "Physics. My photo's still on the wall of honor at North City No. 3 Middle School."
Every student at North City No. 3 Middle School knew about that. It was Jiang Lan's high school alma mater.
"What about you, President Wen?" Tan Duoduo asked.
"Same as Lan-ge," Wen Zhiyan said.
Coincidences made stories.
Although Jiang Lan had always ranked near the top in his academic subjects, he had still majored in design out of personal interest.
Wen Zhiyan, who had been under his family's thumb since childhood, was even more of a case in point.
The Wen Family had only ever regarded Wen Zhiyan as an obedient pawn, never expecting that the pawn who had obeyed them for eighteen years would secretly choose his own major behind their backs as soon as he graduated from high school.
He had run away from home overnight and gone to South City alone.
There, he had met the person he was destined to remain entangled with for the rest of his life.
There was no need to ask Ye Qiunian. A few years ago, he had even entered the National Live-Streamed Ancient Poetry Competition, taken the championship in one fell swoop, claimed first place, and trended several times.
After Lin Ziyou came Pei Du.
Pei Du cleared his throat. "I've won Best Actor twice in five years."
That was a height few in the industry could reach.
Pei Du had a good reputation in the industry. In his early years, people had even promoted him and a certain award-winning actress as a couple, but after filming ended, the two had never had any further contact, and it had all eventually come to nothing.
Apart from Pei Du, the only people present who had appeared on the big screen were Jiang Lan and Lin Ziyou.
But over the past two years, Jiang Lan had mainly focused on television dramas, starring in two consecutive hits without taking on many film scripts.
Lin Ziyou was more of a pretty face. His looks were flawless, but his acting was terrible.
So, as soon as Pei Du finished speaking, everyone else folded down another finger.
Ye Qiunian did not mention an achievement. He simply said, "I'm allergic to pet fur."
Xu Can kept his fingers up, while everyone else folded down another.
Tan Duoduo had debuted as a singer and dancer and worked in the same field as Xu Can. She only mentioned what she was good at.
"I can dance."
But in the entertainment industry, being able to dance or sing was hardly unusual.
Whether they danced well was another matter, but once they were onstage, everyone could at least manage something.
So this round, only Wen Zhiyan and Ye Qiunian folded down a finger.
Qiao Xin was a typical alpha, and her aversion to other alphas was obvious.
Even during a game, she seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for the other three alphas.
She said with a beaming smile, "I've worn women's clothes."
Everyone froze for a moment at that, and then all the women present laughed.
The result, however, took everyone by surprise.
Because besides all the women, Jiang Lan and Lin Ziyou neither drank nor folded down a finger.
"Something's not right." Qiao Xin looked at Jiang Lan and Lin Ziyou. "Come clean. What happened?"
Lin Ziyou laughed too. "I played the female lead in the Drama Club back in school."
Yu Nan clicked his tongue. "Ziyou's so pretty, that's hardly surprising. But what about you, Lan-ge?"
Every gaze converged on Jiang Lan.
However they looked at him, he had the appearance of a typical male alpha. Neither his build nor his facial contours showed the slightest feminine trait.
Their stares made Jiang Lan uneasy, and beneath the table, he stepped on the top of Wen Zhiyan's foot beside him.
When it came to something this embarrassing to discuss, probably no one knew the reason better than Wen Zhiyan.
Naturally, Jiang Lan could not tell everyone about it, so he resorted to his old trick again.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. This isn't truth or dare."
At that, Xu Can cried in despair,
"I'm begging the production team-let us play truth or dare tomorrow night!"
Qiao Xin could not keep her mouth shut. "Hey, Jiang Lan, don't tell me you're into that? Secretly dressing up in women's clothes and all?"
Jiang Lan scoffed, looking unconcerned.
"If I liked it myself, I'd be sitting here in a skirt today. Why would I need to do it in secret?"
Inwardly, however, he cursed Wen Zhiyan up and down.
Wen Zhiyan was rather speechless too. After all, it was not entirely his fault.
If Jiang Lan had not kept going on and on back then about how he looked like an omega, he would never have insisted on making Jiang Lan wear a skirt and wanted to see him cry.
Neither of them could have imagined that, years later, it would be brought up again on an occasion like this.
On one side, Wen Zhiyan reached beneath the table and gently squeezed Jiang Lan's thigh to soothe him.
On the other, Qiao Xin kept fanning the flames.
"It's not like you haven't worn one before. I have a loose, plus-size one. I'll lend it to you. Put it on and show us."
Jiang Lan pressed down harder, grinding his foot against the top of Wen Zhiyan's as he said to Qiao Xin,
"What I wear doesn't matter. What matters is, even if I lift my skirt, I'm still bigger than you, little girl."
Those words hit Qiao Xin where it hurt.
The "little girl" thing was really just a joke in modeling circles.
Because an obvious bulge did not look good on the runway, alpha models wore things like restraining bands before a show to keep it from spoiling the look.
But looking so unremarkable there inevitably led people outside the profession to joke that the alphas in modeling were all a bunch of little girls.
With her dignity as an alpha at stake, Qiao Xin slapped the table and stood up. "Dare to compare?"
Honestly, leaving Wen Zhiyan aside for the moment, Jiang Lan had never been afraid of comparing himself with any other alpha.
Just as he was about to provoke Qiao Xin some more, Yu Nan hurried to intervene.
"No comparing, no comparing. Men and women are different. Qiao Xin, we're not comparing that. Be good."
Only after Yu Nan spoke did Qiao Xin sit back down, glaring indignantly at Jiang Lan and cursing him for having an even nastier mouth than hers.
To ease the atmosphere, Xu Can stood up first.
"Come on, let's have a toast! Here's to everything going smoothly and all our wishes coming true in the new year!"
After everyone laughed and joked for a while, it was finally the last person's turn in this round.
Yu Nan felt that the previous topic had gone far too off track. If it continued, these alphas might well start going at one another again.
So he thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Four years ago, I attempted suicide."
Before you continue