Wen Zhiyan, when you said you were coming back to pursue someone, you meant Teacher Jiang, right?

It was getting very late. For the past two days, the people sharing each triple room had all been of the same sex, so everyone could be relatively casual about what they did.

But tonight was different. Besides sleeping, there were also the issues of showering and using the bathroom.

With just one alpha and one omega, the atmosphere would at most be suggestive.

But with two alphas and one omega, things became distinctly awkward.

Alphas were thick-skinned enough not to care, but as an omega, Lin Ziyou still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Fortunately, although Jiang Lan's words could be unpleasant, his actions were far from lousy. Seeing Lin Ziyou standing somewhat awkwardly beside the bed he had finished making, he took the initiative to invite Wen Zhiyan out, waggling his eyebrows.

"President Wen, want to come along? A little secret between alphas."

Wen Zhiyan nodded and followed Jiang Lan out, leaving the room to Lin Ziyou.

Jiang Lan first grabbed two cans of beer from the refrigerator downstairs, then went up to the rooftop with Wen Zhiyan.

To their surprise, the moment they arrived, they saw Qiao Xin already sitting beneath the canopy, having a quiet drink alone.

Hearing them, Qiao Xin turned around. "Oh? You two got kicked out too?"

"Only you would have the nerve to wait until someone kicked you out," Wen Zhiyan said flatly.

Qiao Xin clicked her tongue. "I don't even make them leave when I shower, but they threw me right out. Those two adorable betas are truly heartless."

Jiang Lan sat opposite Qiao Xin, opened his can, and clinked it against her glass.

Wen Zhiyan sat beside Jiang Lan and silently opened his beer bottle without saying anything.

Silence settled over the three of them.

Only when midnight came and the red light on the rooftop camera went out did Qiao Xin look at Wen Zhiyan and Jiang Lan and speak first.

"What's going on with you two?"

At her words, Jiang Lan was initially startled, but then his expression remained normal, betraying nothing as he acted as though he had not understood what Qiao Xin meant.

"What do you mean, what's going on?"

Propping up her chin, Qiao Xin raised an eyebrow at Wen Zhiyan.

"Wen Zhiyan, when you said you were coming back to pursue someone, you meant Teacher Jiang, right?"

Wen Zhiyan did not deny it. He merely shrugged slightly and took a gulp of beer, his expression one of tacit acknowledgment.

Jiang Lan looked at Qiao Xin with an odd expression. "You two know each other well?"

"Not well," Wen Zhiyan said flatly.

"Not well, my ass," Qiao Xin interjected. "Back when President Wen was doing..."

"Qiao Xin, watch your mouth." Wen Zhiyan looked at her, his expression abruptly turning cold.

One look at Wen Zhiyan's face told Qiao Xin that he and Jiang Lan had yet to be fully open with each other.

Everyone who made a name for themselves in the industry was shrewd. Since Qiao Xin could be friends with Wen Zhiyan, she was naturally no clueless liability either.

Realizing this, she immediately said, "Do you have to save face like that? If I hadn't introduced you to Raynien so you could study under him, would you have made such a successful start in jewelry design so quickly? Now you're turning your back on me and claiming we don't know each other well?"

Raynien was the renowned chief designer of a century-old luxury jewelry brand. It was no secret that Wen Zhiyan had studied under him before founding Tu Lan.

Naturally, Jiang Lan knew about it too.

She continued without hesitation, sounding perfectly natural. Nothing she said contradicted what had come before, nor did she change the subject or her attitude abruptly.

Even Jiang Lan could not detect any holes in her words.

Still, his instincts told him something was wrong, because Wen Zhiyan's reaction just now had been a little too intense.

His expression had changed almost instantaneously, something that had never happened in the past.

Jiang Lan had a gut feeling that, whether or not this was what Qiao Xin had been about to mention, there must be some other secret between her and Wen Zhiyan that he did not know about.

But Jiang Lan could tell Wen Zhiyan did not want him to know.

So he simply played dumb, acting as if he had noticed nothing and saying with only a little surprise, "You've known each other that long?"

Wen Zhiyan glanced at Qiao Xin, lowered his eyes, and softened his tone.

"It was just a coincidence. Nothing worth talking about."

Knowing she had nearly messed things up and had only just managed to hold the conversation together, Qiao Xin now skipped past the previous subject and grinned at Jiang Lan.

"Seriously, Teacher Jiang, I knew President Wen had someone in his heart, but I really never expected it to be you. What's the situation with you two? Have you made up?"

Instead of answering Qiao Xin's question, Jiang Lan asked one of his own.

"How could you tell?"

Qiao Xin clicked her tongue. "If I didn't know him, I definitely wouldn't have been able to tell. But all those years of friendship weren't for nothing. What kind of person is President Wen? Who could possibly boss him around?"

"Only you. One little 'President Wen~ I want~ Red-Braised Ribs~' and President Wen eagerly heads into the kitchen to wash his hands and cook for you himself."

"And that necklace around your neck." Qiao Xin pointed at the necklace with the black diamond pendant around Jiang Lan's neck.

"President Wen is acquiring that brand. Of all the times you could have worn it, you put it on right after Lin Ziyou said President Wen had gone into that store."

"To me, it's far too obvious, Teacher Jiang."

As Jiang Lan listened to Qiao Xin, he stretched out his leg beneath the table and planted his foot on Wen Zhiyan's, still smiling at her as he asked,

"He's mentioned me to you?"

After all, two alphas being together was something most people could not comprehend or accept.

The fact that Qiao Xin was acting so naturally and taking it so well could only mean she had long been mentally prepared.

Qiao Xin gave a little "Ah." "He hasn't actually said much. He's an alpha, after all. You know how it is. They're very possessive of the person they truly like and won't readily share things about their partner with anyone else."

"It's just that he's been single all these years, and with all those omegas showing interest in him, his reaction was, how should I put it..."

Qiao Xin sorted through the words available in her head, then said, "I wouldn't say he ignored them. More like he avoided them like the plague."

She raised an eyebrow at Jiang Lan. "Teacher Jiang, tell me, if a reasonably normal alpha has absolutely no interest in so many beautiful, highly compatible omegas, what does that mean?"

Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow too. "What does it mean?"

"It means either he has someone in his heart and is keeping himself chaste, or he's gay!" Qiao Xin said.

Jiang Lan was speechless.

He cleared his throat softly and stretched out his leg to kick Wen Zhiyan. "Have you gone mute?"