Chao Ning went to the laboratory, but Henry was the only one there. Gao Yan and Kris went to take an exam.

Upon seeing Chao Ning return, Henry immediately approached with concern and said, "Ning Ning, how are you feeling after last night?"

Chao Ning was feeling irritated, and absentmindedly muttered, "Not good," before ignoring Henry. However, he couldn't focus on studying either, as his mind was filled with the pitiful image of Shen Xi apologizing. After thinking for a moment, Chao Ning couldn't help but curse under his breath. Shen Xi, pitiful my ass! He was the pitiful one. He was inexplicably sent off for a political marriage and inexplicably treated like a free suppressant. Both the surname Gu and surname Shen know how to make use of people.

"Ha, so presumptuous!"

"Ning Ning, I'm sorry."

The apology that echoed in Chao Ning's ears instantly intensified his agitated mood to its peak. Chao Ning turned around impulsively and cursed, "Don't fucking say those three words to me again! 'I'm sorry' is worth jack shit!"

Henry, an Alpha, was directly shouted at by Ning until his eyes turned red.

After letting out a sigh, Zhongning also calmed down quite a bit. He raised his hand, intending to pat Henry's shoulder and apologize, but Henry, startled, took a step back as if he was afraid of being hit. Zhongning felt genuinely embarrassed at this point and murmured, "Sorry," in a soft voice.

He has never been in the spotlight at school, but these days he has shown more temper than he has in the past nineteen years. So, after losing his temper, he regrets it and feels a bit lost. Perhaps it's because he has unavoidably crossed paths with the Alpha he dislikes, or maybe it's due to the influence of Shenxi's pheromones. In any case, none of it is voluntary on his part.

"I shouldn't have gotten angry with you, Henry," Chao Ning sighed heavily. "Maybe I should visit a doctor when I have some free time, to analyze my current psychological state. Did I scare you? Let me treat you to a meal today, as an apology, and I can also help with your experiment..."

Henry is not afraid of being beaten by Zhao Ning, after all, his division level is higher than Zhao Ning's and he still holds advantages in various aspects. However, he is in the wrong. If it weren't for him pointing out the location of Zhao Ning's room last night, the events that followed probably wouldn't have happened. Can't he and Chris, the two Alphas, handle one Gu Xiangnan?

He chickened out.

"It's okay, Ningning. It was all my fault last night. I got scared by that person surnamed Gu, if it wasn't for me..." Henry covered his face in distress.

Zhao Ning quickly understood and went to pull Henry's hand, saying, "It's fine, what trouble can I, an Alpha, encounter?"

Henry was still very sad.

With a raised eyebrow, Chao Ning hooked her arm around Henry's neck and said, "How about we skip work today? It's the end of the semester anyway, and we've finished analyzing the data for Gao Yan. There's nothing important going on right now. Let's go out for a stroll?"

Facing the bright eyes of Zhao Ning, Henry was instantly charmed. He nodded and glanced out the window, saying, "Alright. Let's go have a hot pot tonight. I heard it's going to snow."

Chao Ning chuckled and replied, "You even know that snowy days go well with hot pot? Would you like another ice cream cone?"

"Sure." Henry's face showed a greedy expression.

The two of them shamelessly skipped class like this and even sent messages to Gao Yan and Chris, who were taking exams, telling them to come to the mall after they finished the test.

As Chao Ning walked out of the school gate, she suddenly hesitated and absentmindedly raised her hand to touch the back of her neck, vaguely sensing a slight warmth in her glands.

"Although Alpha is powerful, its ability to recover is not as good as Omega's. When Omega is bitten on the glands, they do not feel much pain, and if the skin is not severely broken, it will completely heal the next day. But Alpha is different. Not only does it hurt to the point of suffocation when bitten on the glands, even superficial wounds take three days to recover, let alone deep wounds like the ones left by Shen Xi."

It seems like the whole week won't be alright.

After Chao Ning realized that his glands weren't hurting as much, he felt a heat sensation. Moreover, he faintly sensed that Shen Xi was still nearby. He cautiously scanned around but didn't spot any trace of Shen Xi.

"What's wrong, Ningning?" Henry was a bit puzzled.

Chao Ning regained her composure and said, "It's nothing, I was just overthinking. Let's go, let's go shopping at the mall."

After the two of them left, Shen Xi finally emerged from behind the gigantic stone tablet standing at the entrance of Xing University. His gaze was heavy as he watched the direction where Chao Ning and Henry had departed. As an S-Class Alpha, his vision was excellent, so even though Chao Ning and Henry had already walked a long distance, he could still see them chatting and laughing.

Within the marking period, the possessiveness of Alpha is always strong. Even if there is no emotional connection, the bond created by pheromones constantly reminds them of their relationship. As the one who marked, Shen Xi is not pleased to see Zhao Ning getting so close to other Alphas, and of course, not Omegas either.

So he followed along.

I don't know where Shen Xi learned his tracking skills, but he followed Chao Ning to the shopping mall without being noticed.

However, although Zhao Ning didn't realize it, with the bond of pheromones, he could still sense Shen Xi's presence. It's just that Shen Xi hid too well. Even if he turned back at the first moment, he couldn't see Shen Xi. After a few times, he began to doubt if he was mistaken in his feelings.

"Ningning, what are you looking for?" Henry had long noticed that something was off with Ningning.

In the current shopping mall, there weren't many people, not just because it was a weekday, but also because of the recent war that had just ended. Although the war didn't directly reach Tianbo Star, some sneaky insect invaders still brought a significant impact on the people of Tianbo Star. Some timid individuals would rather stay at home.

There weren't many people, so finding someone was easy. But Henry knew that Chaoning didn't find the person he was looking for.

Chao Ning frowned, "Didn't you feel like someone was following us?"

Henry lacks experience in this regard, so he is not sensitive to danger. He scratched his head innocently and asked, "Really?"

"... Forget it." Zhong Ning touched his swollen glands again and propped up his shirt collar, enduring the pain, resembling a sloppy guy. "Let's go eat hotpot. How about a Yin and Yang pot? You and Chris can eat non-spicy, and Gao Yan and I will eat spicy. Ask them where they are."

Henry nodded and followed Chao Ning while sending a text message.

After all the dishes were served, Gao Yan and Chris finally arrived. To catch up with this hot pot meal, the two of them took a taxi and after they sat down, they were still discussing how the expenses should be reimbursed according to what ratio.

Chao Ning felt overwhelmed as she listened to them listing the influencing factors. She simply sent a personal red envelope to each of them in the group chat and said, "Stop arguing, stop arguing. I'm so hungry, can we eat now?"

"Thank you, Ning Ning, but next time don't give money on behalf of Chris," Gao Yan patted Ning's head and accepted the red packet in the group.

Zhao Ning helplessly said, "Sis, your argument is unconvincing..."

Gao Yan smiled and said, "Just a routine procedure."

Chris also received a red envelope from Chaoning, but he then sent an even larger one back, saying, "Ningning, I sent you a love red envelope, please accept it quickly!"

As Chao Ning opened the chat interface and glanced at it, she couldn't help but curl her lips in a slight smirk. "Chris, maybe you should go back and learn a thing or two from your grandfather, to ignite a bit of the romantic factor that runs in your family through generations."

Gao Yan leaned over to take a look and then burst into laughter. "Chris, where did you get these emojis that are only found in history books? Even my grandma doesn't use them anymore!"

Zhao Ning also laughed along, but politely accepted the red envelope, giving it back in return. "Consider it my way of returning the gesture to you. Alright, let's stop playing around now, I'm hungry."

Chris shrugged and took the initiative to serve roasted meat to Zhaoning.

In this group, Chao Ning is a beloved member, and everyone is happy to spoil him. However, Shen Xi, who is unaware of the truth, almost couldn't resist flipping the table. In the end, he called the waiter to add a piece of frozen spicy butter into the pot, trying to divert attention with the pungent taste of inferior-quality numbing spice.

As the mouthful of beef coated with crimson oil entered, Shenxi couldn't help but crinkle his face in disgust.

"These Sichuan peppercorns are unbearable to eat nowadays!"