Chapter 134: You Poke Me, I Poke You

Jiang Nian rested one hand on the desk, pillowed his head on it, and placed his phone on his lap.

“Smile?”

He suddenly recalled the time during the sports meet when he had gone to find the class monitor to ask for leave.

He had needed to catch a bus back to Xiaolongtan, and he only remembered being in a rush and rambling on and on.

Li Qingrong just listened and seemed to have smiled a little.

It was a bit dim at the time, or perhaps it was because the light was blocked by the green wall of vines covering the flag-raising platform, making her smile appear very faint.

A smile—well, he should return a smile too.

Jiang Nian sifted through his yellow emoji stickers, remembering there was one with a big, smiling face.

Who would send the exact same emoji back? It wasn’t in accordance with the Rites of Zhou; there definitely had to be some variation.

Why couldn’t he find it? The big, smiling yellow face.

He clearly remembered saving it back in his first year of high school when his brain was still normal. Why couldn’t he find it?

He searched through his favorites, but there were too many meme pictures, like “You won’t have any young married women liking you like this” or “It’s normal to have those kinds of desires for me.”

“Attacking me doesn’t exist; I have no morals,” “Teacher, I see you still have your charm,” and “In terms of being a dog, I am indeed inferior to you.”

Jiang Nian was in a wretched state, trying to find a simple smile among a pile of abstract emojis.

He finally found a smile, but it turned out to be “Is your mom there?”

Finally, Jiang Nian gave up.

He had been scrolling for too long, and his finger was a bit sore. It twitched unconsciously, and he sent a “Old Eating Banana” sticker. He originally wanted to recall it, but then he saw it wasn’t that abstract.

Forget it, this one will do.

He waited for a while, but Li Qingrong didn’t reply. She was probably resting.

That made sense; who sends emojis back and forth for no reason?

Jiang Nian put away his phone, laid his head on the desk, and slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the boys’ dormitory of Building 5 in the North District, Lin Dong sat on his bed, curled up with his back against the wall.

“Cousin, what—what is this?” Yang Qiming stood in the dormitory aisle, gripping the bed frame with a serious expression.

“I heard you want to change rooms?”

“Ah, I suppose so.” Lin Dong looked like he was about to press himself into the wall. “Cousin, don’t overthink it. It’s just… my great-grandmother appeared in my dream last night.”

Yang Qiming had originally wanted to say something, like how the math Weekly Test score wasn’t important or that the two Lis were invincible, but hearing about the great-grandmother’s dream suddenly stunned him.

“What?”

Lin Dong swallowed hard. “My great-grandmother said my Eight Characters are too strong, and I should move to a room with less masculine energy.”

“Isn’t that just pure superstition?” Yang Qiming was dumbfounded. “No, Brother Dong, this reason is too ridiculous. Even if it were true, you can’t be blindly filial.”

“Why don’t you reconsider and not move?”

He had just decided to give up on women and focus on his brothers and his studies. People always said that if you were unlucky in love, you’d be lucky in your career. How come for him, he lost both his girlfriend and his brother? Was this reasonable?

Regarding this, Lin Dong felt a bit like he was breaking the pot to mend it. “My great-grandmother wouldn’t harm me, would she? Don’t try to persuade me; I’m just this kind of filial person!”

At noon, Lin Dong used a week’s worth of lunch money and the friendship he had built up over time to successfully strike a deal with a boy in Zeng You’s dormitory. He would move that afternoon!

Regardless of whether he had misunderstood or not, there was no turning back once the bow was drawn. His life motto was: either don’t do it, or see it through to the end. There was absolutely no logic in doing something halfway and then turning back to regret it.

Yang Qiming tried to persuade him a few more times, but the more he tried, the stronger Lin Dong’s determination to change rooms became. Seeing that he couldn’t change his mind, he couldn’t be bothered to continue persuading him. This day was destined to be his Black Monday.

Yang Qiming climbed onto his bed, intending to use a nap to heal his inner wounds. Although he had always acted like he didn’t care, even fooling himself, when the time came to truly separate, he knew his heart was honest and kept telling him he loved her. At this moment, all his heartache gathered in his chest.

Unable to sleep, Yang Qiming opened QQ and WeChat, but his verification messages still hadn’t been accepted. He couldn’t help but clench his fists, thinking, “What happened to the promised happiness? Is ‘forever’ in a girl’s mouth just a tense marker?”

Yang Qiming took a deep breath and opened Douyin. The first video was “How to win back your girlfriend’s heart.” He watched it once, and the moment he closed his eyes, he thought of all the past memories with his girlfriend. Grievance and pain mingled together, and the tough guy, moved to the depths of his emotions, couldn’t help but shed tears.

Lin Dong took a nap, keeping one eye asleep and the other on watch. He was moving dorms in the afternoon.

He was a sentimental person, and even though he had to leave this dormitory for various reasons, it didn’t mean he had no feelings for it; after all, he had stayed here for a long time. Damn it, why did it feel like a breakup? This wouldn’t do.

The lunch break was about to end; the bell would ring at 1:50. Lin Dong watched the time, seeing only seven minutes left, and Yang Qiming showed no abnormalities. He began to reflect: was everything he saw last night real? Was seeing truly believing?

Perhaps last night’s events were just a misunderstanding. Cousin Qiming was actually an honest and simple person; maybe he was just too heartbroken from breaking up with his girlfriend. Guys, you know, it’s normal to vent when unhappy. It could just be that Cousin had a naturally dull sensitivity, switching screens to reply to his messages while regulating his emotions. Perhaps he had gone at the wrong time, or perhaps Cousin had just finished. Thinking this way, his heart gradually calmed down. Goodbye, 505.

His phone’s notification light flickered for no reason. Lin Dong hadn’t slept at all during the break and picked it up to look. There weren’t any messages, just that Cousin Qiming had updated his QQ signature. Lin Dong smiled; he had let it go, and the explanation made sense. No matter what Cousin posted, he wouldn’t overthink it again.

God Eater: “I will use absolute rationality to suppress this deadly liking. The whole journey is scenery; from now on, I won’t climb mountains and cross ridges for you.”

Huh? That’s strange. He looked again. Lin Dong read it word for word, thinking this must be for his girlfriend.

Thinking about it carefully, that wasn’t right either; his girlfriend had deleted him and hadn’t added him back at all. Who was this for? As luck would have it, Jiang Nian’s message from last night flashed in his mind: “You can ask him; he’ll definitely say it like this: ‘Little fool, this was prepared for you.'”

Damn it, Jiang Nian is toxic! red stone!

Lin Dong’s hair stood on end, and his back was soaked with cold sweat. His roommates were still napping, so he quietly climbed out of bed. He lowered his head and tied his shoelaces light-footedly; he still couldn’t stay in this room. He would move in the afternoon and leave early.

After finishing everything, Lin Dong crept to the door. Before leaving, he looked back on a whim. He happened to see a face streaming with tears; the expression on Cousin Qiming’s face was very strange.

It was filled with a hint of confusion amidst the pain, and a hint of disappointment amidst the anger. Lin Dong didn’t dare to linger and ran for his life.

With five minutes left until the end of the lunch break, Jiang Nian woke up because Zhizhi had arrived.

Because the book basket was placed under the chair, the chair couldn’t be moved. Jiang Nian pressed his body forward, commonly known as “breastfeeding the desk.”

Zhizhi walked past him from behind, carrying a lemon tea, brushing past with a scent, and placed the lemon tea on his desk.

“Thanks.” “You’re welcome.” Zhizhi’s eyes narrowed into crescents—a joy of cultivation.

Jiang Nian turned his head and glanced at her, not knowing what she was happy about again. Girls’ moods were always hard to guess; he wanted to go to the bathroom now and find someone to duo queue with.

“Hey.” Hearing this, Zhizhi turned back. “What’s wrong?”

It was strange; ever since they met, Zhizhi had assumed that in certain contexts, the address “Hey” referred to her, similar to scenario immersion.

She suddenly realized that Jiang Nian had almost never called her by her name. Whether it was Zhang Ningzhi or anything else, how could he call a girl “Hey!” This person!! It was simply too much; she even brought him a drink every day!

Thinking of this, Zhizhi didn’t want to talk to him anymore and laid her head directly on the desk.

Jiang Nian: “????” Is Zhizhi baby on her period? Her temper changes three times a second; you wouldn’t be like Prime Minister Cao, who liked to kill in his dreams, would you? Forget it, time to pee.

Jiang Nian turned and left his seat. Li Hua hadn’t come; he didn’t know if he had fainted at home. In any case, the seats outside weren’t blocked, and it was unimpeded.

Tuesday afternoons were always Comprehensive Science classes; it was better if this BYD Li Hua didn’t come. The kid just comes to show off; he’s usually half-asleep. But as soon as it’s a moment to show off, he shows off for the whole afternoon, looking full of energy.

During a break to go to the bathroom, Jiang Nian habitually took out his phone to check. Two people had sent him new messages.

One was Lin Dong, who said he had just come out of the dormitory. He had asked for leave from afternoon self-study to move dorms early. He said a bunch of other stuff afterward that Jiang Nian didn’t quite understand.

Moving to Zeng You’s dormitory? Wasn’t that the dormitory in his own group? Wu Jungu and Zeng You were both there, so Lin Dong was joining too?

The other message was from the class monitor, who only replied with an emoji. It was still a yellow face. “(Poke).”

Jiang Nian was inexplicably amused; for someone like the class monitor to use this emoji was truly a bit… cute, and a bit naturally ditsy.

After finishing up, he checked the time of Li Qingrong’s reply. 1:40 PM; she must have replied after waking up from her nap. He pondered; he really didn’t have any normal emojis left. It was too late to repent; he would turn over a new leaf later.

Jiang Nian: “(Poke) x2.” You poke me, I’ll poke back; I’ll find some new emojis this afternoon.

Zhizhi’s emojis were actually quite normal; he might as well recycle them. Anyway, they weren’t friends with each other.

At the school gate, the autumn afternoon sun was just right. The school broadcast’s lunch break wake-up bell was random music. It used to be a cold ding-dong, but he didn’t remember when it had changed. The low-quality broadcast was playing JJ Lin’s “Jiangnan.”

“Circles, rounds, circles, day after day, year after year, it’s me~ looking deeply at your face.”

Li Qingrong crushed a withered yellow leaf under her foot, and the phone in her pocket vibrated. She stopped, swiped open the screen, and easily found the chat page.

“(Poke) x2.” Li Qingrong lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, and replied to the message. “(Poke) x3.”

Before long, Jiang Nian replied again. “(Poke) x4.”

She didn’t know how to reply; repeating it over and over was pretty boring, right? Maybe she should ask Nie Qiqi; she quite liked chatting.

Jiang Nian had just finished washing his face with cold water and was leaning on the railing, looking into the distance. Seeing that Li Qingrong hadn’t replied, he asked, “Why aren’t you (poking) anymore?”

After ten seconds, a message popped up on his phone. Li Qingrong: “(Poke) x5.”