Chapter 157: If You Are Not Cold, Give Me Your Jacket

In the bathroom, Wang Yuhe paused.

“That bi—”

“Ahem, the pancakes at the Cafeteria really are quite good.” Chen Yunyun hurriedly interrupted her.

Child, this is a bathroom, not a secret room.

Why do you say everything out loud? Ji Jiayu is in the next dorm. You never know if someone in this dorm is close to her; who knows about these things.

Wang Yuhe looked at Chen Yunyun curiously, a look of confusion on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

Chen Yunyun felt awkward and waved her hand, saying.

“It’s nothing. Let’s talk about it later. Let’s finish drying off and get out of here.”

“Oh, okay.”

After washing up, the two girls changed their clothes and walked along the dormitory corridor against the cold wind, continuing the topic they hadn’t finished in the bathroom.

Ji Jiayu was indeed a bit of a bitch, and it wasn’t because they were misogynistic. It was just that she and her boyfriend, Yuan Zhengchuan, would study during the first half of the lunch break and then flirt during the second half.

To put it bluntly, she was the type of villain who only cared about her own dopamine secretion and completely disregarded the feelings of classmates trying to nap in the classroom.

“So we can’t even talk about it?” Wang Yuhe said with dissatisfaction.

“That’s just the truth; she only offends us.” Chen Yunyun soothed her. “Most of the people in the dorm don’t nap in the classroom, so they don’t care.”

“Ji Jiayu is on good terms with them, so it’s best not to badmouth Ji Jiayu in the dorm.”

Wang Yuhe was a bit confused, but she nodded anyway.

“Hmm, well, is there no one who can keep her in check?”

“I don’t know, but she seems to be having an inexplicable falling out with her boyfriend recently.” Chen Yunyun smiled. “It feels quite suspicious; someone must be keeping her in check.”

“Who?” Wang Yuhe asked.

The two girls watched the rain from the balcony, the sky somewhat dark. Raindrops the size of soybeans fell onto the windowsill, and the circular holes in the sink were filled with clear rainwater.

Chen Yunyun’s voice was very soft. “Who else but the one who naps in the classroom?”

“Jiang Nian?” Wang Yuhe was surprised. “But he hasn’t done anything, right?”

“He hasn’t done anything, but lately the boys in class haven’t been acting quite right.” Chen Yunyun said. “Especially our group leader, who has suddenly started being attentive to Ji Jiayu.”

“Did Jiang Nian make him do it?” Wang Yuhe said. “Can’t deal with Ji Jiayu, so he’s dealing with her boyfriend directly?”

“Yeah, he didn’t tell me directly, I’m just guessing.” Chen Yunyun said. “Let’s just keep this between us; don’t tell anyone else.”

“Mm-hmm.” Wang Yuhe nodded. “I know. Thanks to them fighting among themselves, we can continue to nap in the classroom from now on.”

Outside the window, the rain grew heavier, and the sky gradually darkened.

Pitter-patter, raindrops fell onto the road, covering the streets, alleys, and shops.

“Ah! Jiang Nian, do you even know how to hold an umbrella!”

“Don’t move, it’s about to leak.”

“Why don’t you go out and give the umbrella to me.” Xu Qianqian said pitifully. “You’re a big man; you won’t catch a cold even if you get a little wet.”

“That’s sexism, right? If we’re going to die, we die together.” Jiang Nian flatly refused.

In the heavy rain, the umbrella handle wobbled.

“Ah! The rain is blowing into my neck!” Xu Qianqian grabbed Jiang Nian’s clothes, screaming incessantly. “Can’t you sacrifice a little? That’s how it’s always played out in TV dramas.”

“What year is it, and you’re still watching TV dramas!” Jiang Nian shouted over the sound of the pouring rain. “Don’t count on me; I only watch browser content.”

“Pervert.”

“What are you saying? Who doesn’t use websites to watch dramas now?” Jiang Nian retorted while looking for a place to take shelter from the rain.

It was all Xu Qianqian’s Homeroom Teacher’s fault; that person was truly insufferable. They knew it was about to rain but still dragged things out. Why did they have to read that crappy testament? Couldn’t they just send it to the class group chat?

Now look, it had dragged on until it became a rainstorm.

On the road, one could see a few of Xu Qianqian’s classmates wearing raincoats, riding their bikes through the white, torrential rain. When the strong wind blew, it seemed to sweep away the very air with it.

Panicked, they crashed straight into the curb.

“Damn it, we can’t get back,” Jiang Nian cursed.

“What?”

Xu Qianqian asked subconsciously; she was also in a terrible state now. Her backpack was slung in front, and she was squeezed under a small blue umbrella with the shameless Jiang Nian.

The two were almost curled up together, and each had one side of their body soaked.

Jiang Nian was truly outrageous; he really didn’t care about his own well-being. He forced his way under the umbrella and shamelessly said that if they squeezed together, they could both be covered.

As it turned out, covered my ass!

“I said! The rain is getting heavier, we can’t get back!” Jiang Nian raised his voice. “Let’s find a place to have kids—no, let’s find a place to take shelter from the rain!”

“Just a reminder, I’m not deaf.” Xu Qianqian glared at him and hugged herself in fear.

“I know, I was just joking.” Jiang Nian spoke glibly while his eyes searched for a target to shelter from the rain; there was a medium-sized shopping mall ahead.

“You’re a bit too humorous,” Xu Qianqian retorted.

There was actually a little space under the umbrella. She looked up at Jiang Nian. Dark hair, bright eyes, a clear jawline; if he didn’t talk, he could pass as a good dog.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Jiang Nian didn’t seem as weak as before.

“The rain is too heavy, let’s go to the mall ahead and take shelter.” Jiang Nian suggested.

The rain fell faster and faster, and Xu Qianqian was getting a little scared.

“Okay.”

The two moved toward the mall. Because the rain was heavy and the umbrella was small, they walked slower and slower to avoid getting wet.

“We seem to be walking very slowly; if we keep this up, we’ll be soaked before we reach the mall.” Xu Qianqian analyzed. “Why don’t you run over first, and I’ll follow you with the umbrella.”

“You run instead; besides, your clothes won’t be see-through when wet anyway.” Jiang Nian said something even more of a turn-off than the refusal.

“Go to hell!”

Overall, the space under the umbrella was too limited. The two people’s shoulders were pressed together; one plus one would always be greater than or equal to two, unless they could make contact at a negative distance.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then reached out and put his arm around Xu Qianqian’s shoulder.

Now it was a negative distance.

This abrupt action made Xu Qianqian’s eyes blink sharply, and her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. In an instant, the soreness in her heart spread from her chest throughout her body.

“W-what are you doing?”

“The umbrella is too small, walk faster.” Jiang Nian was speechless, but he also felt something was a bit different; Xu Qianqian smelled quite nice.

I don’t know how to describe it; smelling the heat radiating from her neck, the line from his nasal cavity to his brainstem felt straight.

“Oh.” Xu Qianqian didn’t know what else to say.

The atmosphere under the umbrella was strange, and the two remained silent all the way to the mall. Following the stairs, they entered the rain canopy on the basement level, where quite a few people without umbrellas had gathered to shelter from the rain.

Xu Qianqian scanned the area through the edge of the umbrella and saw that the crowd’s focus was on the two of them. It was as if they were watching for fun—oh, oh, oh, a couple has arrived.

In fact, that wasn’t the case; they were just neighbors who couldn’t get rid of each other.

Seeing that there were no students in the crowd, Xu Qianqian couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn’t because she felt guilty, but because she didn’t want to be misunderstood as dating a monkey at school.

Jiang Nian didn’t know about Xu Qianqian’s strange thoughts. When they reached the steps to the basement level of the mall, he let go of Xu Qianqian’s shoulder.

He closed the umbrella; very good, they only got a little wet.

Turning his head, he found Xu Qianqian still standing there stiffly.

“What are you spacing out for?”

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian snapped out of it, her face a little red. But she was a person who never wanted to be outdone, and she didn’t want to admit that she had been distracted by some absurd thoughts.

She looked at Jiang Nian with a serious expression and said.

“I’ve always thought you were handsome and rich; there are umbrellas for sale in the mall.”

“Are you stupid? We’re already sheltering from the rain, why would we buy an umbrella?” Jiang Nian glanced at her and then at the interior of the mall. “It’ll be a while before the rain stops; do you want to go in and look around?”

Xu Qianqian agreed, taking out her phone to reply to messages while following Jiang Nian inside.

Although it was called a mall, there was hardly anyone in the shops on the second and third floors. People who came here were mainly aiming for the large supermarket on the basement level.

She flipped through her phone and received multiple WeChat messages.

Song Xiyun had sent a message twenty minutes ago saying she had arrived home, only slightly wet. Jiang Nians mother sent a message asking if she had gotten wet and if she needed to be picked up.

Xu Qianqian replied that it wasn’t necessary and took a photo of the mall as well.

“I didn’t get wet; I’m sheltering from the rain. I’ll go back when the rain lets up a bit.”

Jiang Nians mother replied with an “okay” and then asked about Jiang Nian.

“Is that brat with you? I saw he didn’t bring an umbrella today. He didn’t snatch your umbrella, did he?”

Seeing this, Xu Qianqian felt awkward and bit her lower lip before replying.

“He is.”

The interior of the mall had air conditioning, and the temperature was quite low. Xu Qianqian suddenly felt cold, and before she could reply to Auntie, her body involuntarily shivered.

Jiang Nian, who was walking in front, seemed to have a sudden inspiration and turned around to ask.

“Xu Qianqian, are you cold?”

Xu Qianqian was stubborn and shook her head.

“Not cold.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Jiang Nian reached out and said, acting naturally yet coyly. “I’m a bit weak and am feeling cold; can you take off your jacket and let me wear it?”

Xu Qianqian’s fists clenched, and she gritted her teeth.

“Freeze to death!”

“Yamete.”

Xu Qianqian: “…”

What kind of dirty thing just drifted by? She felt that the atmosphere at Zhennan Middle School was indeed not good, and there was still a lot of room for improvement in the moral quality of the students.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian handed his school uniform jacket to her.

“For you.”

“Tch.” Xu Qianqian felt a bit awkward; it felt strange.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t taken his jacket before; how old was she then? Ten or twelve? The sky was very blue back then, and Jiang Nian was still a decent person.

Growing up, things were bound to be different.

Xu Qianqian didn’t act coy; she took the jacket and put it on directly. The basement level of the mall was very cold, and after a while, the chill clinging to her body faded away.

“Are you cold?”

“I don’t feel anything; it’s the same whether I wear a jacket or not.” Jiang Nian was indeed not cold; he was at an age full of vigor.

Back in junior high, he would only wear two layers in the middle of winter. He would also stylishly unzip his jacket—one jacket and one base layer—while the classmates next to him were wrapped up like balls.

At that time, he once thought he might be a descendant of the Five Elements Village, one of the candidates to summon the Armor Heroes.

By the way, no Wind Eagle Armor.

The chuunibyou age of prioritizing style over warmth had passed, but the foundation was still there.

It was just a little wind and frost.

Xu Qianqian stared at him for a few seconds, sniffled, and said.

“We’re done looking around; let’s go out.”

“No, I haven’t even gone in yet.” Jiang Nian was surprised and turned to ask. “If we just stand outside stupidly waiting for the rain to stop, how boring would that be.”

Having spent years together, Xu Qianqian understood his nature all too well.

If Jiang Nian took the initiative to suggest going to the mall, it was likely that his days were numbered. He had only one last breath left and wanted to experience a different kind of life.

The only person interested in shopping was herself.

“I don’t think it’s boring, it’s just too cold here.” Xu Qianqian said. “It’s not good for my brilliant brain; if it freezes, I’ll only be able to score 630 points.”

To be fair, Jiang Nian was a little hurt.

After waiting for about twenty minutes at the entrance of the basement level of the mall, the rain finally stopped.

This time, there was no need to hold an umbrella.

He thoughtfully handed the umbrella to Xu Qianqian. “There’s still a little light rain; you take the umbrella.”

Xu Qianqian gritted her teeth. “It’s clearly because you don’t want to carry the umbrella!”

The two walked on the way home, and there were puddles everywhere. After being tossed about by the heavy rain, it was already 7:10 PM, and the streetlights by the road lit up one by one.

After the rainstorm, the road reflected all kinds of light, the air was exceptionally humid, and cold winds blew against their faces.

Xu Qianqian shrank her body and lowered her head to smell a scent that didn’t belong to her from the collar.

The body heat steamed out a damp scent of laundry detergent, with a hint of lavender fragrance, hazy, and it was instantly blown away by the cold wind.