Chapter 169: The Road is So Clean, Might as Well Sleep in the Middle of It

Under the melting streetlights.

The small late-night snack stall hid behind the boss’s tricycle.

Jiang Nian looked at Xu Qianqian’s lively expression, thinking how beautiful her oval Face was. When she smiled, a faint little dimple appeared near her mouth.

“Alright, I got 124 in Math. What do you want to eat tomorrow? Order anything you like.” Jiang Nian tore open the disposable bamboo chopstick wrapper and rubbed the chopsticks together a few times.

“I have nothing else; I’m so poor all I have left is money.”

If he could, he’d treat her to late-night snacks. He wanted to treat Xu Qianqian to late-night snacks for a lifetime.

However, our country doesn’t advocate puppy love, so as a compromise, he’ll treat her to a blanket first.

Tell me, baby, do you like big blankets!

“Who cares about your money?” Xu Qianqian looked up, her long, elegant eyes set like amber, full of confidence. “I’ll earn my own money later.”

“Yes, you’re amazing.” Jiang Nian knew she would indeed be richer in the future.

“124 is just so-so, but it is a bit of an improvement,” Xu Qianqian analyzed. “One hundred twenty points is already considered the level of having a solid foundation.”

“Level? You didn’t start categorizing people by their scores, did you?” Jiang Nian questioned.

“Huh? How, how could that be? You’re overthinking it.” Xu Qianqian tried to cute her way through, her gaze wandering. “Why would you have such an absurd idea?”

Jiang Nian didn’t dare to imagine how this girl used to look at him.

Oh, look, the trash with over 400 points is talking?

You occasionally eat pig feed too, right?

When no one is looking, you occasionally walk on all fours, right?

That’s too malicious, damn!

What the Top Student said was indeed quite harsh, but scoring 120 truly meant jumping over a difficult threshold, smoothing the path instantly.

If nothing else, he had at least reached the excellent level.

“Handsome, the Fuding Meat Slices are ready.”

The boss came over carrying a serving tray, on which sat two bowls of Fuding Meat Slices sprinkled with scallions.

“The chili is here, along with cilantro and diced radish.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Nian noticed that Xu Qianqian didn’t immediately unwrap her chopsticks; instead, she arranged the diced radish and chili from the small disposable box in a row, which made him curious.

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell when it’s this obvious?” Xu Qianqian showed a fiercely cute expression. “This is the execution ground; they are about to be beheaded by me.”

Jiang Nian was stunned. Damn beheadings.

However, he was glad that Xu Qianqian had the same taste as him and ate cilantro, chili, and diced radish.

The advantage was that when they shared a meal, they didn’t need to waste words, nor did they need to specifically separate ingredients while eating.

Telling the boss gently that she doesn’t eat cilantro.

All it takes is one sentence: “Add everything, and add extra.”

What? You don’t have any?

If you don’t have it, why run a snack stall? That’s outrageous! No way, add whatever you have! We can’t lose out. Even the dirt from the side of the road is fine, just add everything!

Oh, and boss, let me take a couple of puffs of your gas.

“Half for each of us, don’t steal the cilantro.” Jiang Nian was occasionally very normal, such as after the major exam. “Do you know what score your brother got? 590.”

“Jiang Nian, do you want to know my total score?” Xu Qianqian’s eyes were full of anticipation.

“I really don’t.” Jiang Nian was speechless.

“I can reveal the first two digits, and don’t panic.” Xu Qianqian’s lips curled up. She made a gesture for six, then paused.

Alright, Jiang Nian understood.

Xu Qianqian had always struggled to gesture seven; once she ran out of five fingers, she only knew six, eight, and nine. That look of wisdom, pondering deeply, made her seem like a blockhead.

“Jiang Nian, do you know what number is between six and eight?”

“It’s the 698 Wash, Cut, and Blow Dry.”

Xu Qianqian knew Jiang Nian was jealous of her score, and she ate her late-night snack even happier, blowing on a spoonful of soup.

“It’s okay, low scores are kind of cute too.”

“red stone!” Jiang Nian couldn’t remember how many times he had heard that, instantly feeling his Face was slipping. “I’ll get 600 points next time. It’s only a ten-point difference.”

The road is so clean. I really want to lie down in the middle of it and sleep.

“Mhm, then try again during the next Joint Exam.” Xu Qianqian added chili to the local version of Fuding Meat Slices, saying casually, “You can definitely do it during the Six-City Joint Exam.”

Jiang Nian was really about to reach “Red Temperature.” If she said anything more, he’d go to the windowsill and do a standing long jump.

“You wait and see.”

“Just take it slow. Why put so much pressure on yourself?” Xu Qianqian was confused. Although she had the upper hand, she wasn’t trying to suppress him.

“Man strives for a breath of Qi, Xu Qianqian,” Jiang Nian said calmly.

“…Huh?” Xu Qianqian was also baffled.

However, a person’s spirit and vitality are indeed important, and she didn’t want to say anything discouraging to Jiang Nian. If Jiang Nian couldn’t score over 600 points, that wouldn’t be good either.

Maybe he would go find another Zhou Yuting.

Forget it, I won’t say any more.

There’s nothing that can be done.

The next day, during morning reading.

Jiang Nian looked utterly exhausted. He hadn’t slept well last night; his fighting spirit had kept him awake with insomnia.

He didn’t know why, but whenever Xu Qianqian was involved, things seemed to gain a “challenge” tag, making him want to see her at a disadvantage.

A desire for conquest? Not exactly, it’s not that…

To attract her attention? He should already be super noticeable.

Perhaps it was a desire to get closer, that was also possible.

It wasn’t poor mental state caused by studying all night. To be precise, he originally intended to scroll through Douyin for some actual exam questions before bed, but as he scrolled, he ended up on Black Stockings.

The 【Guess You Want to Search】 feature is too malicious.

However, Sè Niè didn’t dominate him for too long; he just didn’t sleep well. He wouldn’t go so far as to activate “Eliminate Fatigue”; he should save his energy for the afternoon.

Just leaning down for a while would be fine. It was Tuesday morning reading for Chinese class, so a short nap wouldn’t be a big problem.

Eliminate Fatigue has a side effect: while it boosts spirit, it lacks the satisfaction of a full night’s sleep. It’s okay for an afternoon pick-me-up, but normally, one should just sleep.

Isn’t life about feeling good? If the good feeling is gone, might as well jump off.

Zhang Ningzhi turned her head and looked at him three times, wanting to remind him not to sleep. But she realized that since the exam was over, their agreement to supervise each other was void.

What a pity. She wanted to trick him into making another agreement.

What do boys like?

She was lost in thought, and one morning self-study period passed. She looked at the small tuft of cowlick sticking up on Jiang Nian’s head, illuminated by the 8 AM sunlight streaming through the window.

Someone’s hair, including that tuft, turned light coffee brown.

Zhang Ningzhi felt surprised and couldn’t help but use her fingertip to touch that cowlick. Her finger pressed down gently, but it stubbornly sprang back up.

Then, Jiang Nian woke up.

He looked at the guilty-looking Zhang Ningzhi, slightly confused. Why did Zhi Bao look so much like a thief? Could she have secretly drawn a watch on him while he was asleep?

Jiang Nian checked his wrist; there were no traces of gel pen graffiti.

Never mind. After sleeping soundly, his entire body felt delightfully relaxed.

The desk was a bit small, hindering his limb stretching, but he was too lazy to go out to the hallway, so he made a strange movement.

“Nian, with that posture, did you drop some money?” Li Hua was amused.

Jiang Nian couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. It was all because bad company corrupts good morals. A pure white lotus was now almost polluted into a yellow osmanthus flower.

“Go die somewhere far away, don’t interrupt my stretching.”

“Haha, your stretching is quite unique.” Li Hua turned around, suddenly feeling the urge to pee. “Wanna go to the bathroom? I have some explosive news for you.”

“Is the supermarket having a massive loofah sale?”

“Wrong guess, it’s corn.” Li Hua stood up. “Ptooey, ptooey, what nonsense! It’s about the people switching classes. I already know who it is.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian paused for a few seconds before standing up.

“I’ll go too, I’ll go too.”

The bell rang, but the two of them were still slowly making their way to the restroom.

Class started, so what?

What they wanted was the silence of an empty restroom; it was better to discuss private matters when no one was around.

Li Hua deliberately stood at one end to pee while Jiang Nian stood at the other, separated by a great distance. It was as if one was at the South Pole and the other at the North Pole, leaving Jiang Nian speechless.

“Are you a bit short?”

“Nonsense!” Li Hua reached Red Temperature. “Men need privacy too, understand? If you stare at me, I won’t be able to pee.”

Jiang Nian thought for a moment. “Masturbate less.”

“red stone, red stone, red stone!!” Li Hua scattered the conversation thread, forcefully changing the subject. “Do you know who is switching classes? We’ll have fun watching later.”

“Who?”

“Yu Zhiyi from the neighboring class, Wu Jungu’s girlfriend.” Li Hua shrugged his eyebrows as he said this, but Jiang Nian had no reaction.

He pulled up his pants and looked at Li Hua with a strange expression.

“It’s not certain who the fun will be on.”

Li Hua felt guilty under his gaze and also pulled up his pants.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Oh, oh, oh, it has nothing to do with you.” Jiang Nian’s lips gradually curved upward, but he didn’t continue, instead switching to another question. “So, who is the other one?”

Normally, moving just one person would be enough to break up the pair. But this time, they unprecedentedly moved both of them. It seems the kind person’s Douyin promotion hit the mark.

The person who remained in the original class would be relatively more composed, because the attention would always fade, and their class had the home field advantage; they just needed to keep quiet for a while.

The person who stayed should be the favored one, but Old Liu was truly enraged. He didn’t want to keep either of them; he wanted them both gone.

Did he even swap Yu Zhiyi back in?

Of course, Jiang Nian knew nothing about her except for her voluptuous figure. Even though they both attended Teacher Qingbao’s Biology Tutoring, they barely exchanged a few words.

Therefore, it’s inconvenient to comment.

“I don’t know about the other one. I heard it was someone promoted from Class One.” Li Hua scratched his head.

He didn’t even wash his hands; he truly mixed up his big head and little head.

“red stone, Hua,” Jiang Nian said disdainfully while washing his hands. “Your ability to gather intelligence is worse than the old lady downstairs.”

“Who am I supposed to ask in the middle of the night?” Li Hua retorted, then chuckled. “Maybe the new students will already have successfully filled their spots after the large break exercise.”

After the exercise run.

Jiang Nian walked upstairs in a crowd and his eyes met Yu Zhiyi’s outside the classroom. They weren’t close but at least they recognized each other. The other person made him feel like committing a crime.

Zhou Yuting stood outside the door, her desk placed there. Her gaze crossed over the students and collided with Jiang Nian, who had returned from the exercise run on the stage. The two stared at each other for five or six seconds.

As they passed each other, the two of them lowered their voices almost simultaneously and spoke in unison.

“Idiot!” (“Bastard!”)