Chapter 227 I am a dark, sinister rat, and I will forever stalk you.

Zhang Ningzhi was already accustomed to Jiang Nian’s habit of taking over, and while silently tidying her stationery, she couldn’t help but glance at him from the corner of her eye.

She saw him chatting happily with Zeng You about games, grinning.

Hmph, what a nuisance.

The comprehensive science exam in the afternoon lasted two and a half hours, and by the time she looked up, it was almost five o’clock.

The moment the papers were passed from back to front, Jiang Nian inexplicably felt relieved.

Many people shared his feeling.

A weekly test meant one day of exams and one day of reviewing papers, which would take up two days.

Roughly speaking, it meant two days a week without classes.

After two days, if there was a physical education class, they could catch another breath.

It was already five o’clock when the papers were collected, so logically, there was no need for a small self-study session. But the grade level office hadn’t said anything, and no one on the fourth floor left, so they could only sit down for self-study.

“What’s that noise downstairs?” Zeng You looked around nervously.

He had just finished the exam and was already pulling out his phone to read a novel.

Hearing the commotion nearly scared him to death; he was on high alert, terrified of being caught.

His skills were superb, and he had never been caught even once.

But he knew deep down that if he were caught once, there would be a second targeted crackdown on him.

“Don’t hide it, I saw it.”

“What’s in the drawer? Take it out!!”

Just these two sentences could give him a psychological shadow, and if so, his career of reading novels in class would become incredibly difficult.

Li Hua couldn’t sit still and stood up, saying,

“I’ll go out and see.”

Jiang Nian was too lazy to move, exhausted from the comprehensive science exam.

He had been cultivating for half a day, but ended up both tired and energetic, so he could only do homework to pass the time.

Soon, Li Hua came rushing back.

“Damn it, those ghosts on the third floor have already left school, why do we still have to self-study!”

The third floor housed several parallel science classes, and information was scarce in the small county town. More people followed the trend of choosing science, leading to an uneven distribution of arts and science students in Zhennan Middle School.

The news brought back by scout Li Hua was shocking, and the class immediately erupted in indignation.

“What’s the point of studying now?”

“Let’s go, let’s go, school’s out, the grade level office doesn’t care at all.” Lin Dong was the first to stir the pot.

After speaking, he looked at Cai Xiaoqing, the core of Class Three, waiting for Minister Cai to speak.

As long as Cai Xiaoqing spoke, things would be easier; what he feared most was her silence.

“No, if the third floor can leave, there’s no reason why we on the fourth floor can’t!”

“Yeah, why can’t we leave!”

Cai Xiaoqing frowned, momentarily unsure, and said,

“Quiet, wait for other classes on the fourth floor to leave first.”

Lin Dong was quick-witted, and upon hearing this, a plan came to mind.

He turned and waved to Sun Zhicheng, signaling him to lean in, and whispered a few words of instruction.

“Can it work? Brother.” Sun Zhicheng’s expression was a bit odd.

“Then you keep waiting, wasting the most important twenty minutes of your life.” Lin Dong said seriously, “Without these twenty minutes, your life is destined to be a relatively unsuccessful one.”

“Alright then.”

Next door, Class Two was also in a state of chaos.

Many people initially clamored to leave, but were forcibly suppressed by the class cadres. Under the pressure of being reported to the teacher, they had no choice but to stay in class obediently.

Even if they couldn’t leave, a few complaints were a must.

Suddenly, a figure flashed past the front door.

“Grade level office announcement: small self-study canceled!”

“Huh?”

Class Two was silent for a moment, then erupted in a huge cheer!

A group of people stood up, and the classroom immediately filled with the sharp sound of desks and chairs scraping.

“Woohoo! School’s out!”

“I told you we could leave, but those idiots kept trying to control everyone.”

“Don’t say that, be careful they report you to the teacher.”

“Who cares, let them report, damn it!”

Ji Jiayu looked up amidst the shouts and cheers of dismissal, her face utterly bewildered.

More than leaving school, she was concerned. That voice just now seemed somewhat familiar. Although it was deliberately disguised, she was sure she had heard it before.

As she was thinking, a handsome boy walked to her desk. He tapped on the table, and when she looked up, he gave her a perfect smile.

“Can I borrow your test paper to correct?”

Class Three.

The moment they heard the cheers from the next class, everyone immediately perked up their ears.

“What’s that sound?”

“Damn it, the class next door is leaving school.”

“Minister Cai.” Lin Dong sprang to his feet, turned and stared directly at Cai Xiaoqing, asking loudly, “Class Two left, can we leave now!”

Cai Xiaoqing wasn’t a control freak and kept her word, waving her hand and saying,

“School’s out.”

“Woohoo!! Taking off!”

“Basketball, basketball.”

“Cousin, what are you doing, you’ve been spacing out.” Lin Dong patted Yang Qiming and asked, “Going to the dorms to eat, want to come?”

Yang Qiming was a little sad. At noon, he asked An’an if she could lend him some “luck.”

An’an immediately replied that a lucky red packet cost 88 yuan.

“Alright, let’s go.” Yang Qiming sighed.

He had woken up from the ‘Miracle An’an’ real-life dating game; recharging was too expensive. As he reached the door, he couldn’t help but look back at Jiang Nian’s empty seat.

He immediately recalled the scene from the English exam this morning and felt even more disheartened.

The class president lent him “luck” and even blew a breath on it. The gap between people was greater than the gap between humans and dogs.

But then again, that was the class president.

Dusk.

On a stone bench at the edge of the basketball court.

Hu Nianzhong wasn’t in the mood to eat. He had made a small fortune by borrowing a chicken to lay eggs.

Now the owner of the chicken was urging him to work, so he was faced with a choice.

Return the chicken and do nothing, or keep the chicken and do the job.

First of all, Yu Tongjie was not short of money.

Ever since Brother Dong led him into the business, the moment he got the money, he immediately understood.

As long as one was resourceful, making money was not a difficult task.

He had done a lot of manual labor before, worked in factories, on construction sites, and helped people repair houses.

Rain or shine, he always wore the same few clothes.

From middle school to high school, his dark face looked dull. Making friends was not easy, and no matter how composed he seemed, his self-esteem remained strong.

If it were before, he might have just taken the money and done the job.

Now he wanted to make more money, preferably by delaying it a bit.

If he didn’t make much, he would take the money and do the job; if he made a lot, he would return it to him.

He looked up at the basketball thrown into the air in the distance, narrowing his eyes amidst the cheers.

This was the basketball court near the teaching building cafeteria, and the school team members were burly. They occupied a full court for a game, and it was packed with boys.

Occasionally, a few girls could be seen standing by watching the game, but more often, it was boys chattering and commenting.

He saw Jiang Nian on the school team’s court; he seemed to be about to play. He was taking off his jacket, receiving a basketball uniform from another boy and putting it on.

Hu Nianzhong couldn’t help but be surprised; he hadn’t really seen Jiang Nian play basketball before.

As a boy, he naturally had his favorite sports.

Due to his frequent work, Hu Nianzhong was tall and strong. Compared to the more skill-based table tennis, he preferred the more confrontational basketball.

So, he unconsciously stood up and walked towards the crowd of spectators.

“What are those people doing?”

“Nothing, just savages fighting for the ball.” Nie Qiqi proudly lifted her head, like a little fox, “Is basketball very expensive? So many people are fighting for it.”

Cai Xiaoqing was speechless, glancing at the blockhead beside her.

“Watch less Baby Bus.”

“What’s wrong? I’ll watch whatever I want.” Nie Qiqi held her head high and chest out, saying disdainfully, “It was just a joke, you actually took it seriously.”

“Idiot.”

“What did you say!” Nie Qiqi hated it most when people called her stupid, gritting her teeth and saying, “I was just pretending, don’t let my seemingly innocent and cute appearance fool you, actually I…”

“You what?” Cai Xiaoqing glanced at Nie Qiqi.

The death glare.

She instantly cowered, struggling to say,

“Actually, I’m even cuter inside, a sewer rat that can be manipulated by anyone. When bullied, I have no choice but to stalk. But I hold grudges, and I’ll keep stalking you.”

The two girls were just about to go eat and were passing by the basketball court.

Nie Qiqi let out an “eh” and patted Cai Xiaoqing.

“That, that’s that bastard, isn’t it?”

“Who?” Cai Xiaoqing looked bewildered.

She followed Nie Qiqi’s finger and saw Jiang Nian, and couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

The school team played once a week.

Sometimes it was Wednesday, sometimes Friday, the time was not fixed, but it was always nothing new.

However, besides the sports committee member Liu Yang, she had never seen anyone from her own class on the court.

“That bastard Jiang Nian, he talks to the class president every day.” Nie Qiqi clung to Cai Xiaoqing with half her body, whispering in her ear like a soft, boneless creature.

“He’s the worst, he bullied me last time. Wuwuwu, Xiaoqing, you must stand up for me, it’s best to fill up his name in your notebook.”

Cai Xiaoqing was a bit speechless; she hadn’t really used her discipline notebook to record names much.

Li Hua’s name appeared seven or eight times on the three pages, because he didn’t care. That kind of work, just to appease the grade level leaders, if you took it seriously, you lost.

“You deserved it, let’s go.”

“No, let’s watch for a bit longer.” Nie Qiqi was wearing a blue-gray patchwork jacket, a favorite combination of the class president, with all the details meticulously matched.

She pulled Cai Xiaoqing, and in a voice like a small pinwheel, said,

“Sister, stop for a moment, please, I want to see that bastard get beaten up. I’ll take a few photos as leverage, to show the class president how useless this person is.”

Cai Xiaoqing stopped, looking at Nie Qiqi with a hint of surprise.

“You sound like an idiot when you talk like that.”

“Alright, then I won’t jinx it.” Nie Qiqi also felt her words sounded a bit like a loser, “Let’s just see if I can get some ugly photos of him.”

“To show the class president?” Cai Xiaoqing asked.

“No, I’d be an idiot to show it to the class president.” Nie Qiqi said cutely, “I’m a beautiful and kind-hearted, cute and considerate, student-loving, soft and squishy girl.”

Then, she uttered a Heaven-Defying statement.

“I’ll keep them for myself. If he bullies me in the future, I’ll print out his ugly photos and spit on them.”

Cai Xiaoqing thought of her earlier words about being beautiful and kind-hearted, and fell silent.

“Your’soft and squishy’… does that mean spit?”

Beep—!!

A whistle cut through the sky.