Chapter 290 Do you think I’m pretty?

Jiang Nian’s attitude towards the System had always been ambiguous.

He took its benefits and discarded its dross.

What constituted dross largely depended on Jiang Nian’s mood.

For instance, the System’s memories revealed a segment where Zhang Ningzhi broke up with him because her parents disapproved; he considered that pure dross.

Feudal old fogeys, don’t bully a young man for his poverty!

So, the question arises: if Jiang Nian were to have a daughter as cute as Ningzhi in the future, and she fell for a poor boy, what would he do?

He’d throw both the guy and his motorcycle into the river.

Is that a double standard?

A bit, but he wasn’t such an absolute person; he’d still decide based on the situation.

Jiang Nian pondered for a few seconds, mentally removing himself from the ‘cuckold’ category.

Firstly, why discuss something that hasn’t happened yet?

Secondly, he wasn’t in a decadent 28-year-old state anymore.

Finally, he was quite powerful now.

With that thought, Jiang Nian’s negative feelings towards Zhang Ningzhi’s parents, which couldn’t quite be called a shadow since he hadn’t met them and it was all just the System’s blabbering, mostly dissipated.

In short, most of it was gone.

The bell rang, signaling the end of afternoon classes.

Zhang Ningzhi secretly glanced at Jiang Nian, wondering why he had seemed preoccupied since earlier but now appeared fine.

Boys were strange; she had no idea what went on in their minds.

Jiang Nian stood up, preparing to go eat.

But as his hand rested on the table, he seemed to recall something and turned to talk to his deskmate.

“Do you know the school is holding an adulthood ceremony this month?”

Zhang Ningzhi shook her head, honestly saying,

“I didn’t know, but I overheard you guys talking just now.”

“Damn, I didn’t realize you had a talent for espionage?” Jiang Nian was surprised; he distinctly remembered Zhang Ningzhi was buried in her writing at the time.

Seriously, she could multitask like that?

Let me see, did you write down the overheard information on paper with a pencil?

Hearing this, Zhang Ningzhi’s face flushed, but she refused to admit it.

“I just accidentally heard it; it’s your fault for talking so loudly.”

Alright, alright, so stubborn.

“Let’s not talk about that, ahem, which of your parents will come?” Jiang Nian felt a sudden awkwardness as he asked this, yet he had to continue.

Anyway, just this one question, then he’d stop.

Hearing this, Zhang Ningzhi, though unsure why he asked, still answered truthfully.

“My mother, probably, or maybe both of them will come. Why?”

“Nothing, just asking casually.” Jiang Nian stood up. “I’m worried about Li Hua ruining our group’s image, so I might have to lock him up beforehand.”

With that, he casually strolled out of the classroom door.

Zhang Ningzhi naturally didn’t get a chance to speak, blinking as she looked at the back door of the classroom, feeling a sense of ‘here only remains the Yellow Crane Tower’.

Why did he ask that?

Of course, the group leader certainly affected the image of Group Six.

But it wasn’t just out of concern for the group; Jiang Nian clearly wasn’t that kind, and he actually affected the group quite a bit too, being rather perverted.

Peeling back the layers of fog, only the truth remained.

She had no heart for solving problems, leaning against the wall in her seat, only her eyes visible. She blinked, staring blankly at the dimly lit, empty classroom.

Dormitory cafeteria.

“Adulthood ceremony?” Chen Yunyun was surprised.

“The school is organizing it; rumors say it’s this month.” Jiang Nian paused his chopsticks, his gaze sweeping over Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe at the opposite table.

Why were they suddenly having dinner together?

No need to arrange; Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe had a fixed daily routine.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they washed their hair before eating lunch, and every afternoon they routinely returned to the dorm to fetch water. Occasionally, due to special reasons, there would be a rotation or they would go solo.

So, these two girls usually refreshed at the dorm cafeteria at a fixed time after school in the afternoon.

In other places, this situation was very rare.

However, this was a school, where resources like hot water were scarce, and various activities were almost all time-limited, leading to such NPC-like behavior being commonplace.

For example, boys who raced against time to play basketball as soon as school ended, and lovers: “Baby, I know a secluded spot where no one will see us.”

Chen Yunyun messaged Jiang Nian on her way back to the dorm, asking where he was eating.

Jiang Nian asked her back, and then they made plans.

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun felt a bit relieved.

“It’s nice not to have class, but I wonder how they plan to do it?”

“Li Hua seemed to say to invite parents and wear strange costumes or something.” Jiang Nian buried his head in his food. “Last year, some seniors wore JK uniforms, and some wore formal dresses.”

Chen Yunyun’s expression immediately became a little flustered upon hearing this.

“Wouldn’t that be very awkward?”

Wang Yuhe put down her chopsticks, disagreeing, and whispered,

“For some people, this is their only chance in three years of high school. Strictly speaking, it’s their only adulthood ceremony in a lifetime, so they’ll definitely be brave once.”

“Indeed, only schools do these kinds of things.” Jiang Nian agreed, and then naturally asked the question, “So what will you two wear?”

Chen Yunyun immediately clutched her chopsticks, some things couldn’t be said directly.

“Just like usual, I guess.”

“Right, it’s the middle of winter.” Jiang Nian didn’t pay much attention; he was purely using dinner as an opportunity to chat about the topics that would arise this month.

When three people walk together, one of them is bound to be my teacher.

Wang Yuhe thought for a moment and spoke cleverly.

“What does your dad usually wear?”

“A small skirt, perhaps, with some white stockings? Shall I buy them for you?” Jiang Nian said unhurriedly, with elegant and composed demeanor. “Or black stockings are fine too. Do you have small leather shoes?”

“I’ll punch you to death!” Wang Yuhe, failing to get the upper hand, became furious out of shame.

“Why are you getting angry?”

“Yunyun, he’s bullying me!”

“Eh, it’s no use, I’ll bully both of you together.” Jiang Nian was fearless, continuing to eat. “But I feel like the school will make this event really bad.”

“Why?” Chen Yunyun asked curiously.

“It’s simple, an outdoor activity in the middle of winter. Who can stand the cold wind? Generally, only parents of day students will participate.”

Jiang Nian paused his chopsticks, speaking eloquently.

“The grade group’s ability to organize activities is terrible. Last year’s tug-of-war, either the rope broke or someone cheated, and it ended up unresolved.”

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe also nodded in agreement.

“Yes, the grade group is very perfunctory in organizing activities.”

Since it was casual conversation, the topic ended there and naturally shifted to studies.

After dinner.

The two girls carried water up to the dorm and planned to rest there for a while. Jiang Nian parted ways with them downstairs at the girls’ dorm and went straight back to the classroom.

In the middle of climbing the stairs in the dormitory building.

Chen Yunyun carried a thermos, her mind elsewhere, appearing somewhat silent.

Adulthood ceremony.

Wang Yuhe saw she seemed to be spacing out and poked her arm.

“Yunyun, what are you thinking about?”

The stairwell was dimly lit, with many people coming and going.

“Nothing, just spacing out.”

“Oh.”

The dorm door was locked, indicating her roommates hadn’t returned. Or perhaps they didn’t have their keys and were chatting in a neighboring dorm to pass the time.

Creak, the door was pushed open.

Wang Yuhe put away her key and swayed into the dorm.

She had just placed the thermos on the corner of the balcony edge against the wall and hadn’t straightened up yet. Suddenly, she heard Chen Yunyun’s voice from behind, a little distant.

“Yuhe, do you think I’m pretty?”

Wang Yuhe froze. She straightened up and turned to look back. Chen Yunyun stood in the dim dorm hallway, the thermos still in her hand.

Why was Yunyun asking that?

Was she trying to start a lesbian relationship with her? Obviously not.

Then she must be feeling insecure. Girls always had those few days a month when they lost confidence. Wang Yuhe deeply agreed with this; there were always days when strength drained away.

Hate, hate, hate, couldn’t punch Jiang Nian to death.

She thought for a moment, then nodded without hesitation, affirming,

“You’re very beautiful!”

But from Wang Yuhe’s perspective, her best friend didn’t cheer up because of her words; instead, she still looked dazed.

“What are you thinking?”

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun came back to her senses and walked towards the balcony with the thermos.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about whether I should wear light makeup that day.”

That day, Wang Yuhe naturally knew which day it was. But the words ‘makeup’ touched upon her blind spot; she had only seen brides from the town wear makeup.

To be honest, after heavy makeup, one couldn’t tell their original appearance at all.

“Then, then can you do makeup?”

Chen Yunyun shook her head, “No.”

She was considering that quick makeup lessons were clearly unrealistic, so should she find someone to do it temporarily? But going outside school was also unlikely, so she could only find someone who knew how.

Wang Yuhe also fell into deep thought. She was wondering if lotion counted as makeup? Dabao was also quite good, a little bit in winter made you smell nice.

“Yunyun, I can apply Dabao. Can I help you?”

Chen Yunyun turned, her smile slightly awkward.

“Yes, thank you.”

“That’s great!” Wang Yuhe smiled happily.

Chen Yunyun smiled, walked to the brighter balcony. She turned to face the simple washstand, looking at the beautiful girl in the mirror on the wall.

After a moment of scrutiny, she couldn’t help but purse her lips.

Am I really pretty enough?

In the classroom, the lights were bright.

“First, Tao Ran, who committed the sin of arrogance. What kind of furry thing is that, daring to flirt with a big sister?” Li Hua’s face was flushed red, arguing passionately.

Several boys gathered together to debate, the scene quite lively.

“Idiot, Li Hua.” Yao Beibei walked by, muttering under her breath, “He’s getting more and more idiotic, I really want to kick him.”

Zhang Ningzhi walked into the classroom holding Yao Beibei’s hand, pursing her lips to suppress a laugh.

“The group leader is always like this.”

“It’s mostly related to Jiang Nian; he wasn’t this shameless before.” Yao Beibei had sharp eyes, seeing through the crux of the problem at a glance.

Zhang Ningzhi didn’t comment, but she didn’t object either, glancing around to find Jiang Nian wasn’t in his seat.

He was gone again.

Jiang Nian was not in the third-year building.

He originally planned to go to the classroom to do problems after dinner, but he ran into Le Zhi downstairs.

The two found a court, played some ball, chatted, and then dispersed when evening self-study was about to begin.

Le Zhi appeared somewhat taciturn, feeling a bit CPU-overloaded from studying. But he had no choice; he couldn’t bear the consequences of giving up.

Evening self-study was quiet, with one test paper each for physics, chemistry, and biology.

The class immediately let out a wail, but then mathematics handed out two papers. The students who had been complaining non-stop immediately calmed down.

Jiang Nian looked up; three periods of evening self-study flew by in a flash.

“Are the papers done?”

He didn’t specify a person, asking the person next to him directly.

“All done.” Li Hua squirmed in his seat. “I’m too lazy to write the ones with lots of words; I can see the answer at a glance anyway, so why bother writing.”

Zhang Ningzhi, relatively speaking, was much more normal, replying that she hadn’t finished.

“Only finished chemistry and biology.”

Jiang Nian sighed, throwing down his pen.

“Damn it.”

This studying was truly driving him crazy; even with a cheat, he couldn’t keep up. Every day was high-intensity, not just a simple physical task.

During the fourth period of evening self-study, Old Liu suddenly entered the classroom.

He flashed in directly through the back door of the classroom, his first glance locking onto Zeng You’s seat. But Zeng You happened not to be playing on his phone; he was doing homework.

As long as he was a third-year high school student, he always had some homework to do.

Zeng You turned his head and saw Old Liu standing in the aisle, immediately startled.

“Holy crap!”

Old Liu was a bit speechless, but ultimately, he found no evidence and could only give up. After scanning the whole class, the classroom gradually quieted down.

“Ahem, everyone, please stop for a moment.”

Saying that, Old Liu walked to the podium, clearly having something to announce.

The class was still doing their own things; no one stopped. But Lin Dong stopped; he sat up straight, anticipating Old Liu’s announcement.

To be precise, he was anticipating the notice for the adulthood ceremony.

Because he could see legs, even if they were ‘Divine Artifact’ bare legs. In short, the probability of seeing beautiful girls that day was second only to the New Year’s Eve party.

“Say it, say it.” Lin Dong was already shaking his leg.

Sun Zhicheng glanced at him, looking somewhat listless.

“Why are you so excited?”

“The adulthood ceremony, didn’t I tell you already?”

Hearing this, Sun Zhicheng couldn’t muster any interest.

During this time, he had been constantly chatting online according to the plan Lin Dong had set for him. It was fun at first, but later it became a bit exhausting.

After chatting for a while, he really didn’t care about Chen Yunyun anymore.

Strictly speaking, he didn’t care about anyone or anything in real life anymore. Every day, his mind was either on studying or online chatting, and as soon as he got his phone at home, he would reply to messages.

From morning till night, not even taking a nap.

Of course, progress was gratifying; he was now more and more adept at chatting with girls online. He had been deleted or had one-day relationships, but he had still gotten practice.

The problem was, he was chatting too deeply, and his nutrition couldn’t keep up.

Sun Zhicheng consulted Lin Dong, but Lin Dong just looked at him with a puzzled expression. Then he said, “You can’t even handle such a simple flirtation?”

He was speechless, yet he grew increasingly tired.

On the podium, Old Liu talked about fire safety and theft prevention, then brought up the topic of prohibiting early relationships again.

“Ah, as far as I know, there are a few young couples in our class. I advise these students to put their minds back into studying as soon as possible.”

“Ah, when I was in high school, I was quite handsome. Girls would ask me to go for walks on the sports field, but I would sternly refuse. Why?”

In the back row, Jiang Nian interjected,

“Because, Teacher, you liked walking with boys.”

“Hahahaha!!!”

The class immediately erupted in laughter, and Old Liu also laughed, then called for quiet a few times.

“Ah, how to put it, I also didn’t like walking on the sports field with boys. Because at that time, I was engrossed in studying, and now that I look back…”

Li Hua asked, “You might as well have gone.”

The class erupted in laughter again, and suddenly a cheer burst out from the next classroom.

This made Lin Dong a bit anxious, thinking, ‘Hurry up and talk about the adulthood ceremony.’

“Go, I definitely wouldn’t have gone. It’s just that now, looking back, after I rejected my female classmate back then, it would have been better if I had chosen A for that multiple-choice question.”

Hearing this, Yang Qiming shouted,

“Teacher, you’re already married; a full man doesn’t know the hunger of a starving one.”

The class’s laughter and jeers turned into a chaotic mess.

Old Liu didn’t continue on this topic, clearing his throat and instead talking about the school’s schedule for the week.

“Saturday! Saturday, Cai Xiaoqing, please note, on Saturday morning, the school will organize the third-year adulthood ceremony. Be down there to line up promptly at nine in the morning.”

“Ah, sports committee member Liu Yang, please also note, organize the students to gather at the running track on the sports field.”

Hearing this, Lin Dong immediately became excited and asked,

“Teacher, do we have morning self-study?”

Old Liu sat on the podium, stared at Lin Dong for three seconds, and then threw out a sentence.

“No.”

In an instant, the class erupted.

They finally understood what the next class had been cheering about earlier. The long-awaited no morning self-study, arriving at school at nine, was simply an inch of time worth an inch of gold.

Not having to wake up for morning self-study and early classes in winter felt incredibly good.