Chapter 300 Lying in someone’s arms watching a knotted earthworm

“Why did this round end so quickly?” Jiang Nian complained.

With that, he poured a small cup of hot water into the glass he received from Zhang Ningzhi. Then, he took a pinch of jasmine tea from the drawer and brewed it on the spot.

Zhang Ningzhi merely glanced at him, and instantly, a cup of jasmine tea appeared in her hand.

Her ear tips turned red, and she softly said,

“Thank you.”

In the afternoon, the clouds hung low, and there was hardly any sun from two o’clock onwards.

The classroom felt cool and dim, especially for those sitting by the back door.

Li Hua was half-asleep, slumped over his desk, listening to Old Liu blabbering about the first round. His eyelids drooped, looking like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

“What is Old Liu mumbling about?”

Jiang Nian slurped his jasmine tea, saying calmly.

“He probably has a crush on you.”

Li Hua smacked his lips, “Teacher-student relationships aren’t encouraged, ah. I need to warn Old Liu not to be delusional.”

Ma Guojun, across the aisle, said with difficulty,

“Did starting a fire by rubbing sticks together burn his brain out?”

Jiang Nian held the cup with one hand, sipped the hot tea, and effortlessly solved a problem.

“He must have had his brain damaged by Old Liu in the office, becoming silly and foolish ever since.”

Li Hua leaned over to look and saw several biology test papers stacked on Jiang Nian’s desk.

“Why are you starting to delve into biology?”

“Is it any of your business?”

“red stone!” Li Hua was angry for a moment, but only for a moment, then he said excitedly, “I’ve made an appointment with the boss to pick up the clothes this afternoon…”

Ma Guojun heard this, pushed up his glasses, and became interested.

He quickly glanced and saw Old Liu on the podium staring in their direction. He immediately shrank his neck, not daring to make any further moves.

Zhang Ningzhi secretly peeked at Jiang Nian’s test paper, blinked, and whispered,

“Getting extra tutoring?”

Jiang Nian was half-slumped on his desk, doing problems while turning his head to look at her with dead fish eyes.

“Envious?”

Zhang Ningzhi thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“I can score over eighty in biology, but it’s difficult to improve further. I can’t remember some one or two-point questions, no matter how many problems I do, it’s useless.”

This statement, however, did not apply to Jiang Nian; he never lost small points on memory-based questions.

Because… he remembered everything.

Jiang Nian couldn’t help but feel lost in thought upon hearing this, wondering when he could be as excellent as Zhang Ningzhi.

Breaking through six hundred points is very difficult; merely having a solid foundation is not enough. One also needs to face an overwhelming sea of problems and master various problem-solving approaches.

Without an approach, no matter how well you memorize the textbook, it’s useless.

From Zhang Ningzhi’s perspective, Jiang Nian, deep in thought, was silent. His profile looked like he was spacing out, or perhaps a little down.

“What’s… wrong with you?”

The advantage of being in the back row is freedom from supervision.

“Doing test papers is a bit tiring, I need a hug from a friend.” Jiang Nian’s flirtatious remarks were becoming bolder, no longer limited to just touching hands.

“Then go hug the group leader!”

Jiang Nian’s tone was listless, “What’s so good about hugging a son!”

“You damn red stone!”

“Eavesdropping, are you?” Jiang Nian pointed at Li Hua.

“red stone, who wants to listen to you two whispering!” Li Hua gave up, “You’re right next to me, it’s hard not to listen. Do you want me to cut off my ears?”

“Eat some pig’s head meat, good luck will come…” Jiang Nian chimed in.

Suddenly, Old Liu on the stage angrily said,

“Li Hua! Stand up!”

“Huh?”

“All day long, you’re either digging holes or making fire, never doing anything proper.” Old Liu’s tone was stern, “You love to talk so much, huh? Then stand up and talk.”

Li Hua was bewildered, “Are you only calling me out?”

Jiang Nian also spoke, “There’s another one here, damn it!”

“Teacher, others were talking too.”

Old Liu didn’t expect Li Hua to talk back, and immediately said angrily,

“If others commit a crime, do you follow suit?”

Li Hua thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes, ah, Teacher, have you heard of ‘the law does not punish the masses’?”

The class immediately burst into laughter. Amidst the laughter, Li Hua couldn’t help but feel a bit smug, proud of his quick wit. A mere Old Liu, even with a bachelor’s degree, would still be defeated by him. (Note: ‘This seat’ is an arrogant self-reference, often used by powerful characters in novels.)

Then, he stood on the podium for an entire class period.

Zhou Yuting and Yu Zhiyue had agreed, one would wear a cheongsam and the other a dress. The one wearing the cheongsam was naturally Zhou Yuting; her large bust didn’t look good in a cheongsam.

Yu Zhiyue had originally decided to wear a gown, but after seeing that almost all rented gowns were semi-backless, she was immediately scared and chose a form-fitting dress instead.

The two agreed to pick up their clothes together in the afternoon and stand together at the coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow.

Zhou Yuting was also quite looking forward to tomorrow’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Even though she couldn’t completely balance her studies and life’s troubles, the coming-of-age ceremony felt like the first cool breeze on a sultry summer day.

The more anxious she was, the more she yearned for a breather.

In choosing her cheongsam, she also cleverly selected the style most appealing to men. How could a young cook boy have ever seen a form-fitting cheongsam? She would completely captivate him.

So, could she captivate Jiang Nian?

This thought almost inevitably popped into her mind, and she couldn’t help but feel a little wistful. If it were half a year ago, perhaps it would have been possible. Half a year had passed, and things had changed drastically.

Yu Zhiyue, on the other hand, was preoccupied with taking photos, worried about not looking good on camera tomorrow.

Her phone had been confiscated by Old Liu last week, so she later borrowed a phone from a friend in Class Two to play with. Fortunately, she had taken out the SIM card before handing it in, so it didn’t affect her internet surfing.

Online, other people’s coming-of-age ceremonies featured princess gowns.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t wear such clothes, and there weren’t such exquisite gowns available offline either. After much deliberation, she could only wear a form-fitting dress.

It looked a bit like a stepmother’s dress, but it didn’t have that cheap feeling.

With nothing to do, she happened to scroll upon a post Yang Qiming had made that morning. It was strange, though, why there were no people from Class Three in the like list.

After just one glance, Yu Zhiyue suddenly let out a giggle.

Big Big Monster and Little Little Monster?

What a bizarre combination of clothes. Did they no longer care about anyone else in school?

But honestly, she was quite looking forward to it.

After all, if someone else drew everyone’s attention, then her slight worry about her figure would float away with the wind, no longer an issue.

Due to her naturally good opposite-sex appeal, Yu Zhiyue understood male psychology quite well.

With Big Big Monster to look at, who would stare at a stepmother’s dress unblinkingly?

Perhaps… Jiang Nian?

That would be a bit perverse.

As soon as school was dismissed in the afternoon, most of the class ran off.

Jiang Nian, uncharacteristically, didn’t get up to eat. He remained in his seat, doing problems, just like he was preparing for the Eighteenth County Joint Exam last month!

Yao Beibei came to find Zhang Ningzhi; the two girls had agreed to go to the dry cleaner’s to pick up clothes.

“Jiang is so serious?” Yao Beibei casually lingered around Jiang Nian’s seat, making a shocking statement, “Studying hard to save up for a dowry, huh?”

Jiang Nian almost spat out a mouthful of blood upon hearing this, turning to look at her.

“Damn you, can you say something human?”

“No, because I’m an evil baby.” Yao Beibei raised her hand, made a ‘V’ sign by her eyes, pretending to be cute, “The flower of human evil.”

“Flower of evil, huh? At most, you’ll end up as a stepmother.” Jiang Nian’s tongue was also top-notch venomous, “Beating the original wife’s children and scolding your husband when you’re bored.”

“That’s fine too, I’ll beat yours.” Yao Beibei was not picky.

Jiang Nian didn’t even lift his head, “Tsk, then Li Hua is in for it.”

Zhang Ningzhi was sandwiched between the two, looking at Jiang Nian for a moment, then at Yao Beibei. She blinked nervously, her head spinning from their banter.

“Why would you hit the group leader?”

Lin Dong and Sun Zhicheng left the school gate to pick up clothes and happened to run into Yang Qiming and Huang Cailang.

Yang and Sun met, their eyes burning with hostility.

Since their last fight, their relationship had been very tense. Now, encountering each other suddenly, even with Lin Dong present, a round of ‘greetings’ was inevitable.

“Oh, isn’t this Brother Dong?” Yang Qiming gave a crow-style salute, “Not eating dinner this afternoon, out walking the dog?”

Sun Zhicheng’s expression changed, and he immediately gave a sarcastic, Yin and Yang smile.

“Is that your girlfriend standing next to you?”

After speaking, he apologized.

“Oh, Cailang, I’m sorry, it was too dark, I mistook someone.”

“It’s also my forgetfulness, Brother Yang’s girlfriend dumped him. Now she’s all lovey-dovey with a second-year junior, lying in his arms watching tied-up earthworms.”

Lin Dong was a professional peacemaker, but hearing the phrase “lying in his arms watching tied-up earthworms” really made him lose his composure.

Damn it, that’s really vicious, alright.

“What the hell are you talking about!” Yang Qiming wanted to rush forward then and there, but he was held back by Huang Cailang beside him and blocked by Lin Dong in front.

“Peace is paramount, let’s talk it out.” Lin Dong was embarrassed, motioning for Huang Cailang to take Yang Qiming away, “We’re all brothers, no need, no need.”

“Everything I said is true, why are some people getting so agitated?” Sun Zhicheng had been feeling wronged these past few days and finally found an outlet.

“Could it be that everything I just said is true?”

“Damn it! You want a beating, don’t you, you dead simp!” Yang Qiming wished he could punch Sun Zhicheng, that skinny dog, and knock him down.

Suddenly, a silvery laughter rang out.

“What are you all doing here?”

Both groups stopped simultaneously and turned to look back. They saw Yu Zhiyue and Zhou Yuting watching them; the two beauties standing together were quite pleasing to the eye.

Lin Dong immediately perked up, no longer bothering with Yang Qiming, and walked directly towards the two girls.

Let them fight, they’re not worth a single hair of Yu Zhiyue’s.

“We’re going to pick up clothes, where are you going? To eat?”

“No, we’re also picking up clothes.” Zhou Yuting showed a perfectly appropriate smile, “Where are you getting yours, is it on the way?”

“It’s a bit far, on Zhennan Xiejie.” Yang Qiming’s mood also brightened upon seeing Zhou Yuting’s healing smile, “What about you?”

“It’s not on the way, oh, we’re at the North Grand Market.” Yu Zhiyue quickly interjected; she really didn’t want to try on clothes with Big Big Monster and Little Little Monster.

“That’s a pity.” Yang Qiming sighed.

“We’re also going to the North Grand Market to pick up clothes, it’s just on the way.” Sun Zhicheng showed a victor’s smile, looking at Zhou Yuting and the other girl, saying.

“Brother Dong and I also need to take a taxi there, why don’t we go together?”

“Okay, ah, we were originally planning to take the bus.” Zhou Yuting and Yu Zhiyue exchanged glances, then readily agreed, “We four will split the taxi fare.”

Sun Zhicheng tossed his hair, saying warmly,

“No need to split, I’ll pay.”