Chapter 328 Unexpected, Yet Reasonable

The surface of the wooden box was somewhat faded, and the antique lock was also a bit rusty.

She held the box, gently blowing away the dust from its surface.

“Cough, cough, cough!!!”

“TV dramas are really harmful; dust got into my eyes!”

After a brief commotion, Lu Xuan placed the vintage wooden box on the floor. She stared at it for a while, her gaze showing a hint of nostalgia.

She thought for a moment, left the room, and returned with a hammer and a screwdriver in her hand.

With a click in the room, the lock fell off.

Her initial thought was to seal away youthful memories, and she had long thrown the key into the river to feed the fish. Now, it seemed adorably foolish.

But foolishness also had its advantages.

The human brain, by instinct, periodically clears its memory. A diary is like an artificial secondary brain, manually recording fragmented memories.

It was a good thing she used to love writing diaries, just like Old Jiang.

Lu Xuan rummaged through the box, picking out one thick diary from several.

When she opened it, the first sentence was…

“Hello, me, who has grown up many years from now.”

“The current me must be very happy, right?”

1

In that instant, Lu Xuan suddenly felt a little emotional. It felt somewhat like her childhood self was peeking at her from outside the door.

Happiness isn’t actually that easy to come by.

She shook her head, not wanting to think about so many messy things.

Soon, Lu Xuan successfully found the content she was looking for in the diary. Gossip that others had casually mentioned, she had written down as trivial matters in her diary.

“I heard someone say that people got into a fight at the abandoned mall. It seems it was because someone stole his girlfriend, and they fought very fiercely.”

“At least a hundred people surrounded them, and everyone was holding 【graphics】.”

Seeing this, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but crack a smile.

She had a bit of an abstract talent when she was a child; why did she manually censor her own diary when she looked at it now?

More importantly, a hundred people was clearly an exaggerated rumor. It was probably only a few people, with most just watching the excitement.

She continued to read, skipping past a sudden interjection.

“I heard they fought until they were exhausted, and many ‘woo woo woos’ came. Then they weren’t allowed to watch anymore, and everyone was arrested.”

“Actually, I’m a little envious of that girl, after all, someone was willing to for her…”

With a soft thud, Lu Xuan closed the diary.

She rubbed her temples, secretly thinking that her mindset back then still needed improvement; how could she have thought such things were cool?

For the next half an hour or so, she almost exclusively flipped through other diaries.

It wasn’t until a relatively reasonable clue appeared in her mind that she got up, hugged her clothes, and went into the en-suite bathroom to shower.

Splash, splash. The Li family left Zhennan around that time, didn’t they?

No, to be precise, only a branch family left. They gave up their business and the power they had cultivated for many years.

They moved to the coast, and now, by a strange twist of fate, they have developed again.

The Li family wasn’t the only unlucky family; others were also targeted. As a result, some fell, and some left.

But for some reason, Li Qingrong was left behind.

Even a broken ship has three thousand nails; her normal schooling and life weren’t affected much. Perhaps someone bullied her, and then… they fought.

Due to her family background, Lu Xuan was quite sensitive to external information. Through constant exposure, she understood many things.

It was precisely because of this that when she reached what should have been a wild adolescence,

because she saw too much, heard too much, and thought too much, she became increasingly silent.

While her personality was introverted, her heart was active.

After showering, she emerged, surrounded by a thin mist.

With a click, she closed the bathroom door. After returning the diaries to their original places, she stared at the wooden box for a while.

After some thought, she ultimately decided not to put the box back in its original spot.

After turning off the light.

Lu Xuan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Jiang Nian looking back at her appeared in her mind.

His gaze was very deep, very profound.

It wasn’t love at first sight or anything; she was just curious about his past, and the things from his past. She wanted to know some…

It was like catching up on an addictive TV series, vaguely feeling like she was shipping a certain couple.

As if the fantasies of her youth had found their prototype in the people around her, as if destiny was projected onto them.

A strong, goosebump-inducing excitement, along with an irrepressible curiosity, mixed together, driving Lu Xuan.

She constantly approached the story she had deduced, wanting to know more… more information. That unknown, yet incredibly tense guessing process, intoxicated her.

She lay awake, staring blankly at the ceiling, muttering to herself.

“Tomorrow, I have to go take a look at Class 3 of the Science Olympiad.”

In the middle of the night.

Jiang Nian opened his eyes and carefully looked at the last major problem on the math test paper.

After solving two small questions, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the third question and lost his motivation. He threw down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

Click, he stretched his neck and let out a long breath.

Time was squeezed out.

A person’s room, and it was late at night. Originally, only one software could make it lively, but what if it was a test paper?

It was hard, referring to his heart.

He had clothes on, but his toes inevitably became stiff. Logically, he should upgrade his equipment, but then he thought.

He wouldn’t be staying up late anymore, so why buy foot warmers?

Thinking this, he still opened his phone, ready to place an order. He occasionally saw a message on WeChat, a picture sent by Xu Qianqian.

“My feet aren’t cold, 【picture】, I bought a Divine Artifact for warming feet, envious, right?”

The picture was probably taken from under the covers, showing below her pajama pants. There was a pair of beautiful feet pressing against a foot-warming Divine Artifact.

In the middle of the night, it made him harden.

He was still talking about his heart.

He typed a reply, “Won’t that cause athlete’s foot?”

There was no reply after half a minute, and Jiang Nian guessed that Xu Qianqian was probably asleep, so he also turned over and went to bed.

The next morning.

Jiang Nian woke up and instinctively fumbled for his phone, opening his eyes groggily.

Besides seeing a few daily messages, he also saw Xu Qianqian’s reply, which was quite brief.

“I’ll step on your face!”

He read it and couldn’t get angry at all, typing to ask.

“When you step, can you wear thinner socks?”

Xu Qianqian replied instantly.

“I’ll step on you with shoes on!”

Jiang Nian got up to wash up while typing his question.

“I’m afraid that might hurt a little. (Dragon picture)”

Xu Qianqian: “(Fist)!”

“Fistful of love? You feel that deeply for me?” Jiang Nian finished tidying up his things, ready to grab his bag and head out for school.

“It’s a punch for you!” After Xu Qianqian replied, she added a stopping emoji, “Alright, I need to start memorizing.”

At this moment, Jiang Nian was also walking on his way to school.

The chill of the morning came, and he couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

In the classroom.

As Jiang Nian stepped into the classroom, his eyes swept around and saw two rare guests. Yang Qiming and Huang Cailang, the two brothers, were eating breakfast at their desks.

Each had a serving of three-fresh noodles, pure meat three-fresh noodles with pig head, pig liver, and chicken intestines sprinkled with green onions.

Fortunately, Jiang Nian had eaten enough on the way, otherwise, entering the classroom on an empty stomach and smelling that aroma would have completely ruined him, making him faint from hunger.

“It smells so good, where did you guys buy these noodles?” Yin Qidong leaned forward, asking curiously, “How much? I’ll buy a serving tomorrow too.”

“Six yuan, the new breakfast place by the west gate.” Huang Cailang said happily, “There are a lot of people there, you have to go early.”

Yin Qidong swallowed, “Too bad I already ate this morning, and it’s too late to go queue up and buy a serving now.”

Yang Qiming heard this and couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

“There should still be a chance if you go now, I specifically woke up early.”

“Buddy, give me a bite.” Yin Qidong stopped pretending.

“Hey, damn you!”

Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze from those few people, secretly thinking, ‘The new place by the west gate… I’ll try it tomorrow, that smell is something else.’

“You’ve been waking up so early these past few days?” Huang Fang asked.

“Yeah, I’m so sleepy.” Jiang Nian wasn’t lying.

Before long, the group members gradually arrived in the classroom. Striped patches of sunlight also moved little by little into the room.

“Morning.”

“Morning!” Zhang Ningzhi was full of Origin Qi, taking off the scarf from her neck. “Um, did you eat breakfast?”

“What’s up?” Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow. “Got something to eat?”

“No, I was just asking.” Zhang Ningzhi said, taking out a sandwich in front of him.

“Share some with me.” Jiang Nian said directly.

Zhang Ningzhi heard this and showed a “bad woman” smile on her face.

“Do you… really want it?”

Jiang Nian was confused, thinking, ‘Damn it. “Bad woman” is a girl’s innate skill, right? Automatically unlocked at a certain age?’

“Actually, I don’t really want to eat it that much.”

You’re really putting on an act, Zhizhi.

“Oh, actually, this bread is really delicious.” Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips. “I heard others recommend it, saying it melts in your mouth.”

“Please give me a bite, I beg you.” Jiang Nian instantly knelt.

Today’s goal is to successfully eat the bread; if he doesn’t, today will be a huge failure!

“Hmph, hmph, since you put it that way, there’s nothing I can do.” Zhang Ningzhi split the bread in half, giving him the larger piece.

“Is this your breakfast?” Jiang Nian asked.

“I can’t eat that much; I’m on a diet recently.” Zhang Ningzhi waved her hand. “Anyway, I specifically bought extra…”

As she spoke, her voice grew softer, almost inaudible.

After morning reading.

Two consecutive Chinese classes completely delighted those in the class who didn’t listen to Chinese. Already sleepy from waking up early, they simply slept for two hours.

What about the homeroom teacher’s class? They slept anyway!

During the long break, sunlight streamed into the classroom from the window.

The noisy exercise music played on the broadcast, but Jiang Nian had no intention of getting up. The exercise was a pure waste of life; he’d just ask for leave.

He’d say… he was so active last night that his legs were soft and he couldn’t run.

Most boys wouldn’t dare use this reason, fearing it might come true. One look up, and people would call you ‘Little Head Brother.’

One ‘Little Head Brother’ here, one ‘Lu Yun Brother’ there.

Over time, you’d slowly get used to this nickname. Until your college entrance exam, when you’d instinctively fill in the name column with…

Lu Yun!

No, what good kid is named Lu Yun!

Jiang Nian wasn’t afraid; he had won two championships in the sports meet. And they were for long-distance running! The value of long-distance running was off the charts.

Using some strange reason to ask for leave would only be instantly approved. Shape-shifting Martin, today’s new identity is you!

At this moment, a girl’s figure flashed past the door.

Lu Xuan took advantage of the exercise break to sneak from the fifth floor to the fourth-floor corridor. Walking through the science building, she hesitantly approached the door of Class 3.

She only glanced inside and saw Jiang Nian hunched over, writing problems.

Naturally, she also saw Li Qingrong sitting in the seat behind Jiang Nian. Her demeanor was cool, making her seem unapproachable.

However, when she looked up and her gaze fell on Jiang Nian, her eyes seemed to gain a hint of Spiritual Qi, appearing much more lively.

And Lu Xuan just happened to catch this scene, her heart involuntarily pounding a few beats faster.

At the same time, her intelligence database was updated again.

So their relationship was already this good now, but she didn’t know if things were as she expected.

Lu Xuan stood at the classroom door for a while, but when she turned around, she found that Jiang Nian had left, while Li Qingrong was leaving the classroom with other girls.

This made her feel surprised and puzzled for a long time.

Not dating?

They’re not together?

Oh, I see, avoiding suspicion, right?

Lu Xuan followed Li Qingrong for a while, but she didn’t see Jiang Nian appear. He seemed to still be in the classroom, with no intention of coming down.

She immediately realized that perhaps the two really weren’t dating.

No, has that guy ever abstained from sex?

He can even endure this?