Chapter 345 You’re not with her?

“What are you doing?” Zhang Ningzhi’s face was flushed.

Her hands were sweating from being covered.

However, she didn’t struggle too much; it was less of a rebuke and more of a complaint, mixed with a little bit of guilt.

After all, even if it was unintentional, she had indeed attacked Jiang Nian.

Her math scores were so bad… that she was now sharing a desk with Jiang Nian. If he ever surpassed her, she wouldn’t be able to keep him in check.

Zhang Ningzhi wanted to be on top.

“Nothing, my hands suddenly got cold.” Jiang Nian wasn’t some lecher; quite the opposite, he was very well-behaved.

He only touched her hand, nothing else.

You still want to touch other things?

Nonsense, he’s not a eunuch.

If their friendship had reached that point, he would have made a move long ago. He had been longing for it for a long time, but didn’t want to get into a muddled relationship.

High school romances in senior year stemmed from a false sentimentality under high pressure.

It was somewhat like the suspension bridge effect; the college entrance exam was like thousands of people pursuing Immortal Ascension. The Immortal Ascension path was tough and cold, so they huddled together for warmth.

Jiang Nian didn’t judge senior year romances, nor did he oppose them.

He just felt that to gain emotional value, one didn’t necessarily need to be in a relationship; good friends could do many things too.

For example, now that he had performed poorly on the exam, squeezing Zhang Ningzhi’s hand made him feel better.

Confess?

Zhang Ningzhi was so good, how could he repay her kindness with enmity?

He wanted to affect her studies, didn’t he?

During the first evening self-study session.

The person who came to the door was Xi Bao, wearing a wine-red overcoat. Inside was a black cotton dress, which made everyone’s eyes light up.

The class instantly gasped, followed by a flurry of thoughtless praise.

“Didn’t the Three Kingdoms era end? How is there still Diao Chan?”

“Reporting! Why isn’t she wearing her school uniform?”

“I woke up too fast, I saw a Fairy.”

“No, don’t you guys feel disgusted saying all this? How shameless, a bunch of grown men bullying a young girl?”

Listening to the awkward praise around her, Xi Bao covered her mouth and laughed for a long time. She walked around the classroom once, then reminded everyone to do well on the exam.

“Xi Bao is so beautiful, she seems to have a very youthful mindset.”

“Yes, how does she do it?”

“Who knows, maybe it’s because she’s pretty.”

“Damn, my friend is feeling a bit unwell.”

“Ah, is that so? Then your friend probably doesn’t have many days left to live, hurry and find a crematorium furnace to warm up.”

The classroom was bustling, and Jiang Nian was propping his head, deep in thought.

If the joint exam was a trial, then his performance in the first half was clearly unsatisfactory, and the probability of a comeback was very low.

He didn’t feel good about his Chinese exam, and math was basically a failure.

Exams were ever-changing, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.

Tomorrow’s first exam was integrated science, which he wasn’t good at. At this point, the pressure visibly increased exponentially.

Reviewing for a few hours couldn’t guarantee good scores, so at this moment, he needed to make a choice: shore up weaknesses or secure the basics.

Jiang Nian looked down at the integrated science paper, hesitating for a moment.

Finally, he chose the biology paper and spent two full evening self-study sessions meticulously going through it.

The moment the bell rang for the end of class, he looked up.

He let out a calm sigh, all the frustration and confusion in his chest vanished, replaced by tranquility.

For the remaining time, he unhurriedly glanced at chemistry and physics.

Even as closing time approached, he was still reading.

Seeing this, Zhang Ningzhi didn’t dare to disturb him. She had secretly peeked at Jiang Nian several times throughout the evening, and seeing him focused and continuously reviewing, she couldn’t help but look a few more times.

When the bell was about to ring, she finally poked Jiang Nian’s arm.

“Hmm?” Jiang Nian woke up as if from a dream, turning to look at his good deskmate in the brightly lit classroom, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Ningzhi shook her head and slowly leaned towards him. The girl covered her mouth with her palm, lowering her voice to share a secret.

“When you were looking at the test paper just now, your eyes seemed to have light in them.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian was momentarily stunned.

“Really?”

“Mhm mhm.” Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips, seemingly in a very good mood, “You’re so serious, you’ll definitely do well tomorrow.”

Jiang Nian pondered for a moment, then asked.

“Will it be better than you?”

“No!”

“Alright, alright, you stingy person.” Jiang Nian pointed at her, slightly speechless, “People can’t always think only of themselves.”

“I just will!” Zhang Ningzhi started packing her things. The bell rang right then, and she stuck out her tongue, “Blech! See you tomorrow.”

‘My name isn’t Blech, my name is…’

Zhang Ningzhi smiled, already having her bag on. She rolled her eyes at Jiang Nian in exasperation, then left gracefully.

Spending too much time together, Zhang Ningzhi had also become mischievous.

Jiang Nian carried his bag out of the classroom, took the stairs on the left to the third floor, and met up with Xu Qianqian, who was playing on her phone among the crowd.

After going downstairs, Xu Qianqian asked gleefully.

“How did you do on the exam?”

“It was alright, the Chinese paper was very smooth.” Jiang Nian casually bluffed, “It just flew, I can go to the Rainbow Sea now.”

“Who asked you about Chinese? I was talking about the math paper.” Xu Qianqian was speechless, thinking to herself that this person always liked to play dumb to change the subject.

Jiang Nian patted Xu Qianqian and pointed to his eyes, saying.

“What do you see in my eyes?”

“A gentle and virtuous, beautiful and generous, peerlessly beautiful and incredibly cute young girl with unmatched looks and figure.”

“Your confidence is a bit greasy, bro.”

“Hmph, you asked for it.” Xu Qianqian walked past the school gate, looked back at Jiang Nian, “Walk faster.”

The two walked through the night wind, their voices becoming fragmented.

“Jiang Nian, can you score six hundred points?”

“It’s six hundred and one.”

“Hey, you… why are you so stubborn?”

“Xu Qianqian, you can try seduction, maybe I’ll give in.”

“Go to hell!”

The living room chandelier was bright.

Ding, a sound, and the swaying red wine glass reflected a hazy light.

Li Lanying’s soft figure leaned against the small bar, her neck fair. Her dark hair fell, and her nightgown was completely open at the chest.

She gazed at the other figure on the living room sofa, giggling foolishly. Her actions seemed languid, yet with a hint of childish charm.

“What are you thinking about?”

Li Qingrong didn’t respond, not even lifting her eyelids. She probably thought that bothering her sister was a pure waste of time.

After a while, Li Lanying felt a bit awkward.

“Ahem, I’ve been home for quite a while. There are some things at the company, so I might have to leave Zhennan in a couple of days.”

“Oh.” Li Qingrong got up, looking at her phone as she entered her room, “When you leave, put the key on the table.”

Li Lanying: “

I’m not a tenant.”

The sound of the door closing was her only reply.

In her room, Li Qingrong, having washed up, stared blankly at the bed. Not knowing how to reply to a message, she covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

She recalled the light hug at the North Gate at noon and immediately sat up, staring at the desk in her room, her breathing heavy.

After a while, she finally calmed down.

Click, Li Qingrong got up and walked to the desk. From a locked drawer, she took out an item: a school ID card.

The surface of the school ID was slightly worn, indicating that its previous owner didn’t cherish it.

The lanyard attachment was broken, and the place where the string should have been was empty, turning the school ID into a “card.”

Li Qingrong flipped the school ID over, revealing a youthful photo.

She ran her finger over the school ID, her expression unchanged. The moment she lowered her gaze, her memories were pulled back to N years ago. The wind swept through the alley, and nightfall was a nightmare. At that time, her biggest fear every day was leaving school. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a guardian; that wasn’t allowed by law.

She had one, but it wasn’t entirely comprehensive.

Her parents’ side had already left Zhennan, but there weren’t no adults in the city.

Some events that didn’t follow normal patterns befell her. It wasn’t intentional targeting, but she was affected.

Thus, the nightmare began.

Her body wasn’t harmed, it was more about intimidation. Every day she dared not go home, not knowing how long it lasted.

Until one time, she couldn’t escape anymore.

Those people were more aggressive than ever, to the point where there was nowhere to run. A person appeared and pulled her into a dark passage.

It was the stairwell of a rented apartment building; next door was a small insurance office, and there was a clean restroom at the corner of the stairs.

That person led her into the restroom and handed her a school ID. His gaze was piercing, but in the darkness, his face was unclear.

She only remembered his voice was very pleasant, giving her a strong sense of security.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m also from No. 2 Middle School. This is my school ID; maybe it’ll be useful if you hold onto it. Just stay here and don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t turn on the light; go back when no one is outside anymore.”

After he finished speaking, the door closed.

She was so scared then that she waited until there was no sound outside. It was already very late, and if she waited any longer, she wouldn’t dare to go back.

So, she bravely went home. All the way, she clutched that school ID tightly, as if it were her last straw.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and nothing happened.

At that time, she didn’t know the nightmare had ended, thinking she had only temporarily escaped, and she still tossed and turned until deep into the night before finally falling into a deep sleep.

Until the next day, she went to school, and it was quiet for the entire day. Even after school, nothing happened.

Everything was like a scorching sun, burning everything clean. All the nightmares and troubles of the past turned into dust.

Later, she found out that the police station had arrested everyone.

When she heard the news, the matter had already settled a long time ago, and that person also went to school as usual.

Later, things changed dramatically.

More and more people around her cared for her.

However, by then, she no longer had any troubles. The troubles had been resolved thoroughly years ago, completely eliminated.

In the room.

Li Qingrong came back to her senses, the test paper resting on the desk.

She stared at her phone screen, and after a moment of hesitation, her fingers moved slightly, quickly composing a message and sending it to someone.

“When you were in your first year of high school… were you having an early romance?”

On the other side.

Jiang Nian was about to go to sleep. Seeing this message from the class monitor, his sleepiness vanished instantly, and his face flushed red.

Damn it, who leaked his dark history?

He typed furiously on his phone, composing a message.

“This statement is actually not entirely accurate; in reality, it was just a slight crush. A normal friendship that hadn’t yet reached its ultimate sublimation.”

“Oh, you didn’t end up with her?” Li Qingrong replied, asking.

The moment he saw that message, Jiang Nian completely exploded.

Damn!

F***ing humiliating!