Chapter 425 Embracing Qingqing (Thanks to Alliance Leader A for the generous donation)

“Is that so?”

Jiang Nian didn’t pay much attention, hastily stuffing his meal card into Chen Yunyun’s hand.

“Stop with the nonsense, let’s speak Chinese. You’re the prettiest, take this card and swipe it, it’s my treat for all of you.”

With that, he hurried away.

Chen Yunyun stood frozen, not hearing anything else. Her ears only picked out that one phrase, “You’re the prettiest.”

“Not really…” Wang Yuhe didn’t hear anything else, only “eat.”

“Yay, food!”

One could only say, all good, all good.

Jiang Nian left, taking the team from Class Three who had contributed to eat. He didn’t look for a small eatery, but rather a more upscale restaurant.

“What the heck? So generous?” Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses, completely stunned. “Are you paying out the bonus in advance?”

“Possibly. Will Jiang Nian make us go Dutch?” Li Hua poured tea to scald the bowls. “I’m not paying first.”

“It’s fine, I’ll get a few girls to reimburse me,” Jiang Nian instinctively boasted. “I’ll take a loss and sell myself to treat everyone to a meal.”

“red stone!” Li Hua couldn’t hold back, cursing loudly, “You dog, you’re not even pretending anymore, you’re going to make a few girls go Dutch, aren’t you?”

Lin Dong immediately lost his appetite, putting down his chopsticks and saying.

“I don’t have to eat this meal; can you cosplay as a teru teru bozu at the classroom door?”

The big Ma Guojun almost spat out his drink. “Someone like him should be arubad! Asking girls in the class…”

“Wait! You’re definitely talking about girls in our class, right?”

Jiang Nian smiled without a word, focusing on his conscience.

“Guess?”

“You damn it!”

“red stone!”

“Drag him into the toilet and aruba him now, I can’t stand it.”

Sun Zhicheng’s mood was the most complex; he picked up and put down his glass. But winning the match diluted some of that melancholy.

After all, they were only one match away from lifting the championship trophy.

If it were before, he might have been worried about gains and losses. But after knowing that secret, half of his heart was already at ease.

Jiang Nian would undoubtedly choose the Class Monitor.

To say he wasn’t envious was impossible. After all, the Class Monitor was a beautiful girl who exceeded standards in grades, appearance, and family background.

But he knew very well that contentment brought happiness.

After they got together, his opportunity came. No matter what, he was constantly improving, not wasting time.

Sun Zhicheng couldn’t help but think of Xie Zhihao, always putting on airs. Carrying the zero-class pretense all day, not knowing what he was doing.

The dinner table was noisy, and under Jiang Nian’s lead, they also started to boast.

“If you ask me, 600 points is also a wild dog.”

“Kick this idiot out!”

“My family said they’d buy a house in my name when I turn eighteen in a few months. I’m so annoyed, I’ll just take on the mortgage directly.”

“Damn it, this one needs to be cremated.”

In the classroom.

Of the few who returned from the excused dinner gathering outside school, only Jiang Nian looked normal. The others either had flushed faces or were passed out.

Even Ma Guojun had drunk a little later on.

Logically, drinking alcohol was not allowed in the third year of high school.

But after being suppressed for so long in the third year, the second dinner gathering was indeed uncontrollable. When the atmosphere among the boys reached its peak, they naturally drank.

Li Hua was the weakest, spitting out a rainbow. He still had some sense when he returned to school, but once he reached the warm classroom, he completely shut down.

Jiang Nian picked up the meal card from the table, guessing it was returned by Chen Yunyun.

“What evening self-study?”

Zhang Ningzhi turned to look at him, reluctantly saying.

“Chinese.”

“Oh, then let’s do some chemistry.” Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow, immediately grinning. “By the way, did your afternoon go smoothly?”

“It went smoothly, oh.” Zhang Ningzhi’s puffed-up cheeks deflated when he asked about her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just curious what activities you have tonight.” Jiang Nian pulled out a test paper, casually giving a perfunctory answer.

“No activities, just sleeping, right?” Zhang Ningzhi was curious. “Hmm, at most, we chat for a while or something.”

Zhang Ningzhi wasn’t the only one unhappy; the Class Monitor was too.

Li Qingrong had been sent by him to buy things in the afternoon, and she ignored Jiang Nian all evening, not replying even when he spoke to her.

“Hmm?”

“Why aren’t you talking? It’s a bit scary.”

Jiang Nian squeezed Li Qingrong’s clean, slender, pale hand, making a thinking gesture, perhaps the Class Monitor was naturally quiet.

“Seeing that you’re not unhappy, I can rest assured.”

Li Qingrong looked at him faintly, yet she was helpless. She could only lower her gaze to the test paper, continuing the stalemate with Jiang Nian.

Old Liu didn’t appear for the entire evening self-study session.

The third period of the evening was English self-study. Sister Qian wandered around the classroom, originally wanting to ask Jiang Nian if he had passed Subject Two.

But seeing him seriously working on a test paper, she gave up. She casually glanced around and saw Li Hua sleeping soundly at his desk.

“Sleeping again?”

Sister Qian patted Li Hua’s shoulder and immediately smelled a faint scent of alcohol. Her brows furrowed, and she began to pinch his ear.

“Wake up, did you just let what I said last time go in one ear and out the other?”

“Hiss~~~!” Li Hua opened his eyes, realizing it was Sister Qian, and immediately sobered up in fright. “Tea-Tea-Tea…Teacher…”

Jiang Nian, listening from the side, chuckled, stopped writing, and looked up.

“Although we all can tell, there’s no need to repeat that word so many times, is there?”

Hearing this, Sister Qian’s face showed a benevolent smile.

“You two… get out!”

Evening self-study quickly faded away.

Li Hua only fully sobered up as the bell approached. After being taken out by Sister Qian for a lecture, he returned to the classroom and fell asleep again. He slightly tilted his head and saw several sets of chemistry test papers stacked on Jiang Nian’s desk.

Suddenly, he panicked.

“Holy crap! You motherf***er, you got your dad drunk just so you could work hard on problems and surpass me in the next exam, didn’t you!”

“Jiang Nian, you’re so devious!”

However, before the main person could reply.

In the front row, Zeng You, who had been reading a novel all evening, turned around. He grinned at Li Hua for a while, then said in a muffled voice.

“Didn’t Jiang Nian already surpass you in the last joint exam?”

“Yes, team leader.” Zhang Ningzhi, having nothing to do, chimed in, “Team leader, you’ve regressed a lot.”

Li Hua almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, clutching his chest and saying.

“What good would my death do you?”

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment before saying.

“Can you get some small loans before you die?”

“Also, the funeral food in Zhennan tastes pretty good, I haven’t had it in a long time. As your classmate, can you satisfy me?”

“red stone! red stone!”

“Ding dong! Classmates, class dismissed…”

After evening self-study.

Li Qingrong lowered her head to pack her things, her face finally no longer cold and aloof. Thinking about missing the match in the afternoon, she felt depressed (depressed – depressed/unhappy).

Unhappy.

She walked out of the classroom with her bag slung over one shoulder, habitually heading towards the stairs on the other side, closer to the cafeteria.

Blending into the crowd, her expression returned to its usual coolness.

Downstairs from the third-year building.

Jiang Nian looked at the dark night and the crowded people. He frowned slightly and said to Xu Qianqian beside him.

“Wait for me a moment, I forgot something upstairs.”

“Tch.” Xu Qianqian was speechless, glancing at the dense crowd. “Hurry up, I’ll wait for you directly at the school gate.”

“Okay.” Jiang Nian said, blending into the crowd.

“Verification” had already been used today, leaving only “Precision” and “Fishing,” which were minor conceptual skills.

Finding someone in the crowd leaving evening self-study in the third year was obviously very difficult, and Jiang Nian could only try his luck first.

Within a small range, knowing Li Qingrong’s usual route and time for going downstairs.

“Fishing” combined with “Precision” produced a reaction, as if a sixth sense had opened, vaguely pointing him in a direction.

Jiang Nian moved against the crowd, tracing a faint path in the darkness. Like a fish swimming upstream in a night river, leaving subtle ripples.

Tick, tock.

Li Qingrong descended the stairs with the flow of people, her steps slow. She pulled out her Bluetooth earphones from her pocket and put them on.

Her mind was still buzzing, feeling a bit heavy.

As soon as she got downstairs, she walked along a small path through the woods for a while. Perhaps because she was in a bad mood, she avoided the areas with streetlights.

She hesitated, wondering whether to take a walk before going back.

As she thought this, her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure. He was walking against the flow of people towards her, and in a moment, he was before her eyes.

Even though this place was close to the dark grove, and the light was extremely dim, her heart began to beat faster.

Li Qingrong looked up, her mouth slightly agape.

“Jiang…”

The next second, the young man, carrying a slight current of air and the night breeze, opened his arms and embraced her.

“Don’t be angry anymore.”

At that moment, Li Qingrong instinctively closed her eyes.

The faint warmth and Jiang Nian’s scent lingered at her nose, her mind was a blank, and her body completely froze.

She was stunned for several seconds before she finally reacted.

She gently moved her arms and placed them on Jiang Nian’s back. In just an instant, her entire being was filled with emotion.

Her breathing was incredibly hot, like freshly boiled water.

Her response carried a slight nasal sound, like breathing after a long, suppressed wait, having been deprived of sunlight.

“Mhm.”

The embrace lasted only a few seconds, more for comfort.

Jiang Nian knew, however, that he had no choice but to do this. If he let the Class Monitor go to bed with her emotions tonight, he might mess up next time.

But if he solved this problem, then the Class Monitor would only remember this moment, the feeling of reaching the “peak.”

Because there is a cognitive bias in the human brain; even if one’s mood is low all day, as long as they are extremely happy at the very end.

Then, when recalling that day the next day.

The first thing that comes to mind is the “peak” moment, and then an impression of, “although… it was still somewhat happy.”

“Alright, it’s getting late, let’s talk when we get home.” Jiang Nian made a phone gesture, slowly backing away.

Li Qingrong nodded, her gaze following his retreating figure until he disappeared into the light.

The moment she lowered her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile softly, then her lips were gently pressed flat again.

At the school gate.

“Why did you take so long?” Xu Qianqian was a bit displeased.

“Lots of people.” Jiang Nian casually put his arm around Xu Qianqian’s shoulder, then let go a second later. “Let’s go, let’s go, I’ll treat you to a late-night snack.”

“Tch, who cares?” Xu Qianqian turned her head, rolling her eyes at him. “Unless we eat something else today, like boiled rice cakes.”

“Ai… alright.” Jiang Nian agreed readily. “By the way, did your class say anything after losing the game?”

“What else could they say, they cursed your class, of course.” Xu Qianqian and Jiang Nian walked away, their voices blurring. “They said your class was despicable.”

“That’s a bit biased…” Jiang Nian busied himself for over half an hour, taking a quick shower while the rice cakes were cooking, and drying his hair in the kitchen.

Jiang Nian ate some late-night snacks with them, chatted for a while at Xu Qianqian’s house, and then left.

Back home, he first replied to messages on his phone.

He lay sprawled on his bed, looking at the ceiling, and let out a light sigh.