Chapter 12: Confused, but the 5,000 reward is in hand.

“Hiss!” Xu Qianqian gasped, “Be gentle.”

“Hmm, whose fault is it that you don’t watch where you’re going upstairs?” Jiang Nian lowered his head, diligently massaging her ankle, vaguely seeing the bluish veins beneath her pale skin.

A thought inexplicably popped into his mind: if she wore white stockings…

No, no, this is Xu Qianqian.

Jiang Nian couldn’t help but shake his head, clearing the jumbled thoughts from his mind. A childhood friend wasn’t out of the question, but he hadn’t expected Xu Qianqian to suddenly have a girlish charm.

“Can you blame me? I told you there were rats.” She pouted, her gaze dropping.

The air was filled with the strong scent of medicated wine for bruises. The young man rubbing her foot had a back as straight as a white poplar, his shoulders level, and his black hair thick.

A thought inexplicably popped into her mind: next time, why not go watch him play basketball?

No, no, what exactly am I doing? This is Jiang Nian!

The most detestable Jiang Nian!

“What’s wrong with rats? Rats have their own lives, you know.” Jiang Nian didn’t continue, changing the subject. “Have you estimated your score? How many points do you think you’ll get this time?”

“Around 630, I guess.”

“You’re a freak! Why aren’t you in Class Zero?” Jiang Nian was shocked, his massaging speed quickening, and the sprained area already warming up.

Xu Qianqian thought for a moment, “I don’t want to move; I’m used to it.”

After applying the medicine, Jiang Nian went back to his own house across the hall to sleep. After he left, Xu Qianqian dozed off on the sofa. The sound of a key turning in the door was heard.

Xu Zewen, dragging his tired body, got off work. He pushed the door open, sniffed, and then saw his daughter asleep on the sofa.

“Dad?” Xu Qianqian woke up groggily, rubbing her eyes. “You’re off work?”

As she spoke, she tried to get up, but Director Xu immediately stopped her.

“What’s wrong with your foot?”

“I twisted it going upstairs; I’ve already put medicine on it.” Xu Qianqian stood up with a limp, forcing a smile. “See, I’m fine.”

Director Xu hummed in response, instructing her to continue applying the medicine the next day.

The next day.

Jiang Nian, as usual, woke up early to buy breakfast downstairs. Before going upstairs, he saw Old Xu driving off to work early. His parents were still asleep. He placed the breakfast on the table and then went across the hall to apply medicine to Xu Qianqian.

There was morning self-study at 7:30 AM, and Xu Qianqian had already washed up, dragging her sprained foot.

“Is it better?” He put the breakfast down, squatted, and began searching for the medicated wine for bruises. “Why did Uncle Xu go to work so early?”

“They have a project in their department; they’ve been busy.” Xu Qianqian’s eyes dimmed for a moment.

“Oh ~ It’s fine if your dad is busy; your other dad will apply the medicine for you.”

“You’re dead!”

Xu Qianqian kicked him with her uninjured foot, and the two started bickering, the atmosphere becoming cheerful again.

Downstairs.

Xu Qianqian, carrying her school bag, looked at Jiang Nian, who had ridden over on a small electric scooter, with surprise.

“If you ride that, how will Aunt Li get to work?”

“Get on, stop being so long-winded.” Jiang Nian braked abruptly, saying impatiently, “Old Jiang isn’t working today; he’s driving my mom to work.”

“You’re the one who’s long-winded!” Xu Qianqian was still annoyed even after getting on the back seat.

After much thought, she opened Jiang Nian’s WeChat chat, changing his nickname from “Annoying Ghost” to “Long-winded Annoying Ghost.”

Just out of the alley, Jiang Nian braked suddenly.

Xu Qianqian, unprepared, crashed directly into his back, her soft chest compressing firmly. Her pupils constricted, and her face instantly turned red at a visible speed.

“Jiang Nian, are you trying to kill me!”

“Wait, I’m thinking.” Jiang Nian opened the panel only he could see, looking at the words “Task Completed,” and couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“【Task: Defeat strong love rival Zhou Haifei and make her give up on Xu Qianqian. Reward: 5000 RMB (Completed).】”

His phone buzzed, and his bank card balance changed from 2131 to 7131 RMB.

Looking around, the streets were almost entirely filled with students going to morning self-study. On Monday, there was a flag-raising ceremony, and school uniforms were required, a vast expanse of white summer uniforms met the eye.

Jiang Nian thought about it but still had no clue, so he simply ignored it.

“Were you doing that on purpose just now?” Xu Qianqian asked faintly from the back seat.

“No, there was a rat in front of the car; it startled me.” Jiang Nian was a bit distracted, making up an excuse on the fly. “I was afraid of running over it, and the red and white would explode together.”

“Ugh!” Xu Qianqian punched him, angrily saying, “Stop talking!”

After the flag-raising ceremony, the test papers were distributed starting from the first Chinese class.

Jiang Nian lay on his desk, still somewhat confused. How could the glasses-wearing aluminum-copper guy give up just like that? It seemed he hadn’t even had a chance to find her.

So young, yet already giving up on love.

Oh, wow, how wonderful.

Jiang Nian’s understanding of love was actually quite superficial; he was someone who would divorce in the future. Instead of pursuing love, it was better to earn more money and have time for more girls.

When poor, guard your own person; when successful, benefit the world.

On the podium, the Chinese teacher was distributing papers, reading out a few passing scores.

“Zhou Yuting 90, Ren Dong 104, Chen Lili 117.”

Suddenly, he paused again, “Jiang Nian 110.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the class immediately stirred. The first few were regular high scorers in Chinese. But Jiang Nian, someone who usually scored around eighty, how did he get 110?

Uh, actually, only the people around Jiang Nian were stirring.

“Is that real or fake, Jiang Nian? You filled in your father’s student ID, didn’t you?”

“It’s over, Jiang Nian has already taken off after a summer break.”

“Damn it, this is worse than killing me! Please tear up the paper, buddy. Or how about I eat a pound of dog food, and you admit you cheated?”

Hiding your fetish with a joke, coming here to scam food and drinks, huh?

The classmates were just joking; how could you cheat in Chinese? The more you cheat, the lower your score.

Jiang Nian had a composed expression when he went to the podium to get his paper, but he was actually secretly pleased. His Chinese score was ten points higher than his estimated score; a smooth start.

The Chinese teacher was still lecturing on the stage, “Is Chinese getting harder and harder? Where is it hard? Sometimes, if your score is low, find your own reasons, okay? Has your grade improved after all this time?”

“Have you seriously done practice problems, huh? Chinese has always been this difficult; I really don’t know how to teach you anymore.”

In the classroom, Zhou Yuting shifted her gaze from Jiang Nian, her brows slightly furrowed.

How did he score so high?

However, she didn’t pay much attention to it. In a subject like Chinese, sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you make mistakes.

The third and fourth periods were math class.

The test papers were handed out. The math teacher was a young teacher with a fiery temper. After a fit of anger, he began to distribute the papers, one by one, for students to come up and get them.

When it was Jiang Nian’s turn, the math teacher nodded.

“112, not bad, great progress.”

There were too many math-biased prodigies, so Jiang Nian’s 112 points seemed like mere dregs and didn’t attract much attention.

Only Zhou Yuting’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper, a vague bad premonition setting in.

At noon, Jiang Nian found Xu Qianqian and applied medicine to her again in a secluded spot. Xu Qianqian’s deskmate, Song Xiyun, followed along, her eyes sparkling, and a shy smile on her face.

Damn it, she’s crazy.

In the afternoon, the scores for physics, chemistry, and biology were successively released.

Jiang Nian’s combined science score was exactly 210, similar to his estimated score.

Thanks to Boss Wen Ba for the 1000 Qidian coin reward; Boss, you have a good waist and good kidneys!