Chapter 124 Why are both deskmates rolled up?

On the dim street, Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian each held a bowl of oden.

“I’m starving.”

Xu Qianqian looked up, a piping hot fishball in her mouth, hissing and puffing out white steam into the air, her small mouth like a fish blowing bubbles.

“Hahaha, that’s hilarious.” Jiang Nian laughed, “You must be a starving ghost reincarnated, Xu Qianqian.”

“Hilarious, my foot!” Xu Qianqian swallowed the fishball then glared at him, “Recently, the amount of test papers and homework has been increasing. The pressure of senior year is really here.”

“I’m so hungry every day. By the third evening self-study session, I’m already dizzy from hunger.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian nodded.

“I’m hungry too. I feel like I could eat a whole pig in three bites.”

“Boast all you want.”

Senior high school students are different from those in junior and sophomore years. Once they enter the true preparation period, they are almost studying all day long, with endless questions and homework.

Three meals a day are simply not enough, and sometimes, engrossed in solving problems in the classroom in the afternoon, they lose track of time and miss a meal entirely.

Eating a late-night snack becomes very necessary.

When you’re truly starving from studying, even instant noodles taste incredibly good.

As for being afraid of getting fat…

Competitive students like Xu Qianqian do homework even after returning home. With their energy completely depleted, they can’t get fat at all.

“Oh, right, our homeroom teacher said that after the big joint exam, evening self-study will be extended to 10:20 PM,” Xu Qianqian mumbled, swallowing a radish.

“What? Doesn’t that mean four evening self-study sessions?” Jiang Nian felt like the sky was falling.

“Yes, an extra forty minutes.” Xu Qianqian’s cheeks puffed out, “I heard the cafeteria in the new campus offers free late-night snacks for senior students, available right after evening self-study.”

“Why don’t we have it?!”

“They only need to score above 600 or be from a low-income family.”

“If we don’t have it, we don’t have it. I’m not really lacking this one bite to eat anyway.” Jiang Nian’s tone suddenly changed, becoming more magnanimous, “Oden that costs money is good too.”

“I’m paying for that!” Xu Qianqian was so angry she shivered!

“Stingy, you’re separating us now. I’ll treat you tomorrow night.”

The two walked slowly towards their homes, chatting about things that happened in class. Xu Qianqian’s stories were all gossip, but they were clearly not as explosive as Jiang Nian’s.

Jiang Nian shared little stories about Wu Jungu, which left Xu Qianqian stunned.

“He won’t be forced to drop out, will he?”

“You’re overthinking it. He’s from the Olympiad class. The first time, a warning call to the parents was the end of it.” Jiang Nian’s shadow swayed at the intersection, sweeping diagonally across a roadside trash can.

“Living in the dorms must be tough. That guy is quite devoted.”

“Do you think he’s devoted?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Xu Qianqian stopped on the road, a fishball suspended at her lips. After a moment of thought, she said, “If it were me, I wouldn’t let my boyfriend live in the dorms with me.”

“What would you do?”

“There are many ways to solve the problem of getting water, right? Pay someone, or butter up a strong girl to be friends with.” Xu Qianqian bit into the fishball with an ‘awu’ sound.

“#￥%… There are always more solutions than problems. That woman is so pretentious.”

Jiang Nian laughed. Xu Qianqian was like that; her ideas were always the most sensible.

Building 5, North District, a certain male dormitory.

Lights had long been out.

In the dim dorm room, Huang Cailang stood by the window.

Opposite were two shared rental buildings outside the North Gate. One looked like an illegally constructed migrant worker apartment with a tin roof built on top, and the other adjacent one belonged to a local.

It was a dilapidated house, old as the hills, with all its wall paint peeled off.

But because it was close to the school, every year there were students who failed and returned to repeat, as well as various parents accompanying their children or senior students sharing rentals. So, it had stubbornly existed for many years.

The college entrance exam is truly magical; even a rundown house can turn into gold.

Inside lived male and female senior and super-senior students. These houses didn’t have toilets; the showers on each floor were at the end of the corridor.

“Yo, still memorizing biology?” Lin Dong had just finished showering and walked past in his underwear, “You work so hard every day; you’ll ace all the points.”

Mid-sentence, Lin Dong froze, seeing him staring at the orange-lit bathroom at the end of the sixth floor opposite, swallowing.

“Holy crap!!!”

Even Lin Dong, a pervert, found it perverted, retreating behind his roommates.

“You’re staring at someone’s bathroom, are you sick?”

Hearing this, the other five roommates all exclaimed “Ew” and began to vehemently condemn him.

“Cailang, you’re a bit disgusting.”

“You’re just horny. Go to the bathroom and take care of it; don’t let desire affect your studies.”

“You’re finished, you’re completely finished. There’s no cure for your condition, you can only try cementing your pipes.”

“Why can’t you be like me, burning the midnight oil?”

“Yes, don’t let desire erode your will. Do you want your Soul to rot and stink?”

Facing his roommates’ disgust and condemnation,

Huang Cailang turned around, his gaze sweeping over his roommates. His lips trembled slightly, and with just one sentence, he shattered his roommates’ resolve.

“There’s a girl across the street outside school, probably a repeat student. She often comes out wrapped in just a towel after showering.”

The entire dorm fell silent for a moment, then they scrambled over, vying for a spot.

“Holy cow, then we have to watch.”

“When is she coming out? Has she gone in yet?”

“Don’t push! You’re practically inside me! Are you gay?!”

Lin Dong was the fastest. After about a few minutes, the boys instinctively gasped in unison, almost spontaneously exclaiming, “Holy crap!”

“She ran so fast! Even though her room is right next to the shower, why doesn’t she wear clothes?”

“So white.”

“Didn’t even see clearly. White my ass. Boring.”

“It’s just their thing, I’m tired of seeing it, it’s meaningless.”

Lin Dong turned around and secretly sent a photo to Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian: “?”

“The building across from us.”

Jiang Nian: “(Thumbs up), I’ll find Old Liu tomorrow to handle the dorm application.”

Lin Dong was amused. He felt it would be good if Jiang Nian really lived in the dorms. With him around, the dorm would definitely not lack jokes, and it would be a nightly comedy show.

Much more interesting than Sun Zhicheng, who only shows off.

Hmm, why am I thinking this?

Putting down his phone, he vaguely heard someone say they were going to a milk tea shop tomorrow afternoon, and couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm? A date? With whom?”

“A girl from the parallel class. We’ve been chatting on QQ for a few months.” The roommate scratched his face shyly, “We went out during the summer vacation.”

The dorm immediately fell silent, and their gazes turned to the shy boy.

“Did you kiss?”

“Baa.”

You little rascal, you’re ‘baa-ing’ now! Die!

A group of people pinned him down, “Spill it, did you make a move?”

Silence was their answer.

The roommates one by one lost it, furiously pressing the shy boy.

“No, who told you to touch her!”

“Brother Dong, I’m planning to write an anonymous letter to the Academic Affairs Office. Are you in?”

Lin Dong thought about it and refused, shaking his head.

“Is it necessary? We’re all dorm buddies. Look how eager you all are. Besides, what’s the use of the Academic Affairs Office? Just report it with your real name and send it to the principal’s mailbox!”

“Brothers, spare me. I’ll bring you food when I get back.” The shy boy quickly begged for mercy.

“You’re done for, alas.”

“By the way, when you go to the milk tea shop, aren’t you afraid of running into people from our class?”

“Hey, have you ever run into those couples from our class?”

“I’ve seen them once or twice, uh, but I can’t say names.” The shy boy was quite principled. “I saw them coming out of the milk tea shop’s restroom together.”

“Holy crap, what were they doing in there?”

“That kind of thing, what else could they be doing, making milk tea?”

“The atmosphere in Zhennan is really rotten, alas, brothers, does anyone want to go to the milk tea shop with me? I’m not picky.”

Everyone chattered away, and Lin Dong asked the most crucial question.

“Do you have…”

The shy boy was silent for a moment, “I can’t say.”

The dorm erupted in another chorus of exasperated shouts and curses. It wasn’t exactly envy, but rather a feeling of ‘how could they?’ – how could they do ‘that kind of thing’ with a girl?

Eleven o’clock, dorm night talk, the shy boy shared his dating experiences.

“Zhennan is so small, where else can you go? It’s either the riverside or a milk tea shop.”

“You can only go hiking at Qingmu Ridge, but mineral water there costs three times the price. And there are so many people up there. Holding hands going up the mountain, hugging coming down.”

“Honestly, after the first date, my balls felt like stones, it hurt so much.”

Sunday morning.

Jiang Nian was washing up in the bathroom mirror, recalling two things.

The first was to find time in the morning to hand in his biology extra practice test, and the second was to meet Zhang Ningzhi for lunch, as she was treating him.

Actually, life was quite fulfilling. If he had to choose between the two, he would… go on the date and do the test paper simultaneously.

To put it cruelly, the value of a senior student seemed to be solely in exams.

If one didn’t study, only dated and flirted, they would be seen as pure waste in the eyes of the school and parents, and as mere gossip fodder among classmates.

Jiang Nian was different; he was a pure pervert.

Returning to simplicity.

As for how to evaluate senior year couples, Jiang Nian only found them hypocritical. Was this really about love? With hands already reaching into someone’s clothes, was it still ‘love’?

Couldn’t they be a little more honest? Actually, as long as they were good-looking, dating someone else would be the same, right?

No, he should say he’d be very happy.

He left the room and glanced at the shoe rack opposite; Xu Qianqian had already left.

Alright, even though you’re beautiful, since you’re more competitive than me, I still have to call you a ‘roll dog’ out of spite.

Jiang Nian arrived at school, eating a bun as he went upstairs.

He happened to see Zhou Haifei descending the stairs from the side, head down, walking hurriedly. As they were about to pass each other, she seemed to recognize his lower half.

Although that sounded a bit strange, she looked up. Their gazes met in the air, revealing an almost habitual understanding.

No, they hadn’t even spoken before, yet it felt like they were acquaintances.

Perhaps it was a coincidence.

Jiang Nian thought this as he went up to the fourth floor and entered the classroom to start working on problems.

But since it was Sunday, no matter how much he tried to calm down, he could still feel the restless atmosphere in the classroom. Especially after Li Hua entered the classroom, it became completely restless.

“Nian, going to the internet cafe after school at noon?”

“No.”

“Then what are you doing this afternoon?”

“Studying.”

The morning passed quickly, but Li Hua felt that the two people next to him were unusually quiet. Zhang Ningzhi remained motionless during breaks, writing problems at her desk.

But Jiang Nian had also been writing problems all morning. This was strange, wasn’t it?

Why were they all getting so competitive?