Chapter 149: Who Is Prettier, Me or Zhou Yuting?

The classroom was brightly lit, and Jiang Nian was moving desks.

In reality, it just meant dumping out the clutter inside the desks and then dismantling the three-row seat groups into two-row groups.

The desks didn’t need to be moved out; they could just be left empty in the classroom.

During the exam, there would be one person per row per group, with twenty-eight people per exam room.

Li Qingrong walked up to Jiang Nian, attracting quite a few gazes nearby.

“Do you have time? Could you peel off the test papers stuck on the wall?”

“Sure.”

Oh, she was asking him for help.

Zeng You and the others averted their gazes and continued cleaning.

Zhang Ningzhi was wiping the blackboard, and there was a basin of water on the podium.

She glanced at the two of them a few extra times, unconsciously wringing out the rag, and couldn’t help but purse her lips.

The class monitor is so pretty too. How is it that he has good relationships with all the pretty girls in the class?

She lowered her head and wiped the blackboard from left to right… actually, it was a whiteboard.

Using too much chalk could easily lead to dust-related illnesses, so the school had switched to a combination of markers and whiteboards a long time ago.

This thing was more tiring to wipe than a blackboard; you had to use more force when dragging the rag across to get the whiteboard clean.

Zhang Ningzhi wiped the stains at the bottom and middle first, then looked up.

She jumped up, and there was another shallow, arched roof at the top of the whiteboard.

But even so, the very top layer of the blackboard still couldn’t be reached.

She was just about to move a stool when the rag in her hand was snatched away.

Turning her head, her breath hitched; she didn’t know when, but Jiang Nian was standing beside her.

He seemed to have been watching for a little while, and there was still a smile on Jiang Nian’s face.

She knew what that smile of Jiang Nian’s meant, and she couldn’t help but pout.

Jiang Nian didn’t look at her, though; he just took the rag and wiped it clean with swift, efficient movements.

Zhang Ningzhi looked over; behind his profile was the open classroom door.

Outside were the dimly lit buildings of the county town, and further away were the dark, looming mountains.

After watching for a few seconds, she felt her heart beating a little faster.

After wiping it simply, Jiang Nian looked down at her, lowered his hand, and smiled.

“Good desk mate, make some room, I’m wiping the other side.”

“Oh, oh, okay.” Zhang Ningzhi snapped out of it suddenly.

The podium was so small, and she was standing right in the middle, blocking someone’s way, so she hurriedly stepped back off the podium.

Standing on the podium, she just watched Jiang Nian wipe.

That “Good desk mate” immediately echoed in her ears again, and her earlobes couldn’t help but feel hot.

Her originally low mood became active again.

The cleaning lasted for half an hour in total.

Li Hua let the girls go back first; Wu Jungu and Zeng You went to dump the trash, and he and Jiang Nian did the remaining finishing work, dragging it out until nine-thirty.

Li Qingrong was also leaving, carrying her bag as she walked out of the classroom door.

Halfway there, she turned back; Jiang Nian happened to be coming out of the classroom, seemingly intending to wash his hands.

The restroom was at the end of the hallway, requiring one to pass two classrooms and also go by the stairwell.

The two of them naturally walked together.

“Class monitor, which exam room are you in?”

Li Qingrong lowered her eyes, “B302.”

“What a coincidence, I’m in the exam room opposite yours.”

“Mm.”

At the stairwell, the two were about to part ways; Li Qingrong remembered the gestures friends should make when saying goodbye, so she called out to him.

“Jiang Nian.”

“Hm?” Jiang Nian had already passed the stairwell and turned back to look at her upon hearing the sound.

The dim light was like a candle flame, and the young girl stood there waving.

“Bye-bye.”

Jiang Nian looked at her cold, clear face, inexplicably stunned for two seconds, before coming back to his senses.

“Oh, oh, bye-bye, be careful on the way.”

Returning to the classroom.

Li Hua let Jiang Nian go first; he was going to sacrifice himself again.

“Let’s go together.” Jiang Nian picked up his bag.

“No, Zeng You and the others haven’t come back from their second trash run yet.”

Li Hua shook his head and refused, saying stubbornly, “I’ll wait for them, you go ahead.”

“Hm?” Jiang Nian looked at him, “Isn’t Wu Jungu there too? Aren’t you awkward?”

Li Hua smiled with relief, “What’s there to be awkward about?”

Jiang Nian pondered, “In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Boss Cao—”

“red stone, red stone, red stone!!!” Li Hua instantly jumped up, “My heart is as pure as ice in a jade pot; you’re the one who likes married women! Get out, get out, get out, don’t let me see you.”

Jiang Nian laughed out loud and left with his bag.

On the third floor, every classroom was also cleaning up; there weren’t many people in the hallway.

Xu Qianqian was sitting on a desk and chair at the classroom entrance playing on her phone, catching a glimpse of someone in her peripheral vision.

She subconsciously looked up and, seeing it was Jiang Nian, stood up.

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

She yawned and shook her head, saying.

“Your class is fast enough; you’re already done?”

“Fast?” Jiang Nian looked confused, turning his head to look back at the stairwell where several classrooms on the third floor were still moving desks, “Why is your class so slow?”

Xu Qianqian skipped down the stairs and said casually.

“Moving books, obviously. Some people put books in the hallway. The Homeroom Teacher called them back, messed around for half an hour, and only started cleaning ten or so minutes ago.”

“Your class is really troublesome.”

“Yeah.”

The two walked and talked their way out of the school gate, as the Evening Self-Study had ended early.

At this hour, except for the students who were cleaning, almost no one was left.

Walking on the way home, Jiang Nian suddenly said.

“Xu Qianqian, do you believe I can score 600 points?”

“I believe it.”

“Hm?” Jiang Nian was silenced by her words.

He had clearly prepared a rebuttal and was ready for a fight to the death, but the other party had immediately surrendered.

Damn, you surrendered!?

Fine, fine, according to the rules of the hometown in Location, the loser must be…

“Actually, I discouraged you before just because I wanted you to work hard,” Xu Qianqian said, not looking at him, “so you wouldn’t be stupid again and go chasing after someone.”

Jiang Nian: “…Don’t hit below the belt.”

“Eh? Does speaking like this hurt you?” Xu Qianqian asked, pretending to be confused, “Are my words more hurtful, or are Zhou Yuting’s words more hurtful?”

red stone.

Jiang Nian was left speechless; they say to strike a snake at its seven-inch mark.

Xu Qianqian really knew where his seven-inch mark was, and with one strike, she had silenced him.

“Forget it, I haven’t liked her for a long time.”

To put it darkly, he hoped Zhou Yuting would accidentally drop out of school.

Whether it was depression or something else. As long as he could hear bad news about her, he would be happy.

In short, he worried every day, worried that Zhou Yuting was doing too well.

However, these thoughts obviously couldn’t be shared with others; they were too dark and gloomy, not conducive to his bright and upright image.

Stereotypically, only eunuchs were so vindictive.

Jiang Nian was obviously not a eunuch, but he didn’t want to be defined by gender, so he reserved judgment.

Sometimes, it’s okay to hold a grudge.

“What about before? Why did you like her before?” Xu Qianqian seemed very interested in this topic; the two rarely talked about Zhou Yuting.

After all, for Jiang Nian, it was “a thing of the past.”

Damn, Xu Qianqian’s aggressiveness was a bit too high.

“Before… there wasn’t any special reason, simply because she was pretty,” Jiang Nian answered honestly.

He considered himself past that immature age, and although he hadn’t evolved to the point of self-deprecation, at least… he could honestly face the past.

“Was Zhou Yuting the only kind of goods around you?” Xu Qianqian used the word “goods.”

In a girl’s mouth, the meaning of “goods” was almost equal to trash.

This was a highly aggressive term, clearly carrying heavy personal emotion.

But then again, Jiang Nian could only mock Zhou Yuting with 【Trash who can’t even score 530】.

While Xu Qianqian could use the more Advanced 【Scoring 600 points is easy if you have hands】.

“Pretty much, I didn’t know many people back then,” Jiang Nian said truthfully, “Zhou Yuting was considered one of the prettiest girls around me.”

“Tch.” Xu Qianqian cut off the conversation.

The two stepped off the road and entered an alley.

There were old streetlights every twenty meters or so; some were bright, some were dim, a mix of light and dark.

Xu Qianqian walked in front, the soft light falling on her hair, dyeing it golden yellow.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

Jiang Nian followed slowly behind, and seeing her stop, he also stopped his steps.

“What’s wrong?”

Xu Qianqian turned around to face Jiang Nian.

The orange light from above poured down, making her whole body seem to glow; she bit her lower lip and asked hesitantly.

“Am I prettier, or is Zhou Yuting prettier?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian was stunned.

It wasn’t that the answer was too hard to give, but precisely because it was too simple.

At least, he used to fuss over Zhou Yuting, but he would absolutely never run to the countryside to set off fireworks for her.

Because she wasn’t worth Jiang Nian doing that.

Even after that incident during summer vacation, when he cut ties with Zhou Yuting and the others.

Jiang Nian had more resentment in his heart; he had never forgiven Zhou Yuting and her group.

Xu Qianqian stared at him, and seeing him daze off, she couldn’t help but frown.

Is Zhou Yuting that unforgettable?

“Of course you’re prettier, does that even need to be asked?” Jiang Nian came back to his senses and said without hesitation, “Zhou Yuting is just so-so, she can’t compare to you at all.”

Xu Qianqian: “…You hesitated.”

“I was just busy looking at you and got distracted.”

“Tch.” Xu Qianqian had no desire to ask again and turned to walk in the direction of home.

Jiang Nian didn’t go to explain further; it felt like trying to cover something up.

The answer didn’t matter, because the matter was already in the past, and the fireworks… had already been set off.

What was most important right now was tomorrow’s Joint Exam.

The next day’s morning study.

Jiang Nian was in a relatively relaxed mood; he was looking at techniques for translating classical Chinese.

When he used the memory bread to memorize books back then, he hadn’t memorized this part, so he had to memorize it himself.

In short, the first subject was Chinese, so everyone in the class had a relatively relaxed mindset.

The Chinese exam started at 9:30 and ended at 11:30 at noon.

The math exam was scheduled from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon, which meant there was enough time after school to review and rest.

Li Hua was still singing at the top of his lungs, Jiang Nian was looking at classical Chinese translation techniques, and Zhang Ningzhi was nervously reciting ancient poetry.

In the front row, the Great Emperor Zeng You had been sanctioned; all the books used to hide his phone were gone.

He could only stare blankly at a Chinese textbook, sleeping on it until he drooled.

Fangfang was looking at a Chinese test paper filled with dense red ink; the gold content of the Mortal school of thought was still rising.

Wu Jungu was reading a Chinese pamphlet; it was clearly a last-minute cram session.

Due to the seating arrangement for the exam room, Li Hua and Ma Guojun’s desks were in Body Integration.

And Jiang Nian and Zhang Ningzhi were still joined together, with the class monitor and her desk mate behind them.

Ma Guojun didn’t know what he was doing, his little mouth moving rapidly.

At this speed, he was either chanting a spell or cursing; looking at his lip movements, it seemed to include “mom.”