Chapter 299 Exploitation from Qingbao

The next day.

Jiang Nian woke up early, still entering the classroom around 6:20.

Chatting with Li Qingrong last night was indeed nice, but it was a bit short. He didn’t even know what to talk about; it ended after a few ‘uh-huhs’ and ‘ahhs’.

He was numb with sleepiness and didn’t pay much attention.

Perhaps some people are only suited for in-person conversations, appearing uninteresting online.

Yu Zhiyi, due to too many test papers and tomorrow’s coming-of-age ceremony, woke up early to do problems. She sat tightly against the desk, her head resting on the table to relieve pressure.

She looked up and saw Jiang Nian enter, a look of surprise on her Face.

“Why are you here so early?”

Jiang Nian slapped his backpack onto the chair and said in a very pretentious manner,

“I’m always this early, because I believe the Heavenly Dao rewards diligence.”

Seeing this, Yu Zhiyi immediately broke out in a sweat, thinking, ‘How did Jiang Nian escape from the mental hospital again?’

So early in the morning, playing it awkward.

She said, “The Heavenly Dao rewards diligence, but your name isn’t Jiang Qin.”

Jiang Nian froze awkwardly.

“Child, that’s not funny at all.”

“Really? I think I have a lot of humorous cells.”

Yu Zhiyi habitually bickered with Jiang Nian, knowing that this person had a really sharp tongue. If she didn’t take the initiative, she would inevitably fall into a passive situation.

“So, if you don’t get my sense of humor, you need to find the reason within yourself.”

“Find a market, find it.” Jiang Nian picked up two thermos cups, ready to fill them with water, giving her a hard look as he left.

Just as he was about to leave through the back door, Yu Zhiyi suddenly called out to him.

“Hey, help me fill my water bottle, will you?”

Jiang Nian’s figure paused, then he turned and walked back.

“Oh, oh.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhiyi’s smile grew even wider, and she said sweetly,

“Thank you.”

The next second, she saw Jiang Nian squat down directly in the aisle to tie his shoelaces. Her expression couldn’t help but freeze; she thought,’Shouldn’t he take the cup first at this moment?’

As for whether she was afraid of Jiang Nian doing something to her cup, she wasn’t.

It wouldn’t come to that.

However, after Jiang Nian tied his shoelaces tightly, he just walked away, muttering to himself,

“Crazy, I’m tying my shoelaces, what are you thanking me for?”

Yu Zhiyi’s smile instantly froze, and she immediately felt like grinding her teeth to dust.

“Bastard!”

Morning self-study.

The class recited books listlessly, and the noisy chatter gradually drowned out the sound of reading aloud.

“Brother, has the clothing arrived?” Huang Cailang asked.

“Today, I think, it was express delivered.” Yang Qiming laughed heartily, looking a little smug, “Don’t worry, Cailang, it will definitely arrive on time.”

“Ha, alright.” Huang Cailang’s smile was very forced.

He lowered his head, his Face several shades paler. He didn’t want to do such an embarrassing thing; could he still save Face by wearing the Big Big Wolf and Little Little Sheep costumes?

Originally, Huang Cailang thought it was just a joke.

But later he realized he was wrong, terribly wrong.

But there was no turning back once the arrow was shot; it was clearly too late to ask Brother Yang to cancel now. After all, the money had been spent, although it wasn’t his own money, but… he thought of the late-night snacks Brother Yang had treated him to, and only then did he understand that the gifts of fate had long been marked with a price in the dark.

“What clothes?” Zhou Yuting couldn’t help but ask.

These two had been speaking in riddles, laughing back and forth, which was a bit annoying.

“The clothes we’re wearing tomorrow, they’ll be here soon.” Yang Qiming was indeed very fond of the Big Big Wolf costume, and specifically pulled out his spare phone to show Zhou Yuting.

Before pulling out his phone, he specifically glanced at the classroom door.

Zhou Yuting took a look and was completely thunderstruck.

“You guys are crazy, wearing these clothes, right?”

“Tch, you don’t understand appreciation.” Yang Qiming didn’t care either. He thought for a moment and then casually posted something on QQ Space, blocking all his high school classmates.

“【My eighteen-year-old self, be brave once.】”

After posting his QQ update, he tucked his phone into a book. He clicked open his junior high school classmates’ friend list one by one, eagerly stalking them.

“This guy, he competed with me for a girl, and now he’s an apprentice at a barbershop in Hangzhou.”

“Xie Linlin, damn, isn’t this the little class beauty? She seems to have gone to the North Campus, what does she post all day, just half-Face selfies.”

“Xiao Qiting, she’s also quite pretty. Damn it, no access permission!”

Yang Qiming’s lips curved upwards, completely lost in the fond memories of his junior high school days. He vaguely remembered that innocent and ignorant crush.

The person he liked was Xiao Qiting, but unfortunately, he had kept it hidden in his heart and never confessed.

The coming-of-age ceremony was approaching, should he be brave once?

Yang Qiming clicked open the chat box, swallowed hard, and nervously typed a line of text, mustering the courage to send it.

“Are you there?”

The other person’s phone was online, but there was no response.

He didn’t believe it and sent another message.

“Old classmate, how have you been lately? (Haha)”

He pressed send, and a small line of text popped up.

“【Sending failed, please add the other person as a friend first.】”

Sun Zhicheng took advantage of the first class break to secretly check his phone.

Friday, after English class, was the safest time.

He clicked open the class group chat, originally wanting to see if Chen Yunyun had said anything in the group yesterday. He wanted to get first-hand information and commit it to memory.

This was a tactic he learned from online chatting: know yourself and your enemy, and you will win every battle.

First, collect information, then chat normally. Put effort into subtle details, showing that his seemingly world-weary self had actually been paying attention to the other person all along.

I! Have been watching you!

Just thinking about it made him feel warm.

He skillfully opened the group chat, intending to precisely search group messages. He typed in Chen Yunyun, and soon seven or eight historical messages from last night appeared.

Sun Zhicheng clicked on the first one, “【Moon Under Water (Chen Yunyun): Someone in the next class is wearing a red dress. I saw the finished dress; it’s so beautiful.】”

He silently noted down the key information about the red dress in the next class, then scrolled down through the rest.

Suddenly, he saw a message from a familiar ID.

“Had a Blast (Lin Dong): “@Moon Under Water, that girl in the next class is beautiful my ass. She wore it out to get water in the middle of the night and almost scared me to death.”

Moon Under Water: “You don’t understand girls’ aesthetics.”

Lin Dong: “Meaning the skirt looks good, but you didn’t look at her Face, right?”

Moon Under Water: “@Had a Blast (Lin Dong), Group Leader, what’s with your nickname?”

Lin Dong: “(Hehe) Ah Cheng’s secret.”

Seeing this, Sun Zhicheng’s Face instantly turned dark, and he completely lost his composure.

He grabbed Lin Dong’s neck, who was sleeping on the desk, and shook him violently!

“Damn it! You’re really not human! Change it for me now!”

Lin Dong was shaken awake, completely bewildered.

“What is it?”

It wasn’t until Sun Zhicheng held his phone up to him that Lin Dong suddenly realized.

“No change.”

Jiang Nian liked to play on his phone during the long morning break; this time was, strictly speaking, the safest.

Old Liu wouldn’t conduct a surprise inspection at such a time, allowing him to play at ease.

Although the homeroom teacher wouldn’t catch him, and would turn a blind eye if he saw, being too arrogant would make Old Liu lose Face.

Buzz, a new message popped up.

At this time, the only person sending him messages would be Chen Yunyun.

After all, Zhang Ningzhi was his deskmate every day, and there was hardly any need to send messages in the classroom. As for everyone else, they wouldn’t use their phones during the break.

Chen Yunyun: “Guess what we’re wearing tomorrow. (Smirk)”

“A skirt, probably.”

Chen Yunyun: “(Shy) How did you know?”

“I secretly watched you when you changed clothes.”

Chen Yunyun: “(Knocking) (Left humph).”

“What kind of skirt is it? Aren’t you going to run the exercise?”

Chen Yunyun replied, “I asked for leave, oh. As for what kind of skirt, I can’t say, you’ll know tomorrow anyway.”

Jiang Nian was about to leave the classroom, thought for a moment, and replied,

“What if I ask for leave tomorrow?”

Chen Yunyun: “Then you won’t see it.”

Jiang Nian walked down the sun-drenched corridor, and couldn’t help but smile at Chen Yunyun’s soft reply; her counterattack had no power at all.

He didn’t reply, just casually stuffed his phone into his pocket and leisurely went downstairs.

Perhaps because of the coming-of-age ceremony, the morning seemed to be fast-forwarded. High-intensity lecturing and discussions of difficult problems just flew by.

Excluding the time for going to the restroom and sleeping during breaks, the remaining brief moments were not enough for the class to even catch their breath.

Five minutes before dismissal.

The biology teacher, Qing Bao, ended her lecture right on time. She placed her lesson plan aside and said to the whole class,

“In two or three weeks, the first round of review will be completely over. As far as I know, other subjects are also progressing similarly.”

Upon hearing this, the restless class immediately quieted down.

Qing Bao paused, then spoke again.

“The end of the first round also means you are very close to the college entrance examination. Individual students with a relatively weak foundation in biology need to catch up quickly.”

The class buzzed for a while, and someone asked,

“Teacher, isn’t there a second round?”

“The second round will only focus on key points, not detailed explanations, oh.” Qing Bao showed a very cute smile, like a girl diligently managing her QQ farm.

The class immediately became agitated, and someone asked again,

“Teacher, what about the third round?”

“The third round is mainly for exams and going over test papers; there’s basically no lecturing.” Qing Bao explained.

Just then, the dismissal bell rang.

Qing Bao called Jiang Nian, asking him to stay for a moment.

At his seat, Zhang Ningzhi secretly turned her head to look at him and asked in a low voice,

“What does the teacher want you for?”

He touched his Face, “Maybe to understand your problem of zoning out in class; I’ll definitely confess everything.”

“Nonsense! You’re the one who zones out in class!” Zhizhi said indignantly, “You sleep so obviously in English class, you almost fall off your chair.”

“Nonsense, I was just conserving energy.” Jiang Nian suddenly remembered something and looked at the girl in the seat, “What clothes are you wearing tomorrow?”

“I won’t tell you!”

“Say it or not, I’ll just ask Yao Beibei.” Jiang Nian’s lips curved upwards, and he prepared to walk towards the podium, “Yao Beibei will definitely tell me.”

“You’re not allowed to ask!”

“I will ask.”

In the corridor.

Jiang Nian followed behind Qing Bao, asking curiously,

“Teacher, you called for me?”

“Yes, the first round of review is about to end.” Qing Bao turned to look at him, “I found a few sets of test papers for you to consolidate your foundation.”

“Take some time this week to do them, and hand them in to me next week for grading.”

This was no longer just extra tutoring; it was openly special treatment.

He was truly a Disciple of the inner circle.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian’s first reaction was happiness.

Hehe, Qing Bao really loves me.

After the initial excitement passed, he began to Face reality.

“Teacher, the ‘few sheets’ of test papers you mentioned.” Jiang Nian scratched his head, fidgeting, “Does that number, does it exceed six?”

Qing Bao stopped her descent down the stairs and turned to look at him. Since she was walking in front, she could only look up at Jiang Nian.

“How could that be?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good.”

Unexpectedly, Qing Bao said with a look as if he were an idiot,

“Of course it’s more than six; can three or four test papers really fill in all the gaps? These are all test papers I bought privately, with questions I selected from them.”

“Jiang Nian, don’t disappoint me.”

He couldn’t quite hold it together, “Teacher, I’ll be a biologist by the time I finish all these.”

“It won’t come to that; high school knowledge is relatively superficial.” Qing Bao waved her hand, then tentatively asked, “Are you interested in a biology major?”

“No, not at all.” Jiang Nian shook his head.

He was purely interested in biology because of the pretty biology teacher. If an old man were teaching, he’d be content with a score of seventy-something in biology.

Damn, is this still a high school student?

Isn’t this perverted?

Yes.

Hearing Jiang Nian personally admit he didn’t like the biology major, Qing Bao was as dejected as a little person squatting in a corner drawing circles.

“I think biology is quite interesting.”

Jiang Nian instantly broke out in a sweat, “I’ll do it, Teacher, won’t I do it?”

“Is it willingly?” Qing Bao stared at him with burning eyes.

“Yes.” Jiang Nian was sweating profusely.

The two went down to the first floor and entered the empty science office.

The sun was just right by the window, and the bustling noise of students leaving school outside drifted into the office. Only faint sounds remained, making it seem tranquil.

Jiang Nian skillfully brewed tea for Qing Bao, white steam rising.

“Teacher, I’m very curious, why aren’t these test papers given to the whole class to do together?”

“They have test papers, five of them.” Qing Bao spread her palm, showing a terrifying number, “Yours are extra, and not suitable for distribution.”

Jiang Nian was stunned, and silently added up the biology test papers he had to do.

Damn it, he couldn’t count them on two hands.

Perhaps Qing Bao herself found it a bit outrageous, and she guiltily held her cup, sipping jasmine tea. She remained silent, pretending to be a pure and innocent little lotus.

Ah, when did she learn this passive skill?

Qing Bao herself wasn’t sure; she just used it directly. Cultivating a Disciple was also an achievement for her.

Jiang Nian’s biology scores actually still had room for improvement.

His foundation was incredibly solid; even a small line of text in the book, if it was printed there, he remembered every single word clearly.

Biology was different from other subjects; his good memory made him a good prospect.

“Teacher, you…”

“You squeeze it in; time is like a sponge.” Qing Bao preempted him, “I see you’re quite leisurely normally, which proves you still have a lot of time.”

“People need to rest, Teacher.”

Qing Bao waved her hand, “It’s not that exaggerated. If you talk to girls a few less times, that time will be squeezed out.”

Jiang Nian: “…”

Damn it, Qing Bao was playing into stereotypes now.

But then again, with a week and a half left, he didn’t really know where to start to improve his scores.

Although Qing Bao gave him many test papers, it was at least a direction.

Instead of wasting time, it was better to take action.

“Alright then, thank you, Teacher.” Jiang Nian said solemnly.

“It’s fine, no need to thank me.” Qing Bao was also a little embarrassed; after all, she was squeezing Jiang Nian so hard, it felt a bit awkward.

Then, Jiang Nian took this opportunity to tell Qing Bao about his current study difficulties.

The joint exam at the end of the month, aiming for six hundred.

Qing Bao still pulled out a score sheet, on which Jiang Nian’s weekly test scores for all subjects that month were manually recorded, a completely personalized form.

It was like the birth chart for her inner Disciple’s studies.

Jiang Nian listened carefully to Qing Bao’s analysis and suggestions, nodding frequently.

At the end, he asked the question that had been on his mind.

“Teacher, what’s the class monitor’s biology score like?”

Qing Bao thought for a moment, “In the comprehensive science exam, it’s about the same level as Li Hua.”

That was Heaven-Defying; on the same level as Li Hua.

Jiang Nian clicked his tongue inwardly and left the office with the test papers.

First period in the afternoon.

During Chinese class, Old Liu was halfway through his lecture when he suddenly started talking about something.

“Ah, our Olympiad class’s first round of review is progressing faster, nearing its end…”

The class’s mood couldn’t help but darken, and the anticipation and joy of the upcoming coming-of-age ceremony were greatly diluted.