Chapter 34 Sleeping so early, you little rascal, huh?

Xu Qianqian left without even saying goodbye.

Jiang Nian wasn’t exactly disappointed, but he felt a little unaccustomed. For the past week, they had mostly gone to and from school together, so for her to suddenly leave alone made the atmosphere feel strange.

Classic, too classic. Was she in a hurry?

She clearly had a phone and could have messaged him, or even borrowed a classmate’s phone. But she just left without a word. Ha, hard to bear.

Filial piety, how wonderful!

Thinking this, Jiang Nian walked out of the teaching building.

Early October.

The evening temperature was still hot and stuffy, and his clothes stuck to him uncomfortably. After evening self-study, students dispersed in front of the teaching building; boarders headed towards the dormitory area.

Jiang Nian followed the flow of day students towards the school gate. As he passed the administrative building, Zhou Yuting happened to be walking beside him and also noticed him.

Amidst the noisy, bustling crowd, she gave Jiang Nian a cold glance and quickened her pace.

“Hmph,” Jiang Nian didn’t have a good expression either.

Just meeting some people was enough to shorten one’s lifespan. If he wasn’t concerned about manners, he would really use Dust Release. If Zhou Yuting couldn’t hear him, he could carve it on her tombstone another day.

But then he thought that they wouldn’t have any more interactions in the future, so he couldn’t be bothered.

Hide your mother well; don’t let me find her.

Back home.

After washing up, Jiang Nian opened Xu Qianqian’s WeChat interface, who lived across the hall. Her profile picture was a cat perched on a wall, with a blue sky and white clouds in the background, and green branches hanging down in the middle of the picture.

He clicked on the chat box; their last conversation had stopped at National Day.

He thought for a moment, then sent a question mark. The comical question mark abruptly occupied an entire bubble, seemingly saying nothing, yet also saying everything.

Asleep?

Why didn’t you wait for me after evening self-study?

Are you abandoning me?

Next time I have a party, I won’t invite you.

Ten minutes passed, and there was still no movement. He glanced at the time: eleven o’clock.

Sleeping so early, what a little rascal.

Jiang Nian lay on his bed, opening Xu Qianqian’s profile card as if an emperor reviewing memorials. There wasn’t much information inside, only gender and nickname.

Fandou Huayuan’s Young Lady Zhuangzhuang’s Mom.

Damn, is Xu Qianqian’s naming sense that bad?

Her Moments were visible for three days. In Jiang Nian’s memory, Xu Qianqian hadn’t posted much on Moments. She occasionally posted on QQ Zone, mostly Forwardsome giveaways.

Type 1 to get gold.

He was too lazy to wait and planned to turn over and sleep. But he accidentally touched Xu Qianqian’s profile picture—that was the downside of setting a ten-minute screen timeout.

Buzz, 【You tapped Xu Qianqian’s Cyber Wooden Fish, Karma +1.】

Xu Qianqian: “?”

The owner finally appeared. Two question marks sandwiching a Cyber Wooden Fish tap had the air of a head-on confrontation; neither was willing to back down.

Jiang Nian typed a few keys, then suddenly lost the mood to ask.

“Nothing, going to sleep.”

A line appeared at the top of Xu Qianqian’s chat box: “The other party is typing.”

He glanced at his phone screen. Based on his years of understanding her, what would pop up would most likely be a “Hmm.” It was better not to look; he might as well just go to sleep.

Buzz, Jiang Nian turned over, ready to enter his daily yellow dreamland.

Buzz! Jiang Nian opened his eyes, a little speechless.

Did she need to send a perfunctory reply twice?

Buzz!!

Annoyed, Jiang Nian grabbed his phone from his leg on the bed. He unlocked the screen and saw that Xu Qianqian hadn’t sent “Hmm,” but instead a message: “I think I have a mouse at home.”

Then, two minutes later, “?”

Five minutes later, “Are you asleep?”

Jiang Nian scrolled through the messages word by word, a little impatient. Even a mud man has some temper. Isn’t she going to explain why she stood him up? Why didn’t she reply earlier?

But out of basic courtesy, and considering their relationship, he still replied warmly.

“I know you have a mouse at home, thank you, I’m not hungry yet.”

Xu Qianqian: “????”

“Your language is so niche. I mean, do you have any good solutions?”

Jiang Nian: “I do, actually. Listen carefully. Kneel on the ground, beg Grandpa Mouse not to scare you, then during the day, hang yourself with a rope outside the mouse hole.”

Xu Qianqian: “(Eye roll) What kind of cowardly talk is that? Say something human.”

He replied, “Kill it.”

“I can’t catch it; I don’t know where it’s hiding.” Xu Qianqian typed quickly, “I should have gotten a cat; it could help catch mice.”

He was about to say something bad about cats, but then he was afraid of being hit on the head by a TikTok fairy with a plate.

“Old Xu is so clean, a mild germaphobe; he can’t stand these things. Besides, if a cat catches a mouse, it’ll swallow the mouse whole right in front of you.”

“Stop, don’t gross me out.” Xu Qianqian sent a disgusted emoji, “Quick, help me think of a solution. I’m going crazy; Old Xu isn’t home.”

Jiang Nian slowly read the last few words of the message, hesitating for a moment.

“Never mind, never mind, your dad’s here.”

Xu Qianqian: “(Middle finger emoji).”

Jiang Nian rolled out of bed and crept out of his room, gently twisting open his front door and closing it just as quietly. The old door was in disrepair; as long as he moved slowly, it wouldn’t make a loud squeak.

Otherwise, late at night, oh dear ~ hmm ~

One might think someone was watching a movie with the speakers connected.

After closing his own door, Jiang Nian didn’t immediately knock on the door across the hall. He pulled out his phone and sent Xu Qianqian a message. The sound-activated light in the hallway didn’t come on, and the corridor was dark.

“I’m here.”

Soon, he saw a sliver of light emanating from under the door. A faint sound of slippers rubbing against the floor came, blocking a tiny bit of light, and then it was quiet.

Buzz! His phone lit up, a message flashed, sounding nervous.

“Are you really outside? Why no sound?”

Jiang Nian was speechless and edited a message to reply.

“Shall I sing you some yellow-haired rap then?”

Click, the sound of the door lock turning was exceptionally clear in the night. Immediately, the door opened a little, and the light from the living room desperately spilled out like threads.

Xu Qianqian and Jiang Nian exchanged glances. She visibly relaxed. Without speaking, she tilted her head, signaling him to come in quickly and not to dawdle.

Jiang Nian walked in and turned to see her carefully closing the door. Only when the door crack was completely sealed, without a sound, did she turn around.

Didn’t she say Old Xu wasn’t home? Why so careful?

Is this an undercover meeting?

She was wearing a thin white nightgown adorned with pink peach blossoms. Her hair was slightly loose, casually tied in a messy bun, and her lips were pink and moist.

“What are you looking at?”

“Looking at you.”

“You pervert, don’t stare. Hurry up and get to work.”

“No, I’m catching mice for you in the middle of the night, and this is your attitude?” Jiang Nian went to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of cola for himself, and entered self-service mode.

However, he was already used to Xu Qianqian’s demeanor, because he was usually just as uncouth.

They were a case of bad company corrupting good character.

Jiang Nian had no expectations of her; they both knew each other’s habits. When words don’t click, there’s no point in talking much. Better to chug a few sips of ice-cold cola first.