Chapter 409?

Zhang Ningzhi glanced at him, her brows furrowing.

She wanted to refuse him outright, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Hmph, we’ll see.”

“Huh?” Jiang Nian saw that her mouth could hang a thermos, guessing she was really angry, “Then I’ll ask you next class.”

He secretly thought it was just a matter of asking a bit more diligently; it wasn’t a big problem.

Besides, he hadn’t betrayed their friendship; he had just hugged the class monitor. Didn’t he often hug his’son’ in the hallway anyway?

Two classes passed in a flash, and it was the long break.

Jiang Nian skipped the exercise drill and treated Li Hua to a big hotpot of meatballs at the small canteen, as compensation for the bag of buns that morning.

He paid with the meal card Old Liu had given him, making it completely free.

During the exercise break, the canteen seemed spacious. Winter sunlight streamed in through the large windows, falling on the two bottles of drinks on the table.

“Nian, what was going on this morning?”

“What was going on?”

“Just… Zhang Ningzhi and the class monitor, they…” Li Hua gestured, knowing Jiang Nian would understand his meaning.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Nian put down his chopsticks and sighed.

“Hua, you wouldn’t understand. My life is like walking on thin ice. What should I do if I’m too popular with girls?”

“red stone, you’re lying!” Li Hua changed his question, “So, who do you like more, Zhang Ningzhi or the class monitor?”

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then said seriously.

“A man’s path forward is covered in frost; don’t get bogged down in romance. We are all good friends, and the college entrance exam is the priority.”

Li Hua was convinced, pointing at him with his chopsticks.

“Scum.”

“No kissing, no touching, and that makes me scum?” Jiang Nian bit into a meatball, giving Li Hua a rather speechless look.

“Hua, let me simulate life for you.”

“What?” Li Hua was baffled.

“Suppose you don’t interact with female classmates in your senior year of high school. Then, after your college entrance exam and entering university, you find that everyone has a Dao Companion after their Ascension.”

Jiang Nian looked at him, spreading his hands.

“So, what would you do then?”

Li Hua realized that what the dog-like fellow was saying might be true, and his Face immediately flushed, but he still didn’t want to lose Face.

“Can’t I find someone who hasn’t had a boyfriend?”

“Oh, so you want to date a New Game+ player?” Jiang Nian laughed, “What if she lies to you about going home for National Day, but she’s actually with her ex-boyfriend in a hotel?”

One sentence completely broke Li Hua’s defenses.

“Then I just won’t date, right?”

“Both your parents are civil servants; won’t they pressure you to get married?” Jiang Nian said unhurriedly, “Even if you go to a research institute, they’ll drag you out.”

“I just won’t get married!”

“It’s blind dates, bro.” Jiang Nian pointed at him with his chopsticks, “If you’re lucky, no bride price; if you’re not, it’s hard to say.”

“After all, this is Zhennan; anything can happen.”

A series of attacks and reinforcements left Li Hua stunned. He kept thinking about the scene Jiang Nian described, his lips trembling nonstop.

“Then… then I can only date in high school?”

“Then I wish you an early birth of a noble son, twins in one go.” Jiang Nian picked up a piece of tofu, “When I get married, I’ll have your children deliver flowers.”

“This isn’t good, that isn’t good!” Li Hua was a bit annoyed, looking up at Jiang Nian, “BYD, then what do you say I should do?”

Suddenly, a clear voice sounded in their ears.

“Senior!”

“It really is you, didn’t you do the exercise drill?” Lin Yuxi’s tone was surprised. She stood beside the two of them, pointing a white finger.

“Aha, you skipped the exercise drill! I’m going to report you!”

Damn it, Lin Yuxi was also a snitch.

“Don’t talk nonsense, I asked for leave.” Jiang Nian said, swallowing another piece of tofu, “Snitches who don’t eat, get out of the canteen!”

“I’m buying meatballs; my classmates are over there.” Lin Yuxi pointed in a certain direction.

Hearing this, Li Hua looked in the direction Lin Yuxi was pointing. The two first-year girls were also looking over here.

“This is my deskmate, Li Hua.” Jiang Nian handed his meal card to Lin Yuxi, “Buy your classmates’ meals and say Senior Li Hua is treating.”

“No…” Li Hua was stunned, but he didn’t know what to say.

Lin Yuxi didn’t lack the money, but she thought it was the first time her senior had spent money on her. So she happily took it, smiling as she left.

“Thanks.”

After Lin Yuxi left.

Li Hua’s Face turned red again, feeling as if ants were crawling all over him.

“No, why didn’t you just say you were treating? You had to drag me into it, you really are… What if they misunderstand?”

“Misunderstand what?”

Li Hua was a typical tsundere; he could dance the New Takarajima in front of boys, but not when he met pretty girls.

Jiang Nian didn’t feel much; he used to have a love-hate relationship with Tingzi over a hundred yuan of pocket money, and in the end, Tingzi would even give him money. So he had no filters for good-looking girls; if it didn’t work out, he’d just find someone else to play with.

“We don’t even know each other…” Li Hua stammered, “What if they think I’m very frivolous?”

“Didn’t you see, Lin Yuxi’s two classmates are quite pretty.” Jiang Nian lowered his head, “Since you don’t want to meet them, then forget it.”

Hearing this, Li Hua’s expression immediately became serious.

He recalled Lin Yuxi’s looks, and from a distance, her classmates also seemed genuinely pretty, and most importantly, they were young.

“I didn’t want to meet them; you’re talking like a pimp. But, I’m just curious if the first-year textbooks have been changed yet.”

Soon, Lin Yuxi came over with her classmates.

“Xixi, which senior made a bet with you?” Of the two girls, the bolder one asked curiously.

“This one, it nearly killed me to get Senior’s QQ.” Lin Yuxi pointed at Jiang Nian, who was engrossed in eating.

“That month, to get into the 840 club, I stayed up late doing problems, and my skin got worse.”

Hearing this, the two girls giggled. Jiang Nian, however, just focused on eating, letting Li Hua stammer through the conversation the whole time.

The two girls thanked Li Hua and learned that he was an ace student from the Olympiad class. They added him on QQ, chatted for a while, and then prepared to leave.

“Senior, we’re leaving, bye.” Lin Yuxi waved.

“Alright.”

After they left, Jiang Nian took his meal card back from Li Hua’s hand.

“How was it?”

“Uh… didn’t perform well, a bit stammering.” Li Hua started acting again, wanting to smile but stiffening his Face, like a strongman.

“Hey, the junior girls are quite enthusiastic, huh?”

“Enthusiastic my ass, you faker!” Jiang Nian finished eating, almost spitting out a meatball, “So, do you have anything else you want to ask?”

“No more questions, what else is there to ask!” Li Hua waved his hand, “But don’t talk nonsense, my relationship with the junior girls is pure friendship.”

“Alright, today’s math class ends here.”

“Class representative, come here for a moment.”

As soon as the third period ended, almost half the class instantly emptied out. Especially the boys, who rushed downstairs with basketballs and footballs.

“Claim the court! Claim the court!”

“Old Ma Guojun, run!”

“Run your ass! You bastard Li Hua!”

Zhang Ningzhi was still in her seat, showing no intention of getting up. It seemed her ‘consideration’ wasn’t over yet, and she still had to wait.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and asked curiously.

“Are you feeling unwell today? If you can’t do strenuous exercise, then there’s no choice. I’ll just have to go with…” “You’re the one who’s unwell!” Zhang Ningzhi interrupted him indignantly, frowning and staring at him, “What are you trying to do?”

Liar!

Jiang Nian, unhurried, said honestly.

“I’ll just have to play soccer with Li Hua and the others, after all, these guys can’t do without me.”

Hearing this, Zhang Ningzhi became somewhat embarrassed instead.

She thought to herself that she had misunderstood him, having thought he was going to say he’d play badminton with the class monitor, and her Face involuntarily flushed slightly.

“Oh, oh, I see.”

“Why is your Face red?” Jiang Nian chuckled.

“None of your business!” Ningzhi immediately ran off to find Yao Beibei.

While talking to Yao Beibei, she glanced in Jiang Nian’s direction again. Seeing him talking to the class monitor, her Face flushed once more.

She was too embarrassed to do that again; it was too shameful.

“Then I’ll head down first; I’ll play a bit with Zhang Ningzhi.” Jiang Nian chatted with the class monitor for a few sentences, said goodbye, and prepared to leave.

Li Qingrong showed no reaction, nodding her head.

“Mm.”

After going downstairs, Jiang Nian met up with Zhang Ningzhi.

“Let’s play for a bit before the assembly.”

Zhang Ningzhi hummed in acknowledgment and walked down the stairs. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and asked Jiang Nian.

“You have a competition during evening self-study; will you still be able to finish the chemistry exam paper today?”

As his deskmate, she knew Jiang Nian had been busy improving his chemistry score recently.

“Hard to say.” Jiang Nian frowned, “If I don’t sleep at noon and squeeze out some time, I should be able to do two papers.”

“I… can I help you grade and correct them?” Zhang Ningzhi asked.

“Are you free?”

“Mm.”

“That’s great then; I’ll bring you a drink tonight.” Jiang Nian smiled, “Let’s not talk about that for now. After we’re dismissed, I want to go play some soccer.”

“Oh, alright.” Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips.

PE class was still the usual routine: assembly, running laps, exercises. Before dismissal, Jiang Nian greeted Liu Yang and the others.

“I’m going to play some badminton; I’ll be down in a bit.”

“Damn! You’re playing with a girl again!”

“You dog, kick him off the team!”

“Hey, you can’t say that.” Li Hua stepped in to mediate, “He’s not not playing soccer; he’s probably just playing for a bit and then he’ll come.”

As his words fell, Liu Yang, Ma Guojun, and Lin Dong all looked at Li Hua.

“BYD, you must have received benefits, right?”

“You dead gay, you must have made some shady deal!”

“Definitely, usually Li Hua, this old dog, curses the loudest. He must have gotten something good and isn’t saying anything. Let’s Aruba him later.”

After dismissal, Jiang Nian turned and left amidst Li Hua’s pig-like screams, carrying his badminton racket to find Zhang Ningzhi. “A bit noisy, huh.”

Over there, Zhang Ningzhi saw him coming. Her eyes immediately lit up, and then she jogged over. “Didn’t you say you were going to play soccer?”

“I got kicked out, so I’m playing some badminton.” Jiang Nian swung his racket, “I’ll go beg them on my knees later to let me rejoin the team.”

“Oh, oh, how pitiful.” Zhang Ningzhi’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled.

“Mm-hmm.” Jiang Nian stood to the side with his racket for a while, “It’s our turn now; just hit it however you like.”

“Okay!”

The badminton shuttlecock flew in the air, not with much force.

No matter what kind of shot Zhang Ningzhi hit, Jiang Nian could easily return it. He continuously fed her shots within her reachable range.

After playing for a while, Jiang Nian gradually increased the intensity. Zhang Ningzhi immediately ran back and forth, getting out of breath and coming off the court to rest.

Li Qingrong watched from the side for a while and then saw Zhang Ningzhi come off.

“Can I play?”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian looked at Zhang Ningzhi. Zhang Ningzhi’s Face flushed again, but fortunately, the flush from running covered her shyness.

She remembered the scene from morning self-study again, and her toes curled in embarrassment.

Why was he looking at her!

As if she was controlling him, and it wasn’t like she was!

“Y-yes, you can.” Zhang Ningzhi said, then held the thermos cup she brought, standing to the side, blowing on it and awkwardly drinking hot water.

Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong exchanged glances and grinned.

“You serve?”

Bang!

A sonic boom exploded in the air above the court again. Unlike the previous intensity, the shuttlecock cut a silver arc through the air.

After a back-and-forth, Li Qingrong leaped up for a smash.

Zhang Ningzhi stood by, carefully holding her thermos and watching.

After school.

Jiang Nian, after almost continuously rotating through a PE class, walked out of school with the flow of people, facing the cool sunlight overhead.

After playing a few rounds, he turned and went to the sports field.

The team members from his class were running and defending, practicing with great enthusiasm. But on closer inspection, several girls from the class were watching from the sidelines.

Damn it, these guys… they’re too real.

Of course, after Jiang Nian joined the game, the intensity on the court immediately increased significantly, and the others also ran out of breath.

Consequently, he received many blessings from his teammates.

He walked out of school and asked people for directions to the firewood rooms on the first floor near the teachers’ apartments. He didn’t mind if they were cheaper; no one was living in them anyway.

The first floors of the teachers’ apartments were all storage rooms. Some teachers would connect water and electricity and then rent them out to senior high school students or those taking a gap year.

For example, Luo Yong rented a house in the middle section of the teachers’ apartments.

Luo Yong stood under the sparse sycamore trees, scratching his Face awkwardly.

Last weekend, because he missed practice, Jiang Nian immediately kicked him out of the starting lineup, making him a substitute.

To say he wasn’t angry was impossible.

But after Class 3 defeated Class 1, Luo Yong yearned to play again. After all, if he was unlucky in love, he at least wanted to be lucky in battle once.

He also went to practice during the last PE class.

He didn’t expect Jiang Nian to look for him, saying he was looking for a house. This made him a bit tempted, as it was a good opportunity to talk about the starting lineup.

“Brother Nian, why did you suddenly think of renting a house?”

He originally wanted to use this to open up the conversation, but Jiang Nian’s one sentence blocked him.

“For sneaking around, what else?”

“Uh…” Luo Yong was stunned, thinking this was too direct. After a long pause, he managed to blurt out, “Alright, it’s human nature.”

He didn’t want to waste words, so he took Jiang Nian to look for a house.

“It’s already December; all the good houses have been rented out. The ones left now are either sublets or bad ones.”

“Not for living, just a place to watch videos.” Jiang Nian said casually, “Water and electricity are enough; a small place is fine too.”

He remembered the System task from the last hundredfold return, which was to earn a hundred yuan. The next time, it might be to earn five or six hundred, or even a thousand.

A hundred was nothing; he could complete it by asking people around him.

If it was a larger amount, it might involve hoarding goods. Anyway, he was going for the System’s benefits; getting it for free was also acceptable.

Renting a storage room was a good preparation.

Even if he didn’t use it, it wasn’t a loss, because the teachers’ apartments were not far from the senior high school building. Through the side gate of the basketball court, it was only two or three minutes away.

It would perfectly solve Chen Yunyun and the others’ problem of washing and drying their hair.

It wasn’t much trouble; a quick heater and two hair dryers would solve it, and they wouldn’t have to rush there every time after class.