Chapter 61 Changing Seats

At 12:15 PM, Jiang Nian returned from the cafeteria, a victor.

“We’re eating again, brothers!”

Jiang Nian turned and slipped into the convenience store next door, grabbing a large bottle of iced black tea. Drinking soda every day isn’t good for him, but his drinks had a certain probability of being quality-checked by Li Hua and Ma Guojun.

Even if he drank pee one day, Jiang Nian wouldn’t say anything; if they were going to die, they’d die together.

Under the shade of a tree, Jiang Nian took a sip of iced black tea without putting the bottle to his lips, drinking it from a distance.

“He’s too self-aware; he’s already become Quality Inspector Number One.”

As he lowered his head, he saw Zhou Haifei pass by. She was holding a book and seemed to be heading towards the shady area, and he wondered if she had eaten yet.

Jiang Nian paused, thinking, *Why would such a thought pop into my head?*

It was too absurd.

Going upstairs, when he passed the classroom for Class 4 on the third floor, he found it empty. He didn’t know where Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun had run off to.

Thinking about it, some of the express deliveries ordered yesterday, those with next-day delivery, should have arrived today.

Xu Qianqian’s phone was a pure tool bought on behalf of someone, a command from her father.

Song Xiyun’s piggy bank, to be honest, looked quite pretty; he’d have to give it to her when it arrived another day.

He also bought a small hair clip for Zhang Ningzhi.

“Oh, wow, so unfaithful.”

Actually, he wasn’t; it was just common courtesy.

Pure love on campus; he hadn’t even touched a hand. Because he had few friends, he paid more attention to social etiquette. Give and take, and relationships could last.

“Eating soft rice” was a joke; good friends needed to be well-maintained.

He carried the half-empty bottle of iced black tea upstairs into the classroom and placed it in a conspicuous spot on his desk. It was too awkward for a boy to give gifts, bordering on gay tendencies, so… self-service iced black tea it was.

In the classroom, he took out his math review book and started to slack off.

Jiang Nian had made a study plan. Since the diagnostic test was relatively simple, if converted to actual college entrance exam scores, his score should be around 510.

There were still seven months until the college entrance exam; with some effort, improving his score by sixty or seventy points wouldn’t be a problem.

He turned to look at the watch Li Hua hadn’t taken from the desk next to him: 12:30.

There were only a few people in the classroom; it was quiet, with large patches of sunlight streaming in through the windows.

The hot breeze was slightly dry; he could hear sporadic sounds of turning pages and coughing.

Someone in the class always had a cold, regardless of the season.

In the front row, by the window, a figure was hunched over a desk, looking at a novel on their phone, with the brightness set to the lowest.

The arrangement of their seats was roughly like this:

Jiang Nian sat in the middle of his row; to his left was a quiet girl named Huang Fang, and to his right was Li Hua. In the front row, Zhang Ningzhi was in front of Li Hua, and to her left were two boys.

The middle seat in the front row belonged to Wu Jun’gu, a day student, a very neat person.

It wasn’t that this guy was particularly handsome, but everything from his desk to his clothes was truly clean. He was quite honest, didn’t talk much, except for occasionally asking questions. His daily routine was studying, and in the evening self-study, he would go home with his girlfriend from the next class.

The person reading the novel in the innermost seat by the window was named Zeng You, a boarding student, who read novels and played games oblivious to the world.

His usual test scores were in the lower-middle range of the class, occasionally upper-middle, like an emperor in the making.

These six people together formed the sixth group in the class. They changed seats once a week, with the entire group moving forward.

Seats within the group could be changed freely, as long as it wasn’t too excessive.

To be honest, Jiang Nian had been in the new class for almost two weeks, and he still hadn’t recognized everyone. He knew everyone in his group, and his relationship with the people in the rows in front and behind him was quite good.

Although he was curious about what novel Zeng You was reading, he didn’t know him well enough to disturb him.

Some people were naturally smart; they could play games and read novels and still easily score over 500 points. In a parallel class, they would be considered a boss, incredibly impressive.

Zeng You, by the curtain, seemed to sense something, turned around, and gave Jiang Nian an honest smile.

“Jiang Nian, you’ll be happy this afternoon.”

“What?” Jiang Nian was a bit confused by his words; the pen in his hand unconsciously twirled once, and he asked curiously, “Is it a holiday this afternoon?”

Zeng You had a low threshold for laughter; Jiang Nian’s words amused him, and he chuckled for half a minute.

“It’s Monday today. We’ll have a class meeting this afternoon and then change seats.”

“Riddler, get out of Group Six! If you say ‘those who know, know’ again, I’m going to lose it.”

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and replied with a magic spell.

“So what?”

Before and after the lunch break, there were only five or six people in the classroom. In Jiang Nian’s third group, there were only him and Zeng You, with someone in the very back of the classroom doing homework.

Zeng You was a bit frustrated by his words, feeling like a punch of “riddle power” had landed on cotton.

“Last week, I heard Zhang Ningzhi and Huang Fang discussing changing seats. Didn’t they tell you?”

Looking at Zeng You’s ambiguous smile, he seemed ready to gossip.

“So what?”

Zeng You’s smile froze, and he immediately lost interest and turned away. He had originally wanted to see Jiang Nian’s flustered look, but it was just a repeated phrase.

However, “So what?” was quite effective; he added it to his collection.

In the afternoon, the first class was a class meeting.

Before Zhang Ningzhi came into the classroom, Jiang Nian specifically looked up and glanced at her. Today’s lemonade was gone; she hadn’t bought it for him, so there was no reason for her to bring it.

That gaze falling on her, Zhang Ningzhi naturally noticed. She sat down nervously, then opened her book and began silently reciting, pretending not to see him.

Naturally covering up any abnormality, concealing all emotions that didn’t belong to studying.

Jiang Nian yawned, propped his head up, and continued to slowly work on math problems. He was just curious about the seat change. Was he going to be seatmates with Zhang Ningzhi?

Why didn’t anyone tell him? He was Qi-shakingly cold; weren’t boys’ opinions important?

Never mind, as long as Zhang Ningzhi hadn’t consulted with Guan Shengdi Jun, it was fine.

The class meeting was a bit boring. The homeroom teacher, Liu Liangsong, with his thinning hair, sat down in the classroom. It was the same old tune, repeated warnings, no phones allowed.

No dating, no playing with fire, water, or electricity.

“In our class, ah, there are relatively few people dating, ah, after all, it’s a science class, ah.” Liu Liangsong leaned his hands on the podium, surveying the class, “Here, I emphasize again, ah.”

“Senior year! It’s the hardest year of high school, ah, I believe everyone has experienced it. Ah, but, please cherish it well, this might be the most precious period of your lives.”

“When you graduate next year, ah, you’ll find, ah. Hmm, you’ll never find another time when an entire class has the same goal as you, days of pursuing something together.”

“Once you’re in college, you’ll have plenty of time to date; no one will care if you date seven or eight people at once. Don’t waste the most precious time of your life, ah, on romance, ah.”

“In the most difficult times, I hope everyone doesn’t fall behind. Ah, grit your teeth, persevere, study hard, and quickly catch up to the self that your parents, family, teachers, and friends have high hopes for.”

Old Liu was indeed a Chinese teacher; he spoke with such skill.

Zhang Ningzhi in the front row hung her head low, her face burning, feeling as if her inner thoughts were exposed to the sun.

Thanks to all the bosses for your monthly tickets and reward support. I don’t have much to do, so I’ll kowtow first.

Orz