Chapter 85 Li Hua Didn’t Come

Xiaolongtan Village, the night wind was slightly cool.

On the second-floor balcony of his self-built house in his hometown, Director Xu hesitated for a moment after hearing the words.

“You mean practice driving before the college entrance exam?”

“Eighteen years old, not practicing driving?” Jiang Nian leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands, “I don’t want to practice during summer vacation. I plan to go have fun after the college entrance exam.”

“Three months of summer vacation, I don’t want to be miserable squatting under the sun practicing driving.”

Old Xu put down his teacup and actually thought about it carefully.

“Practicing driving now is indeed the off-season. There are many students in summer vacation, and many people return to their hometowns to practice driving during the New Year. But… if you practice driving now, what about your studies?”

Only Old Xu could say such a thing; if it were his own parents, they would have exploded by now.

“My grades are quite stable; my english is basically around 140 points.” Jiang Nian turned his head, seriously explaining, “My grades in other subjects are also relatively stable. Practicing driving and clocking in shouldn’t affect my grades.”

Old Xu glanced at him and dismissed him with a single sentence.

“What do your parents say?”

“Huh?” Jiang Nian was about to sweat little yellow beans again.

Sure enough, those who wear glasses are all scheming. Old Xu was just analyzing the possibility of practicing driving now. The next sentence was a direct critical hit, directly sealing his heart with cement.

What else could they say? Break his dog legs, of course.

Jiang Nian really wanted to say, ‘For the sake of me taking your daughter away, please help me!’

“How about this,” Director Xu offered him an out, suggesting, “Qianqian said you have a major joint exam at the end of this month, right? If you do well, I can consider it.”

“Alright.” Jiang Nian sighed.

It was indeed the off-season, and the registration fees were lower. But in a small county town, if you wanted convenience for driving practice, you either spent more money or had someone pull strings.

Jiang Nian didn’t want his parents to know, nor did he want to waste money.

He couldn’t speak for others, but he knew a bit about the idiotic instructors at driving schools. After a few drinks of horse piss at a student dinner in the evening, they could easily tell his story as a joke.

“Stupid high school student, spending four or five thousand more, comes to practice driving right after class.”

Around nine o’clock, Jiang Nian was ready to go home.

In Xiaolongtan Village, the two self-built houses were separated by a paddy field, about a hundred meters in a straight line.

Xu Qianqian went downstairs to see Jiang Nian off and lock the courtyard gate.

The night was as deep as water; his grandparents had already gone to bed, and everything was silent.

The light was on in the courtyard on the first floor. She was wearing a long-sleeved autumn pajama set for home. It was blue and white, and though the style seemed ordinary, it had a special charm when she wore it.

This was probably a case of ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ for a pervert.

After leaving the courtyard gate, Jiang Nian pulled out his motorcycle keys and waved his hand, saying,

“Alright, no need to see me off, go back.”

Xu Qianqian stood by the cement courtyard gate, the soft light falling on her head. Half-burnt incense sticks were stuck at the entrance, and there were a few clumps of withered weeds on the ground.

The half-torn Spring Festival couplet had long faded, with the words ‘Peace and Joy’ written on it.

She didn’t respond, looked back at the second floor, then turned her head and said,

“Hey, are you getting a driver’s license?”

“Yeah, why?” Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow, “Are you looking forward to riding in Big Brother’s big BMW? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely save you the passenger seat before I get a girlfriend.”

Xu Qianqian mused, “I heard that the probability of a novice driver having an accident…”

Jiang Nian’s face changed. He straddled his old motorcycle and drove off with a puttering sound.

At the same time, Zhennan Middle School, senior male dormitory.

North Gate, Building Five.

The dormitory building hadn’t turned off its lights yet. Lin Dong, the online dating brother, sat on the bed, replying to messages on his phone.

He had been involved in online dating since junior high school.

He still remembered the first time he used QQ, searching for users and using ‘drift bottles’ to filter by gender and age. He added ‘younger sisters’ from all over the world, eagerly awaiting their verification.

However, his first experience in life was inevitably awkward. He chatted with a girl with a pink penguin avatar for half a month. But one day when he logged on, her avatar never lit up again.

Another time, he couldn’t restrain the primordial power within him. He frantically asked girls for photos everywhere and was eventually fiercely criticized by a girl for being impolite and vulgar.

At that time, Lin Dong was still a pure and naive newcomer, and he immediately panicked. He apologized profusely and finally received her forgiveness, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

As time went on, his online chatting became more and more proficient. He no longer bothered to find ‘younger sisters’ to chat with by filtering users, drift bottles, public squares, or expansion groups.

Now, Momo, Soul, Yiguan, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Genshin Impact, and Honor of Kings had become his private fishing grounds, where he would occasionally reel in a few.

Lin Dong had at least five or six years of experience in online chatting. From his initial ignorant (naivety) to his current complete maturity, what great storms hadn’t he seen?

The most extreme time was almost dating his cousin. At the time, he didn’t know her identity. They chatted for over a month, reaching a critical point where they could send photos and joke about kkp.

Fortunately, he discovered the clue during the New Year and quickly slipped away.

Because of this, his cousin was sad for a long time.

Not just with Liuli, Lin Dong invested corresponding energy into every ambiguous relationship. Because perfunctoriness would be seen through; only sincerity could exchange for sincerity.

Was this not a form of pure love?

Therefore, Lin Dong would indeed feel regretful when this ambiguous online chat went wrong. But it wasn’t because he felt sorry for Liuli, but because he regretted wasting his time.

Can’t you raise black pigs in the mountains? Do you have to raise them remotely through your phone?

After five or six years of online chatting, Lin Dong was no longer the pure brother he once was. He understood better than anyone that online dating carried risks, and crashing was normal. Just kill, kill, kill!

He no longer felt sad for Liuli; now, a new hero was making an appearance.

Yaoyao!

“Studying is just my talent, but fishing is also my hobby.”

“Wow, you’re amazing.” Yaoyao sent an emoji with stars in her eyes, “In your fishing circle, are the fishing rods you play with very expensive?”

“Just so-so. Today I made do with a bamboo pole to fish.” Lin Dong sent a photo, “(Grinning) 【Image】.”

As soon as the message was sent, Lin Dong felt that the grinning emoji was too jarring. It looked a bit like “licking dog Cheng,” which was unlucky, so he proactively recalled it.

“Bamboo pole?” Yaoyao was typing, and sent a confused emoji, “You can fish with a bamboo pole?”

“Of course, fishing relies on skill, not tools.” Lin Dong replied calmly, “I usually use fishing rods too, but none are as handy as an ordinary bamboo pole.”

As soon as the message was sent, Lin Dong hastily exited and sent a message to Sun Zhicheng.

“Sun Zhicheng, take a picture of your dad’s luxurious fishing rod and send it to me.”

Sun Zhicheng was already annoyed, and seeing Lin Dong’s message made him even more annoyed.

Despite his annoyance, he still got up and walked to a corner of the living room, where his father Sun Jianguo’s equipment was kept. As soon as he pulled out his phone, he caught sight of that crude bamboo pole.

It was simply too eye-catching, with its rough craftsmanship and casually tied fishing line.

Unlucky!

Buzz, Lin Dong’s message came again.

“Brother, also take a picture of the fish your dad caught (grinning).”

Seeing this sentence, Sun Zhicheng really couldn’t hold back and immediately burst into curses.

“Your dad!”

After cursing Lin Dong, Sun Zhicheng then cursed Jiang Nian, knowing full well that he was showing off, yet he had to pull such a stunt. He must have known, he must have done it on purpose!

He must be laughing at me in private, probably gossiping about me in Li Hua and the others’ small group!

“Haha, that idiot called him ‘dad’!”

The more Sun Zhicheng thought, the angrier he got, and in a fit of anger, he swallowed it. Angering him had no consequences, and he didn’t dare to bring up this matter with Jiang Nian at all.

Speaking it out would put him in the wrong, so he might as well pretend not to know.

He almost pinched his nose as he moved Jiang Nian’s crude fishing rod aside, then took a photo and sent it to Lin Dong. As for the fish caught, he didn’t plan to send it.

“【Image】.”

(Lin Dong): “Brother, what about your dad’s fish? Send them to me.”

Sun Zhicheng was annoyed, “Gone.”

“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

Will it ever end! Lin Dong is a big idiot, always asking, asking, asking.

Sun Zhicheng scratched his head and replied through gritted teeth.

“I fucked them to death!”

Lin Dong was typing for three minutes, but in the end, nothing was sent. He suffered from network aphasia, threw out a “Bull, bull, bull” and then ran away.

The next day.

Jiang Nian woke up in a daze, frozen awake.

The temperature dropped sharply in the countryside at night. Last night, after showering and drying his hair, he chatted with Zhang Ningzhi. While chatting, he scrolled through Douyin and fell asleep without covering himself with anything.

Fortunately, his ‘little brother’ continuously provided heat, so he didn’t catch a cold, though his throat felt a little itchy.

Today was the day to return to school.

In the morning, there was no little chef to deliver food. Xu Qianqian told him that the whole family was going to the ancestral temple and the temple to worship, and she couldn’t reach him by phone, so she told him to drink some cold water to fill his stomach.

How thoughtful! She even knew to tell him to drink some cold water to fill his stomach.

As if afraid he might have even a sliver of a chance of coming back to life.

He had food in his bag, a few bottles of drinks, and a few tubs of instant noodles. Yesterday he ate at Xu Qianqian’s house, so they hadn’t been used. So he boiled some water and made do with a few mouthfuls.

The temple was too far, and he didn’t want to go, so he moved a well-worn bamboo chair to the top floor to sunbathe and play on his phone.

The top floor was actually the fourth floor of the self-built house, with only low walls and a large terrace for drying things, level with the treetops.

Standing there, one could overlook the entire village, with a clean two-lane road stretching from far to near. On both sides were yellow-green rice paddies, and in the distance were rolling green mountains.

The autumn sun was tranquil, golden sunlight falling on his face.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, took a photo, and sent it to Zhang Ningzhi. The Young Miss of Nanjiang Bay probably hadn’t seen this; the village still retained the custom of cooking with a traditional stove.

The Young Miss replied instantly, “(Wow)! Is this your hometown? It’s so beautiful.”

“Yeah, I’m sunbathing on the rooftop.”

“【Image】, the sports meeting is almost over, our class’s last competition.” Zhang Ningzhi sent a photo, “Oh right, Ma Guojun seemed to be angry yesterday.”

“Angry?” Jiang Nian was a bit surprised, and slowly typed, “Why?”

“I don’t know, he seemed to have thrown his book in the trash can.” Zhang Ningzhi sent a confused expression, “Oh right, Li Hua also took a leave of absence today, he didn’t come.”

Jiang Nian chuckled, probably guessing what happened.

“Have you finished your homework? I’ll be back early this afternoon, I’ll probably have to copy for two or three hours.”

Zhang Ningzhi was confused, “Will it take that long?”

“Some problems still need to be done, can’t copy everything.” Jiang Nian explained.

“Oh, okay.” Zhang Ningzhi sent a small yellow face emoji, “(Cute).”