Chapter 90: Watch Less School Days

“Jiang Nian! You’re secretly eating!” Yao Beibei gave Jiang Nian a light punch from behind.

He was eating a preserved vegetable pastry and chatting when he was suddenly ‘punished’ by a Rising Dragon Punch. He instinctively turned around, and a small piece of his preserved vegetable pastry was snatched away.

“Why did you two come down too?”

“To go to the office building to drain the water,” Yao Beibei said without any reservations.

Zhang Ningzhi, beside her, instantly blushed, regretting following Yao Beibei over.

When the two great ‘Yellow Kings’, male and female, met, Heaven knew what Heaven-Defying words they would utter.

Jiang Nian took the opportunity to introduce the two girls, “These are my friends, from my old class.”

It was just a brief encounter, no need to introduce names.

Then he briefly introduced them to Le Zhi, “This is my deskmate, and the other one is Huang Beibei.”

“My surname is Yao! You’re the one surnamed Huang!” Yao Beibei’s defenses broke.

“Oh, oh, I got them mixed up.”

“Mixed up my foot! You clearly did it on purpose!” Yao Beibei bickered noisily.

She bared her fangs and brandished her claws, snatching away the remaining half of the preserved vegetable pastry and sharing it with Zhang Ningzhi.

“Beibei.”

Zhang Ningzhi covered her face and pulled her away. Before leaving, she slipped Jiang Nian a box of strawberry-flavored milk with fruit bits, as compensation for Yao Beibei snatching the pastry.

Le Zhi watched from behind, stunned, “Is that Huang your girlfriend?”

“Watch less’School Days’, where would I get so many girlfriends?” Jiang Nian ate the last bite of his preserved vegetable pastry. “Let’s go, let’s go, it’s time for the math exam.”

“You have too many ‘ordinary’ classmates, don’t you?” Le Zhi followed him upstairs, thinking that the other girl seemed prettier, but that ‘Huang-something’ should have a better relationship with Jiang Nian.

“By the way, is Yu Tongjie in your class?”

“Yes, why?”

“Ah, nothing, just asking casually.” Le Zhi was too embarrassed to mention Yu Tongjie cursing at the dinner table, as he was also somewhat insulted. Seeing Jiang Nian’s reaction, he probably didn’t know about it, so there was no need to bring it up. It would only offend both Jiang Nian and Yu Tongjie, leaving him in a difficult position.

“Oh, oh, my relationship with him is average,” Jiang Nian used diplomatic language.

If it were before, he would have directly told Le Zhi, “Yu Tongjie is an idiot.” Now that their relationship had distanced, he had to be mindful of the impact.

They walked together to the third floor, then prepared to part ways.

As Jiang Nian was about to go upstairs, Xu Qianqian suddenly appeared in the hallway with Song Xiyun. Seeing the milk with fruit bits in Jiang Nian’s hand, she raised her hand and patted his shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“Give me thirty yuan,” Xu Qianqian extended her hand, her fair palm facing upwards. “I’m treating Xiyun to bibimbap for lunch, I’ll pay you back when I get home.”

Slurp, slurp, I really want to lick.

“Here’s fifty, no need to pay it back.” Jiang Nian pulled a fifty-yuan note from his pocket and slapped it into her hand.

Xu Qianqian: “That good?”

Seeing her pocket the money, Jiang Nian then continued.

…”Fifty doesn’t need to be repaid, just pay the one hundred yuan late fee. We support WeChat Pay, Alipay, cash, Q coins, and King’s Glory vouchers for settlement, darling.”

“Get lost!” Xu Qianqian pulled Song Xiyun away. “I’m not paying it back, just deduct it from my credit score.”

Le Zhi hadn’t walked far when he turned back, looking at this scene in bewilderment. He couldn’t help but lower his head and count his fingers, Jiang Nian’s words from downstairs echoing in his ears.

“Watch less’School Days’, where would I get so many girlfriends?”

Bro, how did moving up a class also give you a Japanese anime scenario! Alright, alright, so this is how you want to play? Wait for me, I’ll go to the kitchen and get you some good food!

Le Zhi watched Jiang Nian turn and go upstairs with the milk with fruit bits, then he also turned and returned to his class.

The math class representative had already gotten the test papers and was counting them at the podium.

After Le Zhi sat down, he inexplicably turned to look at Zhou Yuting. She had her hair in a low ponytail and was lieon her desk, memorizing vocabulary, looking completely oblivious to the world.

He thought to himself, this was the last chance to move up a class.

In terms of filling slots, Zhou Yuting probably couldn’t get into Jiang Nian’s class. But according to rumors, getting into the Olympiad Class 1 shouldn’t be a problem.

So, after all this, was he the only one left in a regular class?

He began to regret pulling out late, watching the blank test papers passed from front to back. He thought, if he had also studied during the summer, would he be now…

Class 403.

The first thing Jiang Nian did when he got the math test paper was to look at the last few major problems, and his face changed.

“Trigonometric functions, solid geometry, derivatives? How are there conic sections too! You motherf—”

Two weeks of hard study, and he was completely lost at the sight of derivatives. After finishing the first sub-question of conic sections, he could go back and write the second sub-question of solid geometry.

Which academic villain set these questions, you dog.

Putting everything else aside, Jiang Nian’s math was truly terrible. Generally, if one was good at math, their physics wouldn’t be bad either, and their comprehensive science score wouldn’t be too low, making it more than enough to get into a second-tier university.

Now, Jiang Nian had strengthened his humanities, but math and physics remained his weaknesses. He had indeed worked hard during this time, but one couldn’t become a big Ma Guojun in one bite.

He wrote everything he could, skipped what he couldn’t, and estimated at least thirty points deducted. After finishing the entire paper, he even had ten minutes left.

He turned to glance at the classmates around him, each with a different expression.

Some were writing furiously, some were looking left and right, scratching their heads. There were also those picking pimples, digging out raisins, biting pen caps, and staring blankly at the blackboard.

Zhang Ningzhi seemed not to have finished; her math score was usually above 120-130, and she was still writing furiously. Yao Beibei was also at a 120-130 level, but she was in the corner, out of sight.

Ma Guojun was also still writing, the big Ma Guojun huddled up. His face was flushed, his mouth moving rapidly, probably cursing the parents of the person who set the exam.

His hands on the desk looked like Doraemon’s bun-hands.

What about Li Hua?

Holy cow, he was still using a pen refill to dig holes, what kind of Li Shenke’s Redemption! This guy probably finished the paper long ago, at least scoring over 140.

In this small group, Jiang Nian was the best at English, and also the worst at math.

He was hurt.

He turned to look at Li Qingrong beside him; the class monitor seemed to be double-checking her answers. She looked so good when she was serious, slurp, slurp, never mind, this is the class monitor.

It would be troublesome if he got caught later, so it’s better to maintain a proper attitude.

Hmm?

Where was the little bear hair tie that tempted Qianbao? He still wanted to include this’scumbag item’ in his campus gift wholesale warehouse, to buy more of them to give away later.

As for boys giving gifts, it was too gay. If you gave sneakers, they’d think you were after his butt. If you gave an RTX 4080, they’d think you not only wanted his butt but also wanted to be his dad.

So usually, it was shared drinks, or some food, at most a game skin or QQ membership.

After staring for a while, Li Qingrong put down her pen.

Oh, finished checking?

Ring, ring, ring, the dismissal bell rang.

The test papers began to be passed forward in an orderly manner. Jiang Nian’s paper was a mess. But he estimated he might barely get around 110, which was still not bad.

Li Qingrong was still tidying her desk, a thin soft exam pad. A few pens were in a transparent pencil case, with a small yellow flower printed on it.

Jiang Nian paused for a moment, hesitated, then asked curiously.

“Class monitor, where’s your little bear hair tie?”

Li Qingrong heard this, glanced at him, and said with downcast eyes.

“It fell.”

“Oh, oh, what a pity, it was quite nice-looking.” Jiang Nian touched his neck and left, carrying his transparent mesh exam bag.

The cafeteria waits for no one; it gets packed in minutes.

He was eating again, a lone wolf always manages to eat.

Jiang Nian returned from the cafeteria, the sunlight in the hallway was warm, like the arm of a beautiful woman.

He had two hours for lunch break, and he still had to do half a math paper. He had to practice more if he was bad at it. He first went to the toilet at the end of the hallway to drain the water, then bent down at the sink to wash his face.

It was autumn recently, and the temperature was suitable; one layer of clothing wasn’t cold, two weren’t hot.

He guessed it would probably get colder in another week.

His face was wet. When he returned to the classroom, there weren’t many people; a few boarding students were doing homework. Day students usually chose to go home, and most boarding students also chose to nap in their dorms.

As Jiang Nian entered, he saw Chen Yunyun and her group of boarding students chatting. Wang Yuhe was always beside her. She seemed to be doing homework, occasionally looking up to join the conversation.

“Are we going home this weekend?” Chen Yunyun leaned on the desk and asked, glancing at Jiang Nian returning to his seat, then withdrawing her gaze.

“Hey, are you guys going back?”

A girl said, “I also want to go home to get clothes, but it takes two hours to get home, plus all the travel, it’s at least seven hours round trip.”

“Ah, where are you from, that far?” Wang Yuhe asked curiously.

“Longkou Town, on the edge of Zhennan County,” the girl said helplessly. “Our home is on the edge of Longkou Town; if you walk a bit further, you’ll reach the next county.”

“That’s really far, too much trouble to go back and forth.” Chen Yunyun sighed, then asked, “Chai Muying, you don’t seem to have brought a quilt, do you?”

“No, it was inconvenient to bring in the summer, and the bus was so crowded when I came.” Chai Muying was almost in tears. “I originally planned to bring it during the National Day holiday, but I had too much fun during the holiday and forgot it when I came back.”

“It’s okay, you can ask your dad to find someone to bring it along the way,” Chen Yunyun comforted her. “Or go back at the end of the month, there should be a day off then.”

“If worst comes to worst, I brought an extra school uniform jacket. If it gets cold, you can borrow it.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, we’re all in the same dorm.” Chen Yunyun patted her; girls in science classes were generally more generous. “My home is in Yunmu Town, it only takes an hour to get there.”

“If the temperature drops too much, I’ll just go back and get my quilt.”

“It shouldn’t, right? It’s mid-October now, it won’t get cold until early next month,” Wang Yuhe looked up and said. “If it does get cold, I’ll go back. We can share a quilt.”

Jiang Nian was pretending to do a mock test in the front row by the window, but he was secretly enjoying listening. What kind of intersection where lilies bloom, squeezing into a small bed to sleep? Keep going, keep going, let me listen.

Unfortunately, the three girls stopped talking about that topic and switched to celebrity gossip. The joy of eavesdropping was gone, making Jiang Nian feel instantly bored.

Luckily, a few minutes later, a short boy returned after eating, bringing the topic back to the temperature drop and bringing quilts.

As they chatted, the guy paused for a moment and instinctively asked.

“That bed is so small, how can two people sleep in it?”

Brother, you are a god!

“Hmph, girls certainly can.” Chen Yunyun scoffed. “Do you think we like to sleep sprawled out like you boys? We can just hug and squeeze in.”

Jiang Nian’s lips curled up. Good to hear, love to hear it, tell me more.

“Who sleeps sprawled out?” The boy, named Luo Yong, was short and always stood in the front row during physical education class. “Although I don’t live in the dorm, I never used to sleep like that.”

“You don’t board anymore?”

“My parents helped me with the procedures to be a day student, and the homeroom teacher agreed,” Luo Yong said proudly, showing off. “I live alone every day, it’s super comfortable.”

“I’m so envious, I also want to move out with Yuhe,” Chen Yunyun complained. “There’s no hot water in the dorm, you have to queue for the toilet, and the space is small.”

“Don’t day student procedures require parents to accompany their child?” Wang Yuhe found a blind spot and asked curiously, “Luo Yong, do your parents live with you too?”

“Of course not, my parents went to Guangdong after finishing the procedures,” Luo Yong said smugly. “My dad and them don’t have time to accompany me; they definitely need to earn money.”

“That’s great, living alone.” Chen Yunyun again expressed envy.

Jiang Nian also nodded silently upon hearing this. Living alone, he could game until dawn during holidays. A free bird, a lonely island, Brother Yong was also enjoying it.

Besides the expensive rent and utilities, and using a lot of tissues, there were still many benefits.

For example, his phone could be charged anytime, he could nap at his rented place at noon. He slept alone at night, with freedom over lights and sleep time.

He didn’t have to worry about roommates making noise in the morning, and there was an unlimited supply of hot water for showering.

Renting outside school, as long as he got permission under the guise of parents accompanying him, it was fine. The school didn’t bother to manage how it was actually operated, not even asking.

Wu Jun’gu, from the same study group, had told Jiang Nian these things when he was complaining. The homeroom teacher, Old Liu, was very dissatisfied with his transfer to boarding school.

From his tone, this matter might not succeed. So Wu Jun’gu made two preparations: if transferring to boarding didn’t work, he would just rent outside school.

The value of a couple renting outside school goes without saying.

For this, Wu Jun’gu had specifically instructed Jiang Nian to keep it a secret. Jiang Nian immediately declared that his mouth was harder than iron and he would never reveal a single word.

But then again, renting now. There were obviously not many housing options left; all the good houses were picked out in August and September.

There were quite a few fourth-year repeat students this year, mostly humanities students who were stabbed in the back by the score line and dropped out. With tuition fees of twenty to thirty thousand for third-tier universities, they all chose to start over.

As a result, rental housing near the school was tight. The small self-built village near the main gate was basically full of students from the third and fourth years of high school.

Next were the faculty and staff dorms at the west gate of the school, or the migrant worker apartments near the north gate. Renting alone or finding someone to share was a good option.

One could only say that the gentle and refined Brother Jun was too dedicated, completely inconsistent with his herbivore-like appearance.

He probably wanted to become a Wolf King and eat the plumpness of Monday first.

Alas, a friend’s gain also makes one’s defenses break.

Just as he was thinking, he looked up and found Chen Yunyun sitting in front of his seat again. She straddled the chair, facing him, and smiled at him.

“Jiang Nian, why do you always eat at school?”

“What’s wrong with that? Can’t I like the school auntie’s cooking?” Jiang Nian propped himself up and started joking again. “Why don’t you rent outside school?”

Chen Yunyun glanced in Luo Yong’s direction, her expression strange, and quickly whispered,

“Why would I rent? Is it to waste money?”