Chapter 95 Heavy Rain, Dormitory Night Talk

There were too many people in the evening self-study, and the hallway was like a sardine can.

Jiang Nian didn’t have time to look much, so he casually closed the task panel. He slowly went downstairs with the crowd, and in the third-floor corridor, Xu Qianqian was already waiting.

She stood there with her bag, a neat high ponytail, and fair cheeks. The thin school uniform jacket wrapped around her graceful figure, and people occasionally turned to look at her.

“Jiang Nian, I’m not paying you back your money.”

“Why not?”

“Talking about money between us hurts our feelings. I’ve decided to give you a ‘Mathematics 5.3’ instead.”

“Xu Qianqian,” Jiang Nian’s mouth twitched slightly, and he reached out to grab her, “Come here, big brother has something good to show you.”

She dodged, turning directly to run towards her classroom.

“What are you doing, you pervert! I’ll tell Aunt Li!”

The two chased and played at the entrance of Class 3 for a while.

Xu Qianqian was panting, her face inexplicably flushed in a way that could be easily misunderstood. When she noticed a certain person’s unhealthy gaze, she promptly called for a timeout.

“It’s not fair, my bag is heavier.”

“Let’s just drop it then,” Jiang Nian suggested, as getting home was more important.

“Alright.”

Whether it was a misconception or not, Jiang Nian felt that ever since Xu Qianqian returned from her hometown, she seemed to have become a little more cheerful, not so…

Although she wasn’t gloomy before, at seventeen or eighteen, her heart was always active. But before, she would only get agitated when Jiang Nian provoked her.

A catfish childhood friend and a sardine childhood sweetheart.

Roughly that’s the meaning.

Now, the inactive sardine seemed to be evolving towards a Gyarados. But that’s good too; it’s no fun being cooped up all day long.

Campus life is inherently dull and demanding; the ivory tower is too high, without an eight-level gale. Most of the time, one can only find joy in suffering, catching a breath in between self-study sessions.

Like a goldfish that accidentally enters a dream, it blows a bubble and then leaves.

On the way, on the street home.

Jiang Nian looked up at the night sky, “It’s not really going to pour tonight, is it?”

“Hmm, I heard the temperature is going to drop.” Xu Qianqian tightened her backpack straps and quickened her pace, “When the power went out in our class, some boys almost got into a fight.”

“Why?”

“It seemed to be about shining flashlights in each other’s eyes or something; it was pretty boring anyway,” Xu Qianqian said, “But they didn’t actually fight, and we got dismissed early in the end.”

“Are there no couples in your class?” Jiang Nian caught up, turning the street corner, “The hallway outside is full of couples holding hands, and even secretly kissing. Even top students are so open-minded.”

“Why are you telling me? I didn’t even leave the classroom!” Xu Qianqian was speechless.

Almost home, a muffled thunder rolled through the night, and large drops of autumn rain began to fall from the sky. Only half a minute passed from the first drop to a dense downpour.

The two rushed through the old alley, neither giving way to the other.

“Wait for me!”

“No waiting, my shorts are getting soaked.”

Jiang Nian crashed into the dark stairwell, and the orange light immediately flickered on in surprise. Xu Qianqian followed closely, tumbling into the stairwell, and was steadied by Jiang Nian.

“It’s all your fault, I’m completely soaked,” she complained.

“What the heck, are you being reasonable? Is it my fault you have short legs?” Jiang Nian shook his wet hair; a draft in the stairwell carried a faint smell of rain.

“Long legs are great, aren’t they? You walk like you’re having a fit.” Xu Qianqian snorted, “Why isn’t it your fault? I told you to walk faster, but you just had to drag your feet.”

“Alright, you’re amazing.” Jiang Nian’s eyes were busy looking up and down, his mind a bit slow to process.

Although her school uniform jacket acted as a Seal on her figure, her wet hair hung with raindrops. Her eyes seemed even clearer, and her pink, moist lips looked appetizing.

Slurp, slurp.

The neighbor has rain—oh, no, the neighbor has a girl who has just grown up.

Xu Qianqian also noticed a certain person’s gaze, took a step back, and said cautiously.

“Has anyone ever told you…”

“Handsome?”

“Pervert.”

Xu Qianqian really wanted to ask if he was always such a pervert in class, but she didn’t say it. She scurried up a few steps, passed Jiang Nian, and went upstairs with her backpack.

Her backpack contained photocopied Golden Sun math papers, more precious than Jiang Nian’s life, and couldn’t get wet.

She heard footsteps behind her and, for the first time, felt a current run down her spine. When she reached the top of the stairs in one breath, she squinted back for a look.

She only saw Jiang Nian’s slender neck, his short-sleeved shirt clinging to his body, wet. His chiseled collarbones and the outline of his firm muscles were fully visible.

She inexplicably remembered the fireworks in the dark a few days ago and couldn’t help but call out to him.

“Jiang Nian.”

“Hmm?”

“I have a gift for you. You… you close your eyes first.” Xu Qianqian suddenly became shy, a blush appearing on her face, unnatural for a young girl.

Jiang Nian’s heart skipped a beat, secretly thinking, ‘Isn’t this a mature light novel trope? Is it really going to happen to me?’

A wet, rainy day, what a dramatic development!

“Ah, okay.” He swallowed.

Xu Qianqian’s face grew redder, and she said softly.

“You have to keep this a secret; you can’t tell anyone. It’s my first time too.”

“My mouth is tighter than industrial glue, don’t worry,” Jiang Nian nodded, then added, “Can I make a request? I want to keep my eyes open.”

“Alright, I guess.” Xu Qianqian pulled out a set of Golden Sun math papers from her backpack, her small face serious, “If you score poorly in the future, I hope you won’t expose your teacher.”

Jiang Nian froze, mechanically taking the ink-scented papers. He glanced at the densely packed pages, ‘Given set A = { },’ it really was a test paper!

“May I ask, the gift you mentioned…”

“Yes, our teacher gave it to me. Remember to keep it a secret,” Xu Qianqian nodded, instructing, “I hope you can turn over a new leaf and strive to be a new youth of our era.”

“No, you… Xu Qianqian.” Jiang Nian’s anime protagonist dream was shattered, “You’re so positive, it’s making me a bit awkward.”

It still has to be Chinese youth; Golden Sun shatters the gentle daydream with one punch.

Zhennan Middle School, North District Dormitory Building.

Girls’ Dormitory Building 2.

With a few thumps, Wang Yuhe hurried into the dormitory building corridor carrying two-thirds of a bucket of hot water. Her hair and clothes inevitably got wet, and she secretly cursed her bad luck.

She couldn’t dry her hair if she washed it tonight, so she would have to find a way to wipe it dry.

With only fifty seconds left until lights out, the dormitory corridor was still full of people. She expressionlessly carried a bucket of water, effortlessly going upstairs with the flow of people.

Girls’ strength wasn’t small either; every time she saw girls who couldn’t lift a quarter of a bucket of water, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Wang Yuhe estimated that if it were a full bucket of water, she might only be able to carry it in one go to between the second and third floors before needing a rest, especially since her dorm was on the fifth floor.

Halfway up the stairs with the water, the dormitory building lights suddenly went out, and a chorus of girls’ curses immediately erupted in the hallway.

“The dorm manager is an idiot!”

“Exactly! Don’t they know it’s pouring rain, and they can’t even delay a few minutes!”

“Damn it, I’m fed up.”

Wang Yuhe took the opportunity to rest on the third floor and then Broke through her own limits. She felt her strength was similar to a boy’s; she could punch Dong Wensong to death.

Huh? Why Dong Wensong?

Because she also hated pretentious people.

After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Wang Yuhe continued to carry the bucket of water upstairs. She wondered if Chen Yunyun had returned to the dorm; she was responsible for filling two thermos bottles.

The hot water in the water room came in two temperatures; one row had warm tap water from the greenhouse area. How hot it was depended on luck, and boarding students would bring buckets to swipe their cards for water.

The other side had boiling water inside the water room, for filling thermos flasks. It also required swiping a card, and an old man sat there specifically to oversee it, costing three jiao per fill.

She went up to the fifth floor in one breath; the corridor was slippery and wet, with a strong smell of water. Passing by one dorm, the strong perfume smell made her nauseous.

Back in the dorm, she realized Chen Yunyun hadn’t returned yet.

Sure enough, when Chen Yunyun later came upstairs with the thermos bottles, she was completely drenched. Her hair was wet and stuck to her forehead, and she gave her roommates a sheepish smile.

“What heavy rain.”

“Here, use a towel to wipe yourself,” Wang Yuhe said, also wiping her hair.

Except for a few girls who had showered during the staggered times at noon and weren’t drenched, everyone else was pretty much in the same sorry state, changing clothes, wiping hair, and cleaning glasses.

Queuing for water always took a long time, so they usually took turns with a partner.

“Okay.”

Chen Yunyun took off her wet school uniform jacket and casually pulled off her pants. Her oversized short-sleeved shirt just covered her upper thighs like a nightgown.

High school girls wouldn’t walk around in just a bra; the upper body was more important than the lower. For a high school girl, wearing only a bra on top was no different from streaking.

Even if they didn’t wear one in summer, they would still put on a small camisole over it.

One or two girls from the adjacent dorm came to visit, and the dorm atmosphere became lively again.

Someone opened their bed desk and took out a small desk lamp and homework.

When it was the two girls’ turn to shower, Chen Yunyun took out a pink bucket from the balcony. She also pulled out a mysterious small basin and a pack of tissues.

The two girls tacitly divided one bucket of water in half, leaving a little water in the thermos bottle to be further divided later.

In the cramped, private bathroom, they were almost done showering.

Wang Yuhe suddenly said, “Yunyun.”

“Hmm?”

“When I went upstairs, I had another Breakthrough. I feel like I could punch Dong Wensong to death.”

Chen Yunyun praised, “Amazing, amazing. I estimate I’d need one and a half punches. One punch probably wouldn’t kill him; I’d have to follow up with another.”

“Then you need to work hard; there’s only one year of senior high left,” Wang Yuhe said, “I heard universities have private bathrooms and you don’t need to carry hot water, but Northern universities don’t seem to have them.”

“Then I’ll apply to a university in the south. I want to get into Luda.”

On the bathroom windowsill, a flashlight stood upright. Its faint light was flickering, like a corpse about to breathe its last, only providing dim illumination.

“The flashlight needs charging; take it to the classroom tomorrow, shall we?” Wang Yuhe suggested.

“Okay.”

After the sparse and trivial daily routines, the two girls, having washed their clothes, didn’t wash their hair for fear it wouldn’t dry by midnight. After drying it with an absorbent towel, they used a small electric fan to blow their hair.

Like drying noodles, their hair hung draped over the iron railing of the bed.

At this point, a high school girl’s day came to an end. The poor dormitory environment was long accustomed to, and even a tight schedule allowed for some fragmented time.

At midnight, the girls in Dorm 512 successively put away their small desk lamps and homework. One person was still writing a test paper, and only a night light remained in the dorm.

“I think the dorm manager is so mean.”

One sentence led to another, and the seven girls in the dorm began to complain. They chattered back and forth, and after confirming that no one was sleepy, the topic expanded to all sorts of things.

“There’s a boy on the third floor who’s so handsome, I wonder which class he’s in. He’s so handsome, he must have a girlfriend, right? The thought of someone shaking his rod just breaks my heart.”

“Holy crap!!! You…”

“Pervert, that’s so cringe!”

“Exactly, I really want to record what she just said and play it on a loop on the campus radio station.”

“Hey, have you noticed that the water card is deducting money faster and faster?”

“I’ve noticed, it seems like the price has gone up.”

“It’s outrageous, this black-hearted school!”

Outside, the rain poured down, a sound accompanying sleep. Yet no one in the girls’ dorm was sleepy; they were all exceptionally excited, beginning to discuss their life ideals.

Ex-boyfriends, junior high romantic experiences, talking about friends’ relationships.

They analyzed the pure love of two boys with reason and evidence, and the entire dorm participated. They finally concluded that these two boys must be gay.

Talking and talking, they got to graduation next year, and a few of them started to feel sentimental again. They complained about how painful senior year was, why time passed so slowly, and how cute Xi Bao was.

“The biology teacher is also quite pretty, but she’s too serious in class. I’ve decided to call her Qing Bao.”

“Not as cute as Xi Bao. Last time I passed the office, I saw her secretly eating snacks. Hahaha, do you know how funny that scene was?”

“Hey, during the power outage in my evening self-study, I heard Sun Zhicheng confess to Yunyun.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t hear it,” Chen Yunyun said, “We’re in the same group, what else could happen? Seeing him every day almost makes me sick. Do you like…?”

“Don’t mention me, I didn’t bring it up.”

“I know, Yunyun likes to play with Jiang Nian.” In the darkness, a girl mischievously brought this up, and someone else added, “You don’t like him, do you?”

“No way! We just chat,” Chen Yunyun retorted, “I chat with a lot of boys in class. With so many people, wouldn’t I like too many people?”

“What about Sun Zhicheng? Hahaha.”

“Get lost!” Chen Yunyun immediately denied it, explaining, “I just think Jiang Nian is interesting to talk to; we just chat casually.”

At this moment, Wang Yuhe, who spoke less, suddenly said.

“Zhang Ningzhi, from Jiang Nian’s group, is quite pretty.”

“Yes, people who live in Nanjiang Bay must be rich,” a girl chimed in, “Yao Beibei and her friends brought her along, right? She has a good personality.”

Chen Yunyun suddenly couldn’t say anything, feeling inexplicably sad for a while, then shook her head. She was overthinking; it was just casual chatting between friends.

The topic changed again, and Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe couldn’t help but gradually join in.

In the small dorm, low laughter was constant. Someone would always say, ‘No more talking, time to sleep, time to sleep,’ but time would still be dragged out, and after a moment of quiet, someone would always pop out a sentence.

Like scattered flames, passed around and exchanged, the roommates’ bond warmed up at this moment.

After a long while.

“Is everyone asleep?”

“Where were we just talking about?”

…Sleep.

“Anyway, I’m not giving birth.”

Chen Yunyun was in a daze, her eyelids growing heavier. Perhaps it was the late-night chat about Jiang Nian, or the scene of the power outage during evening self-study was too profound, for she saw Jiang Nian again in her dream.