Chapter 659: Extra: Childhood 16

Extra: Childhood 16

Coincidentally, a group member was browsing the market, took a screenshot of that transaction, and posted it in the group.

Comments unanimously mocked: 【This person must be burning money to spare—even investing in this kind of trash stock】

【Did this person invest so much they became the majority shareholder with 99% stake? How much did they invest?】

【I've never even come across this stock before; first time seeing it—You must be here to give away money】

【Haven't a few big shots analyzed this small-cap stock before? Truly befitting a newcomer, they didn't even bother to look】

【Exactly, that stock has no chance of turning around; I actually thought such a loss-making small-cap stock didn't even exist in the industry】

【Just wait and see the joke—doing this, they'll go bankrupt within a month】

【This account, a newcomer—I get it; lose once and you'll understand the market】

【I'll sit back and wait for the meltdown drama, I'll bookmark this first】

Jiang Liangjin blocked that group, so he didn't know anyone was talking about him; he only knew shay kept advising him.

He paid no attention, continuing to read the next financial report.

One month later, the company's patent transfer agreement was formally signed, acquired by M Guo's royal family, and the price increased more than tenfold.

When the news spread, the earlier mocking remarks vanished completely, replaced by a string of comments and private messages:

【What the heck!? Royal family?】

【Goodness, big shot, who are you? Can't you speak from your main account?】

【Just luck】

【Luck is part of strength!】

【Big shot, big shot, I was blind before—will you take me as your disciple?】

【Please, big shot, do a replay! How exactly did you spot the business opportunity from the obscure corners of the annual report? I want to learn!】

【Do you usually stay in this group? In the future, could you quietly bring us along when you pick stocks? We won't spread it around!】

【You're too low‑key! Can you share a bit of stock‑picking skill? Just following you to sip the soup will be enough!】

【Could it be only I suspect the big shot is an insider of the royal family?】

shay also sent a string of exclamation marks: 【How did you manage that? Did you already know the company would sign the agreement and be acquired? Do you have some insider info?! Are you a member of the royal family?】

The aloof Jiang Liangjin did not reply.

Those who didn't follow suit also began to regret—who said they couldn't last a month? They only needed one month to reverse the trend and double their returns!

Thus, the next time Jiang Liangjin made a move, the number of people following him clearly increased.

shay never knew the true gender and identity of the mysterious big shot You, could only blindly follow, and admired him immensely.

Forms of address were switched at will—You bro, You sis, big shot dad, and the like were all used.

The time they earned the most, they even called him godfather once.

On the first day of junior high, the five agreed to meet in the new classroom.

Lin Ning was the first to arrive among them, standing at the classroom door with medium‑long hair whose ends curled slightly, her innate chestnut brown tinged with a faint reddish hue.

She wore a white short‑sleeve top, a school uniform skirt, and a single‑shoulder bag, head down replying to a message; from afar she looked much neater than in elementary school.

As Yu Ci walked over from the other side, he held two unopened cups of milk tea, his 3‑to‑7 part hair flipped up, revealing a small patch of smooth skin on his forehead.

His height had shot up to about 1.7 meters, a loose black T‑shirt hanging loosely, he stood straight and tall—no longer like an elementary school student.

Yu Ci stepped closer and was stunned by her new hairstyle: "Wow, how did your hair get so short?"

Lin Ning proudly flicked her hair ends: "My sister took me to get it cut, saying she wanted a more spirited look—how is it, cool enough?"

Yu Ci tapped his chin: "Cool is cool, but why did your hair turn red? Did you dye it? I don't remember your hair being that red."

"What dye? It's natural—my hair has always been like this!"

Lin Ning put her hands on her hips, too lazy to say more, turned her gaze, and landed on the figure not far behind him.

Gu Xingnan had already stopped beside Yu Ci, standing more than half a head taller than him.

His formerly neat short hair had been grown out, the bangs at the nape covering the back of his neck, the sides slightly forward‑slanting, covering part of his ear contours—a typical M‑shaped bangs wolf‑tail style, making his features look more refined than before.

Lin Ning blurted out: "Xingnan, what's up with your hair?"

Gu Xingnan stepped forward, lifted a hand to push aside the bangs blocking his eyes, glanced sideways at Yu Ci, and said, "He did it for me."

Yu Ci passed the milk tea over, the corner of his mouth lifting: "How is it? Don't you feel a notch more handsome than before? No need to thank me—this is what I should do."

Lin Ning took the milk tea, gave Gu Xingnan a once‑over: "Not bad, but why did you let him do it? Is his taste reliable?"

"How is my taste not reliable?" Yu Ci protested, "Just look—this hairstyle suits him much better; that old short cut didn't match his personality and made him look like a little junior."

Gu Xingnan didn't respond.

Lin Ning clicked her tongue, glanced at him again, then turned to Yu Ci: "And your own hairstyle? Why not match his?"

"This is natural beauty," Yu Ci said confidently.

Just then, Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin walked over side by side.

"Ningning!" Mu Youyu called, wearing a light‑blue short‑sleeve shirt, hair tied in a high ponytail with princess‑cut bangs falling loose, her tone lively.

Jiang Liangjin walked at her side, backpack slung over one shoulder; at this age his height approached 1.8 meters, clearly a full head taller than her, making the size difference strikingly obvious.

Mu Youyu took Lin Ning's hand, noticed Gu Xingnan's hairstyle, her eyes flashing: "Yah, Ah‑nan, you changed your hairstyle?"

Jiang Liangjin glanced at him, surprised.

Gu Xingnan, stared at by all four at once, felt a bit uneasy: "Yeah, new semester, new hairstyle."

Lin Ning spread her hands.

Yu Ci poked his head out from behind, hands in pockets: "I cut it for him! How is it? Isn't he ten times more handsome than before? I told him, now that we're in junior high, we need a fresh vibe—can't keep looking like a good‑little kid."

Mu Youyu teased: "Now he's a cool kid."

Exactly! Yu Ci showed not the slightest embarrassment. "It looks much better than that buzz cut before—I'm telling you, my skill is good enough to open a shop."

Mu Youyu deliberately said, "Buzz cut? Xingnan used to keep a buzz cut?"

Jiang Liangjin echoed her, "Yeah, I still have photos of Xingnan from that time."

The five of them have taken quite a few group photos over these six years.

Gu Xingnan defended himself, "It's not a buzz cut, it's just a little shorter."

Yu Ci: "How is that just a little? Back then it made your face look like a boiled egg. Luckily it's grown back now, it'll surely astonish everyone."

Gu Xingnan closed his eyes, "Boiled egg is an insult."

Lin Ning clicked his tongue, "Don't scare everyone to death."

The five stood at the classroom door chatting for a while, and already quite a few people were standing in the hallway.

About half of them were classmates from elementary school for six years, and there were also a few unfamiliar faces.

Mu Youyu, afraid of blocking others, said first, "Let's go in first."

The seats in the classroom weren't fixed yet; after entering, several people tacitly chose the seats they usually sat in.

Not long after they sat down, the homeroom teacher walked in, still the same homeroom teacher from elementary school.

Lin Ning saw that stack of test papers and despondently closed his eyes.

After the homeroom teacher stood at the podium, considering there were still transfer students and class-transfer students in the class, he gave a brief self-introduction and then began organizing the placement test at the start of the term.

The school handles registration online; the first day you come to school is the start of the term.

Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin were accustomed to the placement test on the first day of school and came prepared.

Gu Xingnan was the same.

Yu Ci didn't care.

Only Lin Ning kept hoping, always thinking the first day of school would just be chatting to get familiar with the environment, no lessons or exams, so he only brought an empty backpack.

She sighed, "Youbao, lend me a pen."

Mu Youyu helplessly said, "You don't bring a pen again?"

"I'll definitely bring one next time."

"……"

On the day the placement test results came out, the first period was the homeroom teacher's Chinese class.

She walked into the classroom holding a stack of composition notebooks, set them down on the podium, and said, "This time's placement test, our class's overall Chinese score remains first, and the compositions are well written."

"Especially the compositions by Mu Youyu, Jiang Liangjin, Gu Xingnan, and Leng Anzhi—they're all well written, different styles, but all have ideas, worth everyone learning from."

"Especially those still relying on templates—it's best to switch writing styles as soon as possible."

A student responded, "Teacher, what do you mean by still relying on templates?"

The homeroom teacher glanced toward a certain direction in the back rows and said, "For example, some people write about soccer, from third grade of elementary school all the way to first year of middle school, each essay follows the same pattern."

Yu Ci felt a bit uneasy under the gaze, coughed, and turned a page of the newly distributed textbook.

Mu Youyu didn't notice that, only leaned close to her childhood friend and whispered, "Leng Anzhi? That name sounds quite nice."

Jiang Liangjin also heard it, though she hadn't paid much attention these days, "Probably a new transfer student."

Mu Youyu didn't say anything more.

"……"

The first period in the afternoon was information technology; after the new teacher came in, he clapped his hands and said, "Class, before we go to the computer lab for this lesson, let's chat a bit and ask: does anyone in the class know how to use a computer?"

Someone raised a hand, "Teacher, I know how to power on!"

The teacher chuckled, "Knowing how to power on doesn't count; let's try something harder—who can install a system? Who can check network configurations? Who can write a bit of code?"

No one responded.

A male student suddenly raised his hand, laughing brightly, "Teacher! Our class has a hidden hacker!"

Gu Xingnan's brow twitched, and he lowered his head.

Mu Youyu saw them pulling this stunt again, silently passed the exercise book to Jiang Liangjin, and said, "We're going to the computer lab later—quickly help me finish my exercise book, then you can do yours after I'm done."

Their calligraphy teacher is the same person, and Jiang Liangjin has gotten used to helping her write.

Plus, Mu Xi had said, "If you don't help her write, naturally some other little boys will volunteer to help her write," so he quickly took it and said, "Got it."

The teacher stared for a moment, "Hacker? No, we're doing normal teaching; you must have watched too many cartoons."

"Really, really." That person jerked his chin toward Gu Xingnan and said, "It's him—he wrote a hacker essay, and everyone in our class calls him the hacker."

The teacher raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and asked, "Who is it?"

The direction of the teasing unanimously turned toward the second-to-last row of the second group.

From the moment the teacher spoke, Yu Ci turned his head to look at Gu Xingnan, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

Gu Xingnan gazed levelly at the podium, his pen lightly turning once between his fingers, undisturbed by the surrounding gazes.

The teacher's gaze settled on his face, smiling as he asked, "Student, I heard you know hacking techniques?"

Keeping his skills close to his chest, Gu Xingnan shook his head, speaking righteously: "No, it's just hearsay."

Someone from the back added, "Teacher, don't listen to his modesty—he wrote an essay in third grade of elementary school titled 'My Country,' in which he said he wanted to be a hacker protecting the homeland; it was chosen as a model essay and even displayed school-wide!"

Yu Ci lay on the desk, secretly chuckling, "That was the only time; after that he never wrote such content again."

The teacher sighed, "Well, you still have quite the ideal."

Gu Xingnan: "……That's in the past."

Starting from third grade, the class had a composition lesson, requiring one essay per week.

Jiang Liangjin and Mu Youyu's essays became more and more literary.

Lin Ning normally writes whatever comes to mind, whether homework or exam, just filling it with plain language.

Meanwhile, Yu Ci used to slack off in elementary school, often copying paragraphs from the internet for his essays.

His favorite to write was a soccer piece—simple to template and easy to memorize… In reality, he actually doesn't know how to play soccer at all.

Speaking of Gu Xingnan, his hacker essay, although he wrote it only once, circulated the longest in the class.

After that, he acquired that nickname in class, and it stuck for three years.

A few people would occasionally tease him with that nickname in private, and each time he responded with that noncommittal expression.

「……」

The teacher smiled warmly, didn't press further, and said, "Having ideals is always a good thing! All right, everyone stand up and go to the computer lab; if you have any questions about the subsequent hands‑on practice, help each other out."

"Class monitor, class monitor, please help me!"

Yu Ci blocked him, saying, "Get lost, he still needs to help me!"

"The teacher said we should help each other."

"Oh oh oh oh, you can go now."

Mu Youyu raised her eyebrows, pulling Jiang Liangjin and Lin Ning ahead of them out the door.

The junior high curriculum is much richer than elementary school's.

Besides the main subjects and those required electives, there is a series of courses such as horseback riding, fencing, etiquette, public speaking, and golf that take turns.

These courses may look flashy, but they are in fact important arenas where students from various schools and prominent families compete; the covert rivalry among several schools has never ceased.

Mu Youyu picked a few subjects she was interested in, planning to skip any she didn't like and attend other classes instead.

Jiang Liangjin naturally accompanied her, spending the remaining half of his time being dragged by Jiang Su to sit in on company meetings to get familiar with the family business's operations.

However, during these sit‑ins his mind often wandered.

Lin Ning continued his carefree attitude—if a class could be slacked off, he wouldn't waste energy on it; if something could be settled with words, he wouldn't pick up a pen.

After Yu Ci almost fell off a horse in riding class, he bore a grudge against it, finding excuses to skip each weekly session or simply not showing up.

He then diverted his energy into various social activities, ostensibly to accumulate connections.

Gu Xingnan, meanwhile, quietly followed behind, his grades steady and his presence not insignificant.

The five of them spent less time together than before, not meeting in every class, but their relationship didn't drift apart; rather, as their individual activity circles expanded, they had even more to talk about.