Chapter 118: Everything

"How much is this cooling mat? Lower the price a bit."

Wu Jun Gu's face was numb; he lowered his head and haggled with the dorm convenience store owner.

His hands hung limp at his sides, his posture slack and utterly exhausted.

"Fifteen for this one, twenty for that one."

"I'll take the fifteen."

Wu Jun Gu paid, then turned and spotted Jiang Nian standing under Building Two.

After a moment's thought, he still walked over with his bucket and cooling mat to greet him.

"Jiang Nian."

"Huh."

Jiang Nian closed his task panel; he had just noticed Wu Jun Gu.

Checking tasks outside was too risky, and Chen Yunyun and the other girl from the dorm could come down any moment.

I'll find a quiet spot later and sneak a look.

This sounds way too much like a Taoist temple. Whatever, I'll enjoy it later.

"You waiting for someone?" Wu Jun Gu asked.

Their current state was strange, their appearance odd—two guys standing in front of the girls' dorm, drawing glances from nearly everyone passing by.

One looked decent-looking, the other carrying a bucket and a cooling mat?

Didn't the enrollment season end already?

"Yeah, waiting for Chen Yunyun and the others—we made plans to eat cold noodles and veg rolls together." Jiang Nian didn't need to uphold male virtue like Wu Jun Gu, so he made no effort to hide it.

"I see. That's nice," Wu Jun Gu murmured.

He envied Jiang Nian—being single was so much easier. You could hang out with whoever you wanted, live leisurely every day, and still have time for yourself.

Now he felt half-dead, constantly dizzy and foggy-headed. He had no interest in studying anymore; it felt like he was drifting farther and farther from normal Gao San life.

"You're—" Jiang Nian hesitated, sizing him up, "did you get approved for dorm residency?"

"Yeah, moved in today—into Ceng You's dorm."

"Oh~ Did you bring everything?" Jiang Nian glanced into his bucket—mostly shampoo, body wash, new Mao Jin— "Did you bring slippers?"

"Brought them."

"What about a pillow?"

"Ah, forgot to buy one—I'll get one later."

Just then, Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe came downstairs carrying thermoses—one blue, one pink. Seeing the two boys below, Chen Yunyun froze for a moment.

"Wu Jun Gu, are you bringing stuff to your girlfriend?"

"No, I'm switching to dorm residency." He felt embarrassed, perhaps because Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe were the kind of girls who stood out in every way.

Yeah—girls scoring above eighty, not some bitter guy's harsh rating, but a metaphor.

"Dorm residency?"

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe exchanged glances—they knew Yu Zhiyi had switched to dorm residency. After all, they'd been in the same class before; they hadn't expected Wu Jun Gu to follow suit.

Hard to judge.

"Where can I buy a pillow around here?" Jiang Nian spoke up, changing the subject. "Best if it's good value—didn't the convenience store monopolize it?"

"Oh no, not at all—ten meters north of the gate is a small convenience shop," Chen Yunyun pointed. "Their pillows are cheap and better quality."

"Twelve yuan—two more than Pinduoduo," Wang Yuhe added.

"Alright, thanks." Wu Jun Gu felt like he'd been pardoned and took the chance to escape. "I'll head back to the dorm—I'll buy one later."

The three watched Wu Jun Gu hurry off, waiting until he'd put some distance between them before speaking.

"Why is he moving into the dorms?" Chen Yunyun asked. "Is it because of his girlfriend? If so, that's just pathetic."

"Probably—so he can help carry water and stuff," Jiang Nian said, neutral.

"His girlfriend… Yu Zhiyi…" Wang Yuhe recalled, losing interest. "Can't even carry one bucket of water—why even move into the dorms?"

Jiang Nian replied casually, "Well, she's obviously not as strong as you."

Wang Yuhe immediately smiled, eyes half-closing, and emphasized:

"I can carry a full bucket up to the fourth floor."

In truth, she exaggerated slightly—she could manage the third floor plus a quarter of the fourth. Forcing it all the way to the fourth in one go, she'd likely collapse like a stray dog.

"Impressive, impressive—punches down teenage boys," Jiang Nian said.

"It's weird, isn't it? Giving up the easy life of commuting just to move into the dorms," Chen Yunyun took two steps forward, holding her thermos, then turned her head sideways.

"Jiang Nian, why don't you move into the dorms?"

"I do—I'll share your room?" Jiang Nian glanced at his phone, walking purely by instinct and peripheral vision. "I can volunteer my pillow and mat."

"Dream on, pervert," Chen Yunyun immediately stepped far away, then curiously asked, "What if it were Yu Zhiyi's room?"

This time, not just Jiang Nian, but Wang Yuhe also turned to look at her. Because of Yu Zhiyi's certain… qualities, none of them—not even Chen Yunyun herself—could keep a straight face.

"Yunyun, you—"

"Holy shit, you guys are all yellow-hairs."

"Delete it, delete it, don't leak it!" Chen Yunyun frantically typed fake censorship, forcing Wang Yuhe and Jiang Nian to forget. "I—I was just joking!"

Jiang Nian laughed—he loved people like this. The world where being single meant no one got hurt had been achieved.

Who got hurt? Oh~ Wu Jun Gu.

He ignored all that nonsense and followed Chen Yunyun and the others to place the thermoses. Along the edge of the cafeteria corridor, several rows of colorful thermoses already sat stacked.

"I'm curious—why don't you just fill them here and carry them back to the dorms later?" Jiang Nian asked.

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe both turned to look at him.

"Aren't you getting bored waiting?"

"No, go ahead."

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe swiped their cards together and entered the hot water room, which was in fact a massive boiler room, heating water entirely by coal.

On both sides, yellow-stained walls lined with hot water pipes; the two girls bent down, opened their thermoses, aligned them under the military-green faucet, then turned it open to hear a rumbling sound.

"Jiang Nian isn't so bad, is he?" Chen Yunyun suddenly said.

"Mm."

As the two girls carried their thermoses out, they happened to see Jiang Nian still standing there playing with his phone; their hearts warmed involuntarily—this guy really was considerate.

Until they saw him sneak a glance toward the girls' dormitory balcony.

"Pfft! Pervert!"

"Hey hey hey, how can you slander my reputation?" Jiang Nian stuck out his neck. "You two are going too far—why are you looking at me like I'm trash?"

"Oh? So you were waiting for us just to sneak peeks?"

"Stop it—I already said it was a misunderstanding."

"The boys' dorm is right over there—why don't you go watch the guys' underwear?"

"Don't I have my own?"

The three bickered their way out the north gate, where a rough, gritty atmosphere immediately hit them. Tangled wires crisscrossed the sky; ahead lay dark alleys between tightly packed buildings.

Rare to see—Zhennan had its own tightly packed buildings too.

"Those two buildings are shared rental apartments; lots of Gao San and Gao Si repeaters live there together," Chen Yunyun introduced the two buildings whose plaster had completely peeled off.

"How much per month?" Jiang Nian asked curiously.

"Two or three hundred."

"You know so much—you're like Zhennan's encyclopedia, Chen Yunyun."

"Pfft, I have lots of friends—what's strange about that?"

Jiang Nian nodded. "That's good. I don't have many friends—I'll just ask you next time."

"OJ, good luck and prosperity, best friend—no problem."

"Ha, you were clearly about to say that word just now—downer girl!"

The three squeezed out of the dark alley and reached a street-side tricycle stall. A circle of students already surrounded it—perfect advertising.

"Jiang Nian, what filling do you want? I'll buy it for you."

"Same as yours. Do you two want the same thing?" Jiang Nian glanced again at his task panel. "If you two pick different ones, then get one of each."

"Oh oh."

After buying them, the three walked back while eating, discussing why these vegetable rolls were sold only at the north gate, and reached a conclusion.

Day students, the young masters and young misses types, don't like this stuff.

Jiang Nian got accidentally insulted, but he didn't care at all. He wolfed down the vegetable roll in three bites, then stood beneath Building Two waiting for them to carry the thermoses upstairs.

But under Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe's strong insistence, Jiang Nian was ordered to turn around, his back to the girls' dormitory.

Damn, what do you think I am?

You really know people well.

With nothing else to do, Jiang Nian opened his task panel, estimating the two would dawdle a while. So he directly activated the task, projecting a holographic image.

Deep Blue Baby had evolved—it could now play videos.

Tired of girls' high school—time for a change of pace.

【Standing at the crossroads of thirty-eight, Qingyu flows through time, recalling the childhood homeland. The small gift has begun to take effect. Congratulations—your intimacy with Xu Qianqian has risen again.】

【In a Shanghai café, Xu Qianqian returned your gift with a CD of "Qinglin Zhi Xia." You don't like music, but you accepted it anyway; you chatted warmly.】

【Talking about your marriage brought up a broken past. Ten years ago, Xu Qianqian flew back to Zhennan and had a furious argument with you during a blind date—she always dodged the reason.】

【Task: Revisit the old place with Xu Qianqian—return to the old Liu Laoshi building where you lived twenty years ago. Reward: Repair physical depletion, reactivate flesh (age eighteen state).】

After reading this long passage, Jiang Nian fell into deep thought.

Wait, Deep Blue Baby, give me some money.

Restore me to age eighteen? But I'm already eighteen—I'm not depleted at all. You keep feeding me goji berries, digging holes but never filling them?

Wait, then why waste so much paper at night?

Ugh, can two age-eighteen states stack? Just starting my comeback, and you're already thinking about rewards in bed?

Damn, perverted system!

Hope I can sleep tonight.

After reading the reward, Jiang Nian lost interest. He noticed another button, resembling KuaiBo, still unclicked. Curious, he tapped it lightly.

A flash of Bai Guang—seemingly a video clip.

The first scene seemed first-person—surroundings appeared to be a living room.

Someone shoved me, and I fell to the ground; then a bag came flying at me—not too heavy. I looked up and was met with a familiar feeling.

Grown-up Xu Qianqian?

She wore a black women's suit, face obscured, clearly furious, shouting nonstop at me.

No sound—only visuals. Watching her trembling fingers, it was definitely not nice words. But from this viewpoint, I never responded at all.

Xu Qianqian kicked me hard, and as I collapsed, I saw her retreating back.

The scene shifted—now third-person.

Beside a bridge, under orange streetlights, fine rain drifted. Damp mist soaked every inch of air; two women seemed to be arguing.

One held a black umbrella, the other a transparent white one—both tall. Two small cars were parked beside the bridge; the two women were clearly meeting late at night.

One car's lights still flashed, its sound drowned in the pattering rain.

The woman holding a transparent umbrella wore a hip-hugging skirt, her arms slender and long, with mature-sister wavy curls cascading past her shoulders. Just—she couldn't make out her face, but Jiang Nian recognized her by her bearing.

His ex-wife.

The image ended, leaving Jiang Nian utterly baffled.

Xu Qianqian could pick a fight with anyone.

The point didn't seem to be that, but the image was too sparse. Smell the fragrance, know the woman—his own voice was gone, his face was gone, and he had to identify her purely by bearing.

Way too half-assed—whoever are you even showing this to!

Anyway, not him.

Jiang Nian roughly pieced it together from the mission: ten years before the thirty-eight-year-old timeline, right at the blind-date moment when he was twenty-eight. Xu Qianqian had a huge fight with him, but wanted to play riddle-master.

So the system, while issuing the mission, stabbed Xu Qianqian in the back and leaked a little info to his thirty-eight-year-old self.

A direct video as proof, restoring the truth online. Presumably the thirty-eight-year-old Jiang Nian would get it at a glance—and it was the high-definition original audio, unblurred version.

So by the time it reached him, all that was left was a 360p damaged version?

Deep Blue Baby is way too biased, playing favorites, huh?

Fine, fine, fine. Uninstalling it right now.

Having watched a whole lot of nothing, Jiang Nian looked up and saw Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe coming out of the girls' entrance of Building 2. He casually closed the mission panel.

He'd look at it later—after completing the mission there'd still be a save file anyway.

They chatted the whole way back.

Back in the classroom, Jiang Nian slumped onto the desk to rest.

He slept for twenty minutes, just in time for evening self-study.

Zhang Ningzhi had arrived at some point and was diligently working problems. Li Hua looked like his essence had been sucked dry, still smelling of sweat—probably had gone to play ball.

During evening reading, Jiang Nian patted Li Hua's bicep.

"Not bad, Hua—you've got muscle now."

Li Hua immediately started showing off, whipping off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves to display his newly trained muscles. Buoyed by Ceng You's admiration and Huang Fang's single disgusted groan, he felt like he was floating.

A girl's disgust is the highest praise for muscles.

"Oh right, where's Brother Jun? How come he's not here again?" Li Hua asked curiously.

"Oh, he went back to the dorm—I ran into him this afternoon." Jiang Nian explained briefly, still holding a math paper in his hand as he read—staying true to his roots.

At that moment, Old Liu walked in from outside the door, hands clasped behind his back, beginning a patrol of the whole class. When he reached Li Hua's side, his gaze drifted to Wu Jun Gu's seat and visibly paused.

"Why isn't he here?"

"In the dorm, probably—didn't Wu Jun Gu ask for leave?" Li Hua was bewildered, then overjoyed. "Teacher, let me go get him!"

Old Liu gave him a sidelong glance, seeing through the little scheme.

"Stay put."

One truancy becomes two truancancies—nice try with that idea.

Suddenly, a ringtone sounded.

"Turning back, I still see the moon of my hometown, the dark night"

"Hello?" Old Liu hurried out of the classroom. "Right, when are you coming to the school…"