Chapter 122: Next Week

"That kind of place, are you sure you should go?" Sun Zhicheng was quite worried.

"Are you going too?" Chen Yunyun asked curiously.

Jiang Nian isn't going—only she and Wang Yuhe will go for a quick visit. Even though Jiang Nian said someone would take them, having someone familiar around would make it less nerve-wracking.

Hearing this, Sun Zhicheng's mood suddenly improved.

"What's that place called again? I'll ask my dad if he has any vouchers."

Chen Yunyun nodded. "Alright, Jiang Nian didn't say anything—I'll ask him later."

She had no feelings toward Sun Zhicheng; their usual relationship was fine. Fortunately, the earlier misunderstanding was handled well, and she felt he'd probably let it go.

They were part of the same small group, and she'd made everything perfectly clear—she didn't think she'd hurt his pride.

After morning exercises during the big break, Jiang Nian yawned while blending into the line.

So damn sleepy.

He was already tired in the morning, and then he accidentally offended Qian Bao during morning reading. As a result, he stood through both morning classes, and now his whole body felt sluggish.

Bored out, he opened the system task panel.

Where the hell did the reward go?

The body reverted to eighteen years old—paid out. Then what? His appearance and features didn't change, and his physical strength didn't improve much.

Fuck, where the hell did the reward get added? Did the system secretly swallow it?

He was about to explode with rage!

He shut the panel outright—sometimes he genuinely wanted to call the police.

When dismissed, Jiang Nian followed the crowd toward the classroom building.

His mind was replaying events again, and without noticing, he bumped into a girl. When he looked closer, it was the class monitor—he immediately sighed in relief.

Good thing it was someone he knew—and it was Li Qingrong.

Jiang Nian stepped back. "Sorry, class monitor."

Li Qingrong stopped in the crowd, turned around, and glanced at him. Her eyes flashed with brightness, then returned to calmness—in just three seconds.

"Mm."

Jiang Nian froze. Even with his foggy, sluggish mind, he realized it now. He thought of Xu Qianqian's goodnight last night, then her normal demeanor this morning.

Zhang Ningzhi's face had flushed for an instant, then returned to normal. So did Chen Yunyun's unusual expression, Qian Bao's inexplicable actions, and the later retaliation.

So, where the hell did the reward get added?

The class monitor was practically an emotional chart—probably two eighteen-year-olds overlapping, lighting up instantly. Like a bold, dark stroke in a sketch.

But that was it—likely only triggered once; by the second glance, it had no effect. If so, this thing was utterly useless.

As for its authenticity, he planned to verify it with someone.

"Alright, I'm off then." Jiang Nian left.

After going upstairs, he returned to his seat and waited for Zhang Ningzhi to come back.

A few minutes before class, he stared at her for several seconds.

Zhang Ningzhi sensed Jiang Nian's gaze, blinked her eyes repeatedly, her expression utterly innocent, clear as amber.

"What's wrong?" She thought he wanted to ask about the schedule and whispered, "Math class."

"Mm, okay." Jiang Nian nodded.

Verified. Zhang Ningzhi couldn't lie—this was a genuine reaction.

So it really is a one-time thing. What the hell is this damn system doing, why didn't it add it to my body

Jiang Nian cursed inwardly as he pulled out his math textbook.

His resentment was intense—he accidentally pressed on the laminated section of the math review material. Suddenly, he felt a slight increase in his physical strength.

The textbook pages, which he could never squeeze shut before, now felt like they could be pressed down.

Of course, his hand would hurt afterward.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and chose a gentler way to verify.

He nudged Li Hua beside him, found a new target for torment, and paused before speaking.

"Hua, Dad, dare you compete with me on grip strength?"

Li Hua originally didn't want to accept, but hearing the term he used, he felt momentarily flattered.

Grip strength among boys was generally about the same.

"Fine, oh come on, I can't take you. You're such a grown man and still like playing games with Dad."

They clasped hands and began exerting force.

As soon as they clashed, Li Hua broke into a sweat. It felt like two hands were pressing together against his own, yet he found no evidence of cheating.

What the hell is this, hydraulic pliers?

"Hua, are you even trying? I don't feel anything," Jiang Nian mocked, staying in character. "If you don't use force, I'll start applying pressure."

"Hey, class is about to start—don't be so childish," Li Hua tried to pull his hand free, yanking several times but unable to break loose—he thought, this is it.

"Ahh!! Xi ba, ease up, ease up!" Li Hua screamed.

"Hua, you're not doing so well," Jiang Nian grinned, feeling immensely satisfied. "I'm crushing you like drinking water. Hey… why aren't you talking anymore, baby?"

"Can you let go first?" Li Hua couldn't hold it anymore. "It's math class—stop this nonsense, we'll both get punished if caught."

"Then let's both get punished—I'm sleepy anyway."

"Your mom!!"

Zhang Ningzhi heard the commotion, glanced at the two boys' childish game, and a look of weary resignation appeared on her face.

Minutes later, the bell rang—third period was math.

Just before class began, Jiang Nian finally released Li Hua, who was grimacing in pain.

But after class started, he was clearly distracted. As he listened, he couldn't help fiddling with random small objects to test his doubled divine power.

He crushed Li Hua's pen, pressed the cap of his mineral water bottle until it deformed.

Li Hua was paying close attention to class and needed to draw a conic section, so he reached into his drawer to find a discarded mineral water bottle. When he grabbed it, the world collapsed—how did my bottle cap get flattened?

He looked at Jiang Nian; Jiang Nian looked away, whistling softly.

"You fucking—!"

After fiddling through a math class, Jiang Nian figured it out.

The doubled strength and energy were questionable—he still felt a little sleepy in class. But his reaction speed and strength had nearly multiplied by 1.5 to 2 times.

He shouldn't be in school; he should join an LOL junior training team.

Whatever, he didn't like female streamers anyway—girls' high school was better.

As soon as the third math class ended, Jiang Nian's excitement vanished. He instantly slumped, slumped onto the desk, and began sleeping with every second counting.

Seeing this, Li Hua smirked, then glanced forward and saw Wu Jun Gu standing up and leaving his seat. He couldn't help wondering—had they broken up or not?

Wu Jun Gu had recently exuded a decadent aura, as if endlessly falling into a pitch-black abyss, gradually growing numb.

If not for that awkward past, Li Hua would've asked directly. After all, they were in the same group, and he was the group leader—he couldn't just ignore it.

But he was a sensitive type, and he himself was part of the sensitive crowd.

After thinking it over, he reached forward and poked Huang Fang.

"Fangfang."

"Don't be so creepy, hurry up," Huang Fang hesitated, then pointed at someone asleep, "What do you want? Just say it."

"What's going on with Wu Jun Gu?"

"How would I know? Group leader, why don't you ask him yourself?" Huang Fang tilted her head slightly, puzzled.

"It's just… inconvenient."

"Ohhh, I get it—love triangle."

"Holy shit, don't make things up!" Li Hua panicked, wanting to shake Jiang Nian awake and shake his brains into a smooth paste, "Fangfang, you know me."

"Mm-hmm, I know, group leader," Huang Fang gave him a knowing smile and turned away.

"Hey, no—!" Li Hua rubbed his hair.

But even after saying it, he didn't feel as confident anymore. He muttered to himself: I really don't care about Yu Zhiyi—everyone has those youthful crushes.

The bell rang, but Jiang Nian was still asleep.

Li Hua nudged him; he slowly woke up. He propped his hands on the desk, cupped his face, and sat motionless for a long while, eyes completely shut.

Zhang Nengzhi glanced at him with concern, wondering if he'd stayed up late studying because of their end-of-month big exam bet.

Instantly, guilt welled up in her. She leaned closer and whispered softly.

"Have you been working too hard lately?"

Jiang Nian's heart jolted—he turned to look at Zhang Nengzhi. Could she have been spying on his TikTok online status last night?

Shit—he vaguely remembered thumbing up by accident. Every single like might become evidence in court.

Baby, are you monitoring me?

"No no, I stayed up late watching study videos last night," he rubbed his hair, voice lacking conviction, "Actually, I'm not that tired—I'm just pretending."

Li Hua, beside him, wanted to vomit—wasn't Jiang Nian blatantly lying? He'd been scrolling TikTok last night too, until midnight.

Don't you have eyes? Expose him, brutally tear him apart—how dare you say "I'm just pretending"?

Even stray dogs on the street are more alert than you!

"Ohhh, you really should rest more," Zhang Nengzhi smiled gently, then added, "If you don't sleep at night, you'll be drained during the day—it's not worth it."

Li Hua coughed, "Nian, your collection—ah!! Let go, let go!!"

Jiang Nian released his grip, smiling a deathly smile.

"What collection?" Zhang Nengzhi asked curiously.

"Practice problems, practice problems—Nian, you've collected so many good questions in your error notebook," Li Hua rubbed his thigh, forcing a smile, "Let me borrow it later."

"Sure." Jiang Nian was delighted.

Yay, this reward is actually pretty good.

During the fourth class, Yu Tongjie listened to the biology teacher's lecture but couldn't help zoning out—it was Saturday, afternoon off on the weekend, and Zhou Yi was the day after tomorrow.

That meant the weekly seat rotation was coming again—he'd be moved to the front row of his group. Because… he looked up, glancing at Li Qingrong two rows ahead.

Li Qingrong was in her six-person group, seated in the middle of the second row.

According to the class-wide rule of shifting seats backward, he only needed to move to the middle of the first row in his own group. After the rearrangement, he'd be directly behind her.

Just thinking of it made Yu Tongjie feel more motivated to study. He took a deep breath, lifted his head, and began listening intently—this week's effort was all for that one moment.

Next week, he'd make every day feel full—he'd study even harder!

Before dismissal, Li Hua suddenly turned and brought up the upcoming seat rotation with Jiang Nian.

"Our seats are already at the back—moving forward means we'll be in the first major group, right by the classroom door."

"Yeah, so?"

Li Hua said, "We'll have to move our desks halfway across the classroom—let's two guys help the two girls in our group carry theirs, since it's kind of far."