Chapter 126: Milk Tea Shop

Sensitive topics are hard to elaborate on, so Jiang Nian could only grunt in response.

"By the way, where's that shop?"

He deliberately changed the subject—he'd have burst out laughing otherwise. This kind of thing thrives on unspoken understanding; once the mood is set, it just keeps going.

If you say it out loud, it loses all meaning.

Should he ask, 【Do you have any other cousins?】

Since we're here already, let's enjoy a meal together.

Inside the door—thankfully, this place didn't have some weird entrance slogan like "Guests are not allowed" or "Guests, xxx"—he'd have kicked the owner just hearing it.

After sitting down.

Zhang Ningzhi first asked Jiang Nian about any dietary restrictions or allergies; after getting a negative reply, she confidently ordered—clearly not her first time here.

"What I ordered, you'll probably love."

She didn't let him see the menu, afraid he'd see the prices—this meal clearly exceeded the spending limit of even a Gao Zhongsheng or office worker.

She'd hesitated for a long time before coming, worried Jiang Nian might feel uncomfortable. After all, it felt like showing off—but she genuinely just thought Zhennan had nothing good to eat.

She often came to the city center; Zhennan wasn't far, just a twenty-minute drive. There weren't many good restaurants—barely enough to count on one hand.

Jiang Nian glanced around—he was already starving, but still asked one question.

"Is this place expensive?"

"Not expensive—it's lunch pricing," Zhang Ningzhi explained, sounding like she was trying too hard to hide something. "Plus, we have a consumption card—so it's basically free."

Holy shit, she could actually say something that absurd?

Expensive as hell equals free, right?

Women really

In the city center, anything even remotely related to seafood is never cheap.

But Jiang Nian didn't care—he had money sitting in his card. Compared to Zhang Ningzhi, it was negligible. Still, how could he make her know he could afford it?

His outfit wasn't flashy at all—his shoes cost just over a hundred.

When the prawns came, he'd just say casually, "Tasted this in a dream?" Too poor and pathetic—he'd never been rich, couldn't possibly say something like that.

Screw it, just eat, eat, eat.

Just don't jump onto the table when you eat.

It's just a meal. How much Zhang Ningzhi spends is her own business. Later, I'll walk with her, let it digest, then head back to Zhennan.

"Alright, thanks a lot—I'm riding on your coattails," Jiang Nian smiled.

Zhang Ningzhi blushed. "Mm."

She didn't know what else to say, so she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Jiang Nian exhaled in relief and pulled out his own.

If this were a date, Jiang Nian would never let the conversation die.

But it was just classmates having a meal—too eager would seem odd. They sat next to each other every day; even face-to-face, playing with phones while waiting for food wouldn't feel awkward.

"Is your phone an Apple?" he asked.

"Mm, good for photos," Zhang Ningzhi gripped her phone, wanting to say, Let's take a photo later—but the words stuck in her throat. "I thought I'd take one later."

"Alright, take your photo first," Jiang Nian replied, snapping his fingers. "I get it—you girls love that pre-meal ritual."

Zhang Ningzhi's nails dug into her palm. Screw it—it'd sound weird anyway.

Soon, the dishes arrived.

"Huh?" Jiang Nian swallowed hard, looking up. "Aren't you taking a photo?"

Zhang Ningzhi was speechless—who wants to photograph food? Are you a pig?!

"No photo. Just eat."

"So I'm really eating? The kind where I stand up and shovel it in?" Jiang Nian probed again. "You're really not taking one? Then I'm picking up my chopsticks—don't regret it later."

As he spoke, the other dishes arrived.

The portions were fine for a male and female Gao Zhongsheng combo.

Zhang Ningzhi trusted Jiang Nian's appetite—his eyes screamed hunger.

"Fine, I'll take one."

She picked up her phone—Jiang Nian made a peace sign. She couldn't help but smile faintly, then turned and caught a passing female server.

"Hi, could you take a photo for us?"

"Sure." The server wiped her hands on her apron and took the phone.

Zhang Ningzhi had already moved naturally to Jiang Nian's side. The two sat with a careful distance between them, the only light coming from small hanging lamps above.

A male and female Gao Zhongsheng pair—faces brimming with youthful awkwardness. In the moment of the peace sign, their faint smiles were frozen.

"Done."

"Thank you," Zhang Ningzhi took back her phone, stood, and returned to her seat across from him.

Jiang Nian was truly starving—he rolled up his sleeves.

"Let's eat!"

Zhang Ningzhi picked up her chopsticks too, placing her phone on the table—the camera screen showed the photo they'd just taken. As she bent to eat the prawn, the joy in her eyes quietly faded.

The lunch rush was light—the restaurant had only a few tables open. Besides the aisle lights, only the illuminated dining area glowed; the rest was like dark reefs.

The overhead speaker played "Love Song": 【A whole universe for a single red bean.】

【Memories like caged beasts, softened by too much loneliness. You wrote me my first song. You held my fingers tight, silently humming the intro.】

【But then what?】

Jiang Nian was utterly ruled by hunger, gulping down huge bites. Zhang Ningzhi ate slowly, a faint smile at her eyes, her heart slowly filling.

One starved to the point of dizziness, the other bursting with joy.

People's joys and sorrows have never truly connected.

After finishing the meal, the two wandered around the mall. The reason they didn't go out was, first, there wasn't much fun outside, and second, the holiday was only a short six hours.

Even if there were some event downtown, would it be open in the afternoon?

I'm a student, could you—

A student? Forget it even if you were born here. Get back to your evening self-study!

Just thinking about it feels vicious.

The school did it on purpose too—Zhennan Middle School has way too many couples. If the school dared to give students a night off, they'd just be welcoming the birth of even more little couples.

Besides, mornings are for class, evenings are for doing problem sets.

Weighing the pros and cons, they just gave the afternoon off.

Zhang Ningzhi used going to the bathroom as an excuse, sneaked to the front desk, and paid the bill. She stayed a while longer, and once Jiang Nian finished eating, they headed out together.

"There's a supermarket downstairs, right? Want to take a look?"

"Sure." She nodded.

Her plan only covered eating downtown; what to do afterward was a complete blank. Hearing Jiang Nian's words, she immediately began to look forward to it.

The supermarket was on the basement level. The two spent a while looking for the elevator, then slowly descended.

Jiang Nian had sharp eyes and spotted a scratch-off lottery booth, with a circle of people gathered around scratching.

"Over there, want to play?"

Zhang Ningzhi was stunned for a moment. "I've never played."

"It's fine, it's really simple. My treat." Jiang Nian explained. "The rules are written right there, just scratch. Usually you break even."

She glanced at the price. "Let's just buy one."

"Alright, one each."

Jiang Nian took a look—the scattered ones were already sold out. A few people were crouching, waiting for new ones. The clerk pulled out a stack freshly opened, and a crowd immediately swarmed in.

He scanned the code and bought two twenty-yuan ones, scratched one, and won a guaranteed prize—broke even exactly.

Zhang Ningzhi scratched carefully, though it was unclear what she was nervous about. He asked if she understood the rules. She shook her head and said she hadn't read them yet, leaving Jiang Nian thoroughly embarrassed.

What was there to be nervous about if you hadn't read them?

Fighting an invisible enemy, are we?

Once Zhang Ningzhi finished scratching, Jiang Nian leaned in to check the results together with her.

"You won!"

"Huh? I won? How much?" Zhang Ningzhi was utterly clueless. The fine print was dense and made one's head spin, and on top of that he was right beside her.

"Damn, two hundred!"

"Really?" Zhang Ningzhi didn't quite get it but felt it must be impressive. Her happiness was plainly visible. "Th-then, will redeeming the prize be a hassle?"

"Nope, give me your phone." Jiang Nian thought about making a loan joke.

Unfortunately, Zhang Ningzhi was too honest—she unlocked it and handed it over.

Jiang Nian wanted to see what remark Zhang Ningzhi had left for him, but he held back. After all, that was her private business.

"Uh, open your payment-collecting code."

"Okay." Zhang Ningzhi fumbled through a flurry of operations and opened her payment code.

Jiang Nian: "."

A ding—two hundred yuan arrived.

"Here." Jiang Nian handed the phone back to Zhang Ningzhi and smiled. "Your luck is really good today."

Zhang Ningzhi's eyes curved into a smile. "I think so too."

The two went into the supermarket and did a full lap—the classic look-don't-buy. Snacks at the supermarket weren't a good deal, so they could only pick up a little fruit and some yogurt.

At the register, Jiang Nian casually paid.

"Huh?"

"You treated me to a meal, I'll cover the rest. Pretty fair."

"But you paid for the cab, and just now the scratch-off—" Zhang Ningzhi suddenly wasn't so clueless anymore, counting on her fingers, "and the yogurt…"

"Stop, it's not that much money."

"But this was supposed to be me treating you to a meal, and I dragged you all the way downtown." Zhang Ningzhi felt a little guilty.

Jiang Nian: "."

Sometimes it's not about showing off—it's really about flashing the bank balance.

No more pretending, laying the cards on the table.

The problem was he hadn't been pretending in the first place; he normally spent about the same.

But luckily Jiang Nian had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and before long Zhang Ningzhi accepted his logic. Don't want to listen? Fine, I'll switch seats next week—don't you dare cry. I'm out.

Gotta say, that move worked pretty well.

Figuring they'd digested enough, the two ducked into a milk-tea shop. They got two fruit teas to go, and since there was nothing else to do, prepared to grab a cab back to Zhennan.

After all, it wasn't a real date.

The drop-off was set at the gate of the Nanjiang Bay residential complex. Zhang Ningzhi wanted to go home and freshen up—take a nap or wash her hair, that sort of thing. Girls care about that stuff.

After getting out of the car, Zhang Ningzhi, bag in hand, waved at him.

"Bye, see you at evening self-study."

Jiang Nian waved back. "Bye."

As he was about to turn and leave, he instinctively looked up at the Nanjiang Bay high-rises. No emotion stirred in his heart—no lament, no self-pity, nothing at all.

Zhennan was still too small.

Buzz buzz, his phone rang.

Jiang Nian thought it was a message from Zhang Nianzhi, but when he pulled it out, it was from Xu Qianqian.

"Treating you to milk tea."

"Since when are you this nice?" Jiang Nian broke a sweat, thought for a moment, then typed and asked, "Which milk tea shop are you at?"

"Wow, you even guessed that?" Xu Qianqian was typing, then sent a cute sticker. "Over at Seven Cats, bring some food over."

Jiang Nian: "(punches you)"

Seven Cats Milk Tea Shop.

Xu Qianqian set her phone down. The table was covered in test papers and review materials. Even knowing she couldn't finish them, she still brought them along—the whole point was to create the right atmosphere.

"Found a kind soul to foot the bill."

"Who?" Song Xiyun looked up from her test papers.

"Who else? That cheap bastard surnamed Jiang." Xu Qianqian huffed for a while, then complained, "He's clearly got money, and he's already mooched three late-night snacks off me!"

"Him? Is he coming over later?" Song Xiyun nodded in deep agreement.

"Mm, and he'll bring food too." Xu Qianqian narrowed her eyes, leaned back, and said, "Let's get the three of us to play cards later, perfect way to relax."

"Sure." Song Xiyun nodded, then pressed her thighs together and whispered, "Qianqian, I need to use the bathroom, but why is there always someone in the one on the second floor?"

Hearing that, Xu Qianqian hesitated for a moment.

There were some things she really didn't want to know, but she couldn't help having that bastard around. She knew every little detail about what went on in milk tea shops, but how was she supposed to say it?

After thinking it over, she lowered her head and typed out a distress message on her phone.

In no time, Jiang Nian replied.

【Go to the bathroom and shout a couple of lines, say the bathroom door is broken, get the owner to come take a look. Say it and then leave, you can go in after one minute, but I'd suggest waiting a few more minutes, because.】

Seeing he was still typing, Xu Qianqian sent a "stop right there" sticker.

"That's enough, you don't need to say any more."

She stood up, looked at Song Xiyun whose body was already starting to lean forward, and snapped her fingers.

"Watch me."

Saying so, Xu Qianqian turned and walked to the restroom at the second-floor corner, loudly reciting Jiang Nian's script. Then she tiptoed back to her seat.

Sure enough, within a minute. A boy and girl dressed as Gao Zhongsheng students walked out from the corner one after another, acting as if nothing had happened, and returned to their seats.

Xu Qianqian silently went "yue," her face full of contempt. Then she turned and poked Song Xiyun's arm.

"You can go now, but I'd suggest holding it for a few minutes."

"Huh?" Song Xiyun bit her lower lip, her expression a little strained. "Why?"

Xu Qianqian was, after all, thin-skinned. "Someone just finished in there."

Hearing that, Song Xiyun, despite the difficulty, waited three minutes. The milk tea shop's exhaust fan had been running the whole time, so by the time she went in, there wasn't much smell left.

Not long after, Jiang Nian arrived carrying a bag of braised food. He was also carrying a fruit tea he and Zhang Nianzhi had ordered downtown—half drunk, half left.

He ordered himself the cheapest lemon tea at the first-floor counter, then ordered a few snacks, and settled Xu Qianqian's table's bill.

"Here you go, this is your receipt, please hold on to it." The clerk said politely.

"Mm, do you have playing cards?" he asked.

"Yes." The clerk pulled open a drawer, picked out a relatively new deck, and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Jiang Nian took it and went upstairs.

He wandered around the second floor and spotted two young couples. He had no idea which pair of wild mandarin ducks had just been occupying the restroom—judging by their complexions, they all looked pretty drained.

All in all, the environment here was fairly quiet. The tall sofa backrests, along with the winding corridors and partitions, made for maximum privacy.

Apart from being a bit far, there were hardly any drawbacks—no wonder wild mandarin ducks came here for their trysts.

The milk tea shop's speakers were playing Jay Chou's "Peninsula Iron Box," and just as the lyrics reached, 【The one placed next to the candy is me】, he found the two girls.

He stood beside the table and shook the bag of braised food.

"Qianzi, Yunzi, open up, daddy's here."

"Get lost!"