Chapter 127

Xu Qianqian glanced at Jiang Nian and snorted.

"Did you pay?"

"No, I ordered a bunch of stuff—charged to your account." Jiang Nian set down the large bag of braised snacks and moved to sit beside Song Xiyun.

He and Xu Qianqian didn't get along; they had to be separated by a table, so Song Xiyun was immediately squeezed to the inside.

"I'll smash your dog head!" Xu Qianqian growled, voice sweet but fierce.

Jiang Nian leaned back against the sofa, a sneer curling at his lips, the very picture of a stubborn brat daring anyone to try.

After a moment, he seemed to remember something and asked with a grin.

"By the way, didn't pee your pants just now, did you?"

Xu Qianqian curled her lip. "Not me."

"Hm?"

Instantly, Song Xiyun bore the weight of two stares.

She didn't know why, but both of them were looking at her with strange eyes.

"No, of course not!"

Then Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian exchanged another glance, silently communicating.

【Didn't you tell her?】

【Eye roll.】

The southern district's morals were questionable, but Jiang Nian didn't care—he stood up.

"I'm going to take a piss."

The second floor was nearly empty; the restroom was unoccupied, the exhaust fan humming overhead.

When Jiang Nian came out, he glanced down the stairs.

The cashier downstairs was frying fries and preparing the snacks he'd just ordered—bone-in meatballs, chicken strips.

Because Xu Qianqian and her friend loved them, he'd casually ordered them.

As for health? Don't look for health in a bubble tea shop. If you really must, the only healthy thing in a bubble tea shop is a pretty girl's lips.

Jiang Nian didn't mind having both on his arms; neither was too hard to handle.

But he could only imagine it—he wasn't dignified, and Xu Qianqian would soon make him dignified.

On his way back to the seat, down the aisle.

Jiang Nian really didn't want to look, but his peripheral vision caught a couple hugging— the girl clinging to the goblin's arm.

The guy's body was visibly stiff, clearly embarrassed.

Dude, you get shy just because I looked at you?

Honestly, Jiang Nian wasn't jealous. But if the apocalypse came now, this kind of couple—dragging the whole team down—would be the first to be eliminated.

Huh? This wild goblin… why does he look so familiar?

As Jiang Nian pondered, his steps slowed. His gaze locked onto the boy, making the girl clinging to him frown.

Why aren't you looking at me, you loser?

Until the boy couldn't take it anymore and forced himself to speak.

"Jiang Nian? You're here too?"

Okay, confirmed—he was a classmate he'd never spoken to. He couldn't recall the name right away, but he remembered him clearly; dressed so flashy, he almost didn't recognize him.

"Oh, yeah, small world." Jiang Nian kept walking as he chatted, "Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." The boy had barely finished saying it when Jiang Nian had already passed—no need to say more.

His girlfriend, however, was curious and turned to ask.

"Your classmate?"

"Same class. Great at English." The boy named the one thing he remembered most—of course, as a guy, he'd subtly erase Jiang Nian's most obvious advantage.

"Handsome," his girlfriend said.

The boy nodded. "Guys who are good at English are rare. I suspect it's because his girlfriend's good at English—he probably learns English while dating."

His girlfriend blinked. "I didn't say anything about his English."

At this, the boy stared at his girlfriend.

"You're serious? You're complimenting another guy's looks right in front of your boyfriend?"

"Don't be so petty," his girlfriend said, guiltily nuzzling against him, half-coaxing, "I'm just curious what his girlfriend looks like."

"Why do you care? It has nothing to do with you," the boy snapped.

He didn't want to face Jiang Nian—he suspected his girlfriend was the kind who obsessed over hair.

Class 3 of Ao Sai had decent grades, but the atmosphere was terrible—everyone showing off.

Someone like Jiang Nian, with his looks, was even more threatening.

"Why are you reacting so much?" His girlfriend let go of his hand—no, his leash—and asked, "Do you think I'm that easy?"

"No no, that's not what I meant," the boy said the opposite of what he felt, his head throbbing again.

Fuck, now I have to talk about attitude again.

"Who were you talking to just now?" Xu Qianqian asked curiously.

Jiang Nian sat down and slumped back into the sofa.

"You care that much?"

"Heh." Xu Qianqian curled her lip, pulled on plastic gloves, and started picking the meat off a braised duck wing. "Xiyun, let's eat—don't leave him anything."

Jiang Nian smirked, propping his head on his hand, lazily watching Xu Qianqian.

"Then you'd better swallow the bones too."

"Dogs eat bones." Xu Qianqian shot him a look. "Perfect, I'll leave it for you to eat—here you go."

"What if I said I'd lick every bone you've eaten?"

At his words, Xu Qianqian was completely frozen by that perverted remark. Her body trembled; she couldn't get a single word out and broke out in a violent shiver.

"You! Get lost! You sick pervert!"

"Hahaha!" Jiang Nian, shameless as ever, had successfully disgusted Xu Qianqian and felt especially smug.

Song Xiyun ate quietly on the side, shivering.

Scared, but the kid wanted one more bite.

After a while, the sound of an argument drifted up from the stairs. Jiang Nian curiously poked his head out for a look. Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun leaned over too—three heads crowded together, watching.

Too bad the sofa back was too tall; they couldn't see a thing.

"You know them?" Xu Qianqian asked.

"The guy, yeah—he's in our class. Probably here on a date with his girlfriend." Jiang Nian didn't think much of it. "Little couples arguing is normal; in a bit they'll be making out."

"Sounds like you're jealous?" Xu Qianqian asked.

"So-so." He brushed it off.

Just then the server came up carrying a tray, and the two girls let out a little wow. Jiang Nian didn't kill the mood by stirring up trouble either—now and then he had to throw in a little emotional value.

Act a little more normal, or he'd really become a pervert.

"Please enjoy." The server turned and left.

Jiang Nian wasn't all that interested in the food. He shuffled the deck with practiced ease and, watching the two girls take small bites, said,

"Let's play Fight the Landlord. Losers get punished."

The main event had finally arrived—singing, oinking, squats, and the last one, sticking close together, was a no-go. Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun wouldn't agree to it; they'd just call him a pervert.

Heh, getting scolded actually felt kind of nice.

"What punishment?" Song Xiyun was a bit dazed—clearly a rookie.

"Kissing and stuff." Jiang Nian said.

"Huh?"

"Don't listen to his nonsense—it's just singing, imitating animal sounds." Xu Qianqian spoke up. "Or we can raise the stakes a bit, truth or dare, that sort of thing."

At those words, she immediately tensed up.

"Dare?"

"Small punishments, and you can swap them out." Xu Qianqian spoke like an old hand—in truth she hadn't played many times either, but girls actually liked to pretend~

Six minutes later, Jiang Nian's face was full of excitement.

"Oh-ho! I win!"

The two farmer girls exchanged a miserable glance and had no choice but to bow to the tyrant Landlord Jiang Nian.

"You cheating?" Xu Qianqian was still doubting him.

"He just had his hand in his pocket." Song Xiyun added.

Jiang Nian: "?"

"I was scratching an itch. What are you two whispering about? Cringe girls!"

The argument over whether he'd cheated dragged on for several minutes, until Jiang Nian offered to drop his pants to prove his innocence. Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun's attitudes changed on the spot.

"Fine, Song Xiyun and I will sing a song together." Xu Qianqian said.

The punishment required the winner's approval.

"Alright then, let's do 'Why Not.'"

Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun exchanged a look and began to sing helplessly.

"The sky feels like it wants to rain, I want to live next door to you~~~"

Jiang Nian took a sip of fruit tea, listening to the girls' young, lilting voices. He leaned back into the sofa, the corners of his mouth lifting, and squinted his eyes in pure contentment.

No wonder rich people love listening to music.

Pure feudal dregs—let me enjoy it first, I mean, criticize it first.

In the milk-tea shop.

Yang Qiming was in agony. He'd only said one wrong thing, and his girlfriend had gotten angry on the spot. Her face changed faster than the weather; he'd been trying to coax her for over twenty minutes with zero effect.

Taking the chance while his girlfriend was in the restroom, he grabbed the milk tea on the table and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls.

Just as he was about to sigh, Yang Qiming suddenly heard a girl's clear singing voice from the second floor. Listening closely, it seemed to be two girls—singing a Xu Song song?

The second floor had few people, barely anyone at all; that seemed to be Jiang Nian's spot.

Was that Chen Yunyun and the others over there?

It didn't sound like them.

As if to confirm his guess, someone over there suddenly called out a couple of lines.

"Jiang Nian, it's our turn!"

"You lose, you spin around!"

Jiang Nian's decadent voice rang out, "Come on, come on, Peerless Seeking Defeat—if you lose, you each let me touch your hand, once each."

"In your dreams, drop dead!"

"So gross."

Yang Qiming listened in silence. Bro, you can't be serious.

He looked up and saw his girlfriend come out wearing a face like a Sima, giving him an icy glance.

"Let's break up."

Yang Qiming: "."

At this moment, his face had turned as red as Tom Cat! He'd said he was going to the bathroom, but came back looking like this—really, he was done with these women who constantly preached about attitude!

Fuck!

After two rounds of the game, Jiang Nian had won some and lost some.

The punishments were harmless—he sang a song called "Love Before the Common Era." He stared at Xu Qianqian while singing, making her blush, then did thirty squats.

Before they knew it, it was nearly half past four.

He intermittently replied to Chen Yunyun's messages; they'd spent two hours at the gym and had already left. They were now heading back to the dorm and almost there.

They'd arrived at one in the afternoon; calculating the time, they could only have played for two hours or so.

Because they had a weekly test in the evening.

Gao San students had very limited free time—relaxing meant leaving room for rest. Otherwise, they'd be too sleepy during the Sunday night Chinese exam and might just fall asleep.

"Full. Let's go back." Xu Qianqian patted her stomach.

"No dinner tonight—I can't eat another bite." Song Xiyun was tidying up the playing cards on the table, her movements slightly clumsy. "Qianqian, are you going straight back to the classroom?"

"Yeah, aren't you?"

Watching the two girls discuss, Jiang Nian propped his head up and said nothing.

Girls were truly beautiful—if only he could snuggle up to them.

Sweet-smelling, soft.

Xu Qianqian caught Jiang Nian's expression out of the corner of her eye and let out a soft "Huh?"

"What dirty thoughts are you having now?"

"Thinking of you. Let's go." Jiang Nian stood up, took the neatly organized deck of cards from Song Xiyun. "I'm heading back to the classroom to catch a nap."

Nanjiang Bay.

Zhang Ningzhi woke up feeling dazed and heavy-headed.

She sat up on the bed, still half-dazed. The room was dark, with only the faint glow of the air conditioner's light blinking. Outside, the sky was dim as water.

After about two minutes, she got out of bed, staggered to her feet, walked to the window, and stared out for a while—suddenly, a crushing sense of loneliness washed over her.

As if forgotten by the world.

Then her phone buzzed sharply, and Zhang Ningzhi snapped back to awareness.

It was a QQ call from Jiang Nian.

She took a quiet breath, held it, then answered, her voice slightly high-pitched.

"Hello?"

"Aren't you coming tonight?" Jiang Nian's voice was casual, accompanied by the noise of the classroom.

Li Hua's voice was especially shrill, laced with sarcastic venom.

"Ooooh, who're you calling?"

Jiang Nian: "Your stepmom."

Zhang Ningzhi burst out laughing, turned to look out the window, and suddenly found the traffic outside quite beautiful—cars streaming endlessly, like a ribbon of light.

"I'm coming. Slept past my alarm."

"Then hurry up—it's only twenty minutes until evening reading." Jiang Nian seemed to be moving around the classroom; she heard Ma Guojun's voice.

【Li Hua, you fucking loser, always dragging this bastard down with you.】

"Okay, I'm getting up now." Zhang Ningzhi should've hung up, but she hesitated and asked softly, "After you got back this afternoon…"

"What were you doing?"

Jiang Nian replied casually, "Playing cards with pretty girls."

Zhang Ningzhi sweatdropped, but she was used to his constant flirty nonsense.

"What do you want to drink later? Should I bring you something?"

She added another line.

"Free of charge."

"Anything's fine. Hurry up—we're taking the Chinese test tonight." Jiang Nian said.

After hanging up, Zhang Ningzhi turned on the light, packed her bag, went to wash her face, then woke up her father, who was asleep on the sofa watching TV, and asked him to drive her to school.

In the brightly lit classroom, someone suddenly shouted, "Teacher Liu's coming!"

Instantly, the whole class erupted—everyone scrambled to hide their phones.

Half a minute later, Teacher Liu appeared at the classroom door. After scanning the room, his expression cracked into a grin. He pointed at the students.

"You were all playing with your phones just now, right?"

The class burst into laughter; several shouted loudly.

"No! No! Teacher, we were studying!"

"Yes! Teacher! We were doing evening reading!"

Teacher Liu wasn't rigid—he chuckled and let it go. He walked up to the podium, asked everyone to quiet down, and as the back door slowly filled with latecomers, he spoke.

"Almost everyone's here, right? If anyone's missing, remind them. I'll just say two things. First, Monday's class meeting is canceled—replaced with math."

Instantly, groans erupted.

"No way, Teacher! We already have math Monday morning!"

"We're doomed!"

"Who can take this? Math all day long!"

"Quiet! Quiet!" Teacher Liu cleared his throat and announced the second thing: "From now on, class meetings will be held at this time, to avoid wasting your time."

"Seat changes will also be moved to this time—so rearrange your seats before Sunday evening self-study."