Chapter 134: You Poke Me, I Poke You (Thank You, Grandmaster Leng Yan Jian)

Jiang Nian rested one hand on the desk, his head propped up, phone on his lap.

"Smile?"

Suddenly, he recalled asking the class monitor for leave during the sports meet.

He had been rushing to catch a bus back to Xiao Longtan, remembering only that he'd blurted out a flood of words in haste.

Li Qingrong had just listened, and seemed to have smiled slightly.

The light had been dim then, perhaps because the green vine-covered wall around the flagpole blocked the sun, making her smile seem faint.

Smile—then he'd return one too.

Jiang Nian scrolled through yellow face emojis, remembering there was one with a big smiling head.

Who sends back the exact same emoji? That violates Zhou Li—there must be some variation.

Where did it go? The large smiling yellow face.

He clearly remembered saving it back in first year, when his mind was still normal—why couldn't he find it now?

He rummaged through his favorites, overwhelmed by too many images: like 【You won't attract housewives this way】, 【It's normal to desire me】.

【Strike me, I don't exist, I have no morals】, 【Teacher, you still have charm】, 【In being a dog, I truly am inferior to you】.

Jiang Nian was utterly flustered, searching through a pile of abstract emojis for a smile.

He finally found a smile—but it was 【Is your mom home?】.

Finally, Jiang Nian gave up.

His fingers had grown sore from scrolling too long; he twitched unconsciously and sent 【Old Eat Banana】. He'd meant to retract it, but then realized it wasn't abstract enough.

Whatever, this one's fine.

He waited a while—Li Qingrong didn't reply; probably resting.

Who the hell sends emojis back and forth for no reason?

Jiang Nian put away his phone, lay face-down on the desk, and slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile.

In Room 505 of Building 5, North Zone, Lin Dong sat on his bed, hunched against the wall.

"Bro, what's going on with you?"

Yang Qiming stood in the corridor, gripping the bed frame, face grim.

"I heard you're switching dorms?"

"Ah, sort of," Lin Dong was practically squeezing himself into the wall. "Bro, don't overthink it—I just had a dream from my great-grandma last night."

Yang Qiming had been about to say something—maybe that the math quiz didn't matter, or that the Li duo was unbeatable—but then he heard "great-grandma's dream," and froze.

"What?"

Lin Dong swallowed. "My great-grandma said my horoscope is too strong—she told me to move to a dorm with less yang energy."

"That's pure superstition!" Yang Qiming was stunned. "Bro, this excuse is ridiculous. Even if it were true, you can't be that filial!"

"Maybe reconsider? Don't move?"

He'd just made up his mind to abandon women and focus on his brothers and studies. Everyone said when you lose in love, you win at work.

Why, in his case, had he lost both girlfriend and brother?

Was this reasonable?

Lin Dong, for his part, had gone full defeatist.

"Would my great-grandma ever harm me? Don't try to talk me out of it—I'm just this filial!"

That noon, Lin Dong traded a week's lunch money and accumulated goodwill to make a deal with a guy in Ceng You's dorm—and moved that afternoon!

Whether he'd misunderstood or not, the arrow was already loosed—no turning back.

His life creed: either don't do it, or see it through to the end. There's no halfway done, then turning back in regret.

Yang Qiming tried to persuade him a few more times, but the more he spoke, the stronger Lin Dong's resolve became. Seeing he couldn't sway him, Yang Qiming stopped trying.

This day was destined to be his black Monday.

Yang Qiming climbed onto his bed, planning to heal his inner wounds with a nap.

Though he'd always pretended not to care—even fooled himself—he knew, at the moment of parting, his heart was honest, pounding out one truth: he still loved her.

In this moment, all his bitterness gathered in his chest.

Unable to sleep, Yang Qiming opened QQ and WeChat—his verification request still hadn't been approved.

He clenched his fist, thinking: Where's the happiness we promised? Is "forever" just a tense word in girls' mouths?

Yang Qiming took a deep breath and opened TikTok. The first video was: "How to Win Back Your Girlfriend's Heart."

He watched it once, then closed his eyes—and remembered every moment with his girlfriend. Grief and pain tangled together; the big man, overcome with emotion, wept silently.

Lin Dong napped, one eye shut, the other on watch.

He was moving dorms that afternoon.

He was sentimental—even if reasons forced him to leave this room, it didn't mean he felt nothing. He'd lived here a long time.

Damn, why does this feel like a breakup? Can't be.

Lunch break was ending soon—the bell would ring at 1:50.

With only seven minutes left, Yang Qiming showed no sign of distress. Lin Dong began to question himself: Had what he saw last night been real? Was seeing truly believing?

Maybe last night was just a misunderstanding. Yang Qiming was actually a kind, honest guy—perhaps he was just heartbroken after breaking up with his girlfriend.

Guys, when they're down, venting is normal.

Yang Qiming must just have low emotional sensitivity—he was regulating his mood while switching screens to reply to me. Maybe I came at a bad time, or he'd just finished…

Thinking this, his mind gradually calmed.

Goodbye, Room 505.

The phone's breathing light flickered on for no reason. Lin Dong hadn't slept a wink during the afternoon nap. He picked it up and looked. There weren't any messages, either — Qiming had just updated a QQ signature.

Lin Dong smiled. He had already let it go. He'd worked it out.

No matter what his cousin posted, he wouldn't overthink it anymore.

Shi Shen: 【I will use absolute rationality to suppress this deadly little crush. The road has been scenery all the way; from now on, I won't cross mountains and rivers for you anymore.】

Hm? That's weird. Let me look again.

Lin Dong read it word by word, thinking to himself that this was probably meant for his girlfriend to see.

On second thought, that didn't add up either — his girlfriend had deleted him and he hadn't added her back. Who was this for? And wouldn't you know it, a message Jiang Nian sent last night flashed through his mind.

【You can go ask him, he'd definitely say it just like this. Little fool, this was prepared for you.】

Damn it, Jiang Nian is toxic!

What a clown!

Lin Dong's hair stood on end; his entire back was soaked in cold sweat.

His roommates were still napping. He quietly rolled over and got out of bed. He bent his head and tied his shoelaces with light, careful movements. He really couldn't stay in this dorm any longer — he'd move in the afternoon, leave early.

After Lin Dong finished everything, he felt his way to the door.

Before stepping out, he turned back as if possessed. He happened to see a face streaming with tears — Qiming's expression was utterly bizarre.

Pain threaded with a trace of bewilderment; anger threaded with a trace of disappointment.

Lin Dong didn't dare linger. He turned and ran.

Five minutes before the end of the afternoon nap, Jiang Nian woke up.

Because Zhang Ningzhi had come.

Because a book basket was placed under the chair, the chair couldn't be moved.

Jiang Nian pressed his body forward — colloquially known as feeding the desk.

Zhang Ningzhi walked past behind him, carrying a lemon tea, a waft of fragrance brushing by, and set the lemon tea down on his desk.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Zhang Ningzhi's eyes narrowed into crescents — the joy of having raised him well.

Jiang Nian turned his head and glanced at her, wondering what she was happy about again. A girl's mood was always hard to guess. He felt like slacking off now, looking for someone to duo with.

"Hey."

Hearing that, Zhang Ningzhi turned her head.

"What is it?"

It was strange — ever since the two of them had met. Zhang Ningzhi had silently accepted that, in certain contexts, the address "Hey" referred to her — a kind of situational substitution.

She suddenly realized that Jiang Nian had almost never called her by name.

Whether it was Zhang Ningzhi or anything else — how could he call a girl — Hey! This guy!! It was really too much. And here she'd been bringing him drinks every single day!

Thinking of this, Zhang Ningzhi didn't want to deal with him anymore. She just slumped down onto the desk.

Jiang Nian: "???"

Is Baby Zhizhi on her period or something?

Three moods in one second — you wouldn't also be like Chancellor Cao, killing people in your sweet dreams, would you?

Whatever, going to take a piss.

Jiang Nian turned and left his seat. Li Hua hadn't come — he wondered if the guy had passed out at home.

In any case, the aisle seat outside wasn't blocked by anyone, so it was clear sailing.

Tuesday afternoons were always Comprehensive Science class. This damn Li Hua was better off not coming.

When that dick kid shows up, he just has to show off — normally he can never wake up. But the moment it comes to one of these showing-off occasions, he poses the whole afternoon, bright and full of energy.

During a break to slack off, Jiang Nian habitually pulled out his phone and took a look.

Two people had sent him new messages.

One was from Lin Dong. He said he'd just left the dorm. He'd taken the afternoon self-study off to move dorms early. There was a bunch more after that, but Jiang Nian hadn't really understood any of it.

Moving into Ceng You's dorm?

Isn't that the dorm within his own group? Wu Jungu and Ceng You are both there — so Lin Dong is joining too?

The other message was from the class monitor, who had only replied with an emoji.

Still a little yellow face.

"(poke poke)."

Jiang Nian was inexplicably struck as funny. For someone like the class monitor, using this emoji was honestly a bit… cute, and a little airheaded.

After finishing his break, he glanced at the time Li Qingrong had replied.

1:40 in the afternoon — she must have woken up from her nap and replied.

He thought it over. He really didn't have any normal stickers left. No time for repentance — he'd turn over a new leaf later.

Jiang Nian: "(poke poke) x2."

You poke me, I poke you. He'd find some new stickers in the afternoon.

Zhang Ningzhi's stickers were pretty normal, though. Might as well recycle and reuse them — they weren't friends with her anyway.

School gate.

The autumn afternoon sunlight was just right. The campus broadcast's wake-up bell for the end of the nap was random music. It used to be a cold ding-dong-ding-dong — he couldn't remember when it had been changed.

From the broadcast, with its utterly ruined sound quality, played JJ Lin's "Jiang Nan."

【Circles round and round, day after day year after year, me~ gazing deeply at your face】

Li Qingrong crushed a withered yellow fallen leaf underfoot. The phone in her pocket buzzed. She stopped walking, swiped the screen open, and found the chat page without the slightest effort.

"(poke poke) x2."

Li Qingrong lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, then replied to the message.

"(poke poke) x3."

After a while, Jiang Nian sent another message.

"(poke poke) x4."

She didn't know how to reply—repeating it over and over would be pretty boring, wouldn't it. Maybe she should ask Nie Qiqi; she really likes chatting.

Jiang Nian had just finished washing his face with cold water and was leaning on the railing, gazing into the distance. Seeing that Li Qingrong hadn't replied, he asked.

"Why no more (poke poke)?"

Ten seconds later, a message popped up on his phone.

Li Qingrong: "poke poke x5."