Chapter 137: No Time to Watch You Bathe

Jiang Nian held two packs of Xixile, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Is my pressure that obvious?

"Alright, thank you, teacher." He said, slipping the two packs of Xixile into his pocket, then turned and added, "Teacher, remember to collect the friend fee on time tomorrow."

"Collect it on your head!" Qian Bao threw her notebook away.

The Science and Comprehensive Office was brightly lit.

Zhong Qing's mood wasn't good—she had just finished checking the evening self-study.

When she entered through the front door, Li Hua's desk had four baozi. After walking around once, only two remained; after walking around again, the baozi were gone.

As she left, Qian Bao silently repeated in her heart: He scored 95 in biology, he's my student, I'll grit my teeth and carry him through.

Tap tap, a knock came at the door.

"Teacher?"

"Mm, come in."

Qian Bao didn't look up, responding in the same stern expression—this was the helplessness of a young teacher, lacking the privilege to slack off like seasoned veterans.

She had to rely on herself to improve, nurturing her students like lush green seedlings.

She looked toward the door: Jiang Nian stood tall, his whole demeanor clean and neat. She nodded inwardly—this was the kind of student she admired most.

Compared to her own student Li Hua, who scored 95 and gorged on baozi, Jiang Nian was the complete opposite.

Why couldn't Li Hua just learn properly?

Yu Zhiyi glanced at Jiang Nian, their eyes meeting briefly. She had no ulterior motive—she simply thought he was good-looking, and secondly, he was aloof.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were breasts grown in a day.

Since middle school, she'd developed many ways to handle boys—seen the overly eager, the friendly, the cold—but rarely the aloof.

Some instinct told her Jiang Nian held a grudge against her.

Many people held grudges against Yu Zhiyi; she didn't care. But if someone was good-looking and also in advanced biology, she'd care.

At least she needed to know why. Jiang Nian couldn't stand C, right?

Jiang Nian paid her no attention at all—he had already moved quietly beside Qian Bao to listen to her detailed exam review.

"Teacher, this question."

"Alright, look first," Qian Bao said, explaining problems with full seriousness.

Even though Yu Zhiyi knew how to solve the problem, she still hurried over to listen—revisiting Qian Bao's reasoning would help her answer faster during exams.

Science and Comprehensive was never about isolated subjects; time allocation mattered greatly.

The second evening self-study ended.

Jiang Nian picked up his test paper and left; Yu Zhiyi followed behind. Students rushing downstairs for late-night snacks surged past—within an instant, Jiang Nian vanished.

Yu Zhiyi: "."

This visible disdain made her extremely annoyed.

Whatever. There'd be no advanced biology before the weekend joint exam—everything could wait until after the big joint exam.

The third evening self-study was nearly over.

Jiang Nian turned to look at Li Hua, puzzled.

"You've been staring at the weekly test score sheet for a whole self-study session—can't you do something productive?"

Li Hua put down the score sheet, his mouth twisting sideways.

"You don't understand. If I hadn't studied hard for this moment, why would I have scored so high on the weekly test? I need to see my adopted sons fall behind me—that's what's truly satisfying!"

Jiang Nian nodded, giving a thumbs-up.

"You're right. Tomorrow, if you step into the classroom with your left foot, I'll repeat everything you just said, then find someone to A-lu-ba you."

"What if I use my right foot?"

"I'll A-lu-ba you twice."

"Damn!"

The evening self-study grew later and later; the classroom grew more restless at night. Especially during the fourth session—aside from those rushing to finish homework, everyone else was doing trivial things.

Either chatting, reading extracurricular books, or solving simple problems.

Mostly, Group Six was silent.

Solve problems, then go outside for air—repeat endlessly.

Since Wu Jun Gu switched to boarding, the ratio of boarders to day students in the group was one-to-one. Logically, the boarders sitting together should have had topics to discuss.

But Ceng You was busy, Empress Fangfang was deeply focused on studying, Wu Jun Gu didn't speak and had been mostly silent lately.

The three day students in the back row: Zhang Ningzhi was introverted and rarely spoke up; the group's conversation relied almost entirely on Jiang Nian and Li Hua—their chatter was the group's only breath of fresh air.

Huang Fang occasionally chimed in; Ceng You joined in when his eyes grew tired. Zhang Ningzhi only participated in topics involving Jiang Nian, whispering brief comments.

Wu Jun Gu was completely an outsider.

No one isolated him—he isolated himself. Every day he buried himself in study; after class, he either slept or left his seat.

The group didn't find this strange.

After all, Wu Jun Gu's gossip couldn't even be called gossip anymore—her girlfriends had all interacted with every male in Group Six except Ceng You.

Even one lust-driven goblin nearly became Wu Jun Gu's rival for affection. To protect that group member's dignity, his name couldn't be revealed.

But his father's name could be revealed: Jiang Nian.

There's no other Jiang in the group? Small-minded, too small-minded.

After school, Jiang Nian had planned to rush home—but his benefactor mother stopped him; his urgent expression instantly softened.

"What's up? Something wrong?"

"Let's talk outside. There's a little something," Zhang Ningzhi said softly, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

'Alright.'

Outside the classroom, in the hallway, Zhang Ningzhi finally spoke hesitantly.

'Do you have time tonight?'

'Sure, where to?' Jiang Nian asked smoothly, then grew even more awkward, 'I didn't bring my ID, maybe'

'What are you talking about!' Zhang Ningzhi blushed.

'I can't get into the internet cafe.'

Zhang Ningzhi pressed her lips shut, fell silent for several seconds, then her face flushed crimson, whirled around to face away from him, covered her face with her hands, blushing all the way to her ears.

'What's wrong?' Jiang Nian feigned ignorance.

Your face is this red, you shouldn't even go to the internet cafe—you'd have more fun playing LOL.

'N-nothing, cough cough.' Zhang Ningzhi calmed herself, but her face still burned red enough to drip blood, 'I want to... I want to chat with you tonight.'

After saying that, she added another line.

'Just for tonight, I won't keep bothering you.'

Hearing this, Jiang Nian really wanted to pull the Buddha's 'spring, summer, autumn, winter, day, night, every day' meme. But then he thought better of it—it would ruin the mood too much.

'Baby, I can chat with you till dawn'—that was way too suggestive.

He thought for a moment, then settled on a perfectly ordinary reply.

'Sure.'

After parting, Jiang Nian found Xu Qianqian.

The third-floor hallway was half-empty, looking a little deserted. Xu Qianqian stood at the end of the corridor, playing with her phone.

Seeing her slightly impatient expression, he explained voluntarily.

'I had something to do.'

'Mm, let's go.' Xu Qianqian put away her phone and walked down the stairs beside him, 'Don't make this a habit. Don't keep me waiting like this—everyone's almost gone.'

'Yeah yeah, don't worry, next time if I'm in a rush, I won't take the stairs.' Jiang Nian agreed, his voice fading as he walked, 'By the way, what should we eat tonight?'

Zhang Ningzhi stepped out of the school gate and checked her phone messages.

She looked around and found her father's car. After getting in, she called out 'Dad,' then leaned back in the seat and began scrolling through Xiaohongshu.

Big data was indeed precise—the posts pushed were all exactly what Zhang Ningzhi usually liked.

Some from high school, some from university, occasionally even workplace ones.

Her biggest secret was that every night after self-study, during the brief break, she opened these saccharine posts and happily soaked up their sugar.

As she scrolled, she didn't notice she'd already arrived home.

Vrrr—her phone vibrated.

She instinctively swiped away Xiaohongshu and sweetly opened QQ.

Jiang Nian sent her a question mark, then asked again.

'Did you get home?'

'Yeah, I'm home now. 【Image】.'

When Jiang Nian got home, he took a shower first, replying to messages while drying his hair. He could even chat with Zhang Ningzhi while replying to Xu Qianqian's messages.

Even better—he didn't slow down his hair-drying.

Xu Qianqian: 'Too lazy to argue with you. Going to shower.'

Jiang Nian: 'I can't look right now.'

Within seconds, Xu Qianqian's furious reply popped up.

'NO ONE!!! SAY!!! TO GIVE!!! YOU!!! TO LOOK!!!'

Jiang: 'Alright, then go boil yourself.'

'Fuck off! I mean shower!'

'Isn't this a bit too ambiguous, baby?' Jiang Nian sent the message, then immediately a video call popped up, making him slightly nervous.

What's going on, sis, are you really calling?

He answered. Saw Xu Qianqian's adorable face—but the video quality looked blurry, as if a layer of something covered the lens, like a plastic bag.

'Jiang Nian.'

'Huh? Why'd you put a plastic bag over your phone?'

Then Jiang Nian understood why.

Xu Qianqian spat directly toward the camera—at him—a cyber-spit, striking his soul across the network, leaving him stunned.

Wait, Xu Qianqian, you—

The video ended. Xu Qianqian sent him a middle-finger emoji.

Jiang Nian: 'So social. (salute)'

Xu Qianqian: 'See if you dare be weird again.'

Jiang Nian smiled, switched to QQ, and instantly replied to Zhang Ningzhi's message. Good thing he typed fast—otherwise he couldn't keep up with both of them. Speed was king.

'Don't worry, three days is enough. You'll pass the big joint exam easily.'

Zhang Ningzhi had sought him out mainly because of anxiety—her anxiety about not being secure in her class promotion. If she performed poorly on the big joint exam, those promoted might be demoted.

'Actually, I had a dream during my nap—I dreamed I got demoted.'

Didi-didi—the QQ notification chimed.

Jiang Nian glanced at it, lay on his bed, and typed a reply.

'Then I'll get demoted with you.'

Soon after, Jiang Nian saw Zhang Ningzhi's typing indicator still active. He waited, but nothing came. Three minutes passed—still typing.

He couldn't help but be baffled and typed a question mark.

"?"

Before Zhang Ningzhi's reply arrived, the mission panel popped up with a ding.

【Standing at the crossroads of thirty-eight, in Guangzhou, your first date with Zhang Ningzhi has shown initial results. She smiled and asked if you remember having promised to give her a gift.

Mission: A special gift, a love song delivered late. Reward: 50,000 RMB + a memory of Zhang Ningzhi.】

Yesterday's third update—I pushed through and finished writing it. I'm no coward.