Chapter 139: Brothers Were Birds of the Same Forest, But When Disaster Strikes, You Kick Me in the Face

Zhang Nengzhi leaned forward and met Li Qingrong's gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

Li Qingrong was curious but didn't know how to ask. She hesitated, unconsciously staring fixedly at the sachet in Zhang Nengzhi's hand.

Jiang Nian couldn't take it anymore and stepped in to explain.

"It's just a talisman for blessing and calming the spirit."

"Yeah, super powerful," Zhang Nengzhi added, her eyes sparkling, "Jiang Nian said the Dao Master blessed it—it wards off disaster and misfortune."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian felt awkward.

Damn, I never said that!

When both Zhang Nengzhi and Li Qingrong turned to Jiang Nian with questioning looks, he suddenly became upright, as if possessed by Xiao Yang.

"That's right."

Seeing the sparkle in Zhang Nengzhi's eyes, Jiang Nian winced, thinking thankfully he'd gotten away with it.

He turned to see Li Qingrong watching him and gave an awkward smile.

Bro's got pride—don't blow my cover.

Li Qingrong said nothing. Nothing happened.

Morning reading.

Li Hua was singing loudly again; Jiang Nian had planned to join in and complete the love song quest.

After listening closely, he realized it was "Piggy侠," and immediately gave up.

To be honest, singing at first brings a tiny bit of shame.

But after singing a few lines, it wasn't as awkward as imagined—even kind of satisfying.

"The long shot pulls farther and farther away, years later. We're remembering the concert, politely saying goodbye. You wrote me my first song."

When he sang "You and I hold hands tightly," the quest panel popped up.

Quest completed.

He'd only sung seven or eight seconds when the system judged it.

Li Hua was still belting out the song, completely lost in his own world.

Everyone in the group was doing morning reading; no one paid attention to Jiang Nian's quiet, improvised love song. Some even thought it normal—he was Li Hua's desk partner.

After all, near ink, one gets stained—who expects a lotus to bloom in mud?

Two abstractly weird guys together sink into a cosmic black hole of IQ, while their skin thickness rivals a city wall.

Jiang Nian casually closed the quest panel and glanced at Zhang Nengzhi.

The girl was leaning against the bookshelf memorizing vocabulary, looking earnestly absorbed in morning reading. She must've heard it—otherwise the system wouldn't have registered it.

Jiang Nian put down his pen, patted Li Hua to signal he was leaving. Li Hua turned, puzzled.

"Where to?"

"To the bathroom."

"Alright, I'm coming too," Li Hua said immediately, grinning, tossing down his vocabulary book, "I'll hold it for you—don't miss the bowl."

"Damn, you're even grosser than me," Jiang Nian sneered, shaking his head toward the next row, "Go ask Big Fat Baby if he's coming."

"No telling—Old Ma's a total coward."

Li Hua finally went over to ask. Ma Guojun hadn't eaten breakfast and planned to head to the cafeteria after using the bathroom to grab a bowl of hollow noodles.

The two sat in the first two rows; the English class representative standing by the aisle heard every word clearly.

She looked from Li Hua to Jiang Nian, face serious.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom." "To the cafeteria." "After the bathroom, then the cafeteria."

"Stop messing around! This is English morning reading!" The rep stepped forward, lowering her voice, "The teacher's next door—go the other way. Get me a pickled cabbage pancake."

"Thanks, guys—I'll pay you back later."

The three laughed loudly, gave an OK sign, and walked out boldly in front of the English rep.

Zhang Nengzhi secretly glimpsed Jiang Nian's retreating back as he left the classroom with the others; only then did she exhale. Slowly burying her face in her book, her heart pounded.

He just sang, slightly off-key—normal male tenor level.

That kind of voice—obviously amateur, no technique, little emotion—just a plain, loud tone. The only advantage? His voice was nice.

She hadn't been this assertive before; after sitting with Jiang Nian, she'd slowly developed a bit of edge, occasionally showing it.

But that's not the point.

Two days ago, on a weekend afternoon, the same "Love Song" was playing at the seafood restaurant where she and Jiang Nian ate. Hearing him sing it suddenly made her feel embarrassed.

Just as Jiang Nian and the others slipped out, they ran into Qian Bao walking out of the next classroom.

All three froze, the atmosphere instantly stiffening.

Li Hua stood behind and was half-blocked by Ma Guojun. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and ran—if he ran fast enough, maybe—

Suddenly, Li Hua felt his arm yanked. Before he could react, a powerful force yanked him backward; as he stumbled back, he saw Jiang Nian's face.

"Move, old man."

"Jiang Nian! You!!" Li Hua despaired, watching Jiang Nian use him as leverage to sprint forward, filled with sorrow.

Bro, we were birds of the same forest—yet when disaster strikes, you still kick me in the face!

Screw it—if they can escape—

Then what's the point of my life!!!

Li Hua lunged one by one, wrapping his arms tightly around Jiang Nian's waist.

"Monster! Die together!"

"Dammit, you son of a bitch!"

Ma Guojun tried to sneak away, but Li Hua and Jiang Nian grabbed his arms at the same time.

"Old Ma, stop hiding. Your features are so obvious, Qian Bao will definitely catch you!"

"Fatty baby, if we die, we die together!"

Ma Guojun's face was full of terror, and he couldn't shake the two off.

"Are you guys this shady?! Trash!"

In the hallway, Qian Bao looked at her three students clinging to each other and tugging. A huge question mark popped up on her forehead — were they always this stupid?

"Where are you few going?"

Li Hua couldn't find an excuse, so he could only lower his head and tell the truth.

"To the bathroom."

"Teacher, Li Hua was singing during morning reading, and his spit splashed on my face." Jiang Nian didn't even blink before selling him out. "I went to the bathroom to wash my face."

Hearing this, Li Hua's face was full of shock!

"Teacher! Me too!" Ma Guojun wasn't good with words, but he followed the trend quickly.

"Huh?" Li Hua, stabbed in the back by his friends, was full of shock. He pointed at the two with a trembling finger. "You guys— hey! There's no need for this, right?"

"Li Hua!" Qian Bao kept a straight face, frowned at him, and said, "I've caught you singing several times during morning reading. And it's the cartoon your daughter likes to watch."

After Qian Bao finished speaking, a few heads poked out from both classes to watch the show.

"Hahaha, Li Hua is such an idiot!"

"Teacher, I report that Li Hua started singing 'Pig Pig Hero' the moment morning reading began!"

Qian Bao held her forehead and scolded the group of onlookers.

"Get back to morning reading!"

At the classroom door, those watching the fun shrank back.

Jiang Nian stood at the very back and said something in a pinched voice.

"How does singing offend you?"

Qian Bao was furious and stared at Li Hua.

"You still dare to talk back? How many points did you get on the weekly English test?"

"No! It wasn't me who said that!" Li Hua still underestimated Jiang Nian's moral底线, only regretting not striking first. "Teacher, Jiang Nian framed me!"

"Get over here!"

Li Hua was dragged away. Jiang Nian and Ma Guojun looked at each other in the hallway.

"Are we safe now?"

"Safe. Brother Hua took all the fire alone." Jiang Nian shook his head and sighed. "The old friend has already ridden the Yellow Crane away; remember Li Hua."

"Let's slack off. What are you going to eat at the cafeteria later?" Ma Guojun asked.

"A whole pickled cabbage pancake." Jiang Nian said.

"Let's go, let's go."

It wasn't until almost the end of morning reading that Li Hua came back with a dejected face.

Qian Bao set a goal for him: he had to pass the joint exam in two days. Otherwise, she'd tell Old Liu about him singing during morning reading and skipping class to eat breakfast.

Miserable.

The root of all this suffering came from that bastard!

Morning reading was already over. After sitting down, both of them sat upright, contrary to their usual behavior.

Li Hua was seriously looking at vocabulary, reciting softly, occasionally looking up at the sky. Jiang Nian was seriously doing problems, occasionally turning to glance at Li Hua.

"Why are you looking at me?" Li Hua frowned, but didn't forget to recite vocabulary.

Jiang Nian instinctively felt something was off, but didn't think it through. He kept an eye on Li Hua for a while, and after confirming he wouldn't retaliate, he slowly lay his head on the desk.

He lay down, then suddenly sat up.

Li Hua was still the same, even giving him a puzzled glance, as if to say "what nonsense."

Jiang Nian was relieved and prepared to take a nap in these few minutes.

The moment he closed his eyes, he was instantly startled awake by a big movement. Just as he barely turned his head, Li Hua pounced over, face flushed red and gnashing his teeth!

"You die! You traitor who sells out your own father for glory!"

"Don't!! Don't choke me, I was wrong, Brother Hua." Jiang Nian quickly begged for mercy. "I'll treat you to a pickled cabbage pancake. Ma Guojun bought you a You Suan Ru. Your sacrifice was meaningful."

"Meaningful my ass!" Li Hua was furious, but thinking of the pickled cabbage pancake, he let him off. "Hand it over. At least it wasn't in vain that I got lectured for a whole morning reading."

Jiang Nian took the pickled cabbage pancake and You Suan Ru out from the desk belly, and when handing them over, added one more sentence.

"Qian Bao is doing this for your own good. Otherwise, why would she single you out?"

"Sigh, I know, I know." Li Hua answered vaguely. "Aren't I reciting vocabulary right now? I'll try for the joint exam, see if I can get to eighty."

Jiang Nian lay back on the desk. After Li Hua's stunt, he had completely lost his sleepiness.

But after lying there for a while, he actually fell asleep.

——

Is this a dream?

Beneath a huge white curtain, Jiang Nian could sense that he was dreaming. Only... he gazed at the white, boundless space above, below, in front, behind, and to both sides.

He'd dreamed before, but the perspective just shifted, and he couldn't think at all. Like spectating a game, the pixels were 360p and pixelated.

Now, it was high-definition and real.

Jiang Nian could feel that his thoughts flowed smoothly, completely unlike being in a dream.

So, is this a system reward?

This is a memory of Zhang Ningzhi's? If it's being presented through a dream, that's actually quite interesting. The question is, where is Zhang Ningzhi herself?

As if to answer his confusion, two knocks—dong dong.

Someone knocked on the door.

Jiang Nian looked around the empty space. Where the hell is the door?

The white space slowly faded, dispersing like a thin mist. The rough shape of a room gradually emerged, and the sound of a door lock being turned came through.

Jiang Nian saw her. To be precise, in Zhang Ningzhi's memory, he saw her mother.

So young—she looks like she's only in her early twenties, right?

No wait, she really is in her early twenties. The woman had fair skin and was beautiful, her lips like congealed fat, wearing clothes in a style that used to be popular, carrying a plate of fruit.

"Zhibao, did you have fun at kindergarten today?"

Kindergarten?

Jiang Nian was dumbfounded. Where the hell have you dropped me off to?