Chapter 144: The Heart Burns Hot at the Slightest Glimpse of Sun

Jiang Nian also saw Yuan Zhengchuan, made no extra moves, turned around and left.

Helping classmates.

This is every Class 3 student's duty.

Ji Jiayu saw her boyfriend passing by, and her face instantly went pale. First she felt guilty, then felt something was off—why should she feel guilty?

Her water bottle had dropped, and Jiang Nian happened to pass by and caught it for her. At the same time, he considerately told her the cup should be placed inside.

What's the problem with that?

There is no problem at all.

What on earth am I feeling guilty about, just because Jiang Nian is a guy?

But she's in the science class, how could she possibly avoid all contact with guys. She's already tried her best to avoid it, but now it seems there's a problem.

Morning reading.

Zhang Ningzhi sneakily glanced at Jiang Nian; she was a bit curious about that "secret" from last night.

But she didn't want Jiang Nian to know she cared so much. She was fretting over whether there was a way to learn about Jiang Nian's past, to understand a little whether he'd ever been in a relationship.

How to ask?

"Nian, you've really never dated?"

Li Hua stared at Jiang Nian with a scrutinizing look, a language textbook in his hand.

"If you're lying to a pure-hearted male high schooler like me, you'll be paying off Huabei for life."

Zhang Ningzhi quietly pressed her lips together, her ears perking up alertly. Her group leader wasn't entirely useless—occasionally he could play some unexpected role.

"Didn't I say last time?" Jiang Nian turned his head, looking exasperated. "I only have a little bit of money, what dating? I just want to keep it to spend on myself."

"All day long with the lovey-dovey stuff, once you owe Huabei you'll come to your senses."

In the front seat, Wu Jun Gu, who was reciting ancient poems, heard his groupmate Jiang Nian's words and couldn't help feeling a stab to the heart.

He came for morning reading, not to hang himself.

One sentence put a noose around his neck. When dating Yu Zhiyi, the budget did occasionally overrun, but he still couldn't agree with Jiang Nian's words.

He turned around, about to say something.

But then he heard Jiang Nian say, "Stop acting lovesick all the time. The day you land a girl willing to confide her family of origin to you, just wait to die."

Li Hua was confused, scratched his head and asked.

"Why?"

Jiang Nian turned his head, looked at him and said.

"Anyone from a normal family—who the hell brings up 'family of origin' every day? Go ahead and abandon everything to play savior, hero, I guarantee you'll fall silent."

In the front seat, Wu Jun Gu fell silent.

He hadn't noticed before, but now that the needle was sticking into him, he realized Jiang Nian was a toxic person.

Damn, one word "hero" and it stabbed right into his spine.

For the entire language morning reading class, Wu Jun Gu was somewhat absent-minded. He was still somewhat affected by Jiang Nian, and suddenly felt a bit lost.

Switching dorms, getting jealous—was what he was doing really worth it?

Why did he originally get together with Yu Zhiyi? Was it because of her figure, even more exaggerated than a mature woman's? Seems not—he just happened to see her on the roadside.

She looked like a pitiful little puppy, abandoned by the world. And he happened to have an umbrella in his hand; after much hesitation, he still walked over to her.

A hero? He hadn't thought about it back then.

After falling in love, he was less and less like himself, and less and less like a student. Now he felt that he and she seemed more like shackles on each other?

Maybe he should consider breaking up. After all, they'd have to part ways after graduation anyway—might as well give her freedom. Let himself go and let her go, no more meeting in the future.

In the blink of an eye, two class periods passed. Jiang Nian was terribly sleepy, still flopping down the moment class ended.

Li Hua shook him awake, shouting.

"Let's go, morning jog."

Really don't know who invented the morning jog, would love to punch him twice.

Jiang Nian got up, saw Zhang Ningzhi looking like she wanted to say something but held back, and couldn't help being curious.

"What's up?"

The young Miss blushed a little. "Nothing, I'm going to find Beibei and head down for the jog together."

"So weird." Jiang Nian muttered, not paying much attention.

Li Hua walked over and made a curious sound.

"Nian, your pants zipper is open."

"Are you sick? The class monitor is right here, what kind of dirty joke are you cracking?" Jiang Nian shot him a glance, but seeing Li Hua's strange expression, his eyelid immediately twitched.

Awkward.

He casually zipped it up, then wiped it on Li Hua's book. Li Hua, one meter away, instantly burst out like a pressure cooker with a shrill shriek.

Jiang Nian and Li Hua roughhoused for a while; he saw Li Qingrong watching them roughhouse.

"What's up? Class monitor." he asked.

Li Qingrong heard this, shifted her gaze away, lowered her head to look at her book and said nothing.

Jiang Nian: "?"

Li Hua urged from the side, "Let's go, let's go, jog is about to start."

"Yeah, yeah, zipper-watcher, you're the most anxious one."

"You're the goddamn zipper-watcher! Eat shit!"

On the way downstairs, Ji Jiayu said to her boyfriend Yuan Zhengchuan.

"I don't want to run, get me excused later."

If it had been before, Yuan Zhengchuan might have gritted his teeth and agreed. But after yesterday and this morning, he was somewhat reluctant, and said in surprise,

"You can't get out of it. Old Liu already said you can't take leave for morning jogs. Besides, Sports Committee Member Liu Yang isn't that easy to talk to—he definitely won't agree."

"Aiya, just try it." Ji Jiayu habitually acted coquettishly with her boyfriend.

However, Yuan Zhengchuan shook off her hand.

Ji Jiayu's face changed.

Yuan Zhengchuan also realized he'd been impulsive, and hurriedly, without showing it, changed the subject.

"Liu Yang and I have some friction. Why don't you go try?"

Hearing that, Ji Jiayu sighed.

"Fine."

On the field, Sports Committee Member Liu Yang glanced at Ji Jiayu, and before she could even finish speaking,

"Alright, go ahead. Stay safe."

Ji Jiayu's face was full of joy as she said sweetly,

"Thanks, Sports Committee Member."

"Don't mention it, we're all classmates." Liu Yang scratched his head, and just then his gaze met Jiang Nian's as he passed by. "Take your time going up. I'll go organize the morning jog."

"Okay~" Ji Jiayu pressed her lips together.

She felt incredibly lucky these past two days—everything was going smoothly. Could it be that the luck-turning ritual from a few days ago had worked, and Mercury retrograde had really dispersed!

The ritual had originally been done for the joint exam, but it had come true ahead of time.

Yuan Zhengchuan: "."

He wondered if he'd been eating shit these past two days—why was he so unlucky? Why was there always some boy being nice to his girlfriend, not just one or two!

Was it his own problem?

Was he being too sensitive, too suspicious? After dating too long, a person turns dark and damp. He hadn't looked up at the sky in too long—had the class developed some new trends?

It definitely wasn't like that!

"See? I told you it would work, baby." Ji Jiayu bragged, but seeing Yuan Zhengchuan's expression turn sour, she lost the inclination to continue. "I'm going to the classroom."

"Mm."

Silence is the noon Kangqiao.

Even with the joint exam approaching, the first-round review for Gao San proceeded steadily. According to the teachers of each subject, the first round would end before New Year's.

Hearing that, Jiang Nian couldn't help but look down at his textbook.

In the regular class, the review plan he'd heard—the unanimous opinion of the subject teachers—was that the first-round review would end by late February of the following year.

In other words, the first round would take a whole semester plus another month.

But in the competition class, it was tentatively set to finish the first round before the end of December. The first-round review progress for each subject would even wrap up directly by mid-December.

No wonder Zhou Yuting wanted so badly to get into the competition class—she even cried.

The second semester of the competition class was entirely prepared for second-round intensive lectures and problem drills. That was the real rhythm of the gaokao sprint. Lingering in the regular class, she'd be lucky to get into a non-prestigious university.

Still wanting to get into Lu Da? She might as well just go online.

At noon, after school, Jiang Nian finished lunch and came back.

He didn't enter the classroom, but leaned against the railing. While basking in the autumn sunlight in the corridor, he quietly enjoyed the show of the couple arguing inside.

Listening to their barely suppressed angry voices, he suddenly felt the years were peaceful and beautiful.

Love my ass.

Little bastard.

Jiang Nian had just taken out his phone, still sunbathing. From the stairwell, Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe walked over together and glanced at him curiously.

"Why aren't you going in?"

"They're arguing inside. You two should wait a bit before going in too."

"Arguing?" Chen Yunyun was dumbfounded.

She looked at the classroom, then at Jiang Nian, and exchanged glances with Wang Yuhe.

"How did they start arguing?"

"No idea. It was like this when I got here." Jiang Nian was unusually calm, waving his hand. "Young couples breaking up and getting back together, arguing and making up—totally normal."

Chen Yunyun instinctively felt something was off. Yesterday Jiang Nian said he had a way to make them quiet down a bit. And then the very next day, the couple was arguing.

At noon they definitely wouldn't be clinging to each other—at the very least, it'd be a cold war.

Could it be that Jiang Nian did it? She shook her head and tossed out that absurd thought.

Jiang Nian hadn't had any contact with Ji Jiayu's little couple at all—how could it have anything to do with him? Maybe he just got lucky and caught them arguing.

After watching for a while, Wang Yuhe planned to go to the bathroom and invited her along.

"I'll wait a bit, want to keep watching the show." Chen Yunyun smiled, turning to Wang Yuhe. "You go ahead, I'll wait for you here."

Jiang Nian: "Thanks for the invite, but ten minutes ago I."

Wang Yuhe: ". Who asked you!"

Hearing that, Jiang Nian said with a straight face,

"That's not right—what you said. Opportunity is something you seize yourself. As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. I forgot the rest... but it doesn't matter."

"If I don't say it this time, how would you think to invite me next time?"

Wang Yuhe was rendered speechless by him and rolled her eyes.

"Then come on."

Jiang Nian shook his head. "No, I think the most important thing in being a person is having your own bottom line."

"Then don't ask!"

"Not asking how you could invite me?"

Chen Yunyun slapped her hand over her face and shoved Jiang Nian.

"Stop talking."

Wang Yuhe glared at him and stormed off in a huff.

Jiang Nian pointed at Wang Yuhe, laughing out loud.

"Look at her—like a grade-schooler."

Wang Yuhe, who had walked halfway, froze mid-step, whipped her head back, and gritted her teeth.

"I can hear you!"

"Hahaha, my bad, my bad—I'll wait till you've walked farther away before I say it." Jiang Nian was in a good mood; only after he finished laughing did he notice the surroundings were a little too quiet.

He turned his head and saw Chen Yunyun, only to find her leaning on the railing, watching him.

"What are you looking at?"

Chen Yunyun smiled. "Nothing. Just suddenly realized you're pretty good-looking."

Jiang Nian: "Smooth talker—Venmo me fifty later."

Her: "."

Chen Yunyun ignored him, just leaning on the railing with half-closed eyes, basking in the sun. Her gaze drifted toward the distant Green Wood Ridge, and at one glance it was all gray.

The clear autumn sky was a blue that made the heart ache.

She didn't know why, but whenever he was beside her, her heart felt as if it were standing in a damp rainy season.

Take advantage of an autumn clear sky—one sunbath and it turns scalding hot.