Chapter 157: If You're Not Cold, Give Me That Jacket

In the bathroom, Wang Yuhe paused for a moment.

"That sl—"

"Ahem, the cafeteria's pancakes really are pretty good." Chen Yunyun quickly cut her off.

Girl, this is a bathroom, not a secret room.

How can you just blurt everything out—Ji Jiayu is right in the dorm next door. There's bound to be someone in this dorm who's close to her too; with stuff like this, who knows.

Wang Yuhe glanced at Chen Yunyun curiously, a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it?"

Chen Yunyun broke into a sweat, waving her hand.

"Nothing, let's talk later—finish drying off and get out."

"Oh, okay."

After toweling off, the two girls changed and walked down the dorm hallway into the cold wind, picking up the conversation they'd left unfinished in the bathroom.

Ji Jiayu really is a bit of a sl—it's not that they're man-haters. It's that she and her boyfriend Yuan Zhengchuan spend the first half of lunch break studying, and the second half making out.

Put plainly, she's the kind of villain who only cares about her own dopamine hit, completely ignoring the feelings of the classmates napping in the classroom.

"So we can't even talk about it?" Wang Yuhe protested.

"That's just how it is—she's only offended us." Chen Yunyun soothed her. "Most people in the dorm don't nap in the classroom, so they don't care."

"Ji Jiayu's on good terms with all of them, so it's best not to badmouth Ji Jiayu in the dorm."

Wang Yuhe was half-confused, but still nodded.

"Mm, so no one can do anything about her?"

"No idea, but lately she seems to be breaking up with her boyfriend out of nowhere." Chen Yunyun smiled. "Feels pretty suspicious—someone must be dealing with her."

"Who?" Wang Yuhe asked.

The two girls stood on the balcony watching the rain, the sky a little dim. Soybean-sized raindrops landed on the windowsill, and the round holes of the gutter filled with clear rainwater.

Chen Yunyun's voice was soft. "Who else naps in the classroom?"

"Jiang Nian?" Wang Yuhe was surprised. "But he didn't even do anything?"

"He didn't do anything, but lately the boys in class have been acting off." Chen Yunyun said. "Especially our group leader—he's suddenly being all attentive to Ji Jiayu."

"Jiang Nian told him to?" Wang Yuhe said. "Can't deal with Ji Jiayu directly, so he went after her boyfriend instead?"

"Yeah, he didn't tell me directly, I'm just guessing." Chen Yunyun said. "Let's just keep this between us, don't tell anyone else."

"Mm, mm." Wang Yuhe nodded. "I get it. Lucky they had their own fight—now we can go back to napping in the classroom."

Outside the window the rain grew heavier, and the sky gradually darkened.

Rat-a-tat—raindrops slammed onto the road, swallowing the streets, alleys, and shops.

"Ah! Jiang Nian, do you even know how to hold an umbrella!"

"Don't move, it's about to leak through."

"How about you go out and give me the umbrella?" Xu Qianqian said pitifully. "You're a big guy—even if you get rained on a little, you won't catch a cold."

"Sexist much? If we die, we die together." Jiang Nian refused flatly.

In the downpour, the umbrella handle wobbled unsteadily.

"Ah! Rain just ran down my neck!" Xu Qianqian grabbed Jiang Nian's shirt, shrieking nonstop. "Can you make a little sacrifice? That's how they always do it in TV dramas."

"What era are you from, still watching TV dramas!" Jiang Nian shouted over the roaring rain. "Don't count on me—I only use my browser."

"Pervert."

"What are you even saying—who watches shows without a website these days?" Jiang Nian shot back verbally while scanning around for somewhere to take shelter.

It's all Xu Qianqian's homeroom teacher's fault, what a Sima—knowing full well it was about to rain and still dragging things out. Had to read that crappy will out loud, couldn't he just post it in the class group?

And now look—dragged it into a downpour.

On the road you could spot a few of Xu Qianqian's classmates, wearing raincoats and biking through the white-sheet rainstorm. A gust of wind blew, sweeping the air right along with it.

Panicking, they crashed straight into the curb.

"Shit, can't go back." Jiang Nian cursed.

"What?"

Xu Qianqian asked instinctively—she was a mess too right now. Her backpack slung to her front, she was squeezed under a small blue umbrella with the shameless Jiang Nian.

The two were practically curled into each other, each of them soaked on one side.

Jiang Nian was really too much—actually not caring whether he lived or died. He shamelessly hogged the umbrella, even claiming that if they squeezed together they'd both be covered.

Facts proved it—covered, my ass!

"I said! The rain's too heavy, we can't go back!" Jiang Nian raised his voice. "Let's find a place to have a kid—no, find somewhere to take shelter!"

"Just so you know, I'm not deaf." Xu Qianqian shot him a look, hugging herself in fear.

"I know, I was just joking." Jiang Nian's mouth kept running while his eyes searched around for a shelter target—there was a mid-sized mall up ahead.

"You're a little too humorous." Xu Qianqian complained.

There was actually still a bit of space under the umbrella; she looked up at Jiang Nian. Black hair, bright eyes, a sharp jawline—if he didn't talk, he'd pass for a decent dog.

Maybe it was an illusion, but Jiang Nian didn't seem as frail as before.

"The rain's too heavy, let's duck into the mall up ahead." Jiang Nian suggested.

The rain grew more and more urgent, and Xu Qianqian was getting a little scared too.

"Okay."

The two headed toward the mall; with the rain heavy and the umbrella small, to avoid getting soaked they walked slower and slower.

"We seem to be walking really slowly—at this rate we'll be drenched before we even reach the mall." Xu Qianqian analyzed. "How about you run ahead first, and I'll chase you with the umbrella."

"You run instead—your clothes are already soaked, they don't show anything anyway." Jiang Nian said something even more off-putting than a flat refusal.

"Go to hell!"

All in all, the umbrella's space was just too limited. With two people's shoulders pressed together, one plus one would always be greater than or equal to two. If only they could have negative-distance contact.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then reached out and pulled Xu Qianqian's shoulder over.

Now it's negative distance.

This abrupt action made Xu Qianqian's eyes blink sharply, her heartbeat uncontrollably quickening. In an instant, the sour ache at the bottom of her heart spread from her chest throughout her whole body.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"The umbrella's too small, walk a bit faster." Jiang Nian was speechless, yet also felt something a little different. Xu Qianqian's scent was quite pleasant to smell.

He didn't know how to describe it. Smelling the warm breath rising from her neck, the line from his nostrils to his brain stem was perfectly straight.

"Oh." Xu Qianqian also didn't know what to say.

The atmosphere under the umbrella was strange. The two walked in silence all the way to the mall. Going down the stairs into the basement-level awning, quite a few people without umbrellas had gathered here to take shelter from the rain.

Xu Qianqian scanned the area through the edge of the umbrella and saw that the crowd's focus was on the two of them. As if watching a show—ooh ooh ooh, a couple has arrived.

Actually, they weren't. Just neighbors who couldn't shake each other off.

Seeing no students in the crowd, Xu Qianqian couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she had a guilty conscience, but she didn't want people to misunderstand that she was dating a monkey at school.

Jiang Nian didn't know about Xu Qianqian's strange and bizarre thoughts. When entering the steps to the mall's basement level, he let go of Xu Qianqian's shoulder.

Closing the umbrella—great, only got drizzled on a little.

Turning his head, he found Xu Qianqian still standing there ramrod straight.

"What are you spacing out for?"

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian came back to her senses, her face a little red. But she had never been one to lose to anyone in her life, and didn't want to admit she'd zoned out because of some absurd thoughts.

She looked at Jiang Nian with a serious face and spoke.

"I've always thought you were so handsome and rich, and they sell umbrellas in the mall."

"Are you stupid? Everyone's taking shelter from the rain, who's buying umbrellas?" Jiang Nian glanced at her, then took another look inside the mall. "It's still a long way until the rain stops. Want to go in and browse around?"

Xu Qianqian agreed, taking out her phone to reply to messages while following Jiang Nian inside.

It was called a mall, but the shops on the second and third floors were basically empty. The people who came here were mainly here for the big supermarket in the basement.

She was scrolling through her phone. WeChat had received multiple messages.

Song Xiyun had sent a message twenty minutes ago saying she'd arrived home, only slightly wet. Li Hongmei had messaged asking if she'd gotten wet, and whether she should come pick her up.

Xu Qianqian replied with a "no need," and casually took a photo of the mall.

"Didn't get wet, taking shelter from the rain. Will head back once it lets up a little."

Li Hongmei replied "okay," then asked about Jiang Nian.

"Is that kid with you? I saw he didn't bring an umbrella today. He didn't snatch yours, did he?"

Seeing this, Xu Qianqian immediately felt awkward, and bit her lower lip as she typed a reply.

"He's here."

The mall interior had air conditioning, and the temperature was relatively low. Xu Qianqian suddenly felt cold, and before she could reply to Li Yi, her body involuntarily gave a shiver.

Jiang Nian, walking ahead, seemed to have a sudden flash of inspiration, and turned around to ask.

"Xu Qianqian, are you cold?"

Xu Qianqian was stubborn and shook her head.

"Not cold."

"That's good, that's good." Jiang Nian stretched out his hand, and with an air of matter-of-course mixed with bashfulness, said, "I'm a bit frail, and I'm a little cold. Could you take off your jacket and let me wear it?"

Xu Qianqian's fist clenched hard, and she said through gritted teeth.

"Freeze to death!"

"Ah ma de."

Xu Qianqian: "."

What filthy thing just floated by? She felt the atmosphere at Zhennan Middle School was indeed not up to par, and the students' moral quality still had a lot of room for improvement.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian handed her his school uniform jacket.

"For you."

"Hmph." Xu Qianqian felt a little awkward, always feeling something was off.

It wasn't like she hadn't taken his jacket before. How old were they back then? Ten or twelve, the sky was still very blue back then, and Jiang Nian still counted as a decent person.

Growing up, things were inevitably different.

Xu Qianqian didn't play coy either, took the jacket and put it on directly. The mall's basement level was very cold. After a while, the chill clinging to her body receded.

"Are you cold?"

"I don't feel much, it's the same whether I wear a jacket or not." Jiang Nian really wasn't cold—he was in the prime of youth.

Back in junior high, he'd wear just two layers in the dead of winter. And very flashily unzipped—one jacket, one base layer—while the classmates next to him were bundled up like balls.

At the time, he'd once thought he might be a descendant of a villager from the Five Elements Village, one of the candidates to summon an Armor Hero.

By the way, not the Wind Eagle Armor.

The chuunibyou years of choosing style over warmth had passed, but the foundation remained.

It was merely a little wind and frost.

Xu Qianqian stared at him for a few seconds, sniffed, and said.

"Done browsing, let's go out."

"Wait, I haven't even gone in yet." Jiang Nian was surprised, turned his head and asked, "If we just stand outside like idiots waiting for the rain to stop, won't that be boring?"

Having spent years together, Xu Qianqian understood this person's nature all too well.

If Jiang Nian proactively suggested going to browse a mall on his own, it was more often than not because his time was short. With only his last breath left, he wanted to experience a different kind of life.

Of all the people interested in browsing the mall, he was the only one.

"I don't find it boring, it's just too cold here," Xu Qianqian said. "It's bad for my brilliant brain—if it gets frozen, I might only score six hundred and thirty on the exam."

To be fair, Jiang Nian was a little hurt.

After waiting about twenty minutes at the entrance to the basement level of the mall, the rain finally stopped.

This time there was no need to hold an umbrella.

He considerately handed the umbrella to Xu Qianqian. "There's still a bit of drizzle—keep the umbrella."

Xu Qianqian gritted her teeth. "It's obviously because you don't want to carry it!"

The two walked home, with puddles everywhere. After being tossed about by the heavy rain, it was already 7:10 p. m., and the streetlamps along the road lit up one by one.

After the downpour, the road surface reflected all sorts of light; the air was unusually damp, and cold wind brushed past their faces in waves.

Xu Qianqian shrank into herself, lowered her head, and caught a scent from her collar that didn't belong to her.

Body heat had steamed out a damp smell of laundry detergent, tinged with a faint lavender fragrance, hazy and indistinct, instantly scattered again by the cold wind.