Chapter 160: I Have No Backbone

"Tsk tsk, Yuan Zhengchuan is really being unreasonable."

"Yeah, never seen anything like it."

"I was right beside him—he looked truly terrifying."

In the girls' dorm, four or five girls were scattered, discussing today's events.

The neighboring dorm of Ji Jiayu had even more people watching, still munching on the gossip over an hour later.

【timi!】、【timi!】

An discordant voice rang out; Chai Muying and the other girls looked up toward the source.

On the top bunk, Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe sat side by side against the wall, their bare white feet pressed against the green guardrail, the ceiling fan whirring above.

"Huh? Yunyun, are you guys playing a game?"

"Ah, yeah."

Chen Yunyun knew the inside scoop on Ji Jiayu and had no interest. As for Wang Yuhe, she cared even less—as long as the couple didn't cause trouble during nap time.

Just then, a male voice came from Wang Yuhe's phone.

"Can you hear me?"

The dorm fell silent; Chen Yunyun froze, stunned that Wang Yuhe had turned on speaker. She'd been about to plug in earphones—how did this happen so suddenly?

Five or six roommates instantly stood up, all craning their necks, gathering beneath Wang Yuhe's bunk, ready to gossip.

At that moment, Wang Yuhe's phone suddenly blared out a voice.

"Wang Yuhe is a primary school student!"

The girls' dorm erupted in laughter—giggles and cackles filled the air!

"Hahaha, is that Jiang Nian?"

"Primary school student, hahaha."

Wang Yuhe, furious, gritted her teeth.

"You're the primary school student!"

"You are, I'm not." Jiang Nian shot back.

"You are!"

"My dad isn't—you are."

The entire dorm listened as Jiang Nian and Wang Yuhe fiercely argued for two minutes over who was the primary school student, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

"You two are unbelievable—are you kindergarten kids?"

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun also found it funny and asked her roommates before starting.

"You guys in?"

"No thanks, you play—we don't know how to play this game."

"Didn't download it."

"Thanks for the invite, but I'm busy watching the gossip next door—heard Old Liu called."

"Me too, me too—I love watching gossip."

After asking around, no one joined—they were still just the three of them playing.

Though they were in the same dorm, they weren't close to Jiang Nian and felt awkward joining in.

Besides, a team of one guy and four girls is generally seen as a punching bag, a whipping boy, a losing squad. The soft target in five-man queues.

What's the point of always losing unless you're playing with close friends.

Like Ma Guojun—he always teams up with Li Hua at the internet cafe, and they always curse nonstop. His chubby face turns red from yelling, yet he still asks Li Hua to play again next time.

It's not because they're father and son—it's just how games are. If you don't play with people around you, even winning a hundred times means nothing.

The game was still loading when Chen Yunyun spoke up.

"Jiang Nian, I'm pretty bad at this."

Wang Yuhe insisted, "I'm really good."

"No problem, just play casually—I'm not great either," Jiang Nian reassured her. "By the way, it's already nine—aren't you guys getting late-night snacks?"

Chen Yunyun stared blankly, maneuvering her hero toward the turret.

"You forgot—we ate dinner at eight."

Soon, Jiang Nian's voice came through the mic, accompanied by the sound of skill upgrades.

"Oh? Is there still food at the cafeteria this late?"

"Yeah, because most of the residents here live on campus," Chen Yunyun explained while playing. "Fewer people eat in the afternoon than at lunch."

"The dishes at the second-floor window taste better—they usually hold them back to sell at a discount at night."

Wang Yuhe added, "At night, it's only five yuan—two meat dishes, two vegetables."

Jiang Nian: "Stop talking—I'm suffering just thinking I missed out on that deal."

"Save me! Jiang Nian!" Chen Yunyun cried. "He—he—he, ahhhh, why is there always flashing near me? Why is he always targeting me?"

"Ahh! Jiang Nian, how come you ate my minion wave?" Wang Yuhe fumed. "You're so shameless—deliberately talking to distract me!"

Jiang Nian: "Sacrifice a little—it's no big deal. I'll send you red packets in the group later."

Chen Yunyun: ". you."

Wang Yuhe: ". So shameless."

After two rounds, Chen Yunyun kept dodging, but Wang Yuhe cracked first.

"My teammate said my Xiao Qiao is worse than a cannon cart!"

Jiang Nian: "To be honest—it is."

"Ahh you! Jiang Nian, how could you say that!" Wang Yuhe fumed, trembling with rage. "No way—I'm gonna insult him back!"

Chen Yunyun tried to stop him, but it was too late—Wang Yuhe had already turned on the group mic.

Late at night, the girls' dormitory, after lights out.

A roommate had just returned from next door after gorging on gossip, walking up to her own dorm door, seeing total darkness inside, only faint, intermittent sobs echoing from within.

The girls froze instantly, hair standing on end, every horror movie about girls' dorms flooding their minds.

"Fuck, where's that crying coming from?"

"Could it be last year's senior didn't fully leave—maybe one or two are still hiding here?"

"Don't talk nonsense—seniors only stay in the boys' dorm," one girl jumped in to correct her, "if that ever happened, school admins would definitely swap dorms between genders."

"You know what? I heard it back in first year."

"Fuck, Chai Muying, don't say it!"

Chen Yunyun couldn't hold back anymore—she turned on her flashlight from the top bunk, helplessly patted the quilt beside her, and urged,

"Yuhe, stop crying."

After saying it, she suddenly didn't know what else to say.

The roommates gathered around; Chai Muying, who got along well with her, asked curiously,

"Weren't you playing a game? Why are you crying?"

Wang Yuhe poked her head out from under the quilt, wiping tears as she explained.

"My teammates insulted me—they said I play worse than his grandma's braised pork trotters."

The roommates exchanged glances. "Did Jiang Nian insult you?"

"Not him—two other people matched with us," Wang Yuhe sobbed in hiccuping bursts, "I couldn't argue back—they mocked me."

"I got angry and cursed them in Hakka, and they… they waaah."

Chai Muying: "Did they insult you again?"

"No, they…" Wang Yuhe cried harder, "they quit the game, said they wouldn't play with a Japanese brat, waaah! I'm not—"

"I'm not a Japanese brat, waaah!"

Hearing this, the girls fell silent for several seconds—then burst into roaring laughter.

"Hahaha!!"

"I'm dying—calling someone a Japanese brat? That's just too insulting."

"Where's Jiang Nian? Didn't he defend you? Curse him!"

Wang Yuhe's crying stopped. She poked her head out again from the thin quilt.

"I… can't curse him."

"Why not? Did Jiang Nian help you?"

"No, he laughed the loudest," Wang Yuhe whimpered, sniffling, "but—he sent me a red packet. I had no backbone and took it."

Hearing this, the dorm erupted in even louder laughter.

After the laughter died down, Chai Muying began recounting the gossip she'd gathered from all corners.

"This blew up big time—I heard the homeroom teacher got scolded."

Chen Yunyun, chatting intermittently with Jiang Nian, listened with one ear. Wang Yuhe stopped crying—she was glad to hear Ji Jiayu was in trouble.

The next morning.

Jiang Nian cupped a handful of tap water and splashed it on his face, slightly clearing his head.

Face wash? What the hell is that?

Plain water is a level-10 skincare product—works for oily or dry skin alike. At most, wash your face with body wash during a shower.

Sulfur soap is borderline cheating—not medicine, but worse than medicine; it's a nuclear strike on your skin.

For toiletries, he only saves effort on washing his face. The rest? He doesn't need to think about them—that's one advantage of being a day student.

As usual, he walked to school alone, arriving at class early as always.

As long as the scores weren't out, his mind wouldn't settle.

But Jiang Nian hadn't expected Zhang Nenzhi to arrive even earlier—the girl sat there dazed first thing in the morning, clutching a pen, staring blankly at the math test paper for ages without moving.

"You're here so early?" Jiang Nian put down his backpack and greeted her.

"Mm, woke up very early," Zhang Nenzhi's cheeks flushed slightly, too embarrassed to admit she'd been nervous all night. "Not many people are here yet?"

"The big exam's over, and they had a holiday last night—of course no one's here early," he slumped back in his chair, sprawled out, staring blankly at the fluorescent light overhead.

After a while, he sighed deeply.

"I really don't want to come to school in the morning. If only morning self-study could be canceled."

Zhang Nenzhi watched his strange ritual in full, and asked curiously,

"Why do you sigh every day when you come to class?"

"Nothing—just complaining about this damn school," Jiang Nian pulled out his books and test papers; his motivation for coming to school relied entirely on gazing at beautiful girls.

"But at least morning reading isn't the main point."

Zhang Nenzhi asked instinctively, "Then what is?"

Jiang Nian didn't answer. He propped his head on his hand, glanced at her, then lowered his eyes back to the test paper.

After two seconds of stunned silence, Zhang Nenzhi blinked, her eyelashes slowly drooping. The delayed realization—the subtext of the conversation—slowly dawned on her.

Her chest suddenly bubbled like an opened bottle of Ping Qishui, waves of fizz rising again and again.

But… maybe it's someone else. He talks to other girls too.

It must be that way.

Zhang Nenzhi tried to cover it up, refusing to look at him again.

"Will the scores come out today?"

"Probably will, maybe not all of them—math is definitely out," Jiang Nian said absently, eyes still on the paper, not looking up. "You don't need to worry."

"We won't be demoted."

Zhang Nengzhi's secret thought was pierced; she softly murmured, "Mm."

As long as we aren't demoted, it's fine.

Demotion means separation—from Yao Beibei, from the group leader, from them. Empress Fangfang is fine too, but then there's him—no matter who gets demoted, it'll be unnatural.

As if to soothe her anxiety, the English and math answer sheets were handed out before morning reading ended.

Li Hua received his math answer sheet and flicked the paper.

"146? Red Stone? They're deliberately picking on me."

Zhang Nengzhi hadn't received her paper yet; she turned to see Jiang Nian hadn't either. Her heart, which had just settled, began to churn uneasily again.

Ceng You received his English answer sheet and saw 67.

"Fuck, only 67? I even peeked at the guy in front with glasses! His mistakes were even crazier than mine!"

English and math answer sheets were mixed and distributed in this Science Olympiad class—like a single thought between heaven and hell. Li Hua received his English paper and immediately deflated.

"Shit, 69."

Ceng You heard this, stood up, and went to look at Li Hua's paper.

"Haha, group leader, you only beat me by two points!"

Li Hua grumbled, "How much did you get in math?"

Ceng You beamed proudly. "136."

Seeing Li Hua silent, Ceng You grew even happier. He leaned over eagerly to glance at the two answer sheets—and instantly winced in pain.

Zhang Nengzhi: English 140. Jiang Nian: English 143.

He passed them over, muttering.

"Are you even human?"

Zhang Nengzhi glanced at her own English answer sheet, then at Jiang Nian's. She couldn't help but smile faintly, a quiet sigh of relief slipping through her chest.

"I aced it!"

"Impressive. Next time, aim for 150," Jiang Nian automatically praised.

He turned and saw Lin Dong walking over, arms full of math answer sheets. He stopped openly at Group Six and began manually searching for their papers.

"Bro Jiang, wait—I see your two answer sheets."

"You did pretty well."