Chapter 177: Baby, Don't Sleep on the Floor, It's Cold

Zhang Ningzhi held a sticky note in her hand, lowered her head, and said softly.

"Don't worry about the drinks. After all, I was the one who first proposed that we supervise each other before the joint exam. So... I'm just keeping the agreement, that's all."

"But I really like the gift, thank you."

"Mm, glad you like it." Jiang Nian, carrying his bag, prepared to head home. He glanced back at her and smiled. "You head home early too, and stay safe."

He knew Zhang Ningzhi had rides to and from school in the morning and evening, so he wasn't worried.

"Mm-hmm!" Zhang Ningzhi nodded.

She had already finished packing up, but she needed a little time to settle her emotions.

Watching Jiang Nian leave the classroom, the breath she had been holding finally flowed freely. The faint sourness and gloom that had built up in her heart during evening self-study were smoothed away in an instant.

Those hidden details, like fish blowing bubbles, left traces to follow. Rising little by little, they spread ripples across the surface.

"School is so tiring, I really want to blow up the school." Xu Qianqian walked home at night, looked up at the streetlamp. "Jiang Nian, go report the school."

"Wouldn't that get me expelled." Jiang Nian walked forward with a pair of dead-fish eyes.

Xu Qianqian thought for a moment, then said seriously.

"I'll keep in touch with you often, send you packages."

"Expelled isn't the same as locked up, what packages are you sending." Jiang Nian glanced at her. "Walking like this, aren't you afraid of missing your step and falling?"

"Don't you know I'm very bold?" Xu Qianqian retorted.

Whether she was bold or not, he didn't know.

But other things—

Actually, Xu Qianqian wasn't bold at all; she was practically walking pressed against Jiang Nian. Because she knew that if she ever missed a step or tripped, Jiang Nian definitely wouldn't just stand by and watch her die.

So she went wild without a care.

After a few seconds passed without hearing Jiang Nian respond, she instinctively felt something was off.

She turned her head and caught someone's gaze right on the spot.

"Where are you looking?"

"Gallbladder."

Xu Qianqian: "... Nonsense! Do you even know where the gallbladder is?"

Jiang Nian's gaze gradually turned serious, and he said confidently.

"Below the chest."

"Go to hell! You pervert!" Xu Qianqian suddenly shoved him, her face red as she overtook him. "Day in and day out nothing but nonsense—take two punches!"

Jiang Nian laughed and quickened his pace two steps.

"Xu Qianqian, actually I've always felt you're an exceptionally magnanimous person—a prime minister's belly could hold a boat."

Xu Qianqian didn't even turn her head, quickening her pace again to widen the distance between them.

"I can't manage it, my waist is too slim."

"Is that so? Let's see the evidence." Jiang Nian could pick up any line. "Or you sneak a photo back and send it to me, then we'll have a little secret."

"Who wants a little secret with you!" Xu Qianqian buried her head and speed-walked.

Jiang Nian was speechless—high attack, low defense, what's the point of playing you?

Giving you the chance and you still can't use it.

The road home wasn't that long; in the blink of an eye the two of them reached the mouth of a dimly lit alley.

Normally, Xu Qianqian actually wouldn't dare plunge straight into the alley. But the moment she thought of Jiang Nian being right behind her, her courage suddenly swelled.

She had just lifted her leg, not yet set it down, when she suddenly felt a great force from behind grab her schoolbag, then directly pull her backward by the strap.

At the same moment, an electric bike with its lights off came tearing out from the corner.

Xu Qianqian was dumbfounded, her heart pounding wildly, and fear finally began to set in.

"That scared... me to death."

Jiang Nian let go of her and glanced at her, a bit exasperated.

"Next time, still gonna charge in?"

"Let me think about it." Xu Qianqian's mouth was harder than iron; her legs were already weak, yet her bravado didn't diminish. "Actually I saw it long ago, I was just—"

"Just what?" Jiang Nian glanced at her.

"... Just testing your observation skills." Xu Qianqian stood at the mouth of the alley, stubbornly refusing to go in, and looked back at Jiang Nian. "Aren't you coming?"

Jiang Nian clicked his tongue and swaggered into the alley.

At this point, Xu Qianqian became the little follower.

But she didn't have the strength to grab Jiang Nian, so she could only silently pray in her heart that Jiang Nian wouldn't get hit by a car. As they neared home, she felt she shouldn't be so superstitious.

"Going, heading home." Xu Qianqian said this as she opened the door.

Jiang Nian was also opening his door, fiddling with his key unhurriedly.

"Mm, see you in dreams."

"You still dream about me in your dreams?" Xu Qianqian had already opened her door, pulling it open a crack, and light spilled out like threads of silk. "What did you dream about me?"

Jiang Nian seemed to open his door even more slowly. Across the distance of two floor tiles, he turned his head and asked with a smile.

"You really want to know?"

Bang!

What answered him was the rapid sound of a door slamming shut. A moment later, Jiang Nian's phone lit up.

After Xu Qianqian shut the door, she must have sent a message right away.

"I'm not allowing you to use my portrait rights in your dreams."

Jiang Nian opened his door with one hand and typed a reply with his right.

"I can't see a face in the dream."

Xu Qianqian hadn't replied for the longest time — probably fainted from anger.

Jiang Nian walked into the living room and tossed down his backpack. The whole day's simp sickness suddenly flared up; he wanted to send Xu Qianqian a sweet voice-bubble message.

"Baby, don't sleep on the floor, it's cold."

At the thought, he was already waving his arms and legs, so excited he was twisting and crawling on the floor.

Buzz!

Before he could send the voice message, Xu Qianqian replied — and it was a sixty-second voice message.

He stared at that long green message bar and that glaring red dot.

Jiang Nian couldn't help shaking his head. He didn't tap open her voice message, just sent his own voice-bubble message directly.

"Baby, don't love me too much."

Xu Qianqian: "??????? Are you mentally ill or something?"

Jiang Nian: "Does not sleeping well lately count? Probably didn't get enough sleep during the day, so at night I'm too tired to actually sleep."

Xu Qianqian sent a speechless emoji, followed by a vicious punching sticker.

"Anyway! Not! Allowed! To dream! Of! Me!"

"Oh, actually I don't want to dream about you that badly either." Jiang Nian grabbed his clothes to shower, typing one-handed as he replied, "Guess who I'm planning to dream about today?"

Xu Qianqian: ". I'm going to shower."

"You have to report that too?" Jiang Nian's mouth curved slightly, replying while washing his hair, "I'm actually not the type with super strong control issues, I like—"

Xu Qianqian: "Don't you shower?"

Jiang Nian replied instantly, "Actually (shy) I can chat while I shower."

Xu Qianqian: "."

After his shower, Jiang Nian plugged in his earphones, ready to scroll Douyin for a bit.

He happened to scroll onto a video of a cat scratching someone. He'd just replied with 【This looks like it'd sting a bit】, when a reply popped right up.

【(smiling) Darling, if you have no humanity, I suggest you cancel your human registration over here.】

Jiang Nian froze for a beat, then quickly replied.

"Then doesn't that mean you have no biological dad?"

That person clearly hadn't expected Jiang Nian's attack to be this strong either — it took a full minute before they replied to the comment.

"Maybe my family upbringing is just better — we don't open our mouths and immediately talk about parents. (bye-bye)"

Jiang Nian barely thought, replying on pure reflex.

"Press Shift to switch your parents' form."

That person got heated: "Do you even have any sense of reason? Just spewing shit nonstop. (smiling) No parents to teach you, so you ended up like this miserable wreck?"

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then replied.

"Stupid bitch, come to Zhennan, watch whether I, Young Master Yu, will or won't deal with you. If I let you walk out with all your hands and feet intact, your parents were both raised by my little mom."

"You have no idea who you've messed with — this is the wrath of the gods!"

A few lines, and he shut the other side right up into silence.

Online, when opinions clash and you curse nonstop, it's easy to get muted, and it doesn't help urban spiritual civilization either.

So now, he'd reined it in a lot. As long as he opened the skylight and said a few dirty words, the other side had nothing to say back.

His thumb was holding down a 6 that he just couldn't bring himself to send — so frustrating.

Meanwhile.

Liu Feipeng had just finished his shower and come out when a call suddenly came in on his phone.

He glanced down and saw it was the nursing school girl he'd casually hooked up with a while back. Her face was pretty average, but her figure and vibe were both quite nice — vixen potential.

The call connected, and the other side suddenly burst into tears.

Liu Feipeng's face instantly changed — whenever a woman cried, it cost him several hundred bucks. Without gifts, there was no way to calm her down. He muttered to himself that he was about to bleed money again.

"What's wrong, baby?"

To be honest, he quite liked this little vixen.

Though she couldn't compare to Zhou Yuting. But she could kill time when he was lonely.

And seeing as they were about to reach the final step, even if it was annoying, he had to force himself to coax her.

"Who bullied you? Tell me, I'll help you teach him a lesson."

Over the phone, the girl sobbed.

"Peng-ge, someone cursed me out."

"It's just stuff online, I'll curse them back for you." Liu Feipeng made all sorts of promises, his voice gentle, "Bad guy, so mean, ge will curse them away for you."

"Wuwuwu, that person seems to be right here in Zhennan." Over the phone, the woman wiped her tears, "He said his name was something Young Master Yu. Peng-ge, can you find his address?"

"Yu?"

Liu Feipeng's smile vanished. He didn't want to offend Yu Tongjie, let alone go looking for trouble with him online.

The other end was still crying, so he could only patiently coax her.

"Pingping, things in society are very complicated. Take your brother's advice."

After half an hour of soothing, plus sending a red packet, Pingping finally hung up between sobs.

He lay on the bed and let out a long breath.

He scrolled through his phone idly. The joint exam questions group was silent — the latest message was still from several days ago.

He thought for a moment, then typed.

"The questions aren't bad, very moist."

Jiang Nian woke up in the morning, and the first thing he did was reach for his phone. He wanted to see if the person he'd argued with last night had replied while he was asleep.

However, there was nothing.

To his surprise, the group chat about the joint exam leaking questions had actually livened up. From last night until now, there were twenty new group messages in total.

Jiang Nian scrolled back through them roughly, but didn't see any messages from an alt account that looked like Tong Jie's.

He decided to wait a little longer.

While washing up, Jiang Nian was reflecting on how the eighteen-county joint exam had been full of loopholes, and yet had still come to an end.

And just as he was thinking about the next six-city joint exam, suddenly——

Ding!

Damn, you really love dropping this crap while I'm brushing my teeth.

Almost at the same instant, the panel popped up.

【Standing at the crossroads of thirty-eight, you persisted in working out and achieved modest results. Full of vigor and high spirits, your body has been tuned to its optimal state.

Task: Play a basketball game. Reward: Precision (Beginner).】

Jiang Nian stared at the reward on the task panel, and the hand brushing his teeth slowed down.

Precision — it should refer to all kinds of throws, right?

Consider it a makeup chapter, please vote.