Chapter 185

Half-asleep until midnight, Jiang Nian heard the rustling white noise.

He opened his eyes to a dim ceiling.

He listened closely for a while and realized it was raining outside.

The weather in Zhennan was truly bizarre—every month, there were always a few days when sudden downpours struck, whether from a typhoon or something else.

Awake but unable to sleep, he pulled out his phone and opened the offline download of NetEase Cloud Music.

"Hurry, That Year."

He hadn't dated, hadn't been heartbroken, but just wanted to immerse himself.

The room was dark, the music's intro swelling like a tide. Halfway through the song, a faint weather forecast slipped into the melodic tune.

"The Central Meteorological Administration predicts a stronger cold front will arrive starting tomorrow."

Outside the window, the rain pattered loudly, drumming against the old house's waterproof roof.

Jiang Nian paused, then opened Xu Qianqian's WeChat and sent:

"I don't blame you—I only blame the thick fog."

"I learned to smile with a knife behind my back before I was even grown. I'm no longer a prince—bow your head and your crown will fall. Tune in at 8 PM to Wisdom Tree to hear my revenge plan."

He sent both messages. No response.

Jiang Nian scrolled through his phone, landed on Le Zhi's QQ. Their last chat was two days ago—he'd already sent Le Zhi the method to raise his score.

How he acted now was up to him.

He glanced again at the group chat—someone resembling Jie Ni's alt account had popped up. Nothing special, just some sarcastic grumbling.

"The questions were good—pretty much like what I usually get."

Instantly muted. Jienigui.

Jiang Nian couldn't help chuckling. He scrolled up and suddenly spotted a familiar avatar. He'd never seen it before, but the style of the avatar and nickname felt familiar.

OneBiteCrushSpring (NoCilantroVersion): "Congratulations."

Scrolling further back, Jiang Nian noticed this person rarely spoke—but their sarcastic tone was identical to Zhou Yuting's. Based on his knowledge of Zhou Yuting, he could arrest them on the spot.

A group of fewer than twenty people already had three acquaintances: Le Zhi's alt, Zhou Yuting's alt, Jienigui's alt. Clearly, Zhennan was full of talent.

He thought for a moment, then added both of them as friends using Le Zhi's alt account.

The verification message was simple: just his name, plus "If you don't approve, I'll immediately leak proof of cheating and report it to the grade committee."

Jiang Nian was just swinging a stick at a tree that might or might not have fruit—it cost nothing, and if he didn't stir up some chaos, he'd get restless.

Early the next morning, Jiang Nian woke up to a flood of messages.

He checked them all, starting with WeChat. The first new message was from Xu Qianqian—likely sent when she woke up and saw his midnight NetEase Cloud mood post.

"Are you crazy, Jiang Nian! (disgusted)"

Jiang Nian: "Felt good. (heart)"

Xu Qianqian: "?????"

Jiang Nian typed back, "Is it still raining outside when you go out?"

"Yes."

"Is it heavy?"

Xu Qianqian: "Where are you?"

Jiang Nian looked around and typed back with one hand.

"Brushing teeth in the bathroom. (shy)"

Xu Qianqian: "Stop sending those idiotic emojis. Listen to me—stick your head out the bathroom window and you'll know how hard it's raining."

Jiang Nian replied: "Too heavy. It'll get stuck."

Xu Qianqian: "Forget it. Rain's too heavy—don't ride your bike."

"Oh okay, then forget it. Can't go today." Jiang Nian replied. "Let's do ring toss another day—tomorrow or weekend. You free?"

Xu Qianqian replied quickly: "I am, but can you even win?"

Jiang Nian sent an emoji pack: "You're doubting me? That means I'll win."

Xu Qianqian: "."

Jiang Nian smiled, swiped out and opened QQ, noticing Lin Dong had messaged at 3 a. m.

"(grinning) Made 300 yuan, easy."

At 5:30, he sent another message.

"I dragged Hu Nianzhong in too—he begged to join. Risk seems low—he's already made over twenty yuan."

Jiang Nian got up, scrolling through Lin Dong's messages.

He'd seen the app before—purely a musical chairs scheme. When you get trapped depends entirely on when the app decides to cut you off.

Lin Dong played only because he was bold; whether he lost or not depended entirely on self-control.

But 99% of people die in it—even if they escape this time, they'll fall next time. End up drowning in debt, eventually paying with their ass.

Best solution? Don't touch it.

Jiang Nian noticed Lin Dong posted a new dynamic and opened his QQ Space.

【Have you seen Zhennan at 4 a. m.? Hard work is the only secret to success. (image jpg)】

Jiang Nian scanned the comments—only a few acquaintances had replied. Clearly, he'd set it to visible to only a select few friends.

Chen Yunyun: "Group leader made big money again—buy me a milk tea."

Lin Dong: "(sunglasses) In a few days."

Wang Yuhe: "Did group leader go to the black brick kiln?"

Lin Dong: "Secret. (grinning)"

Watching Lin Dong frantically trying to show off, Jiang Nian couldn't help but laugh and commented.

"Can't believe I scrolled to you, it's really been a long time, do you still remember me? We didn't know each other growing up—you played at your house, I played at mine."

"Seeing you get better, bro, I'm genuinely happy for you. I know this is a bit sudden, but could you spot me fifteen yuan for a duck leg rice bowl?"

After sending it, Jiang Nian logged out, brushed his teeth while continuing to browse messages. Yu Tongjie and Zhou Yuting had both passed Jiang Nian's friend request in succession that morning.

The messages the two sent were all pretty similar—very cautious.

Zhou Yuting: "Sorry, you've got the wrong person."

Yu Tongjie: "What are you trying to do?"

Jiang Nian smiled and replied to each separately.

"Don't be nervous, this is just a little experiment."

Zhou Yuting: "I don't understand what you're saying."

Clown: "You don't want me reporting you to the school, do you? Heard you got moved up a class—congrats."

Zhou Yuting: "I didn't cheat!"

Clown: "Who knows, save that line for your classmates."

Zhou Yuting: "Who are you?"

Clown: "Partner of justice."

On Yu Tongjie's side, Jiang Nian also replied with a few similar lines. The more he said, the more holes there'd be. Jiang Nian quickly logged off, afraid of accidentally exposing Le Zhi's alt account.

Let them have a few good days.

After brushing his teeth, a cold draft swept through the living room.

Mom had just gotten up, glanced at Jiang Nian, and reminded him.

"The temperature dropped today, wear that hoodie of yours."

"Got it, I'll go find it." Jiang Nian went back to his room, pulled on a black hoodie, grabbed a denim jacket on the way, slung his bag on, and headed out.

Downstairs, Jiang Nian opened his black umbrella; the cold wind kept pouring down his collar.

He looked up at the grey, hazy sky and walked into the rain. Looking down from above, countless raindrops fell, like a black lotus in full bloom.

He closed the umbrella and hung it by the window outside the classroom.

Early morning, the light outside was poor, and the entire teaching building had its lights on.

After the joint exam, Zhang Ningzhi had unusually arrived early, wearing a coffee-colored knit jacket over cream-colored soft pants. A small bag hung on her chair, containing her school uniform jacket.

"Why are you here so early today?" Jiang Nian set down his bag and sat.

"Couldn't sleep." Zhang Ningzhi's voice sounded a little off.

He instinctively glanced over at the sound and saw her face pale, in poor spirits. Her lips had no color either—she looked extremely weak.

"Here?"

Fortunately, he'd come very early; there was no one in front, behind, or to either side, otherwise Zhang Ningzhi would have had to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Asking about that sort of thing—who asks it so directly?

Seeing Zhang Ningzhi silent, he naturally took it as tacit agreement.

Look at her, getting shy now.

Last time, who was it that filled hot water for you, used it warm, then tossed it aside?

A girl's thoughts are hard to guess.

Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to guess. He felt the thermos to see if it was hot. He'd forgotten the thing was insulated, so he twisted the cap open to look and got blasted in the face with steam.

"Stop messing with my cup." Zhang Ningzhi, wronged and pitiful.

She was already like this, and he was still bullying her.

"Hey, don't slander me, kid." Jiang Nian clarified on the spot, making the husky-pointing-at-you gesture. "This is caring for a classmate, afraid you didn't get hot water."

Zhang Ningzhi's expression froze, and she said guiltily.

"Oh, sorry then."

Baby Zhizhi, she's way too easy to fool.

Jiang Nian felt that if he played it normally, he should be able to trick all her pocket money out of her. Compared to Lin Dong earning those three or five hundred, this was getting rich purely on skill.

"Did you bring that waist thing?"

"What… waist thing?" She was a bit confused.

"You know, that thing that heats up, a heat patch?" Jiang Nian wasn't sure either—he'd never had a period in his whole life. "Did you bring it? It'll feel better if you stick one on."

"Mm, brought it." Zhang Ningzhi nodded.

She wasn't stupid; she'd prepared all sorts of supplies in advance, just didn't think it was that serious. That was what made her drop the idea of asking for leave and still insist on coming to class.

"Did you stick it on? Let me see." Jiang Nian said something stupid.

Zhang Ningzhi immediately slumped over the desk, looking like she'd die before letting him see.

"No."

After saying that, she added another line.

"Haven't stuck it on yet, sticking it on when it hurts the most is when it works."

Jiang Nian asked out of habit, "There's that kind of saying too? What about painkillers?"

"Taking too much causes dependency, better not to if possible." Zhang Ningzhi finished, then slightly turned her head buried in her arm crook and asked suspiciously, "How do you know so much…"

"Saw it on Douyin, tons of warm-guy tutorials." Jiang Nian lied without blinking, then changed the subject. "Why don't you just see a doctor and get it regulated?"

"Last time for you seemed to be early in the month too… if it keeps cycling like that, doesn't that mean by next June's college entrance exam, you'll be right at that time?"

Hearing that, Zhang Ningzhi's face reddened a bit.

"Regulating takes a lot of time, and taking medicine affects study performance. I'll regulate it over New Year's, that one probably won't be that on time every time anyway."

She spoke haltingly, clearly a bit embarrassed.

"As for the thing you mentioned, I asked the senior sisters from the previous year. They said don't worry—when it gets close to the college entrance exam, the school will suggest buying some."

Jiang Nian listened while tidying his desk, and suddenly saw it jam, so he asked curiously.

"Buy what?"

Zhang Ningzhi thought for a moment, figuring he probably wouldn't understand, so she rephrased and said carefully.

"Medicine to delay those few days."

Jiang Nian was slightly stunned, and blurted out.

"Birth control pills?"

Zhang Ningzhi's pupils contracted slightly, and she instantly turned her head away.