Chapter 187: I Like the Class Monitor—Absolutely Gorgeous

Rain meant no morning run; during the twenty-minute break, the classroom was a noisy mess.

When Li Hua opened his manga, two damp, lingering glares immediately pinned him. Two live dads took turns peeping from left and right, forcing him to flip pages agonizingly slow.

"Oi, the glare's blocking the text." Ma Guojun leaned half his body over.

"Are you guys insane?" Li Hua felt like vomiting blood.

"I used to read A Shuai too—I bought those fifty-cent little booklets," Jiang Nian said. "Back then I had no money, so I bought one a week."

Ma Guojun got up and shoved half of Li Hua's seat.

"Oh yeah, I bought those little manga too—since elementary school. There was also Baoxiao Xiaoyuan and Wulong Yuan, and Lao Fuzi."

"Lao Fuzi wasn't funny—I bought it just to kill time," Li Hua replied, flipping another page. "Actually, we had quite a few things to read back then."

"What was it called… Bao Dan Xiao Zi? Something like that—I can't remember."

"What the hell?"

"You know, those cards with an egg."

"Shit." Ma Guojun cracked, adjusting his glasses. "You mean Bawan Xiao Zi—what the fuck is 'Bao Dan'? That's still an egg."

Both froze, as if trapped in a memory pit.

They were about to ask Jiang Nian if it was the Magic Conch.

But they noticed he was quietly chatting with Zhang Ningzhi, who was slumped on her desk, occasional laughter drifting over.

"Jiang Nian, hey, ask you something." Ma Guojun patted him and repeated the question.

"That? I don't know," Jiang Nian turned, dead serious. "When I was little, I read Aruba's Drift."

Aruba's Drift?

Li Hua and Ma Guojun were frozen for ten seconds, wondering if such a fucking book even existed.

Why did it sound so familiar?

"Shit, that's Robinson Crusoe!" Ma Guojun remembered.

On the other side, Group Three.

Chen Yunyun stood to pull Wang Yuhe to the snack shop, then glanced over and saw Lin Dong grinning stupidly at his phone.

More accurately, it was Sun Zhicheng's phone.

Lin Dong's phone had been destroyed in last night's Yang-Sun battle—completely shattered into spiderweb cracks—and finally Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng split the cost.

Meanwhile, Sun Zhicheng lent his phone to Lin Dong; after all, Sun had multiple phones—he could just swap the SIM card and go home with another.

"Group leader, aren't you afraid of getting caught playing phone?" Chen Yunyun asked.

"Afraid of what? It's not my phone," Lin Dong didn't look up. "Yesterday I nearly got turned into a foldable screen—can't I even play my phone now?"

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe giggled for a bit, then left together.

The corridor.

Sun Zhicheng leaned on the railing, letting the cold, rainy wind slap his face. The earthy smell seeped into his nostrils, clearing his head.

Gazing at the distant white mist of rain, he now felt regret.

Why did I fight?

Chen Yunyun sat in the front row—he'd fought back, and it had eased his anger for a moment.

But the downside was obvious: girls didn't like violent boys—they'd immediately associate him with aggression and extreme personality traits.

If he got tagged as impulsive and violent, wouldn't all his hard-earned "warm guy" image collapse instantly?

After reviewing it, Sun Zhicheng realized one thing: he'd already won the moment he said that ex-girlfriend line—he had zero need to fight back.

Yang Qiming walked over from the restroom and spotted Sun Zhicheng posing against the railing.

His eyelids drooped instantly—he thought, What a fucking idiot.

Beating him up was too lenient—he had no idea what kind of madness he was indulging in all day.

But Old Liu flew into a rage last night, declaring outright during the second review: "Fight again, and you're sent home." He also assigned a three-thousand-word reflection, to be read aloud in class.

This combo punch completely crushed any thought of revenge.

Now Yang Qiming only wanted to focus on preparing a birthday reconciliation gift for his ex—roses and cake. He couldn't wait until tomorrow—he planned to deliver it tonight.

He hadn't told Huang Cailang. There's an old saying—secrecy ensures success.

Laozu was definitely right.

Thinking of tonight—him holding flowers, carrying cake and gifts, plus her favorite… never mind, too many things—he'd better invite Cailang along.

He began to quietly look forward to evening—Wenwen, I'm coming for you.

Perhaps he was lost in thought—he didn't watch where he was going. He turned and slammed straight into the wall, instantly dizzy and reeling.

Sun Zhicheng, hearing the noise, turned and saw it—he couldn't help but laugh.

"Youth is great—just drop and sleep."

Yang Qiming was still dizzy, but heard Sun Zhicheng's voice.

"Fuck you!"

Sun Zhicheng snorted, utterly unafraid. After blood and fire, he wasn't the good student he used to be—he could snap back at anyone now.

He leaned against the railing, hands in pockets, facing the cold wind.

"What's wrong with my mom? Let's talk about your ex-girlfriend instead."

Jiang Nian was still chatting with Zhang Ningzhi, half-heartedly.

"Feeling better?"

Her spirits were low—she couldn't sleep.

"By noon, maybe. Right now, barely getting by."

"Oh, was the brown sugar water good?" Jiang Nian, seeing she was fine, shifted his gaze to her cup.

"What flavor? Let me taste it."

Zhang Ningzhi: "."

"It's just plain sugar water—what's there to taste?" Her voice was low, and she darted a quick glance at Jiang Nian. "Why do you want to drink it?"

"Curiosity." Jiang Nian had barely finished speaking.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside.

"They're about to fight!"

Li Hua had been sitting in Ma Guojun's seat, reading comics to avoid some disgusting guy chatting up girls. At these words, he perked up instantly.

"Who's fighting?"

Jiang Nian stood to go see the spectacle, but someone tugged his coat from behind.

"Monitor, what's wrong?"

Li Qingrong said nothing, glanced at him, then returned to writing her homework.

In that instant, Jiang Nian's mind flashed with the image of Patriarch Bodhi teaching Sun Wukong. After a rigorous moment of thought, he suddenly attained enlightenment.

"Monitor, do you also want to go to the bathroom?"

Li Qingrong's pen paused mid-stroke. She looked up at Jiang Nian again.

In the hallway.

"Who's fighting?" asked Discipline Committee member Cai Xiaoqing, her face dark.

Who in their right mind would fight outside the classroom? It was nothing but trouble for her.

Seriously, can't they find some hidden spot on campus to fight—preferably one that sends them straight to the hospital?

Idiots!

Under Cai Xiaoqing's resentful gaze, the crowd quickly parted.

Before her eyes were Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng, locked in a full-body tussle.

Both were stunned into stillness by Cai Xiaoqing's arrival, still frozen in their previous violent postures.

"Sun Zhicheng! Yang Qiming! You're fighting again!" Cai Xiaoqing just wanted them to go home. "I'll report this to your homeroom teacher."

Hearing this, Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng both grew anxious.

Yesterday, they had promised Old Liu they wouldn't fight or cause any trouble—otherwise, they'd voluntarily call their parents and be taken home for a week of reflection.

They weren't particularly fond of studying, and a week's absence wouldn't make them fall too far behind.

The main thing was… being at school meant being near someone more important than being at home.

Sun Zhicheng thought of not seeing Chen Yunyun for a week, and hesitated.

Yang Qiming was even more panicked—he needed to reconcile with his girlfriend tonight.

Their eyes met, and suddenly, they understood each other without words.

"Who said we were fighting?"

"What are you talking about? If it's not fighting, then what?" Cai Xiaoqing fixed them with her deadfish eyes. "So many people saw it—do you still want to deny it?"

"Of course," Sun Zhicheng's mind raced, "it's horseplay! Yes, we weren't fighting—just fooling around. Someone misunderstood."

"Exactly! Boys are like this—no grudges last overnight." Yang Qiming forced a awkward smile. "Discipline Committee, you've misunderstood us."

Around them, a chorus of "Eh?" erupted in teasing laughter. Someone squealed out a remark.

"Are you two gay?"

Instantly, a roar of laughter swept through the crowd.

"Who said that?" Yang Qiming flew into a rage, trying to find the culprit. "Dare to say it and not stand up? If you've got guts, come out!"

Sun Zhicheng didn't care—he only liked girls.

He brushed the dust off his "Nice Guy" badge. No need to prove anything—his "Friend Zone" card spoke for him.

"He's getting flustered." Someone else shouted.

Another wave of laughter and teasing followed.

"They're hugging that tight—they're either about to fight or kiss."

"Yeah, you two are kinda…flirty."

"Get together! Get together!"

Hearing this, Cai Xiaoqing found it hard to press further.

"You two better watch yourselves."

As she turned away, she spotted Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong walking out together through the front door of the classroom. She glanced at them twice, wondering: Did the teacher call them?

Sun Zhicheng also saw Jiang Nian—and beside him, the monitor. In that moment, a strange pang of bitterness rose in his chest.

If only he were better-looking, Jiang Nian wouldn't have a chance.

In the hallway, Jiang Nian hadn't expected Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng to avoid fighting after all.

He genuinely felt happy about the class's progress, and turned to Li Qingrong.

"Monitor, look—under your leadership, our class is becoming more united."

Li Qingrong glanced at him and asked.

"What does 'gay' mean?"

"Oh, oh—this? It means a man likes another man." Jiang Nian said. "But Monitor, you should avoid hearing such things—it's bad for your ears."

"What about you?" Li Qingrong asked.

"I like someone like you—top-tier beautiful." Jiang Nian quickly clarified, thinking: Damn it, Li Hua ruined me—his finger raised in solemn oath, as if swearing to join the Party.

"To be honest, I'm definitely not that kind of person."

Li Qingrong didn't respond. She kept walking toward the end of the hallway.

'Mm.'

At the bathroom door.

Yu Zhiyi wondered if her eyes had gone bad—she had just seen Jiang Nian and the class monitor walking together toward the bathroom door.

She understood the class monitor, and she understood Jiang Nian.

These two had absolutely nothing in common—how had they ended up together? Did they just happen to be heading to the bathroom at the same time? Even then, the class monitor would never—after all, he was the class monitor.

She washed her face at the sink, hesitated, then washed her eyes too.

I should get glasses someday.

At noon, Jiang Nian returned from the cafeteria with food.

He glanced back at the classroom—Zhang Cezhi was gone. Probably went home to rest; she hadn't improved all morning.

Chen Yunyun and the others weren't there either—likely still eating.

He pulled out his phone and saw a message from Zhang Cezhi, as expected. It said she might take an afternoon leave—her stomach wasn't feeling well.

He thought for a moment, then replied.

'Alright, should I copy your class notes for you?'

After a pause, she sent back a weak reply.

'Do you even have class notes?'

Of course he didn't—Jiang Nian rarely kept a separate notebook for notes. Xu Qianqian had once said math notes were fine written right in the textbook.

'No, but I can copy them for you. Of course, if you think my style doesn't match yours, you can just borrow someone else's notes when you come back.'

'No no, I just thought it might be too much trouble for you?' After sending the message, the chat box still showed 'typing...'

'If you don't mind, I'd really appreciate it if you could copy them for me. Thank you.'

Jiang Nian typed 'oj' then quietly deleted half of it.

'OK, good desk-mate.'

Zhang Cezhi: '(Alrighty!)'

Just as he was about to enter the classroom, Xu Qianqian sent him a message—unheard of at noon.

'Jiang Nian, have you heard of the Shrimp Dumpling Plan?'

Normally, they didn't contact each other at noon unless something urgent came up.

They didn't eat together, didn't share the same floor—nothing to talk about. At most, it was 'You there?' or 'Send me money, quick, I'll pay you back.'

He read the message once, utterly baffled.

'What the hell?'

Three minutes later, he went downstairs and found the two girls by a hidden window in a corridor on the third floor.

'Shrimp dumplings? What's so special about eating those?'

Song Xiyun held a beautifully wrapped takeout box—she had bought shrimp dumplings outside at noon and wanted to invite Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian to share them.

'Don't you like them?'

Jiang Nian grinned. 'Not that I don't—I just thought shrimp dumplings...'

'Just eat yours, you're so picky,' Xu Qianqian couldn't stand seeing her friend bullied. 'Jiang Nian, don't act like a wild boar who can't digest fine rice.'

'Alright, mine.' Jiang Nian stood at attention, admitting fault. 'I just thought they were so expensive—no need to waste money, and I didn't want to disrespect Xiao Song's kindness.'

'Xiao Song?' She froze for a second, blushing. 'Don't call me that—it sounds weird.'

'Exactly,' Xu Qianqian chimed in.

'Got it, baby.'

'Why don't you just die! I should've never called you.' Xu Qianqian turned her face away, pretending not to care. 'Just feed it to the dog.'

'What about a CS dog?' Jiang Nian raised his hand.

'Get lost!'

Afternoon.

Yu Tongjie was distracted in class—he'd already paid the deposit.

The other guy asked for shoes—a pair costing eight hundred yuan. He'd bought them and sent a screenshot of the order, hoping the other would take action.

But why hadn't that poor kid gone to the homeroom teacher?

Broken promise?

No one in Zhennan dared play games with him. Was this guy too bold—or too cowardly? Too afraid to speak to the homeroom teacher? Or did he think he could offend him without consequences?

Was this how a local from Class Three behaved?

Had some business to attend to, went out during the day—family matters popped up during National Day.

Owe seven chapters—I'll make up for them with extra updates these two days.