Chapter 190

A harmless threat like that is useless to tell Zhang Ningzhi.

My buddies go by gut feeling.

Who saw it?

Jiang Nian whistled softly, in high spirits.

Lost three yuan today—oh no, plus half a bottle of water costing one yuan. Call it three yuan and seventy fen; traded for a good night's mood, totally worth it.

No fighting, no property damage—harmless but deeply insulting.

Will the boss even sleep tonight after packing up?

Jiang Nian couldn't know the answer, but he'd sleep soundly when he got back. On rainy days, he'd shower early, snuggle warmly into bed, dry and comfortable.

Front row: Ceng You the Emperor's phone, plugged into a Roman-style power bank, tossed inside the desk.

Probably just bored, he was chatting with his dormmate Wu Jun Gu.

"If only this rain would keep falling till tomorrow morning, just this light drizzle. Shower, drink two sips of water, crawl straight into bed—perfect."

Wu Jun Gu glanced at him and asked curiously.

"Why drink water? Won't you wake up at night choking on urine?"

Ceng You shook his head, grinning.

"You don't get it. Falling asleep in weather like this is the first bliss. When you wake up at three-thirty, piss, then check the time—that's the second bliss."

"Brilliant! One night, two sleeps!" Jiang Nian clapped and leaned over in admiration. "Holy shit, you really know how to live."

"Of course. Peeing at midnight is the essence. I often wake at two-thirty, then pass out again, sleeping straight through."

"Guess what time I woke up? Three-thirty! So even though I stayed up, I got deep sleep, then woke up again to sleep properly."

"Holy shit, awesome. No wonder you're always so energetic." Jiang Nian played his role as the perfect straight man.

"Overrated, overrated. You should try it too." Ceng You looked slightly embarrassed.

Wu Jun Gu watched them chat happily, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

This fucking shit—doesn't sleep time still stay the same? Even if you piss seven times a night, swell your prostate, you still only get seven or eight hours.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian asked.

"Ceng You, what if you wake up in the morning, pee, and realize there's only three minutes left before the bell?"

At this, Ceng You's smile vanished.

"Holy shit, I'd rather die."

"Then again, our dorm's on the fifth floor." Ceng You said, "Apart from being hot in summer and cold in winter, it's actually fine."

"I have a classmate from the liberal arts B stream—their dorm's on the pitch-black first floor. At noon, no light. The mop in the dorm grows mushrooms."

Jiang Nian didn't react much, but this description gave Wu Jun Gu goosebumps.

"Can you even live there?"

"Of course you can. Just the corner's dark." Ceng You, during evening reading, spoke with animated enthusiasm, "****(protective encryption)."

"Ugh!" Wu Jun Gu was physically nauseous. "Stop, please don't say more, ugh!"

"Holy shit, you're seriously disgusting." Jiang Nian was also overwhelmed, conceding defeat. "If it were me, I'd switch to day student—too terrifying."

"Pfft, dorm fees are cheap. Renting's way more expensive." Ceng You flicked his hair. "You guys are too weak—you clearly have no dorm experience."

"Back in middle school in the countryside, that's what real hardship looked like. Freezing December, washing in cold water. Behind the shower was a mass grave."

"Where's your hometown?" Jiang Nian asked curiously.

"Near Tian Shi Town."

"Oh yeah, that place is a bit backward." Jiang Nian said, "The most developed town around the southern part of the town should be Yunmu Town—where Chen Yunyun and her group are from."

"True. Their area has more people, lots of bubble tea shops and snack stores." Ceng You nodded, "Ours? Just quarries everywhere."

They chatted more and more enthusiastically until evening reading ended.

Ceng You was reluctant to stop—there were too many stories from middle school. That era's rural middle school was chaotic and messy, with gangs running wild.

Fights filled the school gate, and the campus was full of them. The third-year students even swapped dorms, turning a stairwell into a private spot for "cao bi."

After entering high school, he realized everyone around him was normal.

One day, out of curiosity, he Googled the fates of middle school delinquents—and was shocked to find online that every thug made hundreds of thousands a year or was a master of social graces.

He felt sour inside. Had all his suffering been for nothing?

After evening reading, the physics class rep handed out the quiz papers.

Yao Bei Bei took an extra blank paper, folded it, and slipped it into Zhang Ningzhi's desk drawer. She turned around and saw Jiang Nian photographing the test—she frowned in confusion.

"Looking up answers?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Just taking a photo for backup." Jiang Nian rolled his eyes, then turned the camera toward Yao Bei Bei. "Here, let me backup yours too."

Yao Bei Bei covered her face with her hands. "Are you insane?"

"So what?"

Jiang Nian ignored Yao Bei Bei entirely, sent all the test photos straight to Zhang Ningzhi. Then he started answering the test, calmly waiting for the answers.

The whole class passed. Only when the bell rang did he look up.

Since this was just a routine physics quiz, the rules weren't strict. Technically, even if they collected papers a bit late, it'd be fine.

Jiang Nian had written everything he knew, left the rest blank.

Vibration—Zhang Ningzhi had sent the answers.

He glanced at them, pulled out the blank paper, and copied them over. Honestly, Baby Zhizhi's grades were top-tier—even physics problems she could solve.

Fake hexagon—Jiang Nian.

The real hexagon warrior, Baby Zhizhi? Barely. Strictly speaking, she was class monitor.

After copying, Jiang Nian couldn't help glancing back at the class monitor.

Li Qingrong had already finished writing. Seeing him turn back, she froze for a moment. She stretched out her slender, pale fingers, pressed them on the completed test paper, and slowly pushed it forward.

"No, no, you don't have to." Jiang Nian, seeing that Li Qingrong had misunderstood, hurriedly clarified, "I've already finished. I just want to see how many points I can score."

Li Qingrong took the paper back and nodded.

"Mm."

Though that's what he said, the moment Jiang Nian turned around, he changed the answer to the sixth multiple-choice question.

He'd originally chosen B.

He had principles—just not many.

Li Hua had long since finished, and was hunched over reading "A-Shuai." Every so often he'd let out a sagacious chuckle. Damn him, he'd actually managed to balance work and rest.

Crap! So envious I could spin around.

After the papers were collected, Jiang Nian followed the crowd out to take a leak.

Because evening self-study had been pushed back, the corridor was empty except for students from their class. Almost everyone else was in the classroom studying, so it was unusually quiet.

Until that damned kid Li Hua slid out of the classroom door like a hockey stop, and shouted excitedly in the corridor.

"Holy crap, anyone going to the cafeteria to grab food?"

Instantly three or five boys chorused "holy crap, holy crap" in agreement, then paraded past the door of Erban Sect's classroom in a big, swaggering group, heatedly discussing the physics test.

"Holy crap, you could actually calculate the answer?"

"Huh? That sub-question was doable? I only wrote one formula."

"Aaaaaaaaa!! I think I missed a step—will that bastard teacher dock my points?! I can't go on, boo hoo hoo, life is hell!"

Jiang Nian blended in with them, and after observing, reached a conclusion.

The ones who spoke with logic and evidence, carefully analyzing the physics problem's cause and effect, were sixty-point goblins. The ones who smiled without a word, feeling nothing, were eighty-point heroes.

The ones with exaggerated expressions—one cry, two tantrums, three threats of jumping off the building—were the shameless Li Hua, who'd only lose one or two points.

Third period evening self-study.

"Spitting water?" Yu Zhiyi looked slightly surprised. "You mean someone got into an argument with the guy selling vegetable rolls at the door, and then spat water at the boss's face?"

"Yeah, I heard the scene was wild." Her seatmate shook his head and clicked his tongue in wonder. "Too bad I went to buy food at the front gate, I missed the classic scene."

Yu Zhiyi frowned, her gaze drifting involuntarily toward Jiang Nian's seat.

Spitting water—such a familiar phrase.

It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, right?

Huang Cailang's thoughts were a bit jumbled. Near the end of this evening self-study period, he would sneak away. Carrying his stuff, he'd follow Yang Qiming to find his ex-girlfriend.

Because Gao Er didn't need to attend four periods of evening self-study, they had to leave early.

Actually, skipping class wasn't a big deal—as long as you found a suitable excuse, like a stomachache or something, you could get through it without trouble.

The key question was—could Brother Yang win her back?

Eat the lord's rice, serve the lord's cause. Having eaten Brother Yang's meals, naturally one must share his worries. How could the sister-in-law be so unreasonable? If only they could make up.

But then again—if they did make up, would he still get to eat the shrimp dumplings?

Bah! How could he have such thoughts!

Huang Cailang shook his head violently. Even if he couldn't eat the shrimp dumplings, it didn't matter! A man must have conscience. Shrimp dumplings aren't important—Brother Yang's happiness is what matters most.

Before he knew it, his gaze had cleared.

He was a loyal minister!

As the end of self-study approached, Jiang Nian turned his head and asked curiously.

"Why did those two leave?"

"Probably the bathroom." Yao Bei Bei answered without looking up.

She was working on a math test paper, stuck on the last problem. But she didn't want to ask Li Hua, so she thought of Jiang Nian. She patted Jiang Nian's shoulder.

"Jiang Nian."

"What now?" Jiang Nian stared with a pair of dead-fish eyes.

"Look at this problem—do you know how to solve it?" Yao Bei Bei handed the test paper to Jiang Nian. "If you solve it, I'll tell you a secret."

Jiang Nian glanced at the problem and said "oh."

"This problem, huh~"

"How do you solve it?" Yao Bei Bei's eyes lit up.

"First write 'Solution,' the paper's all blank." Jiang Nian directed matter-of-factly. "Write it. Why are you looking at me? You want to write the word 'Solution' on my face?"

Yao Bei Bei suddenly got angry, but for the sake of the answer, she held it in.

"Fine."

"And the colon—you write 'Solution' and don't write a colon?" Jiang Nian put on the air of a strict teacher producing a fine student. "A colon, two dots, one on top of the other."

"Anything else?" Yao Bei Bei asked through gritted teeth.

"Copy the given conditions once. 'Given' and then 'it follows that.'" Jiang Nian patiently instructed. "Write it. Huang Beibei, why are you looking at me again."

Yao Bei Bei was calm, a smile spreading across her face.

"Alright, then what? I mean the approach to solving it—you can't possibly not know, right?"

Jiang Nian looked puzzled, then said earnestly.

"That IS my approach to solving problems. I've always done it this way. At the very least you get one point. Write one more formula and you might even get two."