Chapter 260: Dizzy, is this still Chinese?

Jiang Nian wanted to ask Teacher Ma what exactly had happened.

Oh no, whose knight's belt just buzzed.

He had entered the classroom through the back door. Unfortunately, Ma Guojun was a bit too far from him, so he couldn't be bothered to ask.

He happened to pass by Cai Xiaoqing's seat, so he simply fished a candy out of his pocket. Mid-lane smoke screen—no, mid-lane candy screen, bribing Cai Xiang to cement the friendship.

Plop—a candy was tossed over.

The playboy should slow down his playboy act for a moment. In fact, Jiang Nian had gone downstairs and bought a pack of fruit hard candies. The kind where eating a lot will make you fat, but eating one or two is fine.

This round was a collective welfare drop.

Cai Xiaoqing was hunched over doing homework, having just weathered an undeserved disaster. It couldn't really be called a quarrel—as an old cadre of Class Three, she wasn't the type to be driven to tears by anger.

It was just that a low-pressure zone inevitably hung around her, a cloud of bad mood shrouding her.

With a soft smack, Cai Xiaoqing hadn't even had time to look up. She only saw a candy land precisely on the desk, roll, roll, roll, and tumble into the upturned palm of her right hand that was gripping her pen.

It didn't stop until it bumped against the hypothenar eminence of her right hand, pressed flat against the desk.

Cai Xiaoqing realized it was a candy and couldn't help a twitch of her eyelid. She looked up, and out of the corner of her eye caught sight of Jiang Nian walking past down the aisle, and her heart immediately started thumping.

Bribery?

If people saw this, wouldn't it firmly cement the impression that she played favorites?

In reality, she didn't.

Managing a class isn't like hosting a dinner party. If you're polite to everyone, you won't be able to handle anything in the class at all.

So, anyone who wants to use self-study period as an excuse to go to the bathroom can go. After all, it's human nature. As for whether they're actually going to the bathroom, that has nothing to do with her.

Everyone assesses risk. If it's an honest person like Luo Zhongping saying he's going to the bathroom, she'll just nod and agree, because he doesn't lie.

If Yu Tongjie wants to go out, he can go himself—nods are impossible.

When Jiang Nian goes out, she doesn't nod either.

It's just because the two of them have a bit of personal history that she gave an "oh." Yet this utterly impartial act was broken by him with a single rolling candy.

Jiang Nian really—

Is he trying to destroy the foundations of Class Three?!

However, she merely tilted her hand downward, quietly covering that candy. As if smothering an alcohol lamp in a chemistry lab, cutting off the oxygen the flame needs to burn.

The spark of Class Three's collapsing rites and ruined music was also silently dissolved in this quiet covering.

Yu Tongjie was feeling a bit uncomfortable—not that he was afraid of Jiang Nian.

It's just that they were both locals, and there had been conflicts between them before, so he'd inevitably have some wariness.

He thought to himself that Cai Xiaoqing and Jiang Nian had no particular relationship, so if he argued a few words with Cai Xiaoqing, Jiang Nian wouldn't go meddling in other people's business and come settle accounts with him, right?

Besides, the third and fourth evening self-study periods were back-to-back, with no break in between at all.

It probably won't come to that, right?

Probably.

Just as Yu Tongjie was feeling uneasy, Jiang Nian had already walked to the edge of the sixth group.

He clapped Li Hua on the shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Your daddy is back."

"Damn, you left early, so you missed a good show." Li Hua gave up his seat, his words full of annoyance. "Just now, out of nowhere, Yu Tongjie—"

A minute later, Jiang Nian, now fully briefed on the cause and effect, raised an eyebrow.

He thought to himself, is Squirtle really this stupid?

What's he after?

Of all the people to offend, he had to offend Cai Xiaoqing. That's the kind of situation even a god couldn't save.

Regarding this, Jiang Nian had no particular view. Yu Tongjie was asking for trouble himself. Arguing with Cai Xiaoqing felt great in the moment, but later when he can't get leave approved, he'll come around.

"Too bad you missed it, otherwise you could've gotten in a few curses too." Li Hua shook his head. "What a freaking weirdo, these heaven-defying types are getting less and less human."

"Forget him, we'll deal with it later." Jiang Nian didn't pay it much mind, flicked a candy at Li Hua. "Eat something nice, your daddy is about to start doing problems."

Jiang Nian quieted down for a while and started doing problems in a half-hearted show.

Li Hua's face was full of suspicion, scanning in all directions.

He thought to himself, has Old Liu come? Where is the person hiding? Not finding anyone after a search, he could only give up in the end.

Zhang Ningzhi took the chance of turning a page to sneak a peek at Jiang Nian.

Not giving me any candy?

Fine, don't even think about drinking my drinks from now on!

However, ten minutes passed, and still no movement from Jiang Nian.

Zhang Ningzhi was really about to get angry, but could only furiously do her homework. The pen tip drew forceful little circles on the paper, as if venting, the pressure nearly piercing through the page.

Suddenly, she felt her arm being poked.

She instinctively turned her head and said, a bit angrily.

"What!"

"Look down." Jiang Nian said something rather outrageous.

But given his track record, Zhang Ningzhi didn't overthink it. She looked down and saw a hand hovering under the desk, opening to reveal a whole palmful of candy.

Classic White Rabbit wrappers—forget whether this stuff makes you fat or not. A whole fistful of candy in one hand, at least the visual impact was enough.

Zhang Ningzhi's expression immediately turned to delight, the happiness plain on her face.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen candy before, but rather the surprise came from exceeding her psychological expectations. After all, Li Hua only got one candy, and she figured she should get two.

But—what was presented before her was a whole fistful, possibly even all of them.

No comparison, no surprise. Li Hua was the ruler that measured out the sweetness behind the candy count. The subtext was: Baby Zhizhi = uncountable Li Huas.

Zhang Ningzhi pressed her lips together, set down her pen, and took the large handful of candy with her plain white hands.

It filled exactly one cupped palm.

In a great mood, she put the candy into her desk.

Although she really wanted to put it in her schoolbag and take it home, she didn't want to show it openly. Because it was… a gut feeling, she just felt she couldn't appear to care that much.

She was only putting it in her desk now—nothing special about the treatment.

After doing all that, she asked, a little coyly.

"You just went out to buy this, right?"

In fact, Jiang Nian had detoured to buy the candy after going to the bathroom.

It could be explained as going to the bathroom and then conveniently buying candy. Or it could be flipped: he specifically went to buy candy, and on the way back stopped to use the bathroom.

But no matter how you reorder it, it doesn't change the fact that he bought the candy and then gave almost all of it to her.

As long as he doesn't say: "Because it was break time, everyone was busy going to the bathroom and resting, while he was busy chatting with the class president, so he missed the chance to go."

Then it's fine—a small flaw doesn't affect the big picture.

"Yeah, what else would it be for?" Jiang Nian said without a flicker of embarrassment, continuing to provide emotional value. "I didn't want to give it to Li Hua, but he insisted."

Zhang Ningzhi laughed too, trying hard to keep a straight little face, and said softly.

"Want it back."

Li Hua couldn't take it anymore, tore open the candy wrapper and stuffed it all in one mouthful.

"What a joke, two retards."

Ceng You lifted his head from his seat, closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting his dry eyes rest for a while.

The classroom was noisy; he found it boring on his own.

He had just finished reading a horror novel—the beginning was gripping. Too bad the protagonist was a total pushover and a simp; he couldn't walk past a woman without losing his way, and on top of that he was an idiot.

His grandfather had warned him: no matter what happened after midnight, don't leave the room. And if he saw 【something】, what to do about it—every last detail.

The dog in the field was worse than the protagonist—turned around and forgot instantly.

It made his blood pressure spike; the plot was actually pretty good, just the protagonist was a bit ridiculous. Every time he made a plan, he never pulled it off—messed everything up.

As Ceng You sighed, he turned his head to look at the three people in the row behind. He first checked whether the teacher was at the back door, and only then let his gaze sweep past Li Hua and the others.

"Jiang Nian, when you passed by the office, did you see Old Liu?"

"He wasn't there, probably went home," Jiang Nian replied.

"Then where's Ji Ming?"

Jiang Nian couldn't hold it in. "Wtf, do you think I'm some all-seeing crab? I can't see everything."

Hearing that, Ceng You didn't mind, thought for a moment, then said.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, which basically means a holiday. I'll just wait until evening study hall lets out, then I can pull an all-nighter and catch up on sleep tomorrow morning."

His deskmate, Wu Jun Gu, was slightly surprised and couldn't help asking.

"Then what are you doing tomorrow afternoon when school's out?"

"Sleep in the dorm."

Wu Jun Gu: "."

"What the hell, you can't be in the classroom without the vibe?" Li Hua was also finding it hard to keep a straight face.

But on second thought, a teammate like Ceng You was actually pretty good. Deaf to what happens outside the window, single-mindedly reading the sages' books—contentment with whatever comes is the highest realm.

Whether lying flat or going rotten, at least when something comes up he'd still cooperate.

Unlike that damn Yu Tongjie, an absolute idiot.

The group leader in his group must have been cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck, taking in such a living ancestor.

Hu Nianzhong received a note from Yu Tongjie, and the people around them all looked over.

In broad daylight, two boys passing notes.

Eww!

Nie Qiqi, like a little mouse, hid behind a tall stack of books, secretly spying on Hu Nianzhong up ahead.

She wanted to ship a little BL, but the moment she thought of what Yu Tongjie looked like, she instantly felt spiritually impotent.

"How did those two end up together?" she lowered her voice and whispered. "Are they secretly in contact, having an emotional outburst during evening study hall?"

Hu Nianzhong in the front row was finding it hard to keep a straight face—was what Nie Qiqi said even Chinese?

His vision went dark after hearing it; he was about to faint.

Damn it, sometimes he really wished he hadn't grown ears.

What does "secretly in contact" even mean?

Although he and Yu Tongjie did have a transaction, it was purely a financial one.

It wasn't some emotional outburst.

It was purely that he had been breaking appointments, and the client was getting a bit angry. Last time Yu Tongjie had questioned him on why he wasn't replying, he'd made an excuse that his phone was broken.

He figured the client was getting anxious, which was why he sent a note directly.

Forget it, no point paying attention to the rumors.

How can a man's road forward be without wind and rain? Just toss it out of mind.

He opened the note and glanced at it—Yu Tongjie had angrily written a passage. The gist was accusing him of having no credibility, with promises dragged out again and again.

Hu Nianzhong thought for a moment, then replied with one line.

"I'll talk to the head teacher tomorrow about switching groups. I'll definitely get it done."

Then he had someone pass the note back.

Will he really do it?

Of course he wouldn't do it—his style was take the money and do nothing, pocket the bribe and never deliver. Tomorrow was the weekend anyway, so he'd just cook up some excuse and brush it off.

What about the day after tomorrow?

He'd do a tiny bit first, make it look like there was progress. Then take a sharp downturn, make excuses and refund the money, and in the end return the cash—his own side would be almost done by then too.

The last evening self-study session.

Sun Zhicheng could barely contain his inner anxiety, glancing at his watch every so often.

He thought, it's only twenty minutes until school's out—why hasn't Brother Dong passed on any real skill yet?