Chapter 263

"You two, not paying attention in class—what are you whispering about?"

Qian Bao pressed one hand on the podium, gazing far off in a certain direction. She looked furious, but inside she was secretly delighted.

Sunday morning classes are too exhausting; I'll just grab a willing slave to hold the spot for a bit.

Jiang Nian can at least explain the test paper for a while; as for Li Hua, just toss him to the back. Damn kid, he didn't learn to study—he learned to chat during class.

So Li Hua grabbed two books and slunk off to the back.

Face full of tears, heart full of laughter.

He now wanted to share that insane picture with someone—he was dying to switch seats and stand at the back.

According to the unspoken rule for standing punishment, he could move freely in the back rows.

Jiang Nian was speechless—he'd been dragged down by that jerk Li Hua; truly an undeserved misfortune.

No choice—he had to pick up the English test paper and go up front as a slave.

Just as he stood up, his desk partner Baby Zhizhi gently tugged his sleeve and whispered,

"Did you finish the test?"

Damn, this is what a beautiful female desk partner looks like.

That guy who just went to the back—what even was he? Pure snake skin trash.

Jiang Nian was deeply moved. "I just finished it."

Yesterday, the English test was handed out, requiring only four reading comprehension passages. Since he had free time, he did the questions while reading.

Even so, the test paper he took up front was Zhang Cezhi's.

She'd asked—refusing to take it would've been rude.

The honest Jiang Nian was now genuinely, utterly honest—he projected the test paper onto the whiteboard and began translating each sentence of the reading comprehension word for word.

"The environmental department discovered a chemical plant outside London."

Fuck, classic London question.

Zhou Yuting listened intently, even though the person at the front was Jiang Nian.

These past few days had been exhausting—she faced pressure from the Olympiad class's pace, and because of the chat group incident, she'd been having nightmares all night long.

She was indeed a person of firm belief, but that didn't mean she was truly fearless.

Whether she copied or not no longer mattered—the key was she was in that group. And she'd been doxxed; once it exploded, no one would listen to her explanations.

The only solution now was to raise her grades before the chat group got exposed.

But how easy was that? Studying was agonizing, nearly impossible—every day brought endless homework, constant anxiety, and sleep that never rested.

No joke—she was truly about to break down.

Zhou Yuting scratched her hair, forcing herself to calm down and listen.

Jiang Nian's voice echoed through the classroom; she lowered her head to study the test paper. Unconsciously, her mind wandered, her gaze fixed blankly on the printed English.

Her vision seemed locked on one spot, unmoving for a long time.

Since childhood, she had always been proud. Wherever she went, people clustered around her like stars circling the moon, ready to serve her.

Even after moving places, she still slipped from the group's edge into its center.

Until Gao San, things had always been this way.

But after one summer vacation, everything changed. She failed promotion, her small circle shattered, both suitors vanished—and abandoned her.

She knew clearly: the root of it all was the owner of that voice beside her ear.

She didn't know how Jiang Nian raised his grades, but when she saw how a thousand times better he'd become after being promoted, something inside her cracked.

Originally, Zhou Yuting hadn't cared about any of this—she knew it well.

Temporary gains and losses were trivial; once she was promoted successfully, everything would come eventually. The past didn't need attention at all.

What was Jiang Nian? There would always be people better than him.

But Zhou Yuting realized she still cared—especially about Jiang Nian's female desk partner. Every time she saw her, Zhou Yuting felt her Dao heart shatter.

She could accept Jiang Nian being promoted. She could accept him scoring 590. But she didn't believe someone like Zhang Cezhi could possibly have feelings for him.

It was like throwing away a broken porcelain vase—only to have some rich person pick it up and declare it priceless. That would make you spit blood.

What kind of spell had Jiang Nian cast on her? They weren't even from the same world.

A thousand thoughts churned and surged within her.

"Alright, now let's look at the second reading comprehension passage." Qian Bao's voice pulled Zhou Yuting back to reality—once awake, her heartbeat quickened.

She hurriedly glanced at Reading Comprehension B, but her mood remained unsettled.

The class routine became this: Jiang Nian first translated the meaning of the reading comprehension questions, then translated the passage itself, then stepped aside.

Qian Bao took over, explaining how to solve the questions with techniques.

This repeated endlessly—Jiang Nian became nothing but a tool in the wicked woman's hands. Because he translated so quickly, they finished three reading comprehension passages in one class.

In contrast, Li Hua laughed through the entire class.

Like a socialite wandering the back rows of Class Three, he kept sharing his insane pictures with Liu Yang, then with Tao Ran himself, barely able to hold back his giggles.

Near the end of class, Li Hua realized his cut-out picture was gone.

He stood in the back, patting himself all over.

"Wait, where's my picture?"

Ding ding ding—the first class ended.

The classroom instantly collapsed into a sea of slumped bodies; Jiang Nian also stepped down.

He noticed Li Hua hadn't returned, but didn't care much.

"Here, your test paper."

"Oh." Zhang Cezhi took the paper, embarrassed, and leaned on her desk to whisper, "You finished the test—why didn't you say anything?"

Jiang Nian was about to drink water to moisten his throat when he stopped upon hearing that.

"Because I did it this time doesn't mean I'll do it again. So you must study hard and finish your homework on time every time."

Zhang Ningzhi was speechless, pressing her lips together.

"I won't write it next time either."

"Then I'll report you—anonymous report." Jiang Nian pointed at her; reporting had become his Hua Zizai Fa—everything could be reported, come at me if you dare.

Zhang Ningzhi wore a beige hoodie today, her hair tied in a high ponytail. Her skin was pale and delicate, and when she leaned on the desk, her long neck was exposed.

She frowned at Jiang Nian, her expression showing displeasure.

"You're not allowed to report me!"

"I will." Jiang Nian had never cared about face.

"You!!" Zhang Ningzhi was so furious she instantly lost her drowsiness, sat up again from the desk to think of a countermeasure—how to retaliate against being reported—but after thinking long and hard, she had no solution.

The more she thought, the angrier she became, and when she turned her head, she saw Jiang Nian's bare arm.

Even though winter had already arrived, with morning temperatures biting cold, Jiang Nian still insisted on rolling up his sleeves every day.

Now, he leaned on the desk with his arm exposed.

Zhang Ningzhi thought for a moment, picked up a ballpoint pen, and drew a pig's head on his arm.

Throughout the drawing, she held her breath—carefully sketching like someone covering her ears while stealing a bell, as if this would keep Jiang Nian from waking.

Perhaps her prayer worked—Jiang Nian never woke up.

Not until the second class began did he slowly stir awake, as if unaware of anything, twisted open his water bottle, and drank a few sips, muttering to himself.

"Where the hell is Li Hua?"

Beside him, Zhang Ningzhi sat quietly, like a lotus blooming in mud—watching Jiang Nian's movements with her peripheral vision while silently chanting, Not me, not me.

It was the group leader. The group leader did it secretly.

"What the fuck?" Jiang Nian exclaimed, as if noticing something, "Who drew on my arm—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

Zhang Ningzhi immediately hid behind her pile of books, her heartbeat racing uncontrollably, her face flushed red, the picture of someone trying to hide the obvious.

She really wanted to see how Jiang Nian had gone silent—whether he'd gone mad.

But she dared not lift her head, only maintaining her ostrich-in-snow posture.

Soon after, Li Hua returned from outside the classroom, stepping in just as the second bell rang.

He'd barely sat down, still catching his breath, and turned to ask Jiang Nian.

"Nian, did you see my picture?"

"No, forget your damn picture." Jiang Nian grinned, laying his arm flat, "Let me show you something awesome—after you see it, you'll understand what paternal love is like."

"What the hell?" Li Hua looked baffled.

He saw Jiang Nian twist his elbow—on his arm was a comical pig's head, with four crooked characters written above it.

ai zi Li Hua.

"Fuck, you bastard!"

Born a beast, even love had to be written in pinyin.

You're so lazy you're pathetic.

Huang Fang heard the commotion from the back row but ignored it completely.

She scribbled on her exam paper, found the pen tip had run dry, shook it hard several times, still nothing, then replaced the ink cartridge.

Looking at the empty pen tip, Empress Fangfang felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

After replacing the cartridge, she didn't throw the used one away. Instead, she placed it in a box filled with dozens of other used pen tips.

Wu Jun Gu watched his desk-mate's actions in full, finding them oddly amusing.

"You like collecting used pen tips?"

Huang Fang froze for a moment, suddenly embarrassed.

"Ah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just remembered something," Wu Jun Gu smiled, unable to resist saying, "Ceng You likes to shove used tissue paper under his bed."

Huang Fang: "..."

In the second class, Jiang Nian was once again conscripted.

Qian Bao had grown too used to him and clearly had no intention of letting go.

At the back of the classroom, Zhou Yuting was listening as Jiang Nian corrected the reading comprehension for Passage D. Her mindset had adjusted—she simply stopped thinking about it.

A thousand sails pass by the capsized boat; ten thousand trees bloom before the sick one.

It's still too early to say who will win—Tao Ran is far better than Jiang Nian; I will definitely win.

Suddenly, she turned her head and saw Yang Qiming staring at a small, cut-out image.

Normally, Zhou Yuting wouldn't be distracted, but Yang Qiming kept stifling laughter—his shoulders shook, making the desk tremble.

She was speechless, nudged Yang Qiming.

"What are you doing?"

Yang Qiming couldn't hold it anymore and handed the image to Zhou Yuting.

"Look at this."

"I'm not looking, class is in session." She was annoyed, her gaze automatically sweeping over it.

Because she read too fast, the information went straight into her mind—before she could react, it was already absorbed.

She saw Tao Ran's name, and couldn't help but ask.

"What's a fursona?"

"Oh, furry is—" Yang Qiming explained enthusiastically.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuting's pupils dilated little by little, the whole person unable to speak.

Esteemed readers, please toss me a monthly ticket. (Humbly)

orz