Chapter 273: A Heavy Rain Destroyed My Sports Dream

One bag of snowflake crisps can't make it rain — not enough of them.

But Jiang Nian bought two bags outright, gathered them together, and scattered them handful by handful onto Zhang Ningzhi's desk.

Whether she eats them or not is another matter.

Zhang Ningzhi had been diligently doing her morning reading for a whole period, so this sudden gesture came as quite a pleasant surprise.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Where's my drink?" Jiang Nian had no intention of sitting down — there were still things to do. "Today's drink, don't forget it, alright?"

Hearing that, Zhang Ningzhi immediately looked puzzled.

"Isn't the team leader buying drinks for our whole group this week?"

"That's his business. I want mine." Jiang Nian said it with perfect righteousness, face unblushing, heart unthumping. "I just love drinking yours. So are you giving it to me or not?"

"No!"

Jiang Nian was delighted — perfect, yes.

"Self-service, is it?"

"No!" Zhang Ningzhi puffed up angrily.

Li Hua got two pickled pepper chicken feet and one chicken drumstick — his face split into a grin.

"How could I not miss it — the little shop we used to sprint to the moment class ended. My proudest faith, my beloved de-carbon formaldehyde — kids, don't touch."

Watching Li Hua spout his rotten jokes over there, Huang Fang asked curiously.

"What's de-carbon formaldehyde?"

"Water."

Huang Fang: "."

After Jiang Nian finished handing out treats to the team members, he left and found Duan Hongtao. Once the message was delivered, the rest had nothing to do with him.

This person was Lin Dong's former roommate, and Yang Qiming's current roommate.

He was also a weirdo — his absurd behavior started at zero frames.

But this weirdo, whose name happened to match a leader's, sat quite far from Jiang Nian. They didn't chat normally, so Jiang Nian hadn't paid him much attention either.

Halfway through the first period, the three of them arrived at the classroom together.

Qian Bao, in the middle of class, glanced at the three of them.

"Where did you go?"

Yang Qiming stammered, "Got locked in the dorm."

Qian Bao didn't press the matter, just waved her hand.

"Go back to your seats."

After the few of them sat down, Zhou Yuting couldn't help feeling a bit surprised and turned to glance at Yang Qiming.

"In such a good mood this early in the morning — you even took a shower?"

Yang Qiming's expression turned awkward, and he gave a perfunctory reply.

"Yeah."

The two morning periods slipped quietly past.

During the running exercise, the weather suddenly changed and it started to rain, with the temperature dropping sharply. The grade-level group could only temporarily dismiss the running formation, and a crowd of people trudged back to the classroom through the rain.

Bang! The door was flung open.

"Holy shit, holy shit, how did it suddenly start raining!" Ma Guojun's massive frame crashed through the door. He walked to his desk, grabbed his glasses case, and prepared to wipe his glasses.

He opened it — empty.

"That bastard Li Hua!"

He turned and walked to the back, finding a neat little "tofu block" on Li Hua's desk. The soft glasses cloth had been folded into a little blanket.

"Eat shit, you absolute idiot."

Ma Guojun cursed as he wiped his glasses, while more people poured in from outside the classroom.

"Why aren't they here yet?"

Lin Dong came in flinging his school uniform around, rushed up to the podium, and let out a roar.

"A heavy rain destroyed my sports dream! There's no shortcut to getting ahead, different paths — oh damn, there's still a couple sharing an umbrella!"

"Where?" Jiang Nian wiped his rain-soaked hair and leaned over to the window. "It's true — sharing one umbrella. What a disgrace to public morals."

"Rain falls all night!! My love!" Li Hua slid into the classroom feet-first and also leaned over to the window to watch the show, as a white curtain of rain and mist came rushing at his face.

"Ptooey ptooey!! Damn, it all blew right into my mouth!"

"Darling, blow mine."

The rain and mist outside the window instantly turned into a downpour, and a fierce wind blasted in through the window. Test papers from half the classroom were swept up, drawing a huge chorus of shrieks!

It was the middle of the day, and the classroom lights weren't on.

"Ah!!! My test paper!"

"Close the window, quick!!"

"Damn, that's some serious rain!"

Everyone seemed keyed up — perhaps because of the half-lap run, or perhaps because of the heavy rain they hadn't seen in a long time. They were all talking loudly.

"Speaking of rain, it reminds me of an anime." Tao Ran suddenly said. "It's about reincarnation into another world, and then becoming a monster-girl doctor."

"Study committee member, watch less porn, will you."

"Vulgar. I have no interest in that sort of thing!" Tao Ran smoothed his hair and turned to glance at the primitives crowding around the window, hollering away.

"Oh really?" Lin Dong turned around, fishing with a bare hook. "I have a monster-girl appreciation guide — every race is covered."

Tao Ran froze, and took off his glasses.

"Speaking of which—"

Jiang Nian looked at the couple downstairs and couldn't help asking.

"Why not go ask them what they're doing?"

Li Hua immediately retorted, "Are you insane? How would I even ask?"

"Just like this, listen." Jiang Nian suddenly gathered his breath and shouted down at the couple below, "I'm Li Hua—are you two a couple?"

"Holy shit! Holy shit!!"

The boys by the window immediately yanked their heads back in, cursing one after another.

Li Hua went straight for the chokehold technique, relentlessly cackling "are you insane, are you insane."

"Jiang Nian, you have zero shame!"

The class burst into laughter; another group was picking up the test papers. In the dim classroom, a book weighing down the papers, everyone was laughing.

No one knew what they were laughing about, soaked through like chicken feathers.

The wind was free, the rain was free, and they knew the future would be free. The monotony of Gao San life, broken by a single rain, was freedom too.

Jiang Nian returned to his seat in the back row and glanced at Zhang Ningzhi.

"Did you get wet?"

"No, we left pretty early." Zhang Ningzhi shook her head and gave a small smile. "Only got a little, on the sleeve."

"I see—then take my jacket so you don't catch cold later." Jiang Nian took off his school uniform and tossed it to her, as if it were nothing.

"Won't you be cold?" Zhang Ningzhi held the uniform, still warm.

"No, if it gets bad I'll just strip Li Hua." Jiang Nian didn't care at all, and before leaving he deliberately picked up Zhang Ningzhi's thermos.

Zhang Ningzhi only thought him thoughtful—the feeling hadn't even lasted ten seconds.

She turned her head and found he'd run off to chat with Chen Yunyun and the others, and instantly she was fuming again.

But people were constantly going in and out the back door, so it really was a bit cold.

Zhang Ningzhi rolled up her wet sleeve and wrapped a few sheets of paper around it.

Only when she could no longer feel the damp chill did she drape Jiang Nian's school uniform over her shoulders.

The uniform from Zhennan Middle School was decent quality—not a piece of rag. On the contrary, it had a nice texture, at least meeting the requirements for warmth and breathability.

When she put it on, she could still feel the lingering warmth.

Zhang Ningzhi couldn't help resting on the desk, pressing the cool cover of her review materials against her slightly hot cheeks, wondering whether boys just naturally run warmer.

The thread that had belonged to friendship was once again drawn tighter. In the stormy afternoon, the dim classroom grew more intricate.

Zhang Ningzhi pressed her lips together, her thoughts tangled once more.

Before class started, Jiang Nian sat in Lin Dong's seat, the two of them chatting happily.

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe in the front row both turned around—three seats, four people, chatter and laughter spilling out together.

Drawing a slight sideways glance from Sun Zhicheng beside them.

He looked up at the "little group" and thought, a few months ago none of this was like this—the one chatting and laughing there should have been him!

Someone had stolen his place!

One day, he'd take it back on his own merit. Let everyone who looked down on him—Dong included, a total traitor.

Jiang Nian suddenly said, "I have a question I've been wanting to ask you."

Hearing that, Chen Yunyun turned her head to look at him.

"What question?"

"Here's the thing—you wash your hair on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days of the week." Jiang Nian wore a solemn face. "So I want to ask—what about Sunday? Wash or not wash?"

Chen Yunyun was a bit speechless, but still answered him.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether I'm staying in the dorm all afternoon, whether my hair's greasy on Sunday, or whether I worked up a sweat running." Chen Yunyun thought for a moment before answering.

"It really does depend. Like today, getting soaked—regardless of the day, I'd wash my hair. What about it?"

Jiang Nian looked a little sheepish. "When you come back to the classroom at noon, grab me a meal from the dorm cafeteria."

Chen Yunyun: "."

She knew this guy was full of bad ideas, but whether she could make it back to the classroom at noon was uncertain—after all, with the rain, there were more people lining up for hot water too.

She thought it over and agreed.

"Fine."