Chapter 279: Why Does This Guy Turn Into a Dog Every Now and Then

The empty classroom, on the podium.

Li Hua stared at Jiang Nian, who had also picked up a rag, his jaw nearly dropping onto the multimedia console.

Hold on, bro, you doing some male competition?

That's kind of scummy, isn't it?

*Pat*—Li Hua grabbed the rag and questioned him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Jiang Nian had no other hobbies; he just liked throwing a few small obstacles in Li Hua's way.

"Wiping the blackboard doesn't need you. Go mop the floor outside."

Li Hua was done with it. "Damn, can't you go mop the floor?"

"That won't work, it's too cold outside." Jiang Nian actually didn't want to clean the whiteboard either—he was purely picking a fight.

In the end, Li Hua ended up cleaning the whiteboard alone.

Jiang Nian lay on the desk catching up on sleep, and didn't go mop either. It was too early now, and people hadn't arrived yet. With people coming and going and stepping on it, mopping would be pointless.

Close his eyes, wait until morning reading was almost here.

Zhang Ningzhi was in a good mood—the seat cushion she bought online should arrive around the afternoon. What she was looking forward to wasn't the cushion, but the process of picking up the package together.

She entered the classroom, glanced around, and saw Jiang Nian sprawled in the back row.

Waking up early every day just to run to the classroom to nap?

That was too boring; he could only purely out-hustle a few people. But once she thought about Jiang Nian's background, it wasn't strange for him to act this way.

As Zhang Ningzhi walked over, Jiang Nian was about awake too. The two greeted each other and began tidying their desks in sync, pulling out their morning reading books.

Jiang Nian didn't do morning reading—he'd already memorized everything.

So what he pulled out was a science comprehensive exam paper, to polish himself a bit more. There was a joint exam of six cities in two weeks, and his goal was to break into the 600s.

Honestly, there was still room for improvement.

The main thing was he didn't want to be looked down on by Xu Qianqian. It was normal not to beat her. Being constantly suppressed wasn't bad either, but occasionally he had to try to turn things around.

Zhang Ningzhi took out her gaokao Chinese language prep materials and brought it up seemingly offhandedly.

"The package should arrive today, I think."

"Hmm?" Jiang Nian turned his head.

The temperature had dropped sharply these past few days, and hardly anyone in class was wearing their school uniform. Everyone wore jackets that were neither thick nor thin—winter was already showing its first signs.

Outside the window was a milky-white thin mist, with faint golden sunlight seeping through.

Zhang Ningzhi was wearing a loose, cream-yellow sweater today, sitting in the corner looking tiny, her hair in a high ponytail, her neck fair and pale.

He couldn't help but steal a few more glances, feeling like Zhizhi's wardrobe at home must be pretty big.

Could he hide inside it?

Jiang Nian was still thinking about some boring things—like his own wardrobe. Damn, he didn't seem to have a wardrobe, but Xu Qianqian did have a big one.

Damn, a family of three, and he was the outsider.

A guest with the surname Jiang.

Or rather, "What a coincidence, the guest's surname is Jiang too?"

But this phenomenon improved after his grades suddenly skyrocketed.

Jiang Nian felt that his parents should love him.

Otherwise, in the system's memory of his un-experienced twenty-eight-year-old self, how could his parents have come up with a family savings of two million?

Never mind whether it was borrowed—being able to borrow that much money was also a skill.

So compared to Zhang Ningzhi?

Forget it, keeping up with others wasn't a good habit.

Cai Xiaoqing took attendance and found two people absent from class. It was fairly normal for day students to take leave or be late, but there was one male boarding student who hadn't shown up.

Since it was morning self-study now, she couldn't go ask Old Liu. So she asked the student's roommate, but the roommate had no clue either.

"That's weird." Cai Xiaoqing muttered to herself.

Suddenly, she felt her back being tapped, and she instinctively turned around.

Jiang Nian stood behind her and pulled out his phone directly. The screen showed a photo taken outside a car window—clearly the edge of the county town.

"He took leave to go home, he should be almost eating by now."

Cai Xiaoqing: "."

Jiang Nian returned to his seat, only to hear Li Hua sighing over there.

"I want to take leave too."

He thought for a moment, then spoke up.

"You can give me all your pocket money, go hungry for two days and pretend you can't talk. Drink some water to tide you over, and you should be able to take a pretty long leave."

Li Hua got angry. "That's not being sick, that's being dead."

Ceng You in the front row turned around and said with a grin.

"What's the fun of taking leave? You're just playing on your phone at home anyway. If you're going to play either way, the classroom has a better vibe."

"Be careful Old Liu checks you." Wu Jungu reminded him.

"Bring it on. Old Liu might be a giant when it comes to teaching, but when it comes to playing on phones, he's as green as a rookie." Ceng You leaned back tactically.

"I've been hiding mine since middle school all the way to Gao San. I've switched phones but never had mine confiscated."

The morning classes were mainly about going over the weekly test papers, starting with two consecutive math periods.

First thing in the morning, and it was already this intense.

Jiang Nian was attending in a state of agony, but could only force himself to stay alert. When he didn't understand, he'd mark it down and ask Zhizhi when he had time later.

As for why I didn't ask Li Hua, because I'm a pervert.

I have no other hobbies—just love hanging around girls asking questions. Their skin is as white as ice cream, pleasing to the eye, so tempting I want to lick it.

The morning passed quickly.

Zhang Ningzhi found out the package wouldn't arrive until afternoon, and couldn't help feeling down. But there was nothing she could do—she could only pack her bag and head home for lunch.

Jiang Nian returned from eating, and instinctively stood for a while by the railing outside the classroom.

Not for any reason—just loved feeling the breeze.

In the distance, the thin mist beyond Qingmu Ridge had completely cleared, revealing the outlines of vast exposed rocks.

Jiang Nian suddenly remembered something Le Zhi had said during one of their idle chats.

Winter is actually quite good for climbing.

After all, holding hands in summer makes you sweat—you can't even hold for a minute before it gets unbearable. But winter's different: soft little hands can be held all day.

Le Zhi said this when they were still in middle school, and he hadn't broken up with his ex-girlfriend yet. He told Jiang Nian half to boast.

A footsteps sounded, then a light hop beside him.

"Hey!"

"What are you looking at?" Chen Yunyun stood beside him, wearing a light-knit cardigan, and added, "It's a blazing sunny day today."

Jiang Nian turned to look at her and nodded.

"Yeah, too bad we can't catch the sun here."

"You could go downstairs, or—" she pointed upward, mysteriously, "the rooftop of the Administration Building. I heard it's not locked."

"Really? Wouldn't that be packed with couples?" Jiang Nian was startled.

"I don't know, but there are tons of couples sunbathing on the lawn below," Chen Yunyun didn't seem too concerned. "By the way, have you ever walked around the lawn?"

Jiang Nian hadn't noticed when he came upstairs, but he was too lazy to go down.

"No. I'm a shadow-dwelling creature—I prefer dark corners."

Chen Yunyun smiled but didn't leave. She stood with him on this slightly shady corridor, chatting idly, one topic at a time.

"Have you ever climbed that mountain?"

Jiang Nian felt nothing for Qingmu Ridge, but vaguely thought Chen Yunyun must have climbed it too.

"Didn't you climb it in first year?"

Logically, given her outgoing personality, she should've gone with her dorm mates in first year—there aren't many nearby attractions.

Chen Yunyun said, "In first year, our dorm went together, but halfway up it started raining. We didn't bring umbrellas, feared a downpour, and turned back."

"Didn't you go again after that?"

"We split into arts and science classes."

"Oh."

After a while, Jiang Nian asked on his own.

"You really want to go?"

Chen Yunyun felt embarrassed; she naturally wouldn't admit she "really wanted" to go, and instinctively denied it.

"It's just okay."

"Oh, I see." Jiang Nian casually set the hook, turned, and walked toward the end of the corridor, muttering, "I was going to ask if you wanted to go."

Chen Yunyun, standing in the corridor, froze, opened her mouth but made no sound.

She thought: How come this guy acts like a dog sometimes?

But young girls have their pride—they wouldn't chase after him to change his mind. She merely gazed after him as he headed toward the restroom, biting her lower lip.

Her chest rose and fell for a moment before her mood settled, and she turned back into the classroom.

A gentleman takes revenge slowly.

Jiang Nian came out of the restroom and washed his hands.

Splash—the cold water from the rooftop tank, settled overnight, hit his hands, and he yanked them away instantly.

"Damn, it's so cold."

After washing his hands, he turned and spotted Wang Yuhe carrying a bag of snacks up the stairs.

"Wait."

He did a quick mental calculation: today's Tuesday—not her hair-washing day.

Wang Yuhe had probably come up with Chen Yunyun—one went to buy snacks, the other headed back to class, so they arrived one after the other.

"What?"

She turned and saw Jiang Nian—immediately on guard.

"Don't come closer!"

Jiang Nian was speechless. He thought: Wang Yuhe's nearly a meter seventy—why does she act like a little kid? Am I really the kind who sneaks snacks?

"No, what do you think I am?"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe looked conflicted.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course," Jiang Nian smiled gently.

He thought to himself: His mother, Li Hongmei, was famously trustworthy. Wang Yuhe could certainly trust his mother—but he himself had no integrity.

"Oh, these are the snacks I bought—Chen Yunyun gets some too." Wang Yuhe hesitated again, remembering Jiang Nian had once shared food with her before.

Then she opened the bag and said to Jiang Nian:

"Pick one."

"Alright, didn't expect you to be so generous," Jiang Nian said offhandedly, leaned over to look—and saw mostly snacks like duck necks.

Come to think of it, Wang Yuhe is also pretty rich.

Wang Yuhe was a little embarrassed by the praise, but she really wasn't stingy with others. She just wouldn't give away the snacks she was holding in her hand.

If it was in the bag, then she wouldn't mind.

She thought for a moment and said, "You can take two bags."

The next second, she saw Jiang Nian plunge both hands into the bag. With a light scoop, only two bags were left inside in an instant, and she was completely dumbfounded.

Huh?

Jiang Nian had already run off, a pile of snacks cradled in his arms.

Sunlight struggled up to the fourth floor, landing right at Wang Yuhe's feet in the hallway. She glanced down at the snacks in the bag, then glanced again.

She couldn't help wiping away her tears.

When she walked into the classroom, she found that pile of snacks lying on her desk.

In an instant, tears were still swirling in her eyes, and she didn't know whether to let them fall.

Chen Yunyun was standing by the window doing problems, practicing her posture at the same time. She turned her head and saw Wang Yuhe looking like that—how could she not know what had happened.

She was immediately caught between laughter and tears, these two really—

Lunch break.

Jiang Nian still obediently did his problems, then when the time came, he lay his head on the desk for the lunch break nap.

Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles.

Only by laying a solid foundation bit by bit can one be a little freer in the gaokao exam room. It's just that his definition of "free" had changed from "guaranteed admission to a first-tier university" to "guaranteed admission to a 985 university."

The grades of the people around him affected his own grades.

Freedom meant getting into roughly the same university as his friends. Side note: Le Zhi was no longer his good friend—the low-scoring kid still needed to simmer.

Two in the afternoon, the bell signaling the end of lunch break rang.

Yu Tongjie walked into the school along with the crowd, his expression not looking too good. The first time collecting money and already this unlucky—his own money had come back to him.

What about switching groups?

Daydream.

Recently he'd really had the worst luck imaginable, not a single thing going right. He felt like life had violated him countless times, and every day waking up was agony.

Ptooey—he spat at the side of the road.

With a streak of blood in it.

He couldn't help feeling a bit of despair—when would these days ever end.

He had just gone upstairs when someone bumped into him.

"Sorry." Sun Zhicheng felt he'd bumped into something, turned his head and saw it was someone from their class. "Oh, it's you, my bad."

Yu Tongjie grunted and ignored him.

Sun Zhicheng didn't get annoyed either—no point getting mad at an idiot. He'd recently been chatting with a sweet girl, and every day felt wonderfully sweet.