Chapter 291: Then I

Glancing at it, Jiang Nian was quite surprised.

At this time normally, the class group chat was never this lively.

More accurately, the class group chat was quiet during school days. Only a few regulars spoke, and occasionally a wave of lurkers would surface.

Jiang Nian scrolled the chat history to the top and read it carefully (stalking).

Group nickname: Windy Night (Liu Yang), "Brothers, have you finished the exam papers?"

Woke up and felt my husband hard, turns out he's dead (Yao Bei Bei), "I still have one math paper left—I'm about to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Liu Yang: "@WokeUpNot, what the hell is your group nickname?"

Pure Love Boy Tempting Zhuangzhuang's Mom (Li Hua), "This is insane—thank goodness I'm normal (laughing crying). Also, I finished all of them."

Kite Chasing Someone (Yang Qiming), "This isn't just crazy—it's gotta be Aruba!"

Fierce Cute Tiger Stepping on Me (Tao Ran), "Li Hua's that strong? I still have one paper left—I won't sleep tonight for sure."

Prodigal (Huang Cailang), "I still have two left—didn't get to write them before late-night snacks."

Cat in the Alley (Lin Dong), "Damn it, I knew you guys were sneaking snacks in the dorm! You won't open the door to cross-dorm visits, huh!"

Moon Underwater (Chen Yunyun), "Our whole dorm is awake—everyone's writing papers."

When It Rains, I Run Home (Wang Yuhe), "I finished."

Fog on the Lighthouse (Sun Zhicheng), "Four left—totally not worried. (laughing)"

Wang Yuhe @ Sun Zhicheng, "Why do you and the group leader's nicknames both…"

Jiang Nian kept scrolling and found many classmates complaining about not finishing the papers; he scanned the list but didn't see Zhang Nenzhi speak.

But that was normal—she rarely showed up in the class group chat.

After all, she spent all day with Yao Bei Bei; the two were practically glued together. At school, Yao Bei Bei's behavior was still restrained.

Online, she revealed her true self—absurd to the extreme.

Yao Bei Bei didn't care—she was an elder of the class group. She'd been acting crazy for ages; everyone was used to it and occasionally marveled.

Zhang Nenzhi had a thin skin and refused to appear in the group chat alongside Yao Bei Bei unless absolutely necessary.

Many hadn't spoken up at all, including Cai Xiaoqing and a few others. Probably like him, they started writing papers as soon as they got home.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and sent Zhang Nenzhi a message.

"Asleep?"

After fifteen seconds, she replied with a soft buzz.

"Not yet—writing papers."

"How many left?" Jiang Nian asked.

Five papers total: one each for the three science subjects, two for math. They were due tomorrow during the big break—impossible to finish.

"Half a paper (cute)."

Damn, how fast is she writing? Baby Zhizhi is too strong.

"I still have one left—I won't finish," Jiang Nian replied honestly, then added habitually, "If I can't finish, I'll copy yours."

Zhang Nenzhi: "(unhappy) No, do it yourself."

"I meant if—I should still be able to finish," Jiang Nian began whining to her, "If I don't finish, I'll get called on in class."

After a while, Zhang Nenzhi replied.

"Just this once."

At her desk, Jiang Nian smiled and typed back enthusiastically.

"Okay."

"Then hurry up—you might finish soon," Zhang Nenzhi replied carefully, "I need to keep writing too, or I won't wake up tomorrow."

Jiang Nian sent an emoji pack, ending the chat for now.

They spent every day together, so they wouldn't chat endlessly late at night. Gao San life was tense, and Zhang Nenzhi cared deeply about her grades.

Their a person's thoughts aligned: finish homework first.

11:40 p. m.

Jiang Nian leaned back, and several bones cracked loudly.

He hadn't finished the math paper yet, but he wasn't sleepy at all. Even without activating "Healing," his current mental state was 1.5 times what it used to be.

This was an implicit enhancement to his brain's mental capacity from improved physical fitness.

Even so, he decided to rest for a bit.

Just as he reached for his phone, it buzzed. He thought Zhang Nenzhi had finished—his mind instantly flooded with complaints.

Finished that fast? What a study prodigy!

But when Jiang Nian picked up his phone, he saw the message wasn't from Zhang Nenzhi—it was from Li Qingrong, the class monitor, still starting with the classic two characters.

"Asleep?"

He didn't know why Li Qingrong was contacting him so late, so he replied:

"Not yet. What's up, monitor?"

On the other side.

Li Qingrong had just gone to the kitchen for water, under the orange-yellow pendant light. One hand gripping a glass cup, she sat on the open kitchen bar, motionless.

Monitor?

She looked down at those two characters. For some reason, she felt inexplicably irritated. After drinking a sip of water, her mood gradually calmed.

Just as she was thinking how to reply, the master bedroom door opened.

Li Lanying stepped out wearing a thin autumn pajama set, drowsy as if just waking, her chest buttons half-fastened.

A pair of white grapefruits were exposed to the air, radiating a languid aura.

"Embracing Qingqing, still awake?" She rubbed her eyes, walked into the kitchen, took a bottle of glass-like mineral spring water, poured it into a cup, and gulped down a few swallows haphazardly.

"Mm." Li Qingrong ignored her, still lost in thought.

"Is your homework really this heavy tonight? Gao San really is exhausting." Li Lanying leaned over on her own, gently resting her chin on Li Qingrong's shoulder.

"You should've gone back long ago." Li Qingrong's gaze was cold and clear; she shook off Lanying's chin outright. "Aren't you fine outside? Why come back?"

Lanying didn't get angry; instead, she smiled dreamily.

"Are you harboring resentment?"

Li Qingrong glanced at her. "No."

"You're lying. If you truly had no resentment, you wouldn't be chasing me away." Lanying tried to embrace Li Qingrong, but the latter dodged her without hesitation.

She didn't feel disappointed; instead, she said one thing.

"During the New Year, Mom and Dad will come back too."

Hearing this, Li Qingrong showed no reaction, glanced again at her phone. The words she'd just thought of were shattered by Lanying's single sentence.

"Mm."

In the vast living room, the light was clean and bright.

Lanying looked at her sister three meters away, and couldn't help but sigh softly. Still, she gathered her courage and spoke in a quiet voice.

"We were both powerless before."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingrong put down the glass bottle and returned to her room.

With a bang, the door shut.

The living room was now empty except for Lanying; her expression turned sorrowful. She stood there dazed for a while, then took out a small amount of alcoholic drink from the fridge.

In her room, Li Qingrong calmed herself and sent Jiang Nian a message.

"It's fine."

After sending the message, she quietly set down her phone—unbeknownst to her, it buzzed once.

Jiang Nian replied: "Did you finish the class monitor's exam paper?"

"Mm, finished during evening self-study."

In her bedroom, Jiang Nian saw the message and went numb.

What? Finished five exam papers during class?

"How did you write so fast?"

Soon after, Li Qingrong replied.

"Then I'll write slower next time."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Had the class monitor started acting up? Was this sarcasm or a joke?

Could she possibly be serious?

A while later, Zhang Nengzhi also sent a message, telling Jiang Nian she'd finished her exam paper and had sent him several distant photos.

The photos were so blurry even when zoomed in, Jiang Nian felt like vomiting.

He put aside his chat with the class monitor and instead complained about Zhang Nengzhi's anti-cheating tactics. They bantered back and forth, finally ending with "see you tomorrow."

Jiang Nian decided not to write the damn exam paper at all—he figured he'd just finish it early tomorrow.

Before falling asleep, he glanced once more at his chat interface with the class monitor.

After that one message—"Then I'll write slower next time"—the class monitor hadn't sent another. Probably asleep, or just didn't want to talk anymore.

Half-asleep, Jiang Nian suddenly felt his phone buzz beside his pillow.

He reached for it instinctively, half-opened his eyes, and glanced at the glowing screen.

It was Li Qingrong's message.

"Don't call me class monitor next time."