Chapter 301: A Gift Given Is Never Taken Back

"Nian, look at this trench coat—am I cool or what?" Li Hua strutted around in his trench coat.

"Cool or not, I can't tell, but—" Jiang Nian stroked his chin, "you look like one of those perverts who opens his trench coat to flash people when they get close."

"Tch, no taste." Li Hua went off to show off to Ma Guojun. "Old Ma, you put the coat on too, I'll be the head."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost, are you insane?" Ma Guojun broke out in goosebumps all over.

Jiang Nian listened to the cackling around him and found it nothing but noisy.

He didn't stand up for the evening reading either, just kept his head down on the desk, working through the test papers.

He who fails to reach the Great Wall is no true man; the journey is only twenty thousand li at a fingertip's count.

If he can't break six hundred, in the end he's just a five-hundred-point stray dog.

But it was only eight or nine test papers; he planned to finish them three days early to give Qing Bao a fright.

Jiang Nian's state, however, gave Zhang Ningzhi a fright.

Honestly, she'd been worn down by the grind and felt a bit miserable.

She'd originally planned to find Jiang Nian during evening self-study to chat a bit, but the moment she turned her head and saw him in that absorbed, problem-solving trance, she immediately pursed her lips.

Now she had no choice but to rally herself, so as not to fall behind.

One period of evening self-study flew by; Jiang Nian had already blitzed through nearly three test papers. His brain felt a bit swollen, but the gains were considerable.

As the end-of-class bell rang, he stood up, ready to head downstairs for a late-night snack.

Bread and biscuits alone wouldn't fill him up, not with such high-intensity problem-solving. Brainpower and stamina drained fast—he needed plenty of carbs to keep him going.

That's why some people gain weight in Gao San, ballooning up enough to fight in freestyle boxing.

Part of it is eating and then neither doing problems nor moving. They coast through evening self-study, half-assing homework, and after school at night they stress-eat while feeling anxious.

Fat makes you tired, and tired makes you sleepy and hungry.

Jiang Nian wasn't big on snacks, didn't eat much. He just stuffed himself with pure carbs every day, plus the high-intensity problem-solving, so he simply couldn't get fat.

In the cafeteria, Jiang Nian and Li Hua's group of three each ordered a portion of mixed rice noodles, mixed noodles, plus all kinds of fish balls, tofu, pancakes, tiger-skin eggs—a dazzling spread.

The three sat in a row, their food piled into a small mountain.

Ma Guojun, on the other hand, didn't eat much—his weight was already considerable.

Even though he'd gone to pick up the clothes in the afternoon without eating, he only ordered a bowl of mixed noodles with a fried egg.

"You two eating this much?"

"Hungry, didn't eat this afternoon." Jiang Nian buried his head in his noodles, sweeping through the springy fish balls and the tofu soaked with broth. "Ah, finally alive again."

"Three bites, one whole pig—no lie." Li Hua, flatbread in his left hand and rice noodles in his right, swallowed a tiger-skin egg. "Damn, if I started a livestream I'd definitely make money."

"Wouldn't you have to eat some weird stuff, like chicken butts?" Ma Guojun offered his strategy.

"Shut it!" Li Hua jabbed a finger straight at him, but after a moment realized something seemed off, like someone was missing. "Nian, why aren't you talking?"

Li Hua turned his head and saw Jiang Nian holding a folded test paper, reading it as he ate.

He froze, his lips trembling slightly.

"You psycho! What the hell are you grinding for!"

At the same time, Zhang Xiaofan had gone up to the fourth floor right after the first period of evening self-study ended.

He was dressed head-to-too in brand-name gear, feet in AJs.

He brought along a little sidekick, struck a flashy pose at the door of the Sanban Sect classroom, and randomly stopped a male student.

"Classmate, can you call Zhou Yuting out?"

"What Ting?" Sun Zhicheng asked.

"Zhou Yuting."

"Zhou what Ting?"

"Zhou Yuting."

"Huh? Didn't catch that, you said what Yuting?"

Zhang Xiaofan's face changed instantly; he realized the other guy was messing with him.

But he still kept his composure, forcing out a smile.

"I'll ask someone else."

"No need, no need, I'll call her for you." Though Sun Zhicheng said that, his feet didn't move—he still stood ramrod straight in front of Zhang Xiaofan.

"Go on, call her."

Sun Zhicheng looked blankly confused. "Call who?"

With a whoosh, Zhang Xiaofan's blood surged straight to his brain.

From childhood to now, he'd only ever played tricks on others; he'd never been played himself.

Zhang Xiaofan stared at the scrawny monkey in front of him, thinking, do the students in the competition class really think they're a cut above?

I've got money to burn, and you've just picked the path to your own death!

"Are you fucking sick in the head!"

Sun Zhicheng immediately lowered his voice, meekly explaining.

"Calm down, just a joke."

Zhang Xiaofan: ". You're fucking hilarious, now call Zhou Yuting out."

Sun Zhicheng nodded, walked to the classroom door, and poked his head inside.

Almost instantly, he pulled his head back and said to Zhang Xiaofan.

"Zhou Yuting's not here. When class ended I heard her say she was going to the school store."

Hearing that, Zhang Xiaofan froze.

"You knew she went to the school store all along—why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You didn't ask either! What was I supposed to say?" Sun Zhicheng retorted, glanced at Zhang Xiaofan, turned and walked away. "What a lunatic, doesn't even know how to ask a question."

"Ah!!!" Zhang Xiaofan could stand no more, sprang up and kicked Sun Zhicheng in the back. "Go ahead and curse me again! You bastard, if I don't teach you a lesson, my surname isn't Zhang."

Just then, his little sidekick Zeng Yunde grabbed Zhang Xiaofan in time. Seeing the gazes of the people around them, he couldn't help looking anxious and whispered to persuade him.

"Bro, let's go, let's go!!"

Liu Yang and his group were chatting in the breeze at the corridor, and upon hearing the shouting, they all craned their necks to take a look.

"Who's fighting?"

"Damn, looks like someone from our class got beat up."

"Let's go check."

Zhang Xiaofan saw a few boys crowding over, and in the dim corridor he couldn't make out their expressions.

He got a fright, and realized he had acted rashly.

What status did he have — he shouldn't lower himself to bicker with common rabble.

He couldn't care about anything else now, afraid that if he ran too slow he'd get surrounded. He immediately took to his heels, and in his panic bumped into someone, nearly falling.

"Shit, no eyes on you?" Lin Dong dusted off his clothes, looked back. "Idiot running that fast for what, did you kill someone?"

Cursing as he went inside, he saw a crowd gathered in the corridor.

"What happened?"

Sun Zhicheng had just climbed up off the ground, surrounded by a group firing questions at him. Both angry and embarrassed, seeing Lin Dong arrive, he followed him into the classroom.

Although he truly had his own selfish motives, not wanting to help Zhang Xiaofan call Zhou Yuting over. He couldn't stand anyone being more flashy than himself, but he hadn't expected to get beaten.

He sat down at his seat and took off his jacket that had a footprint on it.

He secretly swore he would get revenge!

"Brother Dong, help me look into someone."

Ten minutes into the second evening self-study period.

The well-fed Jiang Nian trio only now appeared leisurely at the classroom door. Seeing the teacher wasn't there, they simply swaggered in through the back door.

"Bliss!" Li Hua dropped into his seat and rubbed his bulging belly.

Jiang Nian didn't want to be associated with Li Hua, so he sat down and glanced into the desk's belly. He found an extra pack of sandwich cookies and a carton of milk inside.

No need to guess — it was Chen Yunyun's stash.

But now it bears the surname Jiang.

He turned his head to glance at Zhang Lingzhi, and found her earnestly working on a test paper. On a small blackboard-style sticky note, today's tasks were written out as one, two, three.

Densely packed, every line filled.

Jiang Nian was dumbfounded. "You have so many tasks today, can you finish them all?"

Zhang Lingzhi heard him, stopped her pen and answered.

"Should be able to finish half, I guess."

"If you can't finish them, then why write so many?" Jiang Nian was even more astonished. "If you never finish them, isn't that just weighing on your heart?"

Zhang Lingzhi said weakly, "Because... it's just for other people to see. When someone glances at my tasks, their heart feels blocked too."

Jiang Nian: "..."

The break between the second evening self-study periods.

Zhou Yuting was called out by someone — the person who came was none other than Zhang Xiaofan, who had run off during the previous evening self-study break.

Jiang Nian was chatting with Lin Dong, and had also learned about Sun Zhicheng getting beaten. He felt no ripple in his heart — purely the attitude of watching a show.

Zhou Yuting stood by a corridor pillar, a short distance from the Sanban Sect classroom.

"You're looking for me?"

Zhang Xiaofan had come to give Zhou Yuting a gift, but during the previous break he hadn't been able to run into the person herself.

He caught a distant glimpse of Jiang Nian's figure, and his smile grew even broader.

During the last break he'd run into a lunatic.

Now was the real show — truly a case of perfect timing, place, and people.

He wanted to make Jiang Nian watch helplessly as the girl he desired but couldn't have was conquered by his wealth and witty conversation.

While Jiang Nian could do nothing about it.

In the end, wallowing in anger and bitterness, leaving behind a shadow.

"Brother Nian, do you know that guy?" Lin Dong asked. "Why does he keep looking our way, smiling like a dog."

Jiang Nian touched his face. "Don't know him."

Zhou Yuting had grown a little impatient waiting, but still squeezed out a sweet smile.

"Do you need something?"

"Oh right, isn't tomorrow the coming-of-age ceremony?" Zhang Xiaofan came back to himself and put on a gentlemanly smile. "I thought you might be missing a necklace."

Zhou Yuting thought to herself, she's wearing a qipao, a necklace would be fine.

"Thank you, what kind of necklace?"

Zhang Xiaofan smoothed his hair and took out an exquisite little gift box from his chest.

"You'll know once you look, beautiful lady."

A sliver of vanity rose in Zhou Yuting's heart, and she had already begun to look forward to a jeweled necklace. She took the box and opened it, only to find it was a...

Plain material, handmade necklace.

"You know what? Ever since I saw you last time, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind." Zhang Xiaofan wore a look of deep affection, gazing into Zhou Yuting's eyes as he spoke.

"Yuting, this is a necklace I crafted with my own hands for you. All the words I want to say to you are condensed into it — I hope you'll like it."

Zhou Yuting was petrified. She glanced at the box in her hand.

"Thank you, but—"

The next second, the handmade necklace along with the box was stuffed into Zhang Xiaofan's hands.

"…My mom said I can't accept expensive gifts from others, so I appreciate the thought." Zhou Yuting forced a smile. "Please take the gift back."

Zhang Xiaofan froze, his expression quite awkward.

Do you have any idea whose love you're rejecting!

He really wanted to shout at Zhou Yuting that not just anyone was worth his spending time making a handmade gift.

What a tasteless fool, some country bumpkin.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Zhang Xiaofan's mind.

He thought of a scene from a TV drama, and so said loudly.

"I never take back a gift I've given. If you don't want it, then throw it away."

With a smack, Zhou Yuting threw the gift on the ground and said apologetically.

"Sorry, I really can't accept it."

After saying that, she walked off without looking back.

Leaving only Zhang Xiaofan in a daze, his hair whipped by the wind.