Chapter 311: A Photo with One Person Is Ambiguous, Two Is Awkward, Three Is Friendship

Old Liu's face broke into a smile again—he loved energetic students the most.

Then he saw on his phone's recording screen: Li Hua, Ma Guojun, and Nie Qiqi, all three dressed in trench coats paired with mamian skirts.

"Who's next?" he muttered to himself.

Finally, the next group appeared.

From left to right: Chen Yunyun, Zhang Ningzhi, Jiang Nian, Li Qingrong. Three girls, one boy—girls piled on girls—with Jiang Nian looking distinctly awkward in the middle.

At the very moment his phone's camera captured Li Qingrong, Old Liu nearly had a heart attack. His eyes bulged, his chest heaved violently, and he burst into a fit of coughing—NO!!! I DON'T AGREE!

A Li Qingrong with nearly seven hundred points, two C9 seed students above six hundred thirty—all clustered around Jiang Nian, who scored under six hundred, even if only by ten points.

Ten points…: … ten points is still a five-hundred-point wild dog!

For some reason, Old Liu's mind flashed back to Li Hua's famous "wild dog theory." He had once scolded Li Hua to his face.

But now, the yelping of a yellow-haired wild dog echoed in his head.

Three seed students!!!

NO!!

Old Liu's hand trembled as he filmed, the screen visibly shaking. Had he not spent decades cultivating composure as a veteran teacher, he might have already charged forward and kicked…

Tai Luo Flying Kick!

Compared to Old Liu's reaction, the surrounding crowd consisted partly of zero-class academicians lingering to watch, and third-class students who had already crossed the dragon gate.

When they saw the scene, they completely lost it.

"Holy shit, the monitor?"

"What the hell is going on with Jiang Nian?!"

"Did I drink too much? Am I hallucinating? The sun… the sun is green! Someone tell me—is this a dream?!"

"Kid, this is reality."

"Fucking betrayal!! The wound of betrayal never heals!"

"Zhang Ningzhi is his desk partner—I get that. Chen Yunyun hangs out with him—I get that too. But why is the monitor…?"

,

"Fuck, who invited him to Hainan? Drown him in the sea!"

The zero-class academicians didn't know Jiang Nian, but nearly all of them knew Li Qingrong. After all, with the grade ranking, Li Qingrong's name overshadowed most others.

"Is Li Qingrong really that beautiful? Which one is she?"

"The one in the middle."

"Wait, guys—is that even important?"

"Isn't this early romance? Why isn't Ji Ming stepping in? Holy shit!"

"Are you telling me he's dating three at once?!"

Hearing this, Old Liu felt slightly comforted.

That's right.

Who could possibly be dating three at once? That kind of romance would be the most explosive plot in any drama.

Eliminate the impossible—the correct answer must be friendship.

Old Liu had been a student too; he understood that a central air conditioner with high power naturally draws female attention—perhaps Jiang Nian was just trying to show off.

Let's watch a bit longer. All three girls are top candidates for elite universities—don't let some wild dog drag them down…

As Jiang Nian's group walked past in a single line, Wang Yuhe, Yao Bei Bei, and Cai Xiaoqing followed behind.

Because they couldn't fit, they were forced to split into two rows.

Wang Yuhe was furious about this!

She was furious she didn't cross the dragon gate with Chen Yunyun!

Yao Bei Bei didn't care—expedience in emergencies.

Cai Xiaoqing…: … she just came to watch the spectacle, saw Li Qingrong pass by, and automatically followed—after all, crossing the dragon gate with anyone was the same.

Ahead, Zhang Ningzhi's legs were nearly buckling.

Chen Yunyun wasn't much better—she dared not look toward the homeroom teacher. And yet the homeroom teacher was so close, his phone camera almost reaching out.

As if about to capture evidence and send it to their parents.

In contrast, Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong remained calm. Li Qingrong didn't care what Old Liu thought, and Jiang Nian had a clear conscience.

Having few friends—what's wrong with being close to good ones?

When Li Qingrong first walked toward him, his heart fluttered a little.

Then Chen Yunyun came over—he felt awkward.

When Zhang Ningzhi arrived, he stopped struggling entirely. As the saying goes: my heart is as clear as a mirror; all my actions are pure friendship.

One person is ambiguity, two people are a harem showdown, three people are friendship.

Add two more, and it becomes five-way friendship.

No matter how you look at it, it's still friendship.

Besides, he wasn't afraid of Old Liu—he had a clear conscience. Aside from occasionally stealing a little girl's advantage and watching black stockings on TikTok, he was spotless.

He'd never hummed in the milk tea shop bathroom, never sneaked into the little woods.

Fuck, not giving himself an Outstanding Student Award is a waste.

Unity among classmates, respect for teachers.

Jiang Nian looked up and caught sight of Qian Bao snapping photos beside the track, and Qing Bao secretly filming—suddenly, the sky felt like it had collapsed.

Done. He could never loot again.

This time, it looked like he won big—but he'd actually lost terribly.

"Hehe, got it." Qian Bao waved her phone at Jiang Nian, showing she had his blackmail, "Youth, how wonderful."

What a damn thing!

Jiang Nian crossed the Longmen and looked at the three girls beside him.

"Cough, cough, I'll ask Qian Bao for some photos."

He finally understood now why those cultivation novel protagonists who took their partners to seek immortality were so hated by everyone.

Including those who got ambushed.

"Give me a copy too, send it to me on QQ." Chen Yunyun smiled, a little embarrassed—she'd acted purely on impulse.

But she didn't regret it; she was even a little glad.

It was just because of Zhang Ningzhi—after all, they were desk partners—she couldn't bear to snatch a spot from her, so she'd stood aside. But for her, it was still crossing the Longmen with Jiang Nian.

If she'd gone alone, she definitely couldn't have crossed with Jiang Nian. He'd already made plans with Li Hua and Ma Guojun; she couldn't just force herself in.

Luckily, the class monitor went first, and Zhang Ningzhi went too.

The Longmen clearly couldn't handle six people at once, let alone Ma Guojun, whose bulky frame counted as two.

In the end, only four crossed together.

For her, this outcome brought the greatest benefit. She felt grateful—after all, she'd basically piggybacked on a photo.

But there were losses too.

She hadn't forgotten Wang Yuhe; she knew Wang Yuhe would be angry. They'd agreed to cross the Longmen together, and she'd broken that promise on the spot.

So after telling Jiang Nian to send her a photo, Chen Yunyun turned and walked into the crowd to find the fuming Wang Yuhe and explain—she'd probably have to soothe her for hours, but after that, they could still take photos.

The Longmen was just one photo; it wasn't that important.

Zhang Ningzhi, flustered, grabbed Jiang Nian's arm and said seriously.

"You have to send me a copy too."

"Alright." Jiang Nian nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I'll go find Bei Bei." Zhang Ningzhi blushed, her face thin-skinned, her heart still pounding, her legs weak with nervousness—she'd only been flushed with anger before.

Now that she'd calmed down, she was filled with dread. Luckily, there were so many people the homeroom teacher didn't suspect anything. But she still felt guilty toward Yao Bei Bei, after all...

Still, she didn't regret it—at least she had a photo crossing the Longmen.

The last group photo was taken at a restaurant in the city, where they'd asked a passerby to snap them together. Now they had another—worth putting in her password-protected album.

Li Qingrong didn't leave; she didn't need to comfort Cai Xiaoqing.

In fact, Cai Xiaoqing and Nie Qiqi had heard Li Qingrong's backup outfit was a horse-face skirt. After discussing it, they decided to buy the same style—but they'd never agreed to cross the Longmen together.

Before this, Cai Xiaoqing had been told that Gao San students would cross the Longmen one by one. They'd only planned to walk in sequence; the rules changed later.

With last-minute pairing, Li Qingrong didn't overthink it.

She didn't know why she should avoid suspicion—it was just walking together for a photo.

"I'll ask the teacher for a copy too."

"Okay, I'll send it later..." Jiang Nian replied automatically, but quickly realized Li Qingrong meant—she'd ask Qian Bao herself for a photo.

His words stuck halfway.

Clearly, Cai Xiaoqing would get no explanation. But given Cai Xiang's nature, she probably didn't need one—she'd just smile it off.

As for Nie Qiqi, she didn't care.

So Jiang Nian wisely changed his words.

"Sure, let's go together."

The two walked toward Qian Bao together. Qian Bao had been there too, but for some reason, she'd vanished—probably socially anxious.

Not socially anxious in class, but totally socially anxious after class.

"Teacher, did you take any photos just now?" Jiang Nian asked.

Hearing this, Qian Bao looked at Jiang Nian, then at Li Qingrong. She felt guilty, putting on a pitiful, wronged expression: "I only took a few. No need to delete, I won't post them on QQ Zone, Weibo, Moments, Xiaohongshu, or Douyin."

You fucking liar!

You posted everywhere and still say you won't!

Luckily you didn't plan to post on Momo, or the south gate of Zhennan High School would've been crushed by crowds.

"Teacher, you misunderstood—we just want a few photos," Jiang Nian forced a smile, speaking gently.

"Really?" Qian Bao's eyes lit up.

The old woman was good at pretending to be young.

Jiang Nian nodded. "Really."

Then Li Qingrong nodded too.

"Mm."

"Great! Then pick for yourselves." Qian Bao grinned, opening her album. "Not great shots—only a few are decent."

"No problem, we..." Jiang Nian said, leaning in to glance at Qian Bao's phone. "Teacher, you took over a hundred photos?"

"Oh? Really?"

Over a hundred photos—all burst shots.

This is what you call "just a few"?

Qian Bao being a teacher is a waste—decades ago she could've been a spy.

"Oh dear, maybe I accidentally hit burst mode." Qian Bao stuck out her tongue, the old woman pretending to be young. "I'll send them to you now."

After Class Three crossed the Longmen, they were told they could move about freely.

This meant they could stay to watch others cross, or leave the sports field to take photos—this was the extra privilege granted to top students.

The lineup was arranged by academic ranking; Class Four came after Class Two and Class One.

So Xu Qianqian had no idea what had happened up ahead. She'd just been waiting a long time and was getting a little impatient, so she sent Jiang Nian a message: "Is your class done yet?"

In a flash, Jiang Nian replied instantly.

"Done."

Hearing that, Xu Qianqian let out a breath of relief.

She was wearing a JK uniform skirt, standing together with Song Xiyun, and the pair caused quite a stir in the class. After all, a pair of JK girls was eye-catching enough on its own.

Fortunately, a few other girls in the class had also put on makeup and dressed up carefully, which kept the two of them from standing out too much.

Right now Xu Qianqian just wanted to finish walking through the dragon gate with Song Xiyun as quickly as possible, then find a good spot for photos. Then drag Jiang Nian over for one shot, and the task would be done.

After all that, she'd change clothes directly.

Thinking of this, she typed out a message to Jiang Nian.

"Did something fun just happen in your class? Why was everyone cheering?"

In a flash, Jiang Nian replied.

"Someone wore a big-monster, little-monster costume."

"Oh, no wonder." Xu Qianqian replied, then added as if in passing, "After we break up later, I'll call you over for photos?"

In a flash, Jiang Nian sent back one line.

"Okay."

Hearing that, Xu Qianqian put away her phone and turned to look at Song Xiyun, who was even more nervous than she was.

"It's fine, we're almost up."

"How many more classes are there?" Song Xiyun asked.

"Two."

On the other side, Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong had finished their friendship photo.

Qian Bao helped take it—the girl in a horse-face skirt looked cool and aloof, and beside her stood a boy in a thin white top, both smiling, clearly unbothered by the cold.

Sunlight slanted across both their shoulders, like the height of summer.