Chapter 317: Climbing the Mountain

"So this sign, is it posted in the class?" Tao Ran asked.

"Does that even need asking?"

"Exactly. If it's not posted in the class, how would it motivate us?"

However, Old Liu shook his head and gave the opposite answer.

"It's posted in the first-floor lobby. The grade group put up a wall to hold your dreams."

When he said the word 'dreams,' Old Liu even spread his hands and gestured a shape. The smile on his face was kindly, a bit greasy.

"Holy shit, our dreams are being peeped at." Jiang Nian said,

The class burst into laughter, then immediately began to feel anxious.

"What should I write?"

"If I write too high, I'll be laughed at, right? If too low... then I might as well not write anything."

"No way, isn't that just a wall of real-name joke collections?"

"Damn, how is your mouth so venomous!"

The urgency of the college entrance exam gradually took real shape amid the class's back-and-forth chatter.

Still, after all, the Third Competition Class was the top class below the Zero Class. Invincible among the science track at the same level, it was second to none and above everyone else at Zhennan Middle School.

These bastards, after just a moment of anxiety, started hyping each other up.

"Class Rep, you should put Tsinghua."

"Does Tsinghua have catgirls?"

Zhang Ningzhi held a uniformly print list paper from the grade group in her hand, about the size of a sticky note. Her eyes were a bit blank as she asked,

"Do I need to write the school and a sentence?"

"Mm." After Jiang Nian answered, he didn't move, planning to see what she wrote. Seeing she wasn't moving either, he couldn't help urging, "Write it.

Zhang Ningzhi turned around, blocking his line of sight.

"Ugh, why are you so annoying!"

"No, even if you finish writing it, you can't encrypt it." Jiang Nian looked puzzled. "You hand it in, and it still has to be posted on the sign, right?"

"Anyway, everyone can see it in the end. What's there to hide?"

"No way, I'm not letting you see." Zhang Ningzhi pushed him away, straight into Li Hua's side.

Don't underestimate her, she's got some strength, not the type of girl who can't even twist off a bottle cap.

"Hey hey hey, what are you two doing?" Li Hua had objections, cupping his hands around his goal as he wrote. "When you're fooling around, can you spare a thought for your classmates?"

"Jealous?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Jealous my ass!" Li Hua got a bit worked up, his eyes so red the Sharingan had activated. "You bastard, eat shit eat shit!"

This was a classic case of throwing a stone and the dog that got hit barking.

Jiang Nian grinned and took the chance to ask,

"Hua, what target university did you put?"

Li Hua couldn't be bothered to hide it. "Harbin Institute of Technology."

Opening his mouth and it was one of the National Defense Seven Sons, no problem there. Only Jiang Nian suspected this guy didn't even know what the other six were called.

"Why not Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications?" Jiang Nian asked.

Li Hua looked blank. "What school is that?"

"Damn, you bastard!" Jiang Nian was delighted, jabbing a finger at him. "You dog, to show off, you'll stop at nothing, huh?"

Once exposed, Li Hua didn't flinch and simply admitted it.

"Never looked into universities. Saw a few flex-worthy ones on Douyin now and then. Figured it was still far off, didn't know I'd have to fill it out now."

"By the way, what did you put?"

Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, frowning.

"I don't know either, I'll just throw one down."

Saying so, he turned to look at Zhang Ningzhi.

"Let me take a look."

"No, I'm not letting you see." Zhang Ningzhi held firm. She had a clear goal, but now it wasn't quite so clear—she might not actually apply.

If after the college entrance exam everyone goes their separate ways, isn't that just— this isn't filling out college preferences anyway, what university you can get into only comes out after next year's first mock exam, she could just ask again then.

She put Jianye University, and the sentence was: hope (Hope)

Jiang Nian had originally planned to copy someone's homework, but failed to sneak a peek. He could only fill it out himself, casually jotting down a southern school.

The sentence he wrote was: "On the peaks of Liupan Mountain, the red flag unrolls against the western wind."

Going for a modest vibe, leaving out the second line.

Because it was a real-name dream wall, if people found out he was just a sub-600-score... wouldn't that be awkward, swallowing his pride in silence.

Everyone's slips were handed in. The class rep pulled out a glue stick from under the podium and got to work.

Sticking them on one by one.

Thus, Tao Ran too was subjected to the Third Class's mental pollution.

Since the first round was nearing its end, everyone's target universities were fairly conservative. Basically only a notch above their usual grades, nothing too outrageous.

Even the class monitor modestly wrote Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

On one hand, good grades meant scoring higher could be a flex. On the other, the real-name system meant nobody took filling out target universities very seriously.

As for the one sentence, the joke ones were plentiful.

Lin Dong: "Is a momentary burst of fireworks pure love?"

Sun Zhicheng: "Companionship is the most affectionate confession."

Dong Wensong: "Minna-san.

Tao Ran silently endured the mental pollution, thinking to himself, are these people insane? Such a wild one as him, and he didn't even write a single beast-ear girl.

The real-name system only seems to work for people who care about their reputation; it doesn't limit the abstract competition.

After school let out at noon, the classroom began to switch seats.

The sixth group, where Jiang Nian was, had to move from the back row to the very front row facing the podium.

"Class monitor."

Li Qingrong was tidying her desk, and upon hearing this, she looked up and gave Jiang Nian a deep glance. A moment later she gathered herself, lowered her eyes, and hummed an acknowledgment.

Jiang Nian first set Zhang Ningzhi's desk in place, then turned back to move his own.

After a flurry of busywork, there weren't many people left in the classroom.

He remembered promising Chen Yunyun last night that they'd go climb a mountain together, took a quick glance around, and left the classroom.

Down to the third floor.

Class Four had long been nearly empty; Xu Qianqian had most likely left with Song Xiyun.

They usually spent weekend afternoons together — either going somewhere to shop, or doing homework somewhere.

But one thing was certain: they would absolutely never go climb a mountain.

Because... Qingmu Ridge was nothing more than a little hill of a hundred or two hundred meters; for locals, they'd either been there countless times or couldn't be bothered to go even once.

Still, just to be safe, Jiang Nian sent Xu Qianqian a message.

"Where are you?"

Xu Qianqian: "Eating out with Xiyun, why?"

"Nothing, have you paid yet?" Jiang Nian typed. "If not, send me the boss's payment code, my treat."

In a moment, a green WeChat payment code appeared.

Xu Qianqian: "46, thanks."

Jiang Nian didn't hesitate, and paid it on the spot.

One good deed a day — absolutely not because he felt guilty.

He slung his bag and headed downstairs, figuring his family hadn't made lunch yet. So he simply let his mom know,

and settled lunch on the roadside.

Then, Jiang Nian headed into an internet cafe and began watching online classes while doing problems, waiting for Chen Yunyun to contact him.

Tap tap tap — he casually queued up a game of LOL on the side.

His phone buzzed, and Chen Yunyun's message popped up.

"Setting off at 1:40, where do I find you?"

Jiang Nian glanced at it and replied one-handed.

"Xia Tian Internet Cafe at the school's front gate, the one watching online classes is me."

Chen Yunyun: