Chapter 337: Li Qingrong: Where Did You Go? There's a Scent of Alcohol

At the school gate.

Jiang Nian tossed the keys to Zhou Yuting, who had hurried over, and entered the school first; the latter chose to head straight home.

The Gao San building was brightly lit; he made his way upstairs to the classroom with familiar ease.

It was the third evening self-study session.

Zhang Ningzhi glanced up at Jiang Nian as he came in through the classroom door, frowning slightly, and thought to herself, "Little liar."

He had only said he needed the morning off, yet he hadn't told her about taking off evening self-study.

If it were anyone else, she'd assume they were simply too lazy to tell her. But if it was Jiang Nian, he was definitely a tomcat on the prowl!

Jiang Nian was a bit bewildered—barely back and already getting glared at by Zhang Ningzhi.

Damn, he hadn't even played Genshin Impact?

Baby Zhizhi wouldn't let him pass, so he had to go around the other side of the podium. Reaching Li Hua's seat, he said, "Brother, I need to get through."

"Let me through for a sec." Jiang Nian was about to stick his leg out.

"Hold on!" Li Hua waved his hand, blocking him. "According to Class Three's Anti-Nantong Law, you're crossing the line here."

One could only say that the brains of people who tease others are equally abstract.

Jiang Nian retreated sheepishly, pulling his leg back.

"Damn, you even caught that."

So Jiang Nian went around through Zhang Ningzhi's side again. As expected, Baby Zhizhi softened and let him through, making way for him once.

"Don't come through my side next time!" she said, displeased.

"Okay, okay!" Jiang Nian nodded.

When a woman speaks, listen to the opposite. When a man speaks, listen with the little head. If no keywords are detected, everything can be ignored.

Generally speaking, it's the same for Gao Zhongsheng.

When you fall out with a girl and she suddenly becomes polite—it's over, she's definitely angry, and you should coax her.

With guys, it's usually the opposite.

Polite = passive-aggressive. A good beating will fix it. If they're keeping a cold face, don't go provoking them—chip in and treat them to a big health session.

He settled into his seat and took out a set of test papers.

Actually, cramming at the last minute wasn't much use anymore. With only one day left before the joint exam, state of mind mattered more.

Commonly known as "form."

He had also thought about whether to get back at Liu Feipeng—get back hard—but then reconsidered. Tit for tat; exam mentality was what mattered.

If he didn't return the favor, this episode would leave a gap in his mindset. But with Sheng Zeyang around, going too far with revenge wouldn't help round out his state of mind either.

More importantly, Zhou Yuting had told him yesterday that Liu Feipeng had cheated too. And not just cheated—he had organized cheating and sold the answers.

How to put it—he hoped everything went well for him tomorrow.

Jiang Nian stared at the ink on the test paper, slightly lost in thought, silently reviewing the gains of the past month.

Since the last watered-down joint exam of the eighteen counties, the system had activated almost every few days.

Over the past month, he'd earned quite a bit of money; his savings had now hit the three-hundred-thousand mark, not counting items he'd purchased.

From ex-girlfriend Zhizhi to ex-girlfriend Song Xiyun, he had also triggered a number of video fragments and gathered quite a bit of information.

He had met Zhizhi's father once at the parent-teacher conference; the man looked like the type who'd hand you a bank card—

Then wave you off impatiently, telling you to get as far away as possible.

Heh, perfect—take the money and elope.

Combined with the information the system had revealed, it could basically be confirmed: Zhizhi's family didn't care for a poor boy, or anyone without prospects.

The marriage theme was tentatively set as: family background.

Song Xiyun's timeline was earlier—before college graduation. Earlier than meeting Zhizhi, making her the... what number ex-girlfriend?

As for why he didn't label her first, mainly because he wasn't sure himself.

Still, this indirectly confirmed one fact: if he didn't study hard, in the future he'd have nothing to rely on but his looks.

He tentatively set Song Xiyun's marriage theme as: poverty.

As for Xu Qianqian, the system had given quite a few tasks. The rewards weren't few, and there were memories too, but in the end it just couldn't be resolved.

He thought for a moment, then tentatively set the marriage theme as: career.

Setting aside the ex-wife, every marriage had fallen through. Whether poverty, family background, or career—he had none of them.

One coincidence after another, or one wrong choice after another. Until in the end things had piled up beyond repair, regrets everywhere.

If you added the ex-wife, then the theme would be: midlife crisis.

Others use history as a mirror; he uses the future as a mirror.

So these three themes were also the three directions he'd work toward in the future. The solution was simple too—get into college and do the tasks.

Talking about career now was a bit far-fetched; even getting into college didn't mean having a career right away, and starting a business was a pitfall too.

In short, as long as things trended in a good direction, that was progress.

Besides that, the system had refreshed a new skill.

【Verification】.

All things considered, he already had four skill slots. 【Healing】, 【Fishing】, 【Precision】, 【Verification】.

The more he looked, the more it looked like a body built for the civil service exam.

Smooth-talking, rich, healthy, superpowers on his side. If not a meteoric official career, at least a steady rise through the ranks.

Who knows, one day the County Committee Office might have one more of him.

In terms of uniting classmates, he had also made some progress this month. With most of the class, he had at least some rapport.

In terms of respecting teachers, he had also gained some insight.

He had a good relationship with all three subject teachers; the others he wasn't too familiar with.

Now, everything was ready except for six hundred and ten points.

As long as he achieved a score in the joint exam the day after tomorrow, it wouldn't matter even if December's exam went poorly or his finals fluctuated a bit.

In the teachers' eyes, Jiang Nian = capable, just not focused.

Besides, he was already Yu Zhiyi's final disciple. He also urgently needed an answer sheet to break through the six-hundred Foundation Establishment threshold.

It could be said that everyone connected to Jiang Nian needed a thorough, satisfying victory as their November answer sheet.

Jiang Nian was spacing out when someone patted his shoulder.

"Hm?"

He turned his head and found that the person patting him was the class monitor.

Li Qingrong was wearing a khaki jacket today, with a black turtleneck sweater underneath, her chest swelling high.

Under the bright classroom lights, her flawless cool features, set off by the black sweater, made her skin look even fairer.

Her eyes were gentle as she glanced at Jiang Nian. Her voice carried no emotional fluctuation. She got straight to the point and asked directly.

"Where did you go? There's alcohol on you."

The class monitor is so strong.

Zhang Ningzhi couldn't help but turn her head, thinking to herself that if she were the one asking Jiang Nian, she'd definitely be too embarrassed to ask directly—after all, she wasn't a class officer.

Even as his desk-mate, out of concern she could only ask limited questions.

When the time came, he'd definitely drag it out, then change the subject. Brush it off, brush it off, and then let it drop.

The class monitor was different—so direct.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, then decided to give a half-true, half-false answer.

"Went out to play."

With who?

Zhang Ningzhi pricked up her ears and muttered softly in her heart.

However, that question never came—the class monitor didn't ask that much at all.

"KTV, a classmate had a baby." Jiang Nian took the initiative to explain, "So they invited a few of us to get together."

Zhang Ningzhi felt her brain was about to overheat—why would you go to KTV to celebrate having a baby?

Li Qingrong just hummed in response and didn't ask anything else.

The last evening self-study period.

Jiang Nian remembered he needed to return the physics booklet to Yu Zhiyi. So he used one evening self-study period to go through it carefully one more time.

Do practice problems?

Doing practice problems now was just to keep his feel for it; for him it didn't mean much.

Not just him—other students in the class also chose to start reviewing. After all, it was the six-city joint exam, where you could see the city-wide ranking.

A true prodigy—who doesn't carry some pride?

Moreover, this time the opponents included not only current-year students but also repeat students. Old Liu specifically mentioned that repeat students would also be included in the rankings.

Old Liu's meaning was that the ranking would be more comprehensive—after all, those people would also be taking the college entrance exam.

But in the eyes of Class Three, the meaning they understood was: the failed-ascension old monsters of the Olympiad were about to return to the Zhennan Continent!

The Immortals were descending once more.

Not only had former Olympiad old monsters joined the repeaters, there was also another type of person in Building D—college entrance exam retakers.

Some had gotten into a 985 university but felt the major wasn't good. Changing majors was too troublesome, the school wasn't great either, so they came back to repeat.

These belonged to the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons.

Jiang Nian had heard that one from Fudan University, one from Northwest A&F University, and one from Zhejiang University's Chemistry Department had come back to repeat.

This was only what he'd heard; those he hadn't heard about, he didn't know.

Ten minutes before the end of school, the classroom gradually grew noisy. Li Hua reached out and patted Jiang Nian, his face solemn as he said.

"The day after tomorrow—go home, close your eyes, open them, and it's Friday. Rounding up, the joint exam is tomorrow."

"Oh." Jiang Nian glanced at him. "And then?"

"What am I going to do about English?" Li Hua shook his head and sighed. "One point of English trips up a hero."

The corner of Jiang Nian's mouth twitched. "The Uchiha clan was wiped out, and you freaking awakened the Sharingan?"

"Holy crap—" Li Hua was a bit shaken, covering his eyes and shouting, "Is it possible my eyes will awaken the Byakugan when I wake up?"

Jiang Nian said, "If you really awaken the Byakugan, remember to take a look at mine."

"Damn, you're freaking sick!" Li Hua couldn't take it, then asked, "Can full-English conversation help me memorize words quickly?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian was silent for a few seconds.

"How about we try it now?"

"Sure." Li Xinran agreed readily.

A few minutes later.

Jiang Nian and Li Hua's English level remained exactly the same, but their sign language skills had improved by leaps and bounds—they could already communicate without barriers.

"Eat shit, isn't this a complete waste of effort?" Li Hua deflated.

Zhang Ningzhi couldn't watch anymore and suggested.

"Group leader, you can write English flashcards normally. Take them out to review when you're free—it'll help."

"No use, but I do have an idea that suits Li Hua pretty well." The corner of Jiang Nian's mouth curved up slightly. "Send English vocabulary chats to xxx—it's ten thousand times more effective."

Li Hua was dumbfounded, then immediately realized who the xxx in Jiang Nian's mouth referred to.

"Eat shit, eat shit!"

"Hua, you've memorized the school rules pretty well." Jiang Nian grinned, "Then let me ask you, then let me ask you, and the group members—"

"Red stone!" Li Hua let out a sharp, piercing shriek.

After evening self-study let out.

Jiang Nian returned the physics workbook to Yu Zhiyi. She was wearing a white base layer today, her supple chest full and swelling.

Her youthful body radiated a vivid charm, delicate but not seductive.

Her figure looked like a female college student from a Korean manhwa, though her clothes weren't that bold—just a Chinese-style high school uniform with a Korean-manhwa body.

He didn't look much longer either, gave a wave, and planned to leave.

"Bye-bye."

"Wait." Yu Zhiyi called him back, asked seriously, "I sent you a message on QQ, why didn't you reply?"

Hearing that, Jiang Nian pulled out his phone and took a look.

"Oh, borrowing biology materials. What good student checks their phone all day? Wait here, I'll go get it for you now."

Yu Zhiyi watched Jiang Nian leave, muttering under her breath.

"What good student keeps looking around all day, eyes not honest at all. Face made of city wall, and still calling yourself a good student!"

After a while, Jiang Nian returned, handing her a stack of biology test papers, which did not include Li Jingyi's custom paper.

Most of it was still notes, along with various insights.

The two of them were helping each other out. Yu Zhiyi was also weak in biology, so she and Jiang Nian could be considered fellow disciples of a sort.

Exchanging resources counted as mutual aid among fellow disciples.

"What were you muttering about just now? You weren't cursing me, were you?"

"How could I be?" Yu Zhiyi laughed a bit guiltily, changing the subject, "You're hungry, right? Hurry home and go to sleep."

"Hey, you f***ing—!" Jiang Nian pointed at her.

Warning: insulting Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian walked home, returning beneath the stars and moon.

Under the streetlamp, the two shadows stretched out endlessly.

"Jiang Nian, I'm hungry." Xu Qianqian carried her backpack, hands tucked in her pockets, "I want to eat rice cakes, can I?"

Hearing that, his eyelid twitched.

"Eat, eat, eat—always eating, won't you get fat and die!"

Rice cakes aren't sold on the street; fried-noodle stalls at most sell some New Year rice cakes. Rice cakes are only available at the Beimen, and—

At home.

Rice cakes and New Year rice cakes are about the same, but taste different when eaten. But this stuff doesn't keep well—even in the fridge it goes moldy.

There are only two best ways to preserve them: one is sealed vacuum storage, the other is soaking in a big jar of plant-ash water.

Xu Qianqian's house had vacuum-sealed rice cakes, and the Jiang family fridge had side dishes.

Seeing they were almost at the alley entrance, taking a detour to the Beimen to buy mixed rice cakes was clearly unrealistic—they could only make them themselves.

Besides, Xu Qianqian was very picky; she only ate boiled rice cakes.

"I'm not fat, besides." Xu Qianqian argued her case, "I just suddenly want to eat some, is that not allowed?"

"Get lost, get lost, eat it in your dreams." Jiang Nian didn't want to move, brushed her off, "Am I your chef? Do nothing, just light the stove?"

A cold wind swept down the street, the night deep and heavy.

Xu Qianqian wanted hot boiled rice cakes even more. Just thinking of that taste, her mouth unconsciously watered.

These past few days, preparing for the big joint exam.

She had nearly drained herself dry, studying furiously nonstop. Only at the crucial day-before-the-exam juncture did she finally stop.

Xu Qianqian felt she was only one bowl of rice-cake soup away from total victory.

"Make it, make it, make it~"

Jiang Nian glanced at her, utterly impressed. This girl really went all out just to get a good bite to eat—but his own will was firm.

"Don't even think about it. Not even a dog would make it."

Xu Qianqian was also impressed. The two had already ducked into the alley. Seeing they were getting closer and closer to home, she couldn't help stamping her foot.

"Good brother, won't you make it for me~?"

Under the streetlamp.

Jiang Nian's footsteps stopped, his whole body frozen in place.

He turned his head and saw Xu Qianqian under the streetlamp, her eyes seemingly rippling with watery color, and his bottom line instantly dropped.

"Actually… dogs are humanity's good friends."

Xu Qianqian blinked, gazing at Jiang Nian with dewy eyes.

"Mm-hmm."

Xu household, kitchen.

Jiang Nian tossed the chopped garlic shoots into the pot, steam rising thick.

His phone went *ding*.

Friendly book recommendation: I promised someone a chapter recommendation yesterday, but in my daze I forgot—posting it once more.

"Just Had a Scandal, What's Up with This Diva's Comeback System"

"They even got the gender wrong—this system has to be a bit sick in the head!"

Jiang Nan, who had just transmigrated into the body of a scandal-plagued top star, awakened the system and fell into deep thought.

I do need to make a comeback, that's true.

But for a tough, real man like me, what's up with this "Diva's Comeback System"?