Chapter 341

In the exam hall, Jiang Nian finished writing the last character of his essay.

Looking at the 800-character mark, he forcibly added one more sentence. As xxx said, people are trees that reach for the sun.

The tendrils seek the blazing sun; the roots must plunge into the dark earth.

He gave a grand summary and elevation, not knowing what nonsense he'd written—but when he checked, it was far beyond 800 characters.

Damn it!

Essays don't need checking, not even in high school. If you make mistakes, you make them—can you ask for a new test paper to rewrite?

Jiang Nian looked up at the clock; seventeen minutes remained until the exam ended.

This time, he didn't immediately drop his pen and rest. Instead, he flipped the paper and continued checking the classical poetry appreciation and classical Chinese translation sections.

For major exams, attitude must be proper.

But only these two sections could be checked—aside from the classical Chinese block, there was nothing else to review.

When the exam ended, everyone packed up and left immediately.

Some went back to the classroom, some went home, some returned to the dorm, or chose to exit through the west gate for lunch.

Jiang Nian ran into Tao Ran, the heavyweight Minister of Rites. They exchanged greetings and walked down the stairs together.

"Exams are so fucking tiring!" he complained.

Upon hearing this, Tao Ran instead looked serious.

"I actually like exams. In this lifetime, the only thing you're truly loyal to is knowledge—exams reinforce memory of knowledge."

Jiang Nian was instantly speechless.

"Maybe when you fall in love—"

"No, I have no interest in fake cat-eared girls," Tao Ran waved his hand. "Don't bother trying to persuade me—I don't want to hear it."

Bro, you—

Jiang Nian thought: even if he wanted to try persuading him, there was no way—those five words, "fake cat-eared girls," instantly rendered all tactics useless.

After parting with Tao Ran, Jiang Nian grabbed lunch at the cafeteria near the teaching building.

On the way up, the corridor was quiet and empty.

He was used to going alone; walking solo let him think—or let his mind go blank, a kind of rest.

At the classroom door, he suddenly noticed someone sitting behind his seat.

Sunlight streamed through the window, sparsely falling on the weathered walls and brand-new desks, interweaving light and shadow.

Li Qingrong sat upright, head bowed over a test paper. The strands of hair beside her ears glowed golden, her cold face like a bright white moon.

A few others sat in the back row, heads down reviewing—scores around 530–540, extremely focused on the joint exam.

In Gao San, major exams are few enough to count on one hand. Last semester still had joint exams; next spring will be the first and second mock exams.

The students in the back row looked up. They glanced at Jiang Nian, then at the class monitor sitting below the podium.

A flicker of envy crossed their eyes—one near 600 points, one near 700—then they lowered their heads again, returning to their reviews.

Jiang Nian himself felt immense pressure—he felt like a junior disciple just entering the immortal sect.

His friends' strength far surpassed his, yet they were certain he would achieve even greater heights, and the elders also placed high hopes on him.

His escape routes were sealed; moving forward was hard, retreating impossible—all eyes of the sect were fixed on him.

Today, break through one barrier; tomorrow, aim for the next.

By the end, no one would believe it. At first, he only wanted to pass the third-tier university or a bottom-tier 211.

He used to think the Pokémon protagonist Ash was childish—now he understood that "bearing expectations" wasn't just empty words.

With too many people's expectations on his shoulders, it was hard to face defeat without losing face.

Whoosh—Jiang Nian walked to his seat and pulled out his chair.

"Why aren't you going home?"

At this, Li Qingrong lifted her eyes and glanced at him.

Her expression was calm, her facial lines smooth, slender, brimming with visible youth and collagen.

"No one's home. Whether I go back or not, it's the same."

Jiang Nian's expression flickered with surprise—he instantly recalled the woman in the red Mercedes, but didn't dare ask.

"No one at all?"

Li Qingrong fell silent for a moment, then spoke.

"I have an older sister. She sleeps all day. She knows to run outside during an earthquake, and to eat when she's hungry—that's it."

Jiang Nian felt awkward—he thought: Isn't that idiotic?

But she didn't seem like that the other day—truth be told, the class monitor's sister was pretty cool—driving, wearing big sunglasses.

"Well, that's pretty low-maintenance, huh."

Family matters were private; Jiang Nian didn't press further. He couldn't just say, "Hey, class monitor, you've got a sister?"

So he changed the subject.

"Embracing Qingqing, did you eat lunch?"

At this, Li Qingrong hesitated slightly. She hadn't taken the exam in the same building as Jiang Nian, and didn't want to ask—so after the exam, she returned straight to the classroom.

She only knew Jiang Nian usually didn't go home at noon—he was one of the few day students who napped in the classroom, so she waited.

Sure enough, she still waited.

Seeing her expression, Jiang Nian frowned slightly.

"Are you studying so hard you skip meals?"

Li Qingrong said nothing, lowering her gaze to the test paper.

This demeanor instantly silenced the words Jiang Nian had prepared—he lost all strength and tactics.

Forget it, forget it—the Son of Heaven can't be wrong.

Jiang Nian was already shy enough, and now he was stuck with a class monitor who never spoke. Sometimes, his pity and shyness activated together.

Then there's no choice—let's take her out to eat something first.

"Let's go eat something outside," Jiang Nian stood up, looking at the class monitor. "There's an exam this afternoon; we can't go on an empty stomach."

"Going on an empty stomach won't affect the score," Li Qingrong said the first thing after leaving the classroom.

Jiang Nian, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned back.

"You're impressive."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingrong showed no expression when praised—instead, she looked slightly displeased.

The two descended the stairs and headed straight for outside the school.

At this hour, the cafeteria had only scraps left; the chili stir-fried pork had only a few chilies and broth—nothing else.

What? That's that pervert?

High schoolers are like this: babbling in class, then devouring everything the moment school ends. Even the worst cafeteria stall has people gorging.

"Aren't you reviewing math?" Li Qingrong asked.

"You still need to eat first—I'm not very…" Jiang Nian trailed off, realizing a blind spot.

Afternoon: math joint exam.

And my math is terrible.

Of course, "terrible" is only relative to the top students in class. A score of 120 would still make me a top student in a parallel class.

But in front of the class monitor, I look like a Bai Chi.

"So when you said 'review,' you meant you stayed behind just to ask if I'd reviewed?" Jiang Nian felt numb.

Li Qingrong hummed in affirmation, offering no denial.

After all, lies are easy to expose—she didn't need any review at all. Finishing her homework every day was already review.

For someone with weak foundations, daily homework brings no sense of progress.

Problems they can solve become tedious; problems they can't solve remain unsolved. Repeating homework daily turns it into nothing more than a task to appease the teacher.

For high-scoring students, solving problems is like rolling a snowball.

"Why not ask on your phone?" Jiang Nian continued leading her toward the school gate; glances from passersby kept landing on them.

In truth, the gap between Jiang Nian and the class monitor was wide.

Walking side by side was true—but their shoulders remained half a meter apart; they didn't even dare hold hands.

How to put it? He was just too introverted.

Li Qingrong paused, then answered.

"It's hard to explain problems on the phone; it's inconvenient."

With the class monitor saying this much, Jiang Nian would be a Bai Chi if he still didn't understand. She'd stayed behind just to tutor him.

Wuh wuh wuh—the class monitor is too good.

Even if it meant offering up my…

Jiang Nian cut off his own "eat and steal" fantasy, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Li Qingrong with a serious expression.

"What if I go home?"

Li Qingrong stopped walking, said nothing, and turned her gaze elsewhere.

Jiang Nian: "."

Damn, playing dirty.

A small restaurant with decent business, its kitchen clean and bright.

Since there was an exam in the afternoon, Jiang Nian didn't dare take the class monitor to some roadside stall. A normal restaurant would take too much time.

He'd come here many times before; eating normally here posed no problem.

He didn't ask what her usual meal standard was—only her dietary restrictions and preferred flavors.

After a simple meal, the two headed back toward school.

"Why are we going through the Beimen?" Li Qingrong asked, unable to hold back.

"Uh, the Ximen has a lockdown during lunch break," Jiang Nian didn't elaborate. "The Beimen leads to the dorm area—it closes later."

"Mm." Li Qingrong had never used the Beimen; she nodded, confused.

Unbeknownst to her, the Beimen had already been locked at this hour.

Jiang Nian was just waiting to lure the class monitor to the Beimen, trick her into climbing the wall, then wait on the other side to catch the girl as she jumped down.

He hadn't done it last time because their relationship wasn't there yet.

Now he figured it was probably ready.

He was just patient—not that he didn't enjoy being close to a beautiful girl. When the chance arose, he'd grab it.

Beimen.

"Big Brother Lin, can we really climb over?" Sun Zhicheng looked up at the towering wall. "We can't even jump up!"

Just moments ago, the two had eaten at a fast-food stall near the Beimen.

Someone had sneaked out without paying, got caught by the owner, and a fight broke out.

Sun Zhicheng and Lin Dong had stood there watching the drama, laughing their heads off—and forgotten the time, missing the Beimen's lunch lockdown.

Normally, they'd head straight to an internet cafe.

Or find some place to kill time on their phones while waiting for the gate to reopen. But today was different—afternoon math joint exam.

One was the math class representative, the other a mid-to-upper-tier student from the Olympiad class—they both took the math exam extremely seriously.

Poor rest affects exam performance.

In a science class, math and comprehensive science scores often determined a boy's face.

If you did well, you'd always break down the total score and mention each subject separately.

"Cut the crap, how would I know." Lin Dong said irritably. "I heard it from someone else too. Where's that little yellow bike?"

"Bro, you're putting your family on the link this fast?" Sun Zhicheng was dumbfounded.

He looked left and right, wondering where the hidden livestream camera was. Could it be that Brother Dong had a system now, doing wilderness livestream selling?

"Put your *ss up there, I meant the little yellow bike that can flip over the wall." Lin Dong was speechless. "You hurry up and look too, I didn't ask carefully at the time."

After a bout of busywork, the two finally found the shared bicycle that had crashed by the roadside in a corner of the street, and couldn't help cursing up a storm.

"F*ck! Which f*cking idiot has no manners?"

"Right?! F*ck his mother!"

Hearing this, Lin Dong mechanically turned his head and stared fixedly at Sun Zhicheng. His eyes bulged so much they almost popped out, and he silently took a step back.

Seeing this, Sun Zhicheng quickly let out an awkward laugh.

"Bro, I was just kidding."

Only then did Lin Dong sigh, pat his shoulder, and say with deep feeling.

"Make fewer of these kinds of jokes next time. You know your brother is a pure-love straight guy. I can't take this stuff, I'm about to be scared out of my wits."

Sun Zhicheng: ". Pure-love?"

The two spent some effort, and finally stumbled their way over the wall, carefully feeling their way along the wall's base.

Behind the wall was a large courtyard with an iron gate. The school hadn't yet decided what to do with this plot of land, so they simply left it abandoned.

A bike shed had been set up against the wall, where students' and teachers' bicycles and e-bikes were parked haphazardly.

"Bro, there won't be a security guard waiting for us at the iron gate, right?" Sun Zhicheng was a bit timid, and asked in a low voice.

"So what, do you have any other choice?" Lin Dong was clearly bolder than him.

Fortunately, everything went without a hitch. The two made it up the stairs just as the dorm manager was closing the door, ignoring the dorm manager's scolding as they rushed upstairs.

Sun Zhicheng grinned, suddenly feeling that this noon had been quite thrilling.

At this moment, outside the wall.

"Can't get in, what a headache." Jiang Nian glanced at the tightly shut iron gate, and didn't beat around the bush in front of the class monitor.

He pointed at the wall nearby. "There's a bicycle parked over there, maybe we can step on it to climb over the wall."

There was no need to beat around the bush with the class monitor at all — whether to climb over or not was a one-sentence matter.

Of course, there were details in between.

If the class monitor's expression showed hesitation, or revealed a worried look, then when climbing the wall later, Jiang Nian would absolutely behave himself.

For one, there was no need to destroy the class monitor's sense of security; for another, it would mean the trust level wasn't there yet.

However.

Li Qingrong just glanced at the wall and nodded.

"Mm."

She didn't ask anything, which was rather unexpected for Jiang Nian. After a moment of blankness, he also nodded and was the first to get on the wall.

After straddling the top of the wall, he shifted his position. He gestured for Li Qingrong to come up, and the next moment stretched out his hand toward her.

*Slap. *

Their hands pressed tightly together, and after gripping firmly, he pulled her up in one go.

Li Qingrong's palm seemed to have broken out in a little sweat, slightly warm and damp. She didn't look at Jiang Nian either, her gaze cast elsewhere.

"I'll go down first, you just jump down in a bit." Jiang Nian flipped himself over the wall, bent his knees, then walked forward a few steps to dissipate the force.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, turned around, and opened his arms as he said.

"You can just jump into me."

The moment he turned his head, he heard a *thud*. When he looked again, Li Qingrong had already landed steadily, her movements very graceful.

Seeing him with his arms open, she couldn't help tilting her head with a puzzled look.

The corner of Jiang Nian's mouth twitched, and he thought he'd forgotten the class monitor was naturally airheaded. This kind of trick works on the timid, but not on the airheaded.

Forget it, next time.

Boys' dormitory, Building 5.

Sun Zhicheng prepared to follow Lin Dong to his dorm to rest. Someone in their dorm had transferred to a day student, freeing up a bed.

He stood by the windowsill on the 5th floor, looking down at every blade of grass and tree below.

The windowsill faced the wall they had just climbed over, as well as that blue bike shed, and he couldn't help feeling a surge of heroic spirit in his chest.

"This is youth."

As he was sighing with emotion, a suppressed laugh came from behind him.

"No way, you f*cking idiot just climbed a wall and that's youth?" Yang Qiming looked at Sun Zhicheng with a face full of mockery, a cold smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

The shame of Jingkang has yet to be avenged; when will the ministers' hatred be extinguished!

The two of them being at odds wasn't a recent thing — there had long been friction. When they crossed paths now, the atmosphere instantly became tense and hostile.

"Heh, what's the rush?" Sun Zhicheng wasn't a warrior, and was well aware that his advantage lay in his brain, not his muscles.

He let out a cold laugh and mocked.

"Could it be that your ex-girlfriend climbed the wall with her new flame, and you caught her red-handed? What can you do? Of course, forgive her."

Hearing this, Yang Qiming instantly exploded.

"You f*cking looking to die, huh?!"

The two instantly grappled with each other, and the commotion quickly drew Lin Dong and a few boys from the class. They didn't even throw on their jackets as they hurried to break up the fight.

However, neither of the two could hear a word.

Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng wrestled to the window, their heads simultaneously pressed by each other's hands toward the side facing the wall.

Then, the next second.

They both saw, on the grassy open ground below the courtyard wall.

The monitor gently hugged Jiang Nian.