Chapter 343: Grab Hold, in an Instant

Jiang Nian didn't remember what Lv Xuan's family did for a living, but at a glance she'd been pampered and well-bred since childhood.

Didn't expect you to be this gossipy?

Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover; a dog that's nimble in the mountains can't be measured.

Seeing the other side back down, his attitude also became extremely respectful, and his tone softened a little.

"Ask away."

"Thanks, bro." Lv Xuan gave an awkward laugh, taking the seat across from him as if it were the most natural thing, "Did you, like, do *that* back in middle school?"

"Hey!" Jiang Nian sharply sensed the trap, waving his hand to stop her, "Don't sling mud at me—a clean conscience fears no crooked shadow."

Lv Xuan looked completely baffled. "I haven't even said what it is yet?"

"You're trying to say *that*, right?" Jiang Nian pointed at her, warning, "Don't think just because we're classmates you can say whatever you want."

"Which one?" Lv Xuan asked.

"Do—" Jiang Nian started, then stopped himself.

"No no no!" Lv Xuan stood right up, her face nearly red, "That's not what I meant, you misunderstood."

"Easy, easy, sit down and talk." Jiang Nian soothed her, "This Japanese friend of ours—how many years have you been in China, getting used to it?"

A certain someone's one line completely flushed Lv Xuan's face red. Half from embarrassment, half from anger.

At the same time she realized the person in front of her had been talking around the subject the whole time. She couldn't keep circling, otherwise she'd never get anything out of him.

"What I actually wanted to ask is, did you do freestyle boxing in the first semester of your third year of middle school?" Lv Xuan asked quite tactfully.

Hearing this, Jiang Nian froze.

"In 1974, I was indeed at—"

"Bro, stop running jokes." Lv Xuan was speechless, "Stop hiding it too, I don't have any other motive, I just want to ask."

She paused for a moment, then spoke.

"I just want to know, was it because of a girl back then—and then, why didn't you two end up together?"

"Hm?" Jiang Nian's face was full of confusion. He asked back, "Are you filming a movie here? I can't understand what you're saying."

"Then why did you do freestyle boxing?" Lv Xuan asked.

"Because there was a conflict."

Jiang Nian finished his meal and left, leaving Lv Xuan still not having come back to her senses.

In the span of one meal, she'd asked a lot. But the more she asked, the more she found things seemed to differ slightly from what she'd imagined.

In the guy downstairs's account, Lv Xuan saw a boy's history of grudges and boxing. Nothing but small conflicts, piling up until they finally exploded.

Not a man flaring up in wrath for a beauty.

Rather, it started as small-time boxing, slowly escalating into big-time boxing. Throwing the other guy's shoes into the toilet was just the last little scuffle before midnight.

In the end Jiang Nian pulled something ruthless.

As evening self-study approached, the teaching building blazed with lights.

Lv Xuan walked out of the cafeteria in a daze. She discovered that in Jiang Nian's telling, everything was there—except the female lead.

Is this beaver?

Or is it that boys at that age really did fight purely for face—

Put another way—if he deliberately left out the event's female lead out of a protective motive, then things would make sense too.

The problem was, she'd seen Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong together with her own eyes.

Not like—or rather, not like—perhaps Jiang Nian didn't even know the event's female lead's name, never bothered to ask.

These clues and guesses assembled almost instantly in Lv Xuan's mind, hanging up bit by bit like a spider's web.

All of this was the gossip-deduction skill she'd honed over years of lurking on dating shows and every kind of youth variety show.

Her most glorious record: relying solely on traces online, she'd dug up a celebrity's half-ripe dating melon.

From that battle, she ascended to legend.

Of course, she didn't go it alone either. She also knew a buddy who liked switching to absurd IDs online, and they traded intel.

Actually, for this kind of thing—just asking the person involved would do.

If it were three years ago, Lv Xuan might have gone straight to Li Qingrong. After all, they were both girls—easier to talk.

But—times have changed.

Even though Lv Xuan's family had some small background, she didn't dare go up to Li Qingrong. Picking at someone's scar to their face—wouldn't that just make an enemy?

Before evening self-study.

In the corridor outside Class Three, a group of boys stood around chatting in the night breeze.

"Nian, where'd you go at noon?" Li Hua said in a barbed tone, "I had someone send you a message, why didn't you reply?"

"But then again, I actually didn't really care whether you replied or not. Also—one more thing—you really are putting on an act."

"Who did you ask?" Jiang Nian shot him a glance.

"Yu—" Li Hua suddenly started hemming and hawing.

"You're really a beast, Hua." Jiang Nian pointed back at him, "But to be honest with you, I didn't have the mind to reply to messages back then."

"Why?"

"Busy going on dates with the class monitor—where'd I find the time?"

Hearing this, Li Hua couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, you're dreaming all right. Since you look pretty sick, I'll be magnanimous and forgive you."

The one or two boys around Yang Qiming heard this, and their expressions instantly turned a bit odd. They exchanged glances—and in that instant, their eyes changed.

As if to say:

"Holy crap, I knew it!"

"Damn this dog! Someone come kill him!"

"No way, right? No way, this is completely impossible. Don't, I'm seriously not going to be able to sleep tonight."

A glance passed between them, wordless and silent.

Even though Yang Qiming was busy flirting with the girls from the liberal arts competition class, he really couldn't stand it if he actually saw Jiang Nian driving a Porsche.

After a while, suddenly a girl's voice rang out.

"Jiang Nian, why aren't you replying to my messages?"

The boys turned around and saw it was Yu Zhiyi. Their enthusiasm flared up instantly, and they all began greeting Yu Zhiyi one after another.

Boys are actually pretty pragmatic too.

No one pursued the class president, and no one pursued Baby Zhizhi either. One was because she was unattainably out of reach, the other was because she'd already been snatched up by Jiang Nian when they were assigned to the advanced class.

Just like in xianxia novels, once a spiritual medicine appears, there are usually guardian demon beasts nearby.

But Yu Zhiyi and her group were different—approachable and fun. With so many people showing them goodwill, of course they had to be a little warmer in return.

Putting on a cold and aloof act—no one's even watching!

Jiang Nian's seat was toward the back, and he watched Yu Zhiyi suddenly appear. He couldn't help feeling a bit speechless inside, knowing exactly what she meant.

Look at you getting antsy again, Yu Zhiyi.

As for not replying to messages, that wasn't the point. She was urging him to go find the biology teacher and get the class representative position locked down.

"Jiang Nian, why aren't you replying to my messages?"

Faced with Yu Zhiyi's question, Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to answer. He tossed out "Whether I reply or not, I don't give a damn," and walked straight into the classroom.

The few people present immediately snapped to attention, frozen on the spot.

How can a person be this bold?

The few of them looked at Yu Zhiyi with worry in their hearts, secretly hoping she wouldn't get angry or suddenly fly off the handle or something.

However.

Yu Zhiyi just smiled, seemingly not minding at all.

Inside the classroom.

Jiang Nian had just returned to his seat when he saw Zhang Ningzhi slumped over her desk reviewing. She looked sulky and out of sorts, so he asked casually.

"What's wrong with you?"

Zhang Ningzhi turned her head, let out a sigh, and a faint glimmer of tears swirled in her eyes.

"I don't want to study anymore."

"What, want to be a rapper?" Jiang Nian heard this, secretly figuring she'd bombed the exam. "A bit late for that—if you don't bring it for the zhongkao, you're done for."

"What?"

"Nothing, did you bomb the math test?" Jiang Nian asked tentatively.

"Mm, I couldn't solve any of it at all." Zhang Ningzhi lay on the desk sniffling, glumly saying, "This time, I'm going to have the same score as you."

The smile on Jiang Nian's face came to an abrupt halt.

Your mother!

Are those even words a human would say!

He immediately got a bit heated, and directly shoved his hand into her jacket pocket.

He grabbed hold, kneading the soft little hand inside the pocket back and forth.

Only after kneading it until it was sweaty did he finally take his hand out.