Chapter 353

After Li Qingrong finished throwing, everyone was stunned.

Except for the first arrow that went off-target, all the rest hit the target—no technique, pure instinct.

Chai Muying instantly felt hopeless; she had originally planned to compete and win a prize.

"Is the monitor just that accurate?"

Yao Bei Bei was just here to have fun; after the entrance exam, anything was more interesting than staying in class for evening self-study.

She clapped her hands. "That's fine—maybe our class actually has a chance at winning."

The other girls felt much the same; the monitor's uncanny accuracy in the pot-tossing robbed them of all their joy.

The boys' reaction was the exact opposite. Those who had already thrown were now slapping their thighs in regret.

"Fuck, I should've taken it seriously!"

The boys yet to throw were now fired up, dropping their joking around. Each one rolled up their sleeves, ready to go all-in.

Xie Zhihao glanced at Li Qingrong several times, suddenly realizing their monitor's beauty had reached a breathtaking level.

Huh? She's the monitor?

Isn't the monitor that girl named Cai Xiang? She's always the one running over to handle class matters, then dashing off again.

Could this girl be some kind of deputy class officer?

Liu Yang glanced at the remaining boys yet to throw, like Tom from Tom and Jerry, arms crossed against the wall.

He shook his head, clicking his tongue in pity.

Kids, hell lies ahead.

Xie Zhihao and Jiang Nian weren't in the same line; he now stared intently ahead—the best score among the boys so far was six hits out of ten.

As long as you hit six times

Jiang Nian stood in another line; it was his turn next. He turned to look at Luo Yong, hesitating.

"Why don't you go first?"

"No no no, you go first," Luo Yong reflexively refused—he always preferred to go last at everything.

Jiang Nian said, "After I throw, you might not want to throw at all."

"No way, you go first!" Luo Yong even stepped back a pace, as if lining up for an injection.

He was a typical 50-point guy—not obsessed with his phone like Ceng You, nor as silent as Luo Zhongping.

Half outgoing, half insecure.

His only hope for the college entrance exam was to get into Nanjing University, or failing that, just secure admission to East China Jiaotong University—once he graduated, he'd!

Four years of college with no one caring, backpack on back, heading straight to Shenzhen.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then reached out and forcibly pushed him forward. Luo Yong couldn't resist—he was forced to begin his pot-tossing.

Next to him, Xie Zhihao bent over and threw six out of ten.

From drenched in sweat to a stunned emoji face: "Ah, today was the happiest!"

Luo Yong looked nervous, but his first throw landed four out of eight—immediately making Xie Zhihao, who'd already started celebrating, tense up.

But on his ninth throw, Luo Yong missed. Clang! The arrow flew wide of the pot.

"Yes!" Xie Zhihao panted, wiping sweat from his brow. "Honestly, a bit of a shame."

Luo Yong smiled but said nothing, his palm slick with sweat.

Jiang Nian picked up an arrow and suddenly felt someone watching him—he turned and saw Li Qingrong, who quickly looked away.

He didn't hesitate; he barely even looked at the pot's opening.

He swiftly launched all ten arrows in rapid succession—one still in midair when the second was already released.

Dong dong dong, like pearls large and small pattering onto a jade plate.

All ten arrows landed cleanly inside the pot, their sounds crisp and melodious.

Everyone fell silent. Old Liu, who'd been on the phone at the door, froze mid-sentence, speechless.

Liu Yang covered his face, unable to bear to look.

If it weren't for his position as PE monitor, he'd never have shown up with Jiang Nian around.

Xie Zhihao was dumbfounded—he'd strained himself to get six hits. Then he turned and saw Jiang Nian effortlessly land ten in a row.

He couldn't accept it; he couldn't believe his eyes.

The girls' reaction was even wilder—Yao Bei Bei marched right over, intending to roll up his sleeve to check for cheating.

"What are you doing?"

"Did you use tech?" Yao Bei Bei found no mechanism on his sleeve. "Where'd you hide it? All you damn pigeons."

"Pants," Jiang Nian said, face calm, heart steady.

Yao Bei Bei stroked her chin. "Wait, I'll go find a round-faced, bearded guy."

Li Qingrong stood nearby, listening to the two girls excitedly chatter. She quietly turned her gaze away.

Old Liu hung up his call and sent all the failed candidates back. He kept Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong behind for a talk.

The large activity room now held only three people.

"Ahem." Old Liu cleared his throat, glancing between Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong, then his eyes flickered with pain.

Was I an idiot?

Why the hell did they end up together again?!

But there's an old Chinese saying: since you're here already, let's just encourage them to win the prize.

"This pot-tossing contest was decided by a director running a teaching reform experiment—he secured a huge budget."

"So this ancient-style pot-tossing game carries high prestige—it offers direct cash prizes. Try your best."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian spoke up.

"Teacher, do all classes have to participate?"

"Mm, all classes in Gao San." Old Liu said, then added, "Arts and sciences alike, the prize money is high."

Li Qingrong's expression was flat. Whether it was honor or prize money, she was unmoved, simply standing quietly to the side and listening.

Jiang Nian asked again, "How much, maknae?"

Watching someone count money with thumb and forefinger, Old Liu nearly lost his composure. He kept a straight, unhappy face and questioned him.

"No sense of propriety! How come you don't care about honor?"

Jiang Nian scratched his head. "Alright then, how much is the honor, maknae?"

The money-counting gesture continued.

"Honor is priceless, you don't understand that yet." Old Liu thought for a moment. "As for the prize money, seems like the champion gets fifteen hundred."

"Honor really is pretty important." Jiang Nian said solemnly. "Teacher, I'm willing to contribute my share for the class."

Old Liu was dumbfounded. This... is this right?

"Fine, it's enough that you have the heart." Old Liu was about to end the conversation, but was cut off by Jiang Nian again.

"Teacher, if we win the championship, do you get any reward?"

Old Liu: "..."

"Teacher, honor." Jiang Nian hinted from the side. "I'll take the prize one hundred percent, you can rest easy."

Hearing this, Old Liu's tone loosened a bit.

"The rewards for the leading teacher are relatively ordinary, see what you like. There's a thermos, a month of meal card, stuff like that."

The campus was quiet and dim, as if veiled in a thin layer of sand.

Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong walked out of Building D side by side, glancing at the Gao San building where the second evening self-study period had already begun.

"Old Liu talked that long?"

Hearing this, Li Qingrong glanced at him, stopped walking, and asked.

"Are you really short on money?"

"Not really short, just joining in for fun." Jiang Nian turned to look at Li Qingrong. "Whoever takes the prize money, it's the same."

Li Qingrong nodded, hummed, then asked.

"After I take it, do you want some?"

Jiang Nian was instantly full of doubt. The class monitor wouldn't have ideas about him, would she—wanting to buy off his youth for a thousand bucks.

Too greedy, Embracing Qingqing.

Youth is so precious, that kind of thing would cost extra.

"N-no, that's not necessary, I was joking." Jiang Nian explained. "I'm not that short either, it's about enough."

"Mm."

After returning to the classroom, the two went back to their seats.

Once seated, Jiang Nian threw himself into rushing homework, correcting test papers for submission, and was busy straight through to the last evening self-study period.

Seeing him put down his pen, Zhang Ningzhi asked.

"I heard from Beibei that you're going to represent the class in the competition?"

"What about it?" Jiang Nian looked at her.

"Nothing, just congratulations." Zhang Ningzhi pressed her lips into a smile, her eyes curving into crescents. "Do your best, ha."

Baby Zhizhi was never stingy with giving praise, and possessed the ability to bestow any matter with passionate emotional value.

"Then I'll take your lucky words. I'll treat you to scratch-offs someday." Jiang Nian snapped his fingers. "Test out your luck stat."

【Winning the Lottery】 — this ability hasn't been acquired yet.

First, he needs to break through the illness on Song Xiyun's body, find a proper military doctor, and supplement it with verification to decrypt.

But that didn't stop him from painting big pies and teasing the little Miss.

Actually buying scratch-offs, that absolutely won't happen. Those things have a low win rate, and some bosses even calculate the payouts.

In other words, how much you can win is entirely determined by objective rules.

No matter how heaven-defying the 【Winning the Lottery】 skill is, it's impossible to scratch out any grand prize from a stack of scratch-offs worth at most a hundred bucks each.

Whereas with the lottery, a casual scoop brings boundless joy. As long as you don't stubbornly chase the grand prize, it's way more satisfying than scratch-offs.

Not only is the prize money higher, it's also much safer.

As for why not go bigger?

Purely because Jiang Nian was too lazy to move. Too much movement would mean switching locations to buy lottery tickets, and 【Winning the Lottery】 refreshes once every five days.

If you're not a professional lottery player, scooping up small fish is more comfortable.

"Really?" Zhang Ningzhi's eyes lit up at once. "Hmph, my luck has always been great."

Isn't this basically a solo date?

Scratch-offs!!

Actually, the lottery!!

Li Hua had been listening to them muttering there for a while and couldn't take it anymore. He patted Jiang Nian, face full of heartache.

"Bro, scratch-offs always lose money!"

Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow. "Master Li, how so?"

"Back when I was bored with school, I tried a bit." Li Hua sighed. "I figured if I won the big prize, I wouldn't have to go to school."

"So did you win?" Jiang Nian asked with an earnest face, extending his hand. "I'm a student, share some with me."

Li Hua: "... Bro, are you serious?"

School was about to let out.

Tao Ran suddenly walked in from outside the classroom door, holding a stack of answer sheets in his arms, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

He was seen hurriedly carrying the answer sheets toward the podium, and with a bang, set them down on the podium.

He raised his head and surveyed the classroom.

"The Chinese exam scores are out, all copied onto the answer sheets. A few of you, come help distribute them."

Almost instantly, the previously restless class immediately erupted in noise.

To borrow a line from Song Dandan, "The scene was gongs and drums thundering, firecrackers going off together, red flags waving, a sea of people."

Quite a spectacular sight.

At this moment, everyone suddenly grew tense. No longer in a hurry to leave school, they sat waiting for a few people to hand out the Chinese answer sheets.

Among them, one of the most anxious in the class was Li Hua.

"Red stone, red stone, I'm begging you." He buried his head in the Chinese textbook, attempting to absorb some luck by cramming at the last minute.

Besides him, Zhang Ningzhi was equally nervous.

Her five-subject total was the same as Jiang Nian's, 514. Her overall score and grade ranking both hinged on this one Chinese subject.

Between life and death lies great terror.

Even the fairy Baby Zhizhi couldn't help but grip her pants at this moment. Her hand gradually tightened, unconsciously pressing her lower lip hard.

"Hiss!" Jiang Nian sucked in a cold breath, turned to look at Zhang Ningzhi, and said, "No, why are you grabbing my leg?"

"Oh oh, sorry about that." Baby Zhizhi's cheeks flushed slightly as she apologized in a small voice, "I was wondering why it didn't hurt, I thought—"

The answer sheets were handed out just like that, three sheets with a rustle.

Li Hua, 508, when he got his Chinese answer sheet. He suddenly covered the score with his hand, then, like a gambler, revealed it bit by bit.

"1, 1, it has to start with 1!"

His hand moved away—sure enough, it started with 1.

Li Hua immediately smiled and began making Wang Ba wishes.

"2, 2, 2!"

Then, after his hand moved away, the second digit was 0. It nearly made Li Hua pass out on the spot, scared out of his wits.

508 plus a hundred-odd, no matter how you add it, it's still only a little over six hundred and ten.

He gave up and moved his hand away.

100 points.

When a person is speechless, they really do laugh.

Every expression vanished from Li Hua's face, replaced by wild laughter. After laughing for a while, he stole a glance at Jiang Nian's score.

102.

Jiang Nian turned his head, glanced at Li Hua's 100 in Chinese. He couldn't hold back his laughter and immediately clapped his hands and sang for him.

"One hundred points, tip-top!"

"You f—ing—!" Li Hua flew into a rage. He lost by 2 points in Chinese, lost the total score too, lost to Jiang Nian by a full 8 points.

Although his total still exceeded six hundred, preserving the legend of the "Li Hua Line" always staying above six hundred, but!!!

Jiang Nian's 616 had already soared past the "Li Hua Line," and by a full 8-point margin!

He nearly fainted from anger, pressed his own philtrum. He looked up at the blackboard and felt that early December was pitch black.

Zhang Ningzhi had a massive breakout in Chinese, scoring 126.

Her total broke through 640.

The fairy Baby Zhizhi started with a slight headwind, but still relied on the blood-sweat burst from her dominant subjects to keep herself firmly on the altar.

Li Hua's already cold heart dropped to minus thirty degrees once more.

In one ordinary, unremarkable group, two suns had actually appeared! Crossing the "Li Hua Line," a direct twin suns in the sky!

Suddenly, Huang Fang in the front seat whipped her head around.

Her eyes stared fixedly at Li Hua, and she actually swallowed a mouthful of saliva without caring about her image, asking nervously.

"Group leader, what's your Chinese score?"

Hearing this, Li Hua instantly grew wary.

"What's your total?"

At this moment, Empress Fangfang actually blushed, a rare sight. She half-heartedly covered her face with her hand, a little embarrassed.

"A bit low, 609."

"Group leader? Group leader!!" Huang Fang saw Li Hua collapse outright and panicked, "Group leader, don't die on me!"

She shook Li Hua violently, unable to help asking.

"What's your score?"

Li Hua fainting from anger was an act, but waking up from anger was real.

"Don't ask!"

Jiang Nian, done having his fun, answered on behalf of his good buddy.

"Fangfang, he's one point lower than you."

"Red stone, I'm really about to jump." Li Hua rubbed his face, "How did three suns appear in the sky above Group Six?"

Three suns in the sky!

If we don't slay Li Hua, how can we speak of Foundation Establishment!

While evening self-study hadn't ended yet, Jiang Nian turned his head and glanced at the class monitor's score. Seeing one starting with 12, he instantly lost interest.

The class monitor's Chinese score seemed to be only on the edge of excellence, but for a normal person, it was still absurdly high.

"Qing, what's your total?" Jiang Nian asked.

In the noisy classroom, Li Qingrong looked up.

"Six hundred and eight."

"Stop!" Jiang Nian interrupted her, helplessly saying, "I get it—your score is way too absurd."

Li Qingrong: "."

After evening self-study ended.

Jiang Nian grabbed his bag and headed straight out of the classroom, rushing to the third floor. He had planned to catch Xu Qianqian, but found Xiao Song there too.

He joined the two girls, then headed downstairs, curiously asking.

"Is she sick?"

"She's been coughing and it won't go away," Xu Qianqian said, worried. "I'm planning to have Xi Yun sleep at my place so it'll be easier to take her to the clinic tomorrow."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian asked.

"Have you called Sister Zhao?"

At the mention of "Sister Zhao," Song Xiyun, wearing a cat-mask, turned her head to glance at Jiang Nian.

Her eyes widened, and she whispered.

"Doesn't that make me one generation younger than you?"