Chapter 362

Near lunch break.

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe hurried over from the dormitory, their hair still half-dry, half-wet, loosely draped behind their heads.

They lowered their heads, entered the classroom to grab their homework, then stood outside in the sun.

Jiang Nian had been writing his homework at his desk when his phone gave a light vibration in his pocket. He looked down.

It was a message from Chen Yunyun.

"Come out to soak up the sun? (puzzled)"

He thought for a moment, then replied.

"Okay."

The two girls didn't soak up the sun outside the classroom corridor—they took their books to the rooftop of the adjacent administrative building.

On this winter day under a clear sky, the sun made them feel slightly dizzy.

The pure blue sky resembled a giant mirror, inverted and resting over the small county town of Zhennan.

Wang Yuhe stood at the edge of the rooftop, gazing into the distance, her long hair dancing in the wind. Soon, she dashed back, footsteps echoing.

"Hey, what do you think it's like out there?"

The damp parts of her hair had soaked a patch of her shirt's round collar. The fabric clung tightly to her skin, then pulled away as she bent forward.

A pale, smooth vertical line flashed before Jiang Nian's eyes.

Huh?

He stood up immediately, took two steps toward the rooftop, trying to mask his awkwardness.

"Let me see—it's just mountains, right?"

Wang Yuhe turned to look at him, puzzled.

"What's beyond the mountains?"

"It's a road—the national highway to the city," Chen Yunyun said. "When we visited relatives during the New Year, my dad drove that route once."

"I'm jealous—I don't have any relatives in the city," Wang Yuhe pouted, then looked up again. "Jiang Nian, have you been there?"

Jiang Nian scratched his cheek. "I guess—I have uncles and aunts in the city, but my parents go for New Year, not me."

"Ha, so they don't like me."

"Why?" Wang Yuhe looked confused.

"Nothing. Just old, trivial stuff." Jiang Nian changed the subject. "This month, I'm getting my driver's license."

"When vacation comes, I'll rent a car and take you for a drive—you'll see for yourself."

"Really?" Wang Yuhe jumped up instantly.

"You're getting your license this fast?" Chen Yunyun was slightly surprised, instinctively assuming Jiang Nian had skipped class today to practice driving.

"Not fast—it'll take nearly a month and a half total," Jiang Nian explained. "If you want fast, it was faster before."

"A month?" Chen Yunyun asked.

"Three days to buy it."

Chen Yunyun:

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun realized he was a brand-new driver again, and began worrying about his safety on the road.

She couldn't help asking.

"You're going to drive right after getting your license? Isn't that dangerous?"

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah, maybe I'll wait two years before touching the wheel."

"That's even more dangerous!" Chen Yunyun's face flushed, and she bit her lower lip. "When you go, take me with you."

"And me!" Wang Yuhe jumped forward to add.

The topic circled back to safety again—only now, their worry shifted from general danger to fearing Jiang Nian would crash alone.

Teenagers are like this—cowardly as mice, yet recklessly bold.

"Relax—it's not a Guo Xiaosi movie," Jiang Nian reassured them. "I wouldn't take you if I wasn't confident."

"On my first day of driving lessons, I finished all the tests. I drive more steadily than my instructor—he even offers me cigarettes when he sees me."

The two girls burst into laughter, giggling nonstop.

The three of them stayed on the rooftop for over half an hour, chatting and soaking up the sun the entire time—none of the homework they brought was touched.

After lunch break.

Jiang Nian sat up from his desk, and his gaze landed on Zhang Zhizhi's flawless profile—he stared, entranced.

He was still groggy from waking up.

He wondered what it would feel like to kiss her.

Suddenly, Zhizhi turned her head and shot him a sideways glance—as if sensing his thought, she suddenly grew angry.

Wait, are you reading my mind?

"You said you'd come back for PE at noon—where were you?" Zhang Zhizhi accused. "You lied again!"

Oh, so that's it.

"I did want to come back, but..." He took a slow sip of water. "That's not really lying."

"At most, it's standing someone up—your wording is clearly wrong."

Zhang Zhizhi's face flushed at being corrected, and she resorted to pouting.

"It is! It is!"

"Fine, if you say so," Jiang Nian shrugged, classic rogue behavior. "If you insist on thinking that way, then..."

I have no...

Bang!

Someone's arm took a heavy hit and retired on the spot, and the permission to drink beverages was temporarily frozen by the rich loli.

Jiang Nian wasn't flustered at all—if you won't let me drink beverages.

Then I'll drink yours.

Baby Zhizhi is the softest—just find a chance to wear her down with soft persistence. Forget borrowing the beverage-drinking permission, she'd unlock any permission at all.

The flower language of a steel wool ball is endurance and wealth.

Isn't that begging on your knees? Of course begging has to be on your knees—stand up, and you won't get any rice; you can't have both.

Then can you eat the rice while standing?

You can.

Zhang Ningzhi and Yao Bei Bei went off hand-in-hand to use the restroom, leaving Jiang Nian alone guarding the seats as the only guy, so he started getting restless again.

He turned his head to look at the class president—she was reading.

1

Li Qingrong couldn't stand it anymore and had to look up.

"Hmm?

1

"Nothing, just seeing what you're doing." Jiang Nian reached over and flipped through the book in her hands. "When did you buy this magazine?"

"At noon." Li Qingrong hesitated a moment, then handed it to him. "Do you want to read it?"

"Wait till you're done, I'm not in a rush." Jiang Nian didn't refuse—reading the same book would give them more to talk about.

The class president was already a woman of few words; if he waited for her to find a topic, they might not chat more than a few times in a whole year.

Hearing that, Li Qingrong took the book back.

Because Ceng You and Wu Jun Gu walked in through the front door, and once seated, they turned to look at Jiang Nian, smiled for a while before speaking.

"You're done for."

Damn it, you guys are scamming me, right?

Jiang Nian put on a smile. "How am I done for?"

"At noon the PE teacher called your name, and you weren't there." Ceng You grinned. "I swear on four, if I'm lying your mom's mine."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian's smile vanished instantly—no more grinning.

"What did he say?"

Ceng You took a sip of water. "He said you keep skipping his class every day, and next time he catches you, he'll make you run three thousand meters."

"It's true." Wu Jun Gu also turned around, laughing. "He said unless you go play soccer and join the class soccer team."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"There are so many people in the class, why isn't anyone joining?"

Ceng You pulled out his phone and said matter-of-factly.

"We're civil generals."

Jiang Nian thought it over for a while and started to catch on.

"This is conscription."

As class was about to start, Yao Bei Bei came back with Zhang Ningzhi. She glanced at Jiang Nian, a sly smile on her face.

"You're done for."

"Get lost." Jiang Nian thought, keep yapping and I'll smack you again.

"Pfft." Yao Bei Bei knew perfectly well someone had stolen her thunder. "Why so aggressive? That's sick."

After Zhang Ningzhi sat down, she said softly.

"During PE class, it was Beibei who suggested putting you on the soccer team."

"Her?" Jiang Nian was stunned.

"Yeah, Beibei said you ran a three-thousand-meter championship, why not rope you into playing soccer?" Zhang Ningzhi said,

"and then the teacher agreed."

"Oh... then I wronged her, but since I've already killed her, let's just bury it." Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment and said as much.

He looked up and met Zhang Ningzhi's displeased gaze, instantly feeling guilty.

"Alright, alright, after class I'll apologize to her, okay?" Jiang Nian slid to his knees. "I'm actually a good kid."

Not a rotten cabbage.

Though that last line, he said it in his heart.

Class started.

The first period on Wednesday afternoon was Chinese, which was the homeroom teacher's class.

Old Liu, that bastard, has been slacking off more and more in class lately. Classic: three minutes late to class, one minute maintaining discipline.

Three minutes telling a joke, six or seven minutes chatting about stuff.

The master makes his move and directly waters down a third of the class. The remaining twenty minutes he actually teaches, ten minutes he shoots the breeze.

Ok, class dismissed.

Yet this routine actually goes over pretty well in Class Three.

The class's channel for getting internal school news relies entirely on Old Liu's three-minute jokes and six-or-seven-minute chats.

Once you got used to it, it was like watching a weekly talk show—missing any of it felt off.

"Ahem!!" Old Liu stepped in with his trademark three-minutes-late pace, carrying a thermos. "Ah, quiet down, class is starting."

"Every time I come in, the classroom is a mess. Some people even... like this. From now on, a new rule."

After sorting out discipline, Old Liu launched into his classic joke collection again.

He told a story about the Dean's Office catching a young couple, which had the whole class in stitches, before finally getting to the class's real business.

"There are two things this week that are relatively important. One is the inter-class football tournament the school has requested, and the other is the New Year's Eve gala at the end of the month."

"There are priorities — just announce the New Year's Eve gala for now. We'll go into the details next week."

"The football tournament is held mid-month, on the 8th. The timing is pretty tight — the event might run for about a week."

The moment his words fell, the class instantly erupted.

"Teacher, we're going on the field this soon? Not even giving us a chance to practice?"

"Yeah, how are we supposed to play against the other classes?"

"Damn, isn't this literally next week? I thought it would kick off around the 20th — figured I'd have time to work on some skills!"

With only four short days to prepare, the boys in the class were worked up into a frenzy.

If Qian Bao hadn't spoiled it the day before yesterday, there'd have been no chance to practice at all — meaning they'd go straight onto the field for the inter-class match without practicing.

Wouldn't they just get slaughtered back and forth by those classes that actually know how to play?

Below, public opinion was boiling over.

Old Liu was quite helpless too. He coughed once to cut off the discussion.

"This was also a last-minute arrangement by the school. There are a lot of activities this month — we need to free up time and space for the New Year's Eve gala."

"Let's first settle the roster of participants. Liu Yang will be in charge of leading the team."

Liu Yang immediately raised his hand and spoke up. "Teacher, I'm not good enough at football."

"You'll play even if you're not good. First, let's scrape together a football team." Old Liu was decisive and swift, tapping out a few more names in quick succession.

"Li Hua, Jiang Nian... alright, add Ma Guojun."

After finishing, he realized there wasn't even a single benchwarmer, so he tapped a few more people.

Then he said, "Pick a team captain."

Suddenly, Yao Bei Bei spoke up.

"Teacher, Jiang Nian played in a football match back in his first year of high school."

Hearing this, the entire class's gaze swarmed toward a certain someone.