Chapter 368

The moment Li Qingrong averted her gaze, Jiang Nian understood.

Everything that happened last night…

It's real!

The bet is valid, and it's still ongoing.

"Do you often stay up late?" he asked curiously.

Li Qingrong hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"I don't."

"Oh oh, remember to go to bed early." Jiang Nian was about to add that staying up late stunts growth, but he glanced at her and stopped himself.

"Mm." Li Qingrong nodded.

Jiang Nian turned back and continued pondering his chemistry problems. His chemistry foundation wasn't bad—just lacking a chance like Qing Bao's.

Speed-through… chemistry.

The top chemistry students were already chosen; you can't let all the good fortune go to Jiang Nian.

But then again, does the advanced training even work? It mostly depends on the teacher—not every teacher is Qing Bao.

I need another plan, or just rely on myself.

Jiang Nian was lost in thought when he suddenly remembered that Old Liu had mentioned the date of the next provincial joint exam—he just couldn't recall it.

He thought, please don't tell me it's at the end of this month—that'd be a disaster.

This month has soccer matches, plus getting a driver's license. Too many things—not overwhelming, but definitely distracting.

If the time's too short, I'll have to make up for it myself.

I can already imagine: I'll be exhausted to the point of collapse.

But… dogs aren't actually this tired.

Jiang Nian's side was empty—Li Hua had gone to the corridor to kick the ball, and Baby Zhizhi had gone to dote on Yao Bei Bei.

He thought and thought, but couldn't help getting up.

Leaving the classroom, he heard a burst of noise from the corridor. Faintly, he heard a thump—probably the sound of someone kicking the ball.

Right now, in the noisy corridor.

Class monitor Tao Ran stood quietly before the railing, hands in his pockets, watching the mountains and listening to the rain. Honestly, when he didn't speak, he vaguely looked human.

This is the Minister of Rites of Class Three!

You could faintly sense a refined, scholarly aura gently emanating from him.

Jiang Nian stepped forward, ready to ask Tao Ran something. Just as he raised his foot, Yu Zhiyi walked over from the other end of the corridor, pitter-patter.

Then out of nowhere came a human-shaped Li Hua with a ball, and in a flash, he knocked down Tao Ran, who was enjoying the rain.

Jiang Nian: "???"

Yu Zhiyi grinned, stopping in front of Li Hua.

"You're kicking the ball here? Afraid of getting caught?"

"Afraid of what? Just blame it on Jiang Nian." Li Hua flicked his hair, feigning nonchalance, "After all, he's the captain."

Tao Ran, the class monitor, who had just been knocked down and was slowly being helped up by Li Hua, paused thoughtfully, then turned to Li Hua and asked:

"Do you think when a fox-eared girl falls, her tail automatically dodges?"

Li Hua:

Yu Zhiyi:

Jiang Nian stood a little way off, unable to help feeling speechless.

He'd figured it out—everyone here had some bizarre skill.

Li Hua, the filial son, was especially vile—he sold himself out so skillfully, like someone who'd scrape paint off Yu Zhiyi's chair and drink the soaked water.

Jiang Nian cleared his throat and walked over.

"Hua, I heard someone in the team betrayed me."

As he spoke, he slapped Li Hua's shoulder three times, each slap heavier than the last, making Li Hua grimace.

"Any thoughts on this traitor?"

Li Hua instantly looked like an idiot, letting out a long "Aaaah."

"I don't know."

Yu Zhiyi watched with a smile, about to say something—but Jiang Nian waved her off, brushing her off outright.

Her expression vanished instantly; she stopped smiling.

Jiang Nian didn't care—he slung an arm around Tao Ran's shoulders and led him toward the railing, then dropped a bombshell.

"I have an idea about fox-eared girls."

"Hm?"

After moving a bit away from Yu Zhiyi and the others, Jiang Nian let go of Tao Ran and got straight to the point:

"Bro, when's the provincial joint exam?"

Tao Ran paused, then looked up and asked in return:

"You said fox-eared girls…?"

"The provincial joint exam." Jiang Nian looked utterly certain, not blinking once, "You heard wrong, bro."

p

Tao Ran, upon hearing this, looked confused.

"I've been reading quite a few banned manhua lately, but is it really this bad? I thought it wouldn't get to the point of… hallucinations."

"Although I've indeed read a lot of forbidden comics lately, is it really that bad? I didn't think it would come to this... I'm even hearing things now."

"You need to be moderate," Jiang Nian sighed, then changed the subject: "Alright, let's get back to talking about the provincial entrance exam?"

"Maybe early next month, after New Year's," Tao Ran replied listlessly. "Anyway, the teachers say next month is all exams."

"And after we return for the next semester, exams will become routine—interwoven with second-round review."

5

After hearing Tao Ran's words, Jiang Nian suddenly felt overwhelming pressure.

But since there was still some time left, raising his score by forty points wasn't impossible. If he hit 650, he'd go straight home to burn incense.

During the Spring Festival, he'd sit at the head table.

Rain fell all morning, only stopping at noon when school let out.

Jiang Nian flipped through Class Two's schedule and found that Qing Bao didn't have class in the afternoon. He figured she wouldn't be in the office either,

so he gave up.

A master and his gifted student elevate each other.

He didn't think chemistry questions couldn't be asked of Qing Bao—after all, she was the youngest graduate student, likely having skipped grades.

What? How could a county school have such educational resources?

Because while top-tier teachers are all streaming toward the provincial capital, some still cling to their homeland and, after weighing options, simply return home to teach.

For example, in a parallel class on the third floor, their biology teacher is a female Ph. D. from Jilin University—and she still teaches in this small county.

Plus, the province's teacher staffing quotas have been shrinking. Everyone says teacher positions aren't valuable, yet applicants still outnumber the stars in the sky.

Only the young truly long for big cities.

Old, steady teachers just want to work in small counties—go shopping in big cities during holidays, travel and sightsee during summer and winter breaks.

Of course, attending training is another matter.

He sent Qing Bao a WeChat message in advance, greeting her and saying he'd come to her office in the afternoon to ask about study problems.

With a soft buzz, Qing Bao replied.

"Okay. Come to my office during the last self-study period this afternoon."

Jiang Nian: "0k."

Looking at this, who's young is obvious.

Old Langzi likes saying "good good good," plus "received."

Then Qing Bao sent a pink emoji pack—so far below her age, it looked absurdly pastel.

(ok).

Wait, do you have mind-reading powers?

Jiang Nian, unconvinced, replied with a.

"Nice."

Qing Bao: "Cute."

Jiang Nian: "????? Teacher, who taught you this routine?"

Qing Bao: "I saw my cousins do it like this. What's wrong? (confused)"

Jiang Nian: "Nothing. Do your cousins go to high school?"

Qing Bao: "Elementary school."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian quietly closed WeChat.

Then again, comparison isn't a good habit. High school isn't worse than elementary school—everyone's the same.

Old geezer.

This kind of slang is really bad—no one knows who invented it.

Chen Yunyun glanced past the classroom door, and before leaving, instinctively glanced back at the seat she'd watched ten times a day.

He was still there, apparently writing problems.

He hadn't used to be so diligent—back then, he'd rush to the cafeteria first after every class. Then things changed.

Was it because the boy had matured?

"He really works hard," Chen Yunyun murmured. "I need to work harder too, or I'll get left behind."

Wang Yuhe leaned over to look, and upon hearing this, felt a twinge of resentment.

"I won't be surpassed by him."

Chen Yunyun turned to look at her and smiled.

"Our scores are right next to each other—if he surpasses me, he surpasses you too."

In the hallway.

Wang Yuhe frowned, thinking it made sense. She lowered her head, muttering calculations for a moment, then looked up as she descended the stairs.

"Yunyun, I'm aiming for 640 next time."

Her words drew glances from several boys on the stairs—after all, 640 was top-five material even in the Olympiad class.

Of course, Class Three was the top science Olympiad class.

640 didn't guarantee top five—on easy exams, she might land sixth or seventh.

Jiang Nian scored 616 this time—rounding up, eighth place.

Ahead of him were Zhang Ningzhi, Yao Bei Bei, Chen Yunyun, Wang Yuhe, Tao Ran, the former biology class representative,

and the Son of Heaven.

This ranking wasn't fixed—sometimes these students would slip to eleventh or twelfth.

Occasionally, Li Hua from Chishi would break into the top five.

But overall, a score of 640 carried immense weight—even in the lax weekly tests, it was an astronomical number.

So, when the schemeless Wang Yuhe said this number,

the few boys around went through a mental journey from shock to disdain, then to suspicion, then quickly to numbness, and finally to agonizing regret.

"You call that bullcrap!"

"Out in the open like this — don't you know showing off is illegal!"

Chen Yunyun didn't find it awkward, because she knew very well Wang Yuhe could actually do it, so she nodded and said,

"Mm-hm."

Hearing that, Wang Yuhe's brow smoothed out, and she said excitedly,

"This way Jiang Nian won't overtake me."

In the classroom.

Jiang Nian was a little neglecting sleep and food — when a person truly focuses on one thing, they actually can't feel the pain, and may even take joy in it.

Take studying, for example — every time he worked through a problem type, there was a fresh sense of gain.

Until he saw an outrageous organic chemistry formula and couldn't help but stop his pen. He rubbed his eyes, unable to believe it.

"Porcupine-ene?"

a: Porcupine-ene and ethylene are homologs. As noon break approached, Chen Yunyun and the other girl returned to the classroom.

One look — someone was still at his seat working problems. They couldn't help but find it strange. The two exchanged glances, momentarily speechless.

Jiang Nian sensed someone approaching and looked up.

Chen Yunyun had already taken Wu Jungu's seat, and Wang Yuhe smoothly sat down in Ceng You's seat. The two stared at him.

"Didn't go eat?"

Jiang Nian heard this and a blank look crossed his face.

"Oh~ forgot."

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over Wang Yuhe. Seeing her chest was flat as a board, he couldn't help but doubt the scene he'd seen on the rooftop at noon yesterday.

He must have been seeing things, baked silly from the sun.

"What time is it now? If it really won't work, I can only eat instant noodles at the school store."

"It's twelve forty-five already, the cafeteria's closed." Wang Yuhe slapped him once. "You've been hit with the curse of gluttony now."

Jiang Nian ignored her, thinking inwardly how childish.

He turned to look at Chen Yunyun and asked,

"Anything you want to drink? I'll bring you a bottle from the school store. On the condition you don't share any with her — not a single sip."

Chen Yunyun stood up and brushed off her pants.

"I'll go with you."

Wang Yuhe was left sitting in her seat and immediately sulked a bit.

"Who cares!"

Jiang Nian was almost at the door when he turned back and said to her,

"Come lift the curse, or how am I supposed to eat instant noodles? If no matter how much I eat I can't get full, what a waste of money that'd be?"

Only then did Wang Yuhe reluctantly stand up, huffing twice.

"Beg me?"

Jiang Nian scoffed. "I'm also somewhat skilled in a few curses."

After the three of them left,

the two boys left in the classroom working problems raised their heads, exchanged a glance, and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

The hell — that works too?