Chapter 375

Jiang Nian wrote problems while idly twirling her hair.

"Why are you alone today?"

"She… she wanted to time her exit to buy fruit at the west gate, but the school gate closed."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian blinked in confusion. "Isn't Wang Yuhe that thing—time thief?"

Chen Yunyun covered her face. "This time she failed. The security guard caught her."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian started laughing.

"That stupid?"

Being locked out wasn't a big deal—the gate opened an hour later. She could sit at a bubble tea shop or browse a bookstore.

She could even take a quick nap.

Chen Yunyun came to find him just to chat. She didn't expect her hand to be squeezed all over.

But it was only squeezing her hand—nothing else.

Jiang Nian's mind was mostly on the exam paper; when he hit a problem he couldn't solve, he pulled her over to check it—too hardworking.

Under this atmosphere, Chen Yunyun grew tense too.

"Why are you so serious lately?"

Jiang Nian tucked the strands of hair scattered on the desk between his left fingers, idly winding them as he wrote.

He said casually.

"Surpass you."

"Why me?" Chen Yunyun glanced at him, pursing her lips. "There are others with high scores too."

"Surpass all of them." Jiang Nian didn't look up.

Scoring 650 might put her in the top five of the class. If the exam was easier, she might climb even higher.

Chen Yunyun didn't take Jiang Nian's words seriously, but it reaffirmed her resolve to inner-competitive—she wouldn't let Jiang Nian surpass her.

Even if it was by just a few points.

After lunch break.

Wang Yuhe, elated, entered the school through the west gate with the crowd.

Misstep.

During the hour locked outside, she first wandered aimlessly for minutes, then went into a stationery store and came out again.

She was confused—nothing she wanted to buy.

Later, she browsed a bookstore, bought a copy of Youth Digest, felt awkward staying too long, paid, and stepped out—until her phone buzzed.

Jiang Nian sent her a 30-yuan red envelope, asking her to bring a jin of tangerines. Only then did she find something to do, and sent him a photo.

"Bought it. Then what?"

"Fruit tea 【0/1】, Charlie standee 【0/1】. Arrive at Charlie Bubble Tea Shop before 1:25 PM to complete the assigned task."

"Complete task reward: 2 fragments. Collect all fragments to redeem one month of QQ SVIP."

Seeing these two messages, Wang Yuhe perked up like she'd been injected with adrenaline. Grabbing the tangerines, she rushed to the bubble tea shop.

Ordered a fruit tea, then asked the clerk for the free standee.

Then sent it to Jiang Nian—QQ changed color.

She slept a nap in the bubble tea shop, then brought Chen Yunyun a fruit tea. Bounding into the classroom, she handed the tangerines to Jiang Nian.

"Am I awesome?"

"Awesome, awesome. You can go now." Jiang Nian hung the tangerines on his chair, waved dismissively. "I need to pee."

Wang Yuhe was furious, but couldn't do anything about it.

She grabbed the fruit tea and went to find Chen Yunyun, chattering excitedly about her one-hour outdoor adventure.

In the hallway, Jiang Nian washed his hands and stood before the railing, letting the wind blow.

He felt dazed, half-lidded.

Gao San had fried his skull—fatigue always came after overexertion. Healing was reserved for the afternoon.

Save love for the science comprehensive.

The long-absent system panel popped up unexpectedly.

【At thirty-eight, you diagnosed Song Xiyun's illness. You chose to help—her condition stabilized quickly.】

【As payment, your savings plummeted…】

Jiang Nian pulled out his phone, glanced at the balance slowly crawling upward in his account, and laughed at this idiotic system.

"Not spending a single cent."

The lucky skill was practical, refreshing every five days. Couldn't get rich overnight, but earning small amounts monthly was doable.

The hallway after lunch bustled with people.

He blew air while continuing to read.

【Over six months, you lost weight, read extensively, and your physique and aura transformed completely.】

【After resuming daily contact with three women, your life grew fuller. The only downside: your bank balance remained low.】

【You declined Xu Qianqian's offer of a key, choosing to start from zero and build your own career.】

【Task: Complete any transaction to earn 100 yuan profit. Reward: 100x return—10,000 RMB.】

Jiang Nian glanced at it, then closed the system with a swipe.

What's the point?

What does "declined the key" mean? So you're nearly forty and still living off others?

No—right now, I'm not living off anyone either.

But then he thought again—thirty-eight years old. No chance at the civil service exam, can't keep up with the grind at work, so if he could live off a woman's income, that'd be pretty nice.

Jiang Nian chuckled for a moment, then snapped back to reality.

There's absolutely no need to overthink the system's tasks—the system and reality differ too much; just do any task that's profitable.

If it's purely a transaction, leveling service is a decent option.

Students only have a few ways to make money—leveling, selling accounts. All of them tie back to games.

Good question.

Your account's good. Give it to me.

I'm a student.

Doesn't this open up a whole new path?

Begging stream.

But after pondering for a while, Jiang Nian came up with a new idea.

Why shouldn't a man sell his own hook?

Baby Zhizhi, would you be willing to spend a hundred yuan to buy your own private service?

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. By the time you're taking the college entrance exam, who has the mental bandwidth for a real career? Might as well dive into the sea—it makes money way faster.

Foot massage service. So-called foot Dao is still Dao.

Why isn't this a career?

Jiang Nian chose "Serving with Beauty" from "Leveling from Zero to King of Boosting" and "The Patriarch of the Begging Stream."

Directly skip twenty years of detours.

Understood? Applause!

After clearly laying out his strategy, he grinned and walked back toward the classroom.

Actually, the system isn't wrong—men really do need to be excellent. Setting that aside, the standards of Baby Zhizhi's parents are clearly very high.

But that's not urgent. With the system's foresight, he can't possibly make a single wrong step.

For example, class promotion, the college entrance exam—sometimes it's all about careful, step-by-step planning. Once you get the ticket, everything else follows naturally.

Just before entering the classroom, someone tapped him from behind.

"Jiang Nian."

"Hm?" He turned and saw a familiar face—couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing here? Where's your husband?"

Hearing this, Ji Jiayu felt utterly speechless.

What kind of loser is that?

But then he remembered Jiang Nian had always been like this—still true to his roots. So he didn't care anymore; he was practically desensitized.

"There's psychology class tonight. Are you going?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian remembered how Yu Zhiyi had once pushed him out to play the role of "that psychologically unstable student" at the school's psychology lecture.

A month has passed in a flash—probably another one's coming soon.

"Not sure. I'm going to a ceremony tonight," Jiang Nian said. "How do you know I improved two hundred points?"

Ji Jiayu immediately broke into a cold sweat, let out a nervous laugh.

"Bro, that's enough."

Jiang Nian paid no mind to the suggestion that he tone down his arrogance. Wearing brocade in the dark? What's the point of passing at all?

"It's fine. I just mentioned it. I don't really care about the ceremony, but I probably won't have time to go."

"Oh, alright." Ji Jiayu nodded.

Even though Jiang Nian spoke like his tongue was dipped in poison, she didn't dislike him.

On the contrary, she actually enjoyed interacting with him.

"Then I'm off. Next time you go, call me," Ji Jiayu said, hands behind her back, expression casual.

Jiang Nian nodded, lost in thought.

"What about your husband?"

"Then I can't help it—I'll just cheat on him," Ji Jiayu grinned, joking along. "Next time, remember to call me."

With that, she turned and walked into Erban Sect's classroom.

Jiang Nian couldn't help but admire her—this woman wasn't easy either. Her ex had already moved on to a new girlfriend, yet she still mocked her ex.

In terms of mental toughness, she's got this (thumbs up).

He returned to the classroom.

Jiang Nian was about to sit down and quietly observe Baby Zhizhi, looking for a chance to extract some coins from the rich little loli.

A hundred yuan… to Baby Zhizhi, that's pocket change.

But he needed a good excuse.

"What were you doing outside?" Li Hua squinted at Jiang Nian with his uneven eyes. "Why do I see you chatting with a married woman?"

What the hell is a married woman?

"I wasn't chatting. I just asked about you," Jiang Nian said, deliberately understating it.

Sure enough, his overly calm tone sparked Li Hua's curiosity—he fidgeted and scratched his head, then finally asked:

"What about me?"

"You owe me eight points on your score."

"You motherf—!" Li Hua exploded, clutching his face and letting out a shrill scream. "You're obsessed with eight points—can't stop talking about it!"

Jiang Nian pointed at him. "You're a total loser."

Li Hua's eyes widened, staring straight at Jiang Nian. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out—as if his throat had been clenched shut.

I never took the exam seriously.

He mumbled for a long time, then spat out just that.

Jiang Nian burst into laughter, his mouth curling into a crooked hook, shaking his head with a half-smile as he asked him.

"Hua, if you'd taken it seriously, would you have gotten the same score as your old man?"

Li Hua immediately clutched his head, face twisted in agony.

"I'm such an idiot."

"Stop picking on the group leader," Zhang Nenzhi couldn't take it anymore, "you're turning him into a lunatic."

"Then I'll pick on you." Jiang Nian pinched her thigh.

"Hey! You!" Zhang Nenzhi puffed up, the flame of justice instantly extinguished, "then… fine, pick on the group leader instead."

No wonder they're from Group Six—everyone's got a flexible moral bottom line.

But unfortunately, class had started.

As Old Liu stepped into the classroom, his first glance landed on Jiang Nian. He suddenly remembered the scene in the office and couldn't help smiling.

His lips had just lifted when he realized this was a classroom.

Then, everyone in the class saw Old Liu smile strangely—and instantly snap back into a stern expression, staring at the back row.

The whole class was frozen by Old Liu's smooth combo, utterly baffled.

"He must've gotten promoted," Yang Qiming whispered to Zhou Yuting, "probably got stuck with more menial tasks."

Zhou Yuting: "You're slandering our homeroom teacher a bit too much…"

"The boss must've drawn another big pie for Old Liu again—kinda pitiful," Lin Dong remarked, adjusting his nonexistent glasses.

"First time seeing a real corporate slave—kinda sad," Sun Zhicheng shook his head, "how can you grow under a teacher like this?"

Chen Yunyun:

ff

Front row.

Li Hua watched for a while, then burst into a grin.

"Yi, Old Liu's gone mad."

Jiang Nian said nothing, suddenly bent over and started doing problems—Chinese problems, no less. The sun had risen in the west.

Li Hua leaned over to peek, stunned. After thinking for a moment with a lesbian hand gesture, he made his judgment.

"Jiang Nian's a total idiot—he's gone mad too."

Yet the man said nothing, only buried himself in his work.

He stared intently at a dense, obscure classical Chinese passage, his pen circling and scribbling—but not writing a single answer.

Zhang Nenzhi watched, puzzled.

"What's wrong with you?"

Jiang Nian didn't answer, only turned to look at her.

"Doing problems."

"Then why are you doing Chinese?" she worried, blinking, "are you some fake Jiang Nian?"

Baby Zhizhi, don't be so soft—even fake people don't deserve this tenderness.

What kind of substitute love story is this?

"Then touch me, to verify if I'm real," Jiang Nian said calmly, uttering the most off-putting thing possible.

Zhang Nenzhi: "..."

"... You're real."

The real-or-fake game ended.

On the podium.

Old Liu cleared his throat and suddenly began summarizing the results of the last joint exam.

This move left the students utterly bewildered.

Because when the Tuesday results came out, Old Liu had already spent an entire self-study session summarizing them.

He'd made everyone write reflections and submit them for him to read one by one.

In reality, he'd only read the top ten.

You could only say this guy wasn't just a dog—he was a full-blown dog, evolved entirely into a score-obsessed monster.

"Did we time-travel?" Ceng You couldn't help raising his head, "isn't today Friday? This feels familiar."

"Probably senile," Li Hua muttered under his breath.

But on the podium, Old Liu only summarized briefly before abruptly shifting gears and diving straight into the point.

"In this exam, our class's Jiang Nian improved from 400 points in his previous class's final exam to 616 in the last joint exam."

"That's a full 200-point jump—and he's ranked number one in the Gao San Motivational Star selection. Let's give him a round of applause!"

Since Jiang Nian had transferred in with a stellar 573, landing him squarely in the middle tier,

everyone had unconsciously assumed his past score couldn't have been worse than around 500.

Much of that was thanks to the man's ironclad silence about his past black history.

Until today, when Old Liu opened his mouth and dropped 400.

The dramatic effect was instant—the entire class gasped in unison, all turning to stare at Jiang Nian.

"Holy shit, is 400 even a human score?"

"Damn it, did he get lucky in the exam hall?"

"Score this low? Did a junior college dropout crawl in here to beg for scraps?"

What Jiang Nian heard from the surrounding crowd was not admiration or respect. On the contrary, it was almost ear-piercing.

He had been pretending to work on the problems while staying ready to show off at any moment. His face instantly struggled to hold it together, and the pen in his hand trembled.

Damn, Class Three is full of show-offs.

Are they even human?

Only Zhang Ningzhi looked at Jiang Nian with starry eyes.

"You're so inspiring!"

See, this is what a normal person's reaction looks like.