Chapter 379

In that instant, Zhou Yuting's body hair stood on end.

Jiang Nian just... looked at me, right?

She instinctively hunched her shoulders, a chill running through her heart. She wondered if he was going to start holding a grudge again and mess with her.

Thinking back to those jokes people made at the KTV, and Jiang Nian's underlying power, Zhou Yuting began to fear.

If this were her old class, it wouldn't matter. But Class Three—nearly half the students clearly knew Jiang Nian better.

If he wanted to mess with her, she could only be messed with.

Better to surrender than face that.

By the railing, Jiang Nian was pondering what to use to trade for a hundred yuan with Zhou Yuting. After all, this was business,

not banditry.

Suddenly, he saw Zhou Yuting walking over on her own.

"Huh?" Jiang Nian was baffled. Why did she come over? He sized her up. "What do you want?"

Zhou Yuting lowered her head slightly, her face filled with humiliation. Her cheeks slowly flushed red; she bit her lower lip, hesitating for a long time, then finally spoke one sentence.

"Master..."

Jiang Nian was utterly confused. "????"

What kind of Zhou Yuting?

"Do you need something?" Zhou Yuting was nervous. She thought, if I surrender, he won't mess with me. "I'll... try my best."

"Oh, actually I do have something." Jiang Nian estimated there was still time before morning run, and pulled something from his pocket.

From among his keys and meal card, he picked out a used eraser.

Huh? Why did I have an eraser in my pocket?

He froze for a second, then suddenly remembered—this eraser belonged to Li Hua. That damn kid bought a new one.

Perfect, I'll borrow it.

Jiang Nian gripped the eraser in his hand, weighed it, and asked:

"You got a hundred?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yuting froze. She thought, so he's already asking for money? But if money can solve this... it's better than being messed with.

Under the temptation of escaping danger, she didn't care how the danger came.

In under three seconds, she made her decision, pulled out a red banknote from her pocket, and hesitated before saying:

"If I give you this, you won't mess with me, right?"

"What are you talking about? Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Jiang Nian was speechless. "A Motivation Star would do something so low?"

Zhou Yuting was stunned. She thought, is he that hateful?

Even when taking money, he still plans to mess with me?

The two stood side by side, the money exchange discreet. Few noticed, and even those who did wouldn't think much of it.

After all, this was the Olympiad class floor.

Lending money to a classmate to buy test papers was perfectly normal.

"Here, I'm selling you this," Jiang Nian shoved the eraser into her hand. "A top student's eraser. Price: one hundred."

Zhou Yuting was stunned. "Huh? Yours?"

"Li Hua's."

Hearing this, Zhou Yuting smiled—but seeing Jiang Nian standing there, she quickly suppressed it.

"It's fine, you can laugh," Jiang Nian waved his hand, yet didn't leave. He seemed to be waiting for something.

After seven or eight seconds, he handed the money back to Zhou Yuting.

"I'm lending you a hundred. Pay me back after the college entrance exam."

After saying that, he turned to leave, casually taking the eraser from Zhou Yuting's palm with him.

"I'll borrow this."

Zhou Yuting was stunned again. She looked down at the rolled-up hundred-yuan note in her palm, then at Jiang Nian walking away.

Back and forth—now she owed a hundred?

No, the transaction was a hundred, he lent her another hundred, so this hundred in her hand was his—then where did her own money go?

Is debt an asset? A bit profound.

The sports field, warm in winter.

Jiang Nian thought: this system is truly an idiot. It should've gone get an economics degree. A little trick like this, and he could cash out directly.

This task gave a hundred yuan; he guessed more tasks would follow.

When that time came, he'd just set up small schemes. Compared to that, today's move was just a minor trick.

The system wanted a business empire built from nothing—but he'd opened the book on economics (prison edition).

Prison System's male god!

This was also the major Jiang Nian found interesting; he figured if he really went to college, he'd lean toward it when choosing his major.

He'd already researched thoroughly: economics and management undergrads had good job prospects. Graduation meant instant delivery job.

Besides that, civil service exams and grad school were inferior options.

If you couldn't handle the big corporate grind, consider sales—or work at a securities firm as a dog, five days on, two days off.

Yay, weekends off.

Not because the securities firm was kind—it's just the stock market doesn't open on weekends.

Accounting was also a top choice: do well, sit tight for five years. Do poorly, no job, end up as a receptionist in a small company.

In short: others' frost, Jiang Nian's honey.

Money can buy you through.

After daily calisthenics, Class Three's formation was crooked and sloppy—everyone wiped sweat or fanned themselves, standing outside the track. The discipline teacher passed by without even glancing at them.

A shrill whistle cut through the air above the sports field; the teacher pointed at the nearby parallel science class and launched into a scolding.

"Class 301! Where's your PE monitor? How did you even line up?!"

Li Hua turned to watch the commotion for a moment, then slapped Liu Yang on the shoulder, grinning like the meme of Donnie Yen pointing at someone.

"Look at him."

Liu Yang's lips twitched. He thought: Li Hua's such a petty little bastard, riding high on false glory. He ignored him and turned to look elsewhere.

"Captain Jiang, what are your thoughts on this afternoon's training?"

"Huh?" Jiang Nian, snapped out of his daze, remembered he was captain and cleared his throat. "I do have some ideas."

Around him, all the team members spontaneously moved closer to Jiang Nian.

Including Laosun.

Even though he disliked Jiang Nian, he set aside his grudge—for the sake of the class. He decided to put aside his differences and win some glory for the class first.

"Go on," Liu Yang said, his expression solemn.

Probably because they were just waiting to be dismissed and had nothing else to do, Jiang Nian scanned the crowd and noticed several girls also curiously gathering nearby.

At the same time, he noticed that because several girls were listening in,

several boys on the team—like Li Hua and Sun Zhicheng—who normally slacked off, suddenly wore expressions of grim determination.

As if burdened by some invisible obligation, they'd suddenly become serious.

"I think the team's biggest problem right now is..." Jiang Nian lowered his voice, "I suspect there's a traitor among us."

At his words, everyone on the track froze in shock.

"Traitor?" Liu Yang stammered.

"A class thief—like Li Hua," Jiang Nian corrected. "I'm implementing the three-three system. You understand?"

"Chishi!" Li Hua didn't understand, but he knew Jiang Nian—he knew this was a smear job. "You're the traitor!"

"That's irrelevant, Private Li Hua, don't interrupt," Jiang Nian snapped.

"Three-three system?" Liu Yang rubbed his chin. The term sounded impressive, even if he didn't fully grasp it. "Like the military's tactical infiltration three-three system?"

Hearing this, everyone instantly grew serious—it sounded incredibly cool.

"No, I mean split into two groups of three," Jiang Nian said. "One person kicks the ball; the other supervises."

"If the first person shows signs of match-fixing, execute him immediately—kick him off the field right away and substitute him."

At this, everyone fell silent.

"Holy shit, you're setting up a disciplinary squad?"

"This is insane—you're done as captain!"

"Wait, what's the third person supposed to do?"

Jiang Nian looked up and raised one finger.

"Supervise the second person."

Even Liu Yang couldn't hold it together anymore. He stared at Jiang Nian with a complex expression and burst out swearing.

"Fuck, you're setting up a disciplinary squad for the disciplinary squad?!"

Li Hua couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.

"Don't you get it? The subtext here is... we're all suspects—only he isn't the traitor."

As soon as he finished speaking, several boys lunged with clenched fists, aiming to give Jiang Nian a beating.

But before they could grab him, he was already gone.

Liu Yang stood frozen, watching the chaos before him, lost in thought. Now he finally understood.

The team was utterly ridiculous.

Then what about the opponents?

The morning hours slipped away.

After school, Jiang Nian turned to see Baby Zhizhi still tidying her desk. Before she left, he peeled an orange and offered it.

"Hey, want an orange?"

"Oh, thank you," Zhang Nengzhi replied politely, took it, and inspected it first. "Did you wash your hands?"

Jiang Nian's face darkened instantly. "Eat it or don't!"

He then devoured it like a dragon—before Zhang Nengzhi could react, he swallowed the orange whole, along with the tips of his fingers.

"Huh?" Zhang Nengzhi stared at her fingertips, now bare, her face flushing crimson. "You... you how?!"

"Overreacting," Jiang Nian scoffed, swallowing the orange's white filaments too. "I'm going to eat."

Zhang Nengzhi's face flushed again, then she suddenly remembered the commotion during lunch break. She grabbed Jiang Nian's arm and asked curiously:

"Will our class lose the football tournament?"

Jiang Nian, who had just stood up, froze. He'd only wanted a little sweet snack before lunch—and he'd already gotten it.

And he'd precisely sucked on her fingers.

Have to say, the girl Zhizhi's nails were trimmed neatly. Not only quite delicious, the ingredients were also very clean.

Without exaggeration, it deserves a five-star review, but he didn't expect Zhang Nianzhi to suddenly take an interest in the football match, which caught him somewhat off guard.

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"N-nothing... I just think playing football..." Zhang Nengzhi stammered, turning her face away. "Is... kind of cool."

You're blushing like a teapot?

By now, most of the classroom had already left in pairs.

"Oh, you like watching soccer?" Jiang Nian hadn't expected Zhang Nenzhi to have this hobby; his gaze dipped slightly—what about soccer beauties?

"Because my dad likes watching, I watched some when I was little," Zhang Nenzhi pressed her lips together,

hiding her secret thoughts.

If Jiang Nian played soccer really well.

Perhaps...

Jiang Nian glanced at her, lost in thought. He never expected Old Zhang was such a scholar-merchant—preferred soccer over mobile games.

That old bastard who broke up lovers, has such refined tastes?

Sitting with Zhizhi too long, he almost forgot she was filthy rich. While he, just a broke guy with thirty-one thousand in savings.

He could buy a car to show off in high school, even in college—but it still wouldn't impress Old Zhang much.

Old Zhang! You turn people into ghosts!

So Jiang Nian really wanted to quote Nine Demons' famous line to rebut Old Zhang: "What money can a guy in his twenties possibly have?"

If I were born rich, I'd smash your company to pieces.

Jiang Nian snapped back to reality, thinking himself mad. Nothing had happened yet—only the inevitable future confrontation with Old Zhang loomed.

Right now, sitting before him was Cute Zhizhi.

"So does your dad like the national team?"

The question left Zhang Nenzhi speechless.

"He... likes other teams, because soccer is global. But beyond that, he's still very patriotic."

Patching and patching again, proving Zhizhi was filial.

Old Zhang is bad. Zhizhi is good.

"Alright, then I probably have something in common with your dad," Jiang Nian rubbed his chin. "As for the class tournament—"

"What's wrong?" Zhang Nenzhi tensed up.

"Shouldn't be a problem—there aren't many truly strong teams," Jiang Nian grinned. "Just win a few classes and you win the championship."

"What if we face a really strong class?" Zhang Nenzhi asked.

"Then it's Tian Ji's horse racing," Jiang Nian smirked wickedly. "Our class is all noobs—don't even understand the rules."

"Then we're done for!" Zhizhi panicked.

"Exactly the opposite," Jiang Nian grinned.

"Oh oh, then good luck!" Zhang Nenzhi's eyes sparkled instantly.

Jiang Nian shot her a glance, deciding to set a wager.

"If we win the championship, you call me..."

Hearing this, Zhang Nenzhi leapt up, her face flushing red.

"I'm going to find Beibei."

Before lunch break.

Wang Yuhe also asked about the class tournament, curious.

"It starts the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Mm? What?" Jiang Nian glanced at her. "So interested in the match? Are you going to play for your dad?"

"Hmph, if I could play..." Wang Yuhe placed her hands on her hips, "I'd definitely be a striker—championship guaranteed."

"The best players are defenders—you don't know that?" Jiang Nian said seriously. "Still talking about striker?"

"Is... is that right?" Wang Yuhe's nervousness was obvious. "I meant... I'll become the best defender."

"Hmph." Jiang Nian sneered, turning to Chen Yunyun. "Why did you pull your hand back? Haven't finished looking yet."

Chen Yunyun pressed her lips together, expression complicated.

"I feel like you're just making things up—this 'study track' thing... I've never heard of it."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian dropped the act.

He picked up his pen again, his expression turning serious. He glanced down at the chemistry test, then looked up.

"By the way, feudal superstition is unacceptable."

Chen Yunyun:

Meanwhile, in Class Four of the Olympiad.

Song Xiyun sat beside Xu Qianqian, looking uneasy.

"Qianqian, I feel..."

"... Next time we eat at the small cafeteria, I'll pay myself. Using that card... isn't right."

"Why?" Xu Qianqian looked puzzled.

"It's just... not appropriate," Song Xiyun felt guilty, sensing she owed him too much—and it kept growing.

At first, it was just a small debt with future promise.

Once she got into university, she'd earn tons of money. She'd earn a little, just a little, and slowly pay it back.

But... now, it still felt like she was owing.

If this kept up, she couldn't just repay it with money. She might end up owing herself... absolutely not.

Jiang Nian wasn't some conventional gold-digger—he sensed his appetite was huge.

Xu Qianqian tilted her head, unsure how to respond. But then she thought: that bastard had too many twisted arguments—just go upstairs and confront him.

So she said:

"Let's go. Talk to him directly."