Chapter 380

Nap time, winter sun lingered on the corridor.

The classroom, nearly empty, was utterly silent. Only the rustle of pen tips scraping across exam papers could be heard—a perfect stillness of time.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian's right eyelid twitched violently.

He froze, shook his head, and muttered.

"Superstition."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than his left eyelid twitched too.

Jiang Nian instantly burst into joy, grinning broadly.

"Left eye twitching means wealth!"

Could the damn system be about to drop coins again?

Yet, after waiting a long while, no system panel popped up.

"Huh? No reaction?"

He turned his head to glance at the few others in class. Chen Yunyun had already dozed off, face down. Wang Yuhe was still playing with her phone.

Jiang Nian turned back, pulling out his phone to check messages. No one had sent him anything. Everything was calm.

"Probably just eyelid spasms from not resting well."

At a time like this, giving a scientific explanation usually meant you were a little scared—after all, you were facing the unknown.

Restless, he turned his head again.

Just then, he saw two girls walking together toward the classroom door.

Two beautiful girls stood gracefully, each unique in her own way. Without making a sound, they stood there, lively and poised, at the door of Class Three.

The two girls glanced around the doorway for a moment and spotted Jiang Nian inside the classroom.

Xu Qianqian waved at him, wearing a perfectly ordinary polite smile.

Jiang Nian felt puzzled, wondering why they had come—but didn't dwell on it. He put down his pen and stood up from his seat.

Coincidentally, several others in class had also noticed this scene at the door.

One was Empress Fangfang, whose neck had grown stiff. She instinctively lifted her head, ready to stretch, and saw two pretty girls at the door.

Jiang Nian suddenly stood up and walked toward the two girls.

She glanced back at the empty classroom, then at the classroom door. After a moment of silence, she finally cracked.

Why do I always see things I shouldn't? Again... White Tiger Hall.

The second witness was Luo Yong.

At the start of Gao San, he rented an apartment off-campus. He moved out of the dormitory and began living like a man on top of paper.

At first, it was truly delightful.

Every day he was disciplined: exercising, reading, solving problems. Each day felt full of hope. But soon, his will was shattered.

In the silent midnight, only loneliness remained. His message list was a dead pond. Whenever he stayed alone in his rented room,

Not just at night. Even during nap time, he had to play.

If this continued, he'd die. Out of fear of death, he started napping in the classroom three days ago.

After spending so much time there, Luo Yong noticed that Jiang Nian seemed especially close to two of the girls in class,

Especially during nap time—either sunbathing and chatting in the corridor, or laughing and joking at their desks.

But the moment the nap bell rang,

they would end their conversation within minutes, return to their seats, and each go back to their own business,

Very well-behaved. Honestly, Luo Yong wasn't jealous.

Because his threshold for happiness had been raised by certain things—he no longer found joy easily, and certainly didn't think Jiang Nian was any happier.

Chatting with girls all day—doesn't that get tiring?

At this moment, he lifted his head from his pile of homework. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Jiang Nian standing up, and instinctively glanced over.

Of all things, he saw the two girls at the door: Xu Qianqian was tall, standing by the entrance, hands tucked in her jacket pockets, eyes bright and lively—the whole scene had turned into Xia Tian.

Song Xiyun had a delicate face, pretty and spirited. Her gaze sparkled when she looked up, then softened when she looked down.

Two girls, equally beautiful in looks but utterly different in aura, both waved at Jiang Nian and smiled.

In that moment, Luo Yong froze.

He sat there, dumbstruck, watching Jiang Nian and the two beautiful girls leave. His heart... suddenly began to ache.

He slowly hugged his head. Jiang Nian... he really is a fucking bastard!

On the other side, Wang Yuhe, who had been playing with her phone, lifted her head in confusion. She watched Jiang Nian leave the classroom with the two pretty girls.

Huh?

"Right in the middle of the day, you two came all the way here to disrupt my studying?" Jiang Nian leaned against the railing, eyes half-lidded and relaxed.

This spot was at one end of a quiet stairwell; during nap time, no one usually came here.

Fourth floor—holy ground!

The sunlight had mostly faded from the corridor, yet still lingered over this corner.

Song Xiyun's gaze drifted elsewhere; she was already thinking of retreating.

Normally, she was quite chatty.

But in front of Jiang Nian, she wasn't chatty.

Because his assertiveness was simply too strong. Past experiences made her feel as if she were being cared for by her adoptive father—she felt deeply guilty.

In truth, it wasn't like that.

They were just plain friends. But if she tried to treat it as mutual debt-free... she couldn't.

Repaying every favor was her life creed. She'd already accumulated many debts in her little notebook—she couldn't add any more.

I can't pay it back anymore.

She also can't do Xu Qianqian suddenly said, "That girl in your class is pretty nice."

"Huh? Which one?" Jiang Nian frowned, thinking there were clearly two.

Today was Saturday, not Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe's hair-washing day, so they were both napping in the classroom.

"The girl playing with her phone—she's kinda cute," Xu Qianqian said.

"Oh yeah, her? She's really pretty," Jiang Nian nodded. "I'll introduce you sometime when I'm free."

"Why introduce me to her?"

"I thought you liked aluminum-copper, but you missed one—there's another girl sleeping on the desk who's even prettier."

"Go die!" Xu Qianqian punched him.

Jiang Nian rubbed his arm and got to the point.

"No way, sis... you came all the way to our class just to say that? I thought you two were gonna confess to me?"

"Pfft, dream on! Let's talk about your card," Xu Qianqian pulled out the 600-yuan meal card and handed it to Jiang Nian.

"Here, I don't need it anymore."

"Oh... alright," Jiang Nian took the meal card.

Xu Qianqian said, "Then we're off if there's nothing else."

Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian had high rapport; just a few words told them the issue lay with Song Xiuyun.

He didn't respond, but changed the subject, asking casually as if chatting idly.

"You don't like the food at the small cafeteria, right?"

At this, Xu Qianqian said nothing. She smoothly pulled out her phone, glanced at its pitch-black screen, and said:

"I've got a call—my dad's calling."

After saying that, she walked off directly.

Song Xiuyun, hearing this, suddenly looked up in shock, watching Xu Qianqian leave with visible panic on her face.

No, don't leave me here!

Mom!

Jiang Nian leaned against the railing, silent, gazing down at Song Xiuyun, who had already begun sweating.

Tick-tock, silence filled the corridor.

Finally, Song Xiuyun couldn't hold on anymore.

"The food in the small cafeteria... actually isn't bad, it's just that I... I... feel..."

She was still stuck on the words "feel," her face flushed red—unclear whether from romance or the sun.

"Mm-hmm," Jiang Nian interrupted her, pulled out another meal card from his pocket, and handed it to her. "This card has a limit of 200 yuan."

"It works at all three cafeterias on campus."

Hearing this, Song Xiuyun's fingers curled tightly.

"Give it to Xu Qianqian—she's picky too," Jiang Nian said, glancing at her curiously.

"What?"

In that instant, Song Xiuyun truly blushed.

It was an embarrassed blush.

Not for herself—what was she thinking? This was so awkward; he'd surely think she was a narcissist.

In that moment, Song Xiuyun's toes dug into the floor.

If there had been a crack in the floor, she would've jumped into it without hesitation.

"Okay..." Song Xiuyun took the card.

From Jiang Nian's perspective, the girl's face—ear to ear—blushed downward, staining her neck entirely, turning her into a strawberry.

A faint smile tugged at his lips—he found teasing little Song amusing.

Jiang Nian lightly patted her head twice, but said nothing.

Time seemed to freeze for several seconds.

"I... I'm leaving," Song Xiuyun lowered her head, utterly flustered, sprinting away as if fleeing, "I'm going to find Qianqian."

Jiang Nian watched her hurry down the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet. Only when her figure vanished completely around the staircase corner did he look away.

He then retrieved the 600-yuan small cafeteria meal card and slipped it back into his pocket.

He turned and walked slowly back to the classroom.

Lunch break ended.

At 1:52 p. m., Li Qingrong walked through the school's main gate amid the crowd. The sunlight above felt warm, and fallen leaves rustled underfoot.

The campus broadcast blared loudly, playing "Gentle."

【Walking in the wind, today's sunshine suddenly feels so gentle, the sky's gentleness, the earth's gentleness, like you holding me】

She passed through the shaded path, turned at the plastic basketball court before the grove, climbed to the third-year building, and reached the fourth floor.

Her gaze passed over a figure, pausing briefly.

Jiang Nian stood with Li Hua and Ma Guojun, leaning against the corridor, catching the breeze—something he said made them laugh uproariously.

He spotted the class monitor and waved at her from afar with a smile.

In the slightly crowded afternoon sunlight corridor, Li Qingrong froze for a moment. Three seconds later, under everyone's gaze, she waved back at Jiang Nian.

Even, a faint smile formed at her lips—the kind seen in Lin Boli's lipstick ads.

The boys in the corridor all sucked in a sharp breath, then turned their eyes collectively toward Jiang Nian.

"No way, how are you so close to the class monitor?" Liu Yang asked, anxious.

"Front and back desks, how could we not be familiar?" Jiang Nian retorted.

"You'd better be, kid." Liu Yang pointed at him. "If you really do *that* with the class president, the brothers are going to give you the rugby lift."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian stroked his chin and made the classic lesbian hand gesture.

He thought, what if the class president takes the initiative to kiss me?

Hmm?

Speak up, Heizi!

"Oh right, Jiang Nian." Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses. "What if we get caught playing ball this afternoon by Ji Ming?"

"It's the last day, so we'll just blame it on Class Four." Jiang Nian said, "But if we get caught during self-study, there's nothing we can do."

"Would Old Liu let us off?" Li Hua's face was full of doubt, his expression quite abstract. "We might end up writing a self-criticism again."

The moment self-criticism was mentioned, the few of them immediately sucked in a cold breath.

Sun Zhicheng also fell a bit silent. Writing self-criticisms was annoying. One or two thousand characters at the drop of a hat, even more tiring than writing a composition.

He wasn't really willing to risk playing soccer under the threat of writing a self-criticism.

The rest of them were about the same, their faces quite hesitant.

"I'll find girls from our class to help copy the self-criticisms." Jiang Nian didn't care at all. "And bribe Old Liu a bit, get the word count down."

Hearing this, the few boys instantly looked at him.

Liu Yang: "Now that's a captain! (Thumbs up)"

"Holy shit, you're really brazen, even daring to say out loud that you'd bribe Old Liu." Ma Guojun's face was excited as he pushed his glasses up.

"byd, you really know how to show off!" Li Hua, the contemporary Bao Qingtian, saw through his purpose at a glance and loudly called out.

"Damn, don't kiss his ass! He's laughing, you know. Getting seven girls to help write self-criticisms, and he's putting on airs again."

Li Hua's words jolted the dreamers awake. Sun Zhicheng suddenly raised his head,

He looked at Jiang Nian with a complicated expression, thinking to himself whether the girls would include Chen Yunyun. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became,

And immediately stopped being playful.

Hu Nianzhong had no reaction.

This made Luo Yong extremely uncomfortable. He thought again of the scene he saw during lunch break, thinking to himself that Jiang Nian really knew a lot of girls.

"Damn it, I'd rather copy it myself."

"Alright, Luo Yong will copy his own self-criticism." Jiang Nian spoke up, then looked at the others. "Anyone else want to copy their own?"

"No, Nian-ge, I was just talking big." Luo Yong immediately knelt. "My family is poor, can't afford pens and letter paper."

"Anyway, I don't want to write it myself." Liu Yang was the first to raise his hand.

Sun Zhicheng's mouth opened slightly; he had originally wanted to agree along. But there was a hurdle in his heart he couldn't get past, so he continued to talk tough.

"Having the girls in our class copy self-criticisms isn't really appropriate. After all, it wastes study time. Better to find someone else... wasting study time, indeed.

Self-criticisms start at a minimum of eight hundred characters, and some go up to fifteen hundred or two thousand. Copying them takes quite a bit of time.

Once these words came out, Liu Yang also became a bit hesitant and turned to look at Jiang Nian.

"Find someone else?"

"Copying self-criticisms is also contributing to the class. If we win an award, half the credit is theirs." Jiang Nian didn't think much of it.

"Unless we have no intention of getting a ranking at all, dead last, would we not dare let the girls help copy self-criticisms."

Jiang Nian retreated to advance, directly elevating the value of the manual labor.

Contributing to the class is an honor.

So, bearing this bond, what reason is there not to practice well? And what reason is there to not even get a single ranking?

"Holy shit! Then we definitely can't lose!" Liu Yang cursed. "If we lose, we won't be able to hold our heads up in class from now on."

"Indeed, it wouldn't be right without bringing back a championship." Li Hua nodded. "Then there's nothing more to say, let's just do it."

"Don't be cowardly, worst case we foul." Ma Guojun was also a bit of a schemer.

Seeing this, Sun Zhicheng couldn't say much more. He just silently prayed in his heart, hoping Chen Yunyun would write his self-criticism for him.

But thinking about it again, he felt there was absolutely no reason to lose.

And so.

As soon as the three afternoon classes ended, the seven team members immediately slipped away. Without a shred of hesitation, they had been completely won over by Jiang Nian's bond theory.

Cai Xiaoqing: "

Seven people skipping class, if caught, it's over.

Jiang Nian hesitantly asked, "So if we get caught, can Cai Xiang help copy the self-criticisms?"

Cai Xiaoqing was a bit speechless hearing this, but still nodded.

"Alright."

After saying that, she glanced at the others, pressed her lips together, and said.

"Then..... you guys have to do your best."