Chapter 381: Praise Cai Mama

The last afternoon self-study session.

Yu Zhiyi lifted her head, startled for a moment, then instinctively locked her gaze on Jiang Nian.

"What are these people doing?"

"Playing soccer," Yang Qiming replied, turning around.

"So bold?" Yu Zhiyi's eyes widened; she instinctively sat up straight, and a certain object also lifted off the desk.

From a relaxed state, transformed into a droplet.

Clearly, her figure was bolder than Jiang Nian and the others' actions.

"Indeed, this Jiang Nian..." Yang Qiming frowned, "I always feel he has powerful backing, but there's no proof."

"Powerful backing?" Yu Zhiyi drifted off, thinking of the man who used books as a bulletproof vest.

"Yeah, definitely."

Definitely?

This guy is utterly imperial—he dares say anything.

Yu Zhiyi also had a certain happiness attribute: wherever she appeared, others felt remarkably at ease—even if they'd lost money that morning, their mood would improve.

Yang Qiming couldn't help glancing at her twice; his affection for Lü Xuan began to waver, growing disloyal.

In terms of beauty alone, Lü Xuan surpassed Yu Zhiyi.

But when it came to dating, without question, girls like Yu Zhiyi would be the top choice for most boys.

Of course, there'd be a price to pay.

He pondered for a moment, thinking of a relatively clever way to add her on QQ.

"By the way, didn't you delete me from your QQ list?"

"Huh?" Yu Zhiyi looked at Yang Qiming, puzzled. "No, didn't you delete all the girls from your list?"

Indeed, he never added married women.

Yu Zhiyi had previously been talking with Wu Jungu; they were one of the semi-public couples in class, and he wasn't a punk.

But what was past was past; what's now is now.

After his breakup with his ex, he gradually re-added some people.

Yang Qiming suddenly felt more at ease—he didn't mind this kind of thing before dating, as long as nothing physical happened.

"Haha, I must've remembered wrong. Sorry, sorry. If that's the case, can I add you on QQ when I get back to the dorm?"

Hearing this, Yu Zhiyi froze, forcing a nervous smile.

"Not okay."

"Huh?" Yang Qiming's heart shattered; his face twitched slightly. "Why? You've added plenty of people, haven't you?"

"No, I just... don't add anyone unless there's something to say." Yu Zhiyi rebutted. "My QQ list isn't long."

"The seemingly experienced, big-eyed, glasses-wearing girl, actually a very conservative, old-fashioned girl."

A brand-new anime, ongoing online.

Yang Qiming fell silent, yet felt unwilling to give up; he retorted.

"Is Jiang Nian there?"

Yu Zhiyi opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word.

"He's there... but since we're all biology gifted students, we're all under Qing Bao's training, so things come up."

The term "Qing Bao" had been thoroughly Koreanized by Yu Zhiyi.

After all, she was the biology class representative.

Yang Qiming was utterly despondent; those lingering thoughts of Lan Yixuan turned to bubbles. He turned away,

lowering his head in thought.

As dusk approached, Grade Director Ji Ming patrolled from the academic office. After a brief pause, he arrived at his most loyal fourth floor.

Students on the Olympiad floor were self-disciplined and maintained decent discipline.

The third floor's only child, Class Four, was noisier.

Ji Ming inspected two classes in a row and noticed nothing... hmm? Why were so many students missing from Olympiad Class Three?

Under normal circumstances, he'd frown and say:

"Where's the class monitor?"

But Class Three was special, so Ji Ming didn't directly call out the Son of Heaven. Instead, he paused for a second, rephrasing.

"Where's the discipline officer?"

Hearing this, Cai Xiaoqing stood up with a complicated expression, ready to take the blame.

To be fair, Jiang Nian was truly shameless—he'd said, "If you cry when getting scolded, Ji Ming won't be able to say anything."

"Where are all these people in your class?" Ji Ming pointed to several empty seats.

"They're... going to the bathroom," Cai Xiaoqing said, gritting her teeth. "I'll call them right away and bring them back."

"To the bathroom?" Ji Ming, hands behind his back, scanned the empty seats. "What a coincidence? A whole soccer team?"

Cai Xiaoqing:

On the field, a buzz.

Jiang Nian kicked the ball away and pulled out his phone from his pocket. He glanced down and saw it was Cai Xiaoqing.

"Ji Ming's here. I told them you all went to the bathroom."

He thought Xiaoqing was pretty good, and typed back:

"Alright. (Smile)"

A buzz—Cai Xiaoqing replied instantly.

What are you even sarcasm-ing about?

"You're being overly sensitive—that's just a smile," Jiang Nian said helplessly. "I reported you for using your phone during self-study."

Cai Xiaoqing: "(smiling)."

Jiang Nian immediately felt his composure slipping and typed a reply.

"No, what are you even sarcasm-ing about?"

Infinite recursion.

Cai Xiaoqing:

On the field, Li Hua noticed Jiang Nian had stopped and asked curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"Bad news," Jiang Nian waved his phone casually. "Ji Ming went to the class and found we weren't there."

Upon hearing this, the several Zhennan scoundrels immediately froze.

They all stared at Jiang Nian, breathing slightly faster. After all, they were all Olympiad class students—not rebellious.

At their most defiant, they'd just boast about skipping class.

Now it wasn't just skipping—it was caught by the grade head. Without doubt, Old Liu would fly into a rage.

So who could bear that fury?

Honestly, I was a bit impulsive just now—is it too late to kneel and beg for mercy?

"Fuck, we're done!"

Before the Zhennan scoundrels could utter their despair, Jiang Nian made a "stop" gesture and spoke again.

"But Cai Xiang sent a red packet—inviting us to dinner."

"Fuck!" Li Hua's eyes widened like an idiot's. "Cai Xiang sent a red packet? Seriously?"

"If I'm lying, I'll be a dog," Jiang Nian lied without blinking.

Dogs are good people, bad.

Bro, you're a Level 1 protected species on Xiaohongshu.

"Also, Cai Xiang didn't betray us. When Ji Ming asked where we were, Cai Xiang said we went to the bathroom. Let's align our stories—don't get exposed."

Within this minute, the team's emotions rode a rollercoaster—rising and falling—then shot straight to the clouds.

"Cai Xiang is such a human treasure—this is too good!"

"So damn touching—Cai Xiang doesn't even care, suddenly getting caught by Ji Ming doesn't seem like such a big deal."

"She could be a mom. Cai Mom."

"Only you've got such a shitty mouth—you wanna eat something soft? Useless piece of shit, take this punch from your dad."

"Cai Mom, we adore you."

"Take the magnetic guy out too—take this punch from your dad."

Boys are like this—once they stack a certain buff, skipping class to play soccer becomes an exhilarating feat.

Their attitude toward tomorrow's match gradually shifted.

Win the prize. Must win the prize.

Even if we kick the opponent's star player flying, we must win the prize! Not winning would be a complete betrayal of Cai Xiang's effort.

Jiang Nian stood at the center of the field, watching the "kids" fired up with passion, a satisfied smile on his face.

Winning the match would bring a trophy and prize money. Baby Zhizhi's starry eyes, and Old Liu's favoritism.

In Zhennan, a county town where football isn't popular, school football matches are basically chaotic free-for-alls—where morale decides everything.

At such moments, the importance of the "political commissar" becomes clear.

After training, Jiang Nian took them to the small canteen for dinner. He told them to line up and get their meals, then stand there and swipe their cards with eyes closed.

The card Old Liu gave them—swiping it didn't hurt.

Then again, if they won the football match, it would also benefit Old Liu.

Class Three had the top scores in the Olympiad tier and the top sports ranking in the grade—a textbook excellent class, proof of Old Liu's excellent teaching.

This was using Old Liu's money to accomplish Old Liu's goals.

They were starving—even though the canteen food was mediocre. After adding a drink, they devoured everything greedily.

"Praise Cai Xiang!"

During evening self-study, the classroom glowed with light.

Cai Xiaoqing sat quietly at her desk, focused on solving problems.

Suddenly she heard noise, turned her head—and saw the soccer boys returning, all grinning at her. "Huh?"

Cai Xiaoqing looked puzzled, wondering if Jiang Nian had been badmouthing her. She'd covered for him,

and yet he…

But Liu Yang stepped forward and spoke to Cai Xiaoqing.

"Thanks, Cai Xiang."

"Huh?" She was baffled, but quickly realized it must be about the afternoon—"Oh, oh."

"No problem."

Li Hua grinned at her.

"The food was pretty good. Thanks, Cai Mama."

"Stop acting crazy, get lost," Liu Yang shoved him aside and dragged him off on the spot.

Then the others all expressed their thanks to Cai Xiaoqing, saying strange things like:

"We'll win."

She was completely baffled, not knowing what had happened.

Until the last person walked past, Jiang Nian said nothing. He just smiled at her, then left directly.

Cai Xiaoqing frowned slightly, took out her phone, and sent Jiang Nian a message.

"What did you do? You're dragging me into it."

A few seconds later, Jiang Nian replied.

"In your name, I just treated them to a meal. Don't tell anyone — it's good for everyone anyway."

Seeing this, Cai Xiaoqing put down her phone.

There really was a benefit — these people were all the troublemakers in the class. Setting aside the basketball game, at least from now on they'd owe her a favor.

If she really took charge, in the short term they wouldn't dare not listen.

But what was Jiang Nian after?

First period evening self-study.

Zhang Ningzhi looked up and sniffed the air.

"Group leader, your sweat smells really strong."

Jiang Nian said,

"He's clearly standing closer to you!"

Zhang Ningzhi blinked, her face flushing slightly.

"But... he doesn't smell at all."

"Really?" Li Hua leaned in and sniffed Jiang Nian, then immediately gagged. "Such a strong sweat smell — you can't smell it?"

"I can't." Zhang Ningzhi shook her head.

Jiang Nian did indeed have a sweat smell, but the small amount of sweat was masked by the scent of laundry detergent on his clothes.

Unless it was an epic-level lung capacity, it was hard to come out.

In fact, she thought it smelled quite nice.

"Damn, playing favorites like that?" Li Hua clutched his head, barely holding it together. "Jiang Nian, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Huh?" Jiang Nian looked blank. "What did she say?"

"You f***ing—!"

Clip-clop, Bao Weiwei walked into the classroom.

After putting down the books in her hands, she swept a glance at the seats below, pausing on Jiang Nian.

"Jiang Nian... come here for a moment."