Chapter 385: Happy Wedding

"Dude...!:... you don't even wear clothes when you sleep?"

Li Qingrong muttered to herself, looking at that rather... uh... scene on the screen, which made her quietly look away.

Jiang Nian didn't have a phone stand, so before bed, to avoid affecting the video, he just propped his phone upright against a tissue box.

You could call it a fixed angle.

But after he fell asleep, a careless turn in bed knocked it over. The screen tilted sideways, capturing the shot of him stretching his leg out.

"Pants, my lord. May you be blessed."

It was too cold in the middle of the night, so Jiang Nian subconsciously pulled his leg back in.

And so, the night passed without another word.

The next day.

When he woke up in the morning, the video call had already disconnected.

He sat dazed on the bed for a while, then remembered he seemed to have heard the class monitor talking, so he curiously typed out a question.

"What did you praise me for in the middle of the night?"

That rather confident message was sent off, but got no reply.

Li Qingrong didn't have the habit of waking up early—she was the type who arrived late to the classroom. At this hour, she was probably still fast asleep.

Jiang Nian pocketed his phone and, as usual, washed up and headed out.

Zhennan had gotten cold again, and again, and again. In the early morning, the white fog was thick as condensed milk, the lights of breakfast shops along the street like frosted glass, and white breath puffed from his mouth.

Passing a ditch, Jiang Nian noticed ice had already formed on the surface.

Just that one thin layer of ice held him captive for several seconds. He looked left and right, saw no one, and immediately stepped on it to start touching it.

Southerners just love this kind of thing.

"That year the heavy snow... you're lying, snow is a probabilistic event!"

Just as Jiang Nian was having the time of his life playing around, two female high school seniors walked by together, and a burst of laughter drifted over faintly.

Jiang Nian instantly squatted down, pretending to tie his shoelaces.

"Senior, I saw everything, you know."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian suddenly heard a familiar voice and couldn't help but look up directly. "Where... where's your classmate?"

"I told her to go on ahead, said I ran into my cousin." Lin Yuxi said with her hands behind her back, bashfully, "Cousin Jiang Nian."

One had to admit, the few girls in Zhennan who played the forbidden-flavor game were truly born naturals at it.

One single "Cousin Jiang Nian" left his mouth parched.

Lin Yuxi wore her high school ponytail, with catfish-whisker bangs. A small melon-seed face, single eyelids, her youthful face really did have that little-cousin vibe.

"Little cousin" is just a cyber concept.

No one has any thoughts about a real cousin—they just want to slip into a virtual role, want to mess around with someone else's little cousin.

Online, it perfectly suits my taste.

In real life, avoid at all costs. Blech blech blech, get lost.

"Today might be your lucky day, senior." Lin Yuxi fidgeted, her face flushed red. "And also... mine."

Running into you is a lucky day?

You little punk, putting gold on your own face, aren't you?

Hearing this, Jiang Nian fell into thought.

"Really? A lucky day, huh...:::. Then what do you think about me confessing to someone else today? Maybe I could even pull off a gaming session right after."

"Not a chance!" Lin Yuxi's face immediately fell.

The senior's... uh... desires are way too strong—thinking about dragging some girl to game right after confessing?

Internet cafes are so chaotic! And dirty. The staff clean so sloppily too, how could you take a girl to a place like that!

You could just...::: go online at home! My place is plenty big.

"Senior, dating in Gao San only leads to a vocational college!" Lin Yuxi said, face tense, clearly not wanting him to date early.

"So what?" Jiang Nian said, utterly indifferent.

"Then... then why not confess to me instead!" Lin Yuxi was getting a bit desperate. "I'm clearly way fresher than those Gao San old-timers!"

Hey, what's that supposed to mean?

Looking down on Gao San old hags, are you?

But then again, Lin Yuxi really was pretty fresh.

Half a year into high school and she still carried that middle-school-third-year vibe. The type who'd post "missing those crazy people from middle school" in the middle of the night.

"That won't do, you're too young." Jiang Nian refused.

Lin Yuxi couldn't hold it in anymore and bit her lower lip.

"I'm not young. Wait... wait until next summer, and I won't be young anymore."

Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?

"You'd better be talking about age, stop thinking all sorts of random stuff all day." Jiang Nian was so straight he was almost perverse—he didn't like them young.

Lin Yuxi made a swallowing-anger expression and squeezed out a line.

"I am not yet grown; once grown, I shall be transformed."

"I think you're sick, I'm done talking to you." Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to argue, just waved his hand and walked off. "Bye-bye."

A few seconds later, Lin Yuxi caught up again.

"Senior, senior, did you sign up for tomorrow's soccer match?"

"Yeah, you stalking me?" Jiang Nian asked, puzzled.

"Nope, just happened to see the Gao San roster by accident." Lin Yuxi stuck out her tongue, playing cute.

"Brother Jiang Nian, can I come watch you play soccer?"

"That won't do—my girlfriend will be there," Jiang Nian said. "She gets jealous pretty easily, you'd get beaten up."

"Geigei feels sorry for me?"

"You're getting a sense of humor."

The little morning interlude with the low-score kid didn't disrupt Jiang Nian's rhythm of improvement.

Going up to the classroom, still hardly anyone there.

Thick morning fog. Standing on the fourth-floor corridor, outside was like a wall of white mist, visibility no more than four meters.

"Yo, guarding the camp at the door?" Li Hua drifted past, a pair of cleats hanging on his back. "Hurry it up."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian was baffled.

Turning his head, he found the person really was Li Hua. He waited a few seconds—it wasn't a hallucination. The sun really was rising in the west.

"Why'd you come so early?"

"Practice ball, want to go to the field?" Li Hua patted the shoes on his back. "Bought these on purpose, perfect time to try them out."

Jiang Nian shook his head, refusing on the spot.

"There's frost, it's freezing."

"Pansy!" Li Hua sneered, ran into the classroom, grabbed the soccer ball, and bolted. "Bro is Schwarzenegger—"

"Huh?" Huang Fang looked up.

"Ignore him, that idiot's lost it." Jiang Nian went back to his seat and started writing the test paper. "Silicate materials... murals."

A few minutes later, Li Hua came back on his own.

"Sorry, I overestimated myself."

The few people in the classroom looked up at the words, faces full of confusion as they looked at Li Hua. They saw him come back with his face covered in moisture. Jiang Nian pointed at him and made a Donnie Yen gesture.

Just as he was about to enjoy it, his phone buzzed—the class monitor had replied. He instantly lost interest in teasing Li Hua and tapped it open happily.

Li Qingrong: "You didn't wear pants."

Huh?

Jiang Nian was struck like a bolt from a clear sky. After thinking for a moment, he realized he really hadn't worn any last night—he'd just climbed into bed in his boxer briefs.

He rested his head on the desk, typing his reply with both hands inside the desk cubby.

"No way, Embracing Qingqing, did you flip my covers in the middle of the night?"

Li Qingrong: "No."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian couldn't figure it out no matter how he tried. Just as he was about to send something else, his mind buzzed again.

He froze for an instant, then summoned the system.

He tapped the quest panel twice—no anomalies. Skillfully opening the inventory, he saw a letter floating quietly.

Jiang Nian:

No way, bro.!. Shouldn't you be lying in my desk drawer?

Damn, a suicide note I can't shake off!

But because of a certain name, it didn't seem quite so terrifying. Just a bit hard to keep a straight face, even a little funny.

Was it because he'd just been chatting with the class monitor that it appeared again?

He reached out and took the letter out.

"Nian, what's that in your hand?" Li Hua glanced over, his eyes instantly going wide. "Holy crap, a love letter!"

Jiang Nian found it a bit hard to keep a straight face—this wasn't a love letter, it was...:

Wait, how could Li Hua see it?

"The Visible Hua Zi!"

That shouldn't be—yesterday he hadn't seen it either. He'd just taken it out so plainly, and in the end only the class monitor had seen it.

"It can't really be a love letter, can it

??" Li Hua was getting anxious. "Damn, you're just born lucky, eating well again."

"Stop it! Out there it's all betrothal gift bills!"

Jiang Nian waved him off, ignoring him. He stood up and headed for the restroom, opening the envelope along the way and glancing at it.

Sure enough, the part where the ink had warped now showed its contents.

"October fifth, I went back to Zhennan for a visit. He was engaged... He was squatting at the door teasing a dog, looked pretty funny."

Jiang Nian saw this and couldn't help rubbing his chin.

That doesn't add up, does it?

Was this really written by Qingqing? How could there be a bad review?

Even though it was only ten years later... he didn't mind, but what was this about looking funny? He wasn't some funny guy.

Keep reading.

"We didn't have much overlap, no reason to talk. He said you'd become a very impressive person someday.

That sentence became the boundary between us.

Early autumn, the weather turned cold.

We walked around the riverside park in Zhennan. He brought me a small gift—a blessed bracelet, said to have been consecrated.

At dusk, he barely spoke. He just introduced every plant and tree in Zhennan, as if trying to make the walk more interesting.

The only interesting thing in Zhennan was him.

The next day I left, and asked him if he wanted to go abroad with me. He said that line to me—you'll become a very impressive person.

On the way to the airport it rained. He stood on the other side of the rain curtain, like someone left behind in an old era, slowly yellowing and fading."

"Happy newlywed life."

Further down, nothing more.

Jiang Nian finished reading, and casually put the farewell letter into his inventory. The inventory chimed softly, and the farewell letter transformed into a string of bracelets.

【Blessing Bracelet】.

He turned it over several times — a red-cord braided bracelet. Strung on it was a wooden bead, he didn't know what kind of wood it was made of.

The color and style were rather plain, fitting his aesthetic.

End of the corridor.

"This thing... is way more auspicious than a farewell letter." Jiang Nian couldn't put it down, toyed with it for a while, then tucked it into his pocket.

The class monitor's personality seemed to have always been this cool and aloof. Even the final words were still concise in content.

Happy newlywed life...

Could only say, Aisin Gioro — hard to say.

Jiang Nian couldn't really comment on this. Could only say that the future self in the system's simulation might have really stepped into quite a few pits.

In the end, a great dream, muddled and hazy.

The farewell letter matter wasn't clear, but there should have been a chance to be together. But for some unknown reason,

she had actively refused.

Overall, the brain had some issues.

He went to the bathroom,

and returned to the classroom.

The classroom was gradually filling up. Li Hua was sprawled on his seat, and the moment he saw Jiang Nian come in, he immediately sat up.

"Where's the love letter?"

"Finished reading, threw it away. What about it?"

"A guy wrote it to you?" Li Hua's face was full of anticipation, the smile on his face barely contained, "That's why you're so hard to crack."

"A junior schoolmate wrote it, said she was asking me to go watch a movie." Jiang Nian casually made something up, "She said I could touch her thigh—" "Crap, sounds made up on the spot!" Li Hua wasn't jealous, instead he laughed out loud, "Hilarious, that big idiot's gone crazy."

Jiang Nian only glanced at him, and didn't say anything more.

Approaching morning self-study, Zhang Ningzhi arrived at the classroom first.

"Hello!" The beautiful girl greeted Jiang Nian full of energy, then turned and said, "Morning, Fangfang, group leader..."

3

"Ugh!"

"Crap!" Li Hua stared wide-eyed, face full of disbelief, "One after another, how dare they humiliate me like this!"

"No... group leader, sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." Zhang Ningzhi blushed, set down her backpack and explained.

"My mom's been making pheasant soup these past two days, makes me drink it morning and night. I'm almost nauseated from it, so... that happened."

"Isn't that pretty good?" Li Hua asked.

"Not good at all, drinking it makes me gain weight too." Zhang Ningzhi was a bit too embarrassed to say — when she drinks chicken soup, her chest gets bigger first.

"If you don't want to drink it, give it to me." Jiang Nian propped his head up with one hand, his side profile clean and smooth, and folded the test paper with one hand.

"Really?" Zhang Ningzhi would love nothing more than someone to share the burden with her.

It's just that this kind of soup isn't easy to share with others. After all, it involves food safety, and various dietary restrictions.

But if it was Jiang Nian, then no need to worry so much. For one, they're naturally close; for two, he's not a picky eater.

"Bring it, if you do I'll help you drink it." Jiang Nian didn't think much of it, "Don't worry, I'll wash it clean for you too."

"Hehe, okay." Zhang Ningzhi giggled foolishly.

She unscrewed the thermos, carefully poured a cup of freshly boiled hot water, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"What classes this morning?"

"English, math, physics, chemistry." Jiang Nian turned his head, casually squeezing her thigh, "What are you planning to do this afternoon since we have a holiday?"

Zhang Ningzhi was a bit shy and annoyed, but inevitably her attention was diverted by his words. She hesitated for a while before saying.

"This afternoon... I don't know, can I go watch you guys play soccer?"

After all, she and Jiang Nian had made that kind of promise using the class soccer match. A bit shameful, but... being able to win was for the sake of unity.

"Mm." Jiang Nian nodded.

They couldn't keep playing all afternoon either, and correspondingly there'd be more rest time. It'd be nice to have people come over in waves to chat.

"Okay." Zhang Ningzhi was very happy, but added another sentence, "I'll let you know in advance, if there's something—" "Come if you're free." Jiang Nian didn't even look up, continuing to look at the test paper, "By the way, how many points higher than me are you again?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ningzhi instantly tensed up.

Too terrifying, this person's subtext was clearly: next time I'll ruthlessly surpass you.

"N-not... not many points."

After a while, just before morning reading.

Yu Zhiyi was on her way back to her seat. Walking past the aisle where Jiang Nian's group was, she glanced at him.

Her heart was a mix of feelings, even a bit nervous.

The pre-appointed class representative... no, the deal for being elected class representative. In a blink it was already the weekend, already time to cash in.

Yu Zhiyi wasn't the type to go back on her word — had to say, still a bit... pervert.

Li Qingrong entered the classroom ten minutes before morning self-study, and along the way greeted Jiang Nian, her hand waving in a small arc.

"Morning."

Big break between classes.

The corridor was bathed in sunlight, the broadcast for morning exercises sounded. The class drifted out lazily, in twos and threes heading out of the classroom.

The sixth group had all left except Jiang Nian, who looked up from the pile of test papers. He turned his head to glance at the desk behind him—Li Qingrong hadn't left either.

"Got something for you."

"Mm?" She looked up.

Jiang Nian fumbled around in his pocket for a while, then stretched his hand out toward her. His palm slowly opened, revealing a red-cord bracelet.

"Wishing you peace and safety."