Chapter 403: My Home Is Actually Pretty Big

When Jiang Nian saw Li Qingrong's message, he couldn't help but slowly type out a question mark.

Wait, you've arrived?

What do you mean you've arrived? Did you flash-teleport here?

A few seconds later, Li Qingrong sent another message,

"Location?"

So the two of them turned on location sharing.

Jiang Nian tapped in and found that they really were both by the river, though their positions weren't that close—still two kilometers apart. After a while, he noticed the class monitor's location dot moving fast.

Hmm?

The class monitor must be riding a bike, he recalled she was still a few months shy of the legal age. Even if she wanted to drive, she couldn't get a license.

Sure enough, a few minutes later a white electric scooter pulled up by the river.

Li Qingrong was wearing a purple color-blocked windbreaker. She didn't even turn the key off before stepping off, the headlight piercing out a straight beam of light.

Night fog drifted, moonlight spilled across the girl's cool, porcelain-white face, the slender shadows beneath her lashes like ink bleeding through rice paper.

Jiang Nian swallowed, thinking to himself the class monitor was so fair-skinned, like an ice cream bar.

He was about to start licking his lips again.

He shook his head, somehow feeling the class monitor's whole look was a bit girl-slaying too. But that was normal—it slayed girls and boys alike.

"You were biking around here?"

Li Qingrong's eyes lowered. "My home is nearby."

"Oh oh, nearby..." Jiang Nian turned his head to look—a row of villas along the riverbank—and fell into thought.

So the class monitor lived by the river. Seemed like she'd mentioned it at some point.

Oh, she'd posted a photo once.

Wait, isn't that a bit too rich?

The riverside was fairly secluded, with little traffic. The straight-line distance to school was just over a kilometer; even walking wouldn't be far.

But the downsides weren't absent either—low occupancy. Lots of mosquitoes by the river, pretty dark at night, hardly anyone on the road.

Also, expensive.

"Why are you here?" Li Qingrong tucked the strands of hair the night wind had lifted behind her ear. "Just to... photograph the lights?"

Hearing that, Jiang Nian felt a little awkward.

No, the lights were set by me too.

"Ahem, I was just... taking a stroll at night." He looked elsewhere, bashfully saying, "And getting some fresh air by the river."

Li Qingrong hesitated slightly. "You're... not happy?"

"No, just did too many practice papers, rode out to get some air." Jiang Nian glanced at her, wavering over how to say it.

"Want to take a walk?"

"Mm." Li Qingrong nodded.

The scooter was parked by the road, key pulled out, and she walked off.

Jiang Nian returned his little yellow bike too, and walked along the river with Li Qingrong,

The night curtain was like a black sea.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and he turned his head to look at the class monitor,

"Cold?"

Li Qingrong's eyes lowered slightly as she wondered whether she was actually cold. The windbreaker blocked the wind, but she was dressed rather thinly.

She hadn't thought that much when heading out, just grabbed something at random and left.

"Not cold."

"Alright then." Jiang Nian took his bag in his hand and handed his jacket to Li Qingrong. "Make do with this draped over you."

She hesitated for a moment, vaguely recalling she'd said she wasn't cold.

"I..."

Jiang Nian saw that her face held no sign of refusal, didn't hesitate at all, and directly draped the jacket over Li Qingrong.

"I come here for walks sometimes, but always during the day."

"Mm?" Li Qingrong was still a bit dazed, a faint indescribable fragrance lingering at the tip of her nose. "I've never run into you."

Of course you haven't—Jiang Nian is blind.

He never wandered toward the river when he had nothing to do; there was only a riverside park here, and basically only young couples liked coming to this side.

A single dog like him taking a stroll—what a joke. Saying he walks during the day was just to keep Li Qingrong from getting a sudden whim and coming out at night where it'd be too dangerous.

Still, the walker persona had to be maintained.

"Oh, maybe I walk at pretty wholesome hours." Jiang Nian brushed it off casually. "High noon, absorbing yang energy."

Li Qingrong: "?"

Moonlight filtered through the sparse treetops, the winter night's cold wind howled, scattering broken jade across the ground.

The two walked a little further, neither speaking.

Jiang Nian suddenly turned his head and said something.

"You're the first person to walk by the river with me."

"Mm..." Li Qingrong's expression flickered with a bit of panic, her face turning the other way, feeling as though she somehow owed Jiang Nian.

After all, a first time is special.

But Jiang Nian really wasn't lying—he rarely came to the river. If you really pressed it, he'd only ever taken a walk with his mom.

That obviously didn't count, ruled out directly.

"Mm." Li Qingrong didn't know what to say. A normal person would just say "me too" and cancel it out.

Her mind hadn't caught up yet, just staring at the sense of owing him.

So she stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Nian turned back, looking a little puzzled. He felt the atmosphere was about right, that they could chat a bit—not like the meaningless small talk before, but to deepen their understanding of each other slightly.

But the moment he turned back, Li Qingrong had stopped walking.

He instinctively felt a little uneasy, unable to stop muttering in his heart. Secretly thought, damn, did I say something wrong?

Li Qingrong stood in place, pressing her lips together.

"Want to... want to come to my place?"

The night wind howled, sweeping away a string of question marks popping up over Jiang Nian's head. He was dumbfounded, even wondering if there was something wrong with his ears.

Jiang Nian rode the electric scooter, still a little out of it.

He forgot how he agreed, only feeling like it was a dream. He had originally wanted to refuse, but once their eyes met, his brain went offline.

"Are you sitting steady?"

"Mm." Li Qingrong sat in the back seat, keeping a fist's distance from him. "Sitting steady, just go straight."

"Oh oh, alright." Jiang Nian's mind was still a bit muddled.

Never thought there'd be a day when he'd ride an electric scooter in the middle of the night, with Li Qingrong in the back seat, heading toward her home.

A bit too fantastical, even TV dramas wouldn't dare film it like this.

Ask the class president, and she won't say anything.

Jiang Nian rode at a steady pace, secretly thinking to himself. Could it be that the class president had prepared herself, and the moment they walked in she'd knife him?

It couldn't be that bad, right?

Being tough doesn't work either, that's a bit too yandere.

The scooter rode into a villa district, and everywhere he looked were small villas of several stories. It didn't look deserted; the occupancy rate was probably not low.

The scooter stopped in the garage, and upon opening the door he saw two luxury cars.

No way, girl.

Jiang Nian suddenly didn't want to deepen his understanding with the class president. He usually muttered about getting knifed, but when there was real risk, he chickened out.

Students say "I'd rather die" with their mouths, but in reality they treasure their lives more than anyone.

Li Qingrong saw Jiang Nian staring at the cars and asked curiously.

"Have you got your driver's license yet?"

"Not yet, end of the month probably." Jiang Nian answered instinctively, then quickly caught on. "No, I don't really want to drive."

Li Qingrong didn't really understand the ways of the world, and usually couldn't be bothered to think about those things, but as a top student she was good at learning. She thought of how earlier, when she said she wasn't cold, Jiang Nian hadn't taken back his jacket, but had draped it over her instead.

So Li Qingrong pressed her lips together and said one sentence.

"Wait a moment."

Saying so, the high-ponytail girl ran into the house.

Jiang Nian thought she wanted to tidy up a bit, since he was basically an outsider. But soon, the class president ran back out.

"Hold out your hand," she said.

"Oh oh." He cluelessly held out his hand, then something was slapped into his palm. He looked down and immediately couldn't hold it together.

Holy crap, a car key.

"The other one... I haven't found it for now." Li Qingrong's voice was a little breathless. "I'll look for it again when we go upstairs in a bit."

"No need, no need." Jiang Nian was terrified, feeling tonight was a bit too surreal. "I... actually... don't really want to drive."

After saying that, he glanced at Li Qingrong's face.

The high-ponytail girl

said nothing, just standing across from him staring at him. Her expression was a little puzzled, with a hint of disappointment.

"But, after I pass my driver's license test, I can consider it." Jiang Nian changed his tune, stuffing the key back into her pocket.

"Mm." Li Qingrong nodded.

For a moment, Jiang Nian couldn't tell whether Li Qingrong was happy or unhappy.

After a while, the two went upstairs.

Jiang Nian knew the class president lived alone, so he wasn't too worried, but for his own safety he still asked.

"No cameras, right?"

Li Qingrong nodded. "There are, but only I can see them."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian let out a small breath of relief. He didn't want to one day be practicing underwater swimming in the Nanjiang River.

At the same time he was curious—what on earth were her parents thinking.

Li Qingrong looked at the empty living room, her eyes dimming, then turned to look at him.

"Shall we go to the room to talk?"