Chapter 405: I Said

Hmm?

A question mark slowly floated above Jiang Nian's head. He didn't quite understand why Xu Qianqian was asking that, so he typed back a reply.

"It's been over for ages."

A few seconds later, Xu Qianqian replied.

"Oh."

He knew Xu Qianqian only too well — she'd caught him sneaking out to have fun. If he didn't explain, this wasn't going to blow over easily.

So Jiang Nian decided to come clean.

"I really did go out for something, but it wasn't Zhou Yuting, it was another girl. I happened to run into her in the evening, so I went to her place for some tea."

"She slapped the keys to a luxury car into my hand and told me to drive whatever I wanted."

After a moment, Xu Qianqian sent back a question mark.

"Cut the cringe, who even cares about you. It's late at night and you're not even asleep yet — already off dreaming, are you?"

Seeing Xu Qianqian send so many messages, Jiang Nian knew he was safe for the moment.

When it comes to a friendship interrogation, there's simply no best move. After all, everyone has a few good friends, but no matter how you put it—

If you don't have the skill to fool heaven and cross the sea, then don't try to cover things up. Adding more suspicion only makes the whole mess even more chaotic.

He's not afraid of anything — only afraid of chaos.

It'll definitely blow up.

Good thing he isn't dating, otherwise with a situation like this he'd definitely be cut up piece by piece.

In this place called Zhennan, there are only two local specialties.

Sky-high bride price and love killings.

Tourist: "Bro, what's there to see in a single piece of old cured meat?"

Guide: "That was the only piece we managed to rescue."

Tourist: "?"

Jiang Nian finished blow-drying his hair and looked around.

The living room was empty; his parents had long gone to bed. At this hour he might not be able to reach Old Xu either, so he sent a message to Little Song.

"Ding ding ding."

Little Song wasn't asleep and sent back a puzzled emoji.

"What's up?"

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

On the other side, Song Xiyun was playing a match-3 game in bed. Faced with that accusatory tone, she immediately got a little nervous.

"I'm... about to go to sleep."

Wait, that's not right — why does he care whether she sleeps or not?

Song Xiyun frowned, deciding her next message would be a bit more assertive. But the moment she thought of those debts, she deflated again.

Forget it, let him do whatever he wants.

"Xu Qianqian's gone crazy, she's about to chop me up, she's sharpening the knife right now. Go chat her up, distract her a bit."

Song Xiyun bit her lower lip and typed back assertively.

"If you die, should I give the money to your parents?"

"No, girl." Jiang Nian tapped out a few question marks. "I'm screaming for help, and you're already thinking about how much to put in for the funeral banquet?"

"Already?"

"No, I just... I'm worried about your safety." Song Xiyun's face flushed all the way to her ears, and she replied anxiously.

"Besides, I can't even afford to put in a few hundred for the funeral banquet."

When he saw the message, Jiang Nian nearly spat blood.

"Then how much can you put in?"

In front of her phone, Song Xiyun stared at that question and felt her conscience and her wallet being roasted over a fire at the same time.

".... 50."

Seeing the number fifty, Jiang Nian completely lost it.

"???? Song Xiyun, feel your own conscience — is our relationship really only worth one Crazy Thursday?"

On the other end of the phone, Little Song was already breaking out in a cold sweat.

"We're totally innocent, you know."

"I know we're innocent — only the most ordinary relationship would put in fifty for a gift!" Jiang Nian stood on the chair in his room,

getting angrier with every keystroke.

Too lazy to keep typing, he simply tapped into a video call, ready to blast her.

The video call took ten seconds to be answered, and the camera was still facing the ceiling.

Song Xiyun said weakly, "What's wrong?"

"You tell me what's wrong?" Jiang Nian jabbed a finger at the screen and started blasting her. "What do you mean by fifty — does your conscience not hurt?"

"But..." Song Xiyun's half-face appeared on the screen cautiously. "My conscience doesn't hurt, but my wallet does."

"You're seriously so stingy — you have to save money even on funeral banquets." Jiang Nian was done, pointing and lecturing. "Fine, fifty it is."

"Go help me pester Xu Qianqian for a bit, don't let her chop me up."

"Huh?" Song Xiyun looked down at the screen; under the light her oval face was flawless and fair. "I-I... I don't know what to say."

"Cut it out — aren't you usually pretty talkative?"

Hearing that, Song Xiyun's face turned a little red.

Indeed, as long as Jiang Nian isn't around, she's usually quite talkative.

"Alright, I'll try."

"Mm." Jiang Nian ended the video call.

He stood in the room, glanced at the time, then pulled out his chemistry test paper from his backpack and sat down to continue writing.

No matter how big the matter, you still have to do the test paper.

Days must be lived one by one; in the end, it all comes down to grades. This was his "ticket," and he couldn't afford to fail. At one-thirty a. m., Song Xiyun sent back an emoji.

"(Exhausted)."

"We're done chatting. I'm about to sleep."

Jiang Nian replied instantly: "Okay."

Song Xiyun found it strange and asked curiously.

"Not sleeping?"

"Doing a test paper (photo)." Jiang Nian snapped a photo of the test paper and sent it over. "Alright, I'll treat you to dinner another day."

On the other side, Song Xiyun yawned and muttered to herself.

On the other side, Song Xiyun yawned and muttered to herself.

Saying this, she slowly crawled into her blanket. The warm embrace of the bed made the girl think of replying, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

She tapped a single "good" with her thumb and sent it.

A single "good," and his thumb pressed send.

Jiang Nian woke to his biological clock, stirring five minutes before his alarm rang—he knew that if he closed his eyes now, he'd be done for.

Those five minutes would devour the remaining hour he had left.

He took a deep breath, yanked off the covers, and got up. After pulling on his clothes, he washed his face and brushed his teeth with cold water, then grabbed his bag and headed out.

The morning sky was still dark, everything pitch black.

At the steamed bun shop entrance, he ran into Zhou Haifei, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. She still had one plain steamed bun and one mantou.

At the entrance of the bun shop, he ran into Zhou Haifei, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. She still ordered one plain bun and a steamed mantou.

A boy with a side-swept fringe ran up from the roadside, greeting her even earlier than Jiang Nian. His hair was damp with dew—he didn't look like he'd just happened by.

"What a coincidence, running into you here! But eating just this for breakfast—how nutritious is that? Don't you drink milk and eat bread...?"

Jiang Nian, seeing someone greet her, didn't go over. Instead, he walked to the soy milk stand and ordered two cups of hot soy milk.

The vendor was a woman in her forties, swiftly pouring two cups of soy milk from a large pot filled with yellow soy milk.

The shop owner was a woman in her forties, carrying a large kettle full of soy milk, and nimbly brewed two cups.

"Mm, already paid."

This shop's soy milk was rich and fragrant; compared to the one-and-a-half-yuan soy milk at the breakfast shop that tasted like water, it was only fifty cents more.

So, students on both sides loved coming to this soy milk shop.

Jiang Nian paid, picked up the two cups of soy milk, and walked across the street to the bun shop. He turned around and saw Zhou Haifei standing frozen at the intersection.

The boy stood beside her, saying something, his expression troubled.

"Just take it—I really mean no harm."

Zhou Haifei said nothing, only continued eating her mantou. She saved the plain bun for last—she was someone who practiced delayed gratification.

People who like delayed gratification tend to succeed more—that's common sense.

Jiang Nian walked over and handed her one cup of soy milk.

"Getting rich, Boss Zhou."

At this, both the boy and Zhou Haifei cracked.

Hearing that, the boy and Zhou Haifei both lost their composure at the same time.

"I specifically bought this—their bread is famous for being delicious," the boy said, glancing at Jiang Nian.

He wondered what kind of relationship Jiang Nian had with Zhou Haifei—whether he should make a subtle claim of ownership.

Seeing Zhou Haifei neither respond nor introduce the shifty-looking boy, he decided to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Zhou Yuebin, Zhou Haifei's childhood friend from the same village."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian nearly broke character.

"Hi, Village Horse."

Who the hell is Village Horse? I'm from your village... Zhou Yuebin swallowed the urge to curse, took a deep breath, and smiled at him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm just a friend who got rich with Boss Zhou—happened to be passing by." Jiang Nian grinned and made up nonsense.

Zhou Yuebin was speechless, thinking: Where did this lunatic come from?

"I'm just a friend getting rich together with Boss Zhou, happened to be passing by." Jiang Nian grinned shamelessly, spouting nonsense.

He also sighed in relief—this crazy, vulgar-speaking guy clearly wasn't a good person.

Poor Zhou Haifei, being harassed by these trash people.

He, as her childhood friend from the same village, had gone to elementary and middle school with her—he had an obligation to help her out.

"Don't bother her anymore. What class are you in?"

As her childhood sweetheart from the same village, they had at least attended elementary and middle school together, so he had a duty to help her sort out the trouble.

"Liberal arts? Do you know..." Zhou Yuebin turned to Zhou Haifei, only to see she had quietly taken the cup of soy milk.

In that moment, silence spoke louder than words.

"Liberal arts? You know..." Zhou Yuebin turned to look at Zhou Haifei, only to see she had somehow taken the cup of soy milk.

At this moment, silence spoke louder than words.

The words "You know people from the liberal arts class?" got stuck in his throat, and for a moment he couldn't make a single sound.

Zhou Yuebin had spent so much breath, yet Zhou Haifei remained unmoved, showing no intention of taking the bread from his hand at all.

Yet she accepted the soy milk from this good-for-nothing right in front of her.

At this moment, a strong young man's pride made his face flush red. Beyond embarrassment, there was also a faint trace of anger.

Unconsciously, in his heart, he looked down on Zhou Haifei from a superior position.

In the end, grandpa's done serving.

"In that case, I'll head off first." Zhou Yuebin left, walked a few steps, then turned back and offered Zhou Haifei some well-meaning advice.

"Haifei, you still have a bright future ahead. Don't betray your own heart just for a few small benefits."

Jiang Nian looked completely indifferent, watched the village horse leave, then turned to Zhou Haifei and said.

"Your village horse left, want to chase after him?"

Zhou Haifei: "...

Some people seem to be born with the ability to annoy people to death with a single sentence.

"If you're not chasing, then let's go." Jiang Nian had no mind to watch the drama either, yawned, "I'm in a rush to go upstairs and write a test paper."

Zhou Haifei hadn't expected him to be curious about nothing, and even rushing upstairs to write a test paper.

"Oh."

After entering the school gate, she thought for a moment and felt it wouldn't be quite right to say nothing, so she spoke up.

"I'm from the same village as him, they probably took money from his family."

"What the heck?" Jiang Nian was stunned.

"The money for coming to arrange a blind date, to inspect the family." Zhou Haifei's emotions didn't waver at all,

"Maybe a few thousand yuan, maybe ten thousand."

"Picked anyone?" Jiang Nian was amused.

Zhou Haifei glanced at the gloating Jiang Nian, and couldn't help feeling a bit speechless.

"I didn't go home."

"Then wasn't that a lonely blind date, Binbin's still pretty nice to you." Jiang Nian grinned, "His taste is ahead of its time, mainly what did he fancy about you?"

Zhou Haifei lowered her head, feeling the weight on her chest, her face completely hidden beneath her thick hair.

"I don't know, but my ID card is being held at home."

"Report the loss online." Jiang Nian said.

"Huh?" Zhou Haifei turned her head, "Can I?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian stopped in his tracks, slowly turned his head to look at the procrastinating Sister Feifei.

"No way, you don't even know this?"

"I don't know." Zhou Haifei shook her head.

"Don't you ask a teacher or something? Or maybe ask the police, the police here are all pretty nice, if you ask they'll definitely tell you."

Zhou Haifei fell silent, "I asked my roommate."

Jiang Nian pointed at her, "A bunch of cyber illiterates."

Zhou Haifei: "

At this point, the two had already walked up to the Gao San building.

Jiang Nian took out his phone, turned to glance at her, and said with a helpless look.

"Forget it, forget it, still gotta be bro to the rescue. I'll help you check it out first, remember to treat me to a meal at the cafeteria when you get the bonus."

Zhou Haifei thought of those few cups of soy milk, and nodded without hesitation.

"Okay."

Jiang Nian got the verification code from her old-fashioned phone, completed all the procedures, and finally paid and asked her.

"Fifty yuan, cash on delivery by postal service, want to do it?"

Hearing this, she was a bit conflicted.

"Why can't I pick it up myself?"

"Because the postmark on it from the postal service has legal effect, once you replace it you can use it for a long time, the one at home is about to expire."

"Mm!" Zhou Haifei nodded solemnly, "Thank you, friend."

"You're welcome, Boss Zhou." Jiang Nian waved his hand, hurried upstairs, "I'm going to write my test paper, let's get rich together when we have time."