Chapter 412: You break it off with Zhou Yuting first

Go shopping?

Jiang Nian hated shopping most of all; he'd rather squat by the road playing with trash than accompany a woman on a shopping trip. Almost on instinct, he said—

"I'm not going."

Li Qingrong immediately looked displeased and stared at him for a while.

"Why not?"

"No shopping, it's too tiring." Jiang Nian shook his head like a rattle-drum. "The shopping fund's no good, pick another one."

Hearing that, Li Qingrong gently bit her lower lip.

"Movie fund."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian was a little tempted. After all, it would be watching a movie with the holy Son of Heaven, but he could buy movie tickets himself.

Shopping, watching movies—why not set up a late-night-snack fund?

And then—

The class monitor is way too scheming, even using a beauty trap—this is tempting him to let himself go.

Then what about studying?

If he can't hit 650, how's he supposed to slurp his noodles?

"Movie fund works too, but I rarely go out to watch movies." Jiang Nian said solemnly, "During breaks I generally like studying at home."

On Li Qingrong's cool, clear face, her lips pursed in slight displeasure.

"Oh."

Jiang Nian: "?"

Going out to watch movies at most gets him a feel of a leg; doing test papers lets him slurp-slurp his noodles. Whether it's a good deal, he can judge for himself. Jiang Nian hadn't forgotten Old Liu's promised benefits either, but looking at the time, it really was a bit late.

So he dropped it, planning to collect them tomorrow.

The two walked side by side to the base of the Gao San building, just in time to see the teachers getting off work, while Qian Bao was leaning against the door of the English office.

The older woman had a bag in her hand and a grinning face as she looked at them.

"Oh, where did you two go?"

"Went out to watch a movie, why?" Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow. "Teacher, did you just remember something from twenty years ago..."

"You must have a death wish, Jiang Nian." Qian Bao's face instantly went dark as she smiled. "Twenty years ago I was still playing with mud."

"Still playing with mud at fifteen?" Jiang Nian was puzzled. "Then Teacher, you're quite the child at heart—slow to grow up."

"Eight years old! You're saying I'm old, aren't you!" Qian Bao's smile grew more and more chilling.

"Owowow, stop twisting..."

Li Qingrong watched them roughhouse, a smile on her face. She stood quietly by the staircase, her gaze slightly distant.

"Oh right, two boxes of gummies for you two." Qian Bao tossed Jiang Nian aside and clip-clopped back into the office—into the Sanban Sect classroom.

Fourth-period evening self-study, the classroom was a complete mess.

Under the snow-bright lights, Cai Xiaoqing saw no teacher on patrol. Too lazy to bother with discipline, she lay on her desk working on a test paper. Suddenly, two people came in at the door.

Cai Xiaoqing glanced over that way, then looked away. But she heard two soft plops—two gummies had landed on her desk.

She looked up and only saw Jiang Nian's back already wandering past.

"Where'd you buy the candy?"

Zhang Ningzhi's hand had been stuffed with a huge fistful of candy, a clatter of them filling both palms, so many she felt they were about to spill over.

"Didn't buy them, got them from the office." Jiang Nian returned to his seat. "We bumped into Qian Bao downstairs, she gave them."

Li Hua also got some candy; holding them in his hand, he squinted his eyes.

"Damn, why are these candies red?"

Hearing that, Jiang Nian's eyelid twitched.

"Let me see."

He leaned over for a look and instantly went numb.

The box of candy the older woman had given him was fine; the other box was meant for the class monitor—Li Qingrong had turned and given it to him. He peeled open the candy wrapper; inside was red.

Wedding candy, right?

Jiang Nian was instantly speechless, thinking no wonder Qian Bao, when she finally left, had not only a grin on her face but kept looking back every few steps.

Of all things to ship, shipping student CP.

"Oh, she probably bought the wrong thing." Jiang Nian changed the subject. "No wonder the school's in such a sorry state—it's exactly because there are too many careless teachers like Qian Bao."

"Hasn't the school always been like this?" Li Hua felt a bit uncomfortable and spoke up to defend her. "You're not allowed to talk about Qian Bao like that."

Jiang Nian: "Hm? Something's off with you."

"Forget all that nonsense, this candy is just weird." Li Hua coughed, put the gummy in his hand and examined it closely.

Huang Fang turned her head and couldn't help but speak up.

"Group leader, isn't it obviously you who's weirder?"

Li Hua was about to argue when he looked up and found everyone around him staring. Instantly breaking out in sweat, he said, utterly guilty—

"No, I just think Qian Bao's pretty nice."

"Ohhhhh!!!"

"Damn, there's a pervert here!"

"Hua, as they say, you've got to be the more repressed one." Jiang Nian seized the chance to fan the flames. "I think you've got a crush on—" "Eat shit, eat shit!" Li Hua went red-hot, springing up from his seat. "I'm leaving, can't be bothered with you lot."

"Hit the nail on the head, didn't they?"

"Must be—otherwise why such a big reaction." Jiang Nian and Zhang Ningzhi whispered. "Hua's a bit of a pervert, no two ways about it."

Zhang Ningzhi giggled and happily started chatting with him in a quiet voice again.

After school.

When Jiang Nian slung his bag and walked out of the classroom door, the phone in his pocket buzzed.

"Hm?"

He assumed it was a message from Zhang Ningzhi—after all, Baby Zhizhi had declared since yesterday that she wanted to connect with him seamlessly, online and offline.

A perfect fit..:.:. docking.

She meant chatting.

However, Jiang Nian froze when he pulled out his phone.

The sender wasn't the girl Zhizhi, but another boldly labeled contact.

【Less Hiss命】.

Because Lin Yuxi had given herself the QQ nickname Less Si Ming, the type who'd fantasize about being an aloof female lead.

Jiang Nian decided to satisfy her wish and changed it to Less Hiss命.

Less Hiss命: "Senior, my bed is so cold."

Bed?

Jiang Nian short-circuited for a few seconds, then remembered Lin Yuxi was a first-year high schooler, and wondered how she could be such a truant lazybones.

He walked down the crowded corridor with his bag, typing a reply.

"That's easy. Pee in your bed and it'll be warm."

Less Hiss命: "Senior, that's so gross."

One sentence, warming her for a whole blanket.

Jiang Nian took the spare moment going down the stairs to casually reply. "Don't worry about whether it's gross, try it first—you won't lose out."

"Yikes (vomit)."

"Vomiting into the bed works too, but you have to cover it up tight." Jiang Nian replied, "Otherwise it'll get cold fast, and then it won't be warm anymore."

"Senior, please stop." Lin Yuxi replied, "(cold sweat) I'm really about to throw up from what you're saying, I already dry-heaved just now."

"That's how pregnancy is, get used to it for a few months and then you give birth." After sending it, Jiang Nian tossed his phone into his pocket and went looking for Xu Qianqian.

"Where'd this gummy candy come from?"

"A female classmate gave it to me, first-kiss candy." Jiang Nian peeled one and tossed it into his mouth, "Try it, the taste isn't bad."

"Little virgin's got quite the imagination." Xu Qianqian tried one, then turned and asked, "What's a first kiss taste like?"

"We'll try it in a bit, we're free anyway." Jiang Nian shoved his hands in his pockets, gaining a bit of warmth in the winter night.

"Huh?" Xu Qianqian breathed out a puff of white air.

"That thing from last time, we didn't finish." Jiang Nian turned to look at her, "You looked really good then, I kind of regret not kissing you more."

"Ah?" Xu Qianqian was dumbfounded by the honeyed words he dumped on her out of nowhere, "...... you already kissed..... my neck."

She felt a slight puzzlement inside—how come Jiang Nian doesn't do any buildup at all now, just comes right out with such blunt words.

Where did he learn that?

At the same time, she found that line "you looked really good then" quite...:.. palatable, after all it was pretty dim and chaotic back then.

But that didn't mean she'd be coaxed into falling for it just like that.

"Then make up for it once more?"

"Dream on, you pervert." Xu Qianqian walked forward two steps, then walked backward facing him, "Next time, maybe."

"Next week?"

"No."

"Then the week after next."

"Also impossible, stop asking." Xu Qianqian ran a bit farther ahead, turned back to look at

him, "Unless you first and Zhou Yuting.....

"You have that kind of kink?" Jiang Nian was surprised.

"Get lost!" Xu Qianqian was almost furious to death at him, lifted her chin and huffed twice, "Break things off with Zhou Yuting first, then we'll talk."

Jiang Nian lowered his head and pressed his lips together, thinking through every sad thing in his life.

Hmm, Xu Qianqian saw him looking so dead, her brow arched. She hadn't wanted to say it originally, but somehow her emotions just flared up.

"What, can't bear to?"

In reality, he was thinking about where to find a snake-kiss tutorial.

"Huh?"

"Oh oh, that's not it."

Xu Qianqian heard him deny it, but he didn't continue. She instantly grew irritated, thinking to herself—is Zhou Yuting that great?

"Then what is it!"

"The fact is, she and I lost contact long ago." Jiang Nian turned and asked, "Does what you just said count?"

Gulp.

Xu Qianqian's face suddenly turned red, she stammered.

"Who cares about you."

After saying that, she just ran off directly.

Jiang Nian wasn't in a hurry to chase, trailing behind her at a leisurely pace. After rounding a street corner, he saw Xu Qianqian standing there waiting for him.

Seeing him dawdling, she started getting angry again.

"Walk faster!"

Hearing that, Jiang Nian couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, alright."

The two of them entered the alley and made their way home.

Beneath the pitch-black building.

The two stood side by side, a little distance apart, preparing to head upstairs.

Xu Qianqian's heart was a tangle of emotions; she glanced at Jiang Nian from time to time. Yet he didn't mention what had just happened at all, as if he had already forgotten.

In the darkness, she spoke up and asked.

"Really over?"

"What else? You think I'd keep messing around with her while playing you on the side?" Jiang Nian retorted, looking at her with calm eyes.

Bang!

The motion-sensor light was kicked on by Jiang Nian, and the two of them were less than half a meter apart.

Xu Qianqian's eyes were complicated; she turned her head away.

"Oh."

Night fell.

North District Girls' Dormitory Building 2, fifth floor.

Wang Yuhe hauled a bucket of hot water up to the fourth floor in one go; her hands had nearly gone completely numb. Just as she was about to set it down, Yu Zhiyi appeared out of nowhere.

"That's amazing!"

That single word "amazing" gave Wang Yuhe the strength to hold on. After taking a deep breath, she stubbornly hauled the water all the way up to the fifth-floor dorm.

The moment she stepped inside, she collapsed straight into Chai Muying's arms.

"I'm done for, my hands are wrecked."

Chen Yunyun had gone out to buy things and only returned to the dorm later. After learning the whole story, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

No—

After a few minutes, the lights in the girls' dorm went out.

When showering, it was still the two of them pairing up.

The cramped bathroom, the dim flashlight casting only a faint glow. They couldn't see clearly, just barely enough to make things out.

The splashing of water rose in the bathroom, halfway through washing.

Wang Yuhe suddenly spoke up, lifting her head to ask.

"Yunyun, do we have a secret base now?"

"Huh?" Chen Yunyun was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say on the spot. "I guess not, he didn't say..."

"But both keys are in our hands," Wang Yuhe said. "He said it himself, he won't go there even if nothing's going on."

Hearing that, Chen Yunyun didn't know what to say.

"Then I guess it counts."

"Then next time, can we go there to shower?" Wang Yuhe said softly. "Lately everyone's been complaining that the water at the hot water room is getting colder and colder."

Chen Yunyun hadn't thought much of it at first, but after hearing Wang Yuhe say that, she did feel it was a bit cold, and somehow agreed.

"Okay."

After washing up, she lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, and pulled out that key.

In the darkness, her gaze was faintly gleaming.