Chapter 414: Tug of War

Jiang Nian wasn't targeting Yu Zhiyi—after all, nobody dislikes Little Yu.

So she remained popular.

But some people are only meant to be friends: with friends, they lead with loyalty and righteousness. The moment they fall in love, they lead with torment.

"Take that!" Yu Zhiyi punched him and lifted her chin. "How dare you talk to the class representative like that?"

Jiang Nian almost lost it laughing.

This woman had lost her mind, couldn't tell who was boss. A tool of labor, and she still dreamed of entering the village to vie for the position of Hokage.

Does she even know who the rightful one is! (Tactical lean back)

"Forget it, afraid I'd just be giving you a good time." Jiang Nian pointed at the woman who might be a bit psychologically twisted, then scurried off.

Jiang Nian returned to the classroom and greeted Cai Xiang.

"Took the morning off."

"Oh oh, alright." Cai Xiang nodded—bought off, she was easy to talk to. "When you go off-campus, stay safe."

Jiang Nian: "....... Okay."

Cai Xiang was already showing faint traces of Old Liu's style.

Pick a day, and she could be replaced.

Coach Lao Tian had asked him last week which day to schedule the test, slapping his chest and declaring that once it was booked, he could go take it. Weighing the options, he chose Thursday.

He returned to his seat to pack his things—Chinese class later. Perfect timing to go out and take Subject Two; wouldn't be a waste of time.

Suddenly, his clothes were tugged.

"Where to?"

"Nowhere, took leave to buy you a gift." Jiang Nian shot her a glance and said casually, "Aren't you unhappy?"

He always felt Baby Zhizhi had been a bit strange these past two days. Seemed angry, but the moment he teased her, it didn't seem like anger anymore.

Could only say, a woman's heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea.

But he hadn't thought much of it—after all, he hadn't even touched the class monitor's head these past two days. Leading with being well-behaved, keeping a low profile.

Truth was, there were just too many things going on; he didn't want to add any extra trouble. Once this stretch was done, he'd go back to touching heads as usual—forget not the初心, and one shall reach the end.

"Hmph, don't believe it!" Zhang Nianzhi instantly realized he was going to take his driving test. "Liar, always loves tricking people."

"True, I don't even have money to buy a gift." Jiang Nian nodded. "You figured it out—pretty smart."

Zhang Nianzhi puffed up with anger, death stare.

Stare—Jiang Nian, playing dumb while knowing full well, gave her shoulder a squeeze before leaving.

"Fine, I'll steal my dad's retirement savings to buy you one."

"Don't!" Zhang Nianzhi's shoulder down to her spine instantly grew hot, as if scalded by hot oil. "Just go."

"Haha." Jiang Nian left.

Zhang Nianzhi pulled out her notebook to fan herself—thankfully, they'd just finished running exercises. Plenty of people in the classroom were fanning themselves, so she wouldn't

look strange.

School gate.

Jiang Nian smoothly handed over the leave slip and exited through the main gate. After scanning the street, he spotted Coach Lao Tian's car—thud—he got into the passenger seat and pulled on his seatbelt.

"Let's go, Coach."

"Alright." Coach Lao Tian floored it, and the car immediately headed toward the Zhennan Vehicle Management Office. "Want to practice a couple of rounds?

1

Jiang Nian shook his head. "No need, it'd be a waste of time."

Hearing that, Tian Yongsheng didn't mind much.

Anyway, there were two chances at the test—if he got failed halfway, he'd just try again, or simply make it up next time.

What mattered was the boss's emotional experience. Lao Tian actually hoped for a bit of trouble—that way he could show his usefulness.

"Then I wish Boss instant success."

"Hey, Coach Lao Tian, that's a bit passive-aggressive." Jiang Nian, completely relaxed, leaned against the passenger seat and grinned.

"You're not... hoping I'll mess up, are you?"

Tian Yongsheng instantly felt guilty, thinking: this guy is part fox, right?

"How could I?"

Taking the chance to check the right side mirror, he glanced at Jiang Nian. Found the student with his eyes squinted, seemingly already asleep.

Tian Yongsheng: "

At the entrance of the Vehicle Management Office, Jiang Nian got out to buy water.

When he came back, he had a black bag in his hand. After taking his own water, he tossed the bag onto the back seat with a clatter.

Tian Yongsheng's eyelid twitched—he'd been a coach for ten years.

He'd long since mastered the skill of identifying cigarettes by sound: two rolls of the cigarettes in the back seat bag, and he could tell what grade they were.

He didn't mention it, just gave Jiang Nian an extra glance.

"Boss Jiang, wait here a moment. I'll go find someone to ask first."

"Mm."

After getting out, Jiang Nian took a casual stroll. The people waiting for their numbers on the first floor were basically seated according to driving school.

"Coach, how long until it's our turn?"

"Soon, soon."

In reality, this kind of exchange happened several times in just three minutes.

Some coaches could get the privilege of cutting in line, some could queue normally. And some had to wait from morning until afternoon.

In small towns, all resources are tied to personal connections.

After a while, Coach Lao Tian returned.

"Let's go, get ready for the test."

"Oh, okay." Jiang Nian didn't dawdle; he followed to the waiting area and picked up his test number.

As he was about to lock his phone in the locker, it vibrated softly.

Li Qingrong: "Ready for the test?"

"Waiting." He replied, then suddenly realized something was off, "Huh? Isn't it Chinese class right now?"

"It is." Li Qingrong replied.

Jiang Nian's head instantly filled with question marks, then a message popped up in his QQ small group.

Precisely speaking, it was a three-person group.

Wang Yuhe: "You skipped class! (Hands on hips)"

Jiang Nian: "Didn't Old Liu show up?"

Chen Yunyun chimed in: "The homeroom teacher came, but left again for something. The class is unsupervised now—everyone's studying on their own."

"Oh, okay. I'm waiting for the test at the vehicle management office." Jiang Nian took a quick photo, "I have to hand in my phone—I'm going in."

Chen Yunyun: "Mm-hmm."

Inside the testing area, Jiang Nian looked up at the big screen—their test number was in the second group.

Fortunately, he didn't wait long; the group ahead failed at lightning speed.

Jiang Nian didn't dwell on it long—he heard the examiner calling his number. He froze for an instant, then grinned broadly.

He got in the car and waited for the start signal.

Reversing into the garage, parallel parking—he completed both as accurately as ever.

Just then, an incident occurred right before the downhill section: the driving test field lost signal, and the exam was paused.

Some candidates stopped before the uphill, others stopped during parallel parking.

Jiang Nian was just one S-turn away, so he kept his foot on the brake, calmly waiting, and glanced back at the other test vehicles.

After twenty minutes, the signal returned to normal.

The announcement came: all candidates may resume.

Jiang Nian sped through the S-turn, completing all parts of the driving test with smooth precision, then got out after hearing he passed.

Thud!

The examiner walked over and pointed toward the entrance.

"Go sign there, and you're free to leave."

"Mm."

Jiang Nian retrieved his phone and found dozens of new messages—mostly from the small group; the class monitor had sent only one: "There's a tug-of-war this afternoon."

He scrolled through them briefly but didn't take it seriously. Gao San often held activities to help students relax.

Tug-of-war didn't take long—it was over in less than a minute.

So he opened the class group (No Snitches) and checked the "list"—taken by Liu Yang, handwritten on the blackboard.

After joining, he felt his nickname clashed with the group's vibe, so he changed it to "Fandou Garden Zhuangzhuang."

The group had already hit 99+, since most students had phones.

The list had only sixteen names, mostly boys.

Jiang Nian saw his own name, then Ma Guojun, then Li Hua. The big fat guy was clearly there as a counterweight—he didn't understand why Li Hua was on it.

"What's Li Hua?"

Soon after, someone replied instantly.

Riding Grandma Across the Road: "Chi Shi! Chi Shi!"

Duck in the Alley: "True, Li Hua's as skinny as a stick. But no big deal—our rival class's main guy just got dumped."

Mean Boar: "Bro Dong, how do you know that?"

Duck in the Alley: "（Sunglasses）Business secret."

If You're Not Cruel, You Can't Stand Firm: "There are so few girls. Why is Yu Zhiyi even on it? Where are all the strong ones?"

This was a clear sign of insufficient social experience—no wonder Liu Yang was the PE monitor; he saw things clearly.

With Yu Zhiyi on the team, their chances of winning were much higher.

Forget everything else—Hua Zi would pull his arm out of joint.

Fandou Garden Zhuangzhuang: "@... Bro, how cruel do you have to be to stand firm?"

Instantly, the group exploded with laughing emojis, then began endlessly repeating, "@..:. Bro, how cruel do you have to be to stand firm?"

After a while, Yang Qiming changed his name.

Shy Since Childhood: "Fine, let Yu Zhiyi be. But where did Yao Bei Bei get her strength?"

Fandou Garden Zhuangzhuang's Mom: "Who are you talking about?"

Jiang Nian directly messaged Yao Bei Bei: "You changed your name? How cheap is that!"

Yao Bei Bei replied with a "Try and kill me" emoji, then sent another message.

"So what?"

Jiang Nian ate lunch outside, bought some small trinkets girls liked at the school gate, and walked into class carrying a bag.

Back at his seat, he pulled out the lunch card he'd slipped to Liu Yang at noon and shoved it into his pocket.

After a while, he received a message from Chen Yunyun.

"（Picture）."

He opened the photo and saw it was the house he had rented yesterday noon, now neatly tidied up.

To be honest, having a house really can't do without a girl.

The room had been transformed into two completely different states, utterly changed from when he first rented it.

Not only had the dust been cleaned, but a hairdryer and a hot water heater had been bought, along with hole-free hanging baskets and a basket for storing toiletries.

Yes, there was a place in the corner of the room where you could shower.

It was simply a poured concrete platform, with drainage connected, directing water down the steps into the gutter outside the door.

With just this simple setup, it really had that feel.

But I wonder how the soundproofing is?

After all, if the two of them like singing in the shower, they might easily disturb the teacher upstairs at noon—it's worth paying attention to.

Jiang Nian typed a reply, "All set?"

"Mm." Chen Yunyun replied instantly, then added, "Oh no, the small door's locked, we can't get back in."

Here it comes. 」

Jiang Nian glanced at the time; the lunch break bell rang beside his ear.

He thought for a moment, walked over to Liu Yang's desk, pulled out a pack of Yuxi from his bag, and sent Liu Yang fifty yuan.

"Borrowing this."

Liu Yang replied instantly, "Father, I bow to you—help yourself."