Chapter 421: Pulling the Firewood from Under the Pot

"Actually, we've already started studying our next opponent."

Jiang Nian paused in thought, then delivered the classic trash talk.

"Class Four's starters can't dribble, can't pass. Sloppy footwork, slow reactions—not a single one can fight."

King doesn't meet king, general doesn't meet marshal.

This is a must-know piece of common sense for any beginner learning the rules of Chinese chess.

Besides, the match isn't that important.

As for why Jiang Nian took it seriously at first—it's because the unknown is the greatest source of fear,

but starting from the first school football match, he'd already gotten a rough read on every team's strength. Basically a bunch of pushovers.

At most four teams are worth watching, and Class Three is one of them.

Four into two—a few dirty tricks and we win.

The real difficulty is the final match to compete for the Campus Cup. There's a special class in it, half the team are sports students.

All I can say is, damn it.

Life is already this hard, why expose it. If the starters die, this will be the most hopeless year for Class Three to take the championship.

Both publicly and privately, he had to put in some effort—instead of becoming useless.

"Mm." Li Qingrong sounded a little reluctant.

"It's fine, next time's the same view." Jiang Nian offered some comfort, then asked, "Have your parents come back yet?"

"No."

"Oh, alright." Jiang Nian nodded.

Li Qingrong's parents still had a pretty strong oppressive presence, but he didn't necessarily have to stand against them—after all, the college entrance exam wasn't far off.

"When the general is in the field, the sovereign's commands need not be obeyed"—what's Zhennan count for?

"Bring you water this afternoon?" Chen Yunyun turned and asked.

Before the lunch break.

The girl squinted slightly; the iron railing was warm from the sun, and the wind blew through her long hair, bringing a faint fragrance.

"What fresh-squeezed juice?" Jiang Nian waved his hand. "Honestly, I'm not used to that stuff, don't bring it, don't bring it."

Chen Yunyun: "?"

She thought for a while—if buying juice, she'd have to leave school to get it. If she skipped the self-study period and went to the west gate to buy...

Going right after class, it probably wouldn't delay things.

"Hehe, look at this." Wang Yuhe ran over excitedly from the corridor to show them. "My hair's completely dry."

Ever since Jiang Nian had taken that small room for six months' use at nine hundred, the two girls no longer had to rush back to the dorm to wash their hair.

Just plug in the hair dryer—easy as pie.

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun also recalled someone saying they might stock up. So she turned and looked at Jiang Nian, asking curiously.

"When are you going to start putting things in?"

"This... in a while, why?" Jiang Nian said.

He thought to himself that he'd have to wait until the next system mission was issued.

After all, if it was just earning a thousand yuan, there was no need to be so dramatic about stocking up—one trip as a scalper flipping cards would do it.

If it's earning ten thousand, then we'll talk.

"N-n... nothing." Chen Yunyun's face grew a little warm, and in her heart she became even more certain that the so-called "using it as a storage room" was just an excuse.

The truth is, no one ever believes it.

"Jiang Nian, look—do you think my hair's dry?" Wang Yuhe said eagerly, rubbing her hair. "First time it's dried this fast!"

Jiang Nian lowered his head. "Let me see."

Saying so, he pinched up a strand of Wang Yuhe's hair and looked at it for a while. He made as if to spit on it, scaring Wang Yuhe into a yelp.

"Get away from me!"

"What, already scared to tears?" Jiang Nian pouted, let go of Wang Yuhe. "Be tougher—real men don't cry easily."

"Hold your head up, don't be such a sissy!"

Then he took a solid punch for it.

Lunch break.

Jiang Nian was still doing test papers; the difference was... Chen Yunyun was wearing Bluetooth earphones, sitting in Li Hua's seat doing homework.

He couldn't help turning his head, tapping Chen Yunyun's earphone with his finger,

and she took off the earphone with a puzzled look, mouthing silently.

"What?"

Jiang Nian nodded, held his palm up toward her, and lowered his voice.

"Let me listen."

Chen Yunyun said "oh," obediently handed the earphone to him. Her index finger unconsciously grazed Jiang Nian's palm, and her heart tingled.

"Here."

She watched Jiang Nian put the earphones on, and immediately lost the mood for homework. She lowered her head and fiddled with her phone, carefully arranging the playlist.

After finishing, she cautiously glanced at Jiang Nian; seeing no particular expression on his face, she both breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little disappointed.

Meanwhile, the girl was torn between hope and fear.

Jiang Nian, on the other hand, grew sleepier the more he listened, his eyelids getting heavy. Before one-thirty, he just slumped right onto the desk.

Pressing the earphone, he slowly closed his eyes.

Clang.

Jiang Nian slowly came to, opening his eyes in a daze.

"You're awake?"

What met his eyes was Zhang Ningzhi's face, watching him with curious eyes. She wore a calm smile on her face, a little unsettling.

Gulp— his pupils instantly contracted.

Realizing he hadn't turned into a girl, he finally let out a breath of relief.

From now on, he really had to focus all his energy on studying.

Wine and women have led me astray!

"Mm, yeah, I'm awake." Jiang Nian rubbed his face, then glanced at her again. "You changed clothes at noon, looks pretty nice."

"Yes." Zhang Ning

zhi beamed, then added, "Oh right, Beibei will be sleeping with me these few days."

"Why?" Jiang Nian asked knowingly.

"Just a small matter."

"Oh oh, then when you sleep you have to protect yourself well." Jiang Nian stood up, preparing to go outside the classroom to relieve himself.

"Huh?"

Zhang Ningzhi immediately caught on, and said with a stern little face,

"Don't talk about Beibei like that, she hasn't been saying bad things about you lately. You two argue all day, can't you just get along peacefully?"

A girl's best friend is a strange thing— before she's in a relationship, she can even indirectly influence her taste in romance; after she's in a relationship, she instead urges her to break up and get back together.

Logically speaking, if you want to win over a girl, even if you don't curry favor with her best friend, at least don't be at odds with her.

However, Jiang Nian didn't listen at all.

A woman's words are just for listening; getting along peacefully with Yao Beibei isn't hard, it's just that when the time comes Zhang Ningzhi will be unhappy again.

"Fine, fine, depends on my mood." Jiang Nian said casually, "I'll treat her to a meal another day, get down on my knees and beg her to stop hitting me."

Zhang Ningzhi immediately puffed up with anger and pinched him.

"Why not treat me?"

Well, that's quite a novel point of focus.

"You want to hit me too?"

Just then Li Hua and Ma Guojun walked in, and overheard Jiang Nian and Zhang Ningzhi talking about some hitting or not hitting matter.

"Opening thunder strike, what the heck."

"Don't get it."

"City folks are all like this, my classmate's older brother graduated college and went abroad right away, either got electrocuted or ended up in Cambodia debt."

Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to listen to these people shooting the breeze, stood up and headed out to relieve himself.

A bunch of wallflowers.

Regarding the afternoon's match, he had racked his brains arranging it. But this wasn't his limit, just an unintended gain.

After coming out of the restroom, Jiang Nian went straight downstairs into the office.

"Teacher."

Friday afternoon, the first period was Chinese.

Old Liu was leisurely drinking hot tea, and seeing Jiang Nian wander in from the door, he immediately set down his teacup and raised his hand to beckon him over.

"Jiang Nian, come sit, have some tea."

During this period, he had experienced the thrill of being a head teacher. A clean winning streak, the additional strategy with the most comments.

The ultimate booster, please take a seat.

Hearing this, several teachers in the office turned their heads to look at the student at the door, their gazes shifting from puzzlement to scrutiny. "Jiang... what? That student who improved by two hundred points?"

"Class Three also took the pot-throwing championship a few days ago, right? I heard it was a double championship, really daring to think and daring to do."

"Liu Laoshi's luck is really flourishing this year, having a class pillar is one thing. Now he can win any award, completely

overshadowing Class Zero."

"The Olympiad class's level has surpassed Class Zero, Liu Laoshi's class is the real Class Zero."

The teachers in the office still had some skill when they spoke— some were teasing, some were passive-aggressive, mixed together it was quite harmonious.

"Teacher, I'm here to talk about the afternoon self-study." Jiang Nian ignored what the office teachers were saying and got straight to the point.

"You know, it's just a match. No need to delay the class's study time, let's not put it on."

Old Liu often showed off, so he was used to the sour remarks in the office.

"After all, it concerns the class's honor..."

"Guaranteed win."

"Then studying is still more important, let's talk about it when it's time to compete for the championship." Old Liu's demeanor suddenly changed, and he started grinning again.

One sentence "guaranteed win," then another "compete for the championship." The two of them sounded like they were doing a crosstalk routine, stunning all the teachers in the office.

Encountered a campus show-off monster, gave it everything and still couldn't win.

The bell rang.

The dynamic duo of show-offs left, and a few teachers left with equally complicated expressions, leaving only a few head teachers in the office.

"Hilarious, the school focuses on grades, extracurricular sports are just icing on the cake."

"Indeed, our class isn't that eager to win the championship either."

"Liu Liangsong has always been a show-off, this year he finally let a petty person get his way. Got lucky with the city meet and drew good students."

"Forget it, say less."

"Fair point, this guy is probably going to get promoted next year. By then, he might already be the head of the Chinese group."

"If it's the Academic Affairs Office Director's Assistant, wouldn't that be even scarier?"

"How could that be possible? Unless his class produces a whole bunch of C9 seeds. Even Zero Class can't do it, let alone him, Liu someone-or-other?"

The teachers had only been half-teasing at first, but once that line came out, the atmosphere in the office instantly fell silent.

"What if?"

Ten minutes until the next period.

Old Liu stopped lecturing and suddenly swept his gaze across the class.

"Let me announce something. The students playing in this afternoon's match may leave the classroom. The rest of you, stay in the classroom for self-study."

The moment the words fell, the class reacted in all sorts of ways.

"Dammit, no audience now?"

"The opposing class has cheerleaders and ours doesn't? What's even the point of playing this match? I might as well just go hang myself."

"True." Jiang Nian nodded, maintaining neutrality. "But then again, self-study is only twenty-five minutes."

"The match hasn't even played half of it yet. There'll be cheerleaders."

Of course, some of the class had lost their fresh excitement. Watching one round of the match and not wanting to watch more was only natural.

Besides, not everyone cared about the collective honor.

Take the transfer student Xie Zhihao, for example. He had no sense of belonging to Class Three, and in his heart still considered himself part of the Zero Class tier.

He was still thinking about his chance encounter with Xu Yuanshan this afternoon, planning to use an indirect strategy. First, he'd win over the uncle, then win Xu Shuang's heart.

Xie Zhihao was quite proud of this plan.

He believed his was the proper, classic pursuit—letting affection grow over time, then naturally walking into the warm halls of marriage. The classroom was noisy, the discussion unending.

Chen Yunyun let out a soft sigh, feeling a touch of disappointment. If they had to do self-study, she'd inevitably miss the opening ten minutes.

"I just hope Jiang Nian takes his time getting on the field, so I don't miss too much."

The sixth group.

Zhang Ningzhi was even more depressed—she couldn't even watch ten minutes of the match. Lying on the desk with puffed cheeks, like a fish blowing bubbles.

"This afternoon, I'm going home with Beibei to get clothes."

"Then go. No need to watch the match." Jiang Nian pretended to sound regretful, though inside he could barely hold back his smile.

Single-handedly, he had saved a life.

The afternoon classes passed in a flash.

Jiang Nian put down his pen, and under everyone's gaze walked out of the classroom. He didn't dare look back, afraid that one more glance would make him burst.

Fortunately, the class monitor didn't follow.

Today was the obedient version.

In the hallway, the team was full of grievances, all attacking Old Liu.

Jiang Nian stayed silent, trying to minimize his presence. He figured once they finished attacking Old Liu, they wouldn't come after him.

They arrived at the third floor.

Before he even looked up, he heard a familiar voice.

"Jiang Nian, over here!"