Chapter 423: Hugging Qingqing (Thanks to Alliance Leader A-Daidai-Da-Shixiong for the tip!)

"Is that so?"

Jiang Nian didn't pay much attention, quickly shoving the meal card into Chen Yunyun's hand.

"Stop talking nonsense about aluminum and copper—let's speak Chinese. You're the most beautiful; take this card and swipe it, I'll treat you all to dinner."

Saying this, he hurried away.

Chen Yunyun stood frozen, hearing nothing else. Her ears filtered out only one phrase: "You're the most beautiful."

"It's not..."

Wang Yuhe heard nothing else, only the word "dinner."

"Yay, dinner!"

Let's just say, everything's fine, everything's fine.

Jiang Nian treated everyone, taking the Class Three team out to dinner. He didn't pick a small eatery but chose a higher-class restaurant.

"Holy shit? So generous?" Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses, stunned, "Advance bonus payout, is it?"

"Maybe. Byd, Jiang Nian won't make us split the bill, right?" Li Hua poured tea to rinse the bowls, "I'm not paying a cent."

"No problem, I'll get a few girls to cover it." Jiang Nian unconsciously showed off, "I'll take the loss, sell my body to treat everyone."

"Chi Shi!" Li Hua snapped, yelling, "You damn bastard, you're not even pretending anymore—you're getting girls to split the bill?"

Lin Dong immediately lost his appetite and put down his chopsticks.

"We don't have to eat this meal—can you cosplay as a sun doll right outside the classroom?"

Fat Ma Guojun nearly spat out his drink, "This guy deserves to be arubed! Go find girls from the class..."

"Wait! You mean girls from our class, right?"

Jiang Nian smiled without answering, sticking to his principle of a clear conscience.

"Guess?"

"You fucking—"

"Chi Shi!"

"Drag him into the bathroom and aruba him right now—I can't take it."

Sun Zhicheng's emotions were most complex; he raised his glass, then put it down. But winning the match had diluted some of his melancholy.

After all, they were just one match away from lifting the championship trophy.

In the past, he might have worried over every detail. But after learning that secret, half his anxiety had already settled in his stomach.

Jiang Nian would undoubtedly choose the class monitor.

To say he wasn't envious was impossible. After all, the class monitor was a beautiful girl whose grades, appearance, and family background all exceeded standards.

But he knew well: contentment brings happiness.

Once they were together, his chance would come. No matter what, he was constantly 【31】 improving, not wasting his time.

Progress, rather than idling away the days.

Sun Zhicheng couldn't help thinking of Xie Zhihao, always putting on airs. Day after day, he carried the zero-class attitude, never knowing what he was doing.

The dinner table was noisy, and under Jiang Nian's lead, everyone started showing off.

"If you ask me, six hundred points are just stray dogs..."

"Throw this idiot out!"

"My parents said that once I turn eighteen in a few months, they'll buy a house in my name. I'm fucking tired of it—just stuck with a mortgage."

"Fuck, this guy needs to be cremated."

In the classroom.

Of the group returning from the off-campus dinner, only Jiang Nian looked calm. The others were either flushed or shut down.

Even Ma Guojun had drunk a little by the end.

Technically, Gao San students weren't allowed to drink.

But after being suppressed for so long, the second group dinner was simply uncontrollable. The guys' mood had risen, and drinking came naturally.

Li Hua was the weakest—he vomited a rainbow. He kept his wits until returning to school, but once back in the warm classroom, he shut down completely.

Jiang Nian collected the meal cards on the table, guessing they were Chen Yunyun's repayment.

"What evening study session?"

Zhang Ningzhi turned to look at him, reluctantly saying one sentence.

"Chinese."

"Oh, then I'll do some chemistry." Jiang Nian raised his eyebrows and grinned, "By the way, how was your afternoon?"

"It went fine." Zhang Ningzhi's puffed cheeks softened as he asked about her, "Why?"

"Nothing much, just curious what you're doing tonight." Jiang Nian pulled out a test paper, brushing it off casually.

"Nothing special—just sleep, right?" Zhang Ningzhi asked curiously, "Maybe chat a bit."

Zhang Ningzhi wasn't the only one unhappy—neither was the class monitor.

Li Qingrong had been sent out by him to buy things in the afternoon and hadn't spoken to Jiang Nian all evening, ignoring his attempts to talk.

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you talking? You're being kinda weird."

Jiang Nian gently squeezed Li Qingrong's clean, pale, slender hand, making a fake-thought gesture—perhaps the class monitor was just naturally quiet.

"Seeing you're not upset, I'm relieved."

Li Qingrong gazed at him quietly, helplessly. She lowered her eyes to the test paper, continuing to hold her silence against Jiang Nian.

The entire evening study session, Old Liu never showed up.

The third period evening study was English; Qian Bao wandered through the classroom, originally intending to ask Jiang Nian if he'd passed Subject Two.

But seeing him diligently writing the exam paper, she gave up. Glancing around casually, she spotted Li Hua fast asleep, head down on the desk.

"Why are you sleeping again?"

Qian Bao patted Li Hua's shoulder, and immediately caught a faint scent of alcohol. Her brow furrowed as she began tugging his ear.

"Wake up. Did you turn my last words into wind passing through your ears?"

"Ssshhhh!" Li Hua opened his eyes, recognized Qian Bao, and snapped fully awake. "T-T-T... Teacher Jiang Nian, sitting nearby, chuckled, put down his pen, and looked up.

"Even though we all noticed, you didn't need to write that character so many times on purpose, did you?"

Hearing this, Qian Bao smiled a cold, dangerous smile.

"Both of you... get out here!"

Evening self-study vanished in the blink of an eye.

As the bell neared, Li Hua finally woke up. After being dragged out by Qian Bao for a scolding, he returned to the classroom and fell asleep again. He tilted his head slightly and saw several stacks of chemistry exam papers piled on Jiang Nian's desk.

Just before the bell rang, Li Hua finally came fully awake. After being called out by Qian Bao for a talking-to, he turned back to the classroom and slept another nap. He tilted his head slightly and saw the several sets of chemistry test papers Jiang Nian had stacked on his desk.

"Fuck! You got your old man drunk just so you could crush yourself with problems and beat me in the next exam, right?!"

"Jiang Nian, you're such a sneaky bastard!"

But before the main target could reply,

Zeng You, who had watched all night from the front row, turned around. He grinned at Li Hua and spoke in a muffled tone.

"Didn't Jiang Nian already surpass you in the last joint exam?"

"Yes, Team Leader," Zhang Ningzhi, idle and bored, chimed in. "Team Leader, you've fallen behind a lot."

Li Hua nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, clutching his chest.

"If I die, what's in it for you?"

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, paused thoughtfully, then said:

"Can you get me a small loan before you die?"

"Also, the funeral banquet in Zhennan tastes great—I haven't eaten it in ages. As your classmate, can you fulfill this wish for me?"

"Also, the funeral banquet food in Zhennan was pretty good — I haven't had it in ages. As your classmate, can you do me that favor?"

"Dingdong! Students, class is over..."

After evening self-study ended.

Li Qingrong lowered her head, packing her things. Finally, her face no longer wore its usual cold, detached expression. She felt gloomy inside—she hadn't been able to watch the match this afternoon.

Li Qingrong lowered her head to pack up her things, and her face was finally no longer that cool and detached expression. Thinking about how she hadn't gotten to watch the match that afternoon, she felt sullen and out of sorts.

She slung her bag over one shoulder and walked out of the classroom, instinctively heading toward the stairs near the cafeteria side.

Blending into the crowd, her expression returned to icy coldness.

Below the Grade Three building.

Jiang Nian gazed at the dark night and the dense crowd. His brow slightly furrowed as he spoke to Xu Qianqian beside him.

"Wait for me a moment—I forgot something upstairs."

"Pfft." Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes, glancing at the packed crowd. "Hurry up. I'll wait for you right by the school gate."

"Alright." Jiang Nian said, then vanished into the crowd.

【Verification】 Already used today. Only 【Precision】 and 【Fishing】 remain usable—both are micro-concept skills.

Finding one person in the chaotic post-evening-study crowd of Grade Three was clearly difficult. Jiang Nian could only try his luck.

Within a small radius, knowing Li Qingrong's usual route and timing down the stairs,

【Fishing】 combined with 【Precision】 triggered a response—like a sixth sense awakening, vaguely pointing him in one direction.

Jiang Nian moved against the tide, carving a faint, blurred path through the darkness, like a fish swimming upstream in a river of night, leaving behind faint ripples.

【Fishing】 combined with 【Precision】 triggered a reaction, as if a sixth sense had been activated, vaguely pointing him in a direction.

Li Qingrong descended with the flow, steps slow. She pulled out Bluetooth earbuds from her pocket and slipped them into her ears.

Her head still buzzed, dull and heavy.

Just downstairs, she walked a stretch along the tree-lined path. Perhaps because of her mood, she avoided areas lit by streetlights.

She hesitated—should she take a walk before returning?

As she thought this, her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure—walking toward her against the crowd, arriving before her in moments.

Even here, near the dark grove where light was nearly nonexistent, her heart began to race.

Li Qingrong looked up, lips slightly parted.

Even though this place was close to the pitch-black grove and the light was even dimmer, his heart began to pound faster.

The next instant, the boy, carried by a whisper of air and night wind, opened his arms and embraced her tightly.

"Don't be mad."

In that moment, Li Qingrong instinctively closed her eyes.

The faint warmth and Jiang Nian's scent filled her nose; her mind went utterly blank, her body freezing stiff.

She remained stunned for several seconds before reacting.

Slowly, she shifted her arms, pressing them against Jiang Nian's back. Only for an instant—but her emotions flooded over instantly.

Her breath burned hot, like water just boiled.

Her reply came with a soft nasal tone, like a long-suppressed sigh after years without sunlight.

His breathing was scalding hot, like water that had just come to a boil.

The embrace lasted only seconds before they parted—more for comfort than anything else.

"Mm."

The embrace lasted only a few seconds before they pulled apart, more out of comfort.

Jiang Nian knew, however, that he had no choice but to do so. If he let the class monitor carry that mood overnight, next time he would probably crash and burn.

But if he resolved this problem, then the class monitor would only remember this moment — the feeling of reaching the "peak."

Because the human brain's cognition is biased: even if one's mood is low all day, as long as one feels an extreme burst of joy at the very end,

then, when recalling the day the next day,

the first thing that comes to mind is also that "peak" moment, producing the impression that, although... it was still a fairly happy day.

"Alright, it's getting late. Let's head home and keep talking." Jiang Nian made a phone gesture and slowly backed away.

Li Qingrong nodded, her gaze

chasing his silhouette until it vanished into the light.

The moment she lowered her eyes, she couldn't help but smile softly, then gently pressed her lips back into a line.

School gate.

"What took so long?" Xu Qianqian said, a little displeased.

"Crowd." Jiang Nian casually draped an arm over Xu Qianqian's shoulder, letting go after a second. "Let's go, let's go, my treat for a late-night snack."

"Pfft, as if anyone cares." Xu Qianqian turned her head and shot him a look. "Unless today's something different — boiled rice cakes."

"Sigh... fine, then." Jiang Nian agreed readily enough. "By the way, did your class say anything after losing the game?"

"What else could they say? Curse your class out." Xu Qianqian and Jiang Nian walked off into the distance, their voices fading. "Said your class was underhanded."

"That's a bit unfair.....

Jiang Nian busied himself for over half an hour, taking a quick combat shower while the rice cakes boiled, even drying his hair right there in the kitchen.

Jiang Nian ate a bit of the late-night snack with her, chatted for a while at Xu Qianqian's place, then took off.

Back home, he replied to the messages on his phone first.

He lay sprawled out on the bed, stared at the ceiling, and let out a quiet breath.