Chapter 424: A Hint of Charm

Jiang Nian could see the future.

Not the kind of future split five ways—that would be way too terrifying.

He couldn't exactly be called a scumbag right now; pure friendship couldn't ruin anyone. Whether it was the class president or Baby Zhizhi, the threshold was right there, blocking the way.

All he could say was that a five-way friendship couldn't end in a bad ending. (√)

With a buzz, a video call popped up.

It was from Xu Qianqian.

Jiang Nian picked up smoothly, only to find the phone's camera facing the dark night outside; Xu Qianqian's voice came from off-screen.

"It's raining!"

"Huh?" Jiang Nian froze, glanced for a moment at the wisps of rain drifting outside, and said, "Indeed. Let me taste what flavor it is."

", you're sick in the head." Xu Qianqian's tone was full of disgust.

"Then how about tasting you.....

Click—the call ended.

Jiang Nian glanced at the chat interface showing the call had ended, thinking to himself that Xu Shao really couldn't take a joke at all, and had a fiery temper to boot.

Thinking it over carefully, it was actually normal—if Xu Qianqian didn't have that personality, she wouldn't have kept this on-again-off-again thing with her future self.

But couldn't he just be honest and steady about it?

Jiang Nian stared at the ceiling, thinking that his future self should count as a good person, or at least kind-hearted.

Back in junior high, he had even, unable to stand some things, impulsively gone head-to-head with the other party until it blew up.

Directly or indirectly, he had also helped some people.

But some things, no matter good person or bad, without a ticket you just can't get in; miss the timing and there's nothing to be done.

God closes a door for you, and at the same time gives you an RPG.

He lived honestly, and in the end didn't even get to drink the water in the gutter. He struggled until thirty, gasping for breath, and hurried into marriage.

A complete defeat—in the blink of an eye, half a lifetime had passed.

If only he alone had bad luck, he could accept it.

But that wasn't the case—everyone's... wasn't great.

Gao San had less than half a year left; he just wanted to seize the 【timing】, to do the right thing at the right moment.

Buzz—a new message came through on the phone.

He rolled over to grab it, feeling a bit drowsy. Seeing it was Chen Yunyun asking how the afternoon juice tasted, he was briefly stunned.

"Did you drug it?"

Chen Yunyun popped out a message: "(hehe) Guess?"

"Was thirsty, drank it all. Now my stomach feels warm." Jiang Nian got up from the bed, went outside and splashed cold water on his face.

Back in the room, he pulled out the chair and sat down at the desk.

Click—he turned on the desk lamp.

As usual, he pulled the test papers out of his bag, laid them on the desk, then unlocked his phone and glanced at Chen Yunyun's message.

"Added just a tiny bit of sugar. (

Mischievous)"

Jiang Nian casually typed a reply, "Didn't I tell you not to add sugar! (serious)"

Chen Yunyun: "(eye roll) You didn't actually drink it, did you! Nothing was added, fresh-squeezed juice."

"I was tricking you too—drank every last drop." Jiang Nian casually opened the album, sent a photo of the empty cup. When the sniping goes up a foot, the counter-sniping goes up a yard—there are always masters out there.

After all, he was Embracing Qingqing's top disciple, so he'd taken the photo early in the afternoon, purely to be prepared.

If he couldn't handle a non-stick pan smoothly, it would really disgrace the school.

Why so careful?

Could only say it was something done in passing.

Chen Yunyun: "........ Fine."

Jiang Nian didn't let Chen Yunyun off either, turning around to snap two chemistry problems he couldn't solve and sending them to her, making her do problems in her blankets.

Can't out-argue her, then carry her off, let her settle down below.

After a while, he replied to the class president's message. He didn't mention the afternoon's events, only chatted a bit about the end-of-term provincial joint exam news.

Li Qingrong: "I heard the provincial joint exam is preparing to draft the papers, pulled a few teachers to write them."

"Mm, they're preparing." Jiang Nian typed a reply, "Six hundred and fifty points still demands too much skill—can it be lowered a bit?"

Actually, he was just probing out of habit.

The next second, Li Qingrong replied.

"No."

Embracing Qingqing teacher was unexpectedly strict today, rejecting the evil probe from Jiang Nian.

"Not a single point less."

"Alright then." Jiang Nian tilted his head back.

Then he chatted with the class president for a bit more, took a photo. After asking about two problems, he took a deep breath and continued burying his head in the test papers.

The next day.

Jiang Nian opened his eyes, crawled out of the blankets like a walking corpse. The cold air instantly wrapped around him tightly.

"Shit!"

"Damn, why is winter so freaking cold!"

In an instant, he was wide awake from head to toe. Thanks to his good health, otherwise such a shock in the dead of winter would easily make him shut down.

The living room was dim, and a rustling sound came from the balcony.

Jiang Nian knew it was raining, but it couldn't stop him from studying. While washing up in the bathroom, he lifted his head to look at himself in the mirror.

A little worn out, but full of spirit.

"Books contain golden houses, books contain sssllliiii."

Jiang Nian stepped out the door; opposite him, Xu Qianqian's pink sports shoes still sat on the shoe rack, clean and neat.

Luckily he wasn't an experienced pervert, or he'd already taken a sniff by now.

Outside the old building, the sky was still dark.

The rain was light, drifting as fine threads in midair. Drops struck the cement courtyard, pooling into streams that flowed into the drainage channels.

He opened a

black umbrella, took one step forward, and stepped into the rain.

With dawn not yet breaking and rain falling, the streets would be empty.

Jiang Nian walked all the way smelling the damp earth, bought soy milk on the east side, bought a rolled pancake on the opposite side. No mood to tease the baozi shop owner, didn't even glance.

After entering the school gate, he saw a figure in the rain-blurred basketball court.

It was a girl.

He'd originally planned to avoid her, but he'd already begun his life-or-death challenge: walking along the cracks of the storm drain tiles while counting to a hundred.

If he failed, he'd die.

So Jiang Nian kept walking, umbrella held high.

Any guy who'd played this challenge game would understand the prestige of this moment—a hundred counts was truly a man among men.

Ninety-two, ninety-three, four five six… seven eight nine, ten.

Jiang Nian stopped right near the girl, then began breathing heavily without warning, startling her.

"Huh?"

Don't 'huh' me, bro—I'm Li Hua from Olympiad Class Three. Even if I accidentally scared you while passing by, didn't you say thank you?

He was naturally cold and a bit morally deficient.

Jiang Nian was about to ignore the girl when his gaze flickered—he spotted a phone floating in a puddle, and was stunned.

"Classmate, your phone's in the water."

"Mm, I know," the girl said, holding her umbrella like a mushroom as she squatted on the ground, looking up. "I threw it."

The umbrella slowly moved aside, revealing a clean, unmade-up face.

The girl wore a purple down jacket that made her skin look very pale. Her grape-like eyes were round and bright, her hair slightly messy.

Squatting there, she gave off a sense of being clever yet not clever.

"This is my phone. I'm not sure if it's broken," the girl hesitated. "Oh, I've been squatting here for three minutes."

Out of kindness, Jiang Nian offered a reminder.

"If you pick it up now, it might still be salvageable."

Hearing this, the girl lifted the umbrella again, curiously glancing at this slender boy in a thin coat holding an umbrella.

"I want it dead. It's distracting me from studying."

What a "Human Smartphone Murder Incident" at Zhennan High—accidentally passing by the crime scene. Unintentional offense; I'm leaving now.

"Your phone…" Jiang Nian gave it one last look and warned, "It looks waterproof, so you…"

The girl froze, pulled the phone out of the water, and burst into tears, sobbing out a flood of words.

Repetition, grades, bombed the exam.

Jiang Nian glanced down at her, feeling no emotion whatsoever. You blame your phone for bombing the exam? You really are Judge Bao.

Since they were strangers, he offered a humanitarian consolation.

"Don't cry so fast, classmate. If you've got something on your mind, talk to the Olympiad Class Four top scorer who got over six hundred and twenty points."

Before morning self-study.

Zhang Nianzhi folded her umbrella in the corridor; raindrops traced a line on the ground, then vanished into the brick cracks. "Hi! Hi!"

After entering the classroom, she waved energetically at the abstract members of Group Six, her face glowing with collagen and vitality.

"Good morning, Fangfang."

"Good morning… why didn't you respond to me?!" She instantly puffed up, slapping Jiang Nian's arm. "Campus isolation!"

"Where'd you learn that word?" Jiang Nian yawned. "Why do you keep hitting me lately? You've got violent tendencies."

"It's all your fault… YOU!!" Zhang Nianzhi couldn't argue with him, huffed, and sat down. "Anyway, it's all your fault!"

Nonsense!

Unreasonable!

Oh, I often sneakily touch her leg—then it's fine.

But to be fair, Jiang Nian didn't touch her often. More often, he'd just casually rest his hand on her leg when no one noticed, feeling like it.

No rubbing back and forth, no epic inhalation of her hand. Just resting it on her thigh, tapping gently with his fingers.

At most, it was playful teasing to relieve study fatigue—nothing more, just a bit of fun.

"Fine, my fault," Jiang Nian didn't care much, turning to ask her, "Did Yao Bei Bei sleep with you last night?"

"Mm," Zhang Nianzhi lifted her chin, copying his catchphrase.

"When couples live together long enough, they start to resemble each other. Zhizhi's learned all the bad habits and none of the good ones. What do you do when you sleep together at night?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Pfft! You're the one who sleeps together!" Zhang Nianzhi blushed slightly. "We sleep on opposite sides. My bed's pretty big."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian couldn't hold back his laugh.

"Really?"

"Of course!" Zhang Ningzhi didn't realize what he was laughing about, her enthusiasm undimmed as she said, "We chatted until past three in the morning before sleeping."

"You can chat that much?" Jiang Nian followed up, knowing that as long as he kept flattering her, the little Miss would be happy. "What did you talk about?"

"Girls' secrets!" Zhang Ningzhi pressed her lips together and smiled.

"Auntie..

"It's not!" Zhang Ningzhi's face instantly flushed with anger, and she couldn't help but punch his arm. "You're so annoying!

"Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore!"

Having said that, she turned away, lay on the desk, and started doing her homework.

Jiang Nian was used to it, and glanced at the back seat. Li Qingrong hadn't arrived yet; she was probably going to show up a few minutes before the bell again today.

The privilege of being first in class, a seed student for Tsinghua and Peking.

"Damn! Today is really shit." Li Hua strode in through the classroom door. "

"Halfway there, my umbrella broke."

Jiang Nian sat at his seat, his gaze dropping as he glanced at Li Hua's pants.

"How did your pants get ruined?"

"Don't even mention it, f**king hell." Li Hua sat down and tossed his backpack onto the desk. "The breakfast cart moved its spot and snagged my pants and ruined them."

Hearing this, Zhang Ningzhi held a pen in one hand, a sympathetic expression appearing on her face.

"Group leader, you're so pitiful."

However, Jiang Nian and Ma Guojun exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

"Are you making it up?"

"Weak as a twig, got bullied by some kid on the road, right? On a rainy day your umbrella got smashed, and your pants got kicked open at the seam?"

"Shit shit shit! I am Zhao Zilong of Zhennan!" Li Hua pointed at those two bastards. "Shut up, I'm making a call to my mom."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian asked.

"What's up, gotta trouble our mom?"

"Probably rounding up backup, his mom's workplace is pretty chill." Ma Guojun said with a grin. "Probably calling in a parent to back him up."

"I'm asking my mom to bring me a pair of pants, otherwise my whole morning is ruined." Li Hua said as he dialed out.

"Shhh!"

The moment the call connected, Ma Guojun pinched his voice and said.

"Net manager, where's my instant noodles?"

Li Hua whipped his head around, pointed at the big fatty. He made a warning gesture and mouthed the words "your mom."

"Hey Mom, you got time to bring me a pair of pants?"

"Pants, what happened to your pants?"

Jiang Nian pinched his throat and tapped the desk beside him, saying.

"Mr., your breakfast has been placed at your door. If you need room cleaning service, please call the front desk."

The surroundings were bustling, but not exactly noisy.

It happened that Yao Bei Bei came over to find Zhang Ningzhi, and just as she hugged her she heard Jiang Nian pulling this stunt, so she casually pinched her voice and said.

"Um, checking out of room 304."

Li Hua was dumbfounded, staring dumbstruck at the ring of bastards around him.

"No Mom, listen to me. My classmates are just joking around, if you don't believe me I'll video call you, hey Mom I didn't...."

After a round of explanations, he hung up.

"You f**king people don't do a single human thing!" Li Hua was furious, pointing at Jiang Nian and Yao Bei Bei as he cursed.

"You guys are simply... working hand in glove in evil."

Jiang Nian grinned, taking no shame in it but pride instead.

"The wolf does look pretty good, but Yao Bei Bei indeed. I heard a狽's legs are very short, which fits Yao Bei Bei's image quite well."

"Get lost!" Yao Bei Bei was speechless, and used Baby Zhizhi as leverage against Jiang Nian. "Believe it or not I'll expose...::.. blow up for you to see."

She suddenly remembered that Jiang Nian also had leverage on her.

Unsolvable.

The rain fell all morning, and by 9:40 AM it still hadn't stopped.

During the long break, on the corridor, a circle of boys gathered watching the rain.

Lin Dong lay on the iron railing, gazing at the ring of rain outside the building and murmuring.

"Rain is really nice, no need to run drills."

"But rushing to school in the morning is a hassle, everything's wet and damp." Sun Zhicheng added. "Unless you drive."

"Couldn't get out of bed, overslept today." Yang Qiming complained. Now he and Lin Dong's relationship had recovered again.

"Did you write down the names?" Ceng You asked curiously.

"I wrote Class Four."

"That's not bad." Lin Dong gave a thumbs up, then looked at Jiang Nian. "Why does Brother Nian always come so early?"

"Studying, what else could it be." Jiang Nian looked at the curtain of rain, and suddenly remembered something. "Right."

"What?" Lin Dong looked at him.

"Last time you sent me, the off-campus apartment building for rent opposite Building Five, wasn't there a Gao Si senior who... what was it.

Hearing this, Lin Dong, Ceng You, and Yang Qiming all looked at Jiang Nian.

"Oh~!!!"

"And then?"

Jiang Nian turned his head to look at them. "This morning, I ran into a girl from Gao Si who also lives in that building."