Chapter 426: The Squawking Roast Duck

The two of them were hauled up by Qingbao and made to stand at the back door of the classroom to listen to the lesson.

"I'm done for, Qingbao definitely doesn't like me anymore." Li Hua held his book, looking utterly wretched. "Damn, it's all your fault."

Jiang Nian: "???"

The kid has been transported by land again, so much he's started hallucinating.

Overcast. It had rained in the morning, and by afternoon the outdoor temperature was low; the wind blew and it was bone-chillingly cold.

The classroom lights were bright, the door tightly shut.

"'Carrier proteins exist in...:'" Qingbao stood at the podium going over the test paper, guiding the students to give the answer,

"Right..."

"... exist in the membrane, like hemoglobin transporting oxygen. And what else? Does anyone know another kind of protein?"

"Recognition proteins, glycoproteins." Jiang Nian said.

"Right, and also..." Qingbao's sweet voice came through the little bee amplifier, echoing through the drowsy classroom.

The back row was like a warm stove—spacious and free.

Li Hua sidled over shamelessly, not afraid of Qingbao's wrath—after all, she couldn't make him roll out—so he bumped Jiang Nian with his shoulder.

"Nian, do you think there's any of those proteins on the mem~brane?"

"Qing Penpen, you two are disgusting?" Yu Zhiyi from the back row of the first big group turned around, looking at them with utter disdain.

She wore a campus jacket over a goose-yellow fleece straight-cut coat. Her chest was slightly puffed, the curve not very pronounced.

"Never would I have thought you two were this kind of people."

Hearing this, Li Hua's face immediately turned red.

"No, what I meant was... was... anyway it wasn't that meaning. It's all Jiang Nian's damn fault, he said it first."

No wonder they say Zhennan has a lot of Guinan people—there's some truth to it. Li Hua, get out, don't embarrass us Zhennan people.

Jiang Nian glanced at Yu Zhiyi, not a ripple stirring in his heart.

"Shut up."

Yu Zhiyi was left speechless, her mouth sealed shut by Jiang Nian's two words. Her lips parted, but she truly couldn't get a single word out.

I... I'm the class representative!

Of course, Jiang Nian also knew she was the biology class representative. Eaves drip where they may, each generation inherits the next—Yu Zhiyi could only endure it.

Pillow talk—who doesn't know how to whisper it.

During the twenty-five-minute afternoon self-study period, Old Liu hauled Jiang Nian away.

In the office.

Old Liu didn't really have any serious business with him, just tossed Jiang Nian a bag of potato-wrapped fish—round all over, a thin slice.

Golden yellow, fluffy and crisp. It didn't look particularly oily; a small piece of fish meat bulged from the middle, and the aroma wafted out.

"My wife fried too many. If you don't want them you can share them with friends."

Jiang Nian rarely heard the word "wife"

from other people's mouths, and immediately felt Old Liu was quite the traditional sort.

"I love eating them. The teacher's wife fried these potato-wrapped fish—color, aroma, and taste all in one."

Hearing this, Old Liu's expression eased slightly.

"She liked eating them as a kid, so she later specially bought that round spatula. The taste is about the same, but it's not as fragrant as when she was little."

"I think it's pretty good, I really love eating them." Jiang Nian picked up a disposable cup and sipped tea.

He figured Old Liu's job didn't pay much either. The teacher's wife still had the mind to fry these—the family really wasn't short on money.

Old Liu, oh Old Liu, look at you with your bushy brows and big eyes.

Never expected you'd be a kept man too.

Hmm?

Wait, why did I say "too"?

"Cough cough, let's talk business." Old Liu looked at him. "The provincial joint exam is coming, only half a month left. Do you have any thoughts?"

"Score a few more points?" Jiang Nian said hesitantly.

He had been deeply influenced by Qingbao and had already taken the shape of a non-stick pan. Unless Old Liu made the situation clear, he absolutely wouldn't take a stance.

"Then you this...:..." Old Liu laughed awkwardly. "If you score more points, you definitely have to score more points—isn't that just stating the obvious?"

"The point is, what goal are you setting?"

"What do you think, teacher?" Jiang Nian sipped his tea, sizing up Old Liu, while Old Liu was also sizing him up.

"Last time you scored 620, this time just..."

"610, teacher." Jiang Nian cut Old Liu off. "Rounding up, it's just a bit over 610."

"Anyway don't worry about it, that's your number." Old Liu hesitated a few seconds. "How about this—set a goal of 640?"

"Is there a reward?"

"There is. Once the provincial joint exam ends, it'll be New Year too." Old Liu said vaguely. "From the school's side, there should be a red envelope."

"Do you know the specific amount?" Jiang Nian asked.

"It depends on your grade ranking. If you score high, naturally the red envelope will be big too." Old Liu coaxed patiently, glancing at Jiang Nian.

"Give it a shot, have a good New Year?"

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, thinking to himself that Old Liu was quite the version-foresighted one.

"Alright, let's set that for now."

Hearing this, Old Liu hesitated again.

"Um, what ranking would 640 get. It mainly depends on the difficulty of the test paper, so don't let your guard down." "Mm mm, got it." Jiang Nian put down his tea cup and stood up, grabbing the potato-wrapped fish. "Then teacher, I'll head off first."

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a few little trinkets on Old Liu's desk.

Rubber ducks, rubber pigs — squeeze them and they squeak.

Old Liu followed his gaze, a question mark slowly floating up above his head.

"Teacher, can you give me one?"

After school.

Jiang Nian walked into the classroom for a look around. Seeing that only Li Qingrong hadn't gone to eat yet, he gave her the rubber duck. "Squeeze it and it squeaks. Pretty fun."

Li Qingrong took it and squeezed it between her fingers.

"Squeak!!"

The rubber duck let out a shriek that sounded rather tragic. It caught the attention of Cai Xiaoqing nearby, who couldn't help glancing over a couple more times.

The class monitor nodded, set it down on the desk with an expressionless face.

"Thanks."

Jiang Nian was a bit hungry, so he ran off to eat.

Cai Xiaoqing turned to look at the class monitor and saw Li Qingrong pick up that roast duck. She tucked it into her pocket, stood up, and headed out of the classroom.

In her heart she wondered — could the class monitor be going out to play?

All she could see, though, was her retreating back.

During evening self-study, the potato-wrapped fish was divided up among a group of boys.

At the same time, math had commandeered one evening self-study period for an exam.

Before that, the number of test papers for each subject was written on the blackboard, and a dozen or so papers per subject came fluttering down like snowflakes.

"Damn it to hell — Sunday only gets half a day off, how can they hand out this many papers?"

"What a crock of shit, how are we supposed to finish them?"

"As long as I don't fail, that's good enough."

"Slander — this is outright slander!" Li Hua flushed red, turned his head, and looked at the unmoving-as-a-mountain Ceng You the Great in the row ahead.

He patted him and asked curiously.

"You doing the papers?"

Ceng You was reading a big xuanhuan novel — the protagonist had ambushed an enemy faction. Unable to win, he just ran, developing himself while fighting back with surprise counterattacks.

After being patted by Li Hua like that, his excitement was patted right out of him.

"I'll copy a few and that'll do."

Jiang Nian shot them a glance and shook his head with a tsk.

"You guys are truly fucking degenerate."

Zhang Ningzhi scooted over, glanced at him, and asked curiously.

"You doing the language arts paper?"

"Mind your own business." Jiang Nian said.

She immediately fell silent, and in her little mental notebook she furiously jotted down another mark against a certain someone — she'd settle the score with him slowly later!

Hmph! Bullying me!

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Nian caught a glimpse of Zhang Ningzhi lying on the desk doing papers again. Suspicious, he wondered to himself — why is she angry every single day?

Forget it, ask first.

He scooted over and glanced at Baby Zhizhi from the side.

"Are you crying?"

Zhang Ningzhi couldn't hold it in for a second and burst out laughing with a poof. Then, feeling a bit embarrassed, she smacked him.

"You're the one crying!"

The math exam began, like a time-devouring beast.

Look up, look down — two hours vanished in an instant. After the papers were collected, it was already the third period of evening self-study.

Jiang Nian thought about the problems he couldn't solve just now, his brows furrowing slightly.

Math — the eternal pain.

At this moment, Yao Bei Bei walked over to the side of the sixth group.

"Jiang Nian, switch seats with me."

"I'm done with you guys — you have to cuddle even during evening self-study?" Jiang Nian stood up with his test paper. "Can't you chat when you get back at night?"

"What do you know — girls' business, butt out." Yao Bei Bei was quite domineering. "Also, don't touch the snacks in my desk."

Hmm? There's a buffet too?

After switching seats, Jiang Nian rummaged through her seat. He found a few snacks he liked and gobbled them, and along the way swiped a box of drink.

"You're at it again?" Yu Zhiyi turned her head and asked.

"Shut it."

Yu Zhiyi: "...

... You're sick in the head!"

"You even know how to read people?" Jiang Nian was surprised and asked curiously. "After gaokao, you're not gonna apply for a medical major, are you?"

Zhou Yuting in the row ahead listened to the two of them bickering.

Her mood was slightly complicated.

She thought of Jiang Nian's grades again, and her gaze instantly dimmed. The provincial joint exam was right around the corner — could she still win?