Chapter 431: Have You Raised Me?

The scene cut, the final shot showing the plane landing in South City.

The suitcase rolled down the corridor, the image gradually dimming.

Jiang Nian pulled back from the fragments of memory, staring at the pitch-black ceiling of his room, lost in thought.

From his ex-wife's perspective, her life before the blind date was thin. Memories were relatively few, and the exact ages of both sides couldn't be determined.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that his future self, after starting work and before the blind date with his ex-wife, had a few very shallow intersections with her.

He was twenty-eight when he went on the blind date with his ex-wife, and Xu Qianqian had even specially flown back.

She opened with a kick to the chest—clearly not acting.

There was a two-year gap, and at thirty they married. The wedding left relations with his ex-wife very strained, and later he saw Embracing Qingqing get into trouble.

He smoked in the stairwell, and hurried into marriage.

At thirty-two, the midlife crisis erupted. At thirty-five he lost his job, and arguments exploded. Finally, at thirty-eight, they divorced.

He lit a cigarette in the ruins, reduced in people's eyes to someone who hadn't tried hard enough.

In the room.

Jiang Nian, who had no sleepiness, sat up from the bed, threw off the covers, got dressed, got out of bed, and returned to the desk.

Click—the small desk lamp turned on.

He pulled out a test paper, intending to make up for the slacking-off portion. Not that he was being some grind, but because effort could be seen to pay off.

As long as he scored six-fifty, the payoff would be considerable.

It's hard for a person to understand, at a certain moment, the meaning for the future. You only know education matters when your career hits a wall, but that's not your fault.

People with vicious hearts will keep piling on the pressure. For instance, someone richer than you works harder than you—go find your own problem.

How does one life compare with a dozen or even infinite lives?

Blame yourself for everything—when your kindness gets trampled, blame yourself; when you work hard and can't earn money, blame yourself.

When you can't afford the bride price, blame yourself; when your marriage fails, blame yourself.

When a person dies and the tally is done, the young master is MVP. The destitute are all lazy dogs unwilling to study, unwilling to better themselves.

Really... you son of a bitch.

Jiang Nian knew well that his middle-aged failure wasn't because he hadn't tried.

Effort doesn't guarantee success—sometimes the chance just isn't given to you. It just toying with you, driving you mad.

Since he'd seen the future through the system, he wouldn't let his life drop points.

Well then, bringing it back around.

Studying is the best way out for young people. Like playing a game—first pick up the weapons along the path, max out your constellation, fill your talent inscriptions before leaving the newbie village.

"Jiang Zi Quans Learning."

After finishing the test paper, Jiang Nian felt he was truly a modern-day Xunzi, damn it.

Entering the game himself, wholeheartedly exhorting study.

The next day.

Jiang Nian patted his face and climbed out of bed.

While washing up, he looked at his haggard self in the mirror. He suddenly felt a bit of regret—last night he'd really been showing off too much.

Hot blood surged to his head, and he banged out the test paper.

Out the door.

Jiang Nian stared at Xu Qianqian's shoes at the doorway, watching them steadily for several seconds.

Not because he wanted to vent, but because his head was a little dizzy.

Forget it, forget it—don't wait till afternoon, turn on 【Heal】. Don't really die; this kind of pulling an all-nighter isn't recommended.

Heal activated, and his whole body felt relaxed.

Alive again.

Jiang Nian bounced off to school, buying a serving of buns from the owner of the bun shop. He hadn't had them in too long—time for a change of taste.

He didn't run into Sister Feifei—how come this person got richer and even stingier?

Saving up for what?

After entering the classroom, as always, a single shout.

"Morning, Empress Fangfang!"

No response.

"Huh?"

Jiang Nian leaned over for a look—Empress Fangfang was sprawled on the desk asleep. Her whole person was listless; clearly running a fever.

"You're sick?"

"Just a small cold, a nap and I'll be fine." Huang Fang didn't want to trouble others.

"Indeed, this kind of small cold is merely a fatal wound." Jiang Nian nodded. "In my past life I just toughed it out."

Huang Fang: "... I'll go get medicine at noon."

This person's a crow's mouth—truly vicious beyond measure.

"How foolish, Fangfang!" Jiang Nian set down his backpack, pained. "Li Hua's got medicine in his drawer—purely wild-grown."

"Isn't that not great?"

"Just put it on my tab—it's not like I'm not drinking it as a beverage anyway." Jiang Nian didn't care. "Oh right, he's also got a big pack of banlangen..."

Morning self-study.

"Eat shit, eat shit!!" Li Hua clutched his head and let out a piercing shriek. "Jiang Nian, you absolute bastard!"

"Are you fucking Shennong?! Drinking medicine like tea!"

"What's up?" Jiang Nian looked completely indifferent, picked at his ear, and said, "I picked it up off the ground, how would I know it's yours?"

"Are you out of your mind!" Li Hua exploded. "Byd, the medicine was in the drawer—how could you not say it was wild-grown?" "'On the ground' means it's wild-grown, right?" Jiang Nian said, then quickly redirected the fire. "Ma Guojun, what do you think?"

The big fatty grinned and pushed his glasses up.

"Get me a pack."

"Get lost, you're all freaking crazy, even wanting to taste the medicine!"

This redirect worked very well. Li Hua immediately started going at Ma Guojun, and soon the two of them were trading barbs.

Jiang Nian stole a moment of leisure and even managed to chat with Zhang Ningzhi.

"What did you guys talk about last night—"

"—what?"

"Hmph, not telling you!"

Huang Fang drank the medicine and recovered some energy. She was now standing on her seat, head lowered, doing morning reading. Worthy of Empress Fangfang.

Pure willpower, the path of the ordinary.

"Cab! Cab!"

Li Hua read aloud loudly, drawing Jiang Nian's attention. Who would've thought—lazy dog Li Hua had actually recited from A all the way to C!

Baby Zhizhi was also surprised and exchanged a glance with Jiang Nian.

"The group leader seems serious this time. If he can get to C now, pick up the pace and play it steady, maybe he can..."

9

"Then test him."

"Oh, okay." Zhang Ningzhi leaned forward slightly, looked at Li Hua on the other side, and said, "Group leader, how do you spell 'block'?"

Hearing this, Li Hua immediately froze up.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

He couldn't say it, because he'd forgotten every word he'd recited. He only remembered 'abandon' and 'bad'—he couldn't recall the rest at all.

Every time he thought about two people who scored above 130 in English sitting next to him, he'd get so jealous he'd crawl on the ground in the shadows.

"I forgot."

Jiang Nian immediately grinned. "That's what I said."

"Heh, thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west." Li Hua said nothing, just lowered his head and loudly recited vocabulary. "Cave!"

Morning self-study ended.

Zhou Yuting lay on the desk and slept for a while, dreaming she was in the provincial joint exam hall. She couldn't solve a single question and woke up with a start.

She checked the time—only six of the ten-minute break had passed. She felt dazed, as if she'd slept for ages.

The moment she thought of the provincial joint exam, she couldn't fall asleep again.

For Gao San's science classes alone, the Olympiad Class 3 was now the top class below the Zero Class, and the academic pressure was immense.

This class...

Zhou Yuting turned her head and caught in her peripheral vision her deskmate Yang Qiming, his face planted on the desk, asleep. His mouth was slightly open, drool slowly trickling out.

It was foreseeable that once the water supply succeeded—

—it would be a three-thousand-foot waterfall plunging straight down.

Thinking of this, her whole body went rigid. Finally unable to hold it in, she pulled out a tissue and placed it in the drool's path.

Hopefully it'd do some good. This class was too abstract.

She thought of Jiang Nian and couldn't help sighing. She had no idea how he'd fought his way from five hundred to just over six hundred points.

Walking the path he'd walked, she too felt a bit emotional.

Zhou Yu's first two periods were a double English block. Qian Bao walked in with a clip-clop. A little bee hung at her waist, and she blew into it twice: whirr, whirr.

"Alright, everyone wake up!"

"Wake up!"

"Where's Jiang Nian? Go up and erase the blackboard."

""

"Huh?"

"No, teacher... why me?" Jiang Nian was stunned. "Erasing the blackboard, isn't that the duty student's job?"

"Cut the crap, not a bit of initiative." Qian Bao pointed at him. "You do what I tell you to do, got it?"

"Got it."

"Out of my mind." Jiang Nian got up reluctantly, borrowed Li Hua's catchphrase, and pointed at Zhang Ningzhi.

"Don't you laugh either—after I finish the blackboard, I'll wipe it on your face."

"Hmph!" Zhang Ningzhi puffed up angrily, lay on the desk staring at him, and muttered softly, "Bai Yanlang, no more snacks for you."

If you won't give them, I'll take them myself. They're wild-grown anyway.

English class really was boring.

Jiang Nian spent the whole period doing a chemistry test paper, occasionally leaning over to see what Zhang Ningzhi was doing, and taking the chance to sniff her body scent.

A bit perverted, that's true.

But you couldn't really blame him.

In the dead of winter, the classroom's air quality was terrible beyond compare. You couldn't put a finger on the smell—not exactly stink, just couldn't catch your breath.

Warm and stuffy, easy to fall asleep.

He could only occasionally sniff the fragrance on Zhang Ningzhi to perk himself up and wake his nearly numb nose. "So sleepy." Li Hua fished out a bottle of medicated oil from his desk's treasure chest, stuck out his tongue, dripped a drop on, and smacked his lips.

"Hiss~~!!"

Jiang Nian watched from the side, his teeth aching, and leaned back tactically.

"What smell?"

"Obviously the smell of medicated oil, what other smell could it be." Li Hua clicked his tongue. "Hillbilly, you've really never seen anything."

Eight a. m. class — no one isn't sleepy.

Zhang Ningzhi took out a pouch of invigorating spices, held them to her nose and sniffed lightly, then patted her little cheeks to stay alert.

"So sleepy."

Jiang Nian had a brainwave and came up with a good idea.

"I can scare you suddenly when you let your guard down. Guaranteed you'll wake up right away, how about it?"

"No!" Zhang Ningzhi's mouth pouted.

"When a girl says no, she means yes."

"You—!"

Jiang Nian took a punch and immediately felt refreshed. He didn't know why either — if he didn't get hit for a day, his whole body felt uncomfortable.

He thought of the first chicken he'd raised last night, and turned to look at Li Hua with a softened gaze.

"Hua, you should eat more rice."

"What rice?" Li Hua's face was blank, then he caught on and locked Jiang Nian in a headlock. "You f*cking still haven't changed it!"

It was between classes, and Ma Guojun walked over to back him up.

"Li Hua, don't be so petty."

"Easy for you to say! It's not your name being used!" Li Hua turned his head and said, the strength in his hands naturally lessening.

(continuation of 【138】)

Jiang Nian wriggled out a little space and added a line.

"I raised Ma Guojun too."

"You f*cking—!" The big fatty immediately lost his composure and joined the murder scene. "Change it for me, now!"

"Gugu-da, gugu-da." Jiang Nian displayed the mettle of a Zhennan man. "Eat... eat your rice, my children."

Zhang Ningzhi had also peeked at the group chat yesterday and asked curiously.

"Did you raise me?"