Chapter 437: The Quilt Seal

"Eh, no!"

Zhang Ningzhi thought of something, her ears instantly turning red. She stepped back, her face puffing up in indignation.

"Pervert!"

". —· Can I message you and chat?"

Zhang Ningzhi: "..

She knew Jiang Nian, that pervert, meant exactly that—but she had no proof.

"Hmph!"

At that moment, the bell for evening self-study rang; she could only give up.

"No, I won't chat with you!" Saying this, Zhang Ningzhi lowered her head to pack her bag, acting as if she were too angry to speak to him.

Jiang Nian had a thick skin and didn't care; he left with a grin.

"Fine."

As he stepped out, he caught Yao Bei Bei at the door.

The hallway was too crowded to stop and chat; Jiang Nian could only cut to the chase, quickly asking, "It's settled—they promised they won't argue anymore."

"Yeah, as long as they don't argue in front of you, it's fine," Jiang Nian reassured her. "You can't control everything."

Yao Bei Bei nodded, unsure what to say.

"Th-thank you."

"We're bros, man," Jiang Nian slapped her shoulder, grabbed his bag, and waved as he left. "I'm out."

Yao Bei Bei turned to watch Jiang Nian's retreating back, her gaze complex.

Half-human, half-jerk.

Not long after, Zhang Ningzhi packed up and stepped out.

"Beibei, let's go!"

"So tired," Xu Qianqian trudged home with her backpack, crushing the shadow of a streetlamp underfoot. "I don't want to go to school!"

"Xu Shao, I rarely see you this melancholy," Jiang Nian followed behind. "Hold on—after the Gaokao, it'll be easy."

"You might as well say winter break is coming. Right now, it's my only hope," Xu Qianqian walked along the white line on the ground.

"Our teacher said the second round of review will end before the New Year."

"Same. By then, my score should be close to yours," Jiang Nian made a hand gesture. "About thirty points behind."

Xu Qianqian shot him a sharp glance, unable to hold back.

"You're going to score 650?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. I won't fall for your tricks," Xu Qianqian looked at him. "If you pass, Big Brother will be happy for you."

Jiang Nian walked slowly, eyes lowered, glancing at Xu Qianqian.

Since that time, when he kissed her neck over their 610-point bet, she'd become timid.

Knowing each other too long made him hesitate.

So he wasn't in a rush—he feared scaring Xu Shao away. Little by little, he'd chip away. One day, he'd break through her final defense.

A woman fears persistent pursuit.

"Forget that. Tonight, help me with a problem when we get home," Jiang Nian changed the subject, shifting Xu Qianqian's focus.

"What problem?"

"Math. Too many problems—I'm embarrassed to bother others," Jiang Nian said in two sentences, placing her on the same side.

"Fine." She agreed instinctively.

At home, upstairs, Xu Qianqian first explained the problem to Jiang Nian. Soon, it was nearly half past eleven; she hurried to wash up.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found Jiang Nian still in her living room. Instinctively, she covered her chest and asked curiously.

"Still don't get it?"

"I solved it long ago. Just waiting for you to come out," Jiang Nian stood, gathering his things. "I was afraid you'd be scared alone."

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian realized the bastard was unusually thoughtful today.

"Oh."

Seeing Jiang Nian about to leave, she hesitated for a few seconds. Her mind was muddled—wasn't it impolite not to see him off?

While still thinking, her foot had already lifted.

"I… I'll walk you out."

"Mm." Jiang Nian stood in the center of the living room, waiting for her. The thought of what he was about to do made his lips twitch.

Tap-tap-tap—Xu Qianqian, in her pajamas, hugged her chest with one arm. She trotted a few steps, trembling, until she stood before him.

She tilted her head slightly, gazing at Jiang Nian with confusion.

"Why aren't you moving?"

"I'm hungry. Can't walk," Jiang Nian stared into her eyes for several seconds, then smiled strangely. "Help me out."

She was so flustered by his gaze that her eyelids fluttered uncontrollably. A spot on her neck seemed to slowly grow warm.

She recalled again the moment in the stairwell—her heart began beating erratically.

"Help you? Pfft! I'll kick you!"

Saying this, she shoved Jiang Nian toward the door. She sidestepped to open it, fumbling several times before finding the handle.

Click.

The cold night wind rushed in from the dilapidated stairwell, blowing against her flushed face, slowly cooling her down.

"You… you go back."

After saying that, Xu Qianqian blurted out a sentence as if possessed.

"Stay safe."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian glanced at his own home across the hall, just a single stride away. "Stay safe from what?"

Are you messing with me? Bro.

"Can't be bothered talking to you, you..." Xu Qianqian flared up in frustration, her face turning red again. "I'm going to sleep now, I—"

With a bang, the door slammed shut.

Jiang Nian recalled Xu Qianqian's incoherent rambling and couldn't help but laugh out loud. Xu was the type to rise to a strong opponent and falter against a weak one.

After washing up in the evening, he sat at his desk.

He spread out the test paper, then started a group voice call in the three-person chat with Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe.

After a while, Wang Yuhe joined by herself.

It was quiet over there; only the sound of breathing could be heard. The girls' dormitory turned off the lights early, so she had probably already switched them off and gone to sleep.

With a soft ping, two new messages appeared in the group chat.

Chen Yunyun: "(covering her mouth, laughing)."

Wang Yuhe: "You go ahead and tell it!"

Jiang Nian hadn't expected Wang Yuhe to be this bold, and was quite surprised.

"Aren't you scared?"

"Of course not. I'm the bravest person in our whole town." Wang Yuhe typed, "I'm not scared of horror stories at all."

"Oh."

Jiang Nian first dictated a few Chinese characters over voice, asking Wang Yuhe to type them out. Once she verified successfully, he began telling a creepy short story.

He had read plenty of horror stories before, so he casually searched Baidu, picked a few familiar ones, and launched straight into telling them.

Along the way, he kept inserting short verification segments during the buildup to make sure Wang Yuhe was still listening.

"Girls' dormitory...:::

，

Of all the rotten luck.

The story he had picked was about a girls' dormitory. Wang Yuhe wasn't scared at first, but the more she listened, the more she felt a chill creeping down her spine.

The sound of her swallowing became clearer and clearer.

Jiang Nian, on the other hand, grew more and more excited as he went on, describing things in greater and greater detail. At the scariest moment, he pulled off the best performance of his life.

"Ah!!"

A muffled shriek rang out through the call—she was probably afraid of waking her roommates. It was almost strangled, thin as an insect's hum.

Wang Yuhe, trembling, sent a private message to Jiang Nian.

"Can you ask Yunyun for me whether she wants to go to the bathroom."

Jiang Nian checked the time—midnight—and figured it was about time to do the test paper. So he put away his playful mood and casually replied.

"Just ask her yourself."

Wang Yuhe: "No, I'm afraid it might not really be Yunyun."

Jiang Nian: "?

2

After thinking it over, he decided to be a decent human being.

"I asked. Chen Yunyun says she's right by your bed, and she wants you to lift your blanket and take a look."