Chapter 448: Good Brother, Be My Dog

Someone suddenly popped out, and Jiang Nian's first reaction was to press them down.

"Ah!"

Wang Yuhe failed to scare him and instead got a palm slammed right onto her face.

"It's me!"

"Mm?" Jiang Nian pulled his hand back, sized up Wang Yuhe, and said, "Jumping out to scare people out of nowhere — you think you're hiding in a bush?"

"Where's Chen Yunyun?"

"She went to buy something at the school gate and told me to head to the classroom first." Wang Yuhe finished speaking and looked behind him, seemingly searching for someone.

"Did you see her?"

People all grow up.

In fertile soil, seeds draw nourishment and grow strong. Wang Yuhe was much more cheerful than before — that counts as growth too.

"No, what did she buy?" Jiang Nian asked out of habit.

"Can't say."

"Can I use it?" he asked again.

Wang Yuhe's face flushed slightly. "No."

Jiang Nian went "oh" and guessed what it was. Buying sanitary pads at high noon — so he casually named something else.

"A hair clip."

Wang Yuhe was delighted, proud of herself for keeping the secret.

"Wrong!"

When Chen Yunyun returned to the classroom and heard Wang Yuhe smugly retelling the story, she pressed her lips together, not knowing what to say.

The sky had fallen — she told absolutely everything to anyone.

"Yunyun, I'm amazing, right?" Wang Yuhe leaned in, striking a pose that begged for praise. "Jiang Nian's so dumb, feels like he has no brain."

Chen Yunyun glanced at Wang Yuhe, then glanced at Jiang Nian doing his problems.

"Huh?"

Jiang Nian was buried in his work when he heard footsteps beside him. He turned his head and saw Chen Yunyun sit down in Li Hua's seat.

"You're back?"

"Mm, let me see what problems you're doing." Chen Yunyun leaned over very naturally; a faint cool fragrance drifted over, not at all abrupt.

"Oh, math." Jiang Nian had originally wanted to say, bro, you smell so good.

But Chen Yunyun spoke first on her own, "After winning the championship yesterday, did any girls come confess to you?"

3

Holy shit, Yun—

Halfway through zoning out, Jiang Nian came back to his senses.

Oh, it's Yunyun.

Then it's fine.

"Yeah, the junior girls confessing never stopped all day." Jiang Nian blurted it out, "And they all want me, it's scary."

Chen Yunyun's face instantly reddened a little, feeling embarrassed on his behalf.

"What are you saying?"

"Just spouting nonsense off the top of my head — can't even daydream?" Jiang Nian countered. "From yesterday till today there's only been one, but..."

"But what?"

Jiang Nian was a pro at playing dumb and clueless. "Those two junior girls came looking for Li Hua, kept shouting that that... that."

Kept shouting that that... that.

Even though the joke was terrible, Chen Yunyun still covered her mouth and laughed.

"I saw it when the morning run dismissed."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian instantly deflated.

"You already saw it, so why are you asking me?"

"Just... just asking." Chen Yunyun didn't know why either. "Curious, what could I possibly be thinking?"

Who knows, maybe you want to...

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and gave Chen Yunyun a reassuring pill.

"I'm a person with pretty strong desires — I like doing it on the bed, doing it on the sofa, doing homework in the kitchen. Not suited for dating."

Chen Yunyun: "?"

"So even if someone confesses to me." Jiang Nian said with a perfectly serious face, "I'll only be as cold as a passenger on a bus, as blind as a colleague in the break room."

Chen Yunyun: "??"

From the "strong desires" line onward, she'd felt something was off. The more she listened, the more outrageous it got — she almost wished she hadn't grown ears.

"Just keep being a smartass, I'm done talking to you." She really couldn't take it anymore; her face was too thin, and she walked off blushing.

Jiang Nian didn't care — perfect timing to do his problems.

Peace and quiet.

Clang! Clang!

The lunch break bell rang.

The classroom gradually quieted down too; the sounds of writing and page-turning layered together, forming a unique white-noise lullaby.

The shadows of the sun shifted, wave after wave of white noise rolling on,

Jiang Nian's eyelids began to fight; he didn't hold out long before flopping onto the desk. When he woke again, he felt completely refreshed. "You're awake?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian nearly died of shock.

Again?

When he saw Yu Zhiyi's face, he instantly burst with anger. He didn't care about faces—he'd known her too long to care about faces.

"What is it?"

Yu Zhiyi: "Old Liu wants you. Go to his office."

Oh, the split's been deposited.

Every time the system paid out, Jiang Nian felt both happy and miserable. Happy because he had money—he earned it just by standing there.

Who suffered?

Forget it—future me is another matter.

Miserable because he couldn't spend it—Gao San had nowhere to spend money. If you didn't show off, you felt miserable. So miserable.

You had to endure it—what if you had to pay a bride price?

That's the magic of Zhennan: elsewhere, people celebrate earning five hundred thousand. My family laughs happily because I've done well!

People in Zhennan earned five hundred thousand and saved three hundred thousand.

Pfft! Broke ass!

Saving five hundred thousand is really zero, because marriage costs five hundred thousand. Saving seven hundred thousand is really only equal to saving two hundred thousand.

Ten thousand.

Schrödinger's savings—classic… Your money isn't your money.

Whoosh.

Jiang Nian stood up and walked out of the classroom, heading toward the office downstairs. His mind wasn't idle—he speculated about Old Liu's prize.

This thing was fun—pure joy.

When he won the soccer championship, he won once, Old Liu won once. He took the award, collected the prize money once, and Old Liu won the prize money for him once.

He won twice—double win again.

The school's prize money had special rules—it wasn't like other money. Spending it wasn't called spending money—it was called honor (showing off).

Tactical lean-back—how do you know this bottle of water was bought with championship prize money?

Knock knock knock.

"Teacher, you wanted me?" Jiang Nian stood by the door.

A big young guy, like a summer tree—vibrant, vigorous, drawing several glances from the office staff. "Ah, come in." Old Liu beamed, his hand still shaky from receiving the award. "There's a cup over there—could the champion brew some tea?"

Brew tea before class? Biology starts soon!

Jiang Nian still went to brew tea, swallowing his resentment to play along with Old Liu's show-off. Sure enough, the teachers in the office were already physically uncomfortable.

"Teacher Chen, leaving before class?"

"Ah… going upstairs to check."

"Teacher Wang, you too…"

"Got things to do, got things to do."

Soon, most of the people in the office had left. Jiang Nian stared, dumbfounded, then found a seat and sat down.

Old Liu sat there, utterly at ease, legs crossed, sipping tea.

"The teacher prizes have been distributed."

"Let me see?" Jiang Nian instantly perked up, moved over the bag, and glanced inside. "Souvenirs? A U-shaped pillow, a thermos… so trash…"

Thermos cup... so trashy..... 」」

"Holy shit? Jin Ka?"

Jiang Nian spotted a bag and immediately locked onto the golden meal card.

"Teacher, what's this?"

"A twelve-hundred-yuan meal card—valid in the cafeteria." Old Liu took a sip of tea. "Regular card, no time limit. Can you get a refund after graduation?"

"Yes."

"Holy shit holy shit!!" Jiang Nian was stunned—this was a good thing. "Then I'll take this one. Can I get an umbrella too?"

"Sure. Don't lose the card—it's not registered." Old Liu warned, "Just use it. Don't reload money into it."

Jiang Nian had questions about the school's meal card system, but he knew when to stop pushing.

"OK."

The class bell rang. Neither the old man nor the boy rushed.

"Cough cough, one more thing." Old Liu acted like a grand wizard father. "Uh, I'm going to nominate you for something in a couple days."

"What?"

Old Liu scratched his head. "Outstanding Three-Good Student."

The moment those words came out, Jiang Nian nearly cracked.

Aside from his grades and competition wins, he was chronically late, habitually skipped morning exercises, and constantly took leave.

"Really?" He looked up, barely holding back laughter.

"Only a few slots per grade—those who go up on stage to receive the award." Old Liu was barely holding it together too, but he had to lie through his teeth.

"This award is jointly issued by the main campus and branch campus, mainly to lay the groundwork for applying for Provincial Three-Good Student."

Jiang Nian listened, utterly baffled, his expression that of a country bumpkin.

"Teacher, what's Provincial Three-Good Student?"

"Provincial Three-Good Student comes with a certificate," Old Liu said. "Top twenty in your grade have a shot—most are just filler."

Clearly, in Old Liu's eyes, Jiang Nian was also filler.

"Makes sense, he's just a promoted class..."

"Is this thing useful?" he asked.

"It used to let you get admitted with a lower score during the independent recruitment, but not anymore." Old Liu shook his head, brow tightly furrowed.

"If you want to talk benefits, maybe it's just the scholarship. The province has a sum of prize money, and they also pick people from the Provincial Three-Good."

"Teacher, if you'd said that earlier I wouldn't be sleepy." Jiang Nian immediately grinned, thinking to himself that the strong really do get everything. Old Liu glanced at him and shook his head.

"Your grades are shaky, and you don't have any competition medals. Don't even mention certificates — you don't have a single encouraging award either."

"Wash up and go to sleep, kid."

Jiang Nian immediately swallowed his anger. Old Liu's words were damn venomous.

What do you mean not a single encouraging award — in sports... hadn't he himself racked up that many little championships?

The prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain.

We sports students... the front part I forgot, the back part I forgot too. Anyway, of course we hold the one we love on the left side.

"Teacher, art is always mired in the swamp of contradiction." Jiang Nian stood up and said, "What if I'm that one in ten million?"

Old Liu completely didn't take the bait, thought for a moment and said.

"Then you'd be impressive.

After speaking he seemed to think of something else, and added a line.

"If you really get selected, it'll be somewhat useful for getting awards in college too. Putting everything else aside, whatever you should have, I'll definitely fight to get it for you."

Jiang Nian didn't take it seriously upon hearing this, chatted a few more lines, grabbed his stuff and took off.

The umbrella is actually pretty nice-looking, keep it and pass it on to someone later.

In the classroom.

Jiang Nian had been chatting with Old Liu too long and lost track of time. The first afternoon class had been going for almost twenty minutes before he barely made it.

"Reporting!"

Qingbao was in the middle of explaining a problem, glanced at him and nodded. Her little-bee voice was soft and sweet, and with a breath she let out a tiny pop on the mic.

"Come in."

The lecture wasn't interrupted. Jiang Nian made his way to the back row. Just as he sat down, with extreme smoothness he handed the umbrella in his hand to Zhang Ningzhi.

"Thanks for the photos you took, this is for you."

Zhang Ningzhi glanced at the umbrella printed with the Zhennan Middle School logo, felt happy inside, and unconsciously pressed her lips together.

"Oh, thank you."

Li Hua watched from the side, sour about it, and couldn't help but say quietly.

"Ooh ooh ooh, for you."

"Actually I brought you a gift too...

"Godfather, I was just speaking a bit too loud." Li Hua's face changed instantly, "But believe me, I absolutely didn't mean it that way."

Jiang Nian took out a one-jiao coin and placed it on Li Hua's desk.

"Good brother, be my dog.

Li Hua couldn't hold it in anymore — what Fang Han!

"Nian ah, this war between us is inevitable!"

"Got a Jin Ka, no limit on the cafeteria." Jiang Nian took out his own big meal card, "Oh man, how do I spend it?"

"Bro, bro, I know how to spend it." Li Hua's eyes went clear.

"How?"

A little-bee voice rang out beside the two of them, instantly startling the two in the back row, who whipped their heads around.

Qingbao held the textbook in her hand, standing in the aisle looking at them. Her gaze shifted to Jiang Nian, and she extended her hand toward him.

"Confiscated. Come find me after class to get it back."

"You two go stand in the back, and come find me in the office after school to collect a test paper."

Jiang Nian:

Wrecked. Qingbao is really fierce.

The afternoon classes passed in a flash.

After school, Jiang Nian corrected his wrong problems under Li Qingrong's watchful gaze. Laboriously working through the physics big problems, he felt his scalp go numb.

"Qingqing, I still can't do it."

Hearing this, Li Qingrong propped her head on her hand, expressionless. First she glanced at him, then lowered her eyes to look at the test paper.

"Third time."