Chapter 461: Sigh~! Sigh~!

Dingdong! Class is over...

English weekly test, first and second periods this morning.

"Collect the papers from back to front!" Qian Bao clapped her hands, stepped away in her silk socks and little leather shoes that smelled easily, tap-tap-tap.

Jiang Nian was about to lie down for a nap when his phone received a message from Coach Lao Tian.

"Boss, I've booked the third subject test—aiming to get my license directly Thursday morning."

Seeing this, he instantly lost his drowsiness.

Getting the license soon, huh.

From birth until now, excluding his ID card and social security card, just one junior high diploma—he's about to earn his first real certificate.

Heard that getting a driver's license adds credits in university—don't know if it's true or not.

No morning exercises during the long break.

He glanced left and right—the seating arrangement was still for the weekly test. Baby Zhizhi had gone to the third large group; the class monitor was napping face-down on the desk.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, stood up, and walked over to the first large group diagonally opposite. He shook awake Li Hua, excitedly saying:

"Son, Dad's got something to tell you!"

"Huh?" Li Hua woke up, stared at Jiang Nian for a few seconds, then snapped back to reality and burst out, "You bastard!"

"Good news—I'm getting my license." Jiang Nian tried to appeal to paternal affection to restore his sanity.

"Getting a license?" Li Hua instantly cleared his head—men couldn't resist the idea of driving. He hesitated, "What's the license plate?"

Fine, fine, fine—what car are you even driving?

"No plate yet—Dad's about to get his license." Jiang Nian lowered his voice, "Wait—I'll take you for a spin this weekend."

"Awesome awesome, you're actually kinda filial…::..:" Li Hua trailed off, then froze awkwardly, "You're not gonna drag me down with you, are you?"

Jiang Nian glanced at him. "You think your skinny frame can even hold up?"

Li Hua thought for a moment, then his face broke into a sly grin.

"That's true—we gotta drag Ma Guojun along too!"

"That's exactly what I meant."

Leveraging Ma Guojun's new seat far away, the two quickly arranged him in three quick sentences.

Zhang Nenzhi, waking up slowly, glanced at Jiang Nian grinning beside Li Hua and rolled her eyes.

"Stolen-cat—definitely up to no good."

Jiang Nian was laughing with Li Hua when his phone received a WeChat message from Zhao Jie, asking if he could take a call.

His expression instantly turned serious—was she finally going to entrust her daughter to him?

I have to say, this is truly recognizing true value.

He walked toward the end of the corridor and replied, "Sure." The moment he sent it, the phone rang.

"Hello? Zhao Jie, what's up?"

Is this the matchmaker's words?

"Jiang Xiao-ge?" Zhao

Zhao Qiuxue, with a hint of apology, "I quit. I'll refund your membership fee from my place."

Huh? Quit?

He really wanted to ask: Weren't you just fired? Does my lord have such pride he can't face reality?

But he held back, afraid she'd get flustered.

The county job market is chaotic—gyms like this that vanish overnight are lucky if they even pay you your wages.

She's refunding me—that's her personally footing a huge sum for me.

Jiang Nian didn't need that money right now, and it was a silent cost of completing the system task—he instinctively refused.

"No need. The card's still usable."

Silence for two seconds on the other end, then she spoke.

"The boss is planning to run."

Jiang Nian wasn't surprised—he'd guessed this ever since learning she'd been fired. Firing key staff usually means they're fleeing.

"If that's the case, wouldn't you be working for free if you refund me yourself?"

"I..." Zhao Qiuxue hesitated several seconds, "I have money. After all, Jiang Xiao-ge, you helped me pass my onboarding assessment."

"Hmm..." Jiang Nian felt awkward—he wanted to say just call it a dowry, "Really, no need—I'll just get a refund tomorrow."

"Can't you?" Zhao Qiuxue worried, "Someone tried before—still hasn't gotten their money back after all this time."

Jiang Nian said, "Locals can always get refunds—probably lose 20–30%, but you'll get some back."

"Really?"

"Mm." Zhao Qiuxue said if the refund failed, she'd personally refund him the full amount he paid.

After chatting a while, just as Zhao Qiuxue was about to hang up:

"Um... Zhao Jie." Jiang Nian cleared his throat, "I heard from Xiao Song—you're planning a group-buying business with friends out of town?"

"Yeah? What about it?" Zhao Qiuxue's voice tightened noticeably, "There's something like that—but I haven't decided yet."

Her willpower was hardly stronger than her daughter's; she hesitated constantly, but her survival rate was high.

"I have a relative doing group-buying—he got his car paid in full in just a few days." Jiang Nian said, "Even if he lost money selling a Mercedes, he switched to a Yadi."

These kids, how well they speak.

"Zhao Jie, what kind of community group-buying are you doing?" Jiang Nian asked.

"It's..."

She was about to answer when the bell rang.

"Aren't you about to have class?" Zhao Qiuxue sighed. "Jiang Xiao-ge, do you have time for lunch today?"

"Sure."

The second exam was math; Jiang Nian didn't even have time to sneak a glance at the monitor. He lowered his head, then raised it again—the bell rang, the papers were collected, and school was over.

Sigh.

Time devourer.

"I've got something to take care of—I'm off!" Jiang Nian greeted the monitor before leaving; Cai Xiaoqing had already drifted over.

He rarely ate with anyone regularly—first, because he was used to eating alone, saving fifteen minutes to finish his meal and head upstairs to solve problems.

Second, if he ate only with one person, over time it would inevitably become a fixed lunch partnership, and then any sudden emergency would be a disaster.

So Li Qingrong's commute partner and lunch partner were still Cai Xiang and Nie Qiqi.

The monitor was packing up; upon hearing this, she glanced at him and nodded.

"Mm."

Back at his seat, Zhang Nianzhi glanced at him.

"Want to have lunch together this afternoon?"

Jiang Nian remembered he'd already promised Zhang Nianzhi lunch; he didn't hesitate.

"Sure, I'll treat you."

The advantage of having no fixed lunch partner was clear now—no back-and-forth coordination, just say it and it's done.

Baby Zhizhi was easy to read—she wanted to eat with him. Jiang Nian simply agreed, and that was that.

As for the monitor, it wasn't an issue at all.

She was even easier to read—she had zero interest in eating together. If she needed to eat, she'd eat—with Cai Xiaoqing or anyone else.

The monitor's needs weren't about this.

So Jiang Nian had zero pressure agreeing. Lunchtime? Totally his own time now.

Triple win.

After leaving school, Jiang Nian found a bicycle and rode off. He muttered under his breath: having an electric scooter would be so much easier.

The old electric bike at home? His mom rode it every day to work.

With less than half a year left until the college entrance exam, buying a new one outright wouldn't be worth it. A broken bike loses a few parts a year—you'd be bankrupted down to your underwear.

As he rode, he pondered: he'd get a used electric scooter, leave it charging at the teacher's dormitory.

He'd give Chen Yunyun and the others a key too—so they could lend it to friends when not in use.

How can a big bro gather loyalty if he doesn't offer perks?

Rely on his chest?

He squeezed himself—barely a small A.

High school was like this: tiny favors won you a crowd's goodwill. Everyone was pretty… simple and sincere.

After being promoted to his new class, Jiang Nian had consciously started building connections.

Class Three was a bit abstract, but every single one of them had solid grades. Excluding Class Zero, they were among the top science students in Zhennan High.

Revolutionary friendship lasts forever—they were all from the same county. Who knew when they'd be useful later? Waiting until then to warm a cold stove would be awkward.

Eat soft food, eat soft food—but your career is your career.

He understood the difference.

The rich woman's world was hers; his own network was his. Eating soft food didn't stop him from being awesome—time will tell.

Thinking this, Jiang Nian executed a slick, dramatic brake—and flipped into a ditch with his bike.

"Fucking hell!! Shit!"

Jiang Nian cursed as he climbed up, suddenly feeling this scene was familiar—he'd also fallen into a ditch when the system gave him the gym task.

Damn road!

He brushed off the dust, turned his phone around, and took a photo. He thought of posting it on Moments, but lowered his phone again.

Too hasty.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then sent the photo only to Chen Yunyun.

"Fell into a ditch by accident."

After sending it, he picked up his bike with one hand and climbed out of the ditch. Before he'd even fully emerged, Chen Mama's call came through.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Chen Yunyun's voice sounded tense. "How are you now? Did you hurt yourself badly?"

"Huhhh~! Huhhh~! My hand feels numb." Jiang Nian pulled the bike out and started riding one-handed.

"Huh?" Chen Yunyun panicked, stammering, "Then… then you should go to the hospital! Send me your location!"

"Nah, I'm fine," Jiang Nian grinned. "Listen—I'm still riding! If I'd really fallen, how could I be calling and riding at the same time?"

Chen Yunyun: "."

Even as patient as Chen Mama, she couldn't help getting angry.

"Why did you lie to me?!"

"Just a joke! You're not mad, are you?" Jiang Nian grinned mischievously. "Fine, fine—I did fall."

"It hurt a bit, but I'm not hurt. I wanted to post it on Moments, but thought it'd be too showy—so I told you instead."

Chen Yunyun wanted to hang up, but ultimately worried about him.

"You fell—where are you going now?"

"Oh, having lunch with an elder," Jiang Nian said honestly, no sneaking around, tone casual.

"Alright, be careful on the road," Chen Yunyun warned. "Don't call while riding—watch out for falling."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Nian rode hard again.

"Fuck."

"I've got over four hundred thousand in assets—what's a shitty shared bike to me?"

Just a street dog.

He slammed on the brakes in front of the shop and saw the server's smile at the door, as if watching a joke.

Jiang Nian was indeed quite ragged right now, but he didn't care.

This is a humble abode, but my virtue makes it fragrant.

He rolled up his sleeves and walked straight in. He ignored the server entirely, circled around, and found Zhao Qiuxue.

"Sister Zhao."

"Jiang...:" Zhao Qiu

xue stood up, then suddenly froze. "Wait, how did you... get like this?"

"I got into a fight with a server on the way. I won, and he paid me two hundred."

Zhao Qiuxue froze. "Huh?"