Chapter 470

Not good friends. 」 Jiang Nian corrected.

「Then they're friends. 」 Ji Jiayu had her hands behind her back, giving him no chance to respond, 「That's settled. I'm going up first. 」

Jiang Nian saw this and didn't care much.

Taking one is taking, taking two is still taking. I'll just lean on Lin Dong's head later—he couldn't sell them, so he gave them to me.

Outside the classroom, Li Hua and the others were chatting and laughing.

Jiang Nian had just stepped out from the far end of the corridor when the sharp-eyed Ma Guojun called out to him. The fat guy pushed up his glasses and pointed with a thick, stubby finger.

「Shit! 」

「Jiang Nian, what the hell are you holding in your hand! 」

Hearing this, Li Hua and the others turned to look. They saw Jiang Nian holding two boxes of apples—by the elegant packaging, it was obvious they were gifts from girls.

「Chi Shi! Jiang Nian, you're a piece of shit! 」

「You're not even human! It wasn't there this afternoon! 」

「Who gave them to you? 」

「You don't even need to ask—it's envy. 」 Liu Yang said he was envious, but his face was grinning like a fool, 「Bro, you're awesome! 」 Li Hua finally caught on and spun around to point at Liu Yang.

「Stop acting like a clown—you're no better than him. 」

「Yeah, you've got a whole table full of apples! 」 Ma Guojun joined in, 「And you even put them out—do you even have shame? 」

Liu Yang, hearing this, shrugged helplessly.

「There wasn't enough room in my desk. 」

「You fucking bastard! 」 Li Hua snapped—he only had one apple, 「Where the hell do you get so many friends? 」

Liu Yang grinned and waved his hand.

「We play ball together sometimes—friends of friends, girls' girlfriends. You know, over time we just got to know each other. 」

「Disgusting! 」 Li Hua was practically dripping with sourness, his face turning green, 「Girlfriends of girls? That's fucking disgusting! 」

Hearing this, Jiang Nian quietly slipped the two apples behind his back. Bao Weiwei felt a twinge of guilt—thankfully, they weren't talking about him.

Sure enough, doing well in school has its perks.

Liu Yang kept saying 「No, no」 while his face was splitting with laughter. He was feeling a bit giddy—he'd stolen the spotlight all afternoon.

Seeing Jiang Nian stay silent, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

In Class Three, the wine was poured and heroes debated—only Jiang Nian and himself counted as heroes. Too bad Jiang Nian hadn't seen his basket of apples.

「Bro, how many apples did you get? 」

As soon as Liu Yang finished speaking, several pairs of eyes snapped toward Jiang Nian—all hostile, twisted with envy.

「How many? 」 Li Hua asked.

「Uh… none. These two are from Lin Dong. 」 Jiang Nian said, 「He's selling apples downstairs—I helped him a bit. 」

「Ohhh, from Lin Dong. 」 Li Hua exhaled in relief, then asked, 「How many did he sell down there? Did he lose money? 」

Jiang Nian could cover for Lin Dong, but better him than me.

「Lose money? He made a fortune. 」

「Holy shit!! 」

「Holy shit? 」

Outside the corridor, a chorus of 「Holy shit! 」 erupted. The boys' attention instantly shifted from Jiang Nian to Lin Dong.

Outside the corridor, a chorus of "What the fuck!" erupted. The boys' attention instantly shifted from Jiang Nian to Lin Dong.

「How the hell did he make money? 」

Brothers can do well—but not too well.

「Didn't anyone rush his stall? 」

「Of course they did. 」 Jiang Nian lied without blinking, 「But luckily, I helped him recover some losses. 」

"Of course," Jiang Nian lied effortlessly, "but luckily, I helped him recover some of the losses."

「I picked up a few fewer apples. 」

「You bastard! 」

At that moment, Sun Zhicheng paused at the classroom door as he passed by, turning his head with a puzzled look.

At that moment, Sun Zhicheng, passing by, halted at the classroom door and turned his head with a puzzled expression.

Realizing he wasn't being called, he turned and walked into the classroom. He felt a faint flutter of anxiety—he'd already bought the apples.

Now only one step remained: to give them to her.

In the past, he could have just handed them out openly. But now, the current conditions didn't allow such behavior.

At this moment, Sun Zhicheng even wished he could rewind time. If he'd known it would turn out like this, he never would've done something so awkward.

He took a deep breath and comforted himself.

There's still the entire evening self-study session—don't panic, don't rush. Slowly, he'd find the right moment to give them.

Evening reading began—the bell rang.

Ma Guojun walked inside and suddenly felt his hand grow heavy. He looked down—byd, Jiang Nian had given him two apples.

Ma Guojun walked in and suddenly felt something heavy in his hand. He looked down—damn, Jiang Nian had given him two apples.

「No, just hold them for me. 」 Jiang Nian patted his fat flesh, 「I'll get you two more from the office later. 」

Ma Guojun thought it over, then realized these two apples were suspicious.

Ma Guojun examined them closely and immediately realized these two apples were strange,

「Tell the truth—did Lin Dong give you these two apples? 」

To be honest, did Lin Dong give you these two apples?

"Cough. " Jiang Nian glanced at Li Hua, who had already entered the classroom. "No, they're from girls in another class—I already refused them."

Ma Guojun's eyes widened. "So you took them anyway?"

"They insisted on giving them to me—if I didn't take them, they'd force-feed them to me," Jiang Nian sighed. "If it were you, would you take them?"

"Take them, you bastard!" Ma Guojun's fat hand flailed like Doraemon's. "You really deserve to die!"

Fortunately, Ma Guojun eventually helped him carry away the two hot potatoes.

Jiang Nian walked into the classroom, relaxed, and sat down—only to find two apples on his desk. Li Hua had one too; it was from Yao Beibei.

The other was from Cai Xiaoqing,

with her name written on it.

He wasn't the least worried—after all, he and Cai Xiaoqing were completely clean. Even if they lay in the same bed, he could calmly get up and dress.

No relationship means no relationship—his conscience was clear.

"Why would the Discipline Committee give you apples?" Zhang Nenzhi asked, sounding slightly jealous. "Are you that close?"

"We're close—so what?" Jiang Nian didn't care at all.

"Nothing," Zhang Nenzhi huffed, her voice soft and pouty. "Everyone else gives apples. Why don't you?"

"Chinese don't celebrate Western holidays—it's pure formalism," Jiang Nian pulled out his exam paper and turned his head. "Besides, didn't I already give you a gift?"

Evening reading began; the classroom echoed with loud voices.

"Fine," Zhang Nenzhi couldn't argue with him, then asked mysteriously, "Don't you want to know what gift I gave you?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian stole a glance backward. The seat behind was empty; Li Qingrong was still talking with Cai Xiaoqing by the door.

He turned back, calm.

"Hmm, probably your smelly socks for Christmas?"

"You're the one who gives smelly socks!" Zhang Nenzhi giggled, then reached into her desk and handed him a plump little bag.

"Well… go ahead and open it."

"What's this, so mysterious?" Jiang Nian grumbled, took it, and glanced inside.

Shit—a Polaroid.

His heart jolted. He thought: How is Baby Zhizhi just like the monitor? Giving these beautiful useless things—especially since they're so damn expensive.

"Cough, cough—this is a washing machine? So small?"

At this, Zhang Nenzhi punched him hard, cheeks puffed.

"It's not! You haven't even opened it!"

"Just kidding, it's great, great," Jiang Nian reused his old trick. "You keep it for me—take it with you when we go out on break."

"Why?!" Zhang Nenzhi grew angry.

In her eyes, Jiang Nian was rejecting her indirectly.

Yet—

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, then spoke seriously to her.

"If this thing were in my hands, I'd be tempted to snap photos of other girls—private shots, camping pics."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Nenzhi snatched the gift back.

"Y-you-you!!!"

There was no help—stereotype seals were too strong.

Jiang Nian didn't care. Bluetooth earbuds, Polaroids, watches, ridiculously expensive pens—all belonged to the girls.

He, meanwhile, only enjoyed 24-hour usage rights.

Fine.

He counted: six apples already. The bag was nearly full; he couldn't leave them in the classroom, and carrying them home was impossible.

He had to think of a solution…

Suddenly, Zhang Nenzhi placed a green apple

cake on his desk.

"For you… an apple."

Li Hua, who had been watching the scene for a long time, finally cracked.

"Wait, what about me?"

Zhang Nenzhi gazed at him across the room, blinking cutely.

"Forgot."

"Chishi!!!"

"Don't look at me, I'm just a sheep—what can you do to me…:::.:" Lin Dong hummed a tune, arriving late at the classroom door.

This batch earned him quite a bit.

The numbers didn't look impressive, but after paying tuition, he'd still have enough to splurge—enough to enjoy until the Gaokao ended.

Awesome!

He'd already prepared for unsold apples—earn what he could. But all the nearby apple vendors had been driven off by Ji Ming.

Hayek's invisible hand shattered, leaving him with a monopoly. In the final ten minutes, he sold nearly everything.

Awesome!

"A man's knees hold gold"—who came up with that saying?

It's surprisingly useful.

He planned to sell a few more after class—earn what he could. Even a mosquito's worth of meat counts—send red packets to his good brothers and sisters.

Jiang Nian? Fuck him—he won't give me a single cent.

Now the roles of attacker and defender have switched.

Tomorrow, show off to him properly and experience what it's like to be a successful person.

As soon as he sat down, he was immediately fixed by several pairs of eyes. He shuddered, turned his head, and saw Liu Yang and the others smiling.

"Hm?"

Self-study had already begun, and Lin Dong didn't pay much attention. He glanced at Sun Zhicheng and noticed his pale face and distracted expression.

"Ah Cheng, what's wrong?"

Sun Zhicheng shook his head and forced a smile.

"Nothing."

The watch on the desk showed the time: 7:08.

Zhou Yuting was writing her exam paper.

Chemistry was her weak subject; whenever she faced inorganic reactions, the complex questions and answers left her stunned.

She didn't know how to raise her score, so she relied on the brute-force method of doing endless practice problems.

Doing practice problems gave no real-time feedback, but it made her feel calm. Unlike playing on her phone, which brought fleeting joy but constant anxiety.

As she was writing, someone tapped her shoulder.

"What?"

She turned around; the boy sitting behind her grinned awkwardly and quietly handed her an apple.

"Merry Christmas Eve."

Zhou Yuting had been so absorbed in her practice problems that her reactions had grown sluggish.

"Why?"

"Ah… uh…" the boy scratched his head, "Because…"

Her desk mate Huang Cailang chuckled and stepped in to help the boy out.

He said,

"Because everyone in our group got one, and he must've bought too many. So he couldn't finish giving them all out—he gave one to everyone in front, behind, and beside him."

After speaking, Huang Cailang gave the boy a simple, earnest smile.

"You're such a good person."

"Hah… yeah, I guess." The boy scratched his head, opening his mouth as if to say more, then stopped.

"Thank you." Zhou Yuting took the apple, turned back, and resumed frowning over her exam paper, though an unbidden thought slipped into her mind.

Will he give me one?

Thinking of this, the problem she'd just been reading vanished from her mind.

Zhou Yuting grew frustrated and drew two lines through the question. She lifted her head, glanced quickly toward Jiang Nian's direction, and clenched her fingers.

This sense of disparity made her resentful.

She stared at that back, suddenly feeling as if she couldn't breathe. Her fingers tightened unconsciously, turning the knuckles white where she gripped her pen.

When the first evening self-study session ended, the classroom burst into noise.

It seemed to be an unspoken rule: some preferred to give apples right after the first evening session, to appear more reserved.

Many began handing out apples to people they knew; onlookers, ignoring their need to urinate, squatted in the classroom, devouring the gossip.

Who liked whom, who secretly admired whom—details invisible during ordinary days now surfaced clearly.

"Aaaah!! Holy shit, that guy gave an apple to that girl!"

"Really?"

The two girls' conversation was encrypted—only those familiar with them could tell who "that guy" and "that girl" were by tone alone.

Jiang Nian left the classroom the moment class ended, never staying. He went downstairs, wandered into Class Three, and snatched an apple from Xu Qianqian's hands.

Song Xiuyun was still hesitating whether to give it to him—he reached straight into her desk drawer and took it.

".. I…"

"Stop saying 'I,' I'll take it myself." Jiang Nian grabbed the two apples and walked off without a pause.

When he returned, several apples had appeared on his desk.