Chapter 472

The next day.

Jiang Nian opened his eyes and pulled his hand out of his crotch.

The backup hidden heat source works like this.

He picked up his phone and skillfully opened the album. Though Xu Qianqian quickly withdrew it, the Dao is one chi higher, the demon is one chi higher still.

In the photo, the girl's face in front of the mirror was youthful, her black hair and red lips.

He stared at the photo for a while, suddenly feeling dry-mouthed. He suppressed the surging hormones, thinking he'd swallow her whole someday.

On the desk sat a box of apples; he casually took one.

He washed up and left.

Gao San, fourth floor.

"Empress Fangfang, good morning," Jiang Nian entered the classroom, refreshed and cheerful. "Today's a good day, a wonderful day."

It's a good day to get a driver's license—he'd have to take another weekly leave.

Old Liu must be thrilled.

"Not early," Huang Fang glared at him, placing three wrapped apples on his desk. "Yours. Take them back."

Jiang Nian said nothing, tucked them into his bag.

He casually snatched two more apples from Ma Guojun's desk—luckily, the distance was far, so Li Hua hadn't found them last night.

Huang Fang stared, dumbfounded, unable to speak.

"How many did you collect yesterday?"

"Forgot. But most were social obligation apples," Jiang Nian grinned. "Only yours, Empress Fangfang, are friendship apples."

Hearing this, Huang Fang rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

"Social obligation or romantic obligation..."

"What are you mumbling?" Jiang Nian frowned, lifting his thermos, ready to complete his daily water-filling duty.

Huang Fang fell silent, leaning on her desk to do problems.

"I'll share the apples—I can't eat them all," Jiang Nian fulfilled his promise, unwrapping them and keeping the box.

"Is that okay?" Huang Fang hesitated.

"Christmas Eve is over; the meaning assigned to apples has naturally expired," Jiang Nian split them evenly and handed her half.

"Really?" Huang Fang couldn't follow Jiang Nian's logic.

"Wasting food is wasteful. Consider it payment for carrying my blame," Jiang Nian said carefree, clapped his hands, and walked off.

If you only promise cakes but give no real benefits, how can you win people's hearts?

Your Majesty, the people's hearts are with you.

Morning self-study.

Zhang Nengzhi was in good spirits; before entering the classroom, she took off her Bluetooth earphones, and the playing "Sunny Day" abruptly stopped.

"Hello hello, good morning."

Jiang Nian casually pulled out her chair and made a classic Zhang Wei gesture.

"Please sit."

Zhang Nengzhi pursed her lips and glared at him.

"Hmph."

"I pulled out your chair, and you still 'hmph'?" Jiang Nian didn't indulge her—he pinched her leg as payment.

"You!" Zhang Nengzhi slapped him.

Jiang Nian immediately collapsed onto his desk, groaning pitifully while mentally calculating the answer to that math multiple-choice question on paper.

After a while, Zhang Nengzhi slipped him a sticky note.

It contained a short essay; Jiang Nian glanced at it, grabbed it, and crumpled it into a ball, startling Zhang Nengzhi.

"Hey!" She thought Jiang Nian was going to swallow it again.

But Jiang Nian merely stuffed it into his pocket.

"I'll read it after class."

Zhang Nengzhi's chest heaved with rage, her teeth grinding. She couldn't do anything about him, so she huffed and began memorizing her textbook.

Jiang Nian stole a glance with the corner of his eye, thinking Baby Zhizhi must be a pufferfish.

Whether she's poisonous or not—he'd find out by eating her.

"Spotted! Got named again!" Li Hua arrived just on time, then turned to see Li Qingrong arriving just on time too.

"Chi Shi's done it again—now he's been named again!" Li Hua arrived right on time and turned to see Li Qingrong arriving just as punctually.

Li Qingrong, holding her bag, paused in the aisle.

"Received a warning."

"Spotted! Spotted!" Li Hua let out a shrill cry. "Ji Ming, that old bastard, is so biased!"

Jiang Nian chuckled. "If you scored above 680, you'd get a verbal warning too."

"Don't bully the group leader," Zhang Nengzhi chimed in softly. "His vocabulary only goes up to 'C'."

"Don't pressure the group leader," Zhang Nenzhi leaned over and sighed, "because he's only memorized up to 'c'."

Li Hua couldn't bear the humiliation, grabbed his Gaokao Chinese essentials, and stormed off to find Ma Guojun.

Jiang Nian smiled, casually glanced around.

Li Qingrong wore that watch on her wrist—its design was quite elegant. Rumor said it could play games; Jiang Nian suddenly felt a itch to try it.

Too bad Zhang Nengzhi was beside him—he'd surely ask about it.

Too bad Zhang Ningzhi was nearby—he would have asked if he saw it.

So, they could only give up.

By the second half of morning self-study, the classroom had fallen silent.

"I've got something to do at noon, so...:..:" Jiang Nian turned to the class monitor in the seat behind him, "I might need to take leave."

Li Qingrong probably guessed what he intended to do and nodded.

"Mm."

Zhang Nenzhi poked him, curiously asking.

"Go... take the test?"

"Yeah." Jiang Nian nodded, raising his eyebrows, "Watch me—I'll have my license back by noon."

Hearing this, Zhang Nenzhi cheered enthusiastically.

"Good luck!"

Jiang Nian successfully got leave and slipped out during the first class.

Coach Lao Tian waited at the school gate as agreed; once Jiang Nian got in the car, he stepped hard on the gas and drove straight to the vehicle management office.

Following the order, Jiang Nian entered the examination hall.

Hall.

In his hand, he held his ID card and looked up at the large screen. The candidate groups were listed; he was number four.

Outside the window was the starting section of Subject Three; candidates who finished the lighting simulation would accelerate to perform gear shifts.

So, in Jiang Nian's view, cars crawled past slowly, only to be immediately zoomed back by the examiner.

These were all candidates who had failed the first gear-shift checkpoint; it looked oddly amusing.

The exam announcement called his name.

Coach Lao Tian had arranged everything for him, so he didn't have to worry about sudden braking—the entire process went smoothly.

After signing, Jiang Nian retrieved his phone.

Li Qingrong: "Did you pass?"

Jiang Nian checked the message timestamp—just past nine twenty. Clearly, class was still in session; he replied skeptically,

"Are you playing with your phone in class again?"

Li Qingrong replied instantly: "Wristwatch."

Jiang Nian froze for a few seconds, thoroughly impressed.

"Passed. Now preparing for Subject Four computer test."

"Oh." Li Qingrong replied, then fell silent for several minutes before adding, "Need a car?"

Jiang Nian nearly broke into sweat, glancing at Coach Lao Tian returning from handling paperwork.

"I'm entering the exam room—no need for now."

Subject Four was even easier than Subject One; Jiang Nian took it casually and scored 96, walking straight out of the exam room.

Coach Lao Tian stood at the door, eagerly asking,

"Did you pass?"

Jiang Nian nodded. "Passed."

"Great!" Coach Lao Tian beamed. "Wait a moment—I'll find someone to print your license."

"Alright."

With nothing to do, Jiang Nian idled.

He walked to the flowerbed by the entrance of the vehicle management office's first floor, crouched down, and replied to WeChat messages one by one.

School was still in session; Baby Zhizhi and Chen Yunyun couldn't reply immediately.

Vibrate. Vibrate. Vibrate.

Only Son of Heaven Li Qingrong remained untouched, ignoring class rules to reply instantly—this must be Qian Bao's class.

Ugh, poor Qian Bao.

Before long, lunch break approached.

At the school gate.

Jiang Nian got out of the car, waved to Coach Lao Tian, and walked off.

He pretended to head toward school for a few steps; once Coach Lao Tian drove away, he couldn't resist pulling out his license to admire it.

A freshly printed license—just looking at it felt great.

"Damn, so cool." Jiang Nian marveled for a moment; since school hadn't let out yet, he found a shop and grabbed a quick bite.

A phone resting on a paper bill trembled on the greasy table.

Zhao Qiuxue:

"Departing for Hangcheng."

Jiang Nian was eating rice from a wooden bucket—no bucket, of course; the idiot owner didn't even bother pretending, just tossed him an iron basin.

He glanced at the message, unsure what to say.

"Safe travels."

Zhao Qiuxue: "Mm-hmm."

Jiang Nian hesitated for an instant, chopsticks frozen mid-air.

To be honest, his relationship with Zhao Qiuxue was complicated. She was an elder, so he couldn't send red packets.

Yet, between them, there was a faint sense of cooperation.

Jiang Nian saw potential in Hangcheng's e-commerce; Zhao Qiuxue likely contacted people these past two days—verified something, or found a way.

Either way, she was happy to be the pioneer.

And because Song Xiyun, there was naturally a soil for cooperation: no one would cheat the other; if they did, they'd pay with her daughter.

That way, the bride price was waived—win-win.

But reality demanded further observation: wait for Zhao Qiuxue in Beijing-Hangzhou to contact him before discussing cooperation.

If she didn't contact him, then forget it.

Bing—a message arrived from Zhao Qiuxue again.

"Little Brother Jiang, I've asked around. E-commerce is definitely possible. I'll figure out how to do it and let you know."

"Besides, you're going to do this anyway—perfect as a reference."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian's eyelid twitched.

"Alright."

He immediately lost his appetite, fiddled with his phone for a while, then finally sent Zhao Qiuxue a message.

"Do you need startup capital?"

After a while, Zhao Qiuxue replied evasively.

"You haven't refunded the money yet."

Jiang Nian understood her meaning: if he didn't refund the money, she felt uneasy—it was still a debt owed.

People struggling financially disliked owing debts, since their income was uncertain and they might never repay it later.

Of course, exceptions existed for those with thick skins.

He thought for a moment and sent her a photo.

"Busy studying for my driver's license. Just got it."

Zhao Qiuxue: "(smile) Congratulations!"

Jiang Nian weighed his words carefully and typed a message: hinting at a joint venture to test the waters, with losses split fifty-fifty.

Zhao Qiuxue didn't immediately agree, but replied:

"I'll go to Sijiqing first and look for opportunities."

Sijiqing was a clothing wholesale market in Hangzhou; e-commerce merchants dealing in apparel were either in Guangzhou or Hangzhou.

Renting space, equipment, and software meant a large expense.

At the very least, Zhao Qiuxue couldn't afford it.

To break through in e-commerce, one needed best-selling products—and creating best-sellers required timing, location, and human factors.

Altogether, going from zero to one was no easy task.

Jiang Nian stopped replying, quickly ate a few bites, then returned to school—he'd just have to take it one step at a time.

He paid and turned back toward school.

The classroom was nearly empty; Jiang Nian returned to his seat, pulled out a test paper as usual, and began writing.

Ding—a mechanical synthesized voice sounded.

【Organize your desk. Be a tidy man. A clean environment attracts women more easily.】

PS: At thirty-eight, your life is chaotic. Xu Qianqian and Zhang Ningzhi have long complained about your messiness.

Task: Organize your desk. Reward: Minor Skill: Harmony.

Jiang Nian stared at the suddenly popped-up panel, stunned.

What the hell.

The last task wasn't even completed—night talk with Xu Qianqian wasn't easy, especially alone late at night.

Even sharing the same space, it was unlikely they'd open up for a deep night chat.

So Jiang Nian hadn't pushed it; besides, Song Xiyun was officially moving into Xu Qianqian's home today as a female tenant.

Three people having a night talk was still a night talk!

Overall, the difficulty was lower—just needed the right moment, the right atmosphere, a little nudge, and it'd be done.

After all, the system never said night talk couldn't include another person.

So what was going on now?

The main quest had turned into an interaction quest—and it could even detect Xu Qianqian and Zhang Ningzhi's future thoughts and attitudes?

Wasn't this just an interactive mini-game?

Hmm….

What the hell was "Harmony" anyway?

Curious, he put down what he was doing, stood up, and began seriously organizing his desk—technically, it was an office desk.

Not long after, Wang Yuhe strolled into the classroom.

Chen Yunyun entered a moment later.

"?" Wang Yuhe shuffled up to Jiang Nian, stared at him blankly, "Jiang Nian, what are you doing?"

Jiang Nian paused, glanced at Wang Yuhe.

"Cleaning up. Preparing to drop out."

"Huh?" Wang Yuhe blinked, turned to Chen Yunyun, and shuffled over, "Yunyun, he's dropping out?" Chen Yunyun didn't know what to say, "He's lying to you."

Wang Yuhe's eyes widened, then ran back.

"You're lying to me?"

"What are you going to do about it?" Jiang Nian didn't care, glancing at Wang Yuhe, "Don't disturb me while I'm cleaning."

"You!" Wang Yuhe stormed off, furious.

Chen Yunyun walked over, watched him organize his desk for a while.

The books aren't aligned.

【

"What?" Jiang Nian looked up.

"The books aren't aligned with the desk edge," Chen Yunyun pointed to the line and said, pursing her lips, "I think it looks better when they're aligned."

Jiang Nian thought for a moment—it did make sense.

So he aligned them.

"Give me a neutral evaluation," he suddenly stopped moving and asked Chen Yunyun, "how would you rate my organizing skills?"

Chen Yunyun hummed for a long time, then finally spoke one sentence.

"Fine."

Fine? What the hell is fine? It's normal for boys' desks to be messy. As long as it's clean, what's the big deal?

"Alright, wait till I finish organizing before you judge," Jiang Nian swallowed his frustration.

It wasn't even break time yet when Chen Yunyun placed a box of fruit on his desk.

"Take a break—want some fruit?"

"Did you buy it?"

"No, I cut it myself," Chen Yunyun said. "I bought a cutting board and a fruit knife—it's much more convenient."

Jiang Nian paused, thinking: Yunyun is quite meticulous.

"Oh, okay."

Chen Yunyun sat down on Li Hua's chair and slowly ate the fruit with a toothpick, while Wang Yuhe ate one piece and then ran off.

After a while, she flashed back again to take another bite.

Jiang Nian was speechless, rolled his eyes, and after replenishing his vitamins, resumed organizing—a pile of test papers stacked together.

Chen Yunyun couldn't help but ask.

"Need help?"

Jiang Nian shook his head no, then turned to ask her.

"Have you heard this saying?"

"What?"

"A scholar after three days is worthy of a new appraisal."

Chen Yunyun: "?"

He didn't elaborate, just kept his head down and worked. Just before the lunch bell rang, he finally managed to tidy the desk with some difficulty.

Ding!

Skill granted successfully, now a passive skill.

【Harmony】.

Jiang Nian stared at the tidied desk—one second, two seconds, three seconds. A strange feeling suddenly popped into his mind.

Not harmonious!

If arranged this way, it would look even better and be more convenient.

Almost instantly, dozens of storage techniques flashed through Jiang Nian's mind. His hands moved unconsciously, instinctively optimizing.

As he organized, he wondered: Can anything be arranged?

What about posture?

Is it equally harmonious?

So far, it seems only storage is possible,

No wonder it's a weak skill.

He spent several minutes optimizing the desk's organization; what had merely been clean now became visually pleasing.

Jiang Nian burst into delighted motion, quietly slipped from his seat, and pulled Chen Yunyun to

his own desk, forming a silent mouth shape.

"How's this? (silent)"

Chen Yunyun looked at Jiang Nian, then at the tidy desk. Though she didn't quite understand what had happened, it felt pleasant.

"Impressive (silent)."

Jiang Nian was thrilled. He tugged Chen Yunyun's clothes and dragged her to her group, forcibly harmonizing their space, and collected Chen Yunyun's tip.

Pinch.

In the afternoon, Li Hua arrived right as the lunch bell rang.

He glanced at his seat, seeing a desk immaculately tidy. He instinctively took a step forward, then paused and turned back.

"Huh?"