Chapter 527: The Audacious Fellow

Two math periods back to back in the afternoon.

Winter was already cold, but the classroom was warm.

The whole class of Class 3 was drowsy, yet none dared to anger the math teacher. They could only force their eyelids open and attend the lesson, suffering through it like a living death.

Jiang Nian had a little trick, so he wasn't sleepy at all.

Li Hua, on the other hand, was so drowsy he could barely stand it. He wanted to drop to his knees and beg himself not to sleep, only to find he could fall asleep kneeling too.

He wanted to cry.

On the podium, the math teacher was still lecturing with rhythmic cadence.

A simple problem—he tweaked one condition. From a single solution at the start, the process now filled two whiteboards.

"Ah, looking at this..

7

Ma Guojun couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and moved to the back of the classroom to listen.

The moment he turned, he shot Li Hua a look. "Stop forcing yourself, let's go—together!"

Li Hua pried his eyelids open with his hands, then dripped a few drops of medicated oil into his mouth.

"I'm... still good!"

Zhang Ningzhi was getting drowsy too. She took out an orange-peel scented sachet. One sniff and she was wide awake again.

She turned her head slightly and met someone's curious gaze.

"Want a sniff?"

"Sure." Jiang Nian didn't know what shyness was. He reached out his hand and said, "Give me another two hundred yuan while you're at it."

Zhang Ningzhi: "

.. Why are you so annoying?"

"I've been like this since I was little." Jiang Nian said. Just as he was about to joke around some more, he suddenly felt a gaze fall on him from the podium.

He shut his mouth at once and sat up straight.

Ceng You was propping his head up with his hand—he'd already fallen asleep.

Huang Fang was also so drowsy her eyelids were fighting each other. She fished a needle case out of her desk and skillfully pricked her finger.

Her face calm, she squeezed out a drop of blood.

This stunned Wu Jun Gu sitting nearby. He was a bit squeamish around needles. The mere thought of the needle tip turned his face deathly pale.

With a thud, he crashed face-first onto the desk.

"Ah!?" Ceng You jolted awake, stood up, and blurted nonsense, "Take the second derivative of f()."

More than half the class was shocked and looked toward the sixth group, where the commotion had come from.

"What's going on?"

"Teacher, he fainted."

The math teacher got a fright and quickly directed Li Hua.

"Press on his philtrum and see."

At the same time, he felt a bit sullen—was his lecture really that hard to understand? If the kid didn't wake up, this could turn into a teaching incident.

"Should we call 120?" Zhang Ningzhi asked, face full of worry.

"Not sure, let's see first." Jiang Nian got up from his seat, replacing the flustered Li Hua. "Let your old man handle this."

Li Hua was drenched in sweat and had no energy to correct his wording.

"Why isn't it working?"

"Good son, you can't even press properly." Jiang Nian said, his hands moving fast, pressing the philtrum precisely.

Both the position and the force were spot on.

"Huh?" Wu Jun Gu slowly came to, still a bit dazed. "Auntie, are there guests at home?"

At his words, the classroom burst into laughter.

"Holy shit, hahaha!!"

"Badass."

"I'm that guest—any good food at Auntie's place?"

Because these two math periods were so dry, the class seized every chance to stir up a commotion.

"How should I put it, Wangzai QQ candy!"

"Any astronauts? Hook me up with some big-mouth slaps I love."

Jiang Nian went back to his seat after pressing. Li Hua was useless. Once dear old dad stepped in, one move and the situation was handled.

But the moment he sat down, someone tugged at him. Zhang Ningzhi scooted over excitedly, her girlish warmth radiating.

"How do you know how to do that?"

"Oh, that?" Jiang Nian couldn't explain directly, so he made something up off the cuff. "I watch Health Road a lot."

"Health Road?" Zhang Ningzhi blinked.

"Wait, where did you just press him?" Li Hua scratched his head. "I pressed for ages—why didn't it work?"

"Here, let me press you and you'll know."

"Eat shit!" Li Hua dodged quickly, jabbing a finger at him. "I haven't fainted. Wait till you press me and I faint."

The boring afternoon classes passed.

Evening self-study.

Huang Cailang put down his pen and pulled a wallet from his pocket. The leather case was very nice—a gift from Brother Yang.

Because Brother Yang had gotten an even better one, his wallet at ninety percent new had no use anymore.

The wallet was nice, but there was almost no money in it.

He figured that at seventeen or eighteen, he ought to have his own financial struggles, always watching Lin Dong scrape together money every now and then.

"Bro, are you going home for New Year?"

"Going, of course—who doesn't go home for New Year?" Yang Qiming called out, leaning half his head past Zhou Yuting.

"What's wrong? You're not going?"

"Bro, I want to make some money during winter break." Huang Cailang lowered his voice. "You got any leads?"

"Part-time jobs, I guess?" Yang Qiming said uncertainly. "Besides, you'd have to convince your parents and fool the teachers."

The New Year was drawing near, and Old Liu would occasionally tell little safety stories.

Like the student from some class who got mugged in the park. Playing a game, singing a song, and suddenly two burly guys jumped out.

Robbery!

They grabbed the phone, took a look—screen cracked worse than Spider-Man grandma's reading glasses—and instantly flew into a rage.

Damn, fucking broke-ass!

They hammered the kid good, phone wasn't lost. Black eyes and a swollen nose back at the dorm, stubbornly insisting he'd fallen on his own.

Similar bits would often appear in Class Three accompanied by laughter.

"Sigh, I'll think about it." Huang Cailang sighed. "See if there's any part-time job that pays well."

Hearing this, Yang Qiming felt a little uneasy inside.

"Alright, I'll ask around for you."

Office.

Jiang Nian saw the door was open, but still knocked out of habit. Going in for a look, he found all the true disciples were present.

They were arranged in a C-shape, surrounding Teacher Qi Xue in the middle.

Of course, "Brother Pen" was there too.

Cheng Zihao saw Jiang Nian arrive and felt a bit indignant inside. That day, he had felt the math teacher's double standard.

On what basis?

"You're here?" Teacher Qi Xue stopped her lecture. "Find a spot to stand. Did you bring paper and a pen?"

"I did." Jiang Nian replied.

"Mm." Teacher Qi Xue nodded, then continued her lecture. "I've gone over this type of problem many times."

She went on lecturing to herself, but didn't notice the ghost-struck expressions on all the true disciples.

How could that be?

The great demon king Teacher Qi, having such a patient moment—actually stopping her lecture. Asking individually, instructing individually.

If the other party were a 150-point academic god, then forget it.

No matter how strict a teacher is, toward the subject they teach, outstanding students always get some preferential treatment, more or less.

A guy averaging a hundred points—on what basis?

Cheng Zihao was shaken; that familiar feeling swept over him again. He couldn't help but shiver, his whole body trembling unconsciously.

Too familiar—that's exactly the flavor.

Damn bastard, a troublemaker from another class. How is he so chummy with the math teacher, getting special treatment to boot?

Jiang Nian didn't know Teacher Qi Xue well, so he didn't think much of it. But precisely because of that, it was easier to grow stronger.

After all, not many people dared to bother Teacher Qi Xue.

And Jiang Nian happened to be the most meticulous among those brave ones. Likewise, the bravest among the delicate-minded.

Baki the Brave....

High EQ: Excellent upward relationship management.

Low EQ: Really good at sucking up.

Everyone's heart is made of flesh. Apart from being a bit serious, Teacher Qi Xue—setting aside the teacher part—was also just a person.

Jiang Nian was warm by nature, and kept the right measure.

Teacher Qi Xue looking after him was only natural. If he weren't in the same class, he'd already be the class representative by now.

Jiang Nian listened for a while and found Teacher Qi Xue was actually quite patient.

Though her personality was strict, if students didn't understand, she wouldn't mock them—she'd just quickly rewind and repeat it.

On the second explanation, students who hadn't understood would focus intently. Learning with grateful faces, becoming devoted followers at her feet.

One could only say, a good teacher naturally has students to lift her up.

After finishing, Teacher Qi Xue felt a bit parched. She instinctively reached for her cup, lifted it, and found it was a bit light,

"Teacher, let me."

A voice rang out, drawing the attention of all the true disciples present.

Teacher Qi Xue froze for a moment, her mind hadn't caught up yet. But muscle memory from many days had her hand already reaching out.

"No need, I can...

One,

However, when she saw the teacup appear in Jiang Nian's hand, she was stunned for a beat, then immediately changed her tune.

: Thank you."

Cheng Zihao clutched his problem notebook, his face nearly overheating with rage.

You presumptuous bastard, how dare you be so presumptuous!!

How can you be so selfish!!

Jiang Nian didn't know that his action had hurt "Brother Pen." But even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

Although he didn't know what he was looking forward to, this was reality.

After refilling the tea, Jiang Nian simply stood beside Teacher Qi Xue. Qi Xue didn't shoo him away either; instead, she asked him a question every now and then.

The true disciples exchanged glances, like Louis XVI utterly baffled.

After the lecture topic ended.

"Um, Jiang Nian, stay a moment." Qi Xue called him back. "The rest of you can go eat."

Cheng Zihao was grinding his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, and after stepping out, he didn't leave.

He only heard a few muffled lines of conversation drifting from the office—Qi Xue was asking Jiang Nian if he had fully understood just now.

Jiang Nian: "Understood part of it. Can't do it."

Qi Xue sighed. "With studying, you can't rush it. When the foundation isn't solid, that's how it is at the start."

"Teacher, I know." Jiang Nian picked up the thread. "As long as I keep studying, after enough time, I'll naturally give up."

Qi Xue: "

Cheng Zihao, eavesdropping outside the door, silently clenched his fist. He figured that in this situation, he'd most likely get severely scolded.

You think you're funny?

Love telling jokes, do you? Then go ahead and tell them, I'm done talking.

However, Qi Xue's voice drifted out from the office.

"You're quite the optimist."

"But a few jokes are fine too. When I'm lecturing, the students are all pretty nervous and don't dare say things like that."

Outside the door, Cheng Zihao nearly fainted from listening.

Wait, is this right?

He couldn't bear to listen any longer, and left in a daze, muttering to himself: so in the end, is it really true that an outsider Monk chants scripture better?

In the office.

Qi Xue pulled up all his report cards, including the progress in every subject and the total score, and couldn't help sighing.

"Although your foundation isn't solid, your resilience is quite strong—you've been steadily making progress step by step."

"Biology and chemistry both went from the sixty-something range up to ninety. Now it's math's turn?"

"Mm." Jiang Nian thought for a moment and said, "Teacher, can I come to the office to ask you questions often from now on?"

"Of course." Qi Xue nodded, then thought for a moment. "If I'm not in the office, then go to..."

"Forget it, save my WeChat."