Chapter 53

Class teacher Old Liu had a habit: he slacked off with exceptional dedication.

He lectured for hours, then bragged for ten minutes.

"High school," Liu Liangsong proclaimed from the podium, his speech booming, "has its youth colored by hard work—dating can wait until college." He never missed a chance to pump up the students while boasting.

Students who had been zoning out instantly snapped to attention.

When the class teacher taught Chinese, no one listened. But when he started talking about his romantic past, everyone woke up—everyone had to sit in the front row, ears straining to hear.

Keep going, teacher! What happened to you and your ex after you broke up?

What a dedicated class teacher!

Three great pleasures of middle-aged men: fishing, baijiu, and bragging. If he keeps dragging you into a hotel to chat about life's philosophy, the medicine hasn't kicked in yet.

Onstage, kidney-deficient Old Liu continued recounting his college love story, tearfully and dramatically.

Li Hua listened with flushed cheeks, utterly thrilled. "Hey, Nian Ge, what kind of person do you want to date in college?"

Jiang Nian, hearing this, felt a flicker of surprise and turned his head to glance at Li Hua.

Didn't expect this kid was a pure love warrior—but your eagerness to plant flags on yourself looks awfully like a losing dog's move.

Zhang Ningzhi in the front row paused her pen, tilting her head slightly, as if also curious.

"Hmm… do you really believe you can find love in college?" Jiang Nian frowned. "I have a cousin—he graduated college without ever holding a girl's hand."

"Really? I'm not well-read—don't lie to me!" Li Hua's eyes lost their sparkle, but he quickly cheered himself up. "That's definitely because your cousin's too introverted."

"College? The rain there is golden. As soon as I get in, I'll have girls on both arms. If I don't become Chen Hansheng the moment I step on campus, I'll bet you my life."

Jiang Nian stared at Li Hua's confident face, unsure whether to speak up.

"My cousin… his high school grades were about the same as yours—top in science, scored over six hundred. He's just an ordinary guy—there were only eight girls in his class."

"Eight girls: four already had high school boyfriends, two dated guys from the next department, and the other two were lesbians."

Li Hua glanced up at Old Liu, still yammering about his love life on the podium. Suddenly, he realized something: Old Liu had majored in liberal arts.

He stopped smiling.

Seeing Li Hua's expression, Jiang Nian smiled.

"Hua Ge, were you born without a sense of humor? Got something on your mind? Share it—let us all have a good laugh."

Around them, a few quiet chuckles rose. Everyone was listening to the teacher's love story, but dared not make too much noise—afraid of being called up and publicly humiliated.

Li Hua wasn't fazed—he sighed.

"Jiang Nian, what's your cousin like?"

"Not tall, not particularly handsome, but excellent in science," Jiang Nian sized him up, then added, "He's cheerful and articulate."

You're describing me, aren't you?! Li Hua's psyche exploded!

"Enough! Don't say any more—boohoo... I'm definitely choosing a STEM major!"

Jiang Nian said nothing in reply, offering only comfort.

"My cousin also said one thing—he realized after college that the best people were already in high school. But the one he couldn't let go of… someone else had already moved on…"

He didn't finish the sentence—there were girls in front and behind him; it was too crude.

Even his cousin—he still couldn't let go, even though she was already showing.

At twenty-eight, he still hadn't dated anyone, still obsessing over his high school moonlight. Life's like that—how much romance can you really expect? Long-distance kills everything.

Two cities: you're crying, someone else is sweating.

How do you win?

Afternoon classes—physics, chemistry, biology—only the last one was slightly less exhausting. Biology, half a liberal arts subject, was simple enough as long as it wasn't about breeding.

Mendel was dead, but he had no intention of letting students live comfortably.

On the blackboard, biology teacher Zhong Qing projected a problem.

The whole class groaned and scratched away—Biology II was brutal for students weak in science, but grinding problems could fix that flaw.

At least Zhong Qing believed so—and as she walked around, she deliberately lingered near Jiang Nian. Seeing him still calculating, she finally moved on.

Clearly solid foundation, poor technique—someone worth targeted cultivation.

After Zhong Qing left, Li Hua exhaled in relief. The biology teacher was too beautiful—years younger than English teacher Qian Bao, and she even smelled nice when she passed by.

The pressure from a beautiful opposite-sex teacher was overwhelming!

Qian Bao:???

Beautiful female teachers are opposite-sex, right? Married women are just middle-aged aunts? High school boys really are… fine, fine, fine—tomorrow, if I even breathe during class, I'll stand up.

Li Hua secretly rejoiced—he'd solved it! Zhong Qing must've seen his smooth solution process—maybe she's nodding at him right now.

Which high school boy hasn't fantasized about a pretty female teacher? Tears soaked his chicken rice, swearing to become class rep—I'm gonna lick lick lick.

Brother, don't go back to Gotham—the Batman lied to you.

He'll still beat you up if he catches you.

He turned his head and saw Jiang Nian still half-dead over the problem—suddenly, he felt better.

"Nian, got it yet?"

"No," Jiang Nian sighed, biting his pen cap. "F***, who wrote this problem?! Why's your heart so black?!"

Li Hua stared, dumbfounded. So vulgar, bro.

Gulp.

He stole a glance at Zhong Qing—thankfully, she'd already moved past Group Three. Now she was at Group One, checking the biology rep's answer.

He clenched his fist in frustration—Hua can't replace him!

Hua, are you serious? Please don't turn Zhennan into another Gotham.

"This problem's fine—kinda hard, wasted a minute of my time," Li Hua said with false modesty, raising his voice slightly to draw attention from Zhang Ningzhi in front.

As Li Hua stole a glance toward Zhong Qing, he noticed the biology teacher showed no reaction. Then he saw Zhang Ningzhi turning around—he instinctively patted Jiang Nian.

"Nian'er, your swearing drew people over."

"What?" Jiang Nian was getting irritated working on the problem, looked up and met Zhang Ningzhi's gaze, and sent a question mark her way. "You solved it?"

"Mm." Zhang Ningzhi's eyes flickered slightly, then added, "It's nothing, boys are all like that."

Then she quickly turned her head and bent over the desk to read.

Li Hua: "??? I've been expelled from the male registry?"

Jiang Nian rubbed his hair, paying it no mind. He felt the gap between himself and the top students. Some things couldn't be solved by rote memorization — if you were weak, you just had to practice more.

October, be nice to me... forget it. October, screw you!

Jiang Nian retracted a blessing.

After school in the afternoon, he sent a QQ message to meet Song Xiyun at the little grove. He solemnly returned the money she had painstakingly saved, and clearly explained the whole story from beginning to end.

"I just didn't have money these past two days. After tomorrow I'll have plenty again — do you understand what I mean? The concept of wage settlement we have in our country, OK?"

"Wuu wuu wuu." Song Xiyun cried, tears of poverty streaming down. "You should've said so earlier! I smashed my little piggy bank to get it — I had such a hard time finding it on sale!"