Chapter 58

"That's it?" Jiang Nian, facing Li Hua's accusation, started playing dirty. "So you're this innocent? Pure love bro, didn't cry all night?"

The label "Pure Love Bro" slapped onto him, Li Hua's composure shattered.

He instinctively retorted, "H-how could that be? I just flipped through it. Your words are so... chilling."

"Sorry, sorry, my bad," Jiang Nian sincerely apologized, dodging another round of questioning. "Get some rest in there. First period's math."

Hearing this, Li Hua finally forgave Jiang Nian.

He snatched a short, chubby Sprite from Jiang Nian's desk drawer and rushed to a window seat to sneak a nap.

High schoolers flinched at the term "pure love," not out of disdain, but because it was like... Japan's favorite high school phrase: "You're not a chu, are you?"

Though Chinese school culture didn't have such twisted values, once the "Pure Love Bro" label stuck, that feeling of having your underwear ripped off and hanging in the wind—who wouldn't panic?

Otherwise... you think you're the one who picks just one sip from three thousand rivers? To some people, you're just... "Oh look, a lonely old dog with no one else. Waiting for me to give you a taste to keep you alive?"

Exaggerated, exaggerated—I'm just stacking armor.

Tieba newbie, positive energy foot soldier... (three hundred words of buff essay omitted)

Ding-ding-ding, morning reading began.

The morning commotion didn't draw attention from classmates; Li Hua slept through the entire morning self-study. The kid must've been exhausted—curled in the corner by the wall, snoring loudly.

Even during math class, Jiang Nian still didn't know what book Li Hua had read last night.

During break, the student in front, Zhang Nenzhi, turned around.

Thanks to Jiang Nian's quiet, effortless help a few days ago when she was in an awkward situation, her favor toward him had skyrocketed.

She was slowly inching from "reliable friend" toward "best friend"—her status bar was turning red.

The girl, nervous, whispered softly, "Could I borrow your English test to check my answers?"

The English test had been handed out Saturday night before vacation; Jiang Nian had finished the entire thing during half of evening self-study the moment he got it—he never took it home.

"Oh, wait, let me look."

Saying that, Jiang Nian pulled open his drawer and started rummaging.

While waiting, Zhang Nenzhi kept her body turned. Her gaze had nowhere to land—it brushed his lowered eyebrows and eyes, then burned away instantly.

Time stretched impossibly long.

"Here."

"Thank you." Zhang Nenzhi's earlobes flushed red, hidden in the white-gold sunlight.

She glanced down and saw Jiang Nian's test was blank except for the answers—no markings, no notes. She let out a soft "Huh?"

"You just guessed all of them?"

Jiang Nian blinked. "What else?"

Zhang Nenzhi was stunned. Even unfamiliar words made her hesitate. Long reading passages? Without underlining, she'd forget what came before.

"You... understand all of it?"

Jiang Nian: "Mostly. Why?"

She spotted an answer different from hers and pointed to a paragraph, asking its meaning. Jiang Nian glanced once and immediately found the answer.

"You're amazing." Zhang Nenzhi's eyes sparkled—her sense of defeat vanished instantly.

Jiang Nian, under the adoring gaze of the Nanjiang Bay Young Lady, couldn't help but smile slightly. Showing off felt good—who could resist this kind of test?

The bell rang. Zhang Nenzhi reluctantly tucked the test away, carefully placing it deep in her drawer. She glanced at the small class schedule on her desk and pulled out her Chinese textbook.

Li Hua yawned, pulled out Dragon Raja 3, and slid it under his Chinese book.

Jiang Nian glanced sideways. This guy read every single word. If Jiang Nan had readers like this, he'd sit up at midnight and knife him again.

During Chinese class, Jiang Nian pulled out his physics test, laid it under the textbook, and started working. Half-listening, half-solving problems, occasionally even interacting with Teacher Liu.

After class, he glanced at Li Hua again.

His good buddy had barely turned a few pages in a whole class—twenty or thirty thousand words, and he'd only made it through one period. "A Guest from the North Pole"—this progress bar was painfully slow.

System, next reward: give me a fast-forward ability for a specific item.

Hurry, hurry, hurry—fast-forward to the pure love part!

During the second class break, Li Hua finally rose reluctantly, dragging himself to the running field. He carefully tucked Dragon Raja 3 into the deepest corner of his drawer, then turned to Jiang Nian.

"Hey, Jiang Nan writes so well!"

"If I were a girl, I'd totally marry him!"

"Hiriri is perfect—her eyes are full of losers. Dude, you don't know how sweet those chapters were—I almost laughed out loud in Teacher Liu's class."

Jiang Nian walked with the crowd toward the sports field, sunlight spilling over his slender shoulders. Listening to Li Hua's excited babbling beside him, he barely held back his grin.

He thought: maybe in a few days, recommend him "The Poor Man's Two Thousand Years," or maybe "A Small Shop by the Clouds"—those two hadn't been released yesterday.

He didn't worry Li Hua wouldn't bite—the lure of curiosity was irresistible.

Nah, spare him. Give him "My Wife Came from a Thousand Years Ago."

"Marry him, marry him," Jiang Nian said, one hand in his pocket, dismissively. "You and Jiang Nan get married, embrace passionately, kiss every inch of his body."

"Holy shit! That's so gross!" Li Hua leapt back, putting distance between them. "Bro Jiang, don't talk like that—I'm scared!"

Jiang Nian shook his head. No problem. I'm just waiting for Hiriri's progress bar.

On the sports field, the red plastic track.

While the team was lining up for running, the PE monitor, Liu Yang, stepped to the front. He shouted for silence, then announced the autumn sports meet sign-ups.

"We're a science class—fewer girls. Hope the guys step up, show some spirit, bring glory to the class. Winners get prizes."

Below, the fat guy Ma Guojun snorted.

"Again with the thermoses, ping-pong paddles, badminton rackets? Can't we get something more expensive?"

Li Hua patted Ma Guojun's shoulder, grinning mischievously.

"What do you want? Should the principal buy you a mini F1 cup?"

"Get lost!" Ma Guojun's fat face flushed red as he playfully wrestled with Li Hua.

Jiang Nian idly scuffed his shoe sole aside, wondering if this damn running drill could be canceled. Summer ran until his underwear soaked through; winter ran until he sweated under the heat.

Soon, the PE monitor arrived before Jiang Nian with the sign-up sheet.

The two exchanged a glance, locking onto their secret signal.

"Bro Jiang, you've had enough downtime—fill one in!" Liu Yang pointed at the event options. "Hundred meters or eight hundred meters—which one you picking?"

"The shot put too..."

Jiang Nian's eyelid twitched, and he hurriedly spoke.

"No shot put!"

The old bastard judging shot put this year probably hasn't been replaced—he'd have a heart attack if he saw me flip and break the record again.