Chapter 622: Fast-Forward to the Don

Outside the corridor.

Jiang Nian leaned against the railing, glancing curiously at Cai Xiaoqing. He wondered what could be so mysterious.

"What's wrong?"

"We need to make a bulletin board on Friday," Cai Xiaoqing said. "But I need to take tomorrow off. Can you help me?"

"How are you taking off?" Jiang Nian looked at her.

They were acquaintances, having exchanged more than a few words. And because of their class monitor connection, helping each other wasn't unusual.

"A family elder has passed," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss."

At this, Cai Xiaoqing said:

"Not really. I've barely met the person. I just need to go there to remind them about the bulletin board."

"Me alone?" Jiang Nian was stunned.

"And the arts committee member."

She said, "Usually, it's me and her who work on it together, but since it's my turn, I'll just write the characters."

"Then it's fine," Jiang Nian nodded, agreeing to help. "My chalkboard writing's decent—at least neat."

"Yeah, I know," Cai Xiaoqing waved her hand. "Neat's enough. Doesn't need to be pretty."

Back in the classroom, Li Hua was sneaking a look at Piggy Hero with Ceng You.

"Fuck, that damn pig's upgraded again."

"Eat a lollipop!"

When the two saw Piggy Hero collapse and enter Super Lollipop Mode, they instantly thrilled.

"Hormones are brutal."

"Super tech pig, invincible."

Phones were just okay normally. But playing during self-study felt like heaven—and dragging classmates into it was pure ecstasy.

"Huh?"

Li Hua turned his head and glanced at him.

"Back already?"

His brow twitched, as if he'd spotted a new source of amusement.

"What did Cai Xiang want with you?"

"Said my skills are good, asked me to help kill someone," Jiang Nian said, then smiled at Li Hua.

"There's an idiot in class who keeps testing her by pretending to need leave."

Hearing this, Li Hua's forehead instantly broke into sweat.

"Old Ma did it too."

Ma Guojun, across the aisle, heard every word clearly.

"Fuck me!"

Zhang Ningzhi was still angry, shooting Jiang Nian a glance. She immediately looked away and went back to writing furiously.

Jiang Nian noticed, but didn't ask right away.

Women hoarding emotions are as hard to calm as a New Year's pig. Asking them now is asking for trouble.

Let it cool down first.

After the second evening self-study session.

Zhang Ningzhi simply lay face-down on her desk, one eye peeking out from under her arm, staring blankly at the light beneath her thigh.

The classroom was as bright as daylight, even more bustling after self-study ended.

Whoosh—he heard Jiang Nian stand up and move his chair. After a while, the sound faded away.

She immediately pouted, thinking how heartless he was.

Next time I'll definitely…

Never mind, I need to pee.

Zhang Ningzhi couldn't hold it anymore. Her girlhood resentment was set aside as she prepared to stand up and go to the restroom.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from afar.

Huh?

Zhang Ningzhi froze. Then she felt her arm poked—someone's mischievous voice spoke.

Zhang Ningzhi's movement froze, then she felt her arm prodded, and a mischievous voice rang out.

She lifted her head from under her arm, glancing at Jiang Nian. After a moment of restraint, she gracefully took it.

She lifted her head from her arm and glanced at Jiang Nian. After a moment of restraint, she gracefully took it.

Jiang Nian said, "Found it on the way. I was afraid I'd die."

Zhang Ningzhi was about to unwrap it, but upon hearing that, she instantly dropped it, glaring at him fiercely.

Zhang Ningzhi was about to peel it open, but upon hearing that, she immediately put it down, glaring at him fiercely and puffing out her cheeks.

"Just kidding," Jiang Nian grinned, already thinking of his next words. "Are you going to the cafeteria?"

She'd planned to refuse, but after hesitating, she nodded.

She had intended to refuse, but after hesitating a moment, she nodded.

"'Oh' what?"

Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips and gave him a withering look.

Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips and gave him a glare.

"Go."

The seventh group in the back was basically empty, and the class monitor had been taken away by Cai Xiaoqing, so no one noticed the two of them leaving.

Passing the stairwell, Zhang Nianzhi actually wanted to use the restroom.

But after glancing at Jiang Nian, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She wanted to show him her best side—a true beautiful girl couldn't be associated with peeing.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Nian looked back.

"Nothing."

"Alright." Jiang Nian walked ahead leading the way, and after going downstairs he took his time, ambling toward the cafeteria.

"Hey, aren't we going to the cafeteria?" Zhang Nianzhi noticed he was taking a detour. "If we go straight, it'd be faster, right?"

Jiang Nian turned back, gazing at her with deep affection in a literary tone, "If a person walks too fast, their soul can't keep up."

Zhang Nianzhi: "???"

"But..." she pointed in a direction. "We've been walking along the edge of the school since we went downstairs."

It wasn't that they weren't walking fast—it was an obvious detour.

If they weren't walking together for free, Zhang Nianzhi would even suspect Jiang Nian was running the meter and charging by the fare.

"You're so weird."

"No I'm not, why would you think that?" Jiang Nian kept a straight face, doing his best to act completely normal.

He was completing a system task—there were only two key points.

One was to walk around campus with Zhizhi

Zhizhi, and the other was to eat something at the school gate.

The break between study periods was only ten minutes, definitely not enough time to do all this, but he could stall.

The third evening study period was Qian Bao's; she'd long since skipped out, so coming back to the classroom half an hour late wouldn't be a problem.

As for the classroom, with Cai Xiaoqing there, it wasn't a problem either—she wouldn't refuse to help with such a small favor.

Ring ring ring!!!

The two had just arrived at the cafeteria when the bell for evening study rang.

"Class is starting," she said.

"Oh oh, let me go in and take a look." Jiang Nian told her to wait, went in and circled around, then came out. "There's nothing to eat."

She thought for a moment. "I have some snacks in my bag."

Jiang Nian said, "But I want something hot."

Zhang Nianzhi: ".

"Want to eat instant noodles?"

"Let's go out to eat," he said.

"Huh?" Baby Zhizhi was startled, turning to look at the pitch-black field and the brightly lit teaching building.

"We're still in evening study, they won't let us out."

"Let's go, I have a way." Jiang Nian tempted her. "No one watches the school gate at all, we can just walk right out."

Hearing this, Zhang Nianzhi looked at him, then nodded.

"Oh, alright."

When they reached the first-year building, she suddenly turned and called out to Jiang Nian.

"You stand right here."

"???"

"I need to go wash my hands, you stand here and wait for me." Zhang Nianzhi pressed her lips together. "Remember don't run off, okay?"

Jiang Nian glanced over there, thinking to himself, peeing is peeing.

And washing hands too.

"Fine, go ahead."

"Be good, okay? Don't move." Zhang Nianzhi ran a short distance, then turned back to warn him. "Otherwise I'll get angry."

"Got it."

While Zhang Nianzhi was peeing, Jiang Nian wandered around the bulletin board downstairs, his gaze landing on a photograph.

"Grade C504... Lin Yuxi."

He looked for a while and found that this low-scorer's life motto was, 【Lie around on the east side, then go lie around on the west side】.

After a while, Zhang Nianzhi came out.

Jiang Nian turned back, saw the fiercely charging Baby Zhizhi, and remained unhurried. Before she could speak, he got the first word in.

"Why so long?"

Hearing this, Zhang Nianzhi's momentum instantly deflated.

"N-nothing."

"Got lost in the restroom, did you?"

"I wasn't using the restroom!" Zhang Nianzhi flushed red, stamped her foot. "I just went to wash up!"

Amid the bickering, the two of them left the school gate together.

"Jiang Nian." "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

"."

"I'm scared."

"It's fine, it'll be over in a moment."

Jiang Nian acted as if nothing had happened, while Zhang Ningzhi was tense, but they still walked smoothly out the school's main gate.

"Phew!!" She exhaled, patting her chest. "Scared me to death—if we'd been caught, it'd be over."

Her heart pounded hard, yet she also felt a thrill.

"I told you," Jiang Nian glanced at the street's dazzling signs. "Let's go pick somewhere to eat." "Okay."

They picked a nearby spot, originally planning to eat fried skewers. But Zhang Ningzhi avoided greasy food, so they switched to Ningdu meatballs.

"Madam, how much for a bowl?"

"Ten yuan."

"Ten..

." Jiang Nian froze.

He'd never eaten here before—the shop was too small. And he had no interest in meatballs; he preferred other meats.

"Two bowls, then. Here's twenty." Zhang Ningzhi pulled out twenty yuan from her pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"Why did you pay?" Jiang Nian stared in shock.

"It's fine," Zhang Ningzhi stuck out her tongue, pretending to be cute to deflect. "Who pays doesn't matter."

"That makes me look bad. Don't do that again." Jiang Nian pointed at her. "Give me the money."

"Okay."

At that moment, two middle-aged men at other tables got splashed in the face. They could take it—they'd endured hardship.

But their hearts couldn't handle it; their faces nearly turned green.

"These kids today...

" Tsk. "I just don't understand them anymore. Maybe I'm getting old."

When Jiang Nian and Zhang Ningzhi returned to the classroom, half of the third evening self-study had already passed, but they'd finally gotten their reward.

【Observer】: temporarily named Blue Bar. Effect: reveals the target's Blue Bar. Cooldown: once every three days.

Not useless—just completely useless.

Everyone around him was ordinary, and their bodies were reasonably healthy. Even the weakest, Xiao Song, had recovered from his cold.

Who should he probe?

Jiang Nian turned to Li Hua and slapped his shoulder hard.

"Thump-thump-thump!!!"

"Holy shit!" Li Hua winced, gasping. "Dude, seriously? You're already trying to kill me?"

He'd just muttered a couple doubts when Jiang Nian and Zhang Ningzhi entered the classroom—and now revenge had come.

"Nope, just testing your body," Jiang Nian said. "Damn, Hua, you're really weak."

"I'm weak? Bullshit!" Li Hua protested. "I'm weak? What about Liu Yang? He struggles just to run laps."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian turned and saw Liu Yang slumped over his desk, as lifeless as an octopus.

He immediately glanced at Liu Yang's Blue Bar—only one-sixth remained.

"Holy shit?"

"What did he do?"

"Quit smoking," Li Hua grinned. "Liu Yang's gone insane—he keeps muttering about Fei Yangyang."

Jiang Nian: "???"

"Oh, his lungs itch."

At that moment, Jiang Nian looked again at Liu Yang. The Blue Bar now showed additional details, including the exact cause.

Quitting smoking accounted for only one-fifth. Liu Yang had gone to Zhenbei that afternoon to buy beef intestine rice noodle rolls for his girlfriend.

Only the morning stalls near school sold intestine rice noodle rolls. To eat them in the afternoon, you had to go to the Zhenbei shop.

Jiang Nian found this fascinating.

So this ability... when given clues, it reveals the target's secrets. No wonder it has a cooldown.

After evening self-study ended.

Li Qingrong was still slowly packing up; Jiang Nian had already finished. Before leaving, he greeted her.

"Embracing Qingqing, I'm heading home."

"Mm." She nodded, then asked directly, "Are you free this weekend?"

"Weekend?" Jiang Nian hesitated. He'd always spent weekends in the classroom last semester, but that was when he was pushing for scores—now he had enough.

How high does a score even need to be?

"Yeah, I'm free. Why?"

"I need to go to the city," Li Qingrong lowered her gaze. "I want to eat something, but I don't want to take a taxi."

"Oh, I get it," Jiang Nian thought—he'd be driving again. But logically, he'd get a meal out of it.

He could even touch her legs. The monitor's legs were top-tier.

Roughly speaking, no loss.

As for studying, he'd already raised all his humanities scores. What's left is math, physics, or Chinese.

Even Chinese had 【Letter】—it added significant flair to argumentative essays.

Hearing this, Li Qingrong asked again.

"Are you reviewing?"

"Reviewing?"

"There's an exam on Monday," she said.

"It's just the entrance exam. No need to review," Jiang Nian said. "I've been doing practice tests since before school started."

Within books lie houses of gold; I have gold but read no books.

Whatever, I'll touch her legs first.

"Mm-hm." The class monitor nodded.

The crowd spilling out of evening self-study, shoulder to shoulder, packed tight.

Jiang Nian blended in among them, walking the road out of the school gate. Because of a last-minute weekend arrangement, he could only cancel his plans with Xu Shuang.

He thought again of Little Turtle, and asked him for a small favor — to help buy a suitable biology exam paper.

【Because you got a perfect score in biology.

】 Ji Jiayu winked at him, then turned and walked off with her hands behind her back.

It really was a small favor, nothing worth refusing. Xu Shuang's request was trickier — she'd entrusted him to find something.

School gate.

After he met up with the two girls, they headed home together along the street. Xiao Song's cold was mostly better, and her spirits had recovered.

The two girls chatted and laughed, then suddenly brought up Monday's exam again.

"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?"

"My name isn't Hey." Jiang Nian glanced at Xu Qianqian. "I'm mooching a meal this weekend, eating with a classmate."

"Who?"

"A female classmate, you don't know her."

"Oh." Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes, clicked her tongue. "It wouldn't happen to be Zhou....."

4

Jiang Nian: "???"

He immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "Here you go again...

, "I was just saying it casually, none of my business." Xu Qianqian said. "Forget it then, I'll go with Xi Yun."

"Where are you two going?"

"Milk tea shop to review, ordering a pile of stuff." Xu Qianqian's gestures were exaggerated, and she couldn't go three sentences without mentioning a Zhou.

Jiang Nian was completely speechless — he had nothing to do with Zhou Yuting.

"I'm driving for someone, mooching a meal."

Hearing that, Xu Qianqian was actually relieved.

"Fine, it's really not Zhou Yuting. Her family has a car, but it's not her turn to use it, let alone yours to drive."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian felt he was truly about to lose it. Then he fast-forwarded to the Don't Laugh Challenge, becoming a top-hundred UP.

"You—

,, Jiang Nian's dark history was exposed, and Song Xiyun grew a little curious.

"As a driver?"

"Pretty much."

"Your classmate is so...." Song Xiyun thought for a moment about how much a car costs — probably over a hundred phones.

Jiang Nian said, "It's just one meal. I'll come find you guys after I'm back."