Chapter 629: Should I Call Out?

"Mm?"

Jiang Nian froze, then took another look at Ye Yanqing.

"Know what?"

"Guitar." Ye Yanqing looked up, her gaze drifting into memory. "Back when I was in college, I even signed up for the freshman welcome party."

"That impressive?"

"But I didn't get picked."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian instantly choked.

"That's a shame."

Looks like Ye Yanqing's craft isn't much either — couldn't even get into the freshman welcome party, probably beginner level.

"Teacher, what else can you do?"

"Teach."

Jiang Nian fell silent and simply stopped asking. He buried his head and graded papers for a while, the whole thing taking only about ten minutes.

Before leaving, Ye Yanqing waved at him.

But she didn't get up.

Looking completely at ease, like an old farmer with hands tucked into his sleeves working his fields. A diligent gardener? The meaning's about the same anyway.

Why does Ye Yanqing seem... lazier and lazier?

Whatever, mark her first.

Before Jiang Nian left, he cast the blue-bar skill on Ye Yanqing — tomorrow he'd be able to peek at her detailed power consumption.

In the office, Ye Yanqing watched Jiang Nian walk out.

She couldn't help squinting her eyes, as if she'd spotted a fat, white radish grown right out of her own field.

If spring has come, can autumn be far behind?

With that, Ye Yanqing casually flipped open "Harvest." Next period was Class Two's evening self-study — perfect for killing time between classes.

Meanwhile.

Jiang Nian received a message from Lan Lan — more accurately, a message forwarded to him: "Zhennan Middle School Gao San Mental Health..."

He scrolled down through the notice, thinking byd he's not even the psychology class rep.

Where's Yu Zhiyi?

This woman wanders around all day, what is she even good for!

"You're the chosen one, then."

Outside the corridor of Class Three's classroom, snow-white light spilled across the floor. Yu Yourong was utterly debonair, brushing back the stray hairs by her ear.

"Become my successor — the second-generation psychology class rep of Class Three."

Jiang Nian: "???"

"Are you out of your damn mind?"

Yu Zhiyi said, "This is a transfer of power. Be serious."

"Transfer your sister."

"Sure, but I only have a younger cousin." Yu Zhiyi covered her mouth and laughed. "She's not as pretty as me, and her figure is also..."

Jiang Nian: "

He looked at that dumbass Yu Zhiyi, that smug look on her face — the moment she got the upper hand, she got completely carried away.

Wait till she crashes hard to the ground, then she'll be hopping mad again.

Women all seem to care about winning and losing, in the heat of the moment. As long as they can win, anything goes.

"Mumble mumble, what are you going on about? Go tell Old Liu."

Stupid woman, can't tell the king from the jack anymore.

Saying that, Jiang Nian waved and left. He couldn't be bothered to forward the notice to her — surely the psychology class reps have a work group chat.

"Hey, you!!" Yu Zhiyi hopped with rage, glaring resentfully at Jiang Nian's back. "Just you wait!"

Evening self-study — the classroom blackboard was densely packed. Every subject's homework, subject (previously submitted).

Heads down, heads up, three periods of evening self-study passed just like that.

As evening self-study neared its end, Li Hua tossed down his pen. First he let out a sigh, then gently rubbed his wrist.

"So tired, when do we get a break?"

Huang Fang in the front row turned to glance at him, her expression slightly odd.

"Group leader, school's barely started and you're already thinking about break?"

Ceng You turned around with a grin. "I've got an idea."

"Eat shit! Shut your mouth." Li Hua immediately gave a husky warning. "These days are really hard to endure."

Jiang Nian turned his head and shot Li Hua a glance.

"Hua, it must suck flexing with no grades to back it up, right?"

Hearing that, Li Hua was instantly shocked.

"Damn it, don't talk nonsense. Our group is full of talent — as group leader, I'm genuinely happy from the bottom of my heart."

"Group leader, that's a pretty insincere thing to say." Zhang Ningzhi cut in. "If only you'd score a little higher."

"Shit." Li Hua had already lost all his strength.

The fact was, in Group Six. Only Ceng You, who was just killing time, and Wu Jungu — neither of the two had crossed Li Hua's line.

The science god is a legend out there, but inside he has zero face.

At the same time.

On the other side of the classroom, while school hadn't let out yet. Yang Qiming took out two phones and lined them up on the desk.

Ding Qiulan glanced over, couldn't help but let out a hum and asked.

"Why do you have two phones?"

Yang Qiming said boldly, "For convenience."

Huang Cailang laughed and went along, praising.

"Brother Yang is really rich."

Ding Qiulan leaned in for a look, noticed each phone had a SIM card inserted, and grew even more puzzled.

"Can't it do dual-SIM dual-standby?"

From the other end of the aisle, Sun Zhicheng, who had long been unable to stand it, spoke up.

"One for normal use, one to ignore risks."

Ding Qiulan: "?"

After evening self-study let out.

Qingbao, who was playing a game, heard the bell from the nearby school and couldn't help but look up at the time.

"School's out."

The room's lights weren't on, the light was dim.

When Qingbao first came to work in Zhennan, her parents saw that the apartments near the school weren't expensive, so they bought her one.

They planned to sell it once her job posting changed.

"Ah~~" She yawned, kept staring at the computer screen, mumbling, "Just a bit longer."

"Soak my feet and go to bed before midnight."

With a soft sound, the phone on the desk lit up. She picked it up and glanced—a friend's rant had come in.

"Being an elementary school teacher is no job for a human, a parent called me at three yesterday... because they had a fight."

"Asked me to be the judge—who's right, who's wrong."

Qingbao just glanced at it, replied with two stickers using her pinky, and casually tapped a 1.

"Le."

After seriously brushing off her friend, she kept playing her game. After a while, the friend finished venting and casually asked.

"Playing a game?"

Qingbao: "No."

Friend: "...... Do you think I believe you? You're so proper at school all day, do your students know you play games?"

Qingbao paused, both hands typing a quick reply.

"No one will ever know."

"What if?"

"No what if." Qingbao replied casually, "I live close to school just to save some time to play."

"Heh."

Night crept in through the door, the midnight alarm went off.

Qingbao sprang up at once, hurriedly shut down the computer. She fetched her foot-soaking tub, and in her pajamas soaked her feet while scrolling her phone.

She wore a face mask, scrolling and scrolling through her Moments feed.

"Hm?"

Old Liu posted a picture of a spread of dishes—a big round table loaded with food, captioned simply: home-cooked meal.

Below, Jiang Nian liked it.

Jiang Nian: "Teacher, why is no one eating that chocolate on the edge of the table?"

Old Liu: "Indeed no one's eating it, I'll order some for you tomorrow."

Jiang Nian: "(fist bump) Thanks, teacher."

Qingbao, who was soaking her feet, instantly pulled the subway-old-man sticker face. She knew Jiang Nian was shameless, but Old Liu too....

Teacher Liu really is a character.

The next day.

Jiang Nian rolled over and got up, yawned. After a hasty wash-up, he packed the two pots of succulents he'd traded for into bags.

Last time he delivered to Old Liu and Sister Feifei first; this time he'd arrange the succulents for Qingbao and Teacher Qi Xue too.

The phone on the desk lit up; the lock-screen wallpaper was the moon—the moon that Chuanbao's club had hit.

On the screen, the words Sunday, six o'clock appeared.

He headed downstairs while glancing at his phone. Yesterday, on a whim in Moments, he'd seen Old Liu showing off.

On a sudden impulse, he'd squeezed some chocolate out of him.

Just right—a perk for the team members.

Jiang Nian headed toward the school, "Wonder what Qingbao was up to yesterday, today she seems to only have Class Two."

Seeing it was still early, he took a detour to the north gate.

He'd originally planned to buy the eggplant rolls brushed with chili oil, but this time he didn't run into Sister Feifei—instead he ran into someone else.

He Minjun's place was just outside the north gate; the low alley was a path she had to take, and the moment she came downstairs she bumped right into Jiang Nian.

"Save Min!"

She made a mournful face, turning "save me" into the homophone "save Min." The "Min" naturally referred to her—she was nearly broke.

Jiang Nian didn't get her humor, only felt she was a bit dumb.

"I say."

Right in front of He Minjun, he took a bite of a sizzling, oil-dripping eggplant roll and began to demonstrate what humor was.

"If you can't find a roommate, couldn't you ask your parents for a little money?"

"Why don't you eat meat porridge?" — Let them eat cake.

The expression on He Minjun's face instantly stiffened. She lowered her head and was silent for a while, then shook her head hard.

"My parents don't support me repeating the year. They said the family has no money left."

Jiang Nian nodded. "That's a shame, but I really can't help you with that. I don't know any girls looking to share a room."

"Alright, you are a day student after all." He Minjun sighed. "It's my fault too, I made things hard for you."

"Mm."

Jiang Nian prepared to leave.

"Oh wait, there's one more favor you could help with." He Minjun hesitated, wanting to speak. "You... could you... one last..."

"What?"

"That vegetable roll in your hand looks pretty tasty."

Jiang Nian: "???"

In the end, He Minjun happily munched on a vegetable roll too. A little over a month ago, she still had the余裕 to buy vegetable rolls and buns.

Who could have known that the great hand of fate...

At the time, it all seemed perfectly ordinary.

Jiang Nian was comfortably off; he could still afford to treat her to two vegetable rolls. Casually, he also bought her a carton of Anmuxi yogurt.

"Wow!! Yogurt for rich people!" He Minjun's eyes lit up, and she wolfed it down, whimpering as she ate.

Jiang Nian broke into a sweat. "Why are you acting like a starving ghost?"

She said faintly, "I didn't eat yesterday afternoon."

What a useless senior?

"No way, that's that outrageous?" Jiang Nian was also a bit surprised. "If it really won't work, apply for the school subsidy."

"Can't apply." She said.

Jiang Nian said nothing — perhaps it was a family matter. In any case, the two of them weren't close enough yet for that.

"Alright."

The two parted ways at the intersection between the senior-three building and Building D. He Minjun waved hard at him, then turned and left.

Jiang Nian thought about her situation for a while as he walked toward the classroom.

"Morning." Huang Fang greeted him in advance.

She had zipped her school uniform all the way to the top, half her face buried inside it, as if she were veiled.

"Fangfang, what kind of outfit is this?"

"I like it." Empress Fangfang couldn't be bothered with him. She tipped her chair back and rocked it up and down.

Early in the morning, few people were in the classroom; if there were more, she wouldn't play around like this.

After a while, Li Hua and the others arrived too. The moment he sat down, he turned and asked Jiang Nian a particularly stupid question.

"Do you know what the fashion trend for clothes is this year?"

"What?"

"Layering."

Saying so, Li Hua showed off his inner layers. Under the jacket was a short-sleeve, and inside that, a long-sleeve sweater.

Printed on the short-sleeve was one big character: "Dad."

"Trendy or not?"

Jiang Nian was instantly cringed into silence. "Your mom!"

Morning self-study.

Li Hua wandered around everywhere, showing off his "Dad's Here" short-sleeve. Honestly, it had a bit of a retarded-parade vibe.

Zhang Ningzhi wasn't at her seat either — she had gone to recite vocabulary with her bestie Huang.

Jiang Nian's entire row was empty. He turned to look at the back row and saw the class monitor doing problems, so he reached out.

He touched the test paper.

No reaction.

His courage gradually grew. The second time, he pinched her hand again, but Li Qingrong didn't even lift her head.

"Ahem, why no reaction?"

Hearing this, Li Qingrong finally raised her head and glanced at him. After thinking for a moment, she tilted her head and asked.

"Do you want me to call out?"

"No..." Jiang Nian was completely speechless. The class monitor was being a bit dramatic. "What kind of person would that make me?"

Li Qingrong: "A lecherous one."

"Can't you say something nice for once?" Jiang Nian's imperial countenance was greatly displeased. "I was originally planning to give you chocolate."

"Oh." Li Qingrong nodded.

Then, without a shred of emotion, she let out an "Ah."

"Is that enough?"

"Fine, I guess that's showing me some respect." Jiang Nian said, secretly plotting to try touching the class monitor's thigh in the afternoon.

Time flew by. The big morning break between classes.

Yu Zhiyi came to find Jiang Nian again. "Hey, I've already spoken with Teacher Lan Lan about it, asking you to take over..."

She stopped mid-sentence, suddenly cutting herself off.

"Where'd you get so much chocolate?"

"Old Liu gave it to me."

"I want one too." Yu Zhiyi glanced at Jiang Nian's expression before reaching out, and only relaxed once she saw nothing off about it.

Her confidence had recently been swelling right along with her bustline.

"What did you just say?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Oh, Teacher Lan Lan wants you to be the psychology committee member," she said. "It wasn't me who said it, ha—she called you out by name."

Jiang Nian: "

Without her stirring things up behind the scenes, Jiang Nian wouldn't have believed it even if you beat him to death. But since Lan Lan already knew, there was no point in making excuses.

After all, the psychology committee member was a sinecure.

Anyone else getting that position would at most just coast through it. But if he got it, he could actually gain a little benefit.

All because of... that woman in black stockings.

"Fine, then go tell Old Liu for me." He waved his hand. "I just came back from there, too lazy to go again."

"Okay." Yu Zhiyi smiled.

Going upstairs, Wang Yuhe happened to be coming down the stairs. Seeing a bag in his hand, she curiously rummaged through it.

"Chocolate?"

"Mm."

"Robbery!!"

Jiang Nian didn't stop her, just asked one question.

"Where to?"

Today was Sunday noon, no morning run.

"Going to the school shop to find Yunyun, she told me to come down." Wang Yuhe cradling two pieces of chocolate, quickly ran downstairs and away.

After going upstairs, Jiang Nian handed out the chocolate one by one. Since there weren't many pieces to begin with, and someone had already plundered them,

So when it was Li Hua's turn, only a thumb-sized piece was left.

"Bullshit!!"

"Why do I only get this tiny bit, Old Ma got a whole piece. Damn it, Jiang Nian, you hold grudges like this?"

"What grudges?" Jiang Nian shook his head, refusing to admit it at all. "Heaven bestows great responsibilities on the dead too, just make do with it."

"Damn!!"

As class was about to start, Jiang Nian left the classroom right on the dot. He planned to camp out for a wave of Qingbao, to check her blue bar from yesterday.

The preparatory bell rang, Qingbao was about to appear at the corridor entrance.

Jiang Nian leaned on the railing, pretending to look at the scenery. He turned his head to look, and his whole person couldn't help but freeze on the spot,

Twenty percent of the time spent on... playing games?

That section directly turned red.