Chapter 632: Cai Xiang

Hmm?' Jiang Nian stopped in his tracks.

A faint smile appeared on his face; he then stepped back, clearly amused, and glanced at Qing Bao's blue bar.

It turned red—nearly six hours of gameplay. In gaming, Qing Bao was truly invincible.

But it's personal freedom, nothing unusual.

The office was brightly lit, the door wide open.

Although Qing Bao was the non-stick master, when alone and off-duty, he sometimes spoke bluntly.

'I might become the biology group leader next semester.'

'Impressive,' Jiang Nian praised.

Qing Bao sighed, 'I don't know if I should. Do you think I'm the type who can be a group leader?'

Dammit, when did Qing Bao start asking for validation too?

The last person who asked like that was Old Liu.

'Can someone like me ever become vice-principal?' Back then, Jiang Nian nearly fainted from the absurdity.

Abstract compared to the ancestral master.

'Teacher, this is a good thing,' Jiang Nian said. 'There's still half a year—no need to decide right away.'

With Class Three's grades, if Qing Bao leads this cohort, by year's end he'll likely earn 'Outstanding Individual' and 'Excellent Teacher.'

Becoming biology group leader one day isn't surprising at all.

The classroom was already in self-study.

Tomorrow's entrance exam means evening self-study ends at nine. Books have been moved; half the classroom is empty.

'Hey, Li Hua, what are you doing?'

'Huh?'

'Making buns,' Li Hua said.

'Where are the buns? I want one,' Ceng You, slightly hungry, put down his phone and leaned over to look.

He discovered they weren't edible buns, but paper-folded packets.

'What the hell? What are you doing?'

'Just playing,' Li Hua tossed two small packets. 'Back in my day, I ruled the courtyard.'

Hearing this, Jiang Nian leaned over to take a look.

'You know, white paper is too heavy. And its surface is too smooth—it won't flip properly.'

'Huh?' Li Hua was baffled.

'Yellow paper is the real black tech,' Jiang Nian said seriously. 'Lightweight, but higher friction.'

'Really?' Li Hua doubted.

Jiang Nian nodded. 'Play while alive, burn when dead—two benefits in one.'

'Chishi!!!'

Ceng You rubbed his chin, lost in memory.

'When I was a kid, I didn't play with these paper packets—I used beer caps or round cards.'

'I played too,' Li Hua said. 'Kaijia Yushi and Ultraman round cards, plus Guobao Te Gong cards.'

The two chatted enthusiastically about card-flipping techniques, then suddenly noticed Jiang Nian hadn't spoken.

'Didn't you play as a kid?'

'I did,' Jiang Nian nodded, hesitating. 'But… don't you soak the cards in water and then dry them?'

'Or glue them—no one could flip them then.'

At this, both fell silent.

'Monster!'

'This iron monster deserves to be shot.'

'Holy shit, no wonder I always lost as a kid!' Li Hua groaned. 'Chishi! Bastard!'

Jiang Nian, however, felt nothing.

'My son is foolish.'

'Chishi!!'

'Why don't you play yo-yos?' Ma Guojun grinned, interjecting. 'Everyone had one back then.'

'Couldn't afford it,' Jiang Nian said. 'Ma, Ma, damn it, you're talking like someone who asks why the poor don't eat meat.'

Li Hua pointed at him. 'Shut up, rich fatso.'

'Fuck!' Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses. 'How expensive can a yo-yo be? Even the genuine one is only two hundred.'

'Two hundred?' Jiang Nian's eyes went wide. 'I knelt before my mom—she still didn't buy me one.'

'Pfft!' Zhang Ningzhi burst out laughing. 'You really knelt?'

'What's so funny?' Jiang Nian glanced at her. 'A man's knees hold gold—sometimes you can even trade them for cash.'

'So… you really liked yo-yos?'

'I stopped playing long ago.'

'Oh.'

Children have children's toys; adults have adult toys. As kids, we loved electric toys; as adults, we loved dolls.

This truth is worth deep reflection.

Spring breeze—clueless to sentiment.

Nine o'clock. People in the classroom began to disperse.

Tao Ran's group was on duty, staying behind to clean up and set up the exam room. After a bout of busywork, the few of them were exhausted.

"Holy crap, how is there so much trash?"

"Obviously, it piled up," Tao Ran said, holding a broom. "Exam week means double the trash."

"Group leader, who's going to take out the trash?" Dong Que asked.

Zhou Yuting was fetching water to wipe the blackboard, deaf to everything, still thinking about the problems she'd just done.

"We'll go," the other two boys in the group said. "We don't have brooms anyway, so we can take out the trash in a bit."

The classroom cleaning was nearly done, and the exam desks and chairs were mostly arranged.

Tao Ran, during a pause to rest, suddenly said something.

"I heard the psychology committee member got switched."

"Who?"

"Jiang Nian, obviously," Tao Ran said. "He really does have an unusual relationship with the psychology teacher — they just swapped the person directly."

Hearing this, Dong Que immediately stopped what she was doing.

"For real?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Tao Ran scratched her cheek. "Too bad, I can't go to the psychology counseling room anymore."

"Why not?"

Tao Ran sighed. "Afraid of being misunderstood."

Dong Que listened, completely lost, but couldn't be bothered to care. Thinking she had a reason to find Jiang Nian, maybe to join some activity.

So she pressed her lips together and smiled.

"That's pretty good."

Zhou Yuting also froze, clutching the rag, slightly dazed. Her movements paused, then she went back to wiping the blackboard.

Tao Ran said, "Jiang Nian is still easy to talk to, way better than Yu Zhiyi. Last time I went to her for help—"

"She called me an idiot."

Dong Que: "Mm..."

"But we don't really have any psychological problems anyway, and even if we did, shouldn't we go to the psychology teacher?"

"Ugh, don't even get me started," Tao Ran continued sweeping. "The psychology teacher isn't necessarily professional either."

"Besides, being depressed over bombing an exam counts as a psychological problem."

Dong Que was jolted awake by that remark, thinking that although the group leader was odd, his brain really was sharp.

Such a tricky angle — he could always find it.

But going to cry to the psychology committee member just because she bombed an exam would make her seem too much like a green tea bitch; she'd need a different excuse.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nian was already home.

He set down his backpack and spread out the test papers he needed to write on the desk.

He glanced at his phone — it was still early. So he went to the kitchen to grab something, then headed to Xu Qianqian's place across the way.

*Knock knock knock. *

"Coming!" Xu Qianqian flew to open the door, revealing a sweet smile. "Welcome back, Chef."

Jiang Nian was a bit speechless — the before-and-after flattery was laughable.

"Lead the way."

"Alright, this young master... ahem, this humble servant will lead the way." Xu Qianqian pushed Jiang Nian into the kitchen.

Then she bounced back to the living room, sat on the sofa, and watched TV with Song Xiyun.

She spread her arm and draped it over Little Song's shoulder.

"Late-night snack secured."

Little Song: "... Qianqian, are you way too obsessed with late-night snacks?"

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian said with a solemn face.

"Xiyun, you know what? In a person's life, besides studying and working, everything else can only be done during holidays."

"And for some people, even holidays have become a luxury."

Song Xiyun: "???"

"And then?"

"So, don't you think it's tragic?" Xu Qianqian leaned in, staring at her. "What is the meaning of life?"

Song Xiyun was overwhelmed by the heavy dose of grand philosophy and felt a bit dazed, and couldn't help but seriously think about it.

"Realizing one's self-worth?"

"Wrong — it's going to the dock to get some fries." After saying that, Xu Qianqian stood up, spread her arms, and imitated a seagull.

Flapping her wings, she ran to the kitchen to supervise the battle.

Song Xiyun's face was blank with confusion. After a while, she heard the two of them talking from the kitchen and couldn't help but smile.

She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through the class group chat.

"Rice cakes are here."

At the dining table, the chandelier was bright.

"Xu Qianqian, I suspect you're addicted to this kind of carb," Jiang Nian analyzed. "Always thinking about eating rice cakes."

She shook her head. "Wrong — it's precisely because we don't eat them often that we think about them."

After saying that, she picked the two small pieces of garlic leaves from her bowl, placed them in front of Jiang Nian across the table, and casually took two pieces of his rice cake.

"You like eating garlic sprouts, eat more to grow."

"Give them back."

"I spat in it, would you still want it?" Xu Qianqian asked sincerely.

"Depends on the situation."

"Ugh, you're a bit of a pervert." Xu Qianqian said, "Since you like eating my saliva, you definitely don't like eating rice puffs."

After saying that, she reached over and took another rice puff from Jiang Nian's bowl.

Jiang Nian: "

Halfway through eating, Jiang Nian and Song Xiyun started chatting about the game. The boosting gig couldn't be hidden any longer, so he just laid his cards on the table.

Little Song had already returned the phone to Jiang Nian early on.

However, after just a few words of chatting, the gaming itch in Song Xiyun's heart was hooked again by Jiang Nian.

After finishing the late-night snack, she took the initiative to wash the dishes. When she came out, she found Jiang Nian gone and Xu Qianqian had gone to shower.

So, she lay down on the sofa and opened her phone.

Almost subconsciously, she scrolled through some gaming news. Her fingers twitched, and she felt a bit empty.

The next day, morning self-study.

Class 3 was in an uproar. Although it was English morning self-study, the first session was a Chinese exam, so everyone was reviewing Chinese.

But, there were also people who did nothing.

"Wang Yuhe, what do you see in the mirror?" Jiang Nian, Chen Yunyun, and Wang Yuhe gathered in a circle to review.

In Lin Dong's group, a boy suddenly asked for leave.

"What?"

Seeing Jiang Nian's cautious manner, she couldn't help but lean over.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Nian let go, revealing the mirror's surface.

"A pig."

Wang Yuhe immediately got furious, wanting to snatch his mirror away. The two had a wild tug-of-war, going back and forth.

"Give it to me!!"

"I won't!"

"You called me a pig, I'm going to beat you up." Wang Yuhe, out of spite, kicked her long legs wildly under the desk.

Jiang Nian clamped his legs together, twisted counterclockwise, "Hey, move then."

"Just you wait!!!" Wang Yuhe struggled violently, but her strength wasn't enough. "Do you dare let go?"

"Hehe." Jiang Nian didn't fall for it at all.

Chen Yunyun seriously recited her book, completely ignoring their fight. In no time at all, Wang Yuhe was about to cry from anger.

"Know that it cannot be gained all at once, entrust the lingering sounds to the sorrowful wind."

Jiang Nian had already pinned Wang Yuhe's hands on the desk too, dodging her zombie bite, and asked Chen Yunyun in a spare moment.

"Are you reciting the whole text?"

Chen Yunyun shook her head, "Only those few lines will be tested."

"What if it appears on the college entrance exam?" Lin Dong put down his materials and chimed in, "I feel this passage is definitely going to be tested."

Chen Yunyun fell into deep thought, and blurted out two words.

"Accept fate."

"What a fine 'accept the loss gracefully'." Jiang Nian nodded, "But Old Liu said the probability of testing 'Memorial on Dispatching the Troops' is a bit higher."

"Why?" Lin Dong was puzzled.

"Because it hasn't been tested before, duh. There are only so many passages in total. They go round and round, picking whichever one catches their eye."

Chen Yunyun heard this and nodded.

"Then I'll recite the whole text."

Lin Dong: "

1

This damn favoritism is way too obvious, not even pretending anymore. When she says it, it's 'bet your life'; when he says it, it's 'recite the whole text'.

Sun Zhicheng was even more restless, watching the four chatting.

That spot used to be his.

He started regretting that blunder of a confession again, the root of all evil—he never should've gotten hyped on Douyin chicken soup back then.

If the confession fails, you really can't even be friends anymore.

When the morning self-study bell rang for the end of class, the students immediately grabbed their exam supplies. They poured out of the classroom and crowded into the hallway.

Li Hua spotted Cai Xiang in the crowd, so he gave a roguish smile. He patted Jiang Nian's shoulder and spoke.

"I heard Cai Xiang hates it most when people call her by her nickname."

"What nickname?" Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow.

"Soy Milk."

"Such a funny nickname, how do you know?" Jiang Nian was itching to try.

"I used to be the gossip king." Li Hua smiled, "Do you dare call her by her nickname right now?"

"So what if I do?"

"Call you Daddy for a week." Li Hua revealed a devilish smile, his hand resting on Jiang Nian's shoulder, coaxing him gently.

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, figuring he wouldn't lose either way.

"Deal."

"Soy Milk!!!"

A single voice drew the attention of half the corridor. Cai Xiaoqing looked up and met Jiang Nian's eyes.

Click— she pressed the nib of her pen out.

She was gripping it in her hand, face set. With one hand she parted the crowd and came straight at Jiang Nian.

"Holy shit!" Jiang Nian instantly felt a chill run down his neck.

He wanted to run, but it was already too late.

"What did you just shout?" Cai Xiaoqing stared at him, eyes dark and deep, the click-click of her signature pen in her hand. "Doctor, d-o-C..." Jiang Nian turned away and began quietly reciting vocabulary words. "You misheard me."

Li Hua patted his shoulder, face solemn.

"Bro will collect your corpse for you."

Cai Xiaoqing's hand had already looped around Jiang Nian's neck, scaring the great demon king Jiang Nian into trembling.

He was in the wrong, and about to be suppressed.

Just as Jiang Nian had accepted the fate of having his neck wrung, Cai Xiaoqing simply gave him a hard yank back.

"Don't call me Soy Milk next time. My nickname is Weiwei."

With that, Cai Xiaoqing left with a dashing swagger.

Jiang Nian's face was blank with confusion; Li Hua was a total idiot.

"What was that?"

"No way, Cai Xiang just let you off like that?" Li Hua raged. "I shouted one thing once and she folded me into a folding chair."

"People are different from each other," Jiang Nian said. "Hua, what should you call me now?"

"Eat shit! Doesn't count!"

Li Hua finished speaking, then turned and bolted. He melted into the crowd of exam-takers, clattering and clanging as he flew down the stairs.

"Hey, you son of a—" Jiang Nian chased after him.

He didn't spot him at the bottom of the stairs, so he let it go.

He hurried to the exam hall and, on the roster posted at the entrance, copied down his exam number onto his scratch pad before turning to go in.

Once seated, he realized there didn't seem to be anyone he knew in the exam hall.