Chapter 634: If Threatened, Blink

Who's ordering?

Jiang Nian, hurry up.

I'm starving to death, damn it. Whoever orders is fine, quick, fuck, I could swallow a whole pig.

I have an idea…

Pig intestine sashimi.

Chi Shi!!

Jiang Nian hadn't planned to get up—after all, Tao Ran was treating. He wasn't paying, so he wouldn't overstep.

You go, study committee.

Besides, he didn't know their budget; ordering randomly would be impolite.

"You go," Tao Ran adjusted his glasses. "Five hundred's the limit. Just order what you think's right."

"Holy shit, really five hundred?"

Where?

The study committee's really generous—we won't finish this.

Hearing this, Jiang Nian didn't refuse.

"You order one dish first."

"Then…" Tao Ran glanced at the menu. "Let's get a large portion of Fen Long Chuang."

It's a large four-in-one combo: rice noodles with fish, pork ribs, chicken wings, and chicken feet.

The standalone dish, rice noodles with fish, is called Four Stars Gazing at the Moon—named by the founding emperor.

Fish slices on top, rice vermicelli below. Pretty name, but mostly carbs, little meat.

So Tao Ran just ordered the big combo. "Alright," Jiang Nian nodded, calculating: two hundred would feed them, three hundred would leave them wall-clinging.

He stood to order, saw the boss lady busy with another table, so walked to the counter and picked up the order pad.

He was deep in thought, figuring how to please everyone's tastes.

On the other side, five or six girls had just sat down. They glanced around and saw Jiang Nian holding the pad.

"Holy shit, is the waiter this hot?"

"That's called a runner."

"A page boy."

"Old…

"Shut up!!" A crisp burst of laughter rolled over them, cutting off the old hussy's dirty joke.

"Hey, handsome," one girl waved at Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian was a straightforward guy; hearing "handsome," he instinctively turned, wondering who was calling him.

Oh, girls.

He walked over, order pad in hand.

"What do you want? I'll rec…"

"Yam beef, tomato egg, stir-fried fish, spicy stir-fried pig intestine, stir-fried Shanghai greens, five soups."

Listening to the rapid-fire order, Jiang Nian kept nodding.

"Alright."

He wrote it down, then walked to the kitchen door and handed it to the boss lady returning with a tray.

"That table, and… that table," he pointed to the all-male and all-female tables, separated by distance.

"Same dishes for both, then add five bottles to the guys' table…"

He finished ordering, picked up a plate of peanuts, and as he passed the girls' table, the one who'd just ordered called out.

"Hey, handsome!"

Jiang Nian turned, glanced at them.

"What?"

At another table, Lin Dong and Sun Zhicheng were also in the restaurant, sitting with Yang Qiming and Huang Cailang.

"Do me a favor, Ah Cheng."

Then he turned to Yang Qiming.

"You too, cousin."

"Got it," Yang Qiming rattled off orders, then passed the menu to Lin Dong.

After a while, they all felt ordering fish wasn't necessary.

"Too many bones."

"Too many dishes—we won't finish," Lin Dong stood up. "I'll go cancel the fish."

"Hey hey, forget it," Yang Qiming waved. "Just pack the leftovers—the boss won't let you return it."

"Why not?"

Yang Qiming looked experienced. "Ask, and he'll say the kitchen already cooked it."

Huang Cailang patted his belly, wondering if he could eat it all.

Suddenly, Sun Zhicheng let out a cold laugh.

"Heh."

"What are you laughing at?" Yang Qiming glared.

"Laughing at your dumbass lack of brains—you can't cancel the dish?" Sun Zhicheng smirked. "Just ask if you can swap it."

"If the boss says yes, that means it's not cooked yet—just say you don't want it anymore."

"Nice one, Ah Cheng." Lin Dong gave a thumbs up.

"Pfft, then go get a refund yourself." Yang Qiming looked at him with annoyance. "All talk, no action. Talk to me after you actually get the refund."

Sun Zhicheng rose unhurriedly and headed toward the back kitchen.

Li Hua and the others on the other side were gathered around a plate of sunflower seeds, bored out of their minds.

A bunch of guys eating together is like a Water Margin Liangshan feast. Or like speeches at a little tavern — someone always drops a classic line.

Tao Ran cleared his throat and began speaking slowly.

"I watched a video last time."

In an instant, the whole table fell silent. No matter how outrageous a take, it can't beat an outrageous furry.

"Hurry and order some more dishes. Why hasn't Jiang Nian come back yet?"

"Right, we're out of peanuts." Li Hua stood up and walked outside. "You guys stay, I'll go check."

"I'll come too..." Liu Yang was about to stand, but Li Hua pushed him back down. "No need, I'll go alone."

"I..." Liu Yang struggled in vain, then had no choice but to listen to the scripture. "Speaking of videos, it reminds me of the origin of the lotus."

Saying so, he whipped out a lotus and a lighter with a click.

"Damn, Lotus Boy." Ma Guojun couldn't hold it in. "Stop hitting it, we seriously gotta get you under control."

Just then, Li Hua came stumbling back.

"Holy shit! Eating shit!"

His face was full of terror, pointing in one direction, trembling. Pale as a ghost, sweating buckets, he shouted.

"Jiang Nian... Jiang Nian he!!!"

"Dead?" Ma Guojun stood up and waved a big hand. "I'll get someone to book the first cremation furnace, grand funeral."

"Even scarier." Li Hua said excitedly. "No wonder he didn't come back, he's over there hitting on girls again."

"1v5, what a beast!!"

"Total beast!" Liu Yang stood up. The bros here are listening to the furry scripture, and he's over there flirting with girls.

Five of them, he's not even human!

"Where?" Ma Guojun stood up, looking around. "Holy shit, it's true, this guy is shameless!"

Jiang Nian came back slowly and set the peanuts on the table.

"What's with the looks?"

"Where did you go?" Li Hua's face was pained. "Damn, the wound of betrayal never heals!"

"Ordered dishes, asked around what tastes good." Jiang Nian said. In reality, he had added two more soy milks for them.

Sigh, who was the soy milk for.

Bao Weiwei.

Liu Yang was half-convinced. "For real?"

"If I'm lying, I'm a dog."

"You already are one!!" Li Hua said with certainty. "I absolutely won't trust you. Did you get her QQ?"

"Nope, done?" Jiang Nian held out his hand. "Transfer me 188, help me restore the Han dynasty."

"Eat shit!"

On his way to the back kitchen, Sun Zhicheng saw Jiang Nian standing there, chatting and laughing with a table of girls.

He couldn't help but shake his head, feeling in his heart that it wasn't worth it for Chen Yunyun.

"Really can't figure it out." He sighed. "These days, maybe sincerity isn't needed anymore."

Standing at the back kitchen door, he saw the boss lady, cleared his throat, and said.

"Can the braised fish be swapped for a large grilled fish?"

Hearing this, the boss lady showed a simple, honest smile.

"Sure."

Sun Zhicheng was pleased too, and went on.

"Then since the braised fish hasn't gone into the wok yet, we don't want that one."

After saying so, he looked at the boss lady's stunned expression. He felt a little smug inside — his own cleverness had won back a round.

However, the boss lady just smiled.

"Sure, even if it's already in the wok, it can still be returned."

The smile froze on Sun Zhicheng's face, and he was instantly mortified.

He really deserved to die.

When the meal ended, all of them had actually finished everything. Each with a drink in hand, they were about to leave.

"Hey!! Hey hey!!"

A few girls by the door waved, calling out to the guys heading out. To be precise, they were calling Jiang Nian.

"You're not a waiter, are you?" A tall girl stood up and laughed. "You were even ordering dishes for us just now!"

Another girl at the table, wearing glasses, said, "Yeah, you tricked us!"

Jiang Nian pushed Li Hua out, walking outside himself. Pointing at Li Hua, he said with a straight face.

"Holy shit, Li Hua, how can you be so shady."

Saying so, he was already out the door.

Ma Guojun and the others followed suit, giving Li Hua a push. One by one pointing at Li Hua, they muttered and left.

Li Hua was pushed into a daze, exchanging looks with the girls at the table.

"???"

"No, you animal!!"

A group of people still staggered back to school. Just as evening self-study began, Jiang Nian, who was working on a test paper, suddenly looked up.

"Don't employ those you suspect."

Li Hua heard this, turned his head and chimed in. "Don't suspect those you employ."

Zhang Ningzhi looked up, face blank with confusion.

"What?"

"Don't employ those you suspect." Jiang Nian said.

"Chishi, how can you repeat yourself!" Li Hua got angry, pointed at someone, "You're cheating, damn it!"

Suddenly, Zhang Ningzhi said weakly.

"Hesitant action wins no fame."

"Huh?" Li Hua turned to look at her, paused for a moment then asked, "Does this idiom really exist?

"Yes, it's from The Book of Lord Shang."

She said, "It means if you hesitate in action, you won't gain a reputation."

"Really?" Li Hua was half-convinced, then reacted again, "No, how did you get outside help?"

"Because there's outside help, so I got outside help." Jiang Nian propped his head and said, "Forget it, I'll start one."

"Do as one wishes."

Li Hua: "....... your mom.""

Li Qingrong propped her head with her hand, watching them suddenly playing idiom chain. Then they cheated at the speed of light, and in the end it just fizzled out.

She couldn't help but look elsewhere, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

In a flash, two periods of evening self-study passed.

Wang Yuhe lay on the desk fiddling with an eraser, suddenly feeling her head being patted, and instinctively looked up.

After seeing it was Jiang Nian, she immediately flushed red.

"Why'd you pat my head!"

Jiang Nian said, "Don't misunderstand, because in my hometown, a pat on the head is a sign of friendship."

"Really or not?" Wang Yuhe was half-convinced.

"Mm." Jiang Nian nodded, his face unable to hold back a smile, "Dogs are humanity's best friend."

"You you!!!" Wang Yuhe was about to die of anger, kicking her legs together, "Go away."

Jiang Nian walked toward the desk behind her, like a feint to confuse.

"Forget it, I'll go find Chen Yunyun."

As his words landed, he immediately killed a sudden turn. One hand pressed on her head, leaned in, his hand reaching into the desk drawer as if searching.

【Precise】Still going, sustaining the effort.

Almost in an instant, Jiang Nian reached into the elementary school desk's belly. He fished out today's portion of late-night duck feet.

"Ah!!! Jiang Nian!!!"

Chen Yunyun raised her head, quietly watching them fooling around. She couldn't help but shake her head, and continued reviewing with her head lowered.

Yu Zhiyi watched the commotion over there, couldn't help but curl her lip.

"So boring."

She thought again about this noon, some jerk holding a grudge against her for tying her shoelaces. She had blushed for nothing, and the result was....

Infuriating!

However, she recalled that moment when blood was swaying in her heart. The tingling, weak, electric-current feeling all over her body, and she still couldn't help but zone out.

Tingly and numb, quite comfortable.

Felt like it was going to....

Although when she saw the two shoelaces tied together, she almost had a heart attack, the feeling wouldn't lie.

Of course, she wasn't saying she liked Jiang Nian. She just felt this feeling was very good, inexplicably comfortable.

Just as Yu Zhiyi was lost in random thoughts, Jiang Nian swept past her, bringing a waft of fragrance...... huh?

What seat?

She couldn't help but turn her head, and immediately had dead-fish eyes.

"Duck feet."

Evening self-study was about to end.

Li Hua was bored out of his mind, craning his neck to see what people around were doing, even glancing at Huang Fang was redundant.

"Fangfang, aren't you tired?"

Huang Fang turned her head, eyes confused.

"Tired?

"You've been reviewing the entire evening self-study, never saw you rest."

"Group leader." Huang Fang was a bit speechless, "You're a bit 'why don't you eat meat porridge,' my comprehensive subjects can't be 290."

"Do you still remember, last New Year, I said I was going to buy a cake, you asked me if I was buying Feel Snow."

"What's wrong?" Li Hua was confused.

Huang Fang: "Group leader, where in the countryside would there be Feel Snow?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian raised his head and said.

"Little flower basket, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Huang Fang nodded, "And cupcakes, suddenly craved them during New Year, but they weren't good."

Zhang Ningzhi stopped, blinked, and asked.

"What kind of Dao?"

"Next time I'll buy you some," Jiang Nian glanced at her, "sweet ones—I'll watch you eat them all."

"Hmph!" Zhang Ningzhi glared at him, pouting, "No way! You're always lying!"

"A bit too sweet," Huang Fang said.

Jiang Nian thought: Fangfang's doing better now. She's even eating little cakes—better off than last semester.

"Next time I'll go to your place and buy some to try."

Li Hua, hearing this, instinctively sucked in a breath. He thought: Trouble. He shot a warning glance at Zhang Ningzhi.

Dammit, Jiang Nian's done for.

This time next year will be the day his best buddy's ashes are burned.

But Zhang Ningzhi's expression showed no change. Instead, she cheerfully joined in, raising her hand.

"Yay! I want to go to Fangfang's house too!"

"You're not allowed to go."

"Hmph!!"

Li Hua was baffled: This is impossible. Why isn't Zhang Ningzhi reacting? She's never been like this before.

Jiang Nian… could this be the legendary love gu?

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the back row. It hovered in midair for a moment, then tapped Jiang Nian's shoulder.

When he turned, Li Qingrong tilted her head slightly. Her face was expressionless; she stared at him for two seconds and said,

"I'm going too."

Li Hua's lips instantly curled upward: Yes! Yes!

Tataka ling!!

This time next year, I'll definitely…

"Sure," Jiang Nian said calmly, "but you have to ask Fangfang. She's a bit socially anxious—doesn't like too many visitors."

Huang Fang: "???"

Li Qingrong showed no strong reaction, only turned her gaze toward Huang Fang.

"Is that okay?"

Huang Fang opened her mouth, never having imagined Jiang Nian would be so heartless.

"Y-yes, okay."

"Hey, don't scare her," Jiang Nian added, "Fangfang's timid—if you threaten her, just blink your eyes."

Huang Fang's face instantly flushed red, "I'm not!!!"