Chapter 636: Is There a More Dignified Way?

Nine in the morning, just before the comprehensive science exam began.

The proctor gave the usual stern warning not to answer questions yet. Jiang Nian ran his hand over the test paper, and a line of text popped up.

【A blank test paper】

Holy crap.

If he didn't know how to solve a question, couldn't he just fill in an answer and touch it? Right would add five points, wrong would subtract five?

On the podium, the proctor glanced at Jiang Nian, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Hm?"

Ring ring ring!!

The broadcast sputtered twice, and Ji Ming's voice came through.

"The exam begins!"

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Nian had finished the biology and chemistry multiple-choice questions, and instinctively touched the test paper.

【A test paper with one-tenth completed】

【A comprehensive science test paper of medium difficulty】

【A test paper stained with ink】

Jiang Nian froze. Why the hell wasn't it showing a score? And what in the world was that last line?

He touched the desk. 【A mottled desk】.

"Shit!"

He tried it back and forth twice, and the result was the same. Taking a deep breath, he decisively chose to finish the test paper first.

A hundred and fifty minutes later, the bell rang.

"Alright, the exam is over!" The proctor's voice was full and resonant. "All candidates, stop writing!"

"Stand up! Leave the room in an orderly fashion!"

Before leaving, Jiang Nian, still unwilling to give up, rather lewdly touched the paper one more time.

【A test paper with one hundred percent completion】.

Screw your...

This time, his suspended heart finally died completely. The exam was already over, and he still couldn't test a single thing.

Forget it, he'd try again after the exam was fully done.

In the hallway, Dong Que came over with light footsteps.

"How did the exam go?"

"Not bad, I wrote everything I could." Jiang Nian was fairly candid; he didn't like playing the pig-to-eat-the-tiger, hard-baiting routine.

"Was it hard?" Dong Que asked nervously.

Hearing this, Jiang Nian couldn't help feeling a little dazed. In the past, it was always him asking the class monitor, asking Li Hua and the others, whether the test paper was hard or not.

Now, the wheel of fortune had turned.

Although his physics grades were average, dragging down his comprehensive science score, in biology and chemistry he was already a top student.

Boiled down to two words: authority.

"Mm..." Jiang Nian very cautiously selected the system's evaluation and answered, "Medium difficulty, I guess."

Dong Que's train of thought suddenly broke off, and she stalled for several seconds. Her face flushed red all at once, embarrassed on her own.

"Ah, that's amazing."

Jiang Nian had no particular reaction; he naturally knew he was awesome. But a kid from Zhennan had to save face, so it wouldn't do to admit it directly.

So, he chose to tacitly accept it.

Yes, I'm awesome.

However, the arts committee member clearly didn't pick up on that layer of meaning; the word "awkward" kept looping in her head.

One side, posing coolly and indifferent.

The other, mortified to the extreme.

"What did you put for the last two multiple-choice questions in physics?" The appearance of Zhou Yuting saved Dong Que.

Little lark, say thank you to Zhou Yuting.

"ABE, BD." Jiang Nian reported the answers, and immediately saw Zhou Yuting's face turn deathly pale.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Zhou Yuting regained her composure, but after no more than two seconds she began staring at one spot, frowning in deep thought.

Jiang Nian didn't pay much attention to it.

"Haven't you finished collecting the papers yet?"

"Almost."

At noon, twelve o'clock, Jiang Nian wandered back to the classroom. It was still the end of an exam; the afternoon English one needed no further mention.

Coincidentally, Yu Yourong hadn't left.

"Aren't you going to eat? Staying in the classroom..."

Jiang Nian leaned in for a look. "Oh, writing the English test paper.

Last-minute cramming, pretty diligent.

"I'll go in a bit." Yu Zhiyi shot him a look, pretending to do the problems. "Don't bother me."

At this, Jiang Nian was rather speechless.

"It's just the two of us in the classroom, how could I bother you?"

"Talking counts." She said.

You fucking...

The main classroom fell silent for a moment, then Yu Zhiyi seemed to realize it wasn't appropriate. She lifted her head voluntarily, preparing to speak.

"Ah."

"Don't fucking talk." Jiang Nian immediately turned around, pointing with his Husky finger, "I'm studying Three Kingdoms Kill."

Yu Zhiyi: ".

She hadn't expected Jiang Nian's petty heart to be as small as hers, but Jiang Nian was a boy—this was just too absurd.

For this, Jiang Nian only wanted to say fuck you.

"What are you eating for lunch?"

"You're gonna be a duck's foot, huh?" Jiang Nian said.

"Can you be normal for once? Forget it..." Yu Zhiyi stood up, "Making you normal makes me seem abnormal."

Saying this, she picked up her phone and prepared to leave the classroom.

"Cough, cough, make way."

Jiang Nian stood in the aisle, his gaze dropping lower. He thought: some people, once they gain something, are destined to lose something else.

"You really have to go through me?"

"The straight line is shortest," she said.

"Oh." He shifted slightly, hoping she'd give up, "Go ahead."

Unexpectedly, Yu Zhiyi blushed as she brushed past him.

Jiang Nian: "???"

Got brushed against. Fuck.

During lunch break, Jiang Nian slept half-asleep.

He felt something moving beside him, so he crawled up from the desk and locked eyes with the sneaky Wang Yuhe.

The two stared at each other, both stunned.

"What are you doing?"

"N-nothing..." Wang Yuhe instantly felt guilty, "I'm just checking if you stole my duck feet."

Jiang Nian gave her a dead-fish stare. "How the hell would I know where your duck feet are? I'm not a worm inside your belly!"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe was startled.

"I don't have worms in my belly!"

The lunch break bell ended, but the exam wouldn't start until three—still, the teaching building remained empty.

"I'm so sleepy. Go on your own," Jiang Nian pressed his hand against Wang Yuhe's face and shoved her away.

"Okay."

Wang Yuhe dashed over, slapped Jiang Nian hard, then fled in terror to find Chen Yunyun.

Jiang Nian kept his dead-fish expression, slowly stood up, and activated 【Lucky Draw】 and 【Good News】.

Almost instantly, he locked onto a location.

"Oh, it's hidden in Chen Yunyun's book basket," he muttered to himself, "No wonder I couldn't find it no matter how hard I looked."

This sneaky cheat is perfect for bullying elementary schoolers.

He barely exerted any effort to find Chen Yunyun's book basket, bent down, and casually flipped through it.

"Huh?"

Seven Degrees Feizi.

He flipped further and found a bag—inside were three packs of duck feet. Jiang Nian took them all.

He took a photo and sent it to Chen Yunyun.

"Today's jungle farm."

Chen Yunyun: "(Confused) Why hide it here?"

Jiang Nian didn't answer, but asked one question.

"Awake?"

Chen Yunyun said, "Everyone in our dorm is awake, but Yuhe ran off first—said she had a nightmare."

"What nightmare?" he asked.

Chen Yunyun: "(Laugh-crying) Your stole her duck feet."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian glanced at the duck feet in his hand, tore one open, bit into it, and typed back with one hand.

"This is a good thing."

"At least now her dream has come true."

Still a good thing—this left Chen Yunyun speechless.

"How do I explain this to her later?"

"It's delicious."

Chen Yunyun:

After a while, Wang Yuhe's voice call popped up. The urgent ringtone sounded like a roar.

"Hello?"

"!!" Wang Yuhe exploded with rage, voice trembling with tears, "Give back my duck feet!!"

Jiang Nian laughed. "What's yours? Now they're mine. Say hello to my new duck feet."

"You!!!"

Jiang Nian hung up the call and leisurely packed his exam supplies.

In the afternoon, the English exam.

It had rained in the morning, and the temperature was slightly low. On a day like this, wearing a jacket was most suitable.

"You're wearing so little—aren't you cold?" Dong Que stood beside Jiang Nian's seat, ready for their usual small talk.

It seemed casual, but it was behavior refined after reviewing her two previous failures.

Next time, I won't get stuck for words.

"It's fine, not cold," Jiang Nian replied seriously. "My body temperature is high—I handle the cold well."

"Then won't you be too hot in summer?"

"Air conditioning."

"Oh, okay." Dong Que froze again, feeling ants crawling on her skin. "Yeah, it's cool."

Jiang Nian lifted his head and glanced at her again. He thought the girl acted like a robot, but he didn't care.

He didn't really want to chat, and didn't need to force conversation.

"The teacher's coming soon."

"Huh?" Dong Que snapped back to reality, flustered. "Then I'll go back."

She hurried back, sat down, and adjusted her bangs.

"So embarrassing."

The proctor entered and recited the rules as usual. The exam papers fell like snowflakes, covering everything.

"Report!"

At the classroom door, Zhou Yuting rushed in. She had clearly run—fine sweat dotted her nose.

The proctor turned and glanced at her, then nodded.

"Mm, come in."

Zhou Yuting lowered her head, found her seat, and was about to fill out the exam when she realized she'd forgotten her answer sheet pencil.

Her whole body froze for a second, then she frantically rummaged through her bag.

After a while, she confirmed she hadn't brought it—and panicked completely, glancing left and right.

"Classmate, you…"

"Hm?"

Zhou Yuting saw the girl behind her had only one answer sheet pencil. Borrowing once was fine, but she couldn't keep borrowing.

"Pencil lead…"

She'd just spoken when her peripheral vision caught Jiang Nian. He was looking at her, and hope flared in her chest.

"Do you have an answer sheet pencil?"

Jiang Nian propped his head on his hand, watching Zhou Yuting silently. He thought: It's too cold—my ears aren't working right.

He was still wondering where the volume-up button on Tingzi was.

Why did she mute herself?

Seeing Jiang Nian didn't react, Zhou Yuting's spirits sank completely. She turned away, hesitating whether to raise her hand.

Suddenly, an answer sheet pencil fell from above.

Right on target, landing precisely in the gap between her and the desk—since she had no habit of feeding her desk.

So, the pencil was neatly caught.

She stared blankly for half a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Nian. He was already reading the exam paper, not looking up.

The proctor heard the noise and glanced over.

Seeing it was just an answer sheet pencil, he didn't bother intervening.

Two hours passed. With the final bell ringing, the Gao San second-semester diagnostic exam ended.

On the stairs, a crowd of people buzzed noisily.

As Jiang Nian descended the teaching building, he ran into Ceng You, Yang Qiming, and the others, and walked with them.

"Damn, that English exam was hard," Yang Qiming complained, then suggested, "Wanna go eat at the front gate?"

"Sure, bro," Huang Cailang said.

"No way," Lin Dong waved off. "The food at the front gate's too spicy. I'm going with Acheng to the west gate for the buffet."

"Five yuan?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Yeah…" Lin Dong started to agree, then remembered last time. "You're not going too, are you?"

Jiang Nian said calmly, "Nope. That girl'll start shoving chicken legs at me again."

Yang Qiming's mouth hung open, momentarily speechless.

"Wait, you're starting from zero points?"

"Nian Ge," Huang Cailang didn't care about the boss's daughter. "Last time, how many chicken legs did she give you?"

"Four or five?" Jiang Nian tilted his head, thinking. "Can't remember. Why?"

Huang Cailang said sincerely, "I'm so jealous."

"Don't lose heart, Cailang!" Yang Qiming patted his shoulder. "Face isn't key—personality matters more!"

"Got it, bro!"

"Stop bragging, cousin," Ceng You couldn't take it anymore. "Back in middle school, I used to play pranks."

"I'd tighten my desk partner's water bottle every day. She couldn't open it, so she always came to me. When we graduated, I confessed."

"She calmly told me she knew all along. She just did it on purpose—to help me build strength for construction work."

Yang Qiming:

Huang Cailang:

Lin Dong's scalp went numb. "Damn, are all the people in your Group Six this sharp-tongued?"

After lunch in the afternoon.

Jiang Nian came out of the cafeteria and received a message from Xu Shuang, asking about the progress of last time's matter, and they chatted a couple of lines.

"Do you drink tea?"

"Drink, yeah." He replied, "What's up?"

"I have a box of tea here, fried by a relative." Xu Shuang said, "If you want some, let my little brother deliver it to you."

Oh, sending gifts.

The lubricant of business partners.

Jiang Nian secretly thought this way of pressing for goods was pretty... something. But then again, she was a rich backer with deep pockets.

"Sure."

"Mm, I'll have it delivered to you tonight." Xu Shuang ended the chat.

Jiang Nian put his phone back in his pocket, preparing to push the matter's progress along.

Before evening self-study, the classroom corridor was brightly lit.

"All eyes on me!" Li Hua held up a small bag of something and said, "A small taste of fish tails."

Jiang Nian entered the classroom, too lazy to look at him.

"Who the hell is this idiot?"

Huang Fang shook her head, "Don't recognize him, looks a bit familiar."

"Holy shit!!" Li Hua couldn't stand being isolated like this, "I made a bet with Ma Guojun."

"Bet on what?" Jiang Nian said absent-mindedly, reaching out to touch the comprehensive science exam paper he had finished that morning.

【A comprehensive science exam paper that scored 256.】

He thought to himself, just as expected, this byd skill of his. But the paper really was medium difficulty, physics was a bit hard this time.

So... the difficulty all relied on physics dragging things down, while biology and chemistry performed steadily, 90+ should be in there. Physics, estimated all totaled, under seventy.

"Ten yuan." Li Hua showed a smile.

Five minutes later, Ma Guojun reluctantly pulled out ten yuan,

Li Hua lay on the desk rolling his eyes, his face flushed red from the spice, like a newborn baby.

"Damn, water.....

Ceng You had just entered the classroom, and everyone was dumbfounded.

"The squad leader died?"

"Not dead, but close." Jiang Nian glanced over and gave a suggestion, "Hua, drinking water is useless."

Huang Fang turned her head and said, "I've seen this in the Physics 53, you can hold a mouthful of salt water."

"Not much use, I suggest ice cubes." Ceng You said, "Once your tongue goes numb, you can't feel the spice."

Jiang Nian thought for a moment, "Just open your mouth and drool, that's what I used to do, fast and effective.

Huang Fang: "This....

"Quite the life experience." Ceng You was speechless.

Li Hua got anxious, "Holy shit, is there a more dignified method?"

"Yeah, wear a suit."