Chapter 639: Should You Strip Naked for the Physical?

The bell rang, and Ma Guojun sprang to his feet.

"Fuck, PE class!"

"Li Hua, stop sighing like a girl—it's just a few points deducted, stop being so pathetic, get on the court and play!"

"Chishi!"

Li Hua felt like crying—he'd been right all along, thanks to that bastard Jiang Nian. He guessed he'd end up with just 145 points.

Fuck, they're about to film.

Otherwise, it's Chishi.

Shame is better than breaking a promise; besides, hardly anyone will watch it anyway. Later, I'll just delete it quietly.

"Alright, let's go, let's go!"

PE class was still the same old trio: running laps, calisthenics, gathering and dispersing—once dismissed, everyone scattered to do their own things.

"Hey, do you play badminton?"

"First, I'm not 'Hey'..."

Thwack!

Before he could finish, Jiang Nian got hit. Zhang Nengzhi glared at him, "Speak properly!"

"Fine, I don't play." Jiang Nian didn't even bother pretending, "I'm just going to wander around and head upstairs to do problems."

"Oh, okay." Baby Zhizhi couldn't argue with him, but then she thought—wandering was better than playing with girls.

He strolled idly and stopped when he spotted an old house painted white lime beside a small gate.

Old equipment room?

Jiang Nian remembered what the monitor had said yesterday about the switch, and without thinking, walked inside—only to find the switch had been replaced.

On the wall was a white three-way switch, utterly out of place against the old building.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian felt a tap on his arm.

"Hm?"

He turned and saw Li Qingrong standing behind him; luckily, the old equipment room had been renovated with a window in the corridor.

Otherwise, the lighting alone would've scared the hell out of someone.

"Embracing Qingqing?"

"Mm."

"What are you doing here? Need something?"

"No, I just saw you come by," Li Qingrong tilted her head. "Curious, followed to see."

"Oh, you're pretty curious." Jiang Nian said, "I was just wandering, dropped by to check."

Li Qingrong said nothing, just studied the old equipment room.

"It's changed a lot."

"Yeah." Jiang Nian nodded, unable to suppress a sigh, "Back in first year, this place was still really old."

"People too."

"Hm?"

Rustling footsteps and loud voices came from the entrance—someone was coming this way.

The two exchanged a glance and hurried away.

Zhang Nengzhi was playing badminton on the court, though not really—she'd occasionally step in for a quick round, then get off again.

More often, she sat on the stone bench drinking water.

Hmm, a lady.

Actually not—she just felt that since that guy wasn't around, there was no need to play hard.

Sweating made her sticky, and she couldn't sleep well at noon.

"Zhizhi, I've got something to tell you," said Big Yellow Girl, "I just saw..."

"Hm?" Zhang Nengzhi looked up, but her gaze was unfocused.

"Saw what?"

"I saw..." Yao Bei Bei was about to speak, then suddenly realized something was off—it wasn't Zhizhi's voice.

She turned and saw Jiang Nian smiling at her.

"Go on."

When he and the monitor had left the PE equipment room, they'd seen Yao Bei Bei glance over and run off.

Good thing he followed—Yao Bei Bei had a rebellious streak.

If she'd just spread rumors about him and the monitor dating, it wouldn't matter—but knowing Big Yellow Girl...

She'd drag in all three sides.

Like how fast it happened, or how disappointed the monitor looked.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Jiang Nian placed a hand on Yao Bei Bei's shoulder, applying slight pressure.

M

"... Do you go home for lunch?" Yao Bei Bei gave in—better to yield than suffer before one's eyes.

Zhang Nengzhi nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing," Yao Bei Bei forced a smile. "I found a really good restaurant. Too bad."

"Oh, okay." Zhang Nengzhi looked confused, glancing between the two—something felt off.

Jiang Nian released his grip and turned away.

"Bye."

Yao Bei Bei was speechless. Originally she had wanted to say something rousing. Who would have thought Jiang Nian caught her in the act.

Now that she'd been tagged, she wouldn't dare say it even if you gave her a few guts.

Suddenly, Zhang Ningzhi scooted over.

"Beibei, what were you about to say just now?"

"Sigh, nothing." Yao Bei Bei wiped her tears, then drifted away gracefully. "Bitter."

Zhang Ningzhi: "???"

Noon.

Jiang Nian had just come back from the cafeteria and was sitting in the classroom working on problems when his phone popped up with a video call.

He couldn't help but pause, then realized it was from Chen Yunyun.

With a beep, he picked up.

Chen Yunyun had just washed her hair; it was mostly dry. It hung down her back, looking slightly fluffy.

Probably network lag—she stared blankly at the camera. When the picture came through, she instinctively leaned back.

Then she leaned in closer and asked a question.

"In the classroom?"

"Yep."

Jiang Nian was a little puzzled. He studied Chen Yunyun carefully but didn't notice anything off.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just letting you know," she said, "I washed my hair too long, so I won't be back until after the lunch break."

Wang Yuhe was beside her, leaning her face in. She pressed cheek-to-cheek with Chen Yunyun, then shoved her out of frame.

"Got the nerve to steal my duck feet again?"

"Hmph hmph!"

Chen Yunyun pushed her face away and got down to business.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Someone said there's a college entrance physical exam next month," she said. "Some say mid-month, others say late."

"What's the physical for?"

"Blood draw."

"Oh oh, I see." Jiang Nian said, "Seems like you have to take your clothes off, I don't know if it's full monty."

Hearing that, Chen Yunyun's face went pale at once.

"No way?"

"I'm not scared—off comes the clothes, so what." Wang Yuhe pressed her face in again, the two girls' faces squeezed together in the same frame.

"Ugh, you..." Chen Yunyun's face reddened a bit at her words. "It's not a matter of scared or not."

None of them had ever had a physical, so they guessed wildly for a while. The chat got increasingly unhinged, so they simply ended the video.

"Physical exam, huh." Jiang Nian muttered to himself, "If they really make us strip, I gotta avoid Li Hua—I'm scared of needles."

Hearing that, Huang Fang in the front row turned to look at him, her face full of exasperation.

"... Can you avoid me?"

"Huh?"

"I'm a girl."

"Yep, that's right." Jiang Nian nodded, formed a delicate orchid-finger gesture, and said in a soft, effeminate voice, "Who isn't?"

Huang Fang: "

Sometimes she wasn't emotionally stable—she really had no moves left. In Group Six, are there any normal people at all?

At 1:20, Jiang Nian was about to turn the page on his test paper. His phone received a push notification; he picked it up and couldn't help but laugh.

"I, Li Hua, real-name verified, can't outplay Jiang Nian. From now on I won't yap anymore—I'll keep a low profile."

Not bad. Though my boy is a dog, at least he's honest.

Jiang Nian was deeply moved and tossed in two hundred doujia in return.

The lunch break ended, and Chen Yunyun and the others came over. She brought a small box of cut fruit—several washed green grapes.

Wang Yuhe swaggered in and provoked Jiang Nian again.

"Know where my duck feet are?"

"Don't know."

Jiang Nian glanced at her, thinking to himself to let her save up a while longer. Next time, he'd empty her entire stash in one go.

"Hmph, good that you don't know." Wang Yuhe was smug and triumphant; after showing off, she wandered off again.

Jiang Nian let her walk all over him, hoping she'd understand someday that the storm is always hidden beneath a calm sea.

It's fine if she doesn't understand—she'll get it once it hurts.

"Holy crap, how did it get pushed to the same-city feed?" Li Hua turned red the moment he walked in. "Damn it, can you delete it?!"

Jiang Nian refused, his face dead serious.

"Rules of the jianghu—posted for three days."

"Dammit!!" Li Hua didn't even think, grabbing Jiang Nian by the collar. "You bastard, did you do this?"

"What?"

"How the hell did it end up on the same-city trending list?!"

"How would I know? Besides, this should be a coincidence." Jiang Nian waved his hand. "By tomorrow it'll be gone without a trace."

Li Hua sat down half-skeptical, muttering curses under his breath.

"Forget it, I'll switch to a secondary account to debunk it."

Jiang Nian couldn't stop laughing, but he had no intention of voting further. Enough was enough—he didn't want to turn Hua into an internet celebrity.

When my brother becomes a streamer and spends all day collecting coins, he'll be the one lying awake.

The big fat man Ma Guojun walked in and observed Li Hua up close. Confused, he turned to Jiang Nian.

"What's he doing?"

"He's a water army," Jiang Nian said.

"Total idiot—how the hell are there still real-name water armies?" Ma Guojun couldn't hold it in.

"Who said I'm using my real name?" Li Hua looked up, sneering. "Do you think I'm that stupid? This is my dad's account."

"Ah, the filial son sector," Jiang Nian barely kept his composure, raising his thumb. "All I can say is, Hua is seriously authoritative."

Ma Guojun laughed. "If I were your dad, I'd beat you until you turned to stone."

"Red stone."

"Hello hello," Zhang Nianzhi arrived too, carrying a small cake. "Huh? What's the group leader doing?"

"Flirting."

"!"

Jiang Nian glanced at the cake and suddenly felt ravenous. Before afternoon court, he really should enjoy a dessert.

Just as he was about to eat, Zhizhi brought it.

The group shared it—all of it wasn't much. Jiang Nian got a small piece, plus Zhizhi's portion.

He didn't bother with politeness; he swallowed the cake whole.

"Hehe," Zhang Nianzhi watched Jiang Nian, her eyes gleaming with the satisfaction of feeding him. "Can I pat your head?"

"Why?" Jiang Nian looked up, bewildered.

You wanna pat my Heavenly Buddha?

Not that I'm stingy—it's where the Sun God's energy is stored.

"You eat like a puppy," Zhang Nianzhi giggled, reaching out to stroke Jiang Nian's soft black hair.

Fuck, this is getting lewd.

Oh right—I often pat Zhizhi's legs too. Then it's fine—it's just normal friend-magic.

Friend-magic is Lü Bu's Skill One.

"Ugh, you two are disgusting," Li Hua gagged. "You fucks, can you even act human?"

"Hmph!" Zhang Nianzhi turned away.

"Come on, Hua," Jiang Nian extended his hand, making a whooshing sound. "Let your dad pat your Heavenly Buddha."

"Fuck off, shit!"

The afternoon was still lecture-heavy; the class was half-dead. Chinese class was bearable—he could still nap on his desk.

Old Liu didn't care—he lectured with rhythmic cadence.

"Ah, this—look at this Classical Chinese..."

2

The last two physics classes back-to-back left everyone exhausted. As soon as the second ended, everyone rushed out for air.

"Damn, is the physics teacher trying to put us to sleep?"

Lin Dong slumped against the corridor railing, complaining. Beside him were a crowd of boys from Class Three, all in the same posture.

"Look for your own problems," Li Hua said. "I stood at the back, found a corner, and squatted down to sleep."

"Remember: the strong never complain about their environment."

Yang Qiming yawned, sounding dismissive.

"Li Hua's still too weak. I used to watch horror movies—I'd fall asleep after ten minutes."

Sun Zhicheng turned around. "If you don't show off, will you die?"

"Fuck you..."

Lin Dong pulled them apart, secretly wondering: these two had tension—why were they still hanging out?

Jiang Nian leaned on the railing, half-closing his eyes.

"Speaking of ghost movies, when I was little, after watching The Old Corpse of the Mountain Village, I was too scared to use the toilet—I peed straight into a plastic bag."

"Cool—I used to pee into bottles."

Liu Yang didn't get it. "If you're scared, just don't watch. When I was little, I watched two minutes and turned it off."

Ma Guojun said, "It's morbid curiosity. But I'd drag my cousin along—I wouldn't be scared if he was."

"Come to think of it, bottles are convenient," Jiang Nian turned. "Like Hua—pee into a screaming bottle."

"Yeah yeah," Li Hua nodded, then noticed the sudden silence around him—he realized something was wrong.

"Hahaha, screaming bottle?"

Laughter erupted around them—they were no longer sleepy. They pointed at Li Hua, roaring. "That's a needle, you idiot!"

"You've never seen one—how do you know it's not a needle?" Ma Guojun said. "Once, when I went to the bathroom..."

"I usually grab a Pocari Sweat bottle—otherwise it gets stuck."

"Nope, Pocari Sweat's too small. I always look for buckets. If I can't find one, I go up to the roof and use the water tower."

"Red Stone! Red Stone!!" Li Hua turned red with rage.

The bell rang, and the boys shuffled back into the classroom like zombies.

The final afternoon self-study session.

Jiang Nian was pondering whom to mark with the blue bar when a few people by the door called out to him.

"The homeroom teacher wants you—go to the office."

"Oh, okay."

He stood up and walked out; as he passed through the corridor, he locked eyes with Xiao Bailing, who smiled at him.

Hm?

Jiang Nian glanced again at Tao Ran's group and noticed that Tingzi was looking down at her exam paper, her face pale.

If she bombed the test, that'd be bad.

He didn't meddle further and strolled out of the classroom. After going downstairs, he headed straight to the Chinese language office, sat down, and drank tea.

"Teacher, are the scores out?"

"No, it was just a diagnostic test." Old Liu shrugged. "I see your science and math are decent."

Implied: his scores are stable.

After all, Jiang Nian's weakest subjects were physics and math. As long as those two stayed level, his overall score wouldn't drop too far.

"Oh, when's the first mock exam?"

Old Liu paused, then looked up.

"Around mid-next month. After that, there's a physical exam, and we might organize a hiking spring outing in April."

"Hm?"

"What's this spring outing nonsense?"

"Hiking and cross-country—still undecided." Old Liu waved his hand. "Forget about that for now. First, look at your draft."

"The hundred-day pledge ceremony is the day after tomorrow. Try to speak without reading."

"I can't memorize a thing." Jiang Nian took the draft and saw it wasn't long. "Teacher, this is all empty clichés."

"What else?" Old Liu shot him a sharp look. "Should I write you a motivational essay to turn you into an internet celebrity?"

Damn, Old Liu's surprisingly up-to-date.

He even knows about student influencers.

"It's not impossible," Jiang Nian began to negotiate. "But I can only memorize half."

"Close enough. No one's watching by the end." Old Liu, experienced as he was, added, "There's one more thing."

"Do you have any thoughts about your physics score?"