Chapter 646: Imperial Jade Liquor

Deep night, before the desk.

To Jiang Nian's surprise, it was still Song Xiuyun who replied first.

"I want to ask about my mom's situation."

Oh, asking about Zhao Qiuxue.

The yellow bubbles in Jiang Nian's mind popped, and he gradually calmed down.

Xu Qianqian hadn't replied yet—no idea what she was up to—so he decided to reply to Song Xiuyun seriously.

Song Xiuyun probably feared Zhao Qiuxue would only report good news and hide the bad, so she reached out to him, the insider.

"According to what I know, everything's going smoothly."

"Really?"

"Mm." Jiang Nian typed with his fingers clacking, "At first there were lots of things, and many procedures to handle."

"After the New Year, things improved, and they've started turning a profit."

He didn't get involved in the day-to-day operations over there—mainly just throwing money around as an angel investor.

After all, time was tight; he had to focus his energy on the college entrance exam.

Song Xiuyun: "Alright, thanks."

Jiang Nian: "Mm."

Lan Yixuan's thoughts ended; Jiang Nian shook his head. He thought money didn't matter—he had a whole set of experience.

Feeling his way across the river toward the future Xu Qianqian.

Oh no, Director Xu.

After the college entrance exam, he could get some cash and start acting. Eat the dividends for a year or two, then do something else.

Jiang Nian glimpsed a corner of the future and knew college wouldn't be much different. He thought about finding something to do after graduation.

Just as he was lost in thought, Xu Qianqian replied.

"I made a list."

You're kidding!

Jiang Nian couldn't hold it anymore—what the hell kind of treaty is this? Fuck, even Li Hongzhang wouldn't sign this!

"Are you stocking up on wishes here?"

Xu Qianqian replied, "(puzzled) Is that a lot?"

"Isn't it?"

"Then I'll revise it—try to keep it to ten." Xu Qianqian typed back, "It's normal for a cute girl to have more wishes."

"Go to a temple," he said.

"Maybe in my past life I was a cat demon," Xu Qianqian said. "What's the difference between going to a temple and going to the police station?"

Jiang Nian: "No wonder you're so greedy."

They bickered for a while over the number of wishes, until Jiang Nian suddenly realized—he'd been tricked into it.

He'd never said he'd fulfill her wishes.

"Stop circling around—give me something reasonable," Jiang Nian said, exasperated. He was lustful, not an idiot.

You make a list—are you gambling or acting like a servant?

"Fine," Xu Qianqian said, seeing she couldn't outmaneuver Jiang Nian. "After the college entrance exam, let's go to the seaside together."

"And then?"

Xu

Qianqian sent a message: "If you lose, you pay for three train tickets."

"Oh."

Jiang Nian thought she'd bring up Mi Guo again, but going to the sea… had always been one of the things she wanted to do.

"OK (Korean gesture)."

The rest was simple: set a clear bet target. This time, direct competition with Xu Qianqian.

In short, if Xu Qianqian scores 684.

Jiang Nian loses.

Why 684? Because Jiang Nian's limit is 670—he'd have to claw back those ten-plus points physically.

It's unlikely he can win in such a short time.

But given the difficulty of the mock exam, Xu Qianqian also faces challenges in scoring over 680.

First, she must make zero mistakes; second, she must perform beyond her peak.

"What do you want?" Xu Qianqian asked.

Jiang Nian typed, "I want you…"

"You're a pervert!"

"Not?" Jiang Nian leaned against the desk. "My challenge's already insane—wouldn't it be normal to make it weirder?"

"No, pick something else."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian didn't reply immediately. He waited about two minutes, thought it through, then replied.

"Round-trip train tickets to the seaside, plus a big plate of grilled lamb chops."

Sure enough, Xu Qianqian hesitated. She typed for a long time, then finally squeaked out:

"What do grilled lamb chops taste like?"

"Never tried it," he said.

"Neither have I," Xu Qianqian typed slowly, the topic veering off. "Will it be especially salty?"

Jiang Nian replied, "You have to try to know."

"True."

Xu Qianqian stopped sending messages; through the screen, Jiang Nian could almost see her expression, twisted in indecision.

This person had only two weak points: eating and playing.

Children from the south had never seen the sea, and rarely seen heavy snow. The latter no longer surprised them, since it had snowed these past two years.

The other was lamb.

In Zhennan, conditions were better—you could buy beef, large shrimp, and crabs simply by going to the supermarket.

Only lamb required a specialty shop.

Both were traditional and reluctant to try new things; their knowledge of lamb came mostly from Hui Tailang.

After several minutes, Xu Qianqian sent one message.

"Fine."

Jiang Nian couldn't help smiling—he had already achieved his goal. Just thinking about it, he felt a small thrill.

He was a normal man, uninterested in foot play.

The condition he proposed was a bit… questionable. But given their relationship, if neither spoke, no one would know.

Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know.

Understood.

Jiang Nian chuckled for a while, then refocused and worked on his test paper for a while longer. Only in the late hours did he turn off the light and get into bed.

Before sleeping, he glanced at Song Xiuyun's chat box.

Next time, he should ask Zhao Qiuxue about her private life—better to have more to talk about with Xiao Song, so he wouldn't be clueless.

After all, Zhao Qiuxue had also entrusted him with something. Asking a few more questions would help Xiao Song feel more at ease.

As he thought this, a message popped up.

Song Xiuyun: "Can I join the bet?"

Jiang Nian froze for a second, his sleepiness vanishing instantly.

"Huh?"

The next day.

Cai Xiaoqing reached out and pressed the alarm clock on her nightstand; her family was well-off, even her alarm clock was an anime replica.

Yes, the kind that jumps up.

Lately she'd been lazy about getting up, so she'd specifically bought it online—once the alarm rang, she had to get up.

Otherwise, it would keep jumping nonstop.

She got out of bed wearing a white-and-purple pajama set, stretching by the door and revealing a sliver of pale, soft skin.

While brushing her teeth, she deliberately put on a coat.

Cai Xiaoqing looked at herself in the mirror, reached up to touch her cheek, and frowned slightly.

Her appearance wasn't outstanding among the few girls in her class, but she was fresh and delicate—noticeable among ordinary people.

Her aura was like a still mirror lake: calm and enduring.

With only a hundred days left until Gao San, her body had begun to grow like bamboo joints, becoming increasingly tall and slender.

Her hair was tied into a messy bun, her neck long and slender. In the light, fine down could be seen along her maiden neck.

Her expression remained calm; after washing up, she prepared to leave.

"Take an umbrella."

Cai Xiaoqing's mother poked her head out of the kitchen. "It might rain today—take it so you don't get soaked on the way."

"Okay."

She replied, tightened her backpack, and hurried toward school, scrolling through the group chat along the way.

Last night, Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng had argued in the group. After just a few messages, she had muted them for ten hours.

She scrolled down further—only a few messages remained.

Unless those few specific people in the group spoke up, the class chat was usually silent and empty.

As morning self-study approached, she stood in line at a steamed bun stall.

Bored, she mindlessly scrolled through the group, then, inexplicably, tapped Jiang Nian's profile picture and glanced at his page.

Suddenly, a voice sounded beside her.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Ah?!!"

Cai Xiaoqing jumped, instinctively gripping her phone. She turned and met Jiang Nian's gaze.

She froze for several seconds, her face instantly flushing crimson to her neck.

"Ah," Jiang Nian stopped her from screaming and explained.

"Coincidence."

Cai Xiaoqing calmed down; her expression became much more natural. She glanced behind him and noticed he was empty-handed.

"You're late?"

"No, I've been here a while," Jiang Nian waved his hand. "I lost a bet with Li Hua and the others—I'm buying them buns."

Cai Xiaoqing: "."

Unable to understand boys' hobbies, she decided to say nothing.

They continued waiting in line. Cai Xiaoqing's mind was calm—until she turned and saw Jiang Nian had run to the front.

"Ah?" She froze.

From the end of the chat just now until now, only half a minute has passed. How did he get inside? Can he teleport?

She glanced at the time—it was almost class time.

There was no concept of queuing at the school gate; a crowd had formed a fan shape, and adults occasionally cut in line.

"What are you eating?" Jiang Nian turned and asked.

"Huh?"

"Say it quickly."

Cai Xiaoqing could feel the gazes around her, her cheeks slightly warm, but she wasn't a stick-in-the-mud.

"Vegetables, vermicelli."

She didn't usually eat so little, but she was a girl. Shy-faced, she chose the low-energy, low-cost meal.

Not long after, Jiang Nian emerged from the crowd holding buns.

"Here, soy milk."

"This much? Are you feeding chickens?"

Cai Xiaoqing opened her mouth, wanting to punch him. But given her usual restraint, she held back.

"I eat little."

Fortunately, Jiang Nian didn't keep talking—she kept her life.

The two entered the school gate and saw the Gao San building in the distance. Cai Xiaoqing felt the atmosphere was stifling, so she asked:

"What bet did you make?"

"A girl."

Cai Xiaoqing froze. These boys really… Before she could think more, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the Gao San building.

"Whoa—!!"

"Fuck, they're taking names!" Jiang Nian bolted off, dragging Cai Xiaoqing with him, "Run!"

"Huh?"

Li Hua was delighted—he'd gotten a free breakfast of buns. After eating, he felt utterly refreshed.

Free is just satisfying.

He tapped his phone and noticed his data was almost gone.

"Nian, turn on a hotspot."

"Done."

"Which one?" He scrolled for a long time but found no normal WiFi. "What model is your phone?"

Jiang Nian leaned over, glanced, and said:

"The first one."

"Huh?" Li Hua peered closely. "Ultimate Ultra-Radiation-Piercing Imperial Jade Liquor WiFi?"

"Red Stone. What's the password?"

"One hundred and eighty per cup."

"One hundred…" Li Hua typed the pinyin—it didn't work. He tried other variations. "Fuck, useless."

"Why's it useless?" Jiang Nian casually wrote on a blank page of his practice book: "Isn't this 180onecup?"

Li Hua was speechless. "Your mom!"

After morning self-study, everyone in the class collapsed onto their desks.

Zhang Nianzhi took a sip of hot water—her mood was clearly good today. Today was Saturday; she'd be off tomorrow afternoon.

Last week, Jiang Nian had made plans with her to go into the city.

Hmph, if that big pig dares to break his promise, I'll hang him up and beat him hard—no, twice!

Over here, Baby Zhizhi bubbled sweetly.

Over there, Jiang Nian was yawning nonstop. Last night, he hadn't expected Xiao Song to also be interested in the bet.

Her demand was simple: play some games for a few days.

Jiang Nian wasn't happy—this demand was too low. She didn't even ask for more; how could he set a high price?

Don't make the Commissioner Geng suffer!

Xiao Song was an honest person, Jiang Nian told her. His grades weren't as good as hers, so they'd compare their first mock exam scores.

The bet was identical, but the difficulty was far lower than Xu Qianqian's—effectively hedging the risks on both sides.

Can't touch Xu Qianqian, but can't I handle you?

Daily contact—everyone's the same.

Song Xiuyun thought it was fine, but she needed more time to consider Jiang Nian's small condition.

Jiang Nian had no objections—it was a tiny request.

Even so, he'd had to argue hard to get it; Xiao Song's face was still too thin.

She didn't get worked up over bets like this.

Saturday morning had two Chinese lessons, followed by math and English, but the math teacher had already announced:

Saturday's math class would be swapped with Sunday's first English class.

So today's schedule became: morning self-study in Chinese, two Chinese lessons, then two English lessons.

"This is fucking amazing—I'm gonna sleep like crazy." Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses and put away his book.

"Talking shit again," Li Hua sneered.

He was a man of action—he'd fallen asleep during the first class. Old Liu woke him up and tossed him to the back of the classroom.

He was a man of action, fell asleep during the first lesson, was called out by Old Liu, and thrown to the back of the classroom.

For the second class, Li Hua simply sat on the floor against the wall and fell asleep.

He was half-asleep, drooling.

In the second semester of Gao San, the biggest change was that the number of running drills decreased, while various stress-relief activities increased.

"What's going on down there?" Jiang Nian saw a group of boys gathered by the window and walked over to ask.

"All this commotion? No running drills today?"

"Looks like a rope skipping competition," Lin Dong scratched his cheek. "Each class sends a few representatives up to compete."

"Don't we have to go down too?" Sun Zhicheng looked confused.

"Yes!" Liu Yang carried the class flag over and shouted with exertion, "Everyone, go down and watch the competition!"

"Oh damn."

"Can't we skip it? I haven't finished my homework!"

"Stupid grade committee, ruining the eternal glory of an Emperor. Why the hell are they skipping rope? So cruel."

"Just cancel the running drills altogether!"

The class grumbled, but watching the competition was definitely better than running drills—at least they could move around freely.

Jiang Nian didn't have to run drills anyway, so he had no such complaints.

"Who from our class is competing?"

"Boys like Li Hua, Luo Yong, and... Yang Qiming—oh, and the class monitor too. This competition is insane."

"What's wrong with that?"

"He said he learned rope skipping back then just to prepare for reincarnating as a beastman."

"Damn!"

"What about the girls?" Jiang Nian asked.

"Yu Zhiyi and the others... and Wang Yuhe," Liu Yang said hastily, then led everyone downstairs.

Jiang Nian had originally been too lazy to go, but when he heard Wang Yuhe's name...

"Let's go."

"Wait, you're really going?" Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses and grumbled as he followed, "Fine, whatever."

The sports field was filled with loud noise.

Dong Que was warming up, hesitating whether to take off her jacket, when she noticed Yu Zhiyi had put on her school uniform and frowned in confusion.

"Aren't you hot when you skip rope later?"

Yu Zhiyi looked down and could only see the school uniform bulging upward.

"Oh, my sports bra hasn't dried yet."

Dong Que glanced at the big rabbit, then at her own. Instantly she felt a wave of despair and stopped speaking.

"Should've known better than to ask you."