Chapter 650: Double Moons Overhead

Jiang Nian nodded and didn't ask further.

He'd done things like custom alarms before; back then, there were those annoying "ah-ah-ah~" squeaky alarms.

At the first "ah," their parents' slippers would fly at him.

Actually, they weren't slippers.

It wasn't that slow.

He was busy solving problems, preparing for tomorrow's outing with Baby Zhizhi.

Although he preferred staying in the classroom over shopping, he had no choice—this time, he had to go.

Because… Xixi Wu Zhe Wei Junjie.

"Fucking Jiang Nian!" Li Hua burst into the classroom, slid to a stop, and grabbed him by the collar, "You fucking—"

Jiang Nian was stunned. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's all your fault—you led the attack on Dad this afternoon!" Li Hua clutched his head. "Shit, my image is ruined!"

"Dream on, Hua," Jiang Nian dismissed him. "It was already a ruin. Lost is lost."

"Red Stone!!"

After cursing, Li Hua had a moment of self-awareness. But soon he was back to his carefree self, off to brag.

The pre-class time was short, and there was nothing to do.

Wang Yuhe passed by casually; seeing him still diligently writing problems, she quietly exhaled in relief.

At least, Duck Palms were safe.

He definitely didn't know the password to his lock. No matter how many times he tried, he'd always fail.

Because the password was his student ID.

His class was 403; by convention, the zero could be omitted. Combined, it became a four-digit code.

"What are you staring at!" Wang Yuhe stopped, turned, and raised her fist. "Stare again and I'll punch you."

Jiang Nian happened to look up, caught a glimpse of Wang Yuhe's sneaky demeanor, and guessed most of her thoughts.

A four-digit lock? Probably birthday, student ID, or phone number.

Elementary school kids don't have many friends. Generally speaking, if she's not dumb, she won't pick numbers related to herself.

Likely connected to Chen Yunyun—or maybe to me.

There are only so many combinations. Try a few. Opening a lock shouldn't be hard.

Jiang Nian chuckled and randomly rattled off a string of numbers.

"0705?"

It was Wang Yuhe's birthday. Hearing it, she instantly puffed up with pride.

"Keep guessing."

Saying that, she left, thoroughly satisfied.

"Next time, try Chen Yunyun's," Jiang Nian muttered to himself, planning to eat all the Duck Palms after cracking the lock.

Leave her a note, Japanese-style.

【Eating outside tastes great, doesn't it?】

【Oh, I forgot to tell you. The Duck Palms believed until death】

【you'd come to save them. Hehehe!】

"What are you laughing at?"

Zhang Nengzhi entered the classroom and waved her hand in front of him.

"What?" He snapped back to attention.

"Nothing. You were just smiling like an idiot." Zhang Nengzhi tried to squeeze past the seat, but the gap was too narrow.

She puffed out her cheeks—this guy was definitely doing it on purpose! Making the gap so tight just to mock her.

"Move over again!"

"Oh, okay." Jiang Nian hadn't thought much—he'd already figured out a few number combinations and was about to write them down.

Tomorrow morning, he'd test them one by one against the lock.

Gaokao is only a hundred days away. Thinking about playing all day is sinful—but bullying elementary kids doesn't count.

Anyway, Chen Yunyun would cover for her; Wang Yuhe couldn't get too mad.

Perfect.

The evening self-study bell rang; Li Qingrong finally entered the classroom, accompanied by Cai Xiaoqing, also known as Soy Milk.

Behind them came Nie Qiqi—no one knew where they'd been that afternoon.

Tao Ran walked to the front and wrote the Chinese homework list, but no one cared. Then he pulled out a stack of test papers and began distributing them.

"First evening self-study exam."

At this, the whole class groaned. The Gaokao countdown was nearly down to two digits—who had the mood to write Chinese?

"Shit, pass me your paper later."

"I'm not writing either."

"What about you?"

Such conversations played out frequently in class. But in Group Six, it wasn't necessary.

Ceng You didn't turn in his paper; Li Hua scribbled nonsense.

Jiang Nian changed the name on his paper to Li Hua, filled out a few multiple-choice questions, then ignored the poetry section and turned to copy the monitor's answers.

When turning in, he collected all the papers.

He changed Li Hua's filled-in answer sheet to his own name, while "Li Hua's" answer sheet remained mostly blank.

The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each displaying their own divine powers.

Tao Ran looked up and asked casually.

"Have you collected them all?"

"Ceng You didn't write."

Jiang Nian had no reason to hide it—this damn test wasn't written either. It wasn't just one or two days; even Old Liu didn't care.

As long as the grades don't drop, nothing else matters.

"Oh." Tao Ran had originally wanted to book a session at the counseling room, but didn't want to be mistaken for Nan Tong.

"Lately, are many people coming for psychological counseling?"

"Probably." Jiang Nian thought for a moment—Lan Lan hadn't contacted him in a long time; she must be busy.

With the college entrance exam approaching, things get busy.

Some students might be too embarrassed to speak up, but when truly desperate, they still muster the courage to confide in someone.

The school also intends to give a preventive warning, deliberately raising the difficulty of the mock exams.

To prevent some students from having a fun winter break, then collapsing completely when faced with the first mock exam, getting so discouraged they drop out.

Lest some people, after having a blast all winter break, run into an identical mock exam and immediately collapse, getting so devastated they take a leave of absence.

Jiang Nian nodded, preparing to leave. As he turned, his peripheral vision caught Zhou Yuting staring at the class score sheet.

His name was marked in red, with a red line drawn beneath it.

His own name had been marked in red, with a red line drawn underneath.

Zhou Yuting's resentment is too strong—she's using me as her target. Still, it's a bit too high.

This isn't a TV drama where you can get into Tsinghua in two months.

Even with his little hacks, he spent over half a year grinding, slowly patching up his foundation, drilling every big and small problem.

But compared to skill grants, effort feels more solid to him.

After all, the process involves practicing learning methods, which, once successful, can be applied to other areas.

Giving someone a fish is not as good as teaching them to fish—that's probably the point.

Even if the system now corrects itself and triggers a million-person evacuation, he still has confidence he can rise on his own merit.

Even if the system were corrected now and a million people withdrew, he still had the confidence to rise above the rest on his own merits.

"Huh?" He turned and saw Cai Xiaoqing calling him; he nodded. "Yeah."

"Ask the English teacher..."

"Qian Bao has two recorded public lessons on college entrance exam question types. They're for evaluation, and she gave instructions early."

Originally scheduled for Sunday, but she swapped with the math teacher today. Cai Xiaoqing asked just to prepare in advance.

Soon, Qian Bao replied on WeChat.

It was originally scheduled for Sunday, but today he swapped classes with the math teacher. Cai Xiaoqing asked one more question, just so she could be prepared.

Jiang Nian relayed the old woman's message. Cai Xiaoqing nodded upon hearing it and thanked him.

"Don't mention it, Dou Nai."

Between friends, there's no need for life-or-death loyalty. But Cai Xiaoqing was often overly serious.

Cai Xiaoqing:

Between friends, one couldn't exactly call it sharing life and death. But Cai Xiaoqing was usually, indeed, a bit too serious.

She looked at Jiang Nian's expression and didn't bother correcting him—just gave him a side-eye before hurrying off.

The Son of Heaven governs with effortless authority, untouched by wind and snow; the class's petty affairs naturally fall to her, the Right Chancellor, to shoulder.

She looked at Jiang Nian's expression and couldn't be bothered to correct him. She just shot a certain someone a glare, then hurried off.

Suddenly, before evening self-study ended.

Li Hua had cleared his desk and sat staring blankly at the door, his face expressionless like an idiot.

"Hah."

Ma Guojun couldn't hold back—he risked getting caught, pulled out his phone, and snapped a photo of Li Hua.

"Jiang Nian, check out the village guardian of Zhennan."

Ma Guojun couldn't hold it in anymore. Braving the risk of getting caught, he pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of Li Hua.

Li Hua was used to it and showed no reaction—only sighed, staring at the countdown board.

"Suddenly, I want to try hard. I won't sleep tonight."

"Watch a whole night of videos?" Jiang Nian leaned over and added, "You should rest more."

"Chi Shi, Chi Shi!" Li Hua couldn't take it anymore. "I meant memorizing vocabulary all night!"

"Damn it, my English is this bad because of you bastards, always tempting me to play."

At these words, everyone laughed.

"Group leader, you're clueless!" Ceng You lamented. "Memorizing a few words—will that raise your English score?"

"Damn it, my English is this bad precisely because you bastards keep tempting me to play every damn day."

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, looking puzzled.

"Hua, are you saying someone among us paid to make your phone auto-switch websites at midnight?"

Ma Guojun grinned. "The hand of capital—there's nothing we can do."

"Maybe he's just short on cash."

"Hua, are you saying that someone among us paid money to make your phone automatically redirect to websites in the middle of the night?"

Ma Guojun said with a grin, "The invisible hand of capital, there's really nothing we can do about it."

"Maybe they're short on cash."

The boys around him chattered noisily, nearly giving Li Hua a headache.

"Chi Shi!"

It's all Jiang Nian's damn fault—he keeps spreading rumors about that stuff, and now everyone in class knows.

Luckily, the bell rang. Li Hua watched everyone scatter. The words he wanted to say never left his lips; he muttered to himself.

This time, I really have to work hard. Only a hundred days left—nothing left to play with. I'll prove it to everyone.

I, Li Hua, am a true genius!

At the school gate.

Jiang Nian walked down the road, under the dim streetlights, glancing ahead at the two girls and noticing they were dressed identically.

Both wore winter school uniforms and jeans.

"Are you two forming a duo?"

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian turned, still linked with Song Xiuyun, and shot him a disdainful glance, grumbling.

"Today is Galentine's Day."

"What?"

Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes. "It's something we agreed on. Why are you, a big guy, asking so many questions?"

In truth, Jiang Nian just thought their legs looked nice.

It'd be nice if he could touch them.

It's all the class monitor's fault—he got me all worked up today. Then Yu Zhiyi acted that way again in the afternoon, leaving me feeling…

Restless.

Song Xiuyun noticed he was distracted, thinking he cared about the secret. She wasn't against telling him; after a moment's hesitation, she said:

"There are only a hundred days left until the college entrance exam. Xu Qianqian and I agreed to wear matching outfits every Saturday."

Jiang Nian glanced at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Same outfit too?"

"Mm."

Both girls wore white sneakers, though the styles differed—barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

"Cosplaying Yuan Ge?"

His remark made both Xu Qianqian and

Song Xiuyun snap.

"You're the one cosplaying… Can't you speak properly!" Xu Qianqian snapped, hands on hips. "Say that again and I'll bite you to death!"

Song Xiuyun was also speechless, though she felt a sudden urge to play a game.

"It's just a commemorative day."

"Repeat it over a dozen times, then it's the college entrance exam," Xu Qianqian said. "Every week at this time, we record videos."

Hearing "record videos," Jiang Nian looked up.

"Can I film them?"

"You?" Xu Qianqian crossed her arms, sized him up, and refused without hesitation. "No."

"Why?"

"Pervert!"

Song Xiuyun didn't defend Jiang Nian—she silently agreed. If Jiang Nian filmed the vlog, she'd feel too self-conscious.

"Want to be an internet celebrity?"

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian couldn't help but glare at him.

"Go die!"

"Xu Qianqian says this could make money," Song Xiuyun said. "But we'll only have time to edit after the college entrance exam."

"Just gather some footage," she added.

Hearing this, Jiang Nian nodded.

"I see."

He suddenly understood—he hadn't noticed before. Xu Shao's business sense had already begun to sprout.

Perhaps, in that parallel timeline from the system…

Xu Qianqian's attempt failed, but by chance, she discovered the lingering glow of e-commerce and made a fortune.

He said nothing, but showed his support.

Soon after, the three passed through a dilapidated alley. As they prepared to climb the stairs, the two girls still walked ahead.

Jiang Nian looked up and saw a full moon's buttocks.

Two moons hung in the sky.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in his Dao heart. Without thinking, he instinctively swallowed.

He took a deep breath, regaining clarity.

At that moment, Xu Qianqian turned on the stairs. Seeing Jiang Nian's expression, she frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Tired."

Xu Qianqian didn't believe him, giving him a skeptical look.

But she said nothing.

Song Xiuyun, hearing this, also turned. She looked at Xu Qianqian, then at Jiang Nian, puzzled.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, let's go." Xu Qianqian looped her arm through Song Xiyun's. "Stay away from that freak."

Song Xiyun: "???"

What is she even talking about?

She wasn't slow-witted; once she thought it through carefully, she caught on. A glance on the stairs probably wasn't anything.

After all, it was Jiang Nian — she couldn't bring herself to dislike him.

Back when she was sick, he was the one who took her to the hospital, and even scraped together five thousand yuan.

It wasn't resistance, at most a little shyness.

Jiang Nian didn't follow her in; he went straight back to his own home. After washing up, he forced himself back to the desk by sheer willpower.

He looked down at the problems, and the very first one required calculus.

He was utterly speechless, got up and left the room. He splashed cold water on his face, and only then did he calm down completely.

Jiang Nian wasn't one to suppress his desires; he just felt he was missing a tutor.

"Shit!"

He casually opened the window and let the cold breeze blow on him for a while. Slowly, he found his focus again and buried himself back in the problems.

Meanwhile, the girls' dorm in the north district.

After lights-out, six cups of instant noodles were arranged into a hexagon. Connected together, they formed the chemical symbol for benzene.

"Take a photo, post it on Moments."

"I don't really have friends on WeChat."

"Then let's just post on Moments anyway, everyone take one." Yu Zhiyi was the most enthusiastic, egging the others on to post together.

She didn't belong to this dorm, but she usually dropped by occasionally; this time she only came to make up the numbers for the photo.

Chen Yunyun took a photo and sent it to Jiang Nian.

"Instant noodles 【picture】."

Wang Yuhe took a photo, looked around and found no one to send it to. After thinking, she picked a few people to send it to.

Yu Zhiyi looked up and turned her head toward Wang Yuhe.

"Why are you sending it to me?"

Chen Yunyun received one too, but she wasn't surprised. This was just Wang Yuhe's daily routine; she was long used to it.

Most likely she'd had a fight with Jiang Nian and had no one else to send it to.

"Just letting you have a look."

Yu Zhiyi: "...... thanks a lot."

The next day.

In a certain boys' dorm in the north district, a familiar a cappella singing voice broke the dorm's silence, and several of them scrambled up.

Lin Dong was still half-asleep, thinking he was dreaming. Once he came to, he sat up with a jolt.

"Shit!"

"You stupid Ceng You, who told you to use it as an alarm clock!"

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