Chapter 76

"Huh?" Jiang Nian looked up.

"Aren't you the one who likes watching?" Li Qingrong asked.

He was still sitting by the small flowerbed, his gaze directly on the white short skirt. Seeing those legs, he momentarily dazed, beginning to ponder the "chill" in the monitor's words.

Generally speaking, this kind of reverse speech means: move and you die.

It was the sound of the Emperor Engine.

"I—" Jiang Nian's back broke into cold sweat; he swallowed hard. "Finished."

Wo ri, my emotional intelligence just crashed.

Why does my brain always freeze at critical moments?

"Oh." Li Qingrong glanced at him, nodded, and left.

Jiang Nian exhaled in relief, nearly paralyzed with fear. He stood up, stretched, squinted toward the distance—the leader's speech was nearly over.

The hostess, in a red dress, delivered her speech in the broadcast tone of a Spring Festival Gala host.

It was time to form the marching formations.

Liu Yang ran over, organizing the team while offering Jiang Nian a quiet apology. He first patted Jiang Nian's arms up and down, confirming no bones were broken.

Then he sighed in relief and said.

"Good, I thought you were dead."

Thank you, my brother who deserves to be struck by lightning—your heartfelt outburst shattered me.

Jiang Nian waved him off, speechless.

"Stop with this weird crap—I'm fine. The monitor just gave me a look of disgust and called me the number-one weirdo in high school."

Liu Yang froze. "That's it?"

Jiang Nian gave him a puzzled look, one that clearly said: you're not right.

You want to be the S but act like the M, huh?

"Ah no, I mean how could she do that!" Liu Yang changed the subject to cover his embarrassment. "It's getting late—form up. We've got the formation competition to get to."

The sports field, under blazing sun.

Zhang Nizhi quietly pulled out her phone and sent a message to Yao Bei Bei.

"Are we marching now?"

Pfft—Yao Bei Bei replied at lightning speed.

"Yes, baby. (Kiss)".

Followed by a cringe emoji: a giant red heart rose, then exploded into flowers of prosperity and wealth—pure visual pollution.

Zhang Nizhi replied with a sweating yellow emoji, then put her phone away.

Sure enough, the host began calling out formation names.

"Now approaching us is the formation composed of Gao San Liberal Arts Class Axx—fierce struggle and perseverance are the colors of their youth, daring to lead is…"

Every formation that passed, the host recited a string of parallel phrases.

Until

"Now approaching us is the formation of athletes from Gao San Science Class 401, A402, A403, A304—'A single breath of righteous qi, a thousand li of swift wind.'"

Only four science Olympiad classes participated—the Zhennan selection.

The neighboring class was already shouting their slogan: "Spring wind blows, war drums pound—who do we fear, Class Two!"

Okay, baby, stop shouting—my ears are pregnant.

If the one shouting isn't embarrassed, then everyone else is, right?

Since Li Qingrong held the sign, the slogan-shouting fell to the vice-monitor—a dark-skinned boy standing at the front of the formation, with the face of a top student.

"Class Three!"

The whole group shouted along.

"Class Three, Class Three! I am Class Three! Say it again—I am Class Three!"

The leaders on stage were stunned. "Good job. Don't say it again next time."

But their tolerance for Olympiad geniuses was clearly a bit… immense. They merely smiled it off, without pointing fingers or calling anyone.

Zhang Nizhi tiptoed, scanning the formation. Before her eyes found him, her heart suddenly skipped a beat—her search narrowed instantly to a small patch.

After a few seconds of careful scrutiny, she easily locked onto Jiang Nian amid the uneven ranks.

Just then, Jiang Nian, as if guided by fate, looked toward Class Three.

In that instant, Zhang Nizhi's pupils dilated. The autumn sun, blazing high, flooded her heart all at once—every beauty condensed into that single moment.

"Where did Hua go?" Jiang Nian pulled his gaze back from Class Three, not seeing Li Hua, murmured: "Hua-san, how is the view at Hongjing?"

Not long after the formation passed, the opening ceremony ended.

The host announced the morning events; Jiang Nian heard his own men's long jump. He headed straight for the restroom, relieved himself, then waited.

Now came the waiting.

Just as Jiang Nian sat down in a shady spot, ready to muse on peaceful days, Zhang Nizhi arrived with Yao Bei Bei.

"Do you want water?" She held a bottle of mineral water.

It was Baishuisan. I know.

The aristocrat of water!

This stuff costs enough to replace gasoline. Usually, three-yuan water can't compete with cola.

The athletes in class drank Wahaha—that was already top-tier. With class funds tight lately, if you're not drinking hotel special water, you're already lucky.

Jiang Nian made an "ah" sound, looked up, and asked.

"Have you drunk it before?"

Zhang Ningzhi froze for a moment. "Of course not."

"Then I don't want it."

Zhang Ningzhi's face instantly flushed red: "."

Yao Bei Bei, who had witnessed the whole thing, chimed in with a teasing "Ooooh," her face twisted in a sly smile.

"Jiang Nian, you're so perverted."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian showed no reaction, glancing at Yao Bei Bei.

"I've been stalking your Xiaohongshu account lately and found you replied to a porn bait post at 4 a. m. three days ago. Your persona was a 27-year-old divorced woman."

"The post said…"

"Don't you dare!" Yao Bei Bei cut him off immediately, squealing in a fake high-pitched voice, "I-I just had too much study stress! How could you stalk me?!"

This time, it was Zhang Ningzhi's turn to be stunned. She looked left and right.

The child was terrified.

Perverts are right beside me! And there are two of them!

"The post was pushed to me. You've got over two thousand followers." Jiang Nian rubbed his chin. "I figure you've replied to over a thousand posts."

Yao Bei Bei's heart clenched. Shit. I've met a pro.

"Why the hell are you, a guy, even on Xiaohongshu?!"

Zhang Ningzhi stood to the side, watching the two trade barbs. She clutched a bottle of mineral water, looking tiny, pitiful, and utterly helpless.

The long jump hadn't started yet. The three sat on the shady steps, talking.

Yao Bei Bei sat beside Zhang Ningzhi. Jiang Nian sat on the other side. A bottle of Baishuisan, already opened, sat between them. It was a shame—Zhang Ningzhi stubbornly refused to take even one sip.

Abstract people are like this: even trying to be ambiguous gets you labeled a pervert.

"Are you confident?" Zhang Ningzhi asked quietly.

She had specifically dragged Yao Bei Bei along to cheer for Jiang Nian. In fact, at the same time, the class had both the 100-meter sprint and high jump events.

"Maybe," Jiang Nian answered vaguely.

"Can you win first place?" Yao Bei Bei pressed.

"I could, but it might be… a tiny bit abstract." Jiang Nian extended one finger and made a gesture a Korean man couldn't tolerate.

"But there's no benefit to me doing this. Why risk it?"

"Hey!" Yao Bei Bei retorted. "Don't you have any sense of collective honor? Fine—if you win first place, I'll make Zhizhi give you a bottle of mineral water she's taken one sip from."

"Huh?" Zhang Ningzhi was stunned.

"Now it's easy, isn't it?" Jiang Nian immediately stood up, stretched his arms and legs, picked up the Baishuisan, and said, "Wait. Brother's gonna go get it."

What's this about warming wine and beheading Hua Xiong?

After Jiang Er Ye—no, Jiang Nian—left, Zhang Ningzhi immediately glared at Yao Bei Bei.

"Beibei, what are you talking about?! What… what do you mean 'she's taken one sip from'?!"

"It's fine, baby," Yao Bei Bei squeezed Zhang Ningzhi's hand reassuringly. "Winning long jump is hard. Boys all brag. Besides…"

"Just pour out a sip and give it to him. He'd never dare check it on the spot!"

The moment "on the spot" left her lips, Zhang Ningzhi's head buzzed and her face burned even redder.

"Alright, it looks like they're about to start over there. Let's go watch." Yao Bei Bei pulled Zhang Ningzhi along, hurrying into the crowd and standing at the edge of the sandpit.

"He's fifth," Zhang Ningzhi whispered.

"Mm-hmm, you're observant."

The boys who signed up for this event were mostly slackers, joining either willingly or unwillingly, thinking no one would watch long jump anyway.

The spectators of long jump mostly came, glanced, and left.

The boy in fourth place, nervously taking deep breaths, glanced sideways—and suddenly spotted a black, chubby JK baby.

His heart lurched. Shit, did the cafeteria's new pig escape again?

I should've never signed up for long jump.

This stepmother's event has only a bunch of guys standing around judging. I'm jumping far, not measuring the length of your dicks—what the hell are you staring at?!

Just shut up!

So few girls here. They're all off watching the 100-meter sprinters.

No cute girls cheering for me—I'm done for.

Maybe I should just shit right in the sandpit!

Unfair! Revenge this stupid school! Why can't they force girls to watch long jump?! What did long jump ever do to you?! Wait till I take off my pants—

Huh?

The boy's gaze swept across—and he saw two pretty girls watching him! Both were attractive, but the one on the left stood out even more.

Mom, I'm alive again!

Fine, I'll spare this stupid school for now.

The boys ahead jumped one after another. Each got three attempts; the best result counted. The top three performances were unimpressive, and they left, frustrated.

The fourth boy endured ten minutes of adoring stares from beautiful girls—even a few warm smiles and encouraging gestures. The girl making the cheer gesture was so cute.

So cute! Mom, I believe in love again!

This stupid school isn't so bad after all.

The world feels better again.

"Next!" The referee's voice was mechanical as he sat at the table, recording scores. He glanced up at the fourth boy. "Qian Shuhao from Class A401? Ready? You may begin."

Qian Shuhao clenched his fists, thinking: 【The thing I've been searching for—all those inner things—explode, reality! Shatter, spirit! Banish this world.】

Having recited the classic line, the boy charged forward without hesitation.

He flew up!

A student pulled a tape measure over and shouted, looking up.

"Three point three."

Qian Shuhao was walking back, his face full of disbelief—how could it be only a little over three meters? Wait, how would they look at him? The instant he turned his head, he froze.

Those two beautiful girls were waving at the spot where he had been waiting before.

That's not right, I jumped.

He looked closely and saw that his original spot had already been taken by a boy. He saw that boy glance at the two beautiful girls and make a drinking-water gesture.

Qian Shuhao suddenly understood—he understood everything!

Forget it, just jump.

This damn school! Completely useless—it's the boys' long jump event, yet they let girls come over to cheer! They're out of their minds. Women only drag down the boys' high school results!

Screw it, why even bother jumping, just pull the tape!

Didn't check the data, only now noticed a bunch of big shots tipped.

I'm on my knees.

Let me thank them one by one.

There'll be more later.