Chapter 78

At noon, Jiang Nian arranged to meet Song Xiuyun.

Once again at the stairwell with its rolled shutter locked, Song Xiuyun froze, then stared in shock as he pulled from behind his back a walnut wood savings bank rivaling a work of art.

The poor girl uttered words befitting her character.

"So expensive!"

She had originally thought Jiang Nian was just joking—after all, who actually brings a savings bank to school? Even if he wasn't joking, a savings bank shouldn't cost much.

Usually, thirty or forty yuan was more than enough—even twenty would do.

Who could have expected him to pull out a savings bank rivaling a work of art? It could no longer even be called a savings bank—its ornamental value clearly outweighed its practical use.

Only wealthy families would buy such a thing—not a novelty, but a daily necessity!

Actually, Jiang Nian had first chosen a savings bank priced around a hundred yuan, but since he had a fifty-thousand-yuan limit left and only a hundred yuan unused, he simply bought one costing over two hundred.

After all, money that landed in his hands was free gain.

Song Xiuyun could dig out four hundred and twenty-five yuan, exact change—she dreaded exact change the most.

"No no no!" Song Xiuyun shook her head like a tumbler, her tone firm, "Too expensive—I can't accept it. I was just joking the other day!"

"Return it right away—do you have shipping insurance?"

"This one? I forgot." Jiang Nian said, "It was custom-made. Returning it after receiving would be a hassle. If you don't want it, I'll deal with it myself."

"Deal with it? Xianian?" Song Xiuyun's expression was practiced.

"Something like that."

"Put a good price on it on Xianian—you bought it nearly new!" She returned to her familiar domain, perking up again, "Don't set the price too low."

"Generally, default to free shipping. Subtract twenty yuan from the original price as your listing price. If no one buys it, reduce by another ten—don't cut too much."

Even if it was nearly new, she was only willing to lose ten yuan?

Such strong life skills!

Jiang Nian nodded, then said one thing.

"I plan to give it to your mom—she'd probably really like this little thing."

"Jiang Nian!" Song Xiuyun clenched her fists, glaring at him through gritted teeth, "Do you want to die? Don't you dare give it to her! How much did you pay? I'll reimburse you!"

Jiang Nian gave a number. Song Xiuyun nearly collapsed.

"How much?"

After confirming again, the girl's eyes lost their sparkle. A tiny savings bank was going to drain more than half her savings—wasn't that just too much?

But if she didn't pay, the savings bank would end up in her mother's hands. Her mother would gladly accept it—damn it! That couldn't happen!

Is Jiang Nian a demon?

Song Xiuyun now desperately wanted to slam her head into him—wasn't this moral coercion?

No, how could he do this?

"I'll take it! I'll pay you in installments!" Song Xiuyun spoke with the strongest tone possible, uttering the weakest words, "I'll pay slowly—I'll pay it all back!"

She was about to cry—could this really be happening?

Should she go home, shed little pearls, and start writing a repayment diary?

"Do as you like. I won't accept more than one yuan per day." Jiang Nian handed her the walnut wood savings bank, "I'll take that as your agreement."

"There are still one, two, three, seven, eight months left—does that mean I'll be paying until after the Gao San exam?" Song Xiuyun gasped, taking the savings bank—installments were terrifying.

But it really was beautiful—the walnut wood savings bank.

"That's true, I suppose." Jiang Nian suddenly leaned in close, grinning mischievously, "Sweetheart, you're this eager to get rid of Dad? Hmm?"

"Y-y-y-y-you!!" Song Xiuyun stumbled backward five or six steps, her back slamming against the white wall, "W-what do you m-mean?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't play dumb! You just said something utterly insane!" Song Xiuyun was frantic, "Like something a dark, perverted character would say in a drama!"

"Ah, you're going too far—I'll send you a lawyer's notice." Jiang Nian stretched lazily, "I've got a match this afternoon—I'm heading back to the classroom to sleep."

The stairwell faced north, its rolled shutter locked below. Few people passed here normally, and today's sports meet meant an extra-long lunch break.

The classroom building was empty and silent; sunlight couldn't directly reach the stairwell, only faint daylight seeped in through the windows.

Song Xiuyun watched nervously as he took two steps up the stairs, then suddenly turned back. His expression suggested deep thought as he looked down from above and asked:

"If I were to blackmail you with two hundred yuan right now, could I make you do anything?"

"Go die! Dark, perverted creep!"

After being cursed by the beautiful girl, Jiang Nian left, thoroughly satisfied.

That's the vibe.

Afternoon.

The Gao San boys' 3000-meter relay race had too many participants, so they split into two groups running simultaneously.

Although there was no division between liberal arts and science, or between athletes and non-athletes, to preserve the dignity of top students, the physically strong were mostly grouped into the first batch.

That meant athletes and those who excelled in PE classes were essentially assigned to the first group—ensuring spectacle, preserving fairness, and sparing the second group's face.

This also meant that once the first group finished, the second group's race barely mattered.

Of course, it wasn't perfectly managed—there were always one or two weak athletes stuck in the first group.

"What?!"

"This is a mistake! I'm in Group One?!"

Yu Tongjie stared unbelievably at the race list, scanning the paper until he saw his name beside Jiang Nian's—both in Group One.

His heart sank. He slumped helplessly back into the resting area chair.

"How could this happen?"

Fuck, I'm gonna get crushed by the athletes!

Just thinking about being lapped two or three times, struggling on the track like a dying dog. His chest cavity sounded like Liu Laoshi's old bellows, wheezing out zombie-like groans.

It's over — the image he'd worked so hard to build in front of Li Qingrong! All about to go down the drain!

He happened to glance up and heard some classmates in his class gossiping about Jiang Nian. Beep beep beep — the keyword alarm instantly went off, and he couldn't help pricking up his ears to listen.

"Jiang Nian got first in long jump?"

"For real or fake?"

"How could it be fake? I heard he did a flip over it, and the landing was brutal."

"Holy shit? That can't be right, what is he trying to prove?"

Hearing this, Yu Tongjie once again thought of the scene of Li Qingrong pacing Jiang Nian.

For some reason, a ridiculous thought sprouted in his heart. No way, it shouldn't be... that kind of thing.

Pure Love Jie couldn't take it anymore, took a deep breath and muttered.

"It's nothing, I'm overthinking."

"Looking all paranoid is really pathetic, pull yourself together. Li Qingrong is class monitor, there might not even be anything going on. And even if there is, so what?"

"She's class monitor, thinking about the class is perfectly normal, haha~"

In the shade.

Jiang Nian looked up in confusion. "What are you here for?"

"What? Not welcome your teacher?" Qian Bao wore a tracksuit, chatting with Jiang Nian while busy taking selfies and editing photos. "Here, help your teacher take a picture."

"Teacher, I'm an athlete!" Jiang Nian couldn't hold it in. "Why don't you ask the referee to take your photo, borrow that starting gun and pose for you?"

"So what?" Qian Bao launched a magic attack.

Damn, the country saved you! Lucky this is a Chinese-style campus!

So what? I have dirt on you! Childish teacher!

Jiang Nian reluctantly took the phone. Just as he finished one shot, classmates swarmed over. They crowded around the wildly popular Qian Bao, chattering away.

Zhang Ningzhi and Yao Beibei also came from afar, though they didn't look in a great mood.

Ha, probably didn't sleep well at the milk tea shop.

Jiang Nian slept a full hour and a half in the classroom at noon, and even squeezed in half a test paper. The time was absurdly long, since the competition didn't start until three in the afternoon.

Li Qingrong also came over, no special outfit.

She'd changed out of the white short skirt from the morning, swapping it for loose pants suited for running. Behind her followed Yu Tongjie — he and Jiang Nian were the only two in the class who'd signed up for the men's three-thousand-meter.

Sure enough, Li Qingrong walked up to Jiang Nian. With barely any small talk, she started talking about pacing, telling the two to keep an eye on her position.

Pacing isn't running the whole race — it's helping the athlete regulate the rhythm. Preventing someone from maliciously dragging them off pace, exploding at the start, and collapsing on the track from exhaustion at the end.

Rhythm is something that's hard for a newbie to feel unless they've been running long-term. Basically you judge whether you're running too fast or too slow by your opponents.

Li Qingrong's role was to serve as a reference speed.

Yu Tongjie listened attentively, nodding repeatedly.

Jiang Nian suddenly looked up and asked, "Class monitor, if the rhythm gets disrupted, will the consequences be serious?"

Hearing this, Li Qingrong nodded.

"Mm, very troublesome, you might get a stitch. Three thousand is okay, but if it's five thousand or ten kilometers, you might pee blood, so it's best not to let someone dictate your rhythm."

"Oh right, also, don't run in first place as the windbreaker."

"Got it, I understand." Jiang Nian nodded.

Li Qingrong frowned slightly, hesitating to speak.

Did he really understand?

While she was talking just now, he was zoning out most of the time. Well, let's wait until after the competition to talk about it — after all, he got first place this morning.

Athletes, take your places.

Jiang Nian casually glanced over, originally intending to check Li Qingrong's position. But in the crowd watching around the field, he spotted two people — one was Song Xiyun.

A daughter cheering for her dad, perfectly justified, nothing unusual.

The other was Zhou Yuting.

She looked a bit haggard — what bad thing happened to her? Baby, you're really having a great time, huh.

Pop the champagne! Pop the champagne!

"Jiang Nian!"

On the track, someone suddenly called out to him.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment. Standing on the track, a boy from the parallel class above him greeted him. Only then did he remember — that guy was the former PE commissioner.

"You signed up for this too?"

"Yeah, just stay behind me later." The PE commissioner said generously. "Olympiad class studying must be tough, you probably don't have time to train."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian suddenly felt a bit guilty.

"Oh oh, okay, thanks."

"Everyone start signing in!" the referee shouted, cutting off their conversation.

A few minutes later, all the runners in the high school boys' three-thousand-meter track event got into the ready position. Everyone looked tense, nervously awaiting the moment the starting gun would fire.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP——!!!"

A piercing whistle cut across the sports field, and the burly PE teacher bellowed.

"On your marks! Ready~!"

"BANG!!"

The starting gun thundered deafeningly, sending up a puff of white smoke.

"Go!! Go!!"

From the moment the starting pistol fired, the cheers from all around the track shook the sky. The athletes' names echoed overhead, and after half a lap they turned into—

"Jiang Nian! Go for it!!"

Li Qingrong, running on the inner lane, glanced over at the sound, her pupils suddenly widening.

Jiang Nian had accelerated after half a lap straight into first place; while leading, he also took on most of the wind resistance. He—what is he doing?

A sprint shouldn't be at this point, right?

The athletic student in second clearly had experience, practically tailing Jiang Nian from behind. The plan was to use him as a windbreak, and once Jiang Nian had run half a lap or a full lap and his stamina was spent—

Suddenly, Jiang Nian accelerated again!

Another gasp rose from the stands, and Li Qingrong stopped dead. With Jiang Nian suddenly doing this, any point in her pacing him had completely vanished.

She stood in the middle of the field, watching Jiang Nian keep accelerating and decelerating. Slowly, he carved out an empty zone behind him; some runners had already lost their rhythm and stopped.

The question Jiang Nian had asked echoed in her ears unbidden.

"Class monitor, if the rhythm gets disrupted, will the consequences be serious?"

Roughly ten thousand characters updated daily; any missed updates will be made up. Begging for votes.

Thanks, boss. Back's good, kidneys are good.