Chapter 81: Xiaolongtan

Under the night sky, Jiang Nian set off the fireworks and looked around.

In the countryside, households usually clustered in groups of two or three, far from others. By this hour in autumn, everyone slept early—he had already seen several homes lit up.

When the lights came on, his health bar lit up too.

He hurried downstairs, ate some food he'd brought, boiled water for a bath, and fell asleep in a rush.

The next day, overcast.

Jiang Nian woke to his phone ringing, the dim room filled with a faint mildew smell. He reached out, fumbling and slamming his hand against the phone several times.

Finally he grabbed it, squinting at the phone's harsh glow.

It was Xu Qianqian calling.

"Hello?" His voice was groggy; he had no intention of getting up.

Xu Qianqian's voice was as usual, "Open the gate. Warmth has arrived."

"Does it have to be now?" Jiang Nian was half-asleep, reluctant to rise, "Look at the time—finally no class, can't you—"

"I'm from Shudao Mountain. If you don't open, I'll feed it to the dog."

"Wow wow wow, you're awesome." Jiang Nian gave in.

He lived in the front room on the second floor. He yanked open the window and there, outside the courtyard gate, was the girl. Deep autumn—the path beside the stone gate was overgrown with lush grass.

No time to wash up—he rushed downstairs, opened the door, then unlocked the stainless steel gate.

Southern autumn rain drizzled endlessly; wooden doors were coated with special anti-rot paint. But if left unoccupied for long, no paint could stop rapid decay.

"What did you bring?" Jiang Nian glanced over.

Xu Qianqian held two stainless steel lunchboxes—the kind common in rural elementary schools, round and square, with two latches to prevent slipping.

"Your breakfast, taken from Second Uncle's pigpen," Xu Qianqian snorted, walking in with them, "What time did you get here yesterday?"

"Around eight," Jiang Nian followed behind her.

The first floor hadn't been lived in for years—just a kitchen, a guest room, and two storage rooms. Xu Qianqian knew Jiang's old house well; she climbed to the second floor with ease.

The overcast light was dim; she froze for a moment at the stair landing.

"Aren't you going to wipe the table?"

"Wipe what? I'm staying two days." Jiang Nian yawned and headed to wash up, tossing out, "If you can't stand it, you can wipe it for me."

"Go die."

When Jiang Nian came out, the table was clean.

They sat down to eat breakfast—pork hollow noodles with fried eggs, sprinkled with a bit of green onion. Clearly Xu Qianqian's cooking; Old Xu couldn't cook.

In the countryside, no food delivery—breakfast meant biking five li to the township to buy it.

The township had little breakfast either—just buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, or fried fish buns. The township was small, no market, only a small fair held every two days.

Groceries were bought and sold every two days—always this way.

"Your room smells like mildew. How do you sleep?" Xu Qianqian frowned.

"I sleep fine. You think I'm going to clean?" Jiang Nian didn't care, "Can I piggyback lunch at your place today? I'm easy to feed."

Xu Qianqian fell silent, glancing at him.

"My dad sent me over to ask if you want to move in with us."

Unlike Jiang's old house, Xu Qianqian's home had always been occupied. Her grandparents were still healthy, free of illness, living in the village.

"No thanks, too much trouble," Jiang Nian politely declined.

"Fine, come or don't come. See how you sleep tonight," Xu Qianqian muttered, lowering her head to eat noodles, occasionally glancing at him—suddenly, she wasn't so angry anymore.

"Why are you staring at me? I'm not getting enough." Jiang Nian instinctively guarded his food.

"Who's stealing from you?!"

At noon, Jiang Nian squatted by his motorcycle, a decade-old machine, and got it started. Instantly, he burst into wild delight, hopping and rubbing his hands in the courtyard like a fool.

In Xiaolongtan, once you're in the village, how can you not go fishing at the reservoir?!

His skill card had been stacking for two days.

Burning paper and incense couldn't be done alone—he had to wait for Old Xu to be free. But Xu Qianqian mentioned Old Xu was visiting relatives; he'd likely return only in the afternoon.

With the morning free, fishing was the only option. No fishing rod? Use a bamboo pole. Fishing line and hook could be bought at the store. No need for bait.

Deep Blue! Show me your limits!

Locked the door.

Before leaving, he invited Xu Qianqian. Predictably, she refused. But she said if he actually caught a fish, she'd make small fish soup at noon—with a pinch of green onion.

The one word a man can't stand is "small."

Big! Big! Big!

Must make the biggest one!

Jiang Nian pulled out a bamboo pole, just right in stiffness, and tied it to the old motorcycle. He shook his head, stomped the kickstarter—the battery was long dead; every start required manual ignition.

"When my huge fish lands in your tiny pot, watch you scramble to deodorize it. You'll regret saying that, Xu Qianqian."

"Don't underestimate the poor youth!"

Vroom vroom vroom!! The engine, as if kicked hard in the chest, coughed and sputtered to life.

Jiang Nian seized the chance, gently twisting the throttle. Used the three-light-one-heavy technique, steadily increasing the throttle to avoid stalling.

A puff of black smoke spewed from the exhaust pipe; the old motorcycle finally moved.

Zhang Ningzhi sat on the bleachers of Class Three's base, looking up at the sky.

The second day of the sports meet was overcast.

The speaker blared "Flower Sea," the entire sports field echoing with: 【The sky is gloomy, but love prefers you not to leave; distance can't keep us apart. Longing turns into a sea, unable to enter through the window.】

Yao Bei Bei ran over from afar, clutching her phone, speaking in hushed tones.

"Baby Zhizhi, there's a guy in the parallel class who's super hot!"

"Mm." Zhang Nianzhi lacked energy.

"Aren't you going to take a look? He's really, really good-looking!" Yao Bei Bei grinned excitedly. "You won't believe it—I asked him for his contact info, and his family is so poor they don't even have a door."

Zhang Nianzhi: "."

"I told a joke and you didn't react at all." Yao Bei Bei pouted, propping her chin on her hand as she gazed at the sports field. "There's hardly anyone here—where are the guys from our class?"

"They went to play ball," Zhang Nianzhi said.

"Ah, no wonder no one's cheering for our class." Yao Bei Bei exclaimed. At the sports meet, by the second day, hardly anyone cared anymore.

On the third day, it was even worse—barely anyone showed up for the closing ceremony.

"Our class has fewer events, and most of them are already over," Zhang Nianzhi explained. "The guys asked the monitor if they could go play ball, and then—"

"The monitor's that easygoing?" Yao Bei Bei blinked in surprise.

Zhang Nianzhi didn't know the monitor well enough to respond. She glanced around—she could just leave now—then turned and said:

"Beibei, shall we go to the classroom to do homework?"

"Huh?" Yao Bei Bei stared blankly. "Baby, we finally have a sports meet and you want me to do homework? Between going to school and getting ahead, I'd rather hang myself."

"Come with me and check out the younger guys—they're way cuter than the boys in our class. Bright smiles, abs, and they haven't turned into science nerds yet!"

"No, I'm going back to the classroom."

Zhang Nianzhi didn't know why, but the sports meet suddenly felt meaningless.

"I still have homework unfinished."

Yao Bei Bei tilted her head. Wait, sis.

After thinking for a moment, she suddenly waved behind Zhang Nianzhi.

"Hey, Jiang Nian!"

Zhang Nianzhi's pupils widened slightly, her eyes brightening instantly. Her whole body tensed, her heart bubbling like a soda candy dissolving in water.

She turned instinctively—but found nothing behind her.

"Ooooh, Baby…" Yao Bei Bei pressed her face close, flashing a smile identical to Anya's. "Your reaction was so strong—your eyes were sparkling!"

Zhang Nianzhi pressed her lips shut, her face flushing instantly, shaking her head like a tumbler.

"No! It's all because you yelled out—"

"No? Really?" Yao Bei Bei grinned, her face pressed against Zhang Nianzhi's. "Be honest—when you heard the name, how did it feel? Did your heart race?"

The blush on Zhang Nianzhi's cheeks spread visibly down her neck.

"Don't say that—I—"

Seeing Zhang Nianzhi about to get angry, Yao Bei Bei immediately raised her hands in surrender.

"Relax, I won't say anything. Fine, fine—I'll go upstairs with you to do homework, okay? Don't be mad. I was just teasing you to cheer you up."

Yao Bei Bei poured out a stream of soothing words, half-pushing, half-dragging her toward the classroom.

Zhang Nianzhi stayed silent, turning her head away, pretending to be angry. In truth, she felt guilty—when she turned back, she'd truly felt like building a rose greenhouse.

The two girls had just reached the fourth floor when they ran into Ma Guojun and Li Hua returning from playing ball—one fat, one thin, oddly amusing together.

Since they were all part of the same small circle, Zhang Nianzhi naturally greeted them. Yao Bei Bei merely snorted—considered that a greeting.

Unexpectedly, Ma Guojun suddenly asked: "Hey, when's Jiang Nian coming back?"

Zhang Nianzhi's heart stumbled for two seconds. Why ask her? Even though she did know the answer, that kind of thing—she forced herself to stay calm.

She looked up, feigning hesitation for a moment, then said:

"I think it's the day after tomorrow."

"Damn!" Ma Guojun and Li Hua walked off, as if they'd just asked casually.

Li Hua's voice carried loudly—audible halfway across the classroom.

"I'm not kidding—you've gotta read this book. If you don't, you'll regret it for life. What bad intentions could a good bro have? Just read it, don't worry."

"But I heard it's super tragic?"

"It only kills one side character at the end—people just love to complain. Try it—it's an adventure story. Who cares about a minor side character?"

"Alright… I read fast. I should finish it this afternoon."

"Good, good, good—I'm relieved now."

Half an hour later, the math class representative Lin Dong entered the classroom, walked to the multimedia equipment, opened the cover, took out a phone, then hurried out again.

He seemed to have an urgent matter—his steps were swift.

The classroom fell silent, leaving only a dozen students bent over their test papers.

Zhang Nianzhi switched her sweet-and-sour soda mood to plain water mood, glanced at the time—10:10—inhaled deeply, and picked up her pen to begin the test.

Meanwhile, at Xiao Longtan Reservoir.

Jiang Nian pulled out his phone, picked up his simple gear, and climbed onto the riverbank. Before finding a spot, he took a photo of the reservoir and sent it straight to the class group.

Baiting the water before fishing—this was common sense.