Chapter 87: The Secret Admirer Remains Unknown

At the back door of the classroom.

The quiet Luo Zhongping witnessed the entire conversation between Jiang Nian and Chen Yunyun; he hadn't wanted to listen, but his ears had their own thoughts and heard every word.

To be honest, he was quite envious of Jiang Nian, who could chat and laugh with Chen Yunyun.

He usually looked at Chen Yunyun with coldness—half from inferiority, half from affection.

So he rarely believed in secret crushes, thinking they felt fake.

True affection never dares to meet eyes; the corner of the gaze has been cast a thousand, ten thousand times.

Compared to the front face, what he knew best was the back view—only then could he secretly watch without pretending.

Like a country rat in a courtyard, gazing at the moon through a small square opening—even though the moonlight had never once touched him.

He knew Chen Yunyun got along well with the boys in class, even joined basketball games during PE. She was lively, cheerful, and had excellent grades.

Even though they were all boarders, her family was from town.

He had been to Yunmu Town once; his father proudly lectured him on how big and prosperous Yunmu Town was, then kicked his own village in the same breath.

His father didn't know that the girl he liked lived in town, where supermarkets were just outside the door, the stairs led to streets that weren't exactly clean, and streetlights lined the entire small town.

Yunmu was prosperous, only slightly less so than Zhennan County.

It had affordable bulk snack shops, both pirated and legitimate bubble tea stores, and even several ice rinks—things rarely found in the county, only in the city.

Shops clustered like clouds, merchants countless.

A large bridge spanned across, connecting Zhennan County and Taiping County; crowds flowed like smoke, and even youths who didn't study could inherit a family business.

He had no intention of telling his father about the girl he liked—he didn't want to pressure him.

He heard his cousin got married last year, drained his uncle's coffin savings, and borrowed another hundred thousand from relatives; altogether, three hundred and sixty thousand yuan was spent to pull off the wedding.

Even marrying a country girl cost so much—what about a town girl?

Luo Zhongping sighed, lowering his head; he'd never been to a gym, and his monthly allowance was tight, barely enough to get by, nowhere near what his dorm mates had.

He never dared complain—he knew it was money dug out of the fields by his parents' weary steps.

He didn't know what a gym looked like, but he saw Chen Yunyun seemed interested—perhaps if he had money, he could take her once or get a membership.

She'd probably be very happy.

Thinking of this, Luo Zhongping pulled out his Redmi phone, its yellowed case glossy with oil. He carefully powered it on—not to buy, but to find out how much a membership cost.

After a brief startup, he opened Baidu and searched for gym membership prices in Zhennan County. After searching around, he finally found the answer under a Douyin promotional video.

1,388 yuan.

He quietly put away his phone—that was two months' allowance.

Kids raised in the county were just different—Jiang Nian could casually get a gym membership, then easily snag coupons to make girls happy.

Jiang Nian would jump in to interrupt.

Dude, don't be so depressing.

It's an exchange.

Not groveling.

To be honest, Jiang Nian hadn't paid much attention to Luo Zhongping and didn't know who he liked.

Luo Zhongping's troubles were Jiang Nian's troubles too—high bride prices, all because of this stupid Zhennan place!!

He chatted with Chen Yunyun for no other reason—she was beautiful and had a good personality, the kind of person you'd naturally want as a friend—who doesn't like an eighteen-year-old girl?

He was currently wrestling with a math problem—Rome wasn't built in a day, and Jiuyao couldn't be flipped through in one go.

Couldn't solve it, absolutely couldn't solve it; couldn't finish it, absolutely couldn't finish it.

He grinded for two hours, thinking of solutions even while going to the bathroom; he also greeted Miss Zhao, asking her to save two coupons—someone would come to use them.

Zhao Qiuxue replied: "OK! Friend?"

"Classmate."

"Girlfriend? (curious) (curious)"

Jiang Nian pulled up his pants and sent with one hand: "Just a regular friend. Not as close as me and your daughter."

Zhao Qiuxue: "(punching)!"

Jiang Nian laughed—he thought this mom was way cuter than her daughter.

Speaking of Song Xiyun, Jiang Nian had to make her pay up her two-day one-yuan protection fee. Reciprocity created an excuse for the next treat; otherwise it'd seem abrupt.

But his good relationship with Song Xiyun was half because of Zhao Qiuxue—clearly returned from a big city; no matter what, staying on good terms was always right.

Back in the classroom, Chen Yunyun waved at him; Wang Yuhe also looked up.

Jiang Nian didn't go over—he gave an OK gesture.

My side's all set.

Your turn now.

The sky slowly darkened; click—the classroom lights blazed on.

Zhang Zhizhi arrived around 5:20 and saw Jiang Nian bent over his exam paper; she held her breath, hurried past him, and slipped through the narrow wall passage.

Jiang Nian heard the sound and looked up.

Baby Zhizhi's waist is so slim—she can squeeze through such a narrow aisle. But if she crouched, her chest would get stuck.

"You're back?" Zhang Zhizhi whispered.

She had no idea what some depressing guy had just been thinking in his head—he should be thrown out for dog execution, a depressing oddity among Zhennan men.

"Mm, I came to the classroom at four this afternoon." Jiang Nian propped his head up, watching as she took things out of her bag one by one, wearing a mysterious smile.

Zhang Zhizhi couldn't bear being stared at—her ears turned red.

"What are you looking at?"

"Mm, seeing if you'll pull out snacks from your bag." Jiang Nian wore the expression of "I love handouts," waiting for his desk mate to feed him.

"Only yogurt and toast left, bought from the new bakery outside school." Zhang Ningzhi took out a box of yogurt and a bag of toast still warm to the touch.

That's our Baby Zhizhi for you—who buys toast?

For most students, toast is just that plain kind. No filling, no cream in the middle—just a slightly softer, pricier, better-tasting bread.

A piece of bread at that price?

So around school, only one little shop specializing in toast survived. Girls like to have some in the afternoon, or to tide themselves over at lunch.

"Forget it, just one bag, you eat it."

"Ah, I'm not hungry." Zhang Ningzhi didn't dare look at him, saying softly, "I-I already ate before I came."

"Already ate? Who buys this stuff." Jiang Nian saw straight through her lie. "You're putting pressure on me here—what if someone reports me for campus eighty-ing."

"Huh?" Zhang Ningzhi was dumbfounded.

"Just an example. Anyway, I've got a way to get food." Jiang Nian stood up and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll go rob Ma Guojun for some—he should've bought cookies."

Zhang Ningzhi gave a little "oh" and said nothing more.

Jiang Nian left his seat and headed straight for Ma Guojun. He wasn't there, so Jiang Nian fished a pack of mini Oreo cookies from his desk, then left a note on it.

"Ma-ge, borrowing a bag of your cookies—Li Hua."

Then he tore the bag open and helped himself. By the time he got back to his seat, he found half a bag of toast on the desk. Looking at his little deskmate, she was already hunched over her exam paper.

The picture of someone deaf to everything outside the window—except her ears were a little red.

Jiang Nian was at a loss for words. He had just sat down when Chen Yunyun walked over, arms full of his review materials. She went to Li Hua's empty seat and handed them to Jiang Nian.

"Already copied all of it, ha. Remember what you promised."

"OK OK." Jiang Nian made a gesture. "Whenever you guys are free, just let me know. I'll get in touch with them and hand it straight to you."

"Hehe, okay, thanks, boss." Chen Yunyun walked off happily with her hands behind her back.

Jiang Nian smiled and flipped through the copied answers. Suddenly something felt off. He turned his head and found Zhang Ningzhi staring at him with a ghostly look.

Huh?