Chapter 98: Early Romance

Jiang Nian was stunned; he was tight-lipped, mumbling,

"Probably similar to Ceng You, so I was just mentally drained for the exam."

Li Hua and Huang Fang were both veterans of Class Three, having been classmates for years, so they spoke bluntly. He joined the discussion, nodding thoughtfully.

"Don't blame Brother Wu—it'd be hard for me to score four hundred if I had a girlfriend like that."

High school always has a few gifted girls who are just bizarre. Even if you can't remember their faces, you can still spot them instantly in a crowd.

Especially during morning exercises—even on sweltering days—they stubbornly wear loose, long-sleeved uniforms, running until drenched in sweat.

"Shrimp-head guy," Jiang Nian struck first.

Huang Fang wanted to say the same, but Jiang Nian beat her to it. Still, when it came to shrimp-head levels, she felt her own shrimp-head content was pretty high too.

After all, they were gossiping behind someone's back, and Wu Jun Gu's girlfriend really was… big. She herself, when seeing something large, would think about going up to touch it.

She could only be grateful she was a girl—otherwise she'd definitely be labeled a pervert.

"He used to do really well in school, often helping me with problems," Empress Fangfang shook her head. "Romance seriously hurts studies. Wu Jun Gu is a pity."

Holy shit, how'd we start mourning?

Jiang Nian cleared his throat and spoke up in Wu Jun Gu's defense.

"Romance is pretty normal at Zhennan High—short-term impact on grades isn't that drastic. He must've run into something."

Zhang Ningzhi, hearing the romance topic, wanted to listen but was too shy to join. So she pretended to do homework, her ears twitching sharply.

Didi-didi, device operating normally.

Li Hua turned and said, "Schools are like this—they ban campus 80, but ignore early romance. If caught, they just scold you and maybe call your parents."

"If I were in early romance," Jiang Nian offered an analogy.

Zhang Ningzhi unconsciously gripped her pen tighter, waited two seconds for no follow-up, then gathered courage to sneak a glance sideways, darting a quick look at Jiang Nian with her peripheral vision.

Early romance—and then? Keep going.

The others were listening too; even Huang Fang turned around. They seemed deeply interested in Jiang Nian's early romance, their barely suppressed smiles saying:

You little brat, you've finally shown your hand!

"Come on, tell us, Nian," Li Hua grinned, all eager for gossip.

Jiang Nian didn't mind, rubbing his neck. "If I were in early romance, I wouldn't be like Brother Wu. If grades start slipping, it's too easy to notice."

"Pfft, thought you'd actually dated!" Li Hua lost interest.

Zhang Ningzhi pretended to drink water, unscrewing her thermos. She stole a glance at Jiang Nian, silently agreeing—she'd thought he'd dated, but apparently… he hadn't.

Empress Fangfang chimed in, "Jiang Nian, you don't seem like someone who's never dated."

Ceng You, though pretending to be absorbed, had been eavesdropping; he turned and grinned.

"Yeah, you're lying to ghosts!"

"Don't smear me—I'll sue you for defamation!" Jiang Nian warned everyone around him, FBI-style. "Actually, I have a way to tell if someone's dated or not."

"What way?" Li Hua perked up.

Like raising a hand: Come on, test my method!

Since evening self-study hadn't started yet and the classroom was still noisy, he saw everyone around him listening and just announced the method outright.

"It's simple—but you can't lie."

After stating the condition, Jiang Nian cleared his throat and turned to Li Hua. "If you had to choose a romantic partner, what kind of girl do you hate? Be specific. No lying."

"Uh… what kind do I hate?" Li Hua stammered, as if he could accept any type—Shen Youchu, Little Fish, damn, so hard to pick.

If all else failed, just any girl would do—Huang Hui wasn't… anyway, all sorts of fleeting thoughts spun through his head.

Finally, Li Hua gave up.

"I don't know. I really can't think of any."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian scanned the surrounding seats, then pointed his Great Prison Sky Finger straight at Li Hua.

"See? This is a virgin whiteboard."

"Holy shit?" Li Hua, exposed, stood frozen, nearly leaping up. "Wait, you're defaming me! He's defaming me!! I'll sue you for defamation!!"

Jiang Nian grinned. "You're flustered."

The whole circle burst into laughter; the label "virgin whiteboard" was now permanently stuck on Li Hua. Even though it was true, he refused to accept it!

"I've dated before—underground romance."

Jiang Nian laughed. "Hard to believe. That line's classic."

Li Hua's face flushed. He scratched his head.

"How do you prove it?"

"Alright, back to the Heart-Exam method," Jiang Nian rolled up his uniform sleeves and turned to Li Hua. "If you had to choose a romantic partner, what kind of girl do you like?"

This time, Li Hua didn't hesitate—he answered boldly.

"Someone quiet and slender, with a ponytail. Cheerful personality, bright smile, a girl who loves to laugh."

As soon as he finished, Jiang Nian pointed.

"You? Definitely just had a crush."

Li Hua froze like struck by lightning, eyes wide, entire body stunned. His smile vanished instantly, as if confirming Jiang Nian's judgment.

"Holy shit, you investigated me!"

"Who'd do such a stupid thing?" Jiang Nian waved his hand. "It's all just your own imagination. Only someone who's never dated fantasizes about the opposite sex so idealistically."

"If you'd dated, your answer would be: I hate liars, or people who make empty promises, or emotionally unstable types—those who say things like that usually have experienced them."

"Also, you described your ideal girl clearly, but it contradicts your last answer. Take the intersection of both answers—you're clearly just crushing."

Silence fell over the entire room.

Li Hua couldn't close his mouth—he reached out, grabbing the back of Jiang Nian's neck, muttering.

"Where the hell did you hide the anesthetic watch needle, Conan? Let me find you, I'll crush your voice modulator under my foot—you're done for."

"Stop messing around—just tell me if it's right or not," Jiang Nian pushed his hand away.

Li Hua suddenly became flustered. "Why don't you ask someone else? Huang Fang, Zhang Ningzhi, and Ceng You."

"I already explained the principle of the Heart-Checking Game—what's left to ask?" Jiang Nian grinned, smirking. "You're the one who blew your own cover."

Zhang Ningzhi had originally looked forward to him asking each person one by one, but now that he wasn't continuing, she wasn't disappointed—she just decided to extend her silence toward Jiang Nian a little longer.

Soon after, Wu Jun Gu arrived for evening self-study, and the topic ended there.

Though the topic had long since stopped being about Wu Jun Gu, the starting point was still poor. They were in the same group—this wasn't decent behavior.

Jiang Nian opened his biology textbook to prepare for evening reading. He didn't care much about early romance.

Li Hua was right—there were no consequences for early romance at Zhennan Middle School. Boys and girls spent all day together; how could there be no flickers of affection?

During holidays, stroll around the milk tea shop by the school—every seat was taken by lovebirds. If you want something more intense, take the bus to Zhennan Commercial Street.

In the corner, the newly opened milk tea shops were secluded and dimly lit. Step quietly upstairs, and you'll see Morgan Girl and her boyfriend sitting cross-legged, kissing.

The level of intimacy? Pure luck—sometimes you get lucky and catch a glimpse of someone squeezing round things.

Zhennan Middle School might as well change its name to Love Academy.

Even Class Olym-3 had couples—actually, every class did. Even the legendary Class Zero of Zhennan Middle School was rumored to have a few pairs, though teachers didn't crack down.

The Olympiad class strictly forbade early romance, but because of academic performance, enforcement was lax.

This was the real Zhennan—only grades mattered. This was why Jiang Nian worked so hard: in a classroom ruled entirely by ability, without grades, you were nothing.

Can't even score 550? Get thrown out!

After the first evening self-study session, Wu Jun Gu ran out again. The group members exchanged glances, unsure what was going on with him, but no one said anything.

During the second evening self-study, Old Liu walked through the classroom holding a grade sheet, as if inspecting, finally pausing for half a minute at Group Six.

He patted Li Hua on the shoulder and joked.

"Li Hua, when are you going to improve your English score? You've got two top English students sitting next to you—take advantage of the opportunity!"

"Yes, yes, Teacher," Li Hua, a seasoned veteran, grinned, relying on his status as Old Liu's future college admission statistic. "I want to, but Jiang Nian keeps teaching me weird words."

"All this 'fuckfuck' and 'yesyes' and 'bitchbitch'—I can't understand a damn thing these English geniuses are saying."

As soon as he finished, the whole class burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Holy shit!"

"Jiang Nian's awesome, so cool—I don't get it either."

"No wonder he's a top student—he watches too many movies!"

Old Liu couldn't hold it in anymore—he laughed, pointing between the two.

"You two."