"What are you doing?" Zhang Ningzhi blushed.
Her hands were sweaty.
But she didn’t struggle much, and instead of blaming him, it was more like she was complaining, with a bit of guilt.
After all, even though it was unintentional, she did end up attacking Jiang Nian.
Her math grades had gotten so bad... she was stuck sitting at the sa table as Jiang Nian, and if he surpassed her, she wouldn’t be able to keep him in check.
Zhizhi wanted to be on top.
"Nothing much, my hands suddenly felt cold." Jiang Nian wasn’t a flirt, quite the opposite, he was very well-behaved.
He only touched her hands, nothing else.
So, do you want to touch sothing else?
Hell no, I’m not a eunuch.
If they were even remotely at that level of friendship, he would’ve made a move long ago. He’s been tempted for a while, but he doesn’t want to cluelessly fall into a relationship.
Senior year relationships stem from the false sentint under pressure.
It’s sowhat like the bridge effect, where the college entrance exam is a path tens of thousands tread toward enlightennt. A harsh path where you cling to each other for warmth.
Jiang Nian doesn’t judge senior year relationships, nor does he oppose them.
He just believes you don’t need to date to gain emotional value; there are plenty of things good friends can do.
For example, he ssed up this test, and squeezing Zhizhi’s hand made him feel better.
Confess?
Zhizhi is such a good person, why repay kindness with grievance?
Are you trying to affect her studies?
First period of evening self-study.
Soone ca from outside the door, it was Qianbao, wearing a wine-red coat. Underneath, was a black cotton dress that was eye-catching.
The whole class instantly exclaid in awe, followed by a wave of brainless praise.
"Didn’t the Three Kingdoms end already? Why is there still Diao Chan?"
"Report her, why isn’t she wearing a school uniform?"
"Got too excited, saw a fairy."
"Seriously, aren’t your comnts disgusting? Have so sha, why are a bunch of guys picking on a girl?"
Listening to the awkward flattery around her, Qianbao covered her mouth and laughed for a long ti. She circled around the class and gave so words of encouragent about the exam.
"Qianbao is really beautiful, she seems ntally very young."
"Yeah, how does she do it?"
"Who knows, maybe because she’s pretty."
"Damn, my friend feels a bit unwell."
"Oh, is that so? Then your friend probably doesn’t have many days left; better find a crematorium to warm up."
The classroom was bustling, Jiang Nian was leaning on his hand, lost in thought.
If the joint exam was a trial, then his performance in the first half was clearly unsatisfactory, making a coback unlikely.
His Chinese felt off, and math basically failed.
Exams bring sudden changes, leaving so happy and others worried.
The first exam tomorrow is the comprehensive science test, which he’s not good at. At this mont, the pressure visibly multiplies.
Studying for a few hours can’t guarantee results; this is the ti to decide whether to mitigate weaknesses or maintain the fundantals.
Jiang Nian looked down at the comprehensive science paper, hesitating for a mont.
In the end, he chose the biology paper, spending two entire periods of evening self-study to thoroughly review it.
When the bell rang, he lifted his head.
His face calm, he exhaled a deep breath, and all the frustration and confusion in his chest vanished, replaced by tranquility.
In the remaining ti, he calmly glanced over chemistry and physics.
Even as school was about to end, he was still reading.
Zhang Ningzhi, seeing this, didn’t dare disturb him at all.
All night, she snuck peeks at Jiang Nian several tis, noticing how focused he was. Seeing him constantly reviewing, she couldn’t help but glance a few more tis.
When the bell was about to ring, she finally poked Jiang Nian’s arm.
"Hmm?" Jiang Nian snapped out of his daze, turning in the bright classroom to his good deskmate, asking, "What’s up?"
Zhang Ningzhi shook her head, slowly leaned in. The girl covered her mouth with her palm, lowering her voice to share a secret.
"While you were looking at the paper, it seed like there was light in your eyes."
Hearing this, Jiang Nian was briefly stunned.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Zhang Ningzhi pursed her lips, seemingly in a good mood, "You’re so diligent, you’ll definitely do well tomorrow."
Jiang Nian pondered for a mont, then asked.
"Will I do better than you?"
"No way!"
"Alright, alright, you little miser." Jiang Nian pointed at her, slightly speechless, "One shouldn’t always think of themselves,"
"I will, I will!" Zhang Ningzhi began packing her things, just as the bell rang, she stuck out her tongue, "See you tomorrow."
"I’m not called ’bye,’ I’m called..."
Zhang Ningzhi laughed, had her backpack on. She rolled her eyes at Jiang Nian playfully and then casually left.
After spending so much ti together, Zhizhi had beco mischievous as well.
Jiang Nian grabbed his bag and left the classroom, taking the left stairs to the third floor, where he t up with Xu Qianqian, who was playing with her phone among the crowd.
After going downstairs, Xu Qianqian asked gloatingly.
"How did you do on the exam?"
"Not bad, the Chinese paper was smooth." Jiang Nian quipped, "It flew straight to Rainbow Sea."
"Who asked about Chinese, I’m talking about the math paper," Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes, thinking this guy loves to play dumb and change the subject.
Jiang Nian patted Xu Qianqian, pointing at his eyes.
"What do you see in my eyes?"
"A gentle, kind, beautiful, elegant, unparalleled in beauty and figure, super cute girl."
"Your confidence is a bit greasy, bro."
"Co on, you asked for it." Xu Qianqian passed through the school gate, glanced back at Jiang Nian, "Hurry up."
The two walked through the night wind, their voices becoming fragnted.
"Jiang Nian, can you score six hundred points?"
"It’s six hundred and one."
"Ah, you’re so... stubborn."
"Xu Qianqian, you can try seducing , maybe I’ll be convinced."
"Go to hell!"
.....
The living room’s chandelier was bright.
With a ding, the swaying wine glass reflected a dim light.
Li Lanying’s soft figure leaned on the mini bar, her neck fair. Her dark hair falling, her pajamas completely open at the chest.
She looked at another figure on the living room sofa, giggled foolishly. Her movents seed lazy, yet slightly coquettish.
"What are you thinking about?"
Li Qingrong didn’t respond, not even lifting her eyelids, she likely thought talking to her sister was a waste of ti.
After a while, Li Lanying felt a bit awkward.
"Ahem, I’ve been ho for quite a while. There’s so business at the company, I might leave Zhen Nan in the next few days."
"Oh." Li Qingrong got up, looking at her phone as she went to her room, "Leave the keys on the table when you go."
Li Lanying: "....I’m not a tenant."
Her only response was the sound of a door closing.
In her room, after washing up, Li Qingrong lay on the bed, lost in thought. Unsure of how to reply to a ssage, her hand covered her eyes.
She recalled the gentle hug at the North Gate that afternoon, suddenly sitting up. Looking at the room’s desk, her breathing was heavy.
After a while, she cald down.
Click, Li Qingrong got up and went to the desk. She retrieved an item from a locked drawer: a school badge.
The surface of the badge was slightly worn, indicating the previous owner didn’t care for it much.
The strap was broken at the tying point, leaving the badge as a "card."
Li Qingrong turned the badge over, revealing a youthful photo.
She ran her finger over the badge, her expression unchanged. As she lowered her gaze, mories pulled her back to years earlier.
The wind blew through the alley; when night fell, nightmares ensued.
Back then, what she feared most was the end of school, not for lack of guardianship, as that’s legally prohibited.
There was, but it wasn’t sufficient.
Her parents had left Zhen Nan, but she wasn’t without adults in the city.
So events, not following normal patterns, fell upon her. Not targeted intentionally, but they affected her.
Thus, the nightmare began.
Her body suffered no harm, mostly intimidation. She dreaded going ho daily; it’s unknown how long it lasted.
Until one ti, there was no escape.
They were more excessive than before, with no way out. Soone appeared, pulling her into a dark passage.
It was a stairway belonging to a rental house, next to a small insurance store, with a clean restroom at the stair corner.
That person guided her into the restroom, handed her a school badge. Their eyes were keen, and in the darkness, their face was unclear.
All she rembered was the voice; it was very pleasant, providing imnse security.
"Don’t be afraid, I’m also from No. 2 High School. This is my badge, it might help you; just stay here and don’t go anywhere."
"Don’t turn on the light, only leave when there’s no one outside."
After saying that, the door closed.
She was so scared then, she waited until there were no sounds outside. It was very late, going ho any later was risky.
So, she bravely went ho, holding tight to the badge in her hand, as if it was her last hope.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly, nothing happened.
Back then, she didn’t know the nightmare had ended; she believed she only temporarily escaped it, still fretfully tossing and turning until late at night.
Only the next day, at school, she quietly went through a whole day. Even after school, nothing happened.
It was as if a massive sun burned everything clean, past nightmares and troubles dispersed into smoke.
She later learned that the police had arrested everyone.
When she heard about it, it had been settled for a long ti, that person continued with school.
Later on, things changed rapidly.
More people around cared for her.
But back then, she had no troubles. The troubles were resolved years ago, thoroughly removed.
In the room.
Li Qingrong refocused, the test paper was aside on the desk.
Staring at her phone screen, she hesitated briefly. Her fingers moved swiftly, typing a ssage to soone.
"Were you in a relationship in your first year?"
Elsewhere.
Jiang Nian was about to sleep. He saw the class rep’s ssage. His drowsiness vanished imdiately, his face flushing in an instant.
Damn, who leaked the embarrassing story?
He rapidly typed on his phone, composing a ssage.
"That phrasing isn’t exactly accurate, it was more like a slight crush. A normal friendship, nothing excessively elevated."
"Oh, you weren’t able to be with her?" Li Qingrong replied and asked.
The mont he read the ssage, Jiang Nian snapped.
Hell no!
Damn it, this is outrageous!
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