Around nine o’clock, the whole class took a big group photo.
At the sa ti, it also marked the end of the New Year’s Eve party.
The duties cleaning the classroom started, a few boys put the tables back in place, so who were impatient had already left.
Jiang Nian wasn’t in a rush, helping Zhang Ningzhi move her book basket back from outside.
The holiday has started, why hurry?
Hurrying for a date?
Jiang Nian was unhurried, without a trace of guilt. Being in such a rush now, it seed like rushing for a date.
"Thanks."
"Not spicy, pretty sweet." Jiang Nian patted his hands, loyal in duty, "Zhizhi, where are you going tomorrow?"
Zhang Ningzhi puffed her cheeks in frustration, but still answered.
"At ho with my parents."
"Jealous of your parents." Jiang Nian packed the eleven test papers just handed out, and took his thermos too, "I also want to..."
"What are you talking about!" Zhang Ningzhi’s face turned red.
"I also want to be ho with my parents." Jiang Nian turned to look at her, puzzled, "Hm, why is your face so red?"
"Ah, you!!" Zhang Ningzhi scuffed her feet on the ground, blushing as she gave him two light slaps, huffing as she walked off with her backpack.
"I’m going ho, bye-bye!"
Jiang Nian rubbed his arm, picked up his bag, and left the classroom. In the corridor, he sent a ssage to the class president heading ho.
"Is the mountain trip canceled?"
After a few seconds, Li Qingrong replied.
"No."
Upon hearing that, Jiang Nian typed away while descending the stairs.
"Then... what about Cai Xiaoqing and the others...?"
He recalled that during the small interviews, Cai Xiaoqing and Nie Qiqi didn’t know about the mountain trip.
At the ti, he even asked a little extra, their thoughts on New Year’s mountain climbing.
Nie Qiqi: "I’m too weak and powerless."
Jiang Nian: "Useless!"
"You!!"
Cai Xiaoqing: "Too many people, better to sleep at ho."
Jiang Nian: "Indeed, quite sensible."
After finishing the interviews, he was pretty sure the mountain trip was mostly canceled, so he didn’t ask much more.
Now... huh?
Li Qingrong hadn’t responded for half a minute, just as Jiang Nian was about to leave the senior year building, his phone buzzed.
"My sister is back; she wants to go."
Jiang Nian was stepping on the last stair when he saw the ssage, almost tripping.
Who wants to go?
He tried to recall, the class president’s sister... once parked a rcedes by the roadside, but her looks are a bit faded in mory.
Seeing too many pretty faces makes one not bother to rember.
"Okay, when are we going?"
Li Qingrong: "Tonight."
Jiang Nian thought it over, secretly noting that it’s New Year’s Eve. He could use the internet cafe as an excuse, didn’t seem like a problem.
However, he still wanted to spend the countdown with Xu Qianqian.
So, he asked again.
"Is after midnight okay?"
Li Qingrong was inputting, and after a few seconds replied.
"Yes."
Right then, Li Hua sent Jiang Nian a QQ ssage inviting him online.
"Playing gas?"
Jiang Nian typed a reply, "No."
Between guys, words are seldom complicated; once familiar, they develop their unique language system.
Li Hua: "Loser."
Jiang Nian: "Idiot."
Li Hua: "Not going to the cafe, studying at ho, huh?"
Jiang Nian: "No, finished five sheets today."
Li Hua: "You damn..."
After descending the stairs, Jiang Nian quickly returned ho.
Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun left together after eight, finished supper, and bumped into Jiang Nian downstairs on their way ho.
"Your class ended so late?"
"Yeah, helped move the tables." Jiang Nian did move tables, so he didn’t feel guilty.
"Alright, brought you so barbecue." Xu Qianqian said, handing him a takeaway bag she was carrying.
"Thanks." Jiang Nian took it, joining them upstairs.
"Later during the countdown, are you coming over?" Song Xiyun asked, clearly with Xu Qianqian’s approval.
"Countdown?"
"At midnight, we got a small cake." Song Xiyun looked at Xu Qianqian, "Planning to make a wish."
"That’s only one-third of a wish, isn’t it?" Jiang Nian asked.
"So what, giving you a third is nice enough." Xu Qianqian lifted her chin, humd twice.
"Indeed, generous of Miss Xu."
The three went upstairs together, each returning ho to rest. They agreed to et at Xu Qianqian’s living room at 11:40 PM for a countdown party.
After washing up, Jiang Nian returned to his desk. He replied to a bunch of ssages first, then put his phone aside to start working on problems.
Spent the whole evening busy, but the system tasks were still incomplete.
Photography still required too much skill.
He planned to bring his cara close to midnight and record so videos for Xu Qianqian and the others, making a last-ditch effort.
If such a strong skill doesn’t work, he’d have to try sothing else.
....
Boys’ dormitory.
Countdown night, New Year’s Eve break.
The dorm manager had already turned off the lights, and the teachers finished their rounds. Yet the atmosphere within the building remained electrifying, with boys shouting loudly in the corridor.
Bang bang bang, pounding on the tal stair railing, drawing a chorus of curses.
"Fuck you!"
"Which bastard knocked, fuck your mom!"
"Hahaha, fuck your mom."
The railing noise grew louder and louder, a few guys with flashlights charged up the stairs, sparking off a group fight.
"Tch tch." Lin Dong watched from the third floor, the corridor chilly and damp.
The dorm had already locked its doors, and even the dorm supervisor couldn’t help. It was purely a heat-of-the-mont brawl driven by impulse.
He recorded the whole scene with his phone and sent the footage of the brawl to Jiang Nian, Sun Zhicheng, and other friends.
After doing so, Lin Dong eagerly ran upstairs to share it with the boarding students from his class.
Four bunks with iron bedfras, plus two stone desks, with two top bunks on top, made up the entire dorm room.
The cramped room was filled with a mix of sweat and foot odor.
Lin Dong, holding his phone, burst through the door excitedly but gagged right away. His legs gave out, and he collapsed at the dorm entrance.
"Ugh!! Damn!"
"Is it that bad?" The tall Yang Qiming jumped down from the bed, shuffling over to Lin Dong in his cotton slippers.
Huang Caicai huddled under the blanket, only his head poking out like a turtle.
"Brother Dong, we used to be in the sa dorm. You didn’t act like this. Why are you acting all delicate now, just because you switched dorms?"
"True." Yang Qiming nodded in agreent, "Brother Dong is now a flower in a greenhouse, can’t handle the elents."
"Ugh!" Lin Dong couldn’t stand it.
"By the way, Brother Yang." Huang Caicai chid in, "Is Jiang Nian’s cara from the party tonight expensive?"
"How would I know? I don’t play with that stuff." Yang Qiming sounded slightly annoyed, "Probably not too expensive, maybe a few thousand bucks."
"A few thousand? That expensive?" Huang Caicai marveled, wiggling around in the sweat-scented blanket, "So rich."
"Cara? Ugh!" Lin Dong recovered, pinching his nose, "It’s borrowed from the class leader, it should be more than a few thousand."
Hearing this, Yang Qiming was stunned.
"Shit!"
.....
11:30 PM.
The alarm went off, Jiang Nian put down his pen.
He picked up his phone to unlock it, responding to a ssage Chen Yunyun sent an hour ago, saying she’d go ho tomorrow.
"What ti’s the bus in the morning?"
"6:20, the earliest one." Chen Yunyun replied, "The dorm supervisor opens the door at 5:20."
Seeing this, Jiang Nian chatted a bit more.
"Is Wang Yuhe also going ho?"
"Yeah, her ho is in a different town from mine," Chen Yunyun replied, "But it’s not far, kind of on the way."
"Alright, stay safe, both of you."
In the blink of an eye, it was 11:40.
Jiang Nian packed his stuff, grabbed his cara, and went out. He knocked on the door across, noticing the living room lights were off.
"Co in quickly." Xu Qianqian waved at him.
"Tch, are we getting formal now?" Jiang Nian glanced at the ti, ten minutes till New Year, "Why turn off the lights so early?"
"Because the timing isn’t accurate." Xu Qianqian sat on the sofa, started fiddling with her phone, and took a photo.
Song Xiyun leaned over, looking for angles with Xu Qianqian. Both of them had lipstick on their lips, sa color.
Laughing and giggling, it was lively.
Jiang Nian found it amusing, so he also picked up his cara. After taking a photo of them, he found it diocre and switched to recording.
Approaching midnight.
With a ding, a task panel popped up.
It showed a task requiring mastering a skill was completed, rewarding golden sleep had also been distributed successfully.
He was a bit surprised, thinking it’s really a case of unintentional success.
"Still thirty seconds, make a wish quickly." Song Xiyun reminded, "After midnight it might not work."
"Making a wish for New Year, who’s going to make it happen?" Jiang Nian joked.
"You’re the one to talk!" Xu Qianqian gave him a light smack, "Hurry up and make a wish, don’t waste my one-third."
"Oh." Jiang Nian closed his eyes to make a wish too.
In the living room, candlelight flickered.
He thought, what one-third, rounded up equals three-thirds. Made a quick wish, hoping for health for the ones around him.
"Happy New Year." Xu Qianqian opened her eyes.
Jiang Nian asked, "What’s your wish?"
"Who would tell you?" Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes at him.
"Saying it out loud won’t make it co true." Song Xiyun retorted, looking down when he glanced over, "Just wishing is enough."
He said, "Doesn’t matter, anyway my wish...."
"What?" Xu Qianqian asked.
"Forgot."
....
Jiang Nian stayed with them for a while before leaving, turning around to head ho to grab his packed bag, taking his phone card pouch out the door.
In the dark, he went downstairs, walking to the place he agreed to et Li Qingrong.
Not far, roughly four to five hundred ters.
Jiang Nian walked down the road, currently having about four hundred thousand on him. Plus an old electric scooter, and a rented place.
Though it seed he had nothing, he felt as if he was really well-off.
Four hundred thousand wasn’t much to a small boss, but for a high school student, it was a huge sum.
"Honk!!"
A car on the roadside ahead flashed its lights, honking at him. Obviously, it wasn’t the class leader in the car.
But her sister.
Because Li Qingrong wouldn’t rush him, she would just wait for him.
Sure enough, as Jiang Nian got closer, he saw.
Li Qingrong standing by the roadside, wearing a long gray coat, black cargo pants below, paired with a pair of Martin boots.
Her legs were long and straight, exuding confidence.
She looked at Jiang Nian, exhaling a breath in the late night.
"You ca?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers