December 24th, Tuesday.
Chemistry Teacher Guo Ran made good on her promise from yesterday and gave Xue Yuantong plenty of snacks: pecans, dried mango, dried strawberries, and beef jerky.
Xue Yuantong was thrilled. From morning self-study onward, she kept pulling out snacks now and then and secretly popping them into her little mouth.
Jiang Ning held a pecan in his fingers. The cream-flavored pecan tasted quite good—slightly sweet and crisp, the sort of thing children loved.
The only problem was that they were hard to shell. The kernels were too brittle, and even with a nutcracker, they could easily break apart while being opened.
Xue Yuantong shelled two with her bare hands, and both kernels were completely crushed. She secretly squared off against the pecans, determined to shell one perfectly intact kernel.
Jiang Ning activated his Spiritual Energy and sent it through the inside of the pecan, perfectly separating the kernel from its shell.
He placed the full, unbroken kernel before Xue Yuantong, smiling.
"Wow, how did you shell that?" Xue Yuantong asked in delight.
Jiang Ning said, "It's easy."
He took another pecan from the bag and demonstrated again. With one hand, he gently cracked it apart, secretly using Spiritual Energy as the kernel slipped free from the shell.
Xue Yuantong stared without blinking. The sight seemed unbelievably skillful. She felt as if she understood it, yet understood nothing at all.
"What the heck." She gripped a pecan and squeezed hard, but it did not move in the slightest.
Seeing her dejected expression, Jiang Ning gave her the two pecan kernels and said,
"If you want to eat them, I'll shell them for you."
Shan Kaiquan, seated in front of them, heard the commotion and turned around.
"What are you guys messing with?"
Jiang Ning handed him six pecans.