"Hiss!" Xu Qianqian sucked in a sharp breath. "Be gentle."
"Well, that's what you get for not watching where you're going on the stairs." Jiang Nian lowered his head and carefully massaged her ankle. He could just make out the bluish veins beneath her fair skin.
An unbidden thought popped into his head. If she wore white stockings...
No, no. This is Xu Qianqian.
Jiang Nian shook his head, banishing the jumble of thoughts. It wasn't as if a childhood friend was off-limits; he just hadn't expected Xu Qianqian to have developed such a feminine charm.
"How is that my fault? I told you there was a mouse." She pouted and lowered her gaze.
The sharp smell of medicinal liniment filled the air. The boy rubbing her ankle had a back as straight as a young poplar, level shoulders, and thick black hair.
An unbidden thought popped into her head. Maybe I should go watch him play basketball next time?
No, no. What am I doing? This is Jiang Nian!
That awful Jiang Nian!
"What's wrong with mice? They've got it rough too." Jiang Nian dropped the subject and changed tack. "Have you estimated your score? How much do you think you got this time?"
"Hmm... six hundred and thirty."
"You freak. Why aren't you in Zero Class?" Jiang Nian was stunned. His hands rubbed faster, warming the sprained area.
Xu Qianqian thought for a moment. "Don't feel like moving. I'm used to it here."
After applying the medicine, Jiang Nian went back across the hall to sleep at home. Once he left, Xu Qianqian dozed off on the sofa. The sound of a key came from the front door.
Xu Zewen dragged his exhausted body home from work. He pushed the door open, sniffed, then spotted his daughter asleep on the sofa.
"Dad?" Xu Qianqian woke groggily and rubbed her eyes. "You're home?"
She started to get up, but Director Xu immediately stopped her.
"What happened to your foot?"
"I twisted it on the stairs. I've already put medicine on it." Xu Qianqian limped to her feet and forced a smile. "See? It's fine."
Director Xu grunted in acknowledgment and reminded her to apply more medicine tomorrow.
The next day.
As usual, Jiang Nian got up early and went downstairs to buy breakfast. Before heading back up, he spotted Xu Zewen driving off to work in the distance. His parents were still asleep, so he left their breakfast on the table and went across the hall to put medicine on Xu Qianqian's ankle.
Morning self-study started at seven thirty. Despite her sprained ankle, Xu Qianqian had already washed up.
"Feeling any better?" He set the breakfast down, crouched, and began looking for the liniment. "Why did Uncle Xu leave for work so early?"
"His department has a project. He's been busy with it." Xu Qianqian's eyes dimmed for a moment.
"Oh, well, never mind if your dad's busy. Your other dad's here to put medicine on you."
"Drop dead!"
Xu Qianqian kicked him with her uninjured foot. They started trading barbs, and the mood brightened again.
Downstairs.
With her schoolbag on her back, Xu Qianqian stared in surprise as Jiang Nian rode up on a little electric scooter.
"If you take that, how's Auntie Li getting to work?"
"Get on. You're such a nag." Jiang Nian braked and said impatiently, "My dad's off today. He's driving Mom to work."
"You're the nag!" Xu Qianqian climbed onto the back seat, still annoyed.
After mulling it over, she opened her WeChat conversation with Jiang Nian and changed his contact name from "Annoying jerk" to "Nagging annoying jerk."
They had barely left the alley when Jiang Nian slammed on the brakes.
Caught off guard, Xu Qianqian crashed straight into his back, her soft curves squashed hard against him. Her pupils contracted, and her face flushed visibly red.
"Jiang Nian, do you have a death wish?!"
"Wait, I'm thinking." Jiang Nian opened the panel that only he could see. The words "task complete" left him utterly baffled.
[Task: Defeat your formidable romantic rival Zhou Haifei and make him give up on Xu Qianqian. Reward: 5,000 RMB (completed).]
His phone buzzed, and his bank balance jumped from 2,131 to 7,131 RMB.
He looked around. Almost everyone on the street was a student heading to morning self-study. Monday's flag-raising ceremony required school uniforms, so a sea of white summer uniforms filled his vision.
Jiang Nian thought it over but still couldn't figure it out. He decided to leave it alone.
"Did you do that on purpose?" Xu Qianqian asked darkly from the back seat.
"No. There was a mouse in front of the scooter. Gave me a fright." Distracted, Jiang Nian made something up offhand. "I was afraid I'd run it over and splatter red and white stuff everywhere-"
"Ugh!" Xu Qianqian punched him and snapped, "Don't say another word!"
After the flag-raising ceremony, they started handing out test papers in their first-period Chinese class.
Jiang Nian lay slumped over his desk, still puzzled. How had that bespectacled lesbian bro just given up like that? He hadn't even had a chance to approach her.
So young, and already giving up on love.
Oh-ho. Brilliant.
Jiang Nian's own understanding of love was fairly shallow, too. He was someone destined to get divorced, after all. Rather than pursue love, he might as well make more money and hook up with a few more girls when he had time.
When poor, keep to yourself; when prosperous, spread the benefits far and wide.
At the front of the room, the Chinese teacher was handing out papers, reading off several passing scores.
"Zhou Yuting, ninety. Ren Dong, one hundred and four. Chen Lili, one hundred and seventeen..."
Then the teacher paused. "Jiang Nian, one hundred and ten."
A stir went through the class. The others were regular high scorers in Chinese. But Jiang Nian usually scored around eighty. How had he managed a hundred and ten?
Well, actually, the stir was limited to the people sitting around Jiang Nian.
"Seriously, Jiang Nian? You put your dear old dad's student number on your paper, didn't you?"
"It's over. One summer apart, and Jiang Nian's already taken flight."
"Fuck, this hurts worse than being killed! Please tear up your paper, bro. How about I eat a pound of shit if you admit you cheated?"
Hiding your fetish behind a joke? Trying to score a free meal here?
His classmates were only joking. How could anyone cheat on a Chinese exam? The more you copied, the worse you scored.
Jiang Nian looked perfectly composed as he went up to collect his paper, but inwardly he was smug. His Chinese score was a full ten points higher than his estimate. A great start.
The Chinese teacher was still lecturing them from the front. "Chinese is getting harder? How is it harder? Sometimes you need to ask yourselves why you got those scores. After all this time, have your grades improved?"
"Have you been taking your practice questions seriously? Okay? Chinese has always been this difficult. I honestly don't know how to teach you anymore."
Zhou Yuting looked away from Jiang Nian, her brows knitting slightly.
How did he score that high?
Still, she didn't dwell on it. In a subject like Chinese, sometimes you got lucky, and sometimes you slipped up.
Third and fourth periods were math.
It was time to return their test papers. Their math teacher was young and rather hot-tempered. After a furious tirade, the teacher finally began handing them out, calling students up one by one.
When Jiang Nian's turn came, the math teacher nodded.
"One hundred and twelve. Good. That's a big improvement."
There were too many math specialists in the class. Jiang Nian's hundred and twelve was nothing beside their scores, so it didn't attract much attention.
Only Zhou Yuting's frown deepened, a vague sense of foreboding creeping over her.
At noon, Jiang Nian found Xu Qianqian and applied another round of medicine in a quiet spot. Her deskmate, Song Xiyun, followed them the entire time, her eyes sparkling and a bashful smile on her face.
Fuck. What's wrong with her?
That afternoon, the physics, chemistry, and biology scores came out one after another.
Jiang Nian's combined science score was exactly two hundred and ten, roughly matching his estimate.
Thanks to Wenba for the tip of 1,000 Qidian coins. Wishing you a strong back and healthy kidneys, boss!
(End of chapter)
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