Baby, I'm Not Mad-I'm Moving Up

"Huh?" Xu Qianqian gave him a doubtful look. "Seriously?"

"Of course. But I turned her down." Jiang Nian lied without so much as blushing. "I'm not planning to date in my senior year. I just want to study."

Those were Zhou Yuting's exact words, shamelessly stolen by Jiang Nian.

"Mm, that's the right attitude." Walking ahead of him, Xu Qianqian said solemnly, "You'll have more options at university. There's no need to limit yourself to a little county town."

"Oh, listen to you. Quite the expert, huh?" Jiang Nian clicked his tongue.

Xu Qianqian's face slowly reddened. "My cousin told me that."

"Oh. Has your cousin found a boyfriend, then?"

"No." Xu Qianqian's voice grew quieter as she explained unconvincingly, "My cousin's different. She's aiming for grad school."

What followed was a stream of baffling phrases like "modern independent woman" and "dating up." Their walk home after evening study promptly filled with laughter.

Nice. I'm from Dunhuang, and I know bullshit murals when I see them. Totally legit, just like that snow leopard meme.

Jiang Nian laughed out loud, then adopted a mysterious tone.

"Hey, did you know? The old lady at the entrance to our village was eighty and still single. Guess what happened? Just as she was about to kick the bucket, the ground suddenly split open and an Immortal Lord stepped out."

"He fed her an Immortal Pill, and she turned eighteen again on the spot. In the end, they went home hand in hand and lived happily ever after as an immortal couple."

"What a scene! Auspicious purple clouds rolled in from the east, red flags waved, and crowds stretched as far as the eye could see. Everyone for miles around envied them. So tell your cousin to hang in there. She'll definitely find her true love."

"Don't... talk about my cousin like that." Xu Qianqian was mortified.

Jiang Nian said casually, "Xu Qianqian, your cousin's an idiot too. Stop hanging around her so much."

"Okay."

After getting home, Jiang Nian once again heard his parents sighing in their bedroom.

Since it was already late, he decided against knocking and simply called them instead. His mother's powerful shout came straight through the door.

"Jiang Nian, are you asking for a beating? Why are you calling instead of sleeping at this hour?"

"Uh, I was just curious. You've been sighing for two nights now," Jiang Nian said. "Oh, Mom, I forgot to tell you. On this exam, I got-"

"Stop making trouble. Go to bed!"

"Okay, okay." Jiang Nian broke into a sweat.

Something really must have happened. Normally, once his exam results came out, they would grill him about every detail. They were so busy they'd forgotten this time, so they had probably run into something tricky.

Still, Jiang Nian didn't dwell on it. He wasn't going to needlessly worry about his parents' affairs. If they were short on money, he could chip in, but there wasn't much else he could do.

In Comrade Li Hongmei's words, getting good grades was enough to count as being a good son.

Jiang Nian figured he would tell them once his class transfer was confirmed in the next couple of days. As for this business, he could ask Old Jiang tomorrow. One question would clear it up.

The next morning.

With a click, a key turned in the Jiang Family's old door lock. The door creaked open, letting a sliver of morning light into the dim living room. Jiang Nian had just returned from buying breakfast.

He happened to catch his father, Comrade Old Jiang, getting up early to use the bathroom, so he stopped him to ask.

"What's a kid like you asking so many questions for?" Old Jiang looked puzzled, then put on a stern face in an attempt to reassert his paternal authority. "Stay out of grown-up business."

"Comrade Old Jiang, I'm already an adult."

"You're still a kid."

"I'm a member of this family, and I can earn money too." Jiang Nian lifted the steamed buns in his hand and gave them a shake. "I provide one of our three daily meals. Asking for a little right to know isn't unreasonable, is it?"

Accepting someone's food or favors made it hard to refuse them, even when that someone was your own son. Old Jiang was left speechless. After frowning for a moment, he told him the truth.

"It's nothing. The clan back home is collecting money to renovate the ancestral hall."

"Everyone's chipping in?"

"Something like that. Nothing's settled yet." Old Jiang took the whole matter on himself and waved a hand. "All right, now you know. Go to school."

"Oh." Jiang Nian suddenly felt awkward. Although he could guess the answer, he still ventured, "Is money a little tight? How about I contribute some?"

Old Jiang couldn't be bothered to answer. He waved a hand and went into the bathroom.

Ah, the Dad-Worry Avengers.

Once Jiang Nian left home, he put the morning's events out of his mind. His words carried little weight anyway. Whenever money was involved, they would never let him interfere. Whatever.

Food, bills, everyday expenses-at worst, he could find some other way to supplement the family finances later.

Maybe he'd picked an unlucky day to leave the house. No sooner had he parted ways with Xu Qianqian and rounded the corner outside his classroom than he ran straight into Zhou Yuting.

"Jiang Nian." Zhou Yuting's eyes were still a little red. For once, she greeted him first.

"Actually, I'm severely nearsighted in my left eye." Jiang Nian shifted to the right. "And I've lost eighty percent of the hearing in my left ear. Sorry, classmate, who are you?"

Zhou Yuting said, "...I know you're still mad at me."

Son of a bitch. For a moment, Jiang Nian couldn't tell whether she was serious or trolling him.

Looking at her reddened eyes, he actually softened a little. Had he gone too far last night? She was a girl, after all.

Ah, girl or beast, neither gets a pass.

Seeing that no one in the classroom was watching them, Jiang Nian quickly moved close to Zhou Yuting and spoke gently in an affected vocal fry.

"Baby, I'm not mad-I'm moving up."

Zhou Yuting froze. Blood rushed to her head, and she nearly fainted.

"You!"

During the first afternoon lesson, the preliminary class-transfer list was released. As expected, Jiang Nian was the only person from his class on it, his name tucked into the sixteenth line.

He had been assigned to Science Olympiad Class 3, also known as Class A403. Xu Qianqian's classroom was on the third floor: Science Olympiad Class 4, A304. Unfortunately, they hadn't ended up in the same class.

During evening study, he went to his homeroom teacher to ask for leave again.

"Jiang Nian, didn't you just take leave the day before yesterday? Why are you asking again?"

"Well, my illness came back."

"It came back?"

"Yes."

The homeroom teacher looked at the leave slip, then at his ungrateful pupil who would soon be moving up. "Actor" was already playing on repeat in his head.

Your fake illness is painfully obvious, like an actor with no talent... you little bastard, you're not even trying anymore, are you?

His eyelid twitched again and again, but he finally nodded.

"All right. Stay safe."

Under cover of darkness, Jiang Nian happily left the school grounds, pulled out his phone by the roadside, and made a call.

"Zhao, yeah, it's me."

"Mm-hmm, I'm beside the road outside the county high school. Would you be able to come pick me up? Yeah, that's right. For the lesson."

The four thousand he'd spent hadn't all gone down the drain. At least pickup and drop-off were included. Jiang Nian stood by the road with his arms folded, planning to complete the task today.

When he had no money, he hadn't felt short of it. Now that he had some, there were holes to fill everywhere.

There weren't many cars in the small county town. Dim streetlights lit the whole road, as though someone had laid down a golden-yellow carpet.

Fifteen minutes later, a women's motorcycle pulled up at the roadside. Zhao Qiuxue removed her helmet, smiled at Jiang Nian, and tipped her head.

"Hop on, handsome Jiang."

Thanks to Hopeless Glory and Book Friend 2021030110141762 for one monthly vote each, One Husband Two Wives Grand Celestial Venerable for two monthly votes, and Little Wu the Great Demon King for two monthly votes.

(End of chapter)