We're just friends, baby. Are you really this possessive?

Jiang Nian honestly didn't care who was talking trash behind his back. He wasn't about to get upset, much less reflect on his own behavior.

After all, when you had a reputation, some of it would be good and some bad. You just had to embrace your own brand of freak.

High school was a miniature society. In any group of three, there was bound to be an asshole.

Other people controlled their own mouths. One "asshole" was all it took for them to slap a label on you. Aside from mentally cursing their mothers, there was nothing you could do, so you might as well pretend you hadn't heard.

Rather than doubt yourself, blame others.

Lemon Branch: "I can't say. Selling someone out doesn't feel right."

Speechless, Jiang Nian tapped her profile picture, ready to delete her.

If you won't tell me, that makes you an accomplice. How are you any different from someone standing on the sidelines and getting a couple of kicks in? Your kindness is lovely, but going after mothers is my finishing move.

Beep, beep. A second later, another message arrived.

Lemon Branch: "I'm talking about something else now, okay? Are you close to Yu Tongjie in our class?"

Jiang Nian moved his finger away from the delete button. He really hadn't liked her attitude just now, but he greatly appreciated his baby Ningzhi's flexible moral boundaries.

Friends were people willing to relax a few minor moral constraints to get along. In plain English: "Don't be friends with self-righteous saints."

His rules for tolerating friends: 1. No betraying the country or breaking the law. 2. He had a right to know.

He wouldn't necessarily support them, but he wouldn't condemn them either.

"Yu Tongjie? Isn't he the guy who moved up to Class Three with us?" Jiang Nian tapped out his reply, then decided typing was too much trouble. "Can you do a voice call?"

Lemon Branch: "I..."

Jiang Nian: "Did your phone run out of gas?"

Zhang Ningzhi replied timidly, "Then call me."

The rather noisy ringtone played for about five seconds before a rustling sound came through. He could faintly hear the night wind, as though she had gone out onto the balcony to take the call.

"What did Yu Tongjie say about me?" he asked without preamble.

The moment of truth for their friendship had arrived.

On the other end, Zhang Ningzhi swallowed and said quietly, "He said... you cheated on the exam to move up a class. I already argued against him for you."

"Cheated?" Jiang Nian sounded slightly displeased.

I'm shaking with rage. So just because I didn't turn my cheats off, that means I had them on? Who made him the cheating police?

Hearing Jiang Nian's tone, Zhang Ningzhi grew so nervous that her heart pounded. "Don't be angry. I believe you. We sat right in front of and behind each other during the exam."

Jiang Nian wasn't angry at all. As he'd said, other people controlled their own mouths.

My hands are itching. All I'm missing is a knife.

Listening to her rambling reassurances-"Score even higher next time," "There's a test in the middle of the month," and "Time will prove what you're capable of"-Jiang Nian felt like laughing.

"You can't go picking a fight with him, okay? Fighting will get you moved down a level," Zhang Ningzhi said anxiously. "What other people say doesn't matter. Just focus on being yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, got it." Jiang Nian might not be kind, but that didn't stop him from liking kind, pretty girls with big boobs.

Yu Tongjie was just a motherless bastard.

At the end of the call, unable to keep anything to herself, Zhang Ningzhi asked another question. She tried to sound casual, but her intent was painfully obvious.

"Why didn't you add me yesterday?"

"Uh... don't we sit right in front of and behind each other? It didn't occur to me in class. I only remembered once the break started. I was just about to add you when you added me first."

"Oh, okay. But you added a girl in class who was blowing really big bubblegum bubbles," Zhang Ningzhi said plaintively.

Wait, what's this?

We're just friends, baby. Are you really this possessive?

"Do you always pay this much attention to me?"

"Huh?" Zhang Ningzhi froze, then immediately panicked. "No... I don't. It just happened... don't read too much into it. I'm a little sleepy."

She hastily ended the call. Jiang Nian clicked his tongue, tossed his phone aside, and left his room.

In the living room, his mother was still replying to messages on the couch. When she saw Jiang Nian come out, she reined in her delighted grin a little, but then remembered his grades and couldn't bring herself to look stern.

"There's someone at work whose son, Yu Tongjie, seems to be in your class. He moved up too. Do you remember him? Want me to take you over for a visit sometime?"

He never kept things bottled up. "Yeah. He just told someone I cheated on the exam to move up."

Li Hongmei's expression changed.

"That boy has a nasty streak. Keep your distance from him. I was thinking our families could have a meal together, but there's no need now. What a waste of goodwill."

Jiang Nian smiled. His temper definitely had something to do with his mother.

The next day.

On the first day of the National Day holiday, Jiang Nian spent the whole day lounging at home.

Zhang Ningzhi hadn't said a word since last night, and Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to worry about it. He wasn't sure why, but ever since the Divorce System had arrived, his outlook had changed.

Life was a block of tofu. No matter how badly it fell apart, it was only tofu crumbs.

If he followed his original path in life, his future self would get divorced, and no amount of grinding would earn him a promotion or a raise. He was poor while young, and after a few years of hard work, he simply wouldn't be young anymore.

Jiang Nian had made his peace with it. Happiness in life came from personal effort. Deep Blue, add points!

He didn't leave his room until dark. When he discovered Uncle Xu from across the hall chatting with his father, he paused in surprise.

"Uncle Xu? You're off today?"

As far as he remembered, Xu Qianqian's father was incredibly busy, a fiercely competitive workaholic. Apparently, he had originally planned to transfer to another hospital but had stayed because of Xu Qianqian.

"Yes. You're awake, Nian?" Director Xu smiled warmly. "Your mother told me you moved up to the Olympiad Class. That's quite an improvement."

Jiang Nian stayed where he was and started chatting with him.

"Pretty much. I memorized some stuff from the textbooks."

Li Hongmei leaned out of the kitchen, glanced at Jiang Nian laughing away in the living room, and knitted her brows.

"You've been playing all day. Go get Qianqian for dinner."

Ever since Xu Qianqian's mother had passed away five or six years ago, the two families had spent practically every holiday, big or small, together. Living across the hall made it convenient. It was only a matter of setting out two more pairs of chopsticks.

"Okay."

The door across the hall was ajar. Jiang Nian wandered inside and found Xu Qianqian's bedroom door open. She was bent over her desk doing homework and glanced back when she heard him.

"Have you finished your homework?"

"No. I'm planning to copy yours." Jiang Nian casually sat on her bed, let out a sigh, and lay down. "I don't feel like doing the questions I know how to solve. I'll look at the ones I don't know later."

"Get up. Don't lie on my bed." Xu Qianqian couldn't stand the sight of him. "You're filthy. Get out!"

"I haven't even left home today."

"You're still dirty."

"Whatever. Hey, I came to get you for dinner." Jiang Nian sat up, then stood beside her to look at her worksheet. Suddenly, he pointed at a spot. "You spelled this word wrong."

"How is it wrong? That's how it's spelled." Xu Qianqian glanced at it, a little uncertain.

"It's wrong. The correct spelling is..." He casually searched Baidu for proof and set his phone on the desk. With his little show of superiority complete, he made his exit. "Remember to come over for dinner. The food's ready."

Left alone, the girl stared blankly at her worksheet. After a long while, a thought surfaced.

Did he really memorize all of it?

Dinner mostly consisted of the adults chatting, and they generally wouldn't wrap up until late. Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian ate quickly, set down their bowls, and exchanged a perfectly synchronized glance.

"Mom, I'm going across the hall to do homework."

(End of chapter)