A pleasant date with his childhood friend

There was no way Jiang Nian was doing homework. Life was short; he might as well enjoy it.

Across the hall, in Xu Qianqian's room.

One sat at the desk scrolling on a phone; the other lay on the bed doing the same. Each did their own thing, neither breaking their unspoken silence. It was practically a tradition by now.

After all, nothing felt comfortable under the adults' watchful eyes.

The moment they took out their phones, their parents would start shaking their heads. All it took was one "Phones, phones, phones! That's all you ever do!" for ordinary family chatter to turn into a lecture on the evils of smartphones.

"Are there any good movies out lately?" Xu Qianqian suddenly asked.

"Why?"

"There's a discount on couples' tickets. You're not doing anything anyway."

Jiang Nian shook with indignation, chilled right down to his dick. Seriously? He was tall and handsome, and all she saw him as was a tool for discounted movie tickets?

"What if I have a girlfriend?"

"You?"

Holy shit. A single word had dealt a ton of damage. The last time Jiang Nian had heard anything that devastating was... the last time. Genshin. Chicken. Man.

"Was that a human thing to say?" Jiang Nian sighed. "I'm single because women have ruined me. The second I lie down in bed, I start thinking about women-Shanghai Auntie, Nayuki's Tea."

"So are you coming or not?" Xu Qianqian was rather speechless.

She thought that if he weren't quite so bizarre, he might actually have managed to find a girlfriend. Judging by his current state, though, his condition seemed to have grown considerably worse.

He used to act up; now he spewed nonsense. The kid probably needed his head checked.

Jiang Nian wasn't particularly interested in seeing a movie and hesitated. Pretending to be a couple wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded, after all. Xu Qianqian would wear an icy expression the entire time.

Ding! [At thirty-eight, you have won your first battle against excess weight. Half a month ago, you enjoyed a pleasant conversation with your childhood friend after a long separation. It is time to formally invite her on a date.

Quest: Have a pleasant date with Xu Qianqian. Reward: RMB 30,000.]

Looking at the message that popped up on the system panel, Jiang Nian suddenly felt something was off. It was like playing a life simulator: his eighteen-year-old self was simulating his thirty-eight-year-old self.

More precisely, he was simulating a version of himself on a different timeline, turning his life around at thirty-eight.

At least the current Jiang Nian had learned his future in advance when the system activated. Whatever else happened, he would never compromise on marriage. He wasn't marrying a scumbag of a woman.

Taking it to an even greater extreme-marriage? Who got married once they had money?

He might as well milk the rewards and be a playboy.

When he remained silent for so long, Xu Qianqian pursed her lips and turned away.

"Forget it if you don't want to go."

"Huh? Who said I wasn't going?" Jiang Nian suddenly started acting coy, laying it on thick. "Tell me, would this count as a date?"

In the past, Xu Qianqian would definitely have kicked him and told him to quit fooling around.

"A date, my ass!" Xu Qianqian shot to her feet, her face slightly red. "Are you coming or not? If not, I'll ask someone else."

"Fine. Same as always: you buy the snacks, I buy the tickets." Jiang Nian dropped his obnoxious act. "I'll go home and sneak out the electric scooter keys. Wait for me by the stairs."

With that, Jiang Nian turned to leave, only to be called back.

"Hey, I'll buy both the snacks and the tickets," Xu Qianqian suddenly said. "You can treat me next time you have money. My dad just gave me some pocket money."

"How dare you assume I'm broke?" He turned around.

"My dad said you gave all the money you earned to Auntie Li to help her out, so you're probably broke." She spoke slowly, her eyes lowered. "He told me to help you out once in a while so you wouldn't starve."

In truth, her father, Director Xu, had never said anything about helping him out. He knew the two had always been at odds. Still, it wasn't as though anyone would expose her lie.

"All right, you pay," said Jiang Nian, whose net worth was twenty-seven thousand.

Living off a woman had nothing to do with how much money a man had.

Back home.

The three adults were still chatting in the living room about work and everyday life. Occasionally, a sigh accompanied some mention of five or six years. The mood was rather subdued.

Ever since Xu Qianqian's mother passed away, her father never seemed to have truly moved on.

Jiang Nian slipped quietly inside. As he passed the living room, he happened to see Mr. Xu remove his rimless glasses. Mr. Xu turned toward him, his eyes still slightly narrowed.

"You're back, Nian?" An unnatural smile appeared on his face-a smile forcibly pulled out of sorrow, leaving his features somewhat stiff.

"Yeah. I'm just getting the scooter keys to take Xu Qianqian out to meet some classmates." Reading the room perfectly, he deployed his trump card: Xu Qianqian.

Sure enough, Li Hongmei swallowed whatever she had been about to say.

"The keys are on the table in our bedroom. Don't stay out too late."

"Okay."

After getting the keys, Jiang Nian walked through the living room with his head lowered and caught a few fragments of conversation. Unable to bear listening any longer, he quickened his steps and left.

He couldn't understand what Uncle Xu was going through; he only felt it was a shame. Recalling the expression on Uncle Xu's face, a line inexplicably sprang into his mind: There is a loquat tree in the courtyard.

Jiang Nian shook his head, tossing those tangled thoughts aside. He reached the stairwell and waited for a while, but Xu Qianqian still hadn't come.

Ridiculous. Even a magical girl's transformation sequence didn't take this long.

After quite a while, Xu Qianqian came downstairs, having deliberately changed into a light green dress. The girl before him wore her fine, soft hair in a simple ponytail.

Her face still seemed not quite fully grown into its features. Like those of other southern girls, her cheeks were fair and smooth. Her chin was slightly pointed, her brows like distant mountains, and her chest full.

Her face looked fresh and innocent, but her figure was remarkably well developed.

Xu Qianqian felt a little guilty. Even she didn't know why she had instinctively changed into a dress. They were only going out to see a movie, and Jiang Nian wasn't anyone special.

Yet she had done it anyway, nervous and uneasy.

"What took you so long?" he asked, looking her up and down for quite a while.

"Oh, I accidentally got my clothes wet while washing my face, so I changed." Xu Qianqian grabbed a random excuse. It sounded slightly forced; she could have simply said she'd changed clothes.

"Does changing take that long? Putting in those height-boosting insoles must've eaten up a lot of time, huh?"

The words "height-boosting insoles" instantly shattered Xu Qianqian's anticipation. Gritting her teeth, she forced out a smile. "You're so young. If you're not going to use your eyes, you might as well stir-fry them."

"I never knew you had such a taste for exotic food, Xu Qianqian."

"..."

Zhen'nan County had only two cinemas, one in the south and one in the north, both attached to shopping centers.

They rode to the one in the south, arriving twenty minutes before the screening. Xu Qianqian went to the snack shop outside the shopping

center to buy snacks, while Jiang Nian handled parking.

Plenty of people were seeing movies over the National Day holiday. The ticket checkers didn't inspect bags, either, so lots of people brought their own snacks.

They met up at the staffed ticket counter, since couples' tickets had to be bought in person. Partway through the queue, Xu Qianqian's expression suddenly turned horrified, and she tugged on Jiang Nian's shirt.

"What?" Jiang Nian was on his phone.

Xu Qianqian's voice trembled. "Look up ahead. Couples have to kiss."

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(End of chapter)