Everything Went Black

Jiang Nian felt a little awkward. He had just told Li Qingrong he did not like using his phone.

Then, a second later, the phone in his pocket rang.

"Actually... I use my phone critically."

Li Qingrong turned her face away, but her trembling shoulders gave her away.

Seriously, class rep, is that all it takes to make you laugh? You don't mind if I sell this secret to someone else, right?

Jiang Nian turned his head, trying to distract himself, and looked toward the basketball court. Li Hua was standing on a stone bench, pointing his way and shouting something.

He was too far away to hear clearly, but it was probably something like "Dad."

Such a dutiful son. I'll reward him with a mom sometime.

The moment he stepped into the cafeteria, the dismissal bell rang. They were two minutes later than the six minutes he had originally estimated. Sure enough, women slowed down a man's sword draw.

He should not have been here. He should have been in the heart of the lady serving lunch.

At the cafeteria entrance, under Li Qingrong's slightly startled gaze, Jiang Nian broke into a run as though he had made some momentous decision.

The dictionary definition of leaving was parting with someone in a certain place.

"Miss, that eggplant!" Jiang Nian called urgently.

Li Qingrong pressed her lips together and held out her tray for food. Suddenly, she saw a dense crowd pouring through the cafeteria doors.

The first- and second-year students each carried a book. Slap, slap, slap-as soon as they entered, everyone got to work.

One person put down books to save seats while the others lined up. In less than ten seconds, colorful books covered every seat in sight.

The line stretched outside the cafeteria, and people were still crowding in.

Li Qingrong froze for a moment. This was her first time eating in the cafeteria. Once she recovered, she hurried to find a seat, or she really would have to eat standing up with her tray.

She did not mind, but it would still be awkward.

Instinctively, she looked for Jiang Nian, only to find that a younger girl was quicker, running toward him with two books.

Jiang Nian's seat was by the window, a prime spot by any standard. The younger girl looked disappointed. Too embarrassed to put a book opposite him, she could only leave her two books at the other end of the long table.

Li Qingrong breathed a sigh of relief and sat down opposite Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian gave her a curious look.

"There aren't any other seats," Li Qingrong said calmly, then began eating in silence.

"Oh, that's fine." Jiang Nian was not that full of himself. He was just curious why she had been so slow. "That's how the cafeteria is. Next time, class rep..."

He suddenly realized Li Qingrong would not be eating in the cafeteria often and lost the motivation to finish.

There would be no next time.

"Next time what?" Li Qingrong suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Jiang Nian froze. You're actually following up on that? Can I come eat at your place next time, babe?

"Uh, nothing. The cafeteria's pretty crowded."

Yu Tongjie rarely ate in the cafeteria. After PE ended that day, he had not gone to play basketball or soccer. Instead, he had found a shady corner to memorize vocabulary.

He had already asked his older cousin, who attended a top-tier Project 985 university. There was no such thing as memorizing every English word. Studying vocabulary properly certainly helped, but nobody was stupid enough to memorize it all.

That immediately restored his confidence. Jiang Nian had been bluffing after all. Since his opponent was not invincible, that meant his health bar had appeared. He could be defeated.

Yu Tongjie swore he would wipe away his previous humiliation, study his vocabulary hard, and score 140 on the end-of-month exam to beat Jiang Nian.

But he accidentally got too absorbed in studying. By the time he came back to his senses, school was already out.

Going home would waste too much time. He might as well eat in the cafeteria. He could use the time he saved to study more vocabulary. Even while lining up and carrying his tray, he kept silently reciting words.

When he turned around, he found himself facing the same problem: no seats.

Yu Tongjie cared a little about saving face. What had happened in class last time had already dragged his self-esteem to rock bottom. He could not take any more blows.

So he wandered around the cafeteria looking for a seat while reciting vocabulary.

Unfortunately, people who cared about saving face could never snag a cafeteria seat. He had just spotted one when, slap, a dark-skinned athlete rushed over and claimed it.

Fine. A gentleman uses words, not fists.

He went to the other side to look. Just as he spotted a good seat, seven or eight girls came running out of nowhere. In a flurry, first-year textbooks claimed every spot.

At last, he found another seat. Just as he was about to sit down, a pretty first-year girl spoke.

"Hey, handsome, you're so tall and good-looking. Could you let me have this seat?"

The old third-year fossil blushed. Yu Tongjie even forgot to recite his vocabulary as he stammered.

"S-sure."

After all that wandering, his food had gone cold.

People kept streaming through the cafeteria entrance, which swallowed and spat out students from all three years-though that wording sounded a little obscene. In short, Yu Tongjie had no seat and stood in the middle of the aisle like an idiot.

Then he heard a girl call, "Come on, let's go back to the dorm and wash our hair."

Yu Tongjie inwardly perked up and hurried toward the voice. His legs were not tired from standing. He just felt as though everyone around him was looking at him, and he could not take it.

He walked over and stepped aside to let them pass. Just as he was about to sit down, he noticed two familiar people by the window, previously hidden by the crowd and now in plain sight.

Li Qingrong. And Jiang Nian!

Yu Tongjie froze as though someone had pressed a time-stop button. He had known Li Qingrong for years. They had been in the same class in middle school, and their families had occasionally visited each other during the New Year.

Jiang Nian was nearly finished eating. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, making Li Qingrong's brow crease slightly.

"The school doesn't allow phones."

Hearing that, Yu Tongjie breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he thought, Li Qingrong was too rigid. There was no way she was interested in Jiang Nian. Most people could not stand her inflexible personality. It would be a miracle if they did not fall out.

But Jiang Nian did not look embarrassed at all. Nor did he put his phone away. With a completely straight face, he said,

"I really can't stop using my phone. The truth is, I have severe anxiety. Whenever I'm away from it, I start thinking about what a terrible failure my life has been."

Remembering that Jiang Nian had been moved up into their class, Li Qingrong actually looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you..."

Jiang Nian gave her a sorrowful smile. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

The smile vanished from Yu Tongjie's face. That's fucking ridiculous! It's such a lousy lie! Call him out! You're just believing him? What the hell is going on?

Li Qingrong lowered her head, looking even more apologetic.

"I'm sorry."

Jiang Nian was about to say something cheeky when he turned and spotted the little eavesdropper. His gaze swept over Yu Tongjie, confusion crossing his face as a question mark practically formed above his head.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

Yu Tongjie felt a lump rise in his throat. He wanted to leave, but there were no seats anywhere else. With no choice, he endured Li Qingrong's gaze and awkwardly sat down on the other side.

He could not taste a thing throughout the meal. He even wondered whether the cafeteria cook's taste buds had stopped working. Why did this food taste like a special offering for the dead on Tomb-Sweeping Day? He might as well have been chewing wax.

He had no idea when Jiang Nian and Li Qingrong left. In a gloomy mood, he walked toward the tray return.

A familiar, sweet voice reached his ears. It sounded like the first-year girl who had called him handsome.

"Hey, I got lucky today. Some ugly old third-year toad gave me his seat."

Everything went black before Yu Tongjie's eyes.

I've received so many tips and monthly votes. Thank you all for your support, generous bosses. May your backs and kidneys stay strong.

Orz. I have no other way to thank you, so let me bow down.

(End of chapter)