It’s late at night, at the school gate.
Qianqian tilted her head, glanced at someone, and cut her voice lightly.
"The results will be out by Tuesday at the latest, hiding them is pointless."
"We’ll talk later... are you admitting defeat on your own?" Jiang Nian looked at Qianqian, "Don’t get upset again."
"Oh, did you score over one hundred and thirty in math?" She probed directly, trying to figure something out from Jiang Nian’s face.
Jiang Nian’s face showed three parts of a smile, three parts of drowsy idiocy, two parts of high spirits, and two parts of dejection and frustration.
It was like playing with different masks, colorful and varied.
"What are you doing?" Qianqian was a bit speechless, "Aren’t you afraid of turning your face into Kitano Takeshi’s expressionless style with all those changes?"
Hearing this, Jiang Nian instantly returned to normal and pinched the soft flesh of Qianqian’s arm.
"Forget about it, the entire Asian look relies on two men. One is Daniel Wu, and he’s already aging, I can’t afford to look bad too."
"Why are you pinching me while talking?" Qianqian got goosebumps all over, slapped him hard, "Are you being a jerk?"
"Collecting some interest in advance." Jiang Nian said nonchalantly.
Jiang Nian’s words made Qianqian instantly tense again.
Her expression changed slightly, and she couldn’t help but start to worry, thinking, could he really have reached six hundred and one points?
The two of them wandered back home.
Just before Qianqian closed the door, she glanced at the door opposite. Jiang Nian, who was also about to enter his home, suddenly called out to her.
With one hand on the doorknob, Jiang Nian turned to look at Qianqian. The hallway was dim, and his facial expression couldn’t be seen.
Qianqian held onto the doorknob, weakly asked.
"Can you give me a discount?"
"No way, women should be tough on themselves." Jiang Nian firmly refused, "Tsk tsk, if your legs break, how will you go to school?"
Hearing this, Qianqian blushed instantly.
"You big illiterate! That’s discount (she)!"
Bam! The door closed.
Jiang Nian sneered and thought to himself that when it rains, you’ll know to use an umbrella. A draw loses half; if there’s a chance to win, why throw a chicken on it?
With a bang, he closed the door and opened a game as he changed his shoes.
On the other side, Qianqian put down her school bag. Absent-mindedly picking out her change of clothes, she held them to enter the bathroom for a quiet bath.
Halfway through the bath, she suddenly felt annoyed.
In the empty bathroom, she fiercely punched the water stream.
"Damn you! Jiang Nian!"
That night, Qianqian tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
She hoped Jiang Nian wouldn’t score over six hundred and one, but she also didn’t want him to fail miserably. Ideally, he would score above six hundred but below six hundred and one.
But... Jiang Nian’s various reactions seemed to indicate a certain result.
Whenever she thought of the bet, Qianqian felt uncomfortable.
Before finishing today’s exam, she habitually teased Jiang Nian, thinking it better for her to bait him than let some seductress do it.
At least, it could motivate him to be more positive.
Would it... be playing with fire?
Jiang Nian had a good night’s sleep and felt refreshed all over.
After washing up, he grabbed his bag and went out.
Just as he changed his shoes and looked up, he saw the calendar on the wall. November had flipped, replaced by a brand new page.
He was dazed for a moment, feeling somewhat disoriented.
Three major exams transformed him from a middle-back low achiever with four hundred points in a parallel class into a regular top student aiming for six hundred.
The system also turned him from a three-hundred-yuan boy into a rich man with a thirty-thousand-yuan savings.
Man, how luxurious is this worth...
At the steamed bun shop, white steam was rolling, while the street at the end was still dark. The owner slipped on plastic bags and stood in front of the young man.
"We have all kinds of buns, the usual for you?"
Jiang Nian was a bit surprised, slightly embarrassed after realizing the owner remembered him. He hesitated for a moment and nodded.
In no time, a variety pack of fresh buns was ready.
With a beep, Jiang Nian paid for his meal and turned to leave, pondering whether to try a different bun shop tomorrow.
Quite bold, isn’t it?
If you keep frequenting the same bun shop and don’t go next time, you’ll feel guilty passing by, as if you’re letting them down.
After going upstairs.
Jiang Nian took out his test papers, thought about it, put them back, and instead pulled out a bound volume of "Agui" comics from Li Hua’s drawer.
Outside, it was just getting light, and the classroom was brightly lit, quiet, and vacant.
He opened a page of "Agui" and read it with keen interest.
Yao Beibei swung by the front of the classroom and took a peek inside.
Seeing Jiang Nian at his seat, she walked straight up to him.
With a thud, she placed her bag on Li Hua’s desk, patted Jiang Nian loudly, and looked at him with a mysterious smile.
"I’ve got news for you, something you’ll be interested in."
Yao Beibei mysteriously pointed upwards and spat out a few words.
"Enemies from the sky are coming."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian couldn’t hold back.
"Sky enemies, are you like Zeng You, too deep into fantasy novels?"
"Tsk, isn’t the elite class up in the sky?" Yao Beibei pouted, "Someone from the elite class is coming down to join our class."
"What? Why?" Huang Fang from the front row turned around, her eyes filled with a strong fighting spirit toward the elite class enemies.
A swordsman among mere mortals...
"What else could it be, they can’t keep up in the elite class." Yao Beibei said, "Their pace is crazy over there; I heard their school year started in July."
"While we were on summer break, the elite class had already started reviewing for the first time, and now they’re probably halfway through their second review."
"Then why join our class?" Jiang Nian asked.
Yao Beibei was speechless and explained.