After evening self-study ended, Xue Yuantong intentionally left the classroom alone, deliberately walking slowly until Jiang Ning caught up from behind.
Jiang Ning, pushing his mountain bike, with Xue Yuantong following two steps behind him, didn't speak until there were fewer people around.
"Not bad, Jiang Ning," she said, "you've somewhat surprised me."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Ning asked her.
"You're pretty good at fighting," Xue Yuantong said. She had often been bullied for being short but never dared to fight back, keeping those feelings bottled up inside, just like today when Song Sheng knocked her desk over. If it hadn't been for Jiang Ning's intervention, the incident would have surely been ignored.
Moreover, she harbored a doubt in her heart; she didn't see Jiang Ning as someone who was full of a sense of justice nor as someone who liked to show off, so why did he stand up tonight?
Could it be because of me?
Xue Yuantong was suspicious, wondering if Jiang Ning had ulterior motives towards her, hoping to gain her gratitude by stepping in.
The more Xue Yuantong thought about it, the more she felt it to be possible, and her gaze became unnatural—she was still a child!
"Good at fighting? Not worth mentioning," Jiang Ning said indifferently,
"Compared to using violence, I prefer to influence others with virtue."
Seeing Jiang Ning's casual demeanor, Xue Yuantong began to doubt again. She realized she couldn't see through him at all and didn't know what kind of person he was.
"Get on the bike," Jiang Ning said as he mounted his bicycle, toeing the ground lightly.
"Okay." Xue Yuantong sat sideways behind him with practiced ease.
The military training over the next few days was much calmer. Perhaps the events of that night had been too shocking, so Class 8 of Grade 1 didn't stir up any more trouble. Even though there were minor conflicts in private, no one dealt with them openly.
Instructor Li remained as stern as ever. Under his oppressive training, the students constantly cursed but gradually got used to it.
During breaks, the freshmen gathered in groups to chat about their plans for the three years of high school, which universities to consider for the future, games they liked, chattering about all sorts of things.
Gamers and those who loved to surf the internet, students with high middle school exam scores, and those who came from the same junior high formed one small clique after another.
High school students were not yet mature, but in some aspects of conduct, they already followed the set rules of adults.
There were also students who tried to pull Jiang Ning into their groups. He would agree with a laugh and a smile, and even when others came to recruit him, he would still accept. Thus, the other students understood that while Jiang Ning had ties with every group, he didn't completely belong to any of them.
This behavior made some students slightly uncomfortable. But since no one sought trouble due to Jiang Ning's actions that night, they remained outwardly polite with each other. After all, they had seen Jiang Ning's sense of justice and found him someone they could get along with.
Of course, high school youth wouldn't be complete without romance. The boys would gather and naturally talk about the girls in their class.
Bai Yuxia was unanimously recognized as the best girl in the class followed by Shen Qing'e, and when Chen Siyu's twin sister was discovered, it caused much excitement among the boys.
Capitalizing on the opportunity during military training, some boys made their move. From what Jiang Ning saw, there were those who tried to impress Bai Yuxia by bringing her water, only to be politely declined.
Those with less lofty aspirations targeted girls who were relatively plain in appearance, and some even harbored hopes of ending their single status within just a few days.
As for those boys who initiated their advances toward the pretty girls, they were mostly given the "nice guy" card, and couldn't even secure a QQ connection.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
On the morning of September 9, the military training performance took place.
The vice-principal announced that the top three classes in ranking were: "Class One, Class Three, Class Eleven."
Class Eight students beat their chests and stamped their feet in regret, a feeling so intense it could not be added to. They had put in a lot of effort during their military training, but still failed to make the cut.
The winning top three classes had worked even harder than them, especially Class Eleven. They not only partook in military training during the day but also continued to practice on the playground at night while the other classes studied, which made them incomparable.
As for Class One and Class Three, they were classes of top students to begin with, and their comprehensive quality was a notch above that of the regular classes. Plus, they had worked just as hard, so it was natural for them to be ranked at the top.
After the military training performance on the morning of the 9th, the afternoon was off, with tomorrow being Teachers' Day and a three and a half day holiday.
Aunt Gu called to ask if Jiang Ning would come over for dinner that night.
Jiang Ning declined, citing exhaustion from military training. He had more important things to do tonight.
On the way home after school, the sun was scorching, and Jiang Ning rode his bike quickly, with Xue Yuantong gripping the corner of his clothes tightly, afraid of falling off.
Although during a previous bike racing incident, Xue Yuantong had embraced Jiang Ning's waist, it was out of fear, in the face of a life and death crisis, and those details obviously didn't matter.
Now it was the daytime, and if she did the same, she would be embarrassed, wouldn't it make her seem cowardly?
Ridiculous, ridiculous, was she Xue Yuantong such a person?
But tellingly, the closer she got, the cooler she felt.
Xue Yuantong, oh Xue Yuantong, you must be hallucinating!
She told herself this.
"Jiang Ning, have you gotten taller?" Xue Yuantong, with her keen observation, vaguely felt that Jiang Ning's body had become much more slender, and although still lean, it contained an indescribable quality.
"I should be, I've been eating pretty well lately." With Jiang Ning's control over his body, he knew that in just ten days he had grown from one hundred sixty-five centimeters to one hundred seventy, reaching the midrange height of his classmates.
He drank three boxes of pure milk every day, ate five eggs, and had lunch in the cafeteria where a meal cost over twenty yuan, not to mention his continual supply of fruit. The money he had was almost all spent.
With nutrition barely keeping up and the Body Tempering Thunder Technique stimulating his muscles and bones, combined with the absorption of Spiritual Energy, and being at the age where growth spurts happen, growing five centimeters in ten days wasn't too surprising.
In his previous life, he had seen a classmate who during the winter vacation grew seven or eight centimeters in just over twenty days—it just showed the immense potential of humans.
"Can eating well really make you taller?" Xue Yuantong looked envious.
It was her dream. In the first year of junior high, she was one hundred fifty centimeters and three years later, there was still no change—it was indeed quite miserable.
"It's not enough to just eat well, you also need to exercise more, like doing high jumps, or playing basketball, which can help with growing taller," Jiang Ning said.
Xue Yuantong disliked exercising the most. Hearing this, she silently gave up—fine to be short, after all, one can kick the blankets freely.
"My mom is coming back today at noon, and she has prepared food at home. Knowing that you have been bringing me home these last few days, she wants you to come over for a meal," Xue Yuantong said.
Jiang Ning nodded, "Alright."
"Then it's settled. My mom's cooking skills are very good, hehe."
Jiang Ning rode the bike down the dam and from afar saw Aunt Gu standing at the door. Aunt Gu was Xue Yuantong's mother. The last time Jiang Ning heard from the neighbors, Xue Yuantong's father had passed away early from illness, and Aunt Gu never remarried, but instead dedicated herself to raising Xue Yuantong alone.
Seeing Jiang Ning bringing Xue Yuantong home, Aunt Gu revealed a gentle smile and approached them, saying,
"Jiang Ning, thank you for bringing Tongtong home these past few days."
Not long before, as she was going to send Tongtong to school, Tongtong confidently told her not to. It happened to be the busy farming season, and the village had several acres of peanuts to harvest, so she hurriedly rushed back to help.