Chapter 12: Bewildered, a Reward of Five Thousand in Hand

“Hiss!” Xu Qianqian gasped sharply. “Be more careful.”

“Hmm, who told you to go upstairs without watching where you were going?” Jiang Nian lowered his head, seriously massaging her ankle. Through the pale skin, faint blue veins could be seen.

A sudden thought crossed his mind—what if she wore white stockings...

No, no, this is Xu Qianqian.

Jiang Nian shook his head, pushing away the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind. Childhood sweethearts are fine, but he hadn’t expected Xu Qianqian to also have a girlish charm.

“Can it be my fault? I told you... there was a mouse.” She pouted, her gaze drifting downward.

The air was thick with the strong scent of medicinal liniment. The young man massaging her foot had a back as straight as a poplar tree, shoulders even, and thick black hair.

Out of nowhere, she thought, maybe next time she should go watch him play basketball?

No, no, what was she doing? This was Jiang Nian!

The one she disliked the most—Jiang Nian!

“What’s wrong with a mouse? Life’s a mouse’s life... sigh.” Jiang Nian didn’t continue, changing the subject instead. “Have you guessed how well you’ll do on the exam this time?”

“Hmm... about 630 points,” she replied.

“Crazy! Why don’t you just hang out in the zero-level class?” Jiang Nian was shocked, his hands rubbing faster as the twisted ankle began to warm.

Xu Qianqian thought for a moment. “I don’t want to move. I’m used to it.”

After applying the medicine, Jiang Nian returned to his own home next door to sleep. Once he left, Xu Qianqian, in a daze, lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. The sound of a key turning in the door came from outside.

Xu Zewen dragged his tired body home from work, pushed the door open, sniffed the air, and then saw his daughter asleep on the sofa.

“Dad?” Xu Qianqian groggily woke up, rubbing her eyes. “You’re home from work?”

She tried to get up but was immediately stopped by Director Xu.

“What happened to your foot?”

“I twisted it going upstairs. The medicine’s already been applied.” Xu Qianqian hobbled up, forcing a smile. “See? It’s fine now.”

Director Xu nodded and reminded her to continue applying the medicine tomorrow.

The next day.

As usual, Jiang Nian got up early to buy breakfast. Before going upstairs, he saw Old Xu driving off to work early. His parents were still asleep, so he placed the breakfast on the table and went next door to apply medicine for Xu Qianqian.

It was 7:30 a.m., and morning self-study was starting. Xu Qianqian, limping from her twisted ankle, was already washed and ready.

“Feeling better?” He placed the breakfast down and squatted, rummaging for the liniment. “Why did Uncle Xu go to work so early?”

“There’s a project in their department that’s keeping them busy,” Xu Qianqian’s eyes dimmed briefly.

“Oh~ your dad’s busy, no problem. Your other dad is here to apply your medicine.”

“You’re dead!” Xu Qianqian kicked him with her uninjured foot, and they started bickering, the atmosphere lightening with their playful exchanges.

Downstairs.

Xu Qianqian, carrying her backpack, was surprised to see Jiang Nian riding a small electric bike.

“You rode off! How is Aunt Li going to get to work?”

“Come up, you’re so naggy.” Jiang Nian braked impatiently. “Old Jiang’s not working today; he’s driving my mom to her office.”

“You’re the naggy one!” Xu Qianqian climbed onto the back seat, still annoyed.

After pondering, she opened Jiang Nian’s WeChat chat box and changed his nickname from “Annoying Ghost” to “Naggy Annoying Ghost.”

Just as they left the alley, Jiang Nian slammed the brakes.

Xu Qianqian was caught off guard and crashed into his back, her soft spine compressed sharply. Her pupils shrank, and her face flushed visibly.

“Jiang Nian, are you crazy?”

“Wait, I’m thinking.” Jiang Nian opened a panel only he could see and stared at the words “Task Completed,” puzzled.

[Task: Defeat strong rival Zhou Haifei and make him give up on Xu Qianqian. Reward: 5000 RMB (Completed).]

His phone buzzed, the bank balance jumping from 2,131 to 7,131 RMB.

Looking around, the street was filled with students attending morning self-study. Monday was flag-raising day, and wearing the summer school uniform was mandatory—a sea of glaring white.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment but still had no ideas and decided to stop worrying about it.

“Did you do that on purpose just now?” Xu Qianqian asked softly from the back seat.

“No, there was a mouse in front of the bike. It scared me.” Jiang Nian was distracted, making up a story casually. “I was afraid of running it over and having both the red and white ones burst...”

“Ugh!” Xu Qianqian punched him, angry. “Stop talking!”

...

After the flag-raising ceremony, the first period Chinese language test papers were distributed.

Jiang Nian lay on the desk, still confused. Glasses girl and Copper Brother, how could they just give up like that? It felt as if he hadn’t even had the chance to find her.

So young and already disillusioned with love.

Oh well, how clever.

Jiang Nian’s understanding of love was shallow too—he was someone destined for divorce in the future. Rather than chase love, better to make more money and have more fun with girls when free.

When poor, keep to oneself; when successful, help the world.

The Chinese teacher was handing out the test papers, reading aloud several passing scores.

“Zhou Yuting 90, Ren Dong 104, Chen Lili 117...”

Suddenly, she paused and said, “Jiang Nian 110.”

The classroom erupted in a stir. The top scorers were usually those with high Chinese marks. Jiang Nian, who normally scored around eighty, how did he get 110?

Actually, only those around Jiang Nian made a fuss.

“Is this for real? Jiang Nian, did you fill in your dad’s student ID or something?”

“Oh no, Jiang Nian’s taken off after just one summer break.”

“Damn, this hurts more than getting killed! Please tear up your test paper, buddy. Otherwise, I’ll eat a kilogram of Oreo if you admit you cheated.”

Using jokes to cover up a habit—here to scam free food, huh?

The classmates were just joking; how could you cheat on Chinese? The more you cheat, the lower the score.

Jiang Nian maintained a calm expression as he went to the podium to hand in his paper, but inside he was thrilled—he scored ten points higher than expected in Chinese. A promising start.

The teacher continued scolding from the podium. “Is Chinese getting harder? What’s hard about it? Sometimes you need to look at your own reasons for the scores. Has your grade improved after all this time?”

“Have you practiced seriously? Chinese has always been this level; I really don’t know how to teach you anymore.”

In the classroom, Zhou Yuting shifted her gaze away from Jiang Nian, frowning slightly.

Why did he score so high?

But she didn’t pay much attention. In Chinese, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you slip up.

The third and fourth periods were math class.

The math teacher was young and quick-tempered. After venting his anger, he began handing out the test papers one by one.

When it was Jiang Nian’s turn, the teacher nodded.

“112, not bad. Great improvement.”

There were many math prodigies who excelled in certain subjects; Jiang Nian’s 112 was considered mediocre and didn’t attract much attention.

Only Zhou Yuting’s frown deepened, sensing something ominous.

At noon, Jiang Nian found Xu Qianqian and quietly applied medicine on her ankle again. Her deskmate Song Xiyun followed closely, eyes sparkling with admiration and a shy smile on her face.

Damn, what a nuisance.

In the afternoon, scores for physics, chemistry, and biology were released one after another.

Jiang Nian’s combined science score was exactly 210, roughly matching his estimated score.