Chapter 23: Rising Step by Step

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Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian laughed heartily and stuffed a schoolbag into her arms.

“Alright, help me carry the bag.”

With that, he handed her an empty schoolbag filled with thirty thousand yuan. Then he took her bag off her shoulder, weighed it in his hand, and clicked his tongue.

“Are you carrying bricks back? Planning to skip sleep tonight?”

Xu Qianqian was speechless but didn’t argue. She simply hugged Jiang Nian’s bag to her chest as they went downstairs. After walking a bit, sensing something off, she couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“What do you have in your bag? It’s so hard, like bricks.”

“Money.”

“That’s crazy.” Xu Qianqian walked ahead holding the bag, the sweat smell from it making her face turn pale. “Jiang Nian, how long has it been since you last washed your bag?”

“Just last week. It only smells like my sweat.” He leaned in, tugging at his white T-shirt. “Hey, if you don’t believe me, smell it yourself.”

“Nasty!” The girl shook her head and pulled away from him.

On the way home, in some quiet spots, Xu Qianqian couldn’t help but start a conversation.

“Hey, I heard the class promotion list is out.”

“Yeah.”

“Which class did you get?”

“Don’t even mention it. Got assigned to the Olympiad Class Three, room 403.”

Hearing his disappointed tone, the girl’s lips curved into a slight smile, as if saying, “So you really wanted to be in the same class as me?” But on second thought, the happiness faded.

Indeed, not being in the same class brought a subtle sense of loss.

“Well, it’s probably better you’re not. I’m actually kind of happy.”

Back home, upstairs, they had already swapped the bags back.

Jiang Nian entered the house just in time to see his parents still awake. They were in the living room counting something. Old Jiang put on his glasses and muttered quietly.

Li Hongmei didn’t even glance at Jiang Nian and said directly,

“Take a shower and go to bed early.”

Jiang Nian didn’t respond but walked to the center of the living room, standing before his parents. The couple turned around with puzzled expressions, staring at their son.

Li Hongmei frowned immediately. “Go wash up quickly, you smell awful.”

“I’m not refusing, just not the time yet.” Jiang Nian said boldly, fearless of the impending scolding. “Ahem, Comrade Li Hongmei, Comrade Old Jiang, I have an announcement.”

Old Jiang looked confused. Li Hongmei sneered and was about to get up and grab a feather duster.

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Suddenly, their son pulled out a thick bundle of what looked like paper bricks from his bag. Not bricks—money? A neat, thick stack.

The thickness—twenty or thirty thousand yuan! Piled on the table, the sight of so much cash was overwhelming.

Li Hongmei’s face turned pale. She stood up abruptly.

“Did you rob a bank? Give it back right now!”

Old Jiang was calmer. Recalling Jiang Nian’s reaction earlier that morning, he seemed to have realized something. He looked at the money on the table, then at their grown son.

“Did you earn this?”

“Yeah, that’s all I’ve made so far.” Jiang Nian shrugged. “Not sure about the future, but for now, you two can spend it as you like. No need to pinch pennies.”

Hearing “no need to pinch pennies,” Li Hongmei’s eyes softened for a moment. Still, she grumbled while telling Jiang Nian to put the money away and kept nagging.

“There won’t be anywhere to spend it later? Eat well today, starve tomorrow? Your father and I handle the family affairs; you’re just a kid—no need to worry yourself.”

Jiang Nian chuckled and tossed out, “Tried to deposit it but the system’s down today, limit on transactions.” Before Li Hongmei could get mad, he threw the money on the table and dashed off to his room.

Click—the door locked.

His parents were left in the living room, both exasperated and amused. Who was this kid even like? Like a stubborn piece of tough meat.

The next day, Thursday.

“National Day is coming soon. How many days off do you think school will give?” Jiang Nian walked while eating breakfast. “If they’re stingy, three days and that’s it.”

“Don’t know. National Day is the day after tomorrow, right?” Xu Qianqian’s pink lips pursed small, biting the straw of her soy milk, eyes half-closed, making her look irresistibly cute.

Jiang Nian swallowed hard, mentally scolding himself for such a ridiculous thought.

Damn it, rabbits don’t eat the grass near their burrows!

Lately, he didn’t know why, maybe because he’d been single too long, but Xu Qianqian just looked so pure and lovely. Sometimes in his dreams, he even imagined punching her until puffing up like a cream puff.

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Jiang Nian roughly labeled it “youth syndrome,” shook his head, and kept walking.

At the stairwell, when parting ways, Xu Qianqian sighed.

“What’s up?” Jiang Nian thought she was going to mention the milk tea. “I’ll treat you at noon. Why drink milk tea so early? Are you some kind of water bucket?”

“Who cares!” Xu Qianqian spat and handed him something.

Jiang Nian looked down—a box of “Step Up” brand pen refills, the red packaging festive-looking. Looking up, the girl had already walked far, glancing back at the classroom door.

Their eyes met. Jiang Nian tilted his head in confusion; Xu Qianqian gave him a middle finger. (Hmph.)

During morning recess, the homeroom teacher suddenly burst in.

“Jiang Nian, move the desks.”

Hearing this, Jiang Nian hesitated a bit. “Teacher, to be honest, I’m kind of reluctant.”

The homeroom teacher looked at his mischievous face, somewhat speechless. “Then stay? I’ll report for you and get special permission.”

“No need, I’m just joking.” Jiang Nian laughed awkwardly.

Laughter erupted in the classroom, the air light and cheerful during recess.

“Go on, study hard, don’t embarrass our class,” the homeroom teacher waved her hand. “Upstairs, room 403, move your desks and books there now.”

Jiang Nian found two close friends to help. Unexpectedly, Le Zhi also came along.

“Uh, thanks.”

“No problem, just lending a hand,” Le Zhi said quietly. He’d been silent these days, keeping to himself since the exams, but had surprisingly started reading.

They arrived early; others had gone for morning exercise. Le Zhi skipped it entirely and stayed by the corridor outside room 403, chatting with Jiang Nian.

“A few days ago, I had a falling out with them.”

“Uh, why?” Jiang Nian felt awkward.

Le Zhi leaned against the corridor wall, sunlight scattering over him, and recounted the exam day incident.

“I think those people hanging out together will end up idiots sooner or later. The homeroom teacher said something right—after enduring high school for so long, we have to get into a good university.”

After chatting for a while, Le Zhi left.

Jiang Nian felt no particular emotion. He never wanted to get involved with Zhou Yuting’s group anyway. Whether they really fell out or not had nothing to do with him.

Because of the morning exercise, the academic building was mostly empty. Suddenly, noise of moving desks and chairs came from the stairwell.

Jiang Nian turned and saw a familiar face.

Zhang Ningzhi?

Hmm? She seemed to be coming his way. Only one girl was helping her move desks, and it looked a bit strenuous. Zhang Ningzhi’s face was flushed.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Jiang Nian went over to help.

“Fancy meeting you again. What are you doing here...”

“Ah, it’s you.” Zhang Ningzhi blinked, a little shy, quietly calling his name. “Jiang Nian... I got promoted to class 403.”