Chapter 51: Classroom of the Elite

Jiang Nian only took one hundred yuan from Xu Qianqian, after carefully explaining to her that he would have money in two or three days.

Xu Qianqian snorted, threw down a "Who cares about you," and slammed the front door shut.

The next day, Jiang Nian deposited the entire one hundred yuan into his cafeteria card, knowing that break would start in just two or three days anyway. Aside from meals, there were practically no places where he needed to spend money.

Even if there truly was a place that required spending, someone like him with an estimated net worth approaching twenty thousand yuan wouldn't feel any heartache over it.

It was merely out of instinct that he didn't want to waste the system's inflation limit; after all, spending one hundred yuan meant missing out on three hundred yuan. By spending these extra two hundred yuan, wouldn't it be better to save it and treat Xu Qianqian to the snack street instead?

Oh, what a thrifty and diligent Nian!

Countdown to Sunday: three days.

In the morning, Teacher Xi could no longer suppress her irritation and hoisted Jiang Nian right out of his seat.

"What did I just explain?"

"Teacher Xi, have you slept enough yet?" he replied honestly.

Who asked you to repeat the previous sentence, you stubborn little punk!

There's no saving him; he's hopeless.

"Don't think you can sleep just because your English is good, huh? The teacher isn't a pushover either," Teacher Xi said, her face tightening with a serious expression. "I'll call your parents in if this keeps up."

"Teacher, do whistleblowers get rewarded for meritorious service?" Jiang Nian suddenly asked.

Li Hua, who had been snickering nearby, instantly changed his expression, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. When one person speaks, six people panic, and several pairs of eyes darted stealthily toward Jiang Nian.

"Speak!" Teacher Xi demanded fiercely.

"I'm reporting this: Li Hua was memorizing vocabulary during Chinese class."

"Your mo..." Li Hua almost blurted out, but immediately corrected himself. "Our mother is in good health! Hey, Jiang Nian, what on earth are you doing, seriously?"

"I'm so embarrassed, you've really led me into a trap!"

Watching these two clowns put on a double act, Teacher Xi pressed a hand to her forehead. Today, her middle name was speechless. Yet, she didn't want to crush Li Hua either—was there really anything wrong with memorizing vocabulary during Chinese class?

Besides, that wasn't something she should be saying out for him.

"Ahem, does Teacher Liu know you're memorizing vocabulary during his class?" she asked with a straight face. "Your attitude is commendable, but the method is not to be encouraged."

"You should still pay proper attention in class, keep up with the classroom pace, and not try to catch up on your own behind the scenes."

The rest of the class fell somewhat silent at her "attitude is commendable" remark. Teacher Xi, you're so cheeky, aren't you really worried about Teacher Liu overhearing this?

NTR is truly contagious; Teacher Xi has already fallen to the dark side.

***

Countdown: the second day.

In the science teachers' office, during the long recess.

Biology teacher Zhong Qing was grading dictation assignments at her desk. When she reached Yao Beibei's notebook, her brow furrowed immediately.

"This student clearly didn't review seriously; she's just phoning it in."

Hastily slapping a grade of sixty-five on it, she tossed the notebook onto a stack to the side. There were already seven or eight closed notebooks on her desk, all belonging to students who required close attention.

Biology required memorizing a vast amount of knowledge points, and even the cleverest housewife could not cook a meal without rice. If students couldn't even commit basic knowledge to memory, simply knowing how to solve problems was useless—the efficiency was far too low.

With these thoughts in mind, she pulled out another dictation assignment.

A quick glance across the page: all correct?

In the Olympiad class, students who aced biology dictations weren't exactly rare. Yet, as Zhong Qing looked at the familiar handwriting, a hunch arose in her heart. The owner of this assignment was...

Opening it up, she saw it was indeed Jiang Nian.

Three dictations, zero mistakes each time; that was quite impressive.

Zhong Qing had some impression of Jiang Nian, knowing he was a student who had transferred up from a regular class a week or two ago. Of course, she was just as fond of students from the regular classes.

That evasion buff is way too strong; his riot-prevention awareness is completely maxed out, isn't it?

All in all, Jiang Nian had successfully piqued her interest. Usually, this quiet kid in class who rarely volunteered to answer questions had scored a biology grade on the diagnostic test of...

She pulled a sheet of paper from her folder, then slapped her forehead, remembering he had been promoted from another class. Opening her computer, she began searching through the grade-wide results.

"Biology... seventy? Is he playing it that safe?"

Zhong Qing muttered to herself. In her psychological expectations, since Jiang Nian could get every single dictation and spelling test right, he should have scored at least eighty points in a subject like biology.

Of course, fluctuations due to carelessness were normal.

She pulled up his diagnostic test answer sheet—this was the beauty of electronic grading. Permanent archives allowed for data comparison and simple analysis.

If you wanted to cheat, you had to ensure the problems you solved didn't betray you, otherwise you'd wind up in the "Honesty Examination Room" one hundred percent of the time.

With seven or eight cameras rolling, what kind of divine honesty examination room was that?

It was abundantly clear that Jiang Nian's test performance matched his dictation level: a textbook example of solid fundamentals, lacking in test-taking techniques, and plagued by a shortage of practice problems.

Zhong Qing bit her lower lip and set Jiang Nian's assignment notebook aside. Silently, she circled Jiang Nian—whose grade sat right in the middle tier—with a red pen on the class roster.

During the third period break, over half of the boys in Class 403 leaned over the corridor railing to soak up the sun. A dog dashed past below the building, instantly stirring up a commotion among the boys.

"Hey, Jiang Nian, did you see that? Ma Guojun just ran by," Li Hua pointed at the dog and said with a mischievous grin.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than he was hoisted up into the air for an *aruba*.

"One, two! One, two, three!"

There was a vacant gap near the stairwell, perfectly suited for an *aruba*. Jiang Nian naturally didn't stand by flustered; with great agility, he whipped out his phone and snapped a photo.

Destroy the evidence, earn a braised chicken leg meal.

The school prohibited bringing phones, and any found would be confiscated, but what did that have to do with the students in the Olympiad class? That rule targeted the regular classes; the top-tier key classes were left alone.

As long as you weren't locking lips during class—and male-on-male wasn't allowed either!

If you were a student in Class Zero, you could actually walk right up to the podium during a lesson and leisurely retrieve your charging phone from inside the multimedia cabinet right in front of the teacher.

Not only would the teacher say nothing, but they would even ask you considerately if you wanted to plug it in for a little longer.

One of the urban legends of Zhennan Middle School: double-standard school rules.

Don't expect fairness here. A small county town only had three key high schools, and they relied purely on college admission rates for their reputation. This was a classroom where strength reigned supreme.

As the sunlight gradually receded from the desks, the morning classes came to an end. Jiang Nian raised his head from the sea of test papers, stretched lazily, and muddled through another day.

Zhang Ningzhi, sitting in front of him, suddenly turned around and asked shyly,

"Do you want some lemon tea?"

"I... it depends. Generally speaking, if it's free, I love it." Jiang Nian had grown familiar with Zhang Ningzhi and knew her family actually owned more than just one property in Nanjiang Bay.

Alright, baby, let's stop right there; don't go any further.

I have a friend who can't sleep now.

Having a front-row neighbor who wasn't short on cash was actually quite nice, at least since he had gotten to know Zhang Ningzhi. He had magically discovered that the tissues in his desk drawer seemed to be bottomless!

The eighth wonder of the world: the cornucopia desk drawer!

No, I have to figure out a way to take this desk with me when I graduate.

"Okay, oh, it's free." Zhang Ningzhi smiled, rising from her seat. The sunlight pierced through her tidy desktop and landed upon her ponytail, turning her hair threads to gold.

One of the strongest skins in high school: the white school uniform paired with a pure ponytail.

"Oh, right, there's a sports meeting in the middle of this month," Zhang Ningzhi turned back, asking curiously, "The sports commissioner asked me to check if you're willing to participate?"

Jiang Nian froze for a moment, realizing that autumn had truly arrived.