Chapter 63: Introverted, usually commutes only via high-voltage cables

All afternoon, Zhang Ningzhi kept her head lowered, burying it in her textbook while keeping her ears pericked.

She pretended to listen attentively to the lecture, but in reality, every sound in the classroom was magnified infinitely like a rising tide, and she carefully inspected every single word spoken.

Switching seats so abruptly felt strange, especially right after the head teacher finished the class meeting.

It felt as though she were deliberately defying the rules.

However, the seat change had been arranged with Huang Fang last week, so it wasn't exactly defying the rules. At most, it could be considered a premeditated act that happened to coincide with a strict crackdown.

Fortunately, two classes passed by, and everything remained safe and sound.

Zhang Ningzhi quietly breathed a sigh of relief, turned her head, and cast a stealthy glance at her "new deskmate." Jiang Nian was completely different in class compared to between classes; most of the time, he was very quiet.

At this moment, he was locked in a struggle with a difficult physics problem.

It was exceptionally hot today, and the crimson-gold afterglow poured down from the edge of the clouds, bathing half the classroom in the twilight. Some students noticed and began pulling those around them to look outside.

"Holy crap! So pretty!"

"Holy crap?"

"Holy crap! Take a picture, take a picture!"

Zhang Ningzhi glanced at the sunset, feeling a bit tempted as well. Just as she straightened her head back, she suddenly felt a gaze land uncomfortably close, causing her to freeze in place.

She stole a quick glance and locked eyes with Jiang Nian. It was like touching a thorn; she quickly retracted her gaze, burying her head on the desk as her high ponytail swayed slightly.

The tips of her ears, unable to be concealed, turned pink bit by bit, making her attempt at covering it up painfully obvious. Her heart was like wild grass, tangled in a complete mess, fluttering away into scattered fragments at the slightest breeze.

Jiang Nian was actually deep in thought over a problem, and simply turned his head out of sheer reflex when he heard the commotion. Seeing Zhang Ningzhi slumped over her desk, he slowly came back to his senses. Um... um?

Whoever wrote this problem can go to hell!

He sighed softly, using his index finger to poke the soft, fair flesh of his deskmate Zhang Ningzhi's arm. It was cool and smooth, with the texture of jelly—if he were to put it in his mouth...

Ah, forgot someone was watching, not being a creep, nope.

"W-what's the matter?"

"Lend me your red pen for a second, thanks." Jiang Nian smiled, watching as Zhang Ningzhi fumbled frantically and dropped her pen three times before finally handing it over to him.

He didn't think it strange; Zhang Ningzhi had always been introverted.

Still, putting aside anything else—not that Huang Fang wasn't pretty—while his former deskmate Huang Fang's charm lay in her temperament and personality, Zhang Ningzhi leaned more toward the type of breathtakingly pretty girl who was an absolute feast for the eyes.

Anyway, having a pretty girl as a deskmate was pretty nice.

During the break after the first evening self-study session, the classroom was brightly lit.

It wasn't as if no one was paying attention to the sixth group. The new "hero" Lin Dong had discovered that afternoon that Zhang Ningzhi had moved to Jiang Nian's side, and he had almost passed out on the spot.

No, bro, you guys can't sit together!

How could you possibly end up sitting together?

Sitting together right at the start of the new semester—he didn't even dare to imagine the next step. Wait, was he really the only one who cared about school rules? Why wasn't Old Liu coming out to do something about this?

Just as he was feeling irritated, the niche bro Sun Zhicheng came over to strike up a conversation again.

"I just calculated the Fizz's..."

Lin Dong was in no mood whatsoever to listen to the niche bro drone on about Fizz's stats. He glanced toward the window. Zhang Ningzhi's seat was empty, and he suddenly felt that he might have been overthinking things.

Senior year was so grueling; where would anyone find the energy for such crooked thoughts? Besides, for positions like the first and second rows of the third major group, the view of the blackboard during class was terrible, so switching seats was completely normal.

The niche bro chattered on endlessly, only to suddenly notice that his hype-man had gone silent. Raising his head, he saw his good buddy staring in the direction of Zhang Ningzhi's empty seat again.

Having hung out together every day, Sun Zhicheng naturally understood his buddy's little crush.

To be fair, he liked Zhang Ningzhi quite a bit too. There weren't many girls in this class to begin with, with the male-to-female ratio well under two to one, leaving only a handful worth looking at.

Class monitor Li Qingrong, Zhang Ningzhi, Chen Yunyun, Wang Yuhe... As for the class monitor, there was no point dreaming about her; just a single glance made one's heart quail. But Zhang Ningzhi's personality seemed genuinely nice.

To speak the honest truth, Zhang Ningzhi tied for first place in his books.

Ever since he found out his buddy liked Zhang Ningzhi, although he felt a bit regretful, he had bucked up and reluctantly decided to pursue Wang Yuhe instead, while encouraging Lin Dong at the same time.

He figured that after Lin Dong failed his confession post-gaokao, he'd at least have some extra entertainment. Later on, he could spin it into a little story to use as chatting material with girls in college.

The niche bro had a conscience, but not very much of it.

"Stop staring, bro. Did you add her on QQ yet?" Sun Zhicheng asked.

Conversations between good brothers never required mentioning names; it was encrypted communication, and those who knew, knew.

"Pretty much, still pending verification," Lin Dong sighed.

"Awesome! That's already half the battle won!" Sun Zhicheng blinked his bean-like eyes, pouring on maximum emotional value. "The day of victory is just around the corner."

"We've already had two breaks, if she wanted to accept it, shouldn't she have done it by now?" Lin Dong frowned, feeling a heavy weight in his chest.

"She's definitely just shy, just send a few more requests," Sun Zhicheng said, terrified that Lin Dong might give up and rob him of his chatting material. "Even Emperor Zhaolie of Han had to visit the thatched cottage three times."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Lin Dong chose to believe first and doubt later.

"Rest assured, I will help you with all my might!" Sun Zhicheng said with a serious expression. "Just make sure not to act rashly, and consult me before doing anything."

Hearing this, Lin Dong felt somewhat moved. With a good buddy acting as his wingman, his chances of success had gone up a few notches.

He was going to win!

*Ring, ring, ring—* The students slowly drifted back into the classroom.

Weighing his worries, Lin Dong decided to focus on his studies for this period. Given his status as the mathematics class representative, he had plenty of opportunities to shine in class, and things were bound to turn around.

Besides, senior year was truly crucial; he couldn't let himself rot away in this county town.

Despite saying that, he lowered his head to glance at his test paper a few times, but ultimately couldn't resist staring toward the front door of the classroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zhang Ningzhi.

Before long, Zhang Ningzhi indeed hurried into the classroom, holding a box of milk.

With his sharp eyes, Lin Dong recognized it as a slightly pricey brand. His own family bought it too, and every morning he would take a box out of the fridge to drink.

At this thought, the corners of his lips curled upward. Fate... truly worked in mysterious ways.

Zhang Ningzhi took her seat and saw that Jiang Nian was currently working on a chemistry problem. Li Hua on the very edge seemed to be tackling the same problem, and right before the evening self-study session ended, she had heard the two of them making a father-son bet.

Boys were so childish, always wanting to be someone else's dad.

Zhang Ningzhi thought for a moment and nudged his arm. She knew Jiang Nian had a good temper; even if his train of thought while solving problems was interrupted, he would never snap at anyone or show impatience.

Jiang Nian turned his head. "Hm?"

"The tuck shop didn't have the milk I wanted to drink, I'm not drinking this one, sorry for coming back empty-handed..." Zhang Ningzhi recited the lines she had practiced repeatedly in her head without stumbling.

"Do you want it?"

"Want it, want it, want it!!" Jiang Nian gave the maximum emotional value possible and took it. "The brand of milk you drink is way too expensive, it wouldn't sell here at school."

"Actually, I'm pretty introverted too. Whenever I go out, I only dare to walk right under high-voltage cables."

"Whenever I go somewhere and don't find anything I want to buy, though, I always make sure to explain myself: *Ah, this shop doesn't have what I want to steal, better go to another one.*"