CHAPTER 482: CHAPTER 399: FAST FORWARD TO THE BATTLE OF RED CLIFFS

The living room was brightly lit, with a soft sofa.

Xu Qianqian revealed a sloth-like dazed expression, letting out a long "Ah~".

".....?"

Is she still speaking Chinese?

"Yeah, just as you understood it literally." Jiang Nian nodded, raising one finger, "Give the old man some hope."

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian was first stunned, then her pupils shook.

Her face gradually turned red, and then she took a deep breath. Amidst the screams, she kicked forcefully towards Jiang Nian from the sofa.

"You, you, you!!! Pervert!"

Jiang Nian skillfully avoided her twisting fair foot, couldn’t help but sigh.

"Alas, the ’Old Man’s Joy’ plan is ruined."

Upon hearing the words "Old Man’s Joy", Xu Qianqian almost couldn’t hold it together, thinking to herself that Jiang Nian was overly obscene.

"You better shut up!"

"Alright, but I still have one last thing to say." Jiang Nian started to be coy again, "Not sure if I should say it."

"Go ahead." Xu Qianqian crossed her arms, looking at him.

Jiang Nian was about to speak but got distracted when he saw the curve formed by the clothes on her chest. He couldn’t help but swallow.

"Pervert!" A cushion came flying towards him.

Xu Qianqian hugged another light-colored cushion to her chest, taking a defensive posture, staring at him with disdain.

"Is there anything besides dirty thoughts in your mind?"

Jiang Nian sat back on the sofa, assuming a thinking pose.

"Maybe..."

From the beginning, foul language, various paths, public and private cars, tricycles, all appeared in this large living room.

But in fact, they were discussing a heavy and sorrowful topic.

That is, Old Xu would one day lose interest in this world. In a certain year, he would directly leave Xu Qianqian.

Maybe he would leave behind a letter, saying something like.

[Qianqian, your mom has been living alone over there for more than a decade. She’s still waiting for me, I need to go on being her husband.]

If that really happened, wouldn’t Xu Qianqian explode?

Jiang Nian knew it, and Xu Qianqian knew it too. One day, Old Xu would head towards the big mountain where her mother was buried.

So what he said was just to lighten the heavy atmosphere and temporarily bring Xu Qianqian out of it.

People live for a total of thirty thousand days; Jiang Nian wanted to give Xu Qianqian a bit of hope in life, not let her handle it all alone.

In the living room, after a few seconds of silence, Jiang Nian raised his head and said.

"Xu Qianqian."

"Hmm?"

"Things that haven’t happened yet don’t need too much thought." Jiang Nian considered, "As long as people work at it, there will always be a way."

Xu Qianqian wasn’t sure if she heard him but lightly nodded.

"Hmm."

"How about considering the ’Old Man’s Joy’?"

"Hmm." Xu Qianqian was daydreaming, her gaze unfocused as she nodded, then suddenly came to her senses.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll give you two punches!"

"Alright, I’m getting a bit sleepy." Seeing the conversation hit a dead end, Jiang Nian stood up, "I should probably head back, you should go to bed early too."

"Hmm."

As he passed by the sofa, he casually touched Xu Qianqian’s other fair foot.

"Hey, why is your foot swollen again?"

"Ah!! You Seren!" Xu Qianqian kicked him angrily, "Go away, don’t bother me here."

"Why repay kindness with revenge?" Jiang Nian said, "By the way, tomorrow I’ll find someone to fill that bumpy road at the alley entrance."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qianqian didn’t take his words to heart. She thought he was just saying it out of embarrassment.

Who has the time to really fix roads?

With a bang, the door closed.

The lights flickered in the living room, leaving Xu Qianqian all alone.

She slowly climbed off the sofa, shook her head in the living room. Possibly still not awake yet, she also patted her face.

"It will pass."

After saying that, her eyes became firm again. After taking a deep breath, she stepped into her bedroom to get clothes for washing up.

....

Jiang Nian returned home, first washed up.

After drying his hair, he sat at his desk, clearing all the chaos from his mind and first completed a chemistry test paper.

In the blink of an eye, it was twelve o’clock.

He matched the answers and took a deep breath while looking at his chemistry paper with over eighty points, leaning back into his chair.

Creak, creak.

When your mind is chaotic, thinking is a waste of time. Doing a paper to calm down really clears the mind.

Jiang Nian knew very well that simply reasoning and persuading Old Xu with logical or emotional words were not going to work.

Because, of the standpoint.

Simply put, the head decides the position.

Everyone speaks and does things based on their standpoint. Empathy and understanding others only serve as tools.

For example,

Jiang Nian wants to be with Xu Qianqian, hoping Old Xu will live a long life.

Perhaps he might empathize and say nice things from Old Xu’s perspective. But, he would never let Old Xu find peace.

This is his standpoint, no matter how noble the words. In the end, it all comes down to satisfying his personal interests.

Solved, this is why there are so many strange cases on mediation shows!

He could even imagine just how ridiculous his face would look at that time.

Old Xu: "I’ve made up my mind."

Jiang Nian: "Then I ask you, then I ask you."

He began to use a contradiction tool to sort out this matter, first with the conflict between Old Xu and Xu Qianqian. Summarized as: Want to leave, can’t leave.

If this conflict is regarded as a whole, the solution must involve persuasion, then encountering walls... falling into a deadlock.

Speaking out when the situation is unclear, like Song Jiang attacking Zhu Family Village three times and losing everything.

First of all, Xu Qianqian is about to take the college entrance exam. Old Xu definitely won’t cause any trouble, but the desire to die might be at its peak.

Therefore, intervention is necessary.

Normal kids act out to draw parental attention. Xu Qianqian can’t do this; she has always been strong and independent.

But Jiang Nian thought it might be possible to let Old Xu help out a bit. Back and forth, creating a feeling in Old Xu that his daughter needs him.

Once the college entrance exam is over and Xu Qianqian goes to university.

At this stage, university students have a weak connection with their parents, all adapting to a new environment and meeting new friends.

But... what if Xu Qianqian is not doing well?

For example, isolated by dorm girls. Failing class cadre elections, breaking up with her boyfriend (Jiang dog).

Regardless of truth or falsity, Old Xu won’t be able to sit idly by.

If he’s gone through the stage of being needed, he’ll subconsciously give advice to his daughter, then that plan will have to be postponed.

Later on, Xu Qianqian graduated.

"Dad, boo-hoo, I’m pregnant with his child, Jiang Nian doesn’t want me. I lost my job and can’t get a taxi to the hospital."

One sentence is enough to break Old Xu’s defenses.

"Dad, I want to go out to work after my confinement period. I don’t want to get involved with the Jiang Family, but there’s no one to take care of the child."

"Dad, xx (the third generation of the Xu Family) can’t bear to leave you."

Under the desk lamp.

Jiang Nian unconsciously doodled on the paper, outlining the apparent contradictions and drawing out solutions for them.

"Sending the child," too crude.

This version is an optimized plan, and later adjustments might be needed as Old Xu’s mindset changes.

Jiang Nian threw the pen aside, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the mind map.

"Hmm, I’ll discuss this with Xu Young Master another day."

"The plan is excellent; I’m simply a genius. But I’ll need to practice running in the next two years, so the old folks don’t come after me."

"Can’t go home either, or I’ll easily be attacked by the old couple."

After Jiang Nian finished mumbling to himself, his smiling face suddenly froze, completely unable to chuckle anymore.

"Damn, the cost is way too high, isn’t it?"

But by that time, as a biological dad, he could rightfully use Xu Qianqian’s facial cleanser.

To de-oil, for a cleaner face.

Suddenly, the phone on the table buzzed.

Chen Yunyun: "Are you asleep?"

Jiang Nian slid upward and found that Chen Yunyun had sent several messages at eleven o’clock, but he was busy with an exam paper at the time.

"She’s asleep, I’m not."

As soon as the message was sent, Chen Yunyun couldn’t hold back and responded instantly.

"????"

"Who’s she?"

"Good question, she’s my fiancée." Jiang Nian replied, sending a picture of the teddy bear used as a footrest on his bed.

Smiling Teddy Bear: "....Your mom."

A few seconds later, Chen Yunyun again sent a string of periods.

"(Embarrassed) You don’t seem to be pretending."

Jiang Nian responded with a cheeky Dragon Picture, taking the opportunity to scroll up the messages and see some images of exam papers.

[11:03 Chen Yunyun: "This set of math exam papers has typical difficulty for the college entrance exams, even the big questions are quite classic."]

[11:03 Chen Yunyun: "Want me to give you a set along the way?"]

"Do you want it?"]

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian felt like crying.

Typical difficulty for the college entrance exam papers, really?

He opened the images and carefully admired them, finding the big questions indeed involved various trigonometric functions, three-dimensional geometry, classic derivatives, and conic sections.

Wow, the exam papers are indeed quite good.

After looking through them, he replied to Chen Yunyun’s message.

"Send them to me; I’m a student."

After a while, Chen Yunyun sent a sweating little bean emoji.

"Okay."

Jiang Nian started chuckling, enjoying the freebie immensely.

"Thanks, Yunyun."

"(Dragon Picture)."

After a while, Wang Yuhe unexpectedly sent him a message.

"I have them too! (Exam paper image)"

"Wow, you’re still up?" Jiang Nian typed back, asking curiously, "How do you know I was discussing the exam paper?"

Wang Yuhe: "I’m on Yunyun’s bed."

Hmm?

Jiang Nian glanced at the time, confirming it was already twelve o’clock. Girls’ dorms at this time would usually be sleeping.

"What are you guys doing?"

Wang Yuhe: "Sleeping. (Sunglasses)"

"The bed is so small, how are you fitting in?"

"Sleeping cuddled up."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian frantically typed question marks.

"???"

Why do I feel I’ve been fooled, mixing up classmates with the same gender. Damn, the alarm for a ’certain’ kind of revelation seems to be ringing.

Uncertain, he looked again.

Chen Yunyun: "(Smile) Chai Muying, that clumsy ghost, accidentally wet her bed while soaking her feet."

"If we don’t share a blanket with that clumsy ghost, she’ll freeze to death in the dorm tonight."

Seeing this, Jiang Nian suddenly understood.

"I’m still curious about how you guys fit; where’s the picture?"

Chen Yunyun: "?"

"Snap a photo of the sleeping position, I’m kind of curious." Jiang Nian typed, casually sending a ten-dollar red packet in their small group chat.

[Wang Yuhe received your red packet, Chen Yunyun received your red packet. Red packet claimed, Wang Yuhe is the lucky star.]

Chen Yunyun: "(Facepalm) Do you really want to send it?"

"I don’t believe you can fit."

Wang Yuhe: "(Image) Hmph! Ignorance."

Jiang Nian immediately saved the image, then looked at it zoomed in with a happy smile. His mouth curved upwards, feeling sweet inside.

Good, good, fast forward to the Battle of Red Cliff.

After a while, Chen Yunyun sent him a message again, bringing up the exam paper issue once more.

"I’ll give them to you tomorrow at noon, do you want me to mark the order for you?"

Jiang Nian replied, "If you have time."

"Okay. (Little dilemma)"

Jiang Nian sent an emoji back, peacefully falling asleep by the lily flowers blooming at the bedside, already having material to dream about tonight.

The next day.

Jiang Nian went out after his usual morning routine. When leaving the alley, he took a photo with his phone at the spot where Xu Qianqian had twisted her ankle last night.

Planning to find someone at noon to pour asphalt and fill the pothole.

He wasn’t short of money and wanted to find someone to repair this road. He had to walk this broken road every day; the rough conditions were quite annoying.

But on second thought, he didn’t want the hassle of doing a thankless job and decided against it.

Also wondering if Xu Qianqian’s foot was healed.