CHAPTER 495: CHAPTER 409: ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

Zhang Ningzhi glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowing.

She wanted to refuse firmly, but couldn’t bear it.

"Hmph, let’s see."

"Hmm?" Jiang Nian saw that her lips could hang a hot water bottle and guessed she was really angry. "I’ll ask you again next class."

He figured that he could just ask more diligently, not a big deal.

Besides, he hadn’t betrayed their friendship. He just hugged the class monitor, didn’t he usually hug his son in the hallway?

Two classes passed in a flash, and it was break time.

Jiang Nian skipped running practice and invited Li Hua to the small cafeteria for a pot of assorted meatballs, as compensation for the bag of buns from the morning.

He used the meal card that Old Liu gave him, scoring a free meal.

During the running class break, the cafeteria seemed empty. The winter sunlight streamed through the big windows, falling on the table in front of the two bottles of drinks.

"Nian, what was up this morning?"

"What do you mean, ’what was up’?"

"Just... Zhang Ningzhi and the class monitor, they..." Li Hua gestured, knowing Jiang Nian would understand what he meant.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Nian put down his chopsticks and sighed.

"Hua, you wouldn’t understand. My life is like walking on thin ice, what can I do if I’m too popular with girls?"

"Chi Shi, you’re fooling no one!" Li Hua switched his approach, "So, do you like Zhang Ningzhi or the class monitor more?"

Jiang Nian thought about it and said seriously.

"On the path of a man, there’s frost everywhere. Don’t get caught up in love affairs. They’re all good friends; prioritizing the college entrance exam is most important."

Li Hua was convinced and pointed his chopsticks at Jiang Nian.

"Player."

"Not kissing or touching, does that count as a player?" Jiang Nian bit into a meatball, looking at Li Hua rather speechlessly.

"Hua, let me simulate life for you."

"What?" Li Hua was bewildered.

"Suppose in your senior year you don’t interact with any female classmates, and after your college entrance exams, everyone finds their own partner and ascends."

Jiang Nian looked at him, palms open.

"So, what would you do then?"

Li Hua realized that there might be some truth in the nonsense being spouted, and his face turned red, but he still didn’t want to lose his cool.

"Can’t I find someone without a boyfriend?"

"Oh wow, dating someone on their second round?" Jiang Nian laughed, "What if on National Day she tricks you into thinking she’s going home, but is actually getting a room with her ex-boyfriend?"

That one sentence hit Li Hua hard.

"Then I just won’t date anyone!"

"Your parents are both civil servants, won’t they push you to get married?" Jiang Nian said leisurely, "Even if you’re at a research institute, they’ll drag you out."

"I just won’t get married!"

"We’re talking about blind dates, bro." Jiang Nian pointed his chopsticks at him, "You might get lucky without a dowry, but if not, who knows."

"After all, this is Zhen Nan, nothing unusual here."

All this left Li Hua dumbstruck. Thinking about the scene Jiang Nian described, his lips trembled continuously.

"Then... then I can only date in high school."

"Oh, then I wish you an early childbirth." Jiang Nian picked up a piece of tofu, "When I get married, have your child bring the flowers."

"Neither this, nor that!" Li Hua was a bit annoyed, looking up at Jiang Nian, "byd, then what do you suggest?"

Suddenly, a crisp voice rang in their ears.

"Senior!"

"It’s really you; did you skip running?" Lin Yuxi asked in a tone of pleasant surprise, standing beside them with her hands on her hips, pointing at him.

"Oh, you skipped running practice! I’m going to report you!"

Damn, Lin Yuxi’s a snitch too.

"Don’t make stuff up, I took leave." Jiang Nian said, swallowing another piece of tofu, "Snitches don’t eat, get out of the cafeteria!"

"I’m just here to buy some meatballs. My classmates are over there." Lin Yuxi pointed in a certain direction.

Hearing this, Li Hua followed Lin Yuxi’s gesture. Those two freshmen girls were also looking this way.

"This is my deskmate, Li Hua." Jiang Nian handed the meal card to Lin Yuxi, "Pay for your classmates, just say it’s courtesy of Senior Li Hua."

"But...!" Li Hua was caught off guard, unsure of what to say.

Lin Yuxi didn’t lack money, but she was delighted when a senior paid for her. So she gladly accepted and left with a smile.

"Thanks a lot."

After Lin Yuxi left.

Li Hua blushed again, feeling as if ants were crawling all over him.

"Why couldn’t you just say you paid? Why drag me into it, if they misunderstand what then?"

"Misunderstand what?"

Li Hua was a typical reserved person, could dance to the rhythm of "New Treasure Island" among guys, but clammed up around pretty girls.

Jiang Nian didn’t have much of a feel for it, having a love-hate relationship with Tingzi on a hundred-dollar allowance, yet managing to get her to concede Gold Coins to him.

So he didn’t have filters for pretty girls. If it didn’t work out, he’d just play with someone else.

"We don’t even know each other..." Li Hua stammered, "What if they think I’m frivolous?"

"Then forget it, Lin Yuxi’s classmates are quite pretty too." Jiang Nian lowered his head, "If you don’t want to know them, then so be it."

Hearing this, Li Hua immediately became serious.

He recalled Lin Yuxi’s good looks, and from a distance, her classmates indeed seemed pretty—most importantly, they looked fresh.

"Who says they want to know? This feels like matchmaking. But I’m mainly curious if the curriculum for freshmen has changed."

After a short while, Lin Yuxi brought her classmate over.

"Xixi, which senior was the bet against?" Asked the slightly bolder of the two curious girls.

"This one; it was exhausting just to add the senior’s QQ." Lin Yuxi pointed to Jiang Nian, who was busy eating.

"I stayed up late all month solving problems, trying for an 840, and my skin got worse."

Upon hearing this, the two girls laughed, while Jiang Nian continued eating, leaving Li Hua to respond awkwardly.

The two girls thanked Li Hua, learned he was a genius in the Olympic class, added his QQ, chatted for a while, and then prepared to leave.