CHAPTER 749: CHAPTER 582: TAKE THE SWORD

Downstairs.

Xu Qianqian and another girl had been waiting for a while. Seeing Jiang Nian come down, they simply gravitated towards him.

"Where’s Aunt Li?"

"Still dawdling, middle-aged women are like this." Jiang Nian grumbled behind her back, "Superstitious and always procrastinating."

Xu Qianqian rolled her eyes at him, "If Aunt Li finds out you’re talking about her like this behind her back, you’re done for."

Hearing this, Song Xiyun also glanced at Jiang Nian.

"Maybe she already heard."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian shrugged and said,

"Firstly, my mom is about to go out, she couldn’t have heard. If I do get beaten up, it means among you....."

He had a look of pity on his face.

"...someone among you betrayed me."

"Judas..."

"Pah, pah, pah!!" Xu Qianqian crossed her arms and gave him a glance, "Betrayed? Do you think you’re Jesus or something!"

"Actually, my name is Cannon." Jiang Nian chuckled.

Song Xiyun: "???"

Not long after, Old Jiang and Li Hongmei came downstairs one after another. They were all cheerful, calling the kids to get in the car.

Old Jiang and Li Hongmei naturally sat in the front. The three squeezed into the back seat, with Xu Qianqian in the middle.

"So cramped, move over a bit."

"You’re so fat."

"Why do you little ones need so much room?" Jiang Nian exerted force and pushed Xu Qianqian over.

"Too much!" Xu Qianqian pushed back.

The two struggled a bit, only for Song Xiyun to suffer their jostling, feeling a bit speechless for a moment.

The journey was long, and they arrived at their destination after an hour.

"Little Conch, blowing randomly..." Jiang Nian hummed as he walked ahead, leading the way, not too loudly.

Xu Qianqian covered her face, hearing him.

"What nonsense."

The day before New Year’s Eve, there were many families out to burn incense. Cars came one after another, and the roads were crowded.

Families with kids filled the road with laughter.

Originally, the Jiang Family only had one troublemaker, but they paired him with two daughters. The whole way they were bickering, making it quite lively.

"If only it could always be like this." Li Hongmei murmured to Old Jiang, "Hey, what do you think?"

"I think..." Old Jiang hesitated, "it depends on the kids’ feelings, just let things be."

"What let be!" Li Hongmei was speechless, "What does that brat know, Qianqian’s conditions are so good."

"If we don’t grasp it now, we won’t be able to reach it later."

"Puppy love?"

"I didn’t say that. Make your son be more attentive." Li Hongmei continued, "Acting like a child, not even letting Qianqian off."

Old Jiang was silent for a while, then said,

"Xiao Song is also pretty good."

Before he finished, he got slapped.

"What nonsense are you saying?" Li Hongmei frowned, "If your son becomes a playboy in the future, it’ll be all your fault."

"What’s it got to do with me?" Old Jiang was dumbfounded.

"If a child is uneducated, it’s the father’s fault. Like father, like son."

Old Jiang: "..."

Yongning Temple was halfway up the mountain, and the road up was clogged with cars. People walking had to weave through the gaps.

Jiang Nian didn’t know the old couple behind him was discussing his lifelong matters, as he scampered off to spend money on incense.

There were so many people, they had to buy incense from others.

The two girls held three sticks of incense each, courtesy of Jiang Nian, the big spender. By the way, they also bought some for the old couple.

Coming to the temple without burning incense always felt like something was missing.

Xu Qianqian held the incense and noticed small golden words on them. She looked carefully for a moment and couldn’t help but read them out loud.

"Namo....."

"Don’t say it out loud." Song Xiyun interrupted her, softly pressing her lips, "If you say it out loud, the fate line won’t be good."

"Hmm?" Xu Qianqian glanced at her friend, confused, "Xiyun, aren’t you too superstitious?"

"Better to believe it than not." Song Xiyun said, "It’s the New Year, might as well mind it a bit."

Xu Qianqian was unimpressed, just about to continue reading, when she suddenly glanced over and saw Jiang Nian wandering around.

"Forget it, I won’t read it."

....

"Hey, what are you doing here!"

"Han Xiao, damn!" Jiang Nian’s expression turned as if he’d seen a ghost, and he bolted, "Even ran into you here."

He turned and bumped into Han Chunping.

"Jiang Nian."

"Whoa?" He was completely stunned, wondering if he woke up too fast this morning and started hallucinating.

"Uncle Han, why are you here?"

"It’s almost New Year’s, so we’re here to pray for peace." Han Chunping was wearing a jacket, fitting the boss image quite well.

Jiang Nian knew this old guy always wanted to create the image of a Confucian businessman.

BYD, pretending to be what he wasn’t.

Confucian businessman?

Heh, in his opinion, he’s more like a Confucian.....

"What a coincidence, it means we’re meant for each other." Han Xiao hugged Jiang Nian’s arm, sinking in deeply.

Jiang Nian wanted to pull his hand out, "On the contrary, isn’t Yongning Temple the only famous one around here?"

"Running into each other here means Buddha wants us to leave worldly affairs behind."

"Buddha doesn’t decide this!" Han Xiao gritted his teeth, gripping his arm tightly, "I do!"

Han Chunping: "...."

He looked at his daughter and Jiang Nian pulling and tugging, listening to the gossip around him, feeling like he was losing face completely.

"Ahem, pay attention to the occasion, you two."

"Oh." Han Xiao still had no intention of letting go, pulling Jiang Nian to the other side, "There’s no one over there."

"Hey, Han Xiao," Jiang Nian felt his arm go soft, not struggling, "What do you want to do?"

"Fine, let’s talk about it later." Han Xiao said without thinking.

Jiang Nian: "???"

Han Xiao strong-armed him into the main hall to pay respects to the Buddha. She waved her hand, offering several fruit baskets.

It’s the New Year, and those fruit baskets aren’t cheap.

The statues in the main hall were tall and majestic, radiating a golden glow. With an aura of dignity, they slightly lowered their heads in observation.

"What are you doing?"

"Praying, of course." Han Xiao pulled him down to kneel on the prayer mat, "It’s not costing you money; why not pray while we’re here?"

Jiang Nian thought to himself that it made sense, especially since the money was already spent.

"Might as well pray a little."

Outside the hall, Han Chunping watched his daughter kneeling on the prayer mat. She didn’t believe in Buddhism, yet she was kneeling so devoutly.

He felt a bit complicated, realizing his kids had their own minds now.

What was his daughter wishing for?

Han Chunping sighed and glanced toward Jiang Nian. He noticed the young man praying with a muttering mouth.

The lip movement, without a doubt, said... rich, filthy rich.

With Han Xiao’s good looks, kneeling and praying in the main hall, the surrounding visitors couldn’t help but watch.

The maiden and the ancient Buddha, unexpectedly harmonious.

Some even couldn’t resist taking a picture, but before they could find a good angle, the girl had stood up.

Jiang Nian finished praying too and turned to leave.

"I’m going."

"Hey, don’t you want to know what wish I made?" Han Xiao wasn’t willing to let him go, gripping his arm tightly.

"Probably something like gaining weight." Jiang Nian mumbled.

"You!!"

"Wow, who’s checking fortune lines here secretly? Isn’t this a temple? How did a fortune teller get in?"

A crisp voice floated in. Xu Qianqian walked over, holding Song Xiyun’s hand, slowly passing by from the side hall.

Han Xiao felt embarrassed seeing Xu Qianqian.

"You came together?"

"Yeah, but we’re not as quick as you guys." Xu Qianqian said leisurely, "You’ve already started, quite diligent."

Seeing Xu Qianqian, Han Xiao felt a bit competitive.

"What’s wrong with praying together?"

"Sneaky."

Jiang Nian, caught in the middle, silently picked up his phone. He checked his message list and started replying to his ’beloved ministers.’

.....

The vegetarian meal at Yongning Temple was quite average.

Thanks to Han Xiao’s dad, they enjoyed a meal under the guise of a friend’s family.

But they didn’t feel full, so they returned to the county town by noon.

On the way home, Xu Qianqian didn’t glance at Jiang Nian, chattering with Song Xiyun instead.

"Let me tell you, there’s a person..."

Listening to the girl’s chatter, Jiang Nian yawned and soon fell asleep leaning back.

When he awoke, his head was resting on Xu Qianqian’s shoulder.

"Hmm?"

He touched his mouth, relieved there was no drool.

"Having a nice dream?" Xu Qianqian, sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, teased, "Were you dreaming about growing old with Han Xiao?"

"No dreams." Jiang Nian rubbed his hair.

"Pfft."

The family got back to Zhennan County at two in the afternoon, just in time to see the neighbors from upstairs coming down.

Old and young, carrying incense, firecrackers, and yellow chickens.

"Going to pay respects?"

"Yes, yes." The upstairs neighbor looked at Xu Qianqian and Song Xiyun, continuously praising Li Hongmei’s good fortune.

Li Hongmei was beaming, unable to hide her joy.

"Oh, not really."

Jiang Nian found it uninteresting and took Xu Qianqian and the others upstairs.

"Let’s go."

Back on the third floor, Xu Qianqian spoke softly.

"Was that Ming Ming upstairs just now?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian recalled the upstairs repeat student, Ming Ming, who seemed to have been there without much presence.

"Seems like it."

"He looked so introverted, he wasn’t like this before." Xu Qianqian mused and shook her head.

"Do you think something might have happened to him?"

"Probably not, he’s just a bit reclusive." Jiang Nian said, "I heard there’s a lot of pressure from repeating a grade, it’s understandable."

Speaking, the three gradually entered Xu Qianqian’s house. They changed into slippers and headed to the living room.

Song Xiyun interjected.

"I have a cousin who also repeated a grade, ended up scoring worse than before, and heard she cried for a long time when checking the scores."

"Really?" Jiang Nian didn’t pay much attention.

He sank into the sofa, habitually checking his phone. He saw the class monitor’s message reply, which was only a few words.

"Find a time to come over and get it."

Suddenly, Jiang Nian sat up straight.

"Hmm?"