CHAPTER 752: CHAPTER 584: A GENTLEMAN MUST NURTURE VIRTUE

"Li Hua, are you free?"

"Chi Shi."

"Oh, you’re busy." Jiang Nian prepared to hang up, "I’ll call you after you finish eating."

"What the hell, are you crazy?" Li Hua gave in, "Just say it fast, your dad’s going to log in soon."

"Logging in tomorrow?"

"Damn it, isn’t tomorrow New Year’s Eve?"

Jiang Nian said, "Ma Guojun will come, both of us will go. He’ll support you, are you logging in?"

"Oh, that way..." Li Hua hesitated for a moment, "Since both of you are going, I’ve got nothing to fear."

Hung up.

Jiang Nian parked his car under the tree and continued calling from the roadside.

"Old Ma, logging in tomorrow?"

"You’re nuts, it’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow!"

"Li Hua said he’d go, no jungling, playing ADC earnestly. Also bringing two bottles of Red Bull to apologize."

Ma Guojun chuckled, "Can’t skip this."

"Hey, Liu Yang, five queue four, short one."

"Alright."

"Monitor, coming to the internet cafe in five queue tomorrow?" Jiang Nian said skillfully, "Ahri has a new skin, I’ll gift you one."

Tao Ran agreed almost without a thought.

"What time?"

After the call, Jiang Nian nodded thoughtfully. He took up his sword, mounted his electric bike, and rushed home.

You could say, when heading out, friends are essential.

Hmm.....

He got home just in time for dinner. The four of them at the table turned their heads to look at him.

Jiang Nian instantly felt like garlic stuffed into an orange.

Totally an outsider.

"Mom, why didn’t you call me for dinner?"

"You’re always running outside, who knows if you’re eating at home." Li Hongmei urged, "Go wash your hands."

"Oh."

Jiang Nian went to wash his hands, thinking that he wouldn’t be back today. Then not returning tomorrow and going to the internet cafe for games seemed perfectly reasonable.

He returned to the table, noticing Xu Qianqian looking in a specific direction.

"What did you bring back?"

"A sword."

Xu Qianqian paused her chopsticks, "I saw that group of old ladies in the park dancing, and they also had that."

Jiang Nian: "...."

"Being cool is a lifelong endeavor, you wouldn’t understand."

Everyone at the table exchanged glances and burst into laughter. They discussed plans for New Year’s Eve and allocated tasks.

For various reasons, this year they’re celebrating in the county.

Back to hometown on the first day.

"Qianqian and Xiyun are coming with me, shopping at the supermarket tonight." Li Hongmei, with no daughter to accompany her, was enjoying herself tremendously these days.

Double the fun, directly doubling the joy.

"Mom, I’m going to the internet cafe with classmates tomorrow." Jiang Nian said, "He’s transferring, wants to play one last time with us."

"Nonsense, who transfers during senior year?"

"There is."

"Xu Qianqian’s class, attended one semester and changed homeroom teachers twice, now onto the third."

"Really?" Li Hongmei was stunned, clearly distracted by looking at Xu Qianqian for confirmation.

"Really, Aunt Li."

Song Xiyun nodded, "Yeah."

"The school is so irresponsible?" Li Hongmei worried, "What if it affects your studies?"

While they chatted, Jiang Nian buried his head into eating.

Seeing no one paying him attention, he quietly returned to his room. Habitually replied to some messages and laid down to rest.

He looked at his phone and began replying to messages.

Zhang Ningzhi was celebrating in Qiong Province, sending some photos with the sea. Also some food shots, messages every two hours.

"So bored."

"I wish I was back in Zhen Nan, no one to play with here."

"Today’s meal [picture]."

Jiang Nian browsed them one by one, then replied with some trivial matters, giving the exam paper a slap.

"Practice questions."

....

After dinner, Xu Qianqian and the others left.

Jiang Nian came out of his room, rummaging within the clutter. Dug out an induction cooker, and took a loop around the kitchen.

After packing, he slipped out when there was an opportunity.

He bought half a tray of eggs on the way, sped into school, and directly went upstairs to the dormitory for night duty.

Knock, knock, knock, the sound of knocking echoed.

"Who... who is it?"

"It’s me, Jiang Nian."

With a click, the door latch was pulled from inside. The iron door squeaked miserably, slowly opening a crack.

Orange light, like strands of silk, raced out frantically.

"Uh... anything?"

Zhou Haifei hadn’t even reacted when Jiang Nian dropped off the stuff and dashed out. Smooth without any delay.

When she came to herself, not a shadow was left in the hallway.

Zhou Haifei: "...."

She stood at the door for quite a while, then squatted down to peek into the bag, flipping through items slowly.

Outside the dorm, under the street light.

Jiang Nian walked along the desolate campus road outside, his phone pinged with a message, "Thanks."

He didn’t reply, quickened his steps back home.

Helping for no reward, just a handy thing. Not to mention, who doesn’t eat dumplings during New Year’s?

Returned home.

Jiang Nian rushed to wash up, and after drying his hair, he swung his sword around a bit, only to feel a bit silly.

Played for a while, then started the daily routine of solving problems.

Online, it says it takes twenty-one days to form a habit, and he’s already gone through countless twenty-one days.

Bow over the desk, and when he looked up again, it was already late at night.

He glanced at his phone, "Damn, it’s past midnight and they’re still chatting. This group really knows how to talk."

The class group chat kept rolling with 99+ messages.

Jiang Nian scrolled up a bit and found that Yang Qiming had reposted a vulgar post from a certain infamous site.

This, in turn, led to an attack from the classmates.

The boys half laughed and half condemned. Sun Zhicheng was at the forefront, the most vigorous among them.

"You really make me sick."

"This is a class group, posting vulgar stuff every day. I accidentally opened it outside, totally lost face."

"Luckily I’m a guy, thick-skinned, doesn’t matter."

"What about the girls?"

Sun Zhicheng’s impassioned speech of righteousness drew many to join in, mostly girls.

Originally, a bit of scolding would have been the end of it.

But unexpectedly, Yang Qiming and Sun Zhicheng’s gang began to argue. The group chat became a stormy battlefield.

"You stupid dog!"

"Your mom....."

[Sun Zhicheng and Yang Qiming were muted by admin Qing.]

Jiang Nian stroked his chin, thinking Cai Xiang was quite stern. Didn’t expect him to be up this late too.

After all, no matter how serious, he was still their age.

Just thinking about Cai Xiaoqing lurking, watching the two of them bicker over a hundred lines. As soon as curse words appeared, muting them immediately made him laugh out loud, it indeed amused him.

"@Cai Xiaoqing, lurking so late at night?"

Jiang Nian tossed a message out, causing quite a stir among the lurkers, bringing them out.

Qing: "About to sleep."

Zeng You: "@Jiang Nian, (sunglasses) I’ve stayed up since last night, haven’t slept for two days and nights."

"Awesome!" Luo Yong sent a few thumbs-up emojis, "You Ge, try holding on one more day."

"I’ve heard, three days and nights is the human limit."

"Won’t you die then?" Liu Yang sent a picture of a basketball court, "(grin) Let’s play ball, nobody’s at school."

Wang Yuhe: "@Jiang Nian, what are you doing? (peeping)"

Jiang Nian looked and took a picture of a test paper.

"Doing exercises."

"Cheating!" Li Hua couldn’t hold back and jumped out, "Damn, study freak! Secretly working hard, huh!"

"So sneaky, damn." Ma Guojun chimed in, "@Jiang Nian, you really are the biggest sneaky devil."

Liu Yang: "@Jiang Nian, tomorrow internet café, five-man queue, I want to play jungle. (sunglasses)"

"@Jiang Nian, how many have you done?" Wang Yuhe quietly sneaked a mention among the messages.

Jiang Nian: "Done all of them, this is a purchased test paper."

As soon as the message was out, more people jumped in. Even some usually introverted individuals started participating.

"That’s too much!"

"I’ve only done two, and I’m exhausted."

"Too extreme."

"By the way, does anyone know when the final grades come out, or if the papers are graded yet?"

"No idea, next one."

x10.

The essence of humans is to be a repeater, once they see interesting messages, they fall into a collective repetition.

Wang Yuhe: "(fist) I’m almost done too."

Chen Yunyun: "@Jiang Nian, still not sleeping this late?"

"Can’t sleep, I usually work on papers till two thirty." Jiang Nian delivered a blow, "Body clock, hard to adjust."

"Savage! Damn savage!" Li Hua sent a meme.

"Sleep early," Chen Yunyun @’d Jiang Nian, "Staying up too late isn’t good for your health."

"I have a calming incense, want me to get you some?"

The group chat messages were still refreshing.

Zhang Ningzhi @’d Jiang Nian, "I know a great sleep-promoting pillow, coincidentally have a new one spare."

As soon as the message was out, the group became even more lively.

Li Hua and Ma Guojun sent laughing emojis, the meaning clear, only brotherly loyalty is unreliable.

Until Yu Zhiyi also jumped in.

"@Jiang Nian, calming tea is also good. We have a tea here quite famous, should be good."

Li Hua: "Cheating, he drinks a..... hammer!!"

Jiang Nian: "Hua, don’t rush, a noble man must cultivate virtue, you must cultivate virtue too."

Ma Guojun immediately sent a laughing emoji, "(haha), Li Hua must cultivate virtue."

Li Hua: "@Cai Xiaoqing, disciplinary committee, mute these people swearing."

Cai Xiaoqing: "Sleeping. (sleepy)"

Meanwhile, outside the screen.

Sun Zhicheng glanced at the group chat that became lively just because Jiang Nian sent a message, feeling a bit annoyed.

Yet, he had argued with Yang Qiming for hundreds of posts.

But....

Worse yet, he was now muted. He could only watch Chen Yunyun jump in and interact with Jiang Nian.

Even offering calming incense.

His family also had this incense, and he knew quite a bit about it. But, being muted, he couldn’t do anything.

Lin Dong: "Ah Cheng asked me to send this, he usually likes burning incense and sipping tea, especially loves Silver Needle."

However, this message seemed to sink into the sea without a trace. The group chat continued to roll on, with no response.

Jiang Nian responded one by one, declining all sorts of suggestions.

He had no sleep problems, but explaining it seemed useless, as private messages still kept coming in.

A night passed without incident.

Jiang Nian opened his eyes, after freshening up, he glanced at his phone, the lock screen wallpaper had automatically switched to bright red.

New Year’s Eve.