CHAPTER 970: CHAPTER 561: HER REPLY

Night, cloudy.

The sky was particularly heavy, stars and the moon hidden behind clouds, revealing a deep blue hue, as the clouds gently moved with the night’s breath.

In the midst of a barren expanse of fields, a row of bungalows sat isolated from the world, as if in a different universe from the neon flickering Yuzhou City District in the distance.

Yet inside one of these bungalows, modern technology filled the space, the computer tower emitting a soft white light, stylish headphones hanging on a rack, cyberpunk fluorescent lights, metal mechanical figurines...

Xue Yuantong destroyed the enemy crystal and exited the game. A browser notification popped up at the bottom left corner of the desktop: "Mu Changqing’s press conference scheduled for December 2014."

A line of small text below read: "This will be a showcase of the accumulated technology of Changqing Liquid, a significant leap in the ophthalmology field..."

Xue Yuantong poured herself a glass of water; today was October 23, still over a month until the Changqing Liquid Company’s conference.

A month felt so long to her, she could play many, many games in that time.

After drinking the water, Xue Yuantong spun around in her ergonomic chair to face Jiang Ning, who was on the sofa behind her.

First, she checked the duck paws on the table, good, her share still had four left, Jiang Ning didn’t have the guts to steal any.

Thinking of this, Xue Yuantong eyed the duck paws on the plate, ready to challenge herself.

Sitting on the chair, she bent over to grab a duck paw, straining to reach out with her small arm, but still fell short of the small table.

She scooted forward a bit and kept reaching, yet her fingertips never touched them.

Jiang Ning sat on the sofa, watching her reach out, and laughed: "Why don’t you just get off the chair?"

"I don’t believe I can’t reach it!" Xue Yuantong was indignant, trying once, twice, three times...

Jiang Ning saw her petite and flexible body twisting into various shapes. It had to be said that Xue Yuantong was very supple, doing splits was no problem for her.

After some struggle, fine beads of sweat appeared on Xue Yuantong’s forehead, her skin reddening slightly from the exertion.

"Let me do it." Jiang Ning said.

"No, I’ll do it myself!" Xue Yuantong stubbornly rejected his offer.

She was defending her childish dignity in her own way.

Five minutes later.

Xue Yuantong’s little face was flushed red, she simply couldn’t stand Jiang Ning’s mocking gaze anymore, and turned back empty-handed, showing only her cute bun hairstyle to him.

Jiang Ning: "Ahem."

Not only did Xue Yuantong not get to eat the duck paws, but she also made a fool of herself and was under Jiang Ning’s scrutiny, which she regretted deeply now.

"Ahem." Xue Yuantong coughed as well.

Jiang Ning: "I’m coughing to laugh at someone, and you?"

Xue Yuantong pretended not to understand.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to her mind, "I’m coughing because my throat is uncomfortable."

"It hurts, it hurts." Her crisp voice was now weak and hoarse, barely identifiable.

Jiang Ning: "Really?"

"Ahem." Xue Yuantong acted very weak, coughing feebly, as if filled with endless fatigue.

"Do you want to take some medicine?" Jiang Ning teased her, thinking her acting was quite convincing.

"No, no." She suddenly perked up, her tone cheerful, eyes sparkling:

"Help me bring the braised duck paw over, let it scratch my throat, and it won’t hurt anymore."

Jiang Ning: "6."

Holding the duck paw, Xue Yuantong nibbled on it while scrolling through a video website with her mouse. Jiang Ning had memberships on all the video platforms, she could watch whatever she wanted.

Compared to going to the cinema and spending tens of yuan on a ticket, the frugal Xue Yuantong preferred watching on the computer. Since she couldn’t stop Jiang Ning from wasting money, she had to help him get his money’s worth.

She found a movie, "Master," and glanced at the duration, "Jiang Ning, this movie is almost two hours long, want to watch it?"

"Do you want to watch it?" Jiang Ning asked her.

"I do, but it’s 10:30 now. We’ll finish after midnight, and my mom said if I don’t go home by 11:30, she’ll lock the door."

Xue Yuantong sighed softly, feeling the hardship of life: "Then I’d be homeless tonight."

She looked up, showing him her helplessness, but Jiang Ning didn’t see the heaviness, instead, he felt a kind of lightheartedness and playfulness.

Jiang Ning: "So do you want to watch it?"

"I want to, but if I finish the movie, and the house is locked, where will I sleep tonight?" Her gaze drifted, wandering to the bed against the wall in the room.

Jiang Ning followed her gaze, also looking at the bed, he said: "No worries, I’ll come up with something to make sure you have a place to sleep."

Xue Yuantong blinked: "Really, what’s your plan?"

Jiang Ning: "After we finish the movie, I’ll take you to climb over the wall and get home."

...

The movie started playing, Jiang Ning leaned on the sofa, while Xue Yuantong leaned against him, both quietly watching the movie screen.

From time to time, Tongtong would squirm a little, trying to snuggle closer.

"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, I wonder if there will be chicken patties at the cafeteria tomorrow morning."

Xue Yuantong’s soft whisper teased at Jiang Ning’s ear.

The Fourth Middle School Cafeteria’s chicken pie is very authentic, with a golden crust sprinkled with white sesame seeds, and the inside is juicy, tender chicken thigh meat.

Last time the cafeteria made it, it was loved by countless students, but due to the complicated preparation process, the students only got to eat it that one time.

"There should be some, right," Jiang Ning said.

"If there is, I’ll share half with you," Xue Yuantong said.

"So generous?"

"Of course I’m generous."

Jiang Ning chuckled, "Then if I win the lottery, I’ll give you half."

Xue Yuantong was even more generous, "I’ll give you all of it."

Jiang Ning was quick to respond, "You’ve changed."

Xue Yuantong laughed while holding a braised duck paw, "Clearly you never noticed my vast and boundless heart before!"

Jiang Ning, "I really didn’t realize."

"Hmph, know it now? From now on, my things are yours to take as you please!" Xue Yuantong made a grand promise.

Jiang Ning took the bait, "Oh, I’ve finished my duck paw, can you give me one?"

Twenty seconds later, without a response, Jiang Ning said, "What’s up?"

Xue Yuantong sat upright, his expression serious, "Shh, watching a movie!"

...

On Friday, during the break after morning self-study.

The four connected seats in the back row, Guo Kunnan tried using newcomers to heal the pain in his heart, he edited a message to Xu Yan, the class monitor of Class 11:

"Hahaha, haven’t chatted in a while, I remember you loved posting on Moments before, why haven’t I seen any recently? Thought you’d deleted me."

Guo Kunnan clicked send and got an instant reply: "[Yan Xi] has enabled friend verification, you are not yet his/her friend..."

The silent words pierced his heart like a knife, with pain bitterly felt.

Guo Kunnan’s originally not too hunched back suddenly slouched a lot.

He recalled standing under the girls’ dormitory last night, sending a message to Shang Wanqing, and seeing a similar friend verification.

The other party’s last words were clear in his memory ’Not a good match.’

"Not a good match?" Guo Kunnan laughed bitterly.

He thought of the first woman he loved, Manman.

At that time, Guo Kunnan pretended to be Huang Zhongfei’s identity, and had an online romance with Manman, receiving her considerate care, and obediently catering to his emotions.

However, after revealing his identity, the other party was not only angry but exposed him in forums.

Was it because of his appearance? But Guo Kunnan couldn’t change what he was born with, he was unwilling, and asked Ma Shicheng, who was playing games beside him:

"Brother Ma, in high school, does a guy’s looks determine how much girls like him?"

Ma Shicheng answered straightforwardly, "Yes."

This was a suffocating reply for Guo Kunnan.

Ma Shicheng didn’t need to guess to know Brother Nan was hit hard before, he’d tried to console him many times, yet Brother Nan just wouldn’t listen and kept getting knocked down.

He decided to give Brother Nan strong medicine, and said to Longlong, "Organize the words, make Brother Nan understand more clearly."

Wang Longlong, who was idle nearby, thought for a while and said:

"When your looks are ordinary, high school means endless books and test papers. When your looks are above average, high school is the season for love, a memory of youth. When your looks are outstanding, high school is your stage, with countless eyes following you. So high school remains the same high school, just encountering a different you."

Dan Kaiquan noticed the overlooked detail, "What about those who are ugly?"

Wang Longlong, "Even I overlooked them, so do you think girls would care about boys who look ugly?"

"I learned something." Guo Kunnan wanted to engrave this lesson, he posted Wang Longlong’s words on Moments, thus encouraging himself to face reality.

After doing such things, Guo Kunnan began to ponder if all his past roads were wrong.

Meanwhile, Xin Youling was playing with her phone at her seat, as the new class monitor, she’d been diligently doing her work, although she took some wrong turns along the way.

But it didn’t matter, as Xin Youling gradually integrates into Class 8, the future will step by step get better.

Her eyes flash with bright beauty, the below eyes creating a softer effect, to better understand the personalities of classmates, she embraced new technology, improving work efficiency by checking Moments.

She just saw Guo Kunnan’s post on Moments, as a speaker extrovert, Xin Youling thought for a few seconds and typed a reply:

"No matter your appearance, you can stroll on the campus’s pebble paths, run on the rubber track, and seek the treasures of knowledge in the library. Each spring won’t hold back its fragrance because of your looks, and each autumn’s leaves will evenly fall into your heart. Appearance is only an outward manifestation, the truly important thing is inner character and talent."

The long paragraph appeared under Guo Kunnan’s post on Moments, particularly eye-catching.

He read Xin Youling’s reply carefully, quietly agreeing: "Inner character and talent..."

Guo Kunnan read three times, and his originally calm mood was stirred by this sentence again.

"Brother Nan, did you see it?" Dan Kaiquan who had Xin Youling as a friend, could see the sentence.

Guo Kunnan’s face was complex, he nodded: "Mm."

He read again, screenshot and saved Xin Youling’s reply, his heart filled with warmth, looking at Dan Kaiquan, earnest and said: "Brother Quan, never has a girl cared so much about me... so I want..."

Beside him, Ma Shicheng who was playing games threw a sentence: "Brother Nan, let her go."