Chapter 31: Go ahead and live your life; no one can outlive you.

Jiang Nian’s eyelids twitched, and he whipped his head around to stare at her.

"What are you looking at?" Xu Qianqian frowned. "Are you stupid? The light turned red and you’re still not moving—or were you shaken by that? It’s fine, you’ll get used to it next time."

He wore a peculiar expression, only letting out a long, drawn-out "Oh," which made Xu Qianqian’s teeth itch with annoyance.

*Oh, oh, oh—oh, your head!*

*If you say "oh" one more time, I’ll kick you! I’ll stomp my size 36 shoe right onto your size 42 face!*

As the scooter started up again, Jiang Nian asked curiously, "If you’re unhappy, why did you still come out to watch a movie with me?"

"I don’t like hanging out with idiots, but if it’s you, my friend," Xu Qianqian said, playing with her phone in the back seat, "even if you were mentally disabled, I’d still hang out with you."

Jiang Nian sneered. *What a tsundere brat.*

*Beep beep.*

The electric scooter pulled up downstairs, and the two walked up the stairs step by step. With a crisp snap of fingers, the orange voice-activated stairwell light cast their shadows against the wall.

Just before they parted ways at the door, Jiang Nian suddenly said to her, "Bite a little lighter next time."

Xu Qianqian’s movement of unlocking her door froze as if it were a still frame, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. In an instant, her whole body felt hot, and her heart pounded violently.

By the time she turned around, the door across the hall had already shut.

Xu Qianqian lingered at her shoe cabinet for a long time before she finally returned to normal. The living room was empty, and the lights in her father’s room were already out—she was used to that.

Her mother had passed away many years ago, and the house remained cold and desolate.

Most of the time, she was home alone. The grueling pace of high school life forced her to pour all her energy into her studies, and gradually, she stopped feeling lonely.

The last time she dreamt of her mother was about a year ago.

She had returned from eating New Year’s dinner at Jiang Nian’s house and stood alone on the dim balcony. Dressed in thin clothes, she watched the bright lights and happy families in the building next door, standing there for an hour.

Later that night, she caught a fever.

In her delirium, she felt a pair of hands touch her forehead. Her mother was sitting by the bed, holding her hand with a gentle look, asking her why she hadn't taken her medicine.

She wanted to speak but couldn't; she just kept crying. She only wanted to tell her mother that she hadn't been doing well these past years—not a single year had been good.

When she woke up from the dream, she still hadn't managed to say it.

Time had washed everything away. Nowadays, she rarely thought of her mother. When she did, it was usually a happy memory, which she took as a good omen—one shouldn't always be crying.

She took a hot shower.

After washing up, Xu Qianqian opened her workbook and studied for a while, only feeling sleepy after finishing seven or eight problems. She got up to use the bathroom, returned to close her bedroom door, and clicked off the light.

Lying in bed, Xu Qianqian closed her eyes, ready to drift off to sleep.

An hour later.

In the pitch-black room, Xu Qianqian sat bolt upright in bed.

"No way! Is he a psycho?!"

"Ahhhh!!!" Xu Qianqian curled up with her blanket, rolling around in bed, grinding her teeth. "Jiang Nian!! I’m going to kill you tomorrow, go to hell!"

Suddenly, she stopped rolling and froze, clutching the blanket as she stared into the dark, replaying the scene in her mind.

At that moment, her mind had gone blank, and she had subconsciously bitten his lower lip. Although she let go after 0.01 seconds, the staff member’s laughter felt like a branding iron seared into her heart.

*Psychopaths!! Everyone is a psychopath!!*

"We used to get the 25% off discount just by holding hands, who told you to upgrade the promotion?! Who cares about that extra 10% off!! I’ll turn you all into bean paste!"

She must have been crazy to have agreed to it on a whim.

After a long while, Xu Qianqian lay splayed out on the bed. Staring at the pitch-black ceiling, her chest heaved with rhythmic intensity, yet she still couldn't calm down.

Wrapped in her blanket, she turned onto her side and suddenly felt a pang of regret.

*Why didn't I buy gum?*

*Buying those things suddenly would be weird, right? A boy and a girl buying gum... in the eyes of the convenience store clerk, it’s probably the same as buying a box of condoms in front of everyone.*

*Was that what a boy’s scent was like? A bit hot, and a bit addictive.*

"But... why did it have to be Jiang Nian!"

She punched her pink plush toy, one blow after another. "Jiang Nian is such a jerk, he’d split an earthworm in half while walking down the road—why!! Why did it have to be him!"

...

With an extra 47,000 in his account and his net worth having skyrocketed by 30,000, Jiang Nian was in a great mood and made sure to wake up early.

If there was one trial in his life, he hoped it would be a Porsche.

Humming a tune as he headed downstairs to grab breakfast, Jiang Nian made sure to leave two portions at Xu Qianqian’s door. Thanks to his "darling Qianqian," he’d made a killing—it was practically free money.

As for the system, Jiang Nian didn't think too much about it.

*Just live,* he thought. *Who can outlive me? A young man with money is a happy man. Who would risk their life once they’re rich? Relying on the system to reach the peak of life?*

*Forget it.* To him, the system was just a game that paid out. Who knew whether tomorrow or an accident would come first? Enjoy every second while you can.

*Don’t suffer the "Old Jiang" bitterness, just enjoy the "Old Jiang" fortune.*

For the thirty-eight-year-old Old Jiang Nian, 47,000 might have just been enough to solve his immediate financial distress. But for eighteen-year-old Jiang Nian, it was an endless supply of cash.

Suffering first doesn't necessarily lead to sweetness, but sweetness first is real, tangible sweetness. Smart people enjoy the world first.

In the morning, he went to the gym to work on his legs; Sister Zhao wasn't there.

In the afternoon, he stayed home.

By the second day, he couldn't even get up; his legs were incredibly sore.

After a day or two of cooling off, Xu Qianqian seemed back to her usual self. Standing at the doorway, she glanced at him with curiosity, her face showing an expression of looking at a weakling.

"Ah, is that it? Can you even handle it, Jiang Nian?"

"What do you know? Keep your snide remarks to yourself." Jiang Nian stood up cautiously and said earnestly, "I’m investing in my future. If you don't train your legs, you’ll lose your edge."

Xu Qianqian leaned against his doorframe, seemingly remembering something. She checked to make sure no one else was home, then gave him a mysterious smile.

"Do you know that if you train your legs too much, you’ll start wanting..."

Jiang Nian’s face changed drastically. "Are you monitoring me?"

"Tch, like I’d care." Xu Qianqian turned around and went home to do her worksheets. Before she left, she called back, "Just a reminder: we have evening self-study tonight."

At dusk, at Zhennan High School, students straggled back for evening study.

A small number of students were absent for the first evening session after the three-day holiday—some on leave, some playing truant—but Jiang Nian was not among them.

In the brightly lit classroom of the Olympiad Class 4, during the break between the first and second sessions of evening study.

He looked up and scanned the room; about a dozen students were missing. Some were stuck on the rural buses, some had taken sick leave, and others hadn't returned from their travels.

Boarding students made up more than half the class, and the two groups mingled well. However, generally speaking, day students still had more in common with other day students.

The break was bustling as everyone chatted.

Zhang Ningzhi, sitting in front of him, kept turning around, watching Jiang Nian with wide, expectant eyes.

He had seen on her QQ Space that Zhang Ningzhi had gone to Dali for the National Day holiday, with only a scattering of likes. He figured her posts weren't visible to many people, and he just happened to be in that circle.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Nian decided to acknowledge her for a little while.