Chapter 49: Darkness Before the Eyes

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Jiang Nian felt a bit awkward; he had just told Li Qingrong that he didn’t like playing with his phone. Yet, the next second, his phone in his pocket rang.

“Actually... I use my phone in a critical way,” Li Qingrong said, turning her face away, though the slight tremble in her shoulders betrayed her.

No way... Is your sense of humor really that low, class monitor? You don’t mind if I sell this secret to others, do you?

Jiang Nian turned his head, trying to divert his attention, and saw Li Hua standing on a stone bench near the basketball court, pointing loudly in his direction.

It was too far away to hear clearly, but it seemed like he was saying something about “father.”

So filial! I should reward him with a mother next time.

At the moment he stepped into the cafeteria, the dismissal bell rang—exactly on time, two minutes later than the six minutes he had expected. Indeed, women did affect the speed of drawing swords.

He shouldn’t be here; he should be in the heart of the cafeteria auntie instead.

At the cafeteria entrance, under Li Qingrong’s slightly surprised gaze, Jiang Nian suddenly took off running, as if he had made a firm decision.

To leave, according to the dictionary, means to separate from someone at a place.

“Sister, that eggplant!” Jiang Nian shouted urgently.

Li Qingrong pursed her lips, carrying her tray of food, when she suddenly saw a huge crowd surging into the cafeteria from the entrance.

Freshmen and sophomores, each holding a book. Snap, snap, as soon as they entered the cafeteria, everyone took on their roles.

One placed books to reserve seats, while the others queued up. Within ten seconds, the cafeteria tables were covered with colorful textbooks.

The line extended outside the cafeteria, still tightly packed with people.

Li Qingrong was momentarily stunned; it was her first time eating in the cafeteria. Realizing this, she hurried to find a seat, or else she would have to eat while standing.

Although she didn’t mind, it would still be a bit embarrassing.

She instinctively searched for Jiang Nian’s figure, only to see a junior girl faster than her, carrying two books as she ran toward Jiang Nian’s side.

Jiang Nian’s seat was by the window, considered prime real estate. The junior girl looked regretful, feeling awkward about placing books directly opposite Jiang Nian, so she could only put the two books at the other end of the long table.

Li Qingrong breathed a sigh of relief and sat down opposite Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian looked at her curiously.

“No seats left,” Li Qingrong said calmly and began to eat quietly.

“Oh, that’s fine.” Jiang Nian wasn’t that conceited, just a little curious why she moved so slowly. “This is how the cafeteria is. Class monitor, next time you should...”

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Suddenly, he realized Li Qingrong didn’t often eat in the cafeteria and lost the will to continue.

There would be no next time.

“Next time what?” Li Qingrong asked suddenly.

“Hmm?” Jiang Nian was stunned. Was she following up? Could he ask if next time she’d let him eat at her place? Baby?

“Uh... nothing, the cafeteria is just really crowded.”

Yu Tongjie rarely ate in the cafeteria. After gym class was dismissed today, he didn’t play basketball or soccer but instead found a shady corner to memorize vocabulary.

He had already asked his cousin, who was studying at a prestigious university, and learned that it was impossible to memorize all English words. Properly memorizing vocabulary helped, but no one was foolish enough to memorize everything.

This gave him confidence. Jiang Nian was indeed bluffing. Since the other wasn’t invincible, it meant his health bar was exposed and not undefeatable.

He swore to erase the humiliation from last time, study vocabulary well, and score 140 by the end of the month to beat Jiang Nian. Unexpectedly, he studied so hard that before he realized it, school was over.

He figured going home was a waste of time, so he decided to eat in the cafeteria, saving time to memorize vocabulary. Even while standing in line to get his food, he silently recited words.

Turning his head, he faced the same problem of no available seats.

Yu Tongjie wasn’t thick-skinned; he preferred a small bowl of noodles. The incident in class had already crushed his self-esteem, making him unable to bear any more blows.

So he walked back and forth in the cafeteria reciting vocabulary, looking for a place to sit.

Unfortunately, those with a sense of shame couldn’t grab seats in the cafeteria. Just as he spotted one seat, a dark-skinned, athletic student dashed over and claimed it.

Well, a gentleman uses words, not violence.

He ran to look for another seat, just as he found a good one, suddenly seven or eight girls appeared out of nowhere, placing their freshmen textbooks all over it.

Finally, when he spotted a seat and was about to sit down, a pretty freshman girl spoke up:

“Handsome guy, you’re tall and good-looking. Can I have this seat?”

The senior blushed and forgot to recite vocabulary, stammering,

“Okay...”

After wandering around so long, his food had gone cold.

The cafeteria entrance continued to swell with freshmen, sophomores, and seniors streaming in. Saying it like this sounds a bit risqué. Anyway, Yu Tongjie had no seat and stood awkwardly in the middle of the corridor.

Until he heard a girl shout, “Let’s go, I’m going back to the dorm to wash my hair.”

Yu Tongjie felt a shiver inside and hurried toward the voice. Standing wasn’t tiring, but feeling like everyone around was watching him was unbearable.

He stepped forward, making way for a seat, only to see two familiar people already sitting by the now-vacant window seat hidden behind the crowd.

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Li Qingrong... and Jiang Nian!

Yu Tongjie felt as if time had been paused, frozen in place. He had known Li Qingrong for a long time—they had been classmates in middle school, and their families occasionally visited each other during the New Year.

Jiang Nian was almost done eating when he reached for his phone. Li Qingrong’s brows furrowed slightly.

“The school doesn’t allow phones.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Tongjie breathed a sigh of relief.

As expected, Li Qingrong was too rigid; she couldn’t possibly have feelings for Jiang Nian. Most people would find her inflexible personality intolerable, and it would be a relief if no falling out occurred.

Who would have thought Jiang Nian wasn’t embarrassed at all, not even putting away his phone, and said seriously:

“I really can’t stop playing on my phone. Actually, I have severe anxiety. As soon as I’m away from my phone, I start thinking about what a miserable failure my life has been.”

Hearing this, a trace of apology appeared on Li Qingrong’s face.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you...”

Jiang Nian looked up at a forty-five-degree angle, wearing a sad smile.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

The smile vanished from Yu Tongjie’s face. No way! Such a crude lie—how could she believe him? What’s going on?

Li Qingrong lowered her head, her apology even more evident.

“Sorry.”

Jiang Nian was about to say something cheeky when he glanced sideways and noticed the eavesdropping troublemaker. His gaze swept over Yu Tongjie with suspicion, slowly typing a question mark.

“Classmate, you look really familiar. Are you the one spreading rumors about me cheating?”

Yu Tongjie felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to leave but saw no seats outside. He could only meet Li Qingrong’s gaze awkwardly and sit on the other side.

He didn’t enjoy a single bite of his meal and even suspected the cafeteria cook had lost their sense of taste. How could the food be so bland, like a Qingming Festival offering, tasteless and dry?

He didn’t know when Jiang Nian and the others left. With a gloomy heart, he walked toward the tray return area when he heard a familiar sweet voice—probably that freshman girl who called him handsome:

“Hey, I got lucky today. A senior pervert gave up his seat for me.”

Yu Tongjie’s vision darkened immediately.