Chapter 7: A Potential Rival in Love

If I had borrowed Xu Qianqian’s CET-4 vocabulary notebook back then, perhaps the results would have been even better.

But after careful consideration, Jiang Nian felt it was unnecessary.

Skills are valuable for their depth, not their quantity. The main obstacle now was the college entrance exam. The 3,500 words were enough; it would be better to allocate precious memorization time to other subjects.

At this moment, equipped with subject-specific memory, Jiang Nian was solving problems... health and longevity.

Damn it, even after memorizing the formulas for math, I still can’t solve the problems.

English was a breeze, biology and chemistry... with subject-specific memory, tackling them felt much easier than before. Chinese he ignored—doing it was pointless. Physics... well...

There was still a year left before the college entrance exam. Jiang Nian figured that with some effort, getting into a non-prestigious university should be no problem.

In the classroom, there were three evening self-study sessions in total.

Almost every break echoed with the rowdy laughter and banter from Zhou Yuting’s clique—a group so brazen and wild... Jiang Nian rarely used such a term to describe people.

But the truth was just that—they were both flashy and unruly.

During his breaks from practicing problems, Jiang Nian occasionally glanced toward their direction. In the past, he would have abandoned his pen and joined their laughter.

Not because he wanted to be a sycophant, but because he liked to belong.

Even without Zhou Yuting, he would still want to join that “popular” clique. Simply put, Jiang Nian was handsome and wanted to invest his looks into the group.

He couldn’t focus on studying, wasn’t wealthy, and under his insecurity, he inevitably craved some vanity.

Such popular cliques held great allure for adolescents—they had pretty girls, wealthy classmates, and talented, socially adept boys.

Joining them, chatting and laughing heartily, not only satisfied vanity but also granted a fleeting, illusory sense of “class” that didn’t truly belong to a goblin like him.

Now, Jiang Nian no longer harbored such childish thoughts.

Perhaps because he saw through things, or maybe the worldview from the system he’d encountered had shaken him. In any case, he was tired and didn’t want to get mixed up with those wild, shameless brats.

The three evening study sessions passed quietly and uneventfully. The head teacher came by once to talk briefly about the schedule and the upcoming monthly exam before leaving.

At 9:40 p.m., the last session ended.

Jiang Nian walked out with the crowd, briefly locking eyes with Zhou Yuting at the door. In truth, his mind was occupied with a math problem, his gaze vacant.

They passed each other in a flash, no pause at all.

The doorway was crowded and noisy. It was late September, and Zhou Yuting still wore a figure-hugging pink short-sleeved shirt paired with tight jeans that accentuated her hips.

Zhenan County High School didn’t require uniform dress except during certain seasons—like sports meets or Monday flag-raising ceremonies—when all students had to wear summer or autumn uniforms.

A girl of eighteen looks youthful in anything, let alone a beauty like Zhou Yuting. Her chest was as soft and gentle as a springtime ridge, and her legs slender and long.

She found it hard to believe she was about to greet him—he surely saw her, right? Yet he just passed by like that?

They used to be fairly close.

She hadn’t cared much for Jiang Nian anyway. She only hung out with him because he was good-looking, played basketball, and had a strong physique.

Even though he inexplicably withdrew from her circle, Zhou Yuting felt nothing. After all, beyond his body, he had nothing else that attracted her.

Seven or eight minutes later, Zhou Yuting and two girlfriends left the classroom.

Suddenly, one of the girlfriends, He Cai, let out a slight exclamation.

“Isn’t that Jiang Nian?”

At her words, Zhou Yuting and the other girl, Luo Wanzhen, instinctively turned their heads. They saw Jiang Nian standing at the next classroom’s door, walking alongside a petite girl.

They occasionally touched each other in a way that seemed quite familiar.

“He’s dating someone? I never heard him say anything about it. No wonder he hasn’t been hanging out with us lately,” Luo Wanzhen clicked her tongue, half-joking. She bore no ill will toward Jiang Nian.

“That girl’s from the neighboring Olympiad class, right? How did he...”

“Who knows? She looks so-so,” Zhou Yuting said proudly, like a swan sizing up a commoner, glancing at the girl walking with Jiang Nian, dressed plainly like a typical girl next door.

Xu Qianqian was very pretty and had nice clothes at home, but she dressed simply at school.

To someone like Zhou Yuting, that was just ordinary.

“Didn’t Jiang Nian like you before?” He Cai prodded, a bit provocative. Although the three were close friends, she and Luo Wanzhen had a small group excluding Zhou Yuting.

Of course, Zhou Yuting and Luo Wanzhen also had their own small group without He Cai.

“Who he likes is none of my business,” Zhou Yuting flicked her head and walked off toward the school gates. “I don’t like him anyway.”

...

“Want me to teach you math?” Xu Qianqian walked alongside Jiang Nian, her fingers gripping the strap of her backpack until the knuckles turned white. “What’s with this sudden change?”

The county’s main street was still lit, a patchwork of light and shadow stretching toward the dawn.

She seemed to see Jiang Nian for the first time, scrutinizing him repeatedly.

“This afternoon, you even threw away the vocabulary notebook.”

“That’s because I memorized all of it. Want to test me?” Jiang Nian knew there was no hiding it. “Pick any word within the 3,500 for the college entrance exam.”

Xu Qianqian thought for a moment, then gave a simple word.

“Connect?”

“Connect—c-o-n...” Without hesitation, Jiang Nian answered immediately.

Xu Qianqian was slightly surprised; she had chosen a less common word.

“Stimulate?”

“Stimulate—s-t-i...” Jiang Nian replied fluently.

This time, Xu Qianqian was stunned. Standing at the street corner, she looked at Jiang Nian as if she'd seen a ghost, her mouth opening several times without a sound.

“You... you are Jiang Nian?”

“Isn’t that obvious? If you don’t believe me, you can test me,” he said with a smirk. “I pretended before just to fit into their crowd...”

He couldn’t say too much; the more he spoke, the less convincing it sounded.

To Xu Qianqian’s ears, his explanation seemed reasonable. After all, she thought, someone who cooks well can’t be that dumb.

And Jiang Nian, that fool, would really do something like that.

“I don’t even know what to say. How can you do this to Uncle Jiang and Aunt Li?” Xu Qianqian was stubborn and earnest, her expression serious.

Seeing her scowl, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but laugh.

“Got it. I’m turning over a new leaf now, right? Don’t worry, I won’t let your teaching go to waste. How about I cook for you on the weekend?”

Xu Qianqian swallowed hard, her voice a bit loud.

“I... can teach you math, for Aunt Li’s sake. But forget the food—I’m on a diet.”

Hearing her half-hearted refusal, Jiang Nian laughed again.

Suddenly, she asked, “Do you still like Zhou Yuting?”

The night breeze blew past under the dim streetlamp. Jiang Nian was silent for two seconds.

“No.”

He hesitated for a moment, wanting to say “I hate her,” but it wasn’t proper to say that in front of Xu Qianqian.

“Ding!”

[At thirty-eight years old, you have discovered a potential romantic rival. Apart from you, someone has silently been watching Xu Qianqian. From a poor family background, they never spoke to Xu Qianqian from high school through college. Now, this person has become successful.

Mission: Defeat your formidable rival Zhou Haifei and make him give up on Xu Qianqian.

Reward: 5,000 RMB.]