Jiang Nian looked up and spoke casually.

"Even the class reps are busy reviewing, I bet they haven't done those school-issued papers themselves."

Huang Fang turned around and asked curiously.

"The secret papers?"

"Yeah." He replied, "Everyone has some secret papers, but the effect... depends on the person."

Just as he was speaking, two people, one fat and one thin, walked in.

"Chi Shi!!"

Li Hua tossed his bag onto his seat, utterly exhausted, "I just fell asleep and was woken up by my mom."

Jiang Nian glanced at him, "Were the movies that hard to pick?"

"Chi Shi Chi Shi!!" Li Hua folded his school jacket on the desk as a pillow, "I pulled an all-nighter."

"Linked three days straight, it was awesome."

"That's really going to kill you," Zeng You said offhandedly, "My sleep schedule has been getting more regular these days."

Jiang Nian turned to him, "What time do you sleep?"

"Fell asleep by ten," Zeng You said, "Don't know why, just got tired while playing."

Maybe he's gotten bored of playing.

The tighter the revision schedule, the more fun he had during class. Now, everything has changed.

No one pushes him anymore, and it's become dull.

"Hello, hello."

Zhang Ningzhi came in from the front door of the classroom, waving at the group, "Good afternoon everyone."

"The big star is here?" Jiang Nian smiled. Lately, he's been mostly in contact with Zhizhi via cell phone.

After all, during the holiday they couldn't meet.

But, all counted, it's already the last moment. This weekend, the last golden six hours.

After this, like fish in the ocean, they won't be restricted anymore.

"Humph!" Zhang Ningzhi looked displeased, "I sent you a message, why didn't you reply?"

Jiang Nian: "???"

"Did I?"

He took out his phone to check and found it was just a cute bear emoji, making him a bit speechless.

"How do you reply to an emoji?"

"Humph!" Zhang Ningzhi sat down and gave him a sidelong glance, "Why not, Beibei can reply to me!"

"Alright, next time..." Jiang Nian habitually delayed, actually not responding to messages was normal for him.

Most of the time, he would find time to reply collectively. Sometimes messages get buried, or he doesn't see them.

After all, nobody's perfect.

Zhang Ningzhi actually didn't mind, just stuck at home revising for three days felt a bit resentful.

Someone not replying to messages promptly was quite frustrating for her.

"Hey, why's the group leader sleeping as soon as he arrives?"

"Dead."

"Chi Shi!!" Li Hua wanted to lift his head but was too sleepy, "Nian, don't wake me up for class later."

"Hmm?" Jiang Nian was confused.

"You heard me, don't wake me up later." Li Hua said, "It's Old Liu's class first period, he won't care."

"Alright."

Near two o'clock, boarding students started entering the classroom one after another. After three days, the chatter seemed noisy.

Soon, Old Liu arrived.

Sure enough, he glanced around the class. Ignored the sleeping Li Hua and energetically called for class.

After a routine was finished, he directly initiated self-study.

The class was dumbfounded, just coming back and straight to self-study? Soon, someone started coaxing, pulling Old Liu for a chat.

Old Liu liked talking anyway, quickly opened up, and began discussing everything from college entrance exams to university applications.

"After this exam, don't run off immediately."

"Your records, ah, come back to fill them out after the exams. Last time only part was filled, just come back first."

Jiang Nian was half-hearted, his attention was on the test papers. With the class president behind him, couldn't sneakily touch legs.

The thrill reduced a hundredfold.

Fortunately, the time passed quickly, with an afternoon spent on writing papers and sneaking Zhizhi's snacks.

In a blink of an eye, afternoon slipped by, and Class Three resumed the exam prep rhythm.

After school, not many left. Either buried in their seats doing exercises or gathered around discussing questions.

Typically, those who have spare time do this.

Like Li Hua.

At the front of the classroom, the numbers on the red countdown board changed to 8, the sense of urgency making the study atmosphere intense.

"I'll help her finish explaining first, then I'll explain to you." Li Hua had slept the entire afternoon, his energy bar refilled to seventy percent.

Right now, refreshed, explaining questions to everyone. Helping classmates before the college entrance exam feels great.

Also raises his status.

"Li Hua, wouldn't it delay your review time?"

"Nah, I'm just idle anyway." He waved his hand, "What needs review is already done."

"Really done reviewing?" Jiang Nian grinned ominously.

"WTF!" Li Hua was startled, "Chi Shi! Why don't your footsteps make a sound when you walk?"

"He's reviewed shit." Ma Guojun adjusted his glasses, "Three days spent without doing anything useful."

Jiang Nian: "Then I'm relieved."

"Chi Shi, I've been gaming while memorizing words." Li Hua casually retorted, then mentioned.

"Tonight, the cafeteria has free supper, shall we go?"

Ma Guojun hesitated, "Won't it be crowded?"

"Let's go first." Jiang Nian also felt restless, "Bring books, I doubt anyone can stay longer than us."

...

In a flash, it was evening self-study.

"Cailang, let's go!" Yang Qiming waved his big hand, "Cafeteria has free supper, let's check it out!"

"Sure, man."

"Can't be unlimited supply, right?" Zeng You also went, cellphone in pocket, "Definitely a lot of people."

The place was indeed crowded, the line already stretched out of the cafeteria.

"WTF?"

"Too late!!" Lin Dong lamented, "Forget it, let's try next period's self-study."

"Alright." Yang Qiming wavered, looked at Huang Caicai, "Should we or not..?"

"Whatever you decide, man."

"Why leave? You'll end up eating leftovers." Zeng You held the group, pointed forward.

"Jiang Nian and others are there, why worry."

With that, everyone looked at each other.

"Right."

"The law won't blame the crowd, that makes sense."

"Yeah, we're just hungry." Lin Dong said, "So many in the cafeteria, can't blame anyone."

"Charge!"

The bell rang, and Class Three was still in line. Meanwhile, Cai Xiaoqing looked around in the classroom.

Seeing nearly half the classroom empty, he slowly typed a question mark.

"Hmm?"

Elsewhere, in the cafeteria.

"Wow, so many people." Jiang Nian held his fried noodles, sat with a bunch of miscellaneous snacks.

"Not much to eat, just some fried noodles and shaomai." Li Hua complained, "Too many people by the dumplings."

"Cooking's so slow." The big guy complained, "Better buy some frozen dumplings and cook them at Jiang Nian's house."

"Cough cough cough!!" Jiang Nian almost choked on his fried noodles, "Password, don't spread falsehoods."

"What about cooking?" Lin Dong came over.

Suddenly, Jiang Nian's phone vibrated. They looked over and found it was a video call from Cai Xiang.

"Game over!!"

"Disciplinary committee calling, wouldn't the class teacher be on the line too?"

"Why panic."

Jiang Nian calmly answered the video. Just like an elderly, he spun the phone around a bit.

"Yeah, they're all here. I was passing by and they forcibly kept me, can't leave until I finish eating."

"Classic school gossip... "

"Chi Shi!!"

"Pigs! How shameless!"

"Cai Xiang, I was tricked into this." Yang Qiming said, "I'll be back soon."

Cai Xiaoqing: "...."

The phone returned to Jiang Nian's view, and they heard Cai Xiaoqing ask from the other end, "Is the supper tasty?"

"It's alright, free food always tastes good."

"Oh, then I'll try it next time." Cai Xiaoqing added at the end, "Finish eating and come back."

With a slap, the call ended. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Everyone turned their heads, disbelief directed at Jiang Nian. He looked cautious, "What?"

"Isn't Cai Xiang really easy-going?"

"Something fishy going on!!"

"Oh." Jiang Nian was nonchalant, and continued eating his fried noodles, "If there was something fishy, would he talk like this?"

"True." Ma Guojun nodded.

The crowd noisily returned to the sweltering classroom. Time slipped away like fanning a cool breeze.

In no time, it was evening self-study end.