Chapter 372: If High School Was Just Friends

On a snowy evening, Nanako, who was meditating in seclusion, was thinking about what to do when she suddenly received a call from her boss.

Initially, she thought her boss would ask about work-related matters but unexpectedly, he inquired about her hobbies.

“Su Nai, oh Su Nai, why are you sending me random stuff when you have nothing better to do?”

“Seriously, last holiday you deleted my collection of elegant feet, this holiday you sent me a nuclear bomb. Don’t you want your holidays anymore?”

“I’ve noticed, you’re barely surviving at work but fully charged during holidays. Are you a holiday terrorist?”

“Your boss’s wife is so innocent, pure like a blank sheet of paper. How could you bear to corrupt her?”

Su Nai opened her mouth wide, shocked that the URL she sent got viewed by the boss’s wife. Aren’t you guys good friends? Why did my midnight URL go to her?

Jiang Qin hesitated for a long while then suddenly said fiercely, it’s none of your business what happens between the boss and his wife. Do you want a triple salary or what?

At this moment, Feng Nanshu was sitting in the living room pretending to watch TV but actually was eavesdropping. Then coldly, she muttered that Su Nai is a good person.

After finishing the call with Nanako, Jiang Qin logged into the newly changed URL, muted the volume, and carefully opened several series to check.

Luckily, non-members don’t see much. My little rich girl is still safe…

Most importantly, mobile payments aren’t working now. To subscribe as a member you need to bind a U-shield, unknowingly raising the membership threshold. Otherwise, with the little rich girl’s financial power, she would have been a permanent member by now.

“Let’s go.”

“Big brother, where are we going?”

“Taking you to Chengnan High School for a tour.”

Jiang Qin emerged from the bedroom, changed his clothes, and walked downstairs with the little rich girl.

With the news of Chengnan High School’s relocation spreading widely, by the end of January the high school group was already in uproar. With nothing else to do during the winter break, many graduates gathered gradually.

When there are many people, there is great power. The school didn’t want to oppose so many, so they said you could come in since it’s vacation and there are hardly any people in school.

Thus, the gates of Chengnan High School were opened, and a massive wave of alumni poured into the school.

Just then, a black Audi slowly drove in, catching everyone’s attention.

“Whose car is that?”

“Jiang Qin’s.”

Amid whispers, Jiang Qin pressed a button and the passenger-side window rolled down slowly, revealing Feng Nanshu’s stunningly innocent face that looked both bewildered and nostalgic, astonishing the onlookers.

Convincing by reason, Jiang Qin smirked sloppily.

Just then, a black Land Rover followed, sounding its horn twice as it nearly reached the Audi up front.

At this sight, the cousin sitting in the passenger seat instantly grabbed Qin Ziang’s hand in panic: “What are you doing? Do you want to die?”

The Qin cousin paused, “Just telling him to give us way. A mere Audi dares block our Land Rover? Does he want to die?”

“Didn’t you see there are students ahead? He’s not blocking the way; he just can’t get through. Let’s just wait, why the panic? Can’t you be civilized?”

“?”

The Qin cousin paused for a long while, a hint of surprise in his eyes: “That’s not right bro, you weren’t like this before. Remember that dog Ah Huang from back street? It trembled just from your look.”

Qin Ziang grinned, gritting his teeth, “Ah Huang looks fierce but just barks. The one in front might not bark, but it bites hard!”

Meanwhile, the students started moving toward the classroom buildings on either side, and the Audi started up again, parking in front of the southern library.

The Land Rover followed closely, shutting off its engine as the doors opened in response.

“Oh, Ziang’s here too? Just can’t miss a lively scene, can you?”

Hearing this, the Qin cousin got angry, thinking: haven’t you been hit by a rich kid before? He was about to show off when Qin Ziang pulled him back, muttering it’s unnecessary.

“Chengnan was also my youth. Now that it’s going, I wanted to see it too.”

Jiang Qin nodded then suddenly remembered something, “How’s the studying going? Got the Star of Learning yet?”

“?”

“Oh right, you’re still going to South River for fireworks, right? Get some ‘Milan Night’ and ‘Thousand Mile Scenery’.”

Qin Ziang, remembering last year’s fireworks trick, pulled his cousin away, thinking: What the hell are ‘Star of Learning’, ‘Milan Night’, and ‘Thousand Mile Scenery’?

As the crowd poured in, everyone entered their former classrooms, sitting in their old spots, feeling those times that had passed.

Back then, under such circumstances, they struggled and lived day by day, finally scattering across the country, and when they returned, it felt like a dream.

Jiang Qin sat in a front row seat by the window, his gaze fixed on an unnamed tree outside, his expression somewhat unusual.

There are two kinds of memories, physical memory and brain memory. Brain memory fades with time, but when the body is in a familiar environment, many feelings are unforgettable.

To others, they had only left this scene for a year or two, but for him, this scene had been alien for over a decade.

How melodious was the wind that year, how bright were the lights during evening self-study, the trees swayed with the wind, people of all shapes and colors, front row, back row, left side, right side, as if branded onto the body.

Chu Siqi was also there today, sitting behind Jiang Qin, staring blankly at his back.

She thought, if Jiang Qin hadn’t changed his heart so quickly and waited for her a bit longer, she might be the one reminiscing about youth with him today.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold on, losing what could have been a complete relationship.

Of course, Chu Siqi felt she was also to blame. If she had taken one more step towards him back then, maybe an outsider wouldn’t have appeared.

Such is life, missing by a bit can mean missing by a mile, right?

Chu Siqi was momentarily dazed, feeling several times like she was back in high school, clenching her fist, almost shouting Jiang Qin’s name but not sure what to say after he responded.

Actually, the classmates behind her were also observing her, like Qin Ziang, Yu Shasha, Wang Huiru, Guo Zihang, Yang Shuan, Zhao Lu, Kong Qianqian…

They knew Chu Siqi regretted it.

As proud as she was when facing Jiang Qin back then, maybe now she regretted it just as much.

But anyone from Linchuan or its vicinity who went to school knew that today’s Jiang Qin was no longer the Jiang Qin of the past. His aura exploded like the sun, far removed from them who were merely dust.

“I just saw Jiang Qin’s portrait in the South Bookstore corridor. It said ‘Outstanding Alumni’.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I remember that place. It used to hang Einstein’s portrait.”

“I’m not jealous about that, but he got Feng Nanshu, and I’m damn jealous.”

Amid the whispers, Chu Siqi finally gathered her courage to speak but saw Jiang Qin stand up and head toward the door, saying memories need not be too plentiful, a slight buzz is enough.

Then he walked to the back door of the next class. The students who were enthusiastically recalling the past suddenly quieted down then looked at Jiang Qin and then at Feng Nanshu, their expressions rich with interest.

In fact, they and the few who had gone to Jiang Qin’s house for dinner recently had much in common, and no one could understand how it could be him.

Jiang Qin and Feng Nanshu hardly spoke in high school.

Just then, the sudden silence seemed to alert the little rich girl who then turned her head to look towards the back door, her previous aloofness instantly turning cute.

“Big brother.”

As Feng Nanshu spoke, everyone around instantly held their breath in disbelief.

Damn, the aloof heiress is this cute when in love?!

They spent an entire high school with Feng Nanshu, but who had seen her coyly calling someone ‘big brother’? This was too sci-fi.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

“Oh, okay.”

Feng Nanshu followed him out quickly, her little hand slipping into Jiang Qin’s pocket, clingy to no end.

Jiang Qin had actually sneaked peeks at Feng Nanshu back in high school. After all, who wouldn’t want to look more at a beautiful girl? But indeed, they had never interacted, several times passing by each other at the door.

But this return to high school, as if the timeline was confused, allowed him to encounter her anew in the old times.

I wish I had started liking the little rich girl from freshman year, perhaps there would be more memories now.

Huh?

Jiang Qin paused for a moment, his gaze suddenly guilty, but he tried to act composed, fearing the little rich girl would notice anything odd.

“Why didn’t you befriend me back in high school?”

Feng Nanshu looked up at him, speaking righteously: “I was afraid.”

Jiang Qin suddenly became interested: “Did you know me in high school?”

“I knew you. You had such long hair covering your left eye. I thought you only had one eye back then.”

As she spoke, Feng Nanshu pulled her hair over her eye to imitate him.

Jiang Qin, hit hard by this blast from the past: “Wasn’t everyone’s hair like that back then? Why do you only remember mine?”

“But you looked good that way. The others didn’t, they looked silly.”

“You had such good taste at a young age? You’re not lying to me, are you?”

Feng Nanshu shook her head innocently: “I’m not lying. When I saw you, I wanted to push your hair back to see.”

Jiang Qin pursed his lips, unconvinced: “You hardly saw me back then, right? I must have been just another classmate to you.”

“Sophomore year, baseline exams, I sat in front of you and forgot my pencil case. You lent me a pen, though we didn’t speak.”

“Did that happen?”

“It did. I didn’t have a pen for the first exam and turned in a blank paper, only ranked eighth in the grade.”

“Eighth isn’t bad, are you being humble?”

Feng Nanshu pursed her lips: “That was the only time I didn’t place first.”

Jiang Qin was slightly taken aback, suddenly remembering the time he tricked He Manqi. Back then, Feng Nanshu specifically mentioned she once didn’t place first, and he thought the little rich girl was just being modest. Was she actually checking to see if he remembered?

But Feng Nanshu probably didn’t know his memory had effectively been reset over the past decade. He truly didn’t remember such details anymore.

“Feels like a lot of time was wasted.”

Jiang Qin, hands in pockets: “What do you think it would have been like if we became good friends back in high school?”

Feng Nanshu looked up at him, her eyes glistening as she blinked twice: “Then I would have already played with your spare phone by now.”

“That’s not a toy!”

“Big brother, let me see the spare phone.”