Although Shi Niannian didn’t think there was anything to be upset about regarding a contact name, Jiang Wang was indeed angry. Though not enough to lose his temper, she could still tell he was displeased.

“Did you and Jiang Wang fight?” During the break between classes, Jiang Ling turned around and asked quietly.

Shi Niannian raised her eyes: “Isn’t it obvious?”

It wasn’t that obvious. Jiang Wang was still very good to Shi Niannian, often buying her snacks and milk tea, which Jiang Ling also benefited from quite a bit. He just talked much less.

Originally, Jiang Ling, sitting in front, could often hear the two of them talking in low voices behind her, but these past two days it had been rare. Most of the time, Jiang Wang was sleeping.

She had just asked casually.

“I don’t understand, Jiang Wang has the heart to be angry with you?” Jiang Ling said, resting her chin on her palm.

Shi Niannian didn’t understand either. This was her first time dating, even her first time having such intimate contact with a boy. How could she understand so much?

Men’s thoughts are not for guessing.

The bell rang for class, and Jiang Ling had to turn back around. Jiang Wang walked in through the back door, holding a bottle of mineral water, sat down in his seat and tilted his head back to take a sip.

A drop of water slid down his chin, over his prominent Adam’s apple, and down into his collar.

Shi Niannian looked away and continued with her homework.

Two seconds later, a hand appeared in her line of sight as Jiang Wang placed a handful of candy on her desk.

It was the kind sold at the school store, the same kind she had given Jiang Wang during the sports meet.

She turned her head in surprise.

Jiang Wang shook the water bottle in his hand and said: “Don’t you like these? I bought them along the way.”

She smiled: “Thank you.”

Then she immediately divided the colorful handful of candy into two portions, pushing one portion onto Jiang Wang’s desk with her palm. “You have some too.”

Her voice was soft and gentle, kept very low because of the teacher’s voice from the podium. Her cautious manner made one’s heart itch. Jiang Wang inexplicably felt his mouth go dry, and he licked his lips as he looked at those few pieces of candy.

He unwrapped one and put it in his mouth, still not speaking.

This class was Cai Yucai’s physics class, going over a test paper from last week. After it was handed back, she had already corrected her wrong answers, with only the last fill-in-the-blank question remaining.

She couldn’t solve it.

Cai Yucai hadn’t covered this question yet. Shi Niannian tried to figure it out herself for a while, but still couldn’t get the result. After some hesitation, she pushed the test paper over and tugged at Jiang Wang’s sleeve.

“This question, do you know how to do it?”

Jiang Wang didn’t usually turn in homework or often seen doing assignments, but he would still take time to do the last few difficult problems. He glanced at the question and picked up his pen: “Yes.”

The young man’s fingers were beautifully bony, his nails trimmed neat and clean. Without much thought, he smoothly wrote the solution steps on the scratch paper.

Halfway through his writing, Shi Niannian said, “Ah, I got it.”

Jiang Wang paused, turning his face on his elbow to look at Shi Niannian, using the end of his pen to gently poke the dimple on her cheek.

She froze, looking directly into his eyes, her hair brushing against the back of his hand as sunlight filtered through, creating dappled shadows.

She blinked and finally asked: “Are you angry?”

He looked at her and made a sound of agreement.

“Why?”

“What do you think?”

Jiang Ling, sitting in front, heard the entire conversation and couldn’t help but find it amusing. This back-and-forth was just like a typical couple arguing, except the roles of the boy and girl were reversed.

She secretly glanced back at Jiang Wang and saw him lying sideways on the desk, looking at Shi Niannian with an expression that clearly said “come comfort me.”

Shi Niannian thought for a moment: “Because of the contact name?”

Cai Yucai looked in their direction. Having just won two first prizes in the physics competition, they looked increasingly endearing to him. Without a second thought, he assumed they were just discussing their studies and didn’t interrupt.

Shi Niannian tilted her head slightly and suggested, “Then I’ll change it for you.”

“Change it to what?”

What else could she change it to?

Without much thought, she said: “Jiang Wang?”

“…”

In the afternoon, Jiang Wang went to training as usual and wasn’t at school.

Shi Niannian once again marveled that men’s thoughts were beyond guessing, and Jiang Wang’s thoughts were even more unpredictable.

She remembered that before she changed Jiang Wang’s contact name to the current one, he had secretly changed his name in her phone to “Boyfriend.”

Is that what he wanted…?

Shi Niannian thought for a while and changed the contact name back to “Boyfriend.”

At the top of the chat list was her conversation with Jiang Wang, the three characters for “Boyfriend” conspicuously eye-catching.

It was strange—Jiang Wang was indeed her boyfriend now that they were together, but Shi Niannian still felt her heart race and her ears redden at the sight of those three characters.

During the self-study class, the girl sitting in the corner of the classroom suddenly clapped her hands on her blushing face with a “pa” sound, lowered her head, and eventually gave up and changed the contact name back.

Boyfriend and all that…

She was still too embarrassed.

Jiang Ling offered her advice: “Why don’t you ask some other guys? Maybe they know how to make someone happy.”

“Who could I ask?”

“Xu Zhilin is not an option; he’s already old,” Jiang Ling said with a serious face, then sighed, “Besides, I still don’t dare to confess.”

Seventeen and eighteen-year-old girls, each harboring small matters of the heart not worth mentioning.

Jiang Ling pouted: “Niannian, we’re simply suffering sisters. Men are all so worthless!!”

Shi Niannian: “…”

“But why don’t you ask your brother? Isn’t he close with Jiang Wang? He might know how to comfort him.”

Her brother?

Shi Niannian was silent for a moment.

Jiang Ling added: “Just say you’re asking for me.”

She took out her phone again and carefully typed.

Shi Niannian: Brother, I want to ask you something.

Xu Ningqing: What?

Shi Niannian: My good friend had an argument with a male classmate she’s close with. She doesn’t know what to do and asked me to ask you how to make a boy happy.

Xu Ningqing:?

Just a question mark.

Shi Niannian was puzzled, not understanding what this meant.

Two seconds later, Xu Ningqing sent a voice message, three seconds long.

She couldn’t listen directly in the classroom, so she converted it to text.

Are you dating someone?

She silently opened and closed her mouth. Ah.

Xu Ningqing immediately followed with another message: Jiang Wang?

Shi Niannian looked over the chat history again. She hadn’t given anything away, and she didn’t know how Xu Ningqing suddenly knew. After hesitating for a long time, she finally replied with an “Mm.”

At this time, Xu Ningqing had just finished his university physical education class.

He sat on the ground to the side, looking at his phone for a good while without reacting.

He truly treated Shi Niannian like his own sister, and he had always been aware of Jiang Wang pursuing her. He knew Jiang Wang and didn’t mind, though if it were some other guy, he might have objected.

But Jiang Wang was someone he trusted.

Shi Niannian had been bullied a lot when she was young. With Jiang Wang around, at least she wouldn’t be bullied.

But he hadn’t expected that Shi Niannian would be caught by Jiang Wang. When did this little girl become so aware?

Xu Ningqing: You want to make Jiang Wang happy?

Shi Niannian replied slowly: Mm.

Xu Ningqing: Make him happy my ass.

Xu Ningqing: Have some backbone.

“…”

Jiang Wang climbed out of the swimming pool, draped a towel over himself, and followed the coach into the office on the other side.

“What is it?” He dried his ears and put his hearing aid back in.

The coach, watching him put in his hearing aid, was stunned for a couple of seconds before saying: “Have you ever considered surgery to restore your hearing?”

“I have,” he said flatly. “I asked. The possibility of failure is very high.”

“The national team coach contacted me earlier. He mentioned a foreign doctor who specializes in this area. Previously, a sprinter with the same ear problem as yours had surgery done by this doctor.”

Jiang Wang’s movements paused as he looked up.

The coach sighed lightly and continued: “Since there’s hope, don’t give up. That coach said the doctor will be coming to China for a while. Let him examine you. What if you meet the conditions for surgery?”

After leaving the office, Jiang Wang changed back into his clothes and sat in the rest area for a while.

His ear injury had already been there for a long time. During this long period, he had seen doctors, but hope was repeatedly dashed. In the end, he hardly dared to believe in hope anymore.

Lost in thought, his phone vibrated.

“Little Kid” had sent him a message.

His contact name for Shi Niannian was “Little Kid.” Thinking of the contact name Shi Niannian had for him, Jiang Wang helplessly pursed his lips.

He opened the message.

His fingers stopped.

The young man’s hair was still wet, with damp strands falling over his forehead and water dripping from the tips.

He raised his hand to brush his hair back, revealing a smooth forehead. His gaze lowered to look at the text message his little girlfriend had sent, and the corners of his mouth gradually curled up into a pleased arc.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. Leaning against the wall, his deep, magnetic laugh rippled outward.

Two other boys were training together in the rest area, who came over: “What are you laughing at?”

They looked at the screen and read out: “I have a cut on my hand; you should cut yourself too.”

“Wait, isn’t this that cheesy pickup line?” one of the boys said. “And the cheesiest one at that. Who still sends these?”

Jiang Wang glanced at him and, unusually smiling, said: “My girlfriend.”

“…”

“You have a girlfriend now?”

“Mm.”

The two laughed: “Sister-in-law is… quite cute.”

Yes, she was cute.

Sometimes Jiang Wang wondered how she could be so adorable.

He took his phone and walked out of the rest area, leaning against the wall to reply to the message. Although he already knew what would follow, he still played along and replied: Why?

After failing to get help from Xu Ningqing, Shi Niannian had to figure it out herself.

She searched online and found a bunch of so-called flirty messages for boyfriends.

When it came to flirty talk, Shi Niannian truly knew nothing about it. She had never even heard such things, let alone known about the currently popular cheesy pickup lines. She just thought they looked quite fun.

But sending them was different; there was still a sense of embarrassment.

She pressed her palm against her face, tightly closed her eyes twice, as if finally making a decision, and typed according to what she found online.

This way we’ll be a couple.

It was too embarrassing. Just sending that one line made her face completely red.

After a while, Jiang Wang deliberately teased her: “Is there anything else?”

“…”

Shi Niannian scrolled through more and found another one.

Let’s play the statue game where we can’t move.

Okay.

I lost.

Why?

My heart moved.

Jiang Wang leaned against the wall of the rest area, smiled at the message on his phone. His laughter was deep, with a lazy quality to it, echoing softly through the hall.

How could she be so cute?

Jiang Wang’s phone call came without warning. Shi Niannian was still embarrassed about the “flirty messages” she had just sent when he directly initiated a voice call.

She didn’t react quickly enough to either answer or hang up.

The next second, the stern voice of the English teacher sounded from above: “Give me your phone.”

Liu Guoqi, having taught for so many years, had seen all kinds of students. He was known for being the strictest teacher, showing absolutely no favoritism regardless of academic performance when someone made a mistake.

Many people in the classroom looked over.

Under numerous gazes, Shi Niannian had no choice but to hand over her phone.

The screen was still lit, showing the incoming voice call interface.

Earlier that day, Liu Guoqi had already confiscated a phone in Class 2. Although the school didn’t have very strict phone management requirements, he discovered that these kids nowadays weren’t using phones to look up information or make calls, but to date!

When he confiscated that girl’s phone earlier, she had been texting her boyfriend, with the contact name “Darling” followed by a red heart.

The flowers of the motherland truly pained Liu Guoqi’s heart.

As a result, when he came to check on Class 3 and saw another girl playing with her phone, especially someone as good as Shi Niannian, he felt even more distressed.

Liu Guoqi lowered his eyes to look at the phone.

Wait a minute.

This contact name.

—Class 3, Grade 2, male, Jiang Wang.

Liu Guoqi sighed in relief. So it was a misunderstanding.

Shi Niannian truly was a good child.

Liu Guoqi slid to answer and let out a loud “Hello.”

Jiang Wang was startled.

Liu Guoqi admonished: “Jiang Wang, it’s one thing that you don’t come to school yourself, I can’t control you, but now you’re harassing this young lady during her studies. Final exams are almost here. Tell me, aren’t you being inconsiderate!”

Liu Guoqi was indignant, lecturing without even pausing for breath.

Jiang Wang: “…”

Everyone in the classroom: “…”

In the end, Liu Guoqi just said he was confiscating the phone temporarily and told Shi Niannian to come get it after the evening self-study session. With that, he walked out of the classroom with his hands behind his back.

Shi Niannian sighed.

She had just made things a little better, and now would he be angry again?

The evening self-study session ended at 8:30.

It was Shi Niannian’s turn to be on duty this week, responsible for wiping the blackboard. After wiping it twice with a wet cloth, most people had already left the classroom.

She retrieved her phone from the English department office.

The corridor was pitch black.

Shi Niannian walked down the stairs with her backpack in the moonlight. Just as she stepped off the stairs, she heard a snap of fingers near her ear.

She stood with her back to the window, making this section of the path even harder to see. She stopped and took out her phone.

Temporarily losing her sight.

Suddenly, a familiar scent enveloped her, and hot breath fell on her cheek.

A warm touch pressed against her lips.

She stepped back half a step, her ponytail swishing, and saw Jiang Wang in the darkness.

“Why did you come?” There was surprise in her voice.

He smiled lazily: “To take you home.”

With that, he smoothly and naturally took the heavy backpack from her shoulder and held it in his hand.

“Are you not angry anymore?” Shi Niannian blinked and asked.

Thinking of what happened earlier, Jiang Wang found it amusing. It wasn’t anger; it was more like the insatiability of the human heart at work. After getting together, he had hoped for even more attention and care.

He smiled and asked: “Who taught you those things this afternoon?”

She was startled, her face reddening as she pretended not to know: “What things?”

Jiang Wang deliberately teased her: “What are you referring to?”

“Just looked it up,” she said softly. “Found it on my phone.”

“Wanted to make me happy?”

“Mm.” She nodded obediently.

“Why?”

“Don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Jiang Wang smiled and hooked his index finger under her chin: “Do you like me that much?”

Shi Niannian didn’t speak.

Fortunately, in the darkness, her reddened face wasn’t visible.

In the pitch-black corridor, Jiang Wang stood one step below her on the stairs, still slightly taller than her. He opened his arms and drew the young girl into his embrace.

Shi Niannian fell forward, her slender arms resting on his shoulders.

With the backpack at their feet, this position brought them too close.

Jiang Wang held her tight, ruffled her hair, and said: “Shi Niannian, care about me a little more.”