Chapter 80: Another Girl

October 1st arrived quickly. Although the school had no choice but to grant a three-day holiday, few students were willing to leave. Most of them spent nearly all their time at school, only going home briefly after classes at noon. Some lived farther away and had to spend a night at home, but even then, hurried back to school early the next morning.

Such was the demanding education system in Shandong Province. It was only the beginning of the first year of high school, yet their desks were already stacked high with thick textbooks and countless exercises. Some girls even carried their English textbooks to gym class, driven to do so by their strict English teacher. Anyone who failed to memorize the required material would be summoned to the office. Unlike those who have since grown up and would now shrug such things off, the students of that time genuinely worried about it.

Of course, there were always the seasoned slackers who remained unfazed. Having no intention of pursuing further studies, it made no difference to them whether they learned or not. These were the ones who could be heard shouting loudly on campus.

The first day of the October holiday proved especially busy for Song Nianqiang and Big Fatty. The two of them had just bought the place they were living in, along with the room next door. The two rooms together cost 180,000 yuan, a high price for such a small county, but the landlord was happy to accept.

The place had been uninhabited for a long time and was thick with dust. It took Song Nianqiang and Big Fatty nearly three hours to clean it thoroughly. The rooms weren't large, but they were perfect as an office for the two of them. They knocked a hole in the wall and installed a new door.

Since this place was to serve as their office, only the two of them knew about it. They nailed the old door shut with planks and covered the walls entirely with the canvas they'd prepared, so the new door became completely hidden.

They moved all the old furniture into the inner room, which made the main room feel far more spacious. To keep the air fresh, Song Nianqiang bought an air conditioner for the inner room and punched a few small holes in the wall to connect it with the outer room.

Once the setup was complete, Song Nianqiang and Big Fatty went to the supermarket, picked out a set of furniture on the third floor, and arranged for it to be delivered. Now that they had plenty of money, they didn't mind spending a little extra.

They hired a few laborers from a construction site, offering eighty yuan an hour—an offer that had the workers scrambling for the job. In less than forty minutes, their new home was ready. Both were satisfied with the transformation. Song Nianqiang generously gave each of the three workers a hundred yuan before collapsing onto his new bed, so comfortable that he was reluctant to get up.

“Fatty, where are you planning to go next?” With no pressing tasks lately, the two of them finally had some free time. Big Fatty, lying on the bed, chuckled at the question. “Give me another thousand, I'm a little short right now!”

Song Nianqiang, accustomed to his friend's extravagant spending, had no choice but to act as treasurer. “Come on! Don’t tell me you’ve already burned through the thousand I just gave you two days ago!” He sat up with a start, pointing at Big Fatty.

With a guilty smile but a thick skin, Big Fatty found his excuse, “Hey, that's because someone with a girlfriend has more expenses than the rest of you!”

“Damn it, be more careful from now on! Here’s the card—withdraw as much as you need yourself!” Not wanting to argue, Song Nianqiang got off the bed, changed his clothes, and announced, “I'm going to the school. Don't forget to lock up when you leave!” With that, he opened the door and left.

“Going to school? Has that kid lost his mind?” Big Fatty was stunned for a moment. Song Nianqiang had never been fond of studying—just the sight of a textbook gave him a headache. The news that he was actually heading to school was the surprise of the year. But before he could think too much about it, his phone rang, interrupting his train of thought, and soon he was chatting excitedly before heading out too.

The house Song Nianqiang bought wasn’t far from the school—just a ten-minute walk. Though it was the holidays, the campus was still bustling with students. Once on campus, Song Nianqiang made his way to the basketball court. He remembered he’d always been pretty good at basketball—though it had been a while since he last played, who knew how rusty he’d become.

“Mind if I join?” he called out to a group already playing. “Sure! You team up with those three, we’ll do four-on-four!” replied a cheerful senior. They were all third-year students, soon to face their college entrance exams in June. But being athletes, getting into university through sports was relatively easy at their school.

During the game, Song Nianqiang raised his hand, calling for the ball as his teammate was trapped. The ball was quickly passed to him, and in a swift motion, he took the shot. The ball arced beautifully through the air and banked off the backboard into the hoop. Smiling at his success, he realized he hadn’t lost much of his touch.

Receiving another pass, Song Nianqiang dribbled forward, accelerated, and executed a perfect layup. “Nice moves! What year are you in?” the sunny youth asked, now assigned to guard Song Nianqiang. He was half a head taller, and his height advantage allowed him to block several of Song Nianqiang’s shots.

“I’m a freshman. You guys are seniors, right?” Passing the ball to a teammate, Song Nianqiang spun quickly, shook off the taller boy, caught the return pass, and scored another layup.

“That’s right. Only freshmen and seniors use the court these days. The sophomores are busy preparing for their graduation exams,” the sunlit senior replied, pulling up for a jump shot that Song Nianqiang had no hope of defending.

“Your skills are great too. Are you on the school team?” Song Nianqiang spread his stance and crouched to defend. “You bet. I’ve already been accepted to Shandong University on a sports scholarship!” the senior replied with pride. With over eight months to go before the college entrance exams, he’d already secured his spot—a distinction worth boasting about.

“Congratulations! Watch out!” Seizing the moment while the senior was distracted, Song Nianqiang swiftly stole the ball, raced past the three-point line, circled around, and, as the senior rushed to defend, pulled up for a quick jump shot—another perfect arc and score.

Laughing and chatting, they played for nearly an hour. Everyone was exhausted by then, not just Song Nianqiang. At that moment, Cao Jianjia, Jiang Ningzhi, and several of their dorm mates happened to pass by the basketball court. As soon as Cao Jianjia spotted Song Nianqiang sweating on the court, a smile touched her lips.

“Ningzhi, your plan for revenge is about to begin!” she announced, then dashed off to the school store for a cold Coke, jogging back to Song Nianqiang, who was now sitting under the basketball hoop catching his breath. A few of the others with more stamina were still shooting around.

“Have some water!” she said sweetly. The sunny senior gave Song Nianqiang a teasing look. “Bro, your girlfriend’s pretty cute.” Song Nianqiang glanced up, vaguely recognizing the girl but unsure from where. With a wry smile, he said to the senior, “I don’t know her. I’ll be heading off now!” Without waiting for a reply, he got up and left.

Cao Jianjia was visibly annoyed by his lack of courtesy, but she wasn’t the kind of girl to give up easily. Turning on her heel, she hurried after Song Nianqiang. “Well, we can always get to know each other!”