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Chapter 574: Chapter 368: Compensation Gift_2
"Tang Fu, from class 7."
Last time, during the campus meet, Tang Fu won the long jump event, taking first place in the whole school.
The number of students who came to watch the competition was countless.
Duan Shigang gasped in shock, "Those aren’t legs; those are life-taking scissors!"
Hearing Gangzi’s description, Guo Kunnan thought the boy was quite the speaker, he exaggerated even more,
"Those legs are longer than my life!"
Wang Longlong, "Brother Nan, isn’t that a bit much?"
...
Finally, we arrived at the cafeteria.
Xue Yuantong went to eat first, after all, the cafeteria was about to undergo changes; later on, there might not be a chance to enjoy it, so eat and cherish it while you can.
She and Jiang Ning headed to the deep-fried dough sticks’ window, which was the most popular spot in the Fourth Middle School Cafeteria. Xue Yuantong was a bit late, and there was already a long line in front of the window.
She had no choice but to queue up; right in front was the tall girl she had encountered on the road earlier. Up close, Xue Yuantong realized that this girl was even taller.
Who was taller between her and Jiang Ning, Xue Yuantong couldn’t tell, but they were both very tall.
Jiang Ning queued up behind her; while buying deep-fried dough sticks, he also picked up a bowl of tofu pudding; it was definite that Xue Yuantong couldn’t manage both the dough sticks and two bowls.
The line slowly moved forward; soon it was Tang Fu’s turn; she only wanted a cup of soy milk and left with her cup after swiping her meal card.
The lady inside the window directly asked Jiang Ning, "Student, what would you like?"
Xue Yuantong shouted, "Auntie, I’m next, right?"
Only then the lady looked down and realized there was another female student in front of her; she hurriedly apologized,
"I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you."
Xue Yuantong died a little inside; was she really that short?
...
The last class of the afternoon was self-study.
Some people in the classroom were discussing problems, some were playing on their phones; it wasn’t completely quiet.
Huang Zhongfei had long given up on discipline.
Song Sheng liked to do practice papers during self-study, but Pang Jiao and her group always talked; even when Song Sheng tried to stop them, he nearly got beaten up by Pang Jiao and others.
Later, the students who liked to study gradually mutated towards Chen Qian’s direction, learning to coexist with noise.
Chen Siyu was discussing a problem with Xue Yuantong; she refused to give up and really wanted to develop Xue Yuantong’s teaching ability.
"How should I solve this?" Chen Siyu pointed to a physics problem, a mechanics question.
Xue Yuantong explained for a bit and worked out the answer.
Chen Siyu emphasized, "I’m asking you how to solve it; I want the solving process!"
Xue Yuantong, "Isn’t this how you solve it?"
Jiang Ning watched the two banter, his Divine Sense opened, enveloping the entire teaching building, and noticing no teacher was coming, he took out two boxes he had prepared earlier.
"Chen Siyu, your Jade Pendant is carved." He placed the boxes on the desk.
Upon hearing this, Chen Siyu immediately abandoned Xue Yuantong, "That was quick!"
She thought it would take a few more days, but she didn’t expect Jiang Ning to be so efficient.
"The carving went smoothly." Jiang Ning said, but in fact, with his skill, if he chased efficiency, he wouldn’t need a minute.
He simply enjoyed the meticulous process of carving.
Bai Yuxia heard this and turned around to look, curious about the jade that Jiang Ning had carved.
Chen Siyu opened the box, and Bai Yuxia saw a white Jade Curved Cloud; the material was very clean, pure and flawless, utilising the same batch of jade as her little tiger.
"Beautiful!" Chen Siyu was satisfied.
Next, she looked at the other box, if nothing was amiss, that box should contain the Jade Carp.
She lifted the lid and indeed saw a carp inside; the little carp wasn’t just plain white, its upper half was red, with the body showing a light red, transitioning to pure white at the tail.
Under the last rays of sunshine coming through the classroom window, the scales on the surface of the carp sparkled, as if it had come to life.
"Wow!" Chen Siyu’s eyes lit up, filled with astonishment.
Her deskmate Bai Yuxia, looking at the carp, felt a touch of temptation; if appearances were the only concern, this carp was even more beautiful and eye-catching than her little tiger.
The carp’s tail curled into a tiny loop, and the red rope threaded through it.
Chen Siyu put the jade carp on her wrist and showed it off to a few people.
The girl’s fair and slender wrist was adorned by the brightly colored, red carp, which seemed to swim elegantly with its slightly curving tail.
Bai Yuxia suddenly said, "This isn’t jade, is it?"
Jiang Ning responded, "Hmm, no, it’s not jade; it’s jadeite."
"I thought so," Bai Yuxia nodded. She had noticed at first glance that the material didn’t look like jade.
Chen Siyu, who was admiring it, exclaimed in surprise when she heard it was jadeite, "Is that very expensive then?"
She bit her lip and looked at Jiang Ning, determined to have that carp at all costs—even if it was expensive, she would get it!
Bai Yuxia didn’t speak. The cost might not have been high, but with things like jade and jadeite, there’s a saying, ’A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.’ The raw materials might cost only tens or hundreds, but once carved, the price could skyrocket.
In her opinion, the price of the jadeite carp was at least several hundred if not a thousand.
Bai Yuxia didn’t point it out.
Chen Siyu was somewhat oblivious and might not discern the price. Besides, Jiang Ning might not care about it.
"If it’s very expensive, I’ll give you all of my sister’s allowance," Chen Siyu declared through gritted teeth.
Jiang Ning chuckled, "And what about you?"
Chen Siyu replied, "I’ll give you mine too!"
Having received a favor from Jiang Ning, she secretly decided to join her sister in compensating Jiang Ning. She was determined to satisfy him fully.
Chen Siyu’s friendship with the likes of Bai Yuxia and Yang Sheng wasn’t based on being the sort of girl who enjoyed taking advantage.
Jiang Ning said happily, "That won’t be necessary, the cost was very low."
"For me, the act of carving itself is a joy. As long as you take good care of this carp, that’s repayment enough for me."
...
Giving gifts during class attracted the attention of fellow classmates.
In the afternoon after school, Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong left first to go home for dinner.
Chen Siyu waited for her sister in the classroom and showed her what Jiang Ning had given her once she arrived.
The sisters’ tastes were similar. If the younger sister found it pretty, the elder sister naturally felt the same.
After playing with it a while, Chen Siqing said, "Last time we came back from Nan City, we only brought him a bookmark, but he gave us jade. We’ll make it up to him next time."
Chen Siyu agreed strongly, "Mhm, yes."
"But I don’t know what he likes," she added uncertainly.
Indeed, they couldn’t pinpoint Jiang Ning’s hobbies. He wasn’t like the other students in class who enjoyed discussing electronics, or shoes, or basketball...
After some thought, Chen Siqing decided to adopt a two-pronged strategy: One was to break through from Xue Yuantong’s end, buying her more snacks.
The second was to focus on Jiang Ning’s current interests. Since he liked reading, they would collect local bookmarks for him from each city and tourist spot they visited.
As long as the number of bookmarks surpassed the worth of the jade carp, they would eventually match its value.
While the sisters were discussing, Yu Wen came over to probe the situation. She had noticed the commotion around Jiang Ning during class and had analyzed it with Shen Qing’e.
Having been subtly influenced by Shen Qing’e’s insinuating guidance, Yu Wen had unwittingly become interested and had now arrived as the vanguard.
"What were you doing during class, Siyu?" Yu Wen asked directly.
Her personality was bold and straightforward, seldom beating around the bush.
Chen Siyu grabbed her sister’s wrist and flaunted the jadeite carp, "Carved by Jiang Ning himself, looks good, doesn’t it?"
Her relationship with her sister and Jiang Ning was clear and pure, just a simple friendship, so she didn’t bother with secrecy.
Yu Wen’s eyes stuck on it for a few seconds after seeing it. The carp looked smooth as jade and had a crystalline clarity that was truly attractive to girls.
Jealous, she responded half-heartedly, "It’s alright. Just some ordinary jadeite."
After hearing it, Chen Siyu immediately hid her sister’s wrist.
"I really like it, and besides, it’s personally carved by Jiang Ning."
"Sister, let’s go eat," Chen Siqing suggested.
When Yu Wen returned, the jade carp still lingered in her mind. Her friends Shen Qing’e and Jiang Yanan were all around, and Dong Qingfeng had gone to buy food for them.
Seeing Yu Wen return, the two girls looked her way.
Yu Wen’s gears turned, and she suddenly asked, "Qing’e, didn’t you hang out with Jiang Ning last week? Does he know how to carve jade pendants?"
