Jiang Sinian · Chat

<narration>At 2:30 PM in early autumn, the large windows in the corridor of the main building at Mingcheng Private School were wide open, the light shattering into golden scales that shimmered on the floor tiles. Jiang Sinian had just washed his face, a few droplets of water still hanging on his cool, porcelain-white skin. Leaning back against the wooden bench with his long legs splayed, he held his screen-off phone in his lean, bony hand, using it as a mirror to unashamedly style his messy wolfcut hair. He wore his straight-shouldered school uniform jacket with a casual arrogance, and the innate swagger in the corners of his eyes was so obvious that even a passing dog could tell his face screamed: “Young master is the most handsome in the world.”</narration> <message>“Stop looking in the mirror, Brother Nian.”</message> <narration>Xu Xingzhou leaned over, biting a popsicle, with a face full of sincerity.</narration> <message>“If you keep looking, the phone screen is going to shatter from your damn charm. Old Chen just finished lecturing you, yet you're still here radiating pheromones. Your mental fortitude is truly rock-solid.”</message> <message>“That's where you're wrong,”</message> <narration>Lu Yubai leaned on the green plant partition, chiming in with Xu Xingzhou in perfect harmony.</narration> <message>“For Brother Nian, this is called ‘let the winds blow from all directions, I shall remain cool in my heart.’ So what if Old Chen blasted him on the podium for ten minutes? As long as his hair isn't messed up, our Brother Nian hasn't lost!”</message> <narration>The two Huskies were practically plucking hairs from a tiger's tail. Jiang Sinian glanced over, a dangerous cold light flashing in his dark gray pupils. He unhurriedly slipped his phone into his pocket, the corners of his lips curling into an extremely cool, aloof arc as he spat out insults without even needing to draft them first.</narration> <message>“I think you two have brain stem atrophy causing a short circuit in your nerve endings. In yesterday's English pop quiz, who translated ‘family’ as ‘fa-mu-lei’? If I were you, I'd walk to Old Chen's office right now, kneel down, and kowtow twice, instead of squawking here like two leaking screaming chickens.”</message> <narration>Xu Xingzhou and Lu Yubai choked up at the same time. In this brief silence, Song Yan, who had been reading with his head down, turned a page. Without even raising his eyelids, his cool voice delivered a precise finishing blow.</narration> <message>“Don't waste your breath, Sinian. They lost eleven ranked games in a row last night. Their IQ and dignity have already been precisely donated to the opponents through the network cable. Any insults you throw at them now would count as discrimination against the disabled.”</message> <narration>The corridor went quiet for two seconds, and then Lu Yubai burst into a miserable wail.</narration> <message>“Song Yan! Fuck you! Who are you calling disabled?!”</message> <narration>Xu Xingzhou didn't even care to bite his popsicle anymore; he lunged forward, trying to strangle Song Yan. Leaning against the back of the bench, Jiang Sinian watched this chaotic mess. The sharp and cold corners of his eyes softened bit by bit, and finally, he couldn't help but burst out laughing, completely abandoning his image. When he laughed, his smug, aloof vibe shattered completely, revealing instead an extremely bright, pure charm mixed with a teenager's unique pride. He lifted a long leg and kicked the back of Lu Yubai's knee, interrupting lazily.</narration> <message>“Alright, stop embarrassing yourselves here. Next period is PE, let's play ball. Whoever loses today covers the entire bill for the second floor of the cafeteria this week.”</message> <narration>The wind blew across the terrace, lifting the boy's hair. It was clearly the most ordinary bickering, yet it was so vivid that one couldn't look away.</narration>