Chapter 28.1
A large group of people boarded the subway in grand formation.
The carriage was fairly empty, but there were no seats. Zhou Yuan held onto a hanging strap and swayed back and forth, not forgetting to complain casually as he did. “It’s not like we don’t have cars. Why do we have to take the subway?”
Jiang Zao glanced at him. “Weren’t you the one who made a fuss about wanting to experience commoner food? Then I might as well let you experience commoner transportation too.”
Zhou Yuan was disdainful. “It’s not like I’ve never taken the subway!”
“You have, but that doesn’t mean everyone else has,” Jiang Zao said.
Those who had never taken it booed him. They didn’t want to take it at all, okay? Besides, there was nowhere to sit!
Jiang Zao ignored their dissatisfaction and reminded them, “A lot of people will get on at the next stop. Pay attention.”
The next stop was a major station. Just as Jiang Zao said, when the train stopped and they saw the dense, dark crowd outside, the people who had not taken it seriously all went pale. With this many people, could the carriage fit them?
The answer was yes.
And… it was really damn crowded!
Most students in Class 19 relied on private cars when going out. At most, traffic jams were a little annoying, but inside the car, they could still guarantee their own private space. So for people experiencing this kind of population-density baptism for the first time, it was very hard to adapt.
“I’m getting squeezed to death! Can you stand a little to the side?”
“Where am I supposed to stand? I can’t even move, okay!”
“If you want to blame someone, blame Jiang Zao. He’s the one who brought us onto the subway!”
“Where is that Jiang Zao brat?”
“Who knows? It’s all people. I can’t see him at all!”
Jiang Zao, who was being resented by everyone, was currently leaning against the carriage with his eyes closed to rest. Suddenly, he heard a soft laugh.
Rong Jingcheng leaned close to his ear and said, “It really has been a long time since I had an experience like this.”
Jiang Zao opened his eyes and swept a glance forward. The carriage was packed with people, almost person pressed against person. Only around them was there still a patch of extra space for movement. Jiang Zao’s gaze finally landed on Rong Jingcheng in front of him.
Since before, Jiang Zao had suspected whether Rong Jingcheng carried some kind of special aura. No matter how crowded the carriage was, the people around him would always automatically and voluntarily leave a circle of empty space, and Jiang Zao would always be able to take advantage of it and enjoy some free room to move as well.
Jiang Zao said, “Actually, you didn’t have to take the subway with us.”
“It’s fine. I like this.” Rong Jingcheng looked indifferent.
Jiang Zao felt his hand being held. The man beside him had a warm breath. “Only at times like this will Xiao Zao obediently stay by my side.”
Even though the air conditioning was on inside the carriage, because of the crowd, the temperature was still very high. The touch covering his hand was cool and very comfortable.
Jiang Zao let him hold it without moving.
Rong Jingcheng smiled and praised him. “Xiao Zao is so good.”
He leaned over, warm breath brushing past Jiang Zao’s ear and neck. “Stay by my side forever.”
The moving train happened to let out a sharp whistle at this moment, the piercing sound covering up all the surrounding noise.
Their destination was almost on the other side of the city. By the time they arrived, there were already far fewer people in the carriage. After getting off, Jiang Zao counted the people. Fortunately, no little fool had fallen behind.
And so, he waved a hand and led everyone on foot toward the final destination—the nearby snack street.
“That’s it?”
Seeing their destination and thinking of how they had been squeezed together on the subway and then had to walk until their legs almost broke, after expending so much effort, Jiang Zao had actually brought them to such a shabby old snack street?
They were about to make trouble, but Jiang Zao remained unmoved.
“You were the ones who agreed to follow me and listen to my arrangements.” Jiang Zao brought up the three rules they had agreed on earlier. “What, regretting it now?”
Ren Hao protested, “It’s not regret. It’s just that this place is too, you know…”
“Too what?” Jiang Zao asked.
Guan Junjie was straightforward and said it directly. “Dirty and run-down! No, I mean, you’re not deliberately bringing us here because you don’t want to treat us to a meal, are you?”
These words received the approval of the others. “Exactly. This place is so dirty. Can the food even be eaten? What if we get stomachaches?”
As someone who had grown up in this area, Jiang Tong felt it was very necessary for him to defend the snack street’s reputation. He wanted to say that it only looked dirty and shabby because it was old. The food was absolutely fine to eat. But then he thought again. He was used to eating it, while these young masters and young ladies had grown up surrounded by fine clothes and food, their stomachs more precious than ordinary people’s. What kind of reaction they might have after eating it was hard to say.
While he hesitated, someone spoke before him.
“I’ve eaten here before, and there was no problem.” Rong Jingcheng endorsed the hygiene of the snack street. “Actually, it’s quite clean inside, and the shop owners are all pretty warm.”
Everyone looked at one another. When had you come here to eat?
“Don’t mind them,” Jiang Zao said. “They’re picky and fussy. If they don’t want to eat, forget it. I’m not spoiling them.”
Fang Han coughed lightly. “Since Teacher Rong has guaranteed it, it’s not like we can’t try it.”
Jiang Zao waved casually. “Try it. Try whatever you want.”
This was exactly what they had been waiting for. The others began wandering down the snack street. It was not as if they had never been to a snack street before, but they had not strolled around one often. The mode of walking and eating along a snack street was still very attractive to them. As they walked and looked around, quite a few people found themselves unable to move away from certain stalls.
“Teacher Jiang, I want to eat this. Pay for me!”
“Teacher, Teacher, hurry over and pay!”
Calls rang out one after another along the street. At first, Jiang Zao could still patiently go over and pay for them, but later, he was too lazy to do it himself anymore. He tossed his phone to Jiang Tong and had him selflessly serve his classmates.
Zhou Yuan had a wheel cake in his left hand and a skewer of meatballs in his right. As he walked, he was attracted by a certain sign. “Anyone want crayfish?”
No one could resist the temptation of crayfish. As soon as he shouted, the others also began clamoring that they wanted crayfish.
Jiang Zao saw that almost everyone was carrying food in their hands and thought that it was indeed time to find a place to sit down, eat, and drink. And so, he nodded, and the group surged into the crayfish restaurant.
The moment Zhou Yuan entered, he shouted with the arrogance of someone with deep pockets, “Boss, start with one hundred jin of cray—”
He turned around and looked pitifully at Jiang Zao, who had his arms folded. He felt a little guilty. “What?”
“One hundred jin. Can you finish that?” Jiang Zao sat down in a seat near the door.
Zhou Yuan was very confident. “How could we not finish it? There are twenty-six of us. A mere one hundred jin of crayfish is only about four jin per person. Finishing that would be easy. Don’t underestimate us too much!”
Jiang Zao nodded. “Fine. My principle is to not waste food. Since you’ve guaranteed it, even if you cry and beg me later, I’ll shove all of it into your mouth.”
Zhou Yuan saw that his expression did not seem fake and grew a little cowardly. After imagining that scene, he immediately changed his words. “Uh, not wasting food is a good thing. Why don’t we order ten jin first, and if it’s not enough, we’ll order more?”
The others went crazy. Could this guy have some backbone? Were one hundred jin and ten jin the same concept? When it arrived, were they supposed to eat the meat and shells together?
Jiang Zao was also rather speechless. His Chinese class representative’s math was truly not very good. He sighed and finally made the decision. Each table would get five jin first. The shop owner happily went off to work.
There were many of them, so once they arrived, they had basically booked out the place. Everyone chose their own seats and sat down. While waiting for the crayfish, they ate the food they had bought earlier and chatted and laughed.
For the people of Class 19, this was all a very fresh experience. It was not that they had never eaten together before, but gathering in a little street-side shop like this, several people crowded around one table, sharing the snacks they had bought, with the liveliness and smoke of human life outside on the entire street—this was still the first time.
Jiang Zao and Rong Jingcheng sat alone together. Neither of them had bought anything, but Jiang Tong had. Jiang Zao very naturally accepted his younger brother’s tribute, while Rong Jingcheng sat beside him, neither eating nor drinking, merely propping up his chin and smiling as he watched Jiang Zao eat thumb-sized pan-fried buns.
Song Jintong left her seat and came to sit across from the two of them.
“What is it?” Jiang Zao asked.
Song Jintong raised her hand, looking like an obedient student, and said, “I have a question.”
Jiang Zao glanced at her and pondered briefly. “Ask.”
Song Jintong’s smile was sly as she asked, “Teacher Jiang, Teacher Rong, did you two know each other before?”
The shop instantly fell silent. Everyone pricked up their ears to eavesdrop. They were genuinely very curious about this question. Along the way, these two had been so intimate as if no one else were there that they could barely keep watching. If someone said there was nothing going on, even a cat would not believe it.
They secretly gave Song Jintong a thumbs-up in their hearts. Sister Tong was reliable after all!
They were curious, but they did not dare ask, because this involved Rong Jingcheng. No one knew whether asking this question would get them an answer or a fallout. Unless they truly could not help it, no one wanted to step on that mine.
Song Jintong’s gaze moved between the two people in front of her. Rong Jingcheng only smiled without speaking, looking like he had no intention of answering. Jiang Zao, meanwhile, put down his chopsticks.
Jiang Zao calmly swept a glance around. The others acted calm on the surface, but the angle at which their bodies leaned this way exposed their eagerness.
“Mm.” Jiang Zao’s tone was calm, as if he were talking about something ordinary and mundane. “We knew each other in high school. He’s my senior.”
He could stay calm, but the others could not calm down after hearing it. They thought, no wonder this brat clearly did not have much of a background, yet dared to be so arrogant the moment he arrived. So his backer was Rong Jingcheng. They had really thought he was a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. Bah!
Rong Jingcheng smiled warmly and said, as if claiming credit, “Xiao Zao, you said that yourself. I obediently listened to you and didn’t reveal even one word.”
Xiao Zao?!
The others widened their eyes. This way of addressing him was way too intimate! Also, what was with that spoiled tone? Could he pay a little attention to his image?
Jiang Zao answered faintly, “Mm. I said it.”
Song Jintong had completely not expected him to admit it so honestly. It took her quite a while to recover from her daze. Her expression was first a little blank, but it quickly turned into understanding. Smiling, she said, “So you two have known each other for so long. No wonder Teacher Rong could paint you so beautifully, even better than my photo. He must have observed you carefully since a long time ago.”
“Photo?” Jiang Zao raised a brow.
Song Jintong took out her phone and flipped through it, then laid the phone flat for him to see. The photo was exactly that moment in art class when Jiang Zao had looked at Rong Jingcheng and smiled.
Now, the others could no longer hold back and all crowded over to look. After looking, they still had to click their tongues and sigh.
“This has to be fake, right? He gives us that half-dead face all the time, but he can actually smile like this?”
“Sister Tong, you really know how to capture a shot. How come I didn’t know the atmosphere back then was this gay?”
Song Jintong shook her head and sighed. “What do straight guys like you know about atmosphere? Right, Teacher Jiang?”
As if Teacher Jiang wasn’t straight. The person being criticized retorted inwardly.
Jiang Zao glanced at the photo and said without changing expression, “You really do like taking photos.” Last time Fang Han had taken one, and this time there was another.
“Just casually recording life,” Song Jintong said with a grin.
Rong Jingcheng also expressed his opinion. “It’s a good shot. Send me a copy later.”
“Sure!” Song Jintong happily accepted the order.
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