Upon hearing this, Lu Xing stood up immediately and pointed accusingly at Jiang Han.
"You did this on purpose, knowing full well that our spot is the coldest."
Lu Xing had long since reached his limit with the biting cold draft constantly pouring in over the past few days.
He had thought they would finally get to enjoy the air conditioning, only to have Jiang Han cut in and steal it.
Jiang Han crossed his arms. "Where I choose to install it is none of your business! If you've got the guts, buy one yourself with your own money!"
Lu Xing came from an ordinary family, and he was far too stingy to shell out thousands of yuan for something, let alone for public use.
"Jiang Han, I can see you're just pure malicious," he argued self-righteously. "You see that the students in our area get good grades, and you want us to freeze so we can't study properly and our grades will drop!"
Jiang Han nodded hurriedly.
"Right, right, exactly. I just don't want you blowing the AC, and the sight of you makes me so sick I lose my appetite."
With that, he cast his gaze around at the surrounding students, preparing to redirect the fire.
"Pardon me, but I genuinely have bad blood with Lu Xing. If he were willing to properly play the part of a grandson to me, then I might just be willing to let you all enjoy the AC."
"If you want to blame someone, blame Lu Xing."
Jiang Han's spark was planted so craftily that the resentful glares from those few students were sharp enough to poke holes through Lu Xing.
"It's all your fault, Lu Xing! If you hadn't constantly gone up against Jiang Han all this time, we'd be enjoying the AC right now too."
"You've completely dragged us down to our deaths."
For a group to maintain good relations, everyone needs to be able to benefit.
Now that these few people couldn't reap any benefits following Lu Xing, they naturally harbored resentment.
Jiang Han couldn't be bothered to spare them another glance.
He was certain that starting today, Lu Xing would become increasingly isolated by the small clique.
Another ten minutes or so passed before the technician finally finished installing the air conditioner.
Warm air began to flow out, and An Yangning felt a cozy warmth wash over her entire body.
Yet her heart felt anything but warm.
She took out her phone and, for the first time in her life, posted a Moments update.
A picture of a crying frog.
The caption read: "Why won't he call me baby anymore?"
Little did she know what a massive stir a simple Moments post would cause.
The first person to scroll past the post was Jiang Han.
He happened to be browsing Moments at that moment.
Having recently come into some money, he was starting to indulge the idea of buying a pair of basketball sneakers.
Catching sight of An Yangning's post by chance, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"What do you mean 'why won't he call me baby anymore'?" Jiang Han fell into deep thought.
Then he recalled calling her Student An earlier that afternoon and couldn't help laughing out loud.
So it was because of that.
It was rare to see this insecure, fretful side of An Yangning.
However, he had no intention of going to coax her right now—not unless she promised not to lock the door tonight.
What couple locks their bedroom door from the inside at night anyway? Did she take him for some kind of scoundrel?!
"Brother Jiang, why's your expression so weird?"
Seeing Jiang Han scrolling through his phone with the corners of his mouth suddenly curving up into a smile that was harder to suppress than an AK, Zhuang Yongzhi couldn't help his curiosity bubbling up.
"What's weird about me? Don't I look like this every day?" Jiang Han reined in his expression.
Zhuang Yongzhi said inquisitively, "I have a feeling your expression looks just like you're flirting with a girl."
At that remark, Cheng Feiyang and Sun Deming curiously crowded around as well.
"Yeah, something's off. Jiang Han, you've been swinging back and forth between happy and angry lately—your emotions are way too unstable."
The three of them scrutinized Jiang Han, their gazes sweeping back and forth like laser radar.
"Fuck! Will you motherfuckers stop staring at me!!" Jiang Han felt goosebumps rising all over from their looks.
Zhuang Yongzhi laid down the verdict.
"Jiang Han is dating, absolutely no doubt about it. That expression of his is identical to the one I have when I'm chasing girls."
Jiang Han let out an "oh" and said, "If I really were dating, wouldn't you guys cry your eyes out? After all, the girlfriend I find has gotta be a fairy."
Upon hearing this, the three of them instantly lost their curiosity.
When other people got taken off the single market, why should a pack of single dogs like them get all excited?
At that moment, Jiang Han remembered what he had tried to teach Zhuang Yongzhi last time.
"Young Master Zhuang, have you been pursuing any new girls lately?"
Zhuang Yongzhi's expression shifted, and he covered his face with coquettish shyness.
"How can you ask such blind questions? This is this one's privacy."
Jiang Han was thoroughly disgusted by him.
"Privacy my ass. Spill it out and let the brothers have a good laugh."
Zhuang Yongzhi shook his head, looking rather petty as he replied, "No way, I can't expose who she is. What if you guys try to steal her from me?"
Jiang Han gave him a side-eye.
"As if I'd ever set my sights on a girl you fancy."
Sun Deming let out a silly chuckle. "Brother Jiang, with a single sentence you managed to insult two people."
"Looks like we'll have to resort to a forced confession today." Jiang Han suddenly thought of a trick.
He stood up and hollered to the boys in the classroom, "Brothers, we've got work to do!"
A bunch of boys immediately caught Jiang Han's drift, flashing wicked smiles at Zhuang Yongzhi.
"Little Zhuang, it's your turn today..."
Sensing a chill in the air, Zhuang Yongzhi couldn't help swallowing hard.
A minute later, he let out a harrowing, miserable scream.
"Brothers, spare me, please!!!"
With that, Jiang Han directed a pack of boys who swarmed forward and hoisted Zhuang Yongzhi out of the classroom by his limbs.
The crowd of troublemakers rampaged all the way to the stairwell.
"Pole-riding" was their absolute favorite recreational boy activity.
As they passed other classrooms, they were trailed by another pack of boys looking to gawk at the excitement.
Aiming Zhuang Yongzhi's crotch squarely at the handrail, they excitedly asked Jiang Han, "Brother Jiang, what interrogation topic are we prepping for today?"
Jiang Han smiled amiably. "Ask him which girl he's been chasing lately."
The boys roared with laughter as they pressed Zhuang Yongzhi, "Young Master Zhuang, aren't you going to spill your secret already?"
Unwilling to be subjected to the "pole-riding," Zhuang Yongzhi hastily begged for mercy.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Take me down first."
To his surprise, Jiang Han hit him with a huge plot twist.
"Too late, boys, give him the pole!"
"Aahhh!! Jiang the Sixth, I'm going to kill you later!!"
A few minutes later, Zhuang Yongzhi was clutching his crotch—which had nearly been rubbed raw enough to spark a fire—as he said with a heartbroken, grief-stricken expression to the crowd, "You bunch of animals, how am I supposed to go home with a hole right here in my pants?"
"Hhahahaha..." Only ruthless mockery answered him.
Clutching his legs together, Zhuang Yongzhi hurried back to the classroom, happening to pass right by Lin Qianxia and her clique of girls.
Ever since they had grown accustomed to bold teasing, they burst into simpering giggles at his disheveled plight.
"Zhuang Yongzhi, did you break your third leg or something? Hahahaha..."
Covering his face, Zhuang Yongzhi scurried back to his seat.
As a real man, he refused to stoop to the level of these silly girls.
Seeing Zhuang Yongzhi return, Jiang Han patted him on the shoulder. "Well? Have you surrendered or not?"
With a miserable expression, Zhuang Yongzhi nodded. "I surrender, I'll confess everything."
"The girl I like right now is named Lin Muxue. She's two years older than me and she's in college."
Speaking of the girl he fancied, Zhuang Yongzhi's wheat-colored cheeks flushed red.
"Her figure is seriously amazing. Should I show you guys a picture?"
With that, he tapped open a photo in his album and said with a fiercely protective, treasure-like expression, "I never could've imagined I'd run into a girl with a figure this good..."
Jiang Han glanced at the photo. It was taken in a dimly lit stairwell; the girl had a tall, relatively slender figure.
However, her face was completely obscured throughout the entire picture.
Jiang Han's heart skipped a beat.
"So, have you ever met her in person?"
Zhuang Yongzhi shook his head with an embarrassed expression.
"Never met in person. We're planning to meet face-to-face in the flesh this week!"