Chapter 189 - 187: Jiang Xia’s Philosophy

Chapter 189: Chapter 187: Jiang Xia’s Philosophy

"Old Wang, have a grape."

"No thanks, they’re sour."

"Sour? They’re quite sweet."

Wang Ming’s face twitched. ’You punk, you’re living the good life every day. Can’t you spare a thought for a single guy like me? Stop showing off, damn it!’

"Mingming, I saw you haven’t had any. Try one. Yanwan bought these grapes, they’re not sour at all," Xia Shanshan said with a smile, handing him a grape.

Wang Ming glanced at the grape, then stole a look at Lin Yanwan’s belly, which seemed to have a tiny bulge. Feeling deeply wronged, he popped the grape into his mouth, not even spitting out the skin, and swallowed it after barely chewing twice.

"Is it sweet?" Xia Shanshan asked with a wide smile.

"...Sweet," Wang Ming forced a grim smile.

"See? Come on, if it’s sweet, have some more. It’s not every day you visit Teacher Xia’s home, so don’t be a stranger. Make yourself at home."

Wang Ming: "...I know, Teacher Xia."

After finally dragging things out until five o’clock, Jiang Xia let his mom know they were leaving. The three of them then started walking toward Fenghua Hotel, which wasn’t far from home.

On the way, Wang Ming couldn’t help but ask quietly, "Old Jiang, is your girl pregnant?"

Jiang Xia: "???"

’If we’re talking about my dreams, then yeah, Lin Yanwan’s probably been pregnant dozens of times. But in reality, I haven’t even gotten to first base, let alone scored a home run.’

’Besides, based on my past life’s experience, even if we did it, it probably wouldn’t happen on the first or second try. I wouldn’t even dream of a one-shot kill. If I’m lucky, we should have one in a year or two.’

Seeing the utter astonishment in his eyes, Wang Ming instantly knew he had been overthinking things.

"Ahem, sorry. That was, uh... just a joke."

But to his surprise, Jiang Xia said very seriously, "I’ll take that as a good omen."

Wang Ming: "???"

’Damn!’

’Showing off again, goddammit! Just because you have a girlfriend!’

’Alright, fine, I really don’t have one.’

’If I’d known tonight’s teacher appreciation dinner was going to be a three-person affair, I would have just come alone. Anything’s better than being a third wheel. At this rate, I won’t even need to eat dinner later—I’m already stuffed with all this lovey-dovey crap.’

Before they knew it, the three of them arrived at the entrance of Fenghua Hotel. It was still about forty minutes before the agreed-upon time of 6 p.m., and quite a few students were standing around by the road, chatting in twos and threes. Some were from their class, others from different classes.

When these three arrived, many people instinctively turned to look at them.

Firstly, Lin Yanwan was the universally acknowledged goddess of their entire grade. Secondly, both of their test scores were always among the top in every monthly exam. And thirdly, Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan were holding hands—this most famous "power couple" of the grade was indeed the envy of many.

People who knew them greeted Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan, and they both responded with a smile. However, when asked about their college entrance exam scores and university admissions, the two just vaguely said they did "as expected."

After all, from his reincarnated perspective, showing off his scores to his classmates wasn’t anything to be proud of. He was long past the age of flaunting his achievements.

’What’s the big deal about getting high scores? Being able to make money is what truly matters.’

And as a reincarnated person, he had foresight. Even if he got into a third-rate university, he was confident he could still make a name for himself in this life. His mindset was simply different from others’.

Wang Ming, on the other hand, walked over to a group of guys talking about video games. After some relentless questioning, he sheepishly revealed that he had received an admission letter from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, causing an uproar.

You had to understand, for an art student, even after passing the art exam, getting into a popular major at the Central Academy of Fine Arts required a cultural studies score of around 600. That was much more impressive than what was required for them as liberal arts majors.

Instantly, an endless stream of compliments and envious remarks filled the air. When someone asked about Lin Yanwan and Jiang Xia’s scores, Wang Ming’s breath hitched, and he said helplessly, "Actually, I don’t know either. They didn’t tell me."

Wang Ming knew the deal, though. On the way over, Jiang Xia had told him not to reveal their scores even if someone asked. He just wanted to have a low-key farewell dinner, and then everyone would go their separate ways.

Snapping back to reality, he heard the classmates around him start talking about games again, no longer even trying to include him in the conversation. It was then that he gradually began to understand what Jiang Xia had meant.

His peers were still playing video games and worrying about their uncertain futures, while he had already officially started working and had even produced a beloved animation like *Cat and Mouse*. His future was, by all accounts, incredibly bright.

’What was that saying again?’

’A gap between people always forms when you least expect it.’

’Compared to Jiang Xia, he was too childish. Compared to these guys, he was too mature.’

With no more topics in common, there was naturally no need to continue the conversation. He found a random excuse to slip away and returned to Jiang Xia’s side. Only then did that strange, out-of-place feeling finally disappear.

"So, how does it feel to show off?" Jiang Xia asked with a grin.

Wang Ming said awkwardly, "Not as great as I imagined."

"Hahaha, feeling a bit out of place, aren’t you? You found that besides the initial pleasantries, you don’t have the same common ground you used to," Jiang Xia said.

"Yeah, how’d you know..."

Jiang Xia patted his shoulder and said, "It’s perfectly normal. It’s because your perspective on things has changed. You’re working every day—you probably even dream about *Cat and Mouse*. They play games every day, so that’s what they talk about. You’re not in the same circle anymore. It’d be ridiculous if you still had a lot in common."

"Old Wang, in the future, your world won’t be this tiny patch of sky. It’ll be huge... the whole world!"

Jiang Xia smiled and continued, "I’m not saying this to make you distance yourself from your classmates. I just want you to understand that human relationships are complicated. Don’t force yourself into a circle you don’t fit into. This is especially true when making friends—the purest and most sincere friendships are the ones that don’t involve any money or fame."

Wang Ming nodded, carefully mulling over Jiang Xia’s words.

’He’s right, it really does make a lot of sense.’

’Everyone else is a failure, and he’s the only one who got a high score. He’s bound to be subtly ostracized.’

’By the same token, he’s busy working himself to death every day. When he sees other people playing video games, he just feels like they’re wasting time. Even when he wants to chat, he finds they have nothing in common.’

And this was also the reason why Jiang Xia rarely interacted with others after his rebirth. As someone in his thirties, it was hard for him to chat with a bunch of naive kids. In fact, he found it incredibly awkward.

Just think about it. These high school students were either talking about video games or girls. Their occasional boasts sounded so childish. Some of their ideas were too idealistic, others made no sense at all. Listening to it was just frustrating. You want to argue, but at their age, they wouldn’t listen anyway. Better to just not listen at all.

’With this time, wouldn’t it be better to think about my future plans or draw a few more storyboards?’

Just then, Lin Yanwan looked across the street and said suddenly, "Yingying’s here."