Chapter 257: Youth Is Nothing Compared to Hormones

Miss Jiang had clearly underestimated her own charm.

Even though the school anniversary had already passed three days ago, love letters still kept flooding in, finding their way into her desk drawer through all sorts of creative methods.

From seniors in their final year, about to graduate,

To freshmen who had only been at the school for a few months.

The range was astonishing.

The sheer volume was mind-boggling.

Even the heiress sitting beside her, Miss Ye, couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.

It left Miss Jiang feeling utterly helpless.

Take today, for example.

She had only stepped out for morning exercises.

By the time she got back, there was already a blue envelope sitting on her desk.

Before she could even reach for it, Little Ye had swooped in and snatched it up.

She tore it open, glanced at the name, and beamed.

“It’s from Lin Maocheng in Class 9.”

Ye Na waved the letter in the air, looking delighted.

“That makes seventeen out of seventeen classes in the second year!”

Seeing her like that, Miss Jiang rolled her eyes as she sat back down in her seat.

This girl had recently developed a new hobby.

She kept a notebook specifically for recording the names of every person who wrote a love letter to Jiang Ning. Each name got its own page, and the letter was carefully pasted underneath.

According to Little Ye,

“Tracking people’s hormonal outbursts is way more fun than tracking their youth.”

Miss Jiang had no comment on that.

She could only silently watch as the blue love letter was tucked neatly into the notebook.

As for why she was being so cautious these days…

Well, that all started with the promise she made during the school anniversary.

She remembered that night clearly.

After overcoming every obstacle to get back to the dormitory, the first thing Miss Jiang did was message Little Tao.

He replied quickly.

And he even knew about her performance that night.

Probably heard it from some old classmate.

Miss Jiang didn’t think much of it at the time.

She circled around the topic for a while, sending a few indirect messages.

Once she felt the buildup was enough, she finally said,

【I heard Ye Na’s house is super fancy. Next time she invites you over, want to check it out?】

The reply came swiftly.

【Together?】

Miss Jiang wasn’t the type to stay over at other people’s houses.

So naturally, she declined.

What she didn’t expect was for Little Tao to snap and call her crazy.

That really pissed Miss Jiang off.

She shut off her phone on the spot.

But later, she realized that turning off her phone was the easy part—explaining things to Little Ye was the real problem.

Left with no choice, Miss Jiang sheepishly turned her phone back on and sent another message.

【Let’s compromise. Just one night.】

【No.】

【Just one night!】

【Not even one night!】

And so the entire night turned into a loop of “yes” and “no.”

The next two days were no different.

To the point where, every time Ye Na asked about it during the day, Miss Jiang’s face would twitch in embarrassment.

Then at night, she’d go back and try again with the same question.

“This can’t go on…”

At noon, Miss Jiang sat leaning against the base of the phoenix tree on the sports field, holding a yellowing leaf in her hand and muttering helplessly.

Maybe she spoke too loudly, because Zhu Hui, who was sketching nearby, looked up.

“What can’t go on?”

Hearing that, the other girls who had been chatting turned their attention to Zhu Hui.

“Looks like Jiang Jiang’s got something on her mind.”

With that one sentence, Sun Qian and the others all turned to look at Jiang Ning.

“Jiang Jiang, something happen? Tell us.”

“Yeah, come on, spill it.”

At that moment, Luo Shanshan seemed to think of something.

Her eyes widened slightly, and her expression turned teasing.

“Jiang Jiang, don’t tell me it’s about a guy?”

“Shut up.”

Miss Jiang shot a glare at the lovesick cow.

Then, after a moment of thought, she gave a rough explanation of the situation.

Which, of course, earned her a round of teasing.

Miss Jiang was so annoyed she nearly tore the clothes off Luo Shanshan and Sun Qian.

In the end, it was Qi Wen who gave her a reasonable suggestion.

“Why don’t you go with me?”

Qi Wen nodded and said,

“Since you’re trying to set them up, and Tao Tao doesn’t want to go alone, if we go together, he probably won’t mind.”

Hearing that, the other girls all nodded in agreement.

Only Miss Jiang stayed silent.

Because she was considering a very serious question.

If Qi Wen came along… would she be sleeping alone? Or…

“Ew, Jiang Jiang, what are you thinking? Why are you smiling like that?”

“None of your business! You’ve never even seen your own toes, you oversized cow!”

“Ahhh! Jiang Ning!! Don’t you run! I swear I’ll smother you today!!”

——————

Shang Jie had been pretty busy lately.

Ever since that incident, the Board of Directors had reinstated her as Vice President.

Although they didn’t return ‘Emperor’s Chicken’ to her, they did put her in charge of the Business Expansion Department, which handled all new ventures and market development.

She hadn’t realized it before, but once she got involved, she discovered just how many bidding and investment projects the company had already participated in outside the city.

Not that many had succeeded.

And most were mid-sized, nothing too major.

But even so, it showed that the company had ambitions to expand beyond its current borders.

To that, Shang Jie felt both gratified and excited.

These past few days,

Aside from being busy at the company,

During her free time at home,

She was constantly studying, never letting go of her materials, recharging herself.

All for the sake of better handling her role in the business development department.

…

Tonight.

As night fell,

Shang Jie, like always, took an early shower, changed into her pajamas, and carried a cup of coffee

to sit on the living room sofa,

flipping through the latest documents of the day.

She was completely absorbed in her reading when

a sudden voice startled her.

“Stepmom, I’m back.”

Shang Jie looked up in response.

She saw Luo Chengming standing in the hallway next to the living room, holding a backpack in one hand, smiling as he greeted her.

Seeing this,

She quickly sat up.

“Oh, Chengming, you’re back?”

“Have you eaten? If not, I’ll ask Aunt Huang to make you something.”

“No need, I already ate.” Luo Chengming shook his head, politely declining her offer.

Just as she thought that would be the end of their conversation,

Luo Chengming suddenly lifted his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at her and said,

“Stepmom, the weather’s getting colder.”

“When you’re reading documents in the living room, be careful not to catch a chill.”

Catch a chill?

Shang Jie looked down at what she was wearing.

After confirming that nothing was overly revealing, she looked up again, only to see Luo Chengming already heading up the stairs.

Watching him go,

Shang Jie stood there for a long moment, puzzled.

She frowned slightly,

but didn’t say anything more.

She returned to the sofa and continued reviewing the remaining documents on the table.

Late at night.

Shang Jie sat alone on her bed,

still flipping through a stack of investment documents for Ningzhou University Town.

From the materials,

this round of investment involved seven storefronts along a commercial street within the university.

Three of them were particularly suitable for food businesses.

Whether in terms of location, rent, or foot traffic,

Shang Jie was very satisfied.

The only issue was the intense competition.

Among the contenders were leading food companies from other cities.

To stand out from such a crowded field,

Shang Jie felt that Hongsheng Group still lacked a flagship brand,

something with enough recognition to be known across the entire province.

Thinking of this,

Shang Jie couldn’t help but recall the ‘Emperor’s Chicken’ brand she had painstakingly built over the past few months.

Yet in less than a month,

it had shrunk from five stores down to just two.

The sales figures were downright dismal.

The combined revenue of the two remaining stores didn’t even match the worst-performing branch of ‘Shi Ning Ji.’

This was truly…

Shang Jie was so furious her chest ached.

She slapped it several times before the pain finally eased a little.

“Short-sighted fools,”

she muttered under her breath.

Then she got up,

planning to pour herself a glass of water to calm down.

But as she passed by the balcony in her room,

she suddenly sensed something strange.

She stopped in her tracks,

frowned,

took a few steps back, and stood in front of the balcony again.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the clothes hanging outside.

In that moment,

Shang Jie’s expression turned indescribably grim.

(End of chapter)