Chapter 88: Happy Birthday, Jiang Ning

December 24th.

Christmas Eve.

Sunday.

Temperature: -6°C to 6°C…

Overcast turning to light snow.

North-northwest wind, level 4 to 6.

Jiang Ning got up early.

As soon as her mom left the house, she followed right after.

The moment she stepped outside,

a piercing cold wind hit her.

The gloomy sky and near-freezing temperature made Jiang Ning cry out, “So cold!”

She hurried to put on a mask and gloves.

But as she was getting dressed, she noticed her fingers trembling slightly—almost involuntarily.

Was it because she practiced too hard on the piano at Du Xinrui’s place yesterday?

Speaking of that, Jiang Ning really wanted to slap herself.

Why did she show off?

Now she had to spend an hour regularly at Du Xinrui’s just to practice piano.

Granted, she didn’t think learning piano was a bad thing.

It could even help her with selling songs in the future.

But she was just too busy right now.

Her school workload was getting heavier by the day, and after class, she still had to stop by both of her shops more frequently.

Sometimes someone would call in sick or something urgent would come up—she had to fill in on short notice.

And now?

She had added this damned piano-learning task to her list.

Wasn’t she just torturing herself?

Screw it.

It’s just time. I’ll find a way to squeeze it in.

After all, with a chest that big, she had to be strong enough.

And so—

Jiang Ning left the house.

Even though she did her best with layering up,

Southern winters had a special kind of damp chill that cut straight through her down jacket.

By the time she arrived at the Jiangzhou University store, her body was already feeling stiff.

Luckily, the store had the heater on.

The warm air made her let out a breath of relief.

Finally back to life.

Just then—

Tian Wenhao and a young guy wheeled out a big box from the storeroom.

When they saw Jiang Ning, they waved.

“Ning Ning, come help me count these.”

“I’m gonna rearrange the store a bit.”

“Okay.” Jiang Ning replied, quickly taking off her scarf and mask. She crouched in front of the big box opposite the young guy.

While pulling out the plush toys and counting them, she asked in a half-bored tone:

“Your name’s Qin Yang, right? How old are you this year?”

“T-Twenty-one…”

“Huh, sophomore? Junior?”

“Sophomore…”

“Sophomore? You started school late? Tsk tsk. Do you have a girlfriend? Want us to help you find one here in the shop?”

At that—

The young man mumbled and went completely silent.

He just lowered his head and focused on his work.

Jiang Ning pouted, slightly disappointed, and sped up her counting.

Before long—

Once the two of them finished inventorying the toys, some customers had already come in for fried chicken.

Seeing this—

Jiang Ning quickly told the guy to push the box aside. She headed to the changing room, switched into her uniform, and went to the back to help Li Yan and the others.

Li Yan was a talkative big sis type.

Since the shop wasn’t too busy yet, she started chatting with Jiang Ning.

“Jiang Ning, how’s First High School?”

“Not great. Fights, smoking, dating—it’s got it all.”

“No way, isn’t that one of the top high schools in Jiangzhou?”

“Exactly! That’s why I was joking.”

Hearing Jiang Ning tease her, Li Yan couldn’t help but raise the clipboard in her hand.

“You little brat.”

“Daring to lie to your big sis.”

Jiang Ning just laughed it off and handed her a freshly fried chicken cutlet, sliding it into the warm holding case in front of Li Yan.

“Here, sis. Just for you.”

Li Yan rolled her eyes in response.

Right then—

Wang Ting, the cashier up front, suddenly called to the kitchen:

“Jiang Ning, someone’s here for you~”

Huh?

For me?

Jiang Ning put down her tongs in confusion and walked out of the kitchen. When she looked up, a big smile instantly spread across her face.

“Mingyu-jie! What wind blew you here?”

“Northwest wind?”

Li Mingyu was already immune to Jiang Ning’s teasing.

She simply curled a finger at her.

“Come out for a sec. I’ve got something to tell you.”

Something to say?

Could it be something about Liao Liao?

Jiang Ning blinked, then quickly slipped out from the back and walked over to Li Mingyu.

“Let’s go to my car. Too many ears in here.”

“Alright.”

A short while later—

When Jiang Ning sat in the passenger seat, the elegant young woman in the driver’s seat suddenly handed over two boxes.

“Tomorrow’s your birthday. Happy early birthday.”

Birthday?

Oh right.

Tomorrow was Christmas.

Jiang Ning’s birthday was Christmas.

But in her past life, that old man’s habit of not celebrating birthdays had rubbed off on her, and she’d subconsciously started ignoring her own birthday too.

Now that Li Mingyu brought it up so suddenly, she felt a bit dazed.

“Thanks.”

Jiang Ning took the two boxes—

One large, one small.

Both beautifully wrapped.

“These…?”

“One’s from me, one’s from Liao Liao.”

No wonder there were two boxes.

At that moment, Li Mingyu suddenly leaned back in her seat, arms crossed, smiling playfully.

“Guess which one’s from me, and which one’s from Liao Liao.”

Seriously? How old are you?

Jiang Ning gave her an exasperated side-eye and hugged both boxes close.

Then—

Li Mingyu finally got to the point of why she came.

Turns out Xinglan Plaza had actually halted construction.

The reason?

A massive tomb from the Han dynasty had been discovered directly beneath the main structure—belonging to a prince, apparently a younger brother of the emperor at the time.

With that confirmation,the tomb immediately became a site of major archaeological interest.

And so—Xinglan Plaza was now caught up in a construction freeze.

Although the local government wanted to resume the project,under the pressure from the provincial archaeology bureau, they had no choice but to comply.

Of course. This news hadn’t been made public yet, but Li Mingyu, being a family member of someone in the compound, had naturally gotten wind of it earlier than most outsiders.

At this moment, when Li Mingyu looked at Miss Jiang, her eyes were already full of curiosity and admiration.

“Jiang Xiaoning, were you not optimistic about ‘Xinglan Plaza’ back then because you already knew something in advance?”

“Knew what? That there was a crown prince buried underneath it?”

Jiang Ning retorted grumpily:

“If I knew something like that, odds are I’d have been recruited by the archaeology departments of Tsinghua or Peking University.”

“I wouldn’t be here opening some shop.”

As she said that, Li Mingyu suddenly reached out and gave Old Man Jiang’s cheek a pinch.

“Honestly, if you were willing, Haixi or Beijing Film Academy would’ve gladly pre-enrolled you.”

“No thanks, being a boss is my lifelong dream!” Talking about opening a shop and making money made Jiang Ning’s eyes sparkle with excitement.

Afterward—

Once she saw the mature Li lady drive off in her red BMW and disappear from view, she returned to the shop.

Jiang Ning unwrapped the two gifts.

The larger one was a branded perfume, apparently from some foreign brand.

Jiang Ning wasn’t well-versed in these things, so she didn’t recognize it.

As for the smaller one—

When she opened it, she was momentarily stunned.

A second later, when she recognized the letters on it, her hand nearly trembled, and she almost tossed the thing away.

Damn.

Omega, Constellation series women’s watch.

Price tag: over 20,000 yuan.

That little vixen Liao Liao really went all out, huh?

Jiang Ning thought for a moment and still decided to put the watch away.

After all, she was just a high school freshman from an average family.

If she wore something like that to school, who knows what kind of gossip might stir up later.

Still, she was truly grateful to those two elegant older women.

At the very least—they knew, and remembered, her birthday.

And that was enough.

However—

It wasn’t until the next day that Jiang Ning realized—

They weren’t the only ones who remembered her birthday…

————————

The next day.

“According to the weather station, at 2 a.m. on December 25, 2000, a blue cold wave warning was issued. The city’s lowest temperature will drop by 9–12°C, accompanied by strong winds of force 7 to 8.”

“In addition, starting the morning of the 25th, some areas in Jiangzhou, Runzhou, Suizhou, and Ningzhou will experience snowfall. Some areas may see heavy snow, and localized blizzards. Please take precautions!”

Early morning.

While eating breakfast, Jiang Ning heard the cold wave and snowfall warning from the radio.

She immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks, full of anticipation as she walked to the window.

But outside—it was just dull and gray. Not a single snowflake in sight.

This left her thoroughly disappointed, and she sat back down with a sigh.

At that moment—

Her mom walked out of the room, holding two thick pieces of clothing in her hands, which she placed on the chair.

“Put on this fleece top and fleece pants before going to school.”

“So ugly.”

Jiang Ning frowned with disdain.

Immediately after, her mom knocked her on the head.

“What’s more important—your health or your looks?!”

“And it’s your ‘minor birthday’ today! You can’t catch a cold!”

“Ningning! You hear me?!”

“Okay, okay.” Jiang Ning finished eating, grabbed the fleece outfit, and went into her room.

Two minutes later—

Miss Jiang patted her now bulky self.

Not gonna lie—it was actually pretty warm.

Then—

She slung on her backpack and left home under her mother’s nagging.

As soon as she stepped out—

A scruffy little gray mutt came wobbling and stumbling toward her.

Startled, Jiang Ning nearly braked too hard on her bike.

“Screeech—”

The bike wheels stopped just twenty or thirty centimeters in front of the little mutt’s head.

“Awwooo~ awooo~”

The little dog, startled, barked indignantly at her.

But it was so young that even its barks sounded soft and cute.

Jiang Ning’s heart softened a little hearing that.

She parked her bike.

Got off.

Reached out and pinched the mutt by the scruff of its neck.

And gently set it down in the stairwell nearby.

At that moment—Jiang Ning noticed a white patch on the dog’s forehead.

Her thoughts suddenly drifted to her previous life.

If she remembered correctly—This dog belonged to an old lady living in the building next door.

Its name was “Wangwang” (Woof-Woof).

Don’t be fooled by how adorable it looked as a pup—once it grew up, it was vicious as hell.

In her past life, Jiang Ning had even been bitten by it.

Hurt like hell.

Cost her nearly two thousand yuan for hospital visits and two shots.

Just thinking about it pissed her off.

Jiang Ning couldn’t resist flicking the dog hard between the legs.

The pain made the mutt whimper and squirm in protest.

Heh.

Felt kinda satisfying.

Miss Jiang gave a few smug hums, ditched the mutt, and continued on her way to school.

Along the way—The cold wind howled.

There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets so early in the morning.

But students like Jiang Ning were out in droves.

Each one rushing along, looking like they were heading to a funeral.

Truthfully, Jiang Ning wasn’t feeling much better herself. Only difference was she had a mask on, so the cold didn’t hit her face.

After a while—Little Jiang, all stiff from the cold, pushed her bike into the school’s garage.

She tried to move her limbs a bit, thinking—Maybe she should just buy a car.

But then she remembered—she wasn’t even of age yet, couldn’t even get a license.

That thought made her mood as gloomy and frigid as the ninth day of the lunar calendar.

Back in the classroom—She had just sat down. The seat hadn’t even warmed up yet—When Luo Shanshan grinned and handed her a stack of greeting cards.

Looking at the colorful pile—Even though Jiang Ning had mentally prepared herself, she was still startled by the sheer number.

A whole stack.

Luo Shanshan had to cradle it in both hands.

A quick glance—easily twenty or thirty cards.

“All from our class?” Jiang Ning asked stiffly.

Upon hearing that—Big Shanshan shook her head.

“All from other classes. Our class is waiting for you to show up before giving you theirs.”

…Fair enough.

Jiang Ning sighed, took the cards from Shanshan’s arms.

Wanted to cop a feel while she was at it—but winter clothes were too thick. She felt nothing.

Later—It turned out Shanshan was right.

The classmates in the class began exchanging greeting cards among themselves.

In just one morning, Jiang Ning had already received over a dozen more cards, stuffing her drawer to the brim.

But the thing about greeting cards—once you receive them, you’re expected to return the favor.

If it was people from other classes she didn’t know, it might’ve been fine to skip it. But when it came to her own class, she had to at least write a few nice lines and offer some well-wishes.

So after lunch, Jiang Ning dragged Qi Wen and Luo Shanshan along with her to the school shop and bought nearly fifty greeting cards—some big, some small, and in all kinds of designs.

The three of them had to exert quite a bit of effort just to carry all those cards back to class.

However, when Jiang Ning once again turned her hopeful eyes toward her beloved “concubines” for help…

Without exception, they all rejected her.

They claimed that greeting cards only held meaning if written by hand. If you got someone else to write them, what was the difference from just buying one pre-made?

Well… fine.

She’d write them herself.

It’s just a bunch of cards, right?

But after writing just over a dozen, Jiang Ning found herself running out of words.

No matter how she tried, she couldn’t come up with any fresh phrases.

Left with no choice, she pulled out the cards others had given her from her drawer and flipped through them one by one.

Switch the subject and predicate here and there—

Heh.

Boom. New cards ready to go.

She was in the middle of enjoying her cleverness when suddenly—

Someone shouted:

“It’s snowing!”

At that one cry, every student in class turned their eyes toward the windows.

From the overcast sky, a few specks of white had started to fall.

Jiang Ning, whose seat was right by the window, immediately got up, cracked the window open a little, and stretched her hand outside.

Snowflakes, each the size of a fingernail, silently landed in her palm and slowly melted into water.

Then, the snowflakes began to grow larger before their very eyes.

In just a minute or two, thick snowflakes like goose feathers began falling, dancing and swirling through the air, weaving a curtain of white that painted the world in a pure hue.

Maybe it was because it had been snowing when Jiang Ning was born, but she really loved the snow.

How much did she love it?

Back in her past life, she once made a snowball with her own hands and stored it in the fridge at home—just so she could take it out from time to time to touch it, look at it.

Until it completely melted away.

And now, this was the first snowfall of her current life.

So she was thinking, maybe she should do something memorable this time too.

But just then—Luo Shanshan’s voice came from behind her.

“Jiang Jiang, someone’s here to see you.”

Who?

Don’t they know this old man is busy watching snow?

Jiang Ning turned around impatiently—only to see Yao Yao, dressed in a bright blue long down jacket, standing at the door of the classroom holding a gift bag, peeking inside.

Oh?

Sticky Rice Mochi?

What’s she doing here?

Coming to give her a greeting card?

As Jiang Ning pondered this possibility, she casually scribbled three names on three blank, unsigned cards.

But when Yao Yao handed over the bag and said “Happy birthday”—Jiang Ning suddenly felt like those cards in her hand weren’t appropriate to give away anymore.

Thankfully, Yao Yao didn’t seem to mind. Her soft, gentle demeanor made Jiang Ning genuinely happy.

Then, as Yao Yao left, Xia Zhi popped up from who-knows-where.

He handed her two more bags and also said, “Happy birthday.”

???

Was her personal information being passed around like public news or something?

Feeling a bit miffed, Jiang Ning shoved two cards at the tomboy to send her away too.

Then, carrying her growing pile of gifts, she returned to her seat.

The moment she sat down, Luo Shanshan leaned in.

“Jiang Jiang, we actually prepared a birthday gift for you too.”

Hearing that, Jiang Ning suddenly remembered—Luo Shanshan had been her classmate since junior high.

There was no way she’d be able to hide her birthday from this big cowgirl.

“What kind of gift?”

Instead of opening the ones from Yao Yao and Xia Zhi, Jiang Ning turned and scanned the group, eyeing Sun Qian, Luo Shanshan, and Zhu Hui—all of whom were grinning mischievously.

She suddenly had a very bad feeling.

And sure enough—Later that night, when Jiang Ning was lying in bed alone and opened the gift from those four girls—

She was completely stunned.

—

(End of chapter)