Chapter 100 – This Must Be True Love

When Jiang Ning and the others returned, her mom and a few others were sitting by the well in front of Uncle’s house, chatting about this and that.

As they got closer, she realized they were talking about Second Uncle’s girlfriend.

That lady—no, that auntie—was sixty-two years old and from a neighboring village.

She and Second Uncle had first met back when he was still a middle-aged man. It was during an incident in the countryside. They got to know each other, but at the time, both already had spouses, so there were no sparks.

But decades later, fate brought them back together.

After exchanging a few greetings, they found out they were both widowed. That alone opened the door for more conversation.

From there, feelings quickly developed.

And just like that, a late-in-life romance between two people thirteen years apart began.

This was the gist of what Jiang Ning picked up while sitting there for fifteen minutes, eating an orange and half a bag of sunflower seeds.

As for the part where her mom was roasting that woman—Jiang Ning ignored it.

She didn’t think the auntie had any ulterior motives toward Second Uncle.

The man had no children, no money, no power. If he had anything of value, it was an old side room that was over thirty years old, a twelve-year-old donkey, and a bicycle older than Jiang Ning herself.

What was there to go after?

Riding the donkey for fun?

Finding love on the back of a vintage bike?

So, Jiang Ning concluded…

Yeah, maybe this really was true love.

—

That afternoon

Before they left, Jiang Ning pulled her cousin aside into a quiet corner.

She reached into the inside pocket of her clothes and pulled out her pink Nokia phone.

With some effort, she removed the back cover, took out the battery, and retrieved the SIM card.

Under Tian Ting’s confused gaze, Jiang Ning reassembled the phone and stuffed it into her cousin’s hand.

“Go get your own SIM card and a charger. There’s gonna be a lot of stuff coming up—you’ll need to stay in touch. Having a phone will help.”

Tian Ting understood what her cousin meant.

She wasn’t the wishy-washy type, so after a moment’s thought, she simply nodded, pocketed the phone, and thanked her.

After sharing a few suggestions for future development, Jiang Ning set off for home.

—

On the way back, Jiang Ning leaned against the front passenger seat, listening to her mom and aunt chat while the bumpy ride shook her.

But her mind was elsewhere, turning over her next plan.

The location for the third branch still wasn’t settled.

There were currently two options:

One, the central business district’s Times Plaza.

Two, a residential area in the southern district.

The first option was downtown, with massive foot traffic—comparable to the train station.

But unlike the station, where people were in a rush and looking for something fast and cheap, downtown shoppers and workers cared more about taste and value for money.

So, that was the upside of the downtown location.

The downside? Ridiculously high rent, huge upfront costs, and fierce competition.

Just within a two-kilometer radius, there were already two CFCs and two McRonald’s.

And that didn’t even include the other restaurants and food shops.

So yeah, fierce competition—that was one of the reasons Jiang Ning couldn’t decide.

As for the residential area in the south—

Lots of people lived there, and food demand was high.

But most residents preferred eating at home.

People who bought food outside were a minority, and orders were likely to come through phone calls.

After all, if someone’s too lazy to cook, why would they go out to buy food?

So Jiang Ning figured that opening a store there would put extra pressure on the delivery team.

“If only it were fifteen years later,” she thought.

Smartphones would be everywhere, ordering food would be a breeze, stores could use auto-order systems, and orders would flood in like water…

Then again—

Those delivery platforms were kind of shady.

Maybe she should start one herself? Or invest in one while the internet economy was still struggling?

She remembered that the first delivery platforms didn’t pop up until six or seven years from now.

And right now wasn’t the right time for that kind of venture.

“Maybe after I get into college,” she thought.

And just like that, Jiang Ning, jolted by the bumps, slowly drifted off to sleep in her seat.

Seeing that she’d fallen asleep, Tian Wenhao, who was driving, cleared his throat.

The two older women in the back naturally lowered their voices.

Before they knew it, the topic shifted to the sleeping beauty in the front seat.

“Hey, sis, have you noticed? Ningning’s changed a lot these past few months,” said Tian Cuilan.

Her sister looked toward the passenger seat, watching the warm sunlight fall across that peaceful face. She nodded gently.

But she didn’t say much—just smiled and replied, “She’s grown up. More mature now.”

Tian Cuilan didn’t catch the meaning behind her sister’s smile. She just said worriedly:

“Ningning’s getting prettier by the day… I’m a little concerned—”

“You’re worried she’ll fall in love and neglect her studies? Don’t be. That girl knows what she’s doing.”

At that, her sister thought of the fried chicken shops near Jiangzhou University and the train station.

She’d visited both a few times without revealing her identity, just pretending to be a regular customer.

She bought a meal and sat there quietly, observing for a long while.

When she realized the stores’ operations were completely different from what she’d expected, she finally started to accept how unique those two kids were.

So when it came to romance, she trusted Jiang Ning to handle herself.

And if she did fall in love one day, she’d probably pick someone worth it.

But Tian Cuilan didn’t know what her sister was thinking. She kept muttering—

“Sis, I heard from a kid in the building next door that quite a few boys at school are chasing after Ningning… One of them is even the son of some high-ranking official…”

“So I’m a little worried. What if she ends up getting involved with one of them…”

Hearing this, Auntie let out a displeased snort.

“Cuilan, I won’t speak on other things, but on this point, Ningning is not like you.”

Hearing the undertone of a lesson from her older sister, Tian Cuilan wanted to argue, but the thought of Chen Zhenguo still being locked up silenced her.

For a moment, she had nothing to say.

Sensing her younger sister’s odd behavior, Auntie hesitated before asking:

“What’s wrong? Did Chen Zhenguo bully you?”

“No, no, no.”

Tian Cuilan knew her boyfriend was never popular with the family.

Even her sister—who usually treated her the best—had always had a few sharp words about Chen Zhenguo.

But things were different now.

Chen Zhenguo had already been detained for quite a few days.

And there was still no news at all.

It wasn’t just him either—those who had been detained and later released refused to speak about what happened inside.

Clearly, they had been ordered to keep quiet.

Tian Cuilan was incredibly anxious. She had made countless phone calls.

But still hadn’t gotten any useful information.

Now that her sister had brought it up,

she had no choice but to give a simple rundown of the situation.

But as soon as she mentioned something about that so-called “Yangguan Project”…

The driver in front, Tian Wenhao, suddenly cut in.

“Auntie, that thing is a scam. Don’t believe a word of it.”

“Auntie knows! Just focus on driving!” Feeling her elder’s dignity was being challenged, Tian Cuilan snapped back before turning to her sister with a pleading look.

“Big sis, when do you think Chen Zhenguo will be released?”

Hearing the question, Tian Cuixiang fell silent for a moment, then sighed and said:

“I don’t know the details of the investigation, but I have a feeling this won’t be resolved so easily.”

“After all, if it’s really as simple as you said—he just invested some money—then he should’ve been released long ago.”

“There’s no reason he’d still be inside.”

“Maybe… he really did get caught up in something bigger.”

As soon as these words landed, Tian Cuilan let out a wail and collapsed into her sister’s arms.

She began sobbing in broken gasps.

Tian Cuixiang could only slowly pat her sister’s back and quietly try to comfort her.

Hearing the sounds from the back seat,

Jiang Ning, who was sitting up front with her eyes closed, couldn’t help but sigh softly.

Mom, I just hope you won’t hate your daughter for being heartless when the time comes.

——————

The second day of the new year.

After lunch, Mom was called away by a group of her mahjong friends to go play cards.

They said it was for good luck: “If you don’t play cards during the New Year, no one will carry your coffin when you die.”

Jiang Ning found this old saying ridiculous.

But she didn’t stop her mom from indulging in it.

After all, it was a form of entertainment.

As long as it didn’t get into betting hundreds or thousands, she’d let her mom have her fun.

At 1 p.m.,

Jiang Ning went out wearing the same short down jacket and tight jeans from the day before.

Yesterday, she had given her phone to her cousin for business purposes, so now she didn’t even have a phone to use.

She couldn’t even play a game of Snake before bed.

It was driving her nuts.

So today, before visiting Teacher Du Xinrui for a New Year’s greeting and piano lesson, Jiang Ning planned to buy a new phone.

As for what brand or model,

she’d just see which stores were open.

But when Jiang Ning arrived at the street she remembered as “Cell Phone Alley” in her past life,

she was surprised to find that every store was open.

Damn.

People are grinding this hard on just the second day of the new year?

Since that was the case, for convenience’s sake, Jiang Ning walked into the first mobile store at the intersection.

As soon as she entered,

Jiang Ning unexpectedly saw a familiar figure—dressed in black, wearing a name tag—pitching something to two middle-aged men.

But judging by those men’s expressions, they seemed more interested in the girl than the phones.

They were pretending to point at the flyers in their hands, but were actually finding excuses to brush against the girl’s arm.

The sight made Jiang Ning feel strangely uncomfortable.

She stepped forward, snatched the flyer from the men, and shot them a warning glare.

Then she turned to the girl with the thick eyeliner and doll-like face, and said with a smile:

“Meng Qing, I want to buy a phone.”

“Help me pick one out.”

(End of chapterP