Chapter 103 – Teacher Du, I Have an Idea

Jiang Ning really hadn’t expected it.

Tang Tu and Du Xinrui were actually relatives.

And not just distant ones—they seemed quite close.

No wonder Du Xinrui knew a few things about Orange Music.

Thinking that, Jiang Ning shot a glare at the twin-tailed girl lounging on the sofa, munching on a banana.

Feeling that “I’m-gonna-stab-you” look, Tang Tu chuckled and flicked her twin tails like it was no big deal.

“Little Jiang Ning, how’s piano practice going?”

“Getting comfortable with both-hand coordination?”

“Want your big sis teach you a few tricks?”

Tricks?

Ha.

Calling her “darling” while singing, and now switching to “little Jiang Ning” when it’s piano practice?

Tch!

Scumbag!

Jiang Ning didn’t want to bother with her at all and just rolled her eyes dramatically.

At that moment—Du Xinrui came out of the room.

She was wearing a dark red velvet silk nightgown, the plunging neckline leaving a lot to the imagination.

“Teacher Du! Happy New Year!”

“Wishing you prosperity year after year!”

The money-minded Jiang Ning jumped up, trotting over to Du Xinrui with festive words and hopeful eyes.

Seeing that look of longing in Jiang Ning’s eyes, Du Xinrui gave a helpless smile and pulled out a large red envelope from her pocket, holding it teasingly.

“Jiang Ning, are you eyeing a red envelope?”

Jiang Ning nodded rapidly.

“Then you need to master cross-finger and stretch-finger techniques today.”

The moment she heard that, Jiang Ning’s face twisted.

Cross-finger means moving the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th finger over the 1st to play keys earlier in the sequence.

Stretch-finger means laterally spreading the fingers so the span between two fingers exceeds the sum of fingers between them.

Individually, these techniques weren’t too difficult—it was all about following instructions.

But once integrated into a song…

That was a whole different level.

Especially for someone like Jiang Ning, who hadn’t really played piano before.

These “basic” techniques were total torture.

Still—She was already committed to learning, and Jiang Ning wasn’t the type to back down.

Just two techniques, right?

With a defiant raise of her brow, Jiang Ning snatched the red envelope out of Du Xinrui’s hand and gave a little snort.

“No problem!”

Thirty minutes later…

Du Xinrui walked out of the piano room, gently closed the door, and made her way to the living room.

“Aunt Hu, go slice up some melon and bring it to the piano room.”

“Okay.”

Once Aunt Hu left, Du Xinrui turned her gaze to the girl on the couch wearing headphones, clearly vibing to music.

She walked over and plucked the headphones off her niece.

“Tangtang, about the thing I asked you to look into—what’s the update?”

Tang Tu sighed.

“Auntie, it’s not that I don’t want to help…”

“But 800,000 is just… way too much…”

“Eight hundred thousand…”

“That’s not 80k, you know?”

“My dad’s small company busts its butt for a whole year just to earn five or six hundred thousand…”

Du Xinrui also sighed.

“I really have no choice. Just the two-year tuition for a graduate program at Berklee College of Music is $35,000.”

Tang Tu blinked. “Did you think about taking out a bank loan?”

Du Xinrui shook her head. “I can’t bear to.”

Tang Tu understood—her aunt didn’t want the bank to take away their family heirlooms or collectibles as collateral.

If they did a full-house mortgage and even one or two items went missing or got damaged… there’d be no way to recover them.

Just as the living room was falling into a heavy silence—A curious voice suddenly cut in.

“Teacher Du, are you going abroad?”

Both Tang Tu and Du Xinrui turned toward the voice.

There stood Jiang Ning, openly and curiously peeking from the hallway.

Seeing her, Du Xinrui paused briefly before nodding. She stood and gestured for Jiang Ning to come sit.

“Yes, I’m going overseas for further study.”

“Further study? At what school?” Jiang Ning asked as she sat next to Tang Tu.

Du Xinrui gave a simple explanation of her situation.

When Jiang Ning heard that Du Xinrui had been accepted by Berklee College of Music, she was stunned—and then immediately offered sincere congratulations.

Even someone like her, who didn’t care much about foreign schools, knew how prestigious Berklee was.

But prestige came with a price—literally.

Now it made sense why Du Xinrui was thinking of selling the house.

But such a nice house… wasn’t it a shame to let it go?

Jiang Ning had originally wanted to talk her out of it, but the words changed at the last second into—“When are you leaving?”

Sensing the subtext, Du Xinrui smiled gently.

“Don’t worry, not for another three months at the earliest.”

“I’ll use that time to help you build a solid piano foundation.”

“That way, I can leave with peace of mind.”

She didn’t mention the song again—clearly, she no longer intended to pursue that agreement.

But Jiang Ning was someone who kept her promises.

You don’t have to bring it up again—but that doesn’t mean I can just forget it.

“Teacher Du, don’t worry. I’ll have that song finished and produced before you leave,” Jiang Ning promised solemnly.

Hearing that, Du Xinrui smiled warmly.

At that moment—Tang Tu suddenly asked:

“Little Jiang Ning, did Top Entertainment send you the first installment of the album royalties?”

She’d been involved with the contract back then, so Jiang Ning wasn’t surprised she knew about the payment.

But she was confused why it was coming up now.

She nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“Did you get 300,000?”

Seeing the look in Tang Tu’s eyes, Jiang Ning was utterly baffled.

Before the New Year, Top Entertainment had indeed transferred her some money.

She hadn’t really paid attention to the exact amount—Because at the time, Jiang Ning already had several hundred thousand in her account.

And that was after subtracting necessary investment expenses.

Adding in the money from Top Entertainment,

It was estimated that Lady Jiang probably had over a million in cash sitting in her account by now.

But if you looked at just the money from Top Entertainment, it was probably only around two or three hundred thousand.

So, Jiang Ning nodded and asked:

“What’s up?”

Tang Tu didn’t answer right away. Instead, she began counting on her fingers:

“The first dividend was 300,000. According to standard entertainment company practices, there should be another dividend after the New Year.”

“That second one shouldn’t be any less than the first.”

“Then in another two months, there’s another settlement…”

“And with the money from selling songs earlier, that’s at least another two or three hundred thousand…”

As she kept calculating, Tang Tu suddenly looked up at Jiang Ning, narrowed her eyes, and smiled brightly:

“Little rich lady…”

“What do you think of this house?”

House?

Money?

Jiang Ning suddenly turned her head to look at Du Xinrui, who was standing behind the sofa.

When she saw the somewhat expectant look in the latter’s eyes,

She was a little stunned and stammered:

“T-Teacher Du, don’t tell me you’re thinking…”

“But I’m still underage. I can’t sign a property transfer contract…”

“When’s your birthday?”

“December…” Jiang Ning turned and looked at Tang Tu as she said this.

Upon hearing that, Tang Tu helplessly waved her hand.

And Jiang Ning also saw the trace of resignation in Du Xinrui’s eyes.

The living room fell silent.

For a long while.

Du Xinrui finally sighed and said to Tang Tu:

“If it really doesn’t work, then we’ll just have to mortgage the house first. We can figure out the rest later when there’s time…”

“When there’s time later…”

That phrase usually implied at least a few years.

If Du Xinrui came back a few years later, the price of this house would probably have skyrocketed.

At that time, if she wanted to buy a similar place again,

It likely wouldn’t be something a few hundred thousand could cover.

At that moment—Jiang Ning’s previously extinguished desire to buy a house suddenly reignited and surged.

She glanced around the spacious living room—Crystal chandeliers, oil paintings, rosewood furniture, warm-toned marble flooring…

Everything screamed luxury.

If she could live here…

Jiang Ning’s heart skipped a beat.

She blinked, turned back, and smiled brightly at Du Xinrui.

“Teacher Du, I have an idea…”

“Hm?”

As soon as they heard Miss Jiang say she had an idea, both Du Xinrui and Tang Tu immediately turned their attention to her.

Then—Jiang Ning spoke.

“Have you heard of rent-to-own agreements?”

“We could sign a rent-to-own contract.”

“I can rent your house, Teacher Du, for 100,000 yuan per month. Then after my birthday, we can convert the rental agreement into a purchase contract.”

Rent-to-own?

Neither of the two women present were fools.

After hearing the simple explanation, they immediately exchanged a look.

“100,000 a month… and Berklee’s semester starts in May.”

“That’s three months—300,000. Auntie, that’s more than enough to cover your first semester tuition!”

Tang Tu didn’t care about the house part. In her eyes, as long as it covered the tuition, that was enough.

But Du Xinrui was different.

As the homeowner, she clearly knew that if they went with Jiang Ning’s rent-then-buy plan, there would still be ten months until December.

100,000 per month—that’s a million in total.

But the house itself was only worth about 500,000. Add in the antiques and furniture, and the total value would cap at around 800,000.

A million would be overpaying, and Du Xinrui didn’t want to take advantage of her student.

But if she didn’t agree, the tuition would be a problem.

After all, if she had other options, she wouldn’t be thinking about selling her home in the first place.

Yet Jiang Ning seemed to understand her teacher’s hesitation and smiled, saying:

“Teacher Du, don’t rush to refuse.”

“Let’s put the money aside for a second and just talk about the house.”

“Two months ago, the price here was 15,000 per square meter. Now it’s already up to 16,200.”

“If it keeps rising at this rate, by the end of the year it could go beyond 20,000.”

“Add in the value of everything in the house!”

“Teacher Du, I’m a businesswoman too. I don’t make losing deals.”

Looking at the bright and confident young girl in front of her, speaking so fluently and confidently, Du Xinrui’s expression became a little dazed.

She wasn’t short of suitors either.

But even some of the startup elites she’d met couldn’t compare to the aura of the girl in front of her.

While Du Xinrui was still hesitating—Jiang Ning delivered the final blow:

“Teacher Du, you wouldn’t want to come back to China in the future and have to live in someone else’s place, right?”
—

(End of Chapter)