Chapter 111: Jiang Ning, You Pervert!

February 11th.
Sunday.
The sky was gloomy.

From morning on, it looked like it was going to rain.
Because of that, Jiang Ning made sure to bring an umbrella before heading out.

Sure enough, just as she sat down on the bus, a streak of water slid down the window.
Then came more and more raindrops.

In no time, spring rain began to fall like a curtain.

This should be the first rain after the start of spring—And it had come earlier than in previous years.

Watching the misty drizzle outside, Jiang Ning unexpectedly felt a rare trace of melancholy.

Because last night, she saw her mother hiding in the bathroom, secretly shedding tears.

At first, she thought her mom was heartbroken over some emotional matter, and she was angry on her mom’s behalf.

But when she quietly approached in the dark, she saw that what her mother was holding—was the factory’s termination notice.

Jiang Ning froze, but quickly put two and two together. Then quietly retreated without making a sound.

If her guess was right, her mom was most likely laid off because of Chen Zhenguo.

After all, in this era—Dating someone wasn’t an issue.

But if that someone was an ex-con who’d served time,
and you’d even stayed with him for several years, the factory leadership would almost certainly think you had a problem too.

That’s just human nature.

Jiang Ning couldn’t change how the factory viewed her mother, and she couldn’t persuade her mom to let it go.

All she could do was try to ease her mom’s worries, and maybe…

Wait a second.

Looking out at the shops lining the street,
an idea suddenly struck Jiang Ning.

Why not invest and help her mom open a clothing shop, start a little business?

She didn’t expect her mom to make money—just hoped that staying busy might make her happier.

As for the money—Jiang Ning thought for a bit, pulled out her phone,
and sent a message to her older cousin.

A moment later, when she saw the reply:【Got it】,the heaviness in her chest eased a little.

After two bus transfers, Jiang Ning finally arrived at her destination.

She got off, opened her umbrella, looked up at the ugly orange sign above the door, sighed, “So ugly,” and pushed the door open to go in.

As soon as she entered, she saw Tang Tu wiping a saxophone in her arms.

The polished brass gleamed so brightly
it cast a metallic hue on Tang Tu’s skin.

Hearing footsteps, Tang Tu looked up.

Her twin ponytails bounced.

“Hey! If it isn’t our local tycoon, little Jiang Ning.”

Knowing Tang Tu was still jealous she’d bought Teacher Du Xinrui’s villa,
Jiang Ning rolled her eyes.

“What, if you had money, you could’ve bought it too.”

Sensing the edge in her voice, Tang Tu giggled sheepishly, carefully packed away the saxophone, then ran to the door to lock it.

Once everything was settled,
she walked over to Jiang Ning.

“So, little Jiang Ning, what song are we recording today?”

“Something in the pop genre.”

“A love song?”

Jiang Ning thought over the lyrics,
then subconsciously nodded.

Immediately—Tang Tu looked amazed.

“Seriously? Jiang Ning, you’ve never even dated anyone, and you can write love songs?”

At those words, Jiang Ning suddenly stopped walking, turned around, and locked eyes with Tang Tu, who had also frozen in place.

Then—Jiang Ning moved.

One step at a time, she approached Tang Tu.

They were in the hallway, barely two meters apart. So in just a few steps,
Jiang Ning had Tang Tu backed up against the wall.

“W-What…?”
Tang Tu’s voice was shaky.

Jiang Ning didn’t speak.
She just locked eyes with Tang Tu, unblinking.
Getting closer and closer.

“Your heart’s racing?”
“Your body’s not listening to you?”
“Don’t tell me…
you want to kiss me?”

The next second—Tang Tu let out a shriek.
“Jiang Ning, you pervert!”

She turned and ran like hell.

Listening to her footsteps pounding up the stairs, Jiang Ning just smiled, amused.

So…
she really is a little chick.

———

An hour passed.

Tang Tu hadn’t dared look Jiang Ning in the eye even once.

This made the other music fanatic, Liu Ming, very confused.

More than once, he wanted to ask if Tang Tu had fallen in love or something.
Her face was as red as a monkey’s butt.

But rather than his colleague’s love life,
he cared more about the song they were working on.

Although the melody seemed perfectly ordinary, it gave him this irresistible urge to sing along.

“I’m eating fried chicken in Times Square, yeah…” “And at this very moment, where are you~”

As he sang, Liu Ming suddenly had a craving for fried chicken.

He turned to the dazed Tang Tu and said:
“Sugar, go grab a few fried chicken meals.”
“We’ll have that for lunch.”

“Sugar?”
“Hey, Sugar!”

“Huh? Coffee?”

Watching her suddenly snap out of it,
Liu Ming closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

If they hadn’t been friends for years,
he would’ve kicked her out by now.

At that moment,
the doorbell rang downstairs.

Tang Tu instinctively got up
and ran out of the studio.

Not long after, she returned with a fashionably dressed woman, light makeup, calm expression.

“Oh? Sister Du, what brings you here today?”

Liu Ming recognized her.
He knew she was Tang Tu’s aunt.

He also knew her musical talent wasn’t to be underestimated.

For Liu Ming, he respected anyone with real music skills.

On the flip side, even if someone was drop-dead gorgeous, if they were a music idiot, he wouldn’t even give them a glance.

“Just came to check on my student.”

From the moment she walked in, Du Xinrui’s eyes had been fixed through the glass panel at the girl inside the recording booth.

Watching her adjust the sound, fix the audio, get into the right state.

Every little detail—Du Xinrui was thoroughly curious.

At that moment, the girl in the recording booth seemed to have found her rhythm. She nodded at the mic and gave an “OK” gesture.

Seeing the signal, Liu Ming immediately started the music.

As the prelude faded, a voice emerged through the headphones—clear with a touch of sultriness, laid-back yet tinged with youthful vibrance.

A few minutes later, when the song ended, Du Xinrui slowly took off her headphones.

Then, as Jiang Ning walked through the door, Du Xinrui suddenly looked up and blurted out in a daze:

“Jiang Ning, have you ever considered going into professional music?”

“I can help connect you with instructors from Berklee College of Music!”

Naturally, she was rejected.

But thankfully, after hearing Jiang Ning’s reasoning, Du Xinrui nodded in agreement and didn’t press further.

However, she did express interest in joining the production of the song.

Faced with a request from a professional musician to collaborate, Jiang Ning, of course, welcomed it enthusiastically.

With Du Xinrui’s help, the four of them completed the song’s production in less than a morning.

Holding the freshly burned CD, Jiang Ning tossed out an empty promise—“I’ll treat you all to a meal sometime!”—and then ran off.
—

Noon.

For the first time, Jiang Ning splurged on a cab ride and arrived outside Tianwei Tower.

Getting out, she looked at the streams of sharply dressed businesspeople flowing in and out, and for a moment, she felt like she’d returned to her previous life, working in some CBD.

Each person looked polished and successful, yet many probably didn’t even have a 100-yuan note in their pocket.

She chuckled self-mockingly, then headed into the building.

The security at the entrance was pretty tight, but since Jiang Ning had Li Mingyu’s contact, she passed through with ease.

Upstairs, she found the office of Golden Twist Decorations.

Upon entering, the receptionist looked at her curiously and asked:

“May I ask who you’re here to see?”

“My surname’s Jiang, I have an appointment with your President Li.”

The receptionist quickly checked the schedule. A moment later, she found the record and smiled.

“Alright, please follow me.”

Jiang Ning followed the receptionist to the door of Li Mingyu’s office.

Knock knock knock…

After a “Come in,” the receptionist opened the door and led Jiang Ning inside.

“President Li, Miss Jiang is here.”

“Alright, got it. You can leave us.”

Li Mingyu didn’t even lift her head, but her words dismissed the receptionist. She also casually closed the door behind her.

Seeing Li Mingyu still focused on work, Jiang Ning chuckled and flopped onto the sofa.

Then came Li Mingyu’s puzzled voice:

“Little Jiang Ning, what brings you to me today?”

“Missed you, obviously.”

Jiang Ning quipped as she pulled the CD from her pocket and placed it on the coffee table.

Hearing the clink, Li Mingyu finally looked up at the disc and said, a bit snarky:

“Knew it. You never come without a reason.”

“A new song?”

“Yup. Pretty urgent too,” Jiang Ning said, stretching.

“What, they’re launching a new album over there again?”

Hearing that, Jiang Ning immediately grinned.

“Nope. I need this song.”

“Hmm?”

Li Mingyu clearly didn’t get what she meant. She paused her pen and looked up, puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

Jiang Ning explained a little more. After she revealed what the song was for, Li Mingyu raised an eyebrow.

“You little rascal, where do you get all these tricks up your sleeve?”

All Jiang Ning could do in response to the teasing was giggle sheepishly.

Before long, Li Mingyu wrapped up her work, made a few calls, and once her assistant came in to carry out some files, she grabbed a few sheets and sat beside Jiang Ning.

“Those designs for your two shops—you drew those yourself, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Then do me a favor and take a look at this.”

She laid the papers on the table.

Jiang Ning picked them up, confused.

When she saw the words at the top of the first page, her face filled with surprise.

“Xinglan Plaza?”

“Didn’t that project get shut down?”

Li Mingyu sighed.

“It did, initially.”

“But since the issue was caught early, Xinglan Plaza’s parent company revised the architectural plans.”

“They changed from a modern, minimalist Byzantine style to a traditional square-style layout.”

“They left the central area for the excavation of a Han Dynasty tomb. After it’s fully excavated, they’ll turn the site into an internal park.”

So that was it.

Jiang Ning nodded in understanding—then noticed something.

“Sister Mingyu, I remember your company lost the bid for this project, didn’t you?”

“How come it’s back in your hands now?”

“The other company’s boss got arrested.”

???

Wait a second.

A suspicion flashed through Jiang Ning’s mind, and she asked, wide-eyed:

“Sister Mingyu, don’t tell me the other company’s boss was… Chen Tianhong?”
(End of chapter)

————

Song Mentioned is《我在人民广场吃炸鸡》 (“I’m Eating Fried Chicken in Times Square”) by A Si (阿肆)