Chapter 130 – Caught by Mom

March passed by steadily and uneventfully.

When the weather turned to the blossom-filled warmth of April—

The grass tips sprouted, flowers bloomed.

Even the wind seemed tinged with green.

Of course—

If only there were a little less rain, that would be perfect.

Jiang Ning leaned back in her chair, a pen dangling from her lips, arms crossed, eyes blankly staring out the window.

She was troubled.

Because when she arrived at school that morning, she noticed that some students had already started wearing the single-layer spring uniforms.

Which meant the weather was heating up.

At this rate—

In less than two months, the uniform skirts would be worn too.

What was she supposed to do then?

Refuse to wear it even at the cost of death?

And then be summoned by the school disciplinary committee for a chat?

Honestly, Jiang Ning still held onto a bit of hope.

After all, she was one of the school’s top students.

The first-place winner in the city’s Olympiad math competition.

Surely, she deserved some special privileges, right?

As her thoughts drifted, Jiang Ning suddenly felt a slight tickling in her ear.

She instinctively lifted her hand and brushed the hair behind her ear.

At that moment—

Zhu Hui, sitting behind her, suddenly spoke.

“Jiang Jiang.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t move.”

Startled, Jiang Ning froze for a second, then realized Little Zhu Hui was probably using her as a sketch model again.

She rolled her eyes helplessly.

A short while later—

Zhu Hui finished her sketch and handed it over.

“Jiang Jiang.”

“Has anyone ever told you—”

“That move you just made looked super feminine.”

???

Girl, I radiate boss energy!

What kind of perspective is that?

Jiang Ning was just about to argue, but when she saw the drawing Zhu Hui handed over—

For a moment, she was speechless.

On the sketchpad—

A long-haired girl, her face turned slightly to the side, head tilted up just a little, eyes gazing upward. Her eyes were large, beautiful.

And with that gesture of brushing her hair back—

If she ignored the fact that the person in the drawing was herself—

Even Old Man Jiang might fall for her.

But…

Damn it.

Morning reading class ended.

Math teacher Ma Hongwei walked in carrying a stack of test papers, slamming them onto the lectern with a loud bang.

Judging by that gesture—

He seemed to be in a good mood.

“The test results from a few days ago are out. Everyone did pretty well.”

“The average score went up by 1.2 points compared to last time.”

“But there were still some mistakes that shouldn’t have been made.”

“Now—”

“I’ll call names. Come up and get your test paper.”

“Chen Chen… 113 points.”

“Cheng Zirui… 132 points.”

……

“Luo Shanshan… 98 points.”

“Zhang Shuangshu… 108 points.”

Once he finished reading all the names, Ma Hongwei picked up a test paper and turned to the board to start copying questions.

Right at that moment—

Jiang Ning looked down at her empty desk, raised her hand in surprise.

“Teacher Ma, I…”

“Oh, Jiang Ning, your paper’s with me—I’m using it as the example paper. Just share with your deskmate Luo Shanshan for now.”

Fine.

This wasn’t the first time it had happened.

But Jiang Ning still sighed with a headache.

Right then—

Luo Shanshan slid her test paper over with a mischievous grin.

“Beloved Concubine Jiang.”

“Come, let Us review this imperial paper together.”

——————

Qingming.

One of China’s traditional festivals.

Also called the Spring Outing Festival, Ancestor Worship Festival, Treading Green Festival, or March Festival.

Of course—

Those were just different names for the same thing.

Visiting ancestral graves.

Jiang Ning didn’t know how it was done elsewhere—

But in Jiangzhou, there was a saying:

“Early Qingming, late Midwinter. Hungry ghosts on the Ghost Festival can’t wait till noon.”

Meaning that for Qingming Festival, grave visits had to be done early in the morning.

For the Winter Solstice Ghost Festival, paper offerings must be burned at night.

As for the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, the ritual paper must be burned before noon.

So—

Early that morning—

Jiang Ning was dragged out of bed by her mom.

Groggy and full of resentment, she rubbed her eyes and pointed at the still-dark window.

“Mom, isn’t it too early?”

“Early, my foot!”

“Tell your damn dad to deposit that money at the bank early, so he doesn’t have to take a number and wait in line!”

Listening to her mom’s wrath—which matched her own morning temper—

Jiang Ning wisely chose silence.

She obediently put on her eye mask, dressed up,

Got out of bed and washed up.

Outside the window—

Drizzle shrouded everything.

Since the sun had not fully risen yet, in Jiang Ning’s eyes—

The world looked as if it were wrapped in fog.

Very pretty, very serene.

Half an hour later—

Wearing a dark-colored outfit, Jiang Ning linked arms with her mom and stepped out into the rain with a black umbrella.

Given the drizzle—

Mother and daughter didn’t take a bike.

Instead, they walked under their umbrella, carrying several bags of ritual paper, to the community entrance.

Just as they were about to flag a cab—

A familiar voice called out from nearby.

“Auntie! Ning Ning! Over here!”

They turned toward the voice—

And saw Tian Wenhao waving from inside a black Santana car.

After a moment—

Jiang Ning got into the passenger seat of the Santana.

“Cousin, look at you now.”

Jiang Ning wasn’t stupid.

She clearly remembered—

Back in 2001, buying a Santana like this, including registration and fees, probably cost fifteen or sixteen grand.

Granted, in the past few months—

Her cousin had earned a few hundred thousand yuan.

But dropping over a hundred thousand on a car all at once?

Tsk tsk tsk.

Wait a second.

Jiang Ning suddenly realized—her cousin’s family finances weren’t even controlled by him.

She paused, suspicious.

“Did Auntie tell you to buy this?”

At that moment—

Her mom, sitting in the back seat, also spoke up.

“Wenhao, you bought this car?”

“How much was it?”

“All in, about 168,000.”

“What?!” Her mom’s voice exploded from the back seat.

Then instantly jumped several decibels in pure shock.
“How much?!”

“Sixteen thousand eight hundred!” Tian Wenhao repeated again.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Jiang Ning saw her mother’s hand shoot out and twist Tian Wenhao’s ear from the driver’s seat.

“You money-wasting brat!”

“Where did the money come from, huh?!”

“Spending that much just to buy a car?!”

“Where’s your mom?! Let’s go! Home! We’re finding your mom!!”

Good thing the car was parked and not moving yet.

Otherwise, with a move like that, they’d all be dead in a crash.

It took a while for the chaos in the car to finally settle down.

Tian Cuilan stared at her nephew in disbelief, her mouth slightly open.

“You… made that money yourself?”

“Sixteen thousand eight?”

“My sister—your mom—even… agreed?”

Faced with his aunt’s three rapid-fire questions, Tian Wenhao rubbed his ear and nodded a bit sheepishly.

At that moment, he probably understood—

Why his beautiful cousin never wanted to mention her business ventures to the family.

Just the strength of that ear twist alone—

Not something most people could survive.

Jiang Ning didn’t know what her cousin was thinking, but seeing his eyes sneak over to her now and then, she got the gist.

She rolled her eyes and said to her mom, annoyed:

“Mom, if cousin says it’s true, then that’s what it is.”

“If you don’t believe him, you can ask Auntie when we get back.”

Unfortunately.

Her mom was still mumbling to herself.

“Sixteen thousand eight… sixteen thousand eight… sixteen thousand eight…”

Jiang Ning thought her mom was distressed over the money, but the next second, her mother suddenly glared and asked:

“Big nephew!”

“How exactly did you earn that money?!”

To satisfy her mother’s intense curiosity, Tian Wenhao briefly explained some things about opening his store.

Seeing her mom’s half-understanding expression, who knew what she actually took away from that.

But just as the car neared the cemetery—

Her mom suddenly spoke up from the backseat:

“Wenhao, you better be careful of that boss of yours.”

“…???”

“Why?” Jiang Ning couldn’t help but ask.

“His boss helped him earn that much money.”

Tian Cuilan immediately shot a glare at her talkative daughter.

“What do you know, little girl!”

“A business that makes two or three hundred thousand in just a few months!”

“Don’t you think the boss would’ve done it himself?”

“Why would he let a university student like you make all that profit?”

“Something’s definitely off! You’d better stay alert!”

“Got it?!”

Tian Wenhao nodded obediently like a duck, over and over again.

Only Jiang Ning, sitting in the front passenger seat, could see the barely-contained smile on her cousin’s face.

Sure, her mom wasn’t wrong.

That was solid reasoning.

But for some reason—

Jiang Boss just couldn’t help feeling kind of salty.

Damn it!

Even her own mom was suspicious of her now.

(End of this chapter)