Chapter 207: The Bored Father-in-Law

August 21st.

Monday.

Lunar calendar: the third day of the seventh month.

Auspicious for: weddings, setting up a bed, traveling, breaking ground, and more…

Early morning.

When Jiang Ning left the school in Li Mingyu’s car, the sun had just risen.

The heat hadn’t kicked in yet.

But by the time their car pulled up to the construction site next to Xinglan Plaza, the air outside shimmered with visible waves of heat.

It was scorching.

Miss Jiang fanned herself with a small hand fan printed with the Xinglan Plaza logo.

Then her gaze fell on the open stretch of land before her.

The ground ahead was overgrown with weeds, barely touched by human hands.

But Miss Jiang knew—

In less than a year, buildings would rise here.

In less than five, Xinglan Plaza would be teeming with people.

And in less than ten, this place would become the new city center of Jiangzhou.

This was her judgment, based on memories from her past life and the current development trends.

So on the way here, Miss Jiang had been pondering a question.

After the residential complex passed inspection, should she hold off on selling the one and a half buildings she owned?

She wasn’t short on money at the moment anyway.

If she waited—just a little—until prices climbed a bit more before selling…

It wouldn’t take long.

Even waiting just a year could double her profits.

So…

Should she give it a shot?

As she mulled it over, Li Mingyu suddenly appeared on a nearby dirt slope.

“Little Jiang Ning~ Come on over.”

“The ceremony’s about to start~”

“Oh! Coming!”

With a quick reply, Miss Jiang jogged over.

Only to see Li Mingyu hobbling like a duck stuck in a swamp.

Miss Jiang burst out laughing.

Her laughter earned her a dramatic eye-roll from the mature woman.

“What are you standing there for? Help me already!”

Hehehehe…

Jiang Ning grinned and stepped up to support Li Mingyu by the arm.

“Sister Mingyu.”

“You’re coming to a construction site—why didn’t you wear flats?”

“I left too early and forgot, okay? Hey—watch those hands, ticklish…”

The ground-breaking ceremony was actually pretty simple.

Not much different from opening a new business.

Firecrackers, incense, offerings to the gods—standard fare.

At most, it included a speech from a local official.

And that’s where the trouble began.

Miss Jiang, wearing a red safety helmet, stood behind the podium with Li Mingyu.

In front of them, a few officials faced the crowd, delivering speeches to the various departments gathered below.

“Sister Mingyu, when is your uncle going to wrap it up?”

“He’s been talking for nearly twenty minutes.”

Faced with Miss Jiang’s exasperation, Li Mingyu just smiled and tilted her body slightly.

“Why don’t you go ask him?”

Uh…

Jiang Ning’s retreat was as swift as it was silent.

Then, something occurred to her.

She asked in a low voice, “Sister Mingyu.”

“Who was that guy who said hi to you before the ceremony?”

“What, thought he was cute? Interested?” Li Mingyu chuckled teasingly.

Miss Jiang snorted.

“Don’t change the subject. I asked because your dad’s attitude toward him seemed… different.”

At that, Li Mingyu fell silent for a moment.

“You noticed?”

Obviously.

She wasn’t blind.

The way Old Li treated that guy—warmer than he ever was to his own son-in-law—something was definitely up.

“Yeah, the old man’s trying to set me up with him.”

That old fox!

Miss Jiang’s brows shot up.

“Set you up? What the hell! Doesn’t he have enough on his plate as the Second-in-command!?”

“Isn’t attracting investment for the city enough work for him!?”

“And now he’s trying to attract investment for his daughter too!?”

Hearing Jiang Ning’s rapid-fire tirade, Li Mingyu couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.

“Alright, alright.”

“He’s trying to introduce us, why are you the one getting all worked up?”

“Besides, I didn’t say yes, did I?”

“Hmph.” Miss Jiang let out a little snort, satisfied—for now—with that answer.

The two chatted a bit more.

After a while, the speech finally came to an end.

They watched as the Second-in-command, amid a round of enthusiastic applause, stepped forward with a few others to unveil a massive curtain.

Revealing the logo of Xinglan Plaza beneath it.

This marked the official launch of the Star Ripple Princely Estate project.

Just as Miss Jiang thought everything was wrapped up and she could head back to school, her father-in-law—oh, correction, the Second-in-command—suddenly stepped out from the crowd.

He walked straight over to Miss Jiang and Li Mingyu.

“Mingyu, let’s have lunch.”

“With who?”

“Me, your mom, and Xiao Fang.”

“Oh, I’ve got plans at noon.”

Li Mingyu smiled and declined without the slightest hesitation.

Li Zhengsheng’s face darkened slightly.

He looked like he was about to say something.

But just then—

The group behind him caught up.

“Mayor Li, is that your daughter?”

“She’s stunning.”

“Hmm? Could the one next to her be your daughter too?”

“Mayor Li is truly blessed—both your daughters are so beautiful!”

Amid a flurry of such flattery, the two girls finally made their escape.

They got into the car.

And once seated—

Miss Jiang suddenly heard a soft sigh from the ever-composed Li Mingyu.

“See? Even after becoming the Second-in-command…”

“Hah. They still won’t stop trying to marry me off.”

Miss Jiang caught the trace of resignation in her tone and quickly offered some comfort.

“The choice is yours.”

“As long as you stay firm, no one can force you!”

“But what if I start to waver?”

That sent Miss Jiang into a panic.

“No way! You can’t waver!”

Hearing the urgency in Jiang Ning’s voice, Li Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright, alright, I was just teasing you.”

“I’m used to living on my own.”

“Why would I go looking for trouble?”

Hmm.

Even though she understood that this was Li Mingyu’s way of saying she wasn’t interested in dating, it still left Miss Jiang feeling a little uneasy.

She thought for a moment.

Her eyes lit up with an idea.

“Sister Mingyu.”

“Mm?”

“You know I have a villa, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Perfect.

Miss Jiang cleared her throat.

“So next time they start pestering you again, if it gets too annoying, you can come stay at my place for a few days.”

“I’ve got plenty of rooms.”

“Actually, you could stay long-term if you wanted.”

Catching the implication, Li Mingyu smiled and suddenly unbuckled her seatbelt.

Then she leaned over, placing both hands on Jiang Ning’s shoulders.

“Little Jiang Ning, if I remember right, you’ve already got quite a few people living in that villa of yours, don’t you?”

“Ahem.” Miss Jiang glanced at the alluring neckline in front of her.

“Just a classmate. And a secretary…”

“A secretary?”

Her breath brushed against Miss Jiang’s temple, tickling like tiny insects crawling across her skin.

“Y-Yeah, the one we poached from Top Entertainment…”

At that, Li Mingyu let out a soft breath, the scent of roses lingering at Jiang Ning’s nose.

Then—

She gave a light chuckle and sat back down in the driver’s seat.

“Little Jiang Ning.”

“Someone asked me to pass along a message.”

“It’s time to split the spoils.”

Split… the spoils?

Oh.

If Li Mingyu was delivering the message, it could only be from her stylish city-girl bestie.

As for why she didn’t just call or text directly—

Probably a safety precaution.

After all, judging by Liao Liao’s tone, ever since the new album *Another World* exploded in popularity, people had been lining up to find “Jiang Jiang.”

Buying songs, begging for songs—that was still within reason.

Some even tried to pitch their own songs to Liao Liao.

But Miss Jiang could understand.

As a music creator, if you don’t have the ability to make your own work go viral, it’s understandable to try leveraging someone else’s platform.

Still, understanding is one thing.

She hadn’t even finished singing her own songs yet—why would she sing someone else’s?

With that thought, Miss Jiang pulled out her phone and dialed Liao Liao.

A moment later, the call connected.

And the first thing Liao Liao said left Miss Jiang stunned.

“Jiang Ning! Your song got nominated for the Pop Music Awards!”

“What award?”

“The Chinese Pop Music Awards!”

Miss Jiang wasn’t too familiar with the local awards scene and couldn’t help but ask,

“Is that a big deal?”

Before the words had even fully left her mouth, Li Mingyu, who was driving, burst out laughing.

“Little Jiang Ning, you’d better stop telling people you’re in the music industry.”

“You’ll get smacked!”

Okay, okay.

Only after being schooled by both Li Mingyu and Liao Liao did Miss Jiang finally grasp the significance of the so-called Chinese Pop Music Awards.

To put it simply—

Winners of this award might not be household names, but their songs were guaranteed hits.

It was on par with the Golden Needle Awards from her previous life.

So—

“Just a nomination?”

“That’s not enough?” Liao Liao sounded utterly baffled on the other end.

“Ew, I thought I’d already won or something.”

Miss Jiang’s dismissive tone nearly made Liao Liao explode with frustration.

“So, the ‘split the spoils’ thing was about this?”

There was a brief silence, then the call abruptly disconnected.

As Miss Jiang stared at her phone in confusion, a text message came in from Liao Liao.

【The profit share from the first phase of the album sales—180,000 copies—and the company bonus have been transferred to your account. Also, as a thank-you for your contribution to the company this time,】

【We’ve decided to gift you a fully paid Haicheng apartment, worth up to one million yuan. You can pick the location!】

【Once you’ve decided, tell me! No—tell Mingyu! I don’t want to see or hear anything from you for the next few days!】

【Goodbye!!!】

Heh.

Such a fiery temper, that girl.

But—

A Haicheng apartment?

Now *that* was way more useful to Jiang Ning than some award.

One million yuan.

What were Haicheng’s current housing prices again?

2,500?

3,000 per square meter?

With a million…

Holy crap.

That’s like 300 square meters?

Wait a minute.

Since she’s got the cash right now, maybe she should buy two?

Live in one, rent out the other.

Ah!

Having money—

Is just that indulgent!

(End of this chapter)