Chapter 212: That’s Not a Small Size Either

The placement exams were just around the corner.

The atmosphere in the classroom had grown noticeably more focused.

Where there used to be idle gossip and unrelated distractions, now most students had their heads down, grinding through practice problems or discussing schoolwork.

After all, this was the first major exam since the class division in their second year of high school.

It would determine class rankings and the selection of class officers.

Both students and teachers were taking it very seriously.

Well—most of them, anyway.

There were exceptions.

Like Miss Jiang’s deskmate.

From the moment physics class started, she’d been completely absorbed in her nails.

Inspecting the shape, the color.

Picking out the dirt from under them.

Twenty minutes later, Miss Jiang had finished a whole practice test.

Meanwhile, the Little Rich Girl had completed a full set of nail maintenance.

“You really have nothing better to do, huh,” Jiang Ning said with genuine amazement.

“It’s fine,” Ye Na replied, flexing her fingers. “If I had some nail polish, I could’ve done a full manicure.”

Hearing that, and taking a mental break after finishing her test, Miss Jiang asked curiously, “Does no one in your family care about your grades?”

“How could they not?” Ye Na didn’t even look up, eyes still fixed on her fingers as she replied casually, “My dad, my mom, my grandpa, my grandma, even my brother—every time I get my report card, they all take turns praising me.”

Praising?

With your two or three hundred total score?

What exactly are they praising?

The lucky numbers?

Maybe she guessed what Miss Jiang was thinking.

Ye Na gave her a look like she’d never seen the world before and scoffed.

“Ever heard of a computer?”

“Know how to use one?”

The disdain in her tone was unmistakable.

Miss Jiang couldn’t help but laugh.

“What, Photoshop?”

“I’ve messed around with Macintosh computers before.”

“And you think you’re something?”

“You’re nothing.”

Ye Na didn’t understand those terms, but she could tell Jiang Ning was throwing shade.

Her brows shot up.

“Are you insulting me?”

“No!”

“You just said I’m a ball!”

“Well, aren’t you?”

Jiang Ning said it with a smirk, then gave Ye Na a slow, deliberate once-over.

That really set her off.

Her face flushed red as she lowered her voice and snapped, “I’m only a C!!!”

At that, Miss Jiang’s eyes lit up.

Damn.

A C isn’t small at all…

But then she remembered she was probably the same size.

And just like that, her interest deflated.

Sigh.

Boring.

…

P.E. class.

Their teacher was still the Big Black Guy.

Seeing his familiar face, Miss Jiang actually felt a bit of warmth.

But—

When he announced that today’s class would be long-distance running, that warmth shattered instantly.

“Who even are you, teacher?”

“Give us back Teacher Tang!”

“Teacher Tang would never make us run on the first day of P.E.!”

With Miss Jiang leading the rebellion, the other boys in class quickly joined in.

Even Ye Na and her usual clique, who rarely saw eye to eye with Miss Jiang, chimed in to back her up.

In the end, the Big Black Guy caved.

He sent the P.E. class rep to the equipment room to grab a few basketballs.

“Since none of you want to run, we’ll switch it up—today’s class will be basketball.”

“Yeah!”

Miss Jiang high-fived Yuan Lu, who was standing next to her.

Yuan Lu then invited her to play, but she declined, citing not feeling well.

Lately, she wasn’t sure when it started, but her desire to play basketball had been fading.

Watching her classmates excitedly grab balls and head to the court with swagger, Miss Jiang found she preferred sitting under the big tree.

Lounging lazily, observing others play from the sidelines.

Was it age catching up with her?

Or maybe this body just didn’t have much athletic talent?

Tsk tsk.

Who knows…

“Jiang Ning, here.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Jiang Ning accepted the water bottle from Yang Ke with a nod of gratitude.

But to her surprise, Yang Ke waved it off.

“Don’t thank me.”

“Ye Na bought drinks for the whole class.”

As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward a group of girls playing badminton nearby.

Watching Ye Na bounce up and down rhythmically, Miss Jiang’s lips curled into a smirk.

Heh.

With moves like that—

You expect me to believe you’re only a C?

At that moment—

Little Qi arrived on the field under the blazing sun.

She scanned the area and, spotting Jiang Ning and Yang Ke in the corner, quickly made her way over.

“Jiang Jiang…”

She nodded at Yang Ke in greeting, then turned to Jiang Ning and got straight to the point:

“For the school anniversary in October, our class has to put on a performance. Mr. Guo suggested I do a dance. What do you think?”

It was clear Qi Wen was interested in participating.

And Jiang Ning, in that moment, found herself reflecting.

After all, just because of Luo Chengming, she’d made Little Qi give up the traditional dance she’d suffered so much to master and finally dared to perform again after all these years.

Had she been too controlling?

Suddenly—

Miss Jiang realized she might’ve been trapped in her past-life mindset.

Always on guard against that Luo guy.

But thinking about it now—

Why should she be afraid of this spoiled rich kid?

She chuckled lightly.

“If you want to go, then go.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad about what? Just make sure you dance well and make your big bro proud.”

“Heehee, got it~”

A short while later—

Little Qi happily skipped away from beneath the Phoenix Tree, off to report back to Old Guo.

Watching that graceful figure come and go in a flash, Yang Ke took a sip of water and said, with a tone that was hard to read:

“She feels more like your daughter.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Your bro hasn’t even found a wife yet.”

That odd way of referring to herself made Yang Ke cover her mouth and giggle.

“Jiang Ning, you really are something…”

“No wonder they all call you Jiang the Enchantress~”

“Ever-changing, unpredictable, doing whatever you please.”

“If I were a guy, I’d probably be head over heels for you.”

Hearing that, Miss Jiang raised an eyebrow.

“What, girls don’t count?”

“You don’t think your bro can charm you into a dizzy mess too?!”

…

That afternoon.

Jiang Ning was locked in a lively verbal sparring match with Ye Na.

They went from arguing over the DMZ to the origins of humankind.

From how often Iori Yagami blow-dries his hair, to whether Zeus’s farts carry static electricity.

Just as Miss Jiang was about to convince the little brat that tofu pudding tastes better than hot dogs—

A shout rang out from not far away.

“Jiang Ning~ your mail!”

At the sound of it, Jiang Ning looked up.

She saw Yuan Lu wobbling over with a stack of magazines in her arms, making her way to Jiang Ning’s desk.

From the middle of the magazines, she pulled out a thick envelope and placed it on the desk.

“Jiang Ning.”

“You’ve got a friend at Berklee College of Music?”

“That’s amazing.”

The moment the word “Berklee” was mentioned, several girls nearby turned to look at Jiang Ning—including the ever-pretentious, haughty Ye Na.

“Is it from Teacher Du?” Qi Wen asked curiously.

Jiang Ning nodded.

Then she opened the envelope and took out its contents.

This time, it was just two sheets of paper and a photo.

Miss Jiang looked at the photo first.

At a glance, she could tell that Mature Woman Du’s aura had become even more refined.

Like a well-aged red wine—rich, mellow, and utterly captivating.

Even through the photo, Miss Jiang could almost smell that unique allure.

After savoring the moment, she handed the photo to Little Qi and unfolded the two sheets of paper.

The first page was an update on recent life—how she was doing, little anecdotes from day to day.

She also, in her usual way, griped about her roommate, who had the audacity to get all lovey-dovey in the back row of the classroom in broad daylight.

Incomprehensible. Unthinkable.

Looking at the eight bolded characters Du Xinrui had written for emphasis, Miss Jiang could practically picture the mature woman’s face turning red with embarrassment and her mental breakdown in that moment.

She chuckled silently.

Then she kept reading.

The rest was about her studies—complaining about the workload while praising her formidable mentor.

She also mentioned that her mentor had complimented the song “She Says” that Jiang Ning had sent her.

That made Du Xinrui very happy.

At the end of the letter, Du Xinrui wrote that around September 10th, her mentor would be taking them on a study tour to New York.

They’d visit the Statue of Liberty, climb the Twin Towers, stroll through Times Square, and so on.

She asked Jiang Ning if there was any souvenir she wanted—she could just call her.

She even included her class schedule.

Seeing this, Miss Jiang smiled.

What kind of souvenir could a cosmopolitan city like that possibly offer her?

Just some mass-produced trinkets.

What, was she supposed to bring back Doctor Strange to give her bro a reading?

Suddenly—

Miss Jiang’s eyes paused on a few keywords in the letter.

And then she froze.

September 10th…

Twin Towers…

September 10th!

Twin Towers!

September 10th!?

Twin Towers!?

Shit!!!

(End of Chapter)

———

“你算个球” is Chinese slang meaning “you’re nothing / you don’t count.”

Ye Na pretends to take it literally as “you called me a ball,” gets flustered, and blurts out her chest size (“I’m only a C!!!”), which flips the insult into a boob joke.