Chapter 223: My Fingers Are Clean, You Know

That night.

Jiang Ning had a dream.

In the dream, she was dressed in a festive, traditional Chinese long tunic.

Before the eyes of countless guests,

She and Little Qi, who was wearing a bridal gown, walked hand in hand into a quaint, old-style house.

Her mother and aunt were seated at the two chairs reserved for elders,

Smiling kindly at her.

First bow to Heaven and Earth.

Second bow to the elders.

Third, the couple bowed to each other.

Once the formalities were complete,

The two of them, amid the playful teasing of Luo Shanshan and the others, entered the bridal chamber.

Then—

Candlelight flickered.

The moonlight bathed the quiet room.

Jiang Ning held a red wedding scale and slowly lifted Qi Wen’s bridal veil.

In the soft and dreamy lighting,

Qi Wen’s delicately made-up face, paired with her phoenix crown and red wedding robes,

Might not have rivaled a goddess, but was more than enough to make hearts flutter.

However—

Just as Jiang Ning was about to consummate the marriage with Qi Wen,

Qi Wen suddenly extended her right hand.

She raised a slender, fair finger,

Parted her lips slightly,

And in a gentle, tender voice, uttered words that hit like a thunderclap.

“Husband.”

“My fingers are clean, you know.”

At that moment, Miss Jiang jolted awake in fright.

She spent the entire morning in a daze.

Qi Wen, walking beside her, hesitated to speak. But on the way from the cafeteria to class, she finally asked:

“Jiang Jiang, did I scare you last night?”

Last night?

Scare me?

Miss Jiang shivered instinctively.

But when she turned to look,

She was met with that small face full of guilt, worry, and fear.

She couldn’t help but want to slap herself.

What the hell was she worrying about?

It was just a dream!

And now her Little Wife was worried because of it.

She quickly shook off all the nonsense in her head,

Put on a bright smile, and said,

“It’s nothing, I just had a bad dream, that’s all.”

Then she made sure to emphasize,

“Mm, it had nothing to do with you.”

“Really?” The worry on Little Qi’s face eased a bit, but the guilt remained.

“Don’t overthink what happened last night. It really was just a simple thing.”

“I get it. A moment of friendly impulse, right?” Miss Jiang’s face showed no change in expression.

Smiling, she smoothly shifted the topic to her dream.

She casually brought up some dreams she’d had in the past.

It didn’t take much effort

Before Little Qi was laughing again with a series of cheerful giggles.

——————

At noon.

Miss Jiang, as usual, came to request leave.

But this time,

Lao Guo didn’t put on his usual stern face or bombard her with questions.

Instead, he asked kindly what time she’d be back, and whether she wanted to take the two afternoon elective classes off as well.

Miss Jiang was both surprised and a little unsettled.

She couldn’t help but ask softly,

“Lao Guo?”

“Did you win the lottery or something?”

Then she noticed, to her amazement, that Lao Guo’s right eyelid visibly twitched.

But even in that state,

Lao Guo simply took two deep breaths,

And continued to speak with a gentle tone:

“May I ask, Jiang Ning,

Would you like to take the two afternoon electives off as well?”

Only a fool would pass up a good deal.

And lately, Jiang Ning’s store had been keeping her busy.

That damn Madam Shang had started causing trouble for her again, sneakily stirring up problems.

Since she now had extra time,

She might as well take care of things properly.

“Sure,” Miss Jiang replied with a shy smile.

Hearing this, Lao Guo’s face lit up with a warm, kindly expression.

“Then I’ll go ahead and approve your leave request.”

As he spoke, Lao Guo picked up the leave slip.

But just before writing,

He suddenly looked up with a friendly smile:

“By the way,

Jiang Ning, this Saturday, the school is organizing a tour of Jiangzhou University.

We’re still short one group leader. Do you happen to have time?”

Ten minutes later,

Jiang Ning walked out of the school gates.

Just thinking about the little performance in the office earlier

Made her want to spit in disgust.

That damn Lao Guo.

Why was his approach starting to resemble Boss Yang Mei’s more and more?

If this kept up,

How was she supposed to ask for leave in the future?

With that worry in mind,

Miss Jiang pedaled her bike all the way to the Jiangzhou Train Station Store.

At this time, the station was packed with people.

Travelers came and went in an endless stream.

Just as Miss Jiang parked her bike, someone blocked her path.

She looked up.

“Auntie, I’m not looking for a place to stay.”

She turned to leave.

But the woman stepped in front of her first, holding out a colorful flyer.

“Missy, not a hotel, not a hotel.”

“I’ve changed professions!”

Huh?

Changed professions?

Miss Jiang instinctively looked down.

On the colorful flyer, written in black marker, were the bold words: “Huang’s Matchmaking Center.”

Below that was a crookedly written phone number.

If that had been all, Miss Jiang would’ve just said no and walked away.

But the key thing was—

The flyer was actually a promotional ad for “Emperor’s Chicken.”

Looking closer,

There were all kinds of advertisements printed on it.

That piqued Miss Jiang’s interest.

“Auntie, where did you get this flyer?”

The woman pointed toward the exit on the side of the station.

“That new shop just opened over there. I got this from them,” the older woman said.

As she spoke, she pulled a flyer and a pen from her pocket.

“Young lady, do you have a phone number? Let me write it down.”

“When I find something suitable for you… Hey, don’t go, miss!”

Following the directions the older woman had given, Miss Jiang arrived at the station’s exit.

Right in front of her stood a lone shop—Emperor’s Chicken.

It was set up right beside the exit.

Judging by the setup, it looked like the station had even built an exterior wall just for Emperor’s Chicken.

However—

This location was both good and bad.

The good part was that it was right at the exit, so anyone getting off the train could choose to stop by.

But that was also the downside.

It was a bit too far from the waiting area, so passengers waiting for their trains wouldn’t likely consider coming here.

Unless, of course, they had some special way to draw in customers.

For example—

Miss Jiang glanced at the flyer in her hand.

If she guessed correctly, the bottom part of the flyer was probably a tear-off coupon.

But it had likely already been taken by that older woman.

Jiang Ning stood at a distance for a while, estimating the flow of foot traffic. Then she turned and walked back into the station.

By the time Miss Jiang arrived at the Train Station Store, Li Yan was clearing crumbs from the table by the window.

Seeing Miss Jiang, she looked surprised.

“Oh? Ning Ning~ What brings you here today?”

“Came by during my lunch break to check in~”

As one of the store’s veterans, Jiang Ning had a pretty good impression of this young woman.

Back when they were at the Jiangzhou University Store, she had worked diligently in the grease-splattered kitchen.

Now at the Train Station Store, she had already been promoted to shift leader.

But most of what she did was still frontline work.

It seemed like it was time to organize a training program for the store’s veteran staff.

Not necessarily to turn them all into managers, but at least to develop more competent mid-level team members.

After that, Jiang Ning and Li Yan chatted for a bit before heading to the back office.

At the moment, her cousin-in-law was in the office, cutting printed flyers into individual sheets.

When she saw Jiang Ning walk in, she greeted her.

“Ning Ning, sorry to trouble you again.”

“It’s no trouble, cousin-in-law. Happy to help.”

As she spoke, Jiang Ning rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a pair of scissors, and started helping with the cutting.

While they worked, the conversation turned to the newly opened Emperor’s Chicken near the Train Station Store.

From Xiao Mingxiu’s tone, it seemed that the Train Station Store had been informed before the new shop opened.

Which wasn’t surprising—after all, it was a direct competitor.

Then the topic shifted to the collaboration between the station and the nearby KFC and Golden Arches.

To be honest, things weren’t going smoothly.

KFC was manageable. Liu Ju had made significant concessions in terms of profit sharing.

The margins were so generous that Xiao Mingxiu even wondered if Liu Ju had been threatened into it.

But Golden Arches was a different story.

They clung stubbornly to their 50% profit margin and refused to budge.

But with promotional events, there’s no such thing as giving up zero profit.

It left Xiao Mingxiu feeling frustrated.

Especially since Miss Jiang had already set the minimum threshold.

If Golden Arches wouldn’t compromise, then Shi Ning Ji would have to make up the shortfall.

In the past, for smaller events, giving up ten or twenty thousand in profit was still manageable.

But this time was different.

The investment was in the hundreds of thousands.

It was a joint campaign involving Miss Jiang’s seven stores, plus several others.

And now, because of Golden Arches’ refusal, the entire project was stalled.

That couldn’t be allowed.

After some thought, Miss Jiang decided to talk to Liu Ju first.

She wanted to find out what that Uncle Chu was really thinking.

But just as she reached the entrance of the Train Station Store’s KFC—

A very familiar figure appeared.

Swaying gracefully, smiling, walking out of the KFC alongside Liu Ju.

And then—

She came face-to-face with Miss Jiang.

Unlike before, this time—

Madam Shang actually extended her hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Manager Jiang.”

Meet?

Miss Jiang instantly understood what Madam Shang meant.

The corners of her lips lifted slightly.

She narrowed her eyes and extended her hand as well.

“President Shang.”

“I’ve heard so much about you.”

(End of chapter)