Chapter 110 – Why Do You Want to Be a Man?

After lunch.

Under the coercion of the two, Jiang Ning had no choice but to temporarily decline Principal Ma’s offer to rest and instead followed these two landowners, wandering through the campus of No. 14 High School in Ningzhou.

It was Saturday.

There were almost no students on campus—except for those like Jiang Ning who had come to participate in the provincial math competition.

With a tourist’s mindset, Jiang Ning strolled through the tranquil campus with them, stepping on fallen leaves and branches while admiring the aged architecture.

A breeze passed.

She looked up.

Fresh green buds were already sprouting among the treetops.

With a thought, she realized—ah, Spring had begun.

After a while.

Jiang Ning was led to a small pavilion behind the teaching building.

“This is Chunhui Pavilion,”

“Built 26 years ago,”

“It was originally meant to commemorate some old scholar.”

“But now it’s turned into a rendezvous spot.”

Such places existed in almost every school, so Jiang Ning merely touched a pillar curiously and said nothing more.

“This is Qingsong Grove.”

“Though it’s called ‘pine,’ it’s actually a bamboo forest.”

“It’s popular in the summer when people come here to cool off.”

Xu Suihe pointed at a few stones in the grove, smooth as mirrors.

Jiang Ning smiled knowingly.

Just like that, the trio wandered to quite a few places.

Eventually, they stopped by the fountain pool in front of the teachers’ office building.

“This is De Xing Pool,”

“But we all call it the Wishing Pool.”

“Before every exam, a bunch of people come here to toss in stones and make wishes.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning looked down at the water.

The pool wasn’t deep, and the water was clear.

You could see the colorful pebbles at the bottom just by standing at the edge.

Under the sunlight, it had a kind of overflowing beauty.

“Since we’ve got the exam this afternoon, how about we make a wish?”

Xu Suihe’s suggestion was quickly seconded by Tao Tao.

She then dug out three uneven stones from the flower bed nearby, handed one to Jiang Ning, and tossed one to Tao Tao.

“We just toss them?”

“You have to make a wish first.”

“Oh.”

Standing next to Xu Suihe, watching her close her eyes and mutter something, Jiang Ning’s curiosity got the better of her.

She tilted her ear slightly.

“Become a man… I want to become a man… become a man…”

Jiang Ning: “…”

With a plop, the pebble splashed into the water—wish made.

Seeing Xu Suihe’s face full of expectation, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but softly ask:

“Why do you want to be a man?”

“So I can marry you.”

???

Jiang Ning decided she needed to stay far away from this girl.

By now, the three of them, a bit tired from walking, decided to rest on the bench by the pool.

Then—

Tao Tao suddenly asked a question.

“Jiang Ning, how’s the Walkman I gave you working?”

“Pretty good,” Jiang Ning replied sincerely. Lately, whether it was listening to music or vocabulary, she’d been using the Walkman Tao Tao had gifted her.

“And the tape?”

Tape?

Oh.

Jiang Ning suddenly remembered and looked at Tao Tao in surprise.

“Don’t tell me… that birthday song was sung by you…”

As if caught red-handed, Tao Tao blushed.

He didn’t dwell on the topic, but instead looked at Jiang Ning with a hopeful expression.

“So, do you agree?”

Agree?

Agree to what?

Jiang Ning was stunned for a moment, then something clicked. She narrowed her eyes and asked:

“What comes after the birthday song?”

“You don’t know?”

“I didn’t finish listening.”

As soon as she said this—Xu Suihe, who was half-reclining on a bench nearby, couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“HAHAHAHA—Tao Tao, you’re killing me!”

“HAHAHAHA!”

“That carefully planned birthday gift—HA!”

“A confession? HAHAHA!”

“It wasn’t a confession! It was an invitation!” Tao Tao’s face turned red and white with frustration as he glared at the woman laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.

“An invitation for Jiang Ning to come to my birthday party!”

At that, Xu Suihe suddenly remembered something. She clapped her hands and turned to look at the beautiful girl beside her.

“Oh right, Tao Tao’s birthday is July 28. That’s summer vacation—Jiang Ning, are you coming?”

Birthday party?

During summer break?

Truth be told, Jiang Ning wasn’t fond of attending these kinds of parties.

Mainly because traveling between the two cities was a hassle.

And she wasn’t sure if she’d have something else going on at the time.

Wait.

If it’s summer break…

By then, maybe her other plan could also be put into action?

Hmm.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Ning’s hesitation, Xu Suihe smiled brightly and said:

“Worried about the travel hassle?”

“No worries, Ningzhou’s five-star hotels—take your pick, stay as long as you want.”

“I can be your tour guide during the day, show you around Ningzhou… and be your tour guide at night too…”

Cough cough cough “So, what do you think?”

Jiang Ning was deep in thought, evaluating the feasibility of her plan and didn’t even hear Xu Suihe’s last words.

After a moment of thinking, she still didn’t make a decision.

“We’ll see when the time comes.”

———

2 p.m.—exam time.

When Jiang Ning entered the exam room, she was surprised to see that the proctor was actually the same Mr. Lu Cheng who had supervised the exam in Jiangzhou last time.

This made her feel a bit awkward.

Clearly, he recognized her too.

He gave her a warm smile.

After briefly explaining the exam rules, Mr. Lu Cheng and the other two teachers began handing out the test papers.

Three sets in total, with problems on both sides.

Jiang Ning glanced through them and was shocked by the sheer volume.

At a normal pace, there probably wouldn’t be enough time.

So, she quickly switched strategies.

She started with the questions she was sure she could score on.

As for the more complex and time-consuming ones, she’d leave those for later if there was time.

Just like that.

After Jiang Ning had scanned through the entire test, she looked up at the antique clock mounted above the classroom.

Only half the time had passed.

Then she glanced around.

Most of the students were still stuck on the first paper.

At that, Miss Jiang could only purse her lips slightly and lower her head to continue working on the questions.

But as she was working, she suddenly felt the sunlight on her desk being blocked.

She looked up.

That teacher from Lucheng was standing there, leaning down to look at her test paper.

When he noticed a few blank spots on her sheet, he was momentarily stunned.

Then he seemed to realize something, giving Jiang Ning a meaningful smile.

After that, he left.

And all the way until the exam ended, that Lucheng teacher never came back to her side.

Ding-ling!

As the exam bell rang,

Jiang Ning put down her pen, sat calmly in her chair, and swept her gaze across the room.

Just as she’d expected.

Almost every student wore an expression of frustration, confusion, or gloom.

Jiang Ning smiled helplessly.

After the papers were collected, she stood up and walked out.

Just as she reached the door—Unsurprisingly—That Lucheng teacher called out to her.

“Hello, Teacher Lu,” Jiang Ning greeted politely.

“Student Jiang Ning, what did you think of the difficulty of this exam?”

“It was pretty hard.”

Jiang Ning answered honestly. She did feel the test was challenging.

If she hadn’t switched to a different problem-solving method midway, she might’ve ended up just like the others—frowning and anxious.

After that, Teacher Lu only gave her a few encouraging words, then left with the other teachers, carrying the test papers.

This actually left Jiang Ning a little surprised.

Did she not do well?

Later—After she bumped into Principal Ma outside the exam room and mentioned it, she found out:

Turns out, teachers like Lu were only responsible for the first step in recruiting outstanding students from outside.

The actual admissions decisions were handled by the Admissions Office teachers.

So that’s how it works.

Principal Ma’s explanation intrigued Jiang Ning.

After pestering the old principal with a few more questions, a few senior students from No. 1 High School gradually came over.

No need to ask—one look at their glum faces told her.

They didn’t do so good.

Just then, Jiang Ning also spotted Qian Kun, the upperclassman she had come with by car.

He wasn’t tall, but he had a bold, striking appearance.

With thick brows and a pair of mustache lines under his nose—At a glance, he had a kind of indescribable presence.

If he had a pair of axes in his hands—Jiang Ning would’ve turned and run on the spot.

“Qian Kun, how do you think you did on the test?” Principal Ma asked with a cheerful grin.

“It was tough,” Qian Kun frowned, voice low.

“There were three major questions I wasn’t confident about.”

“And I didn’t finish the last big one.”

“Felt like a lot of it was beyond the syllabus.”

The moment he said that, it opened the floodgates for the three other boys nearby.

One after another, they started complaining about the difficulty and how there wasn’t enough time.

After a while—Qian Kun suddenly turned his gaze to the pretty “Fuwa doll” standing next to Principal Ma.

“What about you, Jiang Ning?”

“Mm, I finished it.”

With that one line, the boys who had been complaining fell completely silent.

And just like that, the provincial-level Olympiad math exam ended in the silence of a crowd.

On the way back—Principal Ma was grinning the entire time, though it was unclear what he was so happy about.

Jiang Ning didn’t ask either. She just leaned against her seat,

Half-squinting, half-resting, entering a meditative state.

She was thinking—How to make a name for herself.

Especially that shop in Times Square at the city center.

There was heavy foot traffic there, but if the grand opening went by in silence, then the shop would serve no other purpose than making money.

Jiang Ning actually had a particular idea.

She wanted to use the Times Square store to truly establish the name of “Shi Ning Ji.”

That was the reason she had decided to open the store there in the first place.

But how to get that name out there—

The more Jiang Ning thought, the sleepier she got; and the sleepier she got, the more she thought.

Just then—A static-filled sound came from the car’s speakers.

She opened her eyes.

Principal Ma was fiddling with the car radio.

“Hot new song drop, Music Tornado, right here on FM94.1!”

“Bringing you new rankings every day, so you know what the world is listening to.”

“Today’s release—something many of you have been waiting for.”

“A new song from Yang Chenguang: When the Phone Rings.”

The next second—As the song played through the speakers—A tune suddenly popped into Jiang Ning’s mind.

One that would be perfect for her “Shi Ning Ji” fried chicken shop.
(End of Chapter)