Chapter 123: On the Proper Use of Fairies

“Zzz…”

“Good morning, listeners. This is FM101.1 Music New World. I’m your host, Huahua…”

“Today is March 1st, 2001, Thursday.”

“On this bright and sunny morning, I’m going to recommend a song to everyone, from the nation’s first virtual musician—Jiang Jiang.”

“‘Eating Fried Chicken in Times Square’”

——————

Times Square, Jiangzhou.

Though the morning dew of early spring still carried a trace of chill, the biting cold of winter had long since vanished.

At eight o’clock sharp, Xia Ling had already gathered all twelve of the newly hired staff—whether they were scheduled to work today or not.

It was the grand opening day of the Times Square branch.

As the acting store manager, if she wanted to drop the word “acting” from her title, she needed some impressive results to prove herself.

Ideally, she wanted to outperform the Jinjing Community branch, which was opening on the same day.

And on that front, Xia Ling was full of confidence.

Not only did their location boast a superior footfall, but they also had the blessing of a brand-new song.

At least, that was what Xia Ling believed when she first heard the title of the song.

In fact, she wasn’t the only one who thought that way.

Passersby and nearby shop owners alike all had the same reaction when they heard the song and its lyrics.

First, they were stunned.

Then came a more honest second reaction.

Everyone marveled at the coincidence—how did this shop find a song so perfectly tailored to the occasion?

Same Times Square, same fried chicken shop.

Meanwhile, in an old building opposite the compound.

Hua Mingqiang had arrived at his office early, sitting in his chair, staring grimly at a cellphone in his hand.

He seemed to be waiting for something.

After a while, a call finally came through.

Hua Mingqiang picked up and hit the answer button.

“What’s the word?”

“Relax. The message has been spread,” came a raspy male voice on the other end.

“Those shops won’t open smoothly.”

Hearing that, Hua Mingqiang’s grim expression finally showed a ripple of movement.

He ground his teeth.

“What about the chicken supply?”

“Tracked it down. It’s a farm that’s only been open for a few months, in Tianjia Village near Linzhou.”

The voice paused, then continued.

“I’m heading over there now to have a look around.”

“Don’t worry, Mingqiang. In Jiangzhou, no one dares—”

Before the sentence could finish, a loud voice suddenly erupted through the phone:

“What are you doing?!”

“Why are you stopping me?!”

“Do you know who I am?! I’m Li Guang—”

“I…”

With a sudden click, the line disconnected.

Hua Mingqiang was caught completely off guard.

When he tried calling back, all he got was a dead line.

Beep… beep… beep…

In a flash, Hua Mingqiang jolted up from his seat as if struck by lightning.

A strange, creeping fear flickered through his heart.

He instinctively reached for his phone and searched for a number.

But just as he pressed the call button, the office door was suddenly and forcefully pushed open.

BANG!

Hua Mingqiang’s gaze followed the sound.

Two stern-looking middle-aged men, both in special uniforms, strode in and came straight up to him.

One of them held up a document.

Clearly written in bold characters at the top: “Arrest Warrant.”

For some reason, Hua Mingqiang instinctively turned his head and looked out the window toward the building across the street.

And at that moment, he saw several specially marked vehicles pulling through the dark gates symbolizing the future.

In that instant, his head dropped heavily.

Meanwhile…

The mastermind behind this entire operation was currently sitting on the bleachers by the basketball court.

Watching as a few of her girlfriends cheered for a boy from their class.

“Shoot! Hurry up!”

“Zhang Shuangshu! Did you not eat breakfast or what?!”

“For real! What are you even doing out there?!”

Sun Qian, her voice hoarse from yelling, plopped down beside Jiang Ning and grabbed the bottle of mineral water from her hand.

She chugged more than half of it in just a few gulps.

After finishing, Sun Qian turned her eyes to Jiang Ning.

“Jiang Jiang! Come help us cheer!”

“With you here, the boys in our class would get an instant power boost!”

Jiang Ning ignored this walking flat-screen and casually picked up another bottle of water to sip.

But just then—

For some reason, Luo Shanshan also turned around and joined in the persuasion effort.

Not just with words, either.

She physically grabbed Jiang Ning’s arm, speaking as she pulled her up:

“Come on!”

“Our class is already ten points behind.”

“If we don’t do something, we’ll lose!”

“Yeah, Jiang Jiang!” Sun Qian also reached out and grabbed Jiang Ning’s other arm.

“You don’t want us to lose to Class 9, right?!”

With no choice, Jiang Ning was reluctantly dragged to the edge of the basketball court.

She watched as ten boys scrambled over a round, coffee-colored ball.

Jiang Ning sighed quietly.

She used to like basketball.

But for some reason, it no longer sparked the same joy.

Was she getting old?

Was she just… washed?

Just then—

Sun Qian suddenly shouted:

“Go Class 3!”

“If you win, Jiang Ning will give each of you a small gift!”

With that one sentence—

The entire court, previously buzzing with energy, froze.

But only for a moment—then it erupted again, even more intensely.

The boys from Class 3 exchanged glances—then all turned their eyes toward that figure standing on the sidelines.

It had always been others giving gifts to Fairy Jiang, only to be rejected.

Never before had anyone heard of this famous ice queen of the grade giving gifts to others.

In an instant, the boys of Class Three all had a change of expression.

They started to look a little… eager.

And quite a few of the spectators standing courtside began shouting to be substituted in.

“Ma Sucheng! You’re tired! Get down and let me go in!”

“Class rep! The teacher wants to talk to you!”

“Zhang Liang! Your mom’s calling you home for dinner!”

There were even a few mischief-makers among Class Nine’s crowd who chimed in.

“We surrender! Can we get two gifts?”

“Just one is fine! One will do!”

All the teasing voices made a certain Miss Jiang’s expression turn rather unpleasant as she glared at the flat-screen tablet beside her.

“Sun Qian…”

“Hehe… hehehe… just once, just once.”

If not for the crowd, Jiang Ning would have pinned this flat-screen tablet friend to the ground and given her a proper beating.

Soon after—

Maybe it was just an illusion.

But during the rest of the game, the boys from Class Three played with exceptional ferocity.

In the final moments, they actually managed to even the score at 39 to 40…

With one minute left on the clock, they fought for every ball like starving wolves.

Even when someone took a hard fall to the ground and started bleeding, they still managed to pass the ball out.

And that one ball—

After Zhang Shuangshu powered through for a layup—

Class Three finally took the lead.

But their opponents weren’t pushovers either.

They immediately used a screen and switch to sink a mid-range shot.

As the seconds ticked down to the final moment—

Even Jiang Ning couldn’t help shouting along with everyone else to cheer them on.

Unfortunately, it still wasn’t quite enough.

They lost by a single point to Class Nine, the top-ranked team in the grade’s basketball tournament.

Seeing all the boys sprawled out on the court, panting heavily, a bit dejected—

Miss Jiang laughed heartily and called out:

“Children!”

“Let’s go!”

“Your fairy here is treating you all to soda~”

——————

10:12 a.m.

The sun was bright.

The weather was just right.

A spring breeze stirred the willow trees along the street.

The air it brought carried a cool, inexplicably fragrant scent.

Probably from the nearby flower baskets.

Tian Wenhao stood in front of the Times Square shop in full formal attire.

He glanced at the few flower baskets lined up beside him, feeling a bit sentimental.

A few months ago, he had only been a third-year university student preparing for his internship.

But since that afternoon when he ran into his cousin at the school gate—

His life’s trajectory had completely changed.

From initially selling toys at street stalls, to opening their first fried chicken shop, and now—

They were already opening their fourth branch.

Not to mention anything else, just the money earned over the past few months had already passed six figures.

Tian Wenhao truly valued the opportunity for growth he had now.

He also knew that he didn’t have his cousin’s genius business mind.

What he could do—

Was simply patch the holes wherever she needed him to.

Like today.

Because of school, his cousin couldn’t make it to the opening ceremony.

So after settling things at the university branch, he arrived early to set everything up.

Flower baskets, firecrackers, snacks and fruits—he had arranged everything down to the last detail.

Just then—

Two people emerged from the crowd in front.

A man and a woman.

He recognized the man.

It was Liu Ju, the professional manager from the KFC at the train station.

That PR stunt during their previous showdown had left a deep impression on Tian Wenhao.

Even though Jiang Ning had shut it down effortlessly—

That silent tactic still taught him, a workplace rookie, a great deal.

Now—

Liu Ju stepped up to him first, clasped his hands politely, and said:

“Manager Tian, congratulations on your grand opening.”

Then, he introduced the woman beside him:

“This is Yang Xia, Manager Yang, from the KFC Times Square flagship store.”

As he spoke—

The woman gave Tian Wenhao a polite smile and extended her hand.

“Manager Tian, congratulations on your opening.”

Only now did Tian Wenhao turn his attention to her.

She looked around thirty.

Roughly 1.6 meters tall, with a slightly curvy figure. Her wine-red, shoulder-length hair was loose, paired with a white suit.

She looked every bit the image of a capable professional woman.

“Thank you, thank you.”

Tian Wenhao shook her hand politely.

Then, he saw Liu Ju wave behind him.

Two men dressed like workers came over, each carrying a flower basket, and placed them in the empty space nearby.

Seeing this—

Tian Wenhao understood what they meant.

They were just trying to get familiar, since they were competitors after all.

It would be embarrassing if they didn’t even recognize each other when they met next time.

After that—

They chatted for a bit.

Mostly pleasantries.

Then Liu Ju and Yang Xia entered the store together.

As soon as they walked in—

They were surprised by the store’s minimalist yet stylish interior design.

And the spiral staircase that took up almost no space.

Liu Ju vaguely remembered seeing this kind of design once before, maybe in Cincinnati, Ohio—

At a department store called Syberlee.

“I really like this design,” Yang Xia turned to Liu Ju, eyes lit up.

“Let’s ask later which renovation company did this place.”

Then—

The two of them found a place to sit.

At this point, the shop’s first floor wasn’t very big, and since it wasn’t open yet, the only people inside were staff.

Seeing this—

Yang Xia shook her head.

“The shop is great, but it’s a pity it won’t last long.”

Liu Ju knew what she meant.

He frowned and asked:

“Is the Catering Industry Association really that powerful?”

“More than powerful—because—” Yang Xia didn’t finish her sentence.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

She instinctively looked down at it.

And with just one glance—Her expression changed instantly.

She froze in place and murmured,

“The tides have turned.”

(End of this chapter)