Chapter 128: The Prettier the Woman, the More Vicious She Is

Saturday.
Clear skies turning to cloudy.
Temperatures ranging from 8 to 17 degrees.

That morning, Jiang Ning was dragged by her mom to help out at the shop.
The place was barely the size of a palm—once more than two customers came in, Jiang Ning had to grab a little stool and sit outside the shop entrance.

Thankfully, the store wasn’t right on the road, so she didn’t end up sitting on the curb like some idiot.

“Ningning, no space again?”
“Come sit at our place for a while.”

Auntie Huang from the cloth shoes shop next door was still as warm and hospitable as ever.
Unable to refuse, Jiang Ning carried her little stool over to their store.

As soon as she stepped in, Auntie Huang handed her a freshly washed apple.
Jiang Ning intended to decline, but her Tai Chi pushing-hands skills weren’t up to par, and she was a little thirsty anyway.
In the end, she took the apple with a sheepish smile.

But just two bites in, she realized—this apple wasn’t so easy to accept.

Auntie Huang handed her a fifth- or sixth-grade math worksheet.
“Ningning, I know you’re a top student at No. 1 High. Could you take a look and see how my little rascal did today?”

Well, she’d taken the apple.
Jiang Ning had no choice but to accept the worksheet, wearing a somewhat awkward smile as she began reviewing.

At first glance, the accuracy wasn’t too bad.
But as time went on, the score seemed to spiral downward—just like the handwriting, getting increasingly wild and illegible.

A few minutes later, after finishing the review, Jiang Ning looked up—only to find a stubborn-faced little boy standing next to Auntie Huang. She hadn’t even noticed him come over.

He was about 150cm tall, wearing baggy clothes that practically screamed mischief.
“Hey Ningning, how’d he do?”
“Mom, don’t worry! I definitely scored 90!”

As he said this, the little rascal shot Jiang Ning a threatening glare.
That glare only made her laugh.
It had been a long time since she’d done something so good-natured.

Jiang Ning shook her head and turned to Auntie Huang, putting on a serious face.
“The accuracy was okay in the front.”
“But the bigger questions at the end were a total disaster.”
“From my estimate, he probably didn’t even hit 60.”

A score of 60 versus a claimed 90—way too big a difference.
But compared to her own son, Auntie Huang was more inclined to trust the high-achieving girl next door.

So before Jiang Ning even finished speaking, Auntie Huang smacked the little rascal’s arm.
“Sixty and you dare guarantee ninety?!”
“Are you trying to die?!”

Clearly, the kid was stunned by the first slap.
It wasn’t until the second one came down that he remembered to cry out in protest—half shielding, half wailing:
“Mom, I didn’t lie!”
“Even if it’s not 90, it’s at least 80!”
“Really! Ah!”
“Don’t hit me, Mom! I swear!”

After several howls, Auntie Huang seemed a bit uncertain too.
She turned to the pretty girl who was still munching on her apple and watching the show.
“Ningning, you sure you didn’t miscalculate?”

In response, Jiang Ning chuckled.
She set the half-eaten apple down and waved at the angry little rascal sulking in the corner.
“Come here, I’ll help you add up the score.”

As everyone knew, no matter how many questions you get right in the front, they don’t add up to much.
The real points lie in the big questions at the end.

So when they finally tallied it up: 49.5 points.
Might as well not have added them up at all.

Cue another round of sobbing and wailing.

By the time Jiang Ning finished her apple, the little rascal was sitting beside her with a tear-streaked face, correcting his mistakes.
Muttering darkly as he worked:
“You vicious woman!”
“Teacher was right! The prettier the woman, the more vicious she is!”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning smirked in disdain and was just about to leave—when the little brat added,
“Vicious women should be married home and spanked every day?!”

…What the hell?!

The next second, Jiang Ning suddenly turned to Auntie Huang, who was tidying up nearby.
“Auntie Huang, I know a way to quickly improve grades.”

“Oh?” Just one sentence, and both mother and son were staring at her intently.

“Practice.”
“A ton of practice.”
“This is advice from Jiangzhou City’s number-one Math Olympiad winner in high school.”

With that, the ever-charitable Jiang Ning swayed her long ponytail happily as she left.

———

At noon, when Li Mingyu came to pick up Jiang Ning, she even brought a meal from Lion Tower for her mom.
This caught Mom completely by surprise, and she thanked her profusely.

Couple that with Li Mingyu’s syrupy sweet mouth—it was like she’d been dipped in honey—and Mom was so pleased she didn’t even ask where they were going.
Just told her, “Come home early,” and let her leave.

Only when Jiang Ning got in the car did she suddenly realize—
“Mingyu-jie, did you drug my mom or something?”
“She didn’t even ask what I’m doing with you?!”

At that, Li Mingyu smiled and raised a teasing brow.
“Little Jiang Ning, when it comes to dealing with parents—your big sis is way better than you.”

Pft.
Such a show-off.

Jiang Ning couldn’t be bothered with Li Mingyu’s smugness.

Just then, while waiting at a red light, Li Mingyu pointed to the glove compartment.
“There’s a contract from Top Entertainment in there. Take it out and read it.”

Oh right.
Jiang Ning suddenly remembered the real reason Li Mingyu had come for her.

She reached over, opened the glove box, and fished a pristine contract out from a bunch of lipstick boxes.
She laid it flat and started reading.

After a while, Jiang Ning finally understood what Top Entertainment was aiming for this time.

To put it simply, the company wants to pool the majority of its resources to promote a top-tier celebrity who can serve as the company’s flagship figure. Through this celebrity’s influence, the company aims to elevate its overall status, positioning itself among the nation’s top entertainment companies—able to stand on equal footing with the long-established “big three.”

However, the person selected for this role can’t be chosen at random.

First, they must already possess a certain level of public influence.

Second, they need to be genuinely capable—after all, the company can’t promote someone who’s essentially just a decorative mascot. That would only become a joke in the industry.

Lastly, the individual must have strong loyalty to the company. They can’t be promoted to fame and success, only to turn around and leave. At that point, no amount of penalty fees would matter—the whole thing would turn Top Entertainment into the laughingstock of the entire industry.

So with that in mind, the company has preselected a total of three candidates.

The first is an actress who has been with the company for years and is considered one of its only true rising stars in the film and television scene.

The second is a male singer the company pushed hard last year—known for his high notes and vocal modulation. He’s decently popular and sits somewhere in the middle tier of the industry.

The third… is Jiang Jiang, the virtual character.

Technically speaking, based on qualifications and experience, a virtual persona like Jiang Jiang should not have even made the cut.

However, thanks to the strong backing of Director Liao Liao and General Manager Guo Xiangyang, Jiang Ning managed to become the third candidate.

At first, Jiang Ning had little interest in the whole idea of “competing” for anything.

But when she saw a clause in the contract that said, “May invest personal funds to purchase 1% of the company’s stock and become a shareholder,” she couldn’t help but feel a spark of interest.

As for the later clauses about a 50% profit-sharing ratio, bonus splits from song earnings, and promotional coverage—they didn’t catch her attention at all.

She slowly put the contract down and looked straight ahead at the road.

“What are you thinking about?” Li Mingyu asked.

“Equity.”

Just that one word made Li Mingyu, who was driving, let out an admiring laugh.

“Smart, as always. You saw right through to the most important and valuable part of the contract.”

Jiang Ning didn’t respond. She simply reopened the contract and continued reading.

After a while, she had a general understanding of the terms.

In short, within one to two months, she must release one or two songs. Their performance in the market will be used to assess results.

Then, all three candidates will be compared based on those results.

In other words—whoever makes the most money wins.

Strictly speaking, this method favors the other two candidates, who already have fanbases. They only need to rally their followers to bring in a decent profit.

Jiang Ning, on the other hand, will only see substantial returns if her songs are runaway hits—chart-topping hits.

So, in the eyes of many, she’s at a disadvantage.

To compensate for this, Top Entertainment even adjusted her profit-sharing rate slightly in her favor.

But at the moment, Jiang Ning wasn’t thinking about percentages or shares.

“Mingyu-jie, what do you think?”

Hearing the question, Li Mingyu casually flipped her hair and let out a lazy hum before asking:

“Are you planning to keep writing and releasing songs in the future?”

That one question made Jiang Ning realize something.

True—she wasn’t interested in the entertainment industry. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t make money from it.

Releasing music under a virtual persona was, for now, a workable strategy.

But if, one day, Top Entertainment changed management and decided to drop her virtual image, would she be forced into the spotlight?

However, if she owned shares in the company—became one of its decision-makers—then no matter who was in charge, their decisions wouldn’t affect her.

With that in mind, Jiang Ning decided to participate.

As for whether or not she would win?

Heh.

That wasn’t even on her radar.

One or two lead singles?

Might as well come up with a few catchy tunes and refresh everyone’s ears.

(End of Chapter)