Chapter 141: Parent-Teacher Meeting Isn’t About Meeting Your Parents

May 7th.
Clear skies.
Gloomy mood.

Early in the morning, Jiang Ning woke up with a sullen face, dragging herself out of bed.

She ignored the plaid dress on the bedside and put on her old school uniform, walking out of the room.

As soon as she came out, she saw her mother fiddling with clothes in front of the mirror, trying them on from her shop. Several outfits of different styles were laid out on the couch.

“Ning Ning, how do you think this looks for the parent-teacher meeting?” her mother asked while twirling around in her long skirt.

“Mom, we’re not going to square dance…”

“Oh, is it too flashy?”

Tian Cuilan thought about it and realized that, for a parent-teacher meeting, wearing something too flashy might not be appropriate. She began to dig through other clothes on the couch.

But then, Tian Cuilan seemed to remember something and followed Jiang Ning into the bathroom, asking curiously:

“Ning Ning, didn’t the teacher say you should wear new school uniforms?”

“How do you know, Mom?”

“Li Huang from the building next door told me. I saw her running around in that dress in the neighborhood yesterday.”

“She runs so energetically, and it really suits our shop’s clothes.”

“Should I talk to her next time?”

Jiang Ning rolled her eyes, not wanting to delve into this with her mom. She proceeded to freshen up.

Seeing this, Tian Cuilan didn’t press further. She returned to the living room to continue her outfit search.

By the time Jiang Ning finished and came out of the bathroom, her mother had changed into a relatively simple outfit.

“How about this one?”

“Looks fine.”

Jiang Ning sat at the dining table and nodded before starting on her breakfast—plain rice porridge, pickled radish, and a red bean bun. A simple, ordinary breakfast.

At this moment, her mother turned and cut the tag off the clothes she was wearing.

“Okay, I’ll go with this one.”

“This one’s cheap, too.”

???

Hearing this, Jiang Ning suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Mom, don’t be impulsive.”

“We’re just going to a parent-teacher meeting.”

“Can you leave a bit of dignity for your daughter?”

But her mother only shot her a playful look.

“What are you thinking?”

“Can’t I wear something nice from the shop?”

“Just promoting a bit on the side, okay?”

It turned out that her mother was really just looking to dress nicely for herself. At most, she wanted to subtly show off her clothes while chatting with people.

“Mom, stop it.”

“Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

Under Jiang Ning’s urging, Tian Cuilan waved goodbye to the aunt downstairs and then, pushing the cart, rode to school with Jiang Ning.

Fifteen minutes later, when they arrived at the school, Jiang Ning could see a large red banner hanging at the entrance.

“Warmly welcome all student parents to our school.”

It looked very official, but this was clearly leftover from previous years. Jiang Ning could even vaguely see some signatures like xxx loves xxx on the banner.

Of course, these things were irrelevant.

At the school entrance, it was crowded with people. Almost every student had a parent beside them—some with their mothers and fathers, others with elderly relatives.

For some reason, when Jiang Ning saw this scene, her mind kept drifting to the anime Pokémon she watched in her previous life…

It seemed that the trainer gatherings in that show looked just like this.

Cough…

At that moment, they noticed a crowd gathered around the honor wall.

Curious, they walked over.

As they got closer, Jiang Ning overheard a conversation.

“Jiang Yaojing is amazing, first place in the provincial math competition. Her college entrance exam might add ten extra points.”

“Not just that, I heard it could add twenty to thirty points.”

“Tsk, if I had those points, I could aim for a 211 university too.”

“Jiang Yaojing really lives up to her name…”

The two young men were about to say more when they suddenly sensed some killing intent.

Turning around, they saw Jiang Ning glaring at them, and in fear, they quickly ran away.

“Second class, huh? I’ll bomb your class one day,” Jiang Ning muttered under her breath.

Thankfully, her mother didn’t hear what the two boys said. She just looked at the honor wall and then patted Jiang Ning on the shoulder.

“Sweetie, not bad, you’re on the wall.”

That sounded so strange.

Jiang Ning smiled sarcastically and stretched her lips.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to her.

“Jiang Jiang~”

Turning around, she saw a father and daughter approaching.

The father was of average build, dressed casually, with a friendly smile, exuding an indescribable artistic vibe.

As for the daughter, she was dressed neatly in a new school uniform, with a knee-length striped skirt and, most notably, her glowing white legs—both thin and straight.

Oh, isn’t that my young wife and father-in-law?

Jiang Ning immediately smiled and walked over, enthusiastically greeting Qi Wen’s father.

“Hello, Uncle Qi.”

“I’m Jiang Ning, Qi Wen’s good friend!”

Uncle Qi clearly knew Jiang Ning. His smile was very kind, and in front of her mother, he praised Jiang Ning for being diligent and excellent, making her mother extremely happy.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was spring for her mother again.

As she watched the two elders exchanging compliments, Jiang Ning’s mischievous side kicked in.

Right in front of her father, she grabbed Qi Wen’s little hand.

Holding it together, she even occasionally squeezed Qi Wen’s palm.

“What are you doing…”

“Nothing.”

“Ah?”

“Oh, I was just saying how great you look in a skirt.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not comfortable.”

Unfortunately, despite Qi Wen making little huffing sounds in response, to the two elders, it was just the affectionate gestures of close friends.

Damn it.

One day, you’ll see what’s behind the mountain.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man stepped in front of them.

“President Qi, I didn’t expect your child to be at No. 1 High School too…”

President Qi…

Oh, so it was Qi Wen’s father.

Looking at the enthusiastic middle-aged man, Jiang Ning realized he was here to greet Uncle Qi.

She was about to pull her mother to leave, but they were both stopped by a woman wearing a green floral long dress with a white Chanel handbag.

“Hello, are you Jiang Ning’s mother?”

???

Jiang Ning stared at the wealthy woman in front of her, then turned to look at her equally confused mother.

Considering how the woman addressed her, she probably was another parent from the class.

“I am, may I ask…?”

“Oh, I’m from Class One of Grade One, Gao Ye’s mother,” the rich lady introduced herself, extending her hand.

Tian Cuilan was puzzled as to why a parent from Class One would come to greet them.

She glanced at her daughter discreetly and saw that Jiang Ning was equally clueless.

Frowning, she still extended her hand politely to shake the woman’s.

Then, she exchanged a few casual words about the kids.

After a moment, when the rich lady handed my mother a business card and left, Jiang Ning glanced at the card and subtly nudged her mother’s arm.

“Mom, you’re something else.”

“Only a few days into running the shop, and you’ve already hooked up with the lady boss of a company.”

However, her mother shot her a glare, not amused.

“Hook up, my foot.”

“She’s eyeing our little cabbage!”

Little cabbage?

There’s no…

Wait.

Ah?!

Jiang Ning instantly understood, then recalled the rich lady’s self-introduction earlier.

Class One, Grade One…

Gao Ye…

Oh, damn it.

“Mom, you have to believe your daughter!” Jiang Ning quickly explained.

“Your daughter is very well-behaved at school!”

“Of course,” her mother huffed.

“Your mom isn’t a fool.”

With that, she looked down at the business card in her hand.

“General Manager of Tangcheng Technology.”

“Heh.”

“I’m also the chairwoman of Pangpang Group!”

“With these little skills, she thinks she can go after our little cabbage?”

“No way!”

“Exactly! No way!” Jiang Ning almost shouted long live my mom at that point.

But then, thinking about it more, that little rascal Gao Ye was really bad.

His intentions to eye her hadn’t died.

Looks like she’d have to find a chance to warn the brat properly.

However, what really irked Jiang Ning was that this situation happened several times over.

From the school entrance to the classroom, several parents stopped them along the way.

They made small talk, some genuinely asking her mother for parenting tips, but others just gave Jiang Ning strange looks.

Damn it!

The parent-teacher meeting isn’t supposed to be about meeting your parents!

This made Jiang Ning’s mood even worse.

With a dark face, she returned to the classroom with her mother.

(End of chapter)

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“211 universities” in China are top institutions selected under the government’s Project 211, launched in 1995 to boost about 100 key universities for the 21st century. They received extra funding and support to improve education and research. The project has been phased out and merged into the Double First-Class initiative.