Chapter 152: In My Life, I Only Marry—Never Be Married Off

Wu Xiaobailian still came to work.

He’d cut his hair short.

His face was covered in band-aids.

At a glance, he actually looked a bit spirited.

But the girls in Jiang Ning’s harem group had already seen his foul-mouthed side.

So none of them showed any emotional reaction to Wu Xiaobailian’s return.

That included Sun Qian, that girl.

Part of the reason might be that she’d recently gotten obsessed with the I Ching.

{T/n: The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is an ancient Chinese text used for divination and wisdom. It’s based on 64 hexagrams made of yin and yang lines, symbolizing patterns of change. People use it to gain insight into life decisions by interpreting these symbols.}

Every chance she got, she’d take out the book, flip a few pages, and then pretend to calculate something with her fingers.

Jiang Ning had asked her several times what she’d figured out.

The answer was always the same:

“Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed.”

Heaven, my ass.

Revealed, my ass.

Aren’t you worried about leaking in your sleep at night?

Compared to the fortune-teller,

The other girls were much more normal.

Zhu Hui’s drawing skills had grown increasingly impressive.

Just from Jiang Ning’s verbal description, she could sketch out the concept of the electric bicycle Jiang Ning wanted.

She even added some color herself.

Made the design more in line with popular aesthetics.

As for Luo Shanshan,

Her Sleep-Fist technique had grown more powerful too.

As soon as it was physics or chemistry class,

She’d unconsciously enter training mode.

Like pecking beans,

She’d make these soft little silly noises.

Once she even managed to fall asleep standing up.

That level of skill,

Even Jiang Ning felt unworthy in comparison.

Just like that,

A few quiet days passed.

Saturday came.

The weather was great.

Sunny skies, not a cloud in sight.

The high temperature reached around 25°C.

Very comfortable.

Perfect for a walk to clear one’s head.

Just not that great for shopping.

Actually, not exactly “not great.”

It’s just that Jiang Ning wasn’t really suited to that level of physical activity.

If only she could fly, that’d be perfect.

Jiang Ning was sitting on a bench in the mall corridor,

Massaging her thighs,

Watching Meng Qing and Li Yang chat,

While letting her mind wander.

“Queen, want to take some sticker photos together?”

“Sticker photos?”

Meng Qing pointed to a square-shaped thing near the mall hallway, covered with a curtain.

At a glance, it looked like a shabby changing room.

Looking closely—

The sides of the booth were plastered with photos of various sizes.

Sticker photos, huh…

That word triggered something in Jiang Ning’s mind.

A wave of long-dormant memories suddenly awakened.

“Jiang Ning, let’s take some sticker photos?”

“No way. Only girls take that kind of stuff.”

“But I want a photo of you.”

“What’s the point of a photo? If you want something to keep, keep the real me.”

Turns out—

She didn’t get the photo, and didn’t keep the person either.

In her past life, that was where things ended with Gao Jingyi.

After entering college, they drifted apart.

Eventually, they lost contact completely.

“Queen?”

“Are you even listening?”

Meng Qing shook Jiang Ning’s arm.

That finally brought her back to reality.

“Sure, let’s go take some.”

Taking sticker photos was simple.

The girls picked a background, stood in front of the lens, posed.

Then they used the cord to press the shutter.

Click, click, click, click…

They took a whole bunch.

Jiang Ning smiled so much her face muscles went stiff.

But—

When she got the prints, looking at the pretty face in the photo,

She couldn’t help but sigh a little.

Why did this face have to be hers?

If it belonged to some other woman, this old man would definitely show her the power of the divine hand.

Just then,

The owner of the sticker photo booth walked over.

“Hi beauties, can I use your photo for advertising?”

“I can give you a 2-yuan discount.”

My face is only worth that much?

“Add three photo keychains.”

“Deal!”

Two minutes later,

Jiang Ning helped Meng Qing attach the trio photo keychain to her bag.

Li Yang hooked hers onto her keys.

As for Jiang Ning’s—

Under Meng Qing’s watchful eye, she clipped it onto her own phone.

“Kinda hungry.”

“Let’s grab something to eat.”

“Sounds good!”

For activities that didn’t require physical exertion, Jiang Ning was fully in favor.

So the three of them went down to the mall’s basement level.

Found a duck blood vermicelli shop.

Sat down.

The place tasted great.

The broth was made with real bone stock.

Full of flavor.

Jiang Ning enjoyed it thoroughly.

Even drank down half a bowl of soup.

“Queen, you’re quite the big name at our school now.”

Li Yang said it casually, but to Jiang Ning, it sounded like there was something behind the words.

Sure enough—

Meng Qing paused her chopsticks, looking slightly sour:

“A lot of boys see you as their goal.”

“Even some rich second-gen types are saying they want to take you home as their wife.”

“Don’t listen to their bullshit.” Jiang Ning took a small sip of broth, the rich flavor still lingering in her mouth.

“In my life, I only marry—never be married off.”

“Really?”

Meng Qing’s eyes curved into two little moons as she smiled sweetly:

“Then how about I marry you?”

“Sure.” Jiang Ning suddenly reached out, gently lifted Meng Qing’s slightly blushing cheek.

“But you have to get into college first.”

However—

Upon hearing that, Meng Qing’s previously rosy face immediately dimmed.

There was even a hint of moisture in her dark-lined eyes.

The sudden change caught Jiang Ning off guard.

“W-what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Meng Qing smiled, but the expression on her face looked clearly forced.

Just then,

Li Yang, who’d been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke up.

“Her mom wants her to drop out of school.”

Drop out?

“Why?” Jiang Ning couldn’t help but ask, but as soon as she spoke, she realized something. Her brow furrowed:

“Because of money?”

Seeing both girls fall silent,

Jiang Ning understood.

She let out a frustrated laugh.

“Second High’s tuition is what, two thousand yuan a year?”

“Dropping out over that?”

“Is it worth it?”

“I’ll pay it.”

Hearing this, Meng Qing shook her head.

“It’s not about the tuition.”

“Then what is it?”

“Her dad lost a lot of money in some failed investment. Now the family needs money to survive.” Li Yang explained, but Meng Qing tugged her sleeve.

Clearly, she didn’t want Li Yang to reveal too much.

But Li Yang looked irritated too, glaring at the wide-eyed girl beside her.

“Her mom thinks girls are meant to get married anyway. No point in studying more. There’s a little brother at home who needs school—so she found her a factory job.”

“She’s supposed to start working next week.”

Upon hearing this,

Jiang Ning truly got angry.

She looked at Meng Qing, face calm but serious.

“Is that true?”

Seeing Meng Qing’s hesitation, lips parting but no words coming out,

Jiang Ning figured what Li Yang said was probably accurate.

In that moment,

She felt a wave of absurdity.

It’s already the 21st century,

And there are still parents who think like this.

But she quickly realized that it was only 2001, and many people had not yet truly experienced the explosion of information.

Concepts and values were still very outdated.

Let alone male superiority—arranged marriages were still quite common.

So it was understandable why Meng Qing’s mother would think that way.

However,

Understanding is one thing.

Whether she agreed or not was another.

“What do you think?”

“Do you want to keep going to school?”

Although she didn’t know why Jiang Ning was asking this, Meng Qing still bit her lip and gently nodded.

“The teacher said that going to school can broaden your horizons.”

“I want to see the world outside.”

Alright.

That’s all she needed to hear.

With that, Jiang Ning had a just cause.

Otherwise, if the girl didn’t even want to go to school, then if she tried to get her back in, it would’ve been a waste of effort.

However,

Before taking care of this matter,

There seemed to be one more thing to deal with.

“Meng… ahem, Tianyao.”

“Quick question, what kind of factory did your mom find for you?”

Mmp.

Daring to hire a minor?

Let’s see if I don’t make an example out of you.

“It’s a electric bike factory.”

“I think it’s called ‘Mingsheng Technology’ or something like that…”

Jiang Ning: “???”

(End of this chapter)