Chapter 154: Be Ready with the Whip!

Qi Wen had been getting more and more clingy with Miss Jiang lately.

She used to just take her for a walk around the playground after lunch to help digest the meal.

Now she insisted on holding her hand during the morning break after the second period.

Honestly,

At first, Jiang Ning felt a bit awkward holding Qi Wen’s hand while walking.

After all, it was out in public.

Hand in hand…

Walking so close together…

But eventually, she realized she was overthinking it.

No one paid attention to two girls holding hands while walking.

Only when guys did that would it seem flashy and draw attention.

So—

Could this be considered a unique gender privilege?

“Jiang Jiang, I don’t know why, but I just feel really comfortable being with you.”

Comfortable?

Jiang Ning gently squeezed Qi Wen’s slender little hand.

Soft, boneless, long, and smooth.

It did feel pretty nice.

She just wondered what it’d be like to shake hands with a bro like this.

Unfortunately…

Her bro couldn’t handle fine grains.

He ran off.

Heh heh heh…

Qi Wen, seeing Jiang Ning unresponsive, couldn’t help asking:

“Jiang Jiang, do you have something on your mind?”

“Nope.”

Jiang Ning greeted a passing classmate, then turned to look at the little cutie beside her.

“What’s up?”

“You zoned out six times during the first two classes this morning.”

“I counted for you.”

Huh?

Miss Jiang looked stunned.

“That many?”

“If not more!”

Qi Wen pouted, then suddenly tiptoed and tugged at Jiang Ning’s ear.

“Spill it!”

“Are you thinking about a guy?!”

“No way!” Miss Jiang immediately rejected the idea, feeling absurd.

Because to her—

It would make sense if she were thinking about a girl, but a guy?

Heh.

Only if it was the ones printed on bills.

“Then did something happen?”

Facing Qi Wen’s clear, bright eyes,

Jiang Ning paused for a moment.

Then still shook her head.

“Really, it’s nothing.”

“Just didn’t sleep well last night…”

“Yeah?” Qi Wen tilted her head, staring at Jiang Ning’s flawless face.

Stared for a while.

Then seriously said:

“Then make sure to rest!”

“We’re skipping the lunchtime walk today.”

Back in the classroom,

Jiang Ning sat down and couldn’t help glancing out the window.

She did have something on her mind.

Today was May 23, 2001.

Wednesday.

Lunar calendar: Intercalary April 1st.

The perpetual calendar said today was good for everything.

So—

On this auspicious day,

The factory of “Mingsheng” Technology officially opened.

As the actual person in charge of the company,

Jiang Ning should’ve been there.

However,

Considering the exposure of such an event,

And the deep local connections of the 200+ workers—

After much thought, Jiang Ning decided to let her older cousin Tian Wenhao and acting plant manager Lin Ke

represent the factory and host the opening ceremony.

Based on the schedule,

The ribbon-cutting would be over by now, followed by speeches.

Next would be a tour of the factory with the distributors.

While introducing the plant, they’d also showcase the newest products.

Basically, a mini product fair.

Only it was a very small one, with just three different models of electric bicycles.

But maybe in the near future,

Each new product release could become a full-scale product exhibition.

To be honest,

Jiang Ning was feeling a bit nervous.

After all, the motorcycle ban hadn’t been issued yet.

And the market wasn’t fully ready to accept electric bicycles.

What if none of the distributors placed any orders?

Or what if they did, but in such small quantities that they couldn’t open the market?

These were all things Jiang Ning had to consider.

If that really happened—

Miss Jiang would have no choice but to take an unconventional approach to break into the market.

The third period was math class.

As usual,

When the bell rang,

Luo Shanshan entered practice mode.

Her neck swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Jiang Ning sometimes genuinely worried this girl might snap her neck one day.

“Luo Shanshan, come up and solve this problem.”

Hearing Ma Hongwei’s call,

Jiang Ning quickly pinched the soft flesh at Luo Shanshan’s waist.

The sharp pain immediately jolted her awake.

In a dazed state,

She got called to the board by Ma Hongwei.

And in an equally dazed state,

Got yelled at and sent back down.

“So annoying.”

“He knows I can’t do it but still calls me up.”

Luo Shanshan grumbled in frustration.

Jiang Ning rolled her eyes at that.

“Duh, that’s exactly why he called you up.”

Fortunately,

That brief problem-solving session

Snapped Luo Shanshan out of her sleepiness completely.

But staring at the board full of symbols and numbers like a heavenly script,

Her complaints didn’t stop.

“This is so hard!”

“How do these symbols and numbers all mashed together turn into something else?!”

“I seriously don’t get it, what do I do!”

She kept mumbling like a chanting monk.

Luckily, the bell rang soon after.

As the bell rang,

Jiang Ning stretched lazily.

After a full morning of classes, plus all the distractions in her mind,

She just wanted to lay her head down and get some sleep.

Come to think of it, it was kind of funny.

Maybe this kind of total exhaustion—

Was what high school really felt like.

At noon,

After lunch,

Back in the classroom for her nap, Jiang Ning had just dozed off

when her pocket buzzed faintly.

She frowned slightly.

Reached in and pulled out her phone.

Glanced down.

[All went smoothly] — a message from paparazzi girl Wang Jianguo.

Seeing those words,

Jiang Ning’s tense heart relaxed by half.

Then another message arrived, putting her completely at ease.

[Xiaoning No. 1: 46 units, Xiaoning No. 2: 28 units, Xiaoning No. 3: 78 units.]

[Total sales today: 180,000 yuan.]

180,000.

Seeing that figure,

Jiang Ning let out a small sigh of relief.

She’d originally expected about 150,000 in orders today.

After all, these were electric bicycles.

And with no motorcycle ban in place yet,

Many distributors wouldn’t stock up heavily.

Yet even in such conditions,

The total sales had given her a big pleasant surprise.

Especially Xiaoning No. 3,

Which had 78 units ordered.

More than the combined total of No. 1 and No. 2.

Looks like paparazzi girl was right.

That little thing really did suit market demand better.

Still, Jiangzhou’s market wasn’t that big.

Only twenty or thirty distributors came today.

There might not be more than a hundred citywide.

To really grow the electric bicycle market,

They’d have to expand outward.

Thinking this through, Jiang Ning typed up a message to Wang Jianguo.

[Notify Yu Lingling to assemble a province-wide sales team ASAP.]

[Short on people, get people. Short on funds, give funds!]

[I want to see orders from other cities in the province within a month!]

[If you can’t do it, hehe, better get the whip ready yourself!]

——————

After school in the evening.

Jiang Ning stretched her somewhat stiff limbs.

Just as she stood up from her seat—

A noisy commotion came from outside.

“What’s going on?”

“No idea.”

Luo Shanshan waved her hand.

The two of them instinctively turned around and looked at Sun Qian, who was still organizing her books.

Sensing the inexplicable stares,

the flat-faced fortune teller sighed lightly,

and made a show of calculating with her fingers.

“I’d better go check it out.”

With that,

she ran off.

A moment later,

she came sneaking back, face full of excitement:

“There’s a fight on the field!”

“For real?!”

“Who’s fighting??”

For a moment, several girls around stared at Sun Qian in surprise.

“It’s between our first-years and the second-years.”

“Huh?”

Even Jiang Ning perked up.

After all, she’d done her share of schoolyard fights in her past life.

But a cross-grade brawl? That was interesting.

However—

When she heard one of the names involved was that infamous rich transfer student—

Instinctively,

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow.

(End of chapter)