Chapter 157: Crocodile or White Rabbit?

Twenty minutes earlier.

As the last bits of the ashtray shards were cleaned from the study by a servant, Shang Jie let out a gentle sigh.

“Guosheng, aren’t you being too harsh on Chengming?”

At her words, Luo Guosheng turned around to face the graceful woman in the qipao before him.

He stepped forward, brushing a few loose strands of hair from her forehead with one hand, and wrapping the other around her slender waist.

“Shang Jie, you don’t understand.”

“Chengming is headstrong and defiant by nature.”

“If we don’t keep his temper in check, he’s bound to cause big trouble someday.”

Hearing this, the beautiful woman parted her red lips—marked by a small mole—as if wanting to say something. But in the end, she said nothing, just sighed softly.

Perhaps sensing her unease, Luo Guosheng gently kissed her smooth forehead, comforting her in a voice far gentler than before.

“Don’t worry.”

“Zhengyang and Mingyue are both good kids we’ve raised together.”

“We know their personalities well.”

“There won’t be any problems.”

After speaking, a thought seemed to strike him.

He raised a finger to signal “wait,” then turned and walked to his desk. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a folder and handed it to her.

“Shang Jie, you were right.”

“This fast-food business really has potential.”

“The company opened three fried chicken outlets in different secondary commercial areas, following the model of Golden Arches and KFC.”

“The results are actually quite good.”

The woman smiled and opened the folder.

Her eyes lit up.

“Three stores combined are already bringing in nearly ten thousand yuan a day.”

“And they’ve only just opened.”

“If this keeps up, the profit should continue to grow.”

She closed the folder and looked calmly at Luo Guosheng.

“If this business can work, then my suggestion is—start by grabbing market share.”

———

“What?”

“We’re opening branches at No. 2 High, Siyi Road, and the vocational school?”

Early in the morning, Tian Wenhao—still half-asleep—was woken by a phone call from his cousin.

Groggy as he was, her ambitious plan snapped him wide awake.

He sat up, glanced at his sleeping roommates, and lowered his voice.

“Wait a sec,” he said to the phone.

He slipped out of bed, crept to the door, and stepped into the hallway.

After closing the door behind him, he started walking as he spoke.

“Can you give me a reason?”

“You’ve already invested in an electric scooter factory.”

“If you open three more branches, never mind staffing, you won’t even have the energy to manage them.”

“Not to mention—you have college entrance exams coming!”

His last sentence was full of concern.

On the other end, Jiang Ning smiled, clearly touched.

She glanced toward the stairway near the restroom, made sure no one was around, then replied:

“Have you heard of ‘Emperor’s Chicken’?”

There was a pause.

“The new fried chicken place that opened last month near the vocational school?”

“Not last month—two months ago,” Jiang Ning corrected seriously.

“And it’s not just one. There are two more, near No. 2 High and Siyi Road.”

“Three total.”

“Cousin, your market awareness needs work!”

At that, even if Tian Wenhao were slow, he now understood what Jiang Ning meant.

“You’re saying…”

“No, wait. Ningning, what are you trying to do?”

Sensing the questioning tone, Jiang Ning didn’t answer directly. Instead, she sidestepped.

“Cousin.”

“Since we started ‘Shi Ning Ji,’ there’ve been at least four or five copycats, right?”

“But Jiangzhou’s cake is only so big.”

“The more people who take a slice, the less we get.”

“But we…” Tian Wenhao tried to say more but was cut off.

“Cousin, I know what you’re thinking.”

“You’re saying that ‘Shi Ning Ji’ is already the biggest fried chicken brand in Jiangzhou, aside from KFC and Golden Arches.”

“So why worry about the small fries, right?”

There was silence on the other end.

Silence meant agreement.

Jiang Ning chuckled.

“Cousin, that’s only because our plate is still small.”

“No big capital has noticed us yet.”

“But what if one day, a wealthy company jumps in, opens dozens of outlets, and crushes us?”

At this, the young man on the other end fell completely silent.

A long pause.

Then came the faint sound of static.

“Ningning, so… this ‘Emperor’s Chicken’…”

“Exactly. These three stores are just a test run by a large group.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“Cut off that hand,” Jiang Ning replied calmly.

“Let everyone in Jiangzhou’s F&B business understand—”

“If you want to do fried chicken, you listen to ‘Shi Ning Ji’!”

In that instant, Tian Wenhao was stunned.

He couldn’t believe these words came from his not-yet-18-year-old cousin.

Such domineering force, completely unreasonable.

Like a starved crocodile lurking in a pond—ruthless, ready to tear a chunk out of anyone who dared enter.

But just as he was about to ask more questions—

A woman’s voice rang out on the other end.

“Jiang Ning! What are you doing here during morning reading!?”

And just like that—

The prehistoric crocodile became the white rabbit at the doorstep.

“Huh? Oh, um, my leg went numb in the restroom, just stretching it out a bit…”

Beep… beep… beep…

Hearing the busy tone, Tian Wenhao stared blankly at the grass before him.

Cousin…

Which one is the real you?

Back on her side, Jiang Ning stuffed the phone into her sleeve and jogged off with a sheepish grin.

But as she passed Boss Yang Mei, the latter muttered:

“Use your phone properly.”

“If I find out you’re up to no good…”

“You’ll hand me that phone and have your mother come fetch it.”

Jiang Ning paused, turned back, about to ask what counted as “no good.”

But when her eyes met Boss Yang’s calm gaze—

All questions melted into one phrase.

“Don’t worry, Boss!”

“Little Jiang will never let you down!”

At noon.

After lunch, Jiang Ning lay on her desk, yawning as she doodled with a pen.

Around her, a few girls were napping too.

Just then, Zhu Hui handed her a piece of paper.

Jiang Ning looked at it—

Oh wow.

It was a sketch of Luo Shanshan gnawing on a chicken leg from lunch.

Apparently Zhu Hui’s sketching skills now rivaled a camera.

Jiang Ning turned and gave Zhu Hui a big thumbs-up.

But just then,

She noticed another sketch on Zhu Hui’s desk—of herself picking her teeth.

Her eyebrows raised sharply.

“Little Zhu Hui.”

“Hand it over!”

“Confess and be lenient, resist and be strict.”

At her words,

Zhu Hui just let out a cheeky laugh.

Then tucked the sketch into her drawer.

“A demon girl picking her teeth—this drawing is worth at least 50.”

“If I sell it to certain people, it could even go for 500!”

“Are you looking to die?!” Jiang Ning snapped, glaring, just about to unleash punishment on Zhu Hui.

But at that moment,

The phone in her pocket vibrated.

Jiang Ning paused.

Lately, with all the things happening outside, she had gotten used to keeping her phone on.

But very few people contacted her around noon.

Unless it was urgent.

So she clenched her fist and shot Zhu Hui a fierce look.

“I’ll make you call me Daddy later!”

Then she pulled out her phone.

Lowered her head to glance.

And when she saw the name on the message—

In an instant,

Jiang Ning was stunned.

Li Yang?
(End of chapter)