Chapter 162: The Woman Who Likes to Wear Pencil Skirts While Biking

Afternoon.

After three classes.

Jiang Ning suggested going to the back street for spicy hotpot.

The proposal was met with enthusiastic support from Luo Shanshan and the others.

Except for Zhu Hui, who had to rush to the studio for class.

The other girls said nothing more and headed off campus together.

“Jiang Jiang, I remember you don’t really like spicy hotpot, do you?” Qi Wen asked curiously as she linked arms with Jiang Ning on the way.

“Mhm, I don’t like it when others treat me.”

“I like treating others—especially to a 13-yuan spicy hotpot.”

Upon hearing this, the two girls ahead who were messing around turned to look.

“Thirteen yuan? Who can eat that much?” Sun Qian scoffed while teasing a certain big-busted classmate.

“Oh, someone can.”

“Because she has two extra stomachs!”

“Who are you talking about!” Luo Shanshan angrily threw a punch.

But Sun Qian had already darted away.

The punch hit nothing but air.

Luo Shanshan wouldn’t let it go and chased after her.

The two girls started horsing around on the avenue lined with phoenix trees.

Watching this, Jiang Ning curled her lip with disdain.

“Like a bunch of kids.”

At that moment.

Qi Wen suddenly let out a warm sigh.

“Jiang Jiang, if only you were a boy.”

???

If memory serves right.

In the last life, you said something similar.

Only it was a sigh about why I wasn’t a girl.

So we could be sisters.

So…

Schrödinger’s gender?

Jiang Ning rolled her eyes at the little liar next to her.

A moment later.

As the group of four passed by the duck blood vermicelli shop—

They unexpectedly noticed.

At some point, the shop had closed.

“Sigh, though that place wasn’t that good…”

“It still counted as an option.”

“Now it’s gone.”

“In the future, we’ll only be able to go to the one on Siyan Road.”

Luo Shanshan let out a genuine sigh.

Even Sun Qian didn’t throw in a jab this time, and simply continued:

“Yeah.”

“Too bad that one’s not great either.”

“What now…”

Watching the two of them sighing.

Qi Wen suddenly burst out laughing.

“Why does it sound like you’re witnessing the extinction of a species.”

“Extinction?” Luo Shanshan glanced at Sun Qian.

“Isn’t it?” Sun Qian tilted her head and locked eyes with her.

“Tablet face, what are you looking at me for?”

“Big laundry basket! Weren’t you staring first?”

“What did you just call me?”

“Big laundry basket!”

And so, the two of them inexplicably started bickering again.

Qi Wen could only shake her head helplessly and turn to look at Jiang Ning.

She was just about to speak—

When she noticed Jiang Ning’s gaze at the shuttered duck blood vermicelli shop looked… strange.

“What? Craving it?”

“No, just a bit nostalgic for the flavor.” Jiang Ning looked up at the dim shop sign.

“Probably won’t get to eat it again.”

———

Saturday.

In the underground parking lot of Tianwei Tower.

Li Mingyu was riding a Xiaoning No. 3 electric scooter, cheerfully calling out:

“Wahoo!”

“Jiang Xiaoning!”

“This thing’s pretty fast!”

“Hehehe…”

“So fun! It’s really fun!”

Like a child with a new toy.

She was gleefully racing around.

As for Jiang Ning—

She leaned against a red BMW nearby.

Watching Li Mingyu’s antics with a helpless expression.

“Hey! Your skirt! Watch it…”

“Don’t straddle it!”

“You’re wearing a pencil skirt! A pencil skirt!”

“Your bra strap slipped! Hey, it’s showing!”

After a while.

Li Mingyu finally braked and rolled up to Jiang Ning.

Creaaak.

Looking at the slightly disheveled, bedhead-like mature young woman.

Jiang Ning sighed softly.

Stepped forward, and gently fixed her slipping bra strap.

“How’s the scooter?”

“Very nice.” Li Mingyu let out a breath and patted the handlebars.

“Lighter than I expected.”

“Easier to handle than a motorcycle.”

“If the battery capacity doubled, it could really eat into the motorcycle market.”

Motorcycles?

Honestly—

Jiang Ning had never taken them seriously.

Even without the motorcycle bans coming in a few years—

For household use, electric scooters were far superior.

Forget the noise.

Just on cost savings alone, motorcycles couldn’t compete.

Especially with China’s unique gas prices.

A battery-powered scooter could save quite a bit every month.

Twenty minutes later.

Jiang Ning and Li Mingyu returned to the office upstairs.

After sitting down—

Li Mingyu somehow produced a full tea set.

Striking a mock ceremonial tea-lady pose.

Warming cups, adding tea, rinsing leaves…

A whole ritual.

By the time the tea was ready and set in front of Jiang Ning—

She picked it up and took a sip.

“Well?”

“It’s cold…”

And with that, Jiang Ning earned herself a massive eye-roll.

Along with a sarcastic “pearls before swine.”

She just smiled and downed the cold tea.

Then asked sweetly:

“Sis Mingyu, got any suggestions for my electric scooter?”

“What do you mean yours?”

“That one’s mine.”

“You gave it to me, so now it’s mine!”

“Fine, fine, fine.” Jiang Ning didn’t want to argue with a tsundere mature woman, and repeated her question.

Li Mingyu sat on the couch, resting her head on one hand, and thought for a moment:

“A few.”

“First, the battery’s too small.”

“Ten-plus kilometers sounds like a lot, but it’s drained after half an hour.”

“Second, not enough variety.”

“Third, no limited editions.”

Limited editions? You think it’s a designer bag?

Jiang Ning was amused, but kept listening.

“And charging’s too slow.”

“Takes seven or eight hours to fully charge.”

“With that time, I could ride my motorcycle to and from Ningzhou.”

All valid points.

These really were the current problems facing electric scooters.

Except for the lack of style variety.

The other issues would persist for years.

Though with tech advancement, they’d improve somewhat.

Like faster chargers.

Pulse charging, intermittent variable current charging, and so on.

But those inevitably damage the battery to some degree.

To truly solve these problems—

Revolutionary new products would be needed.

And those hadn’t arrived by the time Jiang Ning’s previous life ended.

Just then.

Li Mingyu suddenly asked:

“Jiang Xiaoning.”

“How much money do you have left?”

Money?

That was a touchy question.

When someone starts like that, it usually leads to borrowing money.

Truth be told, if Li Mingyu really asked her for a loan…

Miss Jiang would never refuse to lend money.

It’s just that if there were financial dealings between the two of them, the dynamic would change.

Hmm.

It would turn into a sugar mama and sugar baby situation.

“Mingyu-jie, why are you asking that?”

“What, afraid I’ll ask to borrow money?”

Li Mingyu, having spent years in the real world, wasn’t so easily fooled.

Jiang Ning didn’t answer her question directly, and she instantly knew this little fox was overthinking.

With a bit of irritation, she said:

“I found a good project and want to bring you in as an investor.”

Oh…

When it came to making money, Miss Jiang perked right up.

Her bright eyes locked onto the elegant older woman in front of her, and the intensity of her gaze made the woman instinctively press her knees together.

Then she realized what she’d done.

Her cheeks flushed.

“You little money grubber.”

“You really come alive when someone mentions profit.”

At that, Li Mingyu paused slightly.

“How much money do you have right now?”

How much?

A very practical question.

It had been a month since Jiang Ning last checked her bank balance.

At that time, she’d spent over 300,000 to upgrade the equipment and renovate the factory.

If she remembered correctly…

“There should be a little over three million.”

As soon as she heard that number, Li Mingyu’s eyes lit up.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“Jiang Xiaoning…”

Feeling that sugary, almost cloying tone in Li Mingyu’s voice, Jiang Ning instinctively shivered.

“Stop!”

“Just get to the point!”

Such a cold response made Li Mingyu pout in protest.

“Jiang Xiaoning, you’re not cute anymore!”

“I’m going to be mad for three seconds!”

“You’re not allowed to talk to me.”

Then, like a child throwing a tantrum, she counted down from three.

When she was done, the elegant older woman beamed again at Miss Jiang.

“Jiang Xiaoning, would you like to invest in real estate?”

(End of Chapter)