Chapter 176: The Female Delivery Driver Who Came to the Door

Jiang Ning was finding herself increasingly pressed for time.

Back when she only had a few fried chicken shops,

she could still spare time to try out some local snacks while keeping an eye on the stores.

But now, forget eating—

she barely had time to do her homework at home.

Three days off,

a hundred and twenty test papers,

nine essays,

plus various bits and pieces.

It could be said,

she spent the first two days of the holiday holed up at home, buried in assignments.

Thankfully,

the factory didn’t require much of her attention for the moment.

Wang Jianguo simply reported a few details to her each day.

As for the shops,

her older cousin knew Jiang Ning’s studies were only getting busier,

so he took the initiative to shoulder more responsibilities.

Only then could Jiang Ning still remember she was a student,

flipping through books, memorizing vocabulary and classical Chinese.

And after two full days,

she finished all her assignments.

The third day,

June 9th.

Today was the last day of the college entrance exam.

Because it was pouring outside,

with thunder rumbling overhead,

Jiang Ning, still lying in bed, gave up on the idea of visiting the store.

She had already taken two days off anyway—

one more day wouldn’t make a difference.

So she began her rare, lazy “salted fish” life.

Aside from occasionally thinking about future plans,

she spent nearly all her time curled up in the living room,

half-watching the old Panda-brand TV at home.

Because of Jiang Ning’s butterfly-effect presence,

a lot of what aired on TV now was stuff she had never seen before.

Especially in the entertainment category.

Awards like the Golden Man and Golden Dragon were entirely unheard of.

Even the TV programs were different.

For example, the current show Romance of the Three Kingdoms—

the actors were a completely different group,

and the storyline wasn’t quite the same either.

Liu Bei, who used to sell straw sandals, had become a street thug.

Zhang Fei had changed from a butcher to a bodyguard coachman.

Only Guan Yu remained the same—

still a jujube-selling street vendor.

But the main plot hadn’t changed much.

The Oath of the Peach Garden, the crossing of five passes and slaying of six generals—

it was all still there.

Watching closely, it was actually quite entertaining,

especially with the fresh twist the new cast brought.

It was something Jiang Ning had never experienced before.

At noon,

the rain stopped.

Curled on the sofa, Jiang Ning really didn’t want to cook.

But her stomach wouldn’t stop protesting.

Maybe…

She glanced at the landline next to her.

“Yeah, Jixiang Residential Community, one Happy Kid’s Meal, cash, yes… okay…”

A short call later,

food was settled.

But then she began thinking about a different issue.

She had genuinely ordered food because she was hungry.

But what if someone pranked the store?

You know, those fake orders with someone else’s address that end up getting canceled.

Although her cousin never mentioned it,

Jiang Ning was sure every shop had run into something like that at some point.

So—

she needed a way to handle it temporarily.

Then,

she glanced at the clock and, confirming the time, went back to watching her alternate-universe Three Kingdoms.

After a while,

a rhythmic knock sounded at the door.

Jiang Ning checked the clock again.

Twenty-five minutes since ordering.

She quickly calculated the travel time and in-store prep.

She nodded.

Not bad.

The knock came again.

Knock knock knock…

“Coming!”

Jiang Ning called out, quickly got up, went to the door, and looked through the peephole.

When she saw it was a female delivery driver with a hat and long hair down to her chest,

she froze for a second.

Opened the door.

“Your food is—”

“Than… huh, Meng Qing?”

The next second,

the delivery girl lifted her head, revealing a very familiar face.

But that little face didn’t look very happy.

“Queen… you called me by name again!”

She muttered under her breath.

But Jiang Ning didn’t care about names at this point.

She immediately reached out, grabbed Meng Qing’s hand, and pulled her inside.

Then closed the door behind her and asked in confusion:

“Why are you delivering food?”

“Didn’t I assign you to the daycare area for play support?”

As she spoke, she brought Meng Qing to the living room and pointed at the sofa:

“Sit down, I’ll get you something to eat.”

“No no no…” Meng Qing immediately clutched Jiang Ning’s hand.

“I already had lunch, and I need to get back to the store to wait for orders…”

“Orders?” Jiang Ning felt how cold her hand was and let out a domineering snort:

“Your only task this afternoon is to stay here and keep your boss happy.”

“I can’t…” Meng Qing lowered her head, her dark hair hiding her slightly pale face, and mumbled:

“I promised the team leader I’d deliver for the whole day…”

“Screw that.” Jiang Ning, annoyed, reached out and pinched Meng Qing’s cheek.

“Who’s the boss here, your team leader or me?”

“If I say stay, you stay!”

In the end,

timid little Meng Qing couldn’t fight Jiang Ning’s authority.

Pouting, she sat on the sofa, watching Jiang Ning make a bold call.

“Big cousin!”

“Give a heads-up to Team Leader Huo of the delivery squad.”

“Meng Qing’s off duty… yeah, she’s got another assignment, so don’t schedule her for deliveries.”

“With skin that delicate, how could you let her run around under the sun and wind every day?”

“What?”

“CD? What CD?”

“Oh, letter… bad…”

“Let’s… leave it… bye…”

And without waiting for a response,

Jiang Ning hung up the phone and turned it off.

Her whole process was smooth and practiced.

Looking up,

she saw Meng Qing gazing at her with a wronged expression.

Those big eyes shimmering with emotion made Jiang Ning’s heart skip a beat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where’s the charm on your phone?”

Charm?

Oh…

The photo keychain.

Crap.

Jiang Ning smacked her forehead.

Her brain whirred for two seconds.

“The string broke by accident more than half a month ago, and I kept forgetting to replace it…”

Not a bad excuse.

Meng Qing could only pout after hearing it.

In truth, that charm had been taken off by Jiang Ning the day after they came back and stuffed into a drawer.

She just didn’t like hanging too many little things on her phone.

Hard to carry, and they scratched her.

Of course,

that wasn’t something Meng Qing needed to know.

Otherwise, she’d probably cry on the spot.

Later on,

Jiang Ning snacked on fries from her kid’s meal while watching the weird show on TV.

When something funny came up, she’d laugh out loud with Meng Qing.

Suddenly,

a knock came from the door again. Knock knock knock.

Jiang Ning was surprised.

She got up and walked over.

Looking through the peephole,

she saw a young man in a “Shi Ning Ji” delivery uniform

knocking on her door.

Huh?

Hadn’t the food already been delivered?

Why was someone else here?

Jiang Ning frowned.

“Who is it?”

The guy outside clearly froze at that.

“Uh, hello, sorry to bother you.”

“Did someone just deliver food here?”

What do you mean?

At that moment,

Jiang Ning heard footsteps. When she turned around, she saw Meng Qing walking over with a puzzled look, asking:

“What’s wrong?”

Jiang Ning pointed at the peephole.

Meng Qing took a couple of curious steps forward and stood on tiptoe to look through it.

“Zheng Ming?”

“You know him?”

Meng Qing nodded after hearing the voice.

Seeing that, Jiang Ning reached out and opened the door.