Chapter 23: Got Played

“Ah…”

On the way back, Jiang Ning’s gaze wandered over the night-lit streets.

She watched the streetlights, the pedestrians, and the night sky…

From time to time, music drifted from the street corners—songs she had never heard in her previous life.

All in all, Jiang Ning felt a little melancholic.

She had already been suspicious of Li Mingwei’s feelings, but after seeing the way that kid had been both angry and flustered at her today, that suspicion had solidified into fact.

Sigh…

He’s the son of a government official, so why does he have such poor taste in choosing people?

Yao Yao is beautiful, gentle, and considerate, yet he insists on getting involved with her instead?

A thirty-year-old man’s soul in the body of a seventeen-year-old girl?

Stop kidding.

That’s just messed up.

But the problem was that she couldn’t exactly explain this to anyone.

So all she could do was grumble to herself.

Just as Jiang Ning was getting more and more frustrated, her aunt, who had been following on her bike, suddenly caught up and rode alongside her, asking:

“Ning Ning, is something bothering you?”

Jiang Ning stayed silent and kept pedaling.

But her aunt wasn’t giving up. She pressed on,

“Is it that young master from the district chief’s family?”

“Mm…” Jiang Ning made a vague sound, neither confirming nor denying it.

Her aunt fell silent for a moment.

Then she asked again,

“Do you like him?”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning immediately shook her head, her response as firm as a rattle drum.

Seeing her reaction, her aunt let out a soft sigh—who knew what she was sighing about—and said:

“If you don’t like him, you need to make that clear as soon as possible.”

“Don’t just let things drag on, and don’t entertain any ambiguous thoughts.”

“When it comes to relationships, girls must have a firm stance. If you keep things unclear, it’ll only lead to trouble…”

In that instant, Jiang Ning snapped out of her frustration.

Oh, right.

She doesn’t even like him. Why not just tell him straight up next time they meet?

What the hell is she even stressing about?

Shouldn’t the one worrying be Li Mingwei instead?

Realizing this, Jiang Ning’s mood instantly brightened.

Even her cycling speed picked up a bit.

The next day, Jiang Ning went to school as usual.

The first class in the morning was Chinese.

The homeroom teacher called on her to recite a passage, but she didn’t remember it and got scolded.

Jiang Ning was not happy.

The second class was English.

The English teacher had her write an essay. She finished it but misspelled two words.

Scolded again. Still not happy.

Third class, math.

Once again, she got called up to solve a problem. But by this point, even Jiang Ning, slow as she could be, started sensing that something was off with the teachers.

So after the third period, she chased after the math teacher and asked directly,

“What’s going on?”

When she heard the reason, she nearly coughed up blood.

It wasn’t until the math teacher, Ma Hongwei, let out a teasing laugh that Jiang Ning snapped out of her daze and hurriedly explained:

“Wait! Wait! Teacher! It’s not what you think!”

“It’s really not what you think!!”

But no matter how much she protested, the wrinkles on Ma Hongwei’s old face didn’t budge.

His small eyes gleamed with a kind of knowing wisdom.

He chuckled twice and said,

“Don’t worry, our school isn’t that old-fashioned.”

“As long as you don’t make too big a scene, it’s fine.”

“After all, who doesn’t have a few years of youth…?”

With that, he left, humming to himself, leaving Jiang Ning standing there in complete confusion.

Back in class.

Seeing Jiang Ning looking dazed, her deskmate Luo Shanshan couldn’t help but ask:

“Xiao Jiang Jiang, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing!”

Jiang Ning muttered absentmindedly and instinctively picked up a book to read.

Who knows how much she actually understood.

Seeing this, Luo Shanshan looked puzzled. She turned around and whispered her question to Sun Qian, who was engrossed in a romance novel.

Hearing Luo Shanshan’s words, Sun Qian lifted her head and said,

“Wait a sec.”

Then, she darted out of the classroom.

A short while later, Sun Qian hurried back to her seat.

Her face was full of shock, as if she had just heard some unbelievable news.

“What happened?”

Luo Shanshan leaned in, full of curiosity.

Instead of answering, Sun Qian gave Jiang Ning a big thumbs-up.

“As expected of our Xiao Jiang Jiang. Her charm is on another level.”

“Even a senior from second year has fallen at her feet—”

Before she could finish, Jiang Ning turned around with a murderous glare, eyes locked onto Sun Qian.

Her expression screamed, Say one more word and I’ll end you.

Perhaps sensing Jiang Ning’s intent, Sun Qian immediately covered her mouth.

But it was too late.

Luo Shanshan and their other classmate, Zhu Hui, had already heard every word.

Luo Shanshan gasped, “Wow, a senior!”

Zhu Hui, however, remained calm, mumbling,

“No wonder there were seniors hanging around our class during the last two periods…”

“So that’s why…”

Jiang Ning had no idea if there were seniors hanging around outside.

And frankly, she didn’t care.

What she did care about was—

Why had Li Mingwei, someone who was supposedly reserved and introverted, suddenly decided to pull a stunt like this?

It completely messed up her plans.

Frustrated, she was about to grumble when a piece of paper was suddenly passed to her.

She looked up and saw Qi Wen passing it over.

Opening it, she found a single sentence inside:

“They said that Li Mingwei from Class 2, Year 2 confessed to you using an acrostic poem?”

Reading this, Jiang Ning looked up and met Qi Wen’s eyes.

She nodded with an expression that said she had just swallowed a fly.

To her surprise—

Qi Wen actually gave her a thumbs-up too.

This made Jiang Ning grit her teeth in frustration, her gaze silently screaming, You’re dead.

But Qi Wen only made a funny face in response, completely unfazed.

Jiang Ning was fuming.

She cursed internally, May you all be constipated for three days.

Honestly, Jiang Ning was completely caught off guard by Li Mingwei’s sudden move.

Her original plan had been to find a chance in the next couple of days to talk things through with him.

That way, maybe they could still be friends afterward.

But now that he had made things public…

She had no way to counter it immediately.

If she went to confront him directly, there was no telling what weird rumors might spread.

But if she didn’t clear things up, who would believe her?

And this wasn’t something she could just let drag on.

For the first time, Jiang Ning felt like this whole thing was a giant headache.

If handled well, fine.

But if handled poorly, it could be a disaster.

Just as she was fuming—

Someone called her name.

Looking up, she saw three unfamiliar girls standing at the classroom door, scanning the room.

When their eyes landed on her bright and lively face, they all froze for a moment.

It was clear they were both stunned by her looks and simultaneously thinking, No wonder.

“Hello, can I help you?”

Jiang Ning’s cool voice snapped them out of their daze.

“You’re Jiang Ning?”

“As expected, you look just like a vixen!”

“Thinking you can seduce men just because of your face?”

“Listen up, we love teaching vixens like you a lesson.”

“Meet us on the rooftop after school. We’ll show you exactly which men you can’t touch!”

With that, the three girls each let out a cold snort and walked away.

Watching their retreating figures, Jiang Ning laughed in sheer disbelief.

What the hell is this nonsense?!