Chapter 245: Can I Talk to You Alone?

Saturday.

Clear skies.

Even with the curtains drawn,

the summer sun still blazed through.

Which made a certain lazybones rather miserable.

She frowned, pouted,

then pulled the blanket tighter around herself,

rolled over,

and slipped right back into dreamland.

However—

Just as Miss Jiang was off in dreamland, leading her loyal brothers to conquer the world,

a voice that seemed to tear through the void suddenly shattered her slumber.

“Ning Ning!”

“It’s nine o’clock!”

“Time to get up and head to the shop!”

Hearing that voice,

Miss Jiang reluctantly opened her eyes,

staring blankly at the ceiling.

After a long pause,

she suddenly slapped her own cheek and muttered under her breath,

“That’s what you get for running your mouth!”

“That’s what you get for showing off!”

“That’s what you get for giving up your chance to sleep in!”

If she could,

Miss Jiang would’ve loved to strangle the idiot version of herself from last night.

Everything had been fine when she got home.

Mother and daughter, full of affection, couldn’t get enough of each other.

But for some reason—maybe guilt over having tricked her mom for so long—

Miss Jiang had actually volunteered to help out more at her mom’s shop.

And of course,

her mom took her at her word.

So now, here she was, being dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn.

“Ughhhh…”

Miss Jiang buried her face in the blanket, letting out a muffled groan.

But before long,

her mom’s voice rang out again from the doorway.

“Ning Ning!”

“Hurry up and get up!”

“If you don’t, I’ll come in and help you!”

Half an hour later,

a bleary-eyed Miss Jiang and her mom were each riding a Xiaoning Electric Bicycle, heading toward Guoqing Road.

It was Saturday.

The streets were already bustling.

Even though it was just after nine in the morning, plenty of people were already out and about.

But if you looked closely, most of them were elderly men out walking their birds, cages in hand.

“Cuilan, is that your daughter? How old is she?”

“She’s so pretty! How old?”

“Oh, how old?”

…

After the bird-walking elders had passed by, Miss Jiang, who was helping lift the shop’s rolling shutter, couldn’t help but grumble,

“Mom, you really have the time for this, huh?”

Only to be met with a side-eye.

“He’s the landlord.”

“A third of the shops on this whole stretch belong to him.”

Oof…

So he was the property king.

No wonder he strutted around with such presence, birdcage and all.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Just then,

Aunt Huang from the Cloth Shoe Store next door came out with a mop in hand.

She hung the damp mop on a tree branch, then turned back with a warm smile.

“Morning, Sister Cuilan.”

“Brought Ning Ning along today too?”

“Yep, sure did, Sister Huang,” her mom replied,

then shot a glance at Miss Jiang, who was leaning against a hook nearby.

“Good morning, Aunt Huang. Wishing you a lucky day, Aunt Huang,”

Miss Jiang said with a sweet smile. That warm, springlike expression made the boss lady of the Cloth Shoe Store do a double take.

She couldn’t help but sigh,

“Oh Ning Ning, you’re just so lovable.”

Then she turned to her mom.

“Sister Cuilan, I’m really jealous of you.”

“Your daughter’s so beautiful, and her grades are amazing.”

“Most importantly, she’s filial too, even willing to help you run the shop.”

“Not like my useless brat!”

“Ugh, he drives me up the wall!”

…

When Qi Wen arrived at Jiang Ning’s mom’s shop looking for her,

Miss Jiang was happily enjoying a platter of fruit offered by Aunt Huang from next door.

And “offered” wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

At first, Aunt Huang had just been praising Miss Jiang’s academic achievements.

But once she learned that Miss Jiang’s gold medal could guarantee her admission to 99% of the top 985 universities in the country,

her entire demeanor changed.

The way she looked at Miss Jiang—

it was like she was gazing at a living embodiment of the God of Literature.

Fruits, snacks, you name it—everything was sent over to Miss Jiang.

All for one purpose:

To get Miss Jiang to hang out in her store more.

In hopes of soaking up some of that scholarly aura.

Yes.

The aura of an academic deity.

That’s how Aunt Huang put it.

A rather festive title.

So when Miss Jiang repeated that term to Qi Wen,

Little Qi couldn’t stop giggling.

“Jiang Jiang, I swear, if you end up getting the top score in the college entrance exam,”

“your Aunt Huang next door might actually start worshipping you like a goddess.”

Meanwhile,

on the top floor of the Golden Oak Hotel,

Ye Na sat alone on a sofa by the window, her gaze sweeping down through the floor-to-ceiling glass, searching for someone.

As she scanned the street below, she kept glancing at the time on her wristwatch.

The agreed-upon time was almost up.

But she hadn’t seen a single familiar figure.

Unable to hold back any longer, Ye Na pulled out her phone.

After a long moment of hesitation, she tapped a certain number.

“Beep… beep…”

“Beep… beep…”

The phone rang for quite a while.

Just when Ye Na thought no one would pick up, a deep, magnetic male voice finally came through.

“…Ye Na?”

“Yeah, where are you guys? I’ve been waiting forever.”

“We’re at the Xiaolang Vermicelli Shop next door. Jiang Ning said she’s not used to eating such expensive stuff…”

Before he could finish,

a furious voice burst through the phone.

“Tao Tao, have you no shame?!”

“Who was it that said they didn’t want to—beep… beep… beep…”

Listening to the busy tone in her ear,

Ye Na’s grip on the phone tightened.

She sat silently on the sofa for a long time.

At that moment—

A waiter approached her.

“Miss Ye? When would you like your dishes to be served…?”

Hearing this,

Ye Na finally snapped out of her daze.

The look on her face shifted from absentminded to resolute.

Without another word, she stood up from the couch,

grabbed her bag, and strode toward the door.

As she walked, she muttered angrily under her breath,

“Trying to ditch me?”

“Not that easy!”

However—

Ten minutes later,

Ye Na stood in front of a small eatery that, in her eyes, looked downright filthy.

She hesitated for a long time, unable to bring herself to push aside the cloth curtain at the entrance.

Just then,

a middle-aged woman came out from behind the curtain, carrying a basin.

With a loud splash, she dumped the water from the basin outside.

Then,

she turned around

and saw the young lady Ye standing at the doorway.

“Sweetheart, want some vermicelli? Ours is really tasty.”

Hearing that,

Ye Na bit her lip.

Ignoring the overly friendly woman, she pushed aside the curtain and walked in.

The moment she stepped inside,

a fly zipped past her, nearly shattering the courage she had just mustered.

But thankfully,

her eyes quickly landed on the figure she had been missing for so long.

Instantly,

she took a deep breath,

put on a bright smile, and walked over.

“Why are you guys eating here? I booked a restaurant on the top floor of Golden Oak next door.”

At that,

Miss Jiang shot Tao Tao a sideways glance, clearly annoyed.

“Someone said I don’t like fancy food.”

“Said it would give me a stomachache.”

Unfortunately,

some people either didn’t understand the hint,

or pretended not to.

“Tao Tao, you really need to eat clean food. Otherwise, it can be bad for your health.”

“One of our maids got food poisoning from something unclean and had to be rushed to the hospital.”

But in response, Tao Tao simply pushed the bowl of duck blood vermicelli on the table toward her.

“Are you eating or not?”

“…I’ll eat.”

Watching Little Ye getting schooled like a grade-schooler,

Miss Jiang nearly burst out laughing.

She picked up a piece of duck gizzard and placed it into Little Qi’s bowl, mimicking the tone:

“Wenwen, from now on we need to be careful about hygiene when we eat.”

“Otherwise, we’ll end up like someone I know. Woof woof woof.”

Qi Wen genuinely wanted to laugh but was too embarrassed to do so.

She could only pinch Miss Jiang’s waist in protest.

Meanwhile,

Ye Na completely ignored Jiang’s teasing, found the cleanest stool within a five-meter radius,

wiped it down, and sat beside Tao Tao.

“Tao Tao~ Stay a few more days this time, okay?”

“I’ll book you the best hotel in Jiangzhou.”

“I’ll have the driver take you to school Monday morning.”

“No need,” Tao Tao replied without even looking up.

“I came back today just to see my grandpa. I’m heading back tonight.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“How about we go sing this afternoon? I know a great KTV place.”

“No thanks, I don’t sing.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“There’s a new resort in the eastern suburbs of Jiangzhou. You can ride horses, fish, play golf. I’ve got a membership and can take you all.”

“I’ll be at the nursing home most of the afternoon.”

“…Oh, alright then.”

To be honest,

Miss Jiang thought this lunch was the most entertaining one she’d had in a while.

She managed to make a bowl of vermicelli taste like sunflower seeds.

Watching Little Ye try every trick in the book,

and Little Tao calmly deflect each one—

What a brilliant showdown.

Little Tao, did you max out your dodge skill or something?

A little while later,

once everyone had nearly finished eating,

Miss Jiang rubbed her belly and slipped off to the restroom.

While Ye Na went to the counter to pay,

Qi Wen, who had been quietly smiling the whole time, suddenly spoke up to Tao Tao for the first time that day.

“Tao Tao.”

“If you have a moment later, can I talk to you alone?”

Hearing that,

Tao Tao frowned slightly. But when he noticed the unreadable look in Qi Wen’s crescent-moon eyes,

his brow twitched.

“Alright.”

(End of chapter)