Chapter 34: Acknowledging Your Ruthlessness

When Jiang Ning and her friends returned to class, a Chinese lesson was in progress.

Seeing the three of them squeezed together at the doorway, calling out their attendance, the class immediately erupted into a chorus of hushed whispers.

Faced with this scene, homeroom teacher Yang Mei did not stop the murmuring, nor did she immediately let them in. Instead, she scanned Sun Qian and Tian Yawen with a scrutinizing gaze before fixing her eyes on Jiang Ning.

“‘Rainy Alley,’ is it?” Yang Mei smirked faintly, her tone laced with an ambiguous undertone.

“Come in.”

Given permission, Jiang Ning forced a sheepish smile and quickly returned to her seat.

The moment she sat down, Luo Shanshan, sporting a pair of dark circles under her eyes, anxiously asked,

“Jiang Jiang, are you okay? They didn’t bully you, did they?”

“Bullying me? You must be joking.” Jiang Ning raised her arm, gesturing to show her strength.

However, as her sleeve naturally fell, it revealed her arm, which bore a noticeable mark from the cleanup crew’s medical treatment.

Now that was awkward.

Her arm was so fair that even the smallest injury stood out starkly.

Seeing this, Luo Shanshan’s face was full of distress, her eyes even turning red.

But she didn’t ask for details, nor did she mention anything about Tang Bo.

Instead, she just stared at Jiang Ning with a look unlike ever before.

“Jiang Jiang, let’s be best friends forever.”

“Mm, okay.”

“Forever.”

“Alright.”

—

After class, Yang Mei called Jiang Ning outside.

Standing in the corridor, Jiang Ning looked at the teacher in front of her with a hint of unease, unsure of what she was about to say.

Jiang Ning actually knew that Yang Mei was a genuinely good teacher, especially dedicated when it came to educating students.

So, she had great respect for her, to the extent that she didn’t want to hide anything from her regarding this incident.

However—

Strangely enough, Yang Mei didn’t ask her anything about what had happened.

She simply kept a stern face and calmly asked if Jiang Ning had mastered the poem “Rainy Alley.”

That caught Jiang Ning off guard.

She stood there, stunned for over ten seconds, only snapping out of it when Yang Mei repeated the question.

“Ahem… I think I’ve got the gist of it…”

“Good.” Yang Mei nodded. Then, after a moment of silence, she suddenly added,

“If there’s ever another text like ‘Rainy Alley’ that you can’t memorize, you can come to me.

“A teacher won’t allow their student to fail at something as simple as reciting a passage.”

Hearing the implied message in Yang Mei’s words, Jiang Ning, having lived two lives, was slightly moved.

She smiled and nodded.

“Okay, teacher. Thank you.”

However—

That sentiment barely lasted a few seconds before Yang Mei’s next sentence nearly made her break down on the spot.

“Make sure to copy ‘Rainy Alley’ ten times for me.”

Jiang Ning: “…”

—

The next day, the monthly exams commenced as scheduled.

Two days of exams passed quickly.

As the final history test wrapped up, Jiang Ning stretched lazily.

Her casual, effortless movement was so captivating that a male student from another class nearby was momentarily stunned.

It wasn’t until the invigilator reminded him that he blushed and hurriedly looked away in embarrassment.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning chuckled and shook her head before recalling the test questions from the past two days.

Perhaps due to her recent review sessions, she found this exam surprisingly easy.

Especially in the humanities subjects—most of the questions were straight from their lessons.

Only the last three math problems posed any real challenge.

But even those were only slightly difficult.

As she left the exam hall, Jiang Ning spotted Qi Wen approaching and waved at her.

“How was the test?”

“Relax, I won’t surpass you.”

Qi Wen rolled her eyes at Jiang Ning’s teasing remark.

“That’s not what I meant. I was asking about the last math question—how did you do on it?”

“You seriously want to compare math answers with me?” Jiang Ning gave Qi Wen a curious look.

From what she remembered, Qi Wen wasn’t bad at math, but it wasn’t her strongest subject either.

Sure enough—

When Jiang Ning told her the answer, Qi Wen let out a long sigh.

“I knew I got it wrong.”

Seeing Qi Wen’s slight disappointment, Jiang Ning comforted her,

“Don’t dwell on it. The test is over—there’s no changing it now.”

“Let’s think about how to spend our National Day holiday instead!”

The moment the holiday was mentioned, Qi Wen’s eyes lit up.

“My mom is taking me to visit relatives in the provincial capital for a few days. I’ll be back by the sixth. How about we go hiking and have a picnic after that?”

A picnic?

Jiang Ning was tempted by the idea.

“Sounds good. But just the two of us won’t be much fun—let’s invite Sun Qian, Shanshan, and the others too!”

“Deal!”

—

After school, Jiang Ning originally planned to find Li Mingwei to thank him.

After all, if not for external intervention, given the discipline director’s personality, he would never have let them off so easily for the fight.

Among the privileged students she knew, only Young Master Li had that kind of influence.

However, when she went looking for him with a bag of snacks, she found out he had already left early.

Skipping class?

You’re ruthless.

Left with no choice, she took the snacks home to enjoy herself.

That night—

While Jiang Ning was complaining about the ridiculous plot twists in a TV drama, she unexpectedly received a call from her older cousin.

Five minutes later—

Jiang Ning went downstairs and immediately spotted Tian Wenhao standing by the tree roots, smoking, exhaling puffs of smoke one after another.

“When did you start smoking?” Jiang Ning asked in confusion.

“Business has been hectic lately, and the stress is getting to me. I heard smoking helps, so I tried it out…”

Tian Wenhao flicked away the half-smoked cigarette in his hand with practiced ease.

Judging by his smooth movements, it was clear he wasn’t just “trying it out.”

But Jiang Ning didn’t really care.

Smoking wasn’t a big deal anyway.

“So, what brings you here so late?”

Tian Wenhao didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pulled out a box and two cards from his crossbody bag.

Jiang Ning first took the box and, under the dim glow of the streetlight, saw that it was a phone—a Nokia, to be precise.

Then she accepted the two cards.

One was a SIM card.

The other, a bank card.

The former made sense, but the latter left her confused.

“What’s this for?”

“This card is under my name. It holds your share of the recent earnings.”

“From now on, I’ll set aside a portion of the daily revenue and transfer the rest into this account.”

Hearing this explanation, Jiang Ning was still puzzled.

“Then why are you giving it to me?”

Tian Wenhao let out a deep sigh.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself.”

Got it.

He was handing over financial authority.

No wonder her cousin was so successful in business later on.

With a personality like this, how could he not succeed?

That night, lying in bed, Jiang Ning fiddled with the red Nokia 3310.

After some experimenting, she sent her first text message.

To her surprise, over the next half hour, she received multiple messages from different people—

Hu Gugu, Li Mingwei, and even Li Mingyu.

What was this?

She only gave her number to Yao Yao, and somehow it became public knowledge?

Damn.

She was going to be pestered to death.

Under the covers, Jiang Ning stared at the constantly buzzing phone, filled with resentment toward Yao Yao.