Chapter 60: Are You Kidding Me?

When Jiang Ning arrived at the office, the spacious first-year office was empty except for Leader Yang Mei, who was sitting at her desk correcting test papers.

“Tap, tap, tap.”

She knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Yang Mei said without looking up from her work.

Hearing the sound, Jiang Ning tiptoed to Yang Mei’s desk and asked softly, “Teacher, did you need me?”

Yang Mei raised her head, pushed up the glasses on her nose, and said, “Take a chair and sit next to me.”

“I need to ask you a few things.”

“Okay…”

Jiang Ning obediently moved a chair and sat next to Yang Mei.

“How was the exam?”

“It was okay, the results are stable overall.”

“Anything problematic with the Chinese recitations?”

“No.”

“What about English? Teacher Zhao said the difficulty level was a bit high this time.”

“It was okay, I was able to get roughly the same score as before.”

When the topic reached this point, Yang Mei didn’t continue asking and instead focused on correcting the papers in front of her.

One paper, two papers, three papers…

After ten papers, Yang Mei showed no sign of continuing the conversation. This left Jiang Ning feeling a bit awkward, and after a while, he spoke up:

“Teacher Yang, do you need anything else?”

“No, go ahead…” Yang Mei said, putting down the pen after finishing the paper she was working on.

She then turned around and looked at Jiang Ning with an evaluative gaze.

“Jiang Ning, are you in a relationship?”

???

Who the hell is spreading rumors?!

Jiang Ning was stunned for a moment, nearly blurting out a curse, but thankfully he managed to hold it in.

Even so, he was still a bit angry.

“Teacher, who’s spreading rumors about me being in a relationship?”

“That person is definitely up to something!”

“They either want to harm me or want something else!”

“No one is spreading rumors about you,” Yang Mei said quietly, watching the visibly agitated Jiang Ning.

“I’m just asking, what’s going on with you and Li Mingwei from Class 2 of Grade 2?”

What is this?

Jiang Ning, looking wronged, replied: “I swear to God.”

“I have absolutely nothing with him!”

“Our relationship is as pure as white paper!!”

Upon hearing this, Yang Mei fell silent for a moment, then asked in return: “Do you know that he fought with his family over a girl and hasn’t returned home for two days?”

(-＂- )

So Li Mingwei ran away from home because of a girl, and it has nothing to do with me…

In an instant, Jiang Ning was shocked, pointing at himself in disbelief.

“You mean… me?”

“How is that possible?!”

Jiang Ning’s first reaction was that Yang Mei was joking, because with Li Mingwei’s personality, how could he possibly argue with his mother?

To be honest, although Jiang Ning knew that Li Mingwei liked him, he had already rejected him a while ago.

And after so many days, he hadn’t shown up, so how could he fight with his family because of him?

Moreover, with his mother’s strong personality, would Li Mingwei, a mama’s boy, really go against her?

Jiang Ning couldn’t quite believe it.

However, Yang Mei sighed.

“Now, many teachers in the school know about this, but they don’t know the details yet.”

“So, I want you to try to persuade Li Mingwei to go back home before things escalate…”

“Wait.” Jiang Ning immediately interrupted Yang Mei, raising his doubt.

“Teacher, how are you so sure that the girl is me?”

“What if it’s someone else?”

“Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for me to go over and persuade him?”

Yang Mei didn’t say much. With just one sentence, Jiang Ning was left speechless.

“This morning, Li Mingwei’s sister, Li Mingyu, came to see me.”

“She asked me about you.”

“She also asked me to pass a message to you, hoping you could help persuade Li Mingwei.”

Persuade?

How am I supposed to persuade him?

Why should I, an outsider, go and persuade your son?

Are you kidding me!

—

Evening.

On the street outside the school.

Hu Gugu pushed his bicycle and blocked Li Mingwei’s path.

“Hey, big bro, it’s been three days already. Let’s not be stubborn, okay?”

“Mingyu called my house already.”

At this moment, Yao Yao also pushed her bike and followed, speaking in a gentle tone:

“Yeah, Mingwei, Aunt Shen must be really worried about you.”

However.

In response to the persuasion from his two friends, Li Mingwei just angrily replied:

“I’m not going back.”

This put Hu Gugu in a difficult position.

“You see, my dad gave me orders to make sure I bring you back today.”

“Otherwise, I can’t even go back home.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

Upon hearing this, Li Mingwei’s eyes widened in anger.

“How can you be so stupid?”

“My sister is pressuring you through your family, making you create a conflict between us, forcing me to go back!”

“How do you not understand that?”

Hu Gugu could only sigh.

“Alright, let’s say what you said is true. But what do we do today?”

“If you don’t go back, I can’t either. We can’t afford to open a hotel now, do we have enough money?”

Saying this, his gaze suddenly turned to Yao Yao, his look far from innocent.

“But I’ve heard that girls always have some secret savings, right? Our dear Yao Yao~”

Yao Yao quickly shook her head.

“You guys always try to get at my savings.”

“I don’t have that much money.”

Li Mingwei knew Yao Yao’s financial situation, especially after they had been relying on her to cover most of their expenses these past couple of days.

At this point, he could only grit his teeth.

“Fine, tonight we’ll go to an internet café and play games all night!”

“What do you say? Are you in?”

Hu Gugu, always excited when it comes to playing, immediately brightened up at the suggestion:

“If you go, I’ll go!”

Then, he looked at Yao Yao.

“What about you?”

Yao Yao hesitated for a moment before muttering:

“Okay, but I need to go home in the evening.”

So, the three young people rode their bikes towards the city.

—

“Shenghua Internet Café” is a newly opened café in the city center. Its machines and décor are among the best in Jiangzhou.

At that moment.

The spacious hall, which can hold over a hundred people, is divided into several gaming areas. Most people are playing LAN games like StarCraft and Red Alert 98.

Among them, Li Mingwei and his friends are playing StarCraft in one of these areas.

Thanks to Hu Gugu’s exceptional gaming skills, they quickly won three games in a row.

But just then.

A man wearing glasses and a center-parted hairstyle suddenly appeared behind them, speaking in a disdainful tone:

“Hey, are you experts? Want to play a match?”

Hearing the challenge, Li Mingwei turned around and saw the man’s calm demeanor and arrogant words, which made him think the guy might actually be skilled.

“Sure, let’s go.”

“But just a simple match is a bit too boring. How about we add something?”

“Add what? Money?” Li Mingwei shuddered, fearing the man would bring up money.

Fortunately, the man just shook his head.

“I don’t need money.”

“Then what do you want to play for?”

The man pointed at Yao Yao, who was silent, ignoring her surprised look, and gave a sly smile.

“My neck’s been sore lately.”

“If I win, I want her to massage my neck for half an hour.”

“How does that sound?”

—

(End of Chapter)