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Chapter 415: Chapter 292 You harmed me!
School gate.
Geng Lu led Jiang Ning into a small alley.
The pebble road inside the alley was even more difficult to walk on, and after about two hundred meters, they stopped in front of a two-story building.
Geng Lu said, "Jiang Ning, this is our secret space, come on in."
There was a sign by the door that read "Carbon Pot Chicken" in large characters, along with a list of common dishes.
Lights came on inside the place, and there was a brown counter by the door with some drinks and liquors on it, with a woman in her twenties sitting within.
Geng Lu greeted her with a shout, "Sister Wei."
Sister Wei smiled, "Your usual spot is ready, go ahead, I’ve prepared everything for you."
The small living room had four tables, with four slightly smaller rooms connected on both sides of the hall—these were the "private rooms."
Business was moderate today, with only one table occupied in the hall.
Geng Lu thought for a moment and chose to sit in a row with He Qingtang.
As soon as they sat down, the boss brought up a rectangular pot, its fragrance filling the air immediately, and through the steam, you could see the bright soup and the abundant, tender chicken.
The boss lit the small gas stove with care, gave a few instructions, and left.
Geng Lu picked up the kettle, poured some water into the cups, shook them, and rinsed chopsticks and spoons for everyone. She introduced to Jiang Ning:
"This carbon pot chicken costs 48 yuan a serving, and comes with 7 side dishes, including vermicelli, tofu skin, mushrooms, and greens."
"I think it’s more worth it than braised chicken in soy sauce, and the taste is super good."
As she spoke, Geng Lu picked up some chopsticks and gave Jiang Ning a piece of chicken, "Try it."
Jiang Ning took a bite, it was fragrant and tender:
"It’s pretty good."
Geng Lu said, "I’ve checked out the nearby places, and I feel this one ranks in the top three."
He Qingtang added, "There’s also a restaurant that does fish, which is also super tasty."
"But compared to your rabbit meat, it’s a lot worse."
He Qingtang remembered the rabbit meat she had eaten at the river dam and missed it to this day.
She had never eaten rabbit meat that tasted so good in her life; anyone who tried it once, would remember it for a lifetime, right?
Geng Lu frankly said, "The rabbit meat is so good that we plan to invite you out more often."
She was a high school student, but she could earn money online by taking drawing commissions, so she had more money than the average high school student, even if she invited Jiang Ning to eat tasty food every day.
As long as Geng Lu was willing to draw more, she could afford to treat someone.
He Qingtang glanced at her sisters and was silently speechless.
Today was supposed to be her treat, but in fact, Geng Lu took the initiative, and the money for this carbon pot chicken meal was also paid by Geng Lu.
During the meal, bursts of conversation could be heard from the private room next door.
Geng Lu’s table was exactly level with a private room, where seven or eight boys were seated.
Those boys were all robust and strong, and since the door was open, their loud conversation was audible.
"Tao Nian, in this 100-meter sprint, our sports team counts you as the fiercest."
The guy in the denim jacket looked proud; he was the Tao Nian they spoke of.
He said, "In the senior two grade, as far as I know, there’s no one stronger than me in the 100-meter dash."
"There are a couple in the senior three sports team, but to be honest, they’re not much different from me."
A student said, "Doesn’t that make you invincible?"
Another laughed, "What if there’s a strong freshman?"
"That’s hilarious, the freshmen athletes haven’t even had training yet, where would strong people come from?"
In their conversation, there was a clear sense of disdain, as after all, these athletes had undergone rigorous training, and their physical fitness was much better than that of ordinary students.
"Then you should be bagging all the awards," said a tall and sturdy boy, whose size was just slightly smaller than Yan Tianpeng from class 9.
Tao Nian, "Honestly, I don’t care about the prize money, I just promised my girl I’d give her a medal."
The sturdy boy said, "The prize money is significant this time, I heard the school received a big donation."
"Brother Bao, you have the widest connections, what do you say?" Tao Nian asked.
The tall and sturdy Brother Bao, "Evergreen Liquid you’ve heard of, right? I heard the boss went to our school."
Tao Nian was taken aback, "How do you know that?"
Changqing Liquid Company had recently soared in online fame, heralded as a domestic—no, it should be said a world-class company.
Given the current environment, a large part of the population loves to support domestic products, and if such a product is indeed extremely well-made, people feel a heartfelt pride.
Evergreen Liquid is such a product, not only a hot seller domestically but also sweeping foreign markets, and calling it a miracle drug is not an exaggeration.
Whenever people talk about this product, their confidence soars instantly.
Brother Bao, "You guys might not believe it, but I got it from Fatty Gao."
Gao Heshuai had a strong reputation in Fourth Middle School, with students from both senior two and senior three seeing him as a fierce tiger.
"Last time I was eating out, I heard Fatty Gao and Brother Qiang dining together, talking about this matter."
After hearing this, Tao Nian downed a beer:
"Gao Heshuai’s words should be true."
Other students said, "With Evergreen Liquid’s boss making a move, wouldn’t it be millions at least?"
Tao Nian sneered, "Too small, your vision is too small. Millions are nothing to Changqing Liquid, right?"
Brother Bao agreed with his view, "A few million really isn’t much. As long as our school hasn’t bullied the boss before, he’ll donate at least a few million this time."
"If there’s a donation, the rewards for the sports event will definitely be substantial. I know the Fourth Middle School principal well, he likes to save face and is generous. Last year when recruiting freshmen, as far as I know, spending over a hundred or two hundred thousand to get a new student wasn’t unusual," Brother Bao shared what he knew.
The students in the private room weren’t discreet, and Geng Lu outside could hear everything clearly.
He Qingtang said, "I saw online, Evergreen Liquid is really expensive, even though they’ve lowered the price, but the current sale price is outrageously high, we can’t afford it."
Geng Lu, who knew a thing or two, added, "Two thousand yuan a bottle, it can stimulate hair growth; the effect lasts for over two months, but if you stop using it, you’ll still go bald."
"Jiang Ning, have you noticed? Evergreen Liquid is so strange, making people keep spending money."
She said, "Their boss must be doing it on purpose, what a heartless boss!"
Jiang Ning was silent for two seconds, then said, "Maybe they can only achieve the current effect with their medication."
...
Guo Kunnan witnessed Ma Shicheng earning 500 yuan through leveling services while eating pancakes.
He sincerely felt happy for Ma Shicheng.
At this time, a message popped up on QQ.
Jiang Ning, like a dog that’s caught the scent of a bone, hurried to check.
The message was only two words: "Eaten."
That was Xu Yan’s reply to him.
The previous message from Jiang Ning was, "The rain today was so heavy, but luckily I brought an umbrella. I was so clever that my shoes didn’t get wet at all, and I even brought food for a good brother. I can’t help it; I’m just that kind of righteous person haha. Have you eaten?"
He had typed so many words, yet Xu Yan only replied with two.
Jiang Ning felt a sense of loss, like a dog that was kicked while walking down the street.
Previously, when he talked to Xu Yan about Huang Zhongfei’s deeds, Xu Yan’s reply frequency was much higher than now.
But when it came to their own chat, Xu Yan would always reply with just a few words.
He wanted Xu Yan to be interested in him.
Jiang Ning stayed still for a moment, then suddenly said,
"Brother Ma, quick, take a screenshot."
Ma Shicheng: "Screenshot?"
"The one where you just received 500 yuan."
After taking the screenshot, Jiang Ning asked, "Brother Ma, are you going to post this?"
He meant on QQ space.
Ma Shicheng replied, "I usually don’t post it, might cause people to ask to borrow money, troublesome."
Jiang Ning then asked, "Brother Ma, was it hard to earn this 500 yuan?"
"Not really hard, can earn it with effort."
"So, Brother Ma, do you think, if I were to earn it, could I make it?" Jiang Ning asked.
After considering for a while, Ma Shicheng said, "Yes, but it will take a lot of effort. If you start to get familiar with the game mechanics now, play seriously, and study the techniques, probably two months."
"Two months is too long," Jiang Ning sighed. "Moreover, I’m not doing it for the money."
Ma Shicheng was curious, "What do you want to do then?"
Jiang Ning looked at his chat history with Xu Yan. A large chunk of the content was his own, and only a few words were Xu Yan’s.
His face showed struggle, and after about a minute, Jiang Ning made up his mind:
"Brother Ma, send me the screenshot of the receipt."
Ma Shicheng’s eyes flickered. He probably had an idea of what Jiang Ning was about to do. He said,
"Brother Nan, you have changed."
After receiving the screenshot, Jiang Ning immediately entered the space and posted a status:
’Just played casually and earned 500 yuan.’
With the picture: Screenshot of the receipt.
After posting it, Jiang Ning said, "People always change, don’t they?"
"I only know that if I can do it, that’s enough."
What Ma Shicheng actually wanted to say was, ’It’s different.’
But, he didn’t say it out loud.
At that moment, Ma Shicheng remembered the last semester, one evening, Jiang Ning invited him to have fried snacks and asked for advice about ’Manman.’
He told him back then to let that girl keep giving, thereby increasing the chances of success in confessing their feelings, but Brother Nan wouldn’t listen.
And now, Jiang Ning was actually asking him for a screenshot, actively planning a deception. Was it impulse? Or had he changed?
Ma Shicheng took out his phone and liked the status made by Jiang Ning, and commented,
"Brother Nan is awesome!"
Then, he switched to Wang Longlong’s account and commented again for Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning, seeing Brother Ma’s support, felt happy. The reason he posted in the space was exactly to show Xu Yan his influence.
He wanted to let Xu Yan know that he, Jiang Ning, was no weaker than Huang Zhongfei.
Before Jiang Ning could enjoy the euphoria for two minutes, suddenly, he received a message on WeChat:
"Jiang Ning, are you there?"
This was a message from a girl in his class during junior high.
’Well, well, am I already getting popular with the girls?’ Jiang Ning couldn’t believe it; was it too awesome?
Jiang Ning: "What’s up?"
"I saw what you posted on your QQ space. You’ve made a fortune, right? You’re a nice guy, can you lend me two hundred yuan?" the girl asked.
Jiang Ning was stunned.
The girl continued, "It’s not much, just two hundred yuan."
Jiang Ning didn’t want to lend the money. He searched for an excuse, "I can’t see you, it’s inconvenient."
The girl replied, "No worries, you can just send me a red packet on WeChat."
Seeing this, Ma Shicheng asked, "Familiar with her?"
Jiang Ning said, "So-so, haven’t contacted her for over half a year."
Ma Shicheng: "Just refuse outright."
Jiang Ning hesitated, "It’s kinda awkward."
The girl kept messaging, "We used to be pretty good, and when I lent you money before, I always paid it back. We’re on good terms, right?"
This made Jiang Ning even more conflicted.
After seeing this, Ma Shicheng shook his head, "You’re too soft-hearted."
He directly took Jiang Ning’s phone and started typing, "It’s been a half a year, and I feel like an eternity has passed. Always in the quiet depths of the night I think of you. There is something I’ve been wanting to tell you. Would you like to be my girlfriend?"
When Jiang Ning saw the message Ma Shicheng was sending, he was scared out of his wits:
"Brother Ma, you’re going to get me killed!"
Ma Shicheng was confident, "No worries, she definitely won’t agree. Then you can tell her, since the relationship isn’t there, you can’t lend her the money."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the girl replied:
"Really? Really! So Jiang Ning, you like me!"
Ma Shicheng was stunned; this wasn’t in the script?
Jiang Ning was in agony, banging on the desk and heaving a sigh:
"Brother Ma, you’ve done me wrong! She’s just slightly prettier than Pang Jiao!"
