Who?
Qin Wang?
Jiang Wan: “Why would Qin Wang bother with such trivial matters?”
Jiang Shining didn’t answer, instead raising three fingers.
“Three.”
Jiang Wan didn’t understand Jiang Shining’s meaning, but Jiang Shining’s fingers had already counted down to two.
“Two.”
Before Jiang Shining could count to ‘one,’
The sound of a door opening next door echoed, followed by Qin Wang’s voice in the hallway.
“What’s all the noise?”
Immediately after, there was the dull thud of something rolling down the fire escape, accompanied by two pained groans of “Ouch, ouch.”
Aunt Zhang, who had been shouting at Jiang Shining and Jiang Wan moments earlier, now didn’t dare utter a single sound.
After a long wait, the apartment remained completely silent.
Jiang Wan nervously asked, “Did they go back?”
Jiang Shining nodded, “Yes.”
She had already driven them out of the apartment—Qin Wang couldn’t have misunderstood her intention.
Jiang Wan still felt uneasy and tentatively asked, “Will they… cause trouble for us?”
Jiang Shining: “No.”
If those two dared to try something like today again, Qin Wang wouldn’t need to keep working in Obsidian Street anymore.
Jiang Wan: “Really?!”
Jiang Shining: “Really.”
Jiang Wan threw her arms around Jiang Shining, nuzzling her head against Jiang Shining’s shoulder. “My little Ning baby, you’re so wonderful~ Mom is so touched! Wuwuwu~”
As she spoke, tears fell like little pearls from her eyes.
Jiang Shining, leaning against her, could feel the dampness on her shoulder.
Jiang Shining comfortingly patted her mother’s back. “Alright, alright.”
Once Jiang Wan had calmed down, Jiang Shining spoke up, “Now that the outsiders are gone, shouldn’t we start dinner?”
She had earned a lot of money today and was practically starving.
Hearing this, Jiang Wan’s sobbing paused. “But… little Ning, there’s no rice in the rice cooker today.”
Jiang Shining: “What?!”
No rice in the rice cooker—to Jiang Shining, that was truly a catastrophe.
Jiang Wan: “Because today we’re having hotpot.”
From the brink of disaster back to paradise.
Jiang Shining breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, then let’s have hotpot.”
Hotpot was still deliciously fragrant.
Jiang Wan opened the nearby refrigerator. “Shrimp, meat, meatballs… that should be enough.”
Jiang Shining thought of the fifty thousand she had earned today and declared grandly, “It’s fine, I made some money today. I’ll order some fresh ingredients.”
Not to mention the fifty thousand, even the thousand-plus from modeling was more than enough for hotpot.
Jiang Shining placed a few online orders for fatty beef and lamb rolls, shrimp paste, pig brain, and the like.
Jiang Wan: “Don’t order too much. If there’s too much, we won’t finish it, and it’ll all go to waste.”
Jiang Shining: “Alright.”
A standard split pot.
Jiang Wan’s health wasn’t good, so she couldn’t eat spicy food. Jiang Shining turned the clear soup side toward Jiang Wan.
The delivery arrived quickly. Jiang Shining fetched the order and placed the ingredients on the table.
Jiang Wan pushed the pig brain away in disgust. “Don’t put this here. How can you eat this?”
“It’s delicious.”
Jiang Shining dropped the pig brain into the spicy pot. “Spicy pig brain—absolutely delicious.”
Jiang Wan had no interest in pig brain. “When did you start liking this kind of food? You never touched it before.”
Jiang Shining paused her stirring of the spicy pot and looked up.
The hotpot steam filled the air, carrying a hint of Sichuan flavor. Looking at Jiang Wan sitting across from her, Jiang Shining suddenly felt the urge to be honest.
“What if I said I’ve had a drastic change in temperament, or that I’ve suddenly become a different person?”
Having changed so much, Jiang Shining didn’t deliberately maintain the original host’s habits either.
Jiang Wan’s eyes flickered slightly as she picked up tripe from the pot.
“Changed, so be it.”
“No matter how much you change, you’re still my daughter. How much can one person really change?”
Jiang Wan placed the tripe in Jiang Shining’s bowl, saying softly, “Eat up. It’s from the clear broth. If left too long, the tripe will get tough.”
Looking at the tripe in her bowl, Jiang Shining picked it up and stuffed it into her mouth.
Chewy and delicious.
Jiang Shining narrowed her eyes in enjoyment, instantly tossing aside her earlier thoughts, and gave a thumbs-up.
“Amazing!”
The timing was just perfect.
The two continued adding ingredients to the pot while chatting.
Jiang Shining took out a bottle of Budweiser from the delivery bag, “Want a drink?”
Jiang Wan shook her head and took out some Oriental Leaf tea.
“I’ll just have tea.”
Unlike her, Jiang Wan was extremely health-conscious.
One with tea, one with beer, their glasses clinked together.
Beer was excellent for cutting through the spiciness, and Jiang Shining felt completely refreshed.
She looked at Jiang Wan across from her, shaking her beer bottle, “Mom, did you like my dad?”
Jiang Wan shot her a look, “What dad are you talking about?”
She almost forgot—Jiang Wan had always told her that her father had passed away.
Mom still didn’t know she had already met Gu Yan.
Holding her glass, Jiang Shining explained, “I mean, hypothetically, if Dad were still around, would you still have feelings for him?”
The apartment fell silent.
She watched Jiang Wan, waiting for her response.
After a long while, Jiang Wan finally spoke, “The past isn’t so easy to forget. Are you very curious about your dad?”
Jiang Shining nodded, “Mm-hmm.”
She also wanted to know the campus story between the wealthy and influential Gu Yan and her gentle, lovely mother.
“Actually, there’s not much to tell. Your father and I have to start from high school…”
Jiang Wan’s voice was soft and gentle, easily drawing one into the story.
A poor but beautiful schoolgirl gets into a prestigious school and is liked by both the school heartthrob and the school bully.
“Wait!”
“How could anyone dare compete with Dad for a woman?”
As soon as Jiang Shining heard the beginning, she sensed something off.
Jiang Wan: “At the time, ‘he’ was still the school bully two grades above. Back then, ‘he’ suffered quite a bit when he ran into Mu Huansheng.”
‘He’ undoubtedly referred to Gu Yan.
As for Mu Huansheng, Jiang Shining had no interest in learning about him.
She immersed herself in her mother’s story—campus romance was much sweeter than pure melodrama.
Until everything came to a halt at that post-graduation class reunion.
Jiang Shining: “That’s it?”
Jiang Wan nodded faintly, “That’s it.”
Jiang Wan’s gaze drifted as she spoke nonsense, “Your dad died young, so there’s no ‘after that.'”
Then she turned to look at Jiang Shining with a serious expression.
“If you, Xiao Ning, aren’t so eager to find a father, I’d rather stay healthy and be with you longer than have a partner. It’s just that my time probably won’t last that long…”
Jiang Shining retorted, “Who says so? My mom is forever eighteen and will live a long life!”
Jiang Wan covered her mouth, laughing.
The two finished the hotpot, cleaned up the table, and each returned to their rooms.
After showering and changing clothes, Jiang Shining received a message from Qin Wang.
【wang: Are you okay?】
Jiang Shining typed ‘I’m fine.’
Thinking of the building materials “Brother Wang” who came for the blind date and matchmaker Aunt Zhang, Jiang Shining tapped away on her screen again.
Jiang Shining: 【If that building materials Old Wang comes again, help me handle it. I’m worried my mom won’t be able to manage alone.】
After typing, Jiang Shining also sent a jpg of a cat crying with its paws together in a pleading gesture.
Next door,
Qin Wang was once again charmed by the cat picture Jiang Shining sent.
It was quite cute, and the cat somewhat resembled Jiang Shining.
[wang: Okay]
[wang: I’ll handle it for you.]