After buying the limited edition Ultraman for Zhao Wenxuan, Lin Jiang dropped him off at his maternal grandmother’s house, then slowly drove back by himself.
The whole way back, his mind was occupied with Jiang Xiaoqi’s task.
Compared to his other tasks, this one was time-sensitive.
If he missed the deadline for the selection, the task would be impossible to complete.
What he did today was just laying the groundwork.
Zhang Lixia was a sharp one; she should have been able to tell there was a hidden meaning to his words.
But whether or not Zhou Hejuan would give the Excellent Teacher award to Jiang Xiaoqi was still up in the air.
’I need to find a chance to hint at my intentions to Zhang Lixia again soon.’
’If that doesn’t work, I’ll just have to throw money at it. No one says no to money, right?’
’And if even that fails, I’ll just have to praise her for her noble integrity.’
BZZ BZZ BZZ—
His phone vibrated. It was a message from Xu Lin.
Xu Lin: "Thanks."
Lin Jiang: "The son’s debt must be paid by the mother."
Xu Lin: "You’re so annoying."
Lin Jiang: "I buy your son a toy and this is the thanks I get."
Xu Lin: "Blowing-a-kiss.jpg"
Lin Jiang smiled. She was probably a little tipsy; otherwise, Xu Lin was unlikely to send an emoji like that.
Xu Lin: "Are you free tonight?"
Lin Jiang: "Yeah, what’s up?"
Xu Lin: "Can you come pick me up? I had a dinner with drinks, so I didn’t drive."
Lin Jiang: "No problem. Just let me know ahead of time."
Xu Lin: "Okay."
A moment later, Xu Lin sent him a location: Cantonese Cuisine.
Lin Jiang wasn’t familiar with the place, but just from the name, he could tell the price per person wouldn’t be cheap.
Back at the shop, Lin Jiang helped out for a while.
In the back kitchen, Zhang Guofu kept glancing at Lin Jiang, only to find him playing on his phone, showing no intention of discussing his salary.
Soon, it was closing time.
Li Yuanyuan and Zhou Xiaoli said goodbye to Lin Jiang and left.
Zhang Guofu deliberately lingered for a bit. After seeing the two women leave, he came out of the back kitchen and approached Lin Jiang.
"Boss."
"What is it?" Lin Jiang asked, feigning ignorance.
"Well..." Zhang Guofu grinned. "Have you thought about what I mentioned last night?"
"You know the shop’s situation. To compete with Spring Harmony Noodle Shop, we’ve been running discounts. Right now, it’s a loss leader. As for a raise, let’s talk about it later. There’s no rush."
"But didn’t Spring Harmony Noodle Shop get shut down for inspection? We should be able to go back to regular prices now, right?"
"The shutdown is only for three days. They’ll be back in business after that, so we can’t raise the prices yet. Just wait a little longer. When business picks up, I’ll give you all a raise."
"Alright, I’m heading out then."
"Okay."
Zhang Guofu left. The moment he turned around, the grin vanished from his face. His heart was filled with resentment for Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang paid him no mind. He filled the bucket with water, added the delicious MSG, then closed up shop and left.
Seeing it was about time, Lin Jiang drove to Cantonese Cuisine.
Sure enough, while he was on his way, he got a message from Xu Lin saying her dinner was about to end.
Another ten or so minutes of driving brought him to Cantonese Cuisine.
After waiting a short while, he saw Xu Lin walk out with three women and two men. She was wearing a hip-hugging skirt, carrying a purse, and walking in high heels.
Once outside, they shook hands one by one, exchanged a few pleasantries, and went their separate ways.
Lin Jiang, whose car was behind Xu Lin, flashed his hazard lights a few times.
She instinctively turned around, saw Lin Jiang’s car, and walked over.
"Sorry to trouble you, coming to pick me up so late."
Sliding into the passenger seat, Xu Lin let out a sigh. Her cheeks were flushed. It was as if the last bit of energy supporting her sobriety had dissipated, letting the alcohol conquer the high ground.
"It’s nothing. If you have dinners like this again, just call me. I wouldn’t feel right with you coming back on your own."
’Since I’ve already done the deed, I might as well say something sweet to double the affection points.’
"You sure have a way with words. Let me give you a kiss."
Lin Jiang leaned his face closer, but to his surprise, Xu Lin grabbed his head and started kissing him frantically.
’Holy shit!’
’This isn’t right!’
"Calm down, there are people everywhere."
"Go straight and turn left. There’s a dead-end street there. No cars go that way," Xu Lin said, her words slurred.
"Is that a good idea?"
"There are no streetlights."
"That’s all I needed to hear."
Lin Jiang drove to the dead-end street. The road was pitch-black, with no one passing by, only private cars parked there for the night.
A Passat was parked not far away. A father and son were sitting inside, seemingly just back from a tutoring class.
"Huh? Dad, look, that car is moving. It’s so weird," the little boy said.
"That car is a Maybach. It has a very cool feature called ’escape mode.’ If it gets stuck in the mud, the car will bounce up and down to get itself out."
The man sighed with endless admiration. "A good car really is different. It even has advanced features like that."
"Wow, Dad, you’re so smart. You even know that."
The man lit a cigarette and blew out a smoke ring, looking as melancholy as a poet.
"I didn’t know at first either. Your mom told me. Her boss drives that car."
「Bihai Garden, Building 7, Unit 1, Apartment 1102」
After her shower that evening, Jiang Xiaoqi, dressed in her nightgown, returned to her room.
With her light makeup removed, the glasses-wearing Jiang Xiaoqi looked even more pure and innocent, no different from a college student.
She sat cross-legged on her bed and used a pair of scissors to open a package.
Inside was a JK uniform. She took it out with satisfaction and smoothed out the wrinkles.
"Hehe, it wasn’t expensive, but the quality is pretty good."
Setting the unwrapped JK uniform aside, Jiang Xiaoqi happily opened another package.
The package was small. After opening it, she found a pair of black, over-the-knee socks.
"The quality of these is good too. Let’s see how they look on."
She got up, took off her nightgown, and revealed her graceful figure.
First, she put on the JK uniform, then pulled on the black stockings. After that, she took out a pair of black-rimmed glasses with no lenses from her drawer. Once fully dressed, she stood in front of her full-length mirror to have a look.
"Hehe, not bad at all."
She took her phone and snapped a few pretty pictures in front of the mirror, then pixelated her face and posted them to her social media.
with the caption: Another vain day.
RING RING RING—
Before she could even post it, her phone rang.
Seeing it was a call from Zhou Hejuan, she immediately tensed up.
’Why is Principal Zhou calling me so late?’
After composing herself, Jiang Xiaoqi answered the phone.
"Principal Zhou."
"Xiaoqi, are you resting?"
"Not yet. Principal Zhou, if you need something, please just say."
"It’s nothing important, really. I just wanted to chat," Zhou Hejuan said with a chuckle.
"That young man, after school today, said many good things about you. You two must have a good relationship."
Jiang Xiaoqi’s big, bright eyes darted about.
’She feels like Zhou Hejuan is trying to fish for information.’
"Our relationship is pretty good. He’s a very responsible person with unique insights on many things. I feel like he’s a very capable person."
’He praised me, so I should return the favor and say some good things about him.’
"Actually, there’s no major reason I called," Zhou Hejuan said with a smile.
"The Excellent Teacher selection is the day after tomorrow. I feel that the materials you submitted aren’t comprehensive enough. Could you revise them? Focus especially on your teaching philosophy and your past achievements. Emphasize those two parts and get it to me before noon tomorrow."
Jiang Xiaoqi froze, her heart involuntarily speeding up.
Although it wasn’t stated outright, she knew exactly why she was being asked to do this.
’It’s very likely that she’s going to give the Excellent Teacher spot to me!’
’If I was just a stand-in, there would be no need to go through this extra trouble.’
"Thank you, Principal Zhou. I’ll submit the materials as soon as possible."
"Mm, keep up the good work. I have high hopes for you."
"I understand, Principal Zhou."
After hanging up, Jiang Xiaoqi clutched her chest.
It took a long time for her excitement to subside. At the same time, she calmed down considerably and re-evaluated the situation.
’Under normal circumstances, there’s no way the Excellent Teacher award would go to me. After all, Teacher Ma has been here two years longer than me; her seniority is undeniable.’
’But why did Principal Zhou suddenly change her mind?’
’Could it be because that man, Lin Jiang, said so many good things about me?’
The more Jiang Xiaoqi thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. At the beginning of the call, the principal had also mentioned Lin Jiang. ’She was probably testing the waters about my relationship with him!’
’Luckily, I reacted quickly and said our relationship was pretty good.’
’If I had said I didn’t know him or wasn’t close to him, the award would have probably slipped through my fingers.’
After mulling it over, Jiang Xiaoqi felt she should find an opportunity to thank Lin Jiang.
’No more thinking! No more thinking!’
Jiang Xiaoqi went to her wardrobe, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a small box with a combination lock.
’Tomorrow’s business can wait for tomorrow.’
’Right now, I have to reward myself to celebrate.’

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