Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

Chapter 135: Meeting Again Soon

The four of them slowly walked toward the curb as Lin Zhengran hailed a taxi.

He Qing stood on his left.

Jiang Xueli stood on his right.

As they waited for the taxi to arrive, no one spoke.

The air was strangely quiet.

Jiang Xueli fidgeted inside her shoes, lightly tapping her toes against the ground.

Meanwhile, He Qing twisted her fingers together in front of her, her head lowered.

Neither of them knew how long they had been standing there before they finally glanced at each other.

And then—

Jiang Xueli: “Qingqing, what are you doing here?”

He Qing: “Lili, I heard you made it onto the ranking for the music competition?”

Both girls froze, staring at each other.

It wasn’t just that they had spoken at the same time—

It was that they had called each other by nicknames.

They had always called each other by their full names before.

Now it was Lili and Qingqing…

Their faces flushed pink, but then, after a brief pause—

They both giggled shyly.

And again—at the same time, they answered each other’s question.

Jiang Xueli looked up, speaking first. “Yeah! Zhengran and I entered the competition together, and I made it into the top fifty. But the final results won’t come out for another two weeks.”

He Qing nodded. “Oh, I see! Wenwen rented an apartment here a while ago, and I’ve been meaning to visit her for ages. Since school is starting, I thought today would be the perfect time.”

Han Wenwen, watching from the side, narrowed her fox-like eyes, clearly amused by how in sync they were.

Lin Zhengran, noticing this too, smirked.

“You guys spoke at the same time and asked each other questions—did you even hear what the other person said?”

The taxi arrived, cutting off their conversation.

Lin Zhengran took the front seat, while Han Wenwen, He Qing, and Jiang Xueli squeezed into the back.

Despite the change in setting, the awkward atmosphere remained.

The car moved, but inside, there was still silence.

Jiang Xueli stared out the window.

He Qing kept her hands on her lap, staring down.

Finally—

Han Wenwen broke the tension.

She reached into her pocket, pulled out three lollipops, and held them out.

“Qingqing, Lili, do you guys want some candy?”

Both girls perked up and took one.

Jiang Xueli inspected the unfamiliar packaging.

“…Why is it so black? What flavor is this?”

He Qing looked at hers curiously. “Yeah, I’ve never seen this before. Is it a new brand?”

Han Wenwen’s fox-like grin widened.

“You’ll find out once you taste it.”

Without thinking much of it, the three girls unwrapped their lollipops and popped them into their mouths at the same time.

A moment later—

Their faces twisted in horror.

Jiang Xueli and He Qing immediately pulled the candy out of their mouths, looking betrayed.

“What the heck is this flavor?!” Jiang Xueli exclaimed. “It’s so bitter!”

He Qing grimaced, covering her mouth as she laughed through the pain. “Yeah, this tastes so weird! Who would eat this?!”

Han Wenwen, also wincing from the taste, still managed to grin.

“It’s a newly released bitter melon and fish-flavored lollipop. Apparently, mixing these two flavors creates a unique chemical reaction. I thought it sounded interesting, so I bought a few to try.”

He Qing giggled, still struggling to get rid of the taste.

“But it’s so strange! Who would actually enjoy eating this?”

Han Wenwen shrugged. “Probably people who are just as curious as me. The first batch sold really well because everyone wanted to try it. But if sales drop, the company will probably just stop making them.”

Jiang Xueli stared at the lollipop in her hand.

“…So this is a limited edition candy? In that case, I have to give it another try.”

She bravely put it back into her mouth—

And immediately regretted it.

“…Nope, still gross.”

The three girls burst into laughter.

Before today, both Jiang Xueli and He Qing had been nervous about how they’d interact now that they were officially dating the same person.

But now?

Laughing together like this, they realized—

Nothing had to change.

They had been friends before, and they were still friends now.

Nothing needed to be forced or awkward.

Everything was fine.

Han Wenwen grinned and pulled out one more lollipop.

She leaned forward and held it out to Lin Zhengran.

“Zhengran-classmate, do you want to try one too?”

Hearing their conversation, Lin Zhengran reached out and took it.

“Sure. Let me see what all the fuss is about.”

He unwrapped it, put it in his mouth—

And froze.

The bitter melon and fish flavor clashed in the most horrifying way possible.

“…Wow.”

His expression remained calm, but internally, he was re-evaluating all of his life choices.

“You weren’t kidding. This really is a unique taste.”

Han Wenwen smirked. “Magic Cult Special Elixir, rarest blend. Congratulations! After eating it, you gain +1 strength.”

At the same time, in a grand concert hall, a piano performance was taking place.

Jiang Qian sat gracefully on stage, dressed in a silver-white gown, her elegant fingers dancing across the keys.

Her cold, focused gaze remained fixed on the piano as she played a captivating melody.

In the audience—

Jiang Jingshi and Fang Meng sat together, watching her.

Jiang Jingshi, also in a long gown, wore elegant artistic earrings.

She sighed.

“…Qianqian’s piano skills have improved a lot recently. She’s progressing so fast.”

Fang Meng nodded. “Yeah, she’s gotten much better.”

“But didn’t she fire all of her piano teachers? What happened? Did she have some kind of epiphany?”

Fang Meng hesitated before answering.

“Well… That’s a long story.”

She glanced back at the stage.

“The short version? Qianqian thinks most piano teachers aren’t as good as a certain someone.”

Jiang Jingshi raised an eyebrow.

“…A certain someone?”

Fang Meng smirked.

“Yeah. Lin Zhengran. Apparently, he’s been helping Qianqian with her piano recently. After comparing her previous teachers to him, she decided they weren’t worth keeping anymore.”

Jiang Jingshi finally understood.

“So you’re saying that Qianqian’s piano skills have improved this much… because of Zhengran?”

She laughed in amazement.

“That’s pretty incredible. By the way, is Qianqian still challenging him in all sorts of random competitions?”

Fang Meng shook her head.

“Not really. Zhengran is too strong in every aspect. Qianqian just can’t win. But she’s still watching him carefully.”

Jiang Jingshi stared at the stage, and suddenly, a memory from the cat café surfaced in her mind—

That moment when she had accidentally fallen into Lin Zhengran’s arms.

For the past two days, that image had been lingering in her head.

Before meeting him, Jiang Jingshi had never thought she’d ever be this affected by a single guy.

But after encountering Lin Zhengran, she had to admit—

Fate really does exist.

Even if she wanted to deny it, she couldn't.

Just then, a man in a suit walked up to her, bowing respectfully.

“Miss Jiang, I have the latest rankings for the Little Star Chart, as well as the information you asked me to investigate…”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

Jiang Jingshi’s eyes widened slightly.

She turned to Fang Meng.

“Xiaomeng, tell Qianqian that I had to leave for something urgent. Let her know her performance was very good today.”

Fang Meng nodded.

“Understood, Miss Jiang.”

As Jiang Jingshi got up and walked out of the hall, her assistants followed.

Fang Meng pressed her lips together, lost in thought.

Lately, Miss Jiang seems to be paying a lot of attention to Lin Zhengran…

It was starting to feel like her interest in him wasn’t just about Qianqian anymore.

It was something deeper.

Something more… primal.

A woman’s curiosity about a man.

Fang Meng sighed to herself.

“…No matter how long I’ve been around rich people, I still don’t fully understand their world.”

On the way back to her car, Jiang Jingshi walked in graceful strides, her heels clicking softly against the pavement.

She spoke to the assistant beside her.

“You’re saying that the girl named Jiang Xueli has already reached third place?”

The assistant nodded.

“Yes, Miss Jiang. In just one night, she went from 20th place to third—and she’s still rising fast. It doesn’t seem like she’s going to stop anytime soon.”

Jiang Jingshi gazed into the distance.

Zhengran, every time I cross paths with you, it seems I have to lose some money.

She returned to her Rolls-Royce, took out her tablet, and opened the Little Star Chart rankings.

Only one day had passed since the competition began.

Because of the scandal involving Jiangcheng, the chart’s popularity was at an all-time high.

Even the ranking comments section had over 10,000+ messages.

The music plays were already in the hundreds of thousands.

At the top of the rankings—

1st Place: Ping Yifei (one of Jiang Jingshi’s signed artists)

Plays: 130,000

Votes: 60,000

2nd Place: Chen Li (another of Jiang Jingshi’s artists)

Plays: 100,000

Votes: 30,000

3rd Place: Jiang Xueli

Song: You Are My Star

Plays: 50,000

Votes: 25,000

Jiang Jingshi frowned slightly.

“…Her play count isn’t that high. So why is her vote count this absurdly high?”

She tapped on Jiang Xueli’s song, scrolling through the comments section.

It was full of praise.

Netizen 1: “Damn, I just discovered an absolute gem. Why is such an amazing song ranked so low?!”

Netizen 2: “The girl singing this has such a stable voice. I can already tell—she’s gonna be famous.”

Netizen 3: “This melody is so cheerful, but for some reason, it feels kinda… sad? Like the composer was longing for someone they could never have. I had no choice—I had to vote.”

Netizen 4: “No way. You guys have to be kidding me. This song is so good and it's only in third place?! Let’s push it up! CHARGE!!”

Jiang Jingshi skimmed past most of the chaotic comments, but one thing was clear—

The overwhelming positive reception was undeniable.

At this rate, even second place wasn’t safe anymore.

Still, this outcome wasn’t too surprising.

She had seen Zhengran’s influence before.

The people he nurtured… never failed.

Luckily, the first-place artist was a well-established singer.

From the looks of the current vote gap, it seemed unlikely that Jiang Xueli would surpass them—at least, not easily.

Jiang Jingshi turned to her assistant.

“You said you also finished investigating New Star Music, right?”

The man nodded.

“Yes, Miss Jiang. We confirmed that the company behind New Star Music is Pan Cheng Electronics. They worked with Jiangcheng to create the previous scandal, all in an attempt to generate public attention.”

He paused before adding—

“They recently developed a new product, so they likely intended to use this media chaos to boost their sales.”

Jiang Jingshi chuckled.

“Pan Cheng Electronics? Now, that’s a familiar name.”

This wasn’t the first time she had dealt with them.

Pan Cheng Electronics was a long-established company in Zitong City—one that had been at odds with the Jiang family for a long time.

And more importantly—

They had been investing heavily in music lately.

Now that she had entered the scene, they were probably getting nervous.

Jiang Jingshi smirked.

“And after their plan failed, do they have any other moves planned?”

The assistant shook his head.

“Not for now. However… I’ve heard they’re taking a strong interest in the Little Star Chart.”

Jiang Jingshi’s eyes flickered toward the rankings—

Then her gaze landed on Jiang Xueli’s affiliated music studio.

Something clicked in her mind.

She suddenly laughed softly to herself.

“…Zhengran, it looks like we’ll be working together again very soon.”

She set down her tablet and pulled out her phone.

She opened WeChat, found Lin Zhengran’s chat, and sent him a message.

Jiang Jingshi: “Zhengran, do you have time to have dinner with me in the next few days?”

A few moments later—

Lin Zhengran: “Jiang-jie, I’m a student. I have night study sessions.”

Jiang Jingshi sighed.

Right. He’s still in school.

Lin Zhengran: “Is something up?”

She typed back:

Jiang Jingshi: “Yes. It’s just a guess for now, but… I have a feeling Jiang Xueli’s music studio might be in trouble soon.”