Chapter 35 Rebellion You never thought about having a future with him, did you?
Splash!
A thin bamboo skewer fell out of the mouth of the tube.
"The thirty-second divination slip is a neutral one."
Gao Hexin blinked, picked up the bamboo stick, and glanced at the inscription.
"Go with the flow, don't be impatient or hasty, wait patiently for the right time, and good news will come."
She couldn't help but laugh, but she held the book tightly in her hand: "It feels even more mystical than the daily horoscope my mom sends me."
She was clearly intrigued by the lottery, stood up, and tugged at Ning Jiu's hand.
"Sweet wine, would you like to try your luck with the divination sticks?"
Just as Ning Jiu was about to speak, she caught a glimpse of Dong Yi walking around to a corner of the temple. Taking advantage of the young monk who was guarding the temple leaving, Dong Yi reached out and touched something on the wishing tree.
Dong Yi leaned forward and raised her hand, her fingertips almost touching the wishing slip hanging at the highest point.
Just as my fingertip touched the edge of the paper tag, a soft voice suddenly came from behind me.
"What are you doing."
Ning Jiu's voice wasn't loud, but Dong Yi's shoulders visibly trembled.
She froze on the spot, and a moment of panic flashed in her eyes as she turned her head.
"I...I didn't..."
"You want to take down the wishing slip hanging at the top?" Ning Jiu's tone was calm, but her voice was firm. "But the wishing slips on this tree were left by worshippers. Why would you want to touch them?"
"I already said I didn't."
Dong Yi muttered something to herself, feeling unsure of herself, and withdrew her hand.
Ning Jiu turned to leave when a sarcastic remark suddenly came from behind her, just within her earshot.
"Some people have it easy; they don't have to lift a finger to hang any fortune slips, someone else will make the wish for them."
"......"
This isn't the first time Ning Jiu has recently felt inexplicable hostility towards her.
This feeling dates back to the day she fell out with Wen Yi. Some people around her have subtly changed their attitudes towards her. Sometimes it's the deliberately raised voice when they brush past her in the corridor, and sometimes it's the sudden silence when she returns to the classroom after PE class.
I remember when the final exams had just ended, it was the most relaxing time for everyone. The last few rows were discussing something. Ning Jiu went to the water dispenser to get water as usual. As soon as she got close, the people who were discussing the most intensely exchanged glances, and the lively topic was immediately changed.
She could vaguely guess what was going on, and turned to ask Dong Yi.
What do you mean by that?
“You know it in your heart,” Dong Yi said, no longer bothering to pretend, her eyes full of hostility as she looked at Ning Jiu. “Why are you so two-faced, always trying to please everyone? Can you stay away from Qiao Bolin?”
Ning Jiu chuckled lightly, which only fueled her rebellious streak.
Why should I stay away from him?
"you!"
Dong Yi was probably not expected to have such a reaction and was speechless for a moment.
Ning Jiu put away her smile and walked step by step closer to Dong Yi.
"You know what? There's a type of person who's the dumbest."
Bending down and lowering her head, the sweet scent of a young girl lingered around her nose, and Dong Yi subconsciously held her breath.
"Those who lack judgment but think they see through everything are the easiest to be used as pawns."
Ning Jiu has always found maintaining relationships with unfamiliar classmates a headache, and the fact that she's been in a bad mood lately seems to have scared her.
Seeing Dong Yi's frozen expression, before she could think any further, she suddenly felt a warm sensation on her shoulder.
The young man stood ramrod straight, calmly placing his hand on her shoulder. His gaze never fell on Dong Yi, but remained fixed on Ning Jiu.
"What's wrong?"
"......"
It seems there are people even more naive than her.
The sound of Dong Yi's sobs grew fainter and fainter in her ears. Ning Jiu pursed her lips at Qiao Bolin and said nothing more.
Suddenly, a cool sensation came from my neck, and something slid into my skin along my hair.
She paused slightly, then lowered her head. Qiao Bolin had approached her at some point and tied a small white jade bell-shaped pendant, hanging from a light gold chain, around her neck.
The jade is warm and translucent, with very shallow auspicious cloud patterns carved on the edges. Under the light, it shimmers with a subtle milky/white halo, making the lines of her collarbone appear softer.
“This is…” she asked softly.
“When I was drawing lots just now, a young monk gave me this, saying it’s a jade that can protect people.” Qiao Bolin gently smoothed her hair, his fingertips touching the back of her neck, sending a subtle electric current through him. “The moment I saw it, I thought of you.”
"He just gave it to you like that?" Ning Jiu felt the cool touch between her fingers, somewhat incredulous. "This doesn't look like ordinary jade."
"The fortune slip is a good one, and the jade is also fine jade." Qiao Bolin brushed this aside, smiling as he gently squeezed her hand. "Perhaps it's fate."
Ning Jiu did not investigate further.
As soon as they arrived outside the hall, Gao Hexin and Li Mingyuan took her to the vegetarian restaurant next door to eat vegetarian noodles.
The three of them found a seat by the window and sat down. The proprietress slowly brought over the menu, and each of them ordered a bowl of the signature vegetarian noodles, a plate of vegetarian braised tofu, and two side dishes.
Before the noodles even arrived, Gao Hexin leaned over and whispered mysteriously, "Let me tell you some gossip. A few days ago, I went to the coffee shop near my house to do my homework, and I saw Cai Liming flirting with a girl wearing the uniform of Linjiang International School. It looks like they're dating."
Upon hearing this, Li Mingyuan immediately perked up: "Cai Liming? Didn't we just break up not long ago? You've changed partners so quickly!"
"That's just how he is, it's not like we just met," she said with a mischievous grin. "But what can you do when they're almost seniors and still so high-profile? I just happened to run into them, and that girl panicked on the spot, saying she'd trade me a huge piece of gossip from our class—"
At this point, Gao Hexin deliberately paused for a moment and coughed lightly twice.
"But do you think I, Gao Hexin, am so easily bribed?" She scoffed. "I'm the first to know all the gossip in the class, you know. It's not like I'm going to use that arrogant Cai as leverage."
"Classmates, shocking news."
Li Mingyuan found these two words unfamiliar when he tried to recall them.
"There are only a few couples in our class, what's so earth-shattering about it, or some big scandal?" He didn't believe Cai Liming's words at all. "We're busy doing practice problems all day long, it's a miracle we're even alive, what big scandal could there be?"
“I think so too. They’re mostly trying to fool me,” Gao Hexin snorted. “I didn’t fall for it.”
A sound that was neither too loud nor too soft.
The two stopped talking and looked at the girl who hadn't spoken for a long time. Li Mingyuan had developed a conditioned reflex and his first glance was at the noodles in her bowl.
Thankfully, we've almost finished eating.
“Oh dear, I suddenly forgot,” Gao Hexin suddenly stood up. “My dad said he’s going to celebrate my grandma’s birthday this afternoon and I have to be home before 1:30.”
She quickly ate two mouthfuls of the vegetarian noodles in her bowl and patted Li Mingyuan on the shoulder.
"You guys take your time eating, I might have to head back first—"
"Let's go down the mountain together."
Ning Jiu also stood up and met Gao Hexin's gaze.
"I'm looking for someone."
Because Ning Jiu and Gao Hexin went down the mountain early, the bus that Qi Ruiheng had booked had not yet arrived. The two were about to take a taxi back when Gao Hexin saw a pure black Rolls-Royce Phantom parked at the intersection and made a sound.
"It's said that rich people like to worship Buddha, and it's true."
As soon as Gao Hexin finished speaking, the doors of the Rolls-Royce Phantom slowly opened. First, a driver in a black suit stepped out of the car, followed by two bodyguards with cold expressions who walked out from the passenger side and the other side, and walked in unison to the two sides of the rear door.
The back door was slowly pushed open from the inside.
A pair of stiletto heels landed first on the bluestone pavement, and then a girl wearing large-framed sunglasses and with chestnut brown hair got out of the car under the escort of bodyguards.
She gracefully removed her sunglasses, revealing a flawlessly beautiful face. Her gaze, like that of someone sizing up prey, was precise and direct as she looked at Ning Jiu across the street.
Ke Shini Chaoning Wine raised a friendly smile.
"Want to talk?"
-
Ke Shini originally wanted to go to the scenic tea house at the foot of the mountain, but Ning Jiu said there was a coffee shop right across the street, so there was no need to go through all that trouble.
It was during the holidays, and the café was filled with the cheerful laughter of students. Ke Shini looked around and chose to sit in a quieter corner two-seater. It was clear that she wasn't used to it at first, but she quickly adapted.
The two casually ordered a cup of coffee and sat down. Ning Jiu could sense that she was observing her, an observation that made no attempt to hide her interest.
Of course, she was also observing Ke Shini herself.
“It’s quite a coincidence,” Ning Jiu said. She didn’t really like coffee, and after taking a sip, she put it on the table because she found it too bitter. “I was also planning to come see you.”
"I guessed it, so I timed my arrival perfectly so you wouldn't have to go through the trouble of looking for me."
Ke Shini's tone was even more frank than Ning Jiu had imagined.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the rich and ordinary people is that, regardless of the right or wrong of the choices they make, they always carry an undeniable sense of integrity.
That may not stem from noble character, but rather from the sense of control bestowed by years of accumulated resources and social status.
The young lady bluntly admitted, "I did what Wen Xingxiang did."
"Just to avenge Wen Yi?"
“You could say that,” she met Ning Jiu’s gaze and tilted her head. “Don’t you believe me?”
"I don't think you're that love-struck." Actually, the term "love-struck" isn't really appropriate. "Or rather, you're not that interested in him."
“You’re right about the first part,” Ke Shini said, seemingly quite pleased with her iced Americano, unlike Ning Jiu’s dislike of coffee. Her expression relaxed considerably after taking a sip. “We’re not dating anymore; we’ve signed a performance-based agreement. I see potential in his dance and his looks, and I believe he has the potential to become the next famous artist. What he needs is the financial support I can provide so he can study abroad after graduating high school.”
“There are so many good dancers, so why did I sign with him?” Ke Shini smiled kindly at Ning Jiu. “Of course, it’s also because I’m interested in him.”
Ning Jiu laughed in exasperation: "So that's why you changed Jiangcheng's data entry system?"
“This was just a test,” Koshini corrected her. “I did mean to help him, but mostly it was because—”
Her gaze suddenly turned to Ning Jiu, her eyes flashing with undisguised sharpness for a moment.
“I’m also very interested in your relationship with George Powell.”
"......"
Among wise people, there is never a need to say too much.
Ning Jiu gripped the coffee cup tightly, then released it in an instant.
Just when Ke Shini thought she would defend herself and Qiao Bolin, or get caught up in those warm memories, the girl's voice, which was extremely cold and devoid of emotion, completely out of character, entered Ke Shini's ears without warning.
"Ke Shini, I've discovered that you have a really bad sense of humor."
Just because she was curious about her relationship with Qiao Bolin, Ning Xuan's hard work over the past few days was wasted, which she found not funny at all.
"Were you there the day Wen Yi blocked my way after school?" Ning Jiu recalled the fleeting figure at the bus stop that day. "Did you record that?"
“I didn’t record it, someone else did,” the young lady said, a rare hint of dissatisfaction showing on her beautiful face. “Wen Yi is so careless. He doesn’t even know that he should be careful with his words in public. If I hadn’t discovered it in time, it would have become a stain on his reputation.”
Ning Jiu raised an eyebrow: "So you had that person delete it."
“Of course, I made her delete it,” Ke Shini said calmly. “But there are more than just one person who heard and saw it. You know, in a place like school, as long as you are associated with a few influential figures, even the slightest rumor can spread quickly.”
"If I were to give you advice—" she said frankly.
"If you don't plan to stay with him for the long term, stay away from him."
This is the second time Ningjiu has heard this sentence today.
She subconsciously frowned, and although the emotion was faint, it did not escape Ke Shini's eyes, the latter added.
"Believe it or not, it's up to you. I'm just trying to be helpful." He shrugged. "Do you really think you and Joe Bolin are the same kind of person?"
She stopped smiling, finally revealing her innate aloofness.
"He is far from being as easygoing as he appears. Born into a family with the best of everything, there is naturally a price to pay. Those halo that seems almost perfect to others only become apparent when they actually fall on you."
"Besides—"
Seeing that Ning Jiu remained unmoved, she decided to reveal her last trump card.
"You haven't thought about having a future with him, have you?"
Ning Jiu's expression finally showed a slight change.
Ke Shini seemed to have caught her red-handed, and her tone became increasingly certain.
"As you probably guessed, he will eventually return to Beijing."
“Back then, Uncle Qiao was at odds with the entire family because of his wife, and even gave up the foundation that his family had built up over generations in Beijing and moved to Jiangcheng. That scene is still vivid in my memory,” Ke Shini said. “But the old man of the Qiao family had high hopes for Qiao Bolin and had long planned for him to return to Beijing to take over the family business after graduation.”
"And you?" She looked at Ning Jiu as if she had seen through everything. "Your mother is far away in Germany, and your father just moved to Jiangcheng from Lingcheng, which is so far away. Beijing and Jiangcheng are thousands of miles apart. Would you choose to develop your career in Beijing? It's hard to say."
The coffee shop was still bustling with people, but there seemed to be a few gasps coming from those nearby.
Ke Shini's expression changed as if she saw something halfway through her sentence.
“But what if he really does stay in Jiangcheng for you?” Her meaningful gaze swept over Ning Jiu and landed behind her. “After all, his father did the same thing back then. He clearly had a broader future in Beijing, but he ultimately chose to stay here. In some ways, they are indeed very similar.”
Ning Jiu disliked the slight sarcasm in her tone.
He frowned subconsciously, wanting to say something, but suddenly felt a gust of wind brush past his ear.
The boy's handsome and upright figure acted as a barrier, blocking Ke Shini's view, leaving only a striking white expanse in sight.
It's George Bolin.
-----------------------
Author's note: Sweet wine won't be affected by these words.
Actually, Ke Shini doesn't know that much about Berlin, so you can just believe what she says is only half true and half false.
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