Chapter 14: Still Saying You Don’t Like Me?

Ning Qiutang returned home and sat heavily on the small sofa, her mind preoccupied. The test paper on the table lay half-finished, and next to it was the lunchbox Jiang Sheng had given her.

Her gaze kept drifting towards it.

The image of her past self, covered in wounds, crawling on the ground begging him to spare her, only to be cruelly tormented, flashed through her mind, making her face turn pale and her fingers tremble.

“Honey, you’ve been writing for so long, why don’t you take a break?”

Ning’s mother came in with a plate of fruit, first touching her head and glancing at the test paper in front of her. Not much had been written.

This wasn’t her daughter’s usual pace. Seeing her daughter’s pale complexion, she felt something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, honey? Why do you look so pale?”

Her mother sat beside her, her voice as gentle as water.

Ning Qiutang snapped out of her thoughts, a hint of helpless despair appearing in her eyes. “Nothing, I just got stuck on a problem and was lost in thought.”

Ning’s mother saw her daughter pick up her pen again, trying to focus, her quiet demeanor like she was back in her childhood.

“Jiang’s family told me about breaking off the engagement. Honey, why didn’t you discuss this with your mother?”

Ning Qiutang lowered her head, her small hand reaching out to hold her mother’s. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t realize breaking off the engagement would be so difficult. I thought it was just a childhood promise.”

Ning’s mother lifted her daughter’s head, her delicate hands resting on her face. Her mother’s gaze was gentle yet powerful as she looked at her daughter.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t need to apologize.”

“It’s just, honey, breaking off the engagement isn’t as simple as you think. You and Jiang Sheng aren’t just bound by a childhood promise. It involves intricate family interests, and you’re still young.”

“But honey, if you really don’t like him, Mom will find a way for you to get out of it. It’ll just cost your father a few pounds of flesh.”

Her mother hugged her daughter, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes. “No one is allowed to make my daughter suffer.”

The Ning family wasn’t a small household. Being able to form an alliance with the Jiang family proved their strength.

Ning Qiutang smelled the gentle scent of lilies on her mother, hugged her waist, and her eyes welled up.

But Mom, in her last life, she had tried everything, only to be met with the Jiang family’s heir’s disgust. The Ning family was nothing in his eyes. Three years later, they were ruined, and she lost everything.

This wasn’t the outcome she wanted.

“Mom, this can definitely be resolved. We’ll talk about breaking off the engagement later.”

Ning’s mother saw that her daughter had her own ideas and didn’t interfere further. “You’re my only daughter, my precious pearl. No matter what, no one is allowed to make you cry.”

Ning Qiutang nodded vigorously, holding back her tears. “I won’t.”

Although she didn’t know what Jiang Sheng was up to, she was no longer the love-struck fool who revolved around him. This time, she would definitely get out of this.

Ning’s mother stayed with her for a while and then left.

Ning Qiutang finished her homework and went to bed.

—

The next day, at school.

Ning Qiutang saw Jiang Sheng talking to Chen Jinsi and the others at the school gate.

Those young masters were all of similar height, and their looks were comparable. Except for Jiang Sheng, that devil, who stood out even among a group of handsome guys.

She walked towards them slowly, through the crowd.

She had packed a lot of things in her bag today, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

She had thought a lot yesterday. Although she didn’t know why Jiang Sheng had become so strange, she knew he didn’t like her. He must have been interested because she had changed. If she pretended to still like him, acting like a love-struck fool, he would definitely back off.

That’s how it’s going to be.

Chen Jinshi and the others saw Ning Qiutang coming, and each of their faces was quite complex.

Jiang Sheng used to be indifferent to his fiancée, even quite disgusted.

Now how…

“Good students take so many books home every day, can you finish them?”

Jiang Sheng’s hand rested on her shoulder, looking in a good mood.

Ning Qiutang thought he was going to carry her bag for her, her bent waist gradually straightened, and the girl’s face was righteous: “The more you do, the higher your score, do you think it’s easy to be a good student?”

The others couldn’t help but laugh.

Chen Jinshi laughed the loudest: “Did you hear that, Third Brother, if you don’t study hard, you’ll be a senior year student.”

Repeating for two years haha.

Jiang Sheng withdrew his hand, didn’t carry her bag for her, put his hand in his pocket with a swaggering look, and swept a cold glance at the few of them: “I didn’t graduate just because I didn’t want to, you guys wouldn’t be able to graduate even if you wanted to, believe it or not?”

Chen Jinshi stopped laughing: “Speaking of which, although our Third Brother repeated a year, his strength is indeed unfathomable, who knows if Third Brother will become the top scorer this time.”

Li Yuchen echoed: “Third Brother even dared to participate in the national competition, he must be determined to get full marks.”

“Third Brother has never taken an exam but made the students in school tremble in fear, his strength is naturally beyond doubt.”

Zhao Linru followed suit, the three of them were good at flattering, and the rumors of Jiang Sheng being a hidden boss came from them one by one.

Ning Qiutang had a mournful face, her steps were a bit heavy, why didn’t he grab her bag today, it was so heavy.

Jiang Sheng saw her look like she was eating bitter melon and couldn’t say anything, and slightly curled his lips: “The bag is heavy, I’ll carry it for you.”

Ning Qiutang grabbed the bag strap and was about to give it to him.

Jiang Sheng said again: “Forget it, I carried your bag for you yesterday and you still scolded me, you little ungrateful thing.”

Ning Qiutang stared at him in astonishment, what are you talking about.

She gritted her teeth, put the bag on the ground, opened it and took out a lunch box for him, the one he gave her yesterday.

It was full of the breakfast she had today.

She also brought him one.

“Here you go.”

Jiang Sheng’s face didn’t show much expression, the light in his eyes was stained with too much gloom, seeing her look like she was offering a treasure, it became sticky again like before.

As soon as she did this, the repulsive emotions in his heart began to grow darkly, but he deliberately went against his heart, the more he didn’t let him do something, the more he wanted to do it.

He took the breakfast prepared by the girl with care.

“Still saying you don’t like me?” The young man’s expression was mysterious and dark, like a wild beast trapped in a cage, staring intently at its prey.

Ning Qiutang struggled to pick up her own bag, and bloomed a spring flower-like smile: “You bought me an exactly the same lunch box, just take it as my thanks.”

“Besides, this lunch box is quite hard to find, you’re thoughtful, Third Brother.”

She deliberately said this, acting like she admired him, seeing the color in his eyes change again and again, she knew she had disgusted him.

She was very happy in her heart, hugged her bag and left, not caring about his ugly expression.

After she left, the warmth on Jiang Sheng’s face quickly disappeared, the lunch box in his hand seemed to be frozen, the young man’s mood was very bad at the moment.

He saw the triumph and pride in the girl’s eyes, she deliberately disgusted him.

He was indeed about to vomit.

His fingers squeezed the lunch box tightly, not throwing it in the trash can.

“Good for you.”