Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten
Chapter 299: In Demand

That evening, Lin Zhengran was dropped off at the entrance of the residential complex by the driver—just in time to bump into his parents driving home.

He looked toward the familiar, slightly beat-up car they used for daily commuting. “Mom? Dad?”

The car stopped. Lin Yingjun rolled down the window. “Zhengran? Where have you been this time? Come on, hop in, let’s go home.”

Lin Zhengran responded with an “Okay” and opened the door to get in.

“Just went to hang out at a friend’s place.”

His mom turned around in the front seat and asked, “Friend? Which girl’s place?”

“Mm, it’s Jiang Jingshi—the one who came to our house before.”

Dad blinked. Mom froze for a moment. “You mean that super classy girl from a rich family? The one who brought us a whole pile of gifts?! We still haven’t touched those, by the way.”

“Yeah, that’s her. Didn’t I say already? You guys should just use those gifts. No need to wait until they go moldy. She’s not coming back to take them.”

“They’re just too expensive… but yeah, letting them go to waste would be a shame. We can use them for New Year’s or something.”

Lin Yingjun chimed in, “Exactly, they’d make great gifts. Could save us a lot of money.”

Lin Zhengran chuckled. “But why are you two home so late today? Were you out shopping? I thought you’d have already had dinner by now.”

He glanced at the dinner and random items in the car—it was clear his parents had no intention of cooking tonight.

Dad said, “It’s still early, isn’t it? We haven’t even had dinner. Your mom’s got an interview at Zhengshi Music tomorrow, remember? So I took her shopping for some nice clothes to wear.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lin Xiaoli blinked her doe-like eyes, sometimes oddly reminiscent of He Qing’s expression.

“Zhengran? Mom wants to ask you something. Didn’t you just get back from that trip with Xiao Qingqing, Wenwen, and Lili? And now you’re already going over to another girl’s house?”

“Hm? So what? I can’t go to another girl’s house?”

Mom pursed her lips and held up a finger seriously. “Zhengran! Being too much of a flirt is bad, you know! You can’t be a sc*mbag!”

“Come on, I’m a believer in true love. I’d never do something like falling for the new and ditching the old.”

At least, that’s how Lin Zhengran saw himself. Sure, the number of girls was a bit much—but he was still all about pure love.

Lin Xiaoli sighed. “I really don’t know what to say to you.” She turned back around and added, “After my interview tomorrow, let’s hold a little family meeting, okay? A serious one. We need to talk about a certain issue.”

Lin Yingjun nodded in agreement.

Lin Xiaoli turned her head halfway, eyeing her son. “Do you know what this meeting’s going to be about?”

Lin Zhengran just laughed lightly and looked out the window. He had a pretty good idea what his parents wanted to talk about—He Qing, Wenwen, Lili, Jingshi—but he wasn’t afraid.

“No clue.”

Lin Xiaoli rolled her eyes deliberately. She knew her clever son had probably figured it out already.

But even as his mom, she honestly couldn’t tell from daily interactions which girl her son liked more. He seemed to treat all of them so equally. Maybe the answer would finally come out during that family meeting.

After they got home, the family had dinner together.

Lin Zhengran placed his phone on the dining table. These days, it was almost always on silent or vibrate.

Because whether it was morning or night, he got way too many messages. If he left the sound on, it’d probably ding nonstop.

After dinner, Lin Zhengran returned to his bedroom and started replying to the three little girls’ messages one by one.

Jiang Jingshi had also sent a few texts:

“Zhengzheng, the driver told me you’re home. Sorry I didn’t let you eat properly tonight… and about everything that happened tonight—I really didn’t see it coming…”

Lin Zhengran replied with a few simple lines.

Jiang Qian’s surprise attack had been completely unexpected. Her confession, while on the surface a profession of love, felt more like a personal declaration.

A declaration that didn’t need the other person’s consent. Once said, it couldn't be “rejected.”

That was what made it the most frustrating for Jiang Jingshi—her sister’s confidence was impossible to ignore. Especially with four whole years of college ahead of them…

And right in the middle of texting Jiang Jingshi, something surprising happened.

Jiang Qian also sent him a message.

“Lin Zhengran, I’m really sorry for kissing you like that tonight without permission. I know I should’ve explained to you in person, and I know you probably have a lot to say to me. So in a little while, I’ll find you to talk face-to-face. Whatever you want to say, I’ll listen to every single word—line by line.”

—Jiang Qian

Her message was very formal—more like a letter. Lin Zhengran looked at it and was just about to reply.

But then she sent another message instantly:

“Sorry, Lin Zhengran. I got too nervous. I was afraid you’d message me on WeChat and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from replying, but I also can’t bring myself to block you… so I’m planning to throw my phone away. If you message me again, I might not see it. Sorry again.”

Lin Zhengran sent a single response:

“?”

No reply came.

Lying in bed staring at the quiet screen, his forehead started to sweat. “This girl… was that a hit-and-run move?”

He put down his phone. “By the way, weren’t Jiang Qian and Fang Meng planning to apply to Stanford University? Logically, they should be heading overseas soon. But tonight, Qian mentioned ‘four years of college’...” He sighed. “Don’t tell me they both changed their plans?”

Elsewhere, at the Jiang family’s villa, where the sisters lived—

Jiang Jingshi was lying in bed in her pink pajamas. After chatting with Lin Zhengran for a bit, she felt much better.

But she was also growing more anxious—what if, during these next four years, Qianqian really did manage to win Lin Zhengran over?

“I need to be on guard against Qianqian,” she muttered.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qian was acting just like the message she’d sent to Lin Zhengran.

After agonizing over it all night and finally hitting send, she immediately shut off her phone and tossed it in the trash bin.

Then she poured water into the bin until the phone was completely submerged—only when it was totally dead did she finally exhale in relief.

But even after exhaling, she was still just as nervous.

Sitting on the edge of her bed in gray-black pajamas, moonlight streamed in through the window, casting soft light on the side of her face. Her fair thighs rested against her slippers.

This cold and aloof Second Miss gently touched her own red lips.

Though it had just been a light lip-to-lip touch during dinner, that fleeting contact still lingered vividly in her mind, making her heartbeat race.

The blush on her face wouldn’t go away.

“My first kiss is gone…”

Her icy eyes stared at the floor, deep in thought.

Tonight, both sisters were destined to have trouble sleeping—and the same went for Fang Meng, who also lived in the villa.

So many things had happened all at once today, and she knew well that in this situation, as an assistant, she had no place to speak up.

If she wanted to have Lin Zhengran for herself, Fang Meng understood one thing clearly—she had to change.

She walked over to the trash bin in her room and pulled out the single white hair she had thrown away earlier in the day, staring at it blankly.

“Classmate Lin Zhengran really is… in demand.”

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.