"Are those your friends?"
Su Ning asked purposefully.
As expected, the joyful girl's expression stiffened for a moment before she nodded with absolute confidence. "Of course. Even though it hasn't been long since I enrolled, I've already made a lot of friends. Everyone is a highly educated college student, and I've learned a lot too."
As if to prove her point.
She waved in that direction with a bright smile, and someone hesitantly waved back.
"Not bad."
Seeing through the facade but choosing not to expose it, Su Ning nodded with a smile. "I missed your enrollment because I had business to attend to in Nanjing, but seeing that you've made friends now puts my mind at ease."
"Study hard at school from now on."
The moment the words left her mouth.
A sudden wave of emotion swelled in her heart. In the original novel, Su Zhenzhu would have already married into the Fang family by now, fighting tooth and nail in the inner courtyard and fully radiating her brilliance as a villain.
That was indeed an exciting path.
But who was to say that being a college student whose only worries were her studies wasn't suitable for Su Zhenzhu?
So this was what it felt like to alter someone's destined fate. With this thought, the gaze Su Ning rested on Su Zhenzhu softened a little.
In response to her sentimentality, the system gave two cold, mocking chuckles.
Feeling sentimental only now?
That was quite slow.
Fang Lin's entire family, the Zhao family, and Guan Jixing and Mu Wan, who had both gone mad, would all have something to say about that.
"Mhm."
The young girl smiled like a blooming flower. "I will study hard. You don't know this, cousin, but I ranked second in the last exam. If that blind teacher hadn't graded one of my questions wrong, I would have been first..." Damn it, when she went to get it corrected, the teacher had brushed her off, forcing her to spend her energy reporting them.
Su Ning listened patiently to her words without interrupting.
Even though quite a few people were already waiting not far away.
These people were burning with anxiety but couldn't dare to interrupt. Left hanging on the side, they didn't dare to make a fuss and could only joke about how good Miss Su was to her family and how envious they all were.
These words fell into the ears of Su Zhenzhu's classmates nearby.
They all felt a different mix of emotions in their hearts.
Of course, they were not Su Zhenzhu's friends; at most, they were nodding acquaintances. In this era, those who could attend college naturally carried a sense of pride. Although Su Zhenzhu was beautiful, smart, and seemed to come from a good background, she was too busy studying and rarely interacted with others.
Since that was the case.
No one wanted to suck up to her only to be met with a cold shoulder.
They had only come to this banquet out of courtesy for a classmate.
They hadn't expected it to be such a luxurious place!
Everyone couldn't help but discuss in hushed tones.
"Su Zhenzhu's family background is actually this good? How come we never heard about it at school?"
"I'm a local, so let me put it this way: most people can't even come into contact with her social class, and the ones who do know wouldn't dare to speak of it. Unless she reveals it herself, believe me, not a single rumor would leak out during our four years of college."
"Who would have thought? Her surname Su is actually the same Su as Miss Su. So she's that legendary cousin Miss Su stood up for..."
The voices gradually lowered.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Why do you guys think Su Zhenzhu suddenly invited us to this banquet?"
The classmates were all puzzled.
Just by looking at it, they knew that the guests attending this banquet were all important figures. Some of them came from powerful and wealthy families, so they understood even more just how difficult it was to attend.
"Ahem."
Someone cleared their throat and teased:
"We might just be riding on someone's coattails to have the honor of being invited here together."
"What do you mean?"
"Think carefully about who Su Zhenzhu treats specially and pays more attention to normally. Then think about why she suddenly waved over here while talking to Miss Su just now."
"And who was the first to respond?"
"..."
As they listened, the classmates' eyes fell on a figure standing out from the crowd nearby, Chen Qi.
Saying he stood out from the crowd referred not only to his superior looks that surpassed everyone else's, but also because, although he had tried his best to dress decently.
The fabric was obviously much cheaper.
Clearly, his family background was not good.
That's right, Chen Qi was good-looking, studied well, and ranked first in their major, yet he came from a poor background.
What was rare was that he didn't have the awkwardness and helplessness often found in people from poor backgrounds. His gestures were calm and generous, neither humble nor arrogant. How could such a person not be admired? Even Su Zhenzhu seemed to view him in a different light.
"I just reacted a little faster... Please don't make wild guesses."
As he said this.
Standing in such a dreamlike scene, Chen Qi couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart. A person who was usually indifferent to her surroundings had suddenly invited everyone to such an important banquet... Could it really be for him?
Was it because she had her engagement broken off before, so she didn't want to express her feelings directly?
Countless thoughts swirled in his mind.
His gaze inevitably followed Su Zhenzhu's figure. He didn't expect to see her say a word to the famous Miss Su and then walk straight towards them...
Could it be, could it be that she was going to introduce him?
Chen Qi held his breath.
Before long.
She finally walked up to them, and the surrounding classmates also quieted down, as if expecting something.
And then—
"In a bit, my cousin has important matters to discuss with other people. It has nothing to do with you all, and I won't have time to look after you then. So to avoid trouble, just talk less and eat more."
After Su Zhenzhu tirelessly finished her instructions.
She saw the others staring at her in sheer astonishment.
"What are you looking at me for?"
"N-nothing..."
She frowned, a bit worried that these friends might make a mistake and cause her to lose face in front of her cousin. Forget it, she would just have someone keep a closer eye on them.
She turned around to leave, but from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the stunned Chen Qi nearby—he was still staring at her with a look of disbelief. Something is wrong with his brain, she thought, coldly turning her face away.
She regretted that in her rush to make up the numbers, she had accidentally invited this guy who was unworthy of his position.
And who had stolen her first place too!
At this moment, the music gradually lowered.
Su Zhenzhu cast all thoughts of friends and classmates to the back of her mind and quickened her pace...
Barely arriving in time.
"Everyone, please quiet down."
Su Ning's voice rang out. The noise in the massive venue lowered layer by layer until it was completely peaceful. Countless pairs of eyes looked at her with various emotions, waiting with bated breath—
The main event was coming.
At this moment, all the lights in the venue seemed to converge on Su Ning alone.
Even the strands of her hair were glowing.
Behind her, Su Zhenzhu watched her cousin calmly but unquestionably state the plan. There was some commotion midway, but it all eventually settled into tranquility.
Her eyes trembled slightly, but she refused to blink, afraid of missing a single second.
Then she realized that there were others just like her.
Her father and brother.
Lin Sen, Shang Wenyun...
They too stood behind her cousin Su Ning, with the same look in their eyes and the same expressions. Su Zhenzhu suddenly remembered a piece of knowledge she had learned in class once: the moon itself does not emit light; it only reflects the light it receives from the sun.
Although pearls are beautiful and precious.
But right now, she wanted to be the moon. The moon is very beautiful... And no matter what, the one closest to the sun will always be the moon, won't it?
Su Zhenzhu finally blinked her eyes.
............
Just as expected.
Things were going smoothly, so smoothly that Su Ning was actually a little surprised. Once this treaty was signed, she would indirectly control the grain output of all the lands where her fertilizer was used, which meant indirectly controlling the people themselves.
Had she overlooked something?
"Don't worry."
The system suddenly spoke up, pulling up the previously muted reward notifications for characters below the third-tier plot relevance.
It was a long, endless list.
She could see that within the past hour, the rewards had skyrocketed!
Su Ning: ...
Oh, so they had just learned to behave and didn't dare to resist anymore.
Just then, Lin Sen approached and whispered a few words into her ear. As Su Ning listened, the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. "Since he is showing such sincerity, let him come over."
The business with the fertilizer had come to a temporary close.
It was the perfect time to free up her hands for something else.
By a certain small door.
A cool night breeze blew past, making Antonio feel a bit chilly. It couldn't be helped; choosing style meant sacrificing warmth, and right now, he couldn't afford to care about the cold anyway.
Thinking of the message his mother had gone through so much trouble to send—that his father was not going to make it...
His eyes grew resolute.
He clenched his fists.
Creak—
The door opened.
"The Miss says you may enter." Under the hazy night sky, Lin Sen's voice rang out, chilling and completely devoid of emotion.
Antonio smiled.
