Chapter 472: Chapter 472: Deliberately Put on Speakerphone
Sang Ning’s mind suddenly buzzed, as if something had collided with it. Something flashed through her brain, but she didn’t have time to grasp it.
"Do you still have that note?" Sang Ning shook off her chaotic state and asked.
Song Shiye nodded reflexively: "I do, I do!"
Sang Ning asked again: "Then can you bring it to me when we record the next stop of the show?"
Song Shiye replied: "Of course, but I packed it away with my junior high diary when I sealed the box. I’ll have to go back and dig it out carefully."
"Thank you for that." Sang Ning hesitated for a moment and added, "Xiao Ye, about this matter, I hope you can keep it a secret from others for now."
Song Shiye patted his chest: "Sister Sangsang, rest assured! Though I’m young, I can keep my mouth shut tightly. Especially when it involves you—I’ll be even more discreet."
Sang Ning smiled faintly, then turned to look out the window. Fireworks burst into dazzling patterns like stars in the night sky, disappearing in an instant, as if hinting at something.
After enjoying the fireworks show, the guests headed back to the hotel. Having been busy running around all day, the program team arranged for a special sauna and spa experience to help them relax.
After returning from the sauna and spa, Sang Ning felt an overwhelming drowsiness. As she hugged the blanket and was about to drift off, something suddenly occurred to her. She picked up her phone from the bedside table and dialed Li Juezhou’s number.
But the phone rang over ten times without an answer.
Strange. Whenever she called Li Juezhou, he would always pick up instantly. What was going on this time?
Sang Ning didn’t think much of it. People have their busy moments; she couldn’t expect Li Juezhou to constantly revolve around her.
Her exhaustion grew heavier, and she yawned several times.
Since he didn’t answer, forget it. This recording would wrap up tomorrow anyway. She’d talk to him when she got back.
The next day, the guests woke up relatively late, and it was already past nine when breakfast officially started.
Yesterday’s theme was "play, play, play." Today’s theme was "eat, eat, eat." Breakfast alone featured over twenty options, filling the massive three-meter-wide round table to the brim.
The atmosphere today was much more relaxed. Gathered around the round table, the guests had breakfast while chatting. Several of them buried their heads in their phones, squeezing in a few moments to scroll through social media between bites.
Sang Ning dunked a fried dough stick into her soy milk. Once the dough stick absorbed the soy milk, she leaned down toward her bowl, clamped it with her chopsticks, and was about to send it into her mouth when Qin Feng’s sudden shriek scared the dough stick back into the bowl, splashing soy milk onto her lips.
Setting down her chopsticks, Sang Ning grabbed a few tissues from the side and carefully wiped her lips. She looked at Qin Feng with mild displeasure and said, "It’s just breakfast. Why the sudden shouting?"
"The grad school entrance exam results are out! The initial test scores are trending on the hot search list!" Qin Feng exclaimed, slapping the table repeatedly in excitement.
"Oh, what’s it got to do with me..." Sang Ning’s voice trailed off. Actually, it did have to do with her—she’d nearly forgotten. Results were officially available for checking starting at nine o’clock this morning.
"How could it not have anything to do with you? Didn’t you take the grad school entrance exam? And weren’t you applying across disciplines and institutions for a research institute? Even I remember that—how could you forget?" Qin Feng’s reaction was intense, almost as if he’d been the one taking the exam.
Apart from Qin Feng and Song Shiye, the others were stunned. They hadn’t known anything about Sang Ning’s plans to pursue a master’s degree.
"Wow, Ningbao is really committed to academics? She even applied for grad school? I thought people in the entertainment industry didn’t care about degrees at all—as long as you’re good-looking, you can make it even if you’re a grade-school dropout." Lu Yujing’s remark sounded flattering, but it subtly mocked the perception that entertainers often lacked academic achievement.
Though aimed at Sang Ning, Lu Yujing’s comment inadvertently offended the three other people in the room who were also in the industry. Their expressions turned sour.
Qin Feng, unwilling to leave it at that, fired back. Although his alma mater was a less-than-prestigious university, he still had a college degree to his name.
Song Shiye, having been personally tutored by Sang Ning, fully understood her vast knowledge base. As a fervent advocate for Sang Ning, he immediately retorted to Lu Yujing: "Plenty of highly educated people work in entertainment—you’re just ignorant. And Sister Sangsang is incredibly smart and capable. If she really wanted to, earning a PhD would be a piece of cake for her."
"Pfft—" Despite trying hard to hold back, Lu Yujing still couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She had no intention to add any pretense to her expression, openly displaying her disdain. "Kiddo, you’re already an adult, right? Why are you saying such naïve things? I get you’re trying to flatter Ningbao, but you can’t just talk nonsense with your eyes wide open. Elevating her with baseless praise—if she takes a hard fall later, it’s going to hurt."
Qin Feng sincerely hoped Song Shiye’s words were true, as it would support his argument against Lu Yujing. He wanted to prove that the entertainment industry did have scholars among them. But when it came to Sang Ning, he had little confidence. After all, he was an insider himself. He chimed in with a somewhat discouraging comment: "Xiao Song, don’t you know how nasty haters can be? You should avoid being an over-enthusiastic fan. Sang Ning applied to Zijin Research Institute, you know! Do you think just being smart and capable is enough to get in?"
Li Haidong and Wei Lan instantly grew uneasy upon hearing the name of the institute. Wei Lan, in disbelief, asked, "Did you really apply to Zijin Research Institute?"
Right after Wei Lan’s question, Li Haidong followed up: "From what I know, almost all of Zijin Research Institute’s graduate students are direct admits. They rarely open positions for external candidates, and even when they do, it’s like hell-level difficulty."
The Li Family had close ties with Dean Tang of Zijin Research Institute, so Li Haidong was well aware of the prestigious reputation of their graduate program.
"Maybe they made an exception to open external recruitment because I applied," Sang Ning casually fibbed, causing Li Haidong and Wei Lan’s expressions to become indescribably complex.
Lu Yujing’s sneer deepened. "Ningbao, even bragging should have limits, right? What are you going to say next—that Dean Tang is personally inviting you to the interview?"
Just as she finished saying that, Sang Ning’s phone, placed on the round table, suddenly rang. At that moment, Sang Ning was using her chopsticks to cut a large piece of beef into smaller portions, leaving her hands too busy to pick up the phone.
Sitting beside her, Lu Yujing leaned over, glanced at the screen, and read aloud the caller’s name: "Tang Yuanmao."
Li Haidong was startled: "Isn’t that Dean Tang of Zijin Research Institute?"
Lu Yujing almost rolled her eyes. Sang Ning was certainly committed to putting on a full performance for her fake story. Unwilling to let her play it out as planned, Lu Yujing declared, "The dean himself is calling you. You’d better answer immediately."
Then, to prevent any potential theatrics from Sang Ning, Lu Yujing grabbed the phone first and pressed the speaker button.
