Hidden Assassin 102

“Gu Jia Ming, why didn’t you hand in the form for joining a club!?”

It was still early, and there weren’t many people in the classroom. Most were attracted by Dongfang Wan’s stern voice. Jia Ming felt a little confused and said, “What form?”

“The application form to join a club that was handed out yesterday. I personally gave it to you.”

“Oh.” Jia Ming smiled. “But I’ve already joined other clubs.”

“Other… Why are you so lacking in a sense of collective honor? What’s wrong with our travel club? We’re all in the same class, why would you go join another club… Uh? What is this?”

Holding the club application form that Jia Ming handed over, Dongfang Wan’s face turned black after a moment. “A club you created? The Future of Super-Advanced Technology and Earth Resources Sustainability Development… Gu Jia Ming, do you think this is funny? Hmph, I don’t believe the school will approve such a ridiculous club!”

Watching Dongfang Wan slam the application form on the desk, turn around with a face full of disdain, and walk away, Jia Ming shrugged helplessly. “The name’s pretty good, it’s both avant-garde and stylish. People without a sense of humor are really troublesome…”

Regardless of Dongfang Wan’s opinion, two days later, the school announced the list of newly established clubs for this semester. The name, “Future of Super-Advanced Technology and Earth Resources Sustainability Development Prospect Crisis Prediction Worry Rescue Group,” a name so powerful that it exploded, appeared prominently in the corner of the list. This club, with its idiotic name and brainless purpose, became a source of school-wide humor for a while, but soon enough, it faded from everyone’s memory…

Of course, there were some who couldn’t forget…

****************************************************

Late October, the leaves were falling.

In the parking lot, unlocking his bicycle from amongst a pile of expensive sports cars and motorcycles, his small, three-person family bicycle looked quite shabby. It was already the time for the last class in the afternoon, and the atmosphere around was very quiet. Sacred Heart Academy was large, and it had been a few minutes since he had ridden his bike out of the parking lot, through the small square, and out of the teaching area. He slowly rode up the hill towards the school gate, passing by several basketball courts on one side of the road where things were quite lively.

The basketball tournament at Sacred Heart Academy, which had been scheduled to take place after National Day, had not been delayed by the Xingmeng Hao cruise incident. The competition between the thirty-plus teams from the three high school grades was now in the tense final stage of the semi-finals. The Class 6 team in the first year of high school – Jia Ming’s class – was led by Huang Haobing. It was said that they had performed very well, clearing obstacles along the way. Although they might not win the school championship due to age and height, the first place in their grade was already a sure thing.

Huang Haobing and the others were practicing on one of the basketball courts. This was a self-study period, but they were allowed to come out to practice. Dongfang Wan and several of the pretty girls in the class who served as cheerleaders were also on the court. As the class monitor of Class 6, Dongfang Wan was passionate about anything that could increase the class’s honor. She was not only the captain of the basketball team cheerleaders but also the team manager, responsible for arranging everything related to the team’s training, benefits, and such.

Seeing Jia Ming slowly riding his bike past, Dongfang Wan, dressed in her beautiful cheerleader uniform, ran over from the basketball court in two strides, performed a graceful single-handed vault over the railing, and then spread her arms, blocking the bike in front of him.

“Gu Jia Ming! You’re skipping class again!”

The reason she used the word “again” was because this wasn’t the first time. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the last class, it seemed as though it was Jia Ming’s legal time to skip class. While these weren’t important classes, skipping them like this was a bit too arrogant. The last few times he wasn’t in the classroom, it was too late to do anything. This time, she caught him red-handed. Dongfang Wan couldn’t help but feel a little smug. “You keep skipping class like this, watch out, I’ll report you to the teacher and have your conduct points deducted.”

Jia Ming helplessly spread his hands. “Please, monitor, I don’t think I’ve done anything to you… I even saved you on the island…”

“I know you saved me, but I’m not targeting you. I’m the class monitor, so I have to manage these things. Don’t think that just because you saved me once I’ll go easy on you, it’s one thing for one thing…” Her voice paused slightly. “Alright, since you’ve already come down, I’ll take it as you coming to practice with the basketball team. You don’t like self-study, so go practice basketball. That’s fine, basketball is the best way to train a person’s sense of collective honor…”

Looking at Dongfang Wan talking, Jia Ming suddenly smiled amusingly. “I can’t play basketball.” He said, turning his bike around under Dongfang Wan’s gaze. Dongfang Wan shouted, “You’re lying, how can a boy not play basketball? Fine, if you don’t want to play, go back to self-study then. I’m telling you, if you’re not in the class when we go back, I’m still going to deduct your points… Hey, what are you doing…”

Seeing Jia Ming already turning around, Dongfang Wan’s sense of triumph didn’t last ten seconds. She saw Jia Ming’s bicycle make a big circle and head towards the school gate from the other side of the road. She stared dumbfounded for a while before finally stomping her foot. She cried out.

“Gu Jia Ming——”

She flushed red as she looked left and right, then picked up a clod of earth from under a tree beside the road and made a move to throw it, but this action was too much of a violation of the upbringing she had received since childhood. In the end, she could only throw the clod of earth on the ground with hatred and waved her hand in frustration. “I’m not finished with you!”

The bicycle rode further and further away, ignoring Dongfang Wan’s calls. After a while, Huang Haobing walked over to Dongfang Wan. “Uh, don’t be angry, he’s like that, he’s always been a bit strange since he was little…”

“You’re still saying this, Huang Haobing, he’s family with you, and you don’t even manage him.”

“Uh…” Seeing the young lady’s anger directed at him, Huang Haobing felt quite innocent. “Although we’re family, we haven’t really had much contact since we were little. Hmm, we did play together when we were really young, but he was always crying then. Later, when he met Ye Lingjing and Liu Huaisha, he became very strange…”

“Liu Huaisha… I’ve heard of her, her family is in the underworld, she’s always getting into trouble and fighting.”

“Yeah, she’s in Class 7 now.”

“With a girlfriend like that, no wonder…” Dongfang Wan recalled some things her elder brother had told her and thought about it for a moment. “I don’t care, I can’t let a student with no sense of collective consciousness be in my class, Huang Haobing, you’re his relative, how can you let your family be like this.”

Looking at Dongfang Wan’s indignant look, Huang Haobing frowned. As a child, he was afraid of Liu Huaisha, the little bully. Now that he was older, he was naturally no longer afraid. Not having any contact with Jia Ming was just a habit, but now, for this young lady… “Okay, okay, next time I see him skipping class, I’ll ask him to play basketball.”

The Dongfang family and the Huang family, these two large families, had previously had some business dealings in Jiang Hai City, but they generally didn’t have much of a personal relationship. However, this time, Huang Haobing and Dongfang Wan were actually in the same class, which undoubtedly became an opportunity to open up this situation. Huang Haobing was one of the most important young masters in the Huang family, while Dongfang Wan’s position in her family was comparable to that of a little princess. Therefore, from the very beginning of school, the Huang family had deliberately encouraged these two to get closer. In Huang Haobing’s opinion, Dongfang Wan was not only beautiful but also full of charming vitality, she was skilled at planning and scheming, and she was always bright and engaging, like sunshine. Especially after the start of school, when organizing various things, Dongfang Wan took the lead, while he acted as a deputy. Their working styles were surprisingly compatible, and unconsciously, Huang Haobing developed a certain fondness for Dongfang Wan.

Due to this, two days later that afternoon, when he was riding his bicycle past the basketball court, and Dongfang Wan ran over, he was just about to speed up and ride past. However, Huang Haobing’s voice suddenly came from behind. “Jia Ming, you’re just in time, wait, wait, wait.”

Dongfang Wan could ignore him, but now that they were no longer children, although they usually didn’t have much interaction with Huang Haobing, they always saw each other around. He stopped his bike and saw Dongfang Wan standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, looking quite smug. Then, Huang Haobing also ran over.

“Jia Ming, you’re just in time, we’re having a friendly match with Class 7. Hu Wei just got injured and we can’t find a suitable substitute. It would take too long to go to the classroom to call someone. Come help out.”

“But… I have something to do…”

“Don’t be silly, what could you have to do. Come on, come on…”

“Well… I don’t know how to play basketball…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, our teammates are much better than theirs. You just have to pass the ball casually, haha, watch us easily win this…”

Purely in terms of physique, Huang Haobing was very big. He was not only strong, but he was also half a head taller than Jia Ming. He grabbed Jia Ming and walked towards the basketball court with great familiarity. For Jia Ming, breaking free would be easy, but coming up with a good excuse was not. For a moment, he could only push his bicycle helplessly and walk towards the court.

All of this, of course, was a plan devised by Huang Haobing and Dongfang Wan, the two passionate young people. They wanted to change Jia Ming’s lack of collective consciousness, and they wanted to get him involved in something collective first. Everyone has a sense of shame, if he played too poorly in front of so many people, he would definitely be laughed at, and perhaps then he would reflect on himself. Moreover, if his class won, it would also make him feel the honor of being part of this class. After a while, Huang Haobing and Dongfang Wan played good cop and bad cop and finally managed to push Jia Ming to the edge of the court…

“Uh, well… I have something to do, just ten minutes…”

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