Hidden Assassin 149

The pale light bathed the stage, creating a scene of old-fashioned, nostalgic darkness. The extended prelude, accompanied by whispers of monologue, reverberated, and the song “In the Name of Father,” known for its vivid imagery, appeared in this world years ahead of its time.

In the wine, in the drizzle, the music descended into a quiet hush. Neon lights flickered in the distance, vehicles passed by, weaving through the cityscape. Sometimes, numbers truly reveal the essence of things. When everyone gathered together remained silent, focused on the melody, standing amidst them, you would feel the music engulf the entire city, the entire world beneath the sky.

Speaking of which, the people standing in the rain might be luckier than those who entered the wine bar. Although the stage was blurred into black and white by the lights, the occasional glimpse of the ridiculous fruit masks amidst the grey atmosphere helped to dilute the oppressive air. Lost in the crowd, Joseph’s understanding of the lyrics was beside the point, but he was clearly captivated by the melody. Marilyn and Heidi were enthralled, perhaps out of admiration for the performer. However, Fang Yusi’s emotions could only be described as a state of utter shock.

Just like how Old Huang and Zheng Zepei felt when they first heard “Dong Feng Po,” professional musicians, unlike the average listener who simply judges a song based on whether they “like it” or not, would also evaluate its depth and potential while experiencing it. They would assess whether it would be popular, whether it would become a hit. Most songs rely on the vision of the musicians, on packaging, and promotion to gain traction. Yet, there are a handful of songs that instantly leave a lasting impression, undeniable songs that shape trends. The songs produced by Concept Band all belong to this category.

In the few months since its inception, Concept Band had released over ten songs, but only half of them were actually licensed for performance rights. However, every song, after its release, was quickly recorded by various entertainment companies, with the tapes being sent to the hands of various singers. Fang Yusi had listened to several of them, each time imagining, “If I were to sing this song, what kind of impact would it have?”

However, there was no doubt that the live performance was far more impactful than those recordings, with their static noise and lack of authenticity. It was as if a jade cutter had discovered a rough piece of Heshibi jade. She could clearly see the potential power of these songs once they were professionally processed, performed, and packaged.

Each song represented a different style, each song had the power to move hearts, each song was guaranteed to become a hit… No, no matter who he is, I must tell him, even if it means making promises and paying a price. As long as he can write songs for me…

Her heart surged with anticipation and fantasy. She looked at the somewhat stiff performance on stage, and during a pause in the music, a strange feeling flashed through her mind: the member of Concept Band wearing the cucumber mask, his dance moves seemed familiar… This thought quickly vanished, because the young girl didn’t make any further movements or gestures – she played the electric piano, both hands busy.

At that moment, a waiter at the wine bar brought two cotton candy flowers, handing them to Marilyn and Heidi. He seemed to say something, but Fang Yusi was not in the mood to pay attention.

The black and white melody continued, gradually reaching its end. After the final mixed chorus rap, the silence lingered, as if the audience was still trapped in the immersive atmosphere of the song. The lead singer, Banana, tapped his microphone, cleared his throat, and said, “Uh… that’s it.”

“That’s about it for now, of course, I’m not a good singer, there’s still room for improvement… Saturday, everyone is busy resting, so am I, that’s all for today, see you.” As if it were Concept Band’s signature style, there was no embellishment, no formal farewell, nor consideration for the audience’s feelings. They simply finished their performance and were ready to leave, followed by the usual uproar from the crowd. Some pleaded, some protested, while others, having heard of Concept Band’s name but attending for the first time, created a commotion in the front row, trying to rush the stage. This scene was almost a constant occurrence, but the Bluebird Bar was well-prepared, with a dozen strong men forming a tight barricade around the small stage, preventing anyone from breaking through.

As Concept Band made a swift and decisive exit, Lan Jie, who was not far away, gestured to them to hurry, apologized to Joseph and Marilyn, and Fang Yusi made her way towards the entrance to the backstage passage. After a while, Heidi, her cotton candy consumed with satisfaction, jumped off the sofa and looked around, “Mommy, where’s the bathroom?”

“Bathroom… I’ll take you there.”

Smiling and saying hello to Joseph, she took Heidi’s hand and the mother-daughter duo headed towards the bathroom on the other side of the hall, disappearing from Joseph’s sight in the blink of an eye.

With Concept Band gone, the restriction on entry was no longer meaningful, and most of the security guards at the entrance were withdrawn. The music softened, and many people entered, inquiring about the performance and exchanging opinions about the new song. Despite losing fans due to Concept Band’s unconventional approach, the die-hard fans remained, eagerly discussing how, if Concept Band were to enter the music scene, they would sweep away all the so-called singers and stars.

As he listened to the praise and admiration of the surrounding crowd, Joseph sipped his red wine, pondering the things he wanted to investigate during his trip to China. The most important of these was, naturally, who it was who had saved Marilyn and Heidi three years ago.

After Marilyn’s incident three years ago, there was a period of détente between the Salieri and Gambino families. However, the peace had lasted long enough for many of the suppressed conflicts to reach a breaking point, and with a family war seemingly imminent, the Salieri family, at a disadvantage in terms of power, naturally sought additional support. Among them, the mysterious power that had saved Marilyn and Heidi became a key focus for establishing connections.

Marilyn and Heidi kept mum about their experience during that month when they were rescued, remaining tight-lipped even after returning to America. To keep this secret, they both put in considerable effort. Any conversation that even vaguely touched upon this topic would instantly chill the atmosphere. While Marilyn still possessed some maneuvering skills, Heidi’s rejection was even more direct. The once lively and innocent child no longer enjoyed interacting with strangers, and even when family members tried to subtly inquire about the incident, she would turn around and walk away. In the initial period after their return to New York, this awkwardness at the dinner table occurred dozens of times.

Many people in the family said the mother and daughter were too immature, but as Marilyn’s father, he seemed to harbor guilt over the incident with Tang Jingyao, and thereafter chose not to mention it. However, when the family once again sensed a crisis looming, any lingering guilt naturally dissipated in the face of family interests, hence Joseph’s trip to China.

Recalling Marilyn and Heidi’s behavior over the past two days, Joseph was almost certain that the lead singer of Concept Band, a boy named Gu Jia Ming, was a key figure in the whole affair. Heidi must have met and become friends with this young man during that time three years ago. Now, he just needed to investigate the boy’s background, and everything else would likely fall into place. As time ticked by, a sense of unease began to creep into his mind.

Ten minutes had passed, and Marilyn and Heidi had not returned.

Joseph pushed through the crowd, walked to the bathroom entrance, waited silently for a while, then took a deep breath and knocked on the door to the women’s restroom. “Marilyn, Heidi!”

The music played, the crowd was noisy, there was no response from inside the bathroom.

Frowning, he kicked the wooden door open with a bang. A chubby woman washing her face in front of the mirror stared in disbelief as a foreigner kicked open one small cubicle after another, exposing the nether regions of several women to his sharp, hawk-like gaze. The sheer intensity of his murderous aura overwhelmed everyone, and for a moment, no one dared to cry out. Not until the man seemed dissatisfied with his inspection of every corner and turned his vicious glare onto the fat woman did a high-pitched scream finally pierce the silence.

“Rape! Help!”

With a sudden turn, Joseph ignored her and rushed towards the entrance. The first security guard who entered swung his baton down at Joseph’s head, only to be kicked away. The second guard only managed to block a powerful straight punch before being slashed in the back of the neck with a hand knife, falling unconscious. With immense momentum, Joseph charged into the small passageway outside the bathroom like a tank.

Security guards, thugs, and righteous citizens alike rushed to surround him from both sides.

Kicks, punches, violent shoulder throws, in a matter of moments, the first four attackers were lying on the ground. The people in the back were about to charge forward, but then they stopped, because the man before them had pulled two pistols from his clothes and pointed them at both ends of the passageway.

Since those blocking the passage were all members of the Shazhu Gang, no one screamed for a while, and the commotion did not spread to the hall. After a moment, a man in a suit parted the crowd and walked forward, frowning at the pistols. “My friend, why are you causing a ruckus in my establishment?”

After he spoke, a man beside him translated his words into English. Joseph lowered the guns slightly, speaking in Chinese, “My two friends, they are missing here.”

“Two friends?” The man in the suit looked at his men, and a security guard squeezed through the crowd to whisper something in his ear. Then the man in the suit asked, “Are your friends women? Blonde? With her daughter?”

“Yes.”

“My people saw them leaving through the parking lot over there. No one threatened them. The little girl seemed pretty happy. Did they not tell you beforehand?”

Slightly startled, Joseph’s ferocious expression remained unchanged. After a moment, he put away the pistols, took out a checkbook, wrote a number, tore off the first check, and handed it over. “Thank you, consider this my compensation.” Then he parted the crowd and ran towards the stairs leading down to the parking lot.

The lower level parking lot was brightly lit. From the moment he realized Marilyn and Heidi had disappeared, he had roughly figured out what was going on, so he didn’t doubt the man in the suit’s words. He ran to the car he had rented, and there was a piece of paper stuck under the windshield wiper, bearing Marilyn’s handwriting:

Don’t worry, we’ll be back when the time is right.

Then the sound of the engine starting echoed through the parking lot. He turned his head to see a black car turning towards the exit from the other side. In the back seat, Marilyn and Heidi waved to him with smiles. “Don’t worry!” Marilyn’s voice was sweet, her charming smile carrying a hint of regret.

In an instant, Joseph felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

He remembered when he first met Marilyn, she had already had a child with that Chinese man. The Chinese man had returned to his hometown, and Marilyn was sad, staying at home, avoiding all social events, and having few friends. At the deliberate arrangement of Marilyn’s father, he visited the mansion, and occasionally had the opportunity to get close to her. As they became friends, Marilyn would occasionally mention Tang Jingyao, who was far away in China, and her face would light up with a radiant smile. He once thought that he might have been conquered by this smile. One day, he would make her smile so radiantly and charmingly when she thought of him.

Three years ago, Marilyn followed Tang Jingyao to China, and the subsequent events caught everyone off guard. But no matter what, Tang Jingyao was dead. He brought Marilyn back to New York, and she began to actively participate in family affairs, starting to smile and laugh politely and appropriately. He knew the death of the Chinese man had a great impact on her, but at least he had a chance. For three years, he had tried his best to move her, and there seemed to be some progress. Occasionally, when they were alone, Marilyn would suddenly remember something and smile brilliantly and charmingly. He had seen this twice unintentionally – in the presence of others, such smiles would always be subdued. That smile made him feel a little uneasy.

And now, looking at Marilyn’s smile, a realization suddenly dawned on him. She was leaving him to see someone, that’s why she smiled so charmingly. No matter how hard he tried, he was ultimately too late. This American woman who had loved China since she was a child, even after Tang Jingyao’s death, had chosen a Chinese man as her future anchor.

Perhaps he had never had a chance in this matter.

Standing there, he stared at Marilyn in the back seat, and a few seconds later, the car drove out into the rain outside, disappearing from his sight.

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

While Joseph was bravely storming the bathroom, Fang Yusi, with her hat pulled low over her face like a spy, found the Concept Band’s lounge.

It seemed that money had worked its magic, as the security guards in charge did not stop her when she passed through the previous passage. However, as she watched the staff coming and going, Fang Yusi still felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement, just like the feeling portrayed in the movies. In fact, one of Fang Yusi’s biggest dreams was to act in movies and TV shows, but her acting skills were terrible, and idol-type actors weren’t popular in 1998. So this dream remained unrealized.

This passage was quiet and deserted, indicating that Concept Band was big-time, and no one dared to disturb them. Standing at the door, Fang Yusi hesitated about what to say as her first greeting. She could hear a conversation from inside, coming in snippets.

“… What kind of friend did we meet last night? Anyway, you weren’t home, and I had a lot of fun with… uh, with her.”

“Foreign little girl and her mom? Can’t remember…”

“That time we beat someone up and went to Shasha’s place? The time we gave everything to the little girl? I remember… Shasha, the next day, we wanted to get money to give them, but they were gone… Wow, doesn’t that mean we unintentionally saved a rich man, and then good deeds were rewarded? That’s only something that happens in novels…”

“They’re foreigners, but they’re not necessarily rich…”

“Whatever, whatever. Anyway, we weren’t after their money. I still remember that little girl, she was so pretty, cute as a doll…”

The sound of young men and women talking came from inside the room, fragmented, as if they were discussing how they had helped a foreigner in distress, and how that foreigner had returned and unexpectedly encountered them again. Just as Fang Yusi was about to knock, her arm suddenly felt a sharp pain, and then her entire body was pressed to the ground.

“Who are you? What are you trying to do?”

She couldn’t help but cry out in pain. This sudden incident was completely unexpected. Her arm felt like it was about to snap, her chest smashed against the ground with no cushioning, and then her hat was pulled off, revealing her long hair. Seeing that it was a woman, the person who had pinned her down seemed a little surprised, but didn’t loosen their grip in the slightest.

Caught red-handed in her thieving act, Fang Yusi didn’t know how to explain herself, so she could only groan and lie on the ground. Soon, the door next to her opened, and a girl in a long dress emerged, her voice sweet and charming. “Uncle Gu, what’s going on?”

“There was a foreigner causing trouble in the front, so I came to check it out, and I saw this woman sneaking around outside your door… hmmm, could she be one of your fans…” The man behind her said, slightly loosening his grip. Through her disheveled hair, Fang Yusi struggled to lift her head, and she saw the girl’s expression gradually turning into one of shock. After a moment of chaos, Fang Yusi also slowly remembered the girl in front of her. She gaped, unable to close her mouth for a long time.

“Ah, ah… Uncle Gu, you got the wrong person, you got the wrong person… She, she is a friend we brought here, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, did I hurt you, Sister Yusi, oh… no, Miss Fang, I’m so sorry, I really apologize, you… uh, really sorry…”

She hurriedly helped her up, the girl named Ling Jing was very apologetic, patting the dust off her clothes. Fang Yusi’s gaze was filled with shock, her expression slightly dazed.

A terrible realization suddenly rose in her heart… .

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