Hidden Assassin 241

“One hot coffee, four egg tarts, thanks.”

Standing at the counter of the diner, he rubbed his forehead, pondering those things. He wasn’t sure what the results would be, and thinking about it was pointless. He wasn’t that kind of brilliant person. If he wanted to plan, he had to rely on experience and his decades-ahead understanding of certain people’s personalities. In the aftermath of his previous life, many of the people in the current underworld were already dead. Their personalities, many of their actions and decisions, had been analyzed and studied by others. This was his biggest advantage.

If someone like Kelly Furnim could help him figure things out, it would be great. In his past life, he was just a simple killer. He had a deep respect for Kelly Furnim, a brilliant lesbian. As he thought about it, the figures of Marilyn and her daughter suddenly drifted into his mind. He understood Marilyn’s kindness towards him and was touched by it, but Heidi… she was in her rebellious period. Since he didn’t want to make her too sad, he had to leave. Of course, saying that was hypocritical. She would be heartbroken if he left, but it was better not to see her… Maybe when Heidi got past this rebellious period, they could become friends again… Maybe friends who didn’t sleep together… He pondered the idea of being with Marilyn but not sleeping with her. It felt awkward.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

He received the food in a plastic bag, then turned around. He saw Ya Han and her stepmother, along with a group of bodyguards, emerge from the opposite building into the wind and snow. Ya Han was wearing a raincoat with her face covered, her body bundled up tightly. Next to them was a round-faced, likable chubby boy. He was gesturing wildly and saying something.

“Going out shopping in this kind of weather… women, your name is defiance…” He sighed, leaving the diner. He ate as he followed them.

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

“Hey, Ya Han, Ya Han, come over here. What do you think of this necklace? The workmanship is good, and the color is beautiful, thirteen thousand. It’s not expensive.”

Because of the approaching blizzard, there weren’t many people in this supermarket in the heart of Manhattan. Of course, this was just compared to the usual crowded scene. And although it was called a supermarket, there were many shops attached to it. Luxury boutiques, of course, had their own storefronts. Right now, a group of people was picking out things in this jewelry store. It was really only the stepmother, with her shopping frenzy, jumping around the counter, and the chubby boy, nicknamed “Mantou” (literally “Steamed Bread”), talking beside her. These two had hit it off and became friends in a day or two, just by chatting and joking. As for Ya Han, she was simply sitting on a long chair at the edge of the store, chin in hand, looking out listlessly. She used to love shopping, but she hadn’t been in the mood lately.

“Thirteen thousand. That’s in US dollars.” Ya Han turned her head, responding to her stepmother’s call. “And I think it’s a bit flashy. The goldiness is a bit too strong.”

“Thirteen thousand dollars. That’s why I said it’s not expensive.” The stepmother raised her eyebrows, flaunting their family’s wealth. It was clear that this kind of spending wasn’t something they would bat an eye at. “And I think the flashier style suits me perfectly. Look, doesn’t it look very extravagant?”

Watching her stepmother shake the necklace around her neck, Ya Han couldn’t help but laugh. She understood that her stepmother was trying to cheer her up with this boisterous behavior. Mantou took a few glances and said, “No, the wheat-shaped chain actually gives a very simple feeling. I think this necklace suits Mrs. Zhang very well.”

“You know how to talk, Mantou. You’re promising, I’m keeping an eye on you.” The stepmother laughed a few times, then lowered her voice, “Tell the truth, I think you’re a good guy. Are you trying to hit on Ya Han? Be honest with me.”

“Uh, hehe…” Mantou blushed and couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly. “Uh, I think this necklace suits Miss Zhang, uh, you, you, you… what do you think?”

“Stop pretending. I’m telling you straight up, Ya Han just had a breakup. If you can make her happy, I’ll help you.” She turned her head after whispering this, “Wow, it’s true, Ya Han, come look. This blue gemstone is perfect for you… Please, take this necklace out, and this one too, wrap them up… Ya Han.”

Smiling, she walked over and took Ya Han’s hand, ready to pull her over, but Ya Han seemed to be stimulated by something. She stood up abruptly, her eyes fixed on the outside of the store. She then shook off her stepmother’s hand and quickly walked outside.

“What’s wrong? Did you see someone?”

As Ya Han walked out to the corridor outside the store, she looked ahead. There was an indoor plaza with a fountain. Layers of elevators and stairs connected the brightly lit, “凹” (pronounced “ao”) shaped six-story building. It was full of shops, large and small. The central air conditioning provided ample warmth. Soft English songs played, and hundreds of shoppers went up and down, back and forth. It would be quite difficult to find one face in such a crowd.

She stood there looking for a while, then shook her head in disappointment, “I, I might have been mistaken.”

“You’re dreaming about it during the day, dreaming about it at night, now you see everyone as the person you’re thinking about.” Her stepmother patted her on the back of the head with a disapproving tone. “It’s been half a year, you’re so stubborn…”

“But… it really looked like him…”

“You’re not saying anything, even my boyfriend discussed it with you… Go, go, go, stop thinking about him. Come in and choose jewelry with me, don’t spoil my mood!”

With a grumbling tone of dissatisfaction, her stepmother pulled her inside, forcing her to stand and choose jewelry. Then, ignoring her protests, she bought any jewelry she liked, about half a medium-sized shopping bag full. She handed it to a bodyguard behind them and continued to browse other shops.

However, after that glimpse, Ya Han was distracted the whole way, occasionally glancing around, trying to find that familiar figure. Since watching the video of the street killing yesterday, she had a feeling that Jia Ming was in New York. It was this guess that made it difficult for her to determine whether the figure she glimpsed was really Jia Ming following her, or a hallucination caused by her yearning.

“Come, come, come, take off your clothes, take off your clothes, let your stepmother take a look at your figure…”

When she came to her senses, she had already been pushed into the dressing room by her stepmother, who was unbuttoning her.

“I don’t like this dress, I don’t need it…”

“You don’t like it, I do. Doesn’t this purple dress look perfect on you? Put it on, put it on, I won’t harm you!”

“It’ll be cold wearing a dress in this weather.”

“There’s heating in here, and you’ll get even colder if you keep thinking about someone you shouldn’t be thinking about. It’ll be worse than a cold. I say, you should dress yourself up beautifully and attract a bunch of young men to chase after you… haha, hurry up and get undressed!”

With these words, the narrow dressing room was filled with the sound of outer garments, inner garments, long pants, and thermal pants being forcibly stripped off, thrown on the ground. High heels were kicked to the side, revealing Ya Han’s long legs. She laughed and struggled, reaching for the woman’s waist in front of her.

“Haha, you dare resist, you disobedient girl, disobedient girl…”

“Aha, indecent assault…”

The two women’s voices, like sisters, echoed in laughter from the dressing room. Because they were speaking Chinese, the American saleswoman outside the glass wall didn’t quite understand what was going on. Mantou and the bodyguards just stood there expressionlessly, their muscles twitching. Mantou had his hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the sky as if he was in a trance. At one point, he suddenly let out a muffled sound, “pfft,” and covered his nose and mouth with his hand. Blood seeped out between his fingers. Before he could react, the bodyguard leader had already handed him a tissue. The two exchanged a strange look.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After a while, the dressing room door finally opened. Ya Han emerged, wearing a long, indigo-purple dress. Everyone’s eyes widened. Outside the store, through the glass walls, several shoppers instinctively slowed their pace, pointing at Ya Han and talking amongst themselves. Closing the dressing room door, the floor-to-ceiling mirror reflected Ya Han’s image at this moment.

The elegant, floor-length dress, with indigo purple as the base and white accents, perfectly displayed Ya Han’s tall and graceful figure, adhering to the golden ratio of upper and lower body proportions. Her slender waist was gently cinched, and the skirt wasn’t as wide as a typical dress. It was elegant and simple, with a distinctly Eastern flavor. Combined with her slightly pale face, still recovering from her illness and haunted by her concerns, it perfectly embodied the concept of an ethereal, classic Eastern beauty.

“Come, come, look for yourself, use your own eyes to see how sharp my eye and refined my taste are. You’re absolutely stunning…”

Her stepmother happily pushed Ya Han in front of the mirror. Looking at the image in the mirror, Ya Han tilted her head and smiled helplessly. Suddenly, a figure flashed past her eyes. She turned around abruptly, seeing a stream of people coming and going outside the store, separated by a clear glass wall. Most people instinctively looked in this direction, but that figure vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.

Another hallucination?

“What’s wrong?” Her stepmother’s eyes followed her gaze, looking around the crowd with confusion. Then, she cried out, “Mantou, those people over there… isn’t that the gangster you mentioned? How did he get out of the hospital? Oh my, he saw us.”

In their field of vision, not far away, there were many plastic tables and chairs. This was the food court of the shopping center. At this moment, a group of people were eating there, led by an American youth with golden hair. Two of them, Ya Han recognized. Two days ago, they had accused her of eavesdropping and that’s how she got to know Mantou. As for the blond youth, he was the main character who lived in room fourteen. They had lived in the same hospital for so many days, occasionally catching sight of each other, they were considered “acquaintances” who didn’t really greet each other.

Now, the two groups were not far apart. Ya Han, having emerged from the dressing room with her aura, seemed to have also attracted the attention of the gangsters. They all looked over, some still whistling. Sensing the stepmother’s gaze, the blond youth, with a familiar air, raised the paper cup of coffee in his hand and gave a distant wave, then led his ten companions towards them.

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

Although she had an immense admiration for the classic film, *The Godfather*, the stepmother certainly couldn’t view real gangsters as good people who liked to uphold justice in the world. Seeing them approaching with such clear intentions, she couldn’t help but be a little nervous. “Gangsters are coming, should we call the police?”

“I don’t think we need to. They wouldn’t dare to do anything openly…” Mantou maintained a smile and said softly.

“Do anything openly? What kind of things could they do?” The woman rolled her eyes and muttered, “What kind of people are these, staying in the hospital when they’re sick and injured. We women just come out shopping, and here they are, a bunch of grown men, bored out of their minds, coming out to browse stores. Perverts… Mr. Chen, these guys shouldn’t have any bad intentions. I heard gangsters are good at kidnapping… Right, Ya Han, quickly go inside and change back your clothes…”

With a turn, the two women went back into the dressing room. After a while, they came out. Ya Han had changed back into her winter clothes. As for Mantou and the others, they had already started greeting this group of people and chatting. There was another round of introductions. It was said that the blond youth’s name was Robert. The wounds he had suffered hadn’t fully healed yet, and his face looked pale, like Ya Han’s. After getting to know each other, he began to invite the two ladies to have coffee.

“I’m really sorry about what happened two days ago. Neil and those two were just being overprotective, they had a misunderstanding with Miss Zhang. If you don’t mind, how about a cup of coffee? Just as a way to apologize for what happened two days ago?”

Even though not all gangsters were bad people, who knows what kind of accident might happen when having coffee with them. The stepmother smiled and said, “Hehehe, I’m sorry, I have to go to the next stop, I’m just about to…”

“It’s okay, let’s just have a cup.” Before she could finish refusing, Ya Han, without knowing what she was thinking, suddenly agreed, interrupting her rejection. Robert laughed and extended his hand, motioning for the ladies to go first. His bland gaze swept across the crowd, Ya Han nodded, and walked towards them.

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter