Hidden Assassin 270

“Did you go to New York before the Chinese New Year? Really? You must have seen the Statue of Liberty, right? Pictures, pictures, I want to see pictures… Oh, by the way, did you go to see the Knicks game? You know, my boyfriend is a Knicks fan, he always stays up all night watching basketball, it drives me crazy…”

“Tang Yun likes watching basketball? How come I didn’t know… Didn’t he claim to dislike anything besides piano?”

“Tang Yun? That was a long time ago, I’ve already had two boyfriends, my darling now… hehe, I’ll introduce you to him someday, he’s a model, very passionate oh… Um, you still remember Tang Yun, it wouldn’t be because he used to like you, if you’re interested, I can put you in touch with him, we’re still good friends.”

“Tang Yun… me? How is that possible…”

“I knew he had feelings for you a long time ago. He’s a piano-playing goofball, you also play piano, didn’t you even ask him for advice in your spare time? Although Xu Mo was always chasing you, everyone else felt a little inferior… But I thought you knew all along… By the way, how are you and Xu Mo?”

“Xu Mo and I… we never had anything to begin with, I don’t know why you guys always think I should be with him.”

“Xu Mo’s temperament is a good match for yours, and your family backgrounds are similar, everyone thinks so… Of course, it’s your own decision who you choose, Tang Yun, he’s secretly liked you for a long time, he’s pretty good too…”

“Alright, alright, stop playing matchmaker, Tang Yun and I are just friends, he’s a good person, but… you guys are still good friends after breaking up?”

“Why not, anyway… good times, goodbyes. We didn’t think we’d marry each other in the first place. I also think Tang Yun is pretty good, but if we were to get married, my family wouldn’t allow it. You know, the saying about giving up everything for love is too idealistic, in the end you have to find someone with a similar background, who can help solve some problems for the family, anyway, Tang Yun understood, later we moved in together and gradually had some friction, it’s easier to see each other than to live together, it’s like that, we broke up before our emotions got out of hand, we still call each other often now. He has a girlfriend, a teacher, I’ve met her, she’s very quiet, she has a bit of your aura…”

“Oh. Hehe…”

“He, don’t mention this anymore, by the way, are your teachers busiest during the first few days of school?”

“Yeah, a bit, but it’s pretty straightforward if everything goes according to plan, although it’s not overtime, it’s calculated as overtime, the pay is pretty good.”

“It’s fine for others, but you don’t need that extra bit of pay, but you rarely attended these events before, you’ve become much more cheerful since you came back from America.”

“It’s okay. The doctor said being cheerful is good for my condition, that… your cousin’s, that what…”

“My aunt’s nephew… I find it a bit awkward to say it myself. Hehe…”

“Yeah, I asked. It’ll be a lot of trouble for him to transfer classes now, because… he’s already been in the 10th grade for a semester…”

“My aunt and the others say that Teacher Ou is not good, they say that the students in the special program class are all better at studying, and the teachers are also better… I don’t know about this, but my aunt’s company is doing very well now, they’ve started connecting with the international market, among the people they know, only they have connections in Europe, I can’t afford to lose face…”

“Yeah, he, special program class… these are all pretty much the same, but… like this, the names haven’t been finalized yet, have your aunt pull some strings and find a school, I’ll also make some moves, get a transfer certificate for him to transfer to another school, then get another one to transfer back, go in and out, let him choose which class to enter, but for the class teacher, it’s best if your aunt’s side sends some gifts…”

“Will that be alright?”

“That’s all we can do, otherwise if we just say we don’t want to study here without any reason, even if the school leaders go to talk to him, how would Teacher Ou feel, he wouldn’t say anything on the surface, but he would remember it…”

“I understand, I understand, you teachers also have your difficulties, but your family doesn’t lack anything, I don’t know how to thank you…”

“What are you talking about, it’s just a small favor between friends, don’t think about it…”

“I know this kind of interpersonal relationship is the most troublesome, Ya Han, thank you so much…”

***

Bright lights, the sound of music flowed gently, it was Wu Bai’s “Too Much Heart,” waiters carrying trays, people in various evening gowns, the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, just after the Lantern Festival, this was a dinner party for the elite society of Jiang Hai.

Wearing black high heels, a purple evening gown, her long black hair beautifully tied up, Ya Han skillfully maintained a smile, exchanging interesting topics with her companion from earlier, then greeting two young men who came towards her, waving goodbye, and then being introduced by a middle-aged businessman who should be called uncle to the new CEO of his company, she took a glass of water and drank.

Although she became a teacher after returning from Cambridge, she had also experienced many such events in the past, even if she became a teacher, life was not necessarily simple, she attended fewer gatherings, but it was not a big burden for her, her eyes scanned the crowd listlessly, she didn’t see the person she was looking for, but the greetings beside her started again: “Hi, Teacher Zhang Ya Han.”

Normally people wouldn’t add the word “teacher” after someone’s full name, a hint of doubt flashed through her mind, her elegant smile naturally returned in an instant, she turned her head, but it was a young man she didn’t recognize, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a slight smile on his lips as he looked at her, his gaze seemed a little… dismissive…

Ya Han hadn’t seen him before, but it seemed like he was from a good family, but his arrogance was apparent at a glance, most likely he’d had it easy all his life. Hesitating for a moment, she saw Xu Mo next to her nodding and greeting her.

“Hehe, hello, my name is Ying Zi Feng, I’ve heard Xu Mo mention you, so I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

The bespectacled man, Ying Zi Feng, smiled and walked over, extending his hand, Ya Han also extended her hand to shake his, casually pushing her hair behind her ear: “Hello, I’m Zhang Ya Han.”

Since they were strangers meeting, there was nothing particularly substantial to talk about after exchanging greetings, Ying Zi Feng blatantly hinted at Xu Mo’s liking for Ya Han. Ya Han pretended not to understand with a smile, for a moment, Ying Zi Feng waved goodbye, leaving Xu Mo and Ya Han there, that was probably his original intention for greeting her.

Ya Han and Xu Mo’s relationship had always been a one-sided pursuit, Ya Han had always clearly rejected him, but because she had never had a boyfriend, Xu Mo had never given up. It was like the saying: “You can dislike me, but you can’t stop me from liking you.” In the six months before this, Ya Han was heartbroken after learning the truth about Jia Ming’s relationship with Ling Jing and Sha Sha. Xu Mo thought he had a chance, and this kind of relationship became even more obvious. But since the incident of the “Gods without Thoughts,” Ya Han had been recovering at home, and then went to America, and only returned to school recently. They finally had the chance to have a proper conversation, after only seeing each other at school during the busy time at the start of the semester. Ya Han had Jia Ming, and ignored him even more, missing each other every time at school, and now, finally, they had a chance to talk.

After a moment of silence, the shy but enthusiastic man smiled: “Uh, Zi Feng’s temper isn’t very good, he might not be polite, but he’s a good friend overall, don’t blame him.”

“Of course not.” Ya Han gave a formal smile, not saying anything extra.

The awkwardness created deliberately, made Xu Mo feel slightly uncomfortable: “After the school’s horror incident last time, I heard you were sick, I wanted to see you. But they said your condition was serious, I couldn’t see you… Later I heard you went to America for treatment. I saw the heavy snow in New York those days, there was some unrest on the news, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, am I not perfectly fine? Thank you for your concern, and…” She smiled and raised her wine glass, “He and I are back together…”

“Uh…”

“I’m back together with that person now, you’ve seen, I’m very happy every day now, I can’t say much about you and me, but you’ve always understood…” She looked at him, softly saying, “I’ve always been a simple woman, when I like someone I like them, there’s no way I can like someone I don’t, no matter what, I’m afraid that some pointless things will affect us, you… uh, I don’t know how to say it, but…”

“You mean… I shouldn’t bother you anymore?” Hesitating for a moment, Xu Mo’s face turned pale.

“I know you’re a good person, but I’m not a very good woman, I know many women like you…”

“Don’t say good person… the friend zone?” Xu Mo sarcastically smiled and shook his head, “You’re a good person, isn’t everyone at school laughing about it? I heard it was your good friend, Gu Jia Ming, who spread it… So, can I meet him? At least let me know who I’ve lost to…”

“He’s not here now, if I have the chance, I will.”

“Yeah, hehe… hehe…” Xu Mo nodded, bitterly laughing, he seemed to want to say something else, but ultimately he couldn’t say it, finally he turned and slowly left, leaving behind a lonely figure in the crowd.

Relieved, she was not a naturally cold woman like Xun, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t touched by Xu Mo’s pursuit over the years, but looking at his back, she felt more relieved and liberated, when it came to love, she was still traditional at heart, she was content with being owned by only one man, although the only flaw was that the man owned more than just her.

Thinking about this, she couldn’t help but shrug helplessly, she scanned the surroundings again, and finally found those familiar figures in a corner of the hall, Jia Ming, Ling Jing, and Sha Sha were gathered around a small table, joking and laughing while eating, the atmosphere was lively, but it seemed like they didn’t want to talk to anyone.

I’m so envious.

A slight bitterness welled up in her heart. After she returned from America, she had become more cheerful, and her views on her father had changed, now she held an important position at Sacred Heart Academy, many wealthy children who wanted to be recommended to key universities, even to world-renowned universities, often had to rely on her connections. In this way, people owed her favors, which benefited the entire Zhang family. Although she still did not participate in the operation of the Zhang Group, she attended these events that she didn’t need to attend before, which implicitly included a reconciliation with her father. Her father and stepmother were already at this banquet, now they were talking to a group of business tycoons. As for Jia Ming and the others, they were here for a very simple purpose, they were just here to have dinner.

Since she was already with Jia Ming and had accepted the fact that he lived with Ling Jing and Sha Sha, Ya Han often gathered with the three of them and played together, after all, she had been good friends with Ling Jing and Sha Sha, and she couldn’t help but feel bad for them. After all, compared to Ya Han, Ling Jing and Sha Sha were younger, and they were about the same age as Jia Ming, even with the self-righteousness of love, she only felt a faint sense of guilt towards the two young girls. But guilt is one thing, love is selfish, she could only maintain the current state, maintaining an ambiguous relationship with Jia Ming, fortunately Jia Ming had a carefree personality. Even if he was cheating, he didn’t make it feel sneaky, on the contrary, it was more like a sense of righteousness. Psychologically, it was still bearable.

The opening of Sacred Heart Academy was always after the Lantern Festival, today was the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the first day of registration at school, Jia Ming, Ling Jing, and Sha Sha moved things out of the Ye family and returned to their rented apartment to clean up, after everything was done, Ya Han saw that they were tired, so she suggested they go to the banquet for dinner.

At these banquets, most people had their own connections and their own small circles, Ya Han didn’t come here often, but many people knew her, so there were inevitable social events, she saw the three of them happily eating the good food they had brought, and couldn’t help but feel resentful, she was still hungry. She took a few steps towards their place, and saw Jia Ming also turn his head with a smile, then he looked to the side with confusion. Ya Han followed his gaze and looked to the side, in the crowd, Ying Zi Feng’s gaze was also looking at her, his brows furrowed, with an unfriendly expression, as if to say she was ungrateful.

It’s normal for a friend to show some indignation when they’ve suffered a setback, but when it comes to matters of the heart, if you don’t like someone, you don’t like them, she had rejected Xu Mo with caution and politeness, what kind of person was this four-eyed frog, was he like glass with Xu Mo… Her brows furrowed, but she felt that the name Ying Zi Feng sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere. She couldn’t remember for a moment, she sat down beside the three of them: “Wow, you guys are so relaxed, I’ve been bothered by people all night…”

“Are people asking you to pull strings again?” Ling Jing laughed and pushed a plate of food she had already prepared in front of Ya Han, hearing the words “pulling strings,” Ya Han felt that Jia Ming’s expression instantly became incredibly lewd, they hadn’t gone that far yet, but after they joked about it last time, Jia Ming always teased her with this kind of topic, she glared with her almond-shaped eyes and smiled as she took the food. She heard Jia Ming laugh: “I think it’s probably someone confessing or something, I saw Teacher Xu just now, anyway, whenever he’s with you, it’s just those topics, oh, that man who’s looking at you like a怨妇 (yuànfù – a woman who is bitter and resentful after a breakup) in the crowd, is it because he didn’t succeed in confessing? I think that resentment is huge…”

“Uh, where? Where?”

Hearing this, Ling Jing and Sha Sha curiously looked for the male怨妇 in the crowd, naturally they couldn’t see Ying Zi Feng anymore, Ya Han shook her head with a smile: “I don’t know, he’s Xu Mo’s friend, maybe he’s not happy with me because I rejected Teacher Xu, he seems to be very unhappy, really… His name is Ying Zi Feng, I don’t know what his background is, I feel like I recognize him, but I can’t think of it…”

“Ying Zi Feng?” Jia Ming stopped eating, “He’s Ying Hai Sheng’s second son, his older brother is called Ying Zi Lan, you should have heard of him…”

“Chao Hai Group, the King of Southeast Asia?” Ya Han widened her eyes for a moment, she finally remembered, Ying Hai Sheng’s Chao Hai Real Estate Group was the king of China’s real estate industry, from Shanghai to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau, Chao Hai Group’s direct or indirect real estate business covered almost 30% of the entire Chinese real estate industry, in China’s current real estate market where prices only go up and don’t go down, the scale of Chao Hai Group was truly huge, reaching an unimaginable level.

Being able to achieve a near-monopoly position like this in China, Ying Hai Sheng had a huge network of connections in the central government, although he was only a People’s Congress representative, his influence was immense, a few years ago his eldest son Ying Zi Lan gradually took over the group’s affairs, Ying Hai Sheng gradually faded out of the business world, but his deterrent power didn’t diminish at all, this kind of giant, among the people Ya Han had met, perhaps only Fang Zhi Tian, who had visited Jiang Hai a year ago, could compare. The Zhang family’s business was far from the real estate industry, so Ya Han couldn’t remember the name Ying Zi Lan for a moment, now that Jia Ming reminded her, she couldn’t help but be startled.

“Oh, isn’t this Jia Ming, the classmate? Are you having a good time… Ya Han…” As she was thinking about Ying Zi Feng, a pleasant voice suddenly came from behind, she turned her head and saw her stepmother, wearing a magnificent evening gown, smiling at her from behind, Jia Ming stood up and called her aunt, followed by Ling Jing and Sha Sha greeting her stepmother. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, her stepmother winked and pulled Ya Han to the side.

“Hey, that Gu Jia Ming classmate is from the Huang family?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“The Huang family is in trouble.” Her stepmother looked at her and said softly, “I was over there talking with your dad, and we heard it when everyone was chatting.”

Ya Han was startled: “What happened?”

“Huang Bing Xiang has fallen, he’s been stuck in the position of provincial party secretary for so many years, recently they’ve been saying that the wind is tight, but no one expected it to happen so quickly, it’s only been a few days after the Lantern Festival, this afternoon, they placed him under double investigation. The woman in the evening gown secretly glanced at Jia Ming, who was happily eating, “Some things everyone understands, once someone at this level is placed under double investigation, they’re basically finished, the Huang family has been in the limelight these past few years, but their actual ability is not enough, it was all because of Huang Bing Xiang’s influence, now that he’s down, everyone will push the wall down… The Huang family is finished too…”

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