Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A memory surfaced in Xue Baoyi’s mind. “You mean the one you brought out from Barley Hill 5 years ago?”
Qiao Nanchu affirmed Xue Baoyi’s question silently.
Xue Baoyi’s playful attitude drained right out of him the moment he got Qiao Nanchu’s response.
That young lady was a tad bit special as she was both deaf and mute. Her biological mother, Qiao Nanchu’s stepmother, was a vicious woman. For the sake of getting herself into the Qiao family, she had willingly abandoned the poor girl even though the amount of care required to raise her was even greater than your average child. The girl was disabled from birth and since Barley Hill was an underdeveloped village, the people there had even attempted to drown the helpless dame for no particular reason. Word had it that it wasn’t their first time exacting such “punishments” upon her.
Qiao Nanchu couldn’t bear to see her suffering, and so, he had brought her to the imperial capital.
Back then, even Xue Baoyi had questioned his intentions. Why did he choose to save the daughter of a lady who was taking advantage of his family?
His answer was simple.
“Perhaps it’s out of my kindness?”
‘Kindness? Yeah right.’
Xue Baoyi searched through his mind for a moment. “Nanchu, tell me the truth. Are you raising a daughter or are you grooming a wife for yourself?”
Their kind of people would never do such charitable acts if there was nothing to be gained out of it. To help a defenseless little girl from some other family for no particular reason, Xue Baoyi seriously doubted that there were no underlying motives.
Qiao Nanchu didn’t even bother defending himself from Xue Baoyi’s accusation. “Stop poking your nose into my personal matters. If you don’t shut your trap, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to make you leave.”
He then looked over to Jiang Zhi who had curled himself into a ball on the sofa.
“You cold?”
“Mhmm.”
How dainty.
Qiao Nanchu walked over to his closet to get him a clean blanket.
“Last week, we dealt with a burglary case. The same type of crime popped up this week,” said Qiao Nanchu. Finally, they entered into a serious conversation.
Jiang Zhi sat up to wrap himself with the blanket that Qiao Nanchu had handed to him. After turning himself into a cozy cocoon, he plopped comfortably back onto the sofa. “Is it connected to her?”
Hearing Jiang Zhi’s unexpected question, Xue Baoyi started eavesdropping on the topic.
Qiao Nanchu placed a document file on the table which contained evidence pictures the police had taken at the scene of the crime. “There were some clues left on site. She even left her cap there.”
Again, an embroidery of the letter “Z” was stitched onto the cap.
It wasn’t the first time Jiang Zhi had seen this exact letter. Back then, the same embroidery was stitched onto the professional runner’s sleeve.
“It’s not her.”
Jiang Zhi’s voice was confident.
Qiao Nanchu smiled. Shooting him a glance, he explained, “You’re right, it’s not her. We’ve been trailing her for so long now and yet, we do not even have a single trace to connect the dots. Considering her level of expertise, how could she possibly leave such a crucial piece of evidence so carelessly?” He tapped his finger on one of the photos. “Either it was stolen, or somebody deliberately planted evidence to be used against her. If that’s true, these people were either aiming to send trouble her way or trying to lure her out.”
“Was there anyone that she pissed off?” Xue Baoyi crossed his arms and wiggled his feet casually. Finally, he was acting like a sensible man.
“Yes. A lot of people, in fact.” Qiao Nanchu effortlessly listed out several people. “People in the same line of work, her ex-clients, and the enemies of her ex-clients to name a few.”
She would not have faced such a problem if she was merely doing average at her job. However, person Z was way too skillful for her own good. Even though she refrained from tasks which involved deliberate infliction of pain unto specified individuals, she still earned the envy of her competitors.
“Brother Zhi,” Xue Baoyi quipped. “Why are you so interested in this runner?”
Jiang Zhi lazily peered up at him. “She knocked the wind out of me. Twice. Of course I gotta find out who she is,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Love is war, huh?”
Jiang Zhi ignored Xue Baoyi’s jab. “About that milk, have you done your research on it?”
“How could I possibly ignore your orders? I’ve asked one of my men to send you an email about it,” Xue Baoyi replied with a triumphant look on his face.
The Second Master was such a genius!
Ah Wan was a bit impressed by Xue Baoyi. Whipping out his phone, he proceeded to check the young master’s inbox in which there was an unread email containing all the information Jiang Zhi was supposedly looking for. Opening the file, Ah Wan handed his phone over to the young master.
It was all written on a single page. Scanning the text line by line, Jiang Zhi’s eyes were glued to the screen.
“Boss!” Ah Wan, who was spying on the screen from behind, yelled out in surprise. “It’s Miss Zhou’s name! And it’s right underneath yours!”
‘This must be God’s work!’ he thought.
As he had said, these two were a match made in heaven. The milk that Miss Zhou had purchased was for his young master. She had ordered 3 boxes in total. For someone who was working 3 separate jobs to make ends meet, to make such an extravagant purchase must’ve meant that she fancied Jiang Zhi enough to be willing to make such a sacrifice…wait a minute.
“She ordered 30-something boxes! Ah Wan was stunned!
Jiang Zhi looked up at Ah Wan, his face devoid of any expression.
Knowing his place, Ah Wan backed off silently. Miss Zhou must’ve blown all her savings to buy this much milk, right?
“I’ve checked all the people on the list. The names you see circled in red are most likely working as runners. Also, I’ve done a background check on Zhou Xufang and it appears that she’s a blank slate. Nothing out of the blue with her. Though, the number of assets she owns was pretty depressing. The place where she currently lives is registered under her name. However, there is still the chance of her hiding something we don’t know of.” Xue Baoyi paused and hesitated to continue, which he did moments later. “She lives alone and is also an orphan.” He felt the need to mention this fact.
Jiang Zhi’s eyes which were initially open as he listened to Xue Baoyi’s report now closed back up.
Xue Baoyi also noticed how differently Jiang Zhi was treating this Zhou Xufang girl as compared to other women. Where the line was drawn, however, was hard to guess, unless Jiang Zhi said it out loud, which was something that would only happen when pigs fly.
Putting this aside for a moment, Qiao Nanchu kicked Xue Baoyi in the leg to get his attention. “Baoyi, need you to go downstairs and receive the delivery I’ve ordered. I have something to talk about with Jiang Zhi in private.”
Xue Baoyi didn’t feel good about being excluded. Even so, he got to his feet, but it was not without complaint. “You guys keep ordering me around like a servant. What are you? My great-grandfathers!?”
Ah Wan was still ruminating about how Miss Zhou was an orphan when he was snapped out of his thoughts by the young master’s call.
“Go help him.”
“Okay.”
Now that both of them were out of the room, Qiao Nanchu started talking. “That medical project has finally been taken. However, JC’s reputation is really on the line, now. Both the Jiang and the Lu families have given the go-ahead signal, so you should expect JC’s details to be published very soon.”
This project was supported by the higher-ups, and many people wanted their share of the pie. Despite this, the pie was swallowed up whole by JC who had swooped in at the last minute for the kill. From now on, no one in the imperial capital’s business community would dare to underestimate this underdog.
Jiang Zhi appeared indifferent upon hearing the news. “You’d be exposed if you don’t cover it up well enough.”
With such an attitude, Qiao Nanchu found it impossible to predict what card Jiang Zhi was playing. “You’ve accumulated sufficient capital now. So, tell me, when are you gonna settle the score with the Jiang family?”
He had been preparing for such an event for so many years now. Perhaps it was already time to carry out his plans.
Jiang Zhi covered his mouth and coughed twice. To Qiao Nanchu’s surprise, he wore the same disinterested look even when talking about this matter. “Depends on my mood.”
Jiang Zhi was, no doubt, a weirdo.
10 years ago, when they were still practically living under the same roof, they had formed what was known as the neighborhood’s “little gang” with him—Xue Baoyi and Xue Bingxue as the founding members. Jiang Zhi, on the other hand, was always nowhere to be seen, let alone being a member of their “little gang”.
After that, when Xue Baoyi had entered his rebellious phase during his 2nd year of junior high, he had started messing with the goons that hung around his school. Even he had forgotten how the events unfolded, but somehow, he had gotten into a fight with a group of youngsters. The three of them were stuck in a deserted alleyway and had suffered quite the beating. One of the more daring youngsters had even pulled out a small dagger which was almost plunged into Xue Baoyi’s belly when Jiang Zhi had stumbled into the alleyway with a baseball bat in hand.
At that time, Jiang Zhi looked to be as weak as a twig, but he had managed to save Xue Baoyi and his gang by joining the fight. In their brief scuttle, he had even cracked some of the youngster’s ribs, however, that was at the cost of him being rendered unconscious for 3 days straight after the fight.
It was then that Xue Baoyi had acknowledged Jiang Zhi as his savior. Since that incident, he had always treated Jiang Zhi as his own little boss.
Qiao Nanchu’s smile disappeared. He was clueless as to what Jiang Zhi was thinking of. “To what extent would your actions reach? Are you planning to teach them a lesson or are you planning to utterly destroy them?”
“Nanchu.”
Jiang Zhi’s eyes remained closed. “Do you think I’m that merciful?”
Qiao Nanchu was at a loss for words.
Jiang Zhi once had a pet cat. He had loved it so much that he specially ordered a house made of gold for it to live in. It wasn’t long before the said cat had died from an unknown cause. What followed was the tragedy that almost took the life of someone in his family.
Even after knowing him for over 20 years, Qiao Nanchu still couldn’t make out to what extent Jiang Zhi’s ruthlessness reached. Though, the words Jiang Zhi uttered when they were burying the dead cat were still fresh in his mind.
“Killing is bad.” The 16-year-old boy had knelt underneath the evergreen tree in their courtyard. He dug out a hole using his bare hands, dirtying it even though he was disgusted by the sight of filth. Carefully, he had placed the cat’s body in the shallow grave. “If you die, you won’t get to experience what true pain feels like.”
Qiao Nanchu felt a chill crawl up his spine as he thought of Jiang Zhi’s expression from back then.
At the convenience store in Yuquan Bay, Wen Baiyang packed up her things before changing shifts with Zhou Xufang.
“Take this back to eat.” Wen Baiyang handed her two very large lunch boxes that were wrapped up in a cloth bag. “I made a lot. Store it in the fridge if you can’t finish them.”
Shredded chicken and braised chicken feet.
Wen Baiyang had promised her last time that she would make some for her.
“Okay.”
Zhou Xufang was not used to smiling. Her mouth curled up into a stiff smile but she truly felt happiness at that moment. She then lifted the crate of milk she had placed onto the ground just now.
“This is for you,” she said. “It’s very tasty.”
Wen Baiyang gestured with her hands which Zhou Xufang recognized as “thank you” in basic sign language.
After that, Wen Baiyang placed the milk on her second-hand bike’s rack before cycling home. Seeing her old, rusty bike, Zhou Xufang took note and planned to buy her a new bike in the future. Although she had initially intended to buy her a sports car, she remembered that due to Wen Baiyang’s disability, she was unfit to drive.
At 1:00 am in the morning, Zhou Xufang had finally reached the end of her shift. With Wen Baiyang’s food in hand, she headed home. The moment she walked through her front door, her computer booted up autonomously on which a Spongebob icon danced around.
“Ah Fang.”
Zhou Xufang placed both lunch boxes into her fridge.
Shuang Jiang used a bold red font to type out her message, meaning it must’ve been something urgent.
“Someone has been committing crimes under your identity.”
Zhou Xufang sat in front of the computer screen. Stacked in front of the computer desk, high enough to reach the ceiling, were crates of milk. More than 30 of them. Gazing at these boxes alone was enough to brighten her mood. A new idea popped into her mind. Perhaps she should construct a wall made of marshmallows on which she would sit and enjoy her favorite treat.
She leaned forward, reaching up to get a can of milk out of its box. “Were the crimes serious?”
“Theft, robbery.”
Zhou Xufang’s brows were knitted. Her expression was now stone-cold. She had never robbed or stolen from anyone. Tearing open two new packs of marshmallows, she emptied them into her glass box before digging in. Then, she yanked off the pull tab of the milk can and crushed it with her bare hands.
Shuang Jiang’s words popped out on her screen at a rapid pace. Line after line of red texts rolled out. “We haven’t received any special tasks recently. The only people we have potentially provoked were Jiang Zhi or Luo Qinghe, although, there is also the possibility that this was done by our competitors. After all, lots of people are looking to follow your footsteps.”
Zhou Xufang placed the lid over her box of marshmallows.
“It’s not Jiang Zhi.”
“Why’s that?”
With great difficulty, she searched through her mind for a plausible explanation. “Cuz he’s good-looking.”
The Spongebob icon laid motionless for 30 seconds before Shuang Jiang’s words reappeared. “Ah Fang, not every good-looking person is a good guy.”
Zhou Xufang had very little exposure to other people, and so, trying to understand people’s feelings was a particularly difficult task. Also, she was clueless about human nature. Even so, she stubbornly insisted that Jiang Zhi was a good guy through and through. She even came up with a half-assed excuse to defend her claim. “He left me a good review.”
“What review?”
“Food delivery.”
Unbeknownst to her, the paragraph-long review was actually typed out by none other than Ah Wan.
“Ah Fang.” The font on her screen had now returned into its usual white color. “We have a new client.”
Zhou Xufang didn’t even bother with asking about the details before rejecting it flatly. “No. I feel like it’s getting kinda unstable these days. We should take a break.”
Shuang Jiang’s response came after a short pause.
“It’s related to Jiang Zhi.”
Reading the familiar words on her screen, she momentarily lost control of her powers and crushed the can of milk in her hands as though it was nothing.