Chapter 10: A New Identity (Part Two)
“Don’t move!”
The black-haired girl dropped her travel bag to the ground, and her right hand, which was behind her, instantly pointed forward, revealing a handgun. Her left hand quickly shielded her right hand that held the gun, her expression fierce.
“Hehe, just a realistic toy, isn’t it convincing?”
The young man held the gun upward and with a crisp sound, a water bullet hit the ceiling.
Lighting a cigarette, he sat back in the chair, propped up one leg, and looked at Xia Yan’s body curve with interest and a hint of mischief.
Xia Yan stared intently, her hand holding the gun slowly lowered, her expression gradually relaxing: “Your earlier movement was very dangerous. Aren’t you afraid I would just shoot?”
“Those who introduce people to me, oh, no, vampires, aren’t they all afraid of death and in a desperate situation? It’s quite normal to hesitate when faced with the only way out, isn’t it?”
The young man carelessly puffed out smoke rings.
Xia Yan smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor denying.
“Mr. Zhong, I need your help.”
After a moment, Xia Yan put away her gun, took a small step back, and gently bowed to him. Then she fished out the business card Huang Gu had given her from her jeans pocket.
“Huang Gu is in City D, how do you know him? I still don’t know the young lady’s surname.”
The young man threw the cigarette he had just taken two puffs of into the ashtray, grinning slyly.
“That’s not important, is it?” Xia Yan pulled over a chair and sat opposite Zhong Jing, “I and my… my sister need new identities.”
“Well, Huang Gu has already given me a heads up. Since the other person isn’t here, you can fill it out together.”
As he spoke, Zhong Jing pulled out two forms from a drawer and booted up a new computer.
Seeing the seemingly official application forms in front of her, Xia Yan was taken aback.
“Our company is a formal high-end service organization, professional and trustworthy, and we guarantee client confidentiality,” Zhong Jing said with a grin, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
A high-end company run by one person… Xia Yan grinned, no longer saying anything as she picked up a pen and began to fill out the information slowly.
Deliberately using block letters to write, each stroke was neat, but she wrote slowly. Meanwhile, she subtly activated the minimum state of boiling blood using the rough control techniques Huang Gu had imparted.
A sensory perception akin to smell seemed to magnify hundreds of times at that moment, various particles in the air began to categorize themselves in her mind, gradually becoming clear.
Is he just an ordinary person?
Xia Yan paused in her writing and slowly looked up, a hint of surprise in her gaze as she noticed the young man’s back, who was busy fiddling with something in a small fridge behind the desk.
“Have some water… Oh? Still using the most generic block font, you’re very cautious…”
The young man turned around, pushing a cup of light red liquid across the table, his eyes landing on the form Xia Yan was filling out.
Looking at the light red liquid in front of her, Xia Yan frowned slightly; she recognized the most familiar smell from the past few days.
“Do you think our company is very considerate? I added a few drops, it’s still O-type blood, hopefully to your taste.”
Zhong Jing sat back in the computer chair, still grinning at the black-haired girl.
Xia Yan withdrew her gaze and continued to fill out the form, muttering to herself, “No, thank you, I only drink plain water.”
Hehe, a blood servant still fresh from the infection, a bit hard-nosed, quite an interesting person… Zhong Jing stopped talking, lit another cigarette, and quietly awaited her to finish filling out the forms.
…
After about ten minutes, Xia Yan raised her head and pushed the two forms forward.
“Jiang Yan, twenty years old, Jiang Yao, eighteen… Oh, you’re already twenty? Forget it, I won’t ask a girl’s age… Hmm, identity address to choose City Y… wait a moment, I’ll check with my contacts.”
With business at hand, Zhong Jing put away his playful expression, his hands flying over the keyboard with astonishing speed, the sound of the keys sharp and powerful.
After sitting idle for half an hour, Zhong Jing finally turned off the computer and picked up the forms again: “There are over 160 people named Jiang Yan in the entire S Province, even more named Jiang Yao—over 300, hey, and a few of them are male!”
As he spoke, Zhong Jing jotted down a few notes on the forms and made amendments with elaborate strokes: “I recommend a new identity in one of the districts under City C, mainly because of your accent; it’s somewhat different from that of City Y. Besides, once you become a bloodkin, your fingerprints will also change, but I still suggest minimizing contact with any network terminal devices requiring fingerprint verification.”
The young man clearly paid equal attention to detail, but Xia Yan seemed distracted.
“Brother, I don’t want to change my name… I… I don’t want to forget the past like Huang Gu did…”
The memory of Gu Yao’s almost pleading tone before she left flashed through her mind, and Xia Yan gently closed her eyes.
The surname Jiang is tied to the old headmaster’s family name from the orphanage, after all, it’s not a symbol completely severed from her past life.
“Um… Miss Jiang?”
Hearing the young man’s slightly puzzled words, Xia Yan quickly regained her composure and replied calmly, “Sorry… Thank you, Mr. Zhong. What about the ID photo?”
Seemingly already anticipating this need, Zhong Jing took out a mobile phone from the drawer and handed it to Xia Yan: “This phone is very secure. The real-name information of the number holder is from another region; the email is already set up. You can take photos and send them to me later, I will handle the follow-up. It will take a few days for the new ID, and I will contact you through this phone, so remember to send me the delivery address once you find a place to stay.”
“So soon?” Xia Yan was taken aback.
Zhong Jing shrugged, wearing a smug expression: “Efficiency is also one of my principles! Isn’t it similar to buying a fast train ticket during the Spring Festival, where you can also find various paid express services?”
As he spoke, his eyes glanced at the travel bag Xia Yan had thrown onto the sofa, revealing a hint of mischief: “A service fee of 800,000.”
“…”
Xia Yan’s expression changed several times as she awkwardly avoided his gaze for the first time.
Lowering her head slightly, her voice becoming much quieter: “I’m sorry, I don’t have that much cash. This card, Mr. Zhong, you can withdraw from it safely; consider it a fee, it has one million in it, and I’ll write the password for you…”
“Oh? Huang Gu didn’t mention the fee to you?”
Slowly picking up the bank card from the table, Zhong Jing’s smile was deep with meaning: “One million? Miss Jiang must have been quite capable before. Hmm, very smart and aware of security… I trust you, though. The money in the card, I will have someone withdraw in Hong Kong. But I must charge an additional 100,000 for running errands, making a total of 900,000; the remaining 100,000 I can give you right now.”
He opened the drawer, rummaged through it for a while, and placed ten neatly bundled stacks of hundred-yuan notes on the table.
“Mr. Zhong, you trust my words this much? Aren’t you afraid there’s no money in that card?”
Xia Yan pulled over her travel bag and placed the money inside, turning back before leaving with a slight smile.
“There are seventeen pinhole cameras here, and a voice recorder; all data is transmitted in real-time to a specific server. A newly turned blood servant cannot afford to act clever here.”
Zhong Jing smiled as he lit a cigarette, looking relaxed: “Thank you for visiting our establishment again, Miss Jiang, and have a safe journey.”
Nodding silently, Xia Yan left the room without turning back.
As the door closed gently, Zhong Jing’s smile gradually faded as he returned to the computer chair, pulling out his phone.
“Huang Gu, the person you introduced is really interesting; she actually paid, haha… No, don’t expose it, it’s quite fun…”
“Um, she’s very cautious and calm, completely unlike a newly turned bloodkin. I think she would look even better with a change in appearance!”
Perhaps having fallen habitually off-topic, the call dropped suddenly. Zhong Jing grinned, tossed the phone aside, opened the computer, and logged into a certain two-dimensional culture game.
Watching the diverse postures of animated girls, Zhong Jing’s eyes sparkled, looking somewhat comical.
