Chapter 84: Bird in the Cage
October 26, Saturday, night.
Zhong Jing spent a whole day in his office, engaging in his usual busy work, overseeing the business direction and capital allocation for the various secret enterprises owned by Wan Yue.
It wasn’t until his stomach gave a slight growl that he closed the last video conference, only to see the time in the bottom right corner read eleven o’clock at night.
As he was hastily recording the final data in the computer files, he picked up the phone intending to order takeout for a makeshift meal.
A slight sound came from behind him, causing Zhong Jing’s heart to skip a beat. He turned around abruptly to find He Jian Qingya standing behind him, quietly watching him with a smile, holding a thermal bag in her hand.
Zhong Jing glanced at the contents on the computer screen, his brows slowly knitting together, his expression darkening.
A surge of fear, mixed with anger and despair, swept through him like a locomotive, quickly followed by intense helplessness and regret flooding his mind.
Zhong Jing forced a smile, sighed softly, stood up, adjusted his shirt and tie, then opened the drawer. With a side step and a flick of his hand, a handgun was suddenly pressed against He Jian Qingya’s forehead.
“Alright, you win… Don’t you think after seeing my stuff, both you and I can walk out of this room safely? One of us has to die.”
Zhong Jing’s expression was horrifyingly cold for the first time; the flamboyant and reckless demeanor he usually wore had vanished without a trace.
The young man’s voice was unusually hoarse, like a desperate outlaw forced into a corner: “What, do you think I’m overestimating myself? Then let this ant witness the power of a baron from the Fujiwara bloodline.”
In the room, only the dull whir of the computer case filled the air, along with the piercing, fluctuating screams from the gaps in the poorly closed window.
“Jing-kun, it’s Saturday. I saw you didn’t go home all day, so I asked for the address here from Uncle and brought you dinner.”
Ignoring the gun pointed at her, He Jian Qingya gently placed the thermal bag on the desk after a few seconds, her expression calm, voice soft.
“If I wanted to do anything harmful to you, I wouldn’t need to show up. I’ve said it before, you are my future husband, and I will always put you first.”
“He Jian Qingya, stop putting on an act. Just kill me already, heh… You old drama queen.”
Zhong Jing tossed the handgun aside, expressionless as he sat back down in front of the computer, irritated as he fumbled with the lighter several times without getting the cigarette to light. In a fit of anger, he threw the lighter at He Jian Qingya.
Zhong Jing knew what kind of monster he was facing; with his ordinary physique, no matter how quick his reactions, he could never be a match for He Jian Qingya.
“Look at you, in such a hysterical state… You probably already know my true identity. But what good would it do for me to kill my future husband?”
He Jian Qingya smiled as she took out a plastic food container from the thermal bag. Soon, a table of steaming hot dishes was laid out before Zhong Jing, seemingly unconcerned with his current emotional state.
“Heh, what a ghost to see… What is your identity? Maybe I should be calling you Miss Fujiwara. You say you’re over seventy years old, pretending to be young all day. Don’t you find that ridiculous?”
Zhong Jing impatiently took out a new lighter from the drawer to light his cigarette, noticing a flash of embarrassment and anger on He Jian Qingya’s beautiful face. Driven by a sense of revenge, he loathed her even more.
“Jing-kun, I’m just learning how to interact with ordinary people, how to get along with you. If you like a certain anime female character, feel free to tell me, I can learn. Actually, over the past ten years, I’ve been learning how to please men, but I fear I might not fit your type…”
He Jian Qingya lowered her head, and a second later, she switched to an elegant and polite smile, as if she had long been mentally prepared to endure any emotions from Zhong Jing.
“Ugh, brokers, hidden dangers, and me, the Zhong family is already strange enough; I didn’t expect the Fujiwara family from Japan to join in. We could play a round of mahjong.”
Zhong Jing knew that everything displayed on his computer screen had just been seen by He Jian Qingya; there was no longer anything left to cover between them. He, feeling reckless, decided to lay everything bare.
“The Fujiwara family, huh? Heh, from the age of three, I’ve been locked away in a mountain castle in Japan with all the family sisters, fed various drugs and blood like livestock, trained, put to sleep, even killing each other…”
“Some sisters were lucky, promoted to knights and sent out of the mountains, changing their surnames to become someone else’s adopted daughter, then marrying into the outside world. They could see so many interesting sights…”
He Jian Qingya sat down on a small stool, wearing a strange smile as she leisurely recounted memories.
“Knights? Those with poor qualifications had to wait twenty or thirty years… Occasionally, a newspaper or a comic book came in, and the sisters would fight to the death over them, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone got killed… The more qualified ones were even more pitiful; they would be heavily trained, meaning they were locked up in the mountains for even longer…”
Zhong Jing stood up, turning his head to interrupt He Jian Qingya’s reminiscence: “Don’t tell me those touching and twisted stories; that’s your Japanese melodrama!”
“Heh, Jing-kun, if I really wanted to do something, all I need is a word, and it wouldn’t just be you—every detail of Hyacinth could be revealed. The Fujiwara family is also a distinguished marquis family in Japan, not as good as the royal family in Huaguo, but not far off either.”
Seeing Zhong Jing’s expression worsening, He Jian Qingya chose to stop talking. After several seconds, she let out a soft sigh, stood up, and held out a bowl of warm soup:
“Jing-kun, this is chicken soup that I brewed with Auntie.”
“Jing-kun, don’t think of me as a ferocious beast; I just want to see if I can have the life I desire.”
He Jian Qingya stepped in front of Zhong Jing, her smile unwavering, holding the soup bowl steadily, not letting any surface ripple show. She wanted to experience my sister’s life, no matter how fake.
Zhong Jing quietly looked at her face, which betrayed no genuine emotions. He grabbed the soup bowl and drank it all in one go, then sat down to smoke, no longer looking at her face.
“You picked the wrong person; I can’t become the kind of life partner you yearn for. What you’re seeing might be a shoujo manga, while I’m looking at a harem manga. Understand?”
“At least I can experience freedom here from Jing-kun. If I can’t marry Jing-kun, I don’t know where the family will send me next. I don’t believe my luck will be better than now.”
He Jian Qingya’s hands trembled slightly as she raised the empty soup bowl before Zhong Jing, examining the vacant bottom of the bowl with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Suddenly, He Jian Qingya stepped back two paces, holding the hem of her dress, slowly kneeling down, hands clasped in front of her, forehead against the ground, trembling all over.
“Jing-kun, this is my only chance to leave the cage. I won’t give up.”
There are a group of women who have gone mad from being locked in cages. You Japanese certainly know how to play, turning your own into perverts without knowing for what purpose.
Zhong Jing discarded the cigarette butt, avoiding her pitiable posture, and coldly sneered: “So today I consider this a clear conversation with you. You can stay in my house, but for everything else, don’t interfere, don’t touch, don’t look. And your subordinates, don’t keep lurking on my roof, or just kill me if you want.”
“As for what you want, if one day I really inherit the family business, I’ll give you a share in the He Jian Consortium. Understood?”
After saying this, Zhong Jing deeply exhaled, a self-deprecating smile on his face.
“Jing-kun, you don’t need to be nervous. This is Huaguo; the Fujiwara family is here to cooperate, not to seek war.”
“If you go out normally, can you take me with you? That way, the family will be reassured about me being here. Everything I saw today will be kept confidential, and I won’t tell anyone.”
He Jian Qingya seemed unfazed by Zhong Jing’s attitude towards her, just nodding gently, still speaking softly.
“Wow, you haven’t even gotten married, yet you’re already bending over backward. How much love did you lack when you were little?”
Zhong Jing couldn’t help but scoff internally.
After finishing the dinner that was either made by his mom or He Jian Qingya, Zhong Jing stopped saying anything. But to be honest, the taste was quite good.
Until after one o’clock in the morning, Zhong Jing still didn’t pay any attention to He Jian Qingya, nor did he try to hide anything anymore. He was solely focused on his work.
At times he would light a cigarette and ponder, at times he was banging on the keyboard in the document, occasionally pulling open the drawer to take out a stack of files to flip through.
To Zhong Jing, He Jian Qingya seemed to have become air by now, but the Japanese girl showed no complaints, sitting quietly beside him like she was accompanying the man she loved most, quietly observing his every move.
Having felt the warning of physical fatigue, Zhong Jing finally shut down the computer, stretched his back, then lifted his hand to check his watch, before lighting the last cigarette from the pack.
At that moment, he turned his head, wearing a strange expression, looking at He Jian Qingya, who had remained quiet for several hours and was still dignified and elegant.
Probably understanding Zhong Jing’s thoughts, He Jian Qingya stood up and walked over to the coat rack, taking down Zhong Jing’s suit jacket and tie.
“Miss He Jian, do you understand Huaguo culture, understand Huaguo men, and understand me?”
Zhong Jing deflected her hand as she attempted to tie his tie, stuffing the tie randomly into his pocket: “If you haven’t made some mental preparations, I don’t think you’ll have a good experience.”
“After leaving the mountain castle, I became a foster daughter of the He Jian family and studied for ten years.”
He Jian Qingya walked around Zhong Jing, starting to tidy up the clutter on the computer desk, her tone calm: “I have dabbled in all knowledge of Huaguo. This includes the personalities of Uncle and Auntie, and the situation of the Zhong family’s friends and relatives. However, Jing-kun was still young back then, so I didn’t know your character.”
“Heh, I lack much respect beyond mere novelty and stimulation when it comes to women. Besides, I’ve been caught between the world of ordinary people and vampires for so many years. It’s possible that my subconscious is a bit dark and twisted.”
Zhong Jing smiled as he put on his suit jacket, restoring his playful and carefree demeanor, with a hint of provocation in his tone: “What if I become a misogynist and start domestic violence, slapping you? Can you, a blood noble baron from the Fujiwara family, endure that?”
He Jian Qingya was taken aback, slowly lowering her head without saying a word. You couldn’t see her expression, but her little hands were about to crush the handle of the thermal bag.
“I can’t take jokes; it’s boring… Let’s go home, otherwise, my mom will think I took you to a hotel, and tomorrow she might start discussing names for her grandchild.”
Seeing that she actually held back her responses to his provocations, Zhong Jing lost interest and shed his scumbag demeanor, shrugging as he walked towards the door. He Jian Qingya quietly followed behind like a submissive little wife.
………
“Ah!”
Jiang Yao woke up from a nightmare, her whole body drenched in sweat and the area where she was injured throbbing painfully.
She had dreamed of being torn apart, sent onto a cold conveyor belt, mixed and smashed, ultimately turned into medicine and cosmetics.
Grabbing her phone from the bedside, she anxiously opened her social media only to find that the outlaw hadn’t sent her a single message today, which made her even more frustrated.
“What’s wrong!? Thirst for blood?”
The bedroom door opened, the lights turned on, and Jiang Yan walked in with a serious expression, holding a glass of water in her right hand and a small golden pill in her left.
Jiang Yan had also been awakened by the pheromone fluctuations caused by Jiang Yao’s previous outburst, or rather, this somewhat violent and anxious aura was like a bomb in this small home.
“Sis, I had a dream where I died…”
Jiang Yao swallowed the golden pill, drinking the cool boiled water, still showing signs of lingering fear on her face.
“Even a dream can cause your pheromones to spiral out of control… Wait, you… you’ve reached the higher knight level?”
Jiang Yan sat down beside the bed, casually placing a hand on Jiang Yao’s shoulder. At this closer distance, she suddenly sensed some changes in her aura, astonished and delighted.
“Sis, you seem to have become a mid-level knight too?”
Jiang Yao blinked in surprise, looking at Jiang Yan’s face for a while before revealing a hint of suspicion: “Sis, are our growth rates a bit excessive?”
“Yeah, so our weak point is the control of internal and external hormones and stabilizing boiling blood. Wan Jie has been helping us think of solutions.”
Jiang Yan closed her eyes briefly, sensing the changes in her own aura before finally shaking her head helplessly: “On the surface, we are Siberian bloods, we are primarily focused on the control of pheromones before becoming barons, but internally we have innate shortcomings regarding hormonal control, and boiling blood problems are troublesome.”
“Sis, don’t vampires have universal martial arts like in martial arts novels?”
Jiang Yao began to sense her control as if she understood but was immediately thrown into chaos by the pheromones, barely avoiding her boiling blood, quickly taking deep breaths.
“Wan Jie is a half-step viscount, and even if she has her own set of insights now, we won’t be able to appreciate it since we haven’t reached that level yet. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many people stuck. What she can teach us are just control methods under specific situations, which won’t solve our growth problems.”
“Everyone’s characteristics are different; these exercises should be through gradual improvement, don’t rush to achieve results… Alright, we have work during the day, so sleep quickly.”
As she said this, Jiang Yan patted Jiang Yao’s shoulder and prepared to get up and leave.
“I can’t sleep after waking up. Sis, why don’t I teach you how to play mobile games?”
Jiang Yao quickly grabbed Jiang Yan’s arm while trying to search for her phone on the pillow with her gaze.
“Playing games will excite your central nervous system even more. You really want to drag me down too? Just lie down.”
Saying that, Jiang Yan habitually stroked Jiang Yao’s hair, gently pressing down on her head, as if comforting her like when they were little.
As if a physical response mechanism had been triggered, shortly after just a few seconds, Jiang Yao’s soft snoring began to emerge. Jiang Yan quietly left the room after turning off the light.
The room fell dark again, and at some point, a glimmer of light from a phone screen spread out quietly at the bedside.
Jiang Yao held her phone, dazedly looking at the chat records on social media with someone, continuously scrolling back through all the messages she had sent.
Finding some satisfactory messages made her smile, while others left her frowning or bewildered, as if she were reassessing herself.
