Chapter 12 A New Life (Part Two)
In District Q of City C, one of the central urban areas, it has been the fastest developing district over the decades since the reform and opening-up.
As the seat of the municipal government, District Q has a unique geographical advantage and was once known as the “noble West” in the former division of “the East being poor and the West being rich, the South being wealthy and the North being chaotic.” With the rapid development of the economy, an increasing number of social elites have concentrated in District Q, leading to high-end real estate development and making it one of the districts with the highest housing prices.
As night fell, a luxury SUV slowly drove into a top-tier villa community, stopping in front of the largest standalone villa.
A young man, holding a suit jacket and with a cigarette between his lips, walked nonchalantly through the main hall towards the spiral staircase leading to the second floor.
In the main hall sat a plump man in his sixties, wearing a summer leisure-style pure linen Tang suit, playing with two walnuts in his hands.
“Zhong Jing, have you been at that what-do-you-call-it office these past few days?”
Seeing his son walk past, the elderly man, removing his reading glasses, frowned slightly: “Your elder brother got injured during a mission at the end of last month and is currently in the hospital. Find some time to visit him for me.”
The young man stopped, turned around, and with a strange expression as if he had misheard, replied, “Haha, Dad, you’re not going to see him, so why should I? He’s looked down on me for a long time now, and besides, you haven’t cared about him either, so why the sudden change of heart today?”
The young man rudely scoffed and then went upstairs.
The elderly man picked up the flower tea in front of him, blew on it, and said no more. He looked at the empty main hall of the villa with a somewhat unnatural expression.
“You really are something, Xiao Jing rarely comes home, and you say such disappointing things.”
A beautiful socialite, clearly well-maintained and appearing no older than forty, walked gracefully from a side hall: “The eldest brother has grown up and hardened his wings. After all these years, he doesn’t recognize me as his stepmother, and it’s one thing for him to stay distant from you, his biological father. Why are you worrying?”
The old man and the young wife sat side by side on the sofa, the socialite wearing a cold smile.
“Hey… just indulge him completely, running around every day, and not knowing that people might think the Zhong family is raising a spoiled rich kid.”
Zhong Hai put down the walnuts in his palm, looking displeased.
“Haha, he’s my own son, if I don’t take care of him, who will? Xiao Jing needs to take over your role in the future, and if he doesn’t properly manage his social circle now, is he just going to wait for you to hand him a pile of business cards later? But that illegitimate child… uh…”
Zhong Hai’s expression changed as he slowly turned to look at his wife.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, the socialite quickly fell silent.
…
The office building where the law firm is located is temporarily closed for fire safety checks, so Zhong Jing had no choice but to return home.
Upon returning to his exclusive personal study, he directly closed the electronic lock, and the soft light illuminated this luxurious room over forty square meters in area.
Glass display cabinets surrounded two entire walls, densely packed with numerous anime figurines and models arranged at varying heights. On the opposite wall, various posters of two-dimensional beautiful girls, both large and small, covered the entire space.
At the window side stood a desk even more luxurious than the office, with five or six computers of different sizes set up on it.
He opened one of the computers, taking out a USB drive from his pants pocket, plugged it in, and opened a pre-edited video file, lighting a cigarette.
The video showed Zhong Jing hosting a certain mysterious girl a week ago, capturing various aspects of her behavior from multiple camera angles. For the past few days, Zhong Jing would watch it whenever he had some free time.
“She has a great figure, but many of her movements and manners are quite different from other girls… Is she too nervous or is it just how she is…?”
As he watched, a smile crept onto Zhong Jing’s face, and his eyes even flashed with a hint of astonishment.
There were still more secret analysis results yet to be revealed, but Zhong Jing had a feeling he had encountered a very valuable new breed of bloodline this time.
Disregarding the flashing social media notifications on his computer screen, Zhong Jing closed the video, opened a news webpage, and began to input key terms for search.
Three days prior, Tian Tang Agricultural Trade, a large wholesale business headquartered in City D with operations throughout Province S, was being investigated by relevant departments for long-term deductions from upstream farmers’ payments and serious tax issues. The company’s legal representative has already been confirmed missing.
Ten days ago, a large factory site in City D caught fire, leading to an explosion of hazardous materials, and major safety inspections are currently underway, with relevant personnel undergoing subsequent investigations.
“City D? Tang Family? A family that hasn’t stirred up any trouble in decades suddenly runs into a hidden danger? What on earth are they doing…?”
“The time your elder brother was injured was about the same period… Is it just another coincidence that he’s truly just an ordinary officer?”
Zhong Jing sifted through countless online news articles, picking up traces and falling into contemplation.
…
…
Late at night, in a rental apartment.
Jiang Yan was not in good condition; she fell into a deep sleep shortly after dinner, while Jiang Yao was busy packing various clothes for washing.
While sorting through Jiang Yan’s pants, she found that mobile phone she had been told not to touch. Her eyes gradually brightened.
“Hehe, after hiding for so many days, feeling like I’ve lost the entire world. If I don’t go online soon, they might forget me!”
Stuffing clothing haphazardly into the bathroom washing machine, Jiang Yao returned to the living room, deftly opened the app store, and downloaded the mobile game she had been playing previously.
As the clock struck past 1 a.m., Jiang Yao was thoroughly absorbed in the game.
In the bedroom, Jiang Yan, dressed in pajamas, groggily woke up, feeling extremely parched. She struggled to get up, fumbling her way downstairs to the living room, planning to grab a drink.
In front of her was a girl with long, light golden hair, curled up with her legs tucked, feet resting on the edge of the sofa, leaning back against the couch, completely absorbed in her phone.
Jiang Yan felt her blood boil, a surge of unnamed anger rising from her chest straight to her head, as if she had entered a state of boiling blood.
“Ah! Brother!”
Amid Jiang Yao’s surprised exclamations, Jiang Yan snatched the now-hot phone from her hands, quickly closed the game application, and then turned it off.
“Do you want to die!?”
Jiang Yan lowered her voice, trembling with anger, and even slapped Jiang Yao across the face, leaving her dazed.
“I’ve told you so many times! The entire network is under real-name registration! The moment your old identity login entered the internet, the central analysis system of the hidden danger intelligence department received it! You idiot, you’re already twenty years old!”
Jiang Yan’s face was pale, and she rarely used vulgar language, holding back her discomfort as she directly walked towards the corner of the living room, pulling out a suitcase, and tremblingly turned around: “What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and pack! We need to move now!”
Jiang Yao, with red marks on her face, bit her lip and remained silent, her head slightly bowed.
“That was just an old online friend who stopped playing and gave me their account, it’s not mine…”
With tears welling in her eyes, Jiang Yao raised her elbow to wipe her face and turned back into the bedroom.
I misjudged Xiao Yao… The half-open suitcase slowly closed again, Jiang Yan stood up slowly, looking down at her palm.
At the bedroom door, in the dim light, Jiang Yao sat on the bed in a daze, occasionally wiping her face with her elbow.
“Xiao Yao… I’m sorry.”
Sitting beside Jiang Yao, Jiang Yan didn’t know what to say, her hand raised but hesitating to rest on her shoulder.
