The Reason

That night, he slept on the sofa until after four in the morning. Once he got up, he opened the door and went downstairs.

There was a fairly large market beside the residential complex. Though it was only a little past four, vegetable vendors and butchers from the countryside had already arrived to prepare for business. The lights were also on in a pastry shop by the road. Jiaming knocked on the door and said that a cousin who had lived abroad for years had come to stay, but her body clock had not adjusted yet and she was making a fuss about being hungry in the middle of the night. He then bought two large bags of bread, ham, condensed milk, butter, and other things before carrying them home.

After closing the door, he heard movement from the master bedroom. Jiaming knew the blonde woman named Marilyn was awake as well. He set down the two bags of food and poured a cup of hot water. Just as the bedroom door opened, he handed the cup over.

"Th-thank you... cough... cough cough..."

"You're still coughing badly. Your fever doesn't seem to have gone down much either. You should sleep a little longer."

"I... cough... can't sleep. Heidi..." As she spoke, Marilyn spotted the little girl sleeping soundly in the other room. After a moment, she sat down holding the cup. "Thank you."

"It's what Young Pioneers are supposed to do." Jiaming smiled as he sized up the mature blonde woman before him from the sofa. There were not many of his father's clothes in that room; what she had found in the wardrobe were probably clothes his mother had worn before. His mother had been petite, so the shirt on this woman looked ready to split apart across her full breasts, while the trousers had practically become the low-rise style that would become fashionable in later years. It was quite a pleasant sight. But he merely said, "So... why not go to the hospital?"

"The hospital... they'll find us there..."

"They?" Jiaming frowned. "As far as I know, neither the Salieri Family nor the Gambino Family has influence extending this far, right?"

The Peiluojia Jiaming had once belonged to had its headquarters in Japan, but it was a global assassin organization. Its roots ran deeper than those of ordinary gangs, and it could even come into contact with the rather rare Ability Users and Evolved Ones in this world. Back then, Jiaming had been an assassin in the Asian branch, but he had still had some dealings with the Mafia and the like. Such criminal organizations were family-based and followed an elite model. At present, there were more than twenty well-known Mafia families entrenched in New York. Salieri was one of them, and so was Gambino.

From what little he remembered, the Salieri Family and the Gambino Family had fought fiercely over the years. Although Salieri had been at a disadvantage, the family had not yet reached the end of the road by the time Jiaming encountered Fire Phoenix. Even taking a step back, even if Salieri had been wiped out, Gambino's power would have had a hard time reaching China to carry out a manhunt. In China, Hong Kong was controlled by the Triads, while the mainland had always been tightly regulated. Mafia members might be able to come over and stir up some trouble, but there was no way they could control the hospitals, embassies, or even the communications system.

"Yes..." Marilyn hesitated for a long while before gritting her teeth. "It's Heidi's father. His name is... Tang Jingyao..."

That truly startled Jiaming. Tang Jingyao was the deputy secretary of Jianghai City's municipal party committee, a prominent figure in Jianghai City's political circles over the past year. He had studied abroad, polished his credentials, and was said to be capable and hardworking. Before the New Year, he had even visited Huang Bingxiang, the provincial party secretary, at the Huang Family home. However, he had brought his wife along on that visit...

Only after Marilyn explained did Jiaming understand the whole story. More than ten years ago, Tang Jingyao had gone to the United States to study with state funding. It was during that time that he met Marilyn, who could be considered a young heiress. They fell in love at first sight, and Heidi was born soon after.

Americans ultimately viewed love differently from Chinese people. Back then, Tang Jingyao had been determined to return home and build a career. Meanwhile, Marilyn's father, as the head of the Salieri Family, disliked Tang Jingyao from the start and had no desire to see his daughter follow him back to that "barbaric and ignorant" China to suffer. Amid all those tangled reasons, Tang Jingyao eventually abandoned his wife and daughter and returned to China. It was not until the beginning of this year that he seemed to finally remember the two relatives he had left in the United States and sent people to bring them over. By then, the Salieri and Gambino Families were practically at open war, and Marilyn's father had been forced to compromise for Marilyn's safety.

However, it was only after arriving in China that Marilyn sensed something was wrong. Though she was not a good shot and was not skilled in combat, she had still grown up in a Mafia family. Tang Jingyao had always kept the two of them in a secluded villa. Although he visited often, he would deliberately or casually probe Marilyn for information about the Salieri Family's internal affairs. What he had not expected was that during the ten years since he left the United States, Marilyn had missed her lover so deeply that she had long stopped involving herself in most family matters. Naturally, she could not provide any valuable leads. After investigating in return, Marilyn had roughly learned that Tang Jingyao had built considerable influence in Jianghai City, had ties to the Gambino Family, and had another wife. Before she could confront him, Tang Jingyao had already hired Peiluojia assassins to dispose of her, a useless pawn. That was how the events of that night had happened.

Hearing this, Jiaming more or less understood everything. However, since there were no wanted notices or anything of the sort outside, it meant Tang Jingyao did not entirely trust the police. Although he could probably assign some charge at will and mobilize the police to help, he also feared that someone within the police force might follow the trail and uncover his weaknesses. If he could not control the government's power, then the force he had established on the surface should be a gang. The only question was...

"Why didn't you call home? No matter how powerful Tang Jingyao is, he can't possibly tap every international call. If you had called back then, I think they would have come to get you long ago... Come to think of it, no wonder customs suddenly started cracking down so hard, openly and behind the scenes, some time ago. So that was his order..." Though he was only a student, he knew quite a lot about affairs within Jianghai City. It was an occupational habit.

"I... cough... cough cough..."

Seeing Marilyn's hesitant expression, Jiaming understood after a moment. Since Marilyn's father had disapproved of their relationship back then, he might not approve of it now either. Though he had been forced by the situation to agree that it would be good for Marilyn to hide in China for a while, there had likely still been arguments between them. Marilyn had probably already broken with her family when she left. Now that she understood Tang Jingyao's influence, she was even more unwilling to let her family risk coming over. It was a kind of pride that had nearly gotten both mother and daughter killed.

Jiaming cursed inwardly and rolled his eyes. "Stop coughing. I get it. No matter what, give me a number. I need one that can reach your father directly."

"Ah..."

"What do you mean, 'ah'? If I hadn't saved you, you and your daughter would both be dead by now. One of you would have been raped, the other starved to death. And now, you want to drag me in too. Do you think I'm a god? You can ignore yourself, and you can neglect your daughter, but my life is precious. No matter what, I want to stay alive safely. Stop talking nonsense. There's paper and a pen. Write it down for me."

"I..." Marilyn looked conflicted. She looked at the paper and pen before her, then at Heidi sleeping soundly in the room. After a long while, she finally made up her mind and wrote down a number. "Cough, my father's name is..."

"Tom Ford Salieri. People usually call him Old Tom. I know a little about him," Jiaming said, taking the paper from her. A moment later, he set the paper on fire with a lighter and even crushed the ashes beneath his foot. When he looked up, the mature blonde woman was coughing softly, but there was an incredulous smile in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Chinese children are really amazing... Do you really have the legendary Chinese kung fu too?"

Jiaming covered his forehead helplessly. "More than just Chinese kung fu. We all ride horse-drawn carriages down the streets, and the place you're staying in is actually a thatched hut. It's just that you're sick, so maybe you're hallucinating..."

"Hehe, cough, sorry." The mature blonde woman could not help laughing, then asked, "May I know your name?"

"There's no need for that. Your condition hasn't improved at all. You only told me so much because you feel better. If you develop complications, I'll definitely have to send you to the hospital. If you get caught then, what if you tell them about me? Besides, Young Pioneers never leave their names when they do good deeds..." He thought he had made a joke, but unfortunately she did not understand it. After a moment, he said awkwardly, "It's getting late. I should go. You and Heidi stay here and don't go out. There's bread here, so make do with it for breakfast. I'll buy groceries and come back at noon. I'll check on you and give you an injection. I'm leaving. Tell Heidi good morning for me."

He waved, pushed open the door, and walked out. Marilyn asked, "You... where are you going?"

Jiaming sighed. "Chinese Young Pioneers have to go to school. Don't they have Young Pioneers in the United States?"

That was obviously a question he already knew the answer to. After she shook her head, Jiaming put on an expression of heartfelt anguish.

"No Young Pioneers at all. What a barbaric, backward country..."

By the time he left, the sky had already brightened. Jiaming ran all the way toward the Huang Family villa. As he neared the back gate, he spotted Lingjing about to enter. He hurried forward, covered her eyes from behind with both hands, and said in a rough voice, "Guess who I am. If you guess wrong, I'll prick you with my beard."

"Jiaming, you bad boy. You're always copying my dad's voice. I'm going to hit you."

The little beauty pried Jiaming's hands away. Her rosy cheeks carried an adorably reproachful expression. "Why did you come from behind today?"

"Hehe, I got up early today. I saw you running this way, so I went around from the front gate to scare you."

"You're full of bad ideas." Lingjing punched Jiaming lightly in the chest, then said, "Come on. Shasha is definitely waiting for us by the lawn."

The two children chased and tussled as they ran toward their secret spot, which was more like a date than morning exercise. The sun slowly rose from the eastern mountains, and amid the crimson clouds filling the sky, a new day began.