Putting on an Act

After seeing Marilyn and Heidi off, life returned to its previous course.

He went through each day step by step, still enjoying his life with the two girls on weekends while secretly training this body without pause.

During the battle at the abandoned cement factory, Jiaming had already discovered that, in terms of agility, this body was even better than his former self at his peak. That was because he had accumulated training experience in his previous life and understood where his strengths lay and how to bring them out. As a result, this body's training had basically taken no detours. It maintained the best possible foundation. If things continued like this, then in a few more years, he would be confident facing any dangerous challenge, even Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Japanese man known within Peiluojia as the King of Killers and once his partner.

He had to admit that, when it came to assassins, there were far more outstanding ones among the Japanese. Gods Without Thought, Ten'u Masanori, Tatemaru Michiaki, Oomori Yoshi... Just these few names from his memories were enough that he could not guarantee victory against any one of them. Of course, he had no intention of getting involved in Peiluojia's affairs now. After Blue died so pathetically, Peiluojia should have sent top-class assassins to investigate, but they would most likely return empty-handed, because that incident could be considered a pure car accident.

According to Peiluojia's rules, failing once was a mistake, but failing twice was unforgivable. That meant they would not trouble Marilyn and her daughter again. Marilyn should also understand the importance of her identity. As long as this batch of assassins could not uncover the truth for the time being and were led in another direction, things would become very interesting.

The middle-aged dwarf assassin he had disguised himself as really did exist. He was a pervert with supernatural abilities. In his original life, many years later, when his body had reached its peak and he had become partners with Minamoto no Yoritomo, they found that man. After a fierce battle, although they killed the dwarf, Jiaming himself had nearly died. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the King of Killers, had died covering for him. It was one thing if Peiluojia could not find that man now, but if they really did find him, the consequences were obvious.

There were two people in Peiluojia he still had some thoughts about. One of them was Minamoto no Yoritomo. Although that man was cold and Japanese, he had treated Jiaming very well during the time they had worked together. His later death had really been the result of a tragic chain of coincidences. Now that Jiaming knew the whole story, he could naturally prevent it from happening. But... given the situation, he no longer had a Killer's Heart, nor did he have any relationship with the man. If he said he wanted to help, the most likely outcome would probably be getting killed by him on the spot.

As for the other, it was the militarist pervert called Gods Without Thought. He hated all Chinese people. Back when Jiaming was in Peiluojia, he had received assassin training from childhood and had little sense of nation or ethnicity. Yet because of that pervert, he had suffered greatly since he was young, and later they had formed a deep grudge. When he stole classified information and defected from Peiluojia, he had competed briefly with that man and suffered a small loss. Thinking of it now still annoyed him. Of course, this was merely a passing thought. The affairs of his previous life belonged to his previous life. Unless necessary, he did not want to face that deadly pervert again.

At the end of June, school began its vacation. During the long summer break, the three children basically spent their time at the Liu Family villa, playing games, watching videos, using the computer, and swimming every day. They had a wonderful time. There was a very nice beach by the sea not far from the neighborhood, and it drew many visitors during summer. Jiaming and the two girls brought a tent and stayed there for three days, eating barbecue until Shasha got so overheated that her toothache became unbearable. That finally fulfilled their camping plans from the previous year.

As students with special talents, Lingjing and Shasha entered a national youth martial arts tournament in August. Jiaming was not a competitor and originally could not go, but Lingjing and Shasha, both key members, said that if Jiaming did not go, neither would they. Most people who knew them knew that the three had been close friends since childhood and did not think in terms of romance. In the end, Jiaming was assigned to the cheerleading squad and traveled with the team to the capital for the competition.

However, this competition later brought the three of them a small but troublesome problem.

Among Xinghui Middle School's competitors was a second-year student named Cao Dongfeng. Although he and Shasha did not usually interact, they could be considered family friends, because his father, Cao Jinghao, was one of Shasha's father's most capable men. He came from a criminal family and had repeated two grades. Though he had just graduated from second year, he was already sixteen. He was tall and powerfully built, and since his age was right at the upper limit for the youth martial arts tournament, the school regarded him as one of the martial arts team's main fighters. The moment he saw Lingjing, he was utterly captivated and began sending her two flowers every day.

He was already sixteen, one of the main competitors, and had a criminal family background, so the teachers did not dare say much about his behavior. But Lingjing naturally found him intensely repulsive, and Shasha would usually give him a thorough scolding whenever she saw it. During a break in the competition one day, he actually asked Lingjing to meet him in a secluded part of the gymnasium, intending to give her flowers and confess. Fortunately, Lingjing had prepared for it. She called out Jiaming and Shasha, who had been following behind, then took Jiaming's hand and sweetly kissed him on the cheek, announcing, "He's my boyfriend!"

If Lingjing had not already had someone, Jiaming might have needed to consider the consequences of that rumor spreading. But now that he knew Lingjing and Shasha were Yuri, then out of friendship, he was naturally the perfect cover for their unconventional relationship. The two immediately acted sickeningly sweet, and Shasha, who feared the world was not chaotic enough, ran over afterward, grabbed Jiaming, and said, "He's my boyfriend too!"

Cao Dongfeng looked like he had just eaten shit.

At this point, it was not only Lingjing who was pretty and refined. Shasha was no less attractive. Though hot-tempered, she had a slender, healthy body. With her ponytail tied up, her fresh and energetic image would draw countless glances on the street. Yet this ordinary... no, this sleazy man, who was even half a head shorter than the girls, had somehow claimed both of them!

Cao Dongfeng had seen plenty of rich men keeping mistresses and lovers. He himself had two girlfriends. But seeing this, he immediately felt the urge to kill someone!

It was simply unforgivable. The two girls knew about each other's existence, and they even got along so well! There had been rumors around school that the three of them lived together during holidays. It was actually true...

He came from the underworld and acted on his impulses. But just as he assumed a stance to start a fight, both girls prepared themselves and shielded Jiaming behind them.

"If you see things going badly, run," Lingjing said.

"No need. The two of us can handle him," Shasha reassured him.

That was how the grudge began. He had not expected this man to be not only sleazy, cowardly, useless, and short, but also a kept man, with both girls looking blissfully happy to support him. Cao Dongfeng knew he could not beat the two of them and retreated in humiliation. From then on, Jiaming could not escape Cao Dongfeng's daily sarcasm and murderous glares.

Naturally, Jiaming did not take him seriously. He merely focused on playing the role of a cowardly, useless kept boyfriend well, because he knew that the sleazier he acted, the angrier Cao Dongfeng would become.

On the other hand, Shasha knew Lingjing liked Jiaming, so the two girls immediately arranged many little scenes. For example, whenever there were few people around and Cao Dongfeng saw Jiaming together with Lingjing, Lingjing would kiss Jiaming on the cheek. Jiaming did not realize she was using public business for private purposes, so he would wrap an arm around her waist, and the two would look incomparably happy.

During the competitions, Jiaming, serving as part of the cheerleading squad and general helper, was always exceedingly attentive. He handed out towels and tea and even gave people back rubs and massages. He considered it simple kindness, but people often looked down on someone like that. Cao Dongfeng would constantly mock him for lacking masculinity. Since the sarcasm could not be called out directly, Jiaming simply pretended not to understand and continued massaging backs with perfect ease.

Whenever Lingjing had a match, Shasha would often mischievously toss him two large pom-poms and make him fulfill his duties as a cheerleader. Jiaming would wave the colorful balls around like a fool, becoming quite a sight at the venue. Cao Dongfeng despised him both inwardly and outwardly, but whenever Lingjing came down after a match, she would always ignore everyone else, take a towel first to wipe Jiaming's sweat, and ask whether he was tired. In Cao Dongfeng's eyes, everything the two girls and one boy did became either flirting or tender affection. Watching from the side, he would become so jealous that his eyes turned bloodshot and his teeth clenched. Then Jiaming and the girls would run somewhere hidden and laugh until their stomachs hurt.

Unfortunately, the martial arts tournament ended too soon. Xinghui Middle School's team won second place, and Cao Dongfeng went home full of resentment. Lingjing's use of public business for private purposes had not yet naturally progressed from kissing Jiaming's cheek to kissing his lips, so after returning home, everything went back to square one. She found it deeply regrettable. As for Jiaming, he had experienced the wicked pleasure of teasing a child and was in quite a good mood.

After school began in September, the three entered their second year. Cao Dongfeng tried several times to cause trouble for Jiaming at school, but either Jiaming avoided him or he picked times when all three were together. He might have dared to touch Lingjing, but Shasha's father was someone he could not afford to provoke. In October, there was a small confrontation, though it did not involve any actual physical contact.

At the time, The King of Fighters '95 had just come out, and arcade games were hugely popular. The three half-grown children occasionally went to play. One day after school, they ran to an arcade halfway home. Lingjing liked flying games, but she was terrible at them and kept screaming beside the machine. Shasha played King of Fighters '95 against Jiaming. A game that demanded such precise control posed absolutely no challenge for him, but since his opponent was Shasha, he let her win again and again to prevent her from losing her temper. After winning several rounds, Shasha was in an excellent mood and decided to let poor Jiaming have a turn on the machine while she ran off to guard Lingjing.

After Shasha left, Jiaming grew bored as well, yet he still had to pretend to be having fun. His fingers clumsily mashed the buttons as he prepared to make the characters in the game die together for three rounds. While he was playing, Cao Dongfeng entered through the curtain with four or five little thugs.

Well, I made up those Japanese names on the spot because they sounded smooth. There probably are no Japanese people with names like that, and I never thought of looking anything up, so just read them as they are. As for Oomori Yoshi, when I used to watch Japanese adult animation, the word "Otearai" was always written in the restroom. I thought it sounded catchy, haha. That kind of heavenly inspiration has finally been put to use now. My wish has been fulfilled. It feels great.

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