Balcony Rendezvous

They said one should be decent in life and vote when reading books. Since he had enjoyed someone else's tofu, he could hardly refuse to help them out. Besides, this matter was neither too small nor too serious.

Among Jianghai City's five great families, the Dongfang Family stood at the head. The Huang, Lü, Zhang, and Liu Families were all renowned clans in the country as well. Most of these families had political connections. The Huang Family, for instance, had a provincial party secretary among them. Since the Reform and Opening Up, the families had ridden those advantages to rapid success and explosive growth. The Zhang Family and the Liu Family had always been strategic allies in business. The Liu Family handled raw materials and production, while the Zhang Family specialized in sales. Over the years, the two families had jointly expanded their trade overseas. Yet amid their smooth sailing, some people's instincts gradually began to sense a crisis. This was 1996.

As Jiaming, even though he had been an assassin in his previous life, he naturally knew that beginning in June 1997, a massive financial storm would sweep across all of Asia. China's foundations would remain intact afterward, but it would still suffer considerable repercussions. Although the Zhang Family did not possess the ability to foresee the future, they had gradually come to feel that expanding too quickly with an unstable foundation would bring enormous hidden dangers. Thus, that year, the Zhang Family decided to shift its focus back to the domestic market and solidify its corporate foundations. The Liu Family refused, and a rift appeared in the relationship between the Zhang and Liu Families.

In truth, although the older generations of the two families had been very close, Zhang Yahan's generation could hardly be called harmonious. The younger generation did not see eye to eye, and the elders were becoming anxious as well. At the time, the Liu Family had Liu Wenli, a spoiled rich brat who had been indulged since childhood by the Liu Family's old matriarch. He and Zhang Yahan were around the same age, and the adults of both families had made plenty of jokes about them growing up. They had not really crossed paths much as children, but after Zhang Yahan returned from studying abroad, Liu Wenli clung to her like a fly. After all, Zhang Yahan was beautiful and bore the title of genius overseas student. Put her in bed, and her allure to men would definitely have a special +3 effect.

And so, Zhang Yahan was depressed.

The clash in development plans was one issue, and the younger generation's incompatibility was another. Finally, in order to reconcile the two families, Liu Wenli pleaded with the grandmother who doted on him most for an entire night, after which the Liu Family made their offer: Zhang Yahan was to marry Liu Wenli, and from then on, the Liu Family would fully cooperate with the Zhang Family's development plans. Otherwise, since the younger generation would eventually tear things apart anyway, they might as well call it off now.

Of course, it was impossible to truly cut off relations between the two families. But comparatively speaking, although Liu Wenli was a spoiled rich brat with a terrible temper and poor character, he was very likely to become the Liu Family's heir in the future. Even if Zhang Yahan was some genius overseas student, she would ultimately be water poured out of the house. If that water were poured into the Liu Family, it could bring enormous economic benefits while improving relations between the younger generations of both families. Thus came the matter of Zhang Yahan seeking Jiaming's help.

According to Yahan's idea, she probably wanted to cause a huge scene at the engagement banquet, then find a car and speed away for her life, taking a small sum of money to hide in another city for eight or ten years before returning. In Jiaming's view, Zhang Yahan had probably read too many novels or watched too many movies to come up with such an utterly brain-dead plan. It would make too much of a commotion and was likely to fail. Worse still, he, as her helper, might get dragged down with her. After some consideration, he began investigating Liu Wenli's family history three generations back that very night.

There was nothing difficult about it. By the next evening, he had obtained something highly valuable. Late on the third night, Jiaming brought a videotape to the Zhang Family's large villa, directly took control of the Zhang Family's supposedly most comprehensive computer surveillance system of the era, then climbed over the wall and made his way toward Yahan's room on the second floor.

He had not previously conducted especially detailed reconnaissance of the Zhang Family's little patch of territory. He only vaguely knew from past conversations that she lived in a second-floor room with an ornate balcony. To obtain an exact floor plan, he would first have to find some half-bankrupt construction company headquartered a thousand miles away, then dig the required blueprints out of its headquarters. That would be far too troublesome. After roughly confirming that none of the Zhang Family's bodyguards posed any threat to him, Jiaming began prowling around the villa like Batman.

The Zhang Family villa had been designed in an exceptionally human-friendly manner. Large balconies artistically jutted out everywhere, and in Jiaming's eyes, they looked like stairways prepared specifically for peeping toms like him. He jumped from one balcony to another, then leaped toward a third—vaulting, landing lightly, rolling, hanging upside down. Everything flowed as smoothly as though he were strolling through a park. After witnessing three vigorous bouts of sex, he finally identified Zhang Yahan's room while clinging with both hands beside a shuttered window on the side of the villa.

It was a bathroom ventilation window. Looking down at an angle from there, he saw that Zhang Yahan had just finished bathing and was drying her completely naked body with a towel. He had only watched for two moments when someone stepped out onto the balcony above, the one he had just leapt from. He immediately pushed off with both hands, flew onto the balcony outside Zhang Yahan's room, pushed open the glass door, and slipped inside.

The room was pitch-black, with only a faint glow spilling out from the bathroom. The moment Jiaming entered, the bathroom door suddenly opened. He had no intention of hiding any longer, so after closing the glass door, he heard a click as the room lights came on.

"Shh—" Afraid Zhang Yahan would scream, Jiaming first raised a finger to his lips in a silencing gesture. Then the two people in the room were both dumbstruck.

Jiaming stood with a finger to his lips, hunched over like a monkey. Meanwhile, Zhang Yahan, who had run out of the bathroom, was completely naked. Summer had not yet arrived, and the nights were still somewhat chilly. The instant she finished bathing, she had rushed out toward the large bed in her room. Her delicate bare feet rose adorably onto tiptoe as her hands rubbed her arms. Mid-run, she suddenly froze, her figure resembling a fully mature female monkey...

There was nothing covering her—perfect, exquisite curves, a flawless body... The two stared at each other for a moment. Zhang Yahan abruptly covered her mouth and turned to run back into the bathroom. She had only taken two steps when, with a bang, her entire body slammed solidly onto the floor. Ignoring the pain, she scrambled and crawled into the bathroom, then shut the door.

A moment later, Yahan emerged with her cheeks crimson, wrapped in a large bath towel. She first opened the glass door and cautiously checked both sides before facing the boy in black, who was sitting at her desk and rummaging through her things, ready to explode.

"Tell me... how did you get in here? You actually... you actually..." Keeping her voice low, Yahan questioned him viciously. Then she pointed outside, indicating there were people out there.

"Uh, don't get angry yet. I can explain." Jiaming struggled to hold back a laugh. "Who knew you'd run out naked from in there? At least wrap yourself up like you are now..."

"In my own room, what business is it of yours whether I wrap myself up or not?!" Zhang Yahan shouted, though her actual voice grew lower and lower. After saying that, she climbed onto the bed and wrapped herself in a blanket, then patted the edge of the bed. "Explain yourself. How did you get in here...? Hmph, I always knew there was something unusual about you..."

"I only know a little bit, okay? My teacher's the capable one. He helped me find the floor plans for this villa, figured out how to reach your room, and dug up a whole bunch of messy things about Liu Wenli... I'm just pretty good at climbing walls."

"Your teacher... As if I'd believe that." Watching the innocent-looking Jiaming sit down at the edge of the bed, Yahan's eyes were filled with suspicion. Then she became excited again. "Hurry, hurry, what did you find on Liu Wenli?"

"Of course it's good stuff." Jiaming took out a videotape from his clothes and gave it a shake, then pointed at the television and VCR nearby. "Can those be used?"

"Of course they can." Yahan spoke quietly. "But keep the volume down. There are two people guarding outside day and night."

Jiaming turned off the room lights. A moment later, static flickered across the television screen. Yahan hugged the blanket on the bed and watched the boy move about. "Hey, during that camping trip, were you pretending on purpose? Were those two guys actually dealt with by you?"

"That was an accident, an accident." Jiaming rolled his eyes at her. Then he took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed as well, making as if to pull at her blanket. In the darkness, Zhang Yahan adorably pursed her lips and stretched a foot out from under the blanket to kick him. "Go away. Don't even think about it."

"And you call yourself my friend. It's so cold, and you have a blanket but hog it all to yourself. I went through fire and water for you, and you're still eager to stab me twice."

"I really do want to stab you twice right now... Is this videotape Liu Wenli's? What terrible, immoral things are in it?"

"Just watch. It's very exciting."

A moment later, the screen showed a naked female body tied up.

"Go to hell! You climbed over here in the middle of the night just to watch Liu Wenli's porn collection with me?" Zhang Yahan immediately kicked at Jiaming, but he caught her delicate foot directly. "Just keep watching, okay?"

"Let go of my foot." Blushing furiously, Zhang Yahan pulled her foot back. The two leaned against the headboard, listening to a woman's moans coming from the VCR. Onscreen, a man and woman were clearly playing an S&M game. At first, the man had his back to the camera, and Zhang Yahan merely found him somewhat familiar. Then the shot suddenly changed, and she cried out in shock, "It's Liu Wenli!"

"Uh, I don't know who he is. Anyway, my teacher recorded this for me. He installed several hidden cameras, filming from every direction and angle. Hmm, I haven't watched it before. It's pretty interesting..."

After watching for a minute or two, just as Liu Wenli raised a whip, Zhang Yahan suddenly snatched the remote from Jiaming and turned off the television. "No, you're not allowed to watch anymore. You're not allowed to watch this..."

"Tch." Looking at the woman curled beneath the blanket, obviously in the early stages of arousal, Jiaming gave her a simple look of disdain, then said softly, "Anyway, a family as big as yours should have projection equipment or something. If you play this tape privately for your family, they'll probably ignore it for the sake of the family business. But you need to find a way to show it to everyone at the engagement banquet the night after tomorrow. And then, there are two more documents here, recording several bad accounts Liu Wenli made after getting involved in the family business. That way..."

Before he could finish, the sound of a key opening the door suddenly came from nearby. Yahan had caused a huge scene at home yesterday, and she was currently confined to her room. A woman's voice said, "Yahan, you're not asleep yet?"

The situation was urgent, and Jiaming hurriedly tried to rush out to the balcony. But before he could move, Yahan grabbed him. With a sweep of the large blanket, she pressed Jiaming beneath her.

"Hey, what are you doing? You're going to crush me to death..."

"You have to hide..."

"I could hide under the bed. Wouldn't that be the same as running outside...?"

"Ah... there's no time..."

"Mm, are you trying to crush me to death...?"

This was entirely Yahan's fault for having a guilty conscience. There had clearly been better options, yet she had chosen the most ambiguous one. Her bare, firm thigh pressed directly against Jiaming's neck, while her body curled into an odd position beneath the blanket, covering both of them. After realizing what she had done, she hastily adjusted herself. Jiaming curled his body up as tightly as possible. One of Yahan's thighs pressed against him, so he simply held it without ceremony, his forehead pressed close to the root of her leg. Fortunately, the blanket was large enough, bulging slightly beneath them. In the darkness, it was impossible to see clearly.

Feeling Jiaming's light breaths against the inside of her thigh, Yahan's heart raced beyond control. Then the door opened, and a woman walked in. "Going to sleep so early?"

"Mm, Stepmother, I'm already asleep. Don't turn on the lights and disturb me..."

"Fine, then I won't turn them on. I just discussed something with your father, and there are some things I want to tell you."

"Can't you tell me tomorrow?"

"Hehe, you know Stepmother can't keep things bottled up inside. Only after I've said it will I be able to sleep tonight. Just listen for a moment."

The woman smiled, closed the door, and walked over. Then she gently sat down on the bed...

I used to type at night and sleep during the day. These past two days, this idiot tried to change his schedule, but after sleeping at night, I've still been sleepy all day. I said yesterday there would be two sections, but in the end I only managed one. I'm making up for it now, and shamelessly asking for votes...