Zhang Yahan

Calling it a paranormal event was naturally a bit of an exaggeration, but seeing Huang Haobing and a whole group of kids staying indoors during summer vacation, huddled in the dining room doing test papers instead of going out to play, was really not far off.

In the Huang Family, there were probably seven or eight children around Jiaming's age. Some relatives had also sent their children to the big city for the summer, bringing the total to more than ten. At the moment, most of them were gathered around the long dining table, working on something that looked like an exam paper. Of the three adults supervising them, one was Huang Bingxing, whom Jiaming had to call Third Uncle. The other man and woman were both around twenty. The man was Huang Bingxing's son, Huang Haoyun, a typical Huang Family playboy. He was rarely home, usually swaggering around outside on the strength of his family's reputation, often hanging around with other young masters of the same sort.

Yet Huang Haoyun looked remarkably well-behaved at the moment, his face full of smiles. Naturally, that was because of the girl beside him. She appeared to be only around twenty as well, wearing narrow-framed glasses and possessing an intellectual sort of beauty. Though a faint smile rested on her lips, Jiaming could tell that she actually found the young master constantly chattering beside her rather irritating. He chuckled inwardly and was about to return to his room when Huang Bingxing called out to him.

"Jiaming. Wait a moment."

"Third Uncle?"

"Put your things down. Come out later and do a test paper."

"Okay." Jiaming took the travel bag he had bought back to his room. Only after coming out did he learn that this beauty was named Zhang Yahan. Her family also held considerable status in Jianghai City. Apparently, she had just returned from studying abroad at Cambridge and was preparing to teach at the newly established Noble High School in Jianghai City. She had likely come this time to assess the caliber of children who might enter the Noble Academy. On the other hand, Huang Haoyun seemed quite fond of her, while Huang Bingxing naturally wanted to use the opportunity to promote a marriage alliance between the two families.

Jiaming could infer such matters between wealthy families from a few snippets of conversation. After learning that he had just graduated from elementary school, Zhang Yahan selected a test paper for him. He vaguely heard Huang Haoyun saying from the side, "His grades have always been poor..."

Jiaming laughed inwardly. He put on a show of chewing on his pen for a long time before answering, to make the questions seem difficult. He had always kept his grades hovering around sixty or seventy. This time, he only answered enough questions correctly to score a little over sixty. Passing was enough.

When it was about time, Lingjing ran in to find him. After handing in his test paper, the two left together for the martial arts school. During the test, Jiaming had caught Huang Haoyun looking at Lingjing several times. Lingjing was already thirteen. Girls matured early, and she was already half a head taller than Jiaming. She was a lovely little beauty whom anyone would adore at first sight. Jiaming naturally understood what Huang Haoyun's gaze contained. Though nothing would happen just yet, he was already secretly considering whether to drug the guy that night and make him impotent for life, cutting off future trouble at its root.

After dinner at the martial arts school, Jiaming casually asked Lingjing a few questions while they watched television. When she could only answer a little, alarm bells rang in his heart. Controlling his test scores was easy for him, but judging a test's difficulty was not. After secretly skimming through the high school curriculum, both high school and elementary school lessons had seemed equally easy and unchallenging to him. Could it be that the questions on this test had all been difficult? The thought immediately made him uneasy.

It was already nine when they returned to the villa. The living room was brightly lit, and the Huang Family elders currently living there were entertaining the talented student who had returned from Cambridge. After asking Butler Bai, Jiaming learned that Miss Zhang would be staying the night. Several people, including Huang Bingxing, appeared very interested in a marriage alliance between the two families.

As he passed the living room, Zhang Yahan glanced at him, seemingly intentionally yet casually, making Jiaming realize that things were indeed becoming troublesome. Sure enough, not long after he returned to his room, there came a knock at the door.

"Who is it? I'm going to sleep."

"I'm Sister Yahan from earlier today. They said you wouldn't sleep this early. Are you really asleep?"

Sister Yahan. How disgusting... Jiaming sighed helplessly, then went over and opened the door. "What is it?"

"May I come in?"

"Okay."

He stepped aside. Looking over the things in his room gave him a slight headache. His room was actually very simple: a chair, a desk, a bed, a stack of books in the corner, and the baseball bat Huaisha had given him. The desk was cluttered with miscellaneous things, including a dismantled radio. His vigilance had declined over the past few years, so he had not had time to put everything away. Still, it was only half assembled. Surely no one could guess that he was practicing how to make bombs.

Looking at the radio on the desk, Zhang Yahan smiled sweetly. "Jiaming, you can repair things like this yourself? That's amazing."

Jiaming's heart stirred. He then closed the door and lazily flopped onto the bed. "It's just some small thing. I only took it apart to have a look. Could you stop talking to me in that cutesy voice? It's disgusting."

Although the Young and Dangerous films had not yet come out in this era, there were plenty of hooligans and thugs outside. When Jiaming put on that act, Zhang Yahan indeed frowned. Then she smiled. "I asked the others. They all said you usually hang around with hooligans, that your grades are terrible, and that you can only barely pass. But you passed this test too... This is your test paper, but I took the wrong one earlier. This was actually an exercise paper for junior high graduates..."

Jiaming chuckled inwardly. He took the paper, glanced at it, and tossed it aside. "I could guess my way to a passing score. It's supposed to be for junior high students? Also, when people are out there making their way in the world, they have to be loyal to their friends. You badmouthed my friends, so I don't want to talk to you anymore. Get out! Is Brother Haoyun waiting to sleep with you?"

"What kind of child are you..." Zhang Yahan blushed. "There's nothing between Huang Haoyun and me, you..."

"What does that have to do with me?" Jiaming muttered. Zhang Yahan was clearly infuriated by his unreasonable behavior and had no desire to continue probing him. She said, "Good night," and left in a huff.

When Zhang Yahan left the Huang Family the next day, Jiaming had already gone to the martial arts school. Otherwise, he would surely have received a few glares from her. A few more days passed, and Summer Camp finally began. That morning, the three did not go jogging. Each carried a large camping backpack and met at the entrance of the Ye Family Martial Arts School.

During the summer vacation, Liu Huaisha had cut her hair short. Paired with a neat short-sleeved shirt and hiking pants, she looked like a tomboy. Lingjing was dressed similarly, but she looked bright and adorable. Girls matured earlier, and both were now half a head taller than Jiaming. Combined with Jiaming's ordinary appearance, he looked just like a servant following two young ladies out. Being so inconspicuous was precisely the effect Jiaming had always sought.

Summer Camp was advertised as a student summer camp, but when the three arrived at the gathering point, they discovered that the participants were basically middle school or high school students. They arrived one after another. Including the three of them, there were twenty-two participants in total. Three girls who looked to be high school students had come together, while everyone else was male.

The team leader was a man in his twenties who looked fairly reliable, the sunny and cheerful type. After roughly calling the roll and confirming that everyone had arrived, the bus pulled up. Only when they boarded did Jiaming discover that the man and woman greeting the team leader on the bus were none other than Zhang Yahan and Huang Haoyun.

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