An Acquaintance

In the city center, inside an exceptionally imposing building, countless staff members were busy without stopping.

Perhaps they were very ordinary here, often even having to grovel to survive, but the moment they stepped out of the building's doors, they would immediately straighten their backs and become high-income earners respected by others.

A beautiful woman dressed in a professional uniform sat before a desk. Her makeup was very exquisite, with a touch of light eyeliner and transparent lip gloss, stepping on a pair of white strappy high-heeled sandals. A pair of long legs slanted and closed together, leaning against the side of the chair, encased in a thin layer of transparent silk stockings.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A slight sound of knocking rang out.

Song Hanshan rested her elbows on the desktop, propping her chin with her hands, looking as though she were blankly dazed out of boredom, or perhaps thinking about something.

"Come in."

A woman also dressed in a professional uniform walked in. Her high heels made a crisp sound as they stepped on the floor. Holding a folder in her hand, she placed it on Song Hanshan's desk.

"Manager, here is the data you wanted. Hey, what are you spacing out for again? You've been like this for days. Is your heart fluttering with romance?"

Song Hanshan only then reacted, but her expression remained unchanged, nor did she blush like a little girl, gazing calmly at the woman.

"You girl, did you finish the schedule I told you to make yesterday? I want to see it today."

"Ah! Didn't you say tomorrow? I haven't finished it yet."

The woman immediately panicked.

Song Hanshan then smiled and said, "Then hurry up and do it. Give it to me earlier tomorrow. How dare you talk back to me—I'll handle you yet."

After the woman left, she casually flipped through the data before her, yet felt she couldn't read it at all. She simply stopped looking and continued to prop up her head in a daze.

Recalling the events of that day, Song Hanshan's eyes gradually regained their vitality, yet she let out a self-deprecating smile.

Heh, I never expected the cliché of a hero saving the damsel in distress to actually happen to me.

He seems to be called An Yang.

An Yang wasn't very tall, nor could he be considered very handsome, but he looked very sunny and had quite a vibe.

Especially that clean and decisive strike that day, the viciousness of every punch landing solidly—she had only ever seen such things on television. Perhaps her father's bodyguards possessed that kind of strength, but no petty hoodlum would ever dare to provoke them.

When all was said and done, An Yang truly wasn't tall and handsome, but he was still far better than bodyguards. Most uniquely, An Yang's hurried departure that day was what truly made her worry about him until now.

The cliché of a hero saving a beauty mostly appeared on television, but when it actually happened, very few people could deny its devastating charm to a woman.

Perhaps there was also an element of rebellion in it. She had lived a life of luxury and fine food since childhood, yet her entire life seemed predestined. She longed for a romance of her own—longing for it even more than ordinary people.

"Sigh..."

Song Hanshan sighed, opened the documents on her desk once more, and began to read with rapt attention.

An Yang had helped her once without asking for any reward. Facing such a fairytale-like cliché, any girl would cherish the memory in her heart for a period of time.

Yet she knew better that perhaps before long, she would completely forget about this matter and forget the person named An Yang as well; the intersection between their lives was limited, after all.

An Yang, who had lived through three months of bitter days, naturally wouldn't treat himself poorly. What's more, not only did he now have over one hundred thousand RMB extra in his card, but he also had fifty thousand US dollars remaining in his Portable Space, making it even less necessary for him to save money.

He found a rather high-end hotel to eat, though he was all by himself. Unlike the lavish feasts of others, he only ordered a few dishes, yet ate them completely clean.

Just as he was about to pay the bill, the phone in his pants pocket vibrated. Picking it up, the avatar of a middle-aged woman lit up on the screen. He felt a moment of internal conflict before sliding his finger to answer the call.

Ji Weiwei had gone back home; he didn't know whether she had told his parents about him quitting his job, though she probably hadn't.

"Hello, Mom."

"An Yang, what are you doing right now?"

"I'm out eating."

"You child, when you were at home I told you to learn how to cook and you wouldn't. Now look at you, how expensive is it to eat outside?"

"Cough cough... It's not that I don't know how, it's just that what I make doesn't taste good."

"I know you inside and out. How are you getting along outside? How's your job? Is everything going smoothly?"

An Yang's heart skipped a beat. After a moment of silence, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Mom, I know how to take care of myself, so I won't trouble you elderly folks. Alright, just say whatever you have to say. I haven't paid the bill yet."

"You brat, can't a mother call you because she misses you? Do I have to have some specific business just to call you?"

An Yang curled his lip and said, "Alright, Mom, then I'll call you back when I get home. Let me pay the bill first."

The voice on the other end of the line became somewhat anxious. "Hey, wait—you child, what's the rush? Sit for a while after eating, rest up before heading out."

An Yang felt somewhat helpless and said, "Just tell me, what on earth do you want?"

"You child... Didn't your younger sister finish the college entrance examination a few days ago? She said she wanted to come to the provincial capital with her classmates to play and relax. By rights, she should have arrived yesterday. I figured you were in Jinguan City, so I told your sister to call you. Did you receive it?"

"Uh... She probably hasn't called me yet, or maybe my phone was turned off."

An Yang gave a bitter laugh. He indeed had a younger sister named An You.

Yet An You was pretty, got great grades, and took first place in everything. Relatives, friends, teachers, and classmates alike all held her in high regard, and her personality was also very arrogant. By contrast, he was the negative example; aside from getting into a prestigious university, he was basically a complete underachiever. An You'd personality had never matched his since they were kids, and as they grew up, she looked down on him even more.

Given such a relationship, how could An You possibly call him? She probably just made a casual perfunctory agreement back then.

An Yang's mother was named Xie Yunqing.

Xie Yunqing sighed and said, "Sigh, your sister is about to go to college, yet she's still so inconsiderate. But you've been working for a year now; you can't be as inconsiderate as your sister."

An Yang said helplessly, "Fine, I'll call her in a moment."

Xie Yunqing nodded on the other end of the phone and said, "I don't mean anything else. It's just that she's graduated from high school and is about to go to college, so I want you to take your sister to buy a few decent clothes and cultivate the bond between you siblings by the way. You've been under the same roof for over a decade, yet your relationship is so discordant—it makes others laugh if word gets out."

An Yang fell silent for a moment and said, "In this day and age, where can't you buy decent clothes? Our Yancheng City isn't shabby either."

Xie Yunqing's tone grew firm as she said, "It's settled then. I'll wire the money to you in a moment. How can a girl not have a few pretty clothes?"

"You don't need to wire any money. It's only right and proper to buy clothes for my sister; I have money of my own."

"You should save that little salary of yours. Whether it's buying a house or a car, anyway... hurry up and find a girlfriend for your dad and me to bring back."

"Mom, I really don't need—"

Before An Yang could finish speaking, the phone had already hung up.

After a while, as he was on his way to the bank, a notification popped up on his phone—a text message sent by the bank.

Even though his China Mobile card had been thrown away, he had already gotten used to it. This Time-Space Travel Phone would intercept everything related to that previous number, such as text messages and phone calls.

Looking at the five thousand yuan that had just arrived in his account, he shook his head with a bitter smile.

The old couple were certainly generous. When they bought him clothes as a child, they had never bought anything this expensive; subtracting a zero would still be worth more than the most expensive clothes he bought back when he was studying.

Walking to the bank, An Yang prepared to exchange the remaining US dollars into RMB. A total of fifty thousand US dollars equated to over three hundred thousand RMB. He had checked online; a while back there were many restrictions on foreign currency exchange, but recently many policies had been relaxed, and the control over foreign currency was no longer so strict.

As soon as he stepped into the bank, he ran into an acquaintance, freezing in place right then and there.

A skinny, bespectacled man stepped into the bank almost alongside him. He looked older than An Yang, probably approaching thirty years of age, with a faint scar on his face. Following closely beside him was a woman wearing a sexy OL uniform, with a deep cleavage squeezed out at her chest.

This nearly thirty-year-old man was named Fu Jianming, his former direct supervisor. He lacked capability, held substantial power, loved to meddle in fields he didn't understand at all, and was petty.

This seductive woman was named Wang Qin, once famous throughout the entire company for her flirtatiousness. Rumors had it that she climbed to the top using her body until she became a supervisor in the finance department; the specifics were beyond his knowledge.

Whenever Fu Jianming was in a bad mood, he would throw his weight around at the company. Back then, An Yang had just graduated from college for a year, his sharp edges not yet worn down, and he had gotten into a dispute with him, earning his bitter resentment ever since.

For any company, technical employees were very popular. According to the regulations of An Yang's former company, Fu Jianming, as a technical department supervisor, was not qualified to fire subordinates under his command. Therefore, he would pick on An Yang every few days throughout the year, until he finally seized an opportunity not long ago to stubbornly force An Yang to resign.

It wasn't easy for a college graduate fresh out of school to secure such a high salary, and An Yang had swallowed his pride for the sake of this eight-thousand-yuan monthly salary, until the moment he resigned when he finally couldn't hold it in anymore. The scar on Fu Jianming's face was his masterpiece, and his previous phone had also been broken right then.

Seeing An Yang, Fu Jianming's face immediately sank as he said, "An Yang, why are you here too?"

An Yang's gaze turned somewhat cold. Glancing at the two security guards not far away, he said with contempt, "Is the Bank of China opened by your family? Since you can come, why can't I?"

One look at An Yang's eyes and Fu Jianming knew what he was thinking, feeling a bit cowardly inside. After all, his height and build were far inferior to An Yang's. This wasn't the company, and he was all by himself, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

"You... Fine. Don't think your resignation settles it. I won't forget the fact that you hit me. This isn't over!"