The School Withdrawal Furor

"Master sent you to a missionary school because, in the years to come, having a missionary-school education will make it easier to move in high society.

"He's suffered enough hardship mixing with the rough crowd, so he doesn't want you to go through the same pain and misery. He wants to lift you up high and keep you in high society for the rest of your life, where you'll never fall back down!

"And if you want to enter high society, a missionary-school diploma is your ticket in!"

Those words were a balm to Mr. Ye Hai. Though he still wore a stern expression, the pallor of anger had completely faded from his face.

Ye Miao listened, but none of it sank in.

It wasn't that she hadn't understood him.

She simply didn't care about any of the things Lu Bolin had said.

"The world is stronger than any one person."

Lu Bolin sighed softly.

"Ashui, you know I was away for two years.

"During that time, I went to many places. I saw all kinds of human nature, warm and cold, and witnessed the world as it really is.

"For at least the next ten years... no, at least twenty or even thirty years, the Foreign Devils from England will have the final say in most of the world!

"If you can't take part in their conquest of the world and secure a place for yourself in it, your own standing will slowly slip.

"Ashui, you're still young. Master has protected you too well. You don't know how ugly and ruthless the world outside really is, or what it means to fall down the social ladder.

"Once you fail to seize the opportunity Master created for you, you'll be reduced to fighting for scraps with that pack of vicious street dogs outside!

"That's what Master is worried about!

"Study hard. One day, you'll surely understand his good intentions!"

Lu Bolin didn't know whether he'd managed to persuade Ye Miao.

But he had certainly moved Mr. Ye Hai. The man's cheeks trembled with emotion, and he was practically ready to treat Lu Bolin as a true confidant!

Ye Miao lowered her head and said nothing.

She didn't agree with what Lu Bolin had said, but neither did she argue against it. At least she stopped talking about leaving school.

Mr. Ye Hai looked at Lu Bolin.

Lu Bolin blinked and gave him a look that said, "Don't worry, Master. Leave it to me." Then, as if by magic, he took a delicate little box from his pocket.

It was a rectangular watch box, a little larger than a palm. Its clean lines gave off a faint fragrance. Made of Nanyang rosewood, it was edged all around with streamlined tortoiseshell trim. A small, exquisite brass clasp plated in gold was set into the front, shaped like the symbol "Ω." It looked extraordinarily expensive at a glance.

"Ashui, Master asked me to bring this back for you from England."

In truth, Mr. Ye Hai had never asked him to do any such thing.

This watch was a limited edition that Lu Bolin had gone to great lengths to buy for himself.

Taking it out and giving it away today meant making a real sacrifice.

Those words made Mr. Ye Hai even more pleased.

"This watch is called an Omega. Even in England, only the nobility of high society can afford to wear a mechanical watch like this."

Ye Miao took the rectangular box, opened the "Ω" clasp, and lifted the lid. A round, elegant dress watch with a deep blue face lay inside.

The case was stainless steel, with rounded, matte-finished edges. Slender Roman numeral markers adorned the silver dial, and the hands were shaped like willow leaves. A faint golden sheen glimmered on the curved lugs. It looked understated yet luxurious.

Ye Miao remained expressionless, though she no longer pouted.

She didn't particularly like the watch, but it was undeniably beautiful.

Reading her expression, Lu Bolin knew she was tempted, so he seized the moment.

"It's a mechanical watch. You just need to turn the crown by hand every day—about twenty to thirty turns. That'll drive the gears inside the case and wind the mainspring, storing up energy."

To ordinary people in Puxi City, a mechanical watch was a real novelty.

"Once fully wound, the movement usually runs for about forty hours.

"If you take it off on Friday night, it'll stop by Sunday night. You'll need to wind it again and reset the time on Monday morning."

The dissatisfaction finally vanished from Ye Miao's face. Apparently satisfied, she slipped the watch into the pocket of her school uniform and finally spoke.

"It's not as if I can't go to school."

She looked at Mr. Ye Hai, speaking without the slightest respect a daughter would normally show her father.

"I heard ordinary girls only attend this school for one reason: to use a foreign education to make themselves look good, so they can marry a foreign nobleman someday.

"Is that what you're planning for me too?"

That was what she'd learned at school.

"Am I going to this school just so I can fetch a good price when I'm sold off in the future?"

Mr. Ye Hai's expression didn't change, nor did his tone. He spoke as if it were something so ordinary it needed no explanation.

"Ashui, there are things you can't understand right now. One day, you'll understand me."

Ye Miao met him head-on.

"I'll go to school and get that lousy diploma, but I won't let anyone decide my future."

With that, she turned and left.

Ye Miao was still only a girl in her teens. Learning her "fate" from her father was more than she could bear. While she'd still been inside the teahouse, she'd managed to keep her emotions in check by putting on a fierce front. The moment she stepped outside, tears streamed down her face.

Lu Bolin saw her back as she wiped away her tears, and his heart ached. He immediately hurried after her.

He wanted to comfort her, talk things through, and tell her about England and the way of the world.

But as soon as Lu Bolin stepped outside, before he'd even reached the spirit wall, he heard Ye Miao, who had already gone around it and reached the gate, call out:

"Xu Yi! You're back!"

The eagerness and anticipation in her voice made Lu Bolin's heart sink.

Xu Yi. Lu Bolin had heard the name from his master over the phone. Xu Yi was one of Master's distant relatives. Thanks to a letter of recommendation from a relative whose connection to Mr. Ye Hai went back hundreds of years and barely counted, he'd had the incredible luck to get into the Green Gang.

In short, he was a complete fucking country bumpkin.

The next moment, Lu Bolin was nearly suffocated by what he heard—

"Xu Yi! This watch is for you!"

Rage flared up in Lu Bolin's heart. He'd given the watch to Ye Miao, but that didn't mean he didn't care about losing it!

Omega watches were always released in limited numbers. He'd spent a full eight hundred silver dollars and even pulled strings with foreigners just to get one!

He stepped toward the spirit wall, but immediately checked himself, dragging himself back from the brink of an outburst.

Lu Bolin took a deep breath.

Now wasn't the time to pick a fight with one of their own.

He'd already done more than enough for the Golden Orchid Nunnery. The crucial moment when he'd reap the rewards was approaching, and he had to show the bearing expected of the eldest apprentice brother.

What was one Omega mechanical watch, anyway?

Once he took over from Mr. Ye Hai and assumed control of the Green Gang's foreign trade business, he could buy anything he wanted—not just an Omega, but a Longines, a Vacheron Constantin... even a Patek Philippe!