Blood Queen - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: New Life (Part 2)

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Q District in C City, one of the central urban districts, has been the fastest-developing district since the reform and opening up decades ago.

As the municipal government’s location, Q District has unique geographical advantages and was historically known as the “wealthy west” in the former saying “poor east, wealthy west, rich south, chaotic north.” With rapid economic development, more social elites have been concentrating in Q District, bringing high-end real estate development, making it one of the districts with the highest housing prices.

At night, a luxury SUV slowly drove into a top-tier villa community, stopping outside the largest central detached villa.

A young man, carrying his suit jacket and with a cigarette between his lips, walked nonchalantly through the main hall towards the spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

In the main hall sat a wealthy-looking man in his sixties, wearing a casual summer pure linen Tang suit, playing with two walnuts in his hand.

“Zhong Jing, have you been hanging around at that office of yours these past few days?”

Seeing his son walk past, the man in the Tang suit took off his reading glasses, slightly frowning: “Your elder brother was slightly injured during a mission at the end of last month and is currently hospitalized. Find some time to visit him for me.”

The young man stopped, turned around, and showed a strange expression as if he had misheard: “Hehe, Dad, you don’t even go to see him, why ask me to go? It’s not news that he looks down on me, and besides, you’ve never really cared about him either, why the sudden change of heart today?”

The young man was somewhat impolite, just letting out a sneer before going upstairs.

The older man picked up the flower tea in front of him, blew on it gently, and said nothing more. Looking at the empty main hall of the villa, his expression became somewhat unnatural.

“You’re really something, Xiao Jing rarely comes home, and you just say discouraging things.”

A beautiful wealthy woman, who was clearly well-maintained and looked no more than 40, gracefully walked in from a side hall: “The eldest has long since grown independent. All these years, he not only doesn’t acknowledge me as his stepmother, but he rarely gets close to you, his own father. Why do you still worry?”

The elderly husband and young wife sat side by side on the sofa, the wealthy woman wearing a cold smile.

“Sigh… you just keep spoiling him to death. He messes around outside all day, people might think our Zhong family is trying to raise a good-for-nothing son.”

Zhong Hai put down the decorative walnuts in his palm, showing displeasure.

“Hehe, he’s my own flesh and blood, if I don’t care about him, who will? Xiao Jing will take over your position in the future. If he doesn’t properly cultivate his social circle now, is he waiting for you to give him a basket of business cards later? As for that bastard… uh…”

Zhong Hai’s expression changed, slowly turning his head to look at his wife.

Knowing she had let her tongue slip and accidentally said too much, the wealthy woman quickly shut her mouth.

…

The office building where the firm was located was temporarily closed due to a fire safety inspection, so Zhong Jing had no choice but to return home.

Back in his personal study, he directly locked the electronic door lock. Soft lighting illuminated this luxurious room of over 40 square meters.

Glass cabinets surrounded two entire walls, densely packed with anime figurines and model peripherals of various sizes arranged at different heights. Another wall was covered with posters and photos of various beautiful 2D girls, both large and small.

By the window stood a luxury desk even more extravagant than the one at the office, with 5 or 6 computer monitors of different sizes set up on its surface.

Turning on one of the computers, he took out a USB drive from his pants pocket and plugged it in. Opening a preliminarily edited video file, Zhong Jing lit a cigarette.

The video showed scenes of Zhong Jing receiving a mysterious young girl a week ago, displaying her various behaviors and gestures from multiple camera angles. These days, whenever Zhong Jing had free time, he would watch it for a while.

“Her figure and appearance are good, but many of her actions and mannerisms are quite different from other girls… Is she too nervous, or is this just how she is…”

As he watched, a smile appeared at the corners of Zhong Jing’s mouth, and even flashes of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

More secret analysis results hadn’t come out yet, but Zhong Jing had a premonition that this time, he had probably encountered the most valuable new vampire.

Ignoring the flashing social communication software on the computer screen, Zhong Jing closed the video and opened a news webpage, beginning to input keywords for searching.

Three days ago, Tiantang Agricultural Trade, a large agricultural product wholesaler headquartered in D City with operations throughout S Province, was jointly investigated by relevant departments from multiple locations for long-term withholding of payments to upstream farmers and serious tax issues. The company’s legal representative has been confirmed missing.

Ten days ago, a fire occurred at the site of an old factory in D City, triggering the explosion of dangerous goods. A major safety incident investigation is currently underway, with relevant responsible persons undergoing subsequent investigation and handling.

“D City? The Tang family? A bunch of old turtles who couldn’t make waves for decades suddenly jumped out and ran into the Dark Arrow Unit’s gun. What exactly are they doing…”

“The time when big brother was injured was also around then… Another coincidence, is he really just an ordinary military officer?”

Zhong Jing extracted clues from countless online news articles and fell into deep thought.

…

…

Late at night, in the rented apartment.

Jiang Yan wasn’t feeling well and fell into a deep sleep shortly after dinner. Jiang Yao was sorting various clothes for washing.

While organizing Jiang Yan’s pants, she found the phone that she had been prevented from touching in the pocket, and Jiang Yao’s eyes gradually brightened.

“Hehe, so many days, hiding here and there, feeling like the whole world has been lost. If I don’t go online, they’ll all forget about me!”

Carelessly stuffing the clothes into the washing machine in the bathroom, Jiang Yao returned to the living room with the phone, skillfully opened the app store, and downloaded the mobile game she had been playing before.

Time passed 1 AM, and Jiang Yao was still playing engrossedly.

In the bedroom, Jiang Yan, wearing pajamas, woke up groggily, feeling extremely thirsty. She struggled to get up and fumbled her way to the living room, intending to get some water to drink.

Before her, the pale golden-haired girl was curled up with her legs, her small feet perched on the edge of the sofa, body leaning back against the sofa back, absorbed in playing with the phone.

Jiang Yan felt her blood boiling, an inexplicable anger rising from her chest to her head, as if entering a state of boiling blood.

“Ah! Brother!”

Amidst Jiang Yao’s startled cry, Jiang Yan snatched the already hot phone from her hands, quickly closed the game application, then turned it off.

“Do you want to die!?”

Jiang Yan lowered her voice, trembling all over with anger, and even slapped Jiang Yao’s face, stunning her.

“How many times have I told you, how many times! The internet is fully real-name now! The moment you log onto the network with your previous identity accounts, the Dark Arrow intelligence department’s central analysis system can receive it! You idiot, you’re already 20 years old!”

Jiang Yan’s face was ashen, rarely using crude language, enduring her physical discomfort, she directly walked to the corner of the living room and pulled out the suitcase, while still trembling and turning back: “What are you still standing there for? Quickly pack up! We’re moving right now!”

Jiang Yao, with a red mark on her face, bit her lip and remained silent, lowering her head slightly.

“That was an account given to me by former online friends who don’t play anymore, it’s not mine…”

Her nose feeling sour, Jiang Yao raised her arm and used it to wipe away tears, turning to walk into the bedroom.

I wronged Xiao Yao… The half-opened suitcase slowly closed again, and Jiang Yan slowly stood up, then looked down at her palm.

Walking to the bedroom door, in the dim light, Jiang Yao was sitting on the edge of the bed lost in thought, occasionally wiping her face with her elbow.

“Xiao Yao… I’m sorry.”

Sitting beside Jiang Yao, Jiang Yan didn’t know what to say, her raised hand hovering for a long time without landing on the other’s shoulder.