Chapter 176: Chapter 175: Rescuing the Emperor (Part 1)
After Zhao Meimei finished her exam, she was checking her answers when Zhang Zhao was the first to hand in his paper and leave the exam room.
Watching his almost running figure disappearing at the classroom door, Zhao Meimei knew Zhang Zhao really had something urgent, and any displeasure she had felt instantly disappeared.
After parting ways with Wang Tianyu, Shi Yang purposely drove to the mall.
The floor manager responsible for leasing matters was quite surprised to see him: "Oh my! Shi Yang? What brings you here?"
Shi Yang handed over the bag of fruits he was carrying with a smile: "Hello, big sister. Since it’s so hot, I happened to pass by and thought I’d bring you some fruits."
The two exchanged a glance, silently communicating, as the floor manager stood up, inviting others in the office to join in eating the fruits. She then led Shi Yang out, finding a secluded corridor to talk.
With no one around, Shi Yang got straight to the point: "Big sister, I wanted to ask you something. You know Zhang Xin, right? President Zhang’s daughter."
The floor manager wasn’t particularly surprised by this inquiry and countered with a question: "What’s your relationship with Miss Zhang?"
Shi Yang scrutinized the manager’s expression, displaying a probing look without revealing anything: "I just know her. I only recently found out she’s President Zhang’s daughter, so I thought I’d come over to ask around."
The floor manager displayed a subtle, intriguing smile: "Miss Zhang rarely visits the mall unless she needs to shop, and even if she does, she pays in cash and doesn’t interact with us."
As Shi Yang drove away, he kept pondering this ambiguous remark from the manager.
He parked near the school gate of Zhao Meimei’s school, glanced at the time, and noticed that the last exam had started half an hour ago. Given Zhao Meimei’s usual pace, she should be able to finish in less than half an hour.
Shi Yang lit a cigarette, took a couple of drags to clear his mind, and once he felt he had sorted out his thoughts, he took out his phone, scrolled through the contacts starting with "Z," and finally stopped at "Miss Zhang," pressing the dial button.
The phone rang for a long time with no answer until it automatically disconnected.
Holding the phone, Shi Yang hesitated whether to call again; then the phone rang, and the caller ID showed Miss Zhang’s number on the screen.
Shi Yang answered the call, but before he could speak, Zhang Xin said: "Shi Yang, you know my home address, right? Come pick me up. We’ll talk in person." Then she hung up flippantly.
Shi Yang stared at his phone, amused and perplexed. He then texted Zhao Meimei: "Something came up suddenly. You’ll have to take the bus home yourself. Stay safe."
Shi Yang drove away from the school entrance, and about ten minutes later, a tall and skinny figure dashed out of the campus.
Zhang Zhao hurriedly hailed a taxi, jumped in, and urged the driver, "Please, take me to... the neighborhood, quickly!"
As he shut the car door and started making a call.
The call rang for a while before someone answered. Before the other person could speak, Zhang Zhao rushed to say, "Hey, Mom... I’m heading home now. Please don’t aggravate my sister!"
Shi Yang arrived at Zhang Xin’s neighborhood gate, looked around but couldn’t find her. He called Zhang Xin, who then instructed him to give his phone to the guard.
The guard, after listening, nodded courteously at Shi Yang, raised the barrier, and let him drive into the neighborhood.
Following Zhang Xin’s directions, Shi Yang took the elevator to the floor where Zhang Xin’s home was. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Zhang Xin in a beige slip dress, busy moving things out of the open door.
Holding a box, Zhang Xin turned back to the room and said arrogantly, "Don’t think that just living here means you’ve entered the Zhang Family’s gates! Do you not know what your son’s last name is? Do I need to remind you who he called ’dad’ before he was ten?"
Shi Yang approached to see a suitcase and a large travel bag piled up at the door.
Noticing Shi Yang, Zhang Xin gestured frantically: "You’re here, great, help me move these things downstairs."
A pretty woman in her thirties suddenly rushed out of the house, reaching to grab Zhang Xin: "Zhang Xin! What are you trying to do? This is also my home; why can’t I come back?"
Zhang Xin’s eyes showed mockery: "You think you can stay under the same roof with me? Who do you think you are! Marrying in with a child just for my dad’s money! You know what this behavior is called? Preying for wealth and life! How my mom died, do you dare say you don’t know? Didn’t my mom even find you in your dreams to chat?"
"You! You!"
Watching the chaotic scene, Shi Yang fully understood the other meaning in the floor manager’s words.
He silently grabbed the suitcase and travel bag, turned, and headed towards the elevator.
He had barely taken two steps when a sharp, low voice rang out behind him: "Zhang Xin, you can’t leave. At least wait for your brother to come back to send you. Who is this man? You can’t just keep messing around like this!"
Zhang Xin coldly replied: "I’m warning you, stay out of my business. Also, my mom only gave birth to me; where do I have a brother? Stop glorifying your son! He’s not worthy!"
Embracing the box, Zhang Xin said nothing more and followed Shi Yang into the elevator.
Shi Yang loaded the items into the trunk, and when the cardboard box couldn’t fit, he just tossed it onto the back seat.
Starting the car, Shi Yang steered as he asked, "Where are we going now?"
Zhang Xin turned to him: "Either take me to see Chaozi or let me stay at your place. Anyway, I have nowhere to go now, so it’s up to you."
Shi Yang changed direction and drove onto the main road, casually stating, "My place is not an option. There’s no place to host you. As for Chaozi, he’s not home, so I can’t help you."
Zhang Xin sat up, glancing sideways: "Not home? What do you mean?"
Shi Yang switched lanes into the traffic: "Chaozi went to the provincial capital on business and won’t be back for a while."
Zhang Xin was shocked: "Are you planning to transfer to the provincial capital?"
Shi Yang shook his head: "No, just need to inspect some projects."
Silently, Zhang Xin watched the scenery whizzing by outside the car window and suddenly said: "Hey! Just park up ahead; there’s a hotel."
Shi Yang parked the car at the hotel entrance.
Zhang Xin didn’t hurry out but instead turned to ask, "What did you want to talk about when you called me earlier?"