Now that something disastrous had happened, they couldn’t continue watching the play.
Adjutant Li brought along a group of bodyguards to deal with the scene of the crime, while Governor Yan quickly stood up, preparing to lead Chu Jiao away.
“Commander Cheng, you should clean up the people around you.” Before leaving, Governor Yan cast a cold glance at Cheng Lianshan, who was sweating bullets.
Cheng Lianshan put on a forced smile and dutifully nodded, continuously apologizing.
Commander Yan had accepted his invitation to this outing, but now that they all had seen the assassination attempt first-hand, the information leak must be thoroughly investigated.
Yan Zhan quickly left without even sparing a small glance at Du Xiruo.
He stood rigidly by the door and tilted his head slightly, waiting for Chu Jiao.
Chu Jiao lightly chuckled when she saw this.
In the previous world where she was but a cat spirit, Nian Yue had kept her locked within the manor and so, she accompanied her aunt throughout many plays and had gotten plenty familiar with most of the classic plays, to the point where she knew them by heart.
Since Du Xiruo wanted to provoke her, shouldn’t she reciprocate the gesture with an eye for an eye?
Chu Jiao quietly pondered for a moment and felt that the story of the “Iron Verdant Bow”2Iron Verdant Bow: A play where the female lead disguises himself as a male. would fit the bill.
The panic and fear that Du Xiruo would experience after receiving the script for “Iron Verdant Bow” would be amusing. Chu Jiao followed Yan Zhan and boarded his private car heading towards the Chu Residence.
“Does Miss Chu like scriptwriting?”
Inside the silent car, Yan Zhan suddenly put out a question up in the air, probably due to having heard the two people’s conversation earlier.
Chu Jiao rolled her eyes.
This was the Republican era in China when the New Culture Movement3The New Culture Movement was a movement in China in the 1910s and 1920s that criticized classical Chinese ideas and promoted a new Chinese culture based upon western ideals like democracy and science. was beginning to gain traction. Science and democratic flags were raised high with pride in every school ground. As a new orphan who had tragically lost both her parents, if she wanted to obtain a steady foothold in this chaotic era, literature was not a bad path for her to pursue.
“That’s right.” She nodded her head in agreement, “However, it’s also because I have nothing to do everyday, so I’m currently writing without a purpose.”
“That’s quite nice.”
Yan Zhan dryly praised her menial pursuits, and silence once again overtook the car’s atmosphere.
One could say for certain that he had never interacted much with women before. Furthermore, in the past, he didn’t think it would be of any harm to always keep a silent air around him, but for the first time, he couldn’t help but feel secretly vexed at his clumsy words just now.
Soon after, he quickly recalled the girl’s intimate actions towards the actor, his eyes darkening.
Was it possible that this little girl was interested in that little pretty boy, who was dressed absurdly gaudily?
Thinking about this unpleasant thought, Governor Yan’s originally bronzed face turned a few shades darker. The driver suddenly cast a careless glance at the rearview mirror, nearly pissing his pants off at the horrid sight while his hands quivered from fear, nearly losing his control of the steering wheel. Fortunately, he had already gone through gales and billows with the intimidating Governor and was instantly able to adjust himself back to his usual composure. Right now, he could only silently mutter to himself, wondering who could have provoked the Governor’s ire.
On the other hand, the Governor, who was currently seething with jealousy, had started mulling over in his head whether or not he should buy off that theater.
Their car slowly came to a halt before the Chu residence’s doors.
“Governor Yan, thank you very much for today.”
Chu Jiao briskly got out of the car and turned her head, only to see that Yan Zhan had also gotten off.
The two people awkwardly stood beside the car as she politely gave him a word of thanks.
“Yan Zhan.”
The man abruptly spoke up.
Chu Jiao completely had no clue what he meant, so the man once again reiterated himself. “Call me Yan Zhan.”
Calling him Governor was simply too polite for his fiancée.
Chu Jiao couldn’t help but immediately break into a fit of laughter, “Why don’t I call you Brother Yan instead?”4In case it wasn’t obvious, Chu Jiao was being sarcastic here.
After all, the man was a provincial military governor, so outright calling him by his name was too impolite.
Yan Zhan’s heart felt soothed, “Alright.”
“Then, I’ll be going back first.” Chu Jiao waved at him good-bye before blinking a lot as if she had just remembered something, “If you have any time, could you teach me how to use a gun?”
Yan Zhan’s thoughts promptly said, ‘I have time right now.’
However, he shortly remembered that today was their first time meeting each other. Moreover, a lot of overwhelming events had taken place earlier, so he reckoned that the young girl should take proper rest.
There’s a saying in the “Art of War,” ‘Haste makes waste.’ The matter of teaching the young girl how to hold a gun could be used as an excuse to invite her out next time.
With this in mind, he calmly nodded and watched the girl enter her house.
Once he got back in the car, he started a conversation with his driver Lao Zhang, who had been a friend to him for many years.
“What do you think of this district?”
Lao Zhang put on a perplexed face, “It’s quite good. The road is wide, the land is spacious, the people are sparse, and it’s a good as well as peaceful place to live in.”
This was the residential area of the rich and powerful, so the environment here was naturally good.
“En, I also feel so.”
Ever since Yan Zhan came to Zhi Li, handling official business took up almost all of his time. He could even be considered to have always resided in the government office, having yet to have purchased his abode.
Right at this moment, as though he had suddenly recalled this, he used a low voice to say this, as though he was speaking of a trifling matter.
“Then, set up the Governor’s manor in this area.”
Comments