At this moment, Howard Jiang already hated Ian Song to the core, but he didn't dare show it. Four hundred million was simply too much for him—it was like someone was carving up his flesh with a knife.
"Mr. Song, how about one hundred million instead?"
"You have one chance left, Mr. Jiang. Think carefully before you speak this time." Ian Song said cheerfully, but his smile sent a chill down Howard's spine. Howard's face twisted with conflict.
"Mr. Jiang, as long as the green hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood!" Zac Yang interjected, trying to persuade him.
Damn it, it's not like you're the one coughing up four hundred million! You don't know what pain feels like! Howard wanted to curse Zac Yang to his face. The jade casino made over ten million a month, sure, but he had a whole crew to support, and the profits weren't his alone—over sixty percent had to be handed over to his backers.
So, four hundred million was already more than his annual profits.
Thinking about it, Howard almost regretted it to death. If he'd known things would turn out like this, he never would've gotten greedy.
"Mr. Song, give me your account number. I'll transfer the money right now."
"Mr. Jiang, you're truly generous—money means nothing to you!" Ian joked, smiling as he gave Howard his bank account number.
"Mr. Song, you really know how to joke," Howard replied awkwardly, cursing inwardly. He then took Zac Yang's laptop, logged into his bank account, and transferred four hundred million to Ian Song.
Originally, the laptop had been brought for Ian Song to make a transfer, but in the end, it was Howard Jiang who had to do it.
As soon as Howard made the transfer, Ian's phone buzzed with a bank notification. He took a look and saw his account balance had reached over 580 million.
In an ordinary hotel room in Riverstone City, even though it was broad daylight, the curtains were tightly drawn.
The room lights were off, with only a laptop screen glowing. In front of it sat a blond Western man, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
After a while, the blond man revealed a chilling smile. On the laptop screen appeared a full-body photo of a tall, handsome young man.
If Ian Song were here, he'd be shocked—how did this foreigner get his photo?
This Western man was Lawrence, one of the Darkworld Syndicate's top assassins. By tracing the locator in Hans's severed head and examining the wound, he'd determined Hans was killed by Blood Rose.
But as far as he knew, Blood Rose had been seriously wounded during her escape, so he suspected she'd had help killing Hans.
He hacked into Riverstone City's Skynet system, narrowed down the area where Hans was killed, and screened everyone who passed through. In the end, he locked onto Ian Song.
Closing Ian's photo, Lawrence tapped away at the keyboard again, and soon Ian Song's dossier popped up on the screen.
Ian Song returned to Riverstone City from Forestgrove Village—it was already past 2 p.m.
Even though Hannah Han had already agreed to let him manage his own schedule, he still decided to spend half a day at school.
Coincidentally, the next class was Hannah Han's.
"Excuse me, teacher, may I come in?" Ian asked with a smile.
Hannah glared at Ian, annoyed—she'd just given him schedule flexibility yesterday, and today he was already skipping half a day. She wanted to scold him, but remembering their deal, she could only mutter, "Come in."
"Thank you, Ms. Han."
Ian smiled and walked into the classroom, heading to his seat.
Since Leo Li was still in the hospital, the seat next to Ian was empty. He reached into his desk for his English textbook, but a pink envelope fell out.
Ian froze for a moment, then picked up the envelope and opened it. He had a hunch—it was a love letter.
Neat, delicate handwriting filled the page:
Yan, please let me call you that. Ever since I saw you playing piano on stage, I've been deeply drawn to you... After school, I'll be waiting for you in the school grove. Don't leave me hanging.
Sure enough, it was a love letter. What puzzled him was that there was no signature.
He quickly glanced around at the girls in the classroom but didn't notice anything unusual. Could it be a girl from another class? he wondered.
At the same time, he started debating with himself—should he go to the grove after school or not?
In the end, he decided to go and check it out.
Finally, school was over. Ian packed up and headed straight for the grove after leaving the classroom building.
As he approached the grove, he spotted a tall girl standing with her back to him.
"Ahem, were you the one who asked me to come?" Ian walked up and asked.
The girl turned around, her face lighting up with surprise and a shy blush. "Yes, it was me. I thought you wouldn't come."
Today, Rae Xiao was clearly dressed up. Her looks weren't on par with Fiona Xiang, Zoey Su, or even Shelly Song, but she was still a class beauty. Plus, Rae knew how to style herself, so she had both youthful charm and a hint of mature allure. With her bashful, conflicted expression, Ian had to admit—she was pretty eye-catching.
Still, Ian wasn't some desperate womanizer. After spending time around beauties like Hannah Han, Fiona Xiang, Zoey Su, and Shelly Song, he'd developed strong resistance to ordinary pretty girls. He quickly looked away and played dumb: "Rae Xiao, why did you ask me to meet here? What's up?"
Normally, Rae Xiao was bold and brash, but right now she was especially nervous. "I... I wanted to..."
Seeing this, Ian tensed up. If this girl confessed to him, he wouldn't know how to turn her down. So, before she could finish, he quickly interrupted: "Uh, Rae, I think I get what you're trying to say. But the college entrance exam is coming up—we should focus on studying. Once we're in university, let's talk about this again, okay?"
Hearing Ian's words, Rae felt a little disappointed, but at least he hadn't rejected her outright—there was still hope. She lowered her head and whispered, "Okay, we'll talk in college."
Leaving school, Ian couldn't help feeling a bit proud—this was the first time a girl had openly pursued him.
After leaving the jade casino, he'd called Zach Zhang and promised to visit them in the hospital. He bought over a hundred yuan's worth of fruit and took a cab straight to Riverstone City Second Hospital.
Zach and his three friends were recovering well and should be discharged tomorrow. Ian chatted with them for a while before saying goodbye.
Twenty minutes later, Ian opened his dorm room door and his face changed dramatically. On the coffee table in front of the sofa was a rotting human head inside a black bag.
Even though the head was decomposing, the features were still recognizable—Ian was almost certain it was Hans.
Who dug up Hans's head and put it here?
Just then, a figure flickered, and suddenly a blond, handsome Western man appeared on the sofa.
"Who are you?" Ian gasped. With his heightened senses, he hadn't noticed anyone hiding in the dorm.