Ian Song arrived at the Central City International villa, accompanied by his two beautiful bodyguards.
He looked at the two women and said, "From now on, you'll live here. There are plenty of rooms, so just pick any two you like."
"Yes, Young Master."
The two women answered in unison, though their voices remained as flat and expressionless as ever.
Ian continued, "As for meals, there's a full kitchen here if you want to cook for yourselves. If not, you can eat out. Oh, and about your salaries—let's set it at twelve million yuan a year. Give me your bank account numbers and I'll pay you a full year's salary in advance!"
Hearing Ian offer such a high salary, a hint of emotion finally flickered across the cold faces of the two women.
Lena spoke up: "Young Master, you really don't need to pay us a salary."
Ian waved his hand. "I'm not some heartless capitalist. Just give me your account numbers."
"Yes, Young Master."
The two women didn't argue further, each giving Ian a bank account number. Ian didn't hesitate—he transferred thirteen million yuan to each of them on the spot.
After receiving the bank notification, Lena spoke again: "Young Master, why is there an extra one million?"
"That one million is for your living expenses and clothing allowance!" Ian said with a smile.
"Thank you, Young Master!" the two women said gratefully.
Ian waved his hand again. "No need to thank me. You're risking your lives for me—it's only right I treat you well. For now, you don't need to stick by my side. Go get familiar with Riverstone City's layout first!"
"Young Master, before we received our assignment, we'd already memorized the entire layout of Riverstone City. There's no need to scout further!" Lena replied.
"Is that so? Then just go shopping or something. I won't be leaving Riverstone City for a while, so you can follow me again once I do."
"But Young Master, our orders are to protect you at all times!" Lena protested stubbornly.
Ian didn't want to draw attention by having two female bodyguards follow him everywhere, so he said seriously, "You're my bodyguards now, so you need to obey my orders. Do what I tell you—got it?"
The two hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
With his bodyguards settled in, Ian headed off to school.
After school, Hannah Han messaged Ian, asking him to wait for her near the campus.
About ten minutes later, Hannah walked out of school, spotted Ian's car, and hurried over to get in.
"Sis Han, is there something you need?" Ian asked, gently taking Hannah's soft hand and rubbing it. Ever since their relationship changed, Hannah didn't want him calling her 'teacher' anymore.
"Cut it out, I'm serious—I've got something important to discuss with you."
Hannah pulled her hand back and said seriously, "Wade Wang hasn't come to class for four days. His family is poor and doesn't have a phone, so I want to go check on him and see what's going on. But Wade lives in the slum area, and it's pretty chaotic there—so I want you to come with me."
Ian knew a bit about Wade. Abandoned by his parents, he grew up with his grandmother who picked through trash for a living. His family was poor, his grades were bad, and he was pretty timid, so he barely registered in class.
If it were William Yan, he probably wouldn't care if a student like Wade Wang stopped coming to school.
But Hannah was different—she treated all her students equally and never looked down on those with poor grades.
The so-called 'slum area' was actually an urban village.
The people living there were all from the bottom rungs of society, struggling to get by.
Ian didn’t drive into Riverstone City’s urban village—the streets were too narrow, and vendors crowded the way. It was much quicker to walk.
After parking, he and Hannah headed in on foot.
The air reeked, and the streets were a mess—garbage, fruit peels, and rotting vegetable leaves everywhere. Last night’s downpour had left muddy puddles in the old, cracked pavement.
"Wade’s house is right here!" Hannah pointed at a squat, clay-tiled hut.
"Let me knock."
Ian grabbed the knocker and gave the door a few solid raps—each thud echoed dully, but there was no response inside.
"Maybe no one's home?" Hannah said, a little uncertain.
Ian focused and triggered his Clairvoyant Vision—the place was empty, not a soul inside.
"Looks like nobody’s home. Should we wait?" Ian asked.
"Alright, let’s wait a bit."
They waited for more than half an hour, but Wade Wang still hadn’t come back. Just then, a middle-aged man happened to walk by. Ian stopped him and asked, "Uncle, do you know Wade Wang?"
"Of course I do. I live right next door!" the man replied.
He pointed to the neighboring tile-roofed house.
"Do you know when he'll be back?" Ian continued.
The man's face suddenly grew wary. "Who are you two?" he asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
"I'm his classmate, Ian Song, and this is his teacher, Hannah Han. He hasn't come to school for four days, so Ms. Han asked me to come with her to check up on him. Here are our student and teacher IDs, just to prove we're not strangers." Ian showed his student card, and Hannah handed over her work ID for the man to see.
"I see. Well, if you don’t mind, why don’t you come inside and we can talk?" The man glanced nervously around the alley.
Ian glanced at Hannah, who nodded in agreement.
So the two of them followed the man to his modest home. His name was Simon Yang, a longtime resident of the urban village.
Simon poured Ian and Hannah each a glass of water, then let out a sigh. "Poor little Ming—he was abandoned by his parents as a child and grew up with Granny Wang, that old woman who picked trash for a living. Four days ago, late in the afternoon, Granny Wang was out collecting garbage when she was attacked—someone hit her on the head so hard she started bleeding. They found her too late, and she passed away before she could reach the hospital."