Chapter 323 - A Stranger Comes Looking for the School Beauty

Suyun moved in to live nearby, also to watch over Luo Yang and Hong Jiaxin, to keep them from continuing down the wrong path.

When she heard the creaking noise, Suyun believed that Luo Yang and Hong Jiaxin had already stolen the forbidden fruit.

“Jiaxin, when you sleep with Luo Yang, you hear this kind of sound too, right?” Suyun whispered softly.

“Teacher Su, what kind of sound?” Hong Jiaxin feigned curiosity.

It was not yet lights out, so one could see that Hong Jiaxin’s pretty face was already blushing with two spots of red.

Seeing this situation, Suyun became even more convinced of her suspicions.

The following afternoon, two strangers entered the village, one male, one female; the man with a square face, the woman with long hair.

Normally there would be strangers coming to Hongyun Brigade, either someone’s relatives coming to visit or to purchase scrap or Traditional Chinese Medicine.

But this time, the man and woman had come to find Hong Jiaxin.

At that time, Luo Yang was at Qin Piao’s house, reading with Hong Jiaxin.

An Yuying and the other beauties laughed when they saw Luo Yang also seriously reading extracurricular books.

They saw that Luo Yang was flipping through the pages very quickly and all thought he was just messing around, not really studying.

While everyone was chatting and laughing in the house, they suddenly heard a villager shout, “Niu Zai, someone is looking for you.”

Luo Yang felt curious; if it was someone familiar, they would have called him directly.

But now it was a villager who had brought the message, and he didn’t know who it could be, so he replied, “I’ll be right there.”

All the beauties looked over, and Luo Yang made an “I’m not sure what’s going on” expression.

He went downstairs, stepped outside, and saw a male and a female stranger, both not young, and hard to gauge their true age from their appearance, but at least both around twenty-five.

“Who’s looking for me?” Luo Yang asked.

At this point, the square-faced man began to speak, with an accent that wasn’t local.

“We’re here to find Hong Jiaxin; we heard she’s with you, is that right?” the square-faced man said amiably.

Luo Yang immediately became wary, sizing up the two newcomers.

Just from their physique, he could tell that even if the man and woman didn’t practice martial arts regularly, they must both exercise frequently.

Also seeing that both their temples bulged slightly, eight or nine times out of ten they had practiced some form of martial art.

“Who are you?” Luo Yang continued to ask.

“We’re her relatives; her father sent us,” the square-faced man replied.

As Luo Yang was pondering how to respond, he heard someone coming down the stairs.

From the sound of the footsteps, it was most likely Hong Jiaxin.

Indeed it was her; coming outside, she asked excitedly, “My dad sent you?”

The long-haired woman replied with a smile, “Right.”

If the two were Hong Jiaxin’s relatives, then Hong Jiaxin should have addressed them somehow.

From Hong Jiaxin’s reaction, it was evident that she did not recognize the two “relatives” in front of her.

Luo Yang felt that Hong Jiaxin was so eager to hear news of her parents that she had let down her guard.

“Squad leader, relatives?” Luo Yang reminded her.

After Luo Yang mentioned this, Hong Jiaxin seemed to realize her oversight.

“You are my relatives?” Hong Jiaxin asked curiously.

“You were very young when we met last time.

So many years have passed, you probably don’t remember.

I’m your elder cousin once removed.

This man is your cousin by marriage,” the long-haired woman introduced.

There was no way to verify this explanation.

Relatives met during childhood could indeed be forgotten.

Hong Jiaxin asked, “How are my dad and mom doing now?”

The long-haired woman answered, “They are fine.

Your dad asked us to come get you.”

As an observer, Luo Yang was more clear-headed than Hong Jiaxin.

The visitors claimed to be Hong Jiaxin’s relatives, but they mentioned very little about the past occasions when they had met.

In these troubled times, Luo Yang would not easily let Hong Jiaxin go with strangers.

Hong Jiaxin was very eager to see her parents, which made it easy for her to be deceived.

“If you’re her relatives, what’s her father’s name, what’s her mother’s name?” Luo Yang asked.

The long-haired woman correctly stated the names of Hong Jiaxin’s parents.

Hong Jiaxin, upon hearing this, grew even more excited.

“Then let’s go to my dad’s place now,” Hong Jiaxin said.

“Let’s go, we can get there by evening,” the long-haired woman said.

Just as Hong Jiaxin was about to leave with the long-haired woman, Luo Yang grabbed Hong Jiaxin’s arm.

“Monitors, wait a moment,” Luo Yang said.

“What’s up?” Hong Jiaxin asked, curious.

At this point, An Yuying and the other beauties had also come down and stood to one side listening, without a chance to interject.

Luo Yang said, “First, let her talk to her father on the phone.”

This question stumped the long-haired woman and the square-faced man, leaving them exchanging awkward glances.

Hong Jiaxin also noticed the strangers’ embarrassed expressions and began to harbor suspicions.

“You’re not really my relatives, are you?” Hong Jiaxin said.

“It’s not suitable for your father to speak with you right now.

But we can assure you, we’ll take you to see him,” the long-haired woman said.

Luo Yang was not comfortable with letting Hong Jiaxin leave with the long-haired woman so hastily.

Let alone that they couldn’t yet prove the long-haired woman was truly Hong Jiaxin’s relative, even if it was confirmed, one shouldn’t agree to this matter so readily.

Hong Jiaxin’s father had entrusted his daughter to Luo Yang’s care, and Luo Yang would do his utmost to look after Hong Jiaxin well.

“Who exactly are you?” Luo Yang’s tone had grown colder.

“We are her relatives, please trust us,” the long-haired woman said with a smile.

“How about this, I’ll send someone with you to see her father.

Whatever he has to say, they can bring back,” Luo Yang said.

There are no absolutes in the world, and Luo Yang couldn’t definitively determine that the two strangers were not Hong Jiaxin’s relatives.

Hong Jiaxin yearned to know about her parents’ welfare and, to satisfy her, Luo Yang chose a middle ground: to send a reliable person to check things out would be best.

If he let Hong Jiaxin go with them, and should it be a trap and she was kidnapped, Luo Yang would regret it for the rest of his life.

There was no antidote for regret.

Once a mistake had been made, there would be no way to rectify it.

“Luo Yang, come with me, will you?” Hong Jiaxin said.

The uncertainty of her parents’ fate meant that any news of them prompted Hong Jiaxin to rush to their side at the first opportunity.

Luo Yang could empathize with her anxious state of mind.

With Luo Yang’s skills and capabilities, he indeed needn’t fear the encirclement of a few ordinary martial artists.

However, he was still flesh and blood, and should he encounter a more sophisticated trap, he would also fall victim to it.

He might win against people, but not against machines.

In other words, even if he went with Hong Jiaxin, they might never return.

“No, I will send someone to meet your dad first, record a video to bring back, and once we’ve confirmed, we can make further plans,” Luo Yang said.

Hong Jiaxin pressed her lips together, clearly not in agreement with this approach.

But she also knew that her current situation was perilous, and any slight misstep could cost her life.

The long-haired woman laughed and said, “Handsome, I didn’t realize you cared so much about Jiaxin, thank you so much.

But please don’t see us as the bad guys.

We truly have come to take her to her father’s.

He is very eager to see her.”

These words played into Hong Jiaxin’s wishes.

Hong Jiaxin said, “Luo Yang, let’s go together.”

Faced with such a difficult situation, Luo Yang felt at a loss.

At this moment, Qin Piao said, “There’s no need to go, a video call will suffice.

It’s not as though mobile phones are a luxury.”

Luo Yang anticipated that the long-haired woman would find an excuse to say that video calls weren’t possible.

And he was right—she said, “There are some things we can’t discuss with you, please excuse us.

If a phone call isn’t possible, how can we do a video call?”

The matter regarding the piece of charcoal was indeed very mysterious.

Hong Jiaxin’s father must have some understanding of the charcoal but refused to disclose it.

To this day, Luo Yang also did not understand the secret behind the square foot of charcoal that was so unspeakable.