031 Beauty, the Source of Calamity

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It wasn't long before He Jianni called again.

Yang Tang didn’t answer right away; he let the phone ring a few times before lazily picking up. “Hello?”

“Yang Tang, what’s with you? Why do you keep ignoring my calls?”

“What’s with me? I’m studying for the college entrance exam!”

Nothing is more important than the college entrance exam.

Hearing Yang Tang wield this "sword of righteousness," He Jianni immediately backed down. “I know you’re getting ready for the exam. That’s why I’m calling about something important!”

Seeing He Jianni soften, Yang Tang couldn’t help but secretly smile. It seemed that the tricks he once used to manage his “wife” were still effective on other women! With women, you can’t just give in to them, or else they’ll walk all over you—then you become the legendary henpecked husband. But you can’t bully them with a bad attitude or violence either—that’s unreasonable and called domestic abuse. Women are emotional creatures; as long as you always have a “justifiable reason,” they’ll be sweet and obedient.

Like now—the college entrance exam. No matter how spoiled He Jianni might be, she couldn't throw a tantrum.

“So what is it?” Yang Tang feigned seriousness. “Oh, right, is it about the old laptop?”

“That’s exactly it. I took the laptop for a professional cleaning. It works now and can still be used.”

“Really? Then as we agreed last time, let me borrow it for half a year!”

“Sure!” He Jianni agreed readily, just like before. “Do you want me to bring it to your house?”

“Absolutely not!” Yang Tang refused.

“Why not?” He Jianni was displeased.

“I’m studying for the entrance exam, miss!” Yang Tang once again wielded his sword of righteousness. “Even though my parents are at work and not home, if you—a girl—come over, what do you think the neighbors will say?”

“That’s ridiculous. Who cares what your neighbors think!” He Jianni clearly caught the implication in Yang Tang’s words, and she felt a bit delighted. “Besides, I’m four or five years older than you. If we stood together, people would think we’re a strange match!”

Yang Tang almost burst into laughter—thinking, please, don’t be so serious! I was just making an excuse, and you actually took it to heart? But he didn’t disagree out loud. “If you and I stood together, people would have to check our ID cards to know you’re older. Besides, you know where my family lives—there’s at least ten meters between neighbors. The Zhang family’s maid is the worst gossip. If she saw me with a beautiful woman, the whole Songlin Village would be talking by tomorrow! Even if nothing happened between us, do you think my dad would let me off the hook?”

After a long explanation, Yang Tang’s mouth was nearly dry, but he finally talked He Jianni out of it. “Fine, so where should we meet?”

“How about the library?” Yang Tang suggested.

He Jianni responded, “East Wing reading room?”

“Alright, see you there!”

Half an hour later, in the staff section of the reading room.

Yang Tang and He Jianni quietly took seats at a table in the corner, facing each other.

He Jianni said nothing, simply pushed a slightly worn laptop bag across to him, then gestured for him to open it. Yang Tang didn’t refuse. He unzipped it, took out the laptop, and saw it was indeed used—he relaxed a little.

He Jianni, watching closely, noticed his small gesture and chuckled secretly. She’d been right about him—this man was proud at his core. Good thing she hadn’t brought her father’s barely-used laptop as a loan!

Using the wall outlet, Yang Tang plugged in the laptop. It booted up a little slowly, but the hardware was “Thanks, senior. Anyway, let’s do as we agreed last time!”

He Jianni tilted her head, her elegant brows slightly furrowed. “Can’t you just call me by my name?”

Yang Tang hesitated, wondering whether to address her as she wished, when suddenly a man’s voice interrupted. “Jianni?”

Yang Tang raised an eyebrow.

He Jianni glared in the direction of the voice, then frowned, a flicker of disgust in her bright eyes. “Oh, it’s Junhao. This is a public reading room, would you keep your voice down?”

The man He Jianni called Junhao—or rather, gentleman—was dressed in a suit. Even sitting, his imposing figure was obvious. He had a square jaw and regular features. If his eyes weren’t so small, he’d actually look very honest and reliable. At this moment, however, he was staring intensely at Yang Tang, his expression anything but friendly.

Yang Tang narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the square-jawed man. After these past days, “Eagle Eye” had become his second nature. He now activated it to judge whether this man was friend or foe.

Eagle Eye, a mutated active skill, lasts 900 seconds with a five-second cooldown, enhancing vision and sight fivefold. At the same time, the target of his focus is marked gold; advantageous terrain and useful objects are white; hostile individuals are red; temporary or permanent allies are green; unrelated people or objects are blue. Instant cast, zero mana cost.

At this moment, everything in Yang Tang’s view was pale blue, except for a hint of green around He Jianni, and a touch of crimson on the square-jawed man.

They say a man’s anger for a beauty can move mountains; this stranger’s hostility could only be for He Jianni. Normally, Yang Tang could just walk away from such a situation, but since He Jianni had just lent him the laptop and hadn’t shown her stance, it would be heartless to abandon her. Besides, the man’s hostility simply from seeing them together irked Yang Tang, but to avoid misunderstanding, he still asked, “Jianni, is he your boyfriend?”

“No.”

Now Yang Tang was at ease, knowing that Principal He Yuanhong only had this one precious daughter—this man couldn’t be a brother.

He Jianni hardly hesitated before denying it, nearly making the square-jawed man furious. “Jianni, we were betrothed as children!” he blurted, half shouting, drawing the attention of everyone nearby—some even snickered.

Now it was He Jianni’s turn to be furious. Many people here knew her as the principal’s daughter; borrowing a laptop from Yang Tang was no big deal, but now the “childhood engagement” had been brought up, and by tomorrow, rumors would spread through the university like a virus.

“Meng Junhao, get out! I never want to see you again!” He Jianni shouted thunderously; not just the staff area, but the entire reading room heard her.

And so, Meng Junhao’s name was instantly the talk of the place.

“Who’s this Meng guy? Making a beauty angry!”

“Who knows where this idiot came from—missing a few screws, maybe?”

“Exactly, childhood engagement? What era is this—even royalty have to abide by marriage laws. Is his family more powerful than a princess?”

“Is this treason or what?”

The murmurs grew louder. Meng Junhao’s face turned from red to pale and back again, and finally, he stormed out, shooting Yang Tang a vicious glare as he left.

Yang Tang’s Eagle Eye was still active, and he noticed Meng Junhao’s hostility had doubled. He snorted quietly to himself: You’d better not mess with me, or you’ll regret it.

Ever since he’d shot and killed three robbers, Yang Tang, who once prided himself on not quarreling or fighting, had subtly changed inside.

At this point, He Jianni, too embarrassed to stay, said, “Yang Tang, I’ll go now. Be careful—Meng Junhao is very petty!”

“Are you alright, Jianni? Need me to walk you out?” Yang Tang said with concern.

He Jianni glanced around the reading room, seeing people still sneaking looks at her. She was bitterly annoyed, but didn’t want to show it and worry Yang Tang. “No, no need. I drove here.” With that, she hurried off.

But her shifting emotions couldn’t escape Yang Tang’s Eagle Eye. He knew that if he chased after her to her car now, he might win the embrace of a beauty in distress. He sighed, but did not act, simply walking to the window and watching as He Jianni drove away alone.

Let fate take its course.

The thought of his “wife” still lingered in Yang Tang’s mind; for now, he couldn’t open his heart to anyone else.

Back home, with the laptop in hand, Yang Tang quickly created a system image and reinstalled the operating system. Although this wasted a good chunk of disk space, it was safer.

Once the computer was set up, he downloaded a virtual phone system to test and evaluate the “Power Saver” app he’d coded earlier. The name wasn’t flashy, but since he wasn’t planning to promote it, that didn’t matter.

For several days, Yang Tang studied for exams and tested the software in tandem. Finally, the day before the second mock exam, he finished all the checks and tests, successfully producing version B of Power Saver. He memorized all the code, then used a five-layer encryption to secure the app on the laptop, shredded all original data, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Before dinner, Yang Tang received a call from his homeroom teacher, Cen Li, who explained the arrangements for the upcoming exam and reminded Yang Tang to come early tomorrow to pick up his admission ticket.

After hanging up, Yang Tang muttered, “Again in the chemistry lab for the exam? Guess I’m still considered a nobody.”

Everyone assigned to the chemistry lab was from the ordinary or underperforming classes. Even the top students in those classes couldn’t match the top thirty from the honors classes. In his previous life, only a few from the top class took the exam separately—and Yang Tang was one of them.

Municipal Criminal Police Division.

“Director Wu, according to the description from the store owner, Su Shu, we’ve sketched a portrait of the archer. It’s in this folder.”

Wu Lie took the folder from his subordinate, opened it, and was stunned.

“Too bad there’s no surveillance footage. With only Su Shu’s testimony, even if we find the man in the sketch, it’s not enough evidence to make an arrest.”

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