046 The Influence of Huaxia

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The heavy pounding startled the two women. Fang Yuhua was about to stomp her feet and curse, but He Jianni stopped her, saying, "Tangtang, you look exhausted. What’s wrong?"

Yang Tang did not answer directly. Instead, she spoke in a low voice, "Legend has it that to open Pandora’s box, you need not only the magic key, but also the unlocking spell. Tell me, if someone accidentally reveals the spell, allowing someone else to open the box, does that make them a criminal?"

"How could it? It was unintentional," Fang Yuhua replied indifferently.

He Jianni, however, had a different view. "But… but the box gets opened all the same!"

At this, Yang Tang’s gaze suddenly sharpened. "If killing the person who heard the spell could prevent the box from being opened, should the one who revealed the spell kill them?"

He Jianni hesitated, caught on the question.

Fang Yuhua was less troubled. "You’re being ridiculous, Yang Tang. I don’t really get the point of your story, but if the box is destined to be opened, no matter how many die, it won’t be stopped—the box itself exists already!"

Yang Tang was momentarily stunned.

Fang Yuhua continued, "If the gods didn’t want the box opened, why let it exist at all?"

Yang Tang heard this and immediately let go of her doubts. "You’re right. Absolutely right!"

Fang Yuhua, still playing the mystic, added, "Besides, if you don’t want the person who heard the spell to repeat it, you don’t need to kill them—just make them forget!"

Yang Tang looked at Fang Yuhua in surprise.

Fang Yuhua was inwardly proud, though she said, "Why are you staring at me?"

Yang Tang retorted, "Didn’t think you had any brains."

"What did you say?!"

Seeing Fang Yuhua about to explode, He Jianni hurried to intervene, "Yuhua, don’t be so easy to tease."

Yang Tang added another jab, "Who would bother teasing her? She’s a hormonal mess!"

He Jianni quickly hugged Fang Yuhua’s slender waist. Fang Yuhua bared her teeth at Yang Tang, "Who are you calling a hormonal mess?"

"Whoever reacts, that’s who!"

That set Fang Yuhua off completely. She shouted, "Nini, let go! Watch me beat—"

"Ding!"

The elevator arrived at the floor.

Yang Tang glanced at Fang Yuhua with disdain and exited with a cold smile.

When Fang Yuhua rushed out after her, ready to curse, she saw a hotel attendant coming out of a room, tidying up. Instantly, she switched back to her genteel persona, even sashaying like a catwalk model.

He Jianni was unfazed, merely rubbing her forehead in sympathy for Uncle Fang. Raising a daughter like Fang Yuhua—such a quirky creature—was it a blessing or a curse for the Fang family?

Yet, as a close friend and sometime bedmate, He Jianni could only tolerate Fang Yuhua, occasionally stopping her from certain behaviors, but not lecturing her all the time.

Fang Yuhua followed Yang Tang, seemingly wanting to enter his room, but Yang Tang was quicker, swiping his card and slamming the door shut, leaving Fang Yuhua outside.

"Hmph, worse temper than mine! You’d better watch out!" Fang Yuhua mumbled, following He Jianni into her room. "Nini, what exactly do you see in Yang Tang? That guy just stays holed up in his room—so boring!"

He Jianni shot her a glance. "Tomboy, why do you keep bringing up Tangtang? Are you suddenly interested in men?"

"Ugh, nonsense!" Fang Yuhua loudly denied it, then tackled He Jianni onto the bed. "I don’t care about Yang Tang—I’m more concerned about you!"

"Obviously a lie," He Jianni exposed her mercilessly, "Whenever you lie, you always use me as an excuse!"

Fang Yuhua, embarrassed and annoyed, began to tear at He Jianni’s clothes. "I’m going to punish you right here and now!"

Yang Tang returned to his room, opened his laptop, and searched online. He discovered that Japan had never suffered the nuclear bombings of WWII, and Einstein did not exist in this world.

Fortunately, the Chinese here seemed to hate the Japanese even more than in his previous life—just as Yang Tang liked. If it had been some kind of Sino-Japanese friendship, he’d have been thoroughly disgusted.

There were two reasons for the Chinese hatred of Japan.

First, during the reign of Zhu Yunwen, Ming troops conquered the Three Han Peninsula and even crossed the sea to attack the Japanese shogunate, ruling the Japanese islands for nearly thirty years and stripping them of their gold and silver. Unfortunately, as Ming power waned and wars raged on the western and southern fronts, the Japanese eventually rebelled and reclaimed their sovereignty.

This was a deep shame for the Chinese—territory already conquered, yet the Japanese managed to overturn the outcome.

Second, at the end of the Ming dynasty, when the country was weak and chaotic, the Japanese invaded China’s Three Han Province, aiming to use the peninsula as a springboard to covet the northeastern provinces, Outer Xing’an, and Sakhalin Island.

Indeed, today’s Huaxia inherited its territory from Ming: west to a hundred kilometers northwest of Lake Balkhash, east to the offshore of Sakhalin, north to a hundred kilometers beyond Lake Baikal, and south to the city of Thanh Hoa in former Annam. Its vastness rivals Russia.

Thus, during the chaotic transition from Ming to the current Huaxia government, the Three Han Province was occupied by the Japanese for over ten years—a source of national shame. Later, as Huaxia troops advanced triumphantly, landing at Tsuzaki Peninsula in Kyushu, the Tokyo government, terrified of another thirty years of colonization, immediately announced unconditional surrender.

Aside from Einstein, Yang Tang searched for other famous figures from his previous life and was astonished to find Russian scientists, artists, politicians, and military figures were the most absent. Many famous people from Japan and the Middle East had vanished, their disappearance linked to Huaxia’s vast territory.

Europe and Africa, being farther from Huaxia, saw only a few well-known figures missing from history as Yang Tang knew it. The Americas, especially the United States, were barely affected—except for a handful of black celebrities, all other famous figures remained.

"Seven days left. Just seven days until the Cold Food Festival. Fang Yuhua may be a bit crazy, but what she said in the elevator was right—if I can get He Ming and Feng Guangliang to forget about the square root of equality, everything will be fine."

Muttering to himself, Yang Tang began to pray: I need something to make people lose their memories, I need something to make people forget.

He prayed for a long while, but no sudden insight arose.

"What’s going on? Are my wishes wrong, or is there another problem?"

Yang Tang now had another worry, though his skills like Eagle Eye still worked, so he wasn’t too anxious.

The next morning, Fang Yuhua did not appear. Only He Jianni joined the Yang family for breakfast.

Yang Tang took the chance to chat with his parents about the previous day’s sightseeing, then apologized, "Mom, Dad, I’ll be out all day again. You—"

Before Yang Jixue could reply, Yang’s mother waved him off, "It’s fine. Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li are good people. Go do your thing—we’ll be fine with them around!"

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li, the man and woman sent by Fang Yuhua, had already won his parents’ approval after just half a day. Yang Tang hadn’t expected that while Fang Yuhua herself was questionable, her people were extremely competent.

As he ate his congee, Yang Tang considered that once he made enough money, he’d hire a few people like Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li to look after his parents. Whether they stayed home or traveled, he’d feel much more at ease.

At that moment, He Jianni chimed in, "Tangtang, isn’t today the day you’re supposed to contact Ke Bai’s friend?"

"Right!" Yang Tang paused. "I’ll call her friend after lunch. I need to go out this morning."

"Want me to go with you?" He Jianni offered.

Yang Tang hesitated, then waved her off. "No need. Just keep an eye on your friend for me."

He Jianni smiled, "Well, Yuhua isn’t even at the hotel right now."

"Thank goodness. You stay with my parents, then," Yang Tang said, assigning her the task.

He Jianni shrugged, "Aren’t you curious what Yuhua is up to?"

"No need to know. She can go wherever she likes—it’s none of my business."

Leaving the hotel, Yang Tang chose to save money, walking to the bus stop instead of taking a taxi.

After just two stops, commotion broke out on the bus: a pickpocket was caught by a female passenger, and they were tussling.

Yang Tang knew that such thieves usually operated in groups, so he quietly activated Eagle Eye. He quickly spotted two men among the passengers, both faintly glowing gold, inching toward the female victim.

Yang Tang was surprised the pickpocket’s accomplices appeared gold. He recalled Eagle Eye’s skill description (see 031), and it dawned on him.

"Targets my mind focuses on are marked gold; hostile elements are marked red"—both referenced Yang Tang himself. Now, since he was looking for the accomplices, they were marked gold, and at this point, the thieves had no hostility toward him.

But Yang Tang had found them to help. Before he could act, a buzz-cut young man in the front row suddenly stood up and, without warning, kicked the pickpocket in the leg, right where he was grappling with the female passenger.

Many nearby passengers heard a faint crack. The thief screamed and collapsed, his left calf twisted grotesquely.

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