Chapter 30: Who Are You, Really?

“I took the exam yesterday, the scores aren’t out yet. How would I know?” As Lin Lin spoke, her confidence dwindled, her voice growing softer.

“Ah…” Hua Tianyu sighed inwardly, careful not to let Lin Lin notice. As soldiers, they owed their families much—especially those in the special forces; their debts to their loved ones were even greater. No matter how strong a person is, everyone needs a home and family.

But Hua Tianyu, raised in an orphanage, had a place to live, yet no home; he had people around him, but no true family. So the moment the bear entrusted its cub, he considered Lin Lin his family. If she weren’t family, would he care at all whether she passed her make-up exam? Aside from teachers and parents, who else would bother about such matters?

Lin Lin, her answer given, watched Hua Tianyu’s expression closely. After a long silence, she hurriedly signaled Tian Li with her eyes, hoping Tian Li would speak up for her.

Tian Li’s cheeks flushed. She leaned close to Hua Tianyu’s ear, her breath fragrant, and whispered, “Brother Tian, has your aunt’s husband left yet?”

Hua Tianyu was speechless.

Like a sudden spring breeze, thousands of pear trees burst into bloom overnight.

While Tian Li curled up in bed, sleeping soundly like a child, Hua Tianyu had already finished his unwavering morning exercise routine and appeared refreshed in the president’s office at Swan International.

Wei Xueying was now somewhat accustomed to Hua Tianyu’s unannounced visits to her office, and she had learned to ignore him most of the time. Her focus was on a document she had been hesitating over for quite some time, unable to make a decision.

“Xueying, you don’t look well lately. If there’s something you can’t handle, you can tell me. Maybe I can help,” Hua Tianyu said, noticing her troubled expression.

Wei Xueying didn’t respond. Though her impression of Hua Tianyu had begun shifting from mere bodyguard after yesterday’s events, she still didn’t believe he could solve the company’s nearly two billion yuan funding gap.

Her only option, if she couldn’t fill that gap, was to transfer the group as a whole, rather than let it go bankrupt.

That would best protect the interests of every employee. As for Hua Tianyu, a position as Security Department Manager was a fair return for the times he’d helped her. Yet, she still didn’t know how many days she could remain as president of Swan Group…

Rubbing her eyes, tired and sore from too little sleep, Wei Xueying gently said, “If you have time, could you check on the monitoring equipment renovations by Hongwei Security these past few days?”

Lu Gang was the Hongwei Security staff assigned to the project today, and he was anxious. Usually, for such work, he’d be accompanied by two engineers at most, maybe a supervisor from the technical department like Chai Peng to look things over. But today, for the Swan International project, Director Rong was personally involved—after checking the plans, he even came along in person. What did this mean? Was there something special about Swan International?

When the team reached Swan Tower, the workers were astonished. Their high-and-mighty Director Rong, upon meeting a “Specialist Hua,” donned the same grimy work clothes as the rest and started working alongside them.

Rumor had it that “Specialist Hua” was a security guard.

Director Rong, are you serious? If you take over our tasks, we can’t do yours!

And it was obvious even to the blind—the enthusiasm in Director Rong’s eyes for “Specialist Hua.” What was that about?

Hua Tianyu had no idea either.

What a joke! He was a straight-arrow, a real man. If Director Rong kept staring at him like that, what would people think? How would he ever manage to woo all the beautiful women in the world?

Still, judging by Rong Xinyuan’s performance on-site, Hua Tianyu felt reassured. At least this technical director could follow instructions competently.

It seemed Rong Xinyuan was not entirely useless after all.

With a reliable person overseeing the work, Hua Tianyu allowed himself a bit of leisure and headed to the security office.

Today, Cheng Feng was on leave. Hua Tianyu greeted the others one by one and spotted Cui Quan coming in for a drink.

Thinking of Wei Xueying’s forced appointment, Hua Tianyu realized he needed a few informants in the security department. He couldn’t—and didn’t have time—to sit in the office all day like Cheng Feng.

He called Cui Quan over. “Are you free after work? Let’s grab a drink together.”

Cui Quan was surprised by the sudden invitation. But since he often enjoyed a drink in the evenings anyway, he quickly agreed. “Sure, where to?”

Hua Tianyu considered for a moment. “Where do you live?”

“The Uptown North district. People like me, poor folks, all live there. I’d love to live in the wealthy Uptown East, but can’t afford it,” Cui Quan replied cheerfully.

“Alright, let’s go to Golden World Hotel in Uptown North.” From what Hua Tianyu had gathered lately, Golden World was the most renowned hotel in that area.

“Deal,” Cui Quan nodded.

…

At this moment, in the Yao Martial Hall’s council chamber at Gathering Righteousness Martial Arts Academy.

A flamboyant woman sat atop the lap of a bald, burly man, constantly shifting her posture to provoke him, paying no mind to the three others in the room.

Wei Yingcai looked a little embarrassed and coughed softly. “Master, you’ve heard about the Sand brothers’ incident just now. That Hua Tianyu is really overstepping—how dare a mere driver challenge someone from our Yao Martial Hall?”

The man called Master was Meng Yaowu. He impatiently glanced at the Sand brothers below, squeezed the soft flesh at the woman’s waist, eliciting a coquettish giggle, and spoke offhandedly, “Why don’t you go and cripple him? If I have to deal with every driver myself, how am I supposed to do anything else? What’s the point of keeping you lot around!”

Hearing the woman’s laughter, Wei Yingcai quickly lowered his head, avoiding her flushed face.

He thought for a moment and offered another reason: “That driver seems to have some skill—after just a few moves, the Sand brothers were defeated. Besides, this concerns business between the Zhuang Group and our Gathering Righteousness Martial Arts Academy. They’re our biggest client; if we don’t settle this, I’m afraid… the Zhuang Group might doubt us.”

“Enough, enough!” Meng Yaowu waved his left hand dismissively, though his right lingered on the woman’s waist. “You’re just afraid you’ll lose in a fight—why not just say so?”