Chapter 247: Yang Xinwu

Yang Xinwu had been on edge for the past two days, so much so that he had forgotten his lines in class several times: either he would stand blankly at the podium without saying a word, or his chalk would touch the blackboard and he would forget what to write. The students all said that Teacher Yang had lost his soul.

Yang Xinwu had indeed “lost his soul.” This emotion began when Yuan Ziguang told him the news of Lin Xiaoya’s death with a strange expression. As Yuan Ziguang’s close “gay friend,” he was the only one, besides Yang Jihong, who knew about his relationship with Lin Xiaoya, or at least he thought only these two knew.

As stated in Su Yuanlao’s forensic report, the relationship between Yang Xinwu and Lin Xiaoya was completely innocent, so innocent that every minute they spent together could be filmed and shown on the street.

Lin Xiaoya herself was not stunning, but she was much prettier than his maid, Yang Jihong. The first time he met Lin Xiaoya was purely to satisfy Yang Jihong’s small request. Yang Xinwu was, after all, an ordinary modern man with little resistance to a woman’s humble plea.

A little pillow talk was all it took for him to agree to Yang Jihong’s request to help her “sister.”

After a few meetings, Yang Xinwu came to admire this girl, not only because she had a youthful liveliness that many maids lacked, but more because of her clear understanding of her future and her wisdom in trying to change it.

Compared to the maids who spent all day thinking about how to win the favor of the transmigrators, how to have a child for the transmigrator as soon as possible, and using all sorts of means to “solidify their favor,” Lin Xiaoya thought more about how to make a name for herself in the new world under the rule of the Senate. Girls like her were a dime a dozen in the other world, so realistic as to be annoying. But in this time and space, such girls were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

For one thing, very few maid students had a clear understanding of the concepts of junior primary, senior primary, vocational training classes, and A, B, C diplomas, but Lin Xiaoya had inquired about them all clearly. This was not a secret; it was explained in newspapers and library pamphlets. It was just that very few students read and understood them seriously. They completely held the attitude of “I’ll do whatever the Chief wants me to do, and I’ll learn whatever he wants me to learn.” Such naturalized citizen students were rare even in Fangcaodi.

After meeting Lin Xiaoya twice, Yang Xinwu not only agreed to recommend her to Fangcaodi Senior Primary School and sponsor her tuition, but also expressed his willingness to fully sponsor her living expenses.

The rest went smoothly. His letter of recommendation played its due role, and soon all the procedures were completed. On August 31st, Yang Jihong proposed to hold a farewell banquet at home to celebrate Lin Xiaoya’s upcoming enrollment, and Yang Xinwu readily agreed. For this, he even left work early and had Yang Jihong specially order some high-end food and low-alcohol fruit wine that the girls liked from the Farm Café.

Lin Xiaoya was very lively and talkative. Although there were only three people eating, the atmosphere was very lively. Looking at her bright eyes and charming appearance, Transmigrator Yang couldn’t help but have some thoughts.

However, thoughts were just thoughts. Although the transmigrator was well aware that legally, it didn’t matter what he did to this girl, he was not yet such a beast. Happy times are always short. When Lin Xiaoya proposed to go back to school, Transmigrator Yang found that it was almost ten o’clock.

“It’s so late!” Yang Xinwu remembered that Lin Xiaoya had said that her leave was only for four hours and the curfew started at nine o’clock at night. “You’ll be punished if you go back to school now, right?”

“No,” Lin Xiaoya made a face. “There’s a bamboo forest outside the wall. Everyone thinks you can’t get through it, but I built a small path inside that leads to the wall. I hid a broken ladder there, which is enough to climb over the wall.”

Yang Xinwu couldn’t help but laugh. This reminded him of his student days.

On the contrary, it was Yang Jihong who was more nervous: “What about your roommate? They check the dorms at night, right?”

“I’m staying in the convalescent dormitory now. A few days ago, I swallowed a piece of soap, foamed at the mouth, and vomited. I don’t have a roommate, and they don’t check at night.”

“So…” Yang Jihong’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I climbed over the wall to get out. I didn’t ask for leave.” Lin Xiaoya blinked playfully. “I’ve already used up my leave for this month. But it’s still too late now. It’ll take more than half an hour to get back. I can’t be seen by the night watchman.”

Yang Xinwu laughed out loud, while Yang Jihong looked helpless and worried.

“Don’t you have the pass I issued? If you use that to ask for leave, can the school refuse?”

“That’s not good. You’ve already recommended me for school. If I use this to ask for leave, what will others think? It doesn’t matter for me as a student, but you are a transmigrator. Besides, this is using your influence to break the rules set by Transmigrator Dong. She won’t be happy about it either.”

Yang Jihong sent Lin Xiaoya out, and Yang Xinwu went back to his study to prepare for his lessons. The work at Fangcaodi was particularly heavy. Besides his normal teaching tasks and administrative work, he was also responsible for the accounting vocational training. In addition to teaching, he also edited the textbooks and supplementary materials used in the accounting vocational classes at Fangcaodi.

Transmigrator Yang graduated from a second-rate local university of industry and commerce with a degree in finance. After graduation, he taught for a few days at a third-rate vocational college. When he failed the graduate school entrance exam, he applied for a job at a large state-owned bank, where he went from being a teller to an accounting supervisor. He then jumped to a large joint-stock commercial bank and started doing corporate credit business. His career was booming, and his love life was thriving.

Transmigrator Yang usually appeared “as bland as a chrysanthemum,” as if he were completely satisfied with his current life. Only he himself knew that deep down, he had the restless heart of a chuunibyou teenager.

However, restless as he was, he did not intend to take the risk of changing the trajectory of his life. He had joined the training camp purely for fun, or in his own words, to “watch the retards.” As a result, when Chief Wen showed them the wormhole, Transmigrator Yang froze on the spot. When he came to his senses, he immediately fled with a group of waverers.

As soon as he got back, he received a call from a close friend in the same industry: he had previously operated a steel trade loan of over 100 million yuan in order to get a high commission from a client. As a result, the client’s capital chain broke—the loan was overdue, and the client’s family disappeared. Not only was his career in jeopardy, but he might even have to bear legal responsibility. Thus, Transmigrator Yang’s life path was rewritten.

After D-Day, although he was more interested in military affairs, it was only at the level of an enthusiast. He was neither proficient nor interested in developing in the military system. Although he called himself an “industrialist,” he was a finance major, and there was no place for him in the industrial sector. He had always played the role of a “soy sauce” character. It was not until Delong Bank was established that Ming Lang, seeing that he had experience in bank accounting management, originally intended to appoint him to be in charge of Delong’s accounting work. Transmigrator Yang refused to do it, which made Ming Lang lose face. It was not until Fangcaodi, due to Zhang Zhixiang’s strict management, forced away a group of transmigrator teachers who were looking for an easy life and wanted to pick up female students, and there was a “teacher shortage,” that the organization department, on the grounds that he had experience in school teaching, transferred him to Fangcaodi with an order. This time, Transmigrator Yang readily accepted the appointment.

“Teaching and educating people, a joy in itself.” Just as he raised his eyes and saw the calligraphy work hanging on the wall of his study—he had composed it himself and had Liu Dalin write it—he suddenly heard a noisy sound outside. He opened the window and saw that the soldiers on guard duty on the periphery had already entered the city and set up a cordon. Some maids and transmigrators had already gathered downstairs, discussing something loudly.

Lin Xiaoya’s sudden death gave him a great shock. A girl who was laughing and talking with him less than an hour ago, so young and full of life, had suddenly fallen to her death. What worried him even more was that after Yang Jihong came back, she never mentioned why Lin Xiaoya didn’t go to the station, but died at the service building less than fifty meters from their own building.

The police took away the body, the cleaners cleaned the ground, and the onlookers, transmigrators and maids, went home. At dawn, everyone went to work as usual, and life in Bairen City returned to normal.

From that day on, Yang Jihong became absent-minded. Although she continued to operate like a precisely made machine, doing housework and serving the transmigrator, she became taciturn. When she was free, she would just stare into space, and she rarely even spoke to him. Only when she woke up at night would she hold Yang Xinwu tightly, her face wet with tears.

Although he knew from various signs that Yang Jihong was inextricably linked to Lin Xiaoya’s death, he found it hard to imagine. How could such a thing happen between two people who were so close? Such a lively, lovely, and smart girl, and her best friend. What reason did Yang Jihong have to harm her?

Yang Xinwu couldn’t figure it out.

He tried to talk to Yang Jihong several times, but to no avail: as soon as he opened his mouth, she would either cry silently or suddenly burst into hysterical sobs that couldn’t be stopped, leaving him helpless. This also made his anxiety grow day by day.

Looking around in a daze, he found that he had no one to talk to. Although Yuan Ziguang knew about his relationship with Lin Xiaoya, he did not know that Yang Jihong was a murder suspect. As for others, he did not know how to bring it up.

He had to find a chance to talk again, he thought. With the abilities of Ran Yao and the others, it wouldn’t take them long to find out the truth.

If Yang Jihong was really involved in Lin Xiaoya’s death, what should he do?

“Old Yang, what’s wrong with you lately? You’ve been a bit absent-minded.” The office door was pushed open, and Zhang Zhixiang came in.

“Ah, it’s nothing, nothing,” Yang Xinwu quickly covered up.

“It’s good that it’s nothing. If you have something on your mind, say it out loud. We can all give you some advice. Don’t keep it bottled up and get sick,” Zhang Zhixiang said, taking a letter from his pocket. “This was just delivered by the messenger. The General Office wants to talk to you tomorrow. I’ve already arranged the time for you. I’ll find someone to substitute for your classes.”