“An Siyao,” the young man mused for a moment, appearing as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
This piqued Jiao Heyu and the other four’s curiosity even more.
Hesitantly, the young man said, “Back at the academy, An Siyao was particularly close with two female students.”
“Eastern Township is a girls’ school, right? Isn’t it normal for girls to be close with each other?” Jiao Heyu asked.
“Not just ordinary closeness. You know how it is at girls’ schools, there might be… that kind of thing.” The young man implied, feigning reluctance to speak directly.
“Really?” Shen Xiaowen’s eyes lit up.
“Really?” Jiao Heyu also seemed relieved.
The other three showed no noticeable change in expression.
“???”
The young man was puzzled. Usually, upon hearing such things, even if they weren’t disgusted, they would at least frown slightly, right?
No wonder they are the true upper class; perhaps this has already become commonplace for them?
Thinking this, he glanced at Jiao Heyu and subtly increased the distance between them.
“Besides this, there’s more.” Unwilling to give up, the young man tried again to spread rumors.
He spoke under the guise of hearsay, indirectly implying through fabricated incidents.
For example, he claimed An Siyao disrespected elders, engaged in indecent acts in public, and stole others’ sisters.
The five of them gradually wore strange expressions until the young man claimed that An Siyao oppressed weak girls but avoided strong, muscular women.
“Wait, are you saying An Siyao bullies the weak and fears the strong?” Shen Xiaowen interrupted.
“I dare not say it.” The young man had almost convinced himself, feigning a wronged expression.
Shen Xiaowen and Jiao Heyu exchanged glances, then looked at the remaining three companions.
They were still skeptical about the other claims, but An Siyao bullying the weak and fearing the strong?
They still vividly remembered how last night An Siyao had knocked out a shirtless man with one punch and fearlessly faced a dozen muscular men.
The five exchanged glances, then surrounded the young man.
The young man thought they believed his story and wanted to hear more. As he was about to continue fabricating, four of them grabbed his limbs while one held his head.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
With terror in his eyes, the young man was thrown into the garden’s pond by the five.
“If you speak ill of Brother Yao again, we’ll throw you into the sea!” Jiao Heyu warned him and turned to leave with the others.
Feeling the icy pond water, the young man couldn’t understand why things had turned out this way.
…
At five o’clock, Xia Yu arrived inside An Siyao.
“You’re back,” An Siyao greeted him.
“Hmm,” Xia Yu was in a good mood.
“The event has already begun,” An Siyao said. “The gift is on the left. Give it to my mother, and then you can move around freely.”
Xia Yu looked to the left and noticed a small gift box the size of a palm.
“What is it?” He was curious about what gifts the upper class might give.
“A piece of jade,” An Siyao answered.
It wasn’t much different from what ordinary people would give.
Of course, this was a normal world; otherwise, would they give things like withered fingers or cracked eyeballs?
Picking up the gift box, Xia Yu was about to leave when An Siyao called him back.
“You need to change into an evening dress,” the girl said.
“…”
Couldn’t you have changed it before I came here?
Opening the wardrobe, Xia Yu looked at the clothes inside.
Inside the wardrobe, there were about ten evening gowns. Xia Yu rejected five that were too revealing. From the remaining five, he chose the white one.
Both the pleats on the skirt and the lace trim on the upper part were to Xia Yu’s liking.
However, it was a bit tight and revealed his body lines, making Xia Yu feel awkward.
It was a little embarrassing.
After changing into the evening gown, Xia Yu walked out of the room.
A maid was waiting outside the door. Seeing Xia Yu in the dress, she gave a small gasp.
“Miss, this dress…”
“What’s wrong?” Xia Yu turned around to face the maid.
“Tonight, the mistress is also wearing a dress of a similar style. Please change into another one,” the maid said.
Clashing in attire was an embarrassing situation, so guests at the party usually chose different styles and colors.
Changing into another dress was not a big deal, but the maid’s tone made Xia Yu frown.
Although the sentence “Please change into another one” was phrased politely, it carried a strong sense of compulsion.
Not only the maids in the villa, but the maids here were also becoming too arrogant.
In Xia Yu’s mind, flashes of information about the An family appeared.
A few days ago, Xia Yu had retrieved all of An Siyao’s family information from her. He had conducted a simple search.
An Siyao’s father was An Tianfeng, who had previously been identified by Xia Yu as a real estate tycoon. His biography mentioned he had a son but made no mention of An Siyao.
Combined with the fact that An Siyao lived alone in the villa left by her mother, it was evident that the An family treated her rather dismissively.
Judging from this, An Siyao’s situation seemed quite bad, but in reality, it was not so.
An Siyao’s maternal grandfather, Yu Liang, was the founder of Daliang Capital. He had only one granddaughter, An Siyao.
Although Daliang Capital had declined in recent years, it was still not much worse than the An family conglomerate.
While browsing online, Xia Yu had also come across a forum post dissecting the relationship between the two families.
The An family conglomerate appeared to have been built from scratch by An Siyao’s father and a group of shareholders. In reality, however, there had always been a company clearing obstacles for the An family conglomerate.
That company was Daliang Capital, the company of An Siyao’s maternal grandfather.
The forum post’s purpose in dissecting the relationship between the two companies was not to discuss this seemingly trivial matter, but rather to point out that ten years ago, the An family conglomerate had carried out a series of financial maneuvers that diluted Daliang Capital’s shares, reducing it from a major shareholder to an insignificant peripheral player.
This was also the main reason for Daliang Capital’s decline.
At this birthday party for An Siyao’s stepmother, An Siyao’s maternal grandfather had not even come.
Ten years ago was the year Daliang Capital was undermined, and also the year An Siyao’s mother passed away.
Based on the above background information, Xia Yu drew the following conclusions:
1. An Siyao had absolutely no need to worry about An Tianfeng and that stepmother; she still had her maternal grandfather, and it was likely that her life in the villa had always been supported by him.
2. Neither An Tianfeng nor that stepmother treated An Siyao well.
“Miss, please go back and change your dress; the mistress will be unhappy,” the maid blocked Xia Yu’s path.
Having already determined An Siyao’s position, Xia Yu coldly said to the maid, “Make her change.”
Unexpecting such a response from Xia Yu, the maid froze. By the time Xia Yu walked past her, she had just begun to react.
To stop him, she directly grabbed Xia Yu’s hand.
Xia Yu furrowed his brow and raised his hand.
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