Taking care of the baby meant Zhou Yi.
It probably wasn’t necessary anymore—there was already a Qi Wei playing Jim’s role, adding another Jim would be rather redundant.
As for catching cheaters—even if Zhou Cheng was cheating, forget whether Jim could handle Zhou Cheng’s counter-surveillance abilities. Jim, this chubby American, would be a marked foreigner the moment he set foot in China. With people watching his every move, how could he possibly do any detective work?
There’s that joke: if aliens landed in Beijing, the local aunties would call the police station reporting they caught a spy; Shanghai aunties would rope off the area and charge admission to see the alien; Guangzhou aunties would ask, “Aliens—can we eat them?”; and Chengdu aunties would shout, “Hey alien, come over here, we need a fourth for mahjong!” Replace “alien” with “foreigner” and it still works perfectly.
Since Jim’s first two proposals didn’t interest Xia Xiaolan, he asked if she needed any other services. Xia Xiaolan had a thought:
“Are you desperate for money?”
Working so hard before fully recovering—Xia Xialan thought Jim must have some unspoken difficulties.
Jim nodded frankly, “Who wouldn’t want more money? You’re a long-time client. You trust me, and I likewise trust you quite a bit.”
For clients, finding reliable private investigators isn’t easy.
For investigators, generous clients are equally rare.
“Alright then, help me keep watching someone for a while longer.”
Mrs. Wilson waiting outside the airport today couldn’t have just been to scold Xia Xiaolan. With only two months left in America, Xia Xiaolan didn’t want to suffer any unexpected setbacks or be trapped by the Wilsons again.
Xia Xiaolan explained the Wilson couple’s situation:
“This assignment is hard to describe. I suspect they might try to harm me, but it’s difficult to say whether through underhanded tricks or physical harm.”
So it’s surveillance of target subjects?
Jim’s chest wound throbbed faintly. He knew Xia Xiaolan’s assignments wouldn’t be easy… but exciting and profitable—this was far more interesting than catching cheating spouses!
But regarding physical harm, Jim wasn’t too arrogant:
“I can watch the Wilsons as you mentioned, but I can’t perform two roles. I suggest you hire two bodyguards.”
Hire bodyguards?
Going to Cornell University with bodyguards didn’t seem very appropriate.
Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “No need for bodyguards. The main concern is preventing them from setting me up. You know I’m not a U.S. citizen—I don’t have many rights here.”
Just getting through these last two months safely would be enough.
Jim remembered the people who had saved him before.
Those people were truly powerful. Having one of them protect Xia wouldn’t be bad—perhaps she had other arrangements?
Jim and Xia Xiaolan were perfectly in sync, neither mentioning how Pan Baohua’s people had rescued Jim before.
After seeing Jim off, Xia Xialan could put one worry to rest.
Jim’s investigation of Zhang Jiadong had nearly cost him his life. Since he was an investigator introduced by Wen Manni, how could Xia Xiaolan not treat him well?
The total payments to Jim amounted to tens of thousands of dollars—Jim rarely encountered such big business.
But what did it matter?
Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t lose out.
Xu Zhongyi’s investment of $1.5 million plus the building at No. 45 Erqi Square allowed Xia Xialan to own 18% of the Commercial City Asia Mall shares. Setting aside sentiment and looking purely from an economic perspective, hadn’t her investment in the “finding relatives” matter brought more than tenfold returns?
“Must sell the 18% Asia Mall shares before the big shots become too full of themselves,”
Xia Xiaolan muttered to herself.
Jim’s earlier mention of taking care of the baby reminded Xia Xiaolan of Zhou Yi.
By rights, she should visit Zhou Yi at the language school during her trip back to China.
But Xia Xiaolan was too exhausted, falling onto the bed and drifting off without getting up again. Before falling asleep, she wondered: the agreement with Qi Wei was about to expire—had Zhou Yi passed the Level 106 test?
…
“Zhou Yi, you can do it!”
Though Qi Wei had dark skin, she was full of positive energy.
Since working together at the Chinese restaurant, their friendship has grown stronger. Qi Wei not only looked after her in the kitchen but also helped tremendously with her studies.
Finding people to practice speaking English with her.
Accompanying her in morning study sessions, and accompanying her in evening study sessions.
From 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, every minute of Zhou Yi’s day was packed full without gaps.
Following the schedule Qi Wei made, Zhou Yi had her study and work time planned out clearly.
In a 24-hour day, if Zhou Yi arranged it herself, she’d effectively use less than 8 hours.
But with Qi Wei arranging it, aside from the necessary 6 hours of sleep, she seemed able to study at all times… Even during morning washing up, Qi Wei thought she could memorize vocabulary simultaneously.
Qi Wei told her that each day had many fragments of time—five minutes here, ten minutes there. It might not sound like much, seeming to pass quickly with small tasks or daydreaming, but if you utilized these fragments, the countless “five minutes” wasted each day could be used to memorize how many words, how many example sentences, how many grammar points?
This made so much damn sense!
Zhou Yi wasn’t ignorant.
She wasn’t stupid as a pig either.
She just hadn’t felt pressure before and hadn’t had the motivation to improve.
Later when she wanted to change, with no one supervising, people with weak self-discipline found it hard to study wholeheartedly. Even when reading, how did her mind wander so quickly? Zhou Yi felt anxious about this too.
She had been away from the school environment too long—how could someone who had worked for years maintain the pure focus of student days?
More distracting thoughts meant lower efficiency.
Qi Wei had practically taken over the teacher’s job, monitoring Zhou Yi around the clock. With nowhere to hide, Zhou Yi faced Qi Wei’s constantly changing methods of motivation. Encouragement, criticism, switching tactics every few days to prevent Zhou Yi from slacking… Hard work pays off—Zhou Yi, this university dropout, had been reporting frequent victories lately, already passing the Level 105 English proficiency test.
By this time, Zhou Yi was approaching her third month in America.
Only 2 days remained in Qi Wei’s two-month “probation period” given by Xia Xiaolan.
Today, Zhou Yi will take the Level 106 test. Zhou Yi herself was relaxed about it—for her, passing Level 105 in such a short time was already impressive.
If she didn’t pass Level 106 today, she could try again next month. One test didn’t determine her fate.
For Qi Wei, however, it held great significance.
Qi Wei wished she could peel off Zhou Yi’s skin and wear it herself, take the test for her, and pass Level 106 in one go!
“Zhou Yi, listen to me. As long as you perform well, there won’t be any problems. If you pass the Level 106 test today, I’ll treat you to a feast!”
Qi Wei usually ate leftover food from the Chinese restaurant’s kitchen.
So did Zhou Yi, of course.
Zhou Yi, also used to eating leftovers, licked her lips, “Qi Wei, you’re so good to me!”
Making such a generous promise of a feast to encourage her to do well on the test—so thoughtful.
Qi Wei wanted to cry. Who the hell wants to treat anyone? Sometimes Qi Wei envied Zhou Yi’s good fortune. While others accompanied princes in their studies, Qi Wei was the princess’s companion! How many times had she wanted to slam this idiot Zhou Yi’s head on the desk, wanted to splash ink on her, wanted to stab her with a pen, wanted to spit in her food… All endured just for the law school opportunity!