An hour later, Jiang Shining stood at the entrance of Wanda Plaza.
According to the plot, her wealthy father was supposed to arrive in City Z today. It was here that he would encounter an assassination attempt from a business rival. After being injured in the attack, he would recuperate in the hospital for half a month, setting the stage for the original host’s car accident later on.
Her phone vibrated.
Jiang Shining glanced at the caller ID and answered directly, “Hello, Sister Zhang?”
“What time is it? Hurry up! You’re the only one who hasn’t checked in yet!”
Sister Zhang’s furious voice erupted from the other end of the line.
Caught off guard, Jiang Shining felt her ears were about to burst.
Without changing her expression, she moved the phone slightly away from her ear, waiting for Sister Zhang’s agitated voice to gradually subside.
Only then did Jiang Shining speak, “Sister Zhang, I’m sorry. I just arrived at Wanda and will be there right away.”
She hung up the phone and headed straight for the shop across the street.
Baby’s Early Education Center
Jiang Shining had jogged all the way there and was still catching her breath when she arrived.
She pushed open the glass door.
A middle-aged woman sat on a stool with an impatient expression. Beside her were a set of green frog mascot costumes and a stack of flyers half a meter high.
“Sister Zhang.”
Jiang Shining called out to the middle-aged woman.
Sister Zhang looked at her, frowning as her gaze landed on Jiang Shining’s pretty face.
“You have no sense of time. What time is it now? You’re just arriving. The other part-timers have already been handing out flyers for five minutes.”
She was five minutes late.
But five minutes late was still late. Even as a part-timer, she was still a tardy temporary worker.
Jiang Shining didn’t bother making excuses. She apologized sincerely.
“Sorry, Sister Zhang. I woke up a few minutes late this morning.”
Sister Zhang looked at Jiang Shining, scrutinized her for a moment, and sighed. “Forget it. Go get to work first!”
Sister Zhang pointed to the stack of flyers nearby.
“This is your task for today. Make sure you finish handing them out.”
“Okay.” Jiang Shining nodded.
She picked up the thick stack of flyers from the stool and turned around, ready to start working.
Handing out flyers paid two hundred yuan a day. She had been doing this part-time job for a week now.
If everything went smoothly today, she could not only earn two hundred yuan but also coincidentally meet her wealthy father. If things went even better, she could return to the wealthy family and enjoy a comfortable life.
Thinking about it this way, she felt it was all worth it.
“Wait!”
Jiang Shining paused and turned around in confusion.
Sister Zhang pointed to the frog mascot costume nearby. “Put this on before you start handing out flyers.”
Uh.
“Sister Zhang, can I not wear it?”
Jiang Shining refused.
“No.” This time, Sister Zhang was firm. “You were the last one to arrive today. If you don’t wear it, who will? The higher-ups require a mascot person every day.”
“Sister Zhang…” Jiang Shining couldn’t bear to look at the frog head.
She was here to reunite with her family.
She was looking for “Where’s Daddy?” not “The Little Tadpole Looking for Its Mother.”
She already had a mother.
“Your wages for the week haven’t been settled yet. If you still want this week’s pay, put this on and then go hand out the flyers.”
“Wear the headpiece, and I’ll add fifty yuan to today’s pay.”
Sister Zhang shoved the frog headpiece into Jiang Shining’s arms.
“Put it on properly.”
“The higher-ups are supervising.”
Sister Zhang didn’t give Jiang Shining a chance to refuse either.
At the entrance of Wanda Plaza, a green-skinned frog person appeared.
Wearing the oversized headpiece, Jiang Shining could only observe her surroundings through the two holes in the costume.
“This is troublesome.”
Finding someone was already difficult enough, and now she had to wear this ridiculous costume.
A child passed by her side.
“Hello, would you like to learn about early education?” Jiang Shining handed over a flyer from her hand.
The child and the mother were taken aback but accepted it nonetheless.
Jiang Shining handed out one flyer and continued to observe, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the entrance of Wanda Plaza.
She had to distribute these flyers.
She needed to earn money—her mother still had to be taken care of.
And her father still had to be found.
Only then could she quickly escape this life of poverty.
Jiang Shining kept an eye on all the middle-aged men in their thirties, as well as the children.
Time passed bit by bit.
Jiang Shining gradually began to struggle.
It was already June, and the temperature had risen above thirty degrees Celsius. Inside the headpiece, it was stuffy and hot, and after a while, Jiang Shining started feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
Beneath the headpiece, Jiang Shining bit her lip.
Why hadn’t her father shown up yet?
The sun blazed overhead, and Jiang Shining felt unbearably stuffy and hot, making her whole body extremely uncomfortable.
Until a black Maybach parked about a hundred meters away from Jiang Shining.
A man in a suit and sunglasses stepped out of the driver’s seat and quickly walked to the back to open the door.
The car door swung open.
A pair of black leather shoes stepped onto the ground first, followed by the sight of the man’s impeccably tailored gray suit. His figure was tall and straight, exuding an aloof aura that kept others at a distance.
Time had left few traces on him. Jiang Shining only saw maturity, steadiness, and the commanding presence of someone in a position of power.
!!!
This kind of presence.
He stood out like a crane among chickens in the crowd—nine out of ten times, he was her father.
Jiang Shining’s eyes instantly lit up. She nervously swallowed, her gaze darting around rapidly.
Where was the criminal?
By now, quite a few people had gathered at the plaza entrance, but she hadn’t spotted any suspicious men.
And the middle-aged man was already moving in her direction.
The distance between them grew shorter and shorter.
Already hot, Jiang Shining was now so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead.
As the man was about to pass by her side, Jiang Shining didn’t want to wait any longer. Clutching the flyer in her hand, she took a few quick steps forward, spreading her arms to block the path of the group.
The group stopped, looking at her in confusion.
Jiang Shining knew she looked strange at that moment, but after waiting for three months, she absolutely couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
Gritting her teeth, she walked straight toward the middle-aged man at the front.
Just as she took a step, a bodyguard blocked her path.
“Mr. Gu, be careful.”
The surname Gu.
Jiang Shining was now almost certain of the middle-aged man’s identity.
Thinking this, she immediately reached for the frog headpiece on top of her head. However, the frog headpiece, which had been easy to put on earlier, now stubbornly refused to come off no matter how many times she tried to pull it.
The situation suddenly became rather awkward.
Gu Yan had come today to cut the ribbon for a newly opened store in a shopping mall in Z City, but he hadn’t expected to encounter a rather comical frog blocking his path even before entering the mall.
The heavy mascot costume seemed to make it impossible for the wearer to even remove the headpiece. Gu Yan couldn’t see any threat from the person inside. Based on experience, he guessed it might be a part-time university student.
He patted the shoulder of the bodyguard beside him, and the bodyguard lowered his hand.
Gu Yan took a step toward the frog. “Do you need help?”
Inside the frog costume, Jiang Shining paused for a moment, then nodded frantically.
What a kind soul!
Even before confirming her identity, he was willing to help her.
Gu Yan glanced at the bodyguard beside him, and the bodyguard stepped forward.
Then, Jiang Shining stuffed a large stack of early education flyers into the bodyguard’s hands.
The bodyguard stared at the “Baby’s Early Education” flyer in his hand: ?
Meanwhile, Jiang Shining, now free of the flyer, found it much more convenient. She gently lifted the headpiece with both hands and pulled it upward. In an instant, the cool air rushed against her face, and she let out a long, comfortable sigh.
“I—”
But before she could fully relax, she noticed the young man in a cap who had been playing with his phone nearby. He had somehow appeared behind the man opposite her, holding a sharp knife in his hand.
Seeing the intense murderous intent in the young man’s eyes, Jiang Shining’s breath caught, and her expression froze instantly.
“Watch out!”
Without a second thought, she pushed the future father aside.
Thud.
The scissors pierced the mascot costume.
Jiang Shining shuddered violently. At her feet, the frog headpiece fell to the ground with a clatter, rolling away.
Everyone was stunned.
The assailant stared blankly at the unexpected figure blocking his way.
Only when Jiang Shining’s body slowly slid to the ground did the surroundings erupt into frantic screams and cries of panic.
As the sharp knife was pulled out, a few tufts of cotton from the mascot costume floated into the air. Failing in his first attempt, the young man immediately turned his attention back to the middle-aged man beside him and swung the knife again.
Gu Yan took a step back. “Bodyguards.”
The two bodyguards had already reacted by then.
They swiftly positioned themselves in front of Gu Yan and subdued the assailant on the spot.
Gu Yan didn’t spare a glance for the young man on the ground. Instead, his gaze fell on the frog lady now lying on the floor.
Her jet-black hair spilled across the ground. The long hours spent in the stifling mascot costume had left Jiang Shining’s face covered in sweat. Her cheeks were flushed unnaturally as she slowly turned her head to look at the middle-aged man beside her.
She gave him a faint smile.
Gu Yan froze in place.
For a moment, it was as if he had seen the person from his memories.
“Jiang… Wan.”
He uttered her name.
However, Jiang Shining on the ground showed no reaction. Instead, she closed her eyes and fainted.