Thorned flower!
Chen Xiaolian’s eyes quickly narrowed!
Thorned flower… could it be the Thorned Flower Guild?
Miao Yan… is connected to the Thorned Flower Guild!
Chen Xiaolian exchanged glances with Roddy. A cold chill secretly ran down his spine. He then asked cautiously. “Then? Did this person re-appear to contact you again?”
“No,” The Countess shook her head. “Later on, which was one month ago in Tokyo, I met you. There, you mistook me for this ‘Miao Yan’ woman.”
Chen Xiaolian frowned.
The Countess slowly reached for her cup. Taking a small sip, she observed Chen Xiaolian’s eyes. “Well then, I have already answered many of your questions. For fairness sake, don’t you think you should answer my questions now?”
“What do you want to ask?” Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows.
The Countess slowly placed down her cup. “I want to know, who exactly is this Miao Yan?”
As she was raising the question, she was also carefully observing Chen Xiaolian’s expression and eyes. It appeared that she was trying to decipher something from there…
Chen Xiaolian entered a deep state of silence.
This question was a difficult one to answer!
After sorting out the mess and considering the right words to say, Chen Xiaolian answered. “She is a friend of mine. We had once experienced some stuff together.”
The Countess’ eyes revealed traces of curiosity. Her tone became more peculiar as she continued asking. “Ah… you mean to say, she is your girlfriend?”
Girlfriend?!
“Of course not!” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. “That is not what I meant.”
The Countess’s eyes turned cold and she appeared dissatisfied. “Mister, I am not trying to invade your privacy. As a real aristocrat, I am not interested in infringing upon the private lives of others,” Pausing, she continued with a solemn tone. “However, this matter is now somehow related to me. Thus, I have to inquire about it.”
“I can only say, Miao Yan and I are not in that kind of relationship,” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “More accurately, we could be considered as temporary partners. We had helped each other before to accomplish a certain matter.”
“Partners… you mean the both of you engaged in a business transaction together?”
“You may consider it as a business transaction, but you may also consider it as not one,” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “It would be more accurate to say that I still owe her a favour.”
The Countess deliberately formed a smile on her face. She said coolly. “I have reason to believe that you should have quite the deep level of connection with her. Otherwise, you would not have appeared so excited to see me back in Tokyo. Additionally… you actually came all the way to London to find me.”
“I’m afraid you are mistaken,” Chen Xiaolian quickly interrupted her. “I did not come here to find you. This encounter is simply a coincidence.”
“Oh?” The Countess laughed. “Then, you really came to find those two Asian girls? Ah, my butler informed me that you even attempted to bribe the staff members here with money. That was not an upright thing to do.”
Chen Xiaolian thought as he observed the tranquil look on the Countess’ face. He thought to himself: This woman is not as simple as her appearance would lead us to believe! Her true thoughts might be at a far deeper level!
She clearly knew what he and Roddy were doing here. Yet she deliberately said something else to mislead them.
“If you are looking for someone, I may be able to render some assistance,” The Countess spoke in a calm voice as she seated herself steadily. “Naturally, this assistance is not for free. We will make an exchange. I wish to know more about this Miao Yan.”
Chen Xiaolian considered her proposal.
“I noticed something. Back then, when I was talking about the part where my memories were ‘interrupted’, I saw that the way you reacted,” The Countess slowly said. “I noticed that you appear surprised.”
“Naturally, this is originally an unusual occurrence in and of itself. What’s wrong with showing a surprised expression?” Chen Xiaolian smiled.
“Of course something is wrong!” The Countess narrowed her eyes – when she narrowed her eyes, her pair of smiling eyes formed two curves and came to resemble two crescent moons. However, what she said next caused Chen Xiaolian to become surprised.
“The expression of surprise on your face was not those that conveyed the words ‘to think something like this could actually happen’. It was more of an ‘as expected’ look,” The Countess said coolly. “Do not attempt to deceive me. I am a bridge game expert. Inspecting the subtle changes in my opponent’s face is something I am very good at.”
Pausing, she then stared directly at Chen Xiaolian’s eyes. “In other words, compared to normal people, you have a different view and reaction toward the interruptions memories that I am suffering from. Your reaction appeared to indicate: This situation is something that is consistent with what you had expected. Additionally, it would appear that you know more about it.”
This woman is very clever!
Chen Xiaolian warned himself inwardly.
It had to be said, Miao Yan had given herself a very good Exclusive Account. This Exclusive Account was born an aristocrat with a beautiful appearance and a brilliant mind.
A pity… no matter how outstanding she may be, she was only an Exclusive Account.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Did my guess hit the mark? Or are you hesitating on whether to cooperate with me or not?” The Countess smiled softly. “I forgot to tell you this. If you really want to look for someone here, I can probably assist you in a huge way. In this place, if you want to find information, bribery would not be able to help you achieve your objective. For me, on the other hand, finding information is very easy… you see, from a certain perspective, our current location can be considered as something that belongs to me.”
Roddy and Chen Xiaolian turned to look at the Countess at the same time.
The Countess’ face expressed a certain modesty. However, a trace of aristocratic pride seeped out from her eyes. “Naturally, I do not fully own this place, just a portion of its shares – a very huge portion. This portion gives me sufficient authority and voice to help you out.”
The way this woman was speaking exhibited the sense of emphasis seen in those traditional aristocrats. However, her conditions were very enticing for Chen Xiaolian.
Finding Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo was the most important thing to do!
As for this Countess… her other identity was Miao Yan. As for Chen Xiaolian, after having speculated that Miao Yan was a Player, he actually did not want to approach this person… after all; his position and that of Players were natural opposites.
At present however, they had a more important matter at hand.
Chen Xiaolian did not say anything. He retrieved his mobile phone and selected the picture with Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo before placing it on the surface of the table.
“I am looking for these two. From what I was able to gather, these two are most likely within this club,” Chen Xiaolian said. “If you can help me with this…”
The Countess did not hesitate at all. She gently picked up a bell from the side of the table and rang it. Then, the door of the lounge opened and the middle-aged butler made a dashing bow as he stood by the door. “Mistress, how may I assist you?”
“Stewart, go check and see if our club have been playing host to some Asian guests, two of which are two young girls. Once you get their information, come inform me about it at once.”
Chen Xiaolian watched as the butler known as Stewart bowed before making his exit. Chen Xiaolian then turned around to face the Countess.
This woman was no ordinary woman. Additionally, she had quite the way of doing things. Although she wanted information from him, she did not use this matter to force that information out of him. Instead, she had ordered her men to go inquire information about the matter first.
From this point, it could be seen that she possessed the bearing of one who could accomplish great things.
If she had said things like “If you do not tell me what I want to know, then I will not help you find those two”, then that would have meant that she was a petty person.
“Please help yourselves to some tea,” The Countess smiled softly. “We still have quite some time, don’t we? Ah, you are from the east. Perhaps you are not accustomed to red Ceylon tea. If there is a need, I can get them to bring over two cups of green tea.”
“No need to go to such troubles,” Chen Xiaolian shook his head.
Roddy looked at the Countess and asked. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“What I want to ask is about… you are a Chinese. However, you are also a British aristocrat.”
“A Countess. Countess Norman,” The Countess smiled gently. “Oh, I do not mind being asked this question at all. Truth be told, this is a question I always get from people in social gatherings. I am quite used to it.”
Pausing, she slowly continued. “I do indeed have Oriental blood flowing in me. My great-grandfather was once a high-ranking official of the Great Britain who served in the Far East. He served in both India and East Asia. During WWII, he had also gone over to your country before as a military adviser. There, he had cooperated with a general of your country to resist the Japanese together. Unfortunately, the general ended up being killed in action. Due to the great friendship formed between my great-grandfather and the general during the course of the war, my great-grandfather adopted both the boy and girl of the general and brought them both back with him when he returned to England.
“My great-grandfather did not have heirs of his own. Thus, the boy and girl of the Chinese general became his heirs. The boy came to inherit my great-grandfather’s family business and position. That boy was my grandfather. In the 1960s, my grandfather then married an international student who came from Yuwan Bay. They gave birth to my father who married someone who went to Cambridge University together with him. That someone was an England born woman and my mother.
“Thus, half the blood flowing through my body shares the same origin with you two.”
“A story full of twists and turns, but also a very touching one,” Chen Xiaolian said softly. “However, appearance wise, you look more like a Chinese.”
The story was indeed filled with twists and turns and was very touching.
However, Chen Xiaolian was visited by a peculiar feeling.
He felt: The damned Development Team sure did put in quite the effort when they were creating this high-class Exclusive Account for the High-class Player, Miao Yan!
They made such a tortuous and complicated character setting!
That is right, it’s the character’s setting! They actually made up such an elaborate and complicated setting for this character.
This is what you call treatment for High-class Players…