"Don't move!"
The black-haired girl's travel bag had already dropped from her left hand, while her right hand—previously hidden behind her back—instantly pointed forward, revealing another handgun. Her left hand quickly supported her gun-wielding right hand, her expression deadly serious.
"Hehe, just a realistic toy water gun."
The youth pointed his gun upward, and with a crisp snap, a water pellet hit the ceiling.
Lighting his cigarette and sitting back in his chair with crossed legs, the youth continued examining Xia Yan's body curves with brazen interest.
Xia Yan kept her eyes fixed on him, slowly lowering her gun-wielding hand as her expression gradually relaxed: "Your action just now was very dangerous. Weren't you afraid I'd shoot directly?"
"People who get introduced to me—oh wait, vampires—aren't they all afraid of death and at their wit's end? Facing the only way out, isn't some hesitation normal?"
The youth blew smoke rings carelessly.
Xia Yan also smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying.
"Mr. Zhong, I need your help."
After a moment, Xia Yan put away her gun, stepped back slightly, and bowed lightly to him before pulling out the business card Huang Gu had given her from her jeans pocket.
"Isn't Huang Gu in D City? How do you two know each other? I still don't know this young lady's name."
The youth tossed his barely-smoked cigarette into the ashtray with a mischievous smile.
"That's not important, is it?" Xia Yan pulled over a nearby chair and sat across from Zhong Jing. "My... sister and I need new identities."
"Mm, Huang Gu already called ahead to give me a heads up. Since the other person didn't come, you can fill out both forms."
With that, Zhong Jing pulled two forms from a drawer while opening a new computer.
Looking at the serious application forms before her, Xia Yan was stunned.
"Our company is a legitimate high-end service organization—professional, trustworthy, and confidential for clients." Zhong Jing grinned while his hands flew rapidly across the keyboard.
A one-man high-end company... Xia Yan grimaced but said nothing more, picking up a pen and slowly filling out the information.
Deliberately using standard script, writing each stroke neatly and very slowly. Meanwhile, she secretly activated the lowest level of blood-boiling according to the control techniques Huang Gu had roughly taught her.
Her scent-like perception seemed to magnify hundreds of times in that moment, with various particles in the air beginning to categorize themselves clearly in her mind.
Mundane human?
Xia Yan's pen paused as she slowly looked up with slight surprise at the young man's back as he rummaged through a small refrigerator behind his desk.
"Have some water... Oh? Characterless standard script—you're very cautious..."
The youth turned around, pushing a glass of pale red liquid across the desk while his eyes fell on the form Xia Yan was writing.
Looking at the pale red liquid before her, Xia Yan frowned slightly, catching the most familiar scent of recent days.
"Don't you think our company is very considerate? I added a few drops—Type O blood too. Hope it suits your taste."
Zhong Jing sat back in his computer chair, still grinning at the black-haired girl.
Xia Yan looked away and continued filling out the form while moving her lips: "No thank you, I only drink plain water."
Hehe, a blood servant infected just a few days ago with quite a tough personality—an interesting person... Zhong Jing said nothing more, lit another cigarette, and quietly waited for her to finish writing.
...
More than ten minutes later, Xia Yan looked up and pushed both forms forward.
"Jiang Yan, twenty years old, Jiang Yao eighteen years old... Eh, you're already twenty? Never mind, won't pry into a lady's age... Mm, identity address chosen as Y City... Wait a moment, let me have someone check."
With business at hand, Zhong Jing also put away his cynical expression, his hands dancing with amazing speed, the keyboard sounds crisp and powerful.
After sitting idly for half an hour, Zhong Jing finally closed the computer and picked up the forms again: "In all of S Province, there are over 160 people named Jiang Yan, and even more named Jiang Yao—over 300, hey, even a few men!"
With that, Zhong Jing annotated a few notes on the forms and made several flourishing corrections: "I suggest the new identities still be from districts under C City, mainly because of your accent—it's still somewhat different from Y City. Also, once you become a vampire, fingerprints will change, but I still recommend minimizing contact with network terminal devices requiring fingerprint verification."
The youth before her was obviously no worse than herself on detail issues, but Xia Yan's mind wandered.
Brother, I don't want to change my name... I... I don't want to forget the past like Huang Gu…
In her mind, she recalled Gu Yao's almost pleading tone before leaving, and Xia Yan closed her eyes slightly.
Jiang was the surname of the old director grandmother at the orphanage—ultimately not a symbol completely severed from past life.
"Um... Miss Jiang?"
The youth's slightly puzzled voice reached her ears. Xia Yan quickly returned to normal with a calm tone: "Sorry... Thank you, Mr. Zhong. What about ID card photos?"
As if anticipating this need, Zhong Jing pulled out a phone from the drawer and handed it to Xia Yan: "This phone is very safe. The number holder's real information is from another province, and the email is already set up. Take photos and send them to me later—I'll handle the rest. New ID cards will take about a few days. I'll contact you through this phone, so remember to send me the delivery address after you find a place to stay."
"This fast?" Xia Yan was stunned.
Zhong Jing shrugged with a smug expression: "Efficiency is also one of my principles! When you grab Spring Festival travel tickets, aren't there various paid express services too?"
With that, his gaze drifted to the travel bag Xia Yan had left on the sofa, revealing a sly look: "That'll be 800,000 yuan."
"..."
Xia Yan's expression changed several times, and for the first time she somewhat awkwardly avoided his gaze.
Lowering her head slightly, her voice became much quieter: "Sorry, I don't have that much cash. This card—if Mr. Zhong can withdraw money safely, consider it payment. There's one million in the card, I'll write the password for you..."
"Oh? Didn't Huang Gu tell you about the fees?"
Slowly picking up the bank card from the desk, Zhong Jing's smile was meaningful: "One million? Miss Jiang must have been quite capable before. Mm, very smart and security-conscious... I'll trust you too. I'll have someone withdraw the money from the card in Hong Kong. But there's an additional 100,000 yuan running fee, so 900,000 total. I can give you the remaining 100,000 right now."
Opening the drawer and rummaging around, ten neatly bundled stacks of hundred-yuan bills were placed on the desk.
"Mr. Zhong trusts what I said so easily—aren't you afraid there's no money in that card?"
Xia Yan pulled over her travel bag, put the money inside, and turned back with a slight smile before leaving.
"There are seventeen pinhole cameras here, voice recorders, all data transmitted in real-time to specific servers for storage. A newborn blood servant can't afford the consequences of playing clever tricks here."
Zhong Jing lit his cigarette with a smile, looking completely relaxed: "Thank you again for visiting our shop. Take care, Miss Jiang."
Nodding silently, Xia Yan left the room without looking back.
The door closed gently. Zhong Jing's smile gradually faded as he returned to his computer chair and pulled out his phone.
"Huang Gu, the person you introduced is really interesting—actually gave money, haha... Don't, don't expose it either, it's quite fun...
"Mm, very cautious and composed, completely unlike a newborn vampire. I think she'd look even better with a different outfit!"
Probably habitually going off-topic again, the other party hung up immediately. Zhong Jing grimaced, tossed his phone aside, opened his computer, and logged into some 2D culture game. (TN: Could be literally anything)
Looking at various 2D anime girls with different poses and expressions, Zhong Jing's eyes lit up somewhat comically.