Chapter 293: Am I next?

In the afternoon, a Cadillac drove out of Brighton, via Interstate 44 to Lexington, and finally pulled into Tiger Uncle's archway villa. Hoover got out of the car and, led by the villa servant, walked into the side building and into Tiger Uncle's study.

Uncle Hu was standing in front of his desk, wielding a brush and splashing ink. Hoover did not dare to disturb him, so he consciously stepped aside, found a chair and sat down quietly. After a while, when Uncle Hu had thrown away an unknown number of sheets of rice paper, he finally finished.

'In the evening, I feel uneasy and drive up to the ancient plain; the sunset is beautiful, but it's getting close to dusk.'

Uncle Hu sighed, picked up the calligraphy he had written with both hands, which was precisely Li Shangyin's 'Ascending Leyou Plain'.

Seeing this, Hoover knew that Uncle Hu had finished writing, so he got up from his chair. But before he could say anything, Uncle Hu spoke first: 'In the Sierra Nevada mountains there is such a magical waterfall. In the setting sun, the water pouring down the waterfall looks like burning lava, and it is very spectacular. But unfortunately, this great sight is only fleeting, and it will end in the evening of this day.'

Uncle Hu said, turning to Hoover, 'Just like us old folks, whatever we have in our hands, we'll take it to the grave with us.'

Hoover hurriedly said, 'Uncle Hu, you're still in good health, you'll definitely become a centenarian.'

'A centenarian? That's what I hope too, but who can say for sure about these things? Maybe I'll live to be over a hundred, or maybe I'll suddenly pass away tomorrow next year. So while I'm still alive, I'll do as much as I can.'

Uncle Hu sighed and saw that Hoover still wanted to say something, but he said first, 'Never mind that. You came here today especially to bring me some good news? About Zhou Ming, that little guy.'

Hoover nodded and said, 'Yes, Uncle Hu, it's about Zhou Ming. Everything is as you expected. When Lawrence replaced Zhou Ming at the last minute as the freshman representative to speak at the opening ceremony, and when the news of your meeting with Zhou Ming was spread, all the forces in Brighton could not sit still. They all contacted Zhou Ming through their spokespersons on the Harvard campus.'

'Just this morning, several major associations, including the Student Government Association, the Harvard Union Society, and the Ivy League Association, all dispatched their representatives to invite Zhou Ming in person. I also heard that their arranged class advisor, Jie La, seems to have contacted Zhou Ming alone. My initial inference is that it may be Nordleman working for the Harvard Foundation Institute.'

Hoover thought for a moment and added: 'There's another point. The original freshman representative, Millard, also expressed dissatisfaction with Zhou Ming. This morning, he led a group of people to block Zhou Ming at the entrance to the Economics Department, trying to humiliate Zhou Ming.'

'In the end, he didn't succeed, and he was even humiliated by Zhou Ming instead, right?' Uncle Hu asked.

Hoover nodded and said, 'That's it.'

'It seems that the Millard family's influence is not very strong. The governor himself, during his campaign, even used his son as a prop in his speeches. He trained him carefully, but it was useless. Millard Jr. just couldn't hold his temper.'

Uncle Hu said a few words and then asked Hoover, 'What about Zhou Ming? He must have called you to complain, right?'

'That's why I came to see you today, Uncle Hu,' Hoover said. 'Zhou Ming... hasn't called me.'

This answer surprised Uncle Hu very much: 'You're saying that after all this happened, Zhou Ming didn't call you?'

Hoover nodded and replied, 'No, or at least not yet.'

'Such a phone call must have been made at the beginning. Since there hasn't been one so far, it means there won't be one again. I believe that kid has come to his senses.'

Uncle Hu was delighted: 'I never thought that this Zhou Ming could be so calm. After so many things have happened, and all because of me, he can still hold back from complaining, and he hasn't even called. This is really unlike a young person, and even many people in their forties and fifties can't do it, let alone that young Millard. Comparing him to Zhou Ming is, I think, an insult to Zhou Ming.'

...

Meanwhile, on the Harvard campus southeast of Lexington, Ming Zhou was sitting on the balcony of his dormitory, drinking tea.

His phone was on the nearby coffee table. This morning, Zhou Ming had already dialed the number and pressed the send button, but before the call connected, he hung up.

'In fact, it's no big deal for a young person to make a phone call and complain a little. At most, it will make Mr. Tiger disappointed with me a little, which is also no big deal. Maybe I will even get lucky because of this. But unfortunately, if you don't have the habit, you just don't have the habit,'

Zhou Ming said self-deprecatingly. Suddenly, the door to the room was knocked on. Zhou Ming got up and went to open the door. He saw ** come over with a white student. Of course, Zhou Ming knew this white student. He was Danny, the chairman who had invited him to join the Student Government Association in the morning at the door of the Economics Department.

Zhou Ming wanted to invite Danny in, but Danny invited Zhou Ming to go for a walk. A few minutes later, they were walking together on Harvard's main road.

Danny glanced back at the bodyguard who had been following them** and said to Ming, 'Very good bodyguard. I don't know what it's like in China, but in the United States, anyone with a bodyguard is either a high-ranking politician or a wealthy tycoon.'

'Actually, that's not important,' Ming easily changed the subject, 'Compared to that, I'm more curious about the purpose of Chairman Danny's sudden visit.'

'It's the same as this morning. I hope that you, Zhou Ming, can join the student union,' Danny added, "but you don't have to call me Chairman Danny, just call me Danny.'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Okay, Danny, but I think I made it very clear this morning that I have already joined the Chinese Students Association and it is inconvenient for me to join other clubs, because that would be equivalent to betrayal. I'm sorry for using such a word, but that's how it would appear.'

'That's why I asked you out, Ming Zhou,' Danny pointed around, 'You see, Harvard campus is actually very big, there's even a bigger main campus on the other side of the Charles River, and you can only see it when you walk out of your dormitory. So likewise, you've only joined the Chinese Students Association, and I know you're very patriotic, which is a great virtue to be proud of, but I don't think that prevents you from joining more and better associations, just as living in a dormitory doesn't prevent you from going out for a walk every day.'

'This is a very interesting analogy, Danny, but you can't convince me with just that.' Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then continued, "Unless there's something else you want to tell me, Danny.'

Hearing this, Danny suddenly stopped in his tracks. After a moment of silence, he said, "It seems that it wasn't a coincidence that you were able to temporarily replace Millard as the freshman representative to give a speech at the opening ceremony. You really do have your own abilities. Then I won't beat around the bush with you. The reason I came to see you is that I really hope to invite you to join the student union, but more than that, I hope to cooperate with you.'

'Cooperation?' Zhou Ming said in surprise.

'Yes, cooperation,' Danny said. 'I think you should know that Harvard is not just a university. The elites of the world are here, and many elite consortia are eager to recruit talent from here. All the clubs here are supported by the consortia to a greater or lesser extent.'

'Yes, I know all this.' Zhou Ming looked at Danny and asked, 'So Danny, what about the student union?'

Danny looked at Zhou Ming with meaning and asked in return, 'Are you asking me or the student union?'

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow: 'What's the difference?'

'Of course there is a difference. If you are asking about the student union, then this is a student organisation of the Harvard University administration that is dedicated to helping the university better manage students. As the largest and most influential student organisation on Harvard campus, it is of course jointly funded by the Harvard administration and the Brighton Consortium.'

As Danny told Zhou Ming everything about the student union, Zhou Ming did not interrupt. It was not until he had finished speaking that Zhou Ming asked, 'So what about you, Danny?'

'Me? Of course I serve another consortium. It's just that compared to those other large consortia, my boss doesn't have that much wealth. So since you, Zhou Ming, are unwilling to join the student union, I have no choice but to talk to you about cooperation on behalf of my boss,' Danny said.

'Did I hear you correctly? You're talking about cooperation, not lobbying me to join your boss's consortium?' Zhou Ming asked.

'Of course you heard it right. I did say cooperation. It's because you are the one Mr. Tiger has his eye on. Although my boss doesn't know what Mr. Tiger and you talked about, he believes that you will definitely have your own consortium in the future and won't be willing to be subservient.' Danny said.

Zhou Ming asked with a meaningful "oh" sound, 'Why is he so sure? What if I say that Mr. Tiger hasn't given me any help?'

'It's all the same,' Danny said. "Because all people who have been treated this way can develop very well. Of course, due to my limited age, I don't know much about the past. I only know that just two years ago, there was also a person like you who was interviewed by Mr. Tiger. At that time, he had just established a fund company with only a few million dollars in operating capital. But the next year, he was able to fund the mayoral election in Brighton.'

'That's really a legend," Ming said. 'So what happened next?'

'Later?' Danny sighed and said, "Unfortunately, this person was too sharp and attracted the attention of the wrong people. After the mayoral election was over, he was found dead in his apartment.'

Zhou Ming noticed Danny's choice of words: "found dead?'

Danny nodded and said, 'It was a suicide, because the police investigation concluded that it was a suicide, and everything in the apartment looked like a suicide. But in reality, only God knows what really happened.'

Zhou Ming said that he understood. If that person really had provoked the wrong person, and the other party wanted a professional killer to get rid of him, it would not be difficult to create the illusion of a suicide, especially if the other party was a super consortium. Under pressure, the police would not investigate further.

'So according to you, I will be next?' Zhou Ming asked.