17 - Matchmaker
With Xia Siyu personally leading the way, Yang Qing's onboarding went smoothly.
After taking Yang Qing to the employee dormitory, Xia Siyu prepared to leave due to her company responsibilities.
Seeing this, Yang Qing hesitated but then impulsively asked, "Sister, can you tell me why your relationship with Hao-ge is so strained?"
Xia Siyu's brows furrowed instantly.
She hated when others discussed her and Jiang Hao's relationship. Yet, Yang Qing's sincere expression made it difficult for her to respond harshly.
"I don't like him," Xia Siyu said honestly after some thought.
This response surprised Yang Qing.
In her impression, Jiang Hao seemed nearly flawless.
Unable to understand, she cautiously asked, "Why? Hao-ge is so good; you two are practically made for each other!"
Xia Siyu fell silent.
She knew that Jiang Hao might be her best option. In the past, she had despised the way he looked at her, hated the almost warped possessiveness in his gaze.
But now, those feelings were gone. Through the situation with Yang Qing, she had seen Jiang Hao's kind side.
Even so, the long-standing resentment didn't vanish just because of these small changes.
There was another reason she disliked Jiang Hao: she didn't want to be a victim of her family's arranged marriage, even if her fiancé was an excellent match. She refused to compromise.
At this moment, a thought suddenly flashed in Xia Siyu's mind as she looked at Yang Qing.
If something really happened between Jiang Hao and Yang Qing, wouldn't she be free?
Even Xia Guodong couldn't criticize her in such a situation!
A woman's intuition told Xia Siyu that Yang Qing definitely had feelings for Jiang Hao. This scenario was entirely possible.
"Yang Qing, what do you think of Jiang Hao?" Xia Siyu asked, her expression now warm and friendly.
"He's great! He's a genuinely good person!"
"I mean, do you like Jiang Hao?" Xia Siyu cut straight to the point.
Hearing this, Yang Qing's face turned bright red.
"Yang Qing, happiness is something you have to fight for yourself."
Xia Siyu smiled mischievously and gently encouraged, "To be honest, I don't have any feelings for Jiang Hao. The engagement was something arranged by our elders! It's as much a torment for me as it is for him."
Yang Qing wasn't naive; she instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Xia Siyu's words.
So, here's the question: if she had the approval of Jiang Hao's fiancée, did that mean she could…
But thinking about her own circumstances, Yang Qing became disheartened.
One was a wealthy second-generation heir, while the other came from a poor family. The gap between them was glaringly obvious.
"It's the modern era—love is about mutual feelings!" Xia Siyu saw through Yang Qing's thoughts and continued persuading her.
At an age where one often acts recklessly, Yang Qing quickly started to waver.
Finally, she looked at Xia Siyu with a determined expression, as if making a bold decision for the first time, and asked, "Can I really like him?"
"Of course you can! I'd be thrilled if you could take him off my hands—it would set me free!" Xia Siyu replied without hesitation.
"But I still feel like you and Hao-ge are a better match."
"…"
Jiang Hao, of course, was unaware of the conversation between the two women.
For the past few days, he had been restless in the Jiang family villa.
Although the main character Ye Feng had appeared, Jiang Hao still couldn't locate him. Even with the resources of the Jiang family, Ye Feng remained elusive!
At that moment, Jiang Hao recalled a detail from the original novel about Ye Feng.
As a special forces soldier who often carried out classified missions, Ye Feng had a natural instinct to hide himself, even subconsciously avoiding surveillance cameras on the streets!
"This protagonist halo is ridiculous!" Jiang Hao muttered in frustration.
Not being able to locate Ye Feng was bad news—it meant things could spiral out of his control.
"Counterattack Points +50!"
The system prompt brightened Jiang Hao's mood slightly.
For some reason, even though he hadn't done much lately, he had been earning small amounts of counterattack value from Yang Qing every day.
"Host, Yang Qing's affection for you has been steadily increasing. Now is the perfect time to 'conquer' her!" the system's voice echoed in his mind.
By "conquer," it meant taking their relationship to the next level emotionally.
In the past few days, Jiang Hao had earned nearly 300 counterattack points from Yang Qing. If he succeeded in conquering her, the rewards would be even greater.
"Now's not the time," Jiang Hao replied.
The system was puzzled. Yang Qing's affection level was already high enough—why wasn't it the right time?
"There's potential to pursue Yang Qing now, but doing so would completely close the door on any chance of pursuing Xia Siyu!" Jiang Hao explained his reasoning.
His ultimate goal wasn't to focus on just one person. He needed to think big!
If Xia Siyu found out about anything between him and Yang Qing, her strong-willed nature would drive her to sever ties with him as quickly as possible.
All his recent efforts would go to waste, with no chance to recover!
Understanding this, the system finally got the point.
"System, is there a way to locate Ye Feng?" Jiang Hao suddenly asked.
"As the protagonist, Ye Feng cannot be discovered unless he reveals himself," the system replied.
"Tsk!"
Jiang Hao became irritable again. Waiting around like this was unbearable.
Since neither the Jiang family nor the system could help, he had only one option left...
Follow the original storyline to find him!
In the novel, Ye Feng had an old flame in Liu City, nicknamed "Matchmaker."
The novel described how they had met abroad and shared many unspeakable moments together.
Jiang Hao despised "Matchmaker." She was a shameless woman, someone who indulged in countless affairs and saw men as mere tools for her pleasure.
To "Matchmaker," Ye Feng was just a slightly special tool among many.
Very few people in Liu City knew Matchmaker's real name. She ran several bars, appearing to run legitimate businesses, and wasn't part of any underground organizations.
However, only Jiang Hao knew the truth.
Matchmaker was an assassin! A once-renowned killer abroad who had almost taken Ye Feng's life!
She was an extremely dangerous person, and Jiang Hao would rather avoid any dealings with her if possible.
But now, he had no choice.
If he wanted to find Ye Feng, Matchmaker was his best lead.
After making up his mind, Jiang Hao opened his attribute panel and used the counterattack points he'd recently earned to upgrade his combat skills.
Although he didn't plan to confront Matchmaker directly, it was better to be prepared. If something unexpected happened, Matchmaker wouldn't hesitate to attack him despite his status!
Spending most of his counterattack points, Jiang Hao quickly raised his combat skills to Level 5.
With some points left, he decided to try upgrading further.
"Operation failed! With your current physical attributes, it's impossible to surpass an ordinary human!" the system prompted.
Jiang Hao finally understood.
Level 5 was the maximum skill level an ordinary person could achieve. To go beyond, he would need to increase his physical attribute points.
"In that case, let's put one point into charisma!" Jiang Hao decided.
"Operation failed! Unlike skills, one point of a physical attribute requires 100 counterattack points to increase from 1 to 2!"