HBWMA -Chapter 294 The Power of the Zhou Family

After hanging up the phone, Su Miao turned and walked toward the corner.

There, she saw an unremarkable-looking girl surrounded by a group of upperclassmen. Su Miao recognized them—they were the “support club” girls who loved sticking close to Zhou Yanheng, constantly trying to gain attention and presence by hanging around him.

The girl leading them held an invitation card and casually tapped Su Yun’s face with it. Su Yun tried to turn her head away, but the girl only escalated, slapping her hand away and knocking off Su Yun’s black-framed glasses.

“Tsk tsk tsk, let me take a look~ She does have a bit of looks. No wonder even Young Master Guan is interested.”

The girl scrutinized Su Yun’s face as if she were inspecting merchandise.

“I advise you not to be ungrateful. Not just anyone gets an invitation like this. Be smart—if you can make Brother He happy, you’ll benefit too, won’t you?”

“If it’s so good, why don’t you go yourself?”

Before the girl could react, she was already shoved aside.

Su Miao didn’t even remember that she had once bumped into this girl before. She picked up the glasses from the ground and handed them back.

Su Yun froze for a moment, then lowered her head and took them silently.

The girl who was pushed originally wanted to strike back, but the moment she saw Su Miao’s face clearly, she immediately backed down.

Su Miao knew exactly what kind of people they were and waved them off. “Get lost.”

The girls’ attitude shifted 180 degrees instantly. “Miss Su, don’t make things difficult for us. This is Young Master Guan’s order.”

Su Miao snatched the invitation card from the girl’s hand. “Fine, I’ll take it for her. If Brother He wants to blame someone, tell him to come find me.”

Seeing this, the girls didn’t dare say anything further. They shot Su Yun a cold glance and then turned and went upstairs.

Su Miao crumpled the invitation into a ball and threw it into the trash bin.

“If you don’t want anything to do with those people, then be smarter about it. This is the Elite District—what are you, a student from DeCai, doing here? You’re like a sheep walking into a tiger’s den.”

After giving a few casual instructions, Su Miao turned and walked down the corridor.

Su Yun remained silent the entire time. Only after Su Miao’s figure completely disappeared did she suddenly lose all strength. Her back slid against the wall until she slowly sank down.

When the school dismissal bell rang, Jiang Huashan packed her bag, ready to go to the hospital. Fu Sui’er had recovered for two days before starting to use her “eldest best friend” identity again to threaten her.

Just as she reached the door, Su Miao rushed forward in a burst, grabbed her shoulder strap, and dragged her back into the classroom along with her bag.

“What are you doing?” Jiang Huashan turned around and gave her a flick on the forehead. “Trying to die?”

“Ow!” Su Miao covered her head, tears almost coming out from the pain. “Why are you so violent?!”

Jiang Huashan glanced at her sideways. “Spit it out if you’ve got something to say.”

Su Miao had no choice but to suppress her temper. “I can’t get through to Shan Shan’s phone. I’m a bit worried about her.”

“So?” Jiang Huashan replied.

“So… I want to go to the Zhou family to check on her.”

Jiang Huashan lifted her bag. “You don’t need to report this to me.” She turned to leave.

“Hey, hey!”

Su Miao quickly grabbed her arm. “I want you to come with me.”

Jiang Huashan raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting used to freeloading, huh?”

Su Miao looked slightly awkward. She couldn’t quite explain why, but after interacting with Jiang Huashan these few times, she had developed an inexplicable trust in her.

No matter what happened, as long as Jiang Huashan was there, she felt a strong sense of security.

“I know the rules,” Su Miao said quickly, already taking out her phone and transferring 100,000 without hesitation.

Jiang Huashan looked slightly dissatisfied. “Why does it feel like I’m getting less and less after each transfer?”

Su Miao felt a little guilty. She was no longer like before—she didn’t even know when she might suddenly become broke. She had to stretch every coin until it could be split in half.

“Fine. Since you’re a regular, I’ll give you a discount.”

As soon as Su Miao heard that, she immediately perked up. “Oh? Is there a discount if I apply for a membership card?”

She was actually even better at pushing her luck than her.

Jiang Huashan crossed her arms. “Why do you have so many demands? Just say it—why do you insist I come with you?”

Su Miao replied, “Shanshan wouldn’t suddenly stop answering calls for no reason. Something must have happened. But the Zhou family has too many rules. If I go alone, I might not even get to see her today. And even if I do, I probably won’t be able to get anything out of her. So I want you to come with me.”

Jiang Huashan didn’t understand. “If you can’t see her, what makes you think I can?”

Su Miao nodded firmly. “I believe in you.”

That strange admiration made Jiang Huashan uncomfortable. “You believe in me? Why do you believe in me?”

Su Miao said very seriously, “Because you’re the type who goes crazy.”

Jiang Huashan: “……”

Whether it was for the 100,000 yuan or to make up for past guilt, Jiang Huashan felt this trip to the Zhou residence was necessary.

So she first sent a leave request to Fu Sui’er, then sent a notice to Shen Lanxi, and finally got into the Su family’s car with Su Miao, heading toward the Lakeside Manor.

Old Master Zhou of the Zhou family admired Taoist philosophy. The estate was built along a lakeside, with mountains and water scenery that looked like a painting in every season.

There were three gates from outside to inside. The first was a towering black iron gate standing between two rows of century-old ginkgo trees.

This place was a famous tourist check-in spot in Country A. On good-weather days, tour guides could often be seen holding flags while introducing it in front of the gate.

Passing through the iron gate meant officially entering the Zhou family’s private domain. All external vehicles had to stop there.

The Su family car had just parked when a dedicated shuttle vehicle arrived in front of Jiang Huashan and Su Miao. A Zhou steward stepped out with a polite smile.

Since Zhou Qishan and Su Miao were close friends, this was nothing unusual—but Jiang Huashan was clearly a rare guest.

“Please, both young ladies.”

Noticing an extra person getting out of the car, the steward couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Huashan a little more.

Su Miao tugged at Jiang Huashan’s arm and whispered, “This is why I don’t like coming to the Zhou family. Too many rules. It’s exhausting.”

The second gate was as grand as the entrance to a royal palace, with walls stretching along the lakeside, majestic and imposing.

Jiang Huashan sighed. No wonder in her previous life Zhou Yanheng, that idiot, kept insisting her status wasn’t worthy of him. So the Zhou family had actually built a city for themselves here and treated themselves like royalty.

After entering the white gate, vehicles stopped again. What came into view was a garden landscape where every step revealed a different scene.

It was already winter, and maintaining a “spring” atmosphere artificially would require unimaginable manpower and resources.

Before Jiang Huashan could finish marveling at it, she was told they had to switch to a special sightseeing vehicle again.

Three gates, three transfers of transportation?

Jiang Huashan touched her chin. “No wonder Zhou Qishan doesn’t go to school. With this kind of hassle, she’d have to wake up at 4 a.m. just to arrive on time. Honestly, she might as well skip school.”

The steward froze for a moment. This Miss Shen seemed quite different from the other guests—her words were clearly sarcastic upon closer listening.

Yet every first-time visitor here usually showed admiration and awe. Only she carried an air of disdain.

The steward could only explain, “Young masters and young ladies can leave directly from the east gate if they are going out.”

“Oh, I see.” Jiang Huashan smiled faintly.

The Zhou family really was interesting—male supremacy, noble lineage hierarchy, strict class divisions, superiority of hosts over guests. They had truly mastered the art of dominance and control.