Chapter 542  : It Belongs to Me

Unfortunately, this wasn’t something Yang Jiang wanted to hear about his future daughter-in-law. “What about her grades? How is she doing at school?”

“Miss Yao’s grades aren’t bad. She could very well be considered as one of City A’s excellent students.”

“Is she in the top three of her grade?”

The butler lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Yang Jiang frowned in disappointment. “Top ten, at least?”

“Before, yes,” the butler sighed.

“What, she’s not even on the top ten anymore?”

The butler felt embarrassed on behalf of the girl. “That’s right, Sir.”

As a matter of fact, Yao Ran’s academic results were already commendable by most standards, but this was the head of the Yang family.

He had seen far too many geniuses in his lifetime. Why would he even bother with an average achiever from a small city away from the capital?

“Does she have any other talents?” he continued to ask.

The butler thought for a moment before answering. “Miss Yao participated in the Math Olympiad Competition before, and her ranking wasn’t bad. She is also the apprentice of a piano master from the Music Association. I did hear that she would be participating in their annual assessment event this year.”

Then, to ham it up some more, he added, “She must have been busy preparing for the event, that’s why she was distracted from her studies.”

The idea seemed to appease Yang Jiang, as his expression looked slightly better.

“I suppose it’s good enough that she was accepted as an apprentice by a master from the Music Association. Is there anything else?”

The butler blinked several times as he tried to recall what other activities Yao Ranwas involved in. “Well… Miss Yao seemed to have learned some calligraphy as well. And chess…”

A thought occurred to Yang Jiangthen, and his eyes lit up. “In that case, did she become a concertmaster while under the tutelage of a master?”

“I think—I—Well… I don’t think I’ve heard of such a thing, but I do recall that she has also learned to play the violin.”

Yang Jiang hummed to himself and nodded at the butler. “I see. All right, you get on with your duties.”

He went straight to his study and put the safe box on the table before sitting in front of his computer. He stuck his USB drive into the port and the website’s interface appeared on the screen.

A notification was blinking in the upper right corner, indicating that he had a message. He clicked on it and read:

“Your transaction has been terminated. We look forward to serving you again soon.”

Yang Jiang felt faint.

Deep down, he had been harboring the hope that the young master from earlier would still change his mind. At the very least, they could arrange for another meeting and come up with better terms.

He never expected that the other party had already canceled the deal on such short notice. He no longer had any chance whatsoever.

Yang Jiang went to the boy’s profile and peered at the information he had provided when he had posted about his search for the parchment.

After digesting the words, Yang Jiangfell back against his seat and heaved a sigh of relief.

Judging by the reaction of the other users in the comment section, it was clear that they knew very little about the artifact, despite the organization’s supposed omniscient quality.

If that young master truly needed the parchment, then he would surely come looking for it again.

Yang Jiang only needed to be patient and quietly bide his time.

After calming himself, he reached for the box, intending to transfer its contents to his main safe.

But when he opened it, he got the third, and perhaps the biggest, shock of his life.

The box was empty! The parchment was gone!

What the hell was going on?

Yang Jiang frantically thought back to his actions. He had seen the item with his own eyes as he closed the box earlier, and the box had never left his person from the moment he left the private room up until now.

So, how come the parchment was nowhere to be found?

More importantly, there was a fingerprint lock on the box, on top of a password. Even if someone guessed the code, only Yang Jiang’s fingerprint was acceptable.

How in the world could this have happened?

At that moment, his screen glitched, as if another person was taking control of his computer. The screen turned all white for a brief second before a series of words popped out.

It read:

“Thank you. It belongs to me now.”

Yang Jiang stared at that single line and seethed. He was so furious that the veins on his arms bulged. He grabbed the mouse and smashed it against the monitor.

The screen shattered, and the message was gone, just like the parchment.