Chapter 1818

Yes, how can we stay ahead of them?

Seated atop the stage, Andy suddenly sighed.

“Good question. This brings me to my next point: talent!”

“I know that it’s not appropriate to talk about this at university where meritocracy is the norm,” he
continued with a wink, “but we have to admit that it plays a role. Some people, like this friend of mine, are
able to spot innocuous clues at a glance.”

At the sudden mention of his friend with such prophetic abilities, the students in the hall began to engage
in a buzz of speculations. They were eager to learn the identity of such a talented individual.

Susan was one of them.

“She is a woman,” Andy proclaimed, smiling with pride and nostalgia. “A decade younger than me, but
what a talent she had for financial forecasting. In fact, she predicted the famous oil riot in Zaewora and
made me a fortune.”

The mysterious introduction only served to excite the students even more.

“Who is she, Professor? Where is she working now? Is there any chance of her giving a lecture?”

Andy chuckled.

“She’s retired from public life and is very happy remaining home with her husband and children. Even I
am unable to make an appointment with her,” he remarked only half-jokingly.

It’s true. She’s a powerful woman now. I’m not even qualified to shine her shoes.

The lecture lasted a full two hours. The sun was already disappearing down the western horizon when
the trio emerged from the lecture hall.



“This professor is really something, Ian,” Susan exclaimed as she went over her notes again. “He talks
about these things that our syllabus never covers. Even a student of finance and accounting such as
myself found it enlightening.”

Ian merely nodded without comment.

On the other hand, Zaylynn nodded off during the lecture. Eager to participate in the conversation as she
was, she found herself lost in their jargon.

“I found it interesting too,” she chimed in. “Especially the part about his friend. It shocked me to hear
about such powerful women in the world today!”

Susan nodded vigorously in agreement.

Ian made a surprising response to that. “He’d exaggerated a little. Though he did make a fortune from
the oil riot back then, he had forced the person to do it for him.”

The girls stared at him with their mouths wide open.

“How do you know?”

“Because that friend he spoke of is my mother,” Ian remarked casually before striding ahead with his
schoolbag on his back, leaving the girls behind thunderstruck by his proclamation that was uttered with
as much enthusiasm as if it had been a statement of fact.

His mother!

Susan was in complete awe. Right before they were about to exit the gate of the university on their way
to dinner, she suddenly remembered. “Was your mother ever in Hayes Corporation?”

“Of course,” Ian answered. “She used to be the director of the operational department.”



I never knew Sasha to be as well-versed in finance as in medicine! That explains how her son managed
to complete the building project so beautifully at only seventeen years of age. He has great genes.

“Wait a minute. Where are you guys going?” Zaylynn cried. Keen not to be left behind, she stamped her
feet before hurrying up to them. “Can I come along? I did reserve a seat for you today, didn’t I? It was
hard work, you know.”

Though Ian frowned at the intrusion, Susan readily agreed.

“The more the merrier, Zaylynn. We’re having KFC for dinner, is that all right with you?”

“Of course,” Zaylynn said at once. “I’m not picky.”

Waving her chauffeur away, she hopped on a bicycle like the others and set off with Susan and Ian.

The warm hues of the sunset made the scenery surrounding the campus look as though it had been
kissed by fire. Engulfing the entire city in yellow and orange, the setting sun cast elongated shadows of
the trio onto the road they made their way to dinner amidst yells and jests of youth.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure appeared behind them after they left.

With a stack of books in her arms, the figure stood there expressionlessly as she watched them leave.
The unsettling aura her presence emitted caused those who passed by shudder involuntarily as they
gave her a wide berth.

Why does this girl look so scary?

“Hello, Yasmin. What are you doing here? Are you getting ready for work again?”

The sudden mention of her name in a voice laced with concern appeared beside her.



The speaker was the secretary of the student council, Jacques.

Yasmin withdrew her gaze and looked at him with its hostility retracted.

“Where are you going, Jacques?”

“I was just about to head home. Would you like a ride?”

Jacques was a local who lived with his upper-middle-class family. Upon being told by Yasmin that she
was working part-time, he took pity on her and offered to drop her at her workplace.




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