Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was early winter so the sunlight was rather weak. Despite the time being noon, the temperature was still chilly. As the Luo family villa was built to face the rising sun, traces of natural sunlight shone through its windows, one of which was the old patriarch’s study room.
Luo Qinghe gently pushed the room’s door open.
“Grandpa.”
Luo Huaiyu had gotten where he was today by starting from scratch. In the beginning, he had ventured into the business of making construction materials, and just a few years later, he had delved into the real estate business. At the ripe old age of seventy-something, the old man, whose hair was snow-white, still had a fire in his eyes.
“I take it you’ve handled everything smoothly?”
Luo Huaiyu was referring to Tian Xing Entertainment’s scandal.
“Yup. I’ve stuffed the mouths of the fellas at Tian Xing with money. The Luo family will no longer be involved in this mess.”
The eldest son of the Luo family, Luo Changde, had down syndrome and had more interest in members of the opposite sex as compared to running the family business. After Luo Huaiyu had announced his retirement, the task of running the Luo family had fallen upon the eldest grandchild, Luo Qinghe’s shoulders. Even so, there had not been any major hiccups ever since her takeover.
This time, however, the situation had gotten out of hand.
Luo Huaiyu was holding a pen in his hand, from which flowed lines of elegant calligraphy. After completing the final stroke, he looked up from the paper with eyes that still burned with youth. “Beware of hidden dangers that might arise in the future. It is justified to use force when it is necessary.”
Luo Qinghe nodded obediently.
“This incident must not be repeated again.”
“Understood.”
After leaving the study room, instead of idling around, Qinghe left the place immediately.
“Qinghe.” A middle-aged woman popped out of the pantry. In a gentle voice, she called out to the heiress. “Lunch is ready. Would you like to have a meal here before leaving?”
The woman’s name was Xu Yunci, the widow of Luo Huaiyu’s second son, Luo Changan. She had been a widow for more than a decade and had a daughter under her, Luo Yinghe.
Xu Yunci, who was 48 as of this year, placed great effort in maintaining her physical wellbeing. She had a graceful, feminine figure. If parallels could be drawn between people and flowers, she would be a dodder flower.
“No thanks.”
Her attitude was cold, perhaps disgusted even.
Luo Qinghe was about to walk out the door when she slowed to a halt before turning around. “Second sister-in-law, that thing on your neck. Don’t ever let me see that again.”
It took a moment before Xu Yunci’s expression changed into one of embarrassment. Unconsciously, her hands reached up to cover her neck.
Luo Qinghe sneered at her before turning to leave. As a widow of the Luo family’s second son, Xu Yunci faced a dilemma. She couldn’t leave as if she had completely zero connection to this family, but neither was she recognized as one of their own people. Still, the hickey on her neck was too glaring to not get pointed out.
Secretary Han parked his car outside the villa. Seeing Luo Qinghe appear from the main door, he got out of the driver’s seat to open the backseat door for her.
Luo Qinghe entered the car.
Secretary Han handed her a document. “Chief Xiao Luo, this is all the information we could get on that runner.”
Crossing her legs, she glanced through the two pages of the document. “It’s a female?”
“Yes.”
She read through the pages with a smile on her face. “She’s quite the competent one, it seems.” Luo Qinghe closed up the booklet. “I like playing with people like her.”
So, a professional runner, huh? Luo Qinghe wanted to see just how much chaos this person was capable of causing.
The weather was particularly unpredictable during early winter, and for the second time, the rain came pouring down in the evening. The raindrops were small, but they fell in a dense formation, turning the air cold and damp. This type of rain would typically last for days on end.
Tian Xing’s scandal remained in the hot section of the internet search bar for almost a week before the entire ruckus began to cool down.
“Won’t the Luo family members get arrested?” Zhou Xufang took a sip of her drink before lowering her head to continue gnawing on a piece of rib meat.
Shuang Jiang’s reply came quickly. “Tian Xing’s higher-ups have been made scapegoats. Without sufficient evidence, the police can do nothing against the Luo family. Also, anyone that goes against the Luo family tends to suffer dire consequences.
Zhou Xufang had just licked clean a piece of sweet and sour rib before another one of Shuang Jiang’s replies came popping up on her screen.
“Zhou Qingrang has been temporarily suspended from the current news program and was transferred to work at a late-night TV show.”
Zhou Xufang bit down hard, crushing the rib bone into hundreds of tiny pieces.
She had forgotten how many times her bite force had been compared to that of a normal human. Regardless of the specifics, she knew that she could easily crush the throats of the Luo family members effortlessly with her bite. She spat out the chunks of bone and cursed at the Luos. “Animals.”
Shuang Jiang went along with her, throwing hate at the beasts. Then, a serious tone returned to her words. “Ah Fang. I’m afraid that Luo Qinghe’s next target will be you.”
Luo Qinghe was a vengeful person. Those who messed with her had never lived to tell the tale.
Zhou Xufang was not afraid.
“If she messes with me, I’ll beat her into a pulp.”
After saying that, she finished up the final piece of meat. “Time’s up, I’m gonna head to work now,” Xufang said as she rubbed her hands clean.
She switched off the computer before heading into the dressing room for a change of clothes. This time, she picked a black fisherman’s hat and paired it with a bag on which a skeleton embroidery was stitched on. Zhou Xufang then set out for the grocery store that was located just outside her residential area.
Wen Baiyang was still an employee at the store. At this hour, customers were rarely seen, thus, she was plopped over the counter, writing and drawing on a piece of paper. Placed nearby on the counter was a laptop.
Zhou Xufang walked over.
The light from above was blocked by a shadow that was cast onto the counter. Wen Baiyang looked up, and upon seeing Zhou Xufang, she smiled sweetly. Quickly, she jotted down onto her paper. “It’s still 15 minutes before 11 pm!” She then added another line. “Come sit here.”
Since it wasn’t time for her shift yet, Zhou Xufang picked up a small stool from nearby and sat beside Wen Baiyang.
Wen Baiyang tucked the laptop into her backpack and simultaneously, she took out a bag of sweets. “Want some?” she gestured toward Zhou Xufang.
Zhou Xufang had a sweet tooth, and so, she didn’t refuse.
“Yeah.” She reached out her hand.
Wen Baiyang picked a piece of candy with pink-colored wrapping and placed it in Xufang’s palm. Xufang peeled off the wrapping paper and popped the candy, which crunched loudly as she chewed, into her mouth.
Placing the bag of sweets onto the counter, Wen Baiyang then pushed a note toward Zhou Xufang. “Do you like yogurt?”
Her words were neat and pleasant to read, just like the girl herself. Beautiful and pleasing to look at.
Zhou Xufang nodded her head. “I do.”
Wen Baiyang retrieved a box of yogurt from her bag, and after stabbing a straw into it, she passed the drink over to Zhou Xufang. She then reached into her bag again. “I’ve got some jelly, too.”
She placed the jelly on the countertop.
Since Zhou Xufang had worked shifts at this grocery store several times before, she had gotten the chance to grow closer with Wen Baiyang. Last time, Xufang had brought a can of milk for her, and tonight, Wen Baiyang had filled her backpack with her favorite snacks to share with her friend.
For some reason, Wen Baiyang reminded Zhou Xufang of a fairy.
She picked a pink-colored jelly and took small bites out of it. “Are you still studying?”
“Yeah. I’m a freshman at the Imperial Special Education College.” Wen Baiyang wrote on the paper. “Computer engineering.”
After writing on the paper, she looked up to read Xufang’s lips.
Zhou Xufang gave her a thumbs up. “You’re really smart.” Since Shuang Jiang was also studying computer engineering, she assumed that anyone studying the subject was equally as brilliant.
Wen Baiyang smiled sheepishly after being praised. Her arms were sprawled on top of the counter as she slowly wrote on the paper, “Do you want to eat eggs? My grandma has lots of chickens so we have a bunch of free-range eggs.”
After that, she turned around and lifted a separate bag that was filled with eggs.
Zhou Xufang pulled at her sleeve to get her attention. “I can’t eat eggs,” She replied. “Remember the egg you gave me last time? I haven’t eaten that yet.”
She would get drunk after eating eggs. After that, she’d always do the wrong thing in her intoxicated state.
From what she could recall, she had gone into a drunken-state after having eggs for the first time. Then, she had climbed up onto a tree and started singing the national anthem loudly. People had tried to get her out of the tree but all their attempts were futile. She merely jumped onto another tree and sang another song, “A child without her mother is like weeds by the road”. After exhausting the list of songs that she could sing, she had yanked the entire tree out of the ground and had taken it home with her…
Wen Baiyang was shocked when she read Xufang’s lips. She had never heard in her life of a person who could not eat eggs. Her widened eyes were round, just like how her face was round. The two patches on her cheeks were bright pink as usual, making her look like the cutest girl Xufang had ever come across. “Can you eat chicken meat?”
“Chicken is not a problem.” Zhou Xufang replied.
“Then I’ll bring some shredded chicken next time.” Wen Baiyang wrote. “I also know how to make braised chicken feet.”
Zhou Xufang gave her a thumbs up. “You’re really smart,” she repeated. Xufang truly meant what she said. She was clueless when it came to cooking, and so, she could only order takeout for every meal. Impressed by Wen Baiyang’s expertise, she gave her a double thumbs-up. “Really, really, really smart.”
When Wen Baiyang smiled, her eyes narrowed into two arching slits, her face even redder than it was before, presumably due to being praised by Zhou Xufang.
Looking at her, Zhou Xufang realized Wen Baiyang’s beauty.
The next day, the drizzle which had lasted the past couple of days finally stopped. The skies were now clearer than ever.
Despite the beautiful weather outside, Ah Wan wondered, why was the young master’s mood still so bad? What could be the reason for this? Who or what had angered the young master? He was clueless.
The young master had taken a grand total of two bites during lunch before tossing his chopsticks onto the table.
Nervously, he asked. “Does it not suit your tastes?”
Jiang Zhi remained silent. He dipped his handkerchief into warm water and poured his focus into wiping his hands clean. Finger by finger, he rubbed them with the cloth. Soon, his pale, ivory-white fingers had turned a bright shade of pink from the friction.
‘What a clean freak’, thought Ah Wan. He followed up with another question. “Would you like a can of milk?”
Jiang Zhi tossed the rag aside after wiping his hands clean. “Go fetch the Assistant Director over.”
“Okay.”
Ah Wan called out for the Assistant Director.
Assistant Director Zhao had been chowing down on his lunch when he was abruptly called upon by the Director. He didn’t even have the time to wipe his mouth which was glistening with oil when he arrived outside the Director’s room. Just before he set foot into the room, he quickly wiped his mouth clean.
“Are you looking for me, Director Jiang?”
There was heating in the room, but at the same time, the windows were open.
Jiang Zhi’s cheeks appeared flushed. Was it due to the cold draft or was it due to the heating? Nonchalantly, the Director asked, “Were there any changes to the group of mass actors today?”
Assistant Director Zhao scratched his head at the strange question. “No, they’re still from the same batch as the last time.”
Taking up a reclining position in his chair, Jiang Zhi shoo-ed away the Assistant Director.
“Get out.”
“…”
‘So, why did the Director order to see me?’
Sneakily, Ah Wan exited the room and asked the Assistant Director. “Is Zhou Xufang here today?”
Clueless, Assistant Director Zhao scratched his head. “Who is this Zhou Xufang?”
Ah Wan refrained from revealing too much information because he still couldn’t read what was on the young master’s mind.
Fang Lixiang, the newly-promoted weaver girl, butted in and said loudly, “Assistant Director, I know who she is! Zhou Xufang is a super talented actress. Super talented, I say! She can act like the most real, absolutely dead corpse if you ordered her to do so!”
“…”
“Ula Nara” Li Xiang was an exceptional actress, which meant that her friend must’ve been equally as exceptional if she had said so.
Assistant Director Zhao made a phone call to the group leader of the mass actors. “Call Zhou Xufang over. I want her to play a role.”
“She’ll be paid more,” he added.
“If she’s willing to come here, I’ll give her more screen time!” The Assistant Director made sure to emphasize this point.
If he was lucky, this might just be the next weaver girl.
Five minutes later, Assistant Director Zhao received a reply from the group leader. “Actress Zhou Xufang isn’t available today.”
“Where the h*ll did she go off to?” Assistant Director Zhao asked.
‘A major role is waiting for her and she’s letting it off so easily?”
“She’s out doing food delivery,” The group leader replied.
“…”
For her to have a side-job, this was no super talented actress!
Assistant Director Zhao got hold of an assistant. “Go to the Director’s lounge and tell him that Zhou Xufang is out making deliveries, she isn’t on set today.”
The little assistant repeated what he had heard to Ah Wan.
Ah Wan then reported this to the young master. “Boss, Miss Zhou is out making deliveries today.”
Expressionless, Jiang Zhi was resting on his recliner with a couple of blankets pulled over his body. Peeking out from underneath those layers was a pale-white collarbone. The young master coughed twice before responding. “When did I ask about her?”
“…”
“Go get me some warm milk. I want it precisely at 28 degrees centigrade. Not a single degree higher,” Jiang Zhi ordered.
“…”
Ah Wan was speechless.
Oh, how much he wanted to rush home to tell that mother of his who treated Jiang Zhi with as much affection as her own son, how despicable her “true son” was acting.