Cherry didn’t know at all that the platform had sent her messages. Neither did she understand things like customer service and so on. She was engrossed in the game, so she didn’t reply to the messages at all.
As a result, when the customer service staff didn’t get any response from her, they used a photo of Cherry from that one and only time she had revealed her face and her mask had dropped off for the contest. Then, they sent her another message:
‘The photo has been uploaded. We are currently in the registration phase. The contest will start tomorrow. Opponents will be randomly assigned when it starts. We look forward to your great performance in this contest!’
But of course, Cherry wasn’t aware of any of this.
“Do you really know how to play? You’re not using a computer keyboard, you know. There are only four or five buttons on the cell phone, yet you’re still pressing the wrong ones all the time! Even your pet cat pressing randomly on the phone can play better than you!”
After dinner, Nora went upstairs. The moment she opened the door, she immediately heard the irritated Cherry scolding someone. The corners of her lips spasmed a little as she poured her a glass of water.
Cherry was using the study, so Nora went to the sofa and turned on her computer.
With her eyes downcast, Nora’s long slender fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed a few letters on a webpage. A dark webpage loaded. She then typed another few letters and it changed to another webpage.
After another few times of the same thing, she reached the final destination.
It was the web version of a chat room belonging to the Imperial League.
The Imperial League consisted of more than a dozen people, and each of them had their own dedicated account. At six o’clock New York time on this day every month, they would hold an hour-long meeting to discuss world economic trends.
Just a casual word from them could change the structure of the economy and cause huge fluctuations in the corporate world.
The chat room had a black background.
None of them knew who any of the others were. The only thing they knew was that the prerequisites for joining the Imperial League were very harsh.
There had been barely any newcomers during the recent few years.
Most of them had inherited their accounts. Only the heirs to the account holders’ clans could inherit the accounts, and thereby inherit the Imperial League’s connections and information.
Nora, whose chin was resting on her hands, was wondering what they would talk about today when she saw someone sending a message.
Eagle: “How is America’s real estate industry going to be in the future?”
As soon as Eagle raised the question, several people in the chat room started to talk.
Tiger: “Real estate has now formed a bubble, especially in America. Housing prices have skyrocketed in the past few years. Can America’s economy cope if this continues?”
Lion: “I’m still optimistic about the real estate industry!”
Bear: “I’m not optimistic about it, though. The real estate industry has been going downhill since the beginning of the year.”
Wolf: “But it’s showing signs of picking up recently.”
…
Everyone used animal code names in the Imperial League.
During the discussion, Eagle asked: “In that case, what are we going to do to promote the real estate industry?”
Everyone shut up immediately.
Nora clicked her tongue.
Barring any accidents, the leader of the Imperial League would be speaking next.
Sure enough, a message was sent:
King: “Housing prices will develop steadily for the next ten years. Refrain from making them soar or plummet.”
Should they plummet, it would cause an economic subprime mortgage crisis and trigger global turmoil.
In the Imperial League, King was the only one who could issue orders. He was the king of the Imperial League!
No one knew who he was, let alone what country he was from…
Nora had tried to investigate his background before, but she couldn’t find any information about him at all.
As for the rest, she suspected that Eagle and Wolf were from top-class wealthy families in the States. This was because the two of them had talked about America the most during past meetings.
Her aunt abroad had mentioned before that Justin was the hardest person to deal with in the States, so she had once suspected that Justin was Eagle.
Out of everyone there, Eagle and Wolf had talked about America the most in recent years. Wolf was a little milder in nature while Eagle came across as a little aggressive and showed faint signs of becoming the No. 2 of the Imperial League.
Nora seldom spoke in the chat room. Over the years, she only used the information she got from here to make a bit of money. It was fine as long as she had enough to spend.
She didn’t have any grand ambitions. Being filthy rich and whatnot wasn’t a lifestyle suitable for her. Besides, it also affected her sleep.
She yawned and watched the people in the chat room talk about other industries next. Finally, King wrote: “We’ll end today’s meeting here.”
Everyone said goodbye.
Nora also finally sent her first message of the night:
Cat: ‘Goodbye.’
After sending the one-worded message, she closed the meeting webpage.
At the Hunts’.
Justin leaned on the desk and narrowed his eyes.
Rejecting the Lowes’ investment proposal with the claim that he was in a bad mood was just an excuse.
In the near future, housing prices would develop steadily and would no longer soar like how they had in previous years. The real estate industry would also gradually become less profitable.
Why would he still invest in real estate at such a time?
He was about to leave the chat room when he suddenly saw the code name ‘Cat’, who rarely participated in the chat…
In the past, he didn’t take much notice of those who didn’t participate much in the chat.
Perhaps it was because he’d had a lot of contact with that woman recently, but when he saw the name, he suddenly thought of her.
She was always lazy and careless, yet also noble and elegant.
Even when she was gobbling down her food during meals, she never looked boorish.
That woman was just like a cat.
Justin shook his head. He was really overthinking things.
How could she possibly be in the Imperial League?
Imperial League members were either rich or noble. They were people among the world’s wealthiest tycoons.
With that in mind, he left the chat room.
He then accompanied Pete for a while while he studied. When he found that his son’s personality seemed to have switched back again, Justin finally went to sleep with peace of mind.
In the middle of the night, the door suddenly opened.
Justin looked over to see a graceful figure draped in moonlight walking in elegantly.
It was actually Nora!
Justin was taken aback. “Why are you here?”
Nora smiled at him and laid down on the bed. She put both her legs up and looked at him coyly with her cat-like eyes. She said, “Mr. Hunt, I’ve liked you for a very long time. Let’s… give it a go?”
Then, she slowly placed her hand on his leg…
He, someone who had always been a man of abstinence, actually found himself somewhat unable to control himself at the moment…
Justin’s eyes suddenly flew open. When he realized that he was dreaming, he sat up in chagrin. After thinking to himself for a while, he went to the bathroom…
The next day.
Cherry got Tanya to take her to the Quinn School of Martial Arts first before sending her to class, with the excuse of ‘Mommy asked me to pass them something’.
There was no way Tanya could wake the sleeping Nora to ask her if it was true, so she took her there.
Pete was practicing martial arts at the Quinn School of Martial Arts today.
A while after Cherry ran in, Pete changed into the skirt and walked out awkwardly.
Tanya, who didn’t notice the child’s odd behavior, took Pete to the kindergarten just like that.
As soon as he entered the classroom, Sinead rushed straight up to him and shouted, “Cheryl! Brandon’s not going to let you off! You’ll definitely bark like a dog today! I’ll watch you become a joke and see you cry today, Cherry the Doggy!”
