“Is Uncle Zihao going to make up with Aunt Jinjing and get back together with her?” Bacon asked, his golden eyes glowing in the dark and his tail swishing left and right.
Lu Zihao fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “Don’t ask too many questions, kid. Just do what I asked you to do.”
“Bacon thought that Uncle Zihao is finally going to do the classy thing and court Aunt Jinjing properly just like how Father pursued Mother, but it seems that I’m wrong. Uncle Zihao is still acting like a coward. Not classy at all.”
In. Out. In. Out.
Lu Zihao forced himself to take a few deep breaths to control his temper in front his poison-tongued AI nephew. The little rascal sure knew how to aim where it hurt the most—his pride.
“Kid, are you going to help me or not?”
“Uncle Zihao has become more impatient lately. It’s not classy. Don’t worry, Uncle. Bacon will help you break into Aunt Jinjing’s condo because it’s too pitiful to continue watching you acting like a pathetic loser.”
Lu Zihao gripped the steering wheel with both hands, the veins in his arms protruding from the force, as he focused on taking deep breaths.
“Also please be aware that Bacon will charge Uncle Zihao for this extra service. This is Uncle Zihao’s personal matter so it’s considered outside the scope of my professional work at Shadow Winds. If you’re in doubt, feel free to check my employment contract. Father made sure to include this additional clause, so Uncle Zihao is obligated to pay Bacon with the overtime rate.”
“Fine! I’ll pay you, okay?”
“Bacon thanks Uncle Zihao.”
“Do you think that you’re classy by being a money-grubber?” Lu Zihao muttered under his breath.
Bacon licked his fluffy paws and blinked his golden eyes with his trademark bored expression. “Mother says that Grandpa Lu taught her an important life lesson—it’s okay to be shameless when it comes to family. Uncle Zihao is family so it’s fine if I act shameless with you. As for me not acting classy, please be careful of your words, Uncle Zihao. Mother is the classiest person in the whole wide world, even classier than Father, so whatever she says and does is guaranteed to be classy. Therefore, Bacon is also classy for following what my classy mother taught me.”
Lu Zihao opened his mouth but no words came out so he just shut it again. The little mama’s boy might have a despicable two-faced personality most of the time thanks to an unknown bastard, but Bacon’s unique and eloquent reasoning was without a doubt inherited from Evelinka.
If only her personality were as vile as her AI son’s back in their past lives, then she with her genius intellect might have given him, her big brother, a run for his money and might have even snatched the position of the next head of the Vetrov organization from him.
Sighing, he shook his head and pushed away this impossible thought from his mind. His beloved little sister would have been the most perfect Vetrov in the history of their family organization, but she just had to be born with a kind and compassionate heart. It was truly a tragedy that such a precious angel was born in a family of great devils.
“I don’t want to talk about this shit anymore.”
“It was Uncle Zihao who started this topic, not Bacon,” the black cat AI said while continuing to groom himself.
Damn devious little kitten! Absolutely had no reservations in pushing all the blame on his own uncle.
Before Lu Zihao could snap at him, Bacon finally stopped grooming himself and sat up straight. “When are we going to break into Aunt Jinjing’s condo, Uncle Zihao? The hour is getting late. Bacon is still grounded and has a curfew to follow. If I come home past my curfew, Father will scold me and extend the time of my punishment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Lu Zihao frowned and hurriedly wore a wireless earpiece, tapping it in front of the little rascal in a silent gesture.
“Uncle Zihao didn’t ask,” Bacon’s voice spoke through the earpiece.
Lu Zihao grunted. He reached over to the front passenger side, opened the glove compartment, and grabbed a baseball cap. He wore it, pulling it down low until it covered the upper half of his face, and then pulled up the zipper of his coat all the way up, covering the remaining lower half of his head.
He got out of the car and walked to the condo building, slinking in the shadows without making any sound. This time, he didn’t head to the main entrance but to a small side door instead that was typically used by the building’s maintenance workers. His eyes found a surveillance camera above him but he wasn’t worried about it all. Bacon reported through the earpiece that he already hacked into the building’s surveillance system. Lu Zihao was now free to move however and wherever he wanted in the condo and the cameras wouldn’t have any records of him.
A few seconds later, the electronic lock blinked indicating that Bacon was successful in disabling it. Lu Zihao entered, darting inside like a phantom. This part of the building was dark. Thanks to Bacon, the emergency lights didn’t activate as Lu Zihao found the staircase and immediately started climbing.
He chose not to use the elevator because it was too conspicuous even with Bacon’s interference of the building’s system. What if a tenant went out in the hallway and saw him? It was better to be cautious. Besides, climbing several flights of stairs was nothing to him. He wasn’t even panting when he finally reached Long Jinjing’s floor.
“Stop, Uncle Zihao,” Bacon’s voice warned him through the earpiece. “The building cleaner just came out of the garbage chute room.”
Lu Zihao froze and peeked through the window of the emergency door. Indeed, the cleaner who just came out of the chute room was pushing a cleaning cart in the hallway. Lu Zihao narrowed his eyes and flexed his hands as the cleaner seemed to be heading his way.
“Uncle Zihao shouldn’t hurt an innocent person. It’s not classy. Punish only those who deserve it. And if Aunt Jinjing learns that you hurt the cleaner in her building, she might hate you.”
